Last Week: 11-3

Season: 112-63-1

Chicago Bears (5-6) at Detroit Lions (3-7-1)

Friday 6.30am NZT

Last week of November so you know what that means, it’s time to get thanking for the giving... no wait, giving for the thanks. Giving thanks. It’s thanksgiving is what I’m trying to say. Three games all on Friday and with no more bye weeks we’re now hitting that beautiful long sprint towards the playoffs. Just gotta survive the old turkey gags first from all the telly coverages. Be prepared to see tacky promos from players and their families promoted good old fashioned American Values.

The Bears won this respective matchup three weeks back with one of the better Mitch Trubisky games of recent memory. 16/23 for 173 yards with 3 TDs and zero interceptions. That was against Jeff Driskel at QB and that fella will probably start again here though he is dealing with a hamstring injury that has him in doubt. If he can’t go then their third stringer is an undrafted rookie named David Blough who has never in his life attempted a pass, or even taken a snap, in the NFL. And if things get really desperate then apparently tight end Logan Thomas is their emergency option. He was a QB back in college and entered the league as one of those questionable dual threat fellas with good athleticism but munted mechanics.. Back in 2014 he subbed in at QB for the Cardinals and threw 1/8 for 81 yards and a touchdown... which is a pretty hilarious stat line. But before you get too swept up in the shambles Detroit has in this position while Matt Stafford is out with that broken back... remember that the team they’re playing has Mitch Trubisky.

The Chicago Bears have the fifth worst scoring offence with just 188 points in 11 games. They also have the fourth fewest offensive yards and are dead last in yards per play. This despite the tied-seventh fewest turnovers. Meanwhile Detroit were actually putting up good offensive numbers and have competed in every single game, holding leads in each and only once has the result been by more than eight points, win or loss. But when you keep on losing close games it tends not to be a fluke. It just means you suck. And they lost to the R*dskins last week so... yeah.

I’m thankful I’m not a fan of either of these two teams. I’m not thankful that they’re hogging prime viewing time on Thanksgiving though.

Wildcard’s Pick: Bears by 7

Buffalo Bills (8-3) at Dallas Cowboys (6-5)

Friday 10.30am NZT

Throw ‘em up for Frank Gore. To still be piling on the yardage in year fifteen is something wild, and the precedent is pretty much there for a guy with this kind of career to make the Hall of Fame. Not really sure how I feel about that considering he’s only made the playoffs three times in those fifteen years and I don’t think he was ever the best running back in the NFL, perhaps not even top three at any point. Grinding out numbers for bad teams most of his career is an odd one to judge... because it’s not his fault the Niners weren’t better. He still played a Super Bowl in 2012, in which he rushed for 110 yards with a touchdown. But yeah, he’ll be there. Big respect for keeping it going.

So... this was what the Cowboys had to deal with last week...

That was actually a blocked punt, if you can make it out through the drowned camera.

There’s not a lot you can learn from a game in the pouring rain. I thought the Cowboys, even though I didn’t pick them, had the potential to topple the Patties even at Foxborough... but in the drenched weather against the devil himself (and his ageless disciple) the best chance of Dallas getting that upset was gone.

And yet they still pushed it close enough that, honestly, they should have won. They should have won it. I’m not here to say that settling for that field goal late on was the wrong idea when I was more confident than not that they’d be able to get the ball back and it’s been that late game management that draws most of the heat from critics throughout the Jason Garrett tenure but I will say that there have been multiple games this season when this team played considerably within themselves. There’s no question there’s a roster here that can win a Super Bowl, which you can maybe only say about ten teams, but the way they started against the Packers, that horror show against the Jets, this error-riddled loss to the Pats... even that Saints game they should have done much better. That ain’t a great sight.

Oh my God I forgot about that Vikings game too. Jeezus. Too many.

And it sounds like Jerry Jones is paying very close attention because word is that he lit up Garrett afterwards and considering that Garrett is in the final year of his contract there’s a situation brewing there. Apparently Garrett had the team training indoors prior to this game which was clearly not beneficial in conditions that the Patriots are so much more used to. Little things like that keep on adding up with this team. This loss doesn’t do any damage to their overall chances – in fact this arguably the best any team has fared against the Pats other than the Ravens, obviously, and maybe these Bills so far this season. And let’s not ignore an absolutely trash tripping call that cost Dallas a late drive, what a joke that was.

