Sportandfashion-news NFL Picks Week 17: To the End of the Road

My picks page comes to an end and it has been a hard one. I have to figure out a way to get these out

quicker and also do them ahead of time. One of my NYE resolutions is to get Sportandfashion-news up quicker and a more furious pace. Hope you enjoyed these this season, always fun writing them even though it takes forever.  

Carolina (11-4) (-7) at Atlanta (4-11) 12:00 pm FOX - What a difference a year makes for both teams. I doubt the Panthers will choke in this one against a Falcons team who put up more fight than I expected on Monday night. Cam Newton has another good performance, and Carolina's defense holds strong against Matt Ryan. CAR 30-13

Baltimore (8-7) at Cincinnati (10-5) (-6.5) 12:00 pm CBS - For whatever reason, Cincinnati likes to puke on their shoes around this time. We are heading toward the time-honored tradition of seeing the Bengals play at 3:30 on Wild Card Saturday. Baltimore made the playoffs in the last five years, and need to win on the road for only the third time of the year with a banged up Joe Flacco. I cannot see that happening. Baltimore looked horrible last week, and I think Flacco might be more hurt than the Ravens are leading on and Cincinnati gets a clutch win... Finally. CIN 28-24

Houston (2-13) at Tennessee (6-9) (-7) 12:00 pm CBS - There are a couple 'Last Resort' games this week and this is one of them. I think it would take me about 250 dollars to watch this game. People expected Mike Munchak to get the pink slip. Houston's coach is already gone and the Texans will likely tank this one to preserve that number one spot. TENN 28-9

Jacksonville (4-11) at Indianapolis (10-5) (-11) 12:00 pm CBS - Colts can still become a three seed if they win and Cincinnati loses on Sunday meaning they would avoid Kansas City, a team I do not think they want to see even though they beat them two weeks ago (I will explain this if the two meet next Friday). Jacksonville had a 'Good job, good effort' season, and while I think the future is bright, they will struggle against a better looking Indianapolis team. IND 27-14

New York Jets (7-8) at Miami (8-7) (-6) 12:00 pm CBS - In the last 11 years, Miami only has one playoff appearance. For a storied franchise, this is a fairly significant game as they have struggled throughout this decade. I do not think it is a big day for Ryan Tannehill because he has years to write his story, but I do think some media types might give him some shit if Miami were lose against New York. I do not see it happening. Jets might want to fight for Rex, but Geno Smith is not a good road quarterback whatsoever. He only has five touchdowns on the road and has been sacked 27 times with 13 interceptions. Miami will win their way to a playoff spot. MIA 23-14.

Detroit (7-8) at Minnesota (4-10-1) (-3) 12:00 pm FOX - Both coaches might be out of a job and I will probably watch a little bit of this game to just get to see Jim Schwartz's sourpuss face one more time this season. I find it hard to believe Detroit will lose out to end the year. I realize Minnesota is playing better, but I have to think the Lions will try to fight for Schwartz even if he is cleaning out his office come Monday. Nonetheless I expect a ton of high scoring in this one. DET 34-30

Washington (3-12) at New York Giants (6-9) (-3.5) 12:00 pm FOX - This is a 'Last Resort' game for me. I want none of this one. The only reason to watch is to see if Eli Manning can get to 30 interceptions which would take four picks from Washington's defense. I wonder whether Washington wants to win so St. Louis does not get the second pick overall, but I have no idea if they really give a shit. Giants win this football game because Washington is so goddamn bad. NYG 35-17

Cleveland (4-11) at Pittsburgh (7-8) (-7) 12:00 pm CBS - I am happy for my friend and sometimes Sportandfashion-news writer Nolan winning 40 bucks as he bet the Browns would lose out the season a couple weeks ago. Ben Roethlisberger has personal ownership over Cleveland plus they need this win badly. Bet the house on Pittsburgh. PITT 30-6

Green Bay (7-7-1) (-2.5) at Chicago (8-7) 3:25 pm FOX - See my preview for this game and my nervous level is already at a three. It's only Friday.  

Denver (12-3) (-12) at Oakland (4-11) 3:25 pm CBS - Sleep your hangover off if this is your game from CBS. This will be a boat race. DEN 38-20

Buffalo (6-9) at New England (11-4) (-9) 3:25 pm CBS - Even with all their injuries, I think New England is the favorite in the AFC to begin the playoffs. I will probably not be convinced otherwise unless they find a way to lose to Buffalo. I do not think it happens though. They should be able to handle Buffalo. NE 28-21

Tampa Bay (4-11) at New Orleans (10-5) (-13) 3:25 pm FOX - I find it hard to believe New Orleans has a chance to either miss the playoffs or get a bye is incredible. They do not lose at home except against Tampa Bay. The Bucs have a couple wins in the Superdome in the last week of the season which is weird but also meaningless for Sunday's game. Drew Brees does not seem like a quarterback whom would let his team lose, but for some reason, I think it will be closer than expected. NO 24-21

San Francisco (11-4) (-1) at Arizona (10-5) 3:25 pm FOX - As I said on Tuesday, I feel terrible for Arizona that they might miss the playoffs with an 11-5 record while Green Bay or Chicago sneaks in with either nine or eight wins. I do honestly think these are two of the best teams right now especially Arizona's defense. I will be interested to see how the emerging Colin Kaepernick handles them on Sunday. Am I making too much of Matt Ryan throwing 350 yards against San Francisco's pass defense?  Do I think Carson Palmer could do the same thing?  Yes I do. But like what happened on Monday, San Francisco's defense makes a big play when needed. SF 28-24

Kansas City (11-4) at San Diego (8-7) (-9.5) 3:25 pm CBS - Kansas City has nothing to play for whatsoever while San Diego has everything to play for. Easy betting here. SD 31-14

St. Louis (7-8) at Seattle (12-3) (-11) - Alright I will get this out of the way, I think Seattle wins this football game rather easily, but I want to point out last three games for Russell Wilson which have not been good at all. In those three games, his passing yards are as followed 199, 208 and 108. The quarterback rating in those games... 81.9, 86.3 and 40.7. Further going from about completing 10 yards per pass to four against Arizona is not great either. Once again, Seattle wins going away but I'm a bit worried about Russell Wilson. SEA 30-10

Philadelphia (9-6) (-7) at Dallas (8-7) 7:30 pm NBC - Would it be the most Tony Romo thing for Dallas to win this football game and be in the playoffs preserving Jason Garrett's job with Kyle Orton at quarterback?  The answer is yes, and the ridiculousness that would come with it, I could not handle it. But Philadelphia is a great team and one of the hottest in football. Their defense does enough to keep this from being a shootout and their offense has a major day against a weak Dallas defense. PHI 41-28

Straight Up: 144-79-1

ATS: 100-115-4

Charlie.

NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 16: Everybody is drunk

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

I usually do not put a tag, but I really think I have no idea what's going to happen in the playoffs. Like we are heading for a 'Red Wedding' style playoffs where no one is safe. I cannot believe I said multiple times on Sunday, 'Philadelphia might be the best NFC team.'  Let's talk about it I guess and try to make sense of all that happened this week. 

TOP SHELF 
Talk me out of a New England-Philadelphia Super Bowl -  Here's where the NFL season has left me folks. These are the two best teams right now in both divisions. San Francisco is pretty good, but giving up 350 yards to Matt Ryan at home worries me a bit. Philadelphia seems to be cooking on all cylinders, and I feel like the Minnesota game is a blip on the radar. New England keeps winning games no matter who is lining up on both sides of the football. Tom Brady's statistics might not be great, but he's playing great this season for what's he's been given this year.

