Father knows best... sort of

Glenn was only half joking when, at the end of last week, he advised Ben that his picks would do better if he merely selected the teams the Senior Bro didn't. Ben did just that in a bye-shortened week when the obvious choice rarely was the right one. While Glenn watched all but one of his late-Sunday predictions fall flat, Ben nailed all but two of his to surge into the lead for the first time since Week 1. He cashed in on wins by Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Arizona and Cleveland that neither of his more experienced prognosticators predicted, netting four games against his dad and three against his uncle.

Meanwhile, Glenn also saw Sean inch closer to him. After Atlanta beat visiting Chicago 22-20 on a last-second field goal, Green Bay throttled host Seattle 27-17 and the Chargers demolished the punchless Patriots 30-10 to give the Junior Bro a one-split advantage.

Ben's 11-3 record gave him a comfortable win of the week and vaulted him to a 3-game lead in the season standings. Sean was second at 8-6, while Glenn fizzled to 7-7 after a strong start. We all correctly predicted the wins of Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans, N.Y. Jets and Philadelphia. No one guessed that Jacksonville would pull off a win on the road in Denver.