Week 13: The AFC Stinks

While it might have been close, Thursday night's game only
proved that it's most definitely a down year in the AFC. (Getty)

It's official.  The AFC is a terrible conference this season.

Already in the books, the now-6-6 Ravens beat the now-5-7 Steelers on Thanksgiving.  And, on Sunday afternoon, the 5-6 Dolphins and 5-6 Jets will kickoff.  It's sad that one of these teams will likely emerge as a playoff candidate in the near future, despite none of them looking like they're even worthy of finishing at 8-8 this season.

Also on the line, the 7-4 Bengals head to 5-6 San Diego and the 5-6 Titans go to 7-4 Indianapolis.  Neither Cincy nor Indy has looked dominant, and wins for the underdogs would leap frog them into the 6-6 jumble of sixth seed mediocrity in the AFC.  All in all, it's pretty bad.

Here's who the Stubborn OXen have emerging from what is quickly turning into a stinky pile of dung:

Week 12: All Over Underdogs

With highs in the 20s and winds in the 30s, it's going to be a
cold meeting between two of the best QBs in history. (Getty)

This is a tough week to pick teams, we both agree on that.  In the world of gambling, it's generally considered that the home team is gifted three points on the spread, just for being at home.  This means that if a home team is favored by three points, it would be considered a completely even matchup on a neutral field.

This week, there are four home teams favored by less than three points.  What does this mean?  It means Las Vegas is expecting them to win, but doesn't actually consider them to be the better team.  That makes it difficult for us to make predictions for the winner, because we can either go with the home team or the better team.

Here's who we went with:

Stally's Seven-Point Pick
New Orleans over @Atlanta

Week 11: Start Drawing The Playoff Canvas

Adrian Peterson needs to have a huge day just for
the Vikings to stay in this game in Seattle. (Getty)

Another great week of football coming your way! This week is loaded up with evenly matched teams, which is great for fans, but rough on us SOBs.

With over half the season over already (I still cannot believe that), teams are starting to look at what they need to do in order to get themselves into the playoffs. Will the elite teams stumble? Who is going to take that last Wild Card spot in the AFC? Only time will tell, but here is how we think this week will play out:

Austen's Eight-Point Pick
@Seattle over Minnesota

Austen: I'm still riding high on the Seattle bandwagon. They are still the best team in the league and Minnesota is one of the worst.

Stally: You don't have to be riding high on the Seattle bandwagon to know that this is the lopsided matchup of the week.  It's the only real easy pick of the week.

Week 10: No-Huddle Offense

Andrew Luck has the Colts running high atop the AFC South. (Getty)

We're both vacationing together in California and are typing this on Rob Lange's iPad about 30 minutes before Sunday kickoff. This week, we will be typing short thoughts as we pass the computer back and forth.  Let's get after it:

Stally's Seven-Point Pick
@Indianapolis over St. Louis

Stally: There's the potential for a lot of upsets this week, but I feel safe saying this isn't one 'em.

Austen: This seems like a reach for a top pick. I don't disagree with the pick, just think the Rams are better than Stally thinks. Kellen Clemens is playing solid football.

Week 9: All In Agreement Say "Aye"

Just when we thought Thursday Night Football couldn't get
any uglier, an overtime game was decided by a safety. (AP)

Austen: Aye.

Stally: Aye.

In the three-year history of the blog, the two of us have never agreed more on the outcomes that with this coming weekend's NFL games.  It wasn't until the final of 13 games picked that we disagreed on the predicted winner of a game.  Let's be honest, at that point, it's really just a coin flip anyway.

The bad news is that we've both already missed on the Thursday night game, so despite a lot of concurrence, we clearly aren't omnipotent.

Ok, enough with the big words, let's talk football.  Here's who we have this week: