College bowl games: 5-6 Season: 120-53
NFL: 0-0
Picking NFL games is tough. It is harder than predicting college games, because the teams are so similar. On any given Sunday, the possibility of an upset is much more real than say, Alabama losing to a lower-tier SEC team. The Crimson Tide beat Tennessee this season, 58-21, but the Saints, who led the NFL in the regular season with a 13-3 record, lost in Week 1 to the Buccaneers, 48-40. Tampa Bay went 5-11. The Bucs also challenged the Saints again in their second matchup even though New Orleans won by 14.
With that in mind, I'll be picking the NFL playoff games again this season. I stopped the time-consuming act of picking some of the regular-season games a couple years ago. I normally had been involved in a pick'em league, even once I stopped making picks in this space, but I gave that up this past season as well. So we'll just have to see how this goes. :)
Like Virginia, since the Cowboys are my favorite team, I'll include that write-up last even with them being involved in the second game of the weekend.
Saturday
Colts (10-6) at Texans (11-5), 4:35 p.m. ABC/ESPN
Sometimes, the Saturday afternoon game is seen as the weakest of the four matchups, but I'm not sure if that will be the case this year. These division rivals split their regular-season meetings, with each winning by three at home. Indianapolis took the most recent meeting Dec. 9, snapping Houston's nine-game winning streak. Both of these teams started slow but are hot right now. The Texans began 0-3 before their nine wins in a row and finished 11-5, with the other loss coming in Week 16 against the streaking Eagles. The Colts, under first year-coach Frank Reich, started 1-5 but won nine of their last 10 contests, becoming the third team in NFL history to make the postseason after a 1-5 start. Reich is the former offensive coordinator with Philadelphia. Both QBs are young, with Deshaun Watson being the rookie sensation from last season whose season was cut short by injury, while Andrew Luck has had his fair share of injuries but appears to be regaining some of his old form. This should be a very close game. Even though the Texans are at home, I'm feeling compelled to go with the Colts.
Colts 26, Texans 24
Sunday
Chargers (12-4) at Ravens (10-6), 1:05 p.m. CBS
This matchup is another one that features teams that played each other this season. In Week 16, Baltimore won at Los Angeles, 22-10. The Ravens were 4-5 but then won six of their last seven games with rookie Lamar Jackson under center. His running ability has been a problem for teams to contend with, but like in college, he's still somewhat inconsistent as a passer. Baltimore has found success this year, though, with having the NFL's No. 1 defense in yards and No. 2 in points. The Chargers, meanwhile, started 1-2 but went 10-2 the rest of the way with their only other loss coming to Denver in the middle of the season. Philip Rivers is having one of his best seasons at QB, but like former Cowboys great Tony Romo, Rivers' rep has mostly been one of not getting it done in the playoffs. Heading all the way to the East Coast for an early afternoon matchup makes me lean toward giving the Ravens and that defense the edge, though I think it will be a closer game than the earlier meeting.
Ravens 17, Chargers 14
Eagles (9-7) at Bears (12-4), 4:40 p.m. NBC
This game easily has the biggest favorite of the weekend, homestanding Chicago by 6.5 points, and I'm not too sure about that. There's magic in the air again with the Eagles and QB Nick Foles. Philadelphia won its last three games to sneak in as Minnesota crumbled. And as soon as starting QB Carson Wentz went out with injury, last year's Super Bowl MVP Foles and the Eagles took off. The Bears have been a major turnaround story with an excellent defense and QB Mitch Trubisky playing much better in his second season overall, first under rookie coach Matt Nagy, who has got to be one of the contenders for coach of the year. But quarterbacks making their playoff debuts against Super Bowl-winning signal-callers are 1-9 the past decade, and this is one of those situations. The Eagles are feeling it again, and I'm sure they'll have some fans turn out in the Windy City.
Eagles 24, Bears 21
Saturday
Seahawks (10-6) at Cowboys (10-6), 8:15 p.m. Fox
This is the third game of the weekend that is a rematch from earlier this season. In Week 3 at Seattle, the Seahawks led 24-6 late before the Cowboys made it a more respectable 24-13 final score. But Dallas is a much different team now. Like a lot of these teams, the Cowboys are hot, having won seven of their last eight to surge from 3-5 to 10-6 and division champions. The turnaround happened once Amari Cooper landed in Dallas from Oakland. He appeared to really help open up the offense. The Cowboys lost their first game with him against the Titans, 28-14, and then also against the Colts, 23-0, late in the season. But even with those flubs, Dallas' offense averaged 20 points without Cooper and 21.8 with him. That might not seem like much, but Dallas is 9-0 this season when scoring 20 or more points and 1-6 under 20. The Cowboys have won this season with a very stingy defense and strong running game led by Ezekiel Elliott -- who led the NFL in rushing despite sitting out Week 17 -- and the offensive line -- which got better after firing position coach Paul Alexander midseason -- but QB Dak Prescott has enjoyed having Cooper along for the ride. Prescott took a lot of criticism this season, but he ended up with pretty good stats: 67.7 percent completion rate (0.1 percent lower than his lauded rookie season) for 3,885 yards (career high), 22 touchdowns (same as last season and
one fewer than 2016), and eight picks (double from four in 2016 but much fewer than the 13 he threw last season). He also rushed for six TDs, which he's done each season.
