It is Christmas Eve. I hope all of my loyal Blind Owl Blog readers have a great holiday and get a chance to spend some time with their families. I know I will be enjoying my time off and have more than a few Christmas drinks.
Lucky for us football fans, there is a full slate of NFL games this Christmas weekend. With a game on Festivus night, two games on Jesus’s birthday and then Sunday having a packed schedule, it is a great gift from the football gods for us.
Before we get to the Yule tide football week, let’s take a look at how Concret3Cowboy and I did last week.
Week 15 Results:
Blind Owl: 8-8
Concret3Cowboy: 10-6
It’s a pre-Christmas miracle! The Cowboy actually beat me by more than 1 game. He beat me by 2 to be exact. This is only the second week all year that he has beaten me. He chips away from the iceberg of a lead I have over him. How does this HUGE 2 game victory impact the overall numbers? Well, let’s see.
Totals:
Blind Owl: 125-97-2
Concret3Cowboy: 99-123-2
With only 3 weeks left, I have a 26 game lead in the standings. For those who care, there are only 48 games left. That means every game is important to the Cowboy. If I were really smart, I would just try to pick the same as him for 12 games and that would guarantee me a win for the year. But, I’m not too smart, so let’s see how we do on this ho-ho-holiday weekend.
SF @ TEN: SF -3.5
Blind Owl: The Festivus football game was what I thought was an easy choice. The 49ers have been doing well, and the Titans aren’t what they were with Derrick Henry. But it seems that the 9ers had a few too many Festivus beverages (like I may have as well) and they got beat. Thankfully, the Cowboy picked the 49ers as well, so I only need 11 more games to lock down this victory.
Concret3Cowboy: I can’t think of a time when one team’s identity all rested on one player. At the same time, the Titans are 9-5. The Colts are on their heels for the AFC South crown, but since Derrick Henry got hurt this Titans team lost its toughness, but offensively and defensively. They lost to the Steelers, a game when both Vrabel and Tannehill were all smiles in the first quarter. San Fran has really regained themselves after a bad start, that Seattle lost will hurt them in their playoff contention.
CLE @ GB: GB -7
Blind Owl: Now it’s time for the Christmas games! Thankfully, the NFL was smart and put the stinker of a game on the early side. So I won’t have to pay too close of attention. The Browns have fallen apart, which is par for the course. Meanwhile the Packers are red hot. Green Bay was an easy pick here.
Concret3Cowboy: The Browns have a pretty stout defense. However, the Packers offense can really cook and Aaron Rodgers is playing as well as he ever has. Cleveland just will never be a contender and never have been since they moved and became the Ravens… just for Cleveland to watch their old team win in new colors. Talk about a ball breaker.
IND @ ARI: ARI -1
Blind Owl: This Christmas Night matchup has game of the week written all over it. The Colts got a great win over the Patriots last week, and the Cardinals got embarrassed by the lowly Lions. When you have a lead like I do, you get to ride with the hot hand. Colts with the point is an easy choice.
Concret3Cowboy: Arizona has fallen off pretty good since they got bit by the injury bug. Now D-Hop is done for at least the regular season. I think having a true #1 wideout is greatly underappreciated, especially for young QBs. I would probably pick the Colts even if the Cardinals didn’t lose to the Lions last week. The Colts are a nice throwback to tough hard nosed football.
BUF @ NE: NE -2.5
Blind Owl: Well, as we are all nursing our Christmas hangover, like Jesus would’ve wanted, we get a good old AFC East matchup. Up until about noon on Christmas Eve, I was going to pick the Bills. Then I saw that Cole Beasely got the Rona. That got me thinking. This is Buffalo we are talking about. I was dumb enough to pick them 2 weeks ago. Not again. Pats all the way.
Concret3Cowboy: I’m gonna take a walk on the wild side here. Their last matchup was in a crazy weather game, and the Bills have been in a bad slump but have started crawling out of it. But I’m expecting the Owl to take the Pats so I gotta go to the other side. I’m not picking the Bills because of my hatred for them, no matter how deep it runs…. I might be.
DEN @ LV: LV -1
Blind Owl: I don’t have much to say here. Teddy Bridgewater is out. Drew Lock is in. That means there will be at least one turnover for the Raiders. I think Lock is a better QB than Teddy though. So the Broncos may put up some points here. So, I’ll take the point also knowing the Cowboy is going to pick Denver.
Concret3Cowboy: Oof, this is the best the Broncos have been since the Super Bowl but it’s been a painful season. It’s almost better when they’re just out of the picture by October so I can just move on with my life. But whenever I expect them to play well they just suck the sack. I’m picking the Raiders just to help mitigate the pain for/if the Broncos lose.
