Confronting an Unpredictable Season … Pigskin Pundit’s Picks, Week 15

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Surge Summary: The NFL remains unpredictable this season, yet Pigskin Pundit presses on, thus: his picks for week fifteen’s contests.

by Pigskin Pundit (Nathan Clark)

Well, I got mangled last week, at a horrible 7-6.  What can you say, it’s the NFL this season.  Still even with NFL Network’s Nick Shook at 60%, so onward ho.  Here’s the picks.

Niners at Seahawks – SF is sittin’ Purdy with Brock the Rock under center in place of Glass Jimmy.  Well, maybe.  He and McCaffiene are questionable, but I think they play, or we’re going to see Josh Johnson (doubtful).  Frisco is pretty nicked up right now, but their defense can pancake an opposing offense, so they won’t need a ton of scores.  We know Seattle is a good show of smoke and mirrors by now, with a poor defense.  My lucky gold nugget says the Niners retain their grip on the division.  San Fran reigns in soggy Seattle.

Colts at Vikings – Dang it, I called the trap game for Detroit last week against Minnesota 8 different ways…and went against my OWN analysis and picked the Vikings anyway!  What a dope, falling for conventional wisdom when my instincts were better.  ‘Won’t get fooled again’, as the Who sang.  Vikes should make short work of the Dolts, slapping Saturday’s simps into next week.  Purple reins in the Ponies.

Ravens at Browns – The Ravens find ways to win gritty, ugly games.  They just do.  Cleveland is better on paper than on the field, and the early returns on hyperpriced QB Watson aren’t promising.  2 years is a LOT of rust.  It’s unclear who is taking snaps for Baltimore this week, but regardless, Myles Garrett will be pouring into his backfield all day.  My head says take the Ravens, but I’m going with my gut instead.  Chubb chugs, Watson chucks and Cleveland churns out a homemade W.

Dolphins at Bills – Miami got exposed on their West Coast swing, getting deep-sixed by the 49ers and then electrocuted by the Chargers.  This week they are likely to get Buffaloed by the Bills in NY, as winter rolls in with a vengeance and frosts their playoff hopes.  The Bills beat back the ferocious Jets last week, nearly decapitating Mike White in the process, while Allen hurdled tacklers and Knox somersaulted into the end zone like the Flying Wallendas.  Miami is a good team….but they’re showing a lack of prime time guts in the tough stretch of their schedule.  Fins get low marks at Highmark, while Bills freeze them out of playoff picture.

Falcons at Saints – Division is still up (or down) for grabs as these two struggling teams meet again.  Mariota is a bad memory at this point, as Ridder takes the snaps.  The Ain’ts are top-10 in sacks, so the newbie will get a warm welcome.  I’m going with stats in this one, and the Whodats lead comfortably in too many categories for Arthur Smith to outscheme with his bare cupboard.  Dirty birds get laundered and pressed by the Dalton Gang.

Steelers at Panthers – Two 5-8s gathering for a slap-fight in Charlotte.  Carolina STILL has playoff potential on the line, while Pittsburgh is well-toasted out of their race.  With Kenny Pick-it’s thinker jangled and in the conc-protocol, that leaves Mithcell True-picks-sky to deliver gifts to opposing d-backs, which he will do.  Gimme the Cats and Slingin’ Sammy Darnold to send the Steelers home with a lump of coal.  ‘In my mind I’m goin’ with Carolina…’

Eagles at Bears – This isn’t a trap game for the Eagles, either.  Philly shows some brotherly love by Bear-hugging Chicago into the Loss column.  Bears hibernate while the Eagles dominate.

Chiefs at Texans – I don’t care what PEDs Houston was on last week in the Battle for Texas, they won’t repeat that kind of performance this week against Mahomes & his Merry Mohicans.  Houston plays decent defense, especially against wideouts, but they struggle defending…tight ends.  Enter, Travis Kelce.  Game, set, match.  Cowboys lose to the Indians in this movie.

Cowboys at Jaguars – Dallas struggled to squeak past lowly Houston last week, while the Jags are riding a 3-win streak and Trevor Lawrence is starting to look like…Trevor Lawrence.  The Jags got home a lot against Tannehill last week and did a decent job holding Derrick Henry to average yardage, while Zeke & Pollard were unremarkable against the Texans.  Fact is, Dallas should bounce back this week and revert to form, as the playoffs loom.  In what will probably be a fun game to watch, Stars beat the ‘Guars.

