Each week I pick the winners of all the NFL games (or try to, anyway) without point spreads and without bias, either.
A short slump has been followed by a couple of bounce-back weeks. I’ve gone 20-7 over the past two rounds (10-3 last week) to bring my season record to 70-49 (.588). Another 13-game slate gets us over the halfway mark of NFL ’17. This week Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minnesota, New England and the LA Chargers are on the bye.
NOTE: All games are scheduled for Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.
Buffalo 17, New York Jets 13 (Thursday night): The Jets have been surprisingly competitive this year, especially at home. But the inevitable fade has begun and the Bills seem to be developing a winning culture.
Tennessee 27, Baltimore 16: The Ravens have been maddeningly inconsistent. The young, hungry Titans are at home, coming off their bye week. Even if quarterback Joe Flacco plays this game, Baltimore doesn’t have enough playmakers to win.
Jacksonville 24, Cincinnati 20: The Jaguars are coming off a bye with a young, fast, and rested defense. It’s also at home. The Bengals have looked better offensively since changing coordinators, but I don’t think Andy Dalton will have time to throw.
Carolina 23, Atlanta 17: Defensively, the Panthers seem to have regained footing. They will be at home against a Falcons squad that had to sweat out a come-from-behind win against the lowly Jets.
Houston 40, Indianapolis 10: Despite the loss of defensive stars, the Texans have managed to stay in games offensively. This week they should get an easy home win against a division rival.
New Orleans 30, Tampa Bay 18: Talk about two teams going in opposite directions! The Bucs’ early star has faded. Now they now go into the lions’ den against an opponent on a five-game winning streak. In a Saints rarity, New Orleans is playing well on both sides of the ball.
New York Giants 16, Los Angeles Rams 13: This is my hunch pick of the week. I think the west-to-east travel bug should bite the Rams hard. And, by now, the Giants should have adjusted to life without several injured stars.
Philadelphia 31, Denver 20: The Eagles are playing the softest portion of their schedule with most games at home. I don’t see them sustaining the league’s best record–eventually going 15-1 or 14-2–but, for now, they’ll keep stacking wins.
Arizona 17, San Francisco 13: The Cardinals are moving to the back of the pack. The team is underachieving and the lineup is injury-riddled. But neither issue will keep Arizona from beating the 49ers. San Fran is 0-8 for the first time in the team’s 72-year history.
Seattle 37, Washington 20: The Seahawks are suddenly becoming known for offense rather than defense. That should be enough to beat a slumping Redskins team missing four offensive linemen…as well as playoff hope.
Dallas 26, Kansas City 23: I was spot-on in saying that the Dallas’ defense would get to Kirk Cousins in the pocket. It should do the same to Alex Smith, whose team is coming off a short week. The Cowboys have scored 30 or more points in a franchise-record-tying four straight games. They won’t do that again, but they should have just enough–even without Ezekiel Elliott–to win.
Oakland 20, Miami 19 (Sunday night): This is an intriguing matchup between a slumping Raiders squad that’s traveling east and a Miami squad that can sometimes look like a bottom-feeder team (as it did in Baltimore). I don’t feel great about it, but I’ll take the visiting Raiders in what could be an ugly game.
Green Bay 24, Detroit 13 (Monday night): The host Packers won’t have Aaron Rodgers and it doesn’t look like their starting tackles will be healthy. But they are coming off a bye and have that Lambeau Field aura on their side. Offensively, the Lions just can’t take advantage of the few chances they get.
