LAST WEEK’S RECORD: (11-5)

I started out of the gates really bad with 2 losses on Thanksgiving day last week. Then the Bears upsetting the Eagles gave me 3 losses in the first 4 games. I rebounded with a very nice Sunday only losing 1 match up as the Panthers upset the Rams. My Monday night pick was a pipe dream going Giants over the Patriots.

OVERALL SEASON RECORD:(126-68)

NFL WEEK 14 STRAIGHT PICK-EM

THE THURSDAY NIGHT GAME

DALLAS COWBOYS (6-5-1) AT DETROIT LIONS (7-5)

The Cowboys come into this short week versus the Lions red hot. The Lions may not have their number 1 weapon of offense in wide receiver Amon-Ra St.Brown who left the Thanksgiving match up versus the Packers with an sprained ankle. The Lions have already lost their starting tight end for the remainder of the season in Sam LaPorta. The Cowboys are one of the top offenses in the league. They have also rebuilt their defense at the trade deadline and it has paid off. The Lions have struggled lately losing 2-3 games and barely getting by the Giants which took OT to do so. The Lions play better at home. The Lions defense are not stopping teams. I just can’t see Jared Goff short-handed keeping pace with the Cowboys offense. I think the Cowboys can put up points on that Lions defense to get out of Detroit on a short week with a win especially St.Brown not playing or if he does, not giving 100 percent,

OUR PICK: COWBOYS

THE SUNDAY TILT

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (8-4) AT JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (8-4)

The Colts will not have have their hot sauce on defense. Sauce Gardner will miss this AFC South showdown which this game means a lot to both teams. The Jaguars are red hot winning three straight games. The Colts have lost two straight games. They have also lost 3 out of the last 4 games and you just feel this Indianapolis team crumbling right now. Daniel Jones is playing with a broken fibula. The Jags offense is clicking at the right time. Their defense has done well most of every game except in the 4th quarter. The Colts have not won in Jacksonville since 2014 which that streak will continue after this game.

OUR PICK: JAGUARS

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (3-9) AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS (4-8)

The Commanders showed me something last week even with the loss giving Denver a battle to the end which took overtime. The Vikings offense was on life support with the other rookie quarterback not named JJ McCarthy. The good news is McCarthy will be back behind center, if that is good news for Viking fans watching the growing pains unfold this season. Can Marcus Mariota find a way to beat this Vikings defense? The Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell wants to dumb down the offense for McCarthy and just let him play and react after being out with a concussion. Dan Quinn has this Commanders defense playing better which has not been the case most of this season. This game to me is a coin flip. I think the QB whisperer O’Connell finally gets through to his rookie QB and we see a Viking offense that will take off and generate just enough points to beat this Commanders team. The Viking defense will make a huge impact in this game as well to secure the win at home.

OUR PICK: VIKINGS

CINCINNATI BENGALS (4-8) AT BUFFALO BILLS (8-4)

Joe Burrow is a thorn in the side to teams at this time of the year. Last year the Bengals made a playoff push and the team got red hot the last few weeks. They did not get the help from other teams to get in the back door of the post-season. Burrow came back last week and beat Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Burrow is 2-0 versus Josh Allen. The Bills came off an impressive win versus the Steelers last week which their defense stood tall. The Bills have taken on multiple injuries as Joey Bosa will miss this game and he came up big last week versus Aaron Rodgers. Burrow will have all his weapons in this one. The Bills have lost to teams with a losing record this season. This game looks all wrong for Buffalo. I do like the Bills running game versus a bad Bengals defense. The Bills at home they play much better there. This will be a game. Bills will prevail and find a way to finally beat Burrow and cool off his fire in December.

OUR PICK: BILLS

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (9-3) AT ATLANTA FALCONS (4-8)

The Seahawks are 5-1 this season on the road. The Falcons have been in games with Kirk Cousins under center since he took over for the injured Michael Penix Jr. The Seahawks won last week versus Minnesota which was not Sam Dranold’s best game. Look for the Falcons to bring everything including the kitchen sink at Darnold like the Vikings did. The Falcons offense has consisted of running the football and short passes which Seattle’s defense should be able to contain. Cousins has not been good at throwing the ball down field. You need a well-balanced offense to beat this Seattle defense. I think Darnold will have better results than he had last week and hit on some deep passes while avoiding the pressure for some big plays which result in another win in an epic three team race in the NFC West.

