Week 15 started off fairly routine but then Saturday morning hit and things started to get wild! Even with the craziness, I somehow managed to get off to a great start. I hit my first 7 picks but then only hit 4 the rest of the way to finish with a Week 15 record of 11-5. And to make matters worse, I forgot to submit in time for my league on Saturday morning and missed out on the pick. So, now I am down by 2 with 3 weeks to play.
| Nick W | Nick L | Nick T | ATS W | ATS L | ATS P | O/U W | O/U L | O/U P | Christen W | Christen L | Christen T | Rids W | Rids L | Rids T |
| 11 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 0 |
| Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous |
| 130 | 76 | 2 | 103 | 101 | 4 | 90 | 103 | 2 | 127 | 78 | 2 | 112 | 94 | 2 |
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| 141 | 81 | 2 | 111 | 108 | 5 | 94 | 115 | 2 | 136 | 84 | 3 | 122 | 100 | 2 |
The good news is that I won my own household for the first time in a while and got some ground back as Christen finished 9-6 and missed a game of her own, while Ridley went 10-6. I went 8-7-1 against the spread and got pulverized by the over/under at 4-12. I’m also frustrated with myself because I said last week that in close games where I think the underdog is a threat, I should just take it outright and that cost me a couple of picks this week. All in all not terrible, but I’ve only got three weeks to get to the top.
The week came to a close in unspectacular fashion with the Packers winning at home over the Rams, 24-12. However, early in the 4th quarter, it looked like Baker Mayfield was going to give the Rams a chance to play spoiler once again but he was picked off on an errant throw. LA actually recovered a Packers’ fumble a few plays later but had to punt. With about 9 minutes left, Green Bay would take over and never give the ball back, going 82 yards in 15 plays and ending the game.
Sunday night wasn’t really all that much better. The Commanders were able to cut the lead to 17-12 early in the 4th quarter, but they could contain Saquon Barkley when it mattered and the Giants added a FG to win it 20-12. Great win for the G-Men, but Washington got hosed by the refs in their chance to tie the game as Curtis Samuel got backpacked by a Giants defender well before the ball got there and no flag came out. It put an exclamation on an absolutely terrible week of officiating around the league. A disappointing result from Washington at home coming off their bye week in a game where they had the edge in yards but couldn’t convert 3rd downs and lost the turnover battle.
The late afternoon games had intrigue and drama though. I’ll start with the craziest of the bunch and go from there. First, the Raiders got a stocking stuffer from the officials when they didn’t overturn a TD catch that looked like Keenan Cole stepped out of bounds on replay. Then, New England’s Rhamondre Stevenson and Jacoby Meyers must have been feeling the giving spirit and turned a throw-away draw play, that was meant to send the game to overtime, into a lateral that resulted in a recovery by Vegas’ Chandler Jones who promptly stiff-armed NE QB Mac Jones into the turf and took off the other direction for the game-winning TD as the clock was at 0:00. It was bizarre and hilarious at the same time.
Down in Tampa, the Bucs jumped out to a 17-3 at the half in a game they needed to show up in. Tom Brady threw for 312 and 3 TDs and it looked like maybe they finally figured it out. However, the Bengals figured out their slow start and the defense made the adjustments as they did down the stretch last season, forcing 2 fumbles and 2 interceptions from Brady and outscoring the Bucs 31-6 in the second half. Tampa also pridefully went for a 4th & 1 from their own 26 on the opening possession of the 2nd half and that opened the door just enough for the Bengals to come roaring through.
The Chargers picked up a much-needed win in a hard-fought game against the Titans, 17-14. Justin Herbert didn’t even throw a TD but he showed what he could do on the last drive of the game as he maneuvered the Bolts into FG range with 44 seconds and no timeouts. With their star players back and healthy, the Chargers can make a push while the Titans are going to figure out how to hold on to the AFC South lead.
No Russell Wilson, no problem for the Broncos who picked up a 24-15 win over the Cardinals. I should have just picked Denver, but it seems like the curse is at least half active again this week. I bet on Colt McCoy to be good enough, but he got knocked out of the game when Arizona was up 6-3 to start the 3rd quarter and my hopes of getting that game went out the window with him. I did say it would be hilarious if Denver wins without Wilson, and I still stand by that even though it hurt me.
The Chiefs got a real scare but survived, 30-24, the Texans who have embraced some dual QB action like a college team. I didn’t think they could compete with two of the best teams in the league in consecutive weeks, but they proved me wrong. Honestly though, if you look at the game on paper it was completely one-sided and never should have gone to OT. However, a couple of turnovers and key plays show you that’s all it takes in the modern NFL.
