2015-16 NFL Week 2 Picks

Denver @ Kansas City

The Broncos come into KC with the media (and everyone else) wondering if Manning is done and a great defense.  The Broncos escaped with a win last week against Baltimore, more because of their defense than anything they were able to do on the offensive side of the ball.  Rumors swirled around Manning's arm strength and whether the noodle is already gone week 2 into the season.  I won't say that this is the biggest game of the season but this is the first match-up of the two teams many expected to be fighting for the AFC West title and possibly one of the teams headed to the Superbowl.

Denver brings their defense to town and the Chiefs are trying to up the ante with there's.  The Chiefs have to love the fact that they are going against an immobile QB and if they can keep the Broncos in 3rd and long situations, they'll know exactly what spot Manning will be in.  On offense, I imagine that we'll see more of Jamaal Charles split out to put him in one on one situations with the Broncos LBs.  Can Alex Smith repeat his performance from week 1?  If he does, the Chiefs might be big winners at home.  

Winner – Chiefs

Houston @ Carolina

The Panthers found a way to win last week and look to do the same this week.  I'll say it again, I don't know who Cam Newton is going to throw the ball to.  Last week it was Jerricho Cotchery, but someone else has got to step up.  With Houston and this defense coming to Charlotte, they are going to have to run the ball to have a chance.  On defense, the Panthers star, Luke Kuechly  hasn't been cleared to play and the Panthers may want to be cautious with rushing him back.

The Texans are already changing their QBs.  Ryan Mallet gets the start and it seems like Hoyer may be the backup for the rest of the year (life comes at you fast).  This Texans defense played well last week and hope to continue that with the homecoming of Jadeveon Clowney being a big story this week. I'm sure his people from SC will make the trek to Charlotte.  Should be a good game.

Winner - Texans

San Francisco @ Pittsburgh

The Steelers have had some time to heal from their butt whuppin given to them by the Patriots.  They better hope that better equipment was really the reason behind their play on that Thursday night opener.  Looks like the offense is just counting the games to Leveon Bell returns, but the Steelers defense has got to at least line up correctly this game and show us something.  

The 49ers come off a strong showing against the Vikings.  Again, this offense looks rudimentary but as long as Kaep is comfortable, they have a chance.  This 49ers defense should have Steelers fans crying for the days that their defense was this dominant.  

Winner - 49ers

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans

Talking about being comfortable, that's something that Drew Brees wasn't last week and looks to be that way all year long.  This Saints team feels like a rebuilding year, but they are still pushing forward and trying to fix/rebuild this car (team) while they're on the road driving it.  The Saints have to run the ball a little more and let Brees pick his spots.  Brees can't have 48 attempts again this week.  

Jameis shat the bed in his first start so the hope is that he can shake it off and play better.  Word is Mike Evans is 100% and returning from injury so he should have both of his tall dominant receivers to go along with tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins.  I am also looking for a pulse from this Bucs defense, since Lovie did not die on the cross for you guys to play this horribly.  

Winner - Bucs

Detroit @ Minnesota

The Vikings have got to get back into Viking football.  That consists of feeding AP the ball and I expect that he'll get at least 30 touches this game.  AP looked out of sync last game, almost like he missed playing football for a year.  Once that ground game gets going, you take some of the pressure off of young Teddy Bridgewater and I think this Viking team starts winning.

The Lions might have it this year and by 'it' I'm talking about a chance to play for the division title. They've normally had the talent but there was always something missing, but I like this all around team and it'll be exciting to see them get going.  Megatron was off his game last week also so I expect a big game between him and Stafford.

Winner - Lions

Arizona @ Chicago

The Bears come off a game where they actually played well, they just happened to run into the best QB in the game.  This is game number 2 at home and I could see the Bears getting a win with the same strategy as last week, run the ball and limit Cutler's mistakes in the passing game.  If they can do that, they'll keep this one close. 

The Cardinals can be electric on offense and Carson Palmer looks very good.  The Bears don't really have anyone that can cover the Cardinals wideouts so I expect big games from Fitzgerald, Floyd and the Brown brothers (I know they aren't brothers).  We'll see if Chris Johnson gets the start for the injured Andre Ellington and whether Johnson has anymore in the tank.  

Winner - Cardinals

New England @ Buffalo

Tyrod Taylor gets his first dance with the Patriots.  Belichek has always been good with scheming against new starters in the league so I'm sure he'll have something for Taylor.  Taylor just has to hand the ball off and pick his spots on offense and hope that the Bills defense is ready for the challenge.  

The Patriots are always ready and remember they have to very good TEs (one excellent and one good).  The Patriots will try to contain Taylor in the pocket and not allow him to make plays with his feet.  This is definitely must see TV.  

Winner - Bills

San Diego @ Cincinnati

The Bengals looked good last week and they are hoping to keep this one a contest.  They need to pound the ball and then let AJ Green expose this Chargers defense.  They can't let this game become a shootout, but they are going to have to put up points against the Chargers.  Rivers in a baseball hat is the best place for him if the Bengals want to win. 

The Chargers hope they have rested enough to put up numbers again this week.  They can't start slowly like they did last week but they gotta find a way to get stops on defense.  I've said that they are going to have to win shootouts all year long and the Bengals have enough firepower on offense to keep up with them, although the Chargers definitely have the better QB. 

Winner - Bengals

Tennessee @ Cleveland

This will be a long season for the Browns.  Manziel will probably start again and he's been limited at practice with an injured elbow.  Hopefully he's ready to go, but again, he doesn't have a lot of help on this Browns team.  Browns gonna have to run the ball a lot and keep Manziel from further hurting that arm.  

The Titans had a great first week with their rookie QB.  The only question is where do they go from here?  Prior to the season many felt the Titans didn't have anything in the cupboard and after one game some think otherwise.  I am actually still in the camp of them NOT having much to go along with Mariota.  I expect this to be a rough day at the office for him.  