Cam Newton's big balls performance - While Robert Griffin III suffered all the criticism after he had a successful rookie season, Cam Newton received it during the draft process, his first season, second season and to think there are still losers whom still call him Scam. He led Carolina down the field late in the game trailing and notched a victory for the Panthers. I do not care if he only threw for 181 yards. That took massive testicular fortitude, and I am impressed with his season. Cam Newton is winning an MVP award before 2018.

Indianapolis leaves me uneasy like an STD - That might be a little too extreme, but I do not know what to make of the Colts. I am starting to think Indianapolis plays down to their opponents hence the reason why they have some brutal losses in juncture with impressive wins against Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and others. They will get a home game against this Kansas City team, but I also wonder if Andy Reid played a vanilla offense/defense showing nothing to Indianapolis which is very possible. We have seen this before with teams.

Cowboys come back and Romo gets hurt? - Dallas made a valiant comeback against Washington with Tony Romo leading a comeback to beat Washington and set up an NFC East showdown next Sunday. But they could be without Romo as he has a back injury. First, it was a herniated disk, then it was day-to-day injury and now it is back spasms. I have no idea what to think about this Dallas team although I will admit it would be the most Romo thing ever for Kyle Orton to lead Dallas to a playoff appearance.  

MIDDLE SHELF 
I feel legitimate bad for Arizona - As someone who cheers for an NFC North team, I feel bad Arizona might miss the playoffs with an 11-5 record. That would be insane. I mean the NFC West is an excellent division, but still it feels wrong in all sorts of ways for Arizona or New Orleans missing the playoffs although more so the Cardinals who have been playing great of late.

Peyton breaks the record, but how much meaning does it have? - I am really happy for Peyton Manning's season because it in large part won me 260 dollars so for that I thank him, but at the same time, passing records post the new NFL rules will be looked at like the steroid era numbers in baseball. All of these records being broken and re-broken by others in the last couples years is honestly pathetic, but it is not Peyton's fault for taking advantage.  

Somehow Andy Dalton is sixth in passing - See what I mean about what I just ranted about above?

Jeff Fisher is the king of .500 - I probably should not call him the king, but he is the prince of it. In eight of his 18 seasons of a full-time head coach, Fisher's teams have been either 7-9, 7-8-1 or 8-8. That's incredible. I do not know what that says about his teams or his coaching. Just find it interesting how it always seems to Ihappen with Fisher.

BOTTOM SHELF 
DETROIT..... Football :( - We were at Lambeau, and they showed the highlights of New York-Detroit... Right before they did it, my buddy Seth goes 'I bet Stafford threw a pick-six here.' and sure enough, he did throw that interception and sure enough, Detroit lost the football game.

Miami pulls a Dan Marino - For as long as I could remember, Dan Marino was famously known for choking in December football games on the road. He could not win in the cold to save his soul.  Apparently, this version of the Dolphins do the same thing as they were shutout by the Bills, the same team who gave up 33 points to Jacksonville. Thankfully, Miami has New York Jets at home.

I have no control in Week 17 - I absolutely hate how I have no idea how things will pan out next week. I am exhausted from this season.

Charlie.

NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 15

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

ED Note: I realize there is no need to recap everything coming from the NFL this week because there were some meaningless games along with some meaningless finishes. This is why the Liquor Cabinet is a little shorter than it usually is during the week.  

TOP SHELF
Jamaal Charles makes an MVP Case - NFL always needs new things to talk about especially when it comes to Most Valuable Player. Peyton Manning will probably get it, but Jamaal Charles could win Offensive Player of the Year. Charles deserves it for the season he is currently having right now. The Texas product rushed for 1,181 yards with eleven touchdowns and has 655 receiving yards with seven touchdowns. Although many of the receiving numbers come from Oakland with Charles having 195 yards of receiving with four touchdowns. All on screens. CLASSIC Oakland. Charles definitely has the numbers to at least give Manning a run for his money.  If he has two massive games to finish out the year, it will only help his case.

