An “October Surprise” doesn’t happen just in politics. It happened to me (not often, mind you) last week. A 7-8 Week 6 dropped my season’s numbers to 60%. I’m ready to rebound with business back to normal. Here are my Week 7 picks.
NOTE: All games will be played on Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.
Philadelphia 26, New York Giants 17 (Thursday night): It’s a good bet that the Eagles gained confidence from their second-half rally against Baltimore. Plus, they don’t have to travel on a short week for this home game. The Giants don’t have far to drive, but even a banged-up version of the Eagles (add Zach Ertz and Miles Sanders to the injury list) has more talent and quality on its roster than does NYG.
Cincinnati 30, Cleveland 27: The Bengals are home for this latest “Battle Of Ohio”–a game they lost narrowly last time. Cincinnati fell in a tough loss to Indianapolis last week, while the Browns were getting waylaid at Pittsburgh. Cleveland is starting to look a little wobbly despite its fine start, and Baker Mayfield’s rib condition bears watching. I can see the bottom falling out for these Browns.
Tennessee 33, Pittsburgh 30: The Steelers are 5-0 for the first time since their Super Bowl 13-winning team in 1978. But this team hasn’t played a top-tier team…until now…in a game that was supposed to be played earlier before the Titans’ COVID-19 outbreak scrambled the schedule book. The Titans, a team that doesn’t appear to have missed a beat, can put points on the board against anyone. For fans, this will be a tasty treat between a pair of unbeaten teams.
Buffalo 41, New York Jets 0: The days of Richard Todd, Keyshawn Johnson, OJ Simpson, and Jim Kelly are long gone–and, thus, so is the spice of this AFC East Division rivalry. That’s mainly the Jets’ fault, of course. And even though NYJ is at home this week, that’s about all this team has going for it. They are, by the way, the NFL’s sole remaining winless team. If Miami could shut out the Jets, why can’t the Bills?
Dallas 40, Washington 20: Say what you will about the Cowboys, but they almost always manage to beat their longtime archrival. Washington is home, but Dallas has won on six of the last seven visits to Landover, and this team needs a win b-a-d-l-y.
Green Bay 38, Houston 19: Houston is heading for its bye, and not a moment too soon. Not even a coaching change could help it win an entertaining donnybrook against Tennessee last week–when the Texans blew a late lead and lost in OT. This week the Texans are at home playing one of the league’s most dominant offenses. Packers get this one.
Atlanta 24, Detroit 17: Yes, this is my “Game Of The Weak” — even though both teams are coming off strong road efforts. The Lions clawed the sorry Jaguars, and the Falcons flew past Minnesota. So which team is my pick? I’ll take the home-standing Falcons. One reason is that Atlanta beat the better opponent last week. Another is that consecutive wins would be sweet for an otherwise struggling team.
New Orleans 34, Carolina 22: New Orleans is at home (off its bye) to play a Carolina team that has proven to be a troublesome opponent this year (notwithstanding Chicago last week). The Saints won two straight before their bye (righting the ship in the process) and seem primed to make their typical midseason run.
Los Angeles Chargers 27, Jacksonville 10: Both teams have had schedule adjustments by way of COVID-19: the host Chargers are coming off an unscheduled goodbye, while Jacksonville is heading for an adjusted bye. But no matter. The game is played on the field, and it’s LAC by a large margin in this one. Keep an eye on rookie sensation Justin Herbert.
Kansas City 33, Denver 17: Denver can crow about a win at New England–even though winning there doesn’t mean as much as it used to. The good news continues as the Broncos head home to play this Sunday. The bad news, of course, is that the opponent is defending Super Bowl champ KC. The Chiefs are still stinging from that unexpected home loss to the Raiders, but they bounced back to take care of a good Buffalo team on MNF. Chalk up a division win for KC.
New England 24, San Francisco 23: Both of these teams haven’t looked healthy or good lately, but at least the ‘Niners beat LAR last week. I think this will be a close and entertaining game, one that should be fun to watch. The problem is that fans will be watching two teams that were expected to be better than they’ve turned out to be (at least thus far this year).
Seattle 23, Arizona 19: Seattle is coming off its bye, while the Cardinals are coming off a short week (having played Monday night in Dallas). Seattle knows how to win key road games, and that’s why I’m picking them to win. Amazingly, this is the Seahawks’ first division game of the season.
Tampa Bay 30, Las Vegas 20 (Sunday night): The Raiders are coming off a bye, playing against the team that got head coach Jon Gruden his Super Bowl ring (2002). But Gruden is likely to be on the wrong side of the field for this one. The Bucs play in a tougher division and have better talent. TBB in this one.
Los Angeles Rams 27, Chicago 23 (Monday night): Chicago is off to a 3-0 road start for the first time since 2006–the year when it appeared in Super Bowl 41. And while I like what the Bears have shown on defense, I think LAR has a better overall squad. Despite last week’s loss in San Francisco, Los Angeles is playing better than many pundits predicted it would at season’s start. A win over the Bears would be a big reward for a team that’s trying to regain its footing.
