All times are 1:00 p.m. ET unless otherwise noted.
Check out our Thanksgiving Day picks here.
SUNDAY
Arizona @ New England
Jake: Cardinals:
I hate picking against the Pats, and both teams lost last week, but the Patriots defense tends to struggle with mobile quarterbacks who often evade the pocket to extend the play: which Murray often has to due to his 5’9 stature. I think the Cardinals can hold this Pats defense to a low score, and with the Patriots likely being forced to abandon the run game early as the Cards put up points, I can’t see the Patriots winning this one.
Sam: Cardinals
Johnny:______
As you may know, I don’t pick Pats games. Starting last week it looked like New England had to win out, as the AFC very well may have a 10-win team miss the playoffs, and now even if they win-out they could come up short. Belichick does well against young QBs but with the lack of containment against Watson last week, and Kyler Murray having better weapons, it will be even harder to stop the Cards offense. I don’t think Kingbury deserves a lot of the credit this year because as someone on ESPN said, Arizona is an alright team with some very talented players. We’ll see if the Cards talent overcomes their near-mediocrity-level teammates in Foxboro.
Miami @ New York (A)
Jake: Dolphins
Sam: Dolphins
Sam Darnold is back! (although knowing the Jets he’s probably playing injured again). If we picked with spread (Dolphins -7.5) I’d take the Jets, but picking outright the Dolphins are just too much better. With that being said this is the Jets game i’ve felt the most confident going into all year. If Darnold is healthy, It's the first time Becton, Darnold, and Mims have all been healthy at the same time this year and maybe just maybe the offense can look competent.
Johnny: Dolphins
Ryan Fitzpatrick Revenge Game!
Las Vegas @ Atlanta
Jake: Raiders
Sam: Raiders
Johnny: Raiders
Carr is having a VERY good year. If his WRs didn’t drop more than a few passes we’d be talking about Mahomes and Reid getting swept by Carr and Gruden
Los Angeles (A) @ Buffalo
Jake: I would love to pick an upset here because I still think the Bills are overrated: their defense has been a mess this year in comparison to last season, and I still don’t believe the offense can continue to produce at the level that they are when it matters. Regardless, Austin Ekeler will likely be limited at best and while I think that would put a charge into their offense matched by few, they somehow have found a way to make every game way too close for comfort, and I think the Bills will take advantage of that.
Sam: Bills
Despite Herbert’s (surprisingly) excellent play, the Chargers have struggled to win games. They seem to excel in losing close games. The Bills have not been quite as good as expected but they're still a 7-3 team and I can’t see them losing to a QB who has only beat the Jets and the Jaguars.
Johnny: Bills
After the bye, the Bills could be a different team. But even if they are, the Chargers, with the exception of Herbert, tried to let the Jets win last week, as they do with each opponent each week, and the Bills will continue their pursuit of an AFC East title.
New York (N) @ Cincinnati
Jake: Giants
I assumed that Finley would be a decent career backup QB coming out of NC State—pretty cerebral QB with talent deficiencies—but he might be the worst backup QB in the NFL. Plus the Giants have looked slightly better overall.
Sam: Giants
I know somebody who picked the Giants in this game for his eliminator pool and honestly it's a great choice. The Bengals aren't very good even with Joe Burrow and oh boy are they gonna stink without him.
Johnny: Giants
The Bengals are done. They should apologize to Burrow and trade him to a team of his choosing. If the New Jersey Giants lose this game I can’t imagine what the excuses for Daniel Jones will be.
Tennessee @ Indianapolis
Jake: Titans
I know the Colts’ defense is good, Rivers has played better than expected, and Pittman looks like their guy at the receiver position, but I still just can’t bring myself to believe in them as a serious team: call me delusional. They also don’t have Taylor this week. Give me the Titans.
Sam: Titans
Johnny: Colts
Great performance by both teams last week but the Colts have a top 5 defense in the NFL and a much more versatile offensive attack. Yes, AJ Brown can perform if henry is taken away, but Tannehill won’t be enough for Vrabel to come out on top again this week
Cleveland @ Jacksonville
Jake: Browns
Sam: Browns
After a big week one win the Jaguars have lost 9 straight. I think that qualifies them as a team bad enough for Baker to beat.
Johnny: Browns
There’s a strong chance of rain this weekend in Duval County. The Browns are getting used to that, so if you want to knock Baker Mayfield’s stats you can kick rocks. Any QB in the league would say it’s stupid not to feed your successful RBs in torrential downpours. It may be time to give Cleveland a real nickname: Rain. The Cleveland Rain. If you think that’s dumb, well you are right but look at their current mascot, it’s after their former coach. The Browns are going for their 8th win of the year and I can’t wait for the Baker hate as he climbs up in the playoff picture.
