Week 3 NFL Picks

I haven't done so well in the last few weeks on picks. I am thinking a trained monkey could do better but here they are.

49ers@Chiefs- This is the make it or break it week for the 49ers and this is the week the Chiefs can prove they can hang in the AFC West. I think the Chiefs are for real and the 49ers suck unless they get a real QB. I hear Jeff Garcia is floating around in the UFL.

Browns@Ravens- Bring your bags, Cleveland fans. Ravens win this one with Flacco throwing 2 TDs. On an interesting note, Cleveland fans have donated a bunch of Lebron jerseys to homeless shelters in Miami.

Cowboys@Texans- See ya Wade Phillips, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Jerry Jones gave poor Wade the dreaded vote of confidence this week. Texans win this one by at least 2 TDs. Dallas is just falling apart worse than Michael Jackson's last nose.

Lions@Vikings- Holy Relevance, Batman! The Lions could put a nail in Brett Favre's retirement party. Lions will win this game in a close squeaker. Watch All Pro Rookie Suh squish Brett twice.

Bills@Pats- Don't bet against Bill Bellichek and Tom Brady at home. Does it even matter? Bills fans might be more depressed than Browns fans right now.

Falcons@Saints- Close game but i think the Super Bowl Champions win this one on grit and a few Matt Ryan turnovers.

Titans@Giants- Two teams who want to be playoff contenders but are more pretenders. Vince Young was benched again last week and the Giants have had player vs coach issues again. I still think Eli wins this one in a close game, 24-21.

Steelers@Bucs- Another surprise game here. Both teams are 2-0 and the Steel Curtain 2.0 has not needed She Said No. Charlie Batch starts this game for the Steelers and Josh Freeman looks like a decent Qb for the Bucs. Expect this game to be a grinding, defensive game if the Steelers can control the pace. Steelers head home with a 3-0 record and a good chance of playoff hope with the return of She Said No in two weeks.

Bengals@Panthers- The Cats face off here. The Panthers should be better then they are but they need to settle the QB position. Lets hope former Irish QB Claussen is the answer. I think the Bengals win after both heads of the T Ochocinco monster score touchdowns. Look for a good matchup though between TE Jermaine Gresham and the Panthers LB core.

Eagles@Jags- Mike Vick runs over the Jags in this game and Andy Reid helps the Mike Vick redemption train along. Yes he is a former felon, but he has been nothing but humble and grateful this time around. Look I will jump on him if he steps out of line, but why ruin a good story now. Vick or Welker could be the comeback players of the year, but its only Week 3.

Redskins@Rams- Maybe Shanahan finally gets control of his team here and wins another game. Its a pretty easy gimme game what with Bradford still being a rookie and all.

Colts@Broncos- Kevin, I have your bag ready for you. Peyton continues on his quest to prove the Texans game was a fluke. Colts win in a no contest. Poor Broncos fans. Great post by Woody Paige about depression and suicide the other day though. Pretty moving.

Raiders@Cardinals- Wow both teams made it to the Superbowl in the last decade and both teams are pretty crappy right now. Raiders benched their supposed answer at Qb last week and will start Bruce Gradkowski again. Cardinals win but barely.

Chargers@Seahawks- Chargers will win this game on the back of Phillip Cry Baby Rivers.

Jets@Dolphins- Fins win as the Jets are still on a hangover from the Sex Scandal, the Braylon Edwards DUI and their victory over the Pats last week. The AFC East is a 3 team race all season long.

Packers@Bears- Not even close. Rodgers continues his push to MVP and the erasing of Brett Favre from the collective Wisconsin memory. Jay Cutler gets sacked at least 3 times this week and throws one INT.

Week 1 NFL Picks

Its been a bit since I've written here but life gets in the way.

Thursday night game- I am taking the Saints in a thriller over Brett don't called me retired Favre. The Vikings (my team) have too many injuries at major positions and the Saints haven't changed much since their victory in the Super Bowl. The only real questions for them are can their LB core survive losing team leader Scott Fujita to free agency and is Reggie Bush's head actually in the game given his uncertainty surrounding his heisman trophy and USC's penalties. I think the Saints win 35-28.

Sunday Games
Dolphins at Bills- No Brainer, The Fins. Bills have no OL, no QB, No Defense.