Winner - Browns

Atlanta @ New York Giants

Hopefully Eli won't tell any of his players not to score again.  Giants are so much better when they run the ball and limit Eli (Mr. Turnover) from giving the ball away.  

The Falcons hope to keep up the swarming play that their defense exhibited against the Eagles.  If they can do that, this team will have taken several steps ahead of where they have been in the past few years.  Can we also get Matt Ryan to not turn the ball over a few times?  He's got the people to exploit the Giants secondary, but we'll see if he's Matty Ice or Matty Ice Water. 

Winner - Falcons

St. Louis @ Washington

They are the (redacted)!!!  They played terribly last week and the younger Gruden is going to have us believe that they are on the rise.  I think until they release RGIII this team won't do well.  It's gotta be karma.

The Rams come off a good game and a good win against the Seahawks.  The offense seemed to click last week and there are rumblings that they might have a certain rookie running back available this weekend, Todd Gurley.  Rams defense played well last week and I expect them to dominate this week too.

Winner - Rams

Miami @ Jacksonville

The Jaguars?  All I have to say is if Blake Bortles doesn't show up and be the QB that I thin he can be, we're gonna have to go down to Jacksonville and have a stern talking to with that young man.  He has a n opportunity to be good but he can't turn the ball over (out there impersonating Andrew Luck or Eli Manning).  

The Dolphins pissed into the wind last week and almost got it all over themselves.  They barely snuck out a win against the Dolphins and this week they have to play another team that many expect them to beat.  Can the Dolphins live up to the hype that many have for them this year or are we all doomed to what this underachieving team do just that again this year?  

Winner - Dolphins

Baltimore @ Oakland

Talk about playing terrible last week?  The Raiders lost their QB early because he didn't slide and from there it just went downhill.  Carr is one of these young QBs that has the skillset, but he's gotta be able to perform.  He has help and a pretty decent defense.  Carr you can't do it all and you shouldn't try to.  Spread it around and prosper. 

The Ravens start this game as Game 1 ATS (After Terrell Suggs).  Jason Babin was signed to replace Suggs and the Ravens will try to keep it rolling.  The hope is that they can get something going on offense too.  Steve Smith had a terrible game last week and I don't remember him ever having bad games back to back.  Will love to see how this defense responds to this challenge.  

Winner - Ravens

Dallas @ Philadelphia

Maybe in week 2 the Eagles offense will be in tune this week.  I know one thing, they better find a way to keep people off of Bradford or he won't make it an entire season.  He got a precautionary x-rays on his ankle after week 1 and that doesn't bode well for the oft-injured QB.  DeMarco Murray has got to have more than 9 yards this game, especially since he's going against his old team that let him go.  

The Cowboys are working without their star wideout in Dez Bryant for who knows how many weeks (4-8).  We expect this offensive line to dominate the Eagles and let one of the Murray replacements run on the Eagles defense.  If that doesn't happen Tony Romo will have a lot of attempts and maybe a mistake or two, so I think they'll be running the ball.  

Winner - Cowboys

Seattle @ Green Bay

Game of the week to me.  The Packers come off a pretty solid game against the Bears.  They lose Bulaga on the offensive line so that puts Aaron Rodgers' life at risk since the only fault that one could find with the Packers is their o-line.  Rodgers will have to worry about the Seahawks coming from just about everywhere this game.  Look for Lacy to have a big game.

The Seahawks are rebounding from their loss last week to the Rams on some questionable calls from their O coordinator and head coach.  Can they get it all working?  The defense missed Cam Chancellor but with no solution seemingly coming on that front, the Seahawks have got to get back to the type of football that allows them to win, run the ball with Lynch and then let their newly paid QB find his new target in Graham.

Winner - Seahawks

New York Jets @ Indianapolis

The Colts try to bounce back after a dismal showing last week.  TY Hilton is questionable so some other receiving targets are going to have to step up (Dwayne Allen and Andre Johnson, ahem!!).  The Colts offensive line was just that last week, offensive and they have to find a solution to keeping their QB up right for the majority of the game.  

The Jets, well, didn't look too bad last week.  Ryan Fitzpatrick played decently and the ground game led the way.  With the Colts defense being as soft as tissue paper, we actually might have a 250 yard rushing game for the Jets as a team.  

Winner - Jets

NFL 2010 Wild Card Weekend Picks

Well, the season is over for most and now it's time for the real teams (well, the Seahawks did make the playoffs) to duke it out to see who will win the Superbowl.  Let's see what's on tap. 

New Orleans @ Seattle - The charade can now stop since we know that Hasselbeck would start this game.  The Seahawks boast a pretty good running attack with Lynch and Forsett.  While neither of them is great by themselves, the number of touches that each will have (and a consistent running game) could spell doom for the Saints.  Look for at least 30 carries between Lynch and Forsett.  Of course you start your more veteran QB and if he falters bring in Whitehurst.  Matt has looked more like Tim as of late and he seems to be very fragile, so the fewer drop backs the better.  Mike Williams has resurrected his career and he's the Seahawks #1 guy, but in this game I think you have to watch Obomanu.  The defense has given up over 368 total yards so they will definitely have to step it up if they are looking to play next weekend. 

The Saints come into this game looking for people off the streets that can run the ball.  They have lost both Ivory and Thomas for the year which leaves them with Reggie Bush and a host of other people.  Maybe Bush can do what he did last year in the playoffs and show up and play big for the Saints.  They'll probably need him to do something because you can't risk Brees dropping back and throwing 50 times in this game. The Saints defense is opportunistic and I think they'll be able to make either of the Seahawks QBs play badly.

In the end, this may be a closer game than some think and anything can happen in a one and done situation.  Winner - Saints.

