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

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

Saturday Night Week 13 Preview

New Orleans @ Cincinnati

New Orleans – 7

Early in the year I wasn’t a believer in the Saints, I saw the way their offense looked and I saw the points they put up and they didn’t have any resemblance to the Super Bowl champs of last year. However the Saints have put up 30 points or more in their past 3 games during a 4 game winning streak. The Bengals on the other hand extended their losing steak to 8 games with a loss to the Jets. They always seem to be competitive in games before things eventually fall apart for them. I think they fall apart again as the Saints continue their streak of 30+ point games. 

Saints 34

Bengals 24

Chicago @ Detroit

Chicago – 5

I told you last week that I was a believer in Chicago so I’m going with them in this game over the Lions. Detroit has nothing to play for except spoiler while the Bears are coming off probably their biggest win of the season beating a tough Eagles team at home.  Wait a second…….who does Chicago play next week? Oh will you look at that they play the Patriots next week, this has the classic makings of a trap game, so I’ll just say this Chicago will probably win this game but they’ll have to play all 60 minutes to do so.

Chicago 24

Detroit 23

San Francisco @ Green Bay

Green Bay – 9.5

Green Bay seems to be a one man team at this point with their only reliable source of any offense being Aaron Rodgers. Luckily for them that one man is good enough to beat the 49’ers while they’re at home. They had better use this game to find some other people to get Rodgers some help on offense or they might not make it into the playoffs.

Packers 27

49’ers 20

Denver @ Kansas City

Kansas City – 10

Kansas City showed they were legit by going on the road in one of the toughest environments in the NFL and absolutely handing it to the Seahawks. The Broncos showed who they were by losing at home to St. Louis in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would have you believe. Chiefs in a big way.

Chiefs 31

Broncos 17

Cleveland @ Miami

Miami – 5

Note enough money on earth for me to block this guy

Miami was finally able to run the football for one last week as they ran over the Raiders to the tune of almost 200 total rushing yards with their combo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. The question is whether that was a one week aberration or a sign of things to come as they close out the season. Cleveland's rush defense is ranked 20th in the league so they're nothing to write home about however I think a guy like Shaun Rogers can make all the difference to a team that isn't a equipped to handle him and the Dolphins lack the size up front to handle him. Combine that with another installment of the Peyton Hillis show and I think the Browns go into Miami and pretty much end the Dolphins season.

Browns 19

Dolphins 17

Buffalo @ Minnesota

Minnesota – 5

With Adrian Peterson being a game time decision this game comes to down to whether you trust Brett Favre with possibly no Adrian Peterson or Percy Harvin to be able to beat the Bills at home. My answer: Just barely.

Vikings 27

Bills 24

Washington @ N.Y. Giants

New York – 7.5

New York beat a tough Jags team at home in a thriller last week now they play one of those games they can’t afford to lose if they want to make it into the playoffs. The Redskins are a team who has beaten a few listless opponents and not much else but division games can bring out the best in NFC east teams.  However I doubt it'll bring out enough to beat a Giants team fighting for their playoff lives.

Giant 17

Redskins 9

Jacksonville @ Tennessee

Tennessee – 3.5

Farewell Rusty Smith we hardly knew ye

Sadly it seems as though the Rusty Smith era has come to an end in Tennessee after a 20-0 drubbing at the hands of the Texans. The Titans couldn’t have played much worse than they did last week however Jacksonville is trying to hold off both them and the Colts for the lead in the AFC South. The Jags will be without Mike Sims Walker however the Titans will be without both Randy Moss and Kenny Britt. Oh what’s that you say?? Randy Moss has been active the past few weeks. Ouch. Jacksonville extends their division lead

Jaguars 17

Titans 13

Oakland @ San Diego

San Diego – 13.5

Oakland headed into the bye week with all the hope and go fortune they could have asked for and since then things have been pretty much all downhill. The Chargers like usual are performing their normal November December undefeated streak. The Raiders were barely able to beat the Chargers at home when they were spotted a 12 point lead by the Chargers dreadful special teams and then needed a questionable fumble call to snatch victory from the clutches of defeat. I don’t see any miracle around the corner for the Raiders this week.

Chargers 31

Raiders 17

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay

Atlanta – 3

The Bucs almost put a kink into my declaration of them as a team that can only beat the teams they’re supposed to beat and no one else, but this week I’m going to do it myself. The Bucs are going to beat the Falcons this Sunday and I’ll tell you why. The Falcons are a mediocre road team at best and all of their home wins against good teams have had a very questionable tinge to them. On top of that you look at how closely the Bucs played them last time and they were literally a goal line stand away from beating the Falcons at home where they seem to be unbeatable. Well the Falcons aren’t unbeatable on the road and the Bucs will show it this week.

Bucs 23

Falcons 20

St. Louis @ Arizona

St. Louis – 3.5

The Rams got their first road win in over a year last week in Denver and they’re looking to follow it up with another road win this week except this time against a divisional opponent. Sam Bradford and crew are currently tied for first place in the division and will need all the division wins they can get in order to hold off the Seahawks. Arizona on the other hand just got blasted by the Chiefs and had their greatest press conference debacle since the Denny Green tirade so that leads me to pick the Rams in this one.