Lions at Jets – NY showed a lot of fire last week in their close loss to AFC leader Buffalo.  That Defense is the Green Mile when you are looking for 1st-down yardage, and if Quinnen Williams can play this week, look out.  Mike White was heroic facing the teeth of Buffalo’s D repeatedly last week, especially after Matt ‘Mint’ Milano folded him in half like a garment bag full of cheap suits.  These two teams are fun to watch, and as improved as Jared Goff is this season, he hasn’t seen many lockdown combos like Sauce & DJ.  I like what both teams are doing, after such long droughts of competitiveness.  Green D grabs a great one in Gotham.

Cardinals at Broncos – Who’s watching THIS game?  Both starting QBs down, not that anybody cared much beforehand.  The Cardinals just seem like a broken team to me, with Murray’s latest setback seeming symbolic of their season misfortunes. Denver, on the other hand, is more a story of mishandling than misfortune, which is something a team can overcome.  If Jeudy plays pissed and the D lassoes Colt, they should hold the Mile High ground against the desert chirps.

Patriots at Raiders – Tough call, you ask me.  Like the odds in Vegas, you never know which Raiders team is going to show up.  The Pats will bring the same predictable, boring offense that keeps springing from the oversized head of Matt Patrician, who was a poor choice for a job he never held.  Mac Jones will be running for his life as Maxx ‘Pain’ Crosby and Chandler Jones play hammer & anvil.  If Stephenson, Harris, Parker and Meyers are all out, New England will be hard-pressed to find points.  The remaining players are just too damn easy to cover.  If Carr has another inexplicable brainfart game like last week, then PeeWee Herman’s sandlot team could beat Lost Wages.  Lots of ‘ifs’, like stopping Jacobs, Parker and Waller for 60 minutes.  Roll the dice, it’s Vegas.  Snake eyes, the house wins.

Titans at Chargers – The Titans are sliding towards mediocrity each week, and it’s conceivable they could lose the division to Jacksonville down the stretch, facing the Chargers, Cowboys and the Jaguars again.  Tennessee has been exposed as a one-trick pony offense, which means ‘no tricks’.  They remind me of the Daughtry song, ‘No Surprise’, and they sorely miss AJ Brown.  Herbert keeps his team in every game and like Mahomes, he is dangerous until the clock stops.  They played Miami tough last week, and I see more of the same this week, as pass defense is a big weakness for Vrabel.  Bolts jolt themselves closer to a playoff berth.

Bengals at Buccaneers – Brady’s subterranean pirates are outmatched again, even with Cincy dinged up (Tyler Boyd, Hendrickson, Jalen Davis).  Big Throw Joe doesn’t have to be great every week, but he can be.  The Bengals are resembling their Super Bowl form of last season, while Tampa’s ship seems to be sailing…I think we have seen Tom Brady’s last season, as he just doesn’t look sharp anymore as the precision passer he has always been.  Old dogs & new tricks, etc.  I hope he didn’t throw away his marriage for a year of going out with a whimper.  Bengals bite the Bucs badly.

Giants at Commanders – Time for the Even Stevens to meet again, after their OT tie last time.  The stat sheets for that game looked nearly identical in EVERY category, which is uncanny.  Daboll’s Giants are 1-5 in their last 6, while the Upenders have caught the wind in their sails of late, with Heinicke at the tiller.  It’s time to pick the team ascendant.  And the envelope says…….the Washington Commanders, for their performance in ‘Riverboat Ron Rides the Rapids’.

Rams at Packers – Bus Ticket Baker brings his new palm tree pals to Lambeau for a frosty reception from Packer Nation.  LA still stinks, and if I’m a betting man, Baker is back on the bus after the season.  In the meantime, he played better in one quarter than Stafford did all season, so we’ll take it.  The Rams are facing a Green Bay team that has lost its way, but knows the answer is somewhere close by.  Beating the Rams may not get the coin to drop, but losing to them would certainly deepen the gloom.  Let’s give Rodgers, Jones and Matt LaFleur the credit they deserve.  Cheese and crackers for the Packer Backers this week.

Enjoy the games!

-Pigskin Pundit

The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge.

Image adapted from: Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay 

Nathan Clark is a conservative commentator who resides with his wife in New Hampshire. He is passionate about preserving the vision of our nation’s Founders and advancing those tried and true principles deep into America’s future. His interests range broadly from flyfishing, cooking and shooting to pro sports, gardening, live music and fine-scale modeling.

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