Detroit Lions vs the Chicago Bears- Lions win. They have a lot of good things going for them including this year's defensive rookie of the year, Ndamukong Suh. They have Megatron catching passes still. Bears suck, Cutler needs pampers. Their Defense is just another year older and Julius Peppers might have lost a step.

Da Raidas at the Titans- Titans win but the Raiders might win 6-8 games this year considering they play in the AFC West and have an easy schedule. Titans are a borderline playoff team.

Bengals vs Patriots- Never bet against Bill Bellicheck at home. Tom brady is fully healed. White Wes Welker is looking awesome after his knee surgery. Bengals have too many personalities to contend with even though Palmer has some nice weapons. Both are playoff bound teams who probably will meet again in the 1st round.

Panthers at G-Men- Panthers lose but not by much. They have a twin headed monster in the running game and Matt Moore looked good last season after taking over for Jake Delhomme. But the G Men are pissed they didnt make the playoffs last year and they are healthy mostly. Eli wins it for them with a 4th quarter td.

Falcons at Steelers- The Dirty Birds are back and will win this one in a no contest. Pittsburgh can't play very well without She Said No on suspension. Dennis Dixon will be sacked at least 3 times and lose a fumble. Expect big game from Matty Ryan

Browns at Bucs- A stinker of a game. Who cares. These teams are the dredges of the league. I think the Bucs win only because they are younger. I feel sorry for Cleveland fans.

Broncos at Jags- Tim Tebow returns home and scores a TD. Broncos win the first of their 4 games against another 4 win team. Second stinker on the docket. Broncos could have been a contender but losing Elvis Dumerville, trading away a 2nd round pick, and drafting Tim Tebow just kills the mood.

Colts at Texans- Texans are a sexy pick to make the playoffs but unfortunately they will have to do that after starting the season 0-1. Peyton Manning has destroyed the Texans in every game he's played against them. I don't think that changes now. Peyton also will be on a quest to win ring number 2 which he probably will do.

49ers vs Seahawks- Pete Caroll can't save the Seahawks. 49ers have the toughest defense in the NFC and was the leading defensive team overall last year. 49ers might have Alex Smith but he's serviceable and don't forget Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl.

Packers at Eagles- Aaron Rodgers will compete for the MVP this season and will make Packers fans forget Mr Retired. Eagles fans will want Donovan McNabb back after Kevin Kolb and Ron Mexico screw up at QB for the 6-10 bound Igles.

Cardinals at Rams- the last stinker of the week. This game would have been good if Kurt Warner was still there. The Cards are headed for a 4 to 6 win season with Derek Crapfest Anderson at QB. Matt Leinart sucked so bad that he was cut. Rams Win on Stephen Jackson's carries though Bradford throws 2 INTs and gets sacked twice.

Cowboys at Redskins- Best game of the Week potential. Both teams hate each other. Both have Super Bowl aspirations. Redskins win in Shanahan's debut but a close game. Cowboys though will win the NFC east.

Jets at Ravens- Match up of predicted Division winners this season. Jets have Darrelle Revis and the Revis Island back. The Sanchize will have a tough game but they can pound on the ground. Ravens have some injuries on defense so the J E T S jets jets jets win it in a close match. This too has game of the week written on it.

Chargers at Chiefs- Chargers win. AFC West is a cakewalk for them this year. Chiefs will win 6-8 games though. Most of Bill Bellicheck's old staff is now at the Chiefs so they might turn Cassell into a 4000 passer. Unfortunately Philip Rivers is damn good even without V Jax and his holdout.

What a Weekend!!

Quite an unbelievable 2 games that we saw this weekend. We saw the Jets get up on the Colts pretty early, but, as they have done all year long, the Colts adjusted and came back. Manning showed why he is the MVP of the league, yet again, and we can all finally shut up about the Colts not being able to win in the playoffs. They already proved that they could when they won the Super Bowl just a couple years back. Give them some love when they deserve it everybody! Kudos to the Jets, as well. Though they were unable to do it for the whole game, they did have Manning and the Colts on their heels for a bit. A big up and down season that they've had, but Sanchez played very well, especially for a rookie. He kept his composure and didn't let the moment frighten him. He played well, and the Jets will be in good shape with him going forward.

