IN Thanksgiving week in America, let's be grateful for another thrilling weekend of NFL match-ups. Can the Raiders bounce back from their mauling at against the Jets? Can the Browns keep their playoff hopes alive? Can the Seahawks win their fifth game on the bounce? If anyone can tell us, it's NFL expert Nat Coombs. Here are his top three picks ahead of the weekend's action.
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LOCK
The Cleveland Browns are improbably back in the playoff hunt having won three on the bounce, and with a relatively straightforward schedule for their run-in, Baltimore notwithstanding. One of those wins came against Pittsburgh, a game remembered for the wrong reasons, with the ugly helmet waving scenes at the end leading to Myles Garrett’s season long suspension.
His absence is a blow, and you can count on the Steelers faithful giving a rather frisky welcome to their rivals. Mason Rudolph, who was on the receiving end of Garrett’s blow, has been benched in favour of another young QB Devlin Hodges – Duck to his teammates – who has shown promise, including throwing a 79-yard TD to James Washington last week. He’ll most likely be without 2 of his key weapons – RB James Conner and WR Juju Smith-Schuster.
In contrast, the Browns offense will feature a stack of playmakers – Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham (who snagged his first TD since Week 2 last time out) and running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt (who also scored a TD in the Browns big win over Miami) and Baker Mayfield is starting to deliver consistency to his undoubted raw talent. This a strong Steelers D, so it won’t be easy, but I like the Browns to keep their playoff hopes alive with a road win.
Pick: Cleveland -2 (10/11)
Baker Mayfield last 5 games.
• 114-177 (64%)
• 1,225 yards (245 YPG)
• 10 TDs – 2 INTs
• 3 game win streakShhhh…
— Browns Time (@DevotedBrownie) November 24, 2019
PUNT
Monday Night Football sees the Vikings head to Seattle for a key showdown, with both teams eyeing up a first round bye in the playoffs, a more realistic opportunity for the 8-3 Vikings who have the Packers in their sights in the North, whilst Seattle will struggle to catch San Francisco to win the West.
Either way, both teams seem playoff bound, and both come into the game in a rich vein of form, Seattle winning four straight, the Vikings six out of their last seven. Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins is quietly going about a strong season despite the haters, and he’s got an all-star cast around him, though may have to do without WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) again. Russell Wilson, his counterpart, is having another sensational year, (24 TD, 3 INT) and can keep drives alive single handedly. He’s tough too, taking six sacks against the Eagles last week, but grinding out the win.
The Vikings are strong against the run, and could neutralise Chris Carson and Rashad Penny, who had a big day last time out against the Eagles (129 yards on 14 carries). It’s always a risk to back against Russell Wilson, and the 12th Man will be making plenty of noise to disrupt the Vikings offense but the Vikings are clicking right now, and I think Cousins hits back at the “he can’t win in primetime” crew.
Pick: Vikings +3 (10/13)
LONGSHOT
The Raiders were hugely disappointing last week, blown out by the Jets, which has dented their post-season ambition, and they face a tough trip to Arrowhead, one of the more raucous stadiums in the NFL, to meet divisional rivals Kansas City. The Chiefs will most likely take the division with a win here and I expect them to have too much for Oakland in the end, but there are signs that the Raiders will put up a fight.
RB Josh Jacobs was held in check by solid NY Jets run defense last week but the Chiefs are less sturdy in this area – ranked 28th in the league against the run. Establishing the ground game should enable Derek Carr to exploit the Chiefs also fallible pass D and I think Oakland will get points on the board – just not enough to outgun Mahomes & Co.
Pick: Over 51 points (10/11)
