I'm filling in for Bullseye while health issues prevent him from posting.  Bullseye, we all miss you and hope your situation improves.




Jacksonville @ Indianapolis - Recap

I run a chess club every Saturday from Noon-5pm here in Anchorage except for June/July/August when I am fishing, golfing or otherwise enjoying the beautiful (and always too short) Summer with my family.  After about 2 hours at the club last Saturday, this year's first snow came.  In between making moves on the board many of us looked out the windows at the seemingly endless snowfall and realized that this was, indeed, the end of Fall.
The next morning I had planned to take Zachary (my son) with me to breakfast at the Peanut Farm (a local restaurant & sports bar) and watch the Jags game.  However, we woke up too late and I also had tons of shoveling to do in the driveway.  So, I stayed home and followed game updates on my cellphone as well as reading the official game thread.

Like the thick blanket of snow that ended our Fall season, the Jaguars similarly saw an end to their postseason hopes yesterday.  There were few bright spots in yesterday's 33-13 beatdown in Indy.

- The game was effectively over before the 4th quarter had started
- Our poor run defense was on display, as the Colts would end up with over 260 rushing yards
- Nick Foles was obviously rusty, and maybe a little scared with how our o-line was performing
- We never had time (or the ability) to establish a run game of our own
- The officiating was more suspect than normal (judging by comments in the game thread)
- Our team was failing at the fundamentals (like maintaining gap assignments and wrapping up on tackles)

...I could go on, but it would be largely narrative.

In what seems like a repetitive admission of sin, the post-game press conference yesterday saw Head Coach Douglas Marrone taking responsibility for the team not being prepared...after two uninterrupted weeks of planning and preparation for a heavily injured opponent.

While there are more football games to be played, they now take on a different meaning.  This loss hurt, and left most Jaguars fans (myself included) longing for some sort of reckoning by Jaguars owner Shahid Khan at season's end.


Houston @ Baltimore - Recap

Texans fans had a terrible week as well.  First, the Jaguars didn't do them any favors by rolling over for Indy.  Second, they got to witness a beatdown of their own with their team losing 41-7 to the Ravens.  Deshaun Watson, the fountainhead of good fortune for the Texans, was repeatedly harrassed in a strong performance from the Ravens defense.  He was sacked 7 times.  He was intercepted once.  He was hurried countless times.  He failed to throw a touchdown pass.  The Texans did not get on the scoreboard until 7 minutes left in the game.  Baltimore's running game was in full swing, also gaining over 260 yards.  Lamar Jackson again looked legit.  This was a statement game by Baltimore that said "We'll be waiting for the Patriots in the Conference Championship and we'll beat them again."



Now for the picks:


Game 1  (Indianapolis @ Houston)  THURSDAY NIGHT GAME!!  Get your picks done before then!

If you're a football fan, it doesn't get any better than this.  The Colts (6-4) travel to Houston (6-4) for a divisional game that features two teams firmly in the playoff hunt, with the winner getting one step closer to the title of AFCS champion.  This would be the second meeting of these two teams this year, the first meeting ending in a 30-23 Colts victory.  The Texans look to rebound at home from last week's dismantling in Baltimore, while the Colts aim to continue their injury-riddled journey towards the postseason.  Colts running back Marlon Mack broke his hand last week vs. Jacksonville, and will not be playing in Houston.  This will have an effect on Indy's production, but how much?  I figure the Texans will return to form and do enough to outlast the Colts in a tough game at home.

Texans  33
Colts  21


Game 2  (Jacksonville @ Tennessee)

Titans fans look forward to payback as the Jaguars travel to Nashville for the 4pm game.  The Jaguars embarrassed the Titans in week 3, delivering a 20-7 spanking that became one of the nails in Mariota's coffin as starter.  Since then, Tannehill has more or less righted the ship, and has Tennessee at a respectable 5-5 record.  The Jaguars sit at 4-6, losing last week to an Indianapolis team that showed a lot of heart.  Jaguars QB Nick Foles will be starting, and should perform a little better in this game.  Both teams are healthy, and this game is expected to be competitive.  I give the edge to Tennessee, who had 2 weeks to prepare for this game and will undoubtedly utilize a strong run game to control the clock and wear down our Jaguars defense.