Many people thought Seattle was going to take a dive this season and be around 7-9 or 8-8 at best. I was not one of those people. I thought the Seahawks would have a chance to stick around in the playoff race until the end, and they did. Last season, they didn't make it after defeating Dallas, 21-12, in Week 16, because Atlanta clinched the final spot in the final week, but Seattle lost, 26-24, at home to Arizona to top off the disappointment anyway and finish 9-7. The Legion of Boom is no more -- some might say it lives in Dallas now since Kris Richard is the defensive backs coach, and he was one of the architects of Seattle's famous 'D' -- but the Seahawks still have a solid defense, and Russell Wilson is still pretty underrated at QB. He had a great year, completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 3,448 yards, 35 TDs (career high), and seven picks (tied career low). He also rushed for 376 yards (5.6 ypc) but oddly, no TDs. Chris Carson is a 1,000-yard rusher for Seattle, and Tyler Lockett had a career year at wideout, while Doug Baldwin is still a dangerous weapon.
This game seems destined to come down to the wire. Dallas' offense is better since that early loss (and even in that game, Elliott rushed for 127 yards), and the defense -- which has at least one playmaker or lockdown player at each level with DE DeMarcus Lawrence, LBs Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, and CB Byron Jones -- should be able to keep Seattle at least within reach. Seattle plays close games, about 26.8-21.7 on average, while Dallas' games were some of the closest in the league, averaging 21.2-20.3. The Cowboys also played better at home than they have in recent seasons, going 7-1, while the Seahawks were 4-4 on the road. But as a Dallas fan, I just feel like something isn't going to go the Cowboys' way late. With that 20-point mark as a guidepost, I'm going with a close Seahawks victory.
Seahawks 20, Cowboys 17
NFL: 0-0
Picking NFL games is tough. It is harder than predicting college games, because the teams are so similar. On any given Sunday, the possibility of an upset is much more real than say, Alabama losing to a lower-tier SEC team. The Crimson Tide beat Tennessee this season, 58-21, but the Saints, who led the NFL in the regular season with a 13-3 record, lost in Week 1 to the Buccaneers, 48-40. Tampa Bay went 5-11. The Bucs also challenged the Saints again in their second matchup even though New Orleans won by 14.
With that in mind, I'll be picking the NFL playoff games again this season. I stopped the time-consuming act of picking some of the regular-season games a couple years ago. I normally had been involved in a pick'em league, even once I stopped making picks in this space, but I gave that up this past season as well. So we'll just have to see how this goes. :)
Like Virginia, since the Cowboys are my favorite team, I'll include that write-up last even with them being involved in the second game of the weekend.
Saturday
Colts (10-6) at Texans (11-5), 4:35 p.m. ABC/ESPN
Sometimes, the Saturday afternoon game is seen as the weakest of the four matchups, but I'm not sure if that will be the case this year. These division rivals split their regular-season meetings, with each winning by three at home. Indianapolis took the most recent meeting Dec. 9, snapping Houston's nine-game winning streak. Both of these teams started slow but are hot right now. The Texans began 0-3 before their nine wins in a row and finished 11-5, with the other loss coming in Week 16 against the streaking Eagles. The Colts, under first year-coach Frank Reich, started 1-5 but won nine of their last 10 contests, becoming the third team in NFL history to make the postseason after a 1-5 start. Reich is the former offensive coordinator with Philadelphia. Both QBs are young, with Deshaun Watson being the rookie sensation from last season whose season was cut short by injury, while Andrew Luck has had his fair share of injuries but appears to be regaining some of his old form. This should be a very close game. Even though the Texans are at home, I'm feeling compelled to go with the Colts.
