There’s going to be a lot of “ifs” in this piece but when trying
to lay out what might occur in the upcoming 3 weeks, that’s bound to happen
since I neither own a crystal ball nor am I Biff from “Back to the
Future II.”
Before I delve into some of the potential situations that could
happen in the season and before you roll your eyes at the league conspiring to
make it unfold, just remember what’s already transpired this season by
Commissioner Roger Goodell.
-
He fined & suspended members
of the New Orleans Saints, except he did it so poorly and rashly that he had to
invite the man who previously had his job... only to have him undo everything
-
He nickel and dimed the Ref’s
to the point that they were locked out and we were forced to begin the season
with replacement refs leading to 1 of the most egregious calls in sports. A
call which could have a pretty profound effect on the NFC Playoff Picture.
-
He was on the cover of
TIME Magazine with the caption “How far will NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell go
to protect the game he loves?” PROTECT?!?! The same man clamoring for an 18
game season while ushering players out on Thursday Night games on 4 days rest. Scheduling
teams to play 4 games in 19 days. And basically ignoring the concussion issue
for so long that he’s put himself in the same range of Bud Selig’s ignorance over
steroids.
So while you might think that I’m conjuring up radical theories
for the sake of sensationalism – just keep those last 3 events in your mind.
I’ll get into the scenarios through the games so onto the Week 15
picks. Home teams in CAPS.
EAGLES (+5) over Bengals
Bengals won 31-14 on Thursday Night.
Packers (-2.5) over BEARS
With a win here the Packers essentially lock
up the NFC North and effectively kick out the Bears of the NFC Playoff picture.
What’s interesting for the Packers is that in Week 17 they play the Vikings who
could still be vying for a playoff spot. In a win or go home game for the Vikes
in that scenario, they could upset the Packers. The only thing the Packers have
to play for is that 2nd seed since they’ll have clinched the
division by that point. And if that happens, with Seattle running the table AND
getting a 49ers loss @ the Patriots this weekend, Seattle would then hold the
tie-breaker for 2nd seed because of, you guessed it: The Fail Mary.
Giants (+1.5) over FALCONS
I’m amazed this hasn’t been brought up more but I guess since we
haven’t been near the playoffs it hasn’t needed to be. With the Giants ability
to play rope-a-dope all year and then turn it on for the stretch run, and
Peyton having a renaissance year in Denver, and the Super Bowl being in New
Orleans (Archie Manning’s stomping grounds)... A Manning Hat-Trick Super Bowl
is actually in the cards. Or a Triple Manning. Or a Tri-Mannification. I don’t
know what it’ll be called, but just know that it could happen. And how does it
start? With a win against the conference leading Falcons. A lot has been made
of the Giants late season surges, and I think the line reflects it so, but I’m
not ready to jump off the bandwagon on that theory even if Matt Ryan has only 4
career losses at home.
Buccaneers (+3.5) over SAINTS
What happened in the last matchup
between these two teams? The Bucs had a last second touchdown wiped out with 1
of the weirdest calls of the season. Because apparently defensive players are
allowed to push players out of bounds making them ineligible to make catches
with no pass interference penalties. And given this erratic swing of picks
Brees has started throwing and the Bucs ability to snag the ball defensively, I’ll
grab the 3.5.
RAMS (-2.5) over Vikings
It kind of pains to take the Rams here
because I’m all in on Adrian Peterson gunning for the rushing record. I wanna
see it happen and I don’t know if even the Rams run D (which ranks in the top
half of the league) can slow him down but how can you take Christian Ponder on
the road when you get less than a field goal?
Redskins (-1) over BROWNS (this is under the assumption RG3 plays...
if he doesn’t make this the BROWNS)
Doesn’t it feel like the Browns have
been incredibly worse than say the Lions? Yet the Browns are 5-8 and the Lions
4-9. Also this game sets up a kind of funny What If scenario. For instance,
what if the Browns actually traded up instead of the Redskins (highly probable since
they had the better package to offer St. Louis) and grabbed RG3 and rejuvenated
Cleveland instead of Washington? If Kirk Cousins plays then it might not matter
but it’d still be hilarious if the 3rd round rookie beat Cleveland’s
1st round Rookie in Brandon Weeden. Actually that’s almost too funny
not to pick... Maybe I change my disclaimer from before.
Jaguars (+7.5) over DOLPHINS
1 of 3 games that rank in the “game that nobody will watch”
category. Is anybody else laughing at the inevitability of the Jaguars ending up
with a top 5 pick and being puzzled as to what to do with it?
RAVENS (+3) over Broncos
Good teams shouldn’t lose 3 games in a
row and if the Ravens want to be a good team, you can’t lose this one,
especially when losing this would mean 2 losses at home in 3 weeks. The firing
of an offensive co-ordinator this late in the season doesn’t totally concern me
because when the offensive co-ordinator makes a habit of basically refusing to
give the ball to your best playmaker in the 4th quarter, he probably
should have been let go earlier. I think Jim Caldwell will do a better job with
Flacco and maybe take aim down the field more like they did to begin the year,
which led to success.
