Picking Football Games, Week 13

Now that we're past Thanksgiving, we're gonna start seeing the playoff race graphic at the end of every game, especially games involving contenders.  Which is pretty much everybody.  In the NFC, it's pretty much only the Lions who aren't on the playoff graphic, and the AFC is just a jumbled mess of teams with six or seven wins.  We also know that there'll be a pretty good team left out in the AFC...and two mediocre-at-best wild cards in the NFC.  Although, thanks to the extra week, there's still a lot of season left, so a lot can change between now and then.

Thursday Night: Dallas (Win)

Buccaneers (8-3) at Falcons (5-6): Tampa Bay-Antonio Brown sure pulled a fast one on the Bucs, didn't he?  But, honestly, are you really surprised?  This is a guy who's worn out his welcome in how many places?  People are saying Tampa Bay should release him, and, frankly, they should.  His suspension is also a bit of a joke since he was gonna miss at least the next two weeks with an injury anyway.  And it's not like they need him to beat the Falcons.

Cardinals (9-2) at Bears (4-7): Arizona-Arizona's bye week had to have felt a little strange.  Because all the Cardinals could do was sit there and watch as the Packers played the Rams, knowing the result was gonna help them either way.  Green Bay winning might've been better for them, too.  Because now they have a full two-game lead in the NFC West.  And as long as they keep winning, the fact that they lost to the Packers won't matter.  A loss to the Bears, though, gives idle Green Bay the 1-seed.  You know the Cardinals are aware of that.  They'll be ready.

Chargers (6-5) at Bengals (7-4): Cincinnati-The Bengals just might be for real.  Not only did they sweep the season series with Pittsburgh, they kicked the Steelers' butts last week!  And it's got them at the front of that crazy AFC wild card pack.  The Chargers are also currently in because they have the tiebreaker in the AFC West (that division could be a four-way tie depending on how this week's results turn out).  So, this is a huge one for positioning, since the winner will obviously have the tiebreaker.

Vikings (5-6) at Lions (0-10-1): Minnesota-Has any team had a crazier season than Minnesota?  The Vikings are 5-6 and currently on the outside looking in when they could easily be 7-4 or 8-3 and challenging Green Bay for the division lead.  It's not like the Lions haven't had their share of crazy losses, either.  Like on Thanksgiving, when the Bears kept the ball for the final eight minutes and kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.  What's Detroit got to do to get a win?

Giants (4-7) at Dolphins (5-7): Giants-Considering the Giants will be without Daniel Jones, I was tempted to take Miami in this one.  But the Giants don't need Daniel Jones to hand off to Saquon Barkley.  More importantly, Daniel Jones doesn't play defense.  It was night and day, the difference in the defense's performances against Tampa Bay and Philadelphia.  Seeing as the Dolphins' offense is more similar to the Eagles', I'm sticking with my Giants pick.

Eagles (5-7) at Jets (3-8): Jets-One week after a terrible performance against the Giants, Philadelphia returns to the scene of the crime.  Maybe this time the Eagles' offense will remember to get on the bus!  And how about the New York media celebrating that the Jets surpassed last season's win total?  Not hard when they only won two games!  Anyway, this week, they can easily make it two in a row.  Unless the Eagles actually remember to show up this time, that is.

Colts (6-6) at Texans (2-9): Indianapolis-Last week's loss might've moved the Colts out of playoff position, but it still had to be pretty encouraging.  They put up 31 points against the defending champions, were in the game the whole time, and certainly looked like they'll be formidable down the stretch.  That stretch run will be incredibly tough, though, so they need to take care of business against a Texans team they're better than.  They can't get caught looking ahead like the Titans did against Houston.

Washington (5-6) at Raiders (6-5): Washington-Washington is 5-6 and currently holds a wild card.  That tells you all you need to know about the NFC.  Because they aren't exactly a GOOD football team.  But all credit to them for going out and taking care of business on Monday night, when they knew it would move them into playoff position.  Which, by the way, is exactly the same thing they did last year.  The Raiders, meanwhile, are moving in the opposite direction.

Jaguars (2-9) at Rams (7-4): Rams-I think I finally figured the Rams out!  They look like a Super Bowl contender one week then look like anything but the next, and it completely depends on their opponent!  They simply can't beat good teams.  Seeing as the Jaguars aren't a good team, this week they'll probably put up 40 and look like they're ready to play a home game on February 13.

Ravens (8-3) at Steelers (5-5-1): Baltimore-Baltimore has moved into the AFC's No. 1 seed, but hanging on to it will be the real challenge.  Four of the Ravens' remaining games are within the division, and the other two are against the Packers and Rams.  As they showed last week against Cleveland, though, they're up for the challenge.  Whether the Steelers are is a different question.  Pittsburgh is still alive in the playoff hunt, but got embarrassed in Cincinnati last week and sure doesn't look like a playoff team.

49ers (6-5) at Seahawks (3-8): San Francisco-This game was flexed out of Sunday night, and understandably so.  The 49ers are currently in the playoffs, mainly because of their three-game winning streak.  Seattle, meanwhile, is in the midst of the worst season in the Pete Carroll-Russell Wilson Era.  The Seahawks offense simply hasn't clicked, and Wilson hasn't been good since he returned from his broken finger.  And this week, he'll clinch the first losing record of his career.

Broncos (6-5) at Chiefs (7-4): Kansas City-Remember when Kansas City was in last place and everybody else in the AFC West was tied for first?  I don't either!  Now the Chiefs have regained their traditional place atop the division, albeit by just one game over the other three!  As cool as I think it would be for it to be a four-way tie, this instead should be where the Chiefs begin to separate themselves.  The 1-seed in the AFC is a very realistic possibility, too.

Patriots (8-4) at Bills (7-4): Buffalo-Talk about a big game!  In fact, no game this week is bigger than the one on Monday night.  The Bills probably thought they'd be wrapping up the AFC East right about now.  They certainly didn't anticipate being in a real battle with the Patriots.  Which makes this one huge for both teams.  Either the Bills retake first place or New England keeps rolling and heads into its (ridiculously late) bye with a game-and-a-half lead.  I think they split the season series, with each team winning at home.  And, since this game's in Buffalo, that means the Bills win this one.

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 7-8
Overall: 115-65-1