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| It's unlikely that Austin Davis leads the Browns to an upset over the Bengals. |
While there was some disagreement later on down the blog, the opening picks were more or less a complete agreement in terms of winner and confidence. Here are the picks for Week 13:
Austen's Eight-Point Pick
Cincinnati over @Cleveland
Austen: The Browns are vying for the top pick in the draft. The Bengals look like a team who could sneak into the Super Bowl. This will be a blowout no matter how you slice it.
Stally: Cleveland will be staring Austin Davis at QB. I mean, that's ... not good.
Stally's Eight-Point Pick
@New England over Philadelphia
Stally: Philadelphia has given up 45 points in each of its last two games to Tampa Bay and Detroit. Tom Brady might be down many of his best pass-catchers, but he doesn't need them against this Swiss cheese defense.
Austen: The Pats are really badly banged up and are not the same team without Gronk. That being said, the Eagles are playing some of the worst football in the league as of late. A win here might be the only thing that could save Chip Kelly's job, but that's just not going to happen.
Austen's Seven-Point Pick
Arizona over @St. Louis
Austen: The Rams are a total mess. They are starting Nick Foles, who they kept on the bench when Case Keenum had a concussion. That shows what they think of Foles. This is a mismatch all over the place.
Stally: The Rams win in Arizona earlier in the year remains one of the larger mysteries of the season. At the time, it was a coming out party for RB Todd Gurley and seemed to announce the Rams as a contender. But, they aren't, and it's hard to see them beating Arizona a second time.
Stally's Seven-Point Pick
Carolina over @New Orleans
Stally: I'm a little nervous that the Saints could pull off the home upset, but at 11-0, I've pledged to pick the Panthers with full confidence until they lose. That and the Saints offense managed all of six points last week, and the Panthers have one of the best defenses in the league.
Austen: Glad Stally is finally on the Panthers bandwagon. They are kind of undefeated, so its probably the right choice. The Saints just got manhandled by the Texans, who are not very good. Panthers should, and will, stay undefeated.
Austen's Six-Point Pick
@Pittsburgh over Indianapolis
Austen: Matt Hasselbeck is 4-0, but that streak has to end sometime. Why not on the road against a surging playoff contender? Makes too much sense to me.
Stally: Agreed. The Colts have been an enigma most of the season: underachieving to the point that their wins come as surprises. The Steelers are more consistent and an all-around better team. Good pick.
Stally's Six-Point Pick
@Chicago over San Francisco
Stally: The Bears Thanksgiving night win at Green Bay keeps them alive in the NFC. They should continue rolling at home against a San Francisco team that looks dreadful.
Austen: No argument here. The 49ers are much better with Blaine Gabbert at QB (I cannot believe I just said that), but they are still terrible. The 49ers should see a big dose of RBs Matt Forte and Jeremy Langford.
Austen's Five-Point Pick
Denver over @San Diego
Austen: The reason the Broncos have been playing better with Brock Osweiler is they have gotten their run game on track. The Chargers are one of the worst in the league in run defense, and the Broncos should run rampant through that defense.
Stally: I agree with Austen. Osweiler has been good, but his rise in stock has been exorbitant for a guy that completed just one of 13 targets to All-Pro WR Demaryius Thomas last week. As Austen said, the Broncos will dominate this one through their ground game and stout defense.
Stally's Five-Point Pick
@Washington over Dallas
Stally: The Cowboys went 0-7 in Tony Romo's absence, and he's now out again. The Redskins are somehow leading the division, which is shocking, but also makes them a clear favorite at home.
Austen: Wow..... Wow. Remember this morning people. Stally is taking the Redskins over the Cowboys. This might never happen again. Wow.
Austen's Four-Point Pick
Green Bay over @Detroit
Austen: Well, I do feel lucky to have gotten this right, with the game winner coming off of the longest Hail Mary in NFL history. That being said, betting against a team that is capable of allowing the longest Hail Mary in NFL history probably was not a bad choice.
Stally: I had the Lions in this one and would have been right if not for some marginal facemask call on the play that should have ended the game. Detroit had won three straight entering the game, including a win at Green Bay, while the Packers had dropped four of five. I'd take the Lions again in this one; they should have won.
Stally's Four-Point Pick
New York Jets over @New York Giants
Stally: New York, New York. The Jets show a lot more promise in developing into a good team than the Giants, who couldn't even keep the Redskins from taking over first place last week.
Austen: No Revis? No problem? Eh, I'm not so sure. The Jets have been all over the map recently, so I cannot trust them to beat anyone. They are the better team, but are dealing with enough injuries that it should be very close.
Austen's Three-Point Pick
Kansas City over @Oakland
Austen: I think the Raiders have a very good chance to win this game. That is how much I dislike all the rest of my picks. The Chiefs have been on fire and I simply cannot bet against them right now.
Stally: Exactly what Austen said. The Raiders have a great shot in this one, but you just can't go against a Chiefs team that has won five straight.
Stally's Three-Point Pick
@Tennessee over Jacksonville
Stally: I watched some of this ugly matchup on Thursday night two weeks ago. It was bad, really bad. What I took away was that the Jaguars mucked their way through the game and that the Titans did a better job losing it than the Jags did winning. I'll assume that Tennessee will fix a few of its blunders and be the better team.
Austen: I have Jacksonville. The Titans are (unsurprisingly) statistically the worst team in the league. The Jags still have a chance to win the division, so they simply have much more to play for than the Titans. Makes too much sense to not take the Jags.
Austen's Two-Point Pick
Seattle over @Minnesota
Austen: This just feels like the time of the year the Vikings crash back to reality and the Seahawks reemerge as a playoff contender. Surprisingly, the Seahawks have been much better on offense without Marshawn Lynch. Welcome to Bizarro Season.
Stally: This will be a great game, but Austen is well known to be a Seahawks bandwagoner. I'll take the team playing at home whose record is two games better; that's the Vikings.
Stally's Two-Point Pick
Houston over @Buffalo
Stally: We just talked about Kansas City playing good football, so have the Texans. Houston has won four in a row to climb even with Indianapolis atop the AFC South. This will be a road challenge for sure, but I can't go against the Texans with the way they're playing.
Austen: Both of these teams are wildly inconsistent, so I really have no idea. The Bills defense is surprisingly mediocre this year, so I think a shockingly good Brian Hoyer at QB for the Texans has the chance to tear them up.
Austen's One-Point Pick
@Miami over Baltimore
Austen: With all of their injuries, the Ravens might be the least talented team in the league. They have a terrible pass defense and no identity on offense. That helped them to a miracle win against the Browns, but that won't be enough even against a struggling Dolphins team.
Stally: I'm picking the Ravens because the Dolphins are that disappointing. There's just no rhythm and no standouts in Miami. Nobody seems to want to win there, which isn't surprising for a team that employs a cancer like Ndamukong Suh. Baltimore still has a very good coach that's capable of motivating his players to keep digging.
Stally's One-Point Pick
Atlanta over @Tampa Bay
Stally: Classic Stally pick on the Falcons here. They're not playing good ball, Tampa Bay is, but I just can't go against an Atlanta team that I think is a lot better on paper.
Austen: Devonta Freeman is back! Maybe that means the Falcons will stop being terrible? Your guess is as good as mine.
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