Week 14 NFL Picks

December 10, 2015

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

Time now for our Week 14 NFL Picks!

Week 14 Games

Ha Kung Wong’s Picks

Ha Kung’s Thoughts:

As I mention every week, copy my picks and you can thank me later. I’m still in the lead with 116-76 for the season. So if you like winning, I think I can help.

Also, just because we love competition here at Football Garbage Time, we’ve been going heads up against Wally and Ray at Urban Sports Scene on our NFL Picks. So far, we’re 2-0, and we appreciate the shout out (@ the 10 min. mark) that they gave us on their weekly podcast! But keep it tuned in, to both us and them, because there’s much more competition to come!

Alright, now on to the most interesting game of the week for me, which is the Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers in total, with and without Big Ben, are third in the league for average yards for pass attempt (8.4) and fifth in the league for passing yards per game (286). Cincinnati on the other hand is fifth in the league in limiting yards per pass attempt (6.7) and 13th at limiting passing yards per game (240). The Cincinnati defense picked Big Ben three times at their last meeting on November 1, but things have changed.

Ben Roethlisberger

Since that game, Big Ben has averaged over 383 passing yards per game and totaled 10 TDs to 4 INTs. Not only has Ben locked on in recent weeks to all three of his receivers, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton, all playing at high levels, but Cincinnati CB’s Pacman Jones and Leon Hall are likely to be out along with FS George Iloka, leaving the Bengals with essentially their “second team” secondary against the Steelers. So there should be plenty of room to move the chains through the air, in addition to a surprisingly rejuvenated ground game headed up by DeAngelo Williams.

Of course, the Pittsburgh defense has allowed the fourth most passing yards per game in the NFL this year (276), but have been relatively stout against the run allowing the sixth least amount of rushing yards per game (90.3). Andy Dalton has been having a banner year as well, but “bad Andy” can pop up at any time, as we saw in Week 10 against the Houston Texans, where he totaled 197 passing yards and an INT with no TDs.

This is most likely going to be a shoot out, with both teams averaging over 30 points over their last five games, but ultimately, I think Pittsburgh has more effective weapons and more consistency than Cincy, particularly with the injuries to the Cincy secondary, and the Steelers end up upsetting the Bengals at home.

Also check out my Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears preview!

Scott King’s Picks

Scott’s Thoughts:

If not for the Aaron Rodgers miracle against the Detroit Lions, those footsteps would be even louder.

Joanne Kong’s Picks

Joanne’s Thoughts:

Seattle Seahawks (7-5) @ Baltimore Ravens (4-8)

With the Ravens’ quarterback, Matt Schaub, at less than 100% (shoulder/knee) and Russell Wilson, quarterback of the Seahawks, coming off his best three weeks of the season, the Seahawks offense is likely to outplay the Ravens’ offense.

Russell Wilson

On defense, the Seahawks have 39 sacks, 7 interceptions, 9 forced fumbles. The Seahawks secondary are among the top of the league, while the defense have allowed the third least rushing yards per game, and the fourth least passing yards per game.

The Ravens defense have 19 sacks, 16 interceptions (3 which have lead to a defensive touchdowns) and 9 forced fumbles. The Ravens are currently 10th in rushing yards allowed (97.5), but 19th in passing yards allowed (243.9).

The bottom line, although there are no definite predictions in football, the Seahawks have been on fire the past three weeks and on paper are the better team.

Expect the Seahawks to win in Baltimore

New York Giants (5-7) @ Miami Dolphins (5-7)

The Giants have slowly been unraveling in the later half of the season. Entering week 14, the Giants are on a three-game losing streak. In week 13, the Giants lost in overtime to their hometown rival, New York Jets. With the Washington Redskins loss to the Dallas Cowboys this past Monday Night, the NFC East has a three-way tie for first place (Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants), with the Dallas Cowboys trailing by one game. This is a must win game for the Giants if they want to continue into the post-season, currently at third place in the division due to tie breakers.

Eli Manning

The Miami Dolphins will need to win every single remaining game in the regular season, while every other team in the AFC East division losses every single remaining game, to get a bid into the Wild Card. The chances of “The Walking Dead” zombie outbreak occurring is probably more likely than the above scenario. The Dolphins have improved since the beginning of the season, but not enough to get to the post-season.

The Giants will need to improve their passing defense, currently allowing the most passing yards per game (314.5). Dolphins quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, has been sacked 34 times this season. If the Giants defense are able to put pressure on the Dolphins front line, they will easily be able to take advantage of sacking Tannehill and potentially causing turnovers. Although the Dolphins defense has allowed the third most rushing yards per game (134.8), the Giants still haven’t figured out the running game.