OUR PICK: SEAHAWKS

TENNESSEE TITANS (1-11) AT CLEVELAND BROWNS (3-9)

Can Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns set the single season sack record versus the Titans? Garrett comes in already with 19 sacks. He needs 3.5 sacks to join Michael Strahan and TJ Watt who have the record of most sacks in one season with 22.5. Cam Ward of the Titans is the most sacked quarterback in the NFL this season. If Garrett gets 4 sacks, he sets the record in front of the Dawg pound. Even if he does not set the record this weekend, he has weeks left to break the record this season. This match up features Cam Ward vs Shedeur Sanders – two rookie quarterbacks. You better get used to this match up because this is the next Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning in the AFC for years to come. Most likely not because one of these guys will be washing cars in a few seasons. The Browns defense is the key in this match up. The Titans will not generate enough points. The Browns offense will squeak by with just enough offense to win their 4th game of the year.

OUR PICK: BROWNS

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (6-6) AT BALTIMORE RAVENS (6-6)

Not sure what neighborhood is Mr. Aaron Rodgers’? Mr. Darkness may have to retreat to his cave. We saw him retreat to the blue tent last week. The Ravens found out Joe Burrow is not rusty in his return from the injury list. Both these AFC North teams are struggling even though this game is a first place battle between the two teams. They will meet twice before the end of the season. The Steelers can’t stop the run. Derrick Henry should have a big game. Rodgers is broken in multiple pieces. He has tainted the Steelers with his presence this season. The natives in Pittsburgh are chanting for the firing of their head coach, Mike Tomlin. Tomlin might get his first losing season with Rodgers as his QB. He has held on to the Steelers head coaching job like the Pope, which seems forever. I think this is going to get uglier for the Steelers. Even the original Mr. Rodgers of the neighborhood changed his last name to Robinson because of Aaron.

The Ravens will come after whoever is the QB for the Steelers. Lamar Jackson will rebound and have a better game. It’s the running of the Ravens that will get Baltimore to first place by themselves.

OUR PICK: RAVENS

MIAMI DOLPHINS (5-7) AT NEW YORK JETS (3-9)

The Miami Dolphins in cold weather are priceless. Miami head to New Jersey to play the Jets winning three in a row, their first winning streak of the season. Meanwhile the Jets are coming off a victory last week when they stunned the Falcons. The Jets have won 3 out their last 5 games. The Jets offense is starting to generate points. The Dolphins defense has gotten better. The Dolphins have been running the ball well which will be needed in colder temperatures. The Jets defense has also been playing better.The Jets defense are last in the league at finding ways to get turnovers. The Dolphins are a perfect team to change that stat around. The Dolphins have lost 7 straight games including the playoffs in temperatures 45 degrees or lower. The Jets will enjoy their meal of fish sticks after this game.

OUR PICK: JETS

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (2-10) AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (7-5)

If you are in Northern Ireland in County Down, stop by Laverty’s pub. They are watching American football and giving out free pints. New Orleans Saints fans are all over the world, believe it or not. I can’t say that is a fact but they do have a kicker that hails from Northern Ireland. Charlie Smyth made his NFL debut last week and boomed a 56 yard field goal versus the Dolphins. At least somebody is watching Saints football. The Saints will travel once again to Florida to take on the Buccaneers this time. Baker Mayfield, who was questionable to play last week, showed grit ending a Buccaneers losing streak to stop the bleeding. That win kept them in front of the Panthers who upset the Rams last week. The Saints, you don’t know what to expect. They have played teams very hard even though they lack the talent to win the games. They have another wide receiver emerging with Devaughn Vele who is not Irish. He had 8 catches last week versus the Dolphins and a touchdown. I like to see Smyth beat the Buccaneers with a walk off 60 yard field goal which would send Laverty’s on a beer run because they would drink it all in the celebration. The Buccaneers defense should put a damper on things with the Saints offense. Could be multiple kicks by Charlie. The Buccaneers will be able to control the clock in this one with their running game. Mayfield and company will not overlook this game with a match up next week versus the Panthers.

OUR PICK: BUCCANEERS

DENVER BRONCOS (10-2) AT LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (2-10)

Geno Smith is heading straight down JaMarcus Russell avenue dressed in the Raiders silver and black. Smith is on pace for the lowest QB Rating of all-time held by the first round bust, Russell. The Raiders are allowing the second most sacks in the NFL. That is not great news for the Raiders this week hosting the Broncos front 7 that like to kill the quarterback. The Broncos have Pat Surtain II back in the secondary which he will shut down the Raiders only true offensive weapon in tight end Brock Bowers like he has done before. Smith’s bookends of his career, back with the Jets and now with the Raiders he has been awful. Smith and Pete Carroll seem to have pissed off the devil at some point because this combination of QB along with head coach has gone so bad. I don’t trust anything the Raiders have. Broncos will roll to their 10th straight victory while giving the Raiders their 7th straight loss.

OUR PICK: BRONCOS

LA RAMS (9-3) AT ARIZONA CARDINALS (3-9)

How will the Rams respond after losing to the Panthers last weekend? The Cardinals have lost 4 straight games and are 1-5 at home this season. Matthew Stafford did not have MVP numbers last week like he had all season. Jacoby Brissett has started 7 games already for Arizona and is 1-6 as the starter. The Cardinals have been in most of those games with chances to win late. Brissett is completing 67.5% of his passes and has thrown 13 touchdown passes to 4 interceptions. This is a division game, so the Cardinals will give the Rams a good game like they do with all their opponents. Good is not enough obviously. I like the Rams defensive to make a stand. Stafford will not have to do everything as the running game will help get him and the offense back on track. Rams get their 10th win.

OUR PICK: RAMS

CHICAGO BEARS (9-3) AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (8-3-1)

I think someone had to pinch me seeing the Bears beating the Eagles last week for the Black Friday game. The Packers have won three straight games. The Bears are one of the hottest teams in the NFC & have won 5 straight games. With the Rams losing their game last week, the Bears are the number 1 seed in the NFC. I must be dreaming. I should also be ready for the collapse because it’s the Chicago way in this town’s sporting landscape. This will be the first meeting of the year between the Packers and Bears with another coming in 2 weeks. This game has division implications and also the conference seeding for the post-season. Jordan Love is 3-1 versus the Bears as he thrown 6 touchdowns to 1 interception in his career vs Chicago. Caleb Williams slayed the Packers in the last game of the season last year. He is 1-1 all-time versus the Packers. History has not been on the Bears’ side in decades. You have to go back to the 80’s when the Bears kicked around the Packers in that decade. Ben Johnson is the X-factor. Can Johnson’s plan be executed to perfection by the Bears? I think the Bears can run on the Packers defense as Green Bay has some injuries up front on that D-line. I have bet against the Bears for weeks and they continue to throw it back in my face. I hope they do. History is not on the Bears side as Green Bay always knocks Chicago down a few pegs if we are feeling good about ourselves.

OUR PICK: PACKERS

THE SUNDAY NIGHT GAME

HOUSTON TEXANS (7-5) AT KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (6-6)

Will the Texans put the final nail in the Chiefs coffin? This is a huge game for both teams. The Chiefs need to win this one for survival. They will not win the AFC West with the Broncos light years ahead. The Chargers are in front of them. Plenty of other teams like the Texans are ahead of them for a wild card spot. The Texans are chasing two teams in their division as well – the Colts and Jaguars. Those two teams are playing each other this weekend. If the Texans lose, it will be hard to get back up. The Texans have won 4 straight games. The Chiefs are 5-1 at home this season. The Texans defense has played lights out the last several games and they may be the best unit in the league. Patrick Mahomes will be a caged animal and will do anything to break free. Watch him do one of his best Houdini acts of his career and have a monster game to keep the Chiefs alive for at least one more week. Houston playing in the cold weather will favor the Chiefs defense. That final nail will come at some point for Mahomes and the meathead, Travis Swift.

OUR PICK: CHIEFS

THE MONDAY NIGHT GAME

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (8-4) AT LA CHARGERS (8-4)

The Eagles were gashed by the Bears running game on Black Friday. The Chargers had an easy win over the Raiders, but Justin Herbert injured his non throwing hand. Will that injury come back to haunt the Chargers? The Eagles have now lost two straight games and suddenly the defense, which did very well versus the NFC North teams, has vanished. The Chargers last week rebounded coming off their bye week, but the Jaguars loss to me is still lingering in the rear view mirror before the week off. The Raiders are a cream puff. I can’t see the Eagles losing three straight games here. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley are due for an explosive game. The hurt hand on Herbert sways me into a verse of “Welcome to the Hotel California,” performed by the Eagles.

OUR PICK: EAGLES