NFL Preview 2011 Edition

Week 16 Predictions heads up: 7-9

Week 16 Predictions against the Spread: 5-11

Record so far: 118-89

Carolina @ Atlanta

Atlanta – 14.5

If Atlanta doesn’t win this game all the great work they’ve done this year will be pretty much lost as they’ll probably be out of the top seed in the NFC. For them to do this they’d have to lose to a Carolina team playing for a coach they know won’t be back next year and with a number of players who know they won’t be back next year on the road. I just can’t see this Falcon team doing that. The Falcons lost a game to the Saints that it seemed the Saints pretty much wanted to give away, they can’t afford that two weeks straight. Luckily for them they won’t.

Falcons 34

Panthers 13

Cincinnati @ Baltimore

Baltimore – 9.5

Its like a fantasy......only its real

The Ravens still have hopes of earning a first round bye and have at least one home game this playoffs with a win by them combined with a Steelers lose. However the reason the Ravens are in this predicament in the first place is because they lost to this very same Bengals team giving them 2 division losses compared to the Steelers 1. Last week the Bengals played another team fighting for their playoff lives in the Chargers however that game was at home against a more flawed team that hadn’t gotten a look at the Bengals before. I can see the orange cats sneaking up on the Ravens once but definitely not twice.

Ravens 24

Bengals 17

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland

Pittsburgh – 5.5

Pittsburgh has a simple formula for their first round bye, beat the Browns on the road and they get it. The Steelers were Colt McCoy’s first pro game and he played them on the road and put up respectable numbers for a rookie against that defense. He’s only gotten better with the game’s he’s played since then. While the Browns have lost 3 straight tough games I think the chance to put a damper in the hearts of a division rival combined with a solid running game and a Steelers team without Troy Polamalu will lead them to victory.

Browns 20

Steelers 17

Minnesota @ Detroit

Detroit – 3.5

Somebody break up the Lions; winners of three straight and two consecutive road games they’ve put together their best stretch of football in quite a long time. A great way to end the season would be to beat a Vikings team that’s been solid under interim head coach Leslie Frazier. To do that they’ll need to corral Joe Webb who’s had the look of a veteran in the first few starts of his young NFL career. As well as the Giants defense has played I just don’t think they have the team speed to contain Webb, Adrian Peterson, and Percy Harvin who are beginning to look the offensive trio of the future if you’re a Vikings fan.

Vikings 27

Lions 20

Oakland @ Kansas City

Kansas City – 3.5

In a game that seemed a lot more exciting 3 weeks ago the Raiders play the Chiefs in a game that could have been for the division title but instead is for absolutely nothing. The Chiefs have little reason to play any of their starters this week but I doubt they’ll rest them the entirety of the game as they’ll want to have some momentum going into wild card weekend and you never want to give a free win to a division rival. I think the Chiefs finish the year as the most surprising 11 win team this NFL season.

Chiefs 23

Raiders 20

Miami @ New England

New England – 5.5

Won't see this guy  for a while

At this point New England has everything wrapped up and if there’s any team that learned to not play any players when they have nothing to gain its New England. After watching Wes Welker go down with a season ending injury last year in a game against the Texans. I would be incredibly surprised if his players played more than a series or 2 if any at all. I think that will open the door for Tony Sporano to get his last win as the coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Dolphins 17

Patriots 14

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans

New Orleans – 7.5

New Orleans pulled off a huge win last week at home against the Saints not only securing their playoff berth but giving them a chance to snatch the division away in the final week of the season. Although the odds of it are slim since the Falcons are playing the worst team in the NFL at home no less they’ll still give themselves a chance with a win over a tough Buccaneers team.

Saints 31

Buccaneers 24

Buffalo @ NY Jets

Pick Em

The Jets while already in the playoffs are looking to create at least a sense of momentum if not any real momentum against the Bills this week. The Jets offense actually played well last week it was their defense that let them down against the Bears. The Jets defense while still ranked 4^th overall in the league has looked like a shell of itself these last few weeks ever since getting obliterated against the Patriots in week. They'll get themselves together this week however.

