Seahawks over Panthers (Sunday noon): Seattle had quite the comeback last week against the Rams in what was one of the best games of the year. After being down 30-14 in the 4th quarter, a punt return touchdown by Rashid Shaheed cut the deficit to eight points. After a three and out by the Rams, AJ Barner hauled in a pass from Sam Darnold to make it 30-28. After the wackiest two-point conversion I’ve ever seen (watch it on YouTube), the game was tied. Seattle ended up getting the win in overtime and with that, owns first place in the NFC. Now they’ll hope to extend that first place lead by defeating the Panthers. Carolina beat their division rivals, Tampa Bay, last week to take a one game lead in the race for the NFC South. The Panthers might be the most inconsistent team in the league. Games you think they’ll lose, they win, and games you think they’ll win, they lose. I do think Seattle is just the better team, so they should get the victory.
Bills over Eagles (Sunday afternoon): After handling their business in Cleveland last week, even though it was closer than it should have been, Buffalo heads back home to welcome the Eagles to Highmark Stadium. Josh Allen didn’t have his typical game against the Browns, only throwing for 130 yards and no touchdowns. It was actually the legs of James Cook, who rumbled for 117 yards and two touchdowns, that led them to victory (and my fantasy football team to the final!). The Eagles, who have the NFC East division wrapped up already, made short work of the Washington Commanders, who were forced to play their 3rd string quarterback, Josh Johnson, after backup Marcus Mariota left with a hand injury. With only two regular season games left, Buffalo is still chasing New England for the AFC East crown and a win here would help that.
Bengals over Cardinals (Sunday noon): I don’t know what’s going on with Joe Burrow. Two weeks ago, he stated in an interview that he wasn’t having fun playing football, and it kind of looked like it against the Ravens, but last week he looked pretty darn happy dismantling the Miami Dolphins, throwing for over 300 yards and four touchdowns. Whether it’s happy Joe or sad Joe that shows up, it really won’t matter since they’re up against the Cardinals. Losers of seven games in a row, Arizona is just looking for some sort of positive spark that can maybe help them end this losing streak. I wouldn’t get my hopes up on that because they are lacking in talent on both sides of the ball. More importantly, they don’t currently have a capable quarterback. Jacoby Brissett is a fine backup, but he’s not going to lead a team to many victories with his limited skillset.
Last week 2-1 Season overall 31-17