But this Garrett thing ain’t new, they pulled a proposed extension for him a while back and haven’t shown much impetus to get back around to that idea so unless the Boys win a playoff game, methinks there’ll be a new coach next year. And I, as someone who gives Garrett more credit than most, would not be remotely upset by that. This team is underperforming. It’s been allowed to underperform by the sorry state of the NFC East but still. Eventually they have to beat a good team if they want to get any kind of credit going into the playoffs, if they even make it, and they still somehow have not managed that at all.

Cowboys Wins: New York Giants x2, Washington R*dskins, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles & Detroit Lions

Combined current record of 14-40-1 (counting NYG once)

Cowboys Defeats: New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings & New England Patriots

Combined current record of 39-16

After this they face the Bears (A), Rams, Eagles (A) & R*dsksins. An 8-8 finish might still get them into the playoffs and a 9-7 almost certainly will but only thanks to luck. Put them in any other division in the NFC and they’re scrapping for a wildcard spot which they’re unlikely to get so, yeah, pressure’s on. Now’s the time to flick the switch.

Aaaaand here’s an 8-3 Bills team that doesn’t score a lot of points but who have a very strong defence and are extremely well coached and will punish mistakes if you make them. On Thanksgiving of all days.

Wildcard’s Pick: Cowboys by 6

New Orleans Saints (9-2) at Atlanta Falcons (3-8)

Friday 2.20pm NZT

Three weeks ago these two teams played in New Orleans and the previously 1-7 Falcons put on a stunning clinic of defence coming off their bye week. Drew Brees was sacked six times and needed 45 pass attempts to get to just 287 yards while the Saints rushing group could muster only 52 total yards on 11 attempts (11 of those coming on a single Taysom Hill dash). It was something completely unexpected and the Falcons then backed it up the following week against the Panthers.

But can they do the same thing again versus a Saints team that isn’t about to be caught on the hop this time? Can they do it at home with a level of expectation? Can they do it in front of a nationally televised audience on a short turnaround following a defeat against the Buccs last week? Granted by this time of the day most fans watching on telly in the comfort of their family-infested homes, ducking away to the lounge room to sink a few beers with the older males in the group and hopefully escape talking about politics, hopefully also escape having to help out with the dishes... they’ll probably all be too pissed by the end of it to care much.

Julio Jones versus Michael Thomas. Jonesy’s injured at the mo’ and in doubt for this game. I expect he plays but whether he’s at a hundy is another story. It’s felt like a quiet year for Julio but that might be more to do with the irrelevance of his team because he’s still caught 64 passes for 950 yards at 14.8 per reception and with four touchdowns. That Matt Ryan to Julio Jones combination has been the one season-long reliable force for this team so if he’s hobbled that’s bad news. Especially when on the other end is the most unstoppable wideout in the league now...

Thommo had 10 more catches for 101 yards last week against the Panthers, with a touchdown to boot. His fifth 100+ receiving yards game in a row and he’s had 89 in all but one game. Only three men have more than 70 catches so far this year and Thomas has ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR. Only three players have more than 1000 receiving yards so far this year and Thomas has ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO. In fact that man Julio Jones is the only fella ever with more yardage through the air after 11 games and Thomas’ receptions mark is already a record through 11 games.

I basically say this every week now but, you know what, I’m gonna keep on saying it because Michael Thomas is on pace for some incredible records.

Most Rec Yards in a Season:

1. Calvin Johnson – 1964 (2012)

2. Julio Jones – 1871 (2015)

3. Jerry Rice – 1848 (1995)

Most Receptions in a Season:

1. Marvin Harrison – 143 (2002)

2. Julio Jones – 136 (2015)

3. Antonio Brown – 136 (2015)

At his current pace, Thomas will get to 1806 yards and 151 receptions. In order to break the yardage record he’d need to average 144.6 yards per game over the remaining five weeks. Well, he hauled in 152 yards when he played the Falcons last time and that was with Drew Brees getting bashed up by that Falcons pass rush. If they can stifle that lot then they already know this is a matchup problem that the Falcons, and everyone else in the league for that matter, cannot solve. By the way, let’s not ignore the fact that Thomas played several weeks with a backup quarterback here as well. In the four games since Brees returned, Thommo has 10.5 catches and 119.8 yards per game which is a full quarter of what would be a 168 rec/1916 yard season. Utterly insane.