Rams 24

Cardinals 20

Dallas @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis – 5.5

I wrote last week about whether this is the end of the Colts as we know them. They’ve had a run that probably won’t ever be equaled in the salary cap era of football; they’ve been in the playoffs for 10 of the 13 years they’ve had Peyton Manning at QB including this year. So it could end up being 11 for 13 at the end of this year. However this game is pretty much  a must win for the Colts, they’re tied with the Jaguars for the division lead and with the top two teams in both the AFC North and East having better records than the Colts they’ll only make it in as a division winner. I don’t know whether they’ll do that but I think they’ll beat a rejuvenated Cowboys team who won’t be catching a team by surprise on the road like they did the Giants in their first week with Jason Garrett.

Colts 31

Cowboys 24

Carolina @ Seattle

Seattle –4.5

In a battle that nobody outside of Seattle and Panther fans care about the Seahawks will keep their post season hopes alive by beating the worst team in the league at home.

Seahawks 23

Panthers 13

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Baltimore – 3

My real reason for picking the Ravens

In what should hopefully be a Sunday night epic the Steelers go on the road to face a team they’ve already lost to at home this season.  However that Steelers team the Ravens faced in week 4 was without Ben Roethlisberger but the Ravens were without Ed Reed and while these aren’t equal they’re both incredibly important changes to both teams. Both of these players are banged up coming into this game but both will undoubtedly play as the games between these two teams always seem to come down to the wire either late in the 4^th quarter or overtime. I think Baltimore makes it 2-0 and makes their claim to a top seed in the AFC playoff bracket.

Ravens 20

Steelers 17

NY Jets @ New England

New England – 3.5

In the game of the week the Pats and Jets face off for the crown of best team in the AFC East and the AFC as a whole. Rex Ryan added a little fire to the flames with some jabs at Tom Brady in his press conference this week and we all know how much the Pats love to take that bulletin board material and make examples out of people. Rex Ryan is 2-1 in his short Jets head coaching career against the Patriots but the Jets lost a key piece to their defense in practice this week in Jim Leonhard who was one of their starting safety and more importantly the signal caller for their back 7. They will replace Leonhard with Eric Smith who is a solid player but lacks the range of Leonhard and also the ability to return punts where he was solid and somewhat explosive with 4 returns for over 20 yards. Tom Brady hasn’t thrown an interception in 6 weeks and last week against the Lions he put up 341 yards and 4 touchdowns. The best possible news he could get is that the signal caller of the Jets defense will be out of this game and the rest of the year.

Patriots 27

Jets 20

Week 12 Thanksgiving Spectacular.

Week 11 Predictions heads up: 13-3

Week 11 Predictions against the Spread: 7-8

Record so far: 70-57

Week 12 started out pretty ugly with a Bears 16-0 win over Miami and it didn’t get much prettier throughout as most of the games during the week were blowouts. The Raiders showed they’re not ready to make the next step quite yet getting blown out by the Steelers, Aaron Rodgers finally put a stake in the heart of the zombie that is Brett Favre, and Tom Terrific finally turned the tables and beat Peyton for the first time in years. I’m writing this from my desk at work so let’s try to get into the quick hits faster than usual this week. Also since we have a few games even earlier than Thursday this week I'm going to put these Thanksgiving day games up tonight and get to the rest of the picks on Friday after a jazzy new NBA piece. 

San Diego SUPER CHARGERS

This year like every year under Norv Turner the Chargers got off to a slow start and like usual they’ve strung off a few wins to get themselves back into contention for a division title. They’re now sitting at 5-5 after starting this year 2-5. With two tough wins over the Titans and the Texans combined with a blowout of a divisional foe in the Broncos they’re sitting exactly where they want to be. The Chargers not only control their own destiny in the AFC West they have the easiest remaining schedule of the remaining AFC West teams with the remaining teams on their schedule having a 25-35 record. The only above .500 teams they still have to play are the Colts and Chiefs and the Chargers are 4-1 over their past 5 games against the Colts so that match up isn’t as daunting for them as it would be for other teams. Phillip Rivers is continually building his MVP resume with game after game of fantastic performances with an undermanned squad. Once again he was without his top 3 receivers and still sliced and diced a team to the tune of 233 yards and 4 touchdowns. You combine that with a defense that has been playing at a high level pretty much the entire year and these Chargers are starting to look as dangerous as they always do. Oh yeah but what about those special teams? Those same special teams that have cost the Chargers at least two games if not more this year. Well they’ve held up surprisingly well in kick coverage and punt protection ever since Norv made the declaration that anther punt wouldn’t get blocked for the rest of the year. Although something like that isn’t a crazy prediction in the NFL; if you saw the Chargers special teams of the first few weeks you’d realize how big a leap Norv was making with that. However it looks like things are paying off for him as the Chargers seem once again poised for a solid playoff run.

Is this the return of the early 2000 Pats?

The only respectable cut offs of any kind

37 seconds left the Colts are down by 3, Peyton Manning in the shotgun and............he throws in an interception to end the game. That sounds like a script from the early 2000’s Patriot Colt rivalry because for the past 2 or 3 years Manning has owned the Patriots to the tune of a 4-1 record in the past five meetings.  The Patriots were the team that changed their formula to success building a modern day super team that ran roughshod through the NFL for 18 games before losing in the most important one of the year in their Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants. However they seem to be reverting to form now, the Patriots of all were a team that revolved around Tom Brady with a group of quick undersized receivers and a running back by committee approach and this Patriots team uses that exact blueprint on offense to a solid amount of success. On defense they’re a lot younger than those Patriot championship teams of lore, but their bread and butter are still turnovers and without them they struggle to keep great offenses at bay. They’re not a dominant defense by any means, but they try to employ a bend but don’t break strategy and outside of their week 9 loss to the Browns where they were broken by Peyton Hillis they've managed to implement it rather well. However games like that happen to the best teams, and that’s what the Patriots are shaping up to be one of the best teams in the league.