Carolina @ Minnesota
Jake: Panthers:
Thielen is out, and the Panthers though unspectacular are doing alright and I think Teddy Bridgewater has something to prove to the Vikings.
Sam: Panthers
The Vikings are fresh off a loss to the Cowboys and now they also don't have Thielen. Carolina has been very inconsistent (Losing to Chicago and Atlanta, but also beating the Cardinals and almost beating the Chiefs) but even if they play a mediocre game they should be able to win this.
Johnny: Vikings
Have to bounce back after a TERRIBLE loss to Dallas
New Orleans @ Denver 4:05 p.m. ET
Jake: Saints
It’s a matchup of two quarterbacks that aren’t real QB’s. Should be fun to watch.
Sam: Saints
The Broncos will not win. But if they do the Saints should be forced to disband.
Johnny: Saints
I LOVE the Broncos for not forfeiting. This should be fun to see what they can come up with on offense. Gotta respect Taysom Hill, though. I don’t care if he underthrows a player or two, it won’t matter against the Broncos.
San Francisco @ Los Angeles (N) 4:05 p.m. ET
Jake: Rams
Sam: Rams
Johnny: Rams
LA is now fighting for the division
Kansas City @ Tampa Bay 4:25 p.m. ET
Jake: Chiefs:
The Bucs defense is slipping and the offense has been a hot mess as of recent. I can’t pick against Mahomes.
Sam: Chiefs
The Chiefs could be argued as the best team in football this season (second most wins, harder schedule than the Steelers).
Johnny: Chiefs
Brady is 2-1 and could very well be 3-0 against Mahomes in his career. I can’t pick Brady this week though because I don’t trust the Bucs D.
Chicago @ Green Bay 8:20 p.m. ET
Jake: Packers
Sam: Packers
Johnny: Packers
Get the Bears out of primetime! Seriously? Shouldn’t it be late enough in the season where the NFL can flex some games around? How about:
Titans @ Colts
Ravens @ Steelers (because their game got moved from THU)
*I originally had this when they got moved from THU to SUN
Chargers @ Bills (would be better than this)
Cards @ Pats
The 3rd and 4th matchups listed aren’t ideal from primetime, but they are DRASTICALLY better than the current situation
MONDAY
Seattle @ Philadelphia 8:15 p.m. ET
Jake: Seahawks
Sam: Seahawks
Johnny: Seahawks
Time to give Hurts a chance. The Seahawks D isn’t near great and is even further away from what it once was, but Wentz will still find a way to let Wilson run up the score, although Wilson is the king of being in close games.
TUESDAY
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh
Jake: Steelers
The Ravens defense has still been good this year, but they haven’t been as dominant against good teams when they can’t rely on their offense to keep them off the field. The narrative that Lamar has been bad is a stretch, but he certainly looks like a player that defenses have started to figure out how to stop. This Steelers defense is extremely athletic and well equipped to stop this Ravens offense. The Steelers pass rush is so dominant that they’re likely going to be able to use the versatile TJ Watt as a spy for much of the day to keep Lamar behind the line of scrimmage. Not only can this defense generate pressure though, but they also have one of the best secondaries in the NFL. This defense is going to wreak havoc on Lamar, and really is a terrible matchup for him (and honestly any quarterback).
Sam: Steelers
The Steelers are looking like the best team in football, and while the Ravens are still a playoff caliber team (and people are overreacting to their recent struggles) they are not on the same level as Pittsburgh right now. The X Factor to make this game even less close is the fact that the Ravens are going through a covid outbreak right now. It knocked out their whole backfield and you never know who else it will get traced to before the game.
Johnny: Steelers
Wow, Baltimore is having a tough few weeks having lost 3 of their last 4. And now they don’t have their reigning MVP either. The Ravens resume win of 2020 was 11 weeks ago against the Browns. John Harbaugh was a sore loser waving off Vrabels postgame handshake last week after blowing a lead and letting Derrick Henry dominate them just like the divisional round last year. Pittsburgh is kind of getting screwed not being able to take advantage of the Ravens on a short week, but safety comes first. I think the Steelers will still come out on top
Thanks as always for checking us out!
Also check out our 2020 Ridin’ Pine Picks Archive to see how Jake, Sam, & Johnny have been doing!