Wildcard’s Pick: Saints by 6

Tennessee Titans (6-5) at Indianapolis Colts (6-5)

Monday 7.00am NZT

In five starts for the Titans, Ryan Tannehill has...

71% COMP | 255 YDS/G | 10 TD | 3 INT | 9.7 AY/A | 114.9 RATE

Most importantly they’re 4-1 in that time, beating the Chargers, Buccs, Chiefs, and Jaguars. No sitters amongst that lot (their loss was to the Panthers, Tannehill threw two picks). Old mate might just be playing his way into a starting gig full time and a fresh new contract ahead of free agency. Whether that’s with the Titans or elsewhere is probably up to him at this stage. Especially since with the form they’re showing at the moment the playoffs aren’t completely out of the question by any means. They’re one game back on the Texans and they play them in a few weeks. And even then the second wildcard spot as things stand in the AFC will be going to a team that currently has six wins. Both these teams are heavily in the mix.

Wildcard’s Pick: Titans by 4

San Francisco 49ers (10-1) at Baltimore Ravens (9-2)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Right. Okay. Ahem. Yes.

At this point even I have to admit that Lamar Jackson has stepped into that MVP favourite status. Sprinted into it more like. It’s not over and Russell Wilson will have plenty more to say about all this... but Lamar Jackson is just absolutely relentless at the moment. His whole season has been excellent and nobody ever doubted that (not even the jokers who thought he oughta be a wide receiver before he’d even thrown a pass in the NFL) but across his last four games he’s beaten the Patriots, Bengals, Texans, and Rams whilst doing this...

76.2% COMP | 194.3 YDS/G | 13 TD | 0 INT | 143.7 RATE | 12.35 AY/A

300 RUSH YDS | 7.32 Y/ATT | 3 RUSH TD

All the while his Ravens have scored 172 points in those four games. And the week before that they beat Russell Wilson’s Seahawks head to head so that counts too if it comes to a coin toss for the MVP vote. Jackson would be the youngest QB to ever win that award, by the way, at just 22 years old. Which is part of why I still want to see Wilson get up because he’s been delivering at an elite level for too long now to not get that recognition (and Jackson is literally in his first season as a full time starter) but this dude Jacko has the best touchdown percentage in the game this year and is on pace for more than a thousand yards rushing to go with the 3000+ he oughta log through the air. You really have to inhale those highlights though because the eye test is the clincher for Lamar.

A few selections from the Ravens’ website...

• Jackson is the only quarterback in NFL history to produce at least 2,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards through a season’s first 11 games.

• Jackson is the first player in NFL history with at least four passing touchdowns and 50 rushing yards in consecutive games.

• Jackson in the youngest player in NFL history with multiple five passing touchdown games.

• Jackson has eight straight games with at least 60 rushing yards, extending his NFL record for a quarterback.

And then there’s this...

Yup, those 1920 Buffalo All-Americans were really something. Still waiting on that 30 for 30 though.

This is a pretty amazing game right here. At this point the narratives about the Niners needing to prove themselves against top opposition are probably dead after they pumped the Packers and took the Seahawks to OT in a toss of the coin game. And the Ravens might be wiping the floor with mud teams lately but they did still inflict New England’s only defeat. So no mention of either team having anything to prove, please, this is pure and simply a great game between two of the very best teams in the league, each scrapping away for a top seed.

It’s also a rematch of Super Bowl XLVII... you know the one with the blackout in the middle? When the Ravens locked it down on defence in that final stand to hold on? The one where Joe Flacco got MVP? The one with Colin Kaepernick? When the Harbaugh brothers went head to head? Yeah... this many years later and what seemed like a kinda rubbish prospect at the time has turned into a bit of a classic championship game.

It might not even be a million miles off the money to say that with Lamar Jackson and Jimmy Garropolo, the quarterback styles of that Super Bowl might have been flipped. Jimmy G is tall and handsome like Flacco but also kinda limited in that we don’t quite know what he’s like. While Jackson is way outside the mould like Kaep was, taking the league by storm (albeit with the kind of arm and multi-faceted playmaking ability that held Kaepernick back at times... before the collusion). Say, whatever happened to Kaepernick? Bloody year of the backups and he can’t get a go? Oh that’s right the NFL staged a sham of a workout for him so that they could say they ‘meh we tried’ when people complain that this fella can’t find a contract. I’ll accept the criticisms of certain parts of Kaepernick’s game... but you cannot tell me that the Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, or Denver Broncos would not be immediately improved by his presence this weekend.

