The good news is I made a little dent in my deficit; the bad news is it was only a single game, as I took three of five from Adam. Joe, however, took four of seven from me, while he also took four of six from Adam. Adam's down week knocked him from first place in the group, though we all struggled a bit.
You can view how we've picked in relation to each other here. My hero numbers continue to improve as I hit on two of those for the second straight week, though Adam hit once again to continue his unsustainable (I will continue to say this in an effort to jinx him) pace.
I'm hopeful that what's historically been one of my better weeks serves me well again as we get a fine spread of football over the next several days. This week, I disagree with both Adam and Joe on nine games apiece; they disagree on eight out of sixteen.
From all of us at Confessions of a Sportscaster, Happy Thanksgiving! Let's get to it!
Thursday Morning
Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions (-7.5)
Lucas: Packers. I agonized over this one a bit. I got burned on a Thursday earlier in the year by this exact matchup. This Packers team is freaking hurt everywhere. And yet the Lions have looked mortal a couple of times while Jordan Love has shown flashes of being a legitimate NFL quarterback. And you know what? It's my birthday. I don't often get to see the Packers play on my birthday (much less when it's on Thanksgiving). Give me a present, football gods.
Adam: Lions. Having to orchestrate a come-from-behind late win over the fledgling Bears even with a less than decent Goff, I’ll play the “rebound” card and lay the points.
Joe: Packers.
Thursday Afternoon
Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys (-10.5)
Lucas: Commanders. Name a more iconic duo than the Cowboys and choking on Thanksgiving. I think they win here, but the spread is wide enough that I'll take a second helping of the points.
Adam: Cowboys. Dak did have a meh game. But against the Commanders I don’t see this game being close past the first.
Joe: Cowboys.
Thursday Night
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks (+6.5)
Lucas: Seahawks. I really shouldn't make it 3-3 on underdogs, but screw it. Part of me just feels like we're due for some shady [expletive] at night in Seattle.
Adam: 49ers. A game that should be good, but I like San Francisco by a touchdown. Plus I was able to squeeze out a fantasy win due to Ayiuk’s 156 and a score performance last week.
Joe: 49ers.
Friday Afternoon
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets (+9.5)
Lucas: Dolphins. The Jets are starting Tim Boyle. I mean, I loved Tim Boyle as Aaron Rodgers' caddy into perpetuity, but this is different. And besides, the Dolphins have been eating bad teams alive so far this year.
Adam: Jets. Purely a “we changed our QB so our offense will be simpler and the other team doesn’t know the new guy's weakness yet” play.
Joe: Dolphins.
Sunday, Early Afternoon
New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons (-1.5)
Lucas: Saints. Now that we're free from one offensive menace that I'll touch on in a moment... can Arthur Smith, the Greatest Mismanager of Talent of All Time, be gone too? Haven't Falcons fans suffered enough?
Adam: Saints. Just a gut play. Assuming Carr is back I like him over Ridder or whoever is starting in Atlanta these days.
Joe: Falcons.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals (+1.5)
Lucas: Steelers. You're free, Yinzers! Enjoy your... oh. I'm sorry, Bengals fans. Get well soon, Burrow.
Adam: Steelers. O hey der that Matt Canada exit music. Plus RIP to my fantasy team. Had heavy shares of Chase who is now downgraded with Burrow out.
Lucas note: Yes, I read that first sentence in a Canadian accent.
Joe: Bengals.
Carolina Panthers @ Tennessee Titans (-3.5)
Lucas: Titans. Nothing like playing one of the worst teams in the league to get a freebie.
Adam: Titans. gotta give a dog a bone. Haven’t seen much of Henry boy this year. This may be the game.
Joe: Titans.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Indianapolis Colts (-2.5)
Lucas: Colts. I just trust Indy more here.
Adam: Colts. Off the bye, plus TB is jaust TB without TB. I have no idea what that means, but whatever. Indy in a rout.
