It’s all about primetime this week in the NFL. Playoff implications are all over the place in Week 14 and it all gets started tonight. Oakland-Kansas City is potentially the best Thursday night game we’ll get all season. Tonight is quite a way to kick off the final push towards the postseason. This AFC West matchup is going to be the tone setter for the rest of what could potentially be one of the best weeks of the season.

Since this is the matchup column for “No Huddle” I figure there is no better place to start. First place in the AFC West is on the line tonight between these division rivals, and that is just the price of admission. Oakland puts its undefeated road record up against Kansas City, which is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL.

Both teams have found increasingly different and difficult ways to win all year which should make this one that much more compelling. Kansas City dominated the last matchup between these two teams, but don’t expect to see the same outcome here tonight.

MVP candidate Derek Carr has willed the Raiders to multiple wins this season behind one of the best offensive lines in football. The battle in the trenches is the key to this game. Oakland has been stout up front all year, but this Kansas City defensive line is potentially its kryptonite. Tamba Hali, Dee Ford, Dontari Poe, and Justin Houston present quite a problem for Oakland.

To counter the ferocious Kansas City front-seven, I would expect Oakland to pull from its gameplan from the Denver game. The Raiders brought in a sixth lineman to aid in protection. It gave Carr more time to throw, and really paid dividends in the running game.

The Chiefs defense isn’t impenetrable, ranking 28^th in yards allowed, but they are opportunistic. Kansas City bends but usually doesn’t break. This is a team that relies on winning the turnover battle and playing with the lead. Eric Berry and Marcus Peters will have their hands full trying to stop Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper. The matchup of the Oakland offense and Kansas City defense is chock-full of intrigue for this game.

Khalil Mack will lead the way for the Oakland defense in trying to stop what coach Jack Del Rio called a “gimmicky offense.” The Chiefs aren’t too flashy on offense but they do have some explosive weapons at their disposal. I don’t see a great way for the Raiders to keep tight end Travis Kelce in check. He will be the bread and butter in the passing game tonight.

Tyreek Hill is another name to watch on this KC offense. Hill is turning into the Swiss Army knife for the Chiefs and is being compared to a rich man’s Percy Harvin. He is seemingly one play away from breaking off a big run, catch, or return for a touchdown.

On the injury front, Jeremy Maclin will be back in the lineup tonight. He has had a rough year dealing with injuries, and I expect that coach Andy Reid would ease him into action tonight.

As far as my pick for the game goes, I think this is a coin-flip game that could come down to the final possession. The extra half-point the Chiefs are favored by almost forces my hand in this one. I’ll take Oakland (+3.5) tonight, in what should be a fantastic game.

We now turn our attention to Sunday night, where the NFC East title will be in play as the Cowboys face the Giants. These NFC East rivals played a sloppy game that saw New York edge Dallas 21-20 in Week 1. The Cowboys have reeled off eleven straight wins since and find themselves on the precipice of clinching the NFC East after securing a playoff bid last week.

It’s all about stopping the Dallas offense for the Giants in this game. Minnesota showed off a gameplan that can work which relies on dominating up front and getting pressure on Dak Prescott. New York spent a lot of money in the offseason bolstering this defensive front and they will have the spotlight on them in this game.

Dallas succeeds in controlling the time of possession battle using its offense to protect a beatable defense. The Giants might not be able to flip the script with the running game, but clearly they want to use a West Coast-passing attack to control the clock.

Odell Beckham Jr. and Dez Bryant will rightly garner their share of the headlines in this one. Whichever defense can limit the effect of the opposing star will have a leg up in this game. Both players can change the game in one play, so we’ll see how these defenses plan to stop them.

Five paragraphs in and I’m just getting to Ezekiel Elliott, but that’s not because I don’t think he’s important. Elliott is the constant for Dallas’s offense since his 56-yard performance against New York in Week 1; he has eclipsed 80 yards in every game and has been a lot more effective. That first game was the outlier for Elliott’s season, and the way he is running now will be tough to stop, let alone slow down.

All signs point to Dallas having the edge here, but as we have learned in the NFC East over the years, it is an “any given Sunday” division.

The final primetime game is an interesting matchup between Baltimore and New England on Monday night. This is another game where all signs point to one team having the advantage, but this is a tricky matchup for the favorite in New England.

Baltimore is a tough defense to beat and without Rob Gronkowski predicting what this offense will do is a little easier. The Patriots running game has been great all year, but will face the top rushing defense in the NFL on Monday night. Usually it’s the Patriots that take away the fastball, but this Ravens defense is equipped to make life difficult for Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots offense.

The outcome of this game will rest on the shoulders of Joe Flacco. This Ravens offense has been up and down all season, and most of the “down” performances have been on the road. That being said, Baltimore is one of the few teams in the NFL that have had success in Foxborough (they’ve won twice in the playoffs at Gillette Stadium). Despite the 2-3 record for Baltimore, all of the games between these two in New England have been one possession games since 2010. If the Ravens want to keep the slim lead they have over Pittsburgh, Monday night is a must win game.

This is a playoff-caliber matchup, and hopefully will live up to the billing since we’ve been treated to a ton of bad games on Monday nights.

Playoff implications aren’t exclusive to the primetime games this week either. Seattle-Green Bay, Houston-Indianapolis, Denver-Tennessee, New Orleans-Tampa Bay, Washington-Philadelphia, Arizona-Miami, and Pittsburgh-Buffalo all will help shape the playoff picture.

Now let’s move on to my picks against the spread for this week. To put it bluntly, I am on fire right now following a 10-5 Week 13. I’ve been well above .500 since Week 10 and momentum is on my side. Here are my picks for this week (Winners in Bold).

Last Week: 10-5                   2016 Season: 105-86-1

1:00 PM

Washington (-2) vs. Philadelphia

Pittsburgh (-3) vs. Buffalo

Denver (+1) vs. Tennessee

Arizona vs. Miami (+1.5)

San Diego (+1.5) vs. Carolina

Cincinnati (-5.5) vs. Cleveland

Chicago vs. Detroit (-7.5)

Houston (+6.5) vs. Indianapolis

Minnesota (-3.5) vs. Jacksonville

 

4:05/4:25 PM

NY Jets (+2.5) vs. San Francisco

New Orleans vs. Tampa Bay (-2.5)

Atlanta (-6) vs. Los Angeles

Seattle (-3) vs. Green Bay

 

Sunday Night Football

Dallas vs. NY Giants (+3.5)

 

That’s it for me, enjoy all of the action tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with the return of “Heat Check” to size up the NBA through the quarter-pole of the regular season. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.