But yeah, can’t wait for this one. Cheeky old Greg Roman having swapped sides too, there’s another wrinkle. Keeping himself in coaching shape before he gets the Dallas Cowboys job in 2020... whoops, did I say that out loud?

Wildcard’s Pick: Ravens by 9

New York Jets (4-7) at Cincinnati Bengals (0-11)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Sam Darnold in his comeback from the mono, a win over the Cowboys:

71.9% COMP | 338 YDS | 2 TD | 1 INT | 10.41 AY/A | 113.8 RATE

Sam Darnold in the three following games, losses to the Patriots, Jaguars & Dolphins:

58.4% COMP | 188 YDS/G | 3 TD | 8 INT | 2.61 AY/A | 50.9 RATE

Sam Darnold in the three games since, wins over the Giants, R*dskins & Raiders:

65.2% COMP | 279 YDS/G | 7 TD | 1 INT | 10.48 AY/A | 117.2 RATE

And two rushing touchdowns in those most recent three as well. Absolute bloody madness, this fella’s all over the show. Just goes to prove there’s still a decent quarterback in there and makes you wonder what he could achieve if he was ever pried away from the clutches of Adam Gase... although fair play because he and his team called a hell of a game in beating Oakland last week. Just as I’ve come round on the Raiders they go and get blown out by the Jets... so much for that idea.

Meanwhile the Bengals are still on 0-for with five games remaining. No other team has less than two wins and after this the Bengals have the Browns (A), Patriots, Dolphins (A) & Browns again. Three of those look like pretty sure-fire defeats (in as much as the Browns can ever be relied upon for anything) so with the Giants and R*dskins still to play each other again and the Dolphins also playing the Giants in three weeks’ time... what do you do? You un-bench Andy Dalton and try win a bloody game so you don’t go 0-16 is what you do. Dalton’s been named to start again and if they’re going to win any game then this is the perfect one. This way they can still afford to lose to Miami this surely clinching that top overall pick.

I doubt they actually go ahead and beat this reinvigorated Jets team... but they’ll at least be trying to.

Wildcard’s Pick: Jets by 9

Cleveland Browns (5-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Phew, wow. At this point you kinda expect this fella to be pumping gas back in his home town by Christmas because when you get benched mid-game against a winless team in late November then you might not be cut out for this whole starting quarterback thing.

Wildcard’s Pick: Browns by 2

Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) at Miami Dolphins (2-9)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Literally the most annoying thing about the way the NFL is covered (and overcoved) is how people seem to agree on a thing, then change their minds with further evidence of the same thing> Case and point is Carson Wentz. Start of the season we’re looking at the Eagles struggling and saying sure but it ain’t Carson’s fault, fellas keep on dropping catches. A few weeks later it’s the same old as injuries to his wide receivers gutted the options. Now suddenly he’s playing poorly apparently when all that’s happened is more of what was already happening... if it was true that he had basically no options beyond Zach Ertz a month ago and that’s still true now then why should anyone blame Wentz?

Eagles versus Seattle Seahawks last week:

Zach Ertz: 12 receptions for 91 yards with a TD

Everybody else: 21 receptions for 165 yards with no TD

Everybody else being JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward Jr, Dallas Goedert, Jordan Matthews, and Miles Sanders.

Everybody else did not include DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffrey, the much-maligned Nelson Agholor, and even starting running back Jordan Matthews too. Oh and also offensive tackle Lane Johnson was out with concussion as well. I don’t even bloody like the Eagles but I don’t wanna hear a word about their offensive struggles without the context that literally every single team and every single quarterback in the league would struggle minus their best lineman, their starting running back, and their three top options out wide. Lucky for the Eagles, Jeffrey and Johnson are both likely to return here and Howard is an outside chance (Agholor too but who cares). Unlucky is that Zach Ertz is in doubt with a hammy twinge. But, hey, it’s the Dolphins.

Wildcard’s Pick: Eagles by 15

Washington R*dskins (2-9) at Carolina Panthers (5-6)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Man, young fella was so pumped by his first NFL win that he forgot he had to do the whole victory formation thing! I’m sure some trolls out there spun that in the wrong way but thankfully I’ve only really seen people either enjoying that situation and giving him credit for it. The Skins have been awful this year but seeing how much a single win can mean to a guy and his teammates and his coaches and all that is pretty great. Haskins was pretty much in tears prior to all this.

