Thursday, December 11
Cardinals at Rams (-4.5): You win 10 games & you can't even be the favorite against the last place team in your division. If there was ever a "NOBODY BELIEVES IN US" team it's the Arizona Cardinals. And they keep giving us reasons to not believe in them. Andre Ellington's out for the year now, and if you have any idea who's going to get the most carries in the backfield you're a better man than I.
The line is less of a reflection on the uncertainty surrounding the Cards than it is on the sudden resurgence of the St. Louis Rams. The defense looks like the defense people were talking about in the preseason, and that's all they've needed to get on a run. I think the Rams can do enough against Drew Stanton to get the win at home on a short week.
Sunday, December 14
Steelers (-2.5) at Falcons: While the rest of the AFC North has feasted on the dregs of the NFC South, the Steelers have lost games to the Buccaneers & Saints in Pittsburgh this season. On the bright side, they blew out Carolina in Charlotte. I'd like the Falcons a lot more if I knew for sure Julio Jones was healthy...this seems like the Steelers' time of year anyway.
Washington at Giants (-6.5): Both of these teams may have new coaches next season. Tom Coughlin may be gone because he's old & wants to go home, and Jay Gruden may be gone because his owner is obsessed with the idea of RG3 not being a bust. Good times all around. Take the Giants because you can't have your money invested in the Washington football team at this point. You just can't. The Giants aren't having a good season either but at least there's a modicum of professionalism there.
Dolphins at Patriots (-7.5): This game has become a must-win for Miami in order for them to have any chance of making it to the playoffs. Well..
I'M AFRAID I'VE GOT SOME BAD NEWS!
This game is in Foxboro and we all know the Patriots aren't going to let Miami beat them two times in the same season. The Dolphins had a nice run but you can count them out of the playoff hunt after this week.
Raiders at Chiefs (-10): Oakland now has two wins. It's so cute. Much like the Pats in the previous game, the Chiefs will be looking for revenge. Will they blow the Raiders out though? Nah. I'll take the team feeling good about themselves over the team trying to miss the playoffs.
Texans at Colts (-6.5): Houston almost came back on Indy the last time they played, and the Colts weren't exactly impressive last week in Cleveland. This is another game where I feel like a team will win by less than expected. I'll take the Texans and the points.
Jaguars at Ravens (-13.5): Well, at least Dustin James doesn't have to worry about his boy going to Jacksonville. Ravens have been quietly taking care of business & they'll quietly take the Jags out behind the barn this week.
Packers (-5) at Bills: Buffalo has a really good passing defense & held Peyton Manning to 4 points in fantasy leagues last week, ending countless seasons. I'm almost tempted to say they can have success against Aaron Rodgers, but the way Rodgers is playing this season I can't feel comfortable saying that the 101st Airborne can have success against him. Dude is having one of those years, and since he plays in Green Bay you can't say the weather in Buffalo will hurt him. Packers should be able to score enough to cover here.
Buccaneers at Panthers (-3): Carolina is only a half game out in the NFC South. I don't have any faith in them without Cam Newton for an extended period of time, but Derek Anderson already beat Tampa once this season. Also, I have no faith in the Falcons or Saints, so we could see a playoff game hosted in Charlotte, as ridiculous as that sounds when read aloud. I think Carolina wins, but the Buccaneers keep it close because #NFCSouth.
The most notable thing about this game is that fellow Ultimate Football Blogger Jeremy Lambert will be in attendance. Hopefully he'll have a better experience than I did at the last NFL game I attended. I don't remember much other than the Bengals lost & I peed in the parking lot. In my defense, I was standing over a drain.
Bengals at Browns (-1): The Browns won by 21 the last time these two teams played, so you'd think the spread would be tilted more in their direction. Not so much. Johnny Manziel's starting, Marvin Lewis is calling people midgets & nobody really knows what to make of the situation. I know that rookie quarterbacks typically fare well against the Bengals. I'll pick the Browns & I'll also predict that ESPN will talk about nothing else on Sunday night & Monday.
Jets (-1) at Titans: You know times are tough when the Jets are on the road & favored over somebody. The only interesting thing about this game is if Jake Locker can deliver a solid fantasy performance for owners that think he's a good option with matchups against the Jets & Jags during playoff weeks. (Yes I'm in that boat in the OTT Official League. Cam's out & I have no faith in Ryan Tannehill in Foxboro. It's something I'm considering.) I'll pick the Titans because they're playing the Jets.
Broncos (-4) at Chargers: Denver becoming a power running team isn't something I was expecting, but I've enjoyed it. Good old' hard nosed football, something that not a lot of Peyton Manning teams have been associated with. My theory has been that they're trying to rest him for the playoffs since he's old, but maybe there's more to it than that? Maybe? I don't know? San Diego needs to win here or they're up a creek without a paddle. They have a solid track record against Denver in late-season games, so I'm thinking the Chargers will at least keep it close.
Vikings at Lions (-8): Sure, it was against the Jets, but how great was it to see Teddy Bridgewater lead the Vikings to victory in OT last week? That's a special kid right there, and my only hope for this game is that Suh doesn't make him wear his posterior as a helmet. That would be bad times. Gotta roll with the Lions here but I hope I'm wrong. I don't like picking against Teddy, but I have to be fair & balanced. It's the name of the game here at the Ultimate Football Blog, except when it comes to Dustin James & (name deleted by editorial committee).
49ers at Seahawks (-10): We just saw this game on Thanksgiving & it wasn't very good then. I don't expect the result to be different. The 49ers are a complete mess right now & the Seahawks are getting back to being the Seahawks we remember from 2013. This could get ugly. Seahawks by double digits makes sense to me.
Cowboys at Eagles (-3.5): We just saw this game on Thanksgiving & it wasn't very good then. I don't expect the result to be different, but it'll at least be closer than the first Thanksgiving rematch. While we're on the topic, I'm not a huge fan of placing these games with the same teams so close together. Ideally you'd place the first meeting early in the season & the second game during the playoff push. I'm not sure why so many divisional games are so close this season, and I don't like it.
(Especially since it means the Bengals play the Steelers twice in December. Who booked this crap? Oh, that's right, Der Kommisar Steelers Fan.)
I like the Eagles at home, though not nearly as much as ESPN's Sal Palotonio liked them against the Seahawks last week. I had ESPN Radio on early Sunday morning since that's my schedule now, and he was going on about the atmosphere in Philly & how different it was from any other place & how the Seahawks would be unable to deal with it. That might be true for some teams, but the Seattle Seahawks? Really? I think Sal Pal had a bit too much of the egg nog on Saturday night.
Monday, December 12
Saints (-3) at Bears: OK, this is getting absurd. This is three straight weeks now that the nation has been forced to watch the Chicago Bears play football. What the hell did we do to deserve such an atrocity? Even worse, they're playing a Saints team that I've given up trying to figure out. I thought they were bad on the road & good at home, but then they got a win in Pittsburgh & got blown out by Carolina in the Superdome. I have no explanation for that series of events. I have no explanation for anything going on in the NFC South this season. It's like the Twilight Zone of NFL divisions.
I do know that the Bears are bad at home. I think they've won a total of one game at Soldier Field this season, which would have been a great total after Week 1. It's Week 15. Brandon Marshall is out & suggesting that the Bears have some buyers' remorse when it comes to the quarterback. Granted, they should, but when you're the WR1 you gotta at least act like you've got the QB's back. Add in a terrible defense & I think the Saints are the pick here. But like anything else involving these teams, I have no confidence in that pick.
Last Week: 7-8-1
Season Record: 101-103-4
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