Alternative Pick: Week 4, 2019

Oooh, some drama.

Usually you get a pretty good sense for which one of us is going to win this thing in the first few weeks, but this year we’ve switched off winning and the overall count is within three games. You can cut the tension with a knife.

Standings:

Week 3	Andy 10-6
Season	Andy 25-22-1

Here are the “alternative” picks for week four.

1) Andy: Chiefs over Lions – When I picked this, Tony called it a trap game. He may be right. But even if it is, I think it means Kansas City wins by 10 rather than 30.

2) Tony: Chargers over Dolphins – The only thing the Dolphins have going for them this week is that it’s a west coast team traveling east. But they’ve got to be nervous about how Washington has been playing…

3) Tony: Rams over Bucs – Bucs head west to play the Rams…Shaq Barrett might get 5 sacks, but the real Todd Gurley finally shows up this week. And if you’re keeping track at home, yes, those are both fantasy football references for me.

4) Andy: Patriots over Bills – I think Buffalo is headed in a good direction. But the Patriots are already where the Bills are going.

5) Tony: Seahawks over Cardinals – Surprised that Andy took a 3-0 vs 3-0 matchup over this one. Kyler Murray had a better offensive line in college…probably only paid slightly less, too.

6) Andy: Ravens over Browns – Count me among the many who are deeply disappointed by the Browns’ start. I thought they were a Super Bowl contender. That’s on me – as a Minnesota fan, I should know better than to pick a team full of Super Bowl talent at skill positions that is lacking on the offensive line and, maybe, at QB.

7) Tony: Texans over Panthers – Gotta go with the team that pushed all-in over the team with a backup QB…although I’m not convinced that the Panthers aren’t going to try to convince Cam Newton to have that surgery…in a week or two.

8) Andy: Falcons over Titans – Picks get tough around here this week. I don’t love this game, but Atlanta’s best game so far was its one at home.

9) Tony: Colts over Raiders – Another one I was surprised was still on the board. It’s in Indianapolis, and the Raiders are still the Raiders–they had one solid week off the AB drama, but then reality set in.

10) Andy: Bears over Vikings – How tightly will Kirk Cousins wrap his hands around his throat this week?

11) Tony: Packers over Eagles – A game that I wish both teams could lose…just to revel in the tears of their fans.

12) Andy: Steelers over Bengals – Pittsburgh is bad, but the Bengals may challenge Miami for the overall top pick in the draft.

13) Tony: Jaguars over Broncos – I’m all in on Gardner Minshew–barring injury, Nick Foles doesn’t see the field again this year. And the Broncos…well, at John Elway still has his car dealerships to get back to, right?

14) Andy: Cowboys over Saints – Flip of the coin. Dallas is playing a bit better, but as much as New Orleans has been a thorn in this Vikings’ fan’s side in recent years, I’ll be pulling for the continued Teddy Bridgewater revival.

15) Tony: Giants over Washington – Andy may have called it right when he said Gruden gets the axe this week (see below).

Our straight-up picks are knotted up as well. And at a relatively solid, better than 2-out-of-3 rate of games picked correctly. Go figure.

	Andy	Tony
Week 3	12-4	11-5
Season	32-15-1	32-15-1

And for the picks:

Andy	Tony
Chiefs	Chiefs
Chargers	Chargers
Rams	Rams
Patriots	Patriots
Seahawks	Seahawks
Ravens	Ravens
Texans	Texans
Falcons	Falcons
Colts	Colts
Bears	Bears
Eagles	Packers
Steelers	Steelers
Broncos	Jaguars
Cowboys	Cowboys
Giants	Giants