Midseason of the NFL is here and we have several surprises. If the season ended last week, the Philadelphia Eagles would have the top seed in the NFC and the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars would take up both AFC Wild Card Playoff spots.
One team on the outside of the playoff picture is the Dallas Cowboys who will host the Kansas City Chiefs in Sports Spectrum’s NFL Game of the Week. And as always, we’ll give you our upset picks of the week.
Jason Romano: Dallas Cowboys 30 – Kansas City Chiefs 20 – Coming off of a short week, the Chiefs will struggle on the road. I expect a big game from Dak Prescott and having Ezekiel Elliott for one more week lifts the Boys to their first home win since Week 1 over the Giants.
UPSET (TEN -3.5): Baltimore Ravens 21 – Tennessee Titans 17 – Both teams are well rested but Baltimore is coming off of an impressive win against the Dolphins. I expect their defense to carry it over to Sunday and lift them to a win over Tennessee.
Justin Adams: Dallas Cowboys 33 – Kansas City Chiefs 30 – From here on out Dallas will be scoreboard watching with an eye on the division leading Eagles. The Cowboys will face the Chiefs run defense that’s 28th in the league. Dallas wins by a field goal.
UPSET (JAX -5.5): Cincinnati Bengals 24 – Jacksonville Jaguars 20 – Jacksonville’s formula for winning games is running the ball and strong defense has led them to 4-3 record. But despite the winning record, the Jags have alternated wins and losses throughout the season. The trend continues against a Bengals team that’s won 3 of their last 4 games.
Jon Ackerman: Dallas Cowboys 31 – Kansas City Chiefs 27 – The Cowboys boast one of the league’s best rushing attacks, and the Chiefs own one of the league’s worst rushing defenses. The on-again-off-again suspension of Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott is off again, meaning he’ll play Sunday, so I see Dallas running to a win.
UPSET (ARI 2.5): San Francisco 49ers 20 – Arizona Cardinals 14 – The Niners have yet to win a game and now have a new quarterback (though it won’t be newly acquired Jimmy Garappolo this week). But this is a winnable game at home against a divisional rival also using a backup QB.
Last Week’s Game of the Week Picks: Pittsburgh Steelers vs Detroit Lions
Jason Romano: Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Detroit Lions 21
Justin Adams: Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Detroit Lions 20
Jon Ackerman: Pittsburgh Steelers 34, Detroit Lions 17
Actual Result: Pittsburgh Steelers 20 – Detroit Lions 15
Season Record: (Upsets Record in Parentheses)
Jason: 6-2 (2-5)
Justin: 5-3 (3-4)
Jon: 5-2 (2-5)
