Alternative Picks – Week 10, 2017

Hey-o, Andy broke the streak. It took nine weeks, but he’s got his first win of the season (Bronx cheers arise from the cheap seats).

Can he keep it up? Or does the loss refocus Tony for the second half push?

Here are the standings:

Tony chose to take the second and third picks. Here we go:

1. Andy: Pittsburgh over Indianapolis – I made this pick before learning that Vontae Davis had elected to have season-ending surgery. If Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell can’t get right this week, then those talks of an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl in Minneapolis next February are all bunk.
2. Tony: Detroit over Cleveland – This feels like the kind of game that the Lions would lose in year’s past. As a Vikings fan, I hope it is this year–but I’m not dumb enough to pick that.
3. Tony: Seattle over Arizona – Arizona without Carson Palmer is…not actually that much worse than Arizona with Carson Palmer. That’s not a good thing for Cardinals fans.
4. Andy: L.A. Rams over Houston – The Texans were looking pretty good for the half-dozen weeks they had Deshaun Watson. Tom Savage is no Watson. Meanwhile, Jared Goff is starting to show people why he went first overall last season.
5. Tony: New England over Denver – I, for one, was shocked…shocked I say…that Brock Osweiler wasn’t the cure for what’s ailing the Broncos.
6. Andy: Carolina over Miami – This is one of those games nobody would watch if it weren’t for fantasy football. Cam isn’t playing well, but I’ll take him over Cutler.
7. Tony: Jacksonville over LA Chargers – Definition of a no win situation for the Jaguars–a win doesn’t really prove they’re for real, a loss proves that they’ve not changed. Only if they dominate will I really start to feel comfortable moving them up in picks.
8. Andy: Tennessee over Cincinnati – In retrospect I kind of wish I’d taken Jacksonville at six. Hope this doesn’t come back to bite me. I *think* Tennessee is starting to put it together. I *think* Cincinnati is about to start tanking. These have been hard teams to predict this season, however, so … in the end, who the hell knows.
9. Tony: New Orleans over Buffalo – Saw a stat on Twitter this past week that Buffalo hasn’t beaten a team with winning record this season. I didn’t bother to check if that was accurate or not, because why would someone lie about that on Twitter?
10. Andy: Minnesota over Washington – I’m a tiny bit surprised this game fell this far. Maybe it’s the Case Keenum factor – he’s been serviceable this season and the Vikings are better than the Redskins, but … historically, Case Keenum eventually reminds people that he is, still, in fact, Case Keenum.
11. Tony: Chicago over Green Bay – Surprised the Vikings game fell?  I have picked the Vikings game zero times this season, I believe. I intend to keep it that way. This game is one of three that should be absolutely unwatchable. Let’s see if the Bears can further expose just how bad Green Bay’s coaching, defense, and…everything is without Aaron Rodgers.
12. Andy: NY Jets over Tampa Bay – I thought heading into the season that the Bucs had a solid shot at the playoffs. I thought heading into the season that the Jets had a shot at going 0-16. I was wrong on the Jets, an undertalented team playing hard. I was wayyyyyy wrong on the Tampa, a heartless, gutless team that has quit after choking like dogs early in the season.
13. Tony: San Francisco over NY Giants – An um-moving object meets an immoble force.  Seriously, if Roger Goodell wants to get back in some people’s graces after this debacle of a season, he could start by just cancelling this game.
14. Andy: Dallas over Atlanta – Is Ezekiel Elliott playing?

So for those scoring at home:

Bold means that person made the pick.

And now for our more traditional picks:

Our real picks weren’t great – we fell victim to a couple significant upsets – but Andy, again, scored his first win over Tony in week eight.

And for the picks: