Last week, I was an unacceptable 7-8 last week. However, in two of my other football pick ’em pools, I went 9-6 and an unbelievable 12-3 in the other. I don’t know why I didn’t transfer my picks from my Yahoo league to here, but I didn’t. Let’s do the picks now and get them out of the way.
With the Houston-Baltimore game now postponed due to Hurricane Ike, we have only 14 games to choose from this week. Will it give me a better chance to go over .500 this week? Who the hell knows, but let’s do the picks and see.
Chicago at Carolina – Fox, 1 p.m.
Both of these teams won games in which they were heavy road underdogs. The Bears went into Indianapolis and looked totally dominant against a banged up Colts team. Meanwhile, the Panthers shocked the Chargers with a last second win over the Chargers in a game in which San Diego played like they were the underdogs. The Bears defense played like two years ago and Jake Delhomme looked like the QB that took the Panthers to the Super Bowl. While it’s hard to win on the road twice in a rwo, I give the Bears a decent shot. Matt Forte could be a star in the making with the way he ran the football against the Colts. And let’s not forget that the Panthers won without Steve Smith in the lineup last week. So we have some intriguing storylines coming into this game. I’ll give Carolina the edge in this one in a hard fought battle. The teams have split their last four meetings and I’ll say Panthers, 24-22 on a last second figgy.
Tennessee at Cincinnati – CBS, 1 p.m.
Tennessee for some reason is favored in this game and I don’t know why. Yes, they defeated Jacksonville last week, and the Bengals pulled off a huge stinker allowing Ravens rookie QB Joe Flecco look like the second coming of Steve Young. However, with the surfacing of the story of a potential suicide watch for Titans QB Vince Young, I’ll say the Bengals recover and pull off a mild upset, 16-14.
Green Bay at Detroit – Fox, 1 p.m.
Last week, I picked Detroit thinking they were a rising team in the NFL North and would steamroll over Atlanta. Well, I got fooled. QB Jon Kitna looked horrible. Atlanta rookie Matt Ryan was made to look like Warren Moon by a porous Lions defense. Michael Turner ran wild and probably would have run for 500 yards if given the chance. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers didn’t make the Lambeau Field faithful forget about Brett Favre, but he did do well enough to gain their trust. Here’s a chance for him to beat his second NFC North division rival in two weeks, and the Pack will win, 27-13.
Buffalo at Jacksonville – CBS, 1 p.m.
The Bills come into the Florida panhandle sky high after running roughshod over Seattle in Week 1. Jacksonville is smarting over their loss to Tennessee. Buffalo showed a very nice attack running Marshawn Lynch to help open up the passing game for J.P. Losman. In the meantime, Jacksonville’s running attack with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew didn’t give their fantasy owners much to scream about. Expect Taylor and Jones-Drew to be more involved this week and stack up the yardage. But I like Buffalo to take it to the Jags today, 31-14.
Oakland at Kansas City – CBS, 1 p.m.
There was a time when this game would be a showcase game for the league. Fierce rivals dating back to the old AFL, now, they are both sad excuses. Take the Chiefs, 41-7.
Indianapolis at Minnesota – Fox, 1 p.m.
The Colts face their second straight NFC North opponent with a very good defense. Last week, the Colts looked like they were playing in Peyton Manning’s rookie season allowing the Bears defense to hit, hurry and sack him on Sunday night. Manning definitely showed rust from not playing in the exhibition season. I don’t expect him to be that way again on Sunday. And while the Vikings have Adrian Peterson for ball control, QB Tavaris Jackson is still not trustworthy to make plays. Neither team wants to start off 0-2 and it’s especially imporant for the Colts as they have an opportunity to rise to the top of the AFC with the Patriots in flux. Take the Colts, 26-23.
New York Giants at St. Louis Rams – Fox, 1 p.m.
