Picking Football Games, Week 11

Maybe I spoke too soon about surviving the crazy week picks-wise.  Despite all the upsets, I made it through Week 9 in pretty good shape.  Then Week 10 hit.  The Dolphins beat the Ravens on Thursday night and it was all downhill from there, to the tune of 5-8-1.  Hopefully NOW it's out of my system!

What the last two weeks have shown us, too, is that there are apparently a lot of teams that don't actually want to make the playoffs.  Every team that had a chance to gain ground because somebody ahead of them lost didn't do so.  And, as a result, the standings are a huge mess.  Especially in the AFC, where the Patriots are suddenly a major player after their Thursday night shutout win.

Thursday Night: New England (Win)

Colts (5-5) at Bills (6-3): Buffalo-Last week, for the second time this season, the Bills took out a bad game on their next opponent.  Of course, they haven't played the Patriots yet, and those games are suddenly ultra-relevant in the division race.  That may actually be a good thing, since they know they can't take any more games off.  Especially this week's matchup with a Colts team that's 4-1 since a 1-4 start.  A Bills loss here would be really bad heading into that Thanksgiving night game in New Orleans.

Ravens (6-3) at Bears (3-6): Baltimore-Incredibly, even after that loss to the Dolphins, the Ravens are still in sole possession of first place.  Of course, that's mainly because they got lucky with the Steelers tying and the Browns losing.  They can't rely on Pittsburgh and Cleveland helping them out again, though.  They have to take care of business in Chicago themselves.  Which they should.

Lions (0-8-1) at Browns (5-5): Cleveland-Detroit won't go 0-17 this season!  As terrible as that game was, it was nice to see the Lions not lose (for the second week in a row!), since they're too good to go completely winless on the season.  Of course, they're still technically winless, but it's coming soon.  Perhaps against the Bears on Thanksgiving?  Because that first win won't come in Cleveland.

Texans (1-8) at Titans (8-2): Tennessee-The Titans more than navigated the most difficult part of their schedule.  They have the best record in the AFC and the tiebreaker on pretty much everybody!  They go to Foxboro next week, so this definitely has "trap game" written all over it.  Fortunately, the Texans aren't very good.  So, Tennessee can get away with a bad game and still probably win (although, they did lose to the Jets, which is the weirdest thing about their season).

Packers (8-2) at Vikings (4-5): Green Bay-Call me crazy, but I still like Minnesota for a playoff spot.  The Vikings are better than their record, as evidence last week with their win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium.  They know their chances of winning the NFC North are all but nonexistent, though.  Green Bay will go into Thanksgiving with a 4.5 game lead in the division.

Dolphins (3-7) at Jets (2-7): Miami-I feel kind of bad for Jets fans.  I mean, only a little, since they bring it on themselves.  But the past few weeks have been particularly bad!  Do they even have a defense?  Or an offense for that matter?  it's not like the Dolphins are much better.  They just aren't nearly as dysfunctional as the Jets.  And, hey, they beat the Ravens last week!

Saints (5-4) at Eagles (4-6): New Orleans-Do the Saints actually want to make the playoffs?  Because they sure haven't played like it over the last two weeks!  The crazy thing is they had enough of a buffer and the bottom teams in the NFC are so bad that their playoff spot is still secure.  At least for now.  Things aren't gonna get any easier with back-to-back Thursday night games against Buffalo and Dallas coming up.  Which means if they don't win in Philly, a five-game losing streak is a real possibility for the Saints.

Washington (3-6) at Panthers (5-5): Carolina-Suddenly, the Carolina Panthers are currently holding down the final playoff spot in the NFC.  And, with their remaining schedule, it's entirely possible.  Especially now that Cam Newton is back and looks like his old self.  It must be something about that Panther blue!  He should make it 2-for-2 since his return in his first home game back with Panthers.

49ers (4-5) at Jaguars (2-7): San Francisco-San Francisco has the Rams' number.  That's really the only way I can explain what happened on Monday night.  With that win, the 49ers have suddenly thrust themselves into the playoff conversation.  They'll be even more relevant in the playoff race after this week, when they take advantage of the gift they've been given in a trip to Jacksonville and move to .500.

Bengals (5-4) at Raiders (5-4): Las Vegas-For some reason, I don't think all hope is lost for the Raiders yet.  Even after losing to the Giants and getting their butts kicked by the Chiefs, they're still in good shape.  Of course, getting their butts kicked again in Dallas on Thanksgiving is a very strong possibility, which is why a win over Cincinnati is imperative.  It's actually imperative for both teams, seeing as the winner will have the tiebreaker and deal the loser's playoff chances a massive hit.

Cowboys (7-2) at Chiefs (6-4): Kansas City-America's Game of the Week is worthy of the title!  Could this potentially be a Super Bowl preview?  (For the record, I think Dallas is more likely to get there than Kansas City.)  The Chiefs seem to have finally found their mojo, while the Cowboys rebounded from their loss to Denver by absolutely thumping Atlanta.  This should be a great game.  It could be one of those "last possession wins" types.  But, since the game's in Kansas City, I'm going with the Chiefs.

Cardinals (8-2) at Seahawks (3-6): Arizona-It's a good thing that the Cardinals got off to such a good start and that the NFC is weak.  Because, as I suspected, once Arizona lost, teams were gonna watch tape and figure them out.  Which is exactly what happened against the Panthers!  The Seahawks, meanwhile, are in danger of seeing this become their first lost season in quite a while.  They didn't look good without Russell Wilson, and they didn't look good last week with him.  That's not a good sign for a second half turnaround.

Steelers (5-3-1) at Chargers (5-4): Pittsburgh-That tie may end up not hurting Pittsburgh too much in the long run.  It takes them out of all the tiebreakers, and considering how tight the AFC playoff race figures to be, I can see them getting in by a half-game over somebody.  That team could be the Chargers, who've been in a free fall since that great start.  And Pittsburgh always rebounds well after a bad game, which is why I'm going with the Steelers in this one.

Giants (3-6) at Buccaneers (6-3): Tampa Bay-How did the Giants swing it that they got two Monday night games this year?  And that both were on the road against last season's Super Bowl teams?!  They actually played pretty well in Kansas City, and, hey, they didn't lose last week (it was their bye)!  The Bucs, meanwhile, had a shocking loss in Washington.  We all know what Tom Brady is like after a loss.

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 5-8-1
Overall: 100-50-1