Chilly Willy finally gets the axe

In the second most overdue coach firing of the year, the Vikings finally let the hammer fall on everyone’s least favorite mustache aficionado. Brad Childress had alienated his team, alienated his fan base, and alienated the owner I don’t know how he had survived for so long up to that point. When a report comes out the week before the game with several players both talking about how they absolutely hate you and hate playing for you and the other half talking about how they’ve essentially stopped playing for you and things don’t seem to be going your way. The best part of this if you’re a Vikings fan is that you’re replacing him with someone who was one of the hottest head coaching candidates for the past few years in Leslie Frazier. If he can string together a series of respectable performances along with some wins the Vikings may have found their coach of the future. Despite all of the turmoil the Vikings still present one of the most if not the most attractive available coaching position going into next year. As many jobs as Frazier has interviewed for in the past 2 years or so I doubt he ever thought his first shot at head coaching would be coming at week 11

New England @ Detroit

New England – 7

So I just got done talking about the current Patriots resembling the actual championship variety Patriots, so clearly this is a game those team’s won. Indeed it is, and the Pats will beat this overmatched Lions team, but something that might get some attention because of the audience of this game is the excellent defensive line play of the Lions. Ndamukong Suh has been an absolute man on a mission and has bucked the trend of shoddy play by first year defensive lineman. If he wasn’t a rookie I’m sure he’d be getting more attention for the defensive player of the year category but even so he’s having an absolutely brilliant year so expect to see him flash a few times during this game despite the fact he’s matched up with All-Pro Logan Mankins. However him flashing won’t be enough to deter Tom Brady, who hasn’t practiced this week but won’t need to as his last game was a mere four days ago. Patriots give the Lions what they tend to get every year for Thanksgiving, a loss at home.

Patriots 24

Lions 16

New Orleans @ Dallas

New Orleans -4

Ginger kid definitely, head coach...maybe

If the Cowboys were to win this game it would make it 3 straight under Jason Garrett and you would begin to hear the drumbeat for the interim tag to be removed from his title. Looking at the two Cowboy win’s I think they snuck up on a Giants team that was obviously looking past them, and then beat a deflated Lions team that just lost their starting QB for the year. The Saints won’t be looking past this Cowboys team, and I don’t think the Boys’ will be able to hold up under an elite teams (or at least a good teams) full attention.

Saints 27

Cowboys 20

Cincinnati @ New York Jets

New York Jets – 9

The power of Santonio Holmes can’t be denied, he’s launched the Jets into 3 straight victories with excellent crunch time performances in each game. At the price of a 5^th round pick he seems like the smartest acquisition of an offseason that was filled with team’s trading for wide outs. Also as far as last second drives go, Mark Sanchez put together one of the best I’ve seen over a 40 or 50 second span. Games like that make me wonder whether Sanchez has made it into the second tier of QB’s beneath the top 5 or 6, but right alongside the Matt Ryan’s and Joe Flacco’s of the NFL. I do know one QB who used to be considered a top tier QB who has fallen out of the good graces of pretty much everyone. Of course I’m talking about Screen and Roll out favorite Carson Palmer. Combine his normally erratic play with an actually good defense, and T.O. calling Darrelle Revis an “average corner” and you have a recipe for a Jets blowout. I don’t think the final score will tell the story because the Bengals have done a great job scoring points in garbage time this year.

Jets 31

Bengals 23

week 11 preview: Saturday Night Fever

There's been a lot going on with Screen and Roll Out in the past week or so. We're back working full time so the posts will be just as frequent but not quite as timely. As such I couldn't update before that dreadful Thursday night game but I don't think I missed all that much. However Look out for a NBA commentary in the season after the 1st month or so which should be happening the next week. Now with that bit of book keeping out of the way lets get into the Week 11 picks. 

Baltimore @ Carolina

Baltimore -10.5

The early games this week aren't very inspiring to say the least. Baltimore @ Carolina should be an easy bounce back game for Baltimore after their disappointing loss to the Falcons last week. Carolina just got waxed by the Bucs and things don’t get any easier against this Ravens team. It looks like another loss in what will probably be John Fox’s last year in Carolina.

Ravens 27

Carolina 10

Buffalo @ Cincinnati

Cincinnati -6

I doubt they're still this happy

A game between two teams whose season’s are already over. Buffalo can try to hang their hat on the fact they’ve been a competitive team but at the end of the day they’re still 1-8 with 1 win over the Lions. The Bengals came into this year with high expectations after the playoffs last year and seemingly improving in the offseason. All those expectations have come crashing down with 6 consecutive losses after a 2-1 start to the season. At this point I can see this Cincinnati team beginning to implode especially with the personalities of Ocho and T.O. in the fold. Carson Palmer continues his spiral to irrelevance with a loss to the Bills at home.