Colts 26, Texans 24
Sunday
Chargers (12-4) at Ravens (10-6), 1:05 p.m. CBS
This matchup is another one that features teams that played each other this season. In Week 16, Baltimore won at Los Angeles, 22-10. The Ravens were 4-5 but then won six of their last seven games with rookie Lamar Jackson under center. His running ability has been a problem for teams to contend with, but like in college, he's still somewhat inconsistent as a passer. Baltimore has found success this year, though, with having the NFL's No. 1 defense in yards and No. 2 in points. The Chargers, meanwhile, started 1-2 but went 10-2 the rest of the way with their only other loss coming to Denver in the middle of the season. Philip Rivers is having one of his best seasons at QB, but like former Cowboys great Tony Romo, Rivers' rep has mostly been one of not getting it done in the playoffs. Heading all the way to the East Coast for an early afternoon matchup makes me lean toward giving the Ravens and that defense the edge, though I think it will be a closer game than the earlier meeting.
Ravens 17, Chargers 14
Eagles (9-7) at Bears (12-4), 4:40 p.m. NBC
This game easily has the biggest favorite of the weekend, homestanding Chicago by 6.5 points, and I'm not too sure about that. There's magic in the air again with the Eagles and QB Nick Foles. Philadelphia won its last three games to sneak in as Minnesota crumbled. And as soon as starting QB Carson Wentz went out with injury, last year's Super Bowl MVP Foles and the Eagles took off. The Bears have been a major turnaround story with an excellent defense and QB Mitch Trubisky playing much better in his second season overall, first under rookie coach Matt Nagy, who has got to be one of the contenders for coach of the year. But quarterbacks making their playoff debuts against Super Bowl-winning signal-callers are 1-9 the past decade, and this is one of those situations. The Eagles are feeling it again, and I'm sure they'll have some fans turn out in the Windy City.
Eagles 24, Bears 21
Saturday
Seahawks (10-6) at Cowboys (10-6), 8:15 p.m. Fox
This is the third game of the weekend that is a rematch from earlier this season. In Week 3 at Seattle, the Seahawks led 24-6 late before the Cowboys made it a more respectable 24-13 final score. But Dallas is a much different team now. Like a lot of these teams, the Cowboys are hot, having won seven of their last eight to surge from 3-5 to 10-6 and division champions. The turnaround happened once Amari Cooper landed in Dallas from Oakland. He appeared to really help open up the offense. The Cowboys lost their first game with him against the Titans, 28-14, and then also against the Colts, 23-0, late in the season. But even with those flubs, Dallas' offense averaged 20 points without Cooper and 21.8 with him. That might not seem like much, but Dallas is 9-0 this season when scoring 20 or more points and 1-6 under 20. The Cowboys have won this season with a very stingy defense and strong running game led by Ezekiel Elliott -- who led the NFL in rushing despite sitting out Week 17 -- and the offensive line -- which got better after firing position coach Paul Alexander midseason -- but QB Dak Prescott has enjoyed having Cooper along for the ride. Prescott took a lot of criticism this season, but he ended up with pretty good stats: 67.7 percent completion rate (0.1 percent lower than his lauded rookie season) for 3,885 yards (career high), 22 touchdowns (same as last season and
Many people thought Seattle was going to take a dive this season and be around 7-9 or 8-8 at best. I was not one of those people. I thought the Seahawks would have a chance to stick around in the playoff race until the end, and they did. Last season, they didn't make it after defeating Dallas, 21-12, in Week 16, because Atlanta clinched the final spot in the final week, but Seattle lost, 26-24, at home to Arizona to top off the disappointment anyway and finish 9-7. The Legion of Boom is no more -- some might say it lives in Dallas now since Kris Richard is the defensive backs coach, and he was one of the architects of Seattle's famous 'D' -- but the Seahawks still have a solid defense, and Russell Wilson is still pretty underrated at QB. He had a great year, completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 3,448 yards, 35 TDs (career high), and seven picks (tied career low). He also rushed for 376 yards (5.6 ypc) but oddly, no TDs. Chris Carson is a 1,000-yard rusher for Seattle, and Tyler Lockett had a career year at wideout, while Doug Baldwin is still a dangerous weapon.
This game seems destined to come down to the wire. Dallas' offense is better since that early loss (and even in that game, Elliott rushed for 127 yards), and the defense -- which has at least one playmaker or lockdown player at each level with DE DeMarcus Lawrence, LBs Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, and CB Byron Jones -- should be able to keep Seattle at least within reach. Seattle plays close games, about 26.8-21.7 on average, while Dallas' games were some of the closest in the league, averaging 21.2-20.3. The Cowboys also played better at home than they have in recent seasons, going 7-1, while the Seahawks were 4-4 on the road. But as a Dallas fan, I just feel like something isn't going to go the Cowboys' way late. With that 20-point mark as a guidepost, I'm going with a close Seahawks victory.
Seahawks 20, Cowboys 17
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