Week 8 Preview

As crazy as week 7 was with blowouts coming from 2 AFC West teams and 2 high scoring shootouts in the early games we can only hope for a week as good this time around. The AFC is shaping up to be a battle between the big two of the AFC North(Pittsburgh and Baltimore) against the big two of the AFC East ( New York and New England) While the NFC is starting to look like the Giants conference to lose. However we’re only half way there and there are a lot of stories still left to be written.

Randy Moss starring in: The Return

A few weeks ago The Patriots sent Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings for a draft pick and nothing else. Now it’s time for him to return to the Patriots who haven’t loss sent they sent him away but have missed the explosive element he added to their offense. The Patriots are looking like the Patriots of old with a collection of small receivers who will work themselves open in pretty much any part of the field.  However the Viking have enjoyed both the deep threat that Randy Moss provides as well as the attention it draws which has opened up space for Percy Harvin to get back to his play making ways of last year. However this hasn’t lead to a drastic increase in wins as they’re only 1-2 since adding Randy Moss.  This has to be the game Randy had circled once he got traded and I’m genuinely excited to see what he does.

Darren McFadden and Mike Williams starring in: Now who’s the bust?

The Raiders Seahawks game stars two college superstars who seemed like busts during the early part of their careers. It’s especially exciting to me because I absolutely loved both of these players coming out of college and was ecstatic when the Raiders picked McFadden 4^th out of Arkansas and was almost as excited when they picked up Mike Williams only to drop him 5 weeks later. McFadden only being in his third year; the bust label seemed a bit quickly placed however Mike Williams ate himself out of the league multiple times after being picked 10^th by the Detroit Lions so the label was more apt. However both players have been rejuvenated this year and are putting together solid years, or in McFadden’s case a pro bowl quality one. The question is who will emerge this game with another sterling performance to add to their 2010 resume. Last week McFadden had 196 total yards and 4 touchdowns while Williams had a solid 11 catches for 87 yards and one visit to the end zone. I doubt either puts up similar numbers but I also doubted either player would be this good this year so we know how much I know when it comes to these guys.

Miami @ Cincinnati

Cincinnati -2.5

“Oh hi there Carson, sorry for saying all those bad things about you all these weeks. We’re still cool right?” On behalf of Screen and Roll out I’d like to send my apologies to Carson Palmer who demonstrated that he is in fact not a corpse and is a real live quarterback. Let’s see if he can put together a performance like that two weeks in a row. The most troubling part of last week’s Falcons Bengals game as a Bengals fan is Carson Palmer has a once in a season game for him and you still lose. The Dolphins can’t win games at home but are currently undefeated on the road.  The Dolphins are the epitome of a 3-3 team not particularly good in any area but not awful in any area either. Something tells me the Dolphins get their first loss of the year on the road this year and I started reading the literature I’ve been getting from the Church of Caron Palmer.

Bengals 24

Dolphins 20

Jacksonville @ Dallas

Pick Em

Say hello to your starting QB Dallas

I really have no idea who to pick in this game. Dallas is absolutely done. Their season is over, no Tony Romo for the rest of the year and they’re 3 games back in their division. Jon Kitna isn’t leading a comeback from the brink of oblivion, but he might lead them to a victory or two during this year. As far as wins go I don’t think you can ask for much more than playing the Jags at home. The only team the Jags have beaten on the road is the Bills and they did that in a shootout. As bad as the cowboys have been and as bad as they’re going to be they’re still better than the Bills. Watching that Monday night game the only thing I took from it for the Cowboys was that Dez Bryant is a legit play maker right now. As bad as Jon Kitna and that offensive line are he still has the makings of 3 go to players at the wide out position in Miles Austin, a rejuvenated Roy Williams, and the up and coming Dez Bryant. I think that’s enough to beat a Jags team that doesn’t know how to travel.

Cowboys 31

Jags 24

Washington @ Detroit

Detroit -1.5

The glorious return of Matthew Stafford at home against a Redskins team coming off a 4 interception day.* Correction a Redskins team with DeAngelo Hall coming off a 4 interception day. He was absolutely ridiculous last week making a 1 handed interception that he took to the house as well as 3 more interceptions of Jay Cutler. Obviously that has a lot to do with Jay Cutler who still wouldn’t avoid DeAngelo Hall right now according to his own words. I think we all want our Quarterbacks to be confident, but when you’ve thrown as many touchdowns as interceptions a little humility wouldn’t hurt. Either way despite those 4 picks the Redskins are still the leagues 2^nd worst team in pass defense so they’ll still vulnerable maybe just not as vulnerable on Hall’s side. The last time we saw Detroit they played what seems like the best in the NFC Giants to a very close game on the road. Combine that with their home beating of the Rams and I like the Lions in this one.

Lions 27

Redskins 17

Green Bay @ NY Jets

Jets -6

Don't Blitz this man. Or that mustache

As tough a win as the Packers got last week I don’t know how the Jets aren’t favored by more coming into this game. They’re a 5-1 team that can pretty much do everything and they’re getting a presumably healthy Darrelle Revis back this week.  The Packers on the other hand are 1-2 on the road having lost to both the Redskins and the Bears; neither an overly impressive team. However both of those games were games where the Packers shoot themselves in the foot without a doubt the question becomes have the Packers put those problems to bed or are they still around. With no running game in Green Bay I don’t know how they’re going to get the jets out of their nickel and dime sets or how they’re going to get those 3^rd and shorts that offenses need to get going. I think they’re going to be in a lot of 3^rd and longs which play right into the Jets defenses hands as they’ll bring the house. Here’s where I see the game turning, Aaron Rodgers eats blitzes for lunch, and he prefers his lunch to be the big play variety. Rex Ryan doesn’t change his style for any QB and that will be his undoing this weekend. Pack in the upset

Green Bay 30

Jets 27

Buffalo @ Kansas City

Kansas City -8

After getting robbed against the Texans the Chiefs took out their frustration on an over matched Jaguars team beating them in pretty much every phase of the game on their way to a 42-20 blowout. Dwayne Bowe might have finally turned the corner and put his drops behind him, that toe tapping back of the end zone grab last week was absolutely diseased.  The Chiefs still run the rock the best in the league and stop the run just almost as well being ranked 5^th in run defense. The Bills aren’t looking to run the football they’re looking to pass it early, often, and deep. Ryan Fitzpatrick for all the jokes I’ve made about him has definitely livened up this Bills passing attack, as they’re currently in the top 10 of the NFL. Watching the Bills last week play the Ravens that tight I can’t discount them because I still think the Ravens are a good team. I just don’t think the Bills have learned how to win games yet, and I don’t think they figure it out this week.

Chiefs 31

Bills 30

Denver @ San Francisco

Pick Em

Wow. This sure will get people in London excited about football. Getting to watch two of the worst teams in the NFL play, wow what a treat. For all those 49er fans calling for David Carr they got their wish and then he was just as terrible as anyone who knows football knew he would be. The 49’ers have some skilled players they just don’t have any one to get them the ball. We can’t talk about terrible without bringing up the Denver Broncos and the putrid performance they put together last week, they were beat by 45 points. The game was essentially over in the first quarter as they were down 24-0 at that point however they made it respectable scoring 14 points to the Raiders 59. Games like that tend to be aberrations however I don’t know how you can like the Broncos after what just happened to them last week, maybe they rally around each other and their sense of pride and beat the 49’ers, I just this is going to be Troy Smiths coming out party. How he wasn’t the choice of the 3 Qb’s the 49’ers had to begin with I’m not sure, but I’ve always like that guy and I think this week he show’s me why.

