NFL 2020 Week 14 Picks

The prime time games have not been kind to me recently, but overall it was another strong week to get me back into contention for my picks pool. Home teams continued to struggle, and now this week has a lot of road teams favored to make things interesting. Although I'm not quite as confident as last week, this should be a fun slate that also is the start of the fantasy playoffs.

Road Underdogs

Patriots +5.5 at Rams

Well, I was right about Jared Goff not playing especially well against Bill Belichick's defense again. The problem was that it didn't matter since Cam Newton had no chance against LA's elite defense and one of my favorite running back prospects, Cam Akers, has taken the reigns on the running back job.

Steelers +2.5 at Bills

Home Favorites

Buccaneers -6.5 versus Vikings

Panthers -3.5 versus Broncos

Seahawks -13.5 versus Jets

49ers -3.5 versus Washington

Home Underdogs

Bears +1.5 versus Texans

Dolphins +7.5 versus Chiefs

Giants +2.5 versus Cardinals

Lions +7.5 versus Packers

Chargers +2.5 versus Falcons

Road Favorites

Cowboys -3.5 at Bengals

Titans -7.5 at Jaguars

Colts -2.5 at Raiders

Saints -7.5 at Eagles

Ravens -1.5 at Browns

Last week: 10-5

Season total: 99-93

NFL 2020 Week 13 Picks

That was more like it. I went from last in my pick's pool the previous week to tied for 1st with a 12-4 bounce back, and that was even with questionable late penalties against the Giants and Browns led to blown covers in their wins. This week's odd schedule with the Wednesday game threw off my routine a bit with this post a day late, but here's hoping that getting back to #theprocess leads to another big week for a strong finish.

Road Favorites

Saints -2.5 at Falcons

Colts -3.5 at Texans

Rams -2.5 at Cardinals

Home Underdogs

Jets +8.5 versus Raiders

49ers +1.5 versus Bills

Road Underdogs

Lions +3.5 at Bears

Browns +5.5 at Titans

Patriots +0.5 at Chargers

Washington +9.5 at Steelers

Cowboys +9.5 at Ravens

Home Favorites

Dolphins -11.5 versus Bengals

Vikings -10.5 versus Jaguars

Seahawks -10.5 versus Giants

Packers -8.5 versus Eagles

Chiefs -14.5 versus Broncos

Last week: 12-4

Season total: 89-88

NFL 2020 Week 12 Picks

What is there even to say after last week's debacle? Blown double digit leads all over the played a part in home teams going 9-5 against the spread to kill me after they had been struggling with no fans to start the year. The road teams came through for me on Thanksgiving, however, so I'm going to stick with the #process that had me in good position before this disastrous month.

Road Favorites

Texans -2.5 at Lions

I went with the better quarterback that had more of his weapons available but didn't expect that kind of embarrassing performance from Detroit. It's not looking long for the Matt Patricia era.

Giants -5.5 at Bengals

Brandon Allen should be better than Ryan Finley would be as the fill-in quarterback, but Joe Burrow was the only reason Cincinnati was in games all season. That injury was one of the most devastating of this wretched year.

Dolphins -7.5 at Jets

Maybe this is too many points to lay on the road in a divisional game, but I think Miami's defense is up to the task. With Sam Darnold back, at least I don't have to worry about Joe Flacco YOLO balls ruining the cover this time.

Browns -6.5 at Jaguars

Does it even matter if it's Mike Glennon, Jake Luton, or even Gardner Minshew at this point for Jacksonville? They are missing key players on both sides of the ball, so this should easily be their 10th loss in a row.

Saints -5.5 at Broncos

Outdoors on the road will be a tougher test for Taysom Hill than his warmup against Atlanta's nonexistent defense, but New Orleans is so much more of a complete team. I don't see Drew Lock putting up many points against them.

NFL 2020 Week 11 Picks

Oof, last week was even worse than the previous dud. Work priorities have drawn my focus from these, but I feel surprisingly good about this week. I have something in the works for the NBA offseason, so for now, here is another abbreviated version.

Road Underdogs

Cardinals +3.5 at Seahawks

The recent Thursday games have not been kind to me for the most part.

Eagles +3.5 at Browns

Falcons +4.5 at Saints

Bengals +1.5 at Washington

Lions +1.5 at Panthers

Packers +2.5 at Colts

Home Favorites

Ravens -6.5 versus Titans

Chargers -8.5 versus Jets

Vikings -8.5 versus Cowboys

Buccaneers -3.5 versus Rams

Road Favorites

Steelers -10.5 at Jaguars

Patriots -2.5 at Texans

Dolphins -3.5 at Broncos

Chiefs -6.5 at Raiders

Last week: 4-10

Season total: 76-71

NFL 2020 Week 10 Picks

Well, that was rough. After consistently holding steady each week, the bottom fell out for a 5-9 week. It was a mix of some tough close calls like Houston allowing a late touchdown to blow the cover and Anthony Lynn continuing to handle the clock poorly in a loss at the buzzer, but I also had some straight up bad calls. This week isn't off to a great start with another home team going down, so that's something to keep in mind with these picks.