The St. Louis Rams are a bad football team. Last week, they showed nothing against the Eagles allowing Donovan McNabb to throw for over 350 yards. While the Rams will be up to play the defending Super Bowl champions, it still won’t be enough. Expect the G-Men to win, 35-10.
New Orleans at Washington – Fox, 1 p.m.
In the season opener against the Giants, Redskins coach Jim Zorn looked like a deer in the headlights as he failed to rally his troops while they were down. Zorn did not use his time outs wisely and at times, his offense looked out of sync. Well, not at times, during the entitre game! I do think the ‘skins will improve, they’ll have to deal with a Saints team that wants to show that last week’s win over the Bucs was not a fluke. I like the Saints play from last week and I do think it will carry over into today. Take the Saints to march into DC and march out of the stadium formerly known as Jack Kent Cooke with a 24-9 win.
Atlanta at Tampa Bay – Fox, 4:05 p.m.
Was Falcons QB Matt Ryan that good against the Lions or was the Lions defense that bad? Most likely it was somewhere in between. Tampa Bay took the Saints to the final quarter only to lose to the Saints, 24-20 in the Superdome. Now home, the Bucs look to put a little hurt on the Falcons, but Atlanta is confident coming into Randall James Stadium. Expect former Falcons RB Warrick Dunn to put a hurt on the Falcons defense today. Dunn, once a Buc and is a Buc again and I think he’ll do well, although Michael Turner for the Falcons could run for over 100 yards again. Based on the fact that the Bucs are home, I’ll take Tampa Bay by a figgy, 24-21.
San Francisco at Seattle – Fox, 4:05 p.m.
I picked both of these teams last week and got burned. Thinking Seattle was a Super Bowl contender, I thought the Seahawks would go into Western New York and fly home victorious, but I forgot that Seattle is a bad road team, especially in the Eastern time zone. Now back at home, they take on a 49er team that has regressed and is in a state of flux. Seattle will win outright, 28-10.
New England at New York Jets – CBS, 4:15 p.m.
This would have been an intriguing matchup between two legendary QBs, but Tom Brady got hurt last week and now, it becomes a matchup of how much will the Jets beat the Pats by. Even without Brady, the Patriots defense is still very good and Brady never played in the secondary anyway. While the Pats allowed the Chiefs to make a game out of it last week, New England still prevailed despite CBS trying to drum their CBS Scene restaurant down our throats. The Jets and Brett Favre will want to prove a point to the Pats. I’ll take the Jets to win, 24-7.
San Diego at Denver – CBS, 4:15 p.m.
This will be a good game as the two heated AFC West division rivals square off at the new Mile High. The Chargers are supposed to be contenders for the Super Bowl, but how do you allow Jake Delhomme to march down the field in the 2 minute drill and then give up TD pass with no time left on the clock? That’s a game you’re supposed to win and not even allow the Panthers in the building let alone upset you. And the Broncos looked very good in killing the Raiders last week, but then again, it
was Oakland. I think San Diego will win this on a figgy, 26-24.
Miami at Arizona – CBS, 4:15 p.m.
The Dolphins played the Jets tough at home last week, but this week, they take on a Cardinals team that wants to show it can string together a win streak. Cards start off the season 2-0, 24-17.
Pittsburgh at Cleveland – NBC, 8:15 p.m.
Sigh. Take Pittsburgh over my Browns who showed nothing against the Cowboys last week. Steelers 34, Browns 20 and it won’t be that close.
Iggles at Dallas – ESPN, 8:40 p.m. Monday
Dallas is allegedly the best team in the NFC. They did not let up against the Cleveland in Week 1 until the 4th quarter. Philadelphia would love to show that the Cowboys aren’t even the best in their division. This is one rare moment when ESPN has the game of the week in the NFL. This is a very attractive matchup and one in which I’ll choose the Iggles to upset Dallas and send Jerry Jones into a tizzy. Eagles win, 28-17.
There you have it. My picks in The League Where They Play for Pay.