Titans  24
Jaguars  17



Last Week  2-0
Overall  23-11

Pete Prisco last week  1-1
Pete Prisco overall  17-17

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"We believe in victory!"   - Gus Bradley
"I don't want to believe.  I want to know."   - Carl Sagan

Great job again, Kodiak, consider it an act of mercy that you didn't get subjected to viewing the game. 18-16 on the season, let's see if I can make a late-season run at the playoffs...

Hou 17 Ind 13, Missing Mack for sure. Williams, his backup quickly realizes this isn't the Jags D. I'm considering a similar act of mercy upon myself and recording this game instead of the Jags.

Ten 26 Jax 9, Jags might get 375'd. Considering how bad our D beat them down earlier this season, the thumbtacks are going to be salivating to return the favor.

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20-14 overall   

simple the first game vs tittans was nothing but luck. they are all around better then jags espailley the head coach.   Henrey will set a record againest our defense,and in the nfl with 400 yards rushing by 1 player.


Titans will destroy our jags


colts at texans tougher game to chose.  both teams strong defense,and offensse. the difference though will be its in houston,and texans just got killed so Texans win.

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snowwolf titans owner in madden.

note titans owner means im undeafted againest them. 

2-0 last week
21-13 overall
Tennessee over Jags
Houston over Indy

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You know trouble is right around the corner when your best friend tells you to hold his beer!!

sitting at 14-20

jags won't fool me any more this season tacks over the jags ....what a horrible taste in my mouth.

and another nausea moment.....clots over 'horns.

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"Stay tight, stay close. Great things are going to continue to happen for this football team."  - Doug Peterson

Going with Colts and Tacks.

15-17 overall

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Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

21-13 coming in

tittians

Colts

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

17-17

colts
tacks

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20-14 overall

This week:
tinhorns
tacks

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1-1 last week, I won't be picking the Jaguars again until they show something.

Accordingly I'll take the titans to humiliate the Jags, something like 27-10 with the Jags only TD coming in garbage time. Foles looked like I was afraid he'd look, which is like another backup being badly overpaid. I look forward to Marrone's firing and hopefully finally finding a good coach. Same for Caldwell, bidding the price up against themselves on Foles says all you need to know about how bad he is.

For the other game I'll take the home team on a Thursday night, so the texans, even though I don't think they're close to being an elite team.

18-16 overall so far.

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0-2 last week, 17-17 overall

Last week I went against Kodiak, no way I'm doing it this time. Especially since I think he's spot on.

Texans over colts.

Tacks at home beat the Jags

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1-1 last week
16-14 overall

Texans over Colts
Titans over Jaguars

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We learned in the Sunday School who made the sun shine through.  I know who made the moonshine too, back where I come from.

Since I am including Prisco in our polls, I'll post his picks for him ahead of time.  His picks were made public on cbssports.com earlier today:


Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans (-4)

This is a huge division game for these two, especially for the Texans. They've already lost to the Colts, so they have to get this one. Deshaun Watson and the offense sputtered last week against the Ravens, but I think they will get back on track in this game. Texans take it. 
Pick: Texans 28, Colts 21


Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans (-3)

This is a tough place to play for the Jaguars, who haven't won there since 2013. The Jaguars have been terrible on defense, which is a good thing for Derrick Henry. He ran through and over them last year in a victory in Nashville, and he will have a good game here. Titans take it. 
Pick: Titans 26, Jaguars 17


Prisco's picks for week 12

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"We believe in victory!"   - Gus Bradley
"I don't want to believe.  I want to know."   - Carl Sagan

16-17 overall

Texans
Titans

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LoL....all the fans here are picking the tacks ....much as it hurts....NOW watch them win.
It does happen sometimes.

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"Stay tight, stay close. Great things are going to continue to happen for this football team."  - Doug Peterson

17-17 after a 1-1 week last week. Call me crazy buuuuut

Jags
Texans

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Week # 11 Results: 1-1
Overall: 20-14

Week # 12 Selections:

Houston
Tennessee

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I still haven't quite decided which way to go for Sunday's game.  My initial thought is Titans, but I don't know...

For the Thursday game it's a tough one to pick.

I'll take the Colts.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

14-20

Jags
colts

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I still haven't quite decided which way to go for Sunday's game.  My initial thought is Titans, but I don't know...

For the Thursday game it's a tough one to pick.

I'll take the Colts.

Welp...

Let's hope I go 0-2 this week.  I'll take the Titans.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.