It’s funny because some of the games that we for sure thought were locks, ended up flipping on its head. For example, the Houston Texans found a way to knock off the scorching hot Tennessee Titans behind Ryan Tannehill’s four interceptions.
This weekend, we get to see two of the best squads in the NFC battle it out as they race for the top seed in the conference.
Minnesota Vikings @ San Francisco 49ers
The Minnesota Vikings picked up a statement win over the Green Bay Packers last week. This is a very good team despite their mediocre 5-5 record on the season. Kirk Cousins has thrown 21 touchdowns and just two interceptions throughout the season, with Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson accounting for most of them. Add on Dalvin Cook’s running ability and this offense is one of the most lethal groups in the league right now. The 49ers have themselves quite a dangerous offense as well. Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t a phenomenal player, but he gets the job done. Deebo Samuel and George Kittle seem to be unstoppable when healthy and their running back room, despite always being injured, somehow finds ways to improve. This is without a doubt going to be a higher scoring game between two offense-oriented teams. Each defense has some strong players, but this hasn’t been a stellar year on that side of the football. I’m going to be picking the Vikings here though, I think they are a lot better than that record suggests.
Los Angeles Rams @ Green Bay Packers
The Rams really need to prove that they are all together chemistry wise. They were embarrassed in back-to-back weeks despite adding Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr to their roster. Matthew Stafford has struggled lately but a few of those interceptions fall on the receivers for dropping them. Their run game has slowed down and their defense hasn’t been consistent. Green Bay suffered a bad loss but have proven to be deadly offensively with Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams on the football field. Their defense deserves some praise also with their stellar play all season, outside of the Minnesota game of course. I believe that these two teams will be locked in a lower scoring game as they will counter each other defensively. It won’t be one-sided as these offenses are too talented, but with how the Rams have played lately and the fact that Beckham seems to be a bit of a curse, I would roll with the Packers for this one.
Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens
It’s shocking to me that Cleveland fans are calling for Baker Mayfield to be taken out of the starting lineup and even traded. Mayfield changed this organisation and outside of Jarvis Landry, doesn’t have much talent in the wide receiver room to work with. He is also playing with multiple injuries that would keep other veterans out for the remainder of the season. Kareem Hunt could return off his injury and Nick Chubb could stay in the lineup to give them a boost in the ground game. Browns fans need to blame this bad streak on defense, as they have been stellar one game then awful the next. They must get their chemistry issues out of the way though, as the Baltimore Ravens are a strong team. Their defense hasn’t been amazing but when Lamar Jackson is in this lineup, they are tough to stop. On most occasions, I would take the Ravens here. However, I think that this could be a classic division game where the Browns come out and barely win this game.