Thursday, November 12
Buffalo at NY Jets (-2.5): This one's all about Sexy Rexy Ryan making his grand comeback to New Jersey some eleven months after the Jets canned him, and boy have we had some entertainment this week. Rex is taking shots at Ryan Fitzpatrick's beard, talking smack to Calvin Pryor about his son's Clemson Tigers beating Pryor's Louisville Cardinals earlier this season, naming IK Enemkpalki captain for the game even though he's only played 37 snaps this season...it's what you'd expect from Rex Ryan and why he has to be a coach in this league. Somebody needs to talk some smack, we can't have a whole league of coaches that say nothing of value.
Will it help the Bills on the field? I think what helps Buffalo's cause more is the fact they recently had a bye, so the Sunday-Thursday turnaround won't be as tough on them as it is on the Jets, a team currently ravaged by injury. Just last week we weren't sure Fitzpatrick would play, now we're supposed to believe in him on a short week? I think Rex & the Bills get the last laugh for now, which will be good for entertainment value.
Sunday, November 15
Detroit at Green Bay (-11.5): Even if Aaron Rodgers hadn't completely owned the Lions throughout his career and the Lions hadn't beaten the Packers in Green Bay since 1991...
Hold on a second.
THE LIONS HAVE NOT BEATEN THE PACKERS IN GREEN BAY SINCE 1991! Jesus Christ on a crutch, Brett Favre was still an Atlanta Falcon in 1991! Erik Kramer was the Lions QB in that game, in case you're scoring at home. Or even if you're alone. Yeah, Packers are taking this.
Dallas at Tampa Bay (-1.5): ...
Um, I guess the Cowboys? They're on quite the losing streak lately, but it's not like they're getting blown out every week, and the Bucs aren't on the same level as the teams they have been playing. I'm sure people want me to talk about Greg Hardy here, but I already said my piece on him well before the pictures came out last week. My stance is the same. Dude shouldn't be in the league. Case closed, end of story.
Carolina (-5.5) at Tennessee: Did you guys know that Marcus Mariota was the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 350 yards, 4 touchdowns & 0 interceptions in one game? It's been mentioned a time or two since Sunday, when Mariota & the Titans became another NFL team to win the game after changing their head coach. Dustin James has taken the opportunity to proclaim Mariota the next big thing and bash anybody that thought that an Oregon Duck couldn't be a successful NFL starting quarterback. In defense of all of us that thought that...
It's not just something that we pulled out of our asses as a hot take. Oregon QBs not named Dan Fouts have been dismal in the National Football League. I can emphasize with Dustin though. It's not like Browning Nagle, Jeff Brohm, Brian Brohm, Dave Ragone, Stefan LeFors, Hunter Cantwell, Chris Redman or Ed Rubbert set the world on fire as former University of Louisville quarterbacks not named Johnny Unitas in the NFL. We just have to hope that our current boys can overcome the odds.
Can Mariota overcome the odds this week? It's gonna be tough since he's playing the 8-0 Carolina Panthers. The Panthers can give up some passing yards, as Aaron Rodgers showed us last week, but their defense is a tad bit better than the Saints defense that Mariota & Eli Manning recently destroyed. I don't think the Titans have an answer for Cam Newton, and I think the Panthers should be able to handle this one unless they're overlooking the Titans for that big game coming up with...Washington? OK, never mind that theory. It won't be a blowout, but 5.5 points is manageable.
Chicago at St. Louis (-7): I'm not saying Chicago has a good football team, but they do have a team that seems to find itself in close games more often than not. Their last five games have been decided by three points or less, and they've actually won three of them. St. Louis is a decent team, but they're not a prolific offense outside of Todd Gurley. I think the Bears keep it close, but probably take the loss.
New Orleans (-1) at Washington: The Saints seemed like they were heading in the right direction, but then their defense remembered who they were and they gave up tons of points the last two weeks. Drew Brees could beat Eli Manning, but he didn't have enough to save the Saints from Marcus Mariota last week. I don't think Kirk Cousins and whatever makes up the Washington offense these days (Is DeSean Jackson back yet? Where's Alfred Morris? If Jordan Reed is healthy he's good, but when does that happen?) has enough to keep with Brees...but then again, the Saints aren't as good on offense when they're outdoors. Am I actually picking Washington in one of these things? I think I am.
Yeah, I know how you feel, Rob. That was me looking at your game and realizing I had to pick somebody.
Miami at Philadelphia (-6): The Dan Campbell Era was really rocking and rolling for a couple of weeks. Now that they're on the road against legitimate teams, things are returning to normal in Miami. The Eagles should be able to take care of business at home here, I expect DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles and whoever else runs the ball for Philly to have big weeks.
Cleveland at Pittsburgh (-4.5): Both of these teams are having interesting times at the quarterback position. The Steelers got Big Ben back for almost two weeks before he got injured again. Now they're looking at Landry Jones starting this game. I wouldn't feel good about this most weeks...but they're hosting the Browns this week. The Browns can often be difficult and have even won a game or two over the Steelers in the past few years, but this year's edition of the team is heading nowhere fast. Don't get me wrong, there are still believers out there. There are even some that thought they'd beat the Bengals last week...
