Ewwww... 6-8?!?!?! That may be my worst week of picks in years (I usually get at least .500). I guess that's what you get when you add a couple shockers (Raiders, Cardinals) to the usual toss ups and bad calls (on my part, not the refs - although those hurt too). With some of the league's worst teams on a bye week this week, it should be an interesting weekend. Let's see if I can reclaim a little dignity this week.
Seattle at Chicago: Chicago, 24-3
Eww, hope I don't "get" to see this one. The Bears get Cutler back after his concussion, which adds a little flavor I suppose. The Bears' D looks pretty dang good, and Seattle doesn't have any offense to begin with. Special teams are about Seattle's best hope here.
Miami at Green Bay: Miami, 27-20
Ah, here's one of those games that's just juicy to analyze. Miami, despite getting trounced by TTSNBN, played pretty well on offense and defense, they were just annihilated on special teams. Green Bay's season is going down the toilet and fast; Rodgers just got a concussion, and though he'll probably still play (not smart), it's just the tip of a mountain of injuries including season-enders to TE Finley and RB Grant. Plus, Green Bay can't even take advantage of home field when it's only October. Their fans will witness up close the inconvenient truth.
San Diego at St. Louis: San Diego, 35-10
Poor Rams. They were humming along pretty well through week 4. Then their #1 receiver (and starting on my fantasy team, to boot) goes down for the season early against Detroit, and they completely unwind in humiliating fashion. San Diego also got embarrassed last week, but I think they're in better position to bounce back than the Clippers of the NFL.
Baltimore at TTSNBN: TTSNBN, x-x
TTSNBN will surely thrash a foe with a historically terrible defense, a young QB who looks terrified, and absolutely no offensive weapons around him. *hums innocuously*
New Orleans at Tampa Bay: New Orleans, 20-17
This is a huge, must-win game for the Saints. They seemed vulnerable through four weeks, and after losing to the Cardinals, the division seems entirely up for grabs. They have to assert themselves here, against a young, up-and-coming divisional foe. I don't think it'll be easy, but if the Saints still have the drive from last year, they should find a way to win it. If not, look out.
Detroit at NY Giants: NY Giants, 31-10
Whoa, what have the Giants been drinking these last few weeks?!? It seemed like they were a team ready for rebuilding earlier this year, with a bunch of apathetic players. Now they turn around and steamroll the Bears and the Texans. The Lions must get rookie RB Jahvid Best going if they have any shot here, while they still have to deal with a newly balanced offense from New York.
Atlanta at Philadelphia: Atlanta, 17-14
Philadelphia is a team that I just can't figure out this year. QB injuries have been part of it, but they seem equally poised to be stinky or stellar each week. They were able to take advantage of the San Francisco Stooges last week and (barely) win. However, Atlanta is a much more disciplined team, and while they still have some kinks to work out and QB Ryan is still inconsistent, I think they'll win on the road.
Cleveland at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, 34-6
A perfect storm here: Pittsburgh gets back their star QB, just as Cleveland puts (forces?) their rookie QB into the game. I kind of fear for McCoy's health here, not even kidding. I think the Steelers give a statement-game performance here, and the Brownies will be looking for the paper bags again.
Kansas City at Houston: Kansas City, 23-16
Here's another interesting matchup. At the beginning of the year, it looked like Houston was finally breaking through to become one of the league's top contenders. But in the last three weeks, they've lost to both Dallas and the Giants pretty badly. Schaub just doesn't seem to be quite in rhythm yet, and WR Andre Johnson is banged up; RB Foster had provided a big boost, though. Meanwhile, Kansas City lost to Indy but showed some impressive defense, and the running game is very good. If only QB Cassel can do something productive, they could be quite a force. I think they'll win a close one here.
Oakland at San Francisco: San Francisco, 21-13
Battle of the Bay Area here. Another one that I'd be just as happy glancing at the final score rather than actually watching. San Francisco has a lot of talent, or so you'd think, yet they are remarkably 0-5. When is the management going to realize that "tough guy" Mike Singletary is a bad coach? Oakland has been competitive in all but one of their games, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see them win.
NY Jets at Denver: Denver, 30-24
I think that the way the Jets' handle Mile-High Stadium will be the deciding factor here. If they have no problem with it and they're able to blitz like crazy, it could spell trouble for Denver, which has no running game. But, if NY's secondary gets winded, Denver can make them pay. Denver's defense has been up and down (shut down CJ2K, but Ray Rice lit them up), so that's the other key here. I'll take the home team.
Dallas at Minnesota: Minnesota, 27-21
Easily this week's most hyped game (to the point that even I'm getting a little sick of hearing ESPN talk about). The loser of this game will be in considerable trouble, no doubt; but they are both in pretty unstable divisions. If they do well in their remaining divisional schedules, they should be fine. I mean, Washington, the Giants (unless they can sustain their current heading - I'm doubtful), and Philly aren't too scary; neither are Chicago, Detroit, or injury-plagued Green Bay. For this one, I think Minnesota's superior running game gets them the W. Could break the combined penalties in a single game record here.
Indianapolis at Washington: Indianapolis, 20-10
Washington faces a very similar foe to the one they defeated last week. However, Manning is just a master of beating foes in whatever way is necessary. Indy's defense might not be as good as GB's, but Washington's offense is terrible, so it shouldn't really matter.
Tennessee at Jacksonville: Tennessee, 28-14
It's time for Chris Johnson to have a truly monster game, and in the Monday Night Football spotlight. He looked a lot better last week against Dallas, and Vince Young even looked not so terrible. Jacksonville can score against bad defenses, but Tennessee isn't one of them.
2010 Picks: 43-33
No comments:
Post a Comment