49ers 27

Broncos 20

Carolina @ St. Louis

St. Louis -3

Carolina got their first win last week against the 49’ers which doesn’t say much about the Panther’s that we didn’t already know. The Rams on the other hand are coming off a heartbreaking last second loss to the Bucs on the road. They lost with less than 20 seconds left on the clock, but now they return home where they’re undefeated this season. With no DeAngelo a lot of people would think the Carolina running attack would be less effective but when Williams went down last year Jonathan Stewart was absolutely untouchable leading several fantasy teams (mine included) to championships. The problem is the Panthers passing game hasn’t been good enough to open up lanes for either Stewart or Williams, last week was the exception as Matt Moore managed to get going for over 300 yards. Despite the passing attack they put together last week the Panthers still struggled on the ground. After losing a game they shouldn’t have last week on the road the Rams will recover against a team that still hasn’t put together a balanced offensive game.

Rams 24

Panthers 20

Tampa Bay @ Arizona

Arizona -3

Actually called poor mans Jamarcus Russel

Arizona is back on the Derek Anderson express after Max Hall was knocked out of yet another game. Tampa Bay just got a solid win at home against a very competitive Rams team prompting their coach to declare them the best team in the NFC. Sorry to break it to you Raheem but you’re not even in the best team in your division. However they’ll be the best team on the field against the Cardinals. Josh Freeman is looking like what a lot of people thought Jamarcus Russell would be when he came into the league, a big QB who’s mobile, tough to bring down, and with a cannon for an arm, hopefully that’s the only time I’ll ever use Jamarcus Russell and Josh Freeman in the same sentence if you’re a Bucs fan.

Bucs 17

Cardinals 13

Tennessee @ San Diego

San Diego -3.5

Tennessee can’t seem to lose against NFC teams while the Chargers just can’t seem to beat anybody. However this isn’t a NFC vs. AFC battle this is a conference game where the Titans don’t fare as well. After an absolutely insane performance last week from Kenny Britt can we count on something similar against a Chargers defense that is still getting the job done despite their special teams and turnover struggles. At 2-5 the Chargers are still ranked 1^st in total offense and defense making those stats seem absolutely worthless. Every week seems like the week we stop picking the Chargers but once again they’re the favorite against a 4-2 coming off a solid win. I just can’t pick the Chargers, they may have all the pieces but they just don’t fit.

Titans 27

Chargers 20

Minnesota @ New England

Patriots -5.5

Tom Brady In the two games since the Randy Moss trade he has been mediocre at best, if not outright bad. He has 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions over the past two games, while in the 4 prior to that he had 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. This seems like the perfect opportunity to show the New England what they gave up to the Vikings. It looks more and more likely that Brett Favre will once again cheat injury and manage to play another Sunday. The Patriots have strung together 4 straight wins after their loss in week 2 to an impressive Jets team. They seem to be coming together like the Patriots teams of old with an offense that’s just effective enough to win the game and a defense that will always keep their offense in the game. However I just can’t imagine Randy Moss not going off and putting a nice 150 yard 2 touchdown game on the pats just for the sake of revenge.

Vikings 30

Patriots 24

Seattle @ Oakland

Oakland -1.5

As good as Oakland looked last week they could just as easily look as bad this week, but honestly after watching that game and then looking at how the Seahawks put up their points I just don’t see it. The Seahawks are a team that will win most if not all of their games at home but continue to struggle on the road.  The Seahawks have been excellent stopping the run this year ranked 2^nd in the league and this week they will truly be tested against Darren McFadden coming off his best game as a pro. Combine that with a Raider defense finally having success against a legitimate offense and there’s seems to be a lot of momentum for the Raiders. However you could have said the same thing after they beat the Chargers and they proceeded to lay an egg against a winless 49’ers team. However that was also without Darren McFadden who seems to be the motor to this raider offense on the ground and through the air. Raiders make it to .500

Raiders 27

Seahawks 24

Pittsburgh @ New Orleans

Saints -1.5

The Steelers come off a game that they shouldn’t have won against the Dolphins and now go into a battle of the past 2 Super Bowl champs. Both teams seem to be headed in different directions however with the Steelers cruising at 5-1 and the Saints struggling at 4-3 coming off a blowout loss to the Browns. Neither team looked good last week, but the Saints have only been 1-2 at home which is incredibly troubling because that home field advantage was a huge part of what lead them to their NFL championship last year. The saints typically like to get their running game going to set up the play action pass but that’s going to be incredibly difficult against the Steelers defense. 2 of the Saints 3 losses have been against 3-4 teams and they have a lot of trouble blocking schemes that disguise their pressure and that’s exactly what the Steelers love to do. I think the Saints are going to be on the wrong end of two straight AFC North beat downs. Steelers go into who dat nation and crush the Saints.

Steelers 38

Saints 24

Houston @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis -5.5

A rematch of the game that started the year off with a bang, we were introduced to Arian Foster and vulnerable Colts team all at the same time in Houston during week 1.  Has the Colts run defense improved enough to not have a repeat of what happened in week 1? Peyton Manning is so great we take him for granted but once again he’s putting up MVP caliber numbers, so far this year he has 12 touchdown passes to go along with only 2 interceptions. As bad as that week 1 game looked the Colts were an Austin Collie fumble away from having that game within a touchdown. Speaking of Austin Collie, but he and Dallas Clark will be out this week with Dallas Clark being placed on IR. Every week Peyton Manning seems to pull another player out of thin air and make him into a solid NFL player I just wonder who it will be this week. As good as Peyton Manning is, I still think the Colts run defense is terrible and the numbers agree as they’re ranked 24^th against the run. Arian Foster is averaging 5.5 yards a carry and I think it will only improve against the Colts. However if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s this, never pick against  Peyton Manning when the lights come on, he’s money in general but during night games he’s solid gold. Colts win despite not being able to stop the run.

Colts 34

Texans 30

Look out folks. Screen & Roll Out has just joined the likes of Thomas Edison by utilizing the recorded audio format. We just put up our NBA preview for the Western Conference. Enjoy.

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Tuesday Morning Week 7 Recap.

Week 7 Predictions Heads up 7-7 

Week 7 Predictions against the Spread 6-8 

Record so far: 46-41

Wow. As crazy as this year has been in the NFL week 7 was probably the craziest week we’ve had this year. 9 Interception returns for touchdowns on Sunday which was an NFL record by the way. The Raiders basically drop a 60 bomb on the Broncos. Drew Brees throws 4 picks to the BROWNS at home. Carson Palmer decides he’s heard enough of my mouth and goes off for 412 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Refs absolutely blow their whistles too soon and rob the Dolphins of a win at home, and keep the Steelers on top of the AFC. Seriously there are honestly too many stories for this week’s quick hits I’m pretty excited so let’s get to it.

The Autumn Wind is a Raider

Truly the rims of Future Pro Bowler

So could you please raise your hand if you had the Raiders beating the Broncos? Ok thank you that looks like about half the class. So now could you please raise your hand if you had the Raiders beating the Broncos by 45 points? Yeah….didn‘t think so. So I say Oakland’s gonna lose on Sunday, not only do they win, they score the most points in franchise history. This was probably the most dominating performance I’ve seen on all 3 phases of the game in years. This was like watching college football. It seemed like Boise State vs. Nevada or something. Darren McFadden seems to have finally turned the corner and become the elite back the Raiders thought they drafted with the 4^th overall selection. He’s only 3 yards behind Adrian Peterson in yards per game at a sterling 111.4 and he’s averaging an astounding 5.5 yards per rush. He put on a truly dynamic performance reminiscent of some of his more explosive days back in Arkansas. Defensively they shut down the top 3 passing attack of the Broncos holding Kyle Orton to 165 yards total passing, while sacking him 4 times and taking his first pass to the house for a pick 6. The fans in London can’t be too happy about getting to watch that Broncos v 49’ers matchup now, truly a battle of football elites. The question remains, what do the Raiders turn this victory into? Does this become a sign of things to come for the Raiders or does this become an unbelievable anomaly in another forgettable season in Oakland. Watching this team I’m still not sure, I’m hoping it’s the former rather than the later but only time will tell.

