Last week’s picks: 9-4
Season total: 73-43
No time for a long intro this week, but I have some special things planned for next week. Check out my picks, and as a bonus, find out what a “Colts Hangover” is.
Seahawks at Cowboys
The Cowboys are at home after a humiliating loss to the Eagles last week. The Seahawks are still the Seahawks. Expect a blowout. Winner: Cowboys
Dolphins at Chiefs
The Chiefs are playing hard, and are finding ways to win games. Miami, on the other hand, seems to be adept at finding ways to lose. I shudder to think of how Matt Moore will handle noisy Arrowhead Stadium. Todd Haley’s beard will get a little scruffier, and his cap will get a little grungier. Winner: Chiefs
Buccaneers at Saints
New Orleans suffered a “Colts Hangover” last week (Tampa Bay knows about this: see below), and was stunned by a hungry Rams team. They should be sufficiently humble, and will be ready this week. The Bucs play hard, and always give the Saints trouble, but they aren’t good enough offensively to hang with New Orleans. Winner: Saints
Falcons at Colts
Atlanta is back in the thick of the playoff hunt. Indianapolis is just awful. Winner: Falcons
49ers at ‘skins
Washington got shut out by Buffalo last week. What are they going to do against San Francisco’s defence? Winner: 49ers
Jets at Bills
This should be a good matchup. Buffalo has enough balance on offence to be able to counteract New York’s defence. If the Jets rely too much on Mark Sanchez, he will end up being victimized by the opportunistic Bills’ defence. Winner: Bills
Browns at Texans
On this week’s episode of “How the Curse Turns,” Peyton Hillis no-showed at a Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland Halloween party, was taken aside by several veteran members of the Browns for an “intervention-style” meeting designed to help improve his attitude, and re-injured his hamstring in practice. He’ll likely miss another game this Sunday. At the rate he’s going, he’ll be lucky to be playing football for any team next season. Oh, and then there’s the Texans. They’re pretty good. Winner: Texans
Broncos at Raiders
Darren McFadden is out for Oakland, but the Polish Cannon is expected to return (no, not Bruce Gradkowski). Hopefully for Raiders fans, Carson Palmer managed to scrape off some of the rust during the bye week. Of course, with Tim Tebow starting for Denver, the Raiders pretty much just need to show up and not screw things up too badly. I mean, they’re not the Dolphins or anything. Winner: Raiders
Bengals at Titans
This should be a good matchup of tough defences. Cincinnati has an edge, though. Tennessee played Indianapolis last week, which tends to make the next team you play seem like the best team in the league by comparison. This “Colts Hangover” can have a devastating effect if you’re not ready for it. Don’t believe me? Ask the Bucs and Saints; Tampa Bay lost 48-3 to the San Francisco the week after playing the Colts, and the Saints were ambushed by A.J. Feely and the Rams last week after having played the Colts the week before. The Texans, Browns, Chiefs and Bengals were only able to avoid the hangover due to lucky scheduling; Houston and Cleveland played Miami the week after playing the Colts, while Kansas City and Cincinnati had bye weeks after playing the Colts. The only other teams to play Indy this season are Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Want to guess what happened to the Steelers the following week? Winner: Bengals
Giants at Patriots
The Pats lost last week, and they are at home. I know that in the grand scheme of things, things like this shouldn’t mean anything, but they do. New England is always extra motivated after a loss, and they are deadly at home. The Giants will score some points, though. Just not enough. Winner: Patriots
Rams at Cardinals
Steven Jackson looked like a man possessed last week, and Chris Long led the St. Louis defence to an overdue strong performance. Arizona might have John Skelton starting at QB this week. Remember him from last season? Winner: Rams
Packers at Chargers
San Diego is coming off a tough loss to the Chiefs, and will be looking to bounce back. Philip Rivers will be looking to atone for the fumbled snap that enabled the Chiefs to prevail on overtime on Monday night, and will be fired up. Green Bay’s defence has struggled against the pass this season. Oh, and another thing: who cares? I’m not crazy enough to pick against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offence. Winner: Packers
Ravens at Steelers
There’s been a lot of talk this week about how the Steelers are on a hot streak, while the Ravens have struggled of late against inferior competition. There has also been a lot of talk about how Pittsburgh will be extra motivated because of how soundly they were beaten by Baltimore earlier in the season. None of this matters as much as much as the fact that the Steelers have too many injured linebackers to be able to stop the Ravens’ offence. Pittsburgh has become a team that relies extremely heavily on its passing game. There’s a lot riding on Ben Roethlisberger’s shoulders this Sunday night; the Ravens are coming after him, and he will turn the ball over. Winner: Ravens
Monday Night
Bears at Eagles
So, Philadelphia has won a couple of games, and everyone is ready to anoint them as an elite team again. Their defence has improved somewhat, but they are still too thin at linebacker. Their offence relies too much upon one player, and it’s not the one you think. Chicago’s offence has this problem, too, in that they rely a lot on their starting running back to carry them. However, I would be more confident having Jay Cutler than that other guy at QB if my team needed a passer to win the game. The Bears are better than people realize. I think they just might be better than the Eagles realize. This will be a close one. Winner: Bears
Season total: 73-43
No time for a long intro this week, but I have some special things planned for next week. Check out my picks, and as a bonus, find out what a “Colts Hangover” is.
