My God, that was a bloodbath. In the annals of my NFL picks history, this one is going to go down as the Battle of Stirling from Braveheart. I was on the British side this time.
Here’s what the carnage looked like.
This week
Straight up: 6-8
Against the spread: 5-9
Last week
Straight up: 9-5
Against the spread: 6-8
Season
Straight up: 93-67
Against the spread: 81-79
My best pick wasn’t difficult to figure out. I called the shootout between the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins, picking the Saints to win and not cover. I had a couple of other solid selections too, with Los Angeles Chargers over the Buffalo Bills and what I think was my second best pick, the Atlanta Falcons over the Seattle Seahawks minus Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor. I’m surprised more people didn’t go for that one.
.@A_kamara6 is up for @NFL Rookie of the Week again!
VOTE: https://t.co/OjT1MdCiHa#GoSaints https://t.co/ZbvqkoHmtM
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 21, 2017
My worst pick? God, there’s just so many to choose from. On its face, picking the Oakland Raiders to upset the New England Patriots looks completely ridiculous now. It was the last vestige of my own preseason Raiders pick to with the AFC. I’ve learned my lesson. Finally.
My Los Angeles Rams over the Minnesota Vikings pick looked solid for three quarters with the game tied 7-7, but the Vikings broke it open in the fourth, scoring 17 unanswered points. It was a harsh lesson for both me and the Rams. I know I learned something. Hopefully they did too.
Lastly, any faith I had in Brett Hundley in Green Bay seems thoroughly misplaced at the moment after an embarrassing 23-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at Lambeau. Hundley threw three picks and likely cost himself a shot at a starting job anywhere next season.
"Ride the wave"- Brett Hundley pic.twitter.com/arG1Pvoz5a
— Cheesehead Lifer (@GoPack907) November 19, 2017
I’d like to take a moment to congratulate Ben McAdoo and the New York Giants. I made fun of him when he told fans he expected a win against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, but the joke was on me. In an exceptionally ugly contest, New York upset the Chiefs 12-9 with a slew of field goals. Alex Smith tripled his season interception total to three, throwing two. Travis Kelce even got into the act, tossing a pick of his own on a trick play. Trick, indeed.
I haven’t checked in on how my peers in picking have been doing for the last few weeks and this looks like a good time. The best week belonged to three guys, Jamey Eisenberg at CBS Sports, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, Joe Manniello of Newsday and Jonathan Jones of MMQB who all went 12-2.
Believe it or not, thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, the Raiders season still isn't dead. Kind of hard to comprehend that.
— Bonta Hill (@BontaHill) November 20, 2017
I wasn’t last, but I was close in the straight up picks and would have done just as well if I’d picked all the home teams. It was a bad scene, man.
For the season I’ve dropped down to the middle of the pack, tied with about 10 guys including the NFL Network’s Kurt Warner. I’m still ahead of Cris Collinsworth, Steve Mariucci, Rich Eisen, my old punching bag Will Brinson and even Marshall Faulk.
The best week against the spread belongs to MMQB’s Tom Mantzouranis who went 11-3. And to put my horrible week into perspective, Lorenzo Reyes at USA Today went 3-11.
Against the spread, I’m still in the Top 10 in the country and unlike some of these assholes, I pick every game. I’m starting to feel better about myself.
EARLY NFL WEEK 12 LINES
Thanksgiving
Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions (+3), O/U: 44.5
Los Angeles Chargers at Dallas Cowboys (+1), O/U: 48.0
New York Giants at Washington Redskins (-7.5), O/U: 45.0
Sunday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons (-9.5), O/U: 48.5
Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals (-8.5), O/U: 38.0
Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts (+3.5), O/U: 44.0
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (-10), O/U: 45.0
Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots (-16), O/U: 48.0
Carolina Panthers at New York Jets (+4.5), O/U: 40.0
Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles (-13.5), O/U: 44.0
Sunday Late
Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers (+6.5), O/U: 42.5
New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5), O/U: 53.5
Jacksonville Jaguars at Arizona Cardinals (+4.5), O/U: 38.0
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders (-5), O/U: 43.5
Sunday Night
Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers (-14), O/U: 41.5
Monday Night
Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (-7), O/U: 38.0
All three of the Thanksgiving Day games look intriguing. The last time the Lions and Vikings met up, Detroit won 14-7 in Minnesota. Now they’re a three point dog at home. The Cowboys may have shit away any chance at a playoff berth in consecutive double-digit losses to the Falcons and the Eagles, but I still find it hard to believe they’re a home underdog to the Chargers.
Anyone who says that people can't be brought together for the common good haven't checked out Twitter when the Dallas Cowboys are getting destroyed on national TV.
— The Wokest Numbersmuncher (@NumbersMuncher) November 20, 2017
Paxton Lynch will likely get his first start of the season against Oakland Sunday. The Raiders are favored by five, but that’s one to keep an eye on too.
We have five double digit favorites this week and one of them, the Patriots, is a 16 point fave over the Dolphins. There are so many reasons for that, not the least of which is Miami quarterback Jay Cutler is back in the concussion protocol. We all saw what happened the last time Matt Moore started a game.
After that five, we have five more that are favored by more than a touchdown. That means out of a 16 game schedule this week, only six games are expected to be close. That has to be some kind of record for Week 12.
IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY
In the AFC, your No. 1 seed is currently the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2). The No. 2 seed is the New England Patriots (8-2), the three is the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-3) and the four is the Kansas City Chiefs (6-4). Your current Wild Card teams are the Baltimore Ravens (5-5) and the Tennessee Titans (6-4).
Squaaaaaaaaad. pic.twitter.com/IRPBORIA4z
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 19, 2017
In the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) are the one. The Minnesota Vikings (8-2) are the No. 2 and the New Orleans Saints (8-2) are the three. The Los Angeles Rams are the No. 4 and can move up to No. 3 if they beat the Saints at the Coliseum Sunday. As of right now, the Wild Cards are the Atlanta Falcons (6-4) and the Carolina Panthers (7-3).
We’re 10 games into the season and while, realistically, there are some teams we all know are out of it, no one, not even the 0-10 Cleveland Browns, has been officially eliminated just yet. Now, after Sunday that will change.
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