Saturday, January 1, 2011

NFL Picks - Week 17

Ouch, my first sub .500 week last week. That was a tough one.

This week is unpredictable. You never know who is going to play and who isn't New England can pretty much just say "no, we're not playing, and their playoff position would be completely unaffected. So I'm making my picks as best I can based on who may or may not play.


Expert Picks: ESPN Analysts

Week 16: 7-9

Miami @ New England:New England
Minnesota @ Detroit: Detroit
Carolina @ Atlanta: Atlanta
Oakland @ Kansas City: Kansas City
Pittsburgh @ Cleveland: Pittsburgh
Buffalo @ NY Jets: NY Jets
Tampa Bay @ New Orleans: New Orleans
Cincinnati @ Baltimore: Baltimore
Chicago @ Green Bay: Green Bay
NY Giants @ Washington: Washington
Jacksonville @ Houston: Jacksonville
Dallas @ Philadelphia: Dallas
Tennessee @ Indianapolis: Indianapolis
San Diego @ Denver: Denver
Arizona @ San Francisco: Arizona
St. Louis @ Seattle: Seattle

Overall Record: 150-90

Quick Thoughts on the Games:

New England has absolutely nothing invested in this game. But it's home and Bellichick knows the importance of momentum. I bet Brady plays until halftime and lights up the Dolphins.

Has anyone noticed the Lions have won 3 in a row? And two of those wins were against teams still in the playoff hunt. Minnesota is in a tailspin, the Lions get it done again.

Atlanta NEEDS this game and the #1 seed. Carolina is awful.

Kansas City doesn't have a lot to play for here... so I was tempted to go with Oakland, but I won't.

Pittsburgh has to win to get the BYE. It's too important but winning in Cleveland has proved difficult so it'll be tough.

Jets won't have a problem beating Buffalo.

The defending champs can't lose the last game of the year. Tampa Bay is another year from the playoffs.

Cincinnati is hot, but that's what they do when the games don't matter. We beat them in Baltimore last season, but I don't think that'll happen again.

I'm shocked Green Bay beat Philly last weekend. Two big home wins in a row would give them some HUGE momentum.

Part of me wants to pick the Redskins here... and ya know what, I'm changing my pick, go Redskins. After getting spanked last week, I think the Giants will fall under the playoff pressure. I've never been an Eli Manning fan. I think he's labeled as "good" because of his last name more than his game. Their defense won them the Super Bowl, not their quarterback.

Jacksonville/Houston, I didn't feel like wasting time thinking about it.

My big upset pick. Philly has nothing to play for and sounds like Vick won't play. Dallas and their new-coach-hopeful would LOVE to knock off Philly for Jerry Jones.

Indianapolis + potential playoffs + the real Archie Manning son = Win

This game is meaningless except for one thing. I've been hearing a lot about how Tebow wants to go out and prove himself, and prove himself he will.

Arizona won 2 of their last 3. Sure, why not pick them.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see a 7-9 team make the playoffs. I just LOVE controversy, which is another reason I'm rooting so hard for Oklahoma to POUND Connecticut and TCU to DEMOLISH Wisconsin. I think the former will happen, the latter probably won't. But it sure would highlight the ridiculousness of the BCS. So Seattle winning would start the talk of how the playoffs are seeded and I think that's a good thing.

0 comments: