Joey P’s Week 14 NFL Picks

With four regular-season weeks remaining, I’m aiming for more double-digit win-weeks to finish strong.

Well, my birthday weekend featured bad news (a hospital trip) and good news (going 10-6 on my picks). In other words, there’s never a dull moment around. For the year, I am 116-74-2 for a still-robust win percentage of .610.

(NOTE: All games will be played on Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.)

Navy 16, Army 13 (Saturday afternoon): This is a college bonus pick that doesn’t count towards my NFL totals. It features what is, to me, the best archrivalry in any sport and at any level. Army has had the better season and has won two straight over Navy. But in this game, you can throw out the records.

Tennessee 17, Jacksonville 13 (Thursday night): With so many mediocre-to-downright-boring games in the AFC South, what’s a pundit to do? I have to look at more immediate trends, as opposed to the big picture. The host Titans are scoring a bit more these days, which isn’t saying much, while the Jags’ season is in tatters.

Kansas City 24, Baltimore 23: For a second straight week, we’ll have a game with Jim Nantz in the booth for a Ravens game. Baltimore has a way of playing the top teams tough and has fared well at noisy Arrowhead. But Patrick Mahomes has blossomed far faster than Lamar Jackson, The Chiefs’ big-play propensity should make the difference.

Carolina 20, Cleveland 19: Cam Newton has reverted into a turnover machine lately–with seven interceptions during the Panthers’ current four-game losing streak. The host Browns looked like their usual pathetic selves against Houston last week, and there’s no reason to believe that will change now.

Green Bay 24, Atlanta 16: I didn’t think the Packers’ infighting would culminate so soon and so harshly, at that. But maybe the Mike McCarthy firing is what the team needed to clear its head.

Buffalo 30, New York Jets 10: The Bills will be at home for a meaningless AFC East Division game. Buffalo should have won last week in Miami. They’ll have no trouble getting over the hump this time around.

New York Giants 23, Washington 19: Maybe there’s hope for the Giants to catch Washington for third place after all–something I thought would happen before the season began. With the nation’s most demanding sports fans in the biggest market watching them, the Giants know there’s no such thing as ‘playing out the string.’ To win, the always-laughable ‘Skins must now rely on the laughable Mark Sanchez.

New Orleans 33, Tampa Bay 27: The Saints won’t have to worry about facing a tough defense in this game. They should be able to shake off the loss at Dallas while getting revenge for a Week One loss.

Miami 27, New England 24: It’s so uncanny how the Dolphins always manage to play well on their home field when the Patriots visit. On top of that, their razor-thin win over Buffalo last week put them right behind Baltimore for the sixth and final AFC playoff seed.

Houston 24, Indianapolis 10: The Colts were on a heck of a roll until they got stonewalled by a sinking Jacksonville team. Houston should continue its incredible streak with a home win here.

Los Angeles Chargers 34, Cincinnati 13: In Pittsburgh, the Chargers got yet another big win in a season full of big wins. Now they head home to live the good life against those lifeless Bengals.

Pittsburgh 23, Oakland 17: This game got moved out of the Sunday-night spot, and the Steelers are probably glad after what happened on their home field last week. But they’ll still sleepwalk through this game before pulling it out.

Detroit 17, Arizona 12: With the Lions and Cardinals getting together, it brings back memories of Bobby Layne, Charlie Trippi, and Hopalong Cassidy–star players when these franchises were good. Neither one is good these days, but at least the Lions showed some life against the Rams last week.

Denver 30, San Francisco 10: Three seasons ago, the Broncos took a little trip out to the Niners’ home and won a Super Bowl there. It’s amazing to see how Denver has put itself back in the mix again this year. That makes this a big game.

Dallas 23, Philadelphia 9: The Cowboys have predictably gotten back into the playoff chase by beating good teams–both at home and away. It shouldn’t be much of a problem to play at home and sweep the Eagles.

Chicago 27, Los Angeles Rams 24 (Sunday night): The “flex” program features matchups like this. The Rams have played well on the road. But late-season, cold-weather games have a way of bringing top teams back to the pack, if only slightly.

Seattle 23, Minnesota 20 (Monday night): Over the past three weeks, the Vikings have had to play a tough division game at home, followed by trips to both coasts. That rough itinerary has to catch up with them–just as the tough-at-home Seahawks keep trying to catch up to the teams holding playoff seeds.