Five NFL games will be played outside of Sunday this week. I’ll use the unusual configuration to get over the 100+ win mark.
It took the highest-scoring “Monday Night Football” game in history – and third-highest-scoring NFL game overall – to bring me to 6-7 on the week. (Yikes!) For the year, I’m 96-63-2 (.603).
Los Angeles and Kansas City now can breathe easy and take their bye weeks – the last of the year – while I try to rebound with a 15-game NFL slate … plus … my annual high school holiday bonus pick.
Thanksgiving Day Games
MARYLAND HIGH SCHOOL BONUS PICK, Calvert Hall 37, Loyola 17 (Thanksgiving morning): This is an annual bonus pick that doesn’t count towards my NFL totals, involving one of the longest high school archrivalries in the country. It’s the 99th meeting between the two Baltimore-area private schools. I admit to heavy bias here (Calvert Hall ’81) but, in this series, the Hall has won four straight and eight of the last nine.
Detroit 27, Chicago 26 (Thanksgiving afternoon): The Lions are coming off an exciting home win over a good Carolina team. Now another solid defensive outfit comes calling. The Bears are the better team, but they have had to travel on a short week to play a team that enjoys winning on Thanksgiving.
Dallas 37, Washington 19 (Thanksgiving afternoon): New Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy won a Turkey Day game in Dallas a few years back but, as with any Washington win over Dallas, it felt like a complete fluke–as did the ‘Skins’ earlier win this year at Landover. The Cowboys are clearly better and they have more current momentum.
New Orleans 33, Atlanta 23: (Thanksgiving night): At 4-6, the Falcons are basically finished, harboring no realistic hopes of hosting the Super Bowl on its home field. But their rivalry with fellow NFC South resident New Orleans is one of the league’s most intense and underrated.
Sunday Games
Baltimore 27, Oakland 10: This is one of several games on the card that features a team traveling from the West Coast to the East. Even though I thought the Ravens would meekly bow to the Bengals last week, they rose up, ran the ball, simplified things for new quarterback Lamar Jackson, and got a badly-needed win. Shouldn’t be as much of a problem this week.
Cincinnati 19, Cleveland 16: It’s getting late in the season, but this is only the first of the two annual “Battles Of Ohio.” Cleveland is coming off its bye and is the visiting team here. The Bengals have lost four of their last five games after a 4-1 start, but long-ago I predicted that Cleveland will win only three games this year. Cincinnati is the pick.
Buffalo 27, Jacksonville 12: The Jaguars blew a 16-point lead at home last week and lost a game to Pittsburgh that they shouldn’t have lost. Now they travel to Buffalo, a team that occasionally jumps up and beats the heck out of people. They’ll do it again Sunday.
Carolina 24, Seattle 20: The Seahawks have come back to life recently, but they have to go cross-country to face a very good defensive team that somehow lost at Detroit last week. It’s no secret why. Panthers’ head coach Ron Rivera foolishly went for two in an end-of-the-game situation, which no one should ever do. He’ll probably never do that again.
New England 40, New York Jets 10: Both teams are coming off their byes. That’s about all I can say about this mismatch.
New York Giants 23, Philadelphia 17: The Giants are rallying well in the season’s second half, but it’s too late to salvage the season. This week they’re hosted by a demoralized bunch of defending Super Bowl champs who got boat-traced in New Orleans. It seems strange to say, but New York has the momentum here.
Tampa Bay 33, San Francisco 23: Here’s another West-to-East game with the 49ers coming off their bye week. The Buccaneers can definitely put up points, but their defense has prevented them from winning close games. Tampa Bay, which (surprisingly) isn’t very good at home, will still be able to outscore the visitors this time.
Denver 20, Pittsburgh 19: The Steelers have a horrible memory of Denver. Remember Tim Tebow’s OT, game-winning TD pass to eliminate Pittsburgh from the playoffs? Well, the Broncos are usually tough at home and are coming off a win in Los Angeles. This is a hunch pick here (to be sure), but I think Denver takes it.
Indianapolis 34, Miami 17: Miami will be coming off its bye to play in a game that has been moved from 1 p.m. to 4:25. The move was made because the Colts have improved. The Indianapolis offensive line used to be a joke, but not these days. Andrew Luck hasn’t been sacked in five straight games.
Los Angeles Chargers 27, Arizona 13: The Chargers lost at home to Denver last week and, now, they entertain a Cardinals’ squad that fell at home to sorry Oakland. Los Angeles currently holds the fifth AFC playoff-seed by a comfortable two-game margin. But they shouldn’t get too comfortable this week.
Sunday and Monday Games
Green Bay 30, Minnesota 20 (Sunday night): Another pivotal NFC North battle gets the Sunday-night treatment. The Vikings are back home after falling at Chicago. Minnesota is getting substandard play from quarterback Kirk Cousins and there’s in-house bickering in Green Bay. Who wins? I’ll bet on Aaron Rogers one more time.
Houston 31, Tennessee 17 (Monday night): Houston has won seven straight and they are in line to win a third consecutive AFC South title. The Titans have hit the skids again in what has become an up-and-down season. I’ll take the more consistent home team to win a feature game.