Buffalo 17

Cincinnati 13

Detroit @ Dallas

Dallas -6.5

*Gasp* Could the Dallas Cowboys not be the worst team in the NFL anymore? After finally showing signs of life after ditching Wade Phillips with a win over the Giants on the road they might have finally escaped NFL purgatory. In their place might be the Detroit Lions, they seemed to be finally putting it together with young emerging pieces on both offense and defense however with the reinjury of Matthew Stafford their franchise QB seems to be of the glass variety. Not only is this his 3^rd major injury in two NFL seasons it’s his second separation of his shoulder which seems like a bad omen for the future especially at the QB position. I think both back up QB’s are mediocre guys surrounded by a solid nucleus of talent however I like the Dallas defense I saw last week against the Giants; since they were actually there against the Giants for the first time in weeks.

Dallas 24

Detroit 20

Cleveland @ Jacksonville

Jacksonville -1.5

The battle of the two surprisingly competitive teams, every year it seems Jacksonville ends up being 9-7 10-6ish and makes it into the playoffs to everyone’s chagrin. They’re a team that nobody really wants to watch yet they manage to be competitive more often than not.  Quick question, who has the second highest QB rating in the NFL? That’s right David Garrard. On the other side of the field you have Colt McCoy who is 2-2 as a starter with his only losses being to the Jets and the Steelers. He’s definitely more of a legit NFL quarterback than I thought he would be, but despite those two wins his game hasn’t traveled all that well.

Jaguars 17

Browns 13

Arizona @ Kansas City

Kansas City -8

Todd Haley might still be a little steamed about the blowout loss last week to the Broncos but he has to move on in a hurry because the Chiefs can’t afford to lose a game like this in a tight division race. This is a Haley’s first game against his previous team the Cardinals since he’s became a head coach. However this Cardinals team is without Kurt Warner or Matt Leinhart instead being lead by Derek Anderson. Arizona got handled fairly easily at home last week against the Seahawks, but I think they match up much better with the Chiefs than they did the Seahawks. The problem is the Cardinals passing game isn’t quite good enough to expose the Chiefs, especially on the road.

Chiefs 24

Cardinals 17

Green Bay @ Minnesota

Green Bay -3.5

This is what ESPN does to you when you're 3-6

Perhaps the final meeting between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, sadly it won’t be the big game we expected prior to the season as the Vikings are pretty much out of the playoff race at this point with a 3-6 record. The Packers had their bye last week and come into this game needing a win to keep pace with the still surprising Bears who pushed themselves to 7-3 with a win in an absolutely terrible Thursday night football game. I see Aaron Rodgers going 2-0 against Favre this year and officially putting the stake through the heart of the Vikings season and hopefully the tenure of Brad Childress.

Green Bay 23

Vikings 17

Houston @ NY Jets

NY Jets -7

Houston can’t stop anybody through the air; they're the worst pass defense in the NFL by almost 20 yards giving up over 300 per game. Combine that with a Jets defense that hasn’t given up more than 23 points all season and I don’t think Houston will be able to keep up with the amount of points their defense will give up. I think this is the week that Shonn Green overtakes L.T. as their starting running back and Dustin Keller gets back into his early season form.

Jets 27

Texans 17

Oakland @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh -7

The Raiders are 4-1 in their past 5 games shaking off a 2-4 start to their year to get to 5-4 and into first place in the AFC West with the Chiefs loss last week. However in order to maintain that first place spot their going to have to win some tough games in their last 6 with games against the Steelers, Colts, and Chargers still remaining. The Steelers were seemingly exposed last week by the Patriots as a team that’s extremely vulnerable to the short passing game, and as a team whose offensive line is in shambles. While the Raiders lack the personnel to attack with the short passing game, their defense is 2^nd in the league in sacks which should bode well for them against a banged up Steelers O-line. Where this game will be decided is in the secondary of both teams, if Oakland can slow down the Pittsburgh passing attack with their pass rush and back 7 they’ll have a chance on the road, but if Mike Wallace gets behind them the Steelers will pull out a close one. Right now the Raiders give up the second fewest passing yards per game, and the second lowest completion percentage and I don’t see Big Ben getting enough time to get the deep ball off in this one. Raiders win a close one.

Raiders 17

Steelers 13

Washington @ Tennessee

Tennessee -7

After the debacle that was the Monday night game for Washington I don’t know what to say about this Redskins team. I do know what to say about Randy Moss however, I think he’s done. After watching him play Miami at half speed pretty much the entire way I think he’s finally decided to stop playing hard period. Even with no Laron Landry I still don’t think he makes the big plays we used to expect from him. Tennessee will win this game but it will be on the legs of Chris Johnson and by the other players in the passing game who get more room because of the space Randy Moss opens up.

Titans 20

Redskins 17

Seattle @ New Orleans

New Orleans -12

"Don't worry Reggie your game checks will be even bigger in the pros"

Seattle finally got back on the winning track after consecutive blow out losses handing the Cardinals a rare home loss. Matt Hasselbeck and Mike Williams are probably the best QB/WR tandem in the NFC West which says a lot about the state of the NFC West but also a lot about how far Mike Williams has come. However they still haven’t come far enough to beat the Saints at home coming off a bye week. Especially when they’ll get back arguably their second most important offensive player back this week in Reggie Bush.