Ok we can finally say it………the Cowboys are finished

Even if getting blasted by the Giants on Monday night doesn’t seal it. Tony Romo breaking his Clavicle does. The normal recovery time on an injury like that is 8-10 weeks. So yeah I’m going to go ahead and put a fork in the Cowboys season. I was watching the Monday night game with my brother and I’ll tell you the exact moment I knew the Cowboys were going to lose. They get two interceptions on the first two Giant's possessions, both on tipped passes and they didn’t turn them both into touchdowns. They got the ball on the 6 and punched that one in, but then they got it on the 14 or so and settled for a field goal. That was it for me, you have to put your foot on the gas early and the cowboys don’t know how to do it. Even after the Dez Bryant punt return the feeling still remained the same. They can’t stop the Giants, once the Giants stop killing themselves they’re gonna paste em. All of sudden the Giant receivers stop tipping passes and catch them and its 21-20 at halftime and the game is essentially over. If you get 3 first half turnovers from a team and end up behind at the half you’re not the better team. The Giants proceeded to crush them in the 3^rd quarter before letting off the gas in the 4^th for a 41-35 victory that wasn’t that close. Now here’s the question I have, does this injury save Wade Phillips job? Can he really be blamed for a Tony Romoless team not making the playoffs? I think he should have been gone around week 4 but he wasn’t and now he’s without their most important offensive player for most likely the rest of the season.  I don’t know what Jerry Jones does but I do know that his daughter is absolutely terrifying. Seriously shes like Jerry Jones with a wig. I'm gonna have nightmares.(Google her, I'm not putting a picture in the blog. I have to check this thing once a day)

Well Better luck next year guys.

I knew they were fake just not this fake

Whenever I’m writing my weekend preview I’m always pretty worried about how wrong I’m going to be on stuff and I never fail to be really wrong on things. Observe last week’s Broncos over Raiders pick. However when I picked the Saints over the Browns it was with the caveat that I thought they’d win but I thought they’d scrape it out because something was still wrong with the Saints. I was wrong about them scraping out a win against the Browns. There was a blow out to be seen in the Superdome, the Saints getting blown out by a Cleveland Browns team that absolutely owned Drew Brees. I thought that the Saints hadn’t solved all of their offensive or defensive problems, but Sunday was mostly about offense. The Saints offense couldn’t do anything right. Drew Brees was under pressure constantly, he looked like a shorter Brett Favre out there throwing passes he had absolutely no business throwing. His first interception to David Bowens was a truly Favrian effort. He was wrapped up essentially, but instead of taking the sack and living to see another day he tries to throw the ball away and throws it towards the line; of course it bounces off of David Bowens hands then off of Jahri Evans leg and finally back into Bowens hands for a pick 6. He throws 4 picks total in this game and already this season has a grand total of 10 interceptions, he only had 11 all of last year. On the defensive side of the ball the Saints had trouble stopping a Browns offense lead by Colt Mccoy. I'll give the Browns credit in this, they played to win this game from the outset. They used all the trickeration they had in the books and kudos to them for that. However its week 8 and the Saints just got spanked 30-17 at home by the Browns. That truly doesn’t bode well for New Orleans and their chances of throwing another big bash in the bayou.  

Is this the week that the streak finally ends?

Every great streak in sports eventually ends. The Connecticut womyn’s basketball team will eventually lose a game. Cal Ripken eventually had to hang em up and let his streak go. The all time great UCLA teams of the early 70’s eventually lost to Notre Dame after compiling to me the most impressive team streak: 88 straight victories. The Los Angeles Lakers strung together 33 straight wins before their NBA all time steak ended. It seems that this might be the week that the greatest record in Pro sports finally gets its final number as Brett Favre might have to sit out this week and end his consecutive games streak at 291.  It comes out to an even more amazing 314 if you include the playoffs. Brett Favre has not one but two stress fractures in his ankle. I write this article knowing full and well Brett Favre could easily still decide that he’s Brett Favre and play anyway and be great. I just don’t know how a 40 year old guy with all that punishment on his body goes out there on what amounts to one ankle. To amass a streak like this in the most violent of sports is truly amazing; I think it makes it the most amazing individual streak in all of pro sports. This streak started all the way back in 1992, which comes out to 18 long years. Brett Favre hasn’t stopped playing football since I was 4 years old. As much as we go after Brett Favre here at Screen and Roll Out, if this is the week this streak ends he gets a salute from me because that is truly the work of an iron man. Also I’d like to salute him because Peyton Manning is probably going to break 8 years from now. Sorry I couldn’t help it, I can’t write about Favre without getting a dig in there somewhere. 

Week 7 Preview

The most interesting part of week 7 will be watching how both the players, the refs, and the NFL react to the helmet to helmet gate that was last week. Will refs be over anxious and give out personal foul penalties left and right? Will we see a slew of missed tackles by defenders for fear of getting said penalties? Will the NFL hand out fines and suspend players unjustly knowing that they need to send a message? All will be answered this week…. Or at least some of it will be.

The Colts can’t seem to catch a break

So not only are they down their starting middle linebacker in Gary Brackett, but today they find out their star tight end Dallas Clark is going to be out for the year. Not only that, but they’ll probably be without both Austin Collie and Joseph Addai for the next few weeks. Every time somebody goes down for the Colts another unknown person seems to step and fill their role and they don’t seem to miss a beat. I just think that this year the AFC south might be too good for that to work. The Colts are tied with both the Texans and Titans at 4-2 and I doubt they can afford this many losses in a division this competitive.

Per Usual Parity Reigns Supreme

The NFL is a league based on parity and every year we have several examples of it. This year whether you look at the Rams having as many wins this year as they had all of last year, or the Cowboys being 1-4, or nobody having more than a 1 game lead in their division it’s no different. I honestly don’t have any idea who’s going to win any division right now in the NFL. We have a solid idea of the teams who are going to be in the playoffs but nothing is written in stone. This is part of what makes football great. I wrote about it a few weeks ago, but it still remains true pretty much everybody has a chance.

Cincinnati @ Atlanta

Atlanta – 4.5

Probably threw an interception

The Bengals just might be my favorite team because every time I write about them I get to write about how terrible Carson Palmer is.  There was a pretty good article on sportsline about how he gets a pass and it captures my feelings on him pretty well. All that being said Matt Ryan isn’t nearly in that territory but I don’t think he’s as good as we thought he would be coming out of his rookie year. Looking at the 4 Falcon wins two of them honestly should be losses, one being the Garret Hartley 29 yard field goal miss and the other being the Nate Clements interception fumble. Thinking about the Falcons that way makes me a lot less confident in them going into this game against the Bengals. But then all I can think of is Carson Palmer throwing interceptions and I laugh. Falcons cover the spread

Falcons 30

Bengals 17

Buffalo @ Baltimore

Baltimore -13.5

Baltimore lost in overtime against New England in a tough game last week but still seems to be among the class of the AFC if not the entire league. If you go on the road against the Jets, Pittsburgh, and New England and win 2 out of 3 you’re a pretty damn good team. Playing the Bills has been a recipe for blowouts for pretty much every good team that's faced them. The only real close game they've had was a shootout they lost against the Pats in week 3. I think the division familiarity helped them more than anything in that game. Ravens Big

Ravens 31

Bills 10

San Francisco @ Carolina

San Francisco -3

This is the classic example of a game that somebody has to win. I said I wouldn't pick the 49'ers again 2 weeks ago so of course they go out and beat my Raiders the next week. Carolina gets Matt Moore back this week, how much good that will do them is anybody's guess. The 49'ers did a good job stopping an offense that relies on the running game with an incompetent QB last week I think they can do the same this week. The Panthers defense is pretty solid and they do a good job stopping the pass. If they can pressure Alex Smith and put him back in his weeks 1 through 5 form they have a chance. If he looks like he did in Oakland last week the 49'ers get back to back wins. I think Alex Smith doesn't look as good as last week but he looks good enough.

49'ers 17

Panthers 10

Washington @ Chicago

Chicago -3

Chicago just lost to the team that never wins on the road and now they play a Washington team that manages to keep pretty much every game close but can’t seem to win most of them. Chicago has big issues protecting the QB and they’re going to be facing one of the premier pass rushers in the league in Brian Orakpo. Watching the Colts Redskins game Orakpo can be absolutely unstoppable the only problem is that he gets winded relatively quickly as drive wear on. If Chicago can get their running game going they can take Orakpo out of the game and keep Jay Cutler upright. Looking at the Redskins with the worst overall defense in the NFL I think they manage.

