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| Andrew Luck and the Colts should run away from the Jags. (Getty) |
Stally's Eight-Point Pick
@Indianapolis over Jacksonville
Stally: With their loss to the Patriots, the Colts are now back in contention for the AFC South, a division that most were ready to crown them in a month ago. They only lead the Texans by a game. But put that in perspective: with the Raiders win on Thursday, the Jags are now back in contention for the first-overall draft pick. They're 1-9, going on 1-10.
Austen: Even with all the injuries, I cannot imagine Andrew Luck not working his magic and easily taking down the hapless Jags. Even if the Jags some jump out to, say a 28-10 lead at halftime, Luck could probably still win the game. He is the best player in football right now.
Stally: The best player in football would figure out how to beat good teams. He's the best player against garbage teams.
Austen's Eight-Point Pick
Kansas City over @Oakland
Austen: Well, remind me never to hop on the Andy Reid bandwagon again. Just when I thought, hey, maybe my criticism of him all these years was more of a personal bias. Yes, it is one game, but it is a divisional game they had to win. This looks like a repeat of last season where they will probably make the playoffs as a wild card team, and not win a game after that.
Stally: Wow! This was a catastrophic loss for the Chiefs to the previously winless Raiders. They went from being in a position to steal the division from the highly-touted Broncos to falling far off the division pace, especially when factoring in tiebreakers, and slipping into the Wild Card discussion with the likes of Miami, San Diego, and Cleveland. Welcome back to mediocrity, Kansas City!
Stally's Seven-Point Pick
@Philadelphia over Tennessee
Stally: The reason we've been spared a Jacksonville-Oakland game this season is that despite how bad the Jags were in 2013 (at 4-12), there was a worse team in their division (Houston at 2-14). It's a role reversal for the Jags this year; no matter how bad Tennessee plays, it's still a little better than Jacksonville. However, it's not better than Philadelphia, not even close. This one should be a stat booster for Eagles QB Mark Sanchez and will give him more wins as a starter this season than his successor in New York, Geno Smith.
Austen: If Mark Sanchez loses this game, no matter how he plays, he will never start a NFL game after the 2014 season. The Titans are a walking disaster, but Sanchez's worst game of his career (yes that includes the butt fumble game against the Patriots) was against a terrible Titans team. We will see if he plays down to their level again or if he realizes all he needs to do is successfully handoff the ball to his running backs to win this game.
Austen's Seven-Point Pick
Green Bay over @Minnesota
Austen: Andrew Luck might be the best player in football at this moment, but Aaron Rodgers is giving him a run for his money. Rodgers is playing straight up unreal football right now. Add in the fact that his defense is making huge strides as the season has progressed, and you have all you need to imagine this game being a blow out.
Stally: This is a flat out mismatch of talent. The Packers are tied with the Patriots for the top point differential in the league at +105 and are playing like the team that most always expect them to be. The Vikings haven't beat anyone with a record better than their own 4-6 showing and lost 42-10 to the Pack earlier this year. It's hard to see them reversing that into a win.
Stally's Six-Point Pick
@San Francisco over Washington
Stally: Yes, it's official, the Redskins are terrible. They had an impressive overtime win at Dallas, but that's it. Their only other two wins have come against Jacksonville and Tennessee, and they just lost to the Bucs at home in a 27-7 rout. They're bad, very bad.
Austen: I'm still not buying the 49ers as a playoff team. Does that mean they will lose to the Redskins? No, but I think this game will be closer than Stally imagines. Just a hunch.
Austen's Six-Point Pick
@New Orleans over Baltimore
Austen: Yes, the Saints have lost two straight at home for the first time in seemingly forever. Yes, they are dealing with a ton of injuries on both sides of the ball. I don't care. I'm sticking with my guns on this one. Baltimore is a terrible road team and the Saints (usually) dominate at home. I think their offense gets into rhythm and takes care of the Ravens.
Stally: Austen’s blind faith for the Saints continues, despite the fact that they’ve lost two straight at home to teams that aren’t any better than Baltimore. We both have the habit to pick against the Ravens because we struggle to accept them as a good team, but no more! I have the Ravens in this one because New Orleans stinks.
Stally's Five-Point Pick
@Denver over Miami
Stally: All is not well for Denver right now. That was an embarrassing loss at St. Louis. But, the Broncos more or less never lose at Mile High. Including playoffs, Denver is 21-3 at home since Peyton Manning joined the team before the 2012 season. The Dolphins can't be taken for granted, but will have a tough time pulling off an upset.
Austen: With some injuries on the offensive side of the ball, the legendary Broncos offense looked lost against a surging Rams defense. Problem is, the Dolphins defense is better. Cameron Wake loves teams that do not try to run the ball because he gets to chase the quarterback all day, and the Broncos biggest weakness is their rushing offense. Wake will have one or two big hits on Manning that will shake him to the core. I have Denver, but not with a lot of confidence. If this was in Miami, I would have the same small amount of confidence in Miami.
