Jesse: BEST WORST PICK OF LAST WEEK:“[Coach Jeff Fisher] has proven not to count his team out of any game this season . . . this looks like Ryan and Tebow and Dirty Sanchez are going to go down like a crackwhore looking for a rock.” – Clint (Jets 27, Rams 13)
Andy Reid’s run as coach of the Eagles was filled with highlights (4 straight trips to the NFC Championship) and lowlights (pretty much every situation in which he was called upon to manage the clock). It appears that Reid’s tenure is coming to an ignonimous end in Philly, with Michael Vick a shell of his 2010 self and LeSean McCoy out with a needless concussion that occurred during a 31-6 beating by the Redskins. After the game, Reid said he was still playing McCoy “because he was trying to win”…so why do you hand the ball to your running back down 25 points with two minutes to go? It’s this ineptitude that always threatened Reid’s job, even during the successful times. Despite his gift for developing quarterbacks, he made so many bad decisions over the last few years, on the field and with personnel, that it ultimately led to his undoing. Farewell, Walrus.
Hitpoints
- A joint investigation by ESPN’s Outside The Lines and PBS’ Frontline reveals that the NFL paid $2 million in settlements over brain trauma while denying that football caused trauma. (PBS.org)
- Bart Scott is a clown. (Deadspin)
- Steelers sign Plaxico Burress. Does it matter without a quarterback? (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- A look at the NFL’s MVP race this year. It seems to me as long as Peyton Manning plays like he’s playing, it’s his to lose. (Grantland)
- Who do you think should be MVP? Debate in the comments below, or in the CHUD forum.
Thursday, November 22nd (Thanksgiving)
Houston Texans(9-1) at Detroit Lions(4-6)
Clint: The Lions are looking much closer to the disappointing team they were a few years ago rather than the playoff hopefuls they were projected to be this year. The Texans, like Atlanta, have to prove themselves in the post season, but they look like the team to beat to get to New Orleans. Detroit folks won’t have football plans for Mardi Gras.
Texans
Tom: What the hell happened to the Texans last week? Obviously it’s because I said “by a ___” again. This time, I predict a close game with the Houston Texans celebrating turkey day with a terducklion.
Texans (by a margin expected by the Vegas oddsmakers)
Washington Redskins(4-6) at Dallas Cowboys(5-5)
Tom: Happy Thanksgiving! The tradition of the Lions and the Cowboys playing on Thanksgiving has been around a long time. This year we get the grand old NFC East matchup of the Redskins and Cowboys. Tony Romo has been awful at home. They struggled to beat the Browns this past week, and RGIII continues to shine and show that both he and Luck were the right choices in the draft. What you have to wonder here, is will Romo continue teh suck, and 
can RGIII handle the turkey day spotlight. I’m going to lean towards Washington here just because I trust their rookie QB more than the Cowboys veteran QB. Yes, I said that right.
Redskins
Clint: Trust has nothing to do with it. I wouldn’t trust either one of these guys to drive my car in a storm, and both of them are in a storm. RGIII has time to grow. Romo is just passing time until it is time for him to leave, and I don’t think he is going to be missed much. He has been a shining example of mediocrity and unpredictability his whole career.
Cowboys
New England Patriots(7-3) at New York Jets(4-6)
Clint: Not only do I think the Jets are bad, but I am starting to hate them. They win games they have absolutely no right to win, and they suck at all other times. All this means is that we will have Tebow and whiny heiny Rex on tv 5 hours a day for another season. As a Steelers fan I dislike the Pats, but as an entertainment fan in general I hope the Jets go down in flames.
Patriots
Tom: The Jets did what I figured they’d do last week (even though I didn’t pick them). So this week? I expect them to lie down and take it.
Patriots
Sunday, November 25th
Atlanta Falcons(9-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers(6-4)
Tom: This just in–Matt Ryan just threw another INT as I was writing this. Holy crap, against 90% of the rest of the NFL, there is no way in hell the Falcons win last week. But the Cardinals decided that a no-name rookie was better than John Skelton (yikes), and their offense suffered for it (hey, maybe Skelton is available for the Steelers…uh, never mind). Now they travel to Tampa and play a tough run defense, but a terrible pass defense. And Atlanta ain’t running lately, they’re a passing. Freeman has his moments, both good and bad, and he’ll be at home. I think the Falcons defense is more complete, and the offense’s strength is definitely Tampa’s defensive weakness.
Falcons
Clint: I’m going to go with Bucs. Before you think I went Turkey crazy I think they are playing their best football right now. They appear to have found something that works for them and are sticking with it, kind of like the uninspired Twilight movies. The Falcons got their undefeated hopes boinked, and this is another one of those hard fought division rivalries that normally end with Falcons fans saying those damn Bucs have our number. Falcons fans, this is not a bad thing as it will force your team to strengthen the holes they have before the playoffs, not after.
Buccaneers
Minnesota Vikings(6-4) at Chicago Bears(7-3)
Clint: How the mighty have fallen. Three weeks ago the Bears were the unbeatable team in the NFC. Even Tom couldn’t pick their games wrong. After losing a close one to the Texans and their crybaby Cutler they are looking a lot less solid. It won’t matter though, the Vikings defense isn’t half as good and their offense is made up of 10 mediocre guys and robo-Peterson. Look for the bears to steal the party and right that ship.
Bears
Tom: Christian Ponder is back to make the Bears defense look good. But the Bears better hope Jason Campbell heats up some soup-er offense or else they fall out of first in the division.
Bears
Denver Broncos(7-3) at Kansas City Chiefs(1-9)
Tom: Peyton Manning continues on his parade through the NFC West. Papa John could probably field a team that would beat KC. Possibly even that car that Peyton drives that he calls out signals for.
Broncos
Clint: I don’t care that this is a division rivalry, it’s as lopsided as Andre the Giant pulling a cheek to fart.
Broncos
Tennessee Titans(4-6) at Jacksonville Jaguars(1-9)
Clint: Screw this game. The Titans look like they may actually be better than the suck fest they appeared to be and the Jags always stay in the game just long enough to lose it. Look for CJ2K to get some yards and the Jags to begin playing for a better draft position.
Titans
Tom: I’m high on tryptophan already. Henne Penny to the rescue!
Jaguars
Pittsburgh Steelers(6-4) at Cleveland Browns(2-8)
Tom: Jesus. Here in my conundrum–pick against the Steelers, but in doing so I have to pick the Browns. Byron “Wind Up” Leftwich is not good and hurt…so it’s Charlie Batch. They better bring back the running game quick, because he cannot win games for them like Ben could. I do not think he will return this season, actually. And if Batch gets hurt…is John Skelton available? How about Donovan McNabb? Oh, we got Plaxico Burress back? Great. Lord help me here.
Browns
Clint: I am doing my normal thing. Picking my team. Not because I truly believe they can’t lose but because I am brainwashed into thinking this pick has some sort of luck tied to it. We will need luck. We have Charlie (I’m nearing Favre age) Batch as our starting QB and Burress coming back while still avoiding metal detectors. Wonder if he checks his piece before getting on the team plane?
Steelers
Oakland Raiders(3-7) at Cincinnati Bengals(5-5)
Clint: The Bengals have something to play for, they have a slim and almost non-existent shot at the playoffs. The Raiders don’t. All they have is some Jet lag. At least that is an excuse. Look for the Bengals to blow up like an over-ripe pimple this week.
Bengals
Tom: The Bengals should win this game. They really should. However, in these games so far this year, they have turned back into the Bungels. Ehhh….fine, I’ll go with them. But I won’t like it.
Bengals (unless the Raiders win. Then the Raiders)
Seattle Seahawks(6-4) at Miami Dolphins(4-6)
Tom: Seattle is not as good away as they are at home…Miami continues to under perform after their surprising start. I think the slide continues. Sorry, Fleed.
Seahawks
Clint: As much as I am trying to talk myself into saying the Seahawks can lose, I just can’t talk myself into thinking Miami can win. Anything. Except maybe an pretty red star sticker for giving it a good effort.
Seahawks
Buffalo Bills(4-6) at Indianapolis Colts(6-4)
Clint: Sorry Bills, you are struggling and going into hostile territory. The Colts were embarrassed last week against the Pats. They will be out for some healthy red meat this week.
Colts
Tom: This is not the same rookie you saw last week, Buffalo. This, you will not realize until it is too late! (sorry, just had my 3rd serving of mashed potatoes and I’m slipping into a carb coma)
Colts
Baltimore Ravens(8-2) at San Diego Chargers(4-6)
Tom: This is a weird one–San Diego’s defense isn’t that bad. Baltimore’s run defense is awful. But the Chargers OL is god-awful bad. Rivers screamed at the OL many times during the Denver game this past week. It’s a long trip west-ward after the tough game with Pittsburgh last week. I think Baltimore will have enough in the tank to get the W, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Chargers pulled this one out of Norv’s ass. I don’t think they’ve given up the way Philly has.
Ravens
Clint: Hear we have a quality matchup where the hobbled Ravens play against the talented Chargers who play against Norv. May the greatest unified force win. Unfortunately that spells my Steelers moving further back in the division, but I see this being close with a Ravens and Norv teamup at the end.
Ravens
St. Louis Rams(3-6-1) at Arizona Cardinals(4-6)
Clint: The Rams. Oh how you creep up my hate list. Making me look like an idiot with my pick last week. I hope the Cardinals beat you like they should. Unfortunately, I don’t think they know what a QB is and will be trying to get random people from the crowd to throw balls to Larry Fitzgerald. I will take this as my crazy pick of the week and go with the stache.
Rams
Tom: Does this game have to be played? That doesn’t mean I have to watch it, right? Uhh, you picked the Rams? Ok:
Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers(7-2-1) at New Orleans Saints(5-5)
Tom: Alex Smith might be in trouble. Colin Kaepernick proved himself to be Capable-nick vs. Chicago last week, maybe one of the best defenses in the NFL. So it goes back to, is Smith’s success because of the system, or that he finally “got it” as an NFL QB? Either way, this is an old NFC West matchup where the awesome offense meets the awesome defense. I always lean towards the defense in games like this.
49ers
Clint: The Saints stunned the world when they knocked the Atlanta Falcons off their high seat. They are currently on a roll and their defense even looks like it’s improving. I’m going to take this ill advised counter to Tom’s pick and choose the Saints. Not because they seem equally matched, but because there is a week of film on Kaepernick and I think he will struggle a lot more because of it (If the weeks had been reversed I think that Monday night game would have been much different).
Saints
Green Bay Packers(7-3) at New York Giants(6-4)
Clint: Another week where the Sunday night game is behemoth compared to the shoveled shit on Monday night. The Packers are on top of their division and playing well enough to win games. The Giants were near the top of the NFC and imploding more and more each week. Look for more talk about how Eli can’t play up to his level because he had to sleep a few nights at a 5 star hotel due to some storm. Gut tells me that the Giants continue their downward spiral.
Packers
Tom: Bad news, Giants fans…it’s still November. But will the Giants get embarrassed again at home? The Pack is 4-0 there. All signs point to Eli getting mocking texts from his brother after this game.
Packers
Monday, November 26th
Carolina Panthers(2-8) at Philadelphia Eagles(3-7)
Tom: When they set this up as the Monday night game, Newton vs. Vick seemed like a marquee matchup. Now? Blerg. As I mentioned earlier, the Eagles I believe have given up on Reid. The defense got worse after they martyred the DC a few weeks ago, which shows you nobody there knows what the hell is going on. The Panthers are not terrible, they just can’t seem to get that extra “oomph” to pull out games. The only “oomph” for Philadelphia these days is the sound the chair makes when Andy Reid sits down.
Panthers
Clint: I decided to flip a coin on this game. The most amazing thing I have ever seen happened. I threw the coin in the air, slapped my hand on it to stop it from spinning and found diaper splatter from my five month old had somehow hidden the outcome. What I’m trying to say, is I flipped a coin and it didn’t come up heads or tails, it came up poo. That because there is no real reason to care about this game. Hell, I don’t even know if I will check the score. It’s not like it’s going to change the rosy colored outlook for either of these teams. Just for bragging rights I’m choosing who Tom didn’t
Eagles.
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