Bears 27

Redskins 21

Jacksonville @ Kansas City

Kansas City -2

Jacksonville was embarrassed in front of a national audience in a home game Monday night losing 30-3 to the Titans. The Jaguars seem prone to getting blown out. Every year it seems they lose at least 2 or 3 games via blow out no matter what their record is. The Chiefs don’t really have the firepower to blow out many teams but I do think they’re good enough to beat Jacksonville especially at home where the Chiefs are even better and Jaguars are notoriously poor. The Chiefs got absolutely robbed last week against the Texans and they’re looking to avenge that loss and stay ahead in what’s shaping up to be a putrid AFC West. With no David Garrard and possibly no Trent Edwards I don’t know how the Jaguars are going to go on the road and beat the Chiefs. Maurice Jones Drew is an amazing player but he’s not good enough to single handedly win a game and that’s basically what the Jags would need this week.

Chiefs 20

Jags 13

Pittsburgh @ Miami

Pittsburgh -3

Mike Wallace apparently asked for the Reggie Bush

Watching Pittsburgh last week I think the rest of the league might be in trouble. Big Ben comes off not practicing or being around his team for4 weeks and comes out in his first game with pretty much no rust. This doesn’t bode well for a Dolphins team that relies on its running game to really open up its offense. The Steelers are the best team in the NFL against the run while they’re just mediocre against the pass. I don’t think Chad Henne is good enough to carry team just on his arm however. I think we have a short lived QB duel as Big Ben puts the Dolphins down in Miami. Fantasy wise I'd count on at least one deep pass TD to Mike Wallace and his Mohawk/speed line in a Steelers win.

Steelers 24

Dolphins 17

Cleveland @ New Orleans

New Orleans -14

New Orleans looked like their old selves against the Bucs last week putting up a 31-6 victory. The Browns were competitive in all their games through week 4 but in the past two games against the Steelers and the Falcons they were beat convincingly. The Browns seem like a team that can stay close with the mediocre teams but lack the talent to compete with the truly elite teams in the NFL. They have to like what they saw out of Colt McCoy last week in the loss to Pittsburgh. He played a solid game taking what they gave him, he made a few mistakes but it was against the best defense in football so it’s forgivable. I think this game will tell us a lot about the Saints. If they can’t blow out an overmatched Browns team at home perhaps they truly are having a super bowl slump. I think the blow out of the Bucs was more an aberration than a sign of things to come. Saints still win, but they don’t win convincingly.

Saints 27

Browns 20

St. Louis @ Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay -2.5

One of the match ups I’m most interested in seeing this week is a matchup of the young upstarts of the NFC. These teams have a few things in common: Young Quarterbacks being ahead of the curve, opportunistic defenses that create pressure and turnovers, manufacturing a passing game with no elite talents, and both have 2^nd year coaches that were defensive coordinators prior to getting the job. Where the differ is in one place really; the running game, the Bucs have none to speak of while the Rams have one of the most if not the most consistent running back in football in Steven Jackson. I think that’s where this game is won, the Bucs can’t stop the run and Steven Jackson is going to run all over them on his way to passing Eric Dickerson as the Rams all time leading rusher. Rams get their first win on the road this year.

Rams 27

Bucs 20

Philadelphia @ Tennessee

Tennessee -3

A matchup of two teams coming off big wins last week, the titans beat the Jaguars convincingly on Monday night while the Eagles put a whooping on the presumed NFC favorite Falcons. I have to say that the Eagles win is still the more impressive to me just because the Falcons seem like the more legitimate team of the two. However the Titans win is impressive because they kept Chris Johnson in to run up his yardage at the end of the game. Also because he has a signature touchdown dance called "the choppa city juke". The Eagles are on the road this week and while this may be a detriment to some teams the Eagles are still undefeated on the road this year.  The Titans are actually 1-2 at home with one of those losses coming to an unimpressive 2-4 Broncos team. The reason they lost that game was because they couldn’t stop the Broncos air attack and I think they’ll lose to the Eagles for the exact same reason. If Kevin Kolb ends up being the starter for the rest of the year in Philadelphia people will look back at this game as the game that sealed it.

Eagles 34

Tennessee 24

Arizona @ Seattle

Seattle -4

We have a terrible NFC West battle and a terrible AFC West battle this week. The Seahawks are at home which would normally be enough for me to pick them. You combine that with their solid win on the road last week against the Bears and them facing an undrafted rookie QB in Max Hall and a Seahawks victory seems all but certain. But then I look at the Cardinals and I think hmm how do they perform on the road. Oh wait they lost 7-41 to Atlanta and 10-41 to San Diego. Yeah Seahawks win

Seabirds 20

Arizona 6

Oakland @ Denver

Denver -6

An AFC West battle between two 2-4 teams that feel that they should be 3-3. The Raiders because of a missed Janikowski 32 yard field goal, and the Broncos because of a pass interference call on 4^th and 8 against the Jets last week. The winner of this game will be the team that manages to put their disappointment behind them and realize they’re still very much in their division race and need to win every game they can. The Raiders haven’t shown a consistent ability to stop the run or the pass and facing the high flying Broncos offense that isn’t a good thing. The Broncos are a middle of the road defense that has trouble stopping the run. However with the showing of Jason Campbell last week and the news that the Raiders may be starting Kyle Bowler I think that’s too much for them to overcome on the road.

Broncos 24

Raiders 13

New England @ San Diego

San Diego- 3

Has the AFC West replaced the NFC West as the worst division in football? Are the Chargers the Seahawks of the division; able to blow out teams at home but struggling on the road to get wins. The Patriots got a rather impressive win at home last week against a Baltimore squad I was ready to declare the best team in football. The most impressive part of that win was their much maligned defense finally showing signs of life, while their numbers might not look impressive with the game on the line in the 3^rd and 4^th quarter they forced 5 consecutive Baltimore punts. I think the streak of San Diego dominating teams at home ends this week as do their hopes of winning their division this season.

Patriots 24

Chargers 17

Minnesota @ Green Bay

Green Bay -3

Brett Favre returns to Lambeau for the first time in 2010 to a Packers team as desperate for a win as the Vikings. Early in the season it seemed like the Packers or the Bears might run away with this division but after 2 losses in the past 3 weeks for both teams the Vikings are right back in the race.  Aaron Rodgers is looking for his first win against Brett Favre; this being his 3^rd stab at it. The Vikings are looking for back to back wins for the first time all season, after a win in the panic bowl they’re in a similar situation facing a desperate Green Bay team. However looking at the injury report it looks like this Green Bay team is going to be without Clay Matthews which is a pretty big blow to a defense that relies on him a great deal to generate their pass rush.  Without that pass rush I don’t think the Packers have the ability to cover Randy Moss over the top or Percy Harvin underneath, especially not if Adrian Peterson gets going.

Vikings 30

Packers 24

NY Giants @ Dallas

Dallas -3

On Monday night it looks like a matchup of the NFC East’s best and worst teams. However that doesn’t really mean much in this division where pretty much every game comes down to the wire. The Cowboys lost the panic bowl last week and come into this game looking to salvage their wild card hopes and try to keep their division within grasp. The Giants look to bury their division rivals in week 7 putting them in a seemingly insurmountable hole halfway through the year. The Giants seem to have all the things you want in an elite team. They have offensive balance with Eli and his trio of explosive wide outs and 2 backs that can get it done in different situations. On the defensive side they have a front four that can generate pressure without the blitz allowing their defense to be aggressive in coverage. The Cowboys problems on the offensive side of the ball all seem to stem from the offensive line. They don’t generate enough push for their running attack or provide Tony Romo enough time to be error free or at least less error prone than he is now. When you match up one teams weaknesses against another teams strength I tend to side with the team with the strength, combine that with the fact that the strength weakness matchup occurs at the line of scrimmage and I think the Giants make a statement in the Jerry Jones Mausoleum.

