🏈 NFL 2020 Week 15 Preview 🏈

               

  

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New England at Miami - The Dolphins are not very consistent yet, and they lost to the Pats in the season opener. But they have become quite a solid team since, despite some inconsistencies. Besides, New England, once the model of consistency in the NFL for literally the past two decades, have become a streaky team themselves. Look for the Dolphins to do whatever it takes to finally get a huge win against the Patriots, something that I suspect they need to take that next step and feel like a serious payoff team. My pick: Miami

Houston at Indianapolis - The Texans, fresh off being blown out in Chicago, now head to Indianapolis. This game will be played in a dome, so weather will not be a factor. Still, the Texans will likely struggle, as they have struggled all year. The 9-4 Colts are in a first-place tie with Tennessee, and cannot afford to lose. They are familiar with the Texans, and home field advantage certainly should not hurt them. Romeo Crennel has helped this team rebound from a truly atrocious beginning, but a win here is likely too much to ask for. My pick: Indianapolis

Jacksonville at Baltimore - This hardly seems fair. The Ravens were cold for a while, but they are starting to really heat up, and just in time for a playoff push. And here comes the Jaguars from sunny Florida, up to Baltimore on what should be at least a cold afternoon. Jax has now lost 12 straight games, and have yet to win a road game this season. The Ravens should win this one going away. My pick: Baltimore

Detroit at Tennessee - The last place Lions are suffering through another difficult season this year. They will not be heading to the playoffs, even if they have not quite been officially eliminated from playoff contention yet. But it will happen, and most likely, sooner rather than later. The Titans are very tough, even if they have been surprisingly vulnerable in home games this season. Still, they are the far better team, and their offense should have Detroit's defense scrambling all day. With everything on the line for the Titans, I expect them to come out swinging and making sure that this game counts in the "W" column for them, as expected. My pick: Tennessee

Seattle at Washington - Wow, now this is a big game! Maybe the game of the week, even. Both teams are in playoff contention, and both lead their respective divisions. The Seahawks, to be sure, are tied with the Rams, while Washington narrowly leads the Giants and the Eagles, so neither team can really afford to give up any ground. Yet, somebody will lose here. Seattle's offense had been sputering, but came alive in a big way against the lowly Jets last weekend. But they are not playing the Jets again this weekend. Washington's defense has given up a total of 57 points in their last four games, which is to say that they give up, on average, about 14 points during that stretch. They have to be soaring with confidence, and home field certainly should help. My pick: Washington

Chicago at Minnesota - The Bears have one of the better defenses in the league, while the Vikings offense is decent, but more or les middle of the pack. That said, Minnesota has struggled on defense, but they have one of the weaker offenses in the league to contend with. Yes, Chicago has had their problems on offense all season long, and it has been their biggest albatross. True, they were able to reverse all of that and produce a huge, blowout victory over the Texans at Soldier Field last weekend. But the Vikings are not the Texans, and are far more familiar with the Bears than Houston was. Also, this game will be a road game for Da Bears, and they lost the home game when these two teams met the first time this season. This should be a relatively low-scoring affair, and maybe the Bears convincing win last weekend was a statement. But my guess is that it was not, and that the Vikings will pull off a narrow win to remain relevant, and all but officially eliminate Chicago from playoff contention. My pick: Minnesota

Tampa Bay at Atlanta - The Bucs are back, it seems. They flirted with a late season collapse that could have threatened their chances at a playoff berth, and decided to get serious and start winning, which they did last weekend. Now, they have a relatively tough test at Atlanta. But they are the better team, with an offense that can be explosive, and a decent defense. They have every reason to win this game, and most likely, they will do it, too. It will likely be a tough win, one that goes to the fourth quarter. Yet in the end, yes, I feel the Bucs will emerge with a win, and a winning record for the first time in....well, a long time, it feels like. My pick: Tampa Bay

