Thursday, December 29, 2011

NFL Picks: Week 17

Saints over the Panthers
Brees needs to play and pass in this game or Brady has a shot to overtake him and claim the Marino record for himself. That would be awkward after we already went through the coronation of Brees as the new master of the pass.

Patriots over the Bills
The Bills don't ever win in Foxboro so this is the safe pick.

Vikings over the Bears.
What a bad ending for Chicago. When Cutler and Forte were clicking earlier in the season it looked like the playoffs were a lock and they might even give the Packers a scare. The Cutler injury crapped all over everything. That's why the QB is the most valuable player on the entire team (Indy players nodding sadly).

Jets over the Dolphins
I'm looking forward to the Revis/Marshall battle.

49ers over the Rams
Don't start trying now St. Louis. Draft order matters.

Lions over the Packers
I'm trying to sell this one to myself. The only thing I got is perhaps the Pack will rest Rodgers and other starters in the 2nd half.

Eagles over the Redskins
Too little too late for Philly. We'll look forward to a better year in 2012. As I've said before, the NFL is better off with the Eagles and Michael Vick relevant and winning.

Jags over the Colts
Indy loses and now we have to endure the Luck talk for months. Shoot me now.

Titans over the Texans
Houston will probably exit early in the playoffs. That Schaub injury wasn't as devastating as the Bear's losing Cutler, but it kills their playoff chances.

Seahawks over the Cardinals
The hawks have won 6 of their last 8 and a large part of that can be attributed to the resurgence of Marshawn Lynch. After the 4th game of the season he turned on the jets.

Broncos over the Chiefs
If the Broncos win then they are in the playoffs and we have an offseason of stories about the promise and hope of Tebow. If they lose then we will deal with tons of speculation on whether Tebow starts next year or is even traded. Even if Oakland loses and the Bronocs back into the playoffs with a loss we'll still see the latter version of events that I mentioned. They'll most likely be a one and done team in the playoffs and that would mean 4 straight losses to end the year.

Falcons over the Bucs
Raheem Morris has one more game before the axe falls. You can't lose 9 straight and survive can you? He ought to pull out every trick play in the book. Hard to believe this team was 4-2 to start the season. I actually think they ought to give their coach one more year. Last season was good for him. Maybe this year is an aberration.

Ravens over the Bengals
This a Baltimore team that will face doubts about their offense in the playoffs. The Ravens scored over 24 points 5 times in the first 8 weeks. Things were clicking. Since week 9....over 24 points just once.

Steelers over the Browns
Pittsburgh would be better off if Batch could play and win again. Roethlisbeger could use another week to rest the injured ankle.

Chargers over the Raiders
To me the Raiders are a success whether they go to the playoffs or not. They were a joke for so long that their gritty play the past two seasons have won my respect.

Giants over the Cowboys
If Manning has Nicks and Manningham back from injury then it will be tougher for the Cowboy defensive backs to focus solely on Victor Cruz.

Last week: 11-5
Overall: 143-93 (61%)

I know the playoffs are exciting but I'm always a bit bummed out by the end of the regular season. I'm like the kid mourning the end of Christmas before Christmas day has arrived.

2 comments:

notacynic said...

Could that feeling have anything to do with the Rams not being in the playoffs?

The Armchair Quarterback said...

partly. Although the Rams have been bad for so long that they are starting to feel like that family member that lives far away and has gone down a dark path. I never see them (they had a grand total of 1 televised game in my area) and they are making no strides to connect with me or change. They haven't won more than 8 games since 2003, they haven't won more than 3 games in 4 out of the last 5 seasons. Still, like a loyal family member I'll continue to support from afar and hope they make a change for the better.