Week 14 Predictions

34 Denver at Oakland 24
Oakland has not won since October 28th and Denver has not lost since October 7th.  After starting 2-3, Denver has now clinched the division sporting a 9-3 record.  There's no question in my mind that Peyton will go to work on the paltry Raider secondary and get the Broncos their 10th win.  Peyton's got his mind set on the #2 seed in the AFC.

20 St. Louis at Buffalo 16
Both of these teams have 5 wins, but the Rams are just a better squad.  I think the stout Rams D will shut down the potent two-headed rush attack of Fred Jackson and C.J Spiller as the Rams get their 2nd win on the road.

31 Dallas at Cincinnati 24
Cincy's been riding a 4 game win streak putting them in the wild-card hunt in the AFC.  Dallas is 6-6 coming off a home win against the Nick Foles' led Eagles.  At first, I predicted Cincy to win this one but upon hearing the news of the tragedy involving Cowboys defense players Josh Brent and Jerry Brown, I am switching my pick to Dallas.  In October of 2011, the Raiders defeated the Texans a day after their legendary owner Al Davis passed away.  I predicted Houston to win but after the game, I realized I overlooked the fact that the Raiders would ban together as a team following a tragedy.  I vowed I would not miss another one of those picks again.  This year, I haven't missed 1 of those games yet as I am 2/2 on those picks (IND over GB after Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia and KC over CAR last week following the Jovan Belcher tragedy).  Dallas will ban together and win this one.

10 Kansas City at Cleveland 19
Despite their heavy-hearts, the Chiefs banded together to focus on beating Carolina at home last week.  Brady Quinn actually had a solid game, throwing for 201 yards and 2 scores.  Quinn transformed from a terrible QB into a competent one on Sunday, in fact, he continued his performance into his post-game press conference.  However, I believe Quinn will revert back to his old ways this week, throwing a couple picks and less than 200 yards in Cleveland.  The Browns are poised to capture their 3rd win in a row.  Woah.

19 Tennessee at Indianapolis 23
I don't know what I was thinking last week when I went against #ChuckStrong in my predictions.  I apologize to the entire Indianapolis Colts organization.  The Titans have no chance.  #ChuckStrong

17 Chicago at Minnesota 13
Two weeks ago, Minny got blown out in Chicago but this week I think they put up more of a fight.  Adrian Peterson is on a mission as he has amassed 1,446 rushing yds thus far.  You better believe he has 2,000 in his sights.  He needs to average 138.5 rush yds per game to accomplish the feat. The Cashier will get the ball early and often in this one, but I like Chicago to barley scrape away with the win.

13 Philadelphia at Tampa Bay 31
The last time the Eagles won a game, the MLB was still in session.  Regular season, not post-season. This decimated Eagles squad (physically and mentally) is going to get hammered in Tampa by a Bucs team that is hungry for a wild-card berth.

13 Baltimore at Washington 35
The Ravens are the worst 9-3 team I have ever seen.  They've won around 4 or 5 games this year they really shouldn't have.  Opponents of Baltimore this year just have a knack for giving away the game at the most opportune times.  RG3 is going to go to town on this Ravens D that is going to be without the great Ray Lewis once again.  Ray is not eligible to return until next week vs Denver.  Blow-out in the nation's capital.

24 Atlanta at Carolina 17
Several Panther players felt disrespected after cameras caught Matt Ryan yelling for Carolina to get off his field.  They are using this insignificant moment as fuel to motivate them to beat Atlanta.  Last time these squads met, Cam had the game locked up but could not secure a first down to secure the victory.  Carolina punted; Atlanta started the drive at their own 1.  Then Matty Ice connected with Roddy White for a 60 yard reception which led to a Matt Bryant field goal to win the game.  Simply put, Atlanta knows how to win games and Carolina knows how to give them away.

17 NY Jets at Jacksonville 9
Tim Tebow SHOULD be starting this one in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida but Rex Ryan is starting Mark Sanchez instead.  The Jets still believe they have a chance at the playoffs because they have not been officially mathematically eliminated yet.  They will throw the kitchen sink at Jacksonville and will come away with the victory in a low-scoring affair.  At this point, it's in the Jags favor to keep losing in order to secure the #1 pick in April.

13 San Diego at Pittsburgh 24
Big Ben will make a smooth transition back to the grid-iron with a double-digit win at Heinz.  San Diego is terrible; I don't understand how anyone can pick them right now.

10 Miami at San Francisco 27
I predicted this exact score for a niners win over the Rams last week.  Unfortunately, I wasn't close as the Rams eeked out a 16-13 win in overtime.  I'm keeping this score for the niners this week; Reggie Bush has not had 20 carries or 100 yards rushing in a game since Week 2 when he hit both of those marks.  Expect the trend to continue as the niners D puts up another spectacular performance against an AFC East team.  San Francisco has allowed a total of 3 points to their 2 AFC East opponents thus far (Jets-0 in week 4 and Bills-3 in week 5)

3 Arizona at Seattle 16
Russell Wilson hushed critics last week after a huge comeback win on the road in Chicago.  With John Skelton in their sights (2 TD, 5 INT this year) and Ryan Lindley backing up (0 TD, 5 INT this year) the Seahawks D is salivating over this matchup.  They are thinking shut-out but I'll give the Cards a gentlemen's 3 spot.

37 New Orleans at NY Giants 31
This game is pretty important for both teams.  The Giants are now only a game up on Washington and Dallas in the NFC East.  On the other side, the Saints need to run the table to have a chance at a wild card berth.  I think that with their backs against the wall, the Saints will rise to the occassion.  Look for a fast start the G-Men (up 14-0 mid-way through the 1st quarter) only to see Brees and Co come back and eventually steal the lead late in the third.  WHO DAT nation is not going down without a fight.  Expect a high scoring back and forth affair that will capture the attention of the nation from 4-7 sunday as the other two 4 o clock games stink.  Why are there only 3 4 o clock games?

21 Detroit at Green Bay 38
The Lions have lost 4 in a row now, the last 2 being heart-breaking losses.  On Thanksgiving Day, Detroit HAD the game and gave it away to Houston.  Last Sunday, Detroit had a two TD lead erased by the Colts.  Detroit was up 33-21 in that game with as little as 2 and a half minutes to go.  That's a Tebow-esque sort of comeback by Luck and crew.  This week, I expect Detroit to get blown out in Lambeau.  This would be the first game Detroit gets blown-out in all year.  They haven't lost by more than 10 points in any game this year, yet they have incurred 8 losses.  This is simply a case of a team that can't finish.  

17 Houston at New England 41
New England is gonna kill Houston on Monday Night causing people to hurl themselves off the Texan bandwagon.  I still love Houston as a Super Bowl contender but I feel a statement win by the Pats coming.  Just a gut feeling.

Last Week: 8-8
Season: 123-68-1