DET @ ATL: ATL -4
Blind Owl: Detroit had a big win last week. Which means the Cowboy is probably going to pick them. He has a strange love affair with them in these picks. I’m sure he’ll rant about how he got last week right. My only response is that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. The Falcons should win by at least a TD.
Concret3Cowboy: Detroit is clearly the best team in the NFL. Ok they’re not, but they do have the second best record in the NFL against the spread. Welcome to Detroit.
NYG @ PHI: PHI -10
Blind Owl: This pick is only because I have a disturbing amount of Eagles on my fantasy team. I need them to have a big week. E-A-G-L-E-S.
Concret3Cowboy: Philly did pretty decent against a Washington team that played their 3rd string QB. Joe Judge and the Giants stink. They did beat the Eagles their first matchup this season though. Plus, 10 points is quite the spread for a running team.
JAX @ NYJ: NYJ -2
Blind Owl: Another battle of terrible teams meets us here. I have no faith in either team. I guess I’ll go with the Jets? Why not right.
Concret3Cowboy: They’re both just, awful. The Jags actually did better than the Texans on the field, but not on the scoreboard. So F it, Jags
TB @ CAR: TB -10.5
Blind Owl: Tampa got absolutely demolished with injuries last week. No Godwin, and no playoff Lenny. Tom Brady seemed rattled by it last week if we are being honest. That being said, Carolina is a bad divisional opponent to right the ship against. The Cowboy is 100% taking Carolina here. This will be an easy extension of my lead.
Concret3Cowboy: Brady is running out of weapons with Evans out this game and Godwin for the rest of the season. Fournette and Jones are still a very good tandem in the backfield. You know what, I had a good week last week… let’s ruin that this week.
LAC @ HOU: LAC -9.5
Blind Owl: HOUSTON BLOWS.
Concret3Cowboy: The Texans are the biggest disaster out of Houston since the Columbia Space Shuttle. That’s all I have.
(Editor’s Note: The Columbia left from Florida, but hey he tried to be funny.)
LAR @ MIN: LAR -3
Blind Owl: I went back and forth on this one. I couldn’t figure out who to pick for the life of me. So, I picked based on how big my lead is. The Cowboy picked LA to make the Super Bowl. I’ll take the Rams and make him have to contradict himself.
Concret3Cowboy: Big game for the Vikings, a routine kind of game for the Rams. The Vikes need this game to stay in the chase for the playoffs, the Rams need this game to get back on top of the division. Still got high hopes for the Rams.
BAL @ CIN: CIN -2.5
Blind Owl: Lamar Jackson probably isn’t going to play. But that Huntley kid looks pretty good. I just have no confidence in Harbaugh to make a good decision in a close game. He’s done the same dumb thing twice. I’ll go with CIncy here.
Concret3Cowboy: Cincinnati has no night life so they don’t have to worry about covid. I mean, when you're Joe Burrow and you're used to Baton Rouge, I don’t think anything really matches up to that. Will Harbaugh use Justin Tucker? Does Huntley play very well again? Well Huntley is questionable to even play due to an illness (wait there’s other illnesses besides covid?) whatever, Bengals.
CHI @ SEA: SEA -6.5
Blind Owl: Justin Fields will throw 2 picks in this game. Nagy sucks. Seattle wins easily.
Concret3Cowboy: Have I even picked the Bears to cover this season? Matt Nagy, give me the Seacocks.
PIT @ KC: KC -10
Blind Owl: I’m hoping for both teams to put up some good numbers in this game. I also know the Cowboy hates the Chiefs more than anyone I know. He has to take a chance and pick Pittsburgh. So I’ll take KC and score an easy win. Patrick Mahomes has a big game here.
Concret3Cowboy: I don’t like big spreads. I also don’t like the Steelers. I also, also don’t like the Chiefs. I don’t like this game. I don’t like green eggs and ham.
WFT @ DAL: DAL -10.5
Blind Owl: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Dallas can lock up their playoff spot if they win this one. Thankfully they get to beat up on Washington to do so. Dallas should scare all of the NFC teams. They can put up some points and have a defense that likes to create turnovers. Dallas all the way.
Concret3Cowboy: I may pick the Football Team to cover too often. And they’re coming off a short week due to a covid rescheduled game, in which they lost to Philadelphia. But I’ll do it again!
MIA @ NO: NO -3
Blind Owl: This may be a dumb thing to do, but I think it is going to pay off. The Cowboy needs to take a shot and make a run. I think he’s going to pick New Orleans. He has been doing it all year. I actually like Miami here. They’ve been hot and are trying their best to stay in the playoff race. Tua has been looking good. The Phins win this game.
Concret3Cowboy: 3 points? Strange.