Giants 31

Cowboys 20 

Tuesday Morning Week 6 Recap.

Week 6 predictions heads up: 7-7


Week 6 predictions against the spread:8-6


Record so far: 39-34


The NFL had quite a week 6. The prevailing story out of the NFL this week will be concussions and head to head hits and how the NFL can police the violence of football without taking away the essence of what makes it great. The Seahawks go on the road and get a win outside their division for the first time in 3 years under the steady hand of Pete Carroll. Pierre Garcon makes in absolutely ridiculous one handed grab in a Sunday night game that just showcased how amazing Peyton Manning is. Joseph Addai puts up 100+ yards and I feel like a lot of the yards can be attributed to Peyton Manning making the right choices and getting Joseph Addai in a position to be successful. A couple of seemingly game deciding pass interference penalties in the Texans V Chiefs game and the Jets V Broncos game have reignited the call for the NFL to switch to the college rules of a 15 yards pass interference rule. But without further adieu lets break into the things on my mind from Week 6 of the NFL.


The Wraith of Kolb

Fun Fact Kevin Kolb has a really big head

Kevin Kolb apparently reads the blog and wasn’t happy with my repeated bashing of him and his check down bonanza the past two weeks and decided to absolutely obliterate the Falcons. He throws 7 completions for over 20 yards on his way to 326 yards and 3 touchdowns. The final score was 31-17 and it wasn’t that close as David Akers missed a couple of 37 yard gimmes that would have made it even uglier. While the win against the 49’er really didn’t impress anyone, to blow out a Falcons team people were calling the best in the NFC does. Just when you thought things were settled in Philly Kolb throws a monkey wrench into the plans. I thought he might play well enough to up his trade value in the off season but he’s played well enough to once again give Andy Reid a tough decision if he puts together another good game this week. I think the odds are in his favor since Tennessee has the 23^rd ranked passing defense in the NFL and they’re only that high after a Monday night debacle against the Jaguars. So once again we’ll have a quarterback scorn in the city of brotherly love the only question is will it be # 7 or #4.

The Return of Roethlisberger

Big Ben made his return to the Steeler faithful with a beat down of the AFC north punching bag Cleveland Browns. I don’t know if there could have been a better set up for Big Ben he returns to a team that’s just hitting its stride with a plethora of weapons on the offensive end and a defense that will keep them in any game. So of course he goes out and puts up 257 and 3 touchdowns, but something was troubling about the performance. Honestly it didn’t have anything to do with the game that he played but more with his post game interview. He didn’t acknowledge any wrong doing on his part essentially say the suspension was unfair to him. On top of that he then proceeded to say that all of those actions were that of “Big Ben” and not of him. This shows the sort of cavalier attitude that Ben Roethlisberger still has. Despite this suspension he still remains above it all. I would be more prone to forgive and give him the benefit of the doubt if this wasn’t his second rape accusation in as many years with a plethora of evidence coming out against him things just seem to point to a privileged guy living in a world where he thinks he’s untouchable, and it doesn’t seem like the NFL suspension has done anything to change that. Its troubling that in a league where Michael Vick is still pretty reviled for brutally killing a large number of dogs, Ben Roethlisberger is left relatively unscathed after seemingly having non consensual sex with with two different womyn in the span of two years. Don't get me wrong I think that what Michael Vick did is absolutely terrible and he deserves absolutely all of the scorn he receives however Big Ben deserves a heaping helping of it on his plate as well. I guess those two super bowl rings do a good job deflecting a lot of criticism. 

The Vikings win Panic Bowl 2010

With both of their seasons on the brink the Vikings beat the Cowboys in a sloppy turnover and penalty filled game that showed just how far both of these presumptive NFC Super Bowl contenders had fallen. The Cowboys just can’t get out of their own way it seems. Another excessive celebration penalty, an unnecessary push off by Miles Austin that negates a long touchdown pass, blatant pass interference on their last gasp of a defensive stand, and finally a few Tony Romo interceptions. As “talented” as Dallas is supposed to be they can’t seem to win games. I put talent in quotations because I’ve never been a big believer in talented teams that don’t win. If you’re not winning then you’re not all that talented to me. I think the NFL will always be about talent first and discipline/coaching/scheme second. Sure the Steelers run a great 3-4 defense but if they didn’t have a slew of pro bowl players playing in it then it wouldn’t be nearly as dominant. I think the same can be said for the Cowboys. They don’t seem to have a single good player on their offensive line, they have no running game to speak of and while they have a lot of players in the passing game they can’t stop turning the ball over. I don’t think they’re nearly as talented as they’re made out to be. The Vikings also seem to be having offensive line problems. If Brett Favre continues to get hit like he did against the Cowboys he won’t make it through the season. The trio of Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, and Visanthe Shiancoe are dynamic but if Favre doesn’t have time to find them it’ll be for naught. So the Vikings won the game and are right back in their division race because of Packers and Bear’s losses, but things aren’t all fixed in the land of Lakes either.

The obligatory NFL is violent piece

The NFL wants to see less of this

So as we all know the NFL is a violent sport. This weekend it seemed a bit more violent as several players were knocked out of games. The most vicious hit being the Dunta Robinson on Desean Jackson hit which knocked both the hitter and the person hit out of the game. James Harrison delivered two knockout blows and then post game delivered a slew of comments that I don’t think made the NFL too happy. When asked about the violence and whether he has concern for players welfare he said “I thought Cribbs was asleep,”  “A hit like that geeks you up — it geeks everybody up — especially when you find out that the guy is not really hurt — he’s just sleeping. He’s knocked out, but he’s going to be OK.. I don’t know what’s more baffling, that James Harrison is so ignorant to the consequences of the sport that he plays or that a quote like this hasn’t been paraded around as the example of what’s wrong with the NFL. Somebody being knocked out from a hit isn’t them going to “sleep” nor are they ok after the fact. He also dropped this jewel “I want to hurt somebody,If you hurt somebody, they’ll be back the next play. I don’t want to see anybody injured. An injury will keep you out. But I’m not opposed to hurting anybody.” Honestly I don’t have as much trouble with that statement as I do with the previous one. Football is a violent sport and I don’t have a problem with wanting a little intimidation. Players hitting hard isn’t the problem, players leading with their heads, and the coaches that teach them to lead with their heads and the highlight culture that encourages reckless play because of some ridiculous macho standard are the problem. Making football safer doesn’t make it a sissy sport or less manly it makes it smarter. Roger Goodell has talked a good game about the leagues commitment to becoming a safer game and about concussion prevention but now the spotlight is on him. How he handles not only this week but drafting a policy that goes forward from this point will tell a lot about his tenure as commissioner. Punishing the players with suppensions is a start but it doesn’t attack the root cause of the problem. Players are taught from an early age to hit a certain way, dangerous tackles and head to head collisions are branded as tough hard nosed football from an early age. Until something is done about that football will continue to be a sport that is even more dangerous than it needs to be. 

week 6 preview.

Sorry no quick hits this week got a lot going on but I'll make sure to put a lot in the week 6 recap.

Seattle @ Chicago

Chicago -6

Seattle has been bad on the road and good at home, and this week they’re going against a Bears team that’s at home coming off an impressive win powered by Matt Forte and their defense as Todd Collins managed to only generate 4 interceptions and about 30 yards of passing. So to get a win like that and get your starting QB back has to make the Bears feel confident. Seattle on the other hand is coming off a loss to the Rams but during the bye week they picked up Marshawn Lynch who should do the running game a lot of good. I just don’t think it will be good enough against Chicago’s 3^rd ranked run defense.

