NFL Eliminator Challenge: Week 14

Welcome to Week Fourteen of season seven of our NFL Eliminator Challenge series!  Last week was a tough one, with us only hitting on one of our picks.  The fact that the Bengals, Dolphins and Redskins all won on the same weekend was a huge surprise and probably ended many of the remaining eliminator streaks out there, but if you’re one of the lucky few still alive, read on and feel free to comment at the bottom or hit me up on twitter!

Step 1 – Avoid Division Matchups

While there weren’t a ton of division upsets last week, there were some great games.  The Bears game was decided by four, Denver only won by a field goal and the highly anticipated Browns Steelers rematch came down to a touchdown difference.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, do yourself a favor and avoid the below division games:

• Carolina at Atlanta
• Cincinnati at Cleveland
• Detroit at Minnesota
• Miami at New York Jets
• Seattle at Los Angeles Rams
• New York Giants at Philadelphia

Step 2 – Avoid Marquee Matchups

The best part about Thanksgiving weekend is a slate of five prime time matchups.  Of those five games, four of them were decided by eight points or less and the biggest blowout was Buffalo by eleven.  These games continue to entertain this season.  Unless you want to take a chance, I would avoid the below marquee games:

• Dallas at Chicago
• Seattle at Los Angeles Rams
• New York Giants at Philadelphia

Step 3 – Avoid Picking Against Home Field Advantage

Home field advantage is making a comeback in a big way.  We saw the Dolphins upset the Eagles in Miami.  We saw the Bengals embarrass the Jets in Cincinnati.  We even saw the Texans take down the Patriots in Houston on Sunday night.  Be aware and avoid the below games where the favorite is the away team:

• Dallas at Chicago
• Baltimore at Buffalo
• Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville
• Tennessee at Oakland
• Pittsburgh at Arizona

Step 4 – Make your pick!

My pick of the week is:

• Green Bay Packers over the Washington Redskins

While the Redskins got a huge victory on the road last week, resulting in the firing of Ron Rivera, the reality is this team is lacking talent and I’m willing to bet a lot of money that the Packers easily win this December game in Lambeau. 

 Other options I like this week:

• Houston Texans over the Denver Broncos

The Broncos are another underdog team that pulled off a big win last week, but this week they face a much tougher task in playing the Texans in Houston.  If the Texans can beat the Patriots in primetime, this should be a cake walk.

• New England Patriots over the Kansas City Chiefs

How often do the Patriots lose two games in a row this late in a season?  Short Answer: Not often.

Overall Record = 30-9

Follow me on twitter and let me know what you think of this week’s picks @DE_aaron!

https://twitter.com/DE_aaron

Thanks for reading!