Just ask the Cowboys who blew a 17-point lead in Jacksonville and lost to the Jags 40-34 in OT themselves. Dallas was dominating all the way up until about the 5-minute mark of the 3rd quarter when all hell broke loose. Jacksonville scored 21 unanswered to take the lead but DAL answered back with a Noah Brown TD to go up by 3 with about 3 minutes left. With 1:38 left in the game, Trevor Lawrence scrambled to midfield but fumbled the ball back to the Boys and I thought it was over right there. The Jags didn’t quit on it though and Dallas didn’t force them to use their last timeout, so that allowed them just enough time to get into FG range to tie it. Then in OT Dak threw a pick 6 that ended the game in hilarious and spectacular fashion.
It appears the Steelers have jumped aboard the Curse Train too because I was initially going to pick them to beat Carolina, but shied away with Mitch Trubisky under center. So, naturally, they score the most they’ve scored with him all season and beat Carolina on the road 24-16. Good for Mitch and the Steelers.
The Jets and Lions locked horns in a good one in the Meadowlands as New York’s elite defense battled the Lions’ prolific offense. With Zach Wilson under center for NY, I couldn’t trust that they’d score enough and that turned out to be the case in a game where the defense did a really good job for them.
New Orleans walked away with a 21-18 win over the Falcons but almost were the victims of a comeback by Atlanta’s rookie QB Desmond Ridder who got his first start. Juwan Johnson has emerged as a legit tight end in a funky offense and with the Bucs’ loss, both teams are still right there in the hunt for the NFC South title with losing records.
December football is janky and the Eagles barely beat the Bears 25-20, but improved to 13-3 nonetheless. It was really cold out but I didn’t think it would be that much of a factor…I was wrong again. The Bears shut down a pretty fantastic rushing attack for most of the game, but they couldn’t stop A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith who combined for 14 grabs and 307 yards. Meanwhile, I traded for Miles Sanders to help me win my dynasty playoff matchup and he had the worst game of his season. He only had 42 yards on the ground, but lost a fumble and had a catch that lost 13 yards, finishing with 0.4 points. Absolutely killer.
I already recapped the Bills’ win over the Dolphins separately, but there were two other Saturday games I didn’t get to talk about yet. The Browns got a much-needed 13-3 win over the Ravens in a classic, low-scoring defensive game in the AFC North but that’s boring. The real action was in Minnesota.
Down 33-0 at the half, the Vikings staged the greatest comeback in NFL regular-season history, outscoring the Colts 39-3 on the way out to win 39-36 in OT. When I forgot to enter my Vikings pick in the app, I was thinking at least it won’t hurt, then the unthinkable happened. Kirk Cousins and the Vikes’ defense stormed the gates and dominated the second half.
Cousins finished with 460 yards and 4 TDs and broke the ESPN analytics tracker. It really was incredible and difficult to process, but now Cousins (I believe) holds the two biggest regular season comebacks in NFL history while Matt Ryan is now on the receiving end of the biggest comeback loss in Super Bowl and regular season history. You really can’t make this kind of stuff up.
There’s a reason I refused to fade the Vikings when a lot of others did, and here come the Bengals firmly inside the Top-5 as the Dolphins, Chiefs, and Cowboys dip.
| 1. Eagles 13-1 (=) |
| 2. Vikings 11-3 (=) |
| 3. Bills 11-3 (=) |
| 4. Bengals 10-4 (+2) |
| 5. Chiefs 11-3 (-1) |
| 6. 49ers 10-4 (+1) |
| 7. Cowboys 10-4 (-2) |
| 8. Dolphins 8-6 (-2) |
| 9. Ravens 9-5 (=) |
| 10. Giants 8-5-1 (=) |
| 11. Chargers 8-6 (+1) |
| 12. Lions 7-7 (+6) |
| 13. Commanders 7-6-1 (=) |
| 14. Titans 7-7 (-1) |
| 15. Jets 7-7 (-1) |
| 16. Patriots 7-7 (-1) |
| 17. Seahawks 7-7 (-1) |
| 18. Jaguars 6-8 (+6) |
| 19. Buccaneers 6-8 (-2) |
| 20. Browns 6-8 (=) |
| 21. Raiders 6-8 (=) |
| 22. Packers 6-8 (-3) |
| 23. Steelers 6-8 (-1) |
| 24. Panthers 5-9 (+1) |
| 25. Saints 5-9 (+2) |
| 26. Falcons 5-9 (-3) |
| 27. Colts 4-9-1 (-1) |
| 28. Rams 4-10 (+1) |
| 29. Cardinals 4-10 (-1) |
| 30. Broncos 4-10 (+1) |
| 31. Bears 3-11 (-1) |
| 32. Texans 1-12-1 (=) |
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