***SWAMPY SUNDAY - MUCK 5 - WEEK 14***

***CINCINNATI BENGALS VS CLEVELAND BROWNS***

The Cleveland Browns are 0-12, woof. In my mind, if they are going to get a win, today is the day ladies and gents. The Browns are fresh off their bye week and hosting their division rival the Cincinnati Bengals, who have beaten them in the last 4 bouts. Brownies Head Coach Hue Jackson came from the Bengals coaching staff before getting hired in Cleveland. I also want to remind you of the last time we saw Hue at the 'ol podium after their last loss against the Giants to extend their winless record to 0-12, where the man was nearly brought to tears while stating that "being 0-12 is probably the hardest thing ever." He also stated that he didn't plan on taking any time off during the bye week. Needless to say, the man will not rest until he and the Brownies pull a win out of their arses, and today I believe up against his old team and feeling fresh off a week's rest with extra time to prepare, that these guys will fight for their Head Coach and get it done. The Bengals do not scare me one bit and do not let that game against the Eagles last week fool you either. Philly was completely deflated and it was clear that they barely bothered to show up after coming off a brutal home loss at home against the Packers on Monday Night Football. That being said it was a short week, and that Packers loss pretty much crushed any realistic hopes at a playoff run. QB Carson Wentz is starting to look like a Rookie and the Bengals were extremely hungry for a win since their season has been a huge disappointment thus far, and they took advantage at home to stomp on the wounded Birds. In fact I love how they ran over Philly because it sets up for today's upset against the Browns even more. Without WR AJ Green, QB Andy Dalton is extremely limited, and I believe this Browns defense can totally hang with them if motivated like I believe they will be today. Cleveland will have CB Joe Haden and the newly acquired LB Jamie Collins going today, both whom weren't in the previous matchup against Cincy. Lastly, the Browns are starting QB Robert Griffin III. This offseason, the Browns picked up RG3 and there was plenty of hype for him to make a comeback in a city that needs something of the sort at QB more than anything. Those pipe dreams were quickly ended when RG3 suffered an injury in week 1, and the Browns have been on a QB carousel ever since. After being cleared to play for a couple of weeks now, RG3 is getting the keys handed back to him and after having an extra week to prep for today, I like Bob to provide an extra spark for this offense to really get after it today for the fans. The Browns have plenty of weapons on offense, and during the preseason when Bobby boy was healthy, he and WR Terrell Pryor looked to have built a chemistry, especially with the deep ball. Rookie WR Corey Coleman is also a problem for defenses to stick with on deep routes and I just foresee these guys having a big game today. Yes, I said I see the Browns offense doing work today, if only for today. It has been a wild year thus far, the Cleveland Cavs and Chicago Cubs broke curses and won the 'Ship, Army broke the 14 year losing streak against Navy yesterday, and I believe that the Browns will come together to get their first win here today for their Head Coach and catch a Bengals team with their guard down after finally getting off the schneid last week with a win themselves. Believeland for the win, or at least cover! Heheh. BROWNS+4.5

***DENVER BRONCOS @ TENNESSEE TITANS***

Huge game here for both teams if they hope to keep their playoff hopes alive and well in their respective divisions. The Broncos are chasing the Chiefs and Raiders and cannot afford to drop another game back or they may be out of luck. The Titans are currently tied for the division with the Colts and Texans and they can pick up a game on one of them today since those two face-off against each other in Indy. That being said, they will need to defend home field against the desperate Ponies today but fresh off of a late season bye week, I believe the Titans will prevail. QB Marcus Mariota has been playing extremely well as of late and looks to be getting more comfortable with the offense every game. The beauty of their scheme is the combination of thunder and thunder they have to rely on in the rushing attack of RBs DeMarco Murray and Rookie Derrick Henry. Having these guys rotating provides a relentless pounding that can wear down a defense and cause them to let their guard down deep against speedy WRs like the Titans have. While the Broncos boast one of the top defenses in the league, they are kind of soft against the run, especially in the middle, like a jelly donut if you will. This plays right into the Titans strength and with their playoff hopes very much alive, I think they will be too charged up at home for the Broncos to stop. Denver QB Trevor Siemian will get the nod today after sitting out last game with an injury in Jacksonville last week. The Titans defense is sneaky stout and I don't think Siemian and the weak Bronco rushing attack is anything that they cannot handle. Especially if they bring their A-game which I got to believe will be the case today in such a huge spot. Long story short, Titans get it done here and in my opinion end up winning this division. TITANS-2

***HOUSTON TEXANS @ INDIANAPOLIS COLTS***

Not a lot of time left to write here, so I will keep this one short and sweet. The Texans and Colts are both tied at first along with the Titans at 6-6. Last week, the colts got back starting QB Andrew Luck and he looks healthy as he ripped apart a poor Jets secondary on MNF last week with a thrashing of the lowly Jets. Today they are back home and looking for revenge against a Texans team who put together an epic comeback back in week 6 to steal the game away from the Colts in OT on SNF in Houston. the Texans have now dropped three straight games and are in a divisional free fall unless they can stop the bleeding and steal a win here today. Long story short, this is a huge game in Indy where both sides obviously need to win. Last week in Green Bay the Texans showed some toughness and fight even though after a while, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense proved to be too much to handle in a snow storm despite Houston holding their own for most of the game. While I don't think they emerge victorious today in Indy, I do think this game comes down to a FG either way so I will take QB Brock Osweiler and his weapons WR DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller to bounce back and feel much better back in a dome to get it going and go toe to toe with Andrew Luck and his weapons in what should be a barn-burner up against two wounded secondaries. In a nutshell, this one will be back and forth and close. TEXANS+6.5

***NEW YORK JETS @ SAN FRANCISCO 49ers***

Another gross game here that one most likely wouldn't watch unless a true diehard fan or having some fantasy players or if ya listened to the SwampMan and picked the Niners! In this true battle of the uglies, somebody has got to win. Back at home in this one and not having won a game for the fans since week 1 against the Rams, I believe the Niners will get the job done today. Before last week's game in a blizzard in Chicago where SF got abused, the Niners actually have been pretty competitive football and have been in position to upset some solid teams like Arizona and Miami, both on the road mind you. Now maybe these other teams let down playing against the Niners and maybe not, but all I know is that the Jets have packed it in for the year and the fact that the Jets are starting QB Bryce Petty today in his first road game is the cherry on top. Yes I understand that the Niners have only 1 win and at the moment finish behind the winless Browns in the draft pecking order so there is the speculation that at this point they don't want to win, but I don't believe that is the case. These guys are playing to keep their jobs, or their careers even in some cases (QB Kaepernick and Head Coach Chip Kelly). It is no secret that SF will not hesitate to make major changes this offseason and a lot of those might not include a lot of the guys who are currently on the roster and they are well aware. It is the nature of the business and if these guys aren't going to play in SF, then they want to be sure they look good enough for somebody somewhere to want them. It is safe to say that in a situation like this that the players themselves can care less about a draft pick for next year. After the brutal and embarrassing defeat handed to the Jets by the Colts previously on MNF, some could argue that the Jets have to bounce back and play better today. I disagree as I think the wound is still fresh and too deep to overcome on a short week, on the road, and against a team like SF who the Jets will find it hard to dig up some motivation to play against. The NY defense is putrid, in the Swamp's Colts pick last MNF it was discussed just how bad and sad the play of CB Darrelle Revis has been, and last week on MNF he did not disappoint. As long as this guy is in there and his negativity and lack of effort continues to infect the youngsters and cause a domino effect throughout, this defense will not get any better. It won't be snowing in SF today by any means and I think Kaepernick will be motivated after getting benched last week to play well. I see him running around and making things happen backyard football style to eventually wear out an unmotivated Jets secondary. On the other side of things, the Niners defense can handle Bryce Petty. I had some high hopes for this guy but man I got to say from what I've seen thus far, I get why they kept going with Ryan Fitzpatrick, yikes. I like the Niners to be hungry enough to get one at home for the fans here and take advantage of a lack of effort by a bad Jets team once again. In my opinion the Jets will not show up here and if they do, it will not last all game. I don't think they show up until next week when they host a playoff hopeful and rival Miami Dolphins team on Saturday Night in the Prime Time spot. That is a spot where I think this terrible team will get up for to try and make up for last week's Prime Time debacle on MNF and hope to spoil their rival's playoff hopes as the Phish have done to them in the past, and maybe it is possible that NY is already looking ahead to this game hence another reason for them to be asleep at the wheel here. 49ers-3

***SEATTLE SEAHAWKS @ GREEN BAY PACKERS***

QB Aaron Rodgers and the Packers could be starting to make that run he spoke of after their big win two weeks ago in Philly on MNF. Last week they hosted a Houston Texans team in the snow at Lambeau field and were able to fend them off to get the win. Today will be more of the same (and likely more) when the Seattle Seahawks come to Lambeau to play in the snow and try their luck against the Packers as well. After what I saw last week, Rodgers is still a solid QB in the snow, he was rolling out and throwing on the run effectively. QB Russell Wilson played for a year at Wisconsin but amazingly enough, Wilson has never played in a snow bowl like today will be. He claims he played plenty in the snow growing up yadda, yaddaa. At home in the snow, I will take the suddenly surging Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on the usual late season run while they fight for a playoff spot. Every game is a "must-win" for the Packers now while they look up at the Detroit Lions (never thought I'd say that) and could potentially overtake them for the throne in the NFC North. To do this the Pack have to continue running the table coupled with some very possible Lions losses when they go on the road to NYG and Dallas. The Pack and the Lions face-off in Detroit in week 17 and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't end up coming down to that game for all the marbles in the Black and Blue Division, but first the Packers need to hold down home field and get a win against a red hot Seattle team today. Luckily for the Pack, I believe the snow should cool these Hawks off who after last week's lopsided victory in Seattle against the Panthers on SNF, might be out-weighed by the Packers here on the effort scale. The Packers absolutely have to have this game where the Seahawks don't technicallllllly need it. Packers LB Clay Matthews typically plays well against the Seahawks and does a great job of mirroring Russell Wilson to limit his production with his legs. I like the Pack to buckle down and pull off the upset at home today. Yes, the Pack are dawgs at home? When is the last time that has happend?! My word, the disrespect! Packers continue the run here and make things extremely interesting. PACKERS+3