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NY Giants 27, Philadelphia 17 – The G-Men finally ended their losing streak of eight straight games to the Eagles, beating them in what turned out to be, somewhat surprisingly, a big divisional game. This, despite both teams sporting a losing record entering the game, with the Giants at 2-7, specifically. But they played well, at least well enough to win, managing to exact a measure of revenge for an earlier loss at Philly this season, in a game that felt like it should have gone to the Giants until the final moments. Here, the Eagles managed to fight back, and cast some doubts late. But New York kept responding, and finally managed a field goal that mostly put the game out of reach. Philly’s final possession ended when they ran out of downs, and the Giants had come up with a big win that gives them a chance. They and Philadelphia are the only two teams in the division with thee wins to date. A solid win for the Giants, and who would have believed, back even just a couple of weeks ago, that the G-Men would play a meaningful game like this – and win! – this season? Not I. My pick: Accurate
Tampa Bay 46, Carolina 23 – My big question concerning Tampa Bay was how well they would respond as a team after that humiliating blowout loss at home to the Saints. The answer was that they responded very well. Yes, the Bucs performed impressively, doubling the Panthers total score, as they exploded for 46 points. The Panthers offense, meanwhile, were not effective against Tampa’s defense. So it was a complete overall effort by the Buccaneers, as they improve to 7-3, and get back on track for what should still easily be a playoff season, and a possible shot at being a major force for other teams to have to deal with come playoff time. As for the Panthers, another disappointing loss in a season that once appeared promising, but which has spiraled out of control and sunk Carolina to irrelevancy. My pick: Accurate
Green Bay 24, Jacksonville 20 – The Packers won, but they did it while clearly not playing their best. The offense struggled, and the defense also did not hold the Jaguars as consistently as they would have liked to. So yes, Green Bay got the win, and should feel pleased. But there is a feeling that they are barely winning against weaker teams, and that makes it feel like the Pack will struggle against the stronger ones. Time will tell. But for this weekend, at least, they manage a win to improve to 7-2, tied with the Saints for the best record in the NFC. The Jaguars, meanwhile, continue their massive losing streak, but at least can feel good about having played so well during this game. My pick: Accurate
Cleveland 10, Houston 7 – A very gritty, low-scoring, defensive game. Kind of a bittersweet win for the Browns, I think, because while their defense held up and they managed a win, they did it against a struggling team that hardly qualifies as an offensive powerhouse. Plus, the Browns themselves have one of the best, possibly most explosive (at least when they are at their best) offenses in the league. But they are clearly not showing that right now. And they will need to, sooner rather than later, because they will not be able to rely on scoring 10 points for a win too often for the remainder of the season. My pick: Accurate
Detroit 30, Washington 27 – This was an important game, even probably a must win, for both teams. Neither could really afford a loss to fall farther behind against the other teams in their division. But this was perhaps especially true of the home team, the Lions. With the Packers already well ahead by three or so games, and the Vikings coming on so strong, Detroit needed to find way to win. And win they did. In a back and forth affair that could have gone either way, the Lions emerged finally in a position to win on the game's final play with a field goal, and earned a much needed victory to stay relevant as their traditional Thanksgiving Day game fast approaches. My pick: Inaccurate
Pittsburgh 36, Cincinnati 10 – The Steelers improved to 9-0 on the season by defeating the Bengals convincingly. Really, even if Cincy has been showing signs of improvement, playing a team on the caliber of the Steelers is just a bit too much. Pittsburgh proved to have too much on offense and defense, and too solid and experienced a coaching staff, for the Bengals to even make a decent game of it. And so the Steelers remain the league's last remaining unbeaten team. My pick: Accurate
Arizona 32, Buffalo 30 – This was a tremendous game between two playoff contenders. True, they are not in the same conference. But that did not diminish the effort by both teams in this one. This was a great game, with both teams showing why they have enjoyed as much success as they have to this point in the season. In the end, one team had to emerge as the winner, and it proved to be the hometown Cardinals, albeit just barely. With the win, the Cardinals suddenly find themselves in a three-way tie with the Rams and Seahawks. In the process, they snap a three-game win streak for the Bills, who fall to 7-3 on the year, now just half a game ahead of the red-hot Fins. My pick: Accurate
