Its that time again....I'll get right to it. Cincy over Houston Both of these teams are surprisingly better than expected. Cincy will get back on track at home, riding Kitna, Johnson, Warrick and Johnson. Has Dillon been a bust or what? Rudi, Rudi, Rudi!!! Pittsburgh over Arizona The Steelers have been a disappointment. If you'd told the Steelers fans that come week 10 they would have one less win than the Cardinals they would have laughed in your face. The Steelers are done for the season, but theres no way they lose tot he Cards at home. Giants over Atlanta Atlanta is the lowest scoring team in the league. This won't change, and the Giants will jump back in the hunt for the NFC East title. Collins, Hilliard, Toomer and Shockey should have a bid day. KC over Cleveland Can you pick against the Chiefs right now? Willie Green is suspended, Holcomb is starting, Kevin Johnson got benched. Does it matter? The Chiefs are coming off a bye and know they have to keep winning because the Colts, Titans and Pats all keep winning. Arrowhead rocks again. With a win KC moves 4 games ahead with 7 to play in the West. Indy over Jags Poor Jags. They decide to go with a young QB and this is what they get. Indy is rolling and will pressure KC all the way for home field advantage. Indy's defense under Dungy is getting much better. James has a big day once the game is decided. Tennessee over Miami This should be a good game between two hard nosed teams. Strength vs. Strength when McNair passes vs. the Miami secondary. McNair wins that battle though, and does enough to counter Ricky Williams. Williams by the way is dropping off in production. Tampa Bay over Carolina Great game in the first meeting. Look for the same as two great defenses, and inept offenses, match up. I just don't see Gruden letting the losing go on for much longer, and I still maintain that Carolina isn't as good as their record. Detroit over Chicago Harrington is having a rough season since Rogers went down. Chicago stinks. Could be one of those good "meaningless" games, especially between rivals. Seattle over Washington Rumors are flying around DC about the Ol' Ball Coach getting fired. Snyder is too impatient as an owner and needs to turn over control of that team to someone with a football mind. On the field Seattles improved defense will cause Ramsey trouble. The Hawks have quite a few weapons that will be hard for the Skins to cover. Close game, going to the wire. The rookie Josh Brown wins it with a FG. San Diego over Minnesota Yep, thats right, its my surprise pick of the week. I think they've got it in them. They actually get to play at their real home this week. Thats a boost. Minnesota coming of a devestating loss to the Packers losses again. Tomlinson tears up the Vikes defense and Flutie wins the game. Chargers defense finally steps up. (Don't worry, I usually am wrong with my surprise pick) Oakland over Jets Too bad for Pennington, he played such a great first game. Gotta like his stats vs. the Raiders, but only because I think the Raiders will actually win this game. Mirer looks to be the starter, and he's servicable. Garner, Brown, Rice and Porter need to step up their game. Woodson needs to shut his mouth and play ball. Dallas over Buffalo Dallas 7-2. The Tuna is The Pimp. Hammbrick will have the ball glued to his hands this week after two fumbles last week. Carter continues to be just good enough to win. Bledsoe sucks on the road and thats not helped by the Dallas defense (one of the best). St. Louis over Baltimore Rams defense wins the game. Baltimore has the defense to slow down the Rams offense. But Boller, Lewis and Heap can't score enough points on the stingy Rams D to win. Green Bay over Philly Vikes, thats the Packers in your rear view mirror. After this game (and the suprise Chargers win ) The Vikings will only have a one game lead in the NFC North. Green runs all over the Eagles and McNabb sucks it up again. Favre is a football God.
Steelers have an easy schedule the rest of the way (all teams have losing records or are in the AFC North division) so they still have an outside shot at the division title, providing they win at least 7 of 8. They have the talent to do that but I've never in my life seen a team "exposed" as much as the Steelers. It all stems back to December 2001 when the Bengals ripped apart the Steelers secondary by spreading them out and keeping the strength of the Steelers defense (D Line and Linebackers) off the field. Last season it wasn't a totally visible because their O-Line was strong and they won a lot of games by outscoring opponents. This season, their O-Line is decimated and they did virtually nothing in the off season to correct their deficiencies in the secondary (see Dwayne Washington). I still hold out hope, but they have to get the trains on the track this weekend against the Cardinals and then must pull out a Monday night win at San Francisco.
You know, the AFC North has a chance to be the division that people were worried about when the realignment happened two years ago. An 8-8 or 7-9 team in the playoffs. Baltimore will most likely win at least 9, but still it could happen and that would suck for other teams who had similar records but finished 3rd in their division.
