The Steelers’ undefeated season came to an unceremonious end as they lost at home to the Washington Football Team. Pittsburgh’s offense hasn’t looked good in either of their last two games without James Conner in the backfield, struggling to establish the run and dropping an alarming number of passes. Credit to Washington for being able to capitalize on those deficiencies and overcome a 14-point deficit to win. It wasn’t the only upset on the schedule, but it certainly hurt the straight picks.
| Nick’s Picks | Nick ATS | O/U | Christen’s Picks | Vanger ATS | Toast ATS |
| 10-5 | 10-5 | 7-8 | 10-5 | 9-6 | 10-5 |
| Previous Total | Previous Total | Previous | Previous Total | Previous Total | Previous Total |
| 122-54-1 | 93-81-2 | 56-70-3 | 112-66-1 | 22-32-2 | 25-27-2 |
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| 132-59-1 | 103-86-2 | 63-78-3 | 122-71-1 | 31-38-2 | 35-32-2 |
Kansas City increased their win streak to seven games with a narrow victory over the Broncos. Drew Lock was back under center for Denver and it’s amazing how much better they look with an NFL QB taking snaps. He still threw a couple of picks that would be the difference in a game where the Chiefs’ offense was hampered by the absence of the Hyphen, Clyde Edwards-Helarie.
New Orleans continues to keep things rolling with Taysom Hill at QB as they beat the Falcons again to remain the top seed in the NFC. Aaron Rodgers threw his 400th career touchdown pass as Green Bay reasserted themselves as the #2 team in the NFC with a convincing win over the Eagles. It’s been easy to point the finger at Carson Wentz throughout the course of the season since his stats have been near the bottom of the league. He’s clearly a talented player but his league-lead in sacks is more the result of poor pass protection and most of his interceptions come from trying to make something happen for a subpar offense. With a 3-8-1 record, letting the division slip away, and no offensive coordinator, it’s past time for Doug Pederson to be in the crosshairs. Considering the substantial injuries the Eags have dealt with all season, Pederson has continued his square-peg/round-hole approach all season long. The defense has worked hard to keep Philly in games but he’s still running the offense as if this is the team that won the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.
Making things easier on your QB is a top priority and Pederson has shown no willingness or ability to uncomplicate his ridiculous offensive approach. Right when it looked like they’d found something in WR Travis Fulgham, Alshon Jeffrey returns from the crypt and gets inserted as the starter. In four games, he has 2-catches on 8-targets for 15-yards and no scores. That’s it. Furthermore, you’d think getting dynamic RB Miles Sanders back would be a big boost to the offense, but he’s got 16-carries and 2-catches for 53-yards total in his two games back. Now Wentz heads to the bench and Jalen Hurts gets inserted as the starter against a pretty good Saints’ defense. He didn’t play great in relief during the GB game, so what’s the plan here? Is this some kind of motivational tactic for Wentz? Best case scenario, Hurts looks above average. Most likely, the Saints’ defense gives him the business we learn what we already know. Don’t be surprised to see Wentz get into the New Orleans game, but the inevitable indecisiveness and lack of direction from Pederson is the sign of a guy with no answers.
Baker Mayfield had one of the best games of his career and the Browns showed the rest of the league that they are indeed for real by throttling the Titans. The 41-35 final score wasn’t indicative of how one-sided the game was as Cleveland was up 38-7 at the half. Tennessee showed their resiliency, outscoring the Browns 28-3 in the second half but it was too little, too late.
My Buffalo Bills picked up a big win over the 49ers in Arizona on Monday night to improve to 9-3 and stay a game ahead of the Dolphins who picked up a win over the struggling Bengals. Elsewhere in the AFC East, the Patriots embarrassed the Chargers 45-0 as Los Angeles looked inept, yet again, and imploded in every facet of the game. Anthony Lynn decided to leave Justin Herbert out there and his job will be on the line during the rest of the season as a result. Lastly, the New York Jets looked like they were about to get their first win of the season when defensive coordinator Gregg Williams dialed an all-out blitz that allowed Derek Carr to find Henry Ruggs III behind the defense for the game-winning TD. The win kept the Raiders in the playoff hunt and cost Williams his job.
Indianapolis picked up a win over the outgunned Texans to stay in lock-step with the Titans atop the AFC South at 8-4. It’s going to be a similarly close race in the NFC West as the Rams retook first place with a win over the Cardinals whose momentum has dried up. Seattle has the same record at 8-4 after losing to a surging Giants team, but Los Angeles has the tie-breaker for now. They’ll play each other the Sunday after Christmas with the division likely hanging in the balance.
The Lions finally did something, overcoming a 10-pt 4th quarter deficit to beat the Bears who have now lost six games in a row. The Chicago and Arizona losses opened the door for Minnesota to take the lead in the race for the final Wild Card spot with their win over the Jaguars.
Closing out the week on Tuesday Night Football, Lamar Jackson returned for the Ravens as they handled business against the lowly Cowboys. Dez Bryant was pulled from the game during warmups due to a positive re-test for Covid after inconclusive results earlier in the day. Bryant took to Twitter to express his frustration and seemingly retire. The win stopped a three-game skid and gets Baltimore to 7-5 where they’ll still have work to do as they’re on the outside looking in at the playoff picture.
Bill Belichick and the Patriots look to keep their momentum rolling as they face Sean McVay and the Rams in a rematch of Super Bowl LIII. Both teams have changed a lot since then, but the matchup has big playoff implications for both squads so you can expect a tactical battle to kick off Week 14 on Thursday Night Football.
The Chiefs retake the #1 spot as the Steelers stumble, Browns move into the Top-5 in the latest Sheist Power Rankings:
| 1. Chiefs 11-1 (2⬆) |
| 2. Steelers 11-1 (1⬇) |
| 3. Saints 10-2 (3=) |
| 4. Bills 9-3 (5⬆) |
| 5. Browns 9-3 (8⬆) |
| 6. Packers 9-3 (7⬆) |
| 7. Titans 8-4 (4⬇) |
| 8. Colts 8-4 (10⬆) |
| 9. Rams 8-4 (9=) |
| 10. Seahawks 8-4 (6⬇) |
| 11. Dolphins 8-4 (12⬆) |
| 12. Buccaneers 7-5 (11⬇) |
| 13. Raiders 7-5 (13=) |
| 14. Ravens 7-5 (15⬆) |
| 15. Vikings 6-6 (16⬆) |
| 16. Patriots 6-6 (18⬆) |
| 17. Cardinals 6-6 (14⬇) |
| 18. Giants 5-7 (22⬆) |
| 19. Washington 5-7 (23⬆) |
| 20. 49ers 5-7 (17⬇) |
| 21. Bears 5-7 (19⬇) |
| 22. Lions 5-7 (26⬆) |
| 23. Texans 4-8 (20⬇) |
| 24. Falcons 4-8 (21⬇) |
| 25. Broncos 4-8 (24⬇) |
| 26. Panthers 4-8 (25⬇) |
| 27. Chargers 3-9 (27=) |
| 28. Eagles 3-8-1 (28=) |
| 29. Cowboys 3-9 (29=) |
| 30. Bengals 2-9-1 (30=) |
| 31. Jaguars 1-11 (31=) |
| 32. Jets 0-12 (32=) |