Week 17 NFL Picks and Sun Bowl Preview

Hello and thank you for reading this blog. Below you will find my week 17 NFL picks and my preview for the Sun Bowl. In the NFL picks, the winners will be BOLDED AND IN ALL CAPS. I hope you enjoy and God Bless!!

Tampa Bay vs. ATLANTA FALCONS

New York Jets vs. BUFFALO BILLS

Baltimore Ravens vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS

CHICAGO BEARS vs. Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. TENNESSEE TITANS

Houston Texans vs. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Carolina Panthers vs. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Philadelphia Eagles vs. NEW YORK GIANTS

Cleveland Browns vs. PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Kansas City Chiefs vs. DENVER BRONCOS

Green Bay Packers vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Miami Dolphins vs. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

OAKLAND RAIDERS vs. San Diego Chargers

Arizona Cardinals vs. SAN FRANCISCO 49ers

St. Louis Rams vs. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Dallas Cowboys vs. WASHINGTON REDSKINS




Sun Bowl Preview

On December 31, 2012 at 2 PM, Georgia Tech and Southern Cal are set to play the Hyundai Sun Bowl. If you look at my bowl picks, or if you know anything about me, you will know that I have Georgia Tech winning this game. Earlier this week, the two teams were supposed to meat for the Sun Bowl Dinner. Lane Kiffin, being the classless coach that he is however, decided that he would wait over an hour to bring his team to this dinner. Of course, this really ticked off Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech players. In addition to Georgia Tech being mad about this, I'm not sure that USC will be motivated enough to actually try to win this game. USC was the preseason favorite to win the National Championship and ended up 7-5 in a bowl that they could care less about. Because of these two things, I do not really see a way that Georgia Tech will lose this game. USC entered in as a 10 point favorite. However, since Matt Barkley was ruled out, that point differential has gone down to 7.5.

Key Player for Georgia Tech: Jemea Thomas

Jemea Thomas is not a very well known player. He plays free safety for Georgia Tech and gets the unfortunate assignment of getting to cover both Robert Woods and Marqise Lee, arguably the best WR tandem in college football. The reason why Jemea Thomas is the key player for Georgia Tech is his ability to show up in the big games. In Georgia Tech's upset of #5 Clemson and Thomas' first career start, he had two interceptions and a forced fumble. In addition to this, he also had this amazing interception against Florida State in the ACC Championship Game. If Jemea Thomas can have another big game and shut down USC's passing attack, in addition to getting some help from our pass-rushers, it will be a long day for Lane Kiffin and the Trojans.

Key Player for USC: Max Wittek

Most people know Max Wittek as the person who guaranteed a win over top-ranked Notre Dame earlier this season. Wittek will again be filling in for Matt Barkley as he continues to heal his shoulder before the NFL Draft in April. Max Wittek did not perform terribly in this game (14/23 with 186 yds. and a TD) against one of the best defenses in the league. If he can get off to a hot start and take advantage of Tech's sub-par defense, it may be a long day for my Yellow Jackets.

Key Match-up: Silas Redd vs. GT's rushing Defense

Silas Redd transferred to USC from Penn State after the Jerry Sandusky debacle. He has had quite the season for USC rushing for 817 yds and 9 TDs. He should be a tough test for a Georgia Tech defense that has not exactly looked magnificent this season against good running backs (see Giovani Bernard and Gur-shall). In my opinion, however, since the firing of GT's defensive coordinator Al Groh, the rushing defense has since improved somewhat. I think that whoever wins the battle will very likely win the game.

3 Bold Predictions:
1. USC will not score a touchdown in the first half
2. Jemea Thomas will pick off Max Wittek twice
3. Tevin Washington will throw 2 touchdowns and run for another and be named Sun Bowl MVP

Final Prediction:

GT: 42
USC: 20

Like I said at the beginning, USC could absolutely care less about playing in this bowl game, and I doubt anybody on that team is actually taking this game seriously. Because of this and USC's average-at-best rushing defense, I think this one will get out of hand early for USC.