Picking Football Games, Week 15

First, Baker Mayfield went off because the NFL didn't postpone the Browns-Raiders game.  Then the Raiders went off because the league did.  Throw in Seahawks-Rams and Eagles-Washington, and COVID has once again reared its ugly head and wreaked havoc with the NFL schedule.  I guess we should be grateful it took until Week 15 for it to happen!

Thursday Night: Kansas City (Win)

Patriots (9-4) at Colts (7-6): New England-While Patriots-Colts simply is no longer the must-see matchup it was in the Manning-Brady Era, this one is still definitely worth watching.  New England's on an incredible seven-game winning streak that was interrupted only by their ridiculously-late bye (thank God byes are finally over!).  There are a ton of complicated scenarios that can see the Patriots clinching a playoff berth this week, but they don't care about any of that.  They're thinking about the 1-seed and that playoff bye Belichick loves so much.  

Panthers (5-8) at Bills (7-6): Buffalo-In a few short weeks, Buffalo has gone from a playoff lock to clinging to a wild card.  The good news for the Bills is that they still have plenty of time to change that.  They just need to be a lot more consistent, not this team that's been alternating wins and losses for two months.  Although, that streak finally stopped with their second straight loss last week in Tampa, so maybe a win over the Panthers will be the start of a good stretch run.

Cardinals (10-3) at Lions (1-11-1): Arizona-Arizona will officially become the first team to clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Lions.  Which shouldn't be a problem, seeing as they're undefeated on the road this season.  Of course, they're in line to win the NFC West, which will mean at least one playoff home game, but their loss to the Rams knocked them out of the 1-seed.  That means they'd lose the bye, but it also means they'd also get to travel, so it may have been a blessing in disguise.

Jets (3-10) at Dolphins (6-7): Miami-Suddenly, the Dolphins are very much in the mix.  Miami started 1-7 but has won five in a row and, if things go their way in the other games, can end up tied for the 7-seed by the end of this week.  Fortunately, they're playing the Jets.  So the chances of that becoming six straight are pretty high.

Cowboys (9-4) at Giants (4-9): Dallas-Even if the Cowboys beat the Giants like they should, they'll have to wait to clinch their inevitable NFC East title, which they can only secure this week with a win and a Washington-Philadelphia tie (there are other complex scenarios, but that's the only straightforward one).  Either way, they're pretty much locked into the 4-seed, so all they can do is win and get ready for their Sunday night wild card game against the Rams.

Titans (9-4) at Steelers (6-6-1): Pittsburgh-Which Steelers team is going to show up this week?  The one that completely shut the Ravens down or the one that didn't show up until the fourth quarter in Minnesota?  There's a reason why this team is the only one capable of finishing .500 this season.  Because that's exactly what they look like.  A .500 team.  But they also haven't dipped below .500 since Week 5, so I actually think they'll get the win here. 

Texans (2-11) at Jaguars (2-11): Houston-It's the game that'll determine who gets the No. 2 pick in the draft (or maybe even the No. 1 pick if the Lions get another win)!  And I bet Jacksonville is thankful it's finally here so they can stop talking about the Urban Meyer drama (apparently the timing of the announcement after the Josh Lambo report was coincidence).  Anyway, this disaster of a season started with a loss to a Texans team most people consider the worst in football.  Just imagine how much worse it'll be when Houston finishes off a season sweep!

Bengals (7-6) at Broncos (7-6): Cincinnati-There are a lot of 7-6 teams in the AFC, and these are two of them.  Which makes this game full of playoff implications.  The loser can basically kiss their wild card hopes goodbye.  Cincinnati has bigger things in mind, though.  The Bengals still have hopes for a division title.  They've lost two straight, but I see a bounce back here.

Falcons (6-7) at 49ers (7-6): San Francisco-The 49ers can all but officially lock up a wild card this week.  A win here would solidify San Francisco's No. 6 position and not only make them two clear of the teams chasing them, it would give them another head-to-head tiebreaker.  So, basically, things are looking really good for the 49ers to make the playoffs.  An Atlanta win, of course, would greatly improve the Falcons' chances and actually move them ahead of San Francisco.

Packers (10-3) at Ravens (8-5): Green Bay-America's Game of the Week features a pair of first-place teams going in opposite directions.  The Packers took over the 1-seed in the NFC and can clinch the division with a win.  The Ravens, meanwhile, are in a dogfight just to hang on to a playoff berth in a division where everybody is .500 or better.  It wasn't too long ago that Baltimore was sitting pretty, but that loss in Miami started a five-game stretch where they're just 2-3.  Things will get tougher, too.  A loss here, and they could suddenly be tied for the division lead.

Saints (6-7) at Buccaneers (10-3): Tampa Bay-Brady is 0-3 in the regular season against the Saints since joining Tampa Bay.  The Bucs won when they met in the playoffs last season, but that's still an interesting stat that should give him plenty of incentive on Sunday night.  Of course, I'm not sure how much extra incentive is needed since Tampa clinches its first division title since 2007 with a victory (something they would've done last week if not for that pesky extra game this season).

Raiders (6-7) at Browns (7-6): Cleveland-Now that the game is on Monday afternoon instead of Saturday afternoon, Cleveland will presumably have at least one of its quarterbacks available.  And the delay certainly helps the Browns more than it helps the Raiders.  This is a game that Cleveland, frankly, needs to win too.  The AFC North is still very winnable, but it won't be if they don't get this one.  Not when their last three games are at Green Bay and two division matchups.

Vikings (6-7) at Bears (4-9): Minnesota-Let's, for a second, acknowledge the very real possibility that there'll be an 8-9 wild card team in the NFC.  Which plenty of people are gonna complain about, but is entirely the NFL's own doing because of that stupid 17th game!  OK, now that I've gotten that off my chest, if Minnesota wants to be that 8-9 wild card team, they need to beat the Bears.  It's been an interesting season for the Vikings, but, amazingly, they're still in prime position to make the playoffs.  As long as they take care of business here.

Seahawks (5-8) at Rams (9-4): Rams-Beating the Cardinals last week was absolutely HUGE!  Now the Rams can realistically think about catching Arizona.  Their remaining schedule is brutal though, and now they'll have a short week to deal with, as well.  Of course, the short week is because of all the COVID cases they have on the team, so they're probably grateful for the extra couple of days.  Because, with trips to Minnesota and Baltimore coming up after this, this is a big one they need to get.

Washington (6-7) at Eagles (6-7): Washington-Tuesday's other game is actually a pretty big one.  These two haven't met yet because the NFC East schedule is ridiculously backloaded (Washington's schedule for Weeks 14-18 is Cowboys, Eagles, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, while the Eagles go Washington, Giants, Washington, Dallas).  But I digress.  The point is all those division games make it likely one of these two will end up getting a wild card.  And the winner of the first matchup will have the upper hand. (The fact that this game will now be played after all the others certainly helps, too.)

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 10-4
Overall: 132-76-1