Lions @ Bears (+3.5)

The Chicago Bears lost at home against the Packers, which is pretty worrying with the Detroit Lions coming to visit. The Lions are not quite right on offence, which will happen when you have the thirtieth ranked offence by DVOA and they are going against a pretty tough Chicago defence. I am struggling a little with this game as I think the Lions are more likely to win but I’m just not sure about the points. In the end I’m taking the Bears to bounce back in this home divisional game and keep it close getting points.

Gee’s Pick:          Bears
Dan’s Pick:          Lions

Jaguars @ Browns (+7.5)

This is a surprisingly interesting game in that I’m not sure how many games in a row I trust the Jacksonville Jaguars to win and the one thing that is truly good about the Cleveland Browns is their rush defence, which is ranked second in the league by DVOA. I’m not saying the Browns are suddenly going to win this game, but with their strength going up against a Jaguars offence predicated on the run I think they may be able to keep this game closer than eight points.

Gee’s Pick:          Browns
Dan’s Pick:          Jaguars

Ravens @ Packers (+2.5)

The Green Bay Packers are coming off their first win with Brett Hundley starting as quarterback who demonstrated a little bit more last week as the Packers found ways to get their offence going again. He faces a stern test when facing the Baltimore Ravens’ defence who rank third in the league in pass defence. The Ravens’ issue is that their offence has been pretty woeful this season and so this could be a tight game. This is one of those lines I really don’t like, but I’m going to grab the home underdog as they have been pretty good to me this season.

Gee’s Pick:          Packers
Dan’s Pick:          Ravens

Chiefs @ Giants (+10.5)

The New York Giants are winless at home and have only kept one game close than eleven so it doesn’t feel like a team coming of a ten point loss to the lowly 49ers has much chance in this game. The things that worries me about this line is that although Andy Reid is really good coming off a bye and the Kansas City Chiefs have more than enough offence to win this game, their defence is ranked twenty-sixth in the league by DVOA and they haven’t won a game by eleven points or more since week three. I can’t quite believe I’m doing this but give me the Giants getting ten and a half points at home.

Gee’s Pick:          Giants
Dan’s Pick:          Chiefs

Rams @ Vikings (-2.5)

This looks to be game of the week, with a matchup of the high flying LA Rams offence going against the Minnesota Vikings’ tough defence particularly catching the eye. I don’t have a strong feeling either way but the Vikings have a loud crowd in their new stadium and so I’m leaning in their direction but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Rams proved me wrong.

Gee’s Pick:          Vikings
Dan’s Pick:          Vikings

Washington @ Saints (-7.5)

The New Orleans Saints’ turnaround is great to see, but I’m not sure anyone was predicting that their defence and run game would be leading the way. They face a Washington team who are scrapping away despite the injuries and the fact that their passing game is ranked eleventh in the league by DVOA despite the offseason overhaul at receiver is testament to Kirk Cousins’ ability as a quarterback. However, I don’t think it will be enough against the Saint’s team at home and so ‘m backing the Saints to win big.

Gee’s Pick:          Saints
Dan’s Pick:          Saints

Cardinals @ Texans (+1.5)

This is a tricky game to pick with the Houston Texans’ season derailed by injuries and the Arizona Cardinals are coming to town starting their third string quarterback. The Cardinals have had a long week to recover after narrowly losing last week’s Thursday night game and Adrian Peterson should look better than he did on three days of rest, but will that be enough for them to win the game. I have more faith in Bruce Arians as a coach, but I’m not sure if that will be enough to see me right in this pick or not.

Gee’s Pick:          Cardinals
Dan’s Pick:          Cardinals

Buccaneers @ Dolphins (-2.5)

I do not like this game, Gee-I-am. I do not like either team’s game plan. But seriously, the Dolphins are ranked thirty-second by DVOA and are coming off a horrible loss to the Panthers. However, they are favoured in this game because the Buccaneers are not exactly playing well this season either. The Bucs are coming off a narrow win against the New York Jets but their defence has been bad all season and the offence has sputtered. They will be getting receiver Mike Evans back from suspension but it is likely Ryan Fitzpatrick will start as quarterback as Jameis Winston struggles with his shoulder. It feels like the Dolphins are heading in the wrong direction but I have more faith in Adam Gase as a head coach than Dirk Koetter and with the Dolphins at home I’m reluctantly backing them.

Gee’s Pick:          Dolphins
Dan’s Pick:          Dolphins

Bills @ Chargers (-4.5)

The Buffalo Bills have been struggling in recent weeks and are electing to hand rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman his first start. Doing this on the road might be considered a risk except that the Chargers don’t exactly have much of a home advantage with their current situation in LA. They will be relieved to have Philip Rivers clear concussion protocol but it feels like they specialise in close losses. The Chargers do not have the run game to take advantage of the Bills’ recent defensive problems and basically, I don’t trust them to get out of their own way. I don’t like taking a rookie QB on the road but apparently that’s what I’m going to do.

Gee’s Pick:          Bills
Dan’s Pick:          Chargers

Bengals @ Broncos (-2.5)

This game pits two misfiring franchises against each other. The Denver Broncos have serious problems on offence without a settled quarterback and a three back rotation that isn’t helping their running game. Even their vaunted defence has slipped and doesn’t look like the dominant unit of recent seasons. They welcome a Cincinnati Bengals team whose defence is playing pretty tough but who are hamstrung by offensive problems that stem from the o-line. I think this could be a very ugly game and I’m not really sure who is going to win so I’ll try a little faith in my team who have at least been competitive in recent weeks.

Gee’s Pick:          Bengals
Dan’s Pick:          Bengals

Patriots @ Raiders (+6.5)

The Oakland Raiders are the hosts for this game but it is being played in Mexico City. The New England Patriots have stayed out in Denver to prepare for the altitude of Mexico City having beaten the Broncos heavily last week. This is a game that pits highly ranked offences against lowly ranked defences but I have a lot more faith in the Patriots than the Raiders and fancy them to run out easy winners in this one.

Gee’s Pick:          Patriots
Dan’s Pick:          Patriots

Eagles @ Cowboys (+3.5)

The Dallas Cowboy will not have Ezekiel Elliott for the next five weeks as he dropped his legal fight against his suspension, much like the Cowboys dropped their commitment to the running game last week. They also gave up six sacks to one player and tackle Tyron Smith is likely out again this week with his groin issue as well as losing linebacker Sean Lee to a hamstring problem. The Philadelphia Eagles are not a team that you want to be facing with questions about your offensive line and Sean Lee has a huge effect on how the Cowboys defence plays so I expect the team with the best record in the league to run out easy winners in this one.

Gee’s Pick:          Eagles
Dan’s Pick:          Eagles

Falcons @ Seahawks (-3.5)

The Atlanta Falcons got a win in Dallas last week and now travel to face a banged up Seahawks team in Seattle. The Seahawks are likely to be without two thirds of the Legion of Boom as well as Cliff Avril and whilst I would expect them to be competitive against the Falcons, in fact they could very easily win, I’m just not confident enough to back them to win by four. The Falcons may be struggling on offence but I hope they have enough in this one.

Gee’s Pick:          Falcons
Dan’s Pick:          Falcons