In a year in which all of the league’s best teams have been winning with prolific offense, the Cowboys proved in Week 13 that defense can still win big games. The Cowboys rising defense held one of the most unstoppable single season offenses of all time to just 10 points. While I’m not convincing myself the Cowboys are going to go on a crazy run (yet), the turnaround this team has made has been awesome to watch.
So while the week started well with a Boys win and a spread win, the rest of the picks from last week weren’t great. I went a decent 10-6 outright, but I went just 5-11 against the spread. Here’s a look back at the picks I made (correct pick in blue, incorrect pick in red):
Saints at Cowboys (+7.5)
Ravens at Falcons (-2.5)
Bears (-3.5) at Giants
Cardinals at Packers (-13.5)
Rams at Lions (+10)
Broncos (-4) at Bengals
Browns (+4.5) at Texans
Bills at Dolphins (-3.5)
Panthers at Bucs (+3.5)
Colts (-4.5) at Jaguars
Chiefs (-14) at Raiders
Jets at Titans (-10)
49ers at Seahawks (-10)
Vikings (+6) at Patriots
Chargers at Steelers (-3)
Redskins (+6) at Eagles
2018 Straight-Up: 118-72-2, 2018 vs. Spread: 87-97-8
4 weeks left in the regular season, lets close on a high note.
Jaguars at Titans (-5.5)
- Jaguars 30, Titans 9
- 2-0 to start the week!
Panthers (-1.5) at Browns
- Panthers need to win this one much more than the Browns do
- Due to win after multiple narrow losses
- Could be a sucker pick (62% on CAR as of Friday), but the Panthers are the better team and need this one, they win by a TD
Saints at Bucs (+9.5)
- Panthers are up and down but are currently on a good play streak
- Prior to last week, Bucs were only team to have beat Saints this season
- Bucs getting a lot of points, they’ll cover at home, but the Saints will get back in the win column
Colts at Texans (-4.5)
- No one is slowing down the Texans right now
- Colts looked great during 5 game win streak, but none of the teams they beat are going to the playoffs
- If this spread was a little bigger, I may take Colts, but I’m with Texans by a TD to cover
Giants (-3.5) at Redskins
- Public hammering the Giants (77% as of Friday), so I really don’t like this pick
- However, the Redskins are more dead than Darby O’Gills
- Redskins could not do anything the other night once they turned to Mark Sanchez
- Giants playing better
- Hate to take what feels like the obvious pick, but I have Giants by a TD
Ravens at Chiefs (-6.5)
- Lamar Jackson is 3-0, but all of those teams will miss the playoffs
- Chiefs are his first tough opponent
- Chiefs first home game in awhile, they return home to win by 2 TDs over the Ravens
- Lets go Mahomes! (fantasy)
Falcons at Packers (-4.5)
- Just feels right that the Packers will roll in first game without McCarthy
- Falcons losing to everyone
- Rodgers balls out with McCarthy gone, Packers win easily
Jets at Bills (-3.5)
- Public hammering Bills (73% as of Friday), so could be a sucker pick
- But this feels like the right pick in my mind
- Bills have been playing competitive football of late a destroyed the Jets just a few weeks ago
- Bills win by a TD
Patriots at Dolphins (+7.5)
- Tom Brady’s annual hell- Pats have lost 4 of last 5 in Miami
- Miami could lowkey steal the 6 seed
- Dolphins keep it close here like they always do, but Patriots are heating up and win
Broncos (-3.5) at 49ers
- Don’t think it’ll be a blowout, but not sure how this spread is so low
- Broncos have been heating up at the perfect time, Niners are headed towards the No. 1 pick
- Broncos win by 10
Bengals at Chargers (-14)
- These two teams could not be going in more opposite of directions
- Chargers still trying to win the division
- Chargers win in a rout, and cover
Lions at Cardinals (+3)
- Josh Rosen wants to build off of last week’s huge upset
- Lions have fallen apart
- Young teams like the Cardinals are either trying to tank at this time of year or build for next season- they’re going for the latter
- Cardinals get the upset win at home
Steelers at Raiders (+10)
- Steelers have really struggled of late and tend to struggle as big favorites
- Raiders have been playing a little better of late
- Steelers are the much better team so I definitely like them to win, but Raiders fight to keep it within 10
Eagles at Cowboys (-3.5)
- This is a big rivalry game, so not gonna call it a lock, but I have no clue how this spread is so low
- Cowboys are hot, just beat arguably the league’s best team, and the Eagles have looked underwhelming all season
- Eagles D is banged up and Cowboys offense has played better since adding Amari Cooper
- Cowboys win by a TD in this big NFC East matchup
Rams at Bears (+3)
- Bears getting Mitch back and want to secure their division
- Rams still chasing top seed, but have locked up division already
- Feels like this game means more to Bears
- Spread is so low that this feels like a trap, public hammering Rams
- Bears earn a close upset win at home
Vikings (+3) at Seahawks
- Really tough pick, these two teams are so even
- Vikings pick is almost a gut feeling, Kirk needs to finally win a game that justifies his pay day
- Expecting a really close game, but the overall better roster in the Vikings gets the upset win on the road
That’s it for Week 14. Can the Cowboys defense keep it up?