Home Favorites

Titans -2.5 versus Colts

It started out so promising with that opening drive, too. What is especially annoying is that I went the opposite way with both teams last week, and then last night they gave the type of performance that I had expected.

Lions -3.5 versus Washington

The Alex Smith comeback story is incredible, and I highly recommend watching ESPN's E:60 feature on it. That being said, he has shown some serious rust in his appearances thus far, so I'm going against him until he shows a reason not to even though I don't like that extra half point.

Packers -14.5 versus Jaguars

I mentioned the Jake Luton late touchdown in the opener, and that is a possibility again with an even larger spread here. However, this will be his first road start, and although the status of Green Bay starting corners Jaire Alexander and Kevin King are worth monitoring, the rookie quarterback should be under a lot of pressure throughout the game. Add in the fact that Jacksonville's defense could get picked apart by Aaron Rodgers, and I'm reluctantly laying this many points.

Rams -1.5 versus Seahawks

After losing the first game, Los Angeles has won four of five meetings between these divisional rivals under Sean McVay, and even the loss last year came down to a missed Greg Zuerlein field goal at the end. Coming off of the bye week, I like them to continue to stay undefeated in their new stadium with that shaky Seattle secondary coming into town.

Saints -9.5 versus 49ers

Maybe New Orleans has a bit of a letdown after their monstrous divisional win in prime time last week, but they're back at home against the still undermanned San Francisco roster. Even without a full capacity crowd, I am not taking Nick Mullens in the Superdome, no thank you.

NFL 2020 Week 9 Picks

I’m going keep things short this week because I’ve been preoccupied with the election coverage and some work stuff that required my focus more than this side hobby. I hope to have news on those things soon, but for now, here’s a more abbreviated version than usual.

Road Favorites

Packers -2.5 at 49ers

One of the easiest TNF picks of the season, unfortunately.

Seahawks -2.5 at Bills

Seattle's been one of the best West Coast teams traveling East, and this line is exactly where I expected it to be for the better overall team. There is some worry about Buffalo's pass-centric offense this year taking advantage of the Seahawks' beleaguered pass defense, but the return of Jamal Adams and debut of Carlos Dunlap should help.

Seahawks headed to Buffalo with a 10-game win streak in eastern time zone, counting playoffs (per @EpKap and @ESPNStatsInfo) https://t.co/6CBCiv9F5n

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) November 4, 2020

Texans -6.5 at Jaguars

I'm usually on the other side of this kind of divisional spread, but I took this same Jacksonville +6.5 in Week 5 only to regret it. Now they are starting a 6th round rookie quarterback making his NFL debut, so I'm laying the touchdown.

Steelers -9.5 at Cowboys

Speaking of quarterbacks making their first career starts, Garrett Gilbert is going to be the fourth different signal caller for Dallas this year, and he's up against the toughest pass rush in the league. Good luck.

Patriots -7.5 at Jets

Another large divisional spread that I've been going against, but it's the Jets with Joe Flacco likely at quarterback. They did cover at home against Buffalo a few weeks back, but they're exactly what New England needs to end their losing streak.

NFL 2020 Week 8 Picks

Appropriately for Halloween, this is a bit of a scary week with some high spreads. There are eight games with teams favored by 3.5 on CBS Sports for my pick 'em pool compared to only one that is under a field goal. That already came back to haunt me in yesterday's game, which makes me a little better about leaning towards divisional favorites the rest of the weekend.

Home Favorites 

Panthers -3.5 versus Falcons

I was worried about laying more than a field goal in this tight divisional affair, and it turned out Carolina's defense wasn't actually good enough to win period.

Packers -6.5 versus Vikings 

Aaron Rodgers kicked off Minnesota's disastrous defensive season and is likely to continue it back at home with Davante Adams firing on all cylinders now that he's healthy. Dalvin Cook's return after the bye is a boost for the Vikings, but if they fall behind early, that could limit how much they're able to run him.

Chiefs -19.5 versus Jets

A spread of this size would lead to me taking the points a lot of the time, but you've got arguably the best team in the league at home against the worst team. Don't get cute; the Kansas City defense proved me wrong last week with their ability to extend a blowout.