Ben........... The road to the AFC championship goes through either the RCA Dome or Arrowhead. No disrespect to Titans or Patriots fans, but I think that the Colts and The Chiefs are the cream of the crop in the AFC. Of course, the Patriots and the Titans get one more shot at the Colts so I could be singing a different tune, but this Colts team is really really good. Colts vs. Chiefs ala 1995.......we shall see.
Re: Ben........... Thats the way it looks, and both teams have pretty easy schedules. I really think a team is going to have to 14-2 to win the AFC race. The Colts have two tough road game (@ Buffalo, @ Tennessee) while the Chiefs have two (@ Denver, @ Minnesota). While the Chiefs remaining home schedule is very week (Cleveland, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago) the Colts still have to host the Partiots and Broncos. Its safe to say this one could go to the wire.
Re: Re: Ben........... Definately not a stretch to say that. However, because of the 1 game lead over the Colts, I think the Chiefs win it without much of a struggle. I'm convinced the Chiefs will split those two tough games, which would mean the Colts have to win out to force a tie. But yeah, it is possible that it could go to the wire. God I was so pissed when Miami F'ed the end of that game against Indy. Chiefs could be up two game right now. Priest is going to demolish the Browns. Well, at least for a half. I predict the Chiefs are up at least 21-3 at the Half and Dick gives the ball to Larry Johnson the rest of the way. Johnson will rack up some yards, but it won't be because of skill, rather because of that hideous rush defense the Browns have. So that leaves LJ still as one big ? mark. What if we go through the whole season having absolutely no clue what Larry Johnson can do? Worst 1st round pick ever.
Re: Re: Re: Ben........... You're assuming KC will win their other 6 games. Thats a big assumption. Actually the Browns have a pretty decent running defense. They've allowed 1040 yards in 8 games, overall thats good for 28th in the league. But, they gave up 495 yards of that in two games (Lewis and Tomlinson). Take those out and they're giving up 90 yards a game. Only the Chargers and Ravens even went over 100 yards on them as a team. Yeah, with our Oline I still think we'll run effectively, just saying the Browns aren't that bad against the run. As for Johnson, definitely not the worst ever. Ryan Leaf anyone? He was insurance for an uncertainty, which we turned out not to need. He's still a good runner.
The Jaguars are throwing this game. They want the first pick. You think if they decided to really play that Indy would have a chance? I laugh at you. ::Sigh:: I can't wait for the draft, because this season sucks so much.
Agree with most of your picks. Especially the Chargers. First of all, why is that line only Minn. -6 ? Minnesota looks too obvious. It's got trap game written all over it. Flutie's presence changes the entire complexion of the matchup. This is SD's first home game since week 3, and the post-fire crowd is just waiting to get excited about something. It's going to be loud! The defense will need to come up with an inspired effort for Flutie after shooting their mouths off about how Brees should be benched. If the Chargers can score the first TD, it's going to be a ballgame. Not sure if I can put any real money down at +6, but I'm sure by Sunday I'll have talked myself into it... As for your other picks, I agree with the first five and last two you listed. But I think there's some upset possibilities in the middle there, particularly Miami, Carolina and Buffalo. Miami is still a solid defensive team, and Tennessee still can't run. I love McNair, but Miami has the best defense in the league and usually tees off on one-dimensional teams. I don't like Greise, but he's not terrible and is going to be more comfortable in his third game. Williams can get back on track, and if Miami gets an early lead it will be tough to come back on them. Like Miami, and love the points... Carolina matches up extremely well with TB. They've given them fits for the past two years, and they'll be playing at home against a below average TB offense. At least Carolina can run it a little bit, and TB has shown that it's susceptible to a good running game. It'll most likely come down to a FG... again. Carolina is a little more balanced than TB. Even with a gimpy Davis, Foster is a more than adequate replacement. Winning the turnover battle will be key, and playing at home I think Carolina will have the edge in that department. The Panthers may not be as good as their record, but they always play a down and dirty game agaisnt TB. Kasay gets 4 FG's and Carolina wins... Lastly, rested Buffalo goes into Dallas off a bye. Henry is healthy. Bledsoe has had a week to regroup after getting killed in KC. And their tough secondary will be difficult for Carter to handle. He couldn't handle TB's depleted secondary, and Buffalo's is at least as tough as the Lynch-less Bucs' was. And Dallas had trouble defensively the last time they played a quality balanced offense (NYG). They haven't faced an offense of that caliber since. I think Quincy turns it over a couple times, and Henry and Bledsoe mix it up just enough to keep Dallas' strong back 7 on their heels. Plus, Buffalo has a good record playing in Dallas over the years if I remember correctly. And if any team is not as good as their record, it's Dallas. Like the Bills here...
