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| Cam Newton said that if people don't like his dancing in the end zone, they just need to stop him from scoring ... easier said than done. |
The Bengals unexpectedly fell from the ranks of the undefeated in an ugly 10-6 home loss to Houston last Monday night. That leaves just two undefeateds: New England and Carolina. The two teams are vastly different in terms of their build and their (preseason) expectations, but at this point, both look like they could make for a very fun-to-watch Super Bowl of juxtaposing strengths if they stay on the collision course.
Not surprisingly, these two teams top this week's picks. Here's who we've got along with the Patriots and Panthers:
Austen's Seven-Point Pick
@New England over Buffalo
Austen: Best team in the league at home against a rival they always dominate. The score of round one against the Bills this season looked closer than it was. The Pats dominated them. Might be an even bigger blowout this time around.
Stally: The Bills won at New England last year for the first time since 2000 (the year before Tom Brady started playing). It was a Week 17 game that meant nothing to the Patriots, and Brady only played half of the game. That won't happen again this year, and it's still fair to say that New England doesn't lose at home to the Bills.
Stally's Seven-Point Pick
@Carolina over Washington
Stally: Austen took one 9-0 team with his first pick, so I'll take the other one with my first pick. At 4-5, Washington is a little more respectable than I've given them credit, but there's a difference between being respectable and upsetting an undefeated team in a road game.
Austen: If Kirk Cousins wins this game, he might get a $15 million per year contract. That's not the world that we live in. The Redskins are going to get exposed.
Austen's Six-Point Pick
@Seattle over San Francisco
Austen: Seattle has struggled mightily and may not make the playoffs this year. Still, this is a matchup of the worst offense in the league (and there is not even a close second) against one of the best defenses in the league. This should be an ugly game to watch.
Stally: I'm out on Seattle after last week's loss, I'm promised I would be, but not out enough to dispute this pick in anyway ... It's possible that Blaine Gabbert replacing Colin Kaepernick at QB is actually an upgrade for the 49ers, but that's far from an endorsement for the former. San Fran is a bad, bad football team, and it starts at the QB position, regardless of who is taking the snaps.
Stally's Six-Point Pick
@Philadelphia over Tampa Bay
Stally: It's surprising to see these teams share a 4-5 record. The Eagles feel like a large underachiever. For every step forward that team takes, it manages to take two steps back. Sam Bradford is out and Mark Sanchez is starting at QB, but I don't see a lot of difference between the two. I still expect Philadelphia to figure it out at home against a Tampa Bay team that I have yet to trust.
Austen: This is going to be an all around ugly game. The Eagles are one of the most disappointing teams in the league this year and the Bucs are still one of the worst. That being said, the Bucs are on an upswing and the Eagles have been pretty stagnant as a subpar football team. The Eagles are not getting better with Sanchez at the helm, as we saw last season. Sanchez always finds a way to lose, and I'll take the young Bucs team.
Austen's Five-Point Pick
@Arizona over Cincinnati
Austen: Andy Dalton, despite his incredible season, still has been his worst during primetime games. This is the Sunday night game, so I will expect Dalton to put together another stinker until proven otherwise. It does not help that he is going against one of the stingiest defenses in the league. The Cardinals are playing too well to lose this one at home.
Stally: I'm not as confident as Austen in this game. This is really a benchmark battle for the best team behind New England and Carolina. I'll take Arizona at home, especially coming off a road win at Seattle in comparison to Cincinnati's home loss to Houston. However, the Bengals remain one of the most complete teams in the league (just like the Cards) despite that ugly loss and a bounce back would not be surprising.
Stally's Five-Point Pick
@Atlanta over Indianapolis
Stally: This has been a really deflating season for the Colts. They've given up at least 27 points in five of nine games, and rank 22nd in points against per game and 28th in yards against per game. Perhaps it wasn't the deflated footballs that lost them the AFC Championship game by a score of 45-7 last year, perhaps it was just a horrible defense. The loss of Andrew Luck at QB is just icing on the cake, because now the offense will struggle even more to keep up. That's a horrible combination against an Atlanta team that plays run-and-gun at home.
Austen: There is an argument to be made that the Colts have played better with Matt Hasselbeck at the helm this season. Weather that is due to Luck's injury woes, or the veteran Hasselbeck's ability to take what the defense gives him instead of going for the big play (which has plagued Luck all year), it should not matter in this game. The Colts have been playing losing football all year and have to face off against one of the most explosive offenses in the league. Atlanta should come out hot out of the gate and the Colts will not be able to keep up.
