NFL Picks: Season is winding down
Published 2:36 pm Thursday, December 5, 2013
Here are the picks:
Houston at Jacksonville
I respect the Jaguars for picking up their game lately, but I wonder if they realize that the more games they drop the better draft pick they get. The loser of this game will be in pretty good position to land the top pick in the draft.
JAGUARS 24, TEXANS 20
Atlanta at Green Bay
The last time I checked Matt Ryan is healthy and Aaron Rodgers isn’t. The Packers are really, really bad without Rodgers.
FALCONS 27, PACKERS 17
Indianapolis at Cincinnati
Each of these teams are 8-4 with playoff aspirations, but I don’t think either of them will make a deep postseason run. The Bengals are unbeaten at home, so I’ll give them the edge in this one.
BENGALS 21, COLTS 13
Cleveland at New England
The Pats will probably find a way to make this one closer than it should be, because that’s what they’ve done all year. But I don’t think they’ll be in any danger of losing.
PATRIOTS 30, BROWNS 20
Oakland at N.Y. Jets
I can’t believe the Jets haven’t turned to Mark Sanchez yet. Remember when he said he’d be ready to play in the opener?
RAIDERS 27, JETS 10
Detroit at Philadelphia
The Lions did what they had to against the Packers. Now they’ll probably go back to their disappointing ways and back their way into the playoffs.
EAGLES 31, LIONS 21
Miami at Pittsburgh
When Mike Tomlin put his foot in front of Jacoby Jones in the Thanksgiving night game, I said he should be fined. But $100,000 is way too big of a fine for a simple act like that. That $100,000 fine should be assigned to whoever decided to take away a touchdown from Pittsburgh’s Le’veon Bell when he was speared by two defenders so hard that his helmet fell off. I’m no Steelers fan, but how do you punish a guy for being hit in the head?
STEELERS 16, DOLPHINS 13
Buffalo at Tampa Bay
Just move along, there’s nothing to see here; nothing worth watching anyway.
BILLS 24, BUCS 21
Kansas City at Washington
The Chiefs are looking a lot more beatable after dropping three straight games, but the Redskins will help them get back on track.
CHIEFS 27, REDSKINS 20
Minnesota at Baltimore
The Vikings looked like they had lost about three times against the Bears, before they finally sealed the deal. That doesn’t exactly instill confidence in them as they head to Baltimore, which still has a chance at the postseason.
RAVENS 35, VIKINGS 10
Tennessee at Denver
The Broncos will roll and the only drama is how many TDs Peyton Manning will throw. He’s 19 away from 60 TDs with four games to go.
BRONCOS 34, TITANS 10
St. Louis at Arizona
The Rams are a little beat up on their offensive line heading into this one.
CARDINALS 20, RAMS 6
N.Y. Giants at San Diego
They should dub this one the Underachiever Bowl. Both of these teams should be better than their 5-7 record.
CHARGERS 31, GIANTS 30
Seattle at San Francisco
The 49ers have too much pride to let Seattle come into their house and walk all over them. The Seahawks also don’t need this game nearly as bad as the 49ers do.
49ERS 27, SEAHAWKS 20
Carolina at New Orleans
The Saints are a much different offense at home and I see the Panthers’ 8-game winning streak coming to an end.
SAINTS 34, PANTHERS 21
Dallas at Chicago
I can’t trust Tony Romo on the road in the cold in December.
BEARS 27, COWBOYS 24
Last week: 107-79