That was an amazing game between the Vikings and the Saints. A lot can be said about things in the game, you can question the calls in the overtime, but the bottom line is that Minnesota let that game get away. They turned the ball over 5 times in that game, and AP acted as if the ball had just been freshly waxed with how he was fumbling. The be all end all of this is that you should not hear a single one of the Vikings complain about the calls that were made because they didn't make the plays necessary to avoid ever being put in that situation to begin with. Fumbles, bad passes that led to interceptions, they allowed the Saints to stick around when the Vikes probably could have won by 2 touchdowns. Plus, if you have your back to the ball and play the receiver fully, you will get called for pass interference 10 times out of 10. You have to be playing the ball. Then, you can't expect them to overturn that spot. A hell of a job by Pierre Thomas for holding on to that ball. How did he manage to not have that pop out? Unbelievable. Unflappable Saints.

Now we begin to approach Super Sunday. Two #1 seeds in the Super Bowl for the first time since Super Bowl XXVIII (28) when the Cowboys beat the Bills for the second time in a row. These two teams aren't just #1 seeds, but they are clearly the best 2 teams in the league this year. So nice when you actually get to see the 2 best have a knock down drag out for the championship (See BCS, it can be done without computers!). Plus, we have the 2 best quarterbacks ready to duke it out in one of the most epic shootouts in Super Bowl history! I'm very excited! I haven't been this excited for a Super Bowl since the G-men beat the Patriots and kept them from going undefeated, although that was after the game not before it. Any way it turns out, and I will put my picks up just before the end of next week, it will be one hell of a game! Congrats to the Colts for again winning the AFC for the 2nd time in 4 years. And a huge congrats to the New Orleans Saints for making the first trip to the Super Bowl in the history of their franchise. It has been well earned!

Divisional Playoffs!

After a crazy wild card weekend, what are we going to see in the divisional round? Hopefully we will still see some awesome football!! How will the Colts and Saints do after both ending the regular season on losing streaks? Has the bye week helped? We shall see! Here are my picks for the weekend!

AFC:
#6 Baltimore @ #1 Indianapolis: I tell you what, I don't care how good the Ravens are, and they are quite good, Peyton Manning has done nothing but prove that if you bet against him, he'll burn you! So, I'm not going to bet against him. The Colts came from behind in 7 games during the regular season, against good teams. I don't see any reason that they will stumble. Colts.

#5 NY Jets @ #2 San Diego: This could be a deceptively good game, but probably not that good. Is this the year that the Chargers and Norv Turner finally get over the hump and prove that they can actually win the big games? Well, I don't really see the Jets stopping them at this particular juncture in the road. But you never know, I picked against the Jets last week and get torched, I think that it is quite possible that it can happen again if they manage to keep the Chargers receivers at bay. People always say you have to start with LT, and that used to be true, but LT is old and not anywhere near what he used to be. Now, you have to stop Rivers and the passing game. Don't get me wrong, I despise Phillip Rivers. He is a mouthy little punk who has always gotten expectations up, but then choked when it counts, but I think that he and the Chargers are too much this time around.

NFC:
#4 Arizona @ #1 New Orleans: Now here is a very interesting game. Arizona is deceptive in how good they are. Their defense is far better than most people give them credit for. They managed to confuse a lot of good offenses this year. We all know how explosive the Saints are, but we have also seen that they don't always play a full game. This is a case where, if they only play one half of the game, they won't win. This is a really tough one. I'm going to pick the Saints because, in every single game where they faced difficult and high quality opponents, they came out firing on all cylinders and never let up. This is definitely one of those situations, and I think that the whole team recognizes that. I'll take the Saints, but if they don't play the whole game, don't be shocked if Arizona pulls an upset.

#3 Dallas vs. #2 Minnesota: Another really good game. This is a tough one to pick because there are so many factors. Can Romo stay consistent in the playoffs for the first time in his career? Which Brett Favre is going to show up? Which defense will be the first to make a huge play? All of those things are going to affect the game. This is another one of those ones where it won't surprise me if either team wins. I'm going to take Minnesota because I believe that they are more complete on both sides of the ball, but if Dallas's defense is able to make a couple of big plays and either score, or give the offense a really short field, don't be shocked for Dallas to pull an upset here.

Tough choices, and yes, I am picking all of the home teams. Nonetheless, we are all in for another great weekend of football! Next week, the conference championships!! Let me know your picks!