Saturday Games
Houston Texans (9-4)
v.
New York Jets (4-9)
Houston at N.Y. Jets - Despite losing last week, Houston enters this game, and the final weeks of the regular season more generally, as one of the league's hottest teams. They have one of the toughest defenses in the league, and a pretty decent offense, as well. Sure enough, they have what seems like a fairly complete package. The Jets, by contrast, have a very mediocre offense, and a worse than average defense. They are coming off a win up at Buffalo, but the Texans are not as vulnerable and limited as the Bills were. Plus, that win snapped a long losing streak, while the Texans loss last week snapped what was a historically long win streak in the history of that franchise. The only real advantage that Gang Green really has is that they are playing at home, but that likely will not be enough for them to pull this one off. My pick: Houston
Cleveland Browns (5-7-1)
at
Denver Broncos 6-7
Cleveland at Denver - Now, this used to be a regular playoff rivalry. It seemed like every year, the Broncos would beat the Browns en route to a Super Bowl blowout loss. Man, there were some class games between these two teams, but it was pretty much all one-sided, with Denver clearly getting the better of it. Well, now, here we are, late in the 2018 regular season, and the Broncos once again appear to hold all of the cards against the Browns. They have a slightly better defense, and a more productive offense. They have home field advantage up in the high altitude of the Mile High City. Most importantly, however, they have so much more to fight for, as everything is on the line for them here. With that disappointing loss to the lowly 49ers last weekend, the Broncos can ill afford to lose to yet another lowly team. But the loss last week might also be beneficial to the Broncos, as it might wake them up, and fire them up, as well. Cleveland could play the role of spoilers, but it does not seem wise to predict that they will. My pick: Denver
Monday Night Football
New Orleans Saints (11-2)
v.
Carolina Panthers (6-7)
Carolina Panthers 21
New Orleans at Carolina - Well, the Saints have an offense that sputtered for a while there, but finally found themselves in the second half against the Bucs to officially capture the NFC West. But New Orleans is still fighting for home field advantage, something that they currently have with the tie-breaker advantage over the Rams. That is likely important to the Saints, for they would love to have every game that they play in the NFC playoffs go through the Big Easy. Meanwhile, the Panthers have all sorts of problems. It is just a complete mess for Carolina, who are on a losing streak that saw them go from a relatively elite 6-2 team, to a 6-7 team on the brink of elimination from playoff contention. Maybe they finally put it all together, finding a way to get motivated to beat the Saints in what would be a pretty huge upset. But predicting that to happen seems a bit ridiculous, given how inept Carolina has looked during this losing streak, and how much in turmoil this franchise seems overall. Home field advantage or not, the Panthers make it impossible to make predicting a win for them comfortable, especially against an elite team like the Saints. So, I am going the safe route, and picking the team that simply looks like the far better team. My pick: New Orleans
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