Bears 23              

             

Seahawks 17

Miami @ Green Bay

Green Bay -3

So after a lot of speculation it seems as though Aaron Rodgers will get the start after sustaining a concussion at the end of the game against the skins. He’ll be facing a solid Miami defense who's ranked 7^th in total defense. They don’t really get a lot of pressure on the QB only ranked 18^th in sacks so far. So while they’re a solid defensive unit they just don’t pressure the QB as much as you’d want or create enough turnovers having only 4 so far this year.  The Dolphins on the offensive end seem to have a good deal of balance their main problem is the same as their defense, turnovers. Every time they got something going against New England on Monday night they would turn the ball over.  The Packers opportunistic defense combined with a home crowd spells a close victory to me.

Packers 27

Dolphins 23

Kansas City @ Houston

Houston -4.5

Lamest Emblem ever

The Kansas City Red Arrows put together a valiant effort against the Colts, if not for the inexcusable drop of Dwayne Bowe who knows how that game turns out. However he did drop the pass and the Chiefs lost so they look to get back on the winning path against a Texans team battling its own problems. Houston came out 2-0 and everyone including yours truly proclaimed that they had finally turned the corner and they follow that with two rather lopsided losses and a close win against the Raiders, not the resume of a playoff team.  I think Kansas City is more real than Houston is at this point. They can run the football and while they’re not explosive they won’t beat themselves something you can’t say about the Texans.

Chiefs 20

Texans 17

Baltimore @ New England

New England -3

Tom Brady with his first chance to remind everybody it’s been all about him all along. He can still do it with smoke, mirrors, and Wes Welker. Or maybe the 2^nd ranked passing defense in the league and the #3 defense overall reminds the Pats of what happened last year, a Ravens blow out. Looking at these teams I don’t see how these matchups have changed the Pats don’t have anybody who can keep up with Ray Rice and that hasn’t changed since last year. Without the deep play threat of Randy Moss the middle of the field won’t be so wide open for guys like Welker and Aaron Hernandez. I think Ray Rice has back to back big games and the Ravens win convingly.

Ravens 31

Pats 20

Detroit @ NY Giants

NY Giants -10

The Giants have a lot people talking about them as possibly the best team in the NFC next to the Falcons. I’m not quite drinking the kool-aid just yet. They got absolutely lambasted by the Colts in Indy and I think they have a few weaknesses that can be exposed by the right team. The Lions have some of the ingredients do just that. They have an explosive passing game with Shaun Hill, Calvin Johnson, and their two tight ends Pettigrew and Scheffler. If Jahvid Best can get back going after a few off weeks they can regain some offensive balance. However the Giants are even more explosive on the other side with Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith, and Mario Mannigham. I think that combined with a superior Giants pass rush means The G-men will come out on top in this match up, but I think it will be closer than people think. The Lions are a scrappy team and they been in pretty much every game they’ve lost this year.

Giants 27

Lions 20

Atlanta @ Philadelphia

Eagles -1

Kevin Kolb comes in for relief of Michael Vick against the 49’ers and puts together a solid albeit not spectacular performance. However a solid performance won’t be enough to beat a Falcons team that seems to be vying for the title of the NFC’s elite. The NFC south never seems to have back to back champs and this year seems no different with the Saints struggling while the young Falcons and Bucs make headway towards a division championship. The eagles on the other hand just want to hold the fort until Michael Vick makes his way back from his rib injury which will probably be a bit longer than any Eagles fan would hope. Atlanta has strung together 4 straight wins after a tough 9-15 loss against a Pittsburgh defense we didn’t realize was so good in week 1. The Falcons are doing it through the old NFL clichés of running the ball and stopping the run. The Eagles were able to get a gutty performance from Lesean Mccoy last week with cracked ribs to the tune of 92 yards on 18 carries. That was pretty key in setting up Kevin Kolb to be as effective as he can be since he didn’t take advantage of the deep ball pretty much all game. However playing a tough Falcons run D I don’t think Lesean is as effective and the Falcons get a tough road win.

Falcons 24

Eagles 17

Cleveland @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh -11.5

I don’t know if Colt McCoy could have a harder starting situation than this. Facing Pittsburgh on the road, in the returning game for Ben Roethlisberger. Big Spreads like this normally make me nervous but I don’t see any way that the Browns keep this game close. They’ve managed to be competitive with a number of teams of teams but they haven’t played anyone of the Steelers caliper. Combine that with Big Bens homecoming and this has all the makings of a Steeler blowout.

Steelers 31

Browns 10

San Diego @ St. Louis

San Diego -8

The 2010 Chargers ladies and Gentleman

The Chargers always start slow and everyone reminds us of that at every turn. So nobody is really in a panick about the Chargers, however if they lose this game I think a lot of people might be. The Chargers haven’t won a road game all year but eventually they’ll have to break through if they want to be a playoff team. The Rams just went on the road themselves and got blasted by the Lions by about 40 points. The Chargers have put up yards by the boatload but haven’t been able to cash those in for points due to numerous turnovers. That combined with their putrid special teams has cost them more than one game this season. The Rams already beat a solid Redskins team at home so its not impossible. I think I’ll put this game in the same category as the 49’ers game from last week. If they Chargers lose here I’m writing them off for the rest of the season.

Chargers 30

Rams 24

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay

New Orleans -4.5

 
All week long we’ve been asking the question: Whats wrong with N’awlins. I don’t think theres a simple answer. Their defense isn’t causing nearly as many turnovers as last year, and their running game isn’t effective without reggie bush and Pierre Thomas. Those two factors combine to drastically hinder their once explosive offense. With no short fields from the defense they don’t score as quickly. Their quick scores last year allowed them to jump out ahead and allowed their aggressive defense to be even more aggressive. With no solid running game it hinders their play action passing ability which is where they get a lot of their deep strikes from. The thing is the bucs can’t stop the run, so this is probably the week the Saints will finally look like themselves. I don’t think they’ll get a plethora of turnovers but I think they’ll find some running room against a pourous tampa bay front 4 that can rush the passer but can’t stop the run. This will allow them to hit the deep ball and it will calm everyone down about the Saints for  a week or two. However the Bucs have played too well this year outside of the Pittsburgh to get blown out here. They’ll lose the game but they’ll keep it competitive.

New Orleans 27

Tampa Bay 21

NY Jets @ Denver

Jets -3

The Jets are on a roll right now looking like one of the prohibitive favorites of the AFC. The Broncos on the other hand look like one of the plethora of mediocre to bad AFC West teams outside of the suprising Chiefs. This could be a surprise game for the Jets because with a hobbled Darrelle Revis the Jets can be challenged through the air and that’s exactly what the Broncos plan to do all game. The only question is can they protect against the variety of blitzes that Rex Ryan is going to send Kyle Ortons way. The Broncos have no semblance of a running game to slow down the pressure so they’ll have protect Kyle Orton and mix in some screens and draws along with some quick 1 step and 3 step drops. On the other side of the ball Mark Sanchez hasn’t turned the ball over all year and while he’s still not as explosive as the Jets would like him to be he’s taking care of the ball, not making mistakes and taking a few risks, he’s a bit more than a game manager at this point but not much more. The story here is still L.T. who I have to say looks just like his MVP version which I don’t think anybody say coming. I think those two things will be enough to beat the Broncos on the road

Jets 20

Broncos 17

Oakland @ San Francisco

San Francisco -6

It’s as simple as this I said I wouldn’t pick the Niner's after they lost on Monday night and I’m true to my word. Even though that means they’ll probably get their first win against my beloved Raiders. However with the way they’ve been playing I think they’ll give away the game to a team that’s almost as prone as them to giving away games.

Raiders 24

Niner’s 17

Dallas @ Minnesota

Vikings -1 1/2

This has been dubbed the Panic bowl by a large group of people and I can’t say I disagree. Whoever loses this game will seem to be in an almost insurmountable hole. Looking back at the last game for both teams I have to say I was more encouraged by the Vikings performance. They played a tough Jets team on the road and managed to come to the brink of winning the game on a second half flurry of offense. The Cowboys on the other hand repeated their standard script of self destruction. 3 Tony Romo interceptions and plethora of penalties including the most important and inexcusable an excessive celebration penalty on Marc Colombo with the game still in contention. Of course Tennessee then takes the kickoff back to the red zone. Titans score Cowboys lose. While Minnesota isn’t as good as they were last year I don’t think you can count on the Cowboys to not beat themselves especially not on the road.