Saints 27

Seahawks 17

Tampa Bay @ San Francisco

Tampa Bay -3.5

Troy Smith has reinvigorated the 49’ers offense with his ability to throw the deep ball combined with his general competence at the position. The 49’ers have put together back to back wins and if they were to win this week they’d be seemingly back in the NFC West race. Josh Freeman doesn't think thats going to happen. Tampa Bay is the classic team who beats the teams you expect them to beat and pretty much no one else, and at this point in the season I expect them to beat the 49'ers and I don't think they'll disappoint. 

Bucs 13

49'ers 10

Atlanta @ St. Louis

Atlanta -3.5

After a sterling performance on Thursday night against the Ravens at home the dirty birds hit the road to face the Rams. The Rams lost a disappointing game to the 49’ers in overtime but would be right back at .500 if they were to beat this Falcons team. Unfortunately for them it’s not going to happen, even though the Falcons are a better home team than road team, they’re only road losses were to the Eagles and the Steelers. The Falcons have been on fire offensively having scored over 30 points in their past 3 games, I think that streak ends but I think they keep on winning. 

Falcons 20

Rams 13

Indianapolis @ New England

New England -3.5

Outside of Michael Vick there aren’t any QB’s I love watching more than Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Both of these guys are absolute masters of the craft and orchestrate their offense no matter who they have lining up next to them. Tom Brady took Jabar Gaffney and a number of castoffs to the AFC Championship a few years back while Peyton is turning Jacob Tamme and Mike Hart into household names this year. These guys show you how important the position of QB is in football, if you  have a great QB you can piecemeal a lot of other things around them and still be a good team. However I think that’s exactly the problem for the Colts, they’re just a good team. They’re too banged up on offense and their defense has a lot of trouble stopping any real potent scoring threat. I think Tom Brady puts a stop to the recent trend of Peyton dominating this matchup. Also as jacked up as Brady seemed last week I can’t imagine him being any less amped for this game.

Pats 31

Colts 27

NY Giants @ Philadelphia

Philadelphia -3

The Sunday Night platter this weekend is absolutely fantastic with this NFC East showdown between the Philadelphia Vicks and the Giants. Michael Vick put up the performance of a lifetime last week while the Giants had a performance I’m sure they’d rather forget against the Cowboys. I honestly don’t know who’s going to stop Michael Vick at this point, part of me thinks he has to come up short sometime but I don’t think it will be this week at home against a Giants defense that was exposed by Jon Kitna. The Michael Vick experience continues its rapid ascension towards the MVP summit.

Eagles 27

Giants 20

Denver @ San Diego

San Diego -10

Denver not only upset Kansas City on Sunday they Oakland Raider’d them going off for some 49 points getting redemption on the wrong team for their home blow out a few weeks ago. They also created a little more AFC West rivalry with the Chiefs by not easing up at all in the 4^th and being a little too jovial on the sidelines for the taste of Todd Haley. San Diego seems to be doing what they do every year have everyone write them off before they get on a 6 or 7 game winning streak that puts them right back in the playoffs and right back on everyone’s list of teams they don’t want to play. I hate to say it but I see it happening again this year. In a QB dual between Phillip Rivers and Kyle Orton I take Phillip Rivers and I don’t even think about it.

Chargers 31

Broncos 24

Tuesday Morning Week 9 Recap.

Week 9 Predictions Heads up: 9-4

Week 9 Predictions against the Spread: 9-3-1

Record so far: 63-50

Week 9 was a pretty good week for me overall. I did pretty well on my predictions and the Raiders won their biggest game in 8 years. The Cowboys are now officially without a doubt the worst team in the league and are fighting to become the worst team in Cowboys history. The Patriots lost in an absolute blow out to Bill Belichick's most hated rival. I don’t know if I could ask for much more in a week from football. This week we were introduced to Jacoby Ford, Jacob Tamme, and Seyi Ajirotutu. Speaking of Ajirotutu I don’t know if anybody is playing better football right now than Phillip Rivers this week he went out against the Texans and threw for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns on only 23 attempts which is insane. However if that wasn’t crazy enough for you, he does all that without his top 4 receivers relying on the aforementioned Ajirotutu, and Randy McMichael to dissect the Texans secondary. I have to say as big a man crush as I have on Tom Brady and Peyton Manning Phillip Rivers has been the MVP of the league so far through 9 weeks.

Jerry Jones finally takes Wade Phillips out back with the shotgun

This is hanging on my office wall

Seriously was there a sadder team to watch last weekend than the Dallas Cowboys? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team give up as easily as the cowboys did against the Packers. 45-7 and the game wasn’t even that close as the Packers eased off the gas pedal in the entirety of the 4^th. I assume everyone’s seen the Mike Jenkins play where he’s at the goal line and doesn’t even attempt to make the tackle, a lot of times we talk about teams quitting but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it any clearer than that. As much as Jerry Jones talked about how changing coaches isn’t the thing to do and their isn’t a track record of success from it he had to make this move. If only for mercies sake alone, Wade Phillips needed to be put out of his own misery coaching a team that had clearly given up on him and whatever he had to impart upon them. You combine that with the injury to Tony Romo and a season that already seemed lost was thrown into the abyss. This goes right along with the coaching history of Phillips everywhere he goes it takes around 2 or 3 years for the players to tune him out and for the record to reflect it.  Now where do the Cowboys go from here, the fact it took them this long to fire Wade Phillips doesn’t speak particularly highly of Jason Garrett or anyone else on that staff. However if Jason Garrett were to put together a respectable season he could have a chance at the job going into 2010 however the odds of that seem unlikely. A bigger question to me is whether this team had the talent to compete and not the coaching or do they require more talent as well, as important as coaching is I don’t think a team as talented as the Cowboys are supposed to be can go out and get crushed like they have the past few weeks. Knowing Jerry Jones I see a Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden in the cowboys future at a crisp 7 or 8 million dollars a year.

