With two weeks left to go in the regular season, no fewer than 21 teams are, mathematically-speaking, still in with a chance of reaching the playoffs. Less More importantly, exactly 92 people have a shout of winning our Pick Six contest. Overall standings will be posted shortly, but for now I can tell you that aojigbo and DevonGiant continue to share first place.
The competition is hotting up, though, as we enter the final stretch – with no fewer than 10 people calling all six games correctly last week. Please join me in raising a digital toast to AnythingButPenalties, bms355, Chappers67, ciuffoleo, Dougal, GhostDog808, JohnJesseWood, lebronfromdowntown, MisterHorse and TedBovis. And when you are done with that, get on and see if you can match them by picking this week’s games:
Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints (Sunday 1pm ET/6pm GMT)
There was a time when New Orleans were thought to enjoy the greatest homefield advantage in the league. Not so much lately. The Saints have lost four straight at the Superdome, most recently suffering a 41-10 humiliation at the hands of Carolina. Now they welcome another NFC South rival with the division title hanging in the balance. A New Orleans defeat, coupled with a Carolina victory, would eliminate the Saints. But a New Orleans win would eliminate the Falcons – and could do the same to the Panthers, if they were to lose in Cleveland. Injuries to two of Atlanta’s top three receivers – Julio Jones and Harry Douglas – should give me pause (even if both could yet play on Sunday), but for some reason, I still like the road team. Falcons to win
Cleveland Browns @ Carolina Panthers (Sunday 1pm ET/6pm GMT)
It did not take long for the wheels to come off the Johnny Manziel bandwagon. A woeful performance from the rookie during Cleveland’s 30-0 rout by Cincinnati was enough for some commentators to start asking if he could ever succeed in the pros. Such reactions are aggressively premature, but illustrate how poorly Manziel played. He has a chance for redemption this Sunday against another modest defense, and his Browns team may be helped by Carolina’s own uncertainty under center. Cam Newton returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since his car accident, but at time of writing it is not yet clear whether he or backup Derek Anderson will start on Sunday. Perhaps I, too, am guilty of overreacting to one game, but right now I would take either of them over the rookie. Panthers to win
Minnesota Vikings @ Miami Dolphins (Sunday 1pm ET/6pm GMT)
Miami, at 7-7, are technically still in the playoff hunt, even if they would require a lot of help to get in. Minnesota have been out of the running for some time. And yet it was the Vikings who looked like the more competitive team last weekend, leading the Lions from the first quarter to the fourth, only to eventually lose by two points. Were it not for three missed field goals from Blair Walsh, they might easily have won. The Dolphins, by contrast, were crushed by the Patriots, and have now lost five of their past seven games. They have scored only one touchdown per game over the last three. Perhaps head coach Joe Philbin, with his job on the line, can get a reaction from his players over these last two games. But right now I have a hard time seeing it. Vikings to win
Kansas City Chiefs @ Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday 1pm ET/6pm GMT)
The loser of this game will not necessarily be eliminated from postseason contention, but their chances will take a huge blow. Kansas City’s position is slightly more precarious, at 8-6, but a victory for them would do substantial damage to the Steelers (9-5) due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Pittsburgh are unlikely to be fazed. Ben Roethlisberger said this week that he and his team-mates had been operating in a “playoff atmosphere here for a while”, and so far they seem to be playing up to it. The Steelers have shown impressive offensive balance during the second half of the season, but it is the running game that should come to the fore on Sunday. Le’Veon Bell is the league’s second-leading rusher and has found the end zone six times in his last four games. The Chiefs rank 28th in the league against the run. Steelers to win. You can follow the game with the Guardian’s live minute-by-minute blog from 1pm GMT/6pm ET on Sunday.
Indianapolis Colts @ Dallas Cowboys (Sunday 4.25pm ET/9.25pm GMT)
Will DeMarco Murray be ready to go? At time of writing, that remains unclear, although the Cowboys running back did return to practice on Wednesday. Instinctively it feels improbable that a ball-carrier could play within six days of undergoing surgery to repair a broken metacarpal, although the injury was at least to his weaker left hand. Murray’s availability is clearly a major factor for the Cowboys’ offense, and the uncertainty makes this game a tough one to call. His backups Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar might also make inroads against Indianapolis’s soft run defense, but no team could lose a bona fide MVP candidate and not suffer for it. Despite that uncertainty, though, I am going to take the Cowboys at home. The Colts’ offense has stuttered in its last two games, while Dallas have scored 30+ in four of their last five. Cowboys to win
Denver Broncos @ Cincinnati Bengals (Monday 8.30pm ET/Tuesday 1.30am GMT)
The omens are not good for Cincinnati. Their quarterback, Andy Dalton, has a miserable 2-6 record in prime time, while his Denver counterpart, Peyton Manning, has won all eight games that he has played against the Bengals in his career. But runs like those are made to be broken, and Cincy are in with a shot against a Broncos team that has not exactly been blowing opponents away lately. Manning, in particular, has slowed down, throwing just one touchdown and a pair of interceptions over the last two weeks. The big question for the Bengals will be whether they can establish their ground game against a defense that ranks second in the league against the run. Because if this were to become a shootout, it is hard to imagine Dalton coming out on top. Broncos to win
And the rest
Here are the remainder of this weekend’s games. These are not included in the Pick Six, but feel free to post your winners for them as well. If you do so, please keep them separate from your Pick Six predictions, as it will make life a lot easier when adding up your scores.
Saturday
4.30pm ET/9.30pm GMT
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington
San Diego Chargers @ San Francisco 49ers
Sunday
1pm ET/6pm GMT
Baltimore Ravens @ Houston Texans
Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New England Patriots @ New York Jets
4.05pm ET/9.05pm GMT
New York Giants @ St Louis Rams
4.25pm ET/9.25pm GMT
Buffalo Bills @ Oakland Raiders
8.30pm ET/Sunday 1.30am GMT
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
