Last Week:
13-3
Overall:
132-75-1
Washington
Redskins (3-10) at Atlanta Falcons (3-10):
Washington can officially be classified as a dumpster fire
now. Whether you believe the Shanahanigans going on are an attempt to save Mike’s
job or actually a benevolent approach to preserve the future potential of this
team, the current result is the same: This team’s season is over. Kirk Cousins
will get the start, and he may even perform respectably in Griffin’s stead, but
there’s little room for optimism in a win for this team. As bad as the Falcons
have been this year – injury bug sucks when you have no depth – even a great
showing by Cousins won’t hide the fact that the Skins simply can’t play
defense. With the Falcons’ offense finally starting to heal up, look for
Atlanta to put up numbers Washington simply can’t keep up with.
Atlanta
Falcons: 34-28
Chicago
Bears (7-6) at Cleveland Brown (4-9):
This matchup is odd. Cleveland is a bit bipolar, getting
blown out against Detroit, Green Bay, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in the last two
months, while losing squeakers against Kansas City, Jacksonville and New
England. These Browns match up extremely well against a run defense that couldn’t
stop a high school attack, and Josh Gordon is more than enough to shred any
secondary at this point. However, what used to be a solid Browns defense simply
hasn’t shown up since a Week 9 win against Baltimore. This game will come down
to whether the Browns can force enough plays on defense to allow their offense
to scrape a couple touchdowns together. With Jay Cutler’s return, and likely
need to shake off the rust, it should be able to do exactly that.
Cleveland
Browns: 27-24
Houston
Texans (2-11) at Indianapolis Colts (8-5):
I don’t have exact numbers for this, but it seems that every
time a talented, but winless, team loses its head coach, it tends to catch fire
over the remaining weeks of the season, and Houston is nothing if not talented.
With depth at almost every skill position on offense, Houston should have no
problem’s scoring against an injury-ravaged Colts defense. However, the Andrew
Luck factor against a terribly weakened Houston defense is likely going to be
too great to overcome this week. TY Hilton destroyed the Texans defense last
time these two teams met, and expect a similar result this time.
Indianapolis
Colts: 23-20
New England
Patriots (10-3) at Miami Dolphins (7-6):
The loss of Gronkowski is a devastating blow to the Patriots’
title hopes to be sure, and the change on Vegas odds reflects that (the spread
was only 2.5 in favor of New England at the time of this). However, after Gronk
went down Sunday, the Patriots figured out how to get its offense running
through Shane Vereen, and with the re-emergence of Julian Edelman and LeGarette
Blount, Tom Brady should have enough targets to prevent another shaky start
this week. Miami, on the other side, is scoring points in bunches. Daniel
Thomas came back from injury and promptly gashed the Steelers’ run D, while
Mike Wallace and Charles Clay are starting expose opposing secondaries. The
problem here is that Bill Belichick knows the Dolphins as well as anyone, and
with a chance to seal the division on the line, it’s hard to see Joe Philbin
outcoaching Belichick this week.
New England
Patriots: 27-24
Philadelphia
Eagles (8-5) at Minnesota Vikings (3-9-1):
Obviously, no Adrian Peterson and a doubtful Toby Gerhart
will have a huge impact on this Minnesota offense. However, with Matt Cassel
under center, the Vikings have been able to move the ball consistently and make
use of rookie weapon Cordarelle Patterson, something Minnesota will surely try
to use much more this week to mask the loss of AD, and against a Philly defense
that’s stout against the run but incredibly susceptible to the pass, it’s a
recipe that could give the Eagles fits this week. On the other side of the
ball, the Vikings seem to have quietly improved, holding the Bears to 20 points
two weeks ago, then holding the Ravens to seven points in the first 57:55 of
last week’s game. However, what Minnesota has been susceptible to is the big
play, giving up two huge Alshon Jeffery TDs versus Chicago and too many plays
to count at Baltimore. Philadelphia feasts on the big play, and Minnesota will
have to find ways to cut those down if it wants a chance this game.
Philadelphia
Eagles: 31-24
Seattle
Seahawks (11-2) at New York Giants (5-8):
That the Giants have shown marked improvement in the second
half of the season is something that’s hard to deny, but despite shaking off an
0-6 start, New York simply hasn’t been able to string together any sort of
consistency, and that’s a weakness that’s going to exposed this week against
the NFL’s model of consistency. The Seahawks defense has been ferocious these
last few weeks and, hiccup at San Francisco aside, the offense has been nearly
as good. The return of Andre Brown has allowed New York more flexibility on
offense, but it won’t be enough to cut through Seattle.
Seattle
Seahawks: 21-13
San
Francisco 49ers (9-4) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-9):
One of the hottest teams in the NFL the last month, the
Buccaneers (you heard me) has been absolute monsters at home, beating a solid
Miami team and destroying Atlanta and Buffalo. The next-man-up philosophy at
running back has paid dividends, with Bobby Rainey seamlessly replacing Mike
James a month ago, and Mike Glennon continues to show improvement,
transitioning from a QB who could only use Vincent Jackson as a safety blanket,
to one who’s been spreading the field evenly over the Bucs’ tear. However, as a
trip to Carolina showed, this team isn’t set up yet to deal with the NFL’s top
tier, which San Francisco belongs to. A middling run defense, coupled with a
pretty bad pass defense, going up against Frank Gore and a Kaep attack who
finally has all his weapons healthy, is a hard team to beat.