NY Jets 24

Bills 9

Chicago @ Green Bay

Green Bay – 9.5

In a game the Packers have to win and a game that gets the Bears absolutely nothing I don’t see how the Packers can lose this one at home. Combined with the way they’ve played on both sides of the ball recently and I think they could still win this game even if the Bears had something to play for luckily for them they don’t.

Packers 33

Bears 20

Jacksonville @ Houston

Houston – 3

The Jaguars had a terrible loss last week against the Redskins who were lead by Rex Grossman. The Jaguars are still in the playoff hunt somehow but that will probably be over soon if the Colts can handle their business against the Titans. The Jaguars will be without both Mojo and David Garrard for this game which seems to spell doom especially heading out on the road to face a Texans team that could be playing for their coaches job if he hasn’t already been fired. Despite losing back to back tough games  and being without two of their offense stars I think the Jaguars still find a way to have a reason to watch the scoreboard.

Jaguars 23

Houston 20

Tennessee @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis – 9.5

The Colts basically need to win and they’re in. Once again it seems as though Peyton and company will be in the playoffs despite the gloom and doom predictions some of which could be read on this very blog the Colts has continued his career playoff streak. The Titans might have finally pushed Jeff Fisher out the door with their dreadful performance this year. One thing is for sure the Titans will look a lot different next year and the Colts are winning this game.

Colts 27

Titans 17

Dallas @ Philadelphia

Philadelphia – 3

Normally losing a player of Michael Vicks caliber would be an absolutely devastating blow to any team luckily for the Philadelphia Eagles they have Kevin Kolb as their backup quarterback who is more than capable of beating the Cowboys in the final game of the season as another tryout for whatever team he’ll be starting for next year. The Cowboys are also turning to their backup quarterback Stephen McGee who had one game where he managed one touchdown throw in a heartbreaking loss to Arizona. I’ll just say if he couldn’t lead them to a victory over Arizona his chances are even slimmer against the Eagles.

Eagles 27

Cowboys 20

NY Giants @ Washington

NY Giants – 3.5

The Giants need to win this game and get a little help in order to make it into the playoffs. It’s pretty simple actually if the Giants win and the Packers lose the G-men are in. Both of these games start at the same time and while I’m sure all the Giant players will say there won’t be any score board watching I have a hard time believing it. Luckily for them that Packers Bears game will give them a heads up pretty soon that their playoff hopes are dashed. However their still playing a Rex Grossman lead Redskins team, and while he’s been nothing but solid these past two weeks it’s only translated into a win over a hobbled Jacksonville team in overtime.

Giants 27

Redskins 19

San Diego @ Denver

San Diego – 3.5

Better luck next year guys

For the first time in 4 years the Chargers won’t make the playoffs and for some reason their owner Dean Spanos decided to assure both Wade Phillips and A.J. Smith their jobs before the season was even over. Why; I don't know but luckily for them their jobs are safe and they'll be around next year to lead this same group of underachievers to another disappointing season for Charger Fans. It doesn't seem like their window for a super bowl is closing but who knows if its ever really been open.

Chargers 27

Broncos 13

Arizona @ San Francisco

San Francisco – 6

In one of the most bizarre firings I think I’ve ever seen in the NFL the 49’ers fired head coach Mike Singletary with one game left in the season. I don’t know if he was so embarrassing the organization couldn’t handle one more game of him but I don’t know they’ve made themselves an ever bigger embarrassment by firing a head coach a week before the season ends. I think the embarrassment continues this week with a loss to the Cardinals

Cardinals 27

49’ers 23

St. Louis @ Seattle

St. Louis – 3

I understand the fact this is the first real playoff game of the year with true win or go home implications but part of me still can’t believe that a 7-9 team could make the playoffs and the NFL decided to flex that to prime time. With all that being said I still think this game could end up being surprisingly good with two teams that are close in talent but heading in seemingly opposite directions. The young Rams with a young nucleus on both sides of the ball against an aging Seahawks team lead by an offense seemingly on its last legs at most every skill position. It seems that Matt Hasselbecks ailing back will keep him out of this game and that will keep the Seahawks out of the playoffs.

Rams 24

Seahawks 16

Saturday Night Preview: Hope you had a good Festivus.

New England @ Buffalo

New England – 7.5

After struggling against a Packers team lead by Matt Flynn I think the Pats get back to the version we saw the past 3 or 4 weeks laying the hammer down on any opponent unlucky enough to cross their paths.

Pats 33

Just look at this face. Hilarity ensues

Bills 20

NY Jets @ Chicago

Chicago – 2.5

If theres something more awesome than Rex Ryan having a foot fetish that’s going on in the NFL right now then I’d like to see it. I’ll take the New York Devotees to go on the road and get the win.

Jets 17

Bears 13

Baltimore @ Cleveland

Baltimore – 3.5

Peyton Hillis isn’t looking good which means that the Browns chances of pulling an uspet are looking even worse.

Ravens 23

Browns 17

Washington @ Jacksonville

Jacksonville – 7

I just have a feeling that last week was the best effort will see from Rex Grossman in a Redskins uniform.

Jaguars 23

Redskins 9

San Francisco @ St. Louis

St. Louis – 2.5

The Sam Bradford NFL rookie of the year tour continues with another win in the division as the Rams creep closer to a division championship.

Rams 16

This picture is in every Florida Alums Bible

49’ers 10

Houston @ Denver

Houston – 3

I think this is the game that Gary Kubiak will get fired for. The Denver Broncos haven’t been able to keep it close with anyone these past few weeks but Tim “Jesus” Tebow will lead them to victory over the perennial 8-8 Texans.

Broncos 24

Texans 20

Indianapolis @ Oakland

Indianapolis – 3

The Raiders have finally given me a legit reason to hope this year. They’ve even managed to remain in the playoff picture all the way up to week 16. However that picture will be thrown in the trash this week by Peyton Manning.

Colts 27

Raiders 23

San Diego @ Cincinnati

San Diego – 7.5

San Diego needs to win their last two games and for the Chiefs to lose one. I don’t know if the Chiefs will lose but I can’t imagine the Chargers not winning these last two games.

Chargers 34

Bengals 20

Seattle @ Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay – 6.5

Tampa Bay lost an absolute must win last week against the Lions which would have put them at 9-5 and still in the hunt for a wild card birth and while their playoff hopes are still alive I think the door just shut on their 2010 season. With all that being said I think they’re still much better than the Seahawks

Bucs 20

Seahawks 16

Tennessee @ Kansas City

Kansas City -5

Kansas City can’t close the door on a division championship and a playoff berth in this game but by winning it they’ll officially close the door on the Raiders playoff hopes, consider that door shut.

Chiefs 20

Titans 9

NY Giants @ Green Bay

Green Bay - 3

After watching the game Green Bay played last week against the Patriots on the road without Aaron Rodgers I can’t pick against them at home against a Giants team that just suffered one of the all time worst sports gut punches in quite a while.

Packers 34

Giants 31

Minnesota @ Philadelphia

Philadelphia – 14.5

If you didn’t read the Tuesday wrap up check it out for my feelings on this Eagles team. Even if Brett Favre plays the Vikings don’t have a chance, and I honestly don’t know whether the score will be closer with or without him.

Eagles 27

Vikings 17

New Orleans @ Atlanta

Atlanta – 2.5

Atlanta shuts the door on a division championship and a 1^st place seed in the playoffs all in one fell swoop.

Falcons 24

Saints 21

Weekend Preview: Sorry I actually had a life for once edition.

Sorry I got back from an ugly sweater party at 3:30 so this is going to be pretty short. I wouldn't have felt right not doing a weekend picks article even if you don’t read it until the games are over.

New Orleans @ Baltimore

Baltimore – 2.5

After watching Matt Schaub rip apart a tired Baltimore defense in the second half of that Ravens Texans game I think New Orleans keep their streak of 30+ point games going and beat the Ravens.

