As we salute our veterans and look to move forward together in the wake of an eye-opening election, the significance of sports takes a distant back seat this weekend.
Sunday stands to provide a momentary escape if nothing else, with Week 10 featuring the season's strongest slate of games yet. This means the opportunity to get in play on multiple marquee matchups between teams in the running to meet again come February, but first on a team that was still standing this past Super Sunday.
Panthers -3 vs. Chiefs
The prevailing narrative says the Chiefs come in winners of 16 of their last 18 games, while the Panthers at 3-5 are dealing with a Super Bowl hangover. There's more to it than that.
Even without Alex Smith and Spencer Ware last week, Kansas City's inability to keep the Jaguars from dominating much of the game at Arrowhead Stadium was alarming. The Chiefs were lucky to emerge victorious, and had they lost it's easy to see this point spread at 4 if not higher.
On the other side, except for last season's magical 15-1 ride, slow starts have been the norm for Ron Rivera's teams before kicking it into high gear coming off the bye. After Carolina's stout defensive front already showed progress in the two games leading up to last week's bye, another strong showing from that unit could put Kansas City in a jam, with Andy Reid's conservative style leaving little room for downfield passes and thus little room to exploit a putrid Panthers secondary.
It hasn't been the season the reigning NFC champions envisioned, but they're heating up and the right time and should give their fans something to smile about on Sunday.
Steelers -2.5 vs. Cowboys
Instinct plays a substantial role in this pick - watching the Steelers struggle in Baltimore while the Cowboys were cruising in Cleveland last week, I set my sights on value in this setting in anticipation of Pittsburgh laying less than a field goal at home.
Ben Roethlisberger has a history of returning too soon from injury and it showed early and often against the Ravens, but he appeared to regain his form in leading a couple of fourth-quarter touchdown drives.
Dallas, of course, is good and getting better. But drawing a non-division schedule including the 49ers, Bears and Browns in the first half of the season will pad any team's numbers disproportionately. We still don't know how good the Cowboys truly are, and this line implies they're among the elite. That might not be far off, but Jerry Jones may have to wait just a little longer before they belong in that company.
Pick of the Week: Teaser - Rams +7.5 at Jets, Patriots -1.5 vs. Seahawks
Not only is this the season's strongest slate of games yet, but it also offers the most viable teaser options to-date with the Patriots favored by 7.5 begging to be paired with one of many short underdogs.
The Rams are a fit in New York, where we can take the better team up through the key numbers of 3 and 7 in what projects to be the lowest-scoring game of the week, magnifying the relative value of each point in a contest L.A. should at least keep competitive.
Under the Sunday Night lights in Foxborough, the Super Bowl 49 rematch and potential Super Bowl 51 preview marks the Seahawks' third road game in four weeks, this one on short rest and cross-country travel. Having played almost the equivalent of four games' worth of snaps in the last three weeks and without stalwart Michael Bennett, Seattle's defense is a play-against unit until it gets a chance to catch its breath.
While the Seahawks' defense has demonstrated tremendous grit in limiting the opposition's output during its recent grind, the Patriots are well rested off their bye and have the weapons to finish in the end zone and end their drives on a high note.
Overtime
Panthers/Chiefs: Kansas City comes in with a +13 turnover differential this season, Carolina at -6. While turnovers are the biggest factor in determining who wins each game, they're largely random and thus of minimal predictive value. The Chiefs are 0-3 when they don't win the turnover battle, putting the Panthers in good shape shall we see any regression to the mean.
Steelers/Cowboys: While Dallas comes in on a 7-0 run both straight up and against the spread, that kind of streak for a popular team getting tons of market support is firmly priced into the line. It's often said that no team is as good or as bad as it looks in a given week, and on the heels of these teams' Week 9 results the adage gets put to the test at Heinz Field.
Rams/Jets: With Ryan Fitzpatrick playing through a sprained MCL and center Nick Mangold out, the Jets' offense is in even worse shape than usual. A strong Rams defensive front led by Aaron Donald is primed to take advantage.
Patriots/Seahawks: While New England is the NFL's best team by a mile, its defense is a cause for concern - it just isn't likely to show this week. The Seahawks' inability to run the ball has them one-dimensional behind a weak offensive line, impeding their ability to move the chains, rack up time of possession, and keep their gassed defense (and a revitalized Tom Brady) off the field.