New York Jets @ Indianapolis Colts - The Colts come into this game with a good feeling that they finally have their quarterback back.  Manning had hit a stretch of games where he was turning the ball over like he was flipping pancakes.  Now, he's gotten back into the swing of things and surprise surprise, the Colts have figured out how to R-U-N the ball.  Look for Addai to have another big game as the Colts will do their best to mix it up against the Jets.  Manning normally plays well against Rex Ryan led defenses, so I'll expect more of the same.  Reggie Wayne will have a tough time going against either corner, but he'll show up.

The Jets will have a healthy Mark Sanchez, which is something they haven't had for a few weeks.  Sanchez went through his own bad stretch of games where it looked like he had regressed a little.  The Jets have some pieces on offense, and I think we'll finally see a lot of LT (isn't this why they got him?) and Dustin Keller making some plays.  On the defensive side of the ball the Jets have been more talk than anything this year.  They have to step it up and play some defense which will mean getting hits on Manning and shutting down Wayne and or Tamme. 

Who wins this one?  Should be a good game and maybe the Jet's bravado actually shows in their play on Saturday.  Winner - Colts. 

Baltimore @ Kansas City - The Chiefs come into this game clicking.  Matt Cassel and Bowe have some chemistry going on and then you add to that the running of Charles and Jones and a sometimes stingy defense, and you have a pretty solid team.  The Chiefs even have a home game for the playoffs.  That may not be a good thing, because of the history of old Chiefs' teams that have played well and been at home for the playoffs have lost all of those games (I think 0-8). 

The Ravens come into this game still wondering why they are paying Anquan Boldin the money they are paying him and him not being able to put up any numbers this season.  I don't fault Boldin for some of this, but he's gotta show up in this Ravens offense for them to roll.  The Ravens have Flacco and Ray Rice, and they may have to run the ball a little more to keep that Ravens defense off the field.  I say that to say that the Ravens defense isn't as good as it was in the past, and they are propping people up to play corner (Dwayne Bowe should be licking his chops to go after this secondary), so they can't allow the Chiefs to have long drives for scores. 

In the end, I like the Chiefs in this game, but I can't pick against the Ravens.  I'm sorry.  Winner - Ravens. 

Green Bay @ Philadelphia - The Eagles took last week off while starting Kevin Kolb.  This will be the varsity game against the Packers.  The Eagles have to get it back together, specifically Vick because this is his contract game.   The better he does, the bigger his check is in the off season.  They haven't looked good on offense or defense as of late.  Vick is taking too many hits and to me the play calling has changed significantly over the past two weeks.  The Eagles have to get McCoy going and get Vick going at the same time.  Maybe the big downfield strike to Jackson within the first 10 plays needs to be taken out?  All in all I think the offense will be able to right it self, but the defense is the big question.  Is Samuel playing?  He's GOT to have a big game with Jennings (GB) running around out there catching passes from Rodgers.  

The Packers probably would have been hosting this game or maybe even have had this week off had it not been for an injury to Ryan Grant early in the season.  Rodgers has played very well all year long and even without a running game he's still performing (3922 yards passing this season).  The Packers defense has two good corners and they are fast enough to keep up or get to Vick at any moment.

This is going to be a great game.  Vick still has some magic left in him and the Packers have a pretty darn good QB themselves.  Why didn't the Packers get the Seahawks or someone?  Hard to pick because I want the Eagles to win, but I think that the Packers have a great chance to get the 'W'.  Winner - Eagles. 

Who you got?!?!

NFL 2010 Week 14 Picks

Quick week again.  Let's get to the picks.

Cleveland @ Buffalo - The Browns are just playing too well.  The Bills are looking to have the worst record to possibly get a QB next year, via the draft.  Delhomme will get another start, so hopefully the old QB can get one more win out of him.  Winner - Browns. 

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh - Tough division game.  The Bengals have been playing better the last two weeks, but the Steelers need to play well but minimize the hits to Big Ben.  I'll look for a lot of Mendenhall on the ground and then the Steelers defense to finish this one off.  Winner - Steelers. 

Green Bay @ Detroit - I like what the Lions have done in the past weeks, but they are going up against a team that has to win to try and keep pace with the Bears in the division.  It's indoor and the Packers HAVE to find a way to run the ball.  They are similar to the Colts, if they can get some semblance of a running game going, the Packers should have a cakewalk.  Winner - Packers. 

Tampa Bay @ Washington - This one is a tough one.  I will say that the Bucs are the better team but something about the Redskins sending Haynesworth home will galvanize this Redskins team.  I'm not even sure why that makes sense because he really hasn't played much the entire year.  I'm supposed to pick the Redskins, but I can't in good faith.  Winner - Bucs. 

Atlanta @ Carolina - Shouldn't be a contest.  The Panthers are that bad and the Falcons want this win to hopefully end up with the best record in the NFL.  Winner - Falcons. 

Oakland @ Jacksonville - This game is going to be close.  The Jaguars are showing everyone that they truly belong.  They have to win these games because the Colts looked energized and back on their good foot, with a mathematical chance to sneak up on the Jaguars and win the division.  Look for a lot of MJD and minimizing the mistakes on offense.  Winner - Jaguars.

Seattle @ San Francisco - Two very bad teams.  With news that the 49ers are going to start Alex Smith, they are making this pick easy for me.  What does Troy Smith have to do to start the remainder of the season?  Seattle in (hopefully) a blowout.  Winner - Seahawks. 

St. Louis @ New Orleans - This is a tough one.  The Rams have played well, but are they good enough to beat the Saints at home?  The Saints haven't blown anyone out in a while and this Rams team can run the ball well enough to keep them in the game.  Hmmmm,.......tough one,.....Winner - Saints. 

Miami @ New York Jets - What do you do after an a$$ whuppin?  Well, I guess we'll see when the Jets take the field on Sunday.  Miami needs help at the QB spot, because Henne probably isn't the answer.  Jason Taylor is looking to play more in this game since he'll be playing against his former team (Dolphins) and I expect him to wreak havoc.  Winner - Jets. 