San
Francisco 49ers: 17-13
Buffalo
Bills (4-9) at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9):
Hilariously, the once-moribund Jaguars hold the longest win
streak in the AFC, and no two 4-9 teams could ever look more different. Plagued
by injuries, the Buffalo Bills just haven’t been able to find a rhythm this
season, while the Jaguars under Chad Henne have finally managed to find a
balanced attack, while the defense, still not good, has managed to stop looking
dreadful, at least. Buffalo, for its part, now has a fully functional running
game, which should keep the Bills alive this week, but with a defense that can
only succeed by forcing turnovers, it’s unlikely the Bills will be able to
create enough separation to win this week.
Jacksonville
Jaguars: 24-20
Kansas City
Chiefs (10-3) at Oakland Raiders (4-9):
The Chiefs defense woke up last week in a big way. A unit that had been ravaged in
recent weeks by Denver and San Diego managed to thoroughly overwhelm Washington
– who is struggling, granted – in almost every facet possible. Traveling to
Oakland will be a slightly stiffer test, but Matt McGloin is not nearly the
dynamic QB that Terrelle Pryor is, and the absence of Denarius Moore will
continue to weaken this squad. Alex Smith and Jamaal Charles should be nearly
unstoppable this week against a middle-of-the-road defense that simply won’t be
able to make the big plays necessary to slow the Chiefs down.
Kansas City
Chiefs: 23-13
New York
Jets (6-7) at Carolina Panthers (9-4):
This is gonna get ugly. The Jets continue to hang around in
the wildcard talk, but New York has been incapable of putting together a
halfway decent performance on the road this year, and against a ferocious
Panthers defense that’s coming off its worst loss of the season, I don’t see
things looking up for New York. Look for the Panthers secondary and the Cam
Newton passing attack to light up the scoreboard this week.
Carolina
Panthers: 37-20
Green Bay
Packers (6-6-1) at Dallas Cowboys (7-6):
Somehow, the Packers are still in the playoff discussion,
despite Aaron Rodgers’ return being pushed back week by week. However, a 1-4-1
record without him (and that win coming at home against the Falcons) don’t
exactly speak wonders for Green Bay’s ability to keep up with Dallas this week.
The Cowboys’ defense is atrocious, nearly as bad as the Saints were last year,
but Matt Flynn simply has not been able to kickstart this offense. With Eddie
Lacy at best a shadow of himself this week, even Dallas shouldn’t have too much
trouble slowing down the Packers.
Dallas
Cowboys: 31-21
Arizona
Cardinals (8-5) at Tennessee Titans (5-8):
What’s been a hallmark under Mike Munchak’s tenure at
Tennessee is that the Titans can beat the bad teams, can run with the good
teams and they get hammered by the great teams. Arizona isn’t a great team, but
it’s more than good, with a passing attack that’s been unstoppable the last few
weeks and a defense that, on paper, looks as good as any in the league right
now. Home-field advantage, an inability by the Cardinals to guard the tight
end, and a mistake-free Ryan Fitzpatrick could give the Titans a chance to pull
off the upset this week, but given this team’s inability to close out the
fourth quarter, it’s unlikely.
Arizona
Cardinals: 24-20
New Orleans
Saints (10-3) at St. Louis Rams (5-8):
The Rams have, at times, looked like they could beat anyone
in the NFL, and at other times have simply not shown up to the field. The
emergence of Zac Stacy and Tavon Austin have more than made up for the loss of
Sam Bradford earlier in the season, but the offense as a whole just has not
been consistent this year. Additionally, the Rams’ young playmakers won’t have
the experience to shake off the kinds of blitzes and packages Rob Ryan’s
defense will have prepared heading into this week, and a Drew Brees-led offense
that carved up one of the NFL’s best defenses last week will likely have no
trouble going through a much weaker Rams defense.
New Orleans
Saints: 34-24
Cincinnati
Bengals (9-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5-8):
Last year, the Bengals only had one real offensive threat:
Throw it to AJ Green. This year, however, Andy Dalton’s steady improvement,
combined with the dynamic play of Giovani Bernard and the rest of the Bengals’
receiving corps, has allowed Cinci to hang points on just about everyone
(scoring 40+ in three of their last four wins), while a defense that’s suffered
a couple of serious setbacks continues to shut down opponents (giving up 20 or
fewer in five of its last games). Combine the two, and you have a Cincinnati
team that has quietly moved into the NFL’s elite class, no small feat given the
ferocity of the rivalries in this division. However, it’s that rivalry that
could be a problem this week. Pittsburgh is on another two-game slump coming
off a game that it had no right to win but really should have. The Steelers
offense has been nearly unstoppable lately; it’s ironically the aging defense
that has slowed this Steelers squad down. However, another primetime slot
against a division rival with the remainder of its playoff hopes on the line
should give Mike Tomlin all he needs to get this squad fired up this week.
Pittsburgh
Steelers: 17-13
Baltimore
Ravens (7-6) at Detroit Lions (7-6):
Even though it seems like the Lions have stumbled their way
into the class of the NFC North, somehow Detroit hasn’t managed to close out
the division. A tiebreaker over Chicago and a half-game separate Detroit from
first and third (and no playoffs). The blizzard in Philadelphia was somewhat of
a fluke, something a dome team isn’t going to handle as well as a northern,
outdoor team like Philly, especially with one of its best playmakers sidelined.
Meanwhile, the Ravens have quietly assumed control of the AFC’s wild card race,
winning four of five. The run game is still virtually nonexistent, but Joe
Flacco and the defense have made the plays necessary to keep this team alive.
The Lions’ offense has more than enough talent to blow the Ravens defense out
of the water, and thanks to an offensive line that simply can’t create holes
for Ray Rice, Detroit should easily be able to sit back and force the Ravens
into a one-dimensional, passing attack. That said, this is a Lions team that’s
struggled with discipline all season long and fails to get going until it
absolutely needs to. The Lions should pull out the must-win this week, but look
for Baltimore to keep it close.
Detroit
Lions: 30-27
