NFL Week 11 Picks

Another 4-2 week for me, unfortunately for Loren he had a 2-4 week. My lead’s up to 9. Derek – 40-20, Loren 31-29.

Cincinnati at Kansas City
Loren - Cincinnati. I chose this game hoping Derek would be tempted to take the Chiefs at home. Yeah, no such luck. The Bengals are obviously the better team and should put a beating on KC.
Derek – Cincinnati. The Chiefs are the worst team in the league, they made a game of it last week against Pittsburgh but don’t expect that again, and I mean for the rest of the season.

Philadelphia at Washington
Loren - Philadelphia. Yes, I'm crazy. But look, the Eagles have lost 5 in a row so they're due. They've played a pretty brutal schedule during their losing streak but have a much easier target in Washington. Minus Vick, this team is still the team that started 3-1 with wins over Baltimore and the Giants.
Derek – Washington. The loss of Vick made this easier, sure he’s not the best QB but he’s better than a rookie making his first start on the road against a team that will score a lot of points.

Tampa Bay at Carolina
Loren - Tampa Bay. Carolina is one of those 'any given Sunday' teams. They don't do any one thing really well, though, and the Bucs do with their run stopping D. Unless Cam figures out how to recapture some of last year's passing magic, it's going to be a long day for the Panthers.
Derek – Tampa Bay. The Bucs are playing pretty dang well right now and I don’t the Panthers are the team to knock them down. Five the ball to Martin and then give it to him some more.

NY Jets at St Louis
Loren - NY Jets. When you're down by as many games as I am, you sometimes just think to yourself, "Why not?" This is a why not pick. Why can't the Jets beat the Rams? Probably because they're the Jets, but this pick is no worse than any other.
Derek – St. Louis. Take a not great Rams team or a dumpster fire Jets team, hmm. Never mind, I can’t pick the Jets. So long Rexy!

Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Loren - Baltimore. I'm always leery of this match up to begin with, but there's an additional X factor in play this week. Never underestimate the boost a good backup QB can give a team, and how difficult it is to make a game plan for someone you haven't seen on the field. That said, the Steelers still can't run consistently and Baltimore should be able to keep their offense on the field for long stretches of the game.
Derek – Baltimore. The Ravens have been pretty blah lately, but the absence of Big Ben is going to hurt the Steelers a lot, plus the absence of their defense. I’m assuming they’re all hurt now.

Chicago at San Francisco
Loren - San Francisco. A tie? Against St Louis? Ugh. The deflation of that game followed by the scare with Harbaugh could be enough to spook a team facing a really tough D. But Harbaugh is back in the locker room and will be on the sideline, which is exactly where Cutler will be. See my note above about good backup QBs providing a change of pace for a team, but as long as the 49ers' don't make any egregious mistakes, they should win this one at home.
Derek – San Francisco. Both of the normal starting QBs got rung last week but looks like Smith will be back while Cutler won’t, this doesn’t bode well for the visitors.