Denver @ Arizona - Kyle Orton, it's time to get back on the horse.  Orton had a nice few games of throwing for over 300 yards a game and last week was pitiful.  Arizona is just that bad so I expect a big game from Lloyd and Orton.  Winner - Broncos. 

Kansas City @ San Diego - Hi Brodie Croyle, welcome to the pressure cooker.  The Chargers are looking to make their normal push into the playoffs with the loss last week being a slight blow, but beating the Chiefs would be a pretty big deal if they can pull it off.  Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, I hope that you've rested those legs.  Winner - Chiefs. 

New England @ Chicago - There's snow on the ground and more coming.  All in all I don't think that will be an issue for either team.  The question is how do you beat a Tampa 2 defense?  You dink and dunk the ball up and down the field.  Does that tell you who I'm picking?  Winner - Patriots. 

Philadelphia @ Dallas - The Cowboys are playing inspired ball and this will definitely be a test for their defense with the Eagles coming to town.  Remember that the Bears 'stopped' Vick and he still threw for 300 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, and ran for another TD.  The Eagles just need this game too bad to lose this one.  No Dez Bryant for the Cowboys and the Eagles get Samuel back.  Winner - Eagles. 

New York Giants @ Minnesota - If this game is played, yes I say that because more snow expected in the midwest and the dome can't be cleaned off with the high winds that are presently blowing through the Land of 10,000 lakes.  It will get played at some point, but I doubt Monday.  Anyway, this gives Favres shoulder a chance to heal (maybe God is a Favre fan) which may or may not be a good thing.  The Vikings need this win, but I think for some reason the Giants find a way to win this game.  Winner - Giants. 

Baltimore @ Houston - My main man Ray Lewis takes his Ravens team to Houston.  Houston is a dangerous team because of their balance on the ground and in the air.  I've been waiting for Flacco to have a breakout game, more importantly having that big game with Anquan Boldin.  Will this be the night?  Closer game than most think, but again, in Ray I trust.  Winner - Ravens.

Who you got?!?!

NFL 2010 Week 13 Wrap Up

Should be another good week, the Eagles started us off with a win, so let's see what else happened.

Philadelphia @ Houston - Wrap up here.  Inquisitive Mind 1 - 0 for the week. 

New Orleans @ Cincinnati - And for a second I thought that the Bengals were going to upset the Saints.  The Bengals used some timely running by Cedric Benson (19 carries for 49 yards, 2 TDs) to pull ahead of the Saints, but just like that Drew Brees (24 of 29 for 313 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) led his team down the field to a win in the last minute.  This has been a microcosm of the Bengals season, just good enough to not win.  At least they can say that most of the team showed up, but the dynamite is already set around the foundation of this team.  Only 4 more weeks till they detonate.  Impressive game by Chris Ivory (15 carries for 117 yards, 2 TDs) for the Saints who now look more dangerous than ever.  Inquisitive Mind 2 - 0 for the week. 

Chicago @ Detroit - Again?  The Lions got jobbed again by a questionable call.  I will say this again, the Bears are THE luckiest team in the league this year.  They put together a good enough game, excuse me, great game by Jay Cutler (21 of 26 for 234 yards, 1 TD, more importantly only 1 turnover) and the defense was able stop Drew Stanton (a 3rd string QB).  I am just not sold on the Bears, don't know what it is, but they keep winning.  Inquisitive Mind 3 - 0 for the week. 

San Francisco @ Green Bay - Aaron Rodgers (21 of 30 for 298 yards, 3 TDs) once again turned into Superman and put the Packers on his back.  James Starks was able to gain 73 yards on the ground to give the Packers a semblance of a running game.  No running game for the 49ers spelled doom and not only for the season but for Mike Singletary's job.  Inquisitive Mind 4 - 0 for the week. 

Jacksonville @ Tennessee - MJD (31 carries for 186 yards) had a monster game where he almost out gained the entire Titans offense (190 yards vs. 220 yards).  Nuff said.  The Jaguars are leading their division and looking good going down the stretch.  Inquisitive Mind 5 - 0 for the week. 

Denver @ Kansas City - Matt Cassel (17 of 31 for 196 yards, 1 TD) and Jamaal Charles (21 carries for 116 yards) led a balanced Chiefs attach while Kyle Orton (9 of 28 for 117 yards) reverted to some of his worst Bears games and the Chiefs escaped with this ugly win. The Chiefs can make this very interesting in the AFC if they win their division.  They have shown the ability to put points on the board or win knock'em out drag'em out games like this.  They have a good running game with Charles and Jones and a decent QB when Cassel shows up.  Inquisitive Mind 6 - 0 for the week. 

Cleveland @ Miami - Cleveland found a way to win when Peyton Hillis (18 carries for 57 yards) was stopped most of the game and Delhomme (24 of 34 217 yards, 1 TD) for  was their go to guy.  It really helped matters that Chade Henne threw 3 picks, but the Browns found a way to close out the Dolphins with a Phil Dawson field goal as time expired.  If this Browns team actually had a QB, they might be dangerous.  Still the city of Cleveland is 0-2 against Miami this fall.  Inquisitive Mind 7 - 0 for the week. 

Buffalo @ Minnesota - Favre got hurt and Tavaris Jackson finally got some meaningful reps in a game.  Jackson (15 of 22 for 187 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) had a decent game, but the Vikings depended on the running game behind Peterson (16 carries for 107 yards, 3 TDs) and Gerhart (12 carries for 54 yards) for the win against the Bills.  This is the way they should have been playing all year long, making the run a priority and then passing when they needed to.  Mathematically the Vikings aren't out of the playoffs, so there is some hope.  Inquisitive Mind 8 - 0 for the week. 

