Alternative Picks: Week 14, 2020

We have a competitive contest. A 20-11 run the last two weeks has pulled Tony within three correct picks of Andy as we complete the last quarter of the season. Usually, in 2020, a good week for him has been followed by a dud. But he was dominant in week 13, as Andy missed half his own picks.

Oh, the drama. You can cut the tension with a knife.

1) Tony:

Seahawks over Jets – Firing Gregg Williams is like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Although Gregg Williams always deserves to get fired. Maybe this time the league will finally figure out not to give him another chance?
2) Andy: Chiefs over Dolphins – Miami is better. Probably even a playoff team. But they’re not good enough offensively to hang with Pat Mahomes & Crew.
3) Andy: Packers over Lions – Detroit showed it still had some fight left to it this season in coming back to defeat a mentally beaten Bears team, but Green Bay isn’t Chicago and Aaron Rodgers definitely isn’t Mitch Trubisky.
4) Tony: Saints over Eagles – This could be a showdown between Taysom Hill & Jalen Hurts. Hill played better in his second win over Atlanta, but he’s still not an NFL quarterback. But at least half the Eagles team isn’t legit NFL caliber talent — at least not for a winning team.
5) Andy: Titans over Jaguars – The Titans have played some duds in recent weeks, including a two-score loss to the Bengals. But Tennessee should be able to lay the smack down on a Jacksonville team that is playing hard but not seeing much for results.
6) Tony: Cardinals over Giants – Arizona has been struggling, but does anyone really think the Giants are suddenly for real just because they beat the Seahawks and are atop the NFC East? Have fun with the 19th pick overall, whoever wins that putrid division.
7) Andy: Buccaneers over Vikings – Besides the Packers, who has Minnesota beaten on its way to 6-6? And by how much? This team is on a nice run, but let’s see Kirk Cousins duplicate his last half-dozen games or so against a playoff-bound team now that the team is playing games with post-season ramifications again.
8) Tony: Cowboys over Bengals – If my picks play out, things just keep getting more and more interesting in the NFC East … interesting like a car wreck is interesting, but interesting.
9) Andy: Rams over Patriots – New England has improved a bit over the last few weeks, but the Rams are pretty methodically beating most teams right now. On each team’s best days, I think Los Angeles is the significantly better team.
10) Tony: Texans over Bears – Jets. Jaguars. Bengals. There may be no team (and fan base) with less confidence right now than Da Bears.
11) Andy: 49ers over Football Team – Sure, Washington just ended Pittsburgh’s attempt at a perfect season. The Football Team needs to win more than one big game in a row before I’ll buy into them or any of the other NFC East contenders. I’m not sure the 49ers are going to be able to get back in the playoff race, but they’re definitely capable of winning this one.
12) Tony: Falcons over Chargers – A battle between fourth quarter choke artists … Atlanta isn’t going to the playoffs, but they are 4-3 over their last seven games. The Chargers … aren’t.
13) Andy: Colts over Raiders – Las Vegas needed a last-second heave from Derek Carr running basically a Hail Mary against an all-out Jets blitz that cost Gregg Williams his coordinator job to avoid a second consecutive embarrassing loss. The Colts are better than the Jets and won’t let the Raiders have that last-second shot.
14) Tony: Browns over Ravens – Not one I would have ever thought to pick in the preseason, but the Browns are running the ball like the Ravens should be, and Lamar Jackson is playing quarterback like Baker Mayfield did last year. Never want to completely count the Ravens out, but the Browns earned being the favorite here.
15) Andy: Bills over Steelers – Pittsburgh is a good team, but is not playing great ball right now, as evidenced by a narrow win against a COVID-weakened Ravens team and a loss to Football Team. Buffalo looks to be peaking at the right time and is fighting to keep a narrow edge in the AFC East.
16) Tony: Panthers over Broncos – The only matchup of teams with the same record…I’ll take the home team…with the better quarterback…and running backs…and wide receivers…

Andy wasn’t as horrible in straight-up picks last week, but he did chase a bunch of upsets that didn’t materialize and Tony still gained ground on him. These picks might come down to the wire.

And their picks?