LAST WEEK’S RECORD: (10-6)

Last week the Lions, Rams, and the Buccaneers laid a turd out there on the field costing me half my losses. Seeing the Ravens come to life in Green Bay was impressive but a loss. The Ravens should start Tyler Huntley this weekend and have him just hand the ball off to King Derrick Henry instead of trying Lamar Jackson. A guy who many by now should be soured on. Josh Allen should have converted the 2 point conversion on the Eagles & then I would have won that match up.

SEASON RECORD:(166-90)

NFL WEEK 18 STRAIGHT PICK-EM

Which villain in the final week of the NFL regular season will cause the most havoc? Will their plots be spoiled by the good? We will trot out the GOOD, BAD AND UGLY for week 18……..

SATURDAY GAMES

CAROLINA PANTHERS (8-8) AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (7-9)

This game is for the dreaded NFC South title. I think most people would rather see the Saints or the Falcons represent this division in the post-season than either of these teams. The Buccaneers have lost 7 out of 8 games. They lost to a bad Dolphins team last week. They lost to this Panthers team two weeks ago. The Panthers have been very good at winning games after coming off a loss. They lost to Seattle last week but hung in there for most of the game until the Seahawks put them away in the second half. Can Baker Mayfield pull out one of those gutty performances and put on the cape? The Buccaneers have more experience in these games. Bryce Young will be facing a blitz at him which will include everything including the kitchen sink. I think Young will falter with the game pressure and the blitz, especially if the Buccaneers stop the running game. I have to bet on Baker coming up big here & then finding a way to knock off a team in the wild card round after this weekend.

OUR PICK:BUCCANEERS

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (13-3) AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (12-4)

This game has a lot riding on it. The winner will get the number 1 seed in the NFC and a first round bye along with the NFC West title. Sam Darnold a few seasons back was the back up for the 49ers starting QB Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy. This game reminds you of the Legion of Boom defense Seattle used to back when these two teams would mix it up being the two superior teams back then in the NFC and in present times. I have to give Seattle the nod at having the better defense. Purdy won a shootout versus Caleb Williams and the Bears last week as the 49ers defense did not look very good. The 49ers have the better offense even though Seattle can score. Seattle is not far off from the 49ers scoring machine. If Darnold has a bad game, I like the 49ers in this one. Let’s remember the Seahawks came close to beating the Rams the first time this season with a 4 interception day from Darnold. I like great defense over great offense as on any day. Seattle will hold on to the number 1 seed with a huge win on the road to get the bye for next week.

OUR PICK: SEAHAWKS

THE SUNDAY TILT

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (6-10) AT ATLANTA FALCONS (7-9)

For the Saints, is this the last time we see aging players like Taysom Hill, Demario Davis and the great Cameron Jordan suiting up for New Orleans? The Saints have marched to their 4th straight victory while the Falcons are flying high winning their 3rd in a row. The Falcons shocked the Rams on Monday night. The Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Slough has been impressive 3 straight games with at least 250 passing yards and zero interceptions. Slough will have to play this one without his number 1 guy, wide receiver Chris Olave, who has a blood clot in his lung. Kirk Cousins is playing better. The Falcons have Drake London getting back to his old self who has a few games in from his injury that sidelined him for weeks. I’d like to see the Saints win this one. This game could go as a coin flip. My gut is telling me Atlanta as Cousins has the big game, delivers the decisive blow, and ends the Saints winning streak.

OUR PICK: FALCONS

TENNESSEE TITANS (3-13) AT JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (12-4)

Game show question involving Jaguars quarterbacks for 100 dollars. You would think a guy like Trevor Lawrence will have a very easy time rewriting all the Jaguars QB records. Sometimes we find some unique ones. Lawrence has accounted for 35 touchdowns this season. He has thrown 26 and rushed for 9 scores. He needs two more whatever combo he chooses to tie the Jaguars legendary Blake Bortles, who set the franchise record of 37 back in 2015. The Titans have been playing much better down the stretch as Cam Ward is starting to look like a keeper. The Jaguars need a win to win the AFC South. If they do not win, they need Houston to lose to the Colts. The Jaguars have won 7 straight games. They have won the last three meetings against the Titans. This is a division rivalry as both teams dislike each other. It will be close until the Jags pull away in the second half. Lawrence and that Jags offense have been lighting up the scoreboard and I don’t think the Titans will be able to match the score at this time.

OUR PICK: JAGUARS

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (8-8) AT HOUSTON TEXANS (11-5)

This match up has both these teams going into different directions. The Texans have won 8 straight game and need to win this with a Jaguars loss, then they would win the AFC South. If the Texans can accomplish the division title, it would be their 3rd straight. The Colts have imploded losing six straight games in the second half after starting off 8-2. Indiana’s Daniel Jones got hurt. The Colts brought back Phillip Rivers out of retirement and he could not save their season losing all 3 of his starts. The Colts will give their rookie QB his first ever start in the NFL. Riley Leonard, a 6th round draft pick from Duke and Notre Dame, has played in 4 games this season. He has not really done well completing only 54.5% of his passes while tallying up 145 passing yards with two interceptions. The Texans defense is dangerous. Especially for rookie QB’s. I think the Texans will be quick and painless as Houston will put down the Colts like a horse heading to the glue factory after a long race while being a long shot having problems getting out of the gates.

OUR PICK: TEXANS

DALLAS COWBOYS (7-8-1) AT NEW YORK GIANTS (3-13)

This game does not mean much for either team. The Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka got his first NFL win last week versus a bad Raiders team. The Cowboys with a win would not finish the season with a losing record. A Cowboys win would also give them a 5-1 record in their own division. The Giants will be playing all their starters to give the Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart ending his rookie season on a high note. The Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has something to play for. Coming in he leads the NFL in passing yards. No Dallas QB has ever finished leading the league in passing yardage as Prescott would like to be the first. I can’t see Dart matching Prescott here in scores. Should be a close one. In the end, the Boys get the W.

OUR PICK: COWBOYS

CLEVELAND BROWNS (4-12) AT CINCINNATI BENGALS (6-10)

The Battle of Ohio subplot has the single season sack record on the line. Myles Garrett tied TJ Watt’s and Michael Strahan’s record at 22 sacks but has not been able to get that final notch to be the king of the season. Joe Burrow is one of the guys along with Lamar Jackson Garrett who has sacked the most in his career. I like Garrett getting the record with his 23rd sack on Burrow. Both teams are coming off victories last week. I like the Bengals getting the victory as Burrow will get the last laugh in a big day over the Browns defense to win the battle of Ohio which does not really mean much these days.

OUR PICK: BENGALS

GREEN BAY PACKERS (9-7) AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS (8-8)

The Packers have already locked up the number 7 seed in the post season. This last game does not mean anything for them as they can’t move up and better themselves with a win. A Vikings win would give them a winning record for the season. Former Houston University and Arizona Cardinals draft pick Clayton Tune will get his second career start. He’s a QB that has not been tuned in so far in his career. In 14 games with one start which he lost, he is only completing 55.65 of his passes. He has tallied up only 78 passing yards and has thrown 3 interceptions. JJ McCarthy will start at QB for the Vikings. His number one wide receiver Justin Jefferson is 53 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards. The Packers will rest many of their starters. The Vikings defense will play the great Clayton Tune that will turn into a folk song somewhere on the ice in Minnesota waters while ice fishing.

OUR PICK: VIKINGS

DETROIT LIONS (8-8) AT CHICAGO BEARS (11-5)

How would you like to be a Lions fan right now? The Lions have lost three straight games and will not be making it to the post-season. Your division rival poached your talented offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and now he has the Bears in post-season and with a chance to get the two seed in the NFC. In week 2 the Lions blew the doors off the Bears defense in 52-21 massacre. Last week Detroit laid a turd on the field as Jared Goff had his worst game as a Lion. The Lions lost to a rookie quarterback making his second start versus the Vikings. The Bears hung with one of the cream of the crop teams in the NFC, the 49ers. Johnson has created the best QB in Bears history as Caleb Williams needs 270 passing yards to be the first Bears QB to ever reach 4,000 passing yards. The Lions are dead in the water thinking about their off-season plans. Playing outside with the Bears will not help get them tuned into this game. Johnson will execute a nice game plan for his team to win this one, and I think the Bears will feast off Goff as his turnover problem will linger into this contest.

OUR PICK BEARS

ARIZONA CARDINALS (3-13) AT LA RAMS (11-5)

The Rams are playing their starters in this one. They are playing for seeding. If they win week 18 with help from Seattle beating the 49ers, they would get the 5th seed. If Rams lose and the 49ers lose versus Seattle, then they would get the 6th seed. The Rams have lost two straight games. Most of the season everyone was talking about Matthew Stafford as MVP. He laid an egg on Monday night versus the Falcons throwing three interceptions. The Rams want to get the bad taste out of their mouths and go into the post-season on a high note. The Cards will help with that as they have lost 8 straight games. They have no division wins this season. The Cards defense has been horrible. They will play the role being that girl that helps men after break ups. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.

OUR PICK: RAMS

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (6-10) AT (2-14) LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

Raiders vs Chiefs is one of the best rivalries in the NFL. Coming into this one both teams combined have lost their last 15 games. This could be Travis Swift’s last game as a Chief. This could be the last game of his NFL career. Can you imagine no more Taylor Swift sightings? No more bone-headed responses in interviews by the Meathead Kelce. The silver and black fans can have a week without watching Geno Smith as their quarterback. The Raiders will give Kenny Pickett playing time as he was 0-1 in the only start he had this season. However, they get back their 3rd year guy Aidan O’Connell who has been out most of the year with a wrist injury. He will get playing time and could be the X-factor in this match up. O’Connell has a 7-10 career record in two seasons as starter in the NFL. The Chiefs without Patrick Mahomes will roll with Chris Oladokun who lost his only start of his career vs Denver last week as he tallied up only 66 passing yards in that one. The Chiefs should just let the Raiders win to knock them out of the running for the number one draft pick while improving their own draft status. This game will be an ugly one. The Chiefs in their last 4 games had had either 1 touchdown or zero touchdowns. I like the Raiders in this one especially O’Connell showing me he is the best available QB still standing on both teams. COYOTE UGLY SPECIAL!!!