Vikings 27

Cowboys 20

Indianapolis @ Washington

Indianapolis -3

Washington has managed to be in pretty much every game this year except their loss to the Rams. While a loss to the Rams seems a bit troubling the Redskins are at home against the Colts where they haven’t lost in some 40 odd years. However most of those years they didn’t have to play Peyton Manning. Despite the Fact the colts are a mere 3-2 Peyton has been his usual brilliant self putting together an 11-2 touchdown to interception ratio. The Colts just won a tough game against a better than expected Chiefs team at home. This week I think they win a tough game against a better than expected Redskins team on the road.

Colts 31

Redskins 24

Tennessee @ Jacksonville

Tennessee -3

The normally Colts dominated AFC South is a 4 way battle for 1^st place right now.  All 4 teams are sitting at 3-2 and the only team without a division is Colts most surprising of all. Jacksonville is looking to continue this 2 game win streak into a 3 game win streak and rack up another win against a tough division foe. They beat the Colts in overtime thanks to their running game, David Garrard not turning the ball over, and  tremendous kicking of one Josh Scoobey and they’re hoping that can be the formula for another division win. The Titans don’t have consecutive anything’s this season wins or losses. They just beat a cowboy’s team at home that nobody is still certain about. They could be a good team struggling or they could just be a struggling team. Either way Vince Young had a deceptively bad game he threw a few balls up for grabs that weren’t turned into turnovers especially his touchdown pass to Kenny Britt. However with all that being said the Titans have a been a really good road team and the Jaguars already got blown out 28-3 to a mobile quarterback. While Vince Young is no Michael Vick I think he’s good enough to get the win.

Titans 28

Jags20

Tuesday Morning Week 5 Recap.

Week 4 Predicitions Heads up 5-9

Week 4 Predictions against the spread 5-9

Record so far 32-27

This was an absolutely putrid week for me picks wise, but hey that’s why I don’t gamble…………………as much as I used to. A week of ginormous upsets this week, Oakland ending a 7 year skid of not being able to beat the bolts and the Cards beating the champs with an undrafted rookie. Brett Favre puts together some second half magic with 3 touchdowns that reminds us he’s still Brett Favre, and then throws a pick 6 to lose the game which reminds us he’s still Brett Favre. The Falcons have begun to emerge as the favorites of the NFC, their only loss being a very close 15-9 game against a Steelers defense we didn’t know was that good at the time. They probably should have lost to Frisco had Nate Clements not fumbled away a game sealing int, but as the saying goes “good teams find a way to win games” and they have. But enough about the Dirty Birds let’s get into the quick hits

ooooooooohhh Bretty Boy

Face palm indeed Brett.

Wow. This is funny beyond words. That is all. Especially during the month when his wife is most visible since its breast cancer awareness month and all. I'm sure she's quite aware of this. So just in case this Monday night match up between the Jets and the Vikings wasn't good enough you can now add penisgate to the lead up. Just a heads up this video is NSFW due to a penis shot around the 2 minute mark. However hilarity ensues throughout.

http://deadspin.com/5658206/

Week 5 Preview

Week 5: After a mega trade followed by continued trash talk the Monday night Jets Vikings match up is even more excited than previously hoped. While Randy Moss dons the Viking horns once again, Tom Brady is back in a familiar position this bye week trying to turn a receiving core of also rans outside of Wes Welker into a super bowl caliber unit. Peyton Manning needs to get on track again against the last of the undefeated after a loss to a seemingly dreadful Jaguars team. 

A Rex Ryan Battle Royale for the AFC crown

Rex Ryan is a fan of the Cosby Sweater

Maybe Week one told us more than we thought it did. Looking at the AFC now the Ravens and the Jets look like two strong contenders for the crown. After a week one outing that nobody was proud of both teams came out of the game looking offensively inept, but maybe it was just a match up of two premiere defenses against two offenses that had yet to jell.  After 4 weeks that seems the more likely scenario as both of these teams have put together impressive 3-1 records.  Both teams are lead by defenses constructed by Rex Ryan, one of which he still coaches and the other one his imprint is still fresh .  Both have two young quarterbacks coming into their own surrounded by a plethora of weapons in Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez. They truly seem to be mirror images of one another which could make a rematch in the AFC championship game all the more exciting.

The return of the Super Freak

In one of the biggest mid season deals I can remember in football the Pats sent Randy Moss back to his original NFL home in Minneapolis. The Vikings seem to be going all in on this year putting everything they have into winning the super bowl this year damn the consequences and I can respect a team willing to do that. Moss is the perfect complement to a Brett Favre that we’ve all seen is more than willing to throw up a jump ball to pretty much any receiver. Combine that with Adrian Peterson, a pretty stout Vikings defense, and perhaps a mid season return of Sidney Rice and the Vikings seemed poised for a super bowl run. Or at least you had better hope they are as a Vikings fan because we all know what happens to Randy Moss when things aren’t going well.

Sam Bradford looks like the real deal

After 4 weeks in the NFL I think its safe to say that the St. Louis Ram’s didn’t draft the next Jamaracus Russel. Sam Bradford seems to have everything you want in your franchise quarterback a rocket arm, accuracy, leadership, and the ability to step in immediately and be a difference maker. This team has shades of the Falcons and Ravens of a few years ago where rookie quarterbacks lead teams that nobody saw coming, into the playoffs. The difference being this rams team doesn’t have a good defense to support Bradford but they play in a division so terrible they don’t need one.

Denver @ Baltimore

Baltimore-7

Baltimore might be the 2nd best or best team in the AFC. There aren’t really any juggernauts to speak of in either division at this point in the year but they have compiled wins over what seem like the best team while their only loss is to a 2-2 team, the Bengals. This is a classic immovable object vs. unstoppable force match up pitting Denver’s #1 passing offense against Baltimore’s #1 passing defense.  I hate to be the one to say it but Denver’s win last week against Tennessee was pretty fluky. A questionable pass interference call to get them to the one followed by a fumbled kickoff to pretty much seal the win for them. I think their luck runs out against a good Baltimore team on the road

Ravens 27

Broncos 17

Jacksonville @ Buffalo

Buffalo -1

They’re sure are a lot of ugly games in week 5. This one might be the ugliest. The Bills are 1 point favorites despite being winless and the Jaguars beating the Colts last week. I don’t really know what to make of that Jags win last week. David Garrard looked solid both passing and with his feet against what seemed like an improved Colts defense. They finally got their Mojo going after weeks of absence, but they still don’t generate any pass rush.  Buffalo on the other hand got absolutely creamed by a Jets team that seems to be shaping up to be one the best teams in the league.  Their leading rusher in that game was Ryan Fitzpatrick who also led them in rushing attempts never a good sign.  I would say maybe the friendly confines of home would help this Bills team, but they were at home last week. I think the Jags make it over .500 this week.

Jags 24

Bills 20

Chicago @ Carolina

Pick em

In another battle that nobody wants to watch a Jay Cutlerless Chicago Bears team faces off against a winless Panthers team that just put a scare into the World Champs. Up to last week the Bears had been doing a stand up job stopping the run…....then they were gashed for 189 yards at 5.8 yards a touch. I think this is the perfect opponent for Carolina to get their first win. Carolina finally got their two headed backfield on track against the Saints now they can build on that momentum against the Bears. With Todd Collins leading the Chi-town attack I doubt it’s as explosive as it’s shown in the past few weeks. The Panthers have managed to stay close in the last two games they’ve lost, this week they don’t just stay close they stay ahead.

