HH's Hump Day NFL Pick'em - Week 11

Welcome, everybody, to Week 11 of the Hump Day NFL Pick'em, with special prizes brought to you each week by our friends at NRG!

It was nice to sit through another Sunday without any worries or nerves, as the Redskins and I enjoyed their bye week.  It was also kind of boring and several naps interrupted the football viewing.  However, one thing we here at the Hump Day offices were excited about was the possibility of getting our Pick'em record over the .500 mark for the first time.....ever.  Astonishingly, after going 9-4 in Week 9, we were able to mirror our success, going exactly 9-4 again and finishing with nine points.  Would any of our twenty contestants come close to that .500 breaking number?  Here were the top 10 performers:

As you can see, we finished with another tie between two incredibly smart contestants who each picked ten correct teams.  After drawing out the winner's name from my favorite Redskins hat, the winner was:

Congrats to Theodore Gorath!!!!!!  Please email me your address as soon as possible and we will get your prize right out to you.

So, our second straight 9-4 week brought our overall record places it has never gone before: to 75-71-1.  Feeling pretty good about ourselves, let us now move on to Week 11!

Here we go!

For those of you who are new to our game, I state the rules:

This is a weekly contest in which I will make my game picks each Wednesday and invite you, the loyal Hogs Haven readers, to make your own picks in the comments section.

I will incorporate the spread as determined by Las Vegas the Tuesday before the games and you can earn 1 point for each correct choice.  I will add up the points at the end of each week, and the winner will earn a fabulous prize, courtesy of NRG, that will then be mailed to them.  If there are multiple contestants tied for the lead, there will be a drawing to determine the overall winner.  There will only be twenty contestants, so the first twenty responses will get in.

Each week the prize will change, and this year (unlike last year), a prize will be given out every single week since you are now only competing against each other and not me.  Simple right??

Here are my picks for this week:

Buffalo Bills (+5.5) at Miami Dolphins: Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is 1-4 all-time against the Bills and just lost left tackle Branden Albert for the season due to a knee injury.  On top of that, the Bills have won three straight against Miami.  Still, don't you just get the feeling Kyle Orton will screw this up?  Pick: Dolphins (-5.5)

Houston Texans (+3) at Cleveland Browns: My favorite part of every Browns game is the mandatory shot of Johnny Manziel just standing around on the sidelines.  Pick: Browns (-3)

Minnesota Vikings (+3.5) at Chicago Bears: The Redskins put on a clinic on how not to defend against Teddy Bridgewater.  As long as the Bears go with the vaunted "opposite" approach, they should be okay. Pick: Bears (-3.5)

Philadelphia Eagles (+5.5) at Green Bay Packers: This seems like a tough game to pick, until you realize that it's "Butt Fumble" Sanchez vs. Aaron Rodgers.  Pick: Packers (-5.5)

Seattle Seahawks (+1.5) at Kansas City Chiefs: Of course Marshawn Lynch had 140 yards and four touchdowns last week.  He was playing against me in fantasy football.  Word to the wise, look for Lamar Miller and/or Charles Sims to explode this week.   Pick: Seahawks (+1.5)

Atlanta Falcons (+1.5) at Carolina Panthers: The Panthers must be a little relieved that, outside of "highlights", only a small portion of the country will be able to see this week's carnage as it unfolds.  Pick: Falcons (+1.5)

Cincinnati Bengals (+6.5) at New Orleans Saints: The New Orleans Saints might be this year's biggest disappointment outside of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pick: Saints (-6.5)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7) at Washington Redskins: This should be the most relaxing game to watch since the Redskins played the Jaguars in Week 2.  That said, I plan on spending these three hours at the edge of my seat.  Pick: Redskins (-7)

Denver Broncos (-9.5) at St. Louis Rams: What I hope to see most of all in this game is more of Peyton Manning messing with Brock Osweiler, because that's just fun. Pick: Broncos (-9.5)

San Francisco 49ers (-4.5) at New York Giants: These 49ers are heading east to dig up victories, one week at a time. (See what I did there?)  Pick: 49ers (-4.5)

Oakland Raiders (+10) at San Diego Chargers: The Raiders are starting to reach Chicago Cubs status, where you just root for them because they're adorable.  Pick: Chargers (-10)

Detroit Lions (+1.5) at Arizona Cardinals: The week I say that I'm getting settled into the Cardinals bandwagon, Carson Palmer goes down with a season ending injury.  My powers of team derailment continue to scare and amaze me.   Pick: Lions (+1.5)

New England Patriots (+2.5) at Indianapolis Colts: When the Patriots are getting points in any game, you don't ask questions.  You just say "Yes.".  Pick: Patriots (+2.5)

Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5) at Tennessee Titans: If this goes the way I expect, I'll be watching Restaurant Impossible on the Food Network by 10pm.  Pick: Steelers (-5.5)

So there are my Week 11 picks. The winner this week will have this fabulous prize to look forward to, courtesy of NRG:

That's right, friends- due to popular demand, it's yet another chance at a Pierre Garcon signed football!!!

I will announce this week's winner next Wednesday on the next Hump Day post.

Good luck!!