CSC Staff Picks, Week 13: Are the Falcons for real?

With the 2020 NFL season now entering Week 13, we’re continuing our new weekly bit where some of the staff here at Canal Street Chronicles tries to pick winners and losers for every NFL game each week.

In Week 12, it was generally a good week for the New Orleans Saints. The 1st place Saints were able to take care of business against the quarterback-less Denver Broncos. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2nd place in the NFC South, fell to the Kansas City Chiefs. The 3rd place Carolina Panthers lost to the Minnesota Vikings, and the Atlanta Falcons got one win closer to 7-9 by embarrassing the Las Vegas Raiders 43-6.

This week, the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally have their bye, meaning the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints are the only teams in the division in action. Interestingly, those two teams are facing each other in a re-match from just two weeks ago, with the Atlanta Falcons hosting the division rival Saints, hoping to upset the #1 seed in the NFC and split the season series.

With a win over the Falcons, the Saints could clinch a playoff berth with a loss by the Chicago Bears, and the staff is split if the Bears can eke out a win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Here are our live-updating picks:

We have another guest this week joining us to make selections, and this week, in advance of the Saints-Falcons rivalry game, we have reformed Falcons fan Bomani Jones. Bomani’s viral rant about the Falcons on ESPN’s Highly Questionable is epic, and if you haven’t seen it, drop everything and watch it now.

In spite of this, Bomani originally picked the Saints, and then waffled, picking the Falcons over the Saints this week, saying:

So of course, I’m left with the dilemma of hating the Saints but being too smart to pick the Falcons. And the Falcons have...you know what? I’m going to pick the Falcons. I am. The longer the Taysom experience goes, the better defenses will get at stopping it. Man, talk about a set of bad options.

Bomani knows full well that Saints fans will eviscerate him in his mentions if New Orleans sweeps the Falcons on Sunday, so figuring he knows the risk involved, and considering Bomani has murdered Will Cain on a live radio show, we’ll forgive him this time.

Here are the rest of Bomani’s picks this week:

Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Vikings, Colts, Raiders, Seahawks, Cardinals, Patriots, Packers, Chiefs, Steelers, 49ers, and Ravens

Here’s how past guests have done:

• Former Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux, Week 1: 12-4 (.750)
• Former Saints General Manager Randy Mueller, Week 2: 13-3 (.813)
• True Blood actress Kristin Bauer, Week 3: 7-8-1 (.467)
• The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan, Week 4: 8-7-1 (.500)
• Former WWE superstar “Kelly Kelly,” Week 5: 9-5-1 (.643)
• SB Nation’s Jeanna Kelley, Week 6: 7-7 (.500)
• Former CSC Managing Editor Dave Cariello, Week 7: 9-5 (.643)
• Former LSU offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert, Week 8: 7-7 (.500)
• Sports Illustrated John Hendrix, Week 9: 10-4 (.714)
• Former Saints linebacker Nate Stupar, Week 10: 6-8 (.429)
• Hall of Famer Morten Andresen, Week 11: 6-8 (.429)
• Bold and the Beautiful’s Windsor Hamilton, Week 12: 11-5 (.688)

Check back next week as we continue our weekly selections.

Special shoutout to Bomani Jones for joining us this week. Bomani is a great follow on Twitter, so make sure you’re following him @bomani_jones. In addition to being a great sports personality and a fun Twitter follow, Bomani is also just a great person. He’s involved with awesome charities like Me Fine Foundation, a non-profit in North Carolina whose focus is to provide “hope through emotional support and financial assistance to families whose children are receiving care at North Carolina partner hospitals,” and National Diaper Bank Network, whose goal is to provide “basic necessities required to build the strong foundations all children, families, and individuals need to thrive and reach their full potential.” If you can find it in your hearts and wallets to donate to either, you can donate to Me Fine here, and the National Diaper Bank Network here. Bomani is the best.

Also, thanks to Tallysight for helping keep track with all of our picks each week and offering this super awesome graphic.

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