We can officially welcome the Oakland Raiders back to the land of the living

With 3 straight wins going into the bye week the Oakland Raiders are above 500 this late in the season for the first time since 2002 when they made the super bowl. I doubt any Raider fans have delusions of their team making the Super Bowl but a division crown isn’t nearly as farfetched as it would have seemed this time in august. The AFC West is anyone’s guess right now with the Chargers seemingly righting the ship and Kansas City still a half game ahead but the Raiders have a leg up on both of them with its sterling 3-0 divisional record. However looking at the Raiders schedule the rest of the way and things won’t be easy, if they want to win this division or at least make the playoffs it’s going to be a huge struggle.  At Pittsburgh, Miami, at San Diego, at Jacksonville, Denver, Indy, and the last game is at Kansas City. Looking at those games I would  say that I think the Raiders are only going to win 3 which would put them at 8-8, but as this Raider team has already shown they can’t be counted out as easily as the Raider teams of the past few years. One of the biggest stories of this team that doesn’t get enough attention is the rebirth of the Raider defense, right now they’re only ranked 7^th in total defense and 26^th against the run however in the past 3 weeks they've held teams to 47, 75, and 104 yards rushing. That 104 yard game was last week against the Chiefs who came in with the league’s top rushing attack averaging 190 yards per game and had 3 straight 200 yard rushing performances. Richard Seymour has been a force for the Raiders at defensive tackle so far in 8 weeks he has more individual tackles and sacks than he did in 16 games last year. The Raiders might have finally hit on an offensive tackle prospect with Jared Veldheer out of Hillsdale College; while he gave up a sack to Tamba Hali last week he held his own for a large portion of the game and has come on in recent weeks to be one of their most consistent linemen. It seems the Raiders might have finally learned something the good teams known for a while; you build your team from the offensive and defensive line out. Perhaps all this talent in the trenches can propel the raiders out of the one they’ve been in for the past few years.

Does anybody know who the best team in the NFL is?

Picture unrelated: This blog has gone to long without Mel Kiper's hair

It can’t be the Patriots after they get demolished by the Cleveland browns by 20 points. Is it the Steelers after they squeak by against the Bengals at home? The Ravens who beat a solid Miami team but have already lost to the earlier mentioned Patriots. Maybe the Falcons, but they were a goal line stand away from losing to Tampa Bay this week. Perhaps your team of choice is the Giants being as they've strung off 4 straight wins a few of them in impressive fashion. The only problem with them is how entirely unimpressive that loss in Indy was early in the season.The Packers, they did just beat the Cowboys 45-7 and have played well the past few weeks, but honestly how much is beating the cowboys worth…half a win? A quarter win? We always talk about parity in sports well this is what parity looks like. No dominant teams, a league full of teams who we can all poke holes in. A few teams who seem pretty good, but every week you look at who they play and think that team has a chance. There are so few gimmes anymore in the NFL because so many of the teams are so closely clumped together. There’s the 5 or 6 elite/really good teams, followed by pack of 15 middle of the road teams where 3 or 4 playoff teams will emerge, and then the rest of the league which is pretty bad.  Honestly I have no idea who’s going to win or even make the super bowl right now. There are 8 or so teams I could all see playing in the super bowl right now and part of me is excited in the fact that there’s still so much up in the air, but I’m also disappointed in that no team has really come into this season and taken the league by the reins. 

Week 9 Preview

If you had Randy Moss being picked up by the Titans in your office pool please take a bow. If you had Shawne Merriman being picked up by the Bills in your office pool you should probably seek counseling because you have a gambling problem. A few big games this week for the AFC West and NFC South, and a couple of premieres of once elite players with new teams. I have to be honest with you, they're are only 3 or 4 games this week that I'm really looking forward to. The good thing about sports is that a good game can always sneak up on you and I'm sure a few will this week just like they do every other week.

Randy Moss is a Titan

The first thing I thought when Randy Moss joined the Titans was this, can Vince Young transform into a Daunte Culpepper circa 2003/2004? I don’t think he has the arm strength or accuracy to replicate the ridiculous numbers that Culpepper put up but I think you get my point. The Titans have already shown they’re not opposed to throwing a ball up for grabs multiple times in a game as shown by Kenny Britt’s performance a few weeks ago. You pair Randy Moss with Chris Johnson and you have yourself a pretty dynamic set of players that are a threat to score every snap, every snap Randy Moss feels like playing I mean. So perhaps this will be a good fit for Randy or perhaps he’ll be looking for another team in 4 weeks…….nah that couldn’t happen again could it?

Roid rage personified

Shawne Merriman is a Bill

In a significantly less glamorous story Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman joined the Buffalo Bills. This pretty much tells the entirety of the story, Merriman was once the most feared defensive player in the NFL destroying any team that dared to single block him and exploding through numerous double teams. Now I don’t know if calling him a shell of his former self would be too much praise. He’s recorded 4 sacks in the past 3 years, after having 17 in a 12 game season some 5 years ago. He was clearly never the same after the knee injury, and it’s truly sad because despite the steroid use during at least the 2004 season if not more I still think he was a great player. However it looks like we’re about to turn the lights out on the career of Shawne Merriman.

