Cal still leads the pack with a 54-17-1 record and I'm on his tail at 50-21-1. Jordan and Brandon are both tied at 49-22-1, and with another tough week ahead of us, Cal's lead could vanish relatively soon. We start off with the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.
Browns at Bengals, Thursday @ 8:25 p.m.
The Browns enter tonight with a 5-3 record and a chance to tie the Steelers for the AFC North lead. The Bengals are 5-2-1 and can take the sole lead with a win, but they're missing five starters and may have some trouble against their division rival. However, the Browns haven't won in Cincinnati since 2008 and they've been barely escaping lower-tier teams, so we collectively feel the Bengals will be victorious.
Tom: Bengals 23, Browns 20
Jordan: Bengals 17, Browns 10
Brandon: Bengals 24, Browns 23
Cal: Bengals 19, Browns 17 (Browns will cover +6.5 spread)
Chiefs at Bills, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m.
The Chiefs have quietly won five of their last six games and the Bills are quietly 5-3 with some quality wins. Since switching over to Kyle Orton, Buffalo is 3-1 and now coming off of a bye week after defeating the Jets 43-23. Coincidentally, both of these teams' last victory was against the spiraling Jets! The Bills' defense has been great all season, with their only bad game coming against the Patriots in Week 6. I think Buffalo gets the job done on their home turf with staunch defense and conservative offensive play.
Tom: Bills 17, Chiefs 16
Jordan: Chiefs 20, Bills 6
Brandon: Chiefs 22, Bills 20
Cal: Bills 24, Chiefs 17
Dolphins at Lions, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m.
Well, here are two surprises. Miami has handily defeated the Bears on the road and the Chargers at home over the past two weeks, while the Lions are 6-2 and atop the NFC North. However, I think the Lions' luck is about to run out after last second victories against the Saints and Falcons due to costly, late errors by both of those teams. This will be a defensive game that falls in favor of Miami.
Tom: Dolphins 19, Lions 17
Jordan: Dolphins 24, Lions 21
Brandon: Lions 21, Dolphins 20
Cal: Lions 31, Dolphins 24
Cowboys at Jaguars, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m. (in London)
It doesn't matter who's starting at quarterback for the Cowboys. Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden, Caleb Hanie, Jason Garrett or Jerry Jones will suffice. Can we stop sending over bad NFL teams to Europe please? Our pals over there want to see a good game.
Tom: Cowboys 27, Jaguars 14
Jordan: Cowboys 13, Jaguars 6
Brandon: Cowboys 27, Jaguars 17
Cal: Cowboys 21, Jaguars 7
49ers at Saints, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m.
It's truly unfortunate that the 49ers have to visit the Saints at this point in the season. New Orleans has found their groove, scoring 72 points in their past two games against the Packers and Panthers. They're also undefeated at home, which doesn't bode well for San Francisco, who just came off their bye week and lost to the Rams at home. New Orleans will edge them out and give the Cardinals an even easier road to a division title.
Tom: Saints 31, 49ers 28
Jordan: Saints 27, 49ers 24 (49ers will cover the +5 spread)
Brandon: Saints 28, 49ers 24
Cal: Saints 27, 49ers 17
Titans at Ravens, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m.
The Ravens have lost two straight division games against the Bengals and Steelers and now return to their home turf to face the Tennessee Titans, who are in the cellar of the NFL. These two teams last squared off in 2011 and the Titans were victorious, but with Zach Mettenberger under center, it's very doubtful that happens this time around.
Tom: Ravens 34, Titans 17 (Ravens will cover the -10.5 spread)
Jordan: Ravens 27, Titans 14
Brandon: Ravens 27, Titans 17
Cal: Ravens 27, Titans 10
Steelers at Jets, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m.
Well, based on Ben Roethlisberger's past three weeks (1,217 pass yards and 14 touchdowns) it doesn't look like many NFL defenses would be able to stop him or the Steelers' offense. And now they're going to face the 1-8 Jets? I'll stick up for New York a little bit because they honestly haven't been playing as horrible as many think if you actually look at the crippling situation they're in, but they're secondary is depleted and this game should be relatively easy for Pittsburgh.
