Last Week
Aaron: 9-7Joe: 7-9
Current Standings
Joe: 132-74-1Aaron: 129-77-1
Cincinnati at Philadelphia
Aaron: Has anyone lazily equated theinevitable end of Eagles head coach Andy Reid's tenure with the team's colorsyet? Those "Green Mile"headlines would write themselves. Lastweek, the Eagles showed some life against Tampa Bay and their porous passdefense. Riding the home underdog onThursday nights has been a gambling staple this season, but I can't see beatingTWO teams fighting for playoff spots in back-to-back weeks. Pick: Cincinnati
Joe: For the first time in the 15 seasonswe've been making these picks, one of us blew a deadline. And it was me. If Iend up losing this season by a half a game, I'm gonna be pissed.
Aaron: Nah, I won't count it...unless we finished tied. And, only because ILOVE the idea of Andy Reid being analogous to the House ofRepresentatives.
NY Giants at Atlanta
Aaron: Both teams are playing likethey will make the playoffs before being eliminated in their first Januarygame. While the Falcons have the NFCSouth won, the Giants appear content to drunkenly stumble down the win one/loseone alley for the rest of the season. Pick: Atlanta
Joe: We've seen this happen countlesstimes, right? The embarrassing playoff defeat is "avenged" in themuch-lower-stakes regular season rematch? Pick: Atlanta
Minnesota at St. Louis
Aaron: I squeaked into the playoffs ofmy big-money fantasy football league. Myopponent this week will field all-world Texans RB Arian Fosterand all-world Vikings RB Adrian Peterson. You see, back in August, no one thought thata human being could recover from a torn ACL in less than eight months – muchless play the most violent major sport in America (half the time on artificialturf) for 16 weeks. So, Peterson waspassed over in the early rounds of our fantasy draft until he landed in myopponent's lap. And, so concludes my owneulogy. Pick:Minnesota
Joe: Two teams playing above whatpeople assume their level to be at the moment. Two pop-psychology strategies --go with the team with the best player on the field; so with the home team in atoss-up game -- are in opposition to each other. Which leads me to strategy #3:pick against Cam to make things interesting. Pick: St. Louis
Jacksonville at Miami
Aaron: With nearly 20 years of historyto consider, I think it's safe to say that the NFL's Floridian trifecta ofJaguars, Dolphins and Buccaneers will never produce the collectivelyentertaining football that Florida State, the University of Miami and theUniversity of Florida generated for any one year during the late 1980s/early1990s. No disrespect, Mark Brunell. Pick: Miami
Joe: Ah, but what about the trifectaof fictional Floridian sports teams: Any Given Sunday's MiamiSharks, Coach's Orlando Breakers, and the XFL's MiamiManiax. ...What's that? Oh no they weren't, that's ridiculous. Pick:Miami
Green Bay at Chicago
Aaron: Rivalry week! Overly reverentattention paid to former Bears coach Mike Ditka on the ESPN Sunday Gamedayset! A rare "-bo" tweet fromPresident Obama showing solidarity with Chicago! People sitting outside in frigid conditionspretending that they're REAL fans! Smash-mouth! And, so forth! Pick:Chicago
Joe: Whatever, I totally get into thePackers-Bears rivalry, I will fully admit it. The Bears are in a swoon, whilewe're in Week 15 of Green Bay Return to Dominance Watch. Maybe we don't getTHERE this week, but maybe another ugly win is in order. Pick: GreenBay
Washington at Cleveland
Aaron: Last week, I joked that theRedskins would win as long as QB Robert Griffin III remained upright. He didn't…and they still won. The Browns are building a little "thisteam might not be bad" momentum based entirely on a few recent winsagainst really bad teams. That'll do, Cleveland. Pick:Washington
Joe: Man, I REALLY want to pickCleveland to halt this recent Griff-mentum. But when one team has this much toplay for and the other really doesn't, it's tough to go against that tide.Guess I'm taking the team with the actual racist name over the team whose namejust sounds racist. Pick: Washington
Denver at Baltimore Aaron: Two weeks ago, I picked theBuccaneers to upset the Broncos. Lastweek, Joe picked the Raiders – 10-point underdogs – to upend Denver. So…I guess it's my turn? Pick: Baltimore
Joe: NEVER AGAIN. Pick:Denver
Indianapolis at Houston
Aaron: This could be the next big NFLrivalry that the networks fast-track into a pair of prime time spots. Not soon enough for everyone who is long sickof those Pittsburgh v. Baltimore 14-13 slogs. Speaking of next season, that's when Colts QB Andrew Luck will be morelikely to beat a very good team on the road in December. Pick: Houston