OUR PICK: RAIDERS

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (4-12) AT PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (11-5)

The Eagles gave the Commanders a beat down two weeks ago.

I suspect we will see another beat down here. The Eagles have something to play for. They need a win and a Bears loss to take the number two seed in the NFC. However the Eagles will be resting some of their guys like their quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Commanders will be without 11 projected starters in this one as veteran Josh Johnson will get another start behind center for Washington. He has only 1 career win in the NFL which goes way back to the 2018 season where he suited up at that time for the Washington Redskins. The Eagles will give 25 year old Tanner McKee his second start in his NFL career. He was drafted by the Eagles in the 6th round from Stanford back in 2023. In 5 games so far in his NFL career, he has completed 68.8% of his passes and thrown 4 touchdown passes with no interceptions. He won his first career start in the NFL and should have no problem against a bad defense Washington has. Maybe this one will not be a beatdown. The result will end up in a Eagles win.

OUR PICK: EAGLES

LA CHARGERS (11-5) AT DENVER BRONCOS (13-3)

The Chargers don’t care about this game versus the Broncos. That’s why they will start Trey Lance in this one and rest Justin Herbert who has been dealing with an ongoing wrist injury. The Chargers have a wild card and don’t care if they drop in the seedings. They want to do their best to be healthy in the post-season whoever they face. The Broncos have something to play for. A win means they will clinch the number one seed in the AFC Conference. Lance, the former North Dakota State Bison, has 5 NFL starts and has won two of them. He has completed 56.4% of his passes while throwing 5 touchdown passes to 4 interceptions in 15 total games. The Broncos got a kneel down last year versus the Chiefs in the last week to win the game that got them in the post-season. They will get another easy kneel down game from the Chargers that will give them the top seed in the tournament.

OUR PICK: BRONCOS

MIAMI DOLPHINS (7-9) AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (13-3)

The Patriots are beating up women and their opponents this season. Two Patriots that may be charged with a felony starting with wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who beat up his chef and did not pay the bill for her cooking. Then defensive lineman Christian Barmore beating up his girlfriend which is the first time this happened. The Evil Empire is going down the same road as the last dynasty. The visiting Dolphins will probably turn into freeze pops playing in the cold here. Quinn Ewers was impressive for the Dolphins last week vs the Buccaneers in his second career start as he is 14-22 for 172 passing yards and threw two touchdown passes. The Patriots do have a shot in a way at the number 1 seed. The Chargers are giving the Broncos the grand prize pretty much laying down in that game. I think the Cons will prevail over the Dolphins in this one. Miami will make it interesting, but will eventually think about getting back to the palm trees in Florida as the cold will doom them once again.

OUR PICK: PATRIOTS

NEW YORK JETS (3-13) AT BUFFALO BILLS (11-5)

This will be the last regular season game at Highmark Stadium for the Buffalo Bills. It has had multiple names and opened up back in 1973. The Bills will wear the old 1990’s helmet that Jim Kelly wore when he led those great teams to 4 straight Superbowls. The Jets come in projected to get the number two draft pick. The rookie Brady Cook will get his 4th start for the Jets. The Bills come in as the 7th seed as they took a tumble with the loss to the Eagles last weekend. They could improve their status if they win this game, and the Chargers lose, and even the Texans lose. It would mean they could jump two spots by the end of the weekend. Will Josh Allen play as he’s dealing with a lower leg issue? The Bills could probably beat the Jets with their back up quarterback Mitch Trubisky. I can see Allen playing some of this game to get the Bills off to a solid start and end the old stadium in regular season on a high note. James Cook is going for a rushing title. The Jets’ Cook has not been stellar so far in his 3 starts. The Bills defense played very well in the second half versus the Eagles last week. I think we will see them do the same thing in this one and give Cook a bad day at the office as the Bills’ Cook will do most of the cooking this weekend.

OUR PICK: BILLS

THE SUNDAY NIGHT GAME

BALTIMORE RAVENS (8-8) AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS (9-7)

What will hurt each teams’ chances of winning this last game of the year for all of the marbles? Yes, the winner goes to the playoffs while loser goes home. The AFC North is at stake. The Steelers really missed their number one wide receiver last week as DK Metcalf was suspended two games for punching a Lions fan a few weeks back. For the Ravens, if Lamar Jackson gets the nod behind center will his back up hold up? The Ravens played one of their best games last week with their back up QB Tyler Huntley feeding the ball to his beast running back, Derrick Henry. The Steelers looked like they cared more about preventing Myles Garrett getting the sack record than the overall game versus the Browns. The Steelers won the first meeting a few weeks back. Can Aaron Rodgers be that guy and take the Steelers to the post-season? The Steelers will have TJ Watt back in the fold. I think Jackson will blow over like a house of cards. Rodgers will have a gritty performance. The Steelers defense will contain Henry for the win and the AFC North title.

OUR PICK: STEELERS