Alternative Picks – Week 7, 2017

This is turning into a bad joke. Andy got killed again. Not that Tony’s picks have been great, but … Andy’s continue to be godawful. What we anticipated would be a fun contest where one of us might owe the equivalent of a Subway sandwich is turning into a Manny’s Steakhouse dinner.

Andy’s going to need to turn things around fast or he’s going to have to start digging into college funds to pay the debt. Here are the standings:

1. Andy: Dallas over San Francisco – This is getting ridiculous. I’m getting killed. And my first look at this week’s games yielded exactly … zero that I have full confidence in. Ezekiel Elliott should probably take his suspension now so he’s fresh and ready for a playoff run. But he’s not. He’s playing this week and he’ll probably have a great game and help Dallas win. But the 49ers could be the next team to crush me.
2. Tony: Pittsburgh over Cincinnati – I’ve got little faith in Pittsburgh and Ben Roethlisberger to be reliable, but so far Cincinnati has been terrible, so I’ll hang my hat on Pittsburgh.
3. Tony: Tennessee over Cleveland – Again, I’m hanging my hat more on Cleveland losing this that I am confident that Tennessee will win. Pretty consistent theme this week.
4. Andy: Seattle over NY Giants – The 0-5 Giants last week took their non-existent corps of WR and … blew 0ut Denver. I nearly decided to quit everything related to sports when that happened. But I’m a masochist. There’s no way that depleted offense can lead the Giants to another win … right?
5. Tony: Jacksonville over Indianapolis – I feel like every time I go ahead and put some faith in Jacksonville, they choke. Against the Colts, even they might not screw it up.
6. Andy: Carolina over Chicago – Sigh. This is just the type of game the Bears have been competitive in all season long. But there aren’t any other games I feel good about. So … go Cam.
7. Tony: LA Rams over Arizona – The Cardinals looked a little better with Adrian Peterson last week. But so far, I’m going to stick with them losing.
8. Andy: Philadelphia over Washington – I hate picking NFC East games. Well, this year I hate picking all games. But the NFC East, in particular, over the years, has produced rivalry game upsets. So, of course, I’m sticking with the Eagles. They actually look to be for real this year. Can I ruin them?
9. Tony: New England over Atlanta – Normally this would be one of my last games picked. If this was earlier in the season, I probably would have taken the Falcons to get revenge on the Patriots. But by now the Falcons aren’t playing that well, and are dinged up. I don’t think the Patriots will need to come back from 28-3.
10. Andy: Denver over LA Chargers – Sigh. Denver played New York’s non-existent WR corps … wait, I’ve already talked about that. Sigh.
11. Tony: New Orleans over Green Bay – I’m not sure that I believe that Green Bay is in as dire of straits as many seem to believe. But I’ll jump on the bandwagon and take the Saints, although playing on grass scares me. Hopefully Mark Ingram can carry the load.
12. Andy: Kansas City over Oakland – I hate Thursday night games. The Chiefs should win this game. But … sigh.
13. Tony: Buffalo over Tampa Bay – If Jameis Winston manages to play, my feelings on this might change some. But not enough to make me pick the Vikings/Ravens or Jets/Miami over it.
14. Andy: Minnesota over Baltimore – LOLOL. I hate picking games involving the Vikings. Well, this year I hate picking all games. But particularly games involving the Vikings. Sigh.
15. Tony: NY Jets over Miami – I am dumbfounded that the Jets have as many wins as they do–I would have guessed that they wouldn’t have gotten as many all year.

So for those scoring at home:

And for our straight up picks:

Standings: