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Well, after complaining about it for several weeks, and tying to make sure I pay attention to the important lines alongside the numbers I managed to time a really good score against a difficult week for Dan and so picked up five points in week twelve. Unfortunately, week thirteen got off to a bad start with the Patriots singularly failing to follow the numbers but there’s a long way to go, and if I can consolidate last week then perhaps the social media colours will finally return to the orange and black.

Gee:Week 12:  11 – 5Overall:  92 – 88
Dan:Week 12:  6 – 10Overall:  85 – 95

Survivor Competition

So the surprising turnaround from the Raiders against the Seahawks tripped Dan up and so allowed me to sneak past him as his Dolphins did the business against the Texans. In a rare moment of synchronisation we are both going against the Texans this week with the Browns, because whilst I did try to find an alternative, I could not find a team I was convinced by.

Current Score

Gee: 7
Dan: 6

Week 13 Selection:

Gee:    Browns @ Texans
Dan:    Browns @ Texans

Early Games:

The jarring fact of week thirteen is that Deshaun Watson returns to playing football after his eleven week suspension and a $5 million fine for the multiple sexual assaults the NFL in their own reports believe he perpetrated. The Browns will be hoping that the conversation will return to football, but he will be debuting for the Browns against his old team who are also complicit having allegedly provided NDA forms and hotel rooms for Watson’s use and reached their own settlements with the women who are still impacted by Watson’s predatory behaviour. I’ve been wishing bad things for the Browns all season, and they must continue to own the decision they gave to essentially reward Watson with an unprecedented guaranteed contract for his behaviour. The Texans are not a good team, but plenty will remember Watson’s presence and non-presence at the facility last season, and I wonder how their motivation will be.

The game of the early slate for me is the Jets travelling to Minnesota to take on the Vikings given how much better backup quarterback Mike White looked compared to Zach Wilson, but the matchup that will drive the contest is the Jets’ fourth ranked by DVOA defence trying to slow down receiver Justin Jefferson and the rest of the Vikings offence.

Otherwise, there are plenty of games with close lines that should be competitive but not a lot that leaps of the page.

Steelers @ Falcons (-1.5)

Gee’s Pick:      Steelers
Dan’s Pick:      Steelers

Packers @ Bears (+2.5)

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

Jaguars @ Lions (-1.5)

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

Jets @ Vikings (-3.5)

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

Washington @ Giants (+1.5)

Gee’s Pick:      Washington
Dan’s Pick:      Giants

Titans @ Eagles (-5.5)

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

Broncos @ Ravens (-8.5)

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

Browns @ Texans (+7.5)

Gee’s Pick:      Texans
Dan’s Pick:      Browns

Late Games:

There are two really good late games this week, with the Chiefs seeking revenge for two losses last season against a Bengals team who have got their season back on track in recent weeks. If that was not big enough, the Dolphins are travelling to San Francisco so that rookie head coach Mike McDaniel can take on his mentor Kyke Shanahan and the 49ers defence that McDaniel spent the last five years working against. You really can’t go wrong watching either of these games.

Seahawks @ Rams (+4.5)

Gee’s Pick:      Seahawks
Dan’s Pick:      Seahawks

Dolphins @ 49ers (-3.5)

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

Chiefs @ Bengals (+3.5)

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

Chargers @ Raiders (+2.5)

Gee’s Pick:      Raiders
Dan’s Pick:      Chargers

Sunday Night Football:

Colts @ Cowboys (-9.5)

Gee’s Pick:      Cowboys
Dan’s Pick:      Cowboys

The Colts lost again last week, but Jeff Saturday did come out and acknowledge his fault in the clock management late in the game, yet they face an incredibly tough game ahead of the bye week with the Cowboys riding high at 8-3. My initial thought would be to take the points, but checking my numbers this line is actually the right side of a key number to have me going against my gut instincts so I am backing the Cowboys slightly nervously.

Monday Night Football

Saints @ Buccaneers (-6.5)

The Buccaneers are simply a different team this season, and whilst the Saints are also really struggling this year, I trust their defence enough to keep this game closer than this line suggests in a fiercely contested divisional game.

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

DVOA is Football Outsiders statistic for measure a team’s success on every play versus the league average and you can read more about it and other football topics at https://footballoutsiders.com.