Washington @ New York Giants - The Giants scored so quickly and often I thought this was a misprint as the score came across the ticker.  The Giants got great games from Ahmad Bradshaw (25 carries for 97 yards, 2 TDs) and Brandon Jacobs (8 carries for 103 yards, 2 TDs) and I could have played QB for the Giants and we still would have won this game.  I will again say this, Eli Manning is an average QB, albeit one with a Superbowl ring, but average none the less.  Great Giants defense in this game too.  If they get on a roll, the NFC is going to be exciting in the playoffs.  Inquisitive Mind 9 - 0 for the week. 

Oakland @ San Diego - Jason Campbell (10 of 16 for 117 yards, 1 TD) didn't have a great game, but he did what he had to do to manage this Raiders team to a win.  Again, great ground game by Bush (23 carries for 95 yards, 1 TD) and McFadden (19 carries for 97 yards, 1 TD) to go along with a good Raiders defensive game.  The Chargers came into this game smelling themselves (they always start late and then start winning games in December to make the playoffs) but they didn't have that magic that they normally do.  This could be the end of the Norv Turner years in San Diego.  Ron Rivera, you may have just gotten your chance to be a head coach.  Inquisitive Mind 10 - 0 for the week. 

Carolina @ Seattle - Two bad teams.  One had to win, sorry Panthers.  John Fox you deserve better.  When you look at the stats, you really can't tell which team won.  Now that's bad football. Inquisitive Mind 11 - 0 for the week. 

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay - GREAT game.  The Bucs are hungry and they played tough but one bad throw by Freeman ended this game.  The Bucs gave the Falcons all they could handle, but in the end the resilient Falcons notched another 'W'.  Freeman (19 of 38 for 181 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and Ryan (18 of 36 for 205 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) and Blount (20 carries for 103 yards, 1 TD) and Turner (24 carries for 88 yards, 1 TD) had very similar games, so it really came down to field position and that late INT for Freeman.  I wouldn't want to play this Bucs team in the playoffs.  They have learned how to win in a short time and they have a pretty damn good young QB.  Inquisitive Mind 12 - 0 for the week. 

St. Louis @ Arizona - Well, the Cardinals used all 3 of their QBs and it still didn't matter.  The Rams were led by Steven Jackson (28 carries for 102 yards, 1 TD) and they are now 6-6 and they are leading their division.  That says a lot about that division, but the Rams are going to the playoffs.  Think about that for a few minutes.  Inquisitive Mind 13 - 0 for the week. 

Dallas @ Indianapolis - You've got to be kidding me.  The Cowboys won this game?  As I sat there and watched it I was amazed that Manning was not able to take advantage of that Cowboys secondary.  They were down to practice players (not really, but close) at one point.  You can tell that Manning is pressing and making bad decisions when you take a look at his 4 INT game.  He needs those receivers that he has to be healthy and right now, their health and the lack, well non existent running game is putting way to much pressure on 'The Machine'.  It's over for the Colts, no playoffs this year.  Inquisitive Mind 13 - 1 for the week. 


Pittsburgh @ Baltimore - This was more of a sloppy game than I thought it would be.  The Ravens offense had several opportunities but they just didn't look good last night.  For some reason when they are on offense I sit there and say, 'they aren't going to move the ball', just not inspired by their offense.  Even with the game on the line, they should have at least tied that game last night but Flacco wafted a pass that fell short to a wide open receiver.  The Ravens have got to be smarting from this game.  Inquisitive Mind 13 - 2 for the week. 


New York Jets @ New England - That was an old fashioned a$$ whuppin.  Tom Brady (21 of 29 for 326 yards, 4 TDs) looked like the NFL MVP in this game with his stellar performance and the Patriots put themselves at the top of the discussion about who will be representing the AFC in the Superbowl.  What happened to the brash New York Jets?  Inquisitive Mind 14 - 2 for the week. 


Great week on the picks with only the Ravens and Cowboys letting me down.  I'm 114 - 77 for the year and gaining some ground as the season pushes toward a close. 

NFL 2010 Week 12 Wrap Up

New England @ Detroit - Suh had his big game but the Lions weren't able to hold on for this win.  For a second there I was like, this might have been the upset special for Turkey Day, but in the end the old reliable Patriots won the game.  Finally Tom Brady put up a monster performance (21 of 27 for 341 yards, 4 TDs) and the Patriots defense finished this blowout.  The Lions played pretty well though, can't knock them for trying.  Inquisitive Mind 1 - 0 for the week. 


New Orleans @ Dallas - Arrrggghhhh.  The Cowboys had this game and lost it late.  I just knew that they were going to win.  The fact that they were thatclose and Dez Bryant didn't record a catch has to say something about this team.  Yes, the Saints played well and Brees was able to lead his team down for a late win.  For some reason the Cowboys still can't run the ball, why?  Inquisitive Mind 1 - 1 for the week. 


Cincinnati @ New York Jets - The Bengals should just call it quits because they suck.  From their head coach on down to the players, this team needs to be blown up.  Carson Palmer should just sit down so that his brother can play and find me some guys off the street that want to play wide receiver.  The Jets looked bad in this game and still won by 16.  I think that's the most telling stat.  I didn't even wait for TO's press conference, this was snooze city all the way.  Inquisitive Mind 2 - 1 for the week. 



Green Bay @ Atlanta - This was a close one.  The Falcons looked like they were going into another overtime game when Rodgers found Nelson for a 10 yard touchdown, but they found a way.  They drove down and Matt Bryant hit a 47 yard field goal to win this game.  Rodgers had another great game (26 of 35 for 344 yards, 1 TD) but it was the combo of Ryan (24 of 28 for 197 yards, 1 TD) and Turner (23 carries for 110 yards, 1 TD) that turned the tide for the Falcons.  The Falcons haven't lost a game at home and are 9-2.  Someone better recognize.  Inquisitive Mind 3 - 1 for the week. 


