Alternative Picks – Week 12, 2017

Andy continues to be the kiss of death for favorites. His number one pick last week, Kansas City, blew its wad to the previously hapless New York Giants in week 11. He rallied, but came up short, losing … again.

There are a lot of paper mismatches this week. Andy chose to pick second, meaning two of the top three favorites should now be considered in peril this week. But hopefully you’ll be asleep from the L-tryptophan and won’t notice.

Anyway, here we go with yet another week …

1. Tony: New England over Miami – As Andy mentioned, huge slate of games to choose from this week, but I’ll stick with the Super Bowl champs at home against in inferior quarterback (whether it’s the starter or the backup), a subpar defense, an overmatched coach, and a team that is just itching to be done with the season.
2. Andy: Philadelphia over Chicago – I was hoping Tony would look past the Patriots, but the way the Eagles are playing right now, I’m okay with them as a second choice. Carson Wentz is good.
3. Andy: Kansas City over Buffalo – This is maybe a bit of a risk after the dud the Chiefs produced last week, but this is a home game against a team whose coach started Nathan Peterman last week.
4. Tony: Pittsburgh over Green Bay – I’m dumfounded that Andy didn’t take this game at 2/3. If you live relatively close to Wisconsin, and you like beer (which is like asking if you like breathing), I suggest you head to The Bavarian Bierhaus on Sunday–you can probably get a good buzz on for free.
5. Andy: Atlanta over Tampa Bay – In retrospect, this feels a bit high for this game. But maybe after putting up 34 against Seattle, the Falcons are about to fly high.
6. Tony: Carolina over NY Jets – In retrospect, you’re right–that was high for that game. The Jets have played above their talent level this season, and the Panthers have been on a hot streak since their embarrassing loss to the Bears, including putting up 45 against another bad AFC East team last week.
7. Andy: Cincinnati over Cleveland – The Bengals aren’t completely dead yet. The Browns will win one somewhere along the line, but until they do, I’ll pick against them. … Candidly, I’m probably their best hope.
8. Tony: Seattle over San Francisco – I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t take this one at 6–almost as surprised as I am that Andy didn’t take it at 7…or 5…or 3. Seattle certainly is missing some talent due to injury–but that’s better than San Francisco’s excuse for missing talent.
9. Andy: Tennessee over Indianapolis – Hmm. I took Cincinnati and left Seattle on the board. No wonder I always lose this thing. Titans are better than Colts. What more do you need.
10. Tony: Jacksonville over Arizona – I actually thought about taking this one as high as 6–it’s not that I trust Jacksonville’s offense (I don’t), and being in Arizona gave me a little pause–and then I remembered who Arizona’s quarterback is. Actually, I remembered that I couldn’t remember who Arizona’s quarterback is, which is almost better. Blaine Gabbert? I think his own coach summed it up perfectly when he said he didn’t need to see anything more out of Gabbert in game situations to know what they have:  “I think I’ve known that all along,” Arians said. “I don’t think I have to find out anything else.”
11. Andy: Washington over NY Giants – Was last week’s win over Kansas City a sign that this team is getting back on track? Or did the Giants win their own personal Super Bowl last week? My bet is that they lay back down this weekend.
12. Tony: Oakland over Denver – The bottom finally fell out of the picks I really liked, so I grabbed Oakland at home–and then found out that Paxton Lynch is starting, and felt even better about it.
13. Andy: Minnesota over Detroit – If the Lions win this game, it will be the first time Detroit has won four in a row in this series since they won the first five in 1961-63. It can’t happen … can it?
14. Tony: Baltimore over Houston – I struggled with this one a bit, but went with the moneyline–but in our bets, it may be my upset of the week to go with the Texans. Tom Savage has started to look like he understands his purpose (hand the ball off, force it in to Nuk on occasion). At the same time, the Ravens just showed what they can do to an overmatched backup QB who has limited options.
15. Andy: LA Chargers over Dallas – The Cowboys look inept right now. Despite not really having a homefield advantage right now, if the Chargers hadn’t had a stiffbait for a kicker the first few weeks of the season, they might be in the middle of the playoff race right now.
16. Tony: LA Rams over New Orleans – Second week in a row that the Rams are involved in what could be billed as the game of the week–they didn’t fare so well last week, but at home on grass, they have a chance to knock off the Saints, who’s defense isn’t nearly as stingy as the Vikings.

So, if you are still, for some reason, scoring at home:

(Bold means that person picked the game)

And for our traditional straight up picks: