Brian Billick breaks down Week 9 matchups
Brian Billick looks ahead to Week 13
Our Super Bowl-winning coach breaks down all of the week's action on FOXSports.com.
Arizona Cardinals at Green Bay Packers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)
Clay Matthews and the Packers have recorded the most sacks in the NFL with 26, and they will be facing the offensive line that has given up the most, 39, with 33 of them coming in the last five games. Clay Matthews is just 0.5 sacks behind J.J. Watt for the league lead, but he could easily be two or three ahead of him by the end of this game. Pick: Packers More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Detroit Lions at Jacksonville Jaguars (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)
Calvin Johnson is the best receiver in the NFL, but he hasn’t been playing like it lately. He has just three receptions in each of his last two games, and in his only previous matchup against the Jaguars, he recorded just two catches. Matt Stafford bounced back a little last week, but he found Titus Young and Ryan Broyles in the end zone, having yet to connect with Megatron for a score this entire season. The Jaguars, sans MJD, played the Packers tough last week, but I don’t see them doing it again in consecutive weeks. Pick: Lions More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Chicago Bears at Tennessee Titans (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)
The Titans have yet to find a rhythmic flow to their offense with CJ2K having an up and down year and having to play week to week with the health of Jake Locker. It won’t get any easier on Sunday with the Bears defense coming to town. Tim Jennings leads the league in interceptions with six and fellow cornerback Charles Tillman is the only player to have 25 or more interceptions while also forcing 25 or more fumbles since 2005. The Bears are the most opportunistic defense in the NFL, and I don’t see that changing this weekend. Pick: Bears More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)
Peyton Manning has thrown for 300 or more yards in five straight games for just the second time in his career. If history is any indicator, he is well poised to do it for a sixth consecutive game, which would be a career first. He is 7-0 against the Bengals in his career with a 17:3 touchdown to interception ratio. The Bengals are currently ranked 16th against the pass and are tied for the 25th scoring defense. Pick: Broncos More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Carolina Panthers at Washington Redskins (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)
In their first eight career games, Cam Newton accounted for more passing yards, but RG3 holds the advantage in most other offensive categories. Griffin has a better completion percentage, a better touchdown to interception ratio and more rushing yards. Both of these defenses have struggled, so each quarterback will have the chance to put up big numbers. This game will come down to supporting cast. I’m actually going to go out a limb and suggest that Jonathan Stewart will have his best game of the year and help the Panthers get their second win. Pick: Panthers More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)
The Baltimore Ravens are 4-0 at home this season, but are 1-2 on the road. Their lone win came against the Chiefs — who have just one win of their own for the season — and even that was a difficult task. The Browns finally found some balance by running the ball more than they passed last week, and that needs to continue against a Ravens defense that has been dismal against the rush this year. Pick: Ravens More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)
The Dolphins started last season at 0-7, but are now 10-6 over the course of the last 16 games since. Joe Philbin has this team above .500 and sitting at second place in the division, but he has yet to post a win against a team with a winning record. He has a great opportunity to do that against a Colts team that, much like the Dolphins, are far out-performing early expectations. Both teams carry momentum into the game with the Colts winning three of their last four and the Dolphins riding a three-game winning streak. Pick: Colts More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)
Arian Foster leads the league with 10 total touchdowns this season (9 rushing, 1 receiving). That, by the way, is more than the entire Jaguars team. Foster will have plenty of opportunity to add to that total as the Bills have the worst rushing defense combined with the worst scoring defense in the entire NFL. For the Bills, they will need to avoid the turnover bug as they are 3-0 when Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t throw a pick, but are 0-4 when he does. Pick: Texans More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX)
This game features the top two running backs in the NFL. Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch are first and second respectively for the most rushing yards in the league with Peterson holding the edge by just 18 yards. Peterson has carried the ball eight fewer times and has one more touchdown than Lynch. The thing is, both of these defenses have been stellar against the run. The Vikings are the seventh-best rushing defense while the Seahawks are fifth-best. This will be a physical grind-it-out game, but the Seahawks are just too good at home. Pick: Seahawks More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Oakland Raiders (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX)
You would be hard-pressed to find another quarterback that is having a better three-week stretch than Josh Freeman. He has looked like the Freeman from 2010 who showed so much promise. Over the last three weeks, the Bucs have scored 102 points with 13 total touchdowns, both are the most in the NFL over that three week span. Freeman has three or more touchdown passes in all three of those games, while only throwing one pick. But traveling to the West Coast may be the best thing to slow this momentum. Pick: Bucs More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS)
Combined, these two teams have appeared in five of the last seven Super Bowls and have won four of them, two each. They are the only two franchises that have multiple Super Bowl victories during that span. The Steelers are hitting their stride and the Giants are coming off an emotional win over the Cowboys last week and have endured a challenging week with Hurricane Sandy wreaking havoc on New York City. On top of all that, the Giants seem to struggle more at home than they do on the road. Pick: Steelers More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons (Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)
The Falcons and the Cowboys are on the opposite ends of the turnover spectrum. Matt Ryan and the Falcons own the fourth-best turnover margin at +10 while Tony Romo and the Cowboys sit at -11, the second-worst turnover margin. Romo has already thrown 4+ interceptions in a game twice this season, and the Falcons secondary has been opportunistic under new coordinator, Mike Nolan. I like the Falcons to knock Romo off his spot and force him into even more bad decisions. Pick: Falcons More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy
Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints (Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Andy Reid and the Eagles have played the fifth-toughest schedule in the NFL so far but have the third-easiest schedule throughout the remainder of the season. They don’t face another team that currently owns a winning record until week 17 against the Giants. But just because the Saints don’t own a winning record, you can hardly count them out. Before last week, the Saints had yet to lose a game by more than a possession and still have the NFL’s best passing offense. Pick: Eagles More: Scoreboard | More NFL news | Fantasy