Fortunately, the AFC playoff race won't get too screwed up by the Patriots' bye. Even if the Titans, Ravens and Chiefs all win, New England will still have the tiebreaker. What it would do, however, is set up an awesome race over the final four weeks! Of course, that requires Tennessee, Baltimore and Kansas City taking care of business first.
Thursday Night: Pittsburgh (Loss)
Ravens (8-4) at Browns (6-6): Baltimore-Ah, NFL scheduling at its finest! The Browns' last game was also against the Ravens. But since last week was Cleveland's bye, the Ravens had a game against the Steelers in between. It makes no sense at all! And the back-to-back games are stupid too! Anyway, I'd say the back-to-back thing favors Cleveland, but they'll be dealing with a Ravens team that's pissed off it lost to Pittsburgh, which should be what makes the difference.
Jaguars (2-10) at Titans (8-4): Tennessee-Remember when the Titans were the No. 1 seed in the AFC? It seems so long ago, doesn't it? They lost two straight before their bye and how have the same record as everybody else. And it all started with a loss to Houston! Now they play the other bad team in their division looking to avoid making that same mistake of looking past them. Of course, the difference here is that this game is in Nashville.
Raiders (6-6) at Chiefs (8-4): Kansas City-Last year, the Raiders went into Kansas City and handed the Chiefs their first loss of the season. This year, the script is strikingly similar. The Chiefs were 6-0 when they hosted the Raiders last season. They come into this one on a five-game winning streak. However, that streak includes a 41-14 thumping of the Raiders in Las Vegas a month ago. The Chiefs are playing their best football. The Raiders are not.
Saints (5-7) at Jets (3-9): New Orleans-It was losing to the Giants that started the Saints' downward spiral that hasn't stopped. Can playing the other New York team snap them out of it while they still have a chance? The beating the Jets part is certainly doable. The rest of it? I'm not so sure. But let's take one thing at a time. Snapping the five-game losing streak is priority number one.
Cowboys (8-4) at Washington (6-6): Dallas-Dallas and Washington will meet twice in 14 days, starting with this week's showdown in DC. So, the Cowboys don't have the division locked up yet. They essentially will with a win against their archrivals, though. Dallas is still working out some kinks after looking like the best team in football earlier this season, and you know Washington's gonna give them a game. Washington can not only move within a game in the division here, they can solidify their playoff position. But alas, a Dallas win will drop the Cowboys' magic number to one.
Falcons (5-7) at Panthers (5-7): Atlanta-This game is actually really important in the NFC playoff race, since the winner could be tied for the seventh spot at week's end. It's doubly important for Atlanta since the Panthers won the first game. Fortunately for them, Carolina has looked like crap since that win in Arizona. That's why I think the Falcons take this one.
Seahawks (4-8) at Texans (2-10): Seattle-Seattle kept its season alive with that win over San Francisco last week. Does that mean the Seahawks will make the playoffs? Probably not! But it's very possible that it got them started on a nice roll to end the season. They've got a favorable schedule, too. Of course, the Titans also thought that when they traveled to Houston and we all know what happened there.
Lions (1-10-1) at Broncos (6-6): Denver-The Lions finally won! It was just so great to see that game-winning touchdown last week. Because that team didn't deserve to go winless! Unfortunately, it should be back to the losing ways this week against the Broncos. Denver had a slight hiccup last week against Kansas City, but is still very much in the AFC playoff race. That'll especially be the case after they improve to 7-6.
Giants (4-8) at Chargers (7-5): Chargers-Every time people start to have second thoughts about the Chargers, they go out and have a performance like last week in Cincinnati. Now they've got a winnable game against the Giants before their Thursday-night showdown with Kansas City. Don't forget, the Chargers won the first game against the Chiefs, so that could very well be for first place. But they have to take care of the Giants before they can worry about that. Otherwise, Thursday won't matter nearly as much.
49ers (6-6) at Bengals (7-5): Cincinnati-I was looking for Super Bowl XVI on YouTube the other day and it's not there. They have the full game for most other Super Bowls, including a bunch from the 70s, but the San Francisco-Cincinnati game that was Madden and first Super Bowl together isn't one of them. (For the record, Super Bowl XXIII IS available.) As for the 2021 editions of the 49ers and Bengals, I'm convinced that Cincinnati is legit. I'm not convinced that San Francisco is. Thus, the pick is the Bengals.
Bills (7-5) at Buccaneers (9-3): Tampa Bay-What has happened to the Bills? This certainly isn't the team that people viewed as a Super Bowl contender entering the season! Now, they're struggling just to hang on to a wild card spot. The good news is that they keep alternating wins and losses, so, since they're coming off a loss, this should theoretically be a win. Except they're playing their old buddy Tom Brady, so that theory will definitely be put to the test this week.
Bears (4-8) at Packers (9-3): Green Bay-We've got the NFL's oldest rivals on Sunday Night Football. I normally complain every time the Bears get a prime time game, but I'm always willing to make an exception when they play the Packers. Had the Vikings lost on Thursday, Green Bay would've actually had a chance to clinch the division this week, and they'll know coming in whether they can clinch a playoff berth. Regardless, they know they need to keep winning if they want to have any chance at the 1-seed (and, don't forget, they have the tiebreaker on Arizona).
Rams (8-4) at Cardinals (10-2): Arizona-Two weeks in a row we've got an excellent Monday night game between first- and second-place teams! This time it's the Cardinals and Rams. An Arizona win would basically clinch the NFC West, while a Rams victory keeps them very much in play for the division. Of course, they put themselves in this position by losing three straight before playing the Jaguars last week. They'll be looking at a wild card and trying to lock down that trip to Dallas after this one.
GREY CUP: Blue Bombers at Tiger-Cats: Hamilton-After taking last year off, the Grey Cup is back! And it's actually a rematch of 2019. Two years ago, Winnipeg won its first title since 1990. Now it's Hamilton that has the longest Grey Cup drought in the CFL. The Tiger-Cats haven't won the championship since 1999, but will be playing at home. I think that makes the difference and they'll no longer be the only CFL team without a Grey Cup win this century.
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 7-7
Overall: 121-73-1
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