Steve Brownlee

There’s been lots of talk about the extra game added to this season, a 17th game and 18th week to be played.

I hear all these NFL pundits saying everyone has to plan for more of a marathon and that no lead is safe and it’s hard to stay on a roll for a long time.

Phooey!

I probably could have chosen a different word, but I figured I’d like to keep my job here at The Mining Journal for a couple more weeks.

Looking at the difference between 16 games and 17 games, it’s an increase of 6 1/4%. Everyone is thinking about the 17th game, often trying to remember a team might have a 10-7 record and not a 9-7 record.

But at this point, if the powers that be decided to end the season right this minute, nobody would have had any different feelings about the first 13 weeks.

Same way now, we’re heading into Week 14 where all but four teams have had a bye week, so there’s no difference for those 28 teams from last season heading into Week 14 where they’ve had a bye week at some point.

It should only seem long when we finish Week 17 and suddenly realize there’s another regular season week to go.

But it’ll be checkout time for about half the teams and intense playoff mode for the other half, so I wonder how much anyone will notice.

It’s kind of like for some teams that just barely missed the playoffs in a previous year, when they sit and just wish they could have had one more week to get back in the chase.

Well, you have your week.

Now onto this week’s picks:

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Today, 8:20 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Minnesota — My thinking has been that Pittsburgh has been on the scrap heap for a number of weeks now, while the Vikings are just roaring and ready to go once they figure out how to close games.

Then my eyes were opened to the difference T.J. Watt makes to the Steelers, and the fact he played last weekend when they beat Baltimore. They’re 0-3-1 without him and 6-2 with him.

And the Vikes still don’t know how to close out a game — just ask the now one-win Lions. Steelers, 23-20.

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Sunday, 1 p.m.

Atlanta at Carolina — I’d abandon ship if I was in Carolina right about now. Apparently Joe Brady did as he was relieved of his duties as offensive coordinator in the middle of their two-week-off bye period. Give them at least a week to adjust to a new OC. Falcons, 31-21.

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Baltimore at Cleveland — Two Jekyll-and-Hyde squads. These teams just played two weeks ago — for the Browns it’s back-to-back games since they were on their bye last weekend — and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson got away with throwing four interceptions to still get a 16-10 win.

I’m hearing Cleveland may put Lamar Hunt and Nick Chubb together in their backfield, maybe imitating what the Patriots did to Buffalo on Monday night. I also remember Baltimore has a terrible run defense.

Oops, I just looked up the stats online. Actually Baltimore has the No. 1 rush defense and No. 30 pass defense. Good enough for me. Ravens, 22-17.

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Seattle at Houston — Geez Louise, two of the biggest sad-sack teams. And I watch the Lions!

I’m hearing Seattle had the 49ers’ number. Now that they’re playing a relative nobody, pick that nobody. Texans, 23-19.

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Las Vegas at Kansas City — In this battle of rivals, I like the team with the most potential, which has to be the Chiefs, 27-20.

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New Orleans at New York Jets — The Saints at least have a decent defense, and that should test what seems like a vulnerable Jets offense. Saints, 17-13.

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Jacksonville at Tennessee — Tennessee just got the week off; it may seem like another week off considering the opposition. Titans, 30-16.

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Dallas at Washington — The Cowboys are supposedly getting healthy again — and that doesn’t even mention getting their half-dozen coaches back from the COVID-19 protocol. Cowboys, 31-27.

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Sunday, 4 p.m.

San Francisco at Cincinnati — A perfect matchup of maybe the two biggest flops last weekend with Seattle and the Chargers beating these respective teams. I like Cincy’s defense and the fact they’re at home, though. Bengals, 24-19.

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Detroit at Denver — OK, so the Lions are on a roll after beating Minnesota. But considering they’ve been going 364 days between wins, this is way too soon for another. Broncos, 27-21.

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New York Giants at Los Angeles Chargers — We’re back to a pair of lifeless teams in New York. Chargers, 31-20.

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Buffalo at Tampa Bay — First the Bills took on Bill Belichick. Now they’ve got to face Tom Brady. And on a short week! Buccaneers, 27-20.

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Sunday, 8:20 p.m.

Chicago at Green Bay — Neither rain, not sleet, nor gloom of a busted pinkie toe can stop the Pack from their appointed rounds. Isn’t that how it goes? Packers, 26-17.

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Monday, 8:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Rams at Arizona — Yeah, the Rams won by 30 points on Sunday. But that was against one of the few teams left challenging the Lions for the No. 1 draft pick. And Arizona can’t be confused with Jacksonville. Cardinals, 34-27.

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Last week — 8-6 (that’s seven weeks in a row with either eight right or seven and a tie), 57 percent. Season — 118-75, 61 percent.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.