Saints 33

Ravens 27

Arizona @ Carolina

Carolina –2.5

Arizona has had such weird hot and cold games this year but at this point I think the Panthers are playing for the first overall pick. Arizona goes on the road and gets a win.

Cardinals 17

You almost made it through the Year T.O. how could you

Panthers 10

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

Cincinnati – 1

What’s that you say? Terrell Owens lambasting is coaches and the owner? What a surprise.

Browns 23

Bengals 17

Washington @ Dallas

Dallas- 7

Everyone I’d like to reintroduce you to Rex Grossman. If theres one thing Mike Shanahan can’t resist it’s a white quarterback with a strong arm with a propensity to throw ridiculous interceptions. He fixed John Elway and he thinks he can fix everyone else. Someone please talk those Redskin fans off the ledge.

Cowboys 37

Redskins 10

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis – 5

Sorry. As much as I want to after their gusty performance against my Raiders last week I can’t pick against the Peyton with the division on the line.

Colts 27

Jaguars 24

Buffalo @ Miami

Miami – 4.5

Miami wins this game and nobody outside of Miami cares.

Dolphins 17

One word

Bills 13

Philadelphia @ NY Giants

NY Giants – 3

The Giants rushing attack has been stupendous lately with the two headed monster of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw but Philadelphia has even better two headed monster in Michael Vick and Desean Jackson.

Eagles 31

Giants 24

Kansas City @ St. Louis

St. Louis - 3

Matt Cassel’s a game time decision if he plays reverse the scores, because I have absolutely no faith in the Brodie Croyle Express.

Rams 23

Chiefs 10

Detroit @ Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay – 4

I'm sorry I'd like to pick against the almighty power of Josh Freeman and the other Mike Williams and a guy who's last name is blount........what a second no I don't.

Bucs 23

Lions 17

Houston @ Tennessee

Tennessee – 1

Tennessee had one of the most pointless late touchdowns in the NFL last week. A team that poorly coached will lose to a Texans team that’s only coached at a mediocre level.

Texans 24

Titans 21

Atlanta @ Seattle

Atlanta – 6.5

Atlanta goes on the road and has their 3^rd loss of the year at qwest field scaring every NFC team that could possibly play there in the first round.

Seahawks 24

Falcons 20

Denver @ Oakland

Bring on Friar Tuck

Oakland – 7.5

Tim Tebows first start is in the Black hole with a Raiders front four that leads the league in sacks?? This could get ugly

Raiders 31

Broncos 23

NY Jets @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh – 4.5

I don’t know how or why, but Rex Ryan will right the ship this week. Oh wait I know why, no Troy Polamalu.

Jets 16

Steelers 13

Green Bay @ New England

New England – 14

Patriots vs. the Packers with no Aaron Rodgers? Hide thine eyes.

Patriots 41

Packers 13

Chicago @ Minnesota

Chicago –7.5

It seems as though the career that wouldn’t die finally died. Brett Favres reign of terror is over. Good work America.

Bears 24

Vikings 10

Week 14 Preview: Sleepless in Screen and Roll Out

Cleveland @ Buffalo

Buffalo – 1

Cleveland enters this game on a 2 game win streak and with 5-7 record that doesn’t tell the story of how competitive a team they’ve been this year with victories over both the Patriots and Saints. Buffalo followed a heartbreaking loss to the Steelers at home by getting creamed by a Tavaris Jackson lead Minnesota Vikings team.  I don’t know if the Vikings have been inspired by Leslie Frazier, but that Vikings team hasn’t been good enough to blow out anybody this year. For the Bills to follow up such a tough outing against the Steelers with that egg tells me they’re not ready to play a team as tough as the Browns even at home.

Browns 23

Bills 20

Atlanta @ Carolina

Atlanta – 9

Atlanta just keeps winning. They may seem to get quite a few lucky breaks throughout the wins but at the end of the game the dirty birds are on top of the scoreboard. There’s absolutely no reason why that shouldn’t be the case against a dreadful Panthers team.