Pittsburgh @ Buffalo - You're kidding me right?  I just knew that someone had gotten hurt in this game since it took the Steelers well in to overtime to handle the Bills.  (GJ, I was right, Big Ben sprained his foot).  The Steelers defense has been abused as of late as the Bill did pretty much what they wanted to do in the 2nd half.  IF Steve Johnson makes that catch in the end zone (all by himself) this is a loss for the Steelers.  Thank God for small miracles.  Note to Steve Johnson, great for manning up and admitting fault on that drop, but don't take it too hard.  You've had a great season and we expect more from you in the future.  Inquisitive Mind 4 - 1 for the week. 


Carolina @ Cleveland - You're kidding me right?  The Panthers almost stole one here.  The Browns beat the Panthers with Peyton Hillis (26 carries for 131 yards, 3 TDs) and (gulp) former Panther Jake Delhomme (24 of 35 for 245 yards, 2 INTs).  Malik, I know you're somewhere today still crying in your beer from the hyperbole that is the Carolina Panthers.  Inquisitive Mind 5 - 1 for the week. 


Jacksonville @ New York Giants - This just came down to the league righting itself.  This was a game of two average teams playing each other and one of the average teams had to win.  It took a late TD pass from Manning (the not so good one) to Boss for the Giants to go ahead and then a fumble recovery to clinch.  My biggest question is why are the Giants average when they have LOTS of talent on both sides of the ball?  I just don't get it.  Inquisitive Mind 6 - 1 for the week. 


Minnesota @ Washington - No AP (injured in 2nd quarter), an old QB, a defense that isn't playing well, and somehow the Vikings met a team that is worse than they are.  Toby Gerhart played for the injured AP with a 22 carry (for 76 yards, 1 TD) performance that wasn't spectacular but it at least let the Vikings know they have a solid backup that can handle a pounding.  Favre gave (Leslie) Frazier the game ball, how nice.  Inquisitive Mind 7 - 1 for the week. 


Tennessee @ Houston - Chris Johnson, 7 carries for 5 yards.  That's all I have to understand.  Time to blow up the Titans too.  Sorry Fisher, but you'll find greener pastures real soon.  Waiting to see if Andre Johnson gets suspended (I doubt it) for his fight with Courtland Finnegan.  At most I expect his wallet to be about $100K lighter.  Inquisitive Mind 8 - 1 for the week. 


Kansas City @ Seattle - Cassel didn't have to throw for a lot of yards (233), but his 4 TDs led the way to a dismantling of the Seahawks.  Charles (22 carries, 173 yards, 1 TD) and Bowe (13 catches, 170 yards, 3 TDs) had banner days and this is what Scott Pioli was looking for out of this team.  Now if they could only do this against one of the better teams in the league. Inquisitive Mind 9 - 1 for the week. 


Miami @ Oakland - Chad Henne did his best Dan Marino impersonation (17 of 30 for 307 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and the Williams/Brown combo combined for 44 carries for 180 yards and 1 TD.  The Gradkowski led Raiders were again terrible and no running game to speak of (16 total rushing yards) means that the Raiders have got to pick a QB and stick with him.  I personally think Campbell is the better of the two, but it's not my pick.  Inquisitive Mind 9 - 2 for the week. 


St. Louis @ Denver - The Rams are for real.  They are on top of the NFC West at 5 and 6.  They are going to make the playoffs.  Write it down and take a picture of it.  Bradford threw for 308 yards and 3 TDs, on the road.  I am just amazed by this.  Yes, the NFC West is weak, but this team shouldn't be in the hunt and they are.  Inquisitive Mind 9 - 3 for the week. 


Philadelphia @ Chicago - I can honestly say this, the Bears won this game.  They played the BEST game of their season in slowing down Vick.  Their ends didn't get greedy and try to increase their sack totals, they stayed in their lanes and made it a rough night for Vick and company.  Jay Cutler looked about as good as I've EVER seen him.  His 14 of 21, 247 yard, 4 TD performance was almost as amazing as Vicks' play against the Redskins, more so because of who Cutler is.  I've always said that he has interceptions in him and since he didn't throw any in this game,...look out.  The Bears are 8-3 and in position to go back to the playoffs.  I'll lose a bet if they win 3 more games, but they could end up getting Lovie and extension or at least working during the final year of his contract.  Inquisitive Mind 9 - 4 for the week. 


Tampa Bay @ Baltimore - This game was a lost closer than I thought it'd be.  I thought the Ravens offense would top the 30 point plateau but 17 was enough.  The Ravens defense pretty much held suit as they stopped LeGarrette Blount and Josh Freeman.  I am a little concerned with the Ravens with the loss of Le'Ron McClain and the offense not using Boldin.  What's going on here?!?!?  Still a win for the Ravens, which pushes them to 8-3 and 5-0 at home this year.  The AFC is going to be tough this year.  Inquisitive Mind 10 - 4 for the week. 


San Diego @ Indianapolis - That old New Edition song rang in my ears last night 'Is this the End?' while I was watching Peyton Manning get hit.  He's just not the same QB when you're able to hit him and hit him hard like the Chargers did for the majority of the night.  Rivers didn't have a big stat game (185 yards passing) but he showed us how he can pick apart a defense.  The Chargers defense returned two picks (out of the 4 total) for TDs and Tolbert added an additional one.  Both teams are 6-5 now, but unless the Colts get some of their injured players back, I think the Colts are thisclose to being done for the season too.  Inquisitive Mind 11 - 4 for the week. 


San Francisco @ Arizona - Troy Smith had a good game and the 49ers improved to 3-1 with him at the helm which begs to question why he wasn't playing before now?  Yes he was sick and was out of commission for a while, but he is by far the best QB on the roster.  Now with Frank Gore done for the season, we'll see if this 49ers team has any heart and if Smith can lead them to some more wins.  They aren't mathematically out of the NFC West running. Inquisitive Mind 12 - 4 for the week. 


Another great week as we head toward the finish line.  I'm solidly at 100-75 for the year, but still behind the masses at ESPN.  Gotta try and catch them. 

