Fearless Rick & Coin Flip Week 14 NFL Picks

Week 13 Results: Rick: 9-6-1; Flip: 7-8-1
Cumulative: Rick: 92-98-4; Flip: 100-90-4

Thursday, December 4

Dallas Cowboys at Detroit Lions (-3.5, 54.5) 8:15 pm - Third straight home game for the Lions, and the fans haven’t had much to cheer about. In Week 12, Detroit was taken to overtime by the Giants, finally prevailing, 34-27. On Thanksgiving, they lost to the Packers, 31-24, though the game wasn’t really as close as it appears. The Packers were in control throughout.

The Cowboys ripped Kansas City on Turkey Day, following the Lions’ loss, 31-28, putting themselves in position for the playoffs and maybe even the NFC East title. Dallas added some stalwarts on defense which make them a legitimate threat.

Coin Flip: Dallas

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Cowboys 34 Lions 27

Sunday, December 7

Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills (-5.5, 54) 1:00 pm - Once again, Buffalo is chasing New England in the AFC East, and are in a tight wild card hunt. Their defense has been questionable all season and the offense hasn’t been clicking, especially in the passing game. Their win Sunday at Pittsburgh was against a seriously fading team, and now they have the hungry Bengals with Joe Burrow back from injury.

Don’t look now, but if the Bengals win out, 9-8 might be good enough to take the weak AFC North.

Coin Flip: Cincinnati

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Bengals 27 Bills 25

Seattle Seahawks (-7, 44.5) at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 pm - Another loss and the Falcons could be eliminated from playoff contention. If any team is capable of putting a hurting on a wounded foe, it’s the Seahawks. Their 26-0 smashing of Minnesota was justifiable payback for the Vikings trading Sam Darnold.

The Seahawks are in a dead heat with the Rams - both 9-3 - in the NFC West and Seattle hosts LA in two weeks. Fireworks, but first a good stomping of the Falcons.

Coin Flip: Atlanta

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Seahawks 38 Falcons 13

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (-5.5, 42.5) 1:00 pm - Did the Pittsburgh front office really think chasing after Aaron Rodgers was a good idea? Even if their defense was any good - it isn’t - Rodgers is at the end of his career and he’s been getting banged upbeat good.

Despite the obvious problems in Pittsburgh, the Ravens don’t look very tight after getting hammered by the Bengals on Thanksgiving, 32-14. These two meet again the last week of the regular season. By then, both may already have eliminated themselves.

Coin Flip: Pittsburgh

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Ravens 24 Steelers 14

Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns (-4, 34) 1:00 pm - Admittedly, Cam Ward is probably a better QB than Shedeur Sanders, and he’s had more playing time. Cleveland’s defense is still not bad and two of their three wins have been at home.

The Titans may want to just forfeit and pick up another 1st pick in the draft. They’re an absolute mess. Cleveland fans may have something to cheer about.

Coin Flip: Cleveland

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Browns 23 Titans 14

Indianapolis Colts (-1.5, 47) at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 pm - First place in the AFC South on the line now that the Colts have lost three of their last four, including last week’s flop against Houston, 20-16.

The Jaguars have been almost as pleasant a surprise as the Patriots in the AFC. They’ve won four of five and the defense has stepped up. Trevor Lawrence is finally playing up to his potential. Home sweet home.

Coin Flip: Jacksonville

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Jaguars 30 Colts 19

Washington Commanders at Minnesota Vikings (-2, 42.5) 1:00 pm - Who will be behind center this week for the Vikings? Joe Capp? The Vikings made a huge mistake trading Sam Darnold and are paying the price. J.J. McCarthy and RB Aaron Jones are both questionable, but it doesn’t matter because even if McCarthy plays, he stinks.

Jayden Daniels may get cleared to play here, but, if he doesn’t, Marcus Mariota should be able to deliver.

Coin Flip: Washington

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Commanders 28 Vikings 14

Miami Dolphins (-2.5, 41.5) at New York Jets 1:00 pm - Unexpectedly, the Dolphins have won three straight and may be harboring post-season thoughts. Remarkably, Miami is nearly injury-free which may pay big benefits down the stretch.

Beating the Jets at home may not be as easy as it sounds. After their 0-7 start, they’ve gone 3-2, and are playing with attitude. Close one means take the points.

Coin Flip: New York Jets

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Dolphins 23 Jets 22

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-8.5, 42) 1:00 pm - As long as Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving are good to go, the Buccaneers should handle the hapless Saints. A win here keeps them just ahead of Carolina, on a bye this week. The Bucs and Panthers hook up twice, in week 16 and 18, so that’s where the division will be won or lost.

Coin Flip: Tampa Bay

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Buccaneers 27 Saints 10

Denver Broncos (-7, 40.5) at Las Vegas Raiders 4:05 pm - The Raiders are a complete bust. They’re 2-10 and have lost six straight.

Denver’s managed to hold onto first place in the AFC West by winning close games. Their last four wins were by a total of 10 points, one of them a 10-7 win over the Raiders, in Denver. This one may be by a larger margin.

Coin Flip: Denver

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Broncos 31 Raiders 13

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (-6.5, 44) 4:25 pm - Both teams are playing lights out, and the winner here claims first place in the division, already held by the Bears (9-3-0) over the Packers (8-3-1).

Bears have won five straight; Packers, three in a row. Points look very tempting.

Coin Flip: Chicago

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Bears 24 Packers 21

Los Angeles Rams (-8.5, 47.5) at Arizona Cardinals 4:25 pm - The Rams got ambushed at Carolina last week, 31-28. Matthew Stafford had his worst game of the season, but he’s likely to bounce back against the fading Cardinals, though beating them by more than a touchdown might be asking too much in a divisional game.

The Cardinals have only won once at home, but in their five home losses, only one (41-22, San Fran) has been by more than four points. Like him or not, Jacoby Brissett keep the Cards in games.

Coin Flip: Arizona

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Rams 33 Cardinals 31

Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs (-3.5, 42) 8:20 pm - Sorry Chiefs, this doesn’t seem to be your year. As crazy as this may sound, KC is unlikely to make the playoffs and the Texans are playing their best football of the season, winners of four straight, including last week’s 20-16 win at Cincinnati.

Houston is very hungry and has a realistic shot at winning the AFC South.

Coin Flip: Kansas City

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Texans 27 Chiefs 23

Monday, December 8

Philadelphia Eagles (-2.5, 42.5) at Los Angeles Chargers 8:15 pm - This is a big game for both teams. The Eagles don’t want to lost their third straight, and the Chargers desire to stay close to the Broncos in the AFC West.

The Chargers have been pretty consistent, but their schedule is daunting. After this, they play at KC, at Dallas, home vs. Houston, and at Denver. If they don’t win this game, their season may be over.

Coin Flip: Los Angeles Chargers

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Chargers 24 Eagles 22

BYE: New England, NY Giants, San Francisco, Carolina

Fearless Rick & Coin Flip Week 15 College Football Picks

Week 14 Results: Rick: 7-7-1; Flip: 9-4-1
Cumulative Results: Rick: 75-95-6; Flip: 90-80-6

Friday, December 5

American Athletic Championship
20 North Texas (-2.5, 66) at 21 Tulane 8:00 pm (ABC) - Talk about strange. Both coaches have already taken jobs with new teams for next season. Jon Sumrall will leave Tulane for Florida, and Eric Morris will move on from North Texas to Oklahoma State,

11-1 North Texas QB Drew Mastemaker has thrown for 3,835 yards and 29 TDs this season and the Mean Green also boast a potent ground game. Caleb Hawkins has scored 16 TDs in just the past four games.

Tulane (10-2) does have home field advantage, where it’s expected to be wet for Friday night’s game. The elements may keep the scoring down somewhat. The winner might get a chance to play in the CFP, but that’s completely in the hands of the committee.

Coin Flip: North Texas

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Mean Green 31 Green Wave 27

Mountain West Championship
UNLV vs. Boise State (-5.5, 59.5) 8:00 pm (FOX) - Earlier this season, the Broncos mauled UNLV, 56-31, and they meet again on the cruel blue artificial turf of Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho.

Oddsmakers are calling for a closer contest than last time, which makes some sense. Both teams are 6-2 in conference play and arrived at the championship via tiebreakers. The Rebels lost only to Boise and New Mexico and have won four straight. The offense has been terrific all season and the defense has been improving. UNLV appears poised to upend the Broncos.

Coin Flip: UNLV

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Rebels 34 Broncos 31

Saturday, December 6

Big 12 Championship
11 BYU vs. 5 Texas Tech (-12.5, 50) 12:00 pm (ABC) - Both teams finished their conference slates with 8-1 records, but this game boils down to a rematch from November 8, a game completely dominated by the Red Raiders, in a 29-7 blowout.

Texas Tech is expected to defend as well as they did in the first meeting, when BYU barely cracked the 50-yard line until late in the second half. Look for the Cougars to mix things up with some gadget plays which may produce some field position gains, but the end result is likely to lean toward Texas Tech.

Texas Tech enters with an 11-1 mark overall and will be in the CFP win or lose. BYU reaches only with a win. Their loss would likely be Miami’s gain.

Coin Flip: Texas Tech

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Red Raiders 31 Cougars 17

SEC Championship
3 Georgia (-2.5, 48.5) vs. 10 Alabama 4:00 pm (ABC) - The Crimson Tide lost two games this season, their opener at Florida State, 31-17, and just a few weeks ago a rare home loss to Oklahoma, 23-21. That means a loss here might drop them out of the CFP, which would be a shame because they are a quality team with a huge fan base.

On September 27, the Tide rolled into Georgia and defeated the Bulldogs, 24-21. It was Georgia’s only loss of the season. This rematch is a border war, revenge game, grudge match all rolled into a conference championship.

Played a the “neutral” Georgia Dome, these teams have met for the SEC so many times, it’s difficult to pick a winner, but figure on a close game and take the points Few as they may be, they provide a small degree of comfort and insurance.

Coin Flip: Georgia

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Crimson Tide 27 Bulldogs 25

Big Ten Championship
2 Indiana vs. 1 Ohio State (-4, 47.5) 8:00 pm (FOX) - Both teams enter this championship undefeated at 12-0 with the Buckeyes exorcising some demons with their 27-9 victory over Michigan last Saturday. As the reigning national champions, Ohio State appears imposing, especially on defense. They’ve allowed just seven touchdowns all year. Only Illinois and Penn State managed to score two in the same game. Beyond those two wins, the Buckeyes haven’t given up more than 10 points in any other game.

In last week’s win at Michigan, Ohio State allowed three early field goals and then shut out the Wolverines in the second half. They’ll find that possibly a bit more difficult against the Indiana offense, which has scored 55 or more points in six wins this season. QB Fernando Mendoza is a Heisman finalist and he’s got plenty of targets, but the Buckeye defense is likely to be equal to the task and Ohio State’s offense may exploit some holes or gain advantage via turnovers.

With the game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Cincinnati, there’s no home field advantage. Ohio State, steeped in tradition and no stranger to big games, should prevail.

Coin Flip: Ohio State

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Buckeyes 24 Hoosiers 14

ACC Championship
Duke vs. 16 Virginia (-4, 57.5) 8:00 pm (ABC) - It would be a shame for the Cavaliers to lose this game, because they come in with an awesome 10-2 record, whereas the Blue Devils reached the championship game via tie-breakers and a 7-5 record.

Both of Virginia’s losses - 35-31 at NC State and 16-9 to Wake Forest - were within one score and they easily handled the Blue Devils just three weeks ago, in Raleigh, 34-17. People, even the oddsmakers in Vegas, apparently have a soft spot for Duke, because the line seems awfully light. Virginia should prove worthy of a berth in the CFP win a solid, if not resounding victory.

Coin Flip: Virginia

Fearless Rick’s Pick: Cavaliers 36 Blue Devils 18