Falcons 31

Panthers 13

Green Bay @ Detroit

Green Bay – 7

Dear Aaron, See you soon. Love Ndamukong

The Packers put a hurt on the 49’ers last week with pretty much just Aaron Rodgers and nothing else. The Falcons exposed the Packers as a one dimensional team and the 49’ers lacked the talent to do the same. I think the Lions are in the same boat. While they have a borderline fantastic D line lead by Ndamukong Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch I don’t think their offense will be able to sustain enough drives to keep Rodgers off the field. The Packers win this one but only because they have one of the top 5 Qb’s in football right now.

Aaron Rodgers 31

Lions 27

Oakland @ Jacksonville

Jacksonville – 4

Being a Raider fan has been a significantly better experience this year than it has been for the past 8 years of my life, and while I’m very happy that we’re at 6 wins for the first time in 8 years I’m incredibly frustrated by the Raiders lack of consistency. If the good Raiders show up they might be able to slow down Mojo while running over the Jaguars with their two headed running attack of D-Mac and Michael Bush. If the bad Raiders show up the Jaguars will run all over them and dominate the game. I hate to say this but looking at their last two east coast games I think the bad Raiders will show up.

Jaguars 24

Raiders 13

New York Giants @ Minnesota

New York Giants - 3

Well this game has been reschedule to Monday because of the insane snow storm in Minneapolis, and that could have an effect on both teams but honestly I have no idea what that might be. This game is more or less the Giants playoff hopes. They’re 8-4 with games against Green Bay and Philadelphia left. This game is basically a must win with those two coming up. As good as the Vikings looked last week I think they bring Brett Favre back to preserve his starting record and it ends up costing them the game.

Giants 26

Vikings 17

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh – 9

Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore was an absolutely fantastic game Sunday Night. Watching that game in comparison to the games from earlier Sunday it seemed like the Steelers and Ravens were playing at a different speed than the rest of the NFL. A lot of people think this will be a letdown game but I don’t think the Steelers can afford to let up knowing the Ravens are still right on their tail and the 2^nd seed isn’t guaranteed.

Steelers 31

Bengals 20

Tampa Bay @ Washington

Tampa Bay – 2

It sucks but I think the Buccaneers season ended last week against the Falcons. As good as the NFC is I think the two wildcard teams will probably be two of the following 3: New Orleans, New York, and Green Bay. I just don’t think Tampa Bay will elbow its way into that conversation but they can keep their hopes alive with a win this week over a listless Washington team that has seemingly given up on their season. 

Bucs 20

Redskins 13

St. Louis @ New Orleans

New Orleans – 10

The offensive rookie of the year trophy will be going to a Qb for the 2^nd time in history and the first time since Big Ben won it while leading the Steelers to the playoffs, can Sam Bradford pull of a similar feat? Hmmm I’ll say this somebody has to make it out of the NFC West and at this point I have to ask myself why not the Rams? Are they any more flawed than the Seahawks…….enh not really. This line seems a bit high when looking at the early year home performances of the Saints except for the fact that current Saints are on a 5 game winning streak putting up 30 in 4 of them. Well make it 6 straight with 30 in 5 of them.

Saints 34

Rams 20

Seattle @ San Francisco

San Francisco – 5.5

This is how bad the NFC west is. The 49’ers lost by 18 points in a game that wasn’t even that close last week and are 5 ½ point favorites over the Seahawks who won by 17. The reason being pretty much everyone knows that the Seahawks are a team that will just no show on the road.  Yes the Seahawks have been bad on the road this year but their road record is 2-3 which is just mediocre and they’ve beaten a tough Saints team in the superdome. I don’t think the Hawks have been given enough credit for the mediocre quality of road team they are. Mediocre will be enough to beat the 49’ers.

Seahawks 23

49’ers 20

New England @ Chicago

New England – 2.5

Solemn American Heads

I can’t pick against the Pats after that performance on Monday night football last week. At the same time I spent a quick hit last week finally admitting that the Bears were for real. The truth is I still believe both of those things I just think that the Pats are on a different level than the Bears. I think the Pats are at this point are the easy super bowl favorite while the Bears are a strong contender to make it to the NFC championship game at best. I think Tom Brady makes an example of the Bears cover 2 defense using short and intermediate passes as he leads the solemn american heads to victory.