Tampa Bay @ Atlanta

Atlanta -9

The two big divisional games this week are Bucs vs. Falcons and Raiders vs. Chiefs. I doubt many if anybody saw these two games being for the division lead in week 9. Atlanta is a team that has won all their games at home and stole a few on the road. Outside of the San Francisco game the Falcons won their previous two home games handily. Everyone is criticizing the Bucs because they haven’t beaten an elite opponent but they can only play who’s on the schedule. The more troubling thing about the Bucs is the one time they played an elite team they got absolutely blasted by the Steelers 38-7. That same Steelers team struggled against the Falcons at home squeaking out a 15-9 victory. The common opponent theory never really holds up that well so while that seems to say a lot it could end up counting for nothing. However you go to their next game against an elite team and they got blew out by the Saints, that’s enough for me to say they’ll lose once again to a team trying to establish themselves as elite.

Falcons 21

Bucs 13

Miami @ Baltimore

Baltimore -5

The Dolphins remain the true road warriors of the NFL having not lost a game on the road this year; they play a fresh Ravens team coming off their bye week looking to rebound after a disappointing performance against Buffalo. The Ravens didn’t lose the game, but had to eke out a win against a winless team on a questionable Ray Lewis strip in overtime. Looking at Miami you begin to wonder how they’ve won 4 games. They don’t stand out in any one area, they’re normally a dominant running team but this year they’re mediocre being ranked 16^th. Miami is average in pretty much every aspect of the game and I don’t see that being enough to beat a pretty game Baltimore trying to respond after a poor performance.

Baltimore 17

Miami 10

Chicago @ Buffalo

Chicago -3

Looking at the way Da Bears have played these past few weeks I would say that Buffalo is coming into this game looking like the better team. It’s never a good sign when you’re playing an 0-7 team and people like me think you’re not as good as they are. With all that said and as “feisty” as the Bills have been they still haven’t won a game. Chicago’s had a bye week to try to regain some of their early season offensive Mojo, try to get Matt Forte back involved in their offense and teach Jay Cutler that he wants to not throw it to the guys on the other team.  The thing that sucks about this game for the Bills is that it counts as a home game but it’s played in Toronto Canada yet counts as a home game for them. I think the Bears win this game just based on the fact I don’t think Jay Cutler can once again throw 4 interceptions……or at least not throw them all to the same guy. Wait what I'm saying its Jay Cutler. Bills get their first win.

Bills 23

Bears 17

New Orleans @ Carolina

New Orleans -6.5

"All Madden" Get it?? Geez I'm clever

Every time I think New Orleans will finally be exposed they come out with an impressive victory, this time Drew Brees went All Madden in the second half against the Steelers completing 20 of 22 passes to lead the Saints to victory. Carolina finally got their first win against San Francisco 2 weeks ago only to lose against a pretty good Rams team last week. The Panthers however played the Saints really close in a game in the superdome in week 4 only losing 14-16, so the question is can they build on that close game for a win in week 9. I have to say no, the Panthers are about to            re-replace their starting QB with their backup QB in week 10. That’s not the mark of a team searching for answers that’s the mark of a team blindly flailing trying to hit anything in the dark. Combine that with another game missed by DeAngelo Williams and the Saints get two wins straight.

Saints 27

Panthers 13

New England @ Cleveland

New England -4 ½

Just admire those locks in silence

Is this the best team in the AFC? The pats stand above everyone else as the only one loss team left in the NFL. The Pats only loss being to a pretty good Jets team on the road in week 2, and now they head out on the road once again to play a Browns team that gives everyone a battle. Cleveland just had their bye week following their upset of the Champs in New Orleans. The Patriots really seem to have reclaimed the identity of the championship years with Tom Brady at the center surrounded by a number of unsung players who he will get the most from. One of those players is Danny Woodhead a guy who you would think belongs in the stands upon first look. He has been a Swiss army knife for the Patriots doing pretty much everything they could ask of him and sort of replacing the very important Kevin Faulk. Even though the Browns make me nervous, especially with Eric Mangini having 2 weeks to prepare for a Patriots team he absolutely hates I’m still taking Tom Brady and his beautiful hair.

Patriots 20

Browns 13

New York Jets @ Detroit

Jets -4

Boy o boy did the Jets lay an egg last week on the offensive end. If you’re the Jets defense and you hold the Packers to 9 points you have to think that you’re going to win that game.  Mark Sanchez seems to have lost all of the good will that he built up in the first 5 or 6 weeks of the year with his past 3 performances, where’s he combined for 4 interceptions and only 1 touchdown. The Lions have had 3 straight solid performances, a 44-6 win against the Rams, a close 28-20 loss to the giants, and a 37-25 win against Washington. Ndamukong Suh has been playing like a man possessed, and leading a good Lions defensive line along with Kyle Vanden Bosch. You combine that with Matthew Stafford coming back and looking great throwing for 4 touchdown passes and I like the Lions in an upset at home.