Justin Tucker earns new fans in Chicago and Detroit - Monday Night Football got their big game, but this game was pretty damn ugly. Baltimore's kicker Justin Tucker has been the best Special Teams player in the AFC this season, and probably guaranteed himself a trip to Hawaii. He became the first NFL kicker to make a field goal in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's with the 61 yard field goal being the game-winner. Tucker single-handily beat Detroit by himself with six field goals. Baltimore did not have a touchdown. Ravens are winning in the weirdest ways possible.

How legit is Miami? - Given all the bullshit they have been through this season, Miami is still very alive in the playoffs. They need a Baltimore loss and they need to keep winning. Miami needs to beat Buffalo on the road and New York Jets at home. They could easily make it to 10-6.  They might not be a playoff team this year if Baltimore wins out, but they can be a true contender to the AFC East crown for the coming years. Miami feels like they are one or two more pieces from being a real good team in the AFC that can win playoff games. On Sunday, that was the first good Miami crowd in the last five years, maybe overreacting, but it feels like they have been struggling forever yet the fanbase finally saw hope last week.

MIDDLE SHELF
The forgotten great game - Due to Green Bay Packers comeback, everyone forgot about Arizona-Tennessee during the same time slot. Arizona took a 34-17 lead in the fourth quarter only to see it dissolve in the final three minutes of the game leading Tennessee to tie up the game and force overtime. Once again, Ryan Fitzpatrick's Turnover Spectactular struck again in overtime leading to a Jay Feely field goal. Arizona is still very alive in the playoff hunt and even more so with New Orleans losing meaning they could be in the Wild Card position if Arizona does the unthinkable and beats Seattle in the Pacific Northwest.

Jay Cutler's big second half leads Bears - Cutty returned to the field against Cleveland. Some people worried about the Browns defense against Cutler, and they were right at the beginning with two interceptions, one being in the end zone and the other a pick-six. Chicago quarterback played a hell of a second half leading the charge for this Chicago team in a must-needed victory. This also saved head coach Marc Trestman questions as to why Josh McCown was not out there which is ideal for him and this team moving forward in the next couple of weeks.

AFC is hot garbage - I said it last week and I will say it again, AFC is not a good conference. All of the top three teams lost in the playoff seeding and why two of the top three in the NFC lost as well, I promise you it is different. The reason being is Denver fell to San Diego on Thursday meaning both teams knew the door was open and they decided to shut it because why not, right?  I guess what upsets in whatever sport it may be football, basketball, golf, baseball, etc. I want to see a team or an individual win whatever they are doing instead of backing their way into a championship or first round bye. Hopefully, one or two teams seize the AFC by the balls.

BOTTOM SHELF
Who should be concerned more: Philly's defense or road Saints? - I am going to hedge this answer right here. If New Orleans loses to Carolina next week, my answer is the Saints especially if they have to go to Green Bay or Chicago in round one. New Orleans' road struggles is pretty well-documented, but it could get real nasty if they fall to Carolina on Sunday meaning they will play a game in likely sub-zero temperatures. Philadelphia's defense reared its ugly head on Sunday. They have been good for the last six weeks, and looked like the old version of themselves. I feel like I will have a better answer to this question after next week.

Mike Shanahan is trying to get fired on-site - I would love to try to explain Shanny going for two at the end of the game attempting to win the football game. It is not like this is some David versus Goliath matchup here rather two really poor football teams. Shanahan wants to be fired. He is not going to step down, I can guarantee that. Further, he will continue to do dumb shit in the coming weeks to see what puts Dan Snyder going off the ledge. I, for one, will be entertained to see what he continues to do try and pull off.

New York Giants are back baby! - Remember when people were talking about New York making a comeback for the playoffs? They were 4-6 at the time and now they are 5-9 meaning they have lost three of their last four. They put up a pathetic effort against Seattle including Eli Manning had five interceptions meaning he is only five away from 30. Let's dream the dream.

Charlie.