Patriots 27

Bears 20

Denver @ Arizona

Denver – 4.5

In the 3^rd debut of a new head coach this NFL season we begin the 4 game season for Eric Studesville who prior to becoming the interim head coach had been a running backs coach his entire NFL coaching career. I doubt he’ll make much of an impression with this 4 game stint but so far the two interim coaches we’ve had this year have more or less knocked it out of the park in the 5 games they’ve coached.  The thing that was most confusing about the McDaniel’s firing is that the Broncos played hard for their coach in the loss against the Chiefs last week; if they can put together another effort like that they’ll beat a much worse Cardinals team starting John Skelton a rookie QB from Fordham.

Broncos 17

Cardinals 9

Miami @ New York Jets

New York Jets – 5

Wow just wow did New York get smashed last week. The Patriots absolutely went 1990’s Mike Tyson on them beating them relentlessly and not stopping until the bell rung. If the Jets are half the team we thought they were before that game last week they’ll beat this Dolphins team. They’re lead by an incredibly turnover prone QB in Chad Henne who should be just what the Dr. ordered to begin to rebuild the confidence of a Jets defense that has to be questioning itself after Tom Brady just dissected them. However what was more troubling than their defense was the absolute egg their offense laid. I don’t know if that’s as fixable as the defense however.

Jets 19

Dolphins 10

Kansas City @ San Diego

Pick Em

I have two words for you. Brodie Croyle. If San Diego doesn’t absolutely cream the Chiefs in this one they have no one to blame but themselves.

Chargers 23

Chiefs 10

I expect to see this next year with a 12 on it

Philadelphia @ Dallas

Philadelphia – 3.5

It just came down from the king of the NFL scoop Adam Schefter that both Winston Justice and Asante Samuel won’t be playing in the game against the Cowboys. As well as the Cowboys are playing I think that changes this game from a blowout to a close one. The Eagles with Michael Vick are too dynamic for a Cowboys team without Dez Bryant to keep up.

Eagles 34

Cowboys 27

Baltimore @ Houston

Baltimore – 2.5

Baltimore lost a game to the Steelers that will probably come back to bite them in the ass at the end of the year when it’s time for playoff seeding. That game could be the difference between the 2^nd seed and the 5^th or 6^th seed. Houston on the other hand probably had their season ended last week with that loss to the Eagles, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see who I’m gonna pick here. Expect Joe Flacco to get back on track against that dreadful Texans pass defense.

Ravens 27

Texans 20

Week 10 preview. Thursday Edition

The Weekly previews are going to be coming out a little earlier now because of Thursday night football. So enjoy a little weekly preview action Thursday as opposed to our normal Friday affair. 

Baltimore @ Atlanta

Pick EM

How this game goes to me depends on the health of Roddy White, it comes out this morning that he’ll probably play but how well he plays will determine how the Falcons do. Without him putting forth something comparable to his normal effort I don’t see how the Falcons can beat a really balanced Ravens team, however with him putting up his regular Roddy White numbers I think Matt Ryan extends his ridiculous home record to 18-1. Roddy White could either have a soft tissue bruise or a bone bruise, a bone bruise obviously being the more serious of the two, I honestly just don’t like betting on guys with knee injuries who aren’t Kobe Bryant so I’ve got the Ravens going into the Georgia Dome and heating up Matty Ice.

Ravens 24

Falcons 20

Detroit @ Buffalo

Buffalo -3

A battle of two teams that don’t quite know how to win yet. The Bills were up by 5 in the 4^th quarter before eventually giving the game away because of their inability to hold on to the ball. The Lions loss was even more inexcusable as they were up by 10 on the Jets in the 4^th quarter with a few minutes left. They had a 3^rd down with the Jets having no timeouts and instead of running the ball and taking 40+ seconds off the clock they pass and get an incompletion. This would be partially excusable if their franchise Matthew Stafford was in the game, because you want to show confidence in your young players, however he wasn’t. Decisions like that make me think the Bills will finally get off the schnide this week even with no Stafford.

Bills 23

Lions 19

Minnesota @ Chicago

Minnesota -1

Has Brett Favre finally turned the corner? Did anybody expect 446 yards to be his career high? That completely blew me away, as long and storied as Favre’s career has been I would have expected him to have thrown for 500 yards at least a few times but apparently he’s never even crossed the 450 mark.  The Bears barely beat the Bills with Jay Cutler throwing no interceptions and the Bills turning the ball over 3 times. I have to say they can’t count on luck so good against a Vikings team still fighting for a playoff wildcard berth. Brett Favre strings two wins together for the first time this year.

Vikings 27

Bears 17

NY Jets @ Cleveland

Jets - 3

Fun Fact. Rex Ryan has multiple wigs always at the ready

 In his press conference this week Rex Ryan put on a blonde wig and put a pillow under his shirt to become his brother Rob who’s the defensive coordinator for the Browns. Rob is looking a lot better than Rex would have you think as the Browns are coming off 2 straight wins over the Saints and the Pats lead primarily by Rob Ryan’s defense. The Jets just scrapped out a win against the Lions in a game they had no business winning without the Lions absolutely handing it to them. I think the Browns don’t hand the Jets anything except the upset loss they should have gotten last week.

Browns 17

Jets 13

Cincinnati @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis -7.5

The Bengals showed some life at the end of their loss to the Steelers last week the question to me is whether that was too little too late. I don’t think they have much shoot at the playoffs at anymore so I wonder whether guys like T.O. and Chad Ochocinco can be counted on to still play as hard as they have been, or in Chad’s case complain as much as he has been. Who would have thought T.O. would be the better receiver of the two of these guys be a mile, as much attention as Chad draws he still just isn’t getting it done. Sure T.O. doesn’t have coverage rolling to his side but he soon will the way Chad isn’t producing and I doubt that will slow him as much as it’s slowed Mr. Ochocinco. The Colts just couldn’t stop Michael Vick although nobody has been able to this year so there’s no shame in that, there would be some shame in losing to the Bengals at home, but they won’t do that.

Colts 31

Bengals 23

Houston @ Jacksonville

Jacksonville – 1.5

Looking at this game I don’t really know what to say. The last time the Jaguars played a pass defense as bad as the Texans David Garrard threw 4 touchdown passes, rushed for one more, and then cured world hunger.  The Texans just got obliterated by the angriest QB around Phillip Rivers to the tune of 293 and 4 touchdowns while he was throwing to junior college rec team. Houston is just a middle of the road team now and on the road I don’t think they’re good enough to beat another mediocre team in the Jaguars.

Jaguars 24

Houston 20

Tennessee @ Miami

Tennessee – 2

Randy Moss= Dolphin destroyer

Apparently somebody on the Ravens spit on Channing Crowder which has him rightfully very upset. The NFL is investigating this but we all know nothing is going to come of it because nothing can be proven. I highly doubt Crowder would make something up, and I have a feeling the Ravens don’t feel bad about it especially with all the trash they talked after the game. I tell that story because that’s the only interesting thing I can that comes to my mind when I see the Dolphins. The Titans on the other hand premiere Randy Moss this week against a secondary he obliterated many times during his Patriot days, after watching him lay an absolute egg against said Patriots my confidence in Moss is shaken. However the Titans don’t need him to be anything more than a decoy to beat the Dolphins.

Titans 17

Dolphins 12

Carolina @ Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay -7

Raheem Morris should probably refrain from calling his team the best in the NFC after that horrendous end of game goal line call he made against the Falcons last week. The Panthers just got spanked by the Saints 34-3 last week and I don’t think things are going to get much better this week. Josh Freeman has been pretty good, but even better have been his two rookie receivers.  Arrelious Benn and the other Mike Williams have been revelations for the Bucs combined with the excellent special team’s play of Michael Spurlock have made this Bucs team a serious playoff threat. The Panthers on the other hand are now down not just DeAngelo Williams, but Jonathan Stewart and Tyrell Sutton. So the Panthers are going to be going on the road with Mike Goodson at starting running back and Jimmy Clausen. Yeah Bucs win big

