Week 9 saw me go 9-5, bringing the year-to-date mark to 91-43-1 (.677). This week features a light schedule with only 13 games on the docket. Here’s how I see ’em.
NOTE: All games are scheduled for Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.
Los Angeles Chargers 24, Oakland 13 (Thursday night): Oakland is home again after downing Detroit in a thrilling, high-scoring game. Ok. That’s fine. While the Raiders were beating the hapless Lions, the Chargers were stopping Aaron Rodgers. They’ll treat Derek Carr similarly.
Baltimore 34, Cincinnati 13: The winless Bengals are coming off their bye, making it consecutive games that Baltimore will play against a team returning from their off-week. Usually, that situation would benefit the rested team, but this is Cincinnati, folks. The Ravens will be focused, recognizing that they can’t drop one to a time like this. Baltimore has bigger fish to fry…soon, too.
Buffalo 23, Cleveland 20: The Browns are back home, but that won’t mean much. That’s because the Bills are fighting for a wild-card berth. Last week, Buffalo benefitted from playing against the hapless Redskins. This week they get the luckless Browns. Advantage, Bills.
New York Giants 26, New York Jets 14: Every NFL team has to play every other NFL team every four years, so it’s inevitable that these co-tenants would meet. The Jets, the home team this time, will be decked out in Green. But Blue is the better color this week–despite having only a few days to prepare.
Detroit 30, Chicago 17: It’s always intriguing when NFC North Division teams meet, especially these two. In a game that’s ‘six of one, half-dozen of the other,’ the Lions are better on offense, while the Bears have a better defense. Even though the Bears are at home, I pick the irresistible force to outdo the immovable object.
Green Bay 31, Carolina 24: The Packers are off next week, which means they don’t want to go into their bye week with consecutive loses. But to do that, they’ll need to get a home win against the resurgent Panthers. I’m taking the Packers because they have more to lose. Carolina will remain in contention no matter how this one turns out.
New Orleans 40, Atlanta 6: These teams are coming off their byes, and that’s about all they have in common–other than being in the NFC South. Saints keep marching. The Falcons remain grounded.
Arizona 30, Tampa Bay 16: The Cardinals have mostly recovered from a slow start caused by playing tough teams (San Francisco, Baltimore) and with a new quarterback (Murray), too. The Bucs, on the other hand, are a turnover machine. That old TV commercial used to say, ‘Winston tastes like a cigarette should.” But in Florida, it makes more sense to yell: ” Winston isn’t playing like a quarterback should.”
Kansas City 23, Tennessee 13: The Titans, who are on a bye next week, get to host this rematch of a playoff game. But the good news for KC is that it showed a bit of defense last week. That means the Chiefs are better equipped to win.
Pittsburgh 27, Los Angeles Rams 24: Coming off their bye, the Rams should be rested for a cross-country trip to Pittsburgh. That’s good news. The bad news is that the Steelers are getting big plays out of their defense. Bottom line: the homestanders are back in the AFC North race. Look for Pittsburgh to eke one out.
Indianapolis 36, Miami 6: Colts v. Dolphins used to be a red-letter game. Today, well…you know the answer. Yes, Miami won last week, but the Colts are at home. “W’ for the horses. ‘L’ for the fins.
Dallas 29, Minnesota 20 (Sunday night): The Cowboys get another prime-time game, this time at home and on a short week, too. The Vikings offense went into a shell last week in its loss to a backup quarterback at Kansas City. This time they’ll be facing a prime starter in Dak Prescott. Vikings can’t afford to lose two in a row, but they will.
Seattle 27, San Francisco 17 (Monday night): The Seahawks are on their bye next week but, before they go, they’ll climb a mountain by handing undefeated San Fran its first loss of the year. How so? Well, Arizona was able to reveal a few cracks in San Francisco’s otherwise-stout defense. Wilson and Co. have that film.