Lions 17

Jets 14

San Diego @ Houston

San Diego -3

The Chargers are like Frankenstein or Dracula or perhaps even Blackula, they just refuse to die. Every time you think they’re going to finally die they win a game you don’t think they’ll win and you look at the schedule and realize they could still end up 10-6. Houston on the other hand is officially back in the middle of the road. Early in the year it looked like they’d finally taken the next step from the perennial 8-8 team to a playoff contender, and while looks can be deceiving the sure look like an 8-8 team now. Now is around the time when the Chargers string off 6 or 7 wins straight and get the whole league scared of all their talent again, and I thought this year wouldn’t be the time they do it but then I look at the schedule after this Houston game its Denver at home, Colts on the road, Oakland, Kansas City, and San Francisco at home, followed by Cincinnati and Denver on the road. I could easily see them winning 6 of those 7 games. First things first though they need to beat the Texans on the road where they have continually looked terrible all year. I’ll just leave it at this, Phillip Rivers vs. the 31^st ranked pass defense in the NFL. I’ll take Rivers

Chargers 38

Texans 27

Arizona @ Minnesota

Minnesota -8

This is a battle of really bad teams; the Cardinals at least have played well at home in a few games while the Vikings have been bad pretty much everywhere. Brett Favre plays on basically a broken ankle and ends up leaving not because of the ankle but because he busts his chin open on a hard hit late in the game.  I still can’t get over the fact I ever thought the Cowboys or the Vikings could make it to the super bowl, their coach are Brad “to catch a predator” Childress and Wade “Teddy Bear” Phillips.  But this week isn’t about making the super bowl it’s about beating a Cardinals team that’s terrible on the road and I think the Vikings are good enough to do that.

Vikings 20

Cardinals 9

N.Y. Giants @ Seattle

N.Y. Giants -7

Seattle was the latest victim of the runaway Oakland Raiders freight train to the tune of 33-3. That seems to be par the course for the Seahawks; once you get them away from Quest field they seem to be easy pickings for pretty much any competent team. However this week they’re not away from Quest field they’re back home, but they’re playing more than a competent team, they’re playing the best team in the NFC the Giants. I think the Seahawks run defense was exposed last week against the Raiders and I think the Giants continue the trend pounding them on the ground with a combination of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.

Giants 24

Seahawks 17

Kansas City @ Oakland

Oakland -1

When we look back at this season will this be the game when the west was won….. The AFC west that is. I don’t know that but I do know that both of these teams can run the football against pretty much anyone when healthy. You combine that with a rainy day and it seems the perfect formula for a tough grind it out game between AFC west rivals. The Chiefs are 5-2 with the number one rushing offense in the league and the most explosive running back this side of Chris Johnson in Jamal Charles. If there’s one thing the Raiders love to do it's give up big runs they’ve given up the most 20+ and 40+ runs this season. On the other side of the ball Kansas City struggles defending the Air and Jason Campbell has put up 500 yards 4 touchdowns and no interceptions in the past week. However the Raiders will be without their top wide out In Louis Murphy and might be without their best pass catcher in Zach Miller. That combined with a gimpy Nnamdi Asomugha probably sitting on the bench make it a much tougher matchup for the Raiders. But I just can’t pick against a team at home with their first sellout in over a year, especially after they won the past two games 92-17.

Raiders 20

Kansas City 17

Indianapolis @ Philadelphia

Eagles -3

Laser Rocket Arm

This just in, Peyton Manning doesn’t care who he plays with they will play well because he’s Peyton Manning damn it. No excuses. I have a 5’8 Mike Hart at running back that has 70 yards coming into this year? He’ll get 84 in the game. I lose arguably the best tight end in the game Dallas Clark? I replace him with Jacob Tamme who has 6 career catches and get him 6 in the game.  It doesn’t matter who Peyton Manning plays with he’s still Peyton Manning. He may already have 4 MVP’s but he’s just as deserving to win it again this year. The Eagles finally get Michael Vick back after 3 games and a bye week a middle of the road colt’s defense that struggles against the run. However the one thing the Colts can do is rush the passer and Michael Vick seems to get hit more than any other QB. The difference is with the Colts those sacks just aren’t sacks, they’re sack fumbles and I think the Colts ultimately use those to win the turnover battle and the game.

Colts 27

Eagles 20

Dallas @ Green Bay

Green Bay -7

Aaron Rodgers finally gave Brett Favre his come uppins on behalf of the Packers and the city of Green Bay. Now that’s he’s slayed one proverbial Dragon it’s time for a rest as the packers go into the bye week…..oh what’s that it’s not their bye week? Oh sorry they’re playing the Cowboys; I tend to confuse that and a bye week. So How bout them cowboys? Worst team in the league? Perhaps, especially after getting pounded by a mediocre at best Jaguars team. Since Tony Romo went down a team I didn’t think could play much worse has absolutely called it quits on this season on defense. Doing that against Aaron Rodgers is a recipe for disaster.

Packers 27

Dallas 10

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati

Pittsburgh – 4 ½

This game is Cincinnati’s season more or less; they’re currently 2-5 and 4^th in the division.  A win here would put them at 3-5, but 2-1 in their division so there would still be hope but a loss puts them at 2-6 with a game against the Steelers on the road looming. As far as the Steelers go they lost last week to a surprisingly game Saints team lead by a rejuvenated Drew Brees. I think there’s not a lot to garner from that game, sometimes good teams lose and I still think the Steelers are a good team. However if you get the ball on the 1 inch line and can’t punch it in with 3 tries perhaps you’re not playing the tough hardnosed Steeler brand football that we’ve come to expect. That won’t hurt them this week however.

Steelers 23

Cincinnati 13