Austen's Five-Point Pick
Dallas over @New York Giants
Austen: The Giants are simply not playing well on either side of the ball. Chalk that up to whatever you want, but it is hard for me to see them turning it around against Dallas. Tony Romo has been injured, but before that, people thought Dallas might be the best team in the league. He is now healthy (enough) so they could be back to being atop the league. That's too much for the Giants to handle, even at home.
Stally: The Giants have lost five in a row, so I definitely agree with this pick. Dallas has the tendency to fade late in the season, so this will be the first challenge against a divisional foe to prove that they have more mental fortitude than in season’s past. With DeMarco Murray pounding the rock the way he is, I like their chances to get it done.
Stally's Four-Point Pick
@New England over Detroit
Stally: As a fantasy owner of Lions QB Matthew Stafford, I've been greatly disappointed by his play this season. He simply hasn't been very good, and that doesn't bode well going into New England, where the Patriots haven't lost in almost two years. The Lions will need to win with their league-best defense if this is going to be an upset.
Austen: This game is a big question to me. Both have prolific offenses (despite Stafford's struggles), but both of these defense have been a big strength to their team's success.
Austen's Four-Point Pick
@Chicago over Tampa Bay
Austen: I started Josh McCown in one fantasy football league, so I believe it will be close. However, I cannot and will not believe that the Bears do not have the talent to take care of one of the worst teams in football at home.
Stally: Neither Austen nor I can seem to give up on this terrible Bears team. I also have them with a middling confidence, but I'll openly root for former Bears coach and current Bucs coach Lovie Smith to pull this one out so that he can fall into a tie with the Bears and the Blackhawks for games won at Soldier Field in 2014 (one).
Stally's Three-Point Pick
@San Diego over St. Louis
Stally: The Rams are a sneaky little pain in the ass. They're not all that good, but they've now beat the two Super Bowl finalists from last season. I still like the Chargers at home in this one, but San Diego plays with a frustrating amount of inconsistency. If the Chargers bad side shows up, they'll get upset.
Austen: The Chargers have too many injuries on both sides of the ball. Most importantly, Rivers is not 100%. He rarely gets the credit he deserves for being one of the toughest quarterbacks in the league, but that does not mean he plays his best football hurt. I have the Rams with the upset in this one.
Austen's Three-Point Pick
@Atlanta over Cleveland
Austen: I just cannot trust the Browns to beat anyone right now. They are a solid football team, but they lack a real game changer on either side of the ball. Josh Gordon obviously will change that, but I do not think he will make much of a splash in his first game back (this week). The Falcons have too much talent on offense to not score 20-30 points and I do not know if the Browns can put that up on even such a terrible defense as this.
Stally: If only the Browns didn't have to play the big, bad AFC South. (Can you sense the sarcasm in my writing?) They've provided Jacksonville with its only win of the season, lost 23-7 at home to Houston, and barely snuck by the now-2-8 Titans (29-28). The Falcons are actually atop their division right now at 4-6 and tend to play much better at home. I'll go with Atlanta.
Stally's Two-Point Pick
@Seattle over Arizona
Stally: Arizona has been great, but going in to Seattle, one of the toughest places to play, with Drew Stanton at quarterback will be a daunting task. If the Cardinals manage this upset, they should immediately jump to the top of the list of Super Bowl favorites. I don't see that happening, though.
Austen: The Cardinals are a great football team. Their problem is that their only weakness is their quarterback, which is the most important position in sports. Seattle and Arizona are very similar teams, but I will take Russell Wilson at home over Drew Stanton on the road any day.
Austen's Two-Point Pick
Cincinnati over @Houston
Austen: I do not know if it is Marvin Lewis or the Bengals as a franchise in general, but they consistently are inconsistent. They have an incredibly talented defense that sometimes plays up to that potential and other times disappears. Andy Dalton is a less physically gifted Joe Flacco, in that they are both the most erratic quarterbacks in the league. One week they can look like the next coming of Dan Marino, and the next week they look like they should never be allowed to play football again. That ends my Bengals rant. I have to think they are back on the upswing after a huge road win against the Saints and should be able to take care of a Arian Foster-less Texans team that also just made a quarterback change.
Stally: The Bengals are maddeningly inconsistent with three lopsided losses and a tie to Carolina, but those are the only blemishes. When they play well, they're very good, and I think there's more balanced talent on Cincinnati than Houston. Unless, of course, J.J. Watt is going to keep catching TD passes.
Stally's One-Point Pick
New York Jets over Buffalo
Stally: This game is a tough call. I feel for Buffalo, but I think that with a lack of practice due to the weather and the need to head to Detroit for a "home" game, the Bills will be out of sorts. I'll take the Jets despite their 43-23 loss to the Bills last month.
Austen: The Bills are the better team. I'll admit that. However, they have had no time to practice this week, while the Jets have had two weeks to prepare for this game. Also, I cannot remember the last time the Bills swept the Jets, so I refuse to let that thought enter my brain.
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