Week 14 Panel Picks: Dallas and Cincinnati Riding Momentum, All-Timer at Arrowhead
George and Theo rule the panel and backup quarterbacks are single-handedly tanking the panel’s win percentage. Just another day at the office. Last week, Theo gained two games on George after the 49ers destroyed the Eagles, and the Chiefs—George’s lock—lost on Sunday Night Football to Jordan Love and the Packers. Let’s not forget about Ray either. He tied Theo for the week 13 lead with a record of 10-4 followed by me at 9-5, and everyone else at 8-6. Time is running out for Josh as well. He just can’t seem to put a stellar week together.
Primetime Games
Early Window
Late Window
Most alike picks: The top two, George and Theo, only picked one game differently.
Least alike picks: The bottom two, Josh and Rahul picked eight games differently.
Most upsets picked: Josh, Jackson, and I picked six upsets each.
Fewest upsets picked: I made the mistake of letting George pick only one upset. He’ll have to pick at least three next week.
Most picks with majority: Ray and George were in the majority in all but one game.
Most picks against majority: Josh was in the minority in six of 15 games.
What Stands Out?
Chiefs vs Bills is going to be a bloodbath, it will be a shootout, it will come down to the final seconds, and we are bound for a Patrick Mahomes vs Josh Allen all-time duel in a game that the Chiefs need and the Bills absolutely have to have. The panel was torn on this one with the Chiefs edging the Bills by a 4-3 vote.
If the Falcons vs Buccaneers game goes how the panel expects it to, Atlanta will be heavy favorites to come out of the NFC South with a game lead on New Orleans and a two-game lead on Tampa Bay with the head-to-head tiebreaker against both.
The Bears’ near-win over Detroit in week 11, win in Minnesota on Monday Night Football, and Detroit’s Thanksgiving loss are certainly playing a factor in Josh’s and my minds. We both picked Chicago to win at home against the 9-3 Lions.
There is absolutely no love for Shane Steichen, Gardner Minshew II, and the Colts despite them winning four straight games and handing Tennessee their first home loss of the season. The entire panel has Jake Browning and the Bengals sending Indy to 7-6.
A Buccaneers win against the Falcons on the road would put Theo back into a tie with George for first place for the first time since week 7. Meanwhile, Josh is giving himself plenty of room to gain ground on Rahul with eight different results picked. Rahul has the favorite in five of those eight games.
Playoff Picture
Let’s pretend our majority pick in each matchup won this weekend. Here would be the playoff matchups on Wild Card Weekend if that were the case.
AFC
(1) Miami Dolphins vs BYE | This is the first time all season that Miami has been projected to have the first round bye in the AFC.
(2) Baltimore Ravens vs (7) Pittsburgh Steelers | Pittsburgh has won six of their last seven meetings with Baltimore.
(3) Kansas City Chiefs vs (6) Houston Texans | C.J. Stroud has 413 more passing yards than Patrick Mahomes this season.
(4) Jacksonville Jaguars vs (5) Cleveland Browns | These teams face off this week.
NFC
(1) San Francisco 49ers vs BYE | San Francisco would have the one seed for the first time since after week 5.
(2) Detroit Lions vs (7) Green Bay Packers | The underdog has won this matchups four of the last five times.
(3) Dallas Cowboys vs Minnesota Vikings | This would be the matchup of the two quarterbacks with the least hair in the league.
(4) Atlanta Falcons vs (5) Philadelphia Eagles | This game would have potential to be the largest spread in favor of the away team in wild card game history.
The Greatest Show on Turf (Bailey Zappe) just knocked off the Steelers in a tight Thursday Night game, giving Ray and Jackson a boost going into the weekend. Hopefully we get a lot more three point games where that came from.