NFL 2010 Week 12 Picks

Yes, we're running late this week, but all of that sleep from the turkey is the only reason.  Let's see what we have on tap for the rest of this week.

Green Bay @ Atlanta - A very interesting game.  One team that's all pass and defense, the Packers, against a well rounded team at home, the Falcons.  I keep saying that the Packers can't keep this up, but for some reason they continue to win.  Winner - Falcons.


Pittsburgh @ Buffalo - Unless the Steelers bus has an accident en route to the stadium, this one is easy.  Winner - Steelers.


Carolina @ Cleveland - Talk about another easy one.  The Browns should be able to run the score up on this bad Panthers team and it's in Cleveland,.......Winner - Browns. 


Jacksonville @ New York Giants - Ok, this is it.  The Jaguars can not win this game.  They have been playing some good football as of late and have gotten some pretty lucky bounces, but there's no way they go to the New Meadowlands and win this game.  Bradshaw lost his starting spot and this Giants team has to be steamed with the way they played last week.  Winner - Giants. 


Minnesota @ Washington - Is this the old QB Bowl?  McNabb isn't quite 40 yet, although his body might beg to differ, but this is a bad game and hopefully not too many people have to watch.  The Vikings have been my pick all year, but they have let me down at every turn.  Again, I don't know why I pick them, but maybe they answer the bell for Leslie better than they do Childress.  Winner - Vikings. 


Tennessee @ Houston - No VY, and we're getting a third stringer starting.  This is just the type of game that the Titans would man up and win.  The Texans need this win badly and I could imagine Jeff Fisher taking a head coaching position in Houston next year with all of the craziness that's going on in the Titans locker room.  Note to Vince Young, if you are man enough to cuss someone out, be man enough to apologize in the same manner, to his face.  Winner - Texans.


Kansas City @ Seattle - This is the statement game of the year for the Chiefs, are they for real?  I think so.  Seattle has played well about half the season and you never know which team will show up, but this Chiefs team has the playoffs in their grasp and this is one of those gotta win games.  Winner - Chiefs.


Miami @ Oakland - More Gradkowski for the Raiders and I think I'm going to try out for the Dolphins starting QB spot.  Miami has the long road trip this week and if they game plan like they did against the Bears (not one Wildcat formation) then this game is already over.  Going with the Silver and Black.  Winner - Raiders. 


St. Louis @ Denver - Cheaters never win!!!  Well sometimes they do (ask the Patriots) and sometimes the fruit from those teams fall very close to the tree (ask Denver).  The Rams are just too young and I imagine that the Mile High air is going to hurt the Rams especially this late in the season.  Winner - Broncos. 


Philadelphia @ Chicago - I can guarantee one thing, Cutler won't throw a pick to Asante Samuels because he'll be out of this game with a knee injury.  I imagine that Cutler will still try to find him on the sidelines though.  This is the game for the Bears to show whether they are real or if this is all a facade and smoke and mirrors.  They have the defensive front to keep Vick in check, but everyone if going to have to play well.  Briggs is the man that will shine if the Bears win.  Winner - Eagles. 


Tampa Bay @ Baltimore - This game screams defense but I'm not sure if the Bucs can hold up their end of the bargain.  It's late in the year and the Ravens don't usually play badly because this is moving time (moving up the ranks).  LeGarrette Blount, meet the Ravens defense, we'll have the Epsom salt ready for you after the game.  Winner - Ravens. 


San Diego @ Indianapolis - Can Rivers do it two weeks in a row?  He had a spectacular game last week, but this Colts team is hungry and both teams need a win to keep up with the Patriots.  Manning just isn't the same guy without his full complement of receivers, but he's still going to stick it to the Chargers defense.  The Colts defense can get to Rivers and Gates is out yet again.  Rivers' options appear to be similar to Manning.  Which QB is better?  Winner - Chargers. 


San Francisco @ Arizona - Is anyone going to be watching this game?  I mean most people in Arizona and California won't so I expect to have a Monday Night Football black out.  Of course it will be on, but I'm not tuning in to watch Derek Anderson and whomever the 49ers trot out there to play this game.  Hopefully Troy Smith has a great game on Monday Night so that Chucky and Jaws don't have to go on and on with filler for this game.  Winner - 49ers. 


Who you got?

NFL 2010 Week 9 Wrap Up

Whew!!!  Finally something good happens to my picks this week.  We were close to getting that perfect week, but as we all know, close only works for horse shoes and hand grenades.  Let’s see what happened. 

Tampa Bay @ Atlanta – The Falcons were able to pull this one out with a goal line defensive stand, stopping LeGarrette Blount to win this game.  Matt Ryan had a steady game (24 of 36 for 235 yards, 1 TD) eventhough he lost his #1 target in Roddy White.  The Falcons are on top of the NFC South and could be dangerous for just about any team out there.  They run the ball well with Michael Turner (24 carries, 107 yards, 2 TDs) and the defense has been able to make some stops when needed.  Great game for the Bucs too, they lost by about a yard.  Inquisitive Mind 1 – 0 for the week.

Chicago @ Buffalo – All this talk about going to the running game for the Bears and this is what you do?  Yes, the Bears ended up with 105 yards rushing as a team but some of that (39 yards) came from Cutler running for his life.  This Bears team is just bad.  Hopefully they will spend some money in the offseason on offensive linemen.  Any player they draft that doesn’t have the designation ‘OL’ should promptly be followed by season ticketholders turning in their tickets.  No one is going to want to watch this next year.  Did I mention that they won?  Just barely.  Inquisitive Mind 2 – 0 for the week. 