Bucs 27

Panthers 10

Kansas City @ Denver

Kansas City – 1.5

After a disappointing loss in Oakland Kansas City looks to rebound against a poor Broncos team. Last week the Chiefs had an opportunity to create some distance between them and the rest of the AFC West however with the loss now all of the teams in the AFC West are within 1 ½ games of each other. Looking at Denver I don’t know how many weeks Josh McDaniel has left if the Broncos continue to play the way they have, combine that with his trade of Peyton Hillis for Brady Quinn which is looking even worse and worse by the day for the Broncos. As good as Dwayne Bowe can look he still has huge problems with drops dropping what would have been a game sealing catch against the Raiders last week. The once place the Chiefs do struggle is in the passing game and that’s the one place where the Broncos excel. I think the Broncos spring an upset and keep McDaniel’s job safe for another week.

Broncos 24

Chiefs 20

Seattle @ Arizona

Arizona -3.5

After a promising start to the year the Seahawks have lost the past two games by a combined score of 10-74. I think the Seahawks might have seen enough of Charlie Whitehurst to realize he’s not the QB of the future or even the present. Luckily for Seahawk fans they’ll get everyone’s favorite bald QB back against the Cardinals who sport a solid 2-1 home record with their only loss being a very close 35-38 loss to a good Bucs team. Derek Anderson is pretty bad but he’s NFL bad, he belongs in the league except as a backup QB. However against a Seahawks team that can’t stop anybody running or passing I think the Cardinals finally have an explosive day at home.

Cardinals 31

Seahawks 24

Dallas @ NY Giants

Composite drawing of every Cowboys fan

NY Giants -14

Seriously I don’t know if they could make a line high enough for me to not bet on the Giants in this game. The Giants won their last game 41-7 while the Cowboys lost their last game 45-7. I do think the firing of Wade Phillips will make some difference with the Cowboys, but the fact remains they’re just an awful awful team.

Giants 34

Cowboys 14

St. Louis @ San Francisco

San Francisco -6

Frisco finally got their second win of the year over an even more inept Broncos team in England. As  much as Roger Goodell wants to expand the league giving them games like 49’ers vs. Broncos won’t have them begging for more NFL action. St. Louis’ last game was a tough last second loss to the Bucs, but now they’ve had a bye week to get Steven Jackson healthy or at least healthier which should be huge against the 49’ers. However Troy Smith did inject some life into the niners like I thought he would and I think this is the beginning of his run to get them back into the NFC West division race.

49ers 20

Rams 17

New England @ Pittsburgh

Steelers -5

It seemed like a classic trap game for the Pats last week and it was as the Browns demolished them by 20 points on the road. Pittsburgh barely held off a more than game Cincinnati team stopping a last second drive on the goal line to hold on to a slim victory. Both of these teams are trying to stake their claim as the best in the AFC and possibly the league. Big Ben will be without his starting left tackle Max Starks not just for this game but for the rest of the season as was placed on IR. Big Ben is probably  one of the few QB’s who could take a blow like that and still manage to be as good if not better, Roethlisberger has the best QB rating after contact in the NFL and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to improve starting this week against the Pats. Looking at this Steelers team I think while they may not be as tough running the football as we give them credit for their tough enough to pound a Pats team that struggles against the run.

Steelers 24

Pats 20

Philadelphia @ Washington

Philadelphia -3

Vick vs. Mcnabb II this time it’s for blood. The last time these two teams faced off against each other Michael Vick was knocked early in the game with a rib injury that allowed the Redskins to come away with the victory. I don’t think the skins will be as lucky this week with Vick not missing a beat last week dismantling the Colts I think he’ll want revenge on the team that knocked him out these past weeks. Looking at Washington it’s a team in disarray, people talk about the coaching issues in Minnesota but their seem to be just as many in Washington and when your starting QB and your head coach don’t trust each other it spells doom for your franchise. I think the Redskins get 4 full quarters of the Michael Vick experience.

Eagles 31

Redskins 23

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