I said he'd be lucky to do that in two games. Manziel wound up with 168 yards and one touchdown...so indeed, he might be able to get 300 & 3 in two games. We won't find out though, since Josh McCown will probably be starting. My colleagues have this obsession with Manziel that I don't really understand & don't care to figure out, but I will say this: In most instances where your choices are an unproven rookie and a proven retread and your chances of getting to the playoffs are nil, you might as well see what the rookie has. Even if it's not much, at least you found out and now you can use another top draft pick on a quarterback. Which is what Cleveland's going to end up doing in the next couple of years anyway, let's be honest.
The Steelers should take this one, which is a shame because I'd like them to win a couple less games & not make the playoffs.
Jacksonville at Baltimore (-5.5): Can the Baltimore Ravens still make the playoffs? Considering they currently sit at 2-6 it seems pretty unlikely, right? But let's take a look at their upcoming schedule:
vs. Jacksonville: Another 2-6 team.
vs. St. Louis: The Rams stink against teams outside of their division.
at Cleveland: Hey, another 2 win team.
at Miami: This team fired their coach.
Doesn't that look like as good a shot at four straight wins as you're going to get in this league? The Ravens could be 6-6 heading into a December 13 game with Seattle, which leads off a pretty tough stretch to end things (Seattle, Kansas City, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati), but don't be surprised if everybody's talking up the Ravens in four weeks as a playoff sleeper that's peaking at the right time and can have a shot at beating any of those teams.
Of course, in order for that to happen they'll need to figure out their passing game now that Steve Smith Sr's out for the year, and that defense is going to need to stop somebody. These aren't impossible things, and it's also not impossible that they start getting some lucky bounces. All of their losses were by eight points or less...they easily could have won any of those games. I dunno man...I've got this feeling that the Ravens are on the verge of figuring things out and becoming the team that people thought they were before this season started.
Minnesota at Oakland (-3): Teddy Bridgewater will probably play because he's Teddy Bridgewater and doesn't get concussions. I remember when he beat Rutgers to clinch the Big East championship for Louisville with one good leg and one good arm. The kid's tough as nails, and has the fourth-most career passing yards of any NFL quarterback before his 23rd birthday. Kid's got a long career ahead of him, God willing.
So does Derek Carr. We were all a little worried because of the David Carr Experience, but unlike David (and Teddy, for that matter), Derek has an effective offensive line. He has time to throw the ball to Amari Cooper and put up solid fantasy numbers. This should be a fun little game with two good young quarterbacks, good running backs & lots of young talent that could make these teams dangerous in the years ahead. Hell, Minnesota's tied with Green Bay for 1st in the NFC North right now, and Oakland just might get themselves one of those AFC wild card slots. Seems like anything could happen there. I like the Vikings and the points here...the Raiders rush defense has been pretty good lately, but they haven't played against Adrian Peterson. If the Vikings' solid pass defense keeps Carr in check they should be able to pull out the road win and get to 7-2. Who would have expected that besides Dustin James & myself?
Kansas City at Denver (-6): The Chiefs have been showing some signs of life as their schedule's lightened up a little bit. A nice long bye after a laugher in London against the Lions should have them ready to go against the recently-beaten Broncos. Oddly enough, I think I'd like their chances more if Denver was unbeaten. Now that the Broncos are PISSED OFF, I don't see Alex Smith Man and company getting it done against that stout Denver defense on their homefield.
New England (-7) at NY Giants: Does anybody else remember a time that the New York Football Giants ended a New England Patriots winning streak?
It seems silly to even think that the Patriots could lose a game this season. Tom Brady is so obviously the MVP of 2015 so far that it's silly to debate it. But...if they were to lose a game...this Giant team's been pretty interesting lately. Eli Manning's been on a roll, the Pats have never really been known for their passing defense, and the Giants historically have had better luck defending against Brady than most teams. I'm not sure I can pick the Giants to win outright, but Eli, Beckham and company will at least keep it close.
Arizona at Seattle (-3): This is going to be one of those 13-10 games that everybody will bitch and moan about because how dare teams actually play defense in football. So that 3 point spread's pretty accurate. I like the Seahawks, Russell Wilson's coming off a bye week spent on a beach in Mexico with Ciara and should be in a good place mentally. As good a reason as any, right?
Monday, November 16
Houston at Cincinnati (-10.5): Am I excited about the Bengals season so far?
Yeah, you could say that. Tough to not be happy with an 8-0 team that's kicking ass & taking names and having prime time games so you can chillax on Sunday afternoons. As much as I generally dread Bengals prime time games because they don't do well in them, it really is nice having that Sunday afternoon worry-free and being able to enjoy other games. This week we'll have Monday night to worry.
I can hear people questioning whether or not we Bengal fans should worry about the Texans...why wouldn't we? The Texans eliminated the Bengals from the playoffs two years in a row. Brian Hoyer's had success against the Bengals in the past. DeAndre Hopkins is one of the best WRs in the league. The defense has some really talented guys like that JJ Watt character. I think the Bengals win, but the Texans can definitely cover this spread.
Last Week: 5-8
2015 Season: 69-57-5
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