Seahawks at Cowboys
The Cowboys are at home after a humiliating loss to the Eagles last week. The Seahawks are still the Seahawks. Expect a blowout. Winner: Cowboys
Dolphins at Chiefs
The Chiefs are playing hard, and are finding ways to win games. Miami, on the other hand, seems to be adept at finding ways to lose. I shudder to think of how Matt Moore will handle noisy Arrowhead Stadium. Todd Haley’s beard will get a little scruffier, and his cap will get a little grungier. Winner: Chiefs
Buccaneers at Saints
New Orleans suffered a “Colts Hangover” last week (Tampa Bay knows about this: see below), and was stunned by a hungry Rams team. They should be sufficiently humble, and will be ready this week. The Bucs play hard, and always give the Saints trouble, but they aren’t good enough offensively to hang with New Orleans. Winner: Saints
Falcons at Colts
Atlanta is back in the thick of the playoff hunt. Indianapolis is just awful. Winner: Falcons
49ers at ‘skins
Washington got shut out by Buffalo last week. What are they going to do against San Francisco’s defence? Winner: 49ers
Jets at Bills
This should be a good matchup. Buffalo has enough balance on offence to be able to counteract New York’s defence. If the Jets rely too much on Mark Sanchez, he will end up being victimized by the opportunistic Bills’ defence. Winner: Bills
Browns at Texans
On this week’s episode of “How the Curse Turns,” Peyton Hillis no-showed at a Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland Halloween party, was taken aside by several veteran members of the Browns for an “intervention-style” meeting designed to help improve his attitude, and re-injured his hamstring in practice. He’ll likely miss another game this Sunday. At the rate he’s going, he’ll be lucky to be playing football for any team next season. Oh, and then there’s the Texans. They’re pretty good. Winner: Texans
Broncos at Raiders
Darren McFadden is out for Oakland, but the Polish Cannon is expected to return (no, not Bruce Gradkowski). Hopefully for Raiders fans, Carson Palmer managed to scrape off some of the rust during the bye week. Of course, with Tim Tebow starting for Denver, the Raiders pretty much just need to show up and not screw things up too badly. I mean, they’re not the Dolphins or anything. Winner: Raiders
Bengals at Titans
This should be a good matchup of tough defences. Cincinnati has an edge, though. Tennessee played Indianapolis last week, which tends to make the next team you play seem like the best team in the league by comparison. This “Colts Hangover” can have a devastating effect if you’re not ready for it. Don’t believe me? Ask the Bucs and Saints; Tampa Bay lost 48-3 to the San Francisco the week after playing the Colts, and the Saints were ambushed by A.J. Feely and the Rams last week after having played the Colts the week before. The Texans, Browns, Chiefs and Bengals were only able to avoid the hangover due to lucky scheduling; Houston and Cleveland played Miami the week after playing the Colts, while Kansas City and Cincinnati had bye weeks after playing the Colts. The only other teams to play Indy this season are Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Want to guess what happened to the Steelers the following week? Winner: Bengals
Giants at Patriots
The Pats lost last week, and they are at home. I know that in the grand scheme of things, things like this shouldn’t mean anything, but they do. New England is always extra motivated after a loss, and they are deadly at home. The Giants will score some points, though. Just not enough. Winner: Patriots
Rams at Cardinals
Steven Jackson looked like a man possessed last week, and Chris Long led the St. Louis defence to an overdue strong performance. Arizona might have John Skelton starting at QB this week. Remember him from last season? Winner: Rams
Packers at Chargers
San Diego is coming off a tough loss to the Chiefs, and will be looking to bounce back. Philip Rivers will be looking to atone for the fumbled snap that enabled the Chiefs to prevail on overtime on Monday night, and will be fired up. Green Bay’s defence has struggled against the pass this season. Oh, and another thing: who cares? I’m not crazy enough to pick against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offence. Winner: Packers
Ravens at Steelers
There’s been a lot of talk this week about how the Steelers are on a hot streak, while the Ravens have struggled of late against inferior competition. There has also been a lot of talk about how Pittsburgh will be extra motivated because of how soundly they were beaten by Baltimore earlier in the season. None of this matters as much as much as the fact that the Steelers have too many injured linebackers to be able to stop the Ravens’ offence. Pittsburgh has become a team that relies extremely heavily on its passing game. There’s a lot riding on Ben Roethlisberger’s shoulders this Sunday night; the Ravens are coming after him, and he will turn the ball over. Winner: Ravens
Monday Night
Bears at Eagles
So, Philadelphia has won a couple of games, and everyone is ready to anoint them as an elite team again. Their defence has improved somewhat, but they are still too thin at linebacker. Their offence relies too much upon one player, and it’s not the one you think. Chicago’s offence has this problem, too, in that they rely a lot on their starting running back to carry them. However, I would be more confident having Jay Cutler than that other guy at QB if my team needed a passer to win the game. The Bears are better than people realize. I think they just might be better than the Eagles realize. This will be a close one. Winner: Bears
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