Tom: Steelers 31, Jets 16
Jordan: Steelers 31, Jets 10 (Steelers will cover the -5 spread)
Brandon: Steelers 30, Jets 21
Cal: Steelers 37, Jets 7 (Steelers will cover the -5 spread)
Falcons at Buccaneers, Sunday @ 1:00 p.m.
The Falcons absolutely embarrassed the Bucs on Thursday Night Football back in Week 3 by the score of 56-14. But now these two teams are in the same boat, as Atlanta has fallen to 2-6 and the Bucs are 1-7. The NFC South is perhaps the worst division in football, with a combined record of 10-22-1. With that being said, Atlanta is coming off a bye week and Tampa Bay is so dismal that I can't even see them keeping this one relatively close, especially since Lovie Smith has once again changed his starting quarterback. Tampa's "rebuilding" project is clearly not working.
Tom: Falcons 31, Buccaneers 14
Jordan: Falcons 20, Buccaneers 14
Brandon: Falcons 24, Buccaneers 18
Cal: Falcons 14, Buccaneers 10
Broncos at Raiders, Sunday @ 4:05 p.m.
The Raiders are 0-8, but they've had a tough schedule. Over the past month they haven't really been that much of an embarrassment and were only outscored 108-78 against the Chargers, Cardinals, Browns and Seahawks. But Denver is coming off a bad loss to the Patriots and they're not going to fold to the defeated Raiders. Manning and co. will get their groove back on Sunday.
Tom: Broncos 33, Raiders 16
Jordan: Broncos 28, Raiders 10
Brandon: Broncos 30, Raiders 16
Cal: Broncos 42, Raiders 17
Rams at Cardinals, Sunday @ 4:25 p.m.
The Rams got a big division win in San Francisco last week, but they're still 3-5 while the Cardinals are cruising at 7-1, with their only loss coming at Denver. St. Louis has been doing all they can with what they have, but I don't see the Cardinals having a lapse in performance on either side of the ball against such an inferior team. I think it'll be a close game between these division rivals in Arizona's favor.
Tom: Cardinals 24, Rams 21 (Rams will cover the +8 spread)
Jordan: Cardinals 17, Rams 7
Brandon: Cardinals 24, Rams 18
Cal: Cardinals 17, Rams 7
Giants at Seahawks, Sunday @ 4:25 p.m.
These two teams have taken huge steps backward, but Seattle's is more drastic. They went from a powerhouse on offense and defense, to losing to the Rams and barely getting by the Panthers and Raiders. Call me crazy, and I don't care, but after picking against my New York Giants for the past three weeks, I am taking them this week in Seattle. Despite their poor performance on Monday night against the Colts, the defense played fairly well in the first half before falling apart (mainly because they were tired because the offense couldn't piece together a lengthy drive). The G-Men will upset the Seahawks on Sunday.
Tom: Giants 27, Seahawks 24
Jordan: Seahawks 21, Giants 10
Brandon: Seahawks 33, Giants 22
Cal: Seahawks 24, Giants 23
Bears at Packers, Sunday @ 8:30 p.m.
Both of these teams are coming off bye weeks after terrible losses. The Packers lost in New Orleans by the score of 44-23 and the Bears were romped in New England 51-23. The difference? The Bears are having internal problems and Marc Trestman could be on the hot seat for it. And here are a couple of nice statistics: Green Bay is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings, and aside from their home loss to Chicago last season (when Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone), the Bears haven't won in Green Bay since 2007.
Tom: Packers 27, Bears 20
Jordan: Packers 30, Bears 14
Brandon: Packers 30, Bears 24 (Bears will cover +7.5 spread)
Cal: Packers 34, Bears 31
Panthers at Eagles, Monday @ 8:30 p.m.
Well this is interesting. Mark Sanchez is now starting for the Eagles and the Panthers are 0-3-1 in their last four games. Do the Panthers get their first win in a month or does Sanchez earn his first win as a starter since 2012? This seems like a coin toss pick to me! It was heads, which was Philadelphia.
Tom: Eagles 24, Panthers 23
Jordan: Eagles 21, Panthers 17
Brandon: Eagles 27, Panthers 17 (Eagles will cover the -6 spread)
Cal: Eagles 27, Panthers 21
