The Indianapolis Colts are on their bye week, but football certainly doesn’t stop. Thus Week 11 should be a lot less stressful for all of us, including our families if we’re being honest. At any rate, there are a couple divisional matchups this week that I can’t help but be certain to watch.

The Detroit Lions travel to the Chicago Bears, and while the Lions have been more consistent and are more explosive offensively, the Bears are a scrappy group and could make this one quite interesting. Also, the nightcap features the Elliott-less Dallas Cowboys are hosting what looks like one of the best teams in the league right now in the Philadelphia Eagles.

Both, the Cowboys and Bears are fully capable of winning in their own house, but they both appear to be outmanned and slightly less dynamic than their opponents.

There are a couple of very intriguing games in the early grouping which weren’t expected to be at the beginning of the season and could actually battle for game of the week honors. The surprising Los Angeles Rams will be taking on Case Keenum – who has been quite the surprise as well – and the Minnesota Vikings, both of which are 7-2 and have combined to win 9 straight games.

There’s a lot going on in this game that if someone told you who was under center for the Vikings and who their opponents were, you would have likely rolled your eyes at just a few months ago. Now, however, it could very well be must-watch football.

Similarly the Washington Redskins are headed to Nola to take on the Saints who are blazing hot themselves and in the process have discovered a pretty solid defense. The ‘Skins are looking to knock off a division leader to get back to .500 and start a late-season run, while the Saints are simply hoping to continue their climb to the top of the NFC and possibly a top-3 team in the league altogether with only 6 games to play.

The Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons has reunion undertones, and a must-win feel for both squads to it which could be a really good one to take in. But, another game has strong potential and could either be one of the games of the season or a total dud.

Naturally, this is the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders matchup.

The Patriots have won 5 straight, while the Raiders have won 5 games all season and suffer from extreme inconsistency. I hope for a great battle between two super talented teams, obviously, but literally anything could happen in this one.

Of course there are some that look like stinkers in projection, but you could look at the bright side – sort of – as 3 of the 4 teams off this week are rockin’ losing records with the Carolina Panthers being the lone team to miss this week.

The staff has been on a bit of a slide the past couple weeks, but individually, some of the group is beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the pack – and then there are some (not to name any names) who continue to dig a slow deadly hole they’ll never make their way out of.

Enjoy the most relaxing week of the season for Colts fans!

This week the following contributors voted on each game: Brett Mock, Matt Danely, Josh Hudgens, Stephen Reed, Faraz Majid, Chris Shepherd, Chris Blystone, Andrew Aziz, Jared Malott and Jake Arthur. Again, our group voted ‘winners’ which have been bolded, with the vote counts in parenthesis and unanimous predictions were noted by an asterisk (*). Also with 10 voters, ties go to the home squad.

Thus far the staff’s numbers are: Faraz Majid – 59/92 (64.1%) | Brett Mock – 87/136 (64%) | Chris Blystone – 79/136 (58.1%) | Matt Danely – 76/136 (55.9%) | Andrew Aziz – 82/136 (60.3%) | Jake Arthur – 67/108 (62%) | Jared Malott – 80/123 (65%) | Stephen Reed – 68/124 (64.8%) | Chris Shepherd – 73/123 (59.3%) | Josh Hudgens – 65/106 (61.3%)

Sunday @ 1:00 ET

Bucs @ Dolphins (8) – Contrarians: Matt Danely, Brett Mock

Lions (8) @ Bears – Contrarian: Chris Blystone

Cardinals @ Texans (6) – Contrarians: Andrew Aziz, Danely, Blystone

Redskins @ Saints (9) – Contrarian: Danely

Jaguars* @ Browns

Ravens* @ Packers

Rams (7) @ Vikings – Contrarians: Stephen Reed, Josh Hudgens, Faraz Majid

Chiefs* @ Giants

Sunday @ 4:05

Bills @ Chargers (8) – Contrarian: Reed

Sunday @ 4:25

Bengals @ Broncos (5/5) – Contrarians: Jake Arthur, Reed, Majid, Hudgens, Aziz

Patriots (9) @ Raiders – Contrarian: Blystone

Sunday @ 8:30

Eagles* @ Cowboys

Monday @ 8:30

Falcons @ Seahawks (6) – Contrarians: Hudgens, Danely, Arthur, Majid

Please share your picks below in the comments!