NFL picks 2020, Week 11: Packers vs. Colts is a tough pick

We’re back again for another week of NFL picks, and once again I’m the worst in this entire company at picking the winner of NFL games. In my defense, I tend to be a generous, nice person — and by that I mean I think the Chargers have burned me every single damn week I pick them.

Yes, I’m picking them again this week. I still believe in Justin Herbert and his glorious flowing locks. Also Los Angeles is playing the Jets this week. I think any team in the league could beat the Jets. In fact, I propose a year-round football extravaganza where every team in the league gets to play the Jets once in the offseason, as a reward for enduring 2020. This year has sucked so bad, we all deserve to feel like winners for one week. Well, except fans of the Jets, where this scenario would be a Sisyphean torment. Can’t make everyone happy.

The big game this week that really stumped the experts was Green Bay and Indianapolis. On paper this really shouldn’t be that difficult. The Packers are 7-2, they’re cruising to winning the NFC North with little resistance, but dig a little deeper and there’s cause for concern. This team has had a really soft schedule so far, and still dropped a game to the Vikings and struggled to put away Jacksonville last week. That doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence. The Colts are finding their stride too. Philip Rivers isn’t quite as unflappable as he once was, but this team is finding ways to compete and are now leading the AFC South. It’s going to be a good game either way.

Outside of one week performance the game to watch this week will be Cardinals vs. Seahawks. The NFC West is so brutal that divisional games will decide the winner, and Seattle can’t afford to drop a game to Arizona in the three-way tie that’s taking place. The Seahawks lost to 37-34 in overtime when they last met, and another loss could spell the end to Seattle’s season. It’s not that Russell Wilson and Co. deserve to miss the postseason, far from it — more that there’s a reality that the division is so tight we could easily see a 10-6 or 11-5 team miss the playoffs by virtue of the rest of the division. It’s tragically unfair, especially in a season where nobody in the NFC East seems to want to win a game of football, but these years happen sometimes, and always result in people wanting the playoff format changes as a result.