San Francisco at Dallas - This used to be the best rivalry in sports, arguably, back in the nineties. The winner of this rivalry would ultimately win the title, seemingly, from sometime in the early to mid-nineties. This game, however, will not likely produce the eventual Super Bowl champions. In fact, it very likely will not have too much weight on the NFC playoff picture altogether, because it seems frankly unlikely that the 49ers will find a way to qualify for the postseason, and feels even less likely that the Cowboys will somehow overcome a two game margin to Washington to take the NFC East. Still, it seems clear that both teams will play their hearts out to try and keep what flickering playoff hopes they have alive. In the end, the 49ers defense is still tough, while the Cowboys have struggled on offense. And the Dallas defense is atrocious, currently ranking as the worst defense in the league. The question is whether or not the 'Boys victory in Cincinnati last week heralds a new intensity with a push for the playoffs at the end. My guess is that it does not. My pick: San Francisco

NY Jets at LA Rams - Oh, man. The Jets just cannot catch a break. They might - maybe - have had somewhat of a chance if this were in the Meadowlands. Not really, because the Rams are good, and they have every reason to fight for this one. But the Jets are winless, and this final stretch of games for them is just brutal. Playing on the road, in Los Angeles, trying to get your first win of the season, when the Rams are fighting for a division title and playoff berth? The Rams defense is solid, and as a team, this team has impressive energy when things are going well, as they should pretty much all day long in this one. My pick: LA Rams 

Philadelphia at Arizona - Neither of these teams has exactly been a model of consistency this season. The Cardinals might be the streakiest team in the league, while the Eagles are hard to figure, seemingly playing up or down to their level of competition. But Philly and Arizona both clearly showed some fire in them last week, both producing big wins. The Cardinals were very impressive on both offense and defense on the road last weekend in ending a four-game winning streak for the Giants. And the Eagles managed to end a huge winning streak for the Saints, knocking them from the top spot in the NFC. So this is a tough game to figure. Yet in the end, the Cardinals seem on the upswing, and with home field advantage, and likely being the better overall team, they should win. My pick: Arizona

Kansas City at New Orleans - A possible Super Bowl preview. Two high-powered offenses meet in a late season showdown. But the Saints are not at full strength. Their offense without Drew Brees has been short of spectacular. But Brees should be back, although how much he will be at full strength is questionable. The Saints do have home field advantage, which is something. They also likely need to win if they hope to have a real chance at the top seed and home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. But KC is hot, and on a huge roll. They also need to keep winning to maintain the top spot in the AFC. So, they are my pick in this one. My pick: Kansas City

Sunday Night Football: Cleveland at NY Giants - The Browns just lost a heartbreaker to the Ravens last weekend, and it likely ended their division title hopes. But the Browns have been successful enough that they not only are very much in the playoff hunt, but in fact, should reach the playoffs. Only a late season collapse would likely prevent them from reaching the postseason, and this is something that the team clearly seems intent on achieving. They face the Giants, who came out very flat last weekend against the Cardinals. The Giants have a tough defense, and they should be able to more or less contain the Browns sometimes explosive offense. However, offensive production has been a glaring weakness for the G-Men. They have scored a mere 43 points total in their last three games, and average about 18 points per game overall. So Cleveland does not necessarily have to score a ton of points to win this one. My pick: Cleveland

Monday Night Football: Pittsburgh at Cincinnati - The Steelers raced off to an 11-0 start, generating discussion about the possibility of a perfect season. Then, just like that, they drop two straight games, falling behind Kansas City in the race for the top seed in the AFC in the process, and people are asking what is wrong with them. But now, here come the Bengals, a team that the Steelers have traditionally owned, especially in the 21st century. Currently, the Steelers have won their last 11 games against the Bengals. The last time Cincy won so much as a game against Pittsburgh was back in 2015, when Obama was still in office, and people could not believe that Trump had any chance at reaching the White House. A lot has changed since then, but the Steelers mastery over the Bengals just is not one of those things that has changed. Cincy has one of the worst offense in the league, while the Steelers have one of the elite defenses. And the Steelers offense should score plenty of points against the Bengals defense, just like they did in the first meeting. As tiresome as it is to see one team completely dominate the other team time and time and time again like this, it is hard to see any reason for why this should suddenly change, at least not this season. Maybe if the Bengals continue to improve, in the future, they will begin to win. But not by Monday's meeting. My pick: Pittsburgh