Colts (+10) over TEXANS
The Texans should have a bounce-back
game here considering they got shown up pretty badly on Monday Night Football
but 10 points is still a bit much. Because guess who plays in Week 17 in what
could be an AFC South deciding game.... Why it’s the Houston Texans and Indianapolis
Colts!!! As it stands there is potentially only 1 meaningful head to head game
that will be played in Week 17. If the Colts manage to win this one, that would
make 2. C’mon NFL – do your thing and let a call or 2 slide here to make the
end of the season stretch interesting.
Panthers (+3) over CHARGERS
This game is kind of the equivalent of re-read a book for the 4th
time. The Panthers coaching staff... is basically the Chargers old coaching
staff. Head coach Ron Rivera is a former Norv Turner disciple, but he didn’t
just leave San Diego on his own. He decided to take Offensive Co-Ordinator Rob
Chudzinski and secondary coach Steve Wilks with him. And after all that, Rivera
didn’t think it was enough (mind you he’s now taking coaches away from a team
that never made it to a Super-Bowl under this regime despite a 14 win season
and a 13 win season) so he went and nabbed NORV’S OWN SON!!! Scott Turner now
works for the Panthers and all 4 of these coaches are going to be preparing the
Panthers to play the Chargers working off a scheme and mindset they all came
from. If it’s 1 coach, I might downplay it a bit but FOUR?!?!
BILLS (+5.5) over Seahawks
Even as a Seahawks fan I need to see the
‘Hawks win a game on the road by more than a field goal before I can truly take
them as road favourites. They did win the Bears game but that went to OT after
they gave up a ridiculous play at the end of regulation to set up a game-tying
FG. And they scored on the first possession so I’m kind of making that game
less than a field goal win.
CARDINALS (+6.5) over Lions
The only thing you need to know about this game comes from Marcellus Wallace. If you’re
in a picks pool and wanna take Lions, then “that’s pride ^&&^*^ with
you.” Yea the Cardinals looked terrible, but what exactly about the Lions would
inspire you to take them here? They have
4 wins on the year. 3 came on final play or final minute drives, and the only
other one was against Jacksonville. So how are they favoured by nearly a
touchdown on the road?
COWBOYS (+2) over Steelers
There are 2 teams that the world has
loved to hate this year and the Cowboys are one of them, the other is listed
below, don’t worry we’ll get to them. Considering the Bears freefall, the
Cowboys have a shot of landing the 6th playoff spot. What would it
take? Running the table and winning out. If they lose now that would mean
missing out on the playoffs and 2 weeks of just purgatory for them. Nope, it’s
not a big enough stage for them to fail in. I know it’s a classic matchup and
it’s going to be GREAT to see the Steelers and Cowboys uniforms together on a
field again, but if they win here it starts the makings of an epic game in Week
17 vs. the Redskins. Both are vying for that last playoff spot. The world wants
its drama, and they shall get it.
RAIDERS (-3) over Chiefs
Part 2 of 3 in games that nobody will watch. I’m also subscribing
to that theory and refuse to talk about it.
PATRIOTS (-4.5) over 49ers
Forget the Brady/Bellichick in the 2nd half of the
season stat (21 straight wins). Or the Patriots December record at home (20
straight wins) or their December streak in general (13 straight). And even try
to push the beat-down they just laid on the Texans last week out of your mind.
Last week the NFL announced that the Week 16 matchup between the Seahawks and
49ers had been flexed out to be played on Sunday night setting up a potential division
deciding game in prime-time. That game is completely moot if the 49ers win here
because San Fran holds a 1.5 game advantage on Seattle for the NFC West crown. Yes
technically they can lose in both Week’s 16 & 17 and lose the division but
they play Arizona in Week 17. So why wouldn’t the Patriots get some extra help
from the league to pull this win off. Now add in the stats, and the fact that
it’s a rookie QB vs. Bill Bellichick in December, on the road against a defence
that lives off turnovers and Colin Kaepernick hasn’t exactly been anything
astonishing these past 3 weeks. Forget that 50 yard TD Run because the
circumstances of that run are what important. It was just him protecting a lead
and the Dolphins inexplicably let him get loose. He’s still looked rather
normal or even Alex Smith like and is prone to a few mistakes. Now with the
cold-weather for a warm weather team travelling cross country, and with a hint
of a must-lose situation for the NFL. I like the Patriots.
TITANS (+1.5) over Jets
Part 3 of 3 in games that nobody will watch. However this comes
with an asterisk because it happens to be on Monday Night. As I wrote earlier
the Cowboys don’t have a big enough stage to fail on so that could lead them to
winning and keeping their playoff hopes alive. The Jets are in the same boat.
If they win out, they could actually grab the 6th playoff spot with
some help and luck. But this is the perfect stage for that colossal failure.
You get a mixture of things. A road game, a primetime TV game, against a team
everybody has forgotten about. Seriously, if I asked you to name all 32 NFL
teams wouldn’t you struggle to name Tennessee? Have they had 1 moment this
season that’s made you text a friend “hey did you see that play in the Titans
game?” Either a good or bad play - Anything?! This is their moment, a chance to
sucker punch the Jets playoff hopes and save us from talking about the Jets as
playoff hopefuls for 2 more weeks.
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 7-9
Season: 100-103-2
No comments:
Post a Comment