Last Week: 11-5
Overall: 129-66
Indianapolis @ Baltimore
Baltimore gets one step closer towards clinching the AFC East with a layup of a game against the Colts. Indianapolis gets one step closer towards complete futility.
Pick: Baltimore
Atlanta @ Carolina
The Falcons came up woefully short against the heavily injured Houston Texans, scoring only 10 points on the road. This Atlanta team has the offensive talent to easily score more than 21 points a game, but have underachieved most of the season. Cam Newton recaptured some of his early season magic last week, scoring four total touchdowns in a road win over Tampa Bay. This is a must-win situation for the Falcons, and I believe their offense comes to life this week.
Pick: Atlanta
Houston @ Cincinnati
The Texans may have lost a number of their stars to injury, but they still have Wade Phillips pulling the strings of their defense, and that may be the glue that keeps the team together and carries them into the playoffs, but defense won’t be enough for this team to win consistently. The Bengals are coming off of a rough outing against the Steelers last week, and have lost three of their last four. However, the Bengals are in a good spot this week. Their defense should be able to handle the T.J. Yates-led offense, and Andy Dalton’s offense has nowhere to go but up after last week.
Pick: Cincinnati
Minnesota @ Detroit
The Vikings were the latest team to fall victim to the red-hot Denver Broncos. Christian Ponder threw for nearly 400 yards and three touchdowns in the loss, but also committed a pair of costly turnovers. The Lions have gone into a tailspin over the last month, and are in serious danger of missing the playoffs. They can’t afford to lose this game, and I think Stafford and the offense recaptures some of their early season dominance.
Pick: Detroit
Tampa Bay @ Jacksonville
Remember the last time Tampa Bay won a game? It’s certainly been awhile. This was a team that really overachieved last season, and this year their record has come back to Earth and reflected the talent level of the team. However, this week they’ll get back into the win column. The Jaguars are dead in the water, and are just looking to get through the remainder of the season as quickly as possible.
Pick: Tampa Bay
Philadelphia @ Miami
Miami is playing excellent football right now. They’re playing hard for their coach Tony Sparano, and are coming off of a one-sided victory over the Oakland Raiders last week. The Eagles gave a woeful effort over a week ago in Seattle. More of the same issues that have plagued the team all season (turnovers, poor coaching, heartless players) reared their ugly heads in the loss. Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin are expected to return from their respective injuries. Even though Miami is playing well right now, I think the return of Vick helps the Eagles end their losing streak and give the front office further delusions that Andy Reid should return next season.
Pick: Philadelphia
Kansas City @ New York Jets
The Jets are fighting for their playoff lives, and have a favorable matchup at home against a dead Kansas City team. New York shouldn’t have trouble winning this game, and needs to use it as an opportunity to get Mark Sanchez into a good rhythm for the final month of the regular season.
Pick: New York
New Orleans @ Tennessee
This is a big test for a Tennessee team that is still hanging on to hopes of stealing the division away from the Texans. I don’t think they’ll pass it. The Titans just aren’t good enough to play with the best teams in the league, and even though Chris Johnson is playing like himself again, Drew Brees and the Saints will deliver a big blow to those remaining post season dreams in Nashville.
Pick: New Orleans
New England @ Washington
The Patriots have enjoyed a number of easy games in recent weeks, and that trend will continue here. The Redskins defense might be able to make to keep things close for a little while in the first half, but there’s just no way Rex Grossman outduels Tom Brady.
Pick: New England
San Francisco @ Arizona
The Cardinals picked up their biggest win of the season a week ago with an overtime victory in an upset of the Dallas Cowboys. San Francisco got themselves back on track with a shutout of the St. Louis Rams in Week 13. This could be a trap game for the 49ers, but I just can’t see the Cardinals knocking off two of the better NFC teams in consecutive weeks.
Pick: San Francisco
Chicago @ Denver
Early in the season, Broncos fans might have been greatly anticipating a chance to battle former quarterback Jay Cutler. But those thoughts have faded away with Cutler on the fritz and Tim Tebow taking the league by storm with a number of incredible comeback victories. Tebow’s team keeps finding ways to win, and I keep thinking each week that his luck is going to run out. Well, this week I’m going the other way. Caleb Hanie has been struggling heavily in Chicago, and now that the Bears have also lost Matt Forte, its going to be a struggle for them to win on the road. In a close, low scoring game, I like the Tebows.
Pick: Denver
Oakland @ Green Bay
Last week’s loss against the Dolphins was a crushing blow to the playoff hopes of the Oakland Raiders. Now they’ve fallen behind the Broncos in the AFC West, and they now face the daunting task of going on the road and finding a way to hand the unbeatable Packers their first loss of the season. If they even slowed the Packers down a bit, it’d be successful trip for the Raiders.
Pick: Green Bay
Buffalo @ San Diego
A couple of teams that are out of the playoff picture will battle for pride this week. The Chargers finally woke up from their season long slumber with a rout of the Jaguars on Monday night, and I think they build on that victory and win again at home. The Bills have lost a lot of their firepower from early in the season.
Pick: San Diego
New York Giants @ Dallas
This is it for the Giants. They’re in full free fall mode right now, and unless they manage to come up with some answers this week against the Cowboys, they’ll be out of the playoff picture and Tom Coughlin could be out of a job. They gave it their all against the Packers a week ago, and if they can summon a similar effort, they’ll come back to New York with a victory. However, I can’t see them sustaining such an effort, and Dallas will be due for a better performance after a pair of sorry efforts against the Dolphins and Cardinals over the last two weeks.
Pick: Dallas
St. Louis @ Seattle
The NFL has picked some terrible games for the prime-time spotlight in recent weeks. On Monday and Thursday night in the last few weeks, we’ve been subjected to the Seahawks, Browns, Jaguars, and Chiefs. Now we’ll see the Seahawks (again) battle the Rams. None of these teams should have any business in a prime-time game past Week 8. Oh, and the Seahawks win this game, St. Louis has no quarterback and no hope.
Pick: Seattle
You could add the bum Eagles in with that group as far as playing on Prime-Time too…
I thnik Vick struggles versus a very active Dolphins Defense who will get in his face, force some turnovers as Vick hasn’t played in a month and who knows hwo wuickly he can get up to speed.. Maclin hasn’t played in a month either so his timing and conditioning cannot be all the great, D-Jax hasn’t been playing all season in my opinion and the Dolphins will stack 8 Defenders in the Boc to take away RB McCoy.. Dolphins give up an average of only 93 Yards per game on the ground which is one the best Defenses versus the Run.. If Eagles cannot get out of the gate early, this will be an ugly one and similar to the Seahawks debacle where the Eagles Defense won’t be able to get off the field oftern enough and fade in the 2nd Half.. I expect Dolphins WR D Bess and TE A Fasano and RB R Bush to all have big games against this Struggling Eagle Defense.. Dolphins 29- Eagles 13..