Miami 29, LA Chargers 21 – The Dolphins are just red hot right now. They just keep winning, and they keep closing in on the Bills for the AFC East lead. This time, they earned a solid enough win against the reeling Chargers, who nonetheless seemed up for at least making a serious game of it. In the end, though, Miami stays hot and extends their winning streak to five straight, and already producing more wins this season than they did all of last season, as they now improve to 6-3. The Chargers, meanwhile, fall to 2-7. My pick: Accurate
LA Rams 23, Seattle 16 – The Rams finally caught up with the Seahawks in the NFC West, doing it directly in a game that they could not afford to lose, obviously. In a tough contest that was mostly defensive, the Rams emerged as victors. They probably have the better defense among these two teams, and they were able to hang on by containing the explosive Seattle offense to a pedestrian 16 points, total. That gave them the chance, and they took it, getting the win that finally allows them to officially catch up with the Seahawks for a first place tie in the NFC West. My pick: Accurate
New Orleans 27, San Francisco 13 – The Saints stayed hot by getting some revenge on the struggling 49ers, who are not enjoying their season as defending NFC champs so far. Perhaps the key regular season win for the 49ers last season came at New Orleans. When they won that, they remained the elite team in the NFC, and that gave them the impetus to defeat the Seahawks in the regular season finale, which earned them home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Obviously, they went on to dominate in the NFC playoffs, and even almost won the Super Bowl. But the Saints feel like that success could, and maybe should, have belonged to them. They were cheated two seasons ago in the NFC title game, and then, they just narrowly lost out on being the top seed. So this was a big game for them, and they got it done. They did not obliterate the 49ers in the same manner that they dispatched with the Bucs a week earlier, but this was a solid win against a still dangerous opponent. The Saints continue to roll as a result, and enjoy a 7-2 mark that has them surely feeling that they can get the top seed in the conference, if they keep playing this well. They have now won six in a row, the longest active winning streak outside of the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. As for the 49ers, this was another disappointment in a season that has been rough for them, as injuries keep hurting them. They sink to 4-6, and have lost ground against all of the other teams in the tough NFC West. My pick: Accurate
New England 23, Baltimore 17 – In the heavy rains on a mid-November evening, the Patriots won again. They seem to be slowly bouncing back from that four game losing streak, and they may be positioning themselves to make a push for the playoffs. I know that a lot of people are tired of them, and don’t want to think about them being good or competitive again. And while I am certainly not suggesting that they are anywhere near as good as they were a few seasons ago, when they kept going to the Super Bowl seemingly every year, they are nevertheless a team that appears to be in position to be very much in the playoff race come Thanksgiving, and the start of December. This was a huge win against one of the seeming elite teams in the AFC, and they deserve credit for that. They go down to Houston next, and have a decent chance to get back to even at .500, so watch out! As for the Ravens, this was another disappointing loss, as they fall ever farther behind the Steelers in the AFC North. My pick: Inaccurate
Minnesota 19, Chicago 13 - Predictable results from two teams heading in opposite directions. The Bears entered this game having lost three in a row, after a suspect 5-1 start. I say suspect, because a lot of people had doubts that they were actually as good as their record indicated at the time. Meanwhile, the Vikings got off to a dismal 1-6 start, but the consensus was that they were not as bad as that record suggested. They entered this game having won two straight division games, and were looking for a third. Indeed, they got it, mostly by doing the things that they had to do when they had to do it. It was not a blowout win, and indeed, they just squeaked by. But a win is a win, and suddenly, Minnesota has three wins in a row, and are tied with the Lions, both of whom are only a half game behind the 5-5 Bears who are really struggling right now. One scary moment late in the game, when Bears quarterback, and former Super Bowl MVP, Nick Foles was thrown to the ground by a Viking defender, and then rolled awkwardly on his neck. It appeared that he could not move his legs. He was carted off. Wishing him well today. My pick: Accurate
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