I've been a little obsessed with baseball lately. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who knows that I'm a baseball guy. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm unhappy the Giants and Yankees games are on at the same time on Sunday. Nor does it mean I'm going to take a week off from making my NFL picks.
I'm already 0-1 this week after missing with Pittsburgh in the Thursday night game. Since the Yankees don't know what a nine-inning game is, I saw a grand total of about five minutes of that football game. However, that was more than enough, since the final 35 seconds were included in that five minutes. Anyway, 96 percent of Yahoo! users picked the Steelers in that game, so I'm not overly upset about the loss. I've still got 13 games ahead of me.
Raiders (1-3) at Falcons (5-0): Atlanta-How confident am I that Atlanta will win this game? I made it my survival pool pick this week. Not only are the Falcons the best team in football, the Raiders are bad. And they don't exactly agree with games on the East Coast. Especially 1:00 games.
Bengals (3-2) at Browns (0-5): Cincinnati-The Ohio teams are the first division rivals to complete their season series this year. The Bengals won 34-27 in Cleveland in Week 2, which got them going on that three-game winning streak before that loss to Miami last week. As for the Browns, they were 0-4, but still somewhat competitive until last week, when the Giants spotted them 14 points before outscoring them 41-13 the rest of the way. I'm not sure why Scott Fujita is appealing his Bountygate suspension again. He should be thanking the NFL for not having to play in a Cleveland Browns game.
Rams (3-2) at Dolphins (2-3): St. Louis-Suddenly this game went from completely unappealing to one of this week's must-sees. The Rams were so impressive last Thursday night against Arizona, and they enter the matchup on a two-game winning streak. The Dolphins I knew were going to turn a corner sooner or later. Last week's win in Cincinnati might've been that game. This game is important. For the winner, it could set the path that leads to a magical playoff run. I think the Rams are more likely to win, but not by much.
Colts (2-2) at Jets (2-3): Jets-Talk about a team that turned a corner last week, how about the Indianapolis Andrew Lucks? That was some win over the Packers! (Even though I'm not a Colts fan anymore, I couldn't help but admire that effort.) The Jets are a dysfunctional mess that were actually more competitive agaisnt Houston than I thought they'd be. This game borders on irrelevant. Neither team is going anywhere. I'll go with the Jets simply because they're at home.
Lions (1-3) at Eagles (3-2): Philadelphia-These teams are certainly headed in different directions, aren't they? After last season's playoff run, everybody thought the Lions were poised to build on that success, yet here they sit 1-3 coming off their bye. Yes, the Eagles lost on a last-second field goal in Pittsburgh last week. Sometimes a team can show you more in defeat than they can in victory. I think that was the case with the Eagles last week. Philadelphia might be the third-best team in the NFC behind Atlanta and Chicago. The Lions need to figure things out soon to avoid having the same type of year the Saints are going to have.
Chiefs (1-4) at Buccaneers (1-3): Tampa Bay-The Bucs are doing what they did last year. After winning their opener, they've lost three straight to fall to 1-4. The Chiefs' only win came courtesy of the sideshow act known as the New Orleans Saints. Kansas City isn't that good, but you can't help but be impressed by their effort against Baltimore last week. Sure they didn't score a touchdown, but the Ravens didn't either. Still, without Matt Cassel playing, I've gotta go with the home team in this one.
Cowboys (2-2) at Ravens (4-1): Baltimore-Our friends at FOX have quite the little tripleheader. It's this one, followed by Giants-49ers, then the Giants and San Francisco are combined into one for the NLCS opener, which is conveniently also being played in the City by the Bay. But anyway, back to Cowboys-Ravens. The mark of a good team is its ability to win when it doesn't play well. That's what the Ravens did last week in Kansas City. Dallas still confuses me. We haven't seen them since Tony Romo was throwing passes to the Chicago Bears defense on Monday night two weeks ago. More importantly, though, I don't think the Ravens have two bad games in a row. Baltimore should win.
Bills (2-3) at Cardinals (4-1): Arizona-Did the Bills stay out west for a week, or did they come home after that shellacking in San Francisco (which came one week after a shellacking against New England). So far this season, the Bills have either won or been blown out. Speaking of being blown out, the Cardinals' 17-3 loss to the Rams makes that game look closer than it was. Arizona was thoroughly dominated. Regardless, I don't like the Bills' momentum. The Cardianls also have that home winning streak to protect.
Patriots (3-2) at Seahawks ("3-2"): New England-The Patriots have the Jets next week, so this game has "trap game" written all over it, but I'm not sure Bradicheck actually thinks that way. So far this season, the Seahawks have gone win, loss, "win," loss, win. That long trip to Seattle has to be daunting, but I think New England continues that alternating trend.
Giants (3-2) at 49ers (4-1): San Francisco-I really wish this game wasn't on against the Yankee game. Last week, when the Giants played Cleveland, I didn't really care, so I just stayed with the baseball game for the most part. This game is much different, though. It's going to have a bearing on the playoff race. Oh yeah, and it just happens to be a rematch of last year's NFC Championship Game, too. The 49ers have responded well to their loss to the Vikings, outscoring the Jets and Bills a combined 79-3 in their last two games. This one will be significantly closer. However, San Francisco remembers the NFC Championship Game and wants revenge. It might be a long day for Eli.
Vikings (4-1) at Redskins (2-3): Minnesota-Have we actually reached the point where Minnesota could reasonably be favored in every game? The Redskins are technically favored on paper, but I'd be surprised if the Vikings didn't win. Minnesota's got a better team. Washington's definitely getting there, though, and they maybe should've beaten the Falcons last week. This should be a pretty good matchup.
Packers ("2-3") at Texans (5-0): Houston-The Packers could reasonably be 4-1 right now. Instead, they're "2-3" and in danger of watching the season slip away (especially since Minnesota seems to be the real deal). Things don't get any easier this week, as they visit undefeated Houston on Sunday night. The Texans have been impressive all season. There's no other way to describe it. Like I said, Green Bay could really be in trouble. Although, we saw the Saints with a potentially season-saving win (it wasn't) on Sunday night last week. In one of the toughest calls of the week, I'm going with the Texans.
Broncos (2-3) at Chargers (3-2): Denver-Peyton's sixth national game in as many weeks as a Bronco is a battle for first place in the AFC West. The Chargers had a chance to grab a firm hold on this division last week, but they let a lead slip away in New Orleans. As a result, the Broncos, whose 2-3 record is much worse on paper than it is in reality, have a chance to even up the division standings with a win on Monday night. This is also Peyton's first division game as a member of the AFC West, which means the Chargers are the first AFC West team that gets to feel what things were like for the Titans, Texans and Jaguars over the past decade.
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 10-4
Season: 54-24
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