NFL picks 2015, Week 11: Experts unanimously favor Cardinals, Patriots, Panthers – SB Nation
After a brutal week of upsets, SB Nation’s NFL experts will try to get back on the wagon with their Week 11 picks.
SB Nation’s panel of NFL experts is back with their picks for Week 11, and they’ll try to do better than they did last week.
Week 10 was a brutal one for the panel, with a huge number of upsets wreaking havoc on their picks. Stephen White and David Fucillo did the worst of the lot, with both men getting just two picks right. Ryan Van Bibber was the only one who reached .500. Even the OddsShark computer had a rough week with a 3-11 record. Maybe PFT Commenter was on to something when he skipped his picks to attend the GOP debate.
So everyone is looking to improve this week, starting with Thursday night’s AFC South clash between the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite the teams being a combined 5-13 on the season, they’re both alive and well in the divisional race, and have an opportunity to make up ground with Andrew Luck out for several weeks. The Jaguars moved to 3-6 after a bizarre last-second win over the Baltimore Ravens that shouldn’t even have counted. The Titans are 2-7 after dropping a home game to the Carolina Panthers that was more notable for Cam Newton’s dancing than the on-field product. Our panel is mostly split on the winner here, with five writers picking Jacksonville and four taking Tennessee.
Speaking of the Panthers, they’ll defend their unbeaten record at home against Washington, which is coming off a dominant win over the New Orleans Saints. Washington is now 4-5 and could make itself a player in the wild card race if it pulls the road upset here, but nobody on our panel expects that to happen. The Panthers are unanimous picks to move to 10-0.
The biggest game of the day takes place in the late afternoon when the 7-2 Minnesota Vikings welcome the 6-3 Green Bay Packers to TCF Bank Stadium. This is something of a must-win game for Green Bay, which has lost three in a row and is looking surprisingly sluggish on offense. Meanwhile, the Vikings rode Adrian Peterson and a strong defense to five straight wins. Will Aaron Rodgers and company get back on track? Our panel gives them a slight edge, with five of eight picking Green Bay to take back first place in the division.
You normally wouldn’t expect the Sunday Night Football game to have a unanimous favorite, but that’s where we are with the Arizona Cardinals hosting the Cincinnati Bengals. Arizona is coming off a big road win over the Seattle Seahawks and are in the driver’s seat in the NFC West. Meanwhile, Cincinnati has some soul-searching to do after a listless performance against the Houston Texans dropped it from the undefeated ranks. Every one of our experts picked the Cardinals.
The New England Patriots are still unbeaten and unanimous favorites once again as they take on the Buffalo Bills Monday night. It’s hard to see the Patriots losing again this year, but if last week was any indication, these picks are hardly a lock.
Here are the complete picks for Week 11 (straight up, not against the spread):
Week 11 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark |
TEN vs JAX | JAX | TEN | TEN | TEN | JAX | JAX | JAX | JAX |
NYJ vs HOU | NYJ | NYJ | HOU | NYJ | NYJ | NYJ | NYJ | NYJ |
IND vs ATL | IND | IND | IND | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL |
DAL vs MIA | MIA | DAL | DAL | DAL | DAL | DAL | DAL | MIA |
OAK vs DET | OAK | DET | DET | OAK | OAK | OAK | OAK | OAK |
TB vs PHI | PHI | TB | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI |
WAS vs CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR |
DEN vs CHI | CHI | DEN | DEN | CHI | CHI | CHI | DEN | CHI |
STL vs BAL | BAL | STL | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL | STL | BAL |
KC vs SD | KC | KC | KC | SD | KC | KC | SD | SD |
SF vs SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA |
GB vs MIN | GB | GB | MIN | GB | MIN | GB | GB | MIN |
CIN vs ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ |
BUF vs NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE |
And here are the updated results for the season:
Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark | |
Last week | 7-7 | 2-12 | 5-9 | 2-12 | 4-10 | 6-8 | 0-0 | 3-11 |
To date | 85-61 | 88-58 | 80-66 | 86-60 | 88-58 | 88-58 | 77-55 | 85-61 |
* * *
SB Nation presents: Sunday’s wild, unexpected ending of the Packers-Lions game
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.