NFL picks: Can’t be as bad as last week

Last week was the worst for me and for most of the people I know. Jacksonville won. Houston beat Cincinnati in Cincinnati. Detroit beat Green Bay in Green Bay. Seattle lost at home. Washington beat New Orleans by 33. Philadelphia lost at home to Miami. Denver lost at home by 16 to Kansas City, and starting quarterback Peyton Manning was benched. And Eli Manning’s New York Giants lost in the final seconds.

I feel like an honarary Manning. I can’t remember when I did worse.

Last week: 4-10

Season: 98-61

Lock: I was crushed. Detroit (plus-11) beat Green Bay 18-16.

Season: 5-8

This week, with the home team in CAPS:

Lock of the week

CAROLINA 30 (minus-7), Washington 19: Washington last won a road game – it hasn’t. It never has. Something like that. The point is that even though Washington is having a resurgence at home it consistently fails on the road.

But Washington is better than I expected, and has found a quarterback.

The Panthers, meanwhile, have only two homes games after Washington. The crowd at Bank of America Stadium will be especially loud and I think the Panthers play one of their best games.

The Panthers have covered in six of their past eight home games as the favorite. I don’t see that changing.

I’m 2-0 with the Panthers as my Lock. I don’t see that changing, either.

The rest

Dallas 21, MIAMI 19

HOUSTON 20, New York Jets 16

CHICAGO 24, Denver 21

Oakland 23 DETROT 21

Atlanta 26, INDIANAPOLIS 24

MINNESOTA 30, Green Bay 26

PHILADELPHIA 21, Tampa Bay 18

St. Louis 21, BALTIMORE 19

Kansas City 29, SAN DIEGO 23

SEATTLE 28, San Francisco 19

ARIZONA 29, Cincinnati 24

NEW ENGLAND 29, Buffalo 29

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 4:25 PM with the headline "NFL picks: Can’t be as bad as last week."