It’s a holiday week, so we’re getting you the picks before you stuff yourself with presents and open your turkey. (Or something like that.) Are you tired of the Odell Beckham Jr. coverage by now? My two cents: Josh Norman isn’t getting enough heat for his takedown on the second play of the game that started everything. I love how after the game he made it seem like that wasn’t a punk move. I liked you Josh, but both of you guys were idiots in this one. You just didn’t try to take off Beckham’s head and he did yours. Let’s just make sure the next guy who takes that kinda shot at someone’s helmet gets suspended too. It’s amazing how quickly this is getting resolved compared to Tom Brady, right??
Locks of the Week:
New England -3 over N.Y. JETS
The Jets best win is against who exactly? Washington? Currently they have no wins against teams with winning records. Of course you’re going to flip that on me and asked me who the Patriots have beaten and I’ll tell you those same Redskins plus Pittsburgh and these same Jets. (Plus the Broncos loss was after Gronkowski got hurt.) The Jets great run defense doesn’t matter because the Patriots don’t run the ball. Their pass defense can be exposed an expect that to happen on Sunday as New England holds the Jets in check.
J. Camm’s Pick: New England
Carolina -7 over ATLANTA
Don’t let last week fool you. Atlanta is still awful. This is the same Atlanta team that got blown out two weeks ago and their offense won’t be any more effective here. I could understand a “revenge game” narrative if Atlanta even had the ability to exact revenge. But they don’t and they won’t, so let’s just move on.
J. Camm’s Pick: New England
Jacksonville +3.5 over NEW ORLEANS
Tampa Bay clearly didn’t have the offense necessary to beat up New Orleans, but Jacksonville definitely does. New Orleans definitely hasn’t shown us anything to deserve more than three points at most while Jacksonville at worst can get you a late cover.
J. Camm’s Pick: New Orleans
Trap Games of the Week:
San Francisco +10 over DETROIT
I guess Detroit isn’t dead. But is San Francisco alive? This seems like an overreaction to last week’s blowout win for the Lions against New Orleans, so it’s hard for me to tolerate double digits. But San Francisco clearly isn’t any good offensively and somehow has turned their offense into one that’s more passing focused. That’s not a great idea if Blaine Gabbert is your quarterback. This whole scenario confuses me.
J. Camm’s Pick: Detroit
Rest of the Picks:
San Diego +6 over OAKLAND
The Chargers gave everything they had last week, so maybe they’ll be out of gas. Oakland just isn’t that good and San Diego’s got the ability to score on teams with mediocre defenses. Oakland has just that.
J. Camm’s Pick: Oakland
PHILADELPHIA -3 over Washington
The final score will tell you the Eagles got blown out by Arizona, but they hung in the game for a while until things fell apart. They’ll definitely be up for this game against Washington and should have the ability to limit Kirk Cousins, who generally plays worse on the road. Philly can get beaten on the ground, but Washington doesn’t have the weapons for that, ranking 31st in rushing offense according to Football Outsiders. If you have to wonder why Philly is even favored here then you need to understand Vegas knows more than you do.
J. Camm’s Pick: Washington
Houston -2.5 over TENNESSEE
I honestly have no idea about this game either, but Tennessee will have Zach Mettenberger at the helm and Houston could be starting Brandon Weeden. God help us! I’m taking the team with a defense.
J.Camm’s Pick: Houston
Pittsburgh -10 over BALTIMORE
You’re probably thinking that Baltimore will hold tough in a divisional game, but their passing defense is such dog shit that there’s no way this happens. Pittsburgh has to keep the foot on the gas to make the playoffs, so they won’t be easing up against their rival.
J.Camm’s Pick: Pittsburgh
Indianapolis PK over MIAMI
This is another game that makes no sense. Miami is clearly ready to start golfing. Somehow the Colts are still in the mix despite the corpse of Matt Hasselbeck playing quarterback for them. The Colts should’ve beaten Houston last week, so we’ll give them this one.
J.Camm’s Pick: Indy
Dallas +6 over BUFFALO
Kellen Moore is the answer! Ok, he’s not the answer, but the Bills can’t play defense despite Rex Ryan being the coach. They ranked 29th in the league on defense according to Football Outsiders. They’ll make Kellen Moore look acceptable.
J.Camm’s Pick: Dallas
Cleveland +13 over KANSAS CITY
I really wanted to take the Chiefs here, but you figure they’ll have a minor letdown at some point. Their offense just isn’t explosive enough to deserve almost two touchdowns.
J.Camm’s Pick: Cleveland
TAMPA BAY -3 over CHICAGO
The Buccaneers get the edge here because of the extra time to prepare. Chicago has also given up on the season after what we saw last week in Minnesota. That was embarrassing.
J.Camm’s Pick: Tampa Bay
SEATTLE -13.5 over St. Louis
The Rams usually give Seattle a game, but the Seahawks are playing as well as they’ve played all season. I’m not sure St. Louis breaks 10 points with the way Seattle is playing defense right now.
J.Camm’s Pick: Seattle
Green Bay +4.5 over ARIZONA
This line seems a little fishy considering how well Arizona has played at times and how poorly Green Bay looks on offense. Arizona definitely has a pass defense you can attack and it gets easier to attack them without the Honey Badger. I’ll take the bait.
J.Camm’s Pick: Arizona
MINNESOTA -5.5 over N.Y. Giants
There’s no way the Giants get to 20 points without Odell Beckham Jr. Minnesota should be able to score at ease against the 27th ranked defense according to FO.
J.Camm’s Pick: Minnesota
DENVER -3.5 over Cincinnati
I’m starting to become a Brock Osweiler apologist. He didn’t do anything in the second half last week, but his wide receivers weren’t getting open. The “great” defense gave up so many points. Maybe everyone is sandbagging it because they want Peyton Manning back. We’ll find out this week. There’s no way A.J. McCarron should perform against the league’s best defense. He’s certainly no Roethlisberger and his weapons are banged up.
J.Camm’s Pick: Denver
Last Week: 9-6-1
Season: 112-105-7 (Crap, I lost the lead to JCamm. Gotta bring it now!)
Locks: 28-19
JCamm: 113-104-7 (Crap is right, motherfucker. Time for me to deliver the fatal blow.)