NFL picks 2019, Week 14: Quarterback and coaching carousels make for some hard choices

A two-month-old puppy was much better at picking games than our NFL experts in Week 13. Henry Lamar was the only one brave enough to pick the Bills on Thanksgiving, and the only one reckless enough to correctly predict the Dolphins and Bengals would win on an upset-filled Sunday. Lately, everything’s coming up roses for people named Lamar.

Our canine guest of the week wound up with a 12-4 record. Only two of our human experts, Stephen White and Alexis Chassen, managed winning records at 10-6 each.

Sometimes when it comes to the NFL, flipping a coin — or in this case, letting a puppy make choices — ends up more accurate than making educated guesses. Our expert panel could use some of Henry’s good luck in Week 14, because it’s full of tough games to pick.

There’s a marquee matchup between contenders in each conference in Week 14. The Chiefs will travel to face the Patriots in a rematch of the last AFC Championship. While Kansas City hasn’t been as unstoppable as it was in 2018, it blew out the Raiders in Week 13 and meets a Patriots team that has lost two of its last four. The majority of our experts are siding with momentum and taking the Chiefs to hand New England back-to-back losses (please don’t tell the Patriots).

The panel is a little more split on the NFC duel between the 49ers and Saints that could end up deciding homefield advantage in the playoffs. Both are 10-2, but New Orleans is riding a three-game win streak while San Francisco is looking to bounce back from a 20-17 loss to the Ravens.

The clashes of juggernaut teams aren’t the only ones that are difficult to predict. Recent news in the NFL has made a few of the games between lower-level squads toss-ups too.

Quarterback and coaching drama affect a handful of matchups

The Carolina Panthers have been an unpredictable team in 2019. They lost both games Cam Newton started in September, then got hot once Newton was sidelined with a foot injury and replaced by Kyle Allen. The second-year quarterback led Carolina to four straight wins, but just when it was looking like it was safe to pick the Panthers, they fell apart.

Now the team has lost four in a row. A 29-21 loss to Washington was the final straw that got Ron Rivera fired. Yet, a majority our panel is picking the Panthers to win their first game under interim coach Perry Fewell. That’s an indictment of how little the experts think of the Falcons, who started the year 1-7 before inexplicably blowing out the Saints and Panthers in back-to-back weeks. New Orleans got its revenge on Thanksgiving and now Carolina will be looking for the same in Week 14.

While Rivera joined Jay Gruden as the only coaches fired so far during the 2019 season, there are plenty of others on thin ice. One is Jason Garrett, who probably needs a spectacular end of the season and a strong showing in the postseason to keep his job with the Cowboys. He’ll be under the microscope Thursday against the Bears, who are clinging to playoff hopes of their own amidst a brutal season from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

While most of our experts are leaning toward the Cowboys, it’s not unanimous.

The panel is 50-50 on the Jaguars and Chargers game, though. Jacksonville has lost by at least 17 in four straight games, but handed the keys back to Gardner Minshew, the sixth-round rookie who took the league by storm in the first half of the season. He’ll be playing at home against the Chargers, who are looking to snap a three-game skid full of painfully close losses.

The Good Dog of Week 14: Charlie

Charlie is a 10-year-old Labrador Retriever who lives in Dallas, Texas. He loves going for walks, rides in the car, cookies, naps, and cheese Kongs. His mom Kate is a Chicago Bears fan, but his favorite NFL player is Lamar Jackson. He loves listening to Drake (he will bark at you if you talk during “Hotline Bling”) and Thor is his hero (he has his own hammer).

Charlie made his choices by picking food out of bowls. There was a designated bowl for each team, and whichever one he ate out of first was his pick. That’s how he landed on some bold choices, like the Bengals beating the Browns and the Broncos taking down the Texans.

Week 14 picks

Our guest picker this week is Jimmy Morris from our suddenly uplifted Titans blog, Music City Miracles. Here are all our picks for the week with the caveat that we could change our minds and do a swap by Friday — just in case some more wacky quarterback or coaching news happens.