Panthers 17

Bears 10

Tampa Bay @ Cincinnati

Cincinnati – 7

Alert the presses we have a Carson Palmer sighting. After being AWOL for the first 3 weeks of the season Carson decided to show up against a putrid browns defense yet his presence wasn’t enough to lead the Bengals to victory. The problem for the Bengals offense is twofold. 1: They don’t have an established identity; last year they were a run the ball grind it out team and this year they’re trying to air it out to justify their personal additions. However Carson Palmer just isn’t a QB who can do that on a week to week basis anymore. 2.  A rushing attack that was dominant a year ago hasn’t produced a 100 yard rusher yet in 4 games; Cedric Benson is averaging an anemic 3.3 yards per carry. Tampa on the other hand was exposed in week 3 by the Steelers as a team that wasn’t quite as good as they thought they were coming into that game. However the Steelers are one of the better teams in the league so losing to them is not shameful as a young up and coming team.  The problem for the Bucs is that they can’t stop the run ranking 26^th in the NFL, however I just don’t think the Bengals can run the football well enough to make them pay and the Bucs get an upset on the road

Bucs 20

Bengals 17

Atlanta @ Cleveland

Atlanta -3

Peyton Hillis 2010: Haircut hall of fame

I expected Atlanta to blow out an over matched 49’ers team at home but not only did they not do that they were a play away from outright losing the game. The Browns represent a much more game opponent coming off their first win of the year against the Bengals.  Carson Palmer put up a solid game against an atrocious Cleveland pass defense so I’d pencil Matt Ryan in for a breakout performance as well. The Browns on the other hand are riding the effective running of Peyton Hillis, and the not so bad play of Seneca Wallace who at least turns the ball over less than Jake Delhomme. I think that’s enough for the Browns to make it 2 straight at home and send the Falcons back to the drawing board after what we thought was a breakout win against the Saints two weeks ago.

Browns 20


Falcons 17

St. Louis @ Detroit

Detroit -3


The Sam Bradford express heads out on the road to take on the winless Detroit Lions. Earlier I talked about Bradford being the real deal and I think is the game thats going to cement that in a lot of peoples minds. Both the Lions and the Rams have terrible pass defenses and the Lions have the seemingly better set of weapons with Calvin Johnson and Brandon Pettigrew, but Sam Bradford will overcome that on the road to lead the Rams to victory in a minor upset. I expect something close to 300 yards and 3 touchdowns for the OU product.

Rams 31


Lions 27

NY Giants @ Houston

Pick Em

The Giants are coming in hot after a demolition of the Bears on Sunday night with a marvelous 10 sack performance by their defense while the Texans were one play away from overtime against the Raiders. One good that came out that game is Arian Foster getting back on track to the tune of  131 yards on a meager 16 carries. The Giants also got their running game back on track with Ahmad Bradshaw putting together 129 yards and a touchdown. He would have had two if he held onto the ball instead of watching himself in the jumbo tron but that’s for another time. However with all that ink being devoted to the prospective running games I think this is going to be game where both teams end up airing it out. However with no Andre Johnson and a revitalized Giants pass rush I think big blue comes out on top.

Giants 27

Texans 20

Kansas City @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis -8.5

This is the week the Chiefs are brought back down to earth from their undefeated high. The Colts just lost a game they couldn’t afford to loss against the Jags putting them at 0-2 in their division and if they don’t get things righted quickly they’ll be looking at a wild card berth. The Chiefs have gotten here on the back of their running game, special teams, and a defense that’s solid enough to keep them in the games. The Chiefs formula to win this game is pretty simple run the ball and keep it out of Peyton Manning’s hands. Keep time of possession in their favor and limit the Colts opportunities. The problem is we’ve seen that same formula fail when executed to near perfection. The Dolphins had the ball for 45 minutes of the game last year against the Colts; they ran 84 plays to the colts 35 and still lost the game. I doubt the Chiefs will execute as well as the Dolphins, but I’m pretty sure they’ll still lose like them.

Colts 31

Chiefs 17

Green Bay @ Washington

Green Bay- 3

Aaron Rodgers and crew on the road against a Skins team that just pulled the upset in honor of Captain Campbell’s soup himself, I have a feeling that this is the week the Packers put together a blow out against a solid opponent. The Redskins got beat at home pretty solidly by the Rams because they couldn’t stop a passing attack lead by Sam Bradford. I don’t think they’ll do any better against Aaron Rodgers. The question for me is how could the Packers not make a trade for Marshawn Lynch, a team with super bowl aspirations has to make that move because John Kuhn and Brandon Jackson clearly aren’t going to get it done.  However with that being said the Packers lack of running game doesn’t hurt them this week as the beat the Skins soundly.

Green Bay 38

Skins 27

New Orleans @ Arizona

New Orleans -6.5

Fun Fact. Max Hall hates Utah

This seems like a pretty easy call for a New Orleans win. Even after coming off a bad performance against the Panthers they managed to still win the game. New Orleans has managed to scrape out several tough wins this year despite their previously explosive offense not being anywhere to be found. Arizona on the other hand just got blown out by San Diego in a 31 point game that wasn’t even that close. The Cardinals are starting an undrafted rookie Max Hall this week after finally having enough of the Derek Anderson experience. You can't ask more from your an undrafted rookie QB than to expect him to get a win against the world champs in his first start and he won't.

Saints 31

Cardinals 17

Tennessee @ Dallas

Dallas -6.5

Tennessee lost a heart breaker of a game to the Broncos last week as we talked about earlier. The Cowboys are coming off a win in a must win game against the Texans the presumably righted the ship in big D. Will we have another appearance by Roy Williams in the Dallas passing attack? Will Chris Johnson continue to be marginally effective? He’s being held to 3.8 yards a carry almost 2 yards lower than his 5.6 average of last year.  The Cowboys defense has been pretty strong against the run this year holding opponents to 80 yards and the Titans have only won games where Chris Johnson eclipses the 100 yard mark. This seems like a perfect combination for a Dallas win at home.

Cowboys 27

Titans 20

San Diego @ Oakland

San Diego -5.5

The Raiders have lost 13 consecutive times to the Chargers, the longest such streak in divisional play. I don’t see any reason why that streak ends this week. Bruce Gradkowski is coming off two monstrous hits in the previous game against the Texans which would have taken a quarterback with less toughness out of the game. However you don’t want your QB taking hits like that no matter how tough he is. Once again the Raiders can’t stop anybody running the football and this seems like the perfect week for Ryan Matthews to have a breakout game against a porous Raider run D. The Raiders always seem to play the Chargers closer than the final score indicates but always end up falling apart at the end. I don’t see that script changing this week.

Chargers 31

Raiders 24

Philadelphia @ San Francisco

Pick em

Kevin Kolb finally gets his chance to be a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles too bad he’s only keeping the seat warm for Michael Vick. While this may be a bad scenario for the Eagles wins wise this might be the perfect opportunity for Kevin Kolb to increase his trade value for a possible off season swap. The 49’ers on the other hand are still winless however with the terrible division that is the NFC west a win here and they’re right back in the division race. I’ve picked the 49’ers several times before because they just seem to have too much talent to be playing this poorly and I have to admit I’ve been suckered in again. I just can’t believe that they’ll go 0-5, at home, against a Kevin Kolb lead Eagles team.

49’ers 17

Eagles 13

Minnesota @ NY Jets

NY Jets -4

Best Touchdown dance EVER

Monday night games this year have been pretty damn good, or at least seemed like they were going to be pretty damn good in the upcoming week. The return of Randy Moss to Minnesota, Moss Revis 2: This time it’s for blood, and Brett Favre revisited his initial post retirement hang out. All of these things come together along with what a lot of people thought might be a super bowl preview. Mark Sanchez has strung together 3 consecutive great games and now the spotlights on him in what I think will be a bit of quarterback duel. Brett Favre loves throwing up 50/50 passes when he’s under pressure except in weeks 1-3 he was throwing those up to Bernard Berrian……. And now he’s throwing them to Randy Moss, the best 50/50 pass catcher of all time. I think this just might make Favre look a little better. Combine that with a fired up Randy Moss who’s playing to shove it in the face of Bill Belichick and the entire Pats organization and you have a recipe for a Minnesota win coming out of the bye week.

Vikings 30

Jets 24