Haaaving said that... doubt he’ll have to worry about victory formations this time. At least the Panthers would hope not, they’ve got a three game losing streak to end and any playoff hopes would die along with their dignity if they were to lose at home to Washington. FiveThirtyEight has them at a 1% chance of making the playoffs as it is, they’re four games back on New Orleans in the division and three behind the wildcard spots.

On that note, the only team officially out of the running is the Cincinnati Bengals, since the wildcard race is pretty open in the AFC and a couple other divisions have stragglers. The two-win Giants and R*dskins for example, still mathematically possible they can catch the six-win Cowboys. It’s just not gonna happen. Hence this is the week we start to officially cross teams off.

Wildcard’s Pick: Panthers by 10

Green Bay Packers (8-3) at New York Giants (2-9)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Yeah, nah.

Wildcard’s Pick: Packers by 20

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7) at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7)

Monday 7.00am NZT

Vita Vea, ladies and gents. The heaviest man to ever score a touchdown in the NFL. He weighs 347 points which is a stunning 157.4kgs. Ordinarily a defensive tackle but not on this occasion, no way. Also he’s American, born and raised in California, but his parents are both from Tonga and his full name is Tevita Tuliʻakiʻono Tuipulotu Mosese Vaʻhae Fehoko Faletau Vea. So there you go.

Also to be filed under the HERO category is Chris Godwin. Damn, man. Seven catches for 184 yards with two scores. He’s now topped 1000 yards for the season, after this his fifth game with 100+ receiving yards in 2019 and his third of 150+. One more bit of evidence that there’s a lot to like about this Buccs team under Bruce Arians. Their pass defence is abysmal and that’s cost them in a lot of games but draft a couple secondary guys, maybe get frisky in free agency, and there you go again.

But the thing that’s holding them back most at the moment is Jameis Winston. Against the Falcons we saw the best and the worst of him, as Famous Jameis threw his third straight multi-pick game but also threw 300+ yards for the sixth game in a row and had three TD passes for the first time since week four. He was down and then he was up and usually we get those drastic swings from week to week but here we got both versions of him in the one game.

That was a really good win against a much improved Falcons team... but you can’t win regularly with a quarterback like this. He’s up to 20 interceptions this season. A long way off George Blanda’s record of 42 picks in the 1962 season (that one’ll never ever be beaten, you can take that to the bank) but since the start of this decade these are the folks who’ve thrown more in a single campaign...

• Eli Manning (27 in 2013)

• Eli Manning (25 in 2010)

• Ryan Fitzpatrick (23 in 2011)

• Drew Brees (22 in 2010)

• Joe Flacco (22 in 2013)

• Josh Freeman (22 in 2011)

• DeShone Kizer (22 in 2017)

• Carson Palmer (22 in 2013)

• Philip Rivers (21 in 2016)

• Geno Smith (21 in 2013)

Note that Brees and Rivers threw 33 touchdown passes in their respective seasons there, if you were wondering what a couple future Hall of Famers are doing on the list (in fairness Rivers ain’t much of a shocker). Also note how few of these came in the last five years. Only Kizer and Rivers. The NFL values passing more than ever before these days and when at least two thirds of the league have a QB capable of putting up 400+ passing yards on the right day in the right conditions then you simply don’t survive by giving up short field opportunities from picks. No more grind it out defence to cover your arse, teams punish those now. The coaching is too good.

It’s not like this is an outlier either. He’s thrown 78 picks in 67 career games. Perhaps a better way to summarise that, a way which includes more context for the era in which is plays , is to say that Winston has throw 7.3% of all interception in the NFL this year and no other QB has had a share of more than 6.3% of all picks in the last thirty years. Thirty years. Come on. Not saying he won’t be a useful option for some other team but it can’t be the Buccs, surely. He’s off contract at the end of the season and Bruce Arians hasn’t really committed to anything. He said there was a “real good chance” that Winston’s back when asked a couple weeks back but what else is he supposed to say? Can’t rag a guy when you’re asking him to win you games in the short term. Nah, this experiment is over. Four years is enough. I mean I love watching the dude when he’s on it too, it’s electric, but as seductive as those brilliant moments are, they don’t outweigh the terrible ones.

Meanwhile... Jacksonville’s last three games:

• Lost 26-3 to Houston Texans

• Lost 33-13 to Indianapolis Colts

• Lost 42-20 to Tennessee Titans

In other words we might be due one of those Winston wonder days. Just in time for him to get people thinking he deserves a new contract so he can then throw a pick on the first drive the week after. Something he’s done three times already this season, by the way.

Wildcard’s Pick: Buccs by 5

Los Angeles Rams (6-5) at Arizona Cardinals (3-7-1)

Monday 10.05am NZT

Say whatever happened to that Jared Goff guy? You know the fella who was in the MVP conversation for a while last season and led his Rams team to the Super Bowl? Come to think of it he had that really good coach too, offensive mastermind, Sean McVay... he seems to have disappeared too. Hmmm, wonder why they aren’t still in the NFL. Don’t remember them ever risking their careers for the sake of social justice so maybe they’re just taking a gap year? Seems weird that they could be such heroes one year and then out of the league completely the next.

Oh dear that’s an issue. So’s this...

Jared Goff during November 2019:

61.46% COMP | 209.3 YDS/G | 0 TD | 5 INT | 58.9 RATE

So can the Cardies beat that at home? I dunno. The Cards have been playing feisty footy recently but they’re also on a four game losing streak with one of the worst statistical defensive units in the comp, particularly when defending the pass. The Rams were able to win a similar kind of game against the Bears two weeks ago and so if they can contain rookie Kyler Murray, whose three wins have come by a combined 12 points against the Bengals, Falcons (at their worst), and Giants then I suspect they’ll be able to score just enough points to take care of things. No way are they making the playoffs though.

Wildcard’s Pick: Rams by 3

Oakland Raiders (6-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (7-4)

Monday 10.25am NZT

Oakland coming off an embarrassing defeat against the Jets, Kansas City coming off a much needed bye week with their star quarterback needing all the rest he can get for that knee of his. Look I went nine weeks without picking the Raiders, then picked them two weeks in a row and look what they did to me. Nah, all this talk about Lamar Jackson, seems like everybody forgot about Pat Mahomes for a sec.

Wildcard’s Pick: Chiefs by 14

Los Angeles Chargers (4-7) at Denver Broncos (3-8)

Monday 10.25am NZT

Oh no. I’m not falling for this one.

Wildcard’s Pick: Chargers by 7

New England Patriots (10-1) at Houston Texans (7-4)

Monday 2.20pm NZT

Look at that guy. He’s the definition of a villain, couldn’t trust him as far as you could throw him. Darth Vader quivers in his boots when he sees Bill Belichick. He makes Michael Myers and Freddie Kruger run scared. Dracula himself is taking lessons on how to look more like Bill Belichick. Frankenstein’s already given up and moved to Florida to run a bed and breakfast. He’s so bad he’s made Donald Trump into a Patriots fan.

But damn can he coach a gridiron team.

Sneaky big game for the Texans here, who got a crucial, if scratchy, win over the Colts last week but know that either the Colts or Titans will move to 7-5 this week, same as they’ll be if they lose here. Nothing drastic for Houston, who still get to play Tennessee twice and also have the Broncos and Buccs on their remaining schedule so a loss here and they’re still odds on to finish at least 10-6 and win the division. But the Titans are peaking at the right time and the prospect of needing to beat them twice in three weeks is not a comfortable one.

It’s all semantics though because Bill O’Brien is one off the Bill Belichick coaching tree of evil and unlike old Darth Vader versus Obi Wan Kenobi there’s no toppling the old master when Belichick is involved. O’Brien’s Texans are 0-4 against New England.

Also, Stephon Gilmore absolutely bottled Amari Cooper last week. Granted conditions were less than ideal but it’s just more in keeping with the incredible year that Gilmore’s having. And this week, folks... this week he’s guarding DeAndre Hopkins. Now that’s something to be thankful for.

Wildcard’s Pick: Patriots by 3

Minnesota Vikings (8-3) at Seattle Seahawks (9-2)

Tuesday 2.15pm NZT

And now to conclude this week of thanks, we bow our heads and offer more thanks for one last excellent game in what’s a week full of some really great matchups. What a league. What a time. What a beautiful, shimmering, glorious life we’re all sharing.

Wildcard’s Pick: Seahawks by 9

The Wildcard is a staff writer for The Niche Cache. He is thankful for chirping birds, strong whiskey, green grass, good music, quality books, lovely people, and happy days.

Get in on that sweet Patreon action if you dig what TNC is all about and wanna help us succeed

And slap an ad if you’ve appreciated the many painstakingly crafted words you just read

Keep cool but care