Alternative Picks: Week 12, 2021

The comeback is complete. Andy has overtaken Tony.

Happy Turkey Day, folks. Here are their alternative picks.

1 Andy – Cowboys over Raiders – Do I really like this game? No. Do I trust Dallas? Not really. Is there a single game on the schedule this week that feels like an obvious choice for the top spot? Nope. So, I’m turning to the Vegas money lines. They say Dallas is the most likely team to win this week. So, here goes.
2 Tony – Bears over Lions – This is a tough week–bad teams against bad, good teams against good. When in doubt, pick against the Lions.
3 Tony – Eagles over Giants – Sounds like there is trouble brewing between Giants head coach Joe Judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Given the Giants recent history, they might both be looking for jobs at the end of the year. OK…so do I think that firing Jason Garrett is the answer? I’m not changing this pick over it.
4 Andy – Bills over Saints – Despite a couple of massive laid eggs in recent weeks, I still believe in Buffalo. The Saints are another story. Trevor Siemian is horrible. And did you see the contract New Orleans just gave Taysom Hill? WTF is that team thinking. Anyway, something is a little off with Buffalo, but I think they are going to win this one.
5 Tony – Chargers over Broncos – Interesting that four games in, and all three of the Thanksgiving games are off the board. Not sure if that means anything or not. IN this game, the Chargers have been a bit hit & miss lately, but no more than the Broncos. I’ll give the nod to Justin Herbert over Teddy Bridgewater.
6 Andy – Ravens over Browns – In a quirk of scheduling, Cleveland’s next two games will be against Baltimore (separated by a bye week). According to a commentator on ESPN that means the team still has a chance to make up ground in the AFC playoff race. Unfortunately, Baker Mayfield has been torn to shreds this season. So, consequently, it also means that after the next couple games the Browns could be completely irrelevant. If I had to put money on it, I’d bet on the latter.
7 Tony – Patriots over Titans – I’m not sure that I really believe in the Patriots yet…but they’ve been playing better & better, while the Titans have been worse and worse since Derrick Henry went out.
8 Andy – Buccaneers over Colts – After a couple game stumble, Tampa looked good against the Giants Monday. Granted, it’s the Giants, but I don’t think a Tom Brady team is going to have a lot of long-term struggles. It’s possible the Colts come out and run all over the Bucs, but it feels a little unlikely to me.
9 Tony – Bengals over Steelers – You have to wonder if Sunday night’s loss to the Chargers might finally break the back of this Steelers team that seems to be teetering on the edge.
10 Andy – 49ers over Vikings – A couple years ago, San Francisco ran up and down the field against Minnesota in the playoffs. The Vikings’ offense might have a better chance than it did that year, but I’m not sure it’s going to do a lot better job of slowing down the Niners.
11 Tony – Rams over Packers – I guess this would be a bit of an upset, but I think things are starting to fall apart a bit for the Pack. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but injuries and the stress of the offseason drama (combined with the recent Covid drama) around Aaron Rodgers have them in a bit of a mini-tail spin.  They looked bad for two weeks (although they beat the even worse looking Seahawks in there), and couldn’t completely get things right against the Vikings last week.
12 Andy – Panthers over Dolphins – Two mediocre teams playing in a game few will care about … Dolphins might be able to defend themselves in the water, but I think this will be a short fight on dry ground.
13 Tony – Falcons over Jaguars – The last three games this week are the definition of ugly. I’m grabbing the Falcons mainly because they have the biggest win differential vs their opponent (4 wins vs 2 wins), and they are a one point road favorite, vs the other two being virtual tossups taking into account home field advantage.
14 Andy – Football Team over Seahawks – Two mediocre teams playing in a game few will care about … the Football Team occasionally puts up a pretty decent fight despite talent deficiencies. The Seahawks have, lately, played mostly below their potential. Effort often wins.
15 – Tony – Texans over Jets – I think the Jets are actually the better team, but my gut says the Texans will pull this out with the return of Zach Wilson. I’m not sure how they pull it out…my gut works 60% of the time, every time.

Tony still has a pretty commanding lead in straight-up picks.

Yeah, straight up, here goes: