Alternative Picks: Week 8, 2020

It was closer last week, but Andy continues to pull away in the alternative picks contest. He should have asked for bigger terms than, well, none before the season started. He might have won a Subway lunch or something.

There are some interesting games this week. Even a few of those featuring crappy teams have interesting story lines attached to them. Here goes:

1) Tony: Chiefs over Jets – It may very well be that the Jets are locked in to the first game in our weekly picks for the rest of the season. I think the Jets players want to win … but I think that Jets ownership realizes at this point that Adam Gase can successfully lead them to the promised land of landing Trevor Lawrence. Then it’s just up to them to find a new coach to actually utilize his talents.
2) Andy: Buccaneers over Giants – I think Sam Darnold sees losing as his way out. I think the rest see losing as a way to ensure a new coach. They may think they want to win, but underneath it all, they’re fine, as long as a new coach comes in and they can start to try to win again next year. The Giants suck almost as much as the Jets and the Bucs will trounce them.
3) Andy: Packers over Vikings – Another team in the Tank for Trevor contest meets the white-hot Aaron Rodgers again. Minnesota pretty much telegraphed where its season is at by announcing Danielle Hunter would be done for the year and by trading Yannick Ngakoue. Green Bay has a pretty clear path to the North title and a shot at the No. 1 seed. They’ll trounce here too.
4) Tony: Titans over Bengals – The Steelers gave the blueprint for how to beat the Titans…I’m just not sure the Bengals can execute it.
5) Andy: Panthers over Falcons – Atlanta has been better since turning to Raheem Morris as interim coach, but the Falcons Falconed in classic form Sunday against Detroit, managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against a team known for a half-century of doing the same. Carolina, meanwhile, came a couple of breaks from knocking off the Saints in New Orleans.
6) Tony: Bills over Patriots – If not for the Jets, New England might be pushing for last place in the AFC East. Buffalo can maintain a 2 game lead over Miami and move to 4-0 in the division if they can take out the Patriots.
7) Andy: Eagles over Cowboys – With Washington on its bye week, the winner between these two titans of the NFC Least will lead in its quest to get to the five wins necessary to win the division this year. Think about that — as beat up and as putrid as these two teams are, one of them will be in first place after this weekend. Gross. Dallas is likely down to its third-string QB. If he plays as bad as the second-string QB did before getting his brains knocked around his helmet (way to stick up for your guy, teammates), there’s no way Dallas wins. How ’bout them Cowboys?
8) Tony: Rams over Dolphins – The Rams have had more games looking competent than not, and the Dolphins will be starting a rookie quarterback against Aaron Donald — not necessarily the ideal scenario for him.
9) Andy: Colts over Lions – You’re right about the Rams – they’re not very exciting right now, but for the most part, they just go out and take care of business. I wanted to find a way to pick Miami in that game, but L.A. just looks methodical right now. Same, kind of, with the Colts. Detroit looks like a little bit different team the last couple weeks since D’Andre Swift started getting more carries. But the Colts are a likely playoff team and they should win this one.
10) Tony: Browns over Raiders – Getting into some good games here–I’m giving the slight edge to the Browns here mainly because they’re at home, and the last few weeks they’ve been overcoming challenges fairly well.
11) Andy: Chargers over Broncos – I was just thinking the same thing. There are some entertaining games this weekend. This could be one too. Neither of these teams are very good, but both have young QBs who have shown at least some flashes of being the next “the guy” for them. So far, from what I have seen, I like Herbert a little more than Lock.
12) Tony: Saints over Bears – I don’t love the idea of Brees playing outdoors against this defense…but he can dump it off to Kamara and throw the quick slants to Michael Thomas, whereas the Bears have Nick Foles.
13) Andy: Ravens over Steelers – I know Pittsburgh is the lone undefeated team remaining, but it’s been my belief all season that Baltimore is the best team in the AFC outside of Kansas City. The Ravens got ripped by the Chiefs a few weeks ago, but I think they’ll tie the division back up this weekend. As the Packers pull away from the Vikings on the scoreboard, I’ll be utilizing my NFL Sunday Ticket to make sure I check on this one.
14) Tony: 49ers over Seahawks – I figured the Ravens/Steelers matchup would be the final game selected, but this is another good matchup–Seattle has the better record so far, and San Francisco is still missing several starters…but they keep putting up numbers on offense and playing solid on defense. The Seahawks have been lighting up the scoreboard all season, but their defense has been terrible, and their backfield is beat up. Add in that their last two games are a loss to the Cardinals and a last second win against the hapless Vikings (not to mention they also count wins against Dallas, New England and Atlanta), and the Seahawks might have a little bit of mirage to them.

The writers keep tying in straight-up picks, both with pretty solid numbers in week seven.

We’re already to week eight in the COVID-infested 2020 season. So far, knock on wood, so good.