Well, it had to happen some time. Last week was the first losing week for these picks. My record was 5-8. This brings the cumulative record to 34-19. I suppose that’s just how it is with sports picks; some weeks go oddly well and some go poorly. Time to make picks for this next week.
Chicago at Miami: No Pick, Thursday Game.
Baltimore at Carolina: Baltimore. Baltimore simply has a better record. The Panthers have a whopping one win at home. Baltimore is clearly the heavy favorite in this game.
Houston at New York Jets: Houston. Last week a similar game occurred in the NFC where a New York team hosted a Texas team at Giants stadium. The Texas team won. I expect the same thing to play out with the AFC teams.
Buffalo at Cincinnati: Cincinnati. Buffalo may no longer be winless, but that doesn’t change the expectations from favoring their opponents. Either the game will end with both teams at 2-8, or it will end with a win for Cincinnati.
Oakland at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s record is only a game better than Oakland’s. Additionally their stats are evenly split in terms of advantages.
Cleveland at Jacksonville: Jacksonville. Cleveland’s streak of beating top-level teams has officially ended with the OT loss to the Jets last week. While I’m unsure whether the Jaguars are the top-level type of team that the Browns do so well against, I do know that Jacksonville has the stats and the record to be the favorite.
Detroit at Dallas: Dallas. Detroit is typically the joke team of the NFC North Division and lived up to the title last week, losing to the previously no-win Bills. Dallas on the other hand, has a new coach and in his one week he has already doubled Dallas’ wins. Neither team is doing well this year but the Cowboys are coming off of a winning week and have the home-field advantage.
Arizona at Kansas City: Kansas City. The Chiefs may be 5-4 overall but they are 4-0 with home-field advantage. The Cardinals will be looking to have their four game losing streak end with their loss last week to Seattle—the same team that started this streak.
Washington at Tennessee: Tennessee. Tennessee may have lost last week, but not to the same extent as Washington. Washington lost last week 59-28 against the Philadelphia Eagles at home. Washington may only have a one game difference with Tennessee in terms of record, but they must also overcome a shattered sense of morale if they hope to secure a win.
Green Bay at Minnesota: Minnesota. Hopefully this game will go well. The Vikings NEED this win and if there is one thing that has been shown by this NFL season, it’s that surprises do happen.
Seattle at New Orleans: New Orleans. Seattle may be in the top if the NFC West, but the NFC South’s New Orleans Saints (currently in 2nd place) are the heavy favorite in this matchup. Fresh off of a bye week, the Saints seem ready to hunt some Seahawks.
Atlanta at St. Louis: Atlanta. The Atlanta Falcons stand 7-2 currently, notably better than the 4-5 Rams. While all of the Rams’ wins have been at home, Atlanta has secured some of their wins away.
Tampa Bay at San Francisco: Tampa Bay. This pick goes against most projections but I expect the team with a better away record than home record, and the better overall record, to beat the team with an identical home record (both teams are 3-2 at home) but significantly worse overall record. Home-field advantage aside, I see no factors supporting San Francisco in this game.
Indianapolis at New England: Indianapolis. This was a difficult pick as Indianapolis is the underdog in this game. Both teams are easily Super Bowl contenders (although only one of them could possibly make it to the game). This pick came down to a few things. I may go to school in Patriot territory but Manning has a few things that lead me to pick his team over the Patriots, one of them being my favorite number (18).
New York Giants at Philadelphia: Philadelphia. The Eagles are on fire after their win last week. Meanwhile, the Giants were not so giant as they lost to a team that just had a mid-season coaching change. Both teams are good, but with both a winning streak and home-field advantage, I expect the Eagles to fly above the reach of the Giants.
Denver at San Diego: San Diego. San Diego has been managing a potential comeback with two consecutive wins. Meanwhile, Denver has only managed 1 win in their last five games. These two teams sit at the bottom of the AFC west. At the end of the game, either they will be tied or the Chargers will advance further away from fourth place.
