A couple of our teams still have playoff hopes
Jazz: So much for being off the bubble in writing the NFL thread. After handing it off to Ed for a week, I came back slightly. Of course, last week’s NFL schedule wasn’t exactly a festival of nail-biters. Ed and I wound up taking the same teams in all but the Dallas game and the Cowboys somehow came through for me. My 5-2 week got me to 39-31, back above.500 for the time being. The good news is that after the disastrous beating the Jets took at the hands of the Bills, they have a bye this week so at least they can’t lose again.
Ed: Hello to all from my vacation! Thankfully my strategic choices dropped me in behind Jazz again, after the Eagles flopped out on me. (Grr.) My 4-3 week put me at 38-32 for the season. With the Steelers clicking and a few days off the grid (mostly, anyway), it’s hard to get too unhappy about a couple of blown predictions. Until today, anyway.
Jazz: The Steelers are in the early game slot this week playing the Jaguars on the road (1:00 pm, CBS). Pittsburgh is hanging onto a one-game lead in the AFC North but the Bengals are close on their heels so they don’t want to make the mistake of looking past the struggling Jaguars. Jacksonville is still a talented, dangerous team and they do better at home, particularly with Leonard Fournette rushing. Still, the Steelers score a lot more points than the Jaguars so I’ll take Pittsburgh 24-17. The Vikings are under the lights in the Sunday Night Football game, going to Chicago to meet Da Bears (8:20 pm, NBC). Chicago is a slight favorite, particularly with Khalil Mack being healthy again. The Vikings are only one game behind Da Bears and they really need to pull this one out. Sadly, they’ll come up short. Give me Chicago in a fast-paced game, 27-24, possibly in overtime.
Ed: A Week 2 win over the Patriots made everyone pay attention to the Jags, but they’ve lost six out of seven since and five in a row, and that’s not all because of Leonard Fournette’s absence. They’ll try playing pound-and-ground against the Steelers, but Pittsburgh’s #4 rushing defense will have something to say about that, too. The Steelers’ #4 offense will also have a few things to say on the way to a 30-20 win. The Vikes have a tough game in Chicago against a Bears team that matches up well with them. Minnesota was won four of their last five and were (kinda) competitive against the red-hot Saints two weeks ago. I’ll go with the upset here and pick the Vikings on the road, 27-24.
Jazz: Here’s five more games to get us to our usual seven:
Ed:
