Well, it wasn’t a blowout, but Andy got a narrow win that helped keep Tony from running away with the contest.

Week four Andy 9-7
Season Tony 36-28

Does it seem like this season’s games have been harder than those in a typical season? Anyway, here are this week’s alternative picks:

1) Andy – Buccaneers over Dolphins – Not that I was expecting a Super Bowl or even a playoff appearance from Miami this year, but the Dolphins have been among the league’s most disappointing teams so far, in my eyes. Tampa just keeps plugging along, not necessarily looking great yet, but getting enough done to make sure they end up in the postseason where the games really matter. Easy win.

2) Tony – Ravens over Colts – Disappointing teams? Not sure why, but some thought that the Colts acquiring Carson Wentz might push them into contender status. He’s given them exactly what they should have expected–constant injury concerns, slightly above average play, and disappointing overall results. The 1-3 record is definitely on more than Wentz’s shoulders–but hard to say things are looking at all up for the Colts right now.

3) Tony – Cowboys over Giants – The Cowboys actually look like they might be better than I expected this year. That’s not saying much, but on the plus side, between their early performance and the completely unnecessary 17th game on the schedule, the NFC East might produce a playoff team above .500 this year.

4) Andy – Patriots over Texans – New England and Mac Jones looked solid Sunday night against Tampa Bay. I don’t think they’re all that good this year, maybe around a .500 team. But where many teams might have a letdown against a bad Houston team that just got trounced 40-0 by Buffalo, Bill Belichick will have this team well coached and ready to play.

5) Tony – Raiders over Bears – Despite having the second highest spread of the week, I avoided the Pats/Texans game purposely–at the end of the day, it’s still two 1-3 teams. Meanwhile, Andy and I were debating earlier today whether the Bears could, should, or will go back to Andy Dalton or not when healthy. I know preseason, many Bears fans thought the Raiders game would be Fields’ first start, since it was their first “easy” (non-division) opponent – but the Raiders are 3-0 heading into their Monday night matchup, so might make for another rough day for the Bears regardless of who is at QB.

6 Andy – Vikings over Lions – One of these weeks Detroit is going to go somewhere and steal one. I think I’m confident that doesn’t happen this upcoming week. I wish I was more sure though. This could be a sucker bet.

7) Tony – Cardinals over 49ers – And with that pick, Andy locks up the win for the Lions… After Monday night, the Cardinals are the last undefeated team in the league. I saw several tweets this morning pointing out Trey Lance’s stat line from the second half in Sunday’s loss to Seattle, and giddy about what he could do when it’s actually a game plan for him, rather than Jimmy Garoppolo. What they failed to consider is that when it’s his game plan…the defense gets to game plan for him, too. I’ll take the undefeated team over the rookie QB with a seemingly endless rotation of injuries at RB.

8) Andy – Titans over Jaguars – Tennessee couldn’t lose to both the Jets and the Jaguars, right? … Right?

9) Tony – Panthers over Eagles – Two quarterbacks that their teams really didn’t know what they had coming into the season. One was thought to be a dual threat raw talent, the other another Adam Gase reclamation project. One of them leads the NFL in rushing TDs through 5 weeks. The other…doesn’t appear to be the reason that the Eagles are 1-3–but can’t make up for a lack of talent at several other positions on the field.

10) Andy – Packers over Bengals – I’ll be damned if I know what to do here. Green Bay appears to be pretty clearly the best in the NFC North, but what does that mean this year? And Cincinnati has been better than expected. Joe Burrow might just be for real. So … going with the Pack.

11) Tony – Steelers over Broncos – I still think Ben Roethlisberger is largely cooked, but the Broncos had 8 starters get hurt last week–even if several of them come back, that’s not an easy thing to cover for, especially on the road. This one should move up the list if Drew Lock is forced to start for Teddy Bridgewater.

12) Andy – Saints over Football Team – Tough one. New Orleans hasn’t looked good. But Football Team plays in the NFC East, which appears to be only slightly better than it was last year, really only on the power of Dallas appearing to be at least somewhat competitive. Not a game I’d want to be forced to watch for three hours.

13) Tony – Falcons over Jets – The NFL has been trying for years to expand the game internationally by having regular season games played in London. For years they sent the Jaguars over…and after a year off due to Covid, they send…this? If I were living over there, I’d let the NFL know that I’ve had enough–send a real NFL game, or keep it in the Colonies…er, States.

14) Andy – Browns over Chargers – We’re going to find out something this week about the Los Angeles Chargers. Last week, the L.A. Rams followed up a big win over Tampa by dropping trou against the Cardinals. This is a similar game. The Chargers are, maybe, a slightly better team. But they’re built around stopping the pass, while the Browns strength is running. At home, the Chargers should win this game, I think, but … I think they won’t.

15) Tony – Rams over Seahawks – The Rams got pretty well handled by the Cardinals last week, and they are going on the road on Thursday night. But at the end of the day, I think the era of Seahawks being a threat to win the NFC is passed, and the Rams window (although it may be short) is just starting.

16) Andy – Chiefs over Bills – Two of the top three or four teams in the AFC square off here. Kansas City is the home team. Thus, they win the coin flip.

 

Despite his win in the alternative picks, Andy gained no ground in straight-up picks. Tony remains well ahead.

Week four Season
Tony 10-6 41-23
Andy 10-6 37-27

Straight-up picks for week five:

Andy Tony
Buccaneers Buccaneers
Ravens Ravens
Cowboys Cowboys
Patriots Patriots
Raiders Raiders
Vikings Vikings
Cardinals Cardinals
Titans Titans
Panthers Panthers
Packers Bengals
Broncos Steelers
Saints Football Team
Jets Falcons
Browns Browns
Rams Rams
Chiefs Bills