Joe: Took the observation right out ofmy mouth, re: Luck. This would be a good time for Houston to come up large andwrest back some of the confidence they lost in last week's unfortunate loss tothe Patriots. Not that they'll get any credit for it. Pick:Houston
Tampa Bay at New Orleans
Aaron: Even by the kneejerk standardsof the 24/7 news cycle in professional sports, the epitaph of Saints QB DrewBrees – penned by many after his five interception performance in Atlanta twoweeks ago – seemed unusually hasty. Sometimes good players/teams have bad years. Sometimes the league's commissioner wreakshavoc with a vendetta against a single team. So it goes. Pick: TampaBay
Joe: Tampa Bay has settled in nicelyto the role of Team I Can Never Pick Correctly. So congratulations to the Bucs,then. Pick: New Orleans
Detroit at Arizona
Aaron: It's been 20 years, but my almamater – San Diego State – has finally produced another terrible NFLquarterback! The Cardinals' Ryan Lindley– like Dan McGwire two decades earlier – has no business playing on Sundayafternoons. And, Lindley can't evenboast having a famous, muscle-bound sibling who played Major LeagueBaseball. Wait, let me doublecheck. No. He can't. Pick: Detroit
Joe: Dan McGwire! Oooh, that takes meback. Where did Kelly Stouffer go to college? Stan Humphries? Browning Nagle?Wait, I know Browning Nagle went to Louisville. Glad that little nugget ofun-monetizable information is taking up space in my head. Pick:Detroit
Carolina at San Diego
Aaron: Embattled Chargers head coachNorv Turner used an imaginative, aggressive game plan to upset the Steelers inPittsburgh last week. Media reportsindicate that he's already been told he won't be coaching in San Diego nextseason, so what better final "f*ck you" to Chargers fans thancoaching like he has nothing to lose, picking up some meaningless December winsand sabotaging the team's draft position next spring. Norv! Pick: San Diego
Joe: OR ... that was the last-gasp,"Roy Cohn crowing that he finally got Ethel Rosenberg to sing" effortfor the Chargers this season before they drop dead and Cam is asked to come inand say the kaddish over his vanquished foe? (Is that TWO Angels inAmerica references this season? I'm on fire!) Pick:Carolina
Seattle at Buffalo
Aaron: So, we're all back on the Seattle bandwagon? I mean, sure, they won 58-0 last week, butare we ALL going to ignore the caliber of that execrable Cardinals squad? Huh. OK, then. Pick: Buffalo
Joe: Eight turnovers! The Miami Maniaxcould have won a game getting the ball back that many times. (Callback!) I'd gowith the Bills, except this is their annual Fake Home Game in Toronto screwjob.Pick: Seattle
Pittsburgh at Dallas
Aaron: Ten years ago, these were thetwo most insufferable fanbases in the NFL. Now, they're what – second and third, respectively? And, please don't ask who's number one. You ALL know. Pick: Pittsburgh
Joe: Well, if you're picking Chargers,I'm adding the Patriots and the Redskins somehow. And the Niners fans will beback up there before you know it. I'm going to call the last couple weeks forthe Steelers "fluky." Plus, they need to lose here in order to beatthe Bengals next week so that they can drag the final AFC wild card spot into9-7 drudgery. Pick: Dallas
Kansas City at Oakland
Aaron: The Raiders reinstatedlinebacker Rolando McClain after suspending two games for conduct detrimentalto the team. He's been demoted to thebench and will likely see most of his playing time on special teams. Media reports indicate that the Raidersdidn't release him outright as a means of keeping him fromsigning elsewhere. So, his punishment isto…play for the 2012 Raiders? Makes sense. Pick: Oakland
Joe: I've been sitting here for likefifteen minutes trying to think of one interesting thing about this game.Nothing. Straight-up nothing. This is what happens to me when I miss theplayoffs in both my fantasy leagues. Pick: Oakland
San Francisco at New England
Aaron: Last week, I predicted 49ershead coach Jim Harbaugh would ascend to Belichick-ian levels of fan animositysomeday. This week, they're on the samefield. The insufferable force againstthe intolerable object – broadcast to a national television audience. Enjoy the last night of Hanukkah,everyone! Pick: NewEngland
Joe: Come on, jerky Niners defense. Dosomething. Pick: San Francisco
NY Jets at Tennessee
Aaron: Anyone else rooting for theJets to run the table in December and somehow stumble into the playoffs with a9-7 record? Really? Just me? Pick: NY Jets
Joe: I mean, obviously. For like abillion different reasons. Which means now is when that dream dies. Pick:Tennessee
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder