It’s time for 5 for Friday! I’m a day late but I don’t get paid to do this so you will get over it. It’s already week 14 and 6 teams are on bye but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any games to watch this weekend. But it will be stress free Sunday afternoon. The Packers already lost, the Broncos are on bye and the Chiefs don’t play until the night. So let’s dive into the action.

Much Watch Winston: Browns @ Steelers on CBS at 11 AM mountain time

If Jameis Winston is playing then I am watching. The often boring Browns and Steelers just got real exciting. I haven’t checked the weather but maybe we will have another snow game and George Pickens can blame the loss on the elements that favor the Browns for some unknown reason. We know Winston is going to throw lots of touchdowns. We just don’t know which team he is going to throw them to. If his prayers are answered it then it will be the Browns. But I am not sure how important delivering Winston from pick sixes is to Jesus. I mean he gets a lot of requests and I am not sure a bad football player playing poorly is high on the priority list. Meanwhile, the Steelers are slightly less boring than usual at least when they play the Bengals and put up a bunch of points. I am still waiting for a clever catch phrase from Russ. “We are here to steel a victory and your hearts”. “Playing us must be the Pitts…burgh.” But I’ve got nothing from him yet. Until I do, I refuse to cheer for him. Winston will surely give some rousing speeches as well as pre, mid and post game interviews. Unfortunately being fun and giving good speeches does not equal wins. I don’t see the Steelers going 0-2 against the Browns so give me Russ and the gang in this one but I’ll be cheering for Winston and his pick sixes to be delivered and deliver a victory.

Steelers 31 Browns 20

Kirk’s return home: Falcons @ Vikings on Fox at 11 AM mountain time

Kirk spent several years playing pretty good football in Minnesota. He hopes that a return back will help him play pretty good football again because he has been awful this year except when he is playing the Bucs. He threw 4 interceptions last week and doesn’t seem to be able to move. People are beginning to say they should put in the rookie and bench Kirk. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for quarterback whose team is currently leading their division. They have lost 3 in a row and have not looked great. To make matters worse for Kirk, the guy who took his place who had been awful everywhere is all of the sudden awesome and tearing it up with the coaches and players that used to make Kirk look good. Perhaps, just maybe neither of them were or are that good and instead Kevin O’Connell is just a really good coach and throwing to Justin Jefferson makes things a lot easier. Regardless this should be a good game. The Vikings are playing well especially defensively. But they have also escaped some close ones. This is an 11 am road game so Kirk should play pretty well. The Vikings are clearly better and the Falcons are desperate for a win. Maybe I am just a softy for good natured Kirk but I think he pulls the upset.

Falcons 27 Vikings 20

Battle of the Western Birds: Seahawks @ Cardinals on CBS at 2:05 PM Mountain time

The Seahawks are one game ahead of the Cardinals in the lead of the NFC West just like everyone expected. Most assumed the 49ers were going to win it again. But smart people like me assumed their injury woes would return and picked the Rams. The Rams are just a game out and have a shot but it would be helpful to them if the Cardinals won. I did pick the Seahawks to make the playoffs as a wild card and that could still happen but is unlikely because of the Commanders record and the NFC North being so good. The Cardinals came out of nowhere and I did not expect them to be good but they have been pretty solid. They almost beat the Vikings last week but almost doesn’t count when you are trying to win a division. Both teams have been up and down and last time they played it wasn’t a very exciting game as the Seahawks won 16-6. Hopefully this one will be a little more entertaining. I’ll be cheering for James Conner and Kenneth Walker since I have both of them on a fantasy team. Kyler Murray is trying to overcome his shortness and Geno Smith is trying to overcome being Geno Smith to try and win the division. If Seattle wins they don’t clinch but it could be tough for anyone to catch them. This seems like a division that someone is going to win at 9-8 and will go down to the wire. So give me the Cardinals in a little more high scoring game this time.

Cardinals 27 Seahawks 24

The AFC West title game: Chargers @ Chiefs on NBC at 6:20 PM mountain time

Okay so only the Chiefs have a chance at clinching the AFC West but only the Chargers really have a shot to catch the Chiefs. The Broncos are right there and already have two division losses. The Chiefs have a big lead because of overall record and can wrap things up. The Chargers have been playing better ball this year by not making all the dumb mistakes they made last year. They are the classic pretty good team that beats everyone they should and loses to everyone they should. There is nothing wrong with that in this stage of the Harbaugh era. Also, does something seem off with Jim Harbaugh like he isn’t all there? Dude seems like he aged 15 years in the last 2. Watching his press conferences is a little like watching Biden press conferences. But whatever is going on with him, it’s working as the Chargers are much improved. According to the Sports media world, the Chiefs are terrible and the worst 11-1 team in history and will lose in the first round of the playoffs. Of course most of the people saying that spent most of their careers as coaches and players not making the playoffs but hey they have been around football their whole lives so that makes them an expert. I’ve been around pizza my whole life, that doesn’t make me an expert on Italy. The Chiefs do look a bit flawed but which Chiefs team do you feel better about in week 14? This year’s team or last year’s team? I feel significantly better about this year’s team. The new guy is going to start at left tackle and he can’t possibly be worse. They will take the training wheels off Pacheco this week. Kareem Hunt is a great story and he helped one of my fantasy teams win a bunch of games when my other players got injured but he is slowing down. They should still use him in short yardage and goal line situations but I think Pacheco has a big game on Sunday night. Mahomes has been playing well and has just been a hair off on some deep balls that I think he will hit now that he is not scared for his life of getting blasted by whoever is rushing against the left tackle. I think we not only win but win big…well big for the us.

Chiefs 31 Chargers 20

The elimination game of teams I hate: Bengals @ Cowboys on ESPN at 6:15 pm Monday night

Both these teams are barely hanging on to playoff relevancy. It has mostly to do with the rest of their respected conferences being just awful after the first 7 to 8 teams. But they are both technically in it. The Bengals average like 50 points a game but unfortunately for Bengals fans their defense gives up 55 points a game. The Cowboys have been a little bit more up and down besides when they play at home and get trounced by every team that isn’t starting Drew Lock at quarterback. Cooper Rush hasn’t been terrible and that Bengals defense will surely make him look like Joe Burrow in this one. This should be a high scoring affair which is partially why it made my list this week. But also no matter who loses we all win. If the Cowboys lose again at home it is hilarious and if the Bengals lose again then they are 4-9 and officially done. And it is always fun when the self proclaimed “team to beat” always gets beat. The hardest part is predicting who will win because both of these teams have been so awful at winning this year. I’ll go with the Bengals since the Cowboys are at home. And Joe Burrow’s bad luck has to run out at some point…right? Let’s hope not but I think it does.

Bengals 107 Cowboys 102