Lucas note: Normally I'll clean up Adam's wording a little bit, but this one... I'm leaving. Y'all can figure it out. I think.
Joe: Buccaneers.
New England Patriots @ New York Giants (+2.5)
Lucas: Giants. Don't bet against Tommy DeVito.
Adam: Patriots. Why? Because why not. This game may end 7-3; it’s going to be so bad.
Lucas note: Come on; if you're gonna root for bad football, at least root for like an 8-7 game that's won on a safety or a defensive two point conversion or something because then we at least get Scorigami out of the deal too.
Joe: Giants.
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans (+0.5)
Lucas: Strouds Texans. Stroud to Dell forever.
Adam: Texans. Wow, this is going to be a fun game to watch. It’s a game two or three years ago that would have qualified as the worst game of the year, but here we are. I’ll defer to the home team with the rising QB over the Jags who seem to have hit a snag.
Joe: Texans.
Sunday, Late Afternoon
Cleveland Browns @ Denver Broncos (-2.5)
Lucas: Browns. Denver's luck is bound to end soon, right?
Adam: Broncos. Playing at .500 right now and on the uptick, I’ll take them in a close game but still cover the line.
Joe: Broncos.
Los Angeles Rams @ Arizona Cardinals (+0.5)
Lucas: Cardinals. Okay, I approached last week wrong. Solidarity between red bird teams. Trinity-Texas deserved better than having to play a State of Texas championship game in Round One of the playoffs followed immediately by a trip to play the mountain of salt and death by averaging a first down per offensive play that is North Central. I know what the meme says, but really: this round is not personal.
Joe: Rams.
Kansas City Chiefs @ Las Vegas Raiders (+9.5)
Lucas: Raiders. Honestly, I'm just taking the points here and angling for at least a backdoor cover or something.
Adam: Chiefs. Call this an overreaction to the MNF loss at home in the Super Bowl rematch, but the eagles are a much better team than the Raiders. KC should come out hungry and romp. Also fun fact: the Chiefs' loss to the Eagles on Monday was the first time Jason Kelce beat his little bro Travis in an NFL game.
Joe: Chiefs.
Buffalo Bills @ Philadelphia Eagles (-3.5)
Lucas: Eagles. Is Philly the favorite to make it back to the Super Bowl and break the Super Bowl Loser Hangover Curse? We'll have to see.
Adam: Eagles. In all honestly this line seems light to me. On paper this line looks right, but looking at the body of work I would have make this a 5.5ish line. So with that in mind, easy for me to take the Eagles and lay the points.
Joe: Eagles.
Sunday Night
Baltimore Ravens @ Los Angeles Chargers (+4.5)
Lucas: Chargers. Look, this gives me room for the Chargers to lose by 3 again... again. Also:
Adam: Ravens. My gut says take the Chargers. But that may be my annual bias against the Ravens since I always underestimate them. So playing against my bias today. Hope it works out.I don't think the Chargers want any part of North Central. #d3fb https://t.co/mv7gMqtCEv
— Zac Snyder (@ZacSnyder) November 20, 2023
Joe: Ravens.
Monday Night
Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings (-3.5)
Lucas: Vikings. I don't know how this city hasn't just turned into a giant dunk tank of Malort yet between the Bears being bad, the Bulls unsurprisingly running back a not good enough core, and the White Sox being a dumpster fire. I guess thank God for Connor Bedard and the hope that maybe Shohei Ohtani will come to the North Side? Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.
Adam: Bears. Fields was back last week in the heartbreaking loss to the Lions. Dobbs for Minnesota is coming back to reality. With it being nationally televised I’ll be taking the points and hoping.
Joe: Vikings.
Records So Far
Lucas: 71-93 (5-9 last week)
Adam: 88-76 (4-10 last week)
Joe: 77-87 (6-8 last week)
Geoffrey: 89-75 (6-8 last week)
Jim: 83-81 (7-7 last week)
No comments:
Post a Comment