Re: Ben........... And Belichick knows how to slow Peyton Manning down better than anyone, but this is for Nov. 30. This week: Giants kick Atlanta's asses. Always seem to put it together as soon as they're counted out. Steelers over Arizona since they're at home. My fantasy team needs Hines Ward to get numbers. Seattle wins over the Redskins. How the hell did the Pats ever lose to Wash.? The Spurrier says FU to Danny Boy watch continues. I'm not sold on Carolina either. Tampa keeps up the odd week win stuff and wins by a TD. Colts roll over Jaguars, the olny question is my how much. All RBs get their share of carries in this rout. Bengals get the home crowd, and rebound with a hard-fought home win over Houston, who isn't far from being competitive. Bears at Lions: who's at home wins. Miami continues their late season, earlier than normal, slide. Titans keep pace with Indy by stuffing the Fishies. Brownies at KC: Please. KC pulls away quite early and wins 34-13. Minny edges San Diego on the road. Just a hunch. Jets win in Oakland. The struggling with still feisty team beats the team in total disarray. I'm not completely convinced the Cowboys are all that great, even with Parcells' magic. At least the NYG and PHI wins were greatly aided by the losers beating themselves. And I still think the offense is suspect. That being said, they win aby a FG at home since Buffalo blows on the road. Rams smoke Ravens at home. Not even Ray Lewis will contain St. Louis, who has to be raring to get back on the right track and swinging. Philly at GB, Monday night: the last really good MNF game for a while, and the best game of this week. Both seem to have righted themselves, and need this one badly. I see a see-saw, playoff style 23-20 dogfight, with the Pack prevailing at the end.
Ben, thanks for picking the Chargers again. Each time you've gone with them they've lost Then again, they've lost all but one this season anyway. But I think they just might have what it takes to upset the Vikes if Flutie starts. By bringing in Flutie they will not be as predictable. I loved how when they put him in last week he was able to scramble to get two key first downs. They need some guts like his in there, it may fire up the rest of the team, who knows. Also, if the Vikes D plays like they did against the Packers, Tomlinson will break the NFL single-game rushing record. The key for the Bolts will be to keep the game close, if they're down 14-0, 17-0, they'll be toast.
I think it's more like if they're down 7-0, they're toast. That's been this team's problem all year: falling behind and having to abandon LT, sometimes necessarily, other times not. But that's been Marty's way for some reason. That's why I think scoring the game's first TD is a must for SD to have a shot. Get the lead and then hold on to the ball. TO's will kill a bad team bidding for an upset. Two things can get the team going on Sunday. If they win the toss and march down the field and score, or if they lose the toss and then hold Minnesota without scoring on their first drive. The tone will need to be set early... I can almost envision a shootout, which would be great for me as I've got LT in two leagues, Duante in one league and Moss in another. I won't be changing the channel too often on Sunday...
Re: Re: NFL Week 10 [R] Thanks! I've actually been on BS for quite a while, but I rarely post outside of the NSR forums, hence my low post count. We don't have a team in SD yet, although it looks like Chivas is an inevitability...
Re: Re: Ben........... I know, I know.........I'm getting ahead of myself...but I'll leave the picks to the experts on this board and contintue to predict future games, talk shyt with the best of them, and speculate on how this season is going to end. Peyton has said it himself.........the Coach that throws more stuff at him than he can handle is Bill Belichick.
If the Panthers' passing game is merely bad, they'll win a close one. If the receivers drop the ball like last week, or if Jake throws the ball like has has every week since week 1 (except last week), the Panthers lose. If the Panthers win, they have a 3 game lead and the tie break, with 7 to go. The Buccaneers will be under .500 with 7 to go. The Bucs probably are looking at this as a playoff game, and they should. The Bucs are engaging in a bit of a war of words. Should be a real battle.
That doesn't work for them like it did last year. I'd like to see Carolina pull this out but I think that it's going to be tough for them.
Brian Billick is an arrogant idiot. 1st Run Jamal Lewis 20 yards 2nd Run Jamal Lewis 25 yards 3rd Pass incomplete 4th Draw to Lewis 5 yards 5th Pass Int all the way to the 5 yard line What's wrong with this play selection to start the game?
Why I love fantasy football sometimes: I have 12 points in one of my leagues because I started Marshall Faulk, who has a grand total of 4 yards rushing. That after I was one yard short of a freak 6 poins courtesy of Dane Looker. And I agree that Billick is an arrogant jackass. And a poor play caller tonight.
RAMS tough one out against the ravens 33-22... the offense definitely struggled, but 7 forced turnovers and some fine red zone D covers up a lot of struggle - great to have polley and archuleta back - RAMS back in a 1st place tie with seattle