Austen's Four-Point Pick
@Miami over Dallas
Austen: The Cowboys might have been the worst team in the league without Tony Romo. This team is in total disarray due to a locker room full of players with a lack of focus. Jerry Jones has assembled a group of players Jason Garrett cannot handle. Greg Hardy might go down as one of the worst free agency moves of all time, handing him a ton of money to tear their team apart. Tony Romo will be rusty and this team will not be able to keep up with a talented Dolphins team.
Stally: I disagree wholeheartedly with this pick. In fact, I had Dallas with my next pick here. Tony Romo is the Dallas Cowboys. The team started 2-0 with him and went dead in the water at 0-7 with him gone. He's healthy and so is his favorite target Dez Bryant, and that will be enough against a Miami team that ranks 20th against the pass.
Stally's Four-Point Pick
@Jacksonville over Tennessee
Stally: This is always the worst Thursday Night Football tradition of the year and it didn't disappoint (or maybe it did ... it was a terrible game, that's what I'm saying). I'm on board with Austen's sentiment that the Jaguars aren't a bad team, so I figured they would win at home. It more came down to the Titans losing than the Jags doing much of anything to win, aside from one strong punt return late in the game on a 4th-and-inches scenario that Tennessee should have attempted to convert.
Austen: I had the Jags too, just not with this much confidence. There is a lot to like about the Jags, but Blake Bortles still makes enough mental mistakes to cost his team a win. Marcus Mariota is going to be a great quarterback one day, but the Titans still have one of the least talented rosters in the NFL.
Austen's Three-Point Pick
Oakland over @Detroit
Austen: Derek Carr is the real deal and Amari Cooper is already a top 10 receiver in the NFL. There is just too much to like about the Raiders, and not much of anything to like about the Lions.
Stally: I like the pick of the Raiders, but the game being in Detroit and the Lions inexplicable upset of the Packers last week gives me pause. Oakland is playing consistently good football though; this is the correct pick.
Stally's Three-Point Pick
Kansas City over @San Diego
Stally: I was reading this week that based on advanced statistics, the Chiefs rank as one of the 10 best teams in the league. That's only mildly surprising. The defense is pretty strong, and Charcandrick West has made the loss of Jamaal Charles seem manageable at the running back position. I'll take one of the 10 best teams in the league over the 2-7 Chargers (yuck!).
Austen: I'm sticking with the Chargers in this one. The Chiefs are not a good road team and Philip Rivers has been one of the best players in the league so far this year.
Austen's Two-Point Pick
New York Jets over @Houston
Austen: The Jets might not be a great team, but the Texans are one of the worst in the league, despite being tied atop their terrible division. Brian Hoyer has been a real surprise this season, but he is out and T.J. Yates will be starting this game. Going against one of the top defenses in the league is not an easy task for a quarterback who has not started a game since 2011.
Stally: You had me at "T.J. Yates is starting."
Stally's Two-Point Pick
@Minnesota over Green Bay
Stally: Austen loves the Packers, so of course he's going to take them. I was willing to write off their road losses to Denver and Carolina, but I'm not going to overlook an embarrassing home loss to the Lions. Of all years for the home-win streak over Detroit to end at Green Bay, this hardly seemed like the year. The Vikings lead the division by a game over the Pack, and with this game in Minnesota, I'm giving the home team the nod.
Austen: I'm not writing off the Packers yet. They have struggled to a shocking degree over the last few weeks, but Mike McCarthy is one of the best coaches in the league and will have his team geared up for this crucial divisional matchup. It is going to be a great game, but I'll stick with the Pack.
Austen's One-Point Pick
@Chicago over Denver
Austen: I like this pick a lot less knowing that Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery are both out. However, I'll side with a much improved Jay Cutler even against the best defense in the league. Both these teams are ridden with injuries, so might be more of a coin flip than I expected.
Stally: The strength of the Broncos all season has been their defense, so the loss of Peyton Manning might not be as catastrophic as considered (especially considering how bad he was playing). However, Denver is in a two-game tailspin and fallen from the elite, just like I had expected earlier in the year. The Bears have picked themselves up off the mat after starting 0-3 and then 2-5. This could be a further resurgence for a Chicago team that's found its stride at 4-5.
Stally's One-Point Pick
St. Louis over @Baltimore
Stally: Both of these teams are inconsistent underachievers, but at least the Rams find ways to win some games. St. Louis is stronger on both sides of the ball and should win this uninspiring matchup.
Austen: I will keep taking pretty much any team in the league over the Ravens until they show me they can play winning football. I would not be surprised if the Rams blew out the Ravens despite starting Case Keenum at quarterback this week.
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