Just when I thought the worst was over, we had more COVID cases, more upsets, and more uncertainty surrounding a time of year when things usually settle into place. Unsettling is how I performed last week, too, going 7-9 (the only losing week of the season), bringing my year-to-date mark to 146-93-1 (61%).
NOTE: All games on Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.
Los Angeles Rams 31, Baltimore 20 – Hard to believe that the Ravens were the AFC’s top playoff seed a month ago. These days, they’re in eighth place–on the outside looking in. Now, they get to face the league’s best receiver in Cooper Kupp with a secondary that still isn’t very healthy or very good. Oh, and there’s also the matter of Aaron Donald, Sony Michel, Matthew Stafford, etc., No wonder this game was moved into the early-afternoon window.
Kansas City 27, Cincinnati 21 – The Chiefs are showing why they have the early lead on what I see as “The Team of the Decade.” The Bengals and their fans put a lot of energy into beating Baltimore and winning the AFC North. Now they face the Chiefs, which is tough duty, indeed.
Tennessee 19, Miami 13 – The Titans proved their worth despite recent struggles by winning a crucial home game against a high-quality opponent in San Francisco. Now, Tennessee will take on another team riding a strong second-half surge–the Miami Dolphins. The Titans’ patchwork offensive line will need to come through to prevail this week against a team riding a seven-game winning streak and holding the AFC’s #7 playoff position.
Philadelphia 40, Washington 10 – Incredibly, the Eagles still have a playoff chance out of the moribund NFC East, and the schedule works out well for them in that regard. They get to play the Washingtonians twice in three weeks.
Tampa Bay 37, New York Jets 6 – No words are needed.
Indianapolis 26, Las Vegas 16 – The Colts are getting hot at just the right time, while the Raiders are waiting for the season to be over.
New England 36, Jacksonville 12 – It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since these teams met in Foxborough for the AFC Championship. Since then, the Jags have fallen into the abyss, while the Pats are still competing for the AFC East crown. New England got stymied in that regard by the Bills last week, but they’ll not experience another loss this Sunday.
Carolina 17, New Orleans 9 – The Saints have had COVID issues. The Panthers have been banged up all year. You might as well flip a coin on this one because that’s all I did.
Buffalo 24, Atlanta 17 – Buffalo can’t afford to let its guard down at home again–now that the Bills have a long-awaited division title in their sights. Expect to see fireworks in the sky this Sunday in Orchard Park.
Chicago 26, New York Giants 20 – Okay, who wants this one least? Hard to say, considering how disappointing both of these stalwart franchises have been in recent years. But we’ll take the Bears at home because we like Justin Fields better than whomever Big Blue trots out there.
Denver 23, Los Angeles Chargers 17 – The Chargers can be very good and they can be mind-numbingly awful. Losing to Houston?! Even though they’re back home for this game, I can’t in good conscience pick them to beat Denver, which is one of the league’s better defensive teams.
San Francisco 33, Houston 6 – The ‘Niners are home and, despite Jimmy Garoppolo’s injuries, they’re better than the Texans. Make that MUCH better than the Texans.
Dallas 34, Arizona 30 – This is the classic case of two teams going in different directions. Could the Cardinals have peaked too early? It appears they have, and now they go into Dallas to play a team that still has aspirations of landing the top NFC playoff seed.
Seattle 30, Detroit 17 – The Lions have played a hard, tough, resilient brand of football all season, and it finally paid off with a couple of wins. But Seattle should be able to round up one more win for its loud and loyal fan base.
Green Bay 33, Minnesota 20 (Sunday night) – The Packers have been one of the league’s consistently-elite teams. One reason is that they never take a team for granted. Another reason is that GB knows how to finish games. Minnesota?
Pittsburgh 23, Cleveland 12 (Monday night) – The Browns have faded down the stretch, accentuated by Baker Mayfield’s four-interception outing last week at Green Bay. The Steelers’ determination to not have a losing record under Mike Tomlin may be matched or bettered by another motivator–knowing that Ben Roethlisberger’s long and illustrious career will end soon.
