2013 NFL Season: Pokorny's Week 11 NFL Picks

Trouble in Indianapolis: The Colts have officially become the most polarizing team in the NFL. They are the only team to own such wins over three high-quality opponents like the 49ers, Seahawks, and Broncos. They've also lost to the Dolphins, Chargers, and most recently, were victims of a 38-8 home loss to the Rams. Now, they travel on the road to face a Titans team that, with a win, could find themselves one game behind the Colts. Call me crazy, but I think the Colts are in a big-time funk right now, and Ryan Fitzpatrick will stun them for the second week in a row. Titans 23, Colts 20

Flying Under the Radar: The best-kept secret in the NFL remains the fact that the Cardinals are 5-1 this season against teams outside their division. They are still very much alive in the playoff race and are a very scrappy team; you have to give credit to Bruce Arians, who has a team unexpectedly in the playoff hunt for the second year in a row. The Jaguars had a nice feel-good win last week, but they're still the worst team in the NFL. Cardinals 24, Jaguars 17

Three Combined Wins: How could it have come to this? We are in Week 11, and the Falcons and Buccaneers have combined for just three wins this season. Tampa Bay is the type of team I could still see finishing with 4-5 wins, and I'm glad they finally picked up a victory in Week 10. I think they will make it two in a row against the Falcons, as Matt Ryan hasn't been able to deliver with the poor supporting cast he's been left with. Buccaneers 20, Falcons 13

Bears Can Still Contend: The Bears will be without Jay Cutler again this week, who is now dealing with a high ankle sprain. Josh McCown has had "Jason-Campbell-effectiveness" since stepping in for Cutler, though, and he shouldn't be a huge setback for Chicago's offense against the Ravens. Despite winning last week, the Ravens' offense still has zero threat in their running game and will have a difficult time trying to beat the Bears on the road. Bears 20, Ravens 14

Putting Them Back in Their Place: The Steelers have shown signs that they are a team who can rekindle some of their glory days against teams that are struggling. When they face a team that is even remotely having a decent day, they get blown out of the water, though. Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson will be too much just by themselves for Pittsburgh to handle. If there was a week where Ben Roethlisberger finally succumbs to the beating he takes behind his offensive line, this would be it. Lions 28, Steelers 16

The Real Polarizing Team: Earlier, I said that the Colts were the most polarizing team in the NFL. I lied -- the Jets by far still own that label after having defeated the Patriots and the Saints, but having been torn apart by the Steelers and the Bengals. The Jets have been on a trend of W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W, so they are due for a loss...or does the bye week allow them to skip their loss? Hmmm. E.J. Manuel was sacked 8 times by the Jets the last time these two teams met, so I may be too focused on my wish for the Browns to make the playoffs with this pick than me actually believing Buffalo will win. Bills 21, Jets 20

Who Cares? When I look at this matchup, I get that, "who cares?" type of feeling. Is that wrong of me? The Raiders had some buzz before losing two straight games to NFC East opponents. The Texans have lost seven straight games and don't have the "umph" factor to pull out a win late. Even if either team gets on a hot streak, their playoff chances are pretty much over already. Texans 17, Raiders 14

Shootout of the Week: Well, here's a very unusual stat: the Eagles are 5-1 on the road, but 0-4 at home. I legitimately thought the Redskins had a chance to win the division, but then they failed to take care of business against the Vikings last week. Washington still has enough division games left to stay in the hunt, but this is a must-win game for them. Unfortunately for the Redskins, Nick Foles is playing exceptionally well in the Chip Kelly offense right now (16 touchdowns, 0 interceptions!). Eagles 31, Redskins 21

AFC Wildcard Bowl: Barring the unlikelihood of a tie, one of these teams will improve to 5-5 on the season, meaning Cleveland will have to win to stay pace with them in a wildcard race. The Chargers still have their flaws, but I wouldn't want to face Philip Rivers this year: he will have this team ready to win on any given Sunday, and they'll get it done against a mentally broken down Dolphins team. Chargers 24, Dolphins 20

The Greatest Turnaround Ever: I'm a believer: the New York Giants can make the postseason. The Giants are fortunate to be getting Scott Tolzien as the man under center for the Packers this week; it won't be easy for the undrafted free agent to win his first start on the road. Next week, the Giants have the Cowboys at home. If things go their way, incredibly, they could be in first place by the end of Week 12. Make it happen, Giants. Giants 27, Packers 17

Blowout of the Week: The scary thing about the 9-1 Seahawks is that I don't think they've reached their peak yet. I don't know how limited Percy Harvin will be in his return this week, but it comes against his former team. Harvin can be one of the most exciting players in the NFL to watch, but Seattle needs to find a way to incorporate him into the offense without disrupting any chemistry. Seahawks 34, Vikings 9

Rematch from a Classic Showdown: Who can forget the absolutely classic game these two teams had in the postseason two years ago? The finishing sequence to that game was probably the most exciting, heart-pounding fourth quarter finish to a playoff game I've ever seen. Games don't tend to live up to that hype in the regular season, and this time around, the Saints have a solid defense, while the 49ers have had some offensive issues. The 49ers better watch out, because the Cardinals are about to catch them. Saints 28, 49ers 20

Game of the Week: It's here. Nobody pegged the Chiefs-Broncos to be a prime time worthy game heading into the regular season, because nobody expected the 2-14 Chiefs from a year ago to be 9-0 heading into this game. The Broncos are 8-1 with a banged up Peyton Manning, but I don't think that will hurt him too much. People have called out the Chiefs as pretenders because of all of the backup quarterbacks they've faced. This week, they have a chance to shine. Their defense won't let them down; they'll simply find out what most other teams have found out: you can't stop Manning. Broncos 27, Chiefs 21

Monday Night Clawball: The Panthers have the offensive punch -- they scored 30 or more points in each game prior to last week's win over the 49ers. When they faced a tough defense, they showed that their defense is the one that can really take over a game. The Patriots have some holes defensively and only started clicking on offense for one game prior to the bye. If people didn't start respecting the Panthers after last week's game, they will after this week's. Panthers 27, Patriots 24

Battle of Ohio, Part II: The division lead in the AFC North is basically on the line. Which team will emerge from part two of the Battle of Ohio victorious? People keep pointing to the fact that Cleveland hasn't won in Cincinnati for awhile, but the Browns also didn't have as good of a team then as they do now. My full preview and prediction for the game will be posted on Saturday, so stay tuned to DBN!