Week 15 picks and comments- Special "There's no I in team, but there is one in quit" edition

Welcome to Week 15... Comments below to be updated as we come up with them

Please remember to submit your picks. Then after you do that, please check on your friends and family members to make sure they have sent in theirs. If you are stuck because there are no good teams left for you to pick, then maybe the Wallyball research department can help!

As we've mentioned in previous weeks, during the first couple years of Wallyball, the safest strategy was to pick against the Jags or Lions or Jets or anyone else who was obviously tanking for Trevor or any other draft pick. So this year....

Who are the teams that are safe to pick against?

• The Colts are demonstrating exactly why teams usually don't pick ESPN guys as head coaches.  For some reason normal teams seem to like people with... experience.  Weird.  Verdict: Safe to pick against
• I was ready to put the Rams in this category, then that Baker Mayfield thing happened. So now what?  If you've been following Mayfield's career, you know that he's good for 1 or 2 good moments per season. The rest will generally stink. Verdict: Packers are 4 star locks this week, and Baker's NFL legacy will be his TV commercials
• Given Mike Leach's unfortunate passing, we'll comment on Kliff Kingsbury's lousy coaching on another day. But like the Rams, the Cardinals are stuck with a former Brown as their QB. Verdict: safe to pick against.
• After what the Bears did to me when I picked against them on the road at New England, they can never be safe to pick against. But they are still one of the worst teams in the league. Verdict: always safe to root against them, and OK to pick against if the opponent is pretty good.  Like the one this week.
• Houston is terrible. 1,000 years from now, archeologists will still be trying to figure out how they tied Indianapolis. Verdict: safe to pick against
• When Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy beats you, is that because the Niners are that good or because the Bucs have given up? Verdict: if all your good teams are gone, you could do worse than select Tampa Bay's opponent.
• Carolina sure got a lot better once they fired Matt Ruhle. Good luck, Nebraska. Verdict: best to stay away. On the other hand, the next Carolina vs Tampa Bay game seems to be a lock for BPOW!
• At one point the Lions looked safe. But I had so much fun watching them on Hard Knocks this season I didn't want them to be safe. Now they are one of the hottest teams in the league.  Verdict: not only not safe, but they could be a good team to pick to win once you run out of the other league leaders. 

With that in mind, the early candidates for FSLOTW are Minnesota at home vs Indy, Green Bay over the Rams, or the Eagles or Chiefs if you haven't used them yet.

Congratulations Carter for being the last person with a perfect record. Unfortunately this is Wallyball and not Eliminator- but you are just four weeks away from the grand prize. Watch out for Greg and his crew, though, who are in the next four places behind you. Luckily this isn't NASCAR and they hold no drafting advantage.

Saturday's game in Minnesota did a few things:

• It sealed "vs Colts" as an automatic 5 Star LOTW
• It showed why most teams hire actual coaches and not guys from ESPN to lead their teams
• It might have caused our resident Vikings fan Jay Brown to have a drink or two when they were down 33-0... and then a few more after the comeback was over....
• Which might also have been the case for those of us who took Minnesota. What a wild game!

It was a tough week for Greg and Jose, thanks to the Washington Football Team. I think we have learned that the NFC East = the Eagles, plus three teams who like to tease fans and gamblers with their inconsistency. At least most of us have taken Dallas already- looks like Mike McCarthy late season magic has started already.

Going into the Monday games, Doug and Eric are in position if anyone on Team Barry falters.

Halfway through the Holiday Bonus, Cheryl is hoping not to be unlucky enough to finish second in both sprints. Maybe as a consolation prize, JP and I can send her a Cleveland Browns hat or shot glass to lift her spirits. (for those who don't know, she is a fan of that other team... the one where 50 years ago this Friday, Franco Harris did not catch a touchdown pass to beat the Raiders.  But since it was the Raiders, I'm OK with it.)

There was no doubt the Raiders did catch that ill-advised lateral on Sunday... and I couldn't be happier.  In my hierarchy of teams I like to see lose, New England and Dallas are still behind Las Vegas and the team which shall not be named.

A note about prizes, so that there is no confusion because we want to spread the wealth, but because we also want to give you the higher of two payouts. If the season ended today, Colin would clinch both 2nd to last and the $50 for 50%.  Since the latter pays more, the 2nd to last prize would roll to Paul. It's basically a three way race between the two of them and Wally for those two prizes.

Please use the link on the home page to check your picks for the season so that you don't accidentally duplicate one of them. 

Keep checking back for more comments throughout the weekend as we think of them.  Or add some of your own below!