New England @ Cleveland – Here’s what I said on Friday – ‘The real question is which Browns team shows up.  Will it be the team that beat the Saints, or the team that shows up almost every other week?  I’m on record that the Patriots aren’t that good (their record says otherwise), but I don’t think this Browns team is quite ready yet.  Maybe this is one more step closer to the Mike Holmgren coaching era in Cleveland’.  Peyton Hillis (29 carries, 184 yards, 2 TDs) singlehandedly destroyed the Patriots, and he also made Colt McCoy look pretty good (14 of 19, 174 yards).  There may be life in Cleveland after LeBron because this Browns team looks to be on the come up.  Inquisitive Mind 2 – 1 for the week. 

New York Jets @ Detroit – This is the team you don’t want to play.  The Detroit Lions played well against the Jets and it took overtime for the Jets to pull this one off.  This was a good hard hitting game that even included (my vote for Defensive Rookie of the Year) Ndamukong Suh missing an extra point.  Santonio Holmes (5 catches, 114 yards) was the difference in the Jets passing game and Calvin Johnson (1 catch, 13 yards) got shut down by the Jets defense.   There had to be joy on that Jets plane home because they stole this one from the jaws of defeat.  Inquisitive Mind 3 – 1 for the week. 

New Orleans @ Carolina – Was this the Charlotte Mecklenburg football team or the Panthers?  This was a no contest from the beginning and that’s about all you can say.  I think John Fox sealed his job with this game and probably was glad that he made it home yesterday in one piece.  Inquisitive Mind 4 – 1 for the week. 

Miami @ Baltimore – The Ravens defense showed up and put this game away.  Joe Flacco (20 of 27, 266 yards, 2 TDs) was great and Ray Rice (22 carries, 83 yards) led the Ravens on the ground.  Inquisitive Mind 5 -1 for the week. 

San Diego @ Houston – Are you kidding me?  You let Philip Rivers just throw the ball all over the place?  The running game in San Diego is pathetic and you chose to let Rivers throw the ball?  Houston had me screaming yesterday because they gave this game away.  Literally they gave it away.  Not Antonio Gates, and you could barely name the other receivers on the Chargers team.  Arrrrgggghhh!!!  Inquisitive Mind 5 – 2 for the week. 

Arizona @ Minnesota – Again, how did the Cardinals lose this game?  You’re up 14 with 4 minutes left and you lose the game in overtime?  This was the game for Childress’ job and I wanted the Vikings to win, but the Vikings need to get rid of Childress.  If you just watched the post game press conference you would have thought that this was a loss for the Vikings.  Childress was melancholy as usual, even throwing in a jab at his quarterback (if you want to tell and joke and you don’t normally tell jokes and the joke is about a sore subject for you team, you probably don’t want to tell the joke).  The Vikings can turn this around if they all kiss and makeup, but that’s a big ‘IF’.  Inquisitive Mind 6 – 2 for the week. 

New York Giants @ Seattle – What I said on Friday – ‘We are now seeing the beginning of the Charlie Whitehurst regime in Seattle.  He’s never thrown a pass in an NFL game and he gets to face a well rested Giants front line.  There’s no way that this ends well for the Seahawks, right?’  Inquisitive Mind 7 – 2 for the week. 

Indianapolis @ Philadelphia – Whew!!!!  The Eagles held on to this game when I thought for sure that Peyton Manning and the NFL were going to make sure that the Colts won this game.  Here are my issues:  1) If you are going to suspend guys and fine them for hitting people in tight spaces, you need to fine and suspend the QBs that throw them the ball into the tight places.  I pray that Austin Collie is somewhere and he’s well this morning as you never want to see anyone get hurt.  But when you go down the seam with a LB in the chase position, and two safeties who are coming to knock you out, bad things are going to happen.  Collie got had time to brace himself and he drop his head and he was hit by 3 people in a matter of seconds.  This was a good football hit (not the outcome that you want) and it was a fumble.  2) If you don’t take the skirts off of these QBs, I’m not going to watch the NFL.  I’m sorry, I’d rather watch high school and college ball than watch Peyton Manning get 15 yard penalties because a defender was swiping for the ball and happen to hit him in the head with their hand.  You are taught from a young age to bother the QB if you can’t hit him, or hit whatever you can.  It’s just sad to see what this has come to.  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 2 for the week. 

Kansas City @ Oakland – The Raiders have won 3 in a row.  They haven’t done that in years and they are looking pretty good.  They came back against the Chiefs and were able to take this game into overtime.  The Chiefs had chances to come home with a win, but in a hard fought game like this, you can’t really fault either team (too much).  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 3 for the week. 

Dallas @ Green Bay – The crying will continue for the Cowboys.  Last night’s debacle should have sealed the fate of their head coach, the assistance head coach, the ball boy, and anyone else who is paid by the Cowboys.  Last night was a total a#& whoopin and pictures from the sideline suggests that grown men can cry.  The Packers defense got in the game and it was pretty much over when it started.  Jerry Jones is somewhere today and he is HOT!!!!  Wade Phillips, get on the bus.  Inquisitive Mind 9 – 3 for the week. 

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati – The Steelers did what I thought they would do, go into Cincinnati and beat up on the Bengals.  This Bengals team has way too much talent, but the key may be that they are limited at the QB position.  I’m not sure what’s going on but Carson Palmer looks to be toast.  He’s just not the same guy, pre-knee operation.  The sad part is that the Bengals have no other option to turn to because the backup is his little brother.  They are 2-6 and the season is pretty much over.  I have a feeling that Marvin Lewis is pretty much over too.  Inquisitive Mind 10 -3 for the week. 

I’m glad I was able to bounce back with a 10-3 week, because otherwise it was starting to get depressing.  That brings me to a 73-56 record for the year.  We’re going in the right direction.  Lookout week 10. 

NFL 2010 Week 8 Picks

Not a bad week last week, but let’s see if we can build on this.




Miami @ Cincinnati – Can we do it two weeks in a row? Well, can Palmer do it two weeks in a row? Miami is a tough team that consistently plays well, and that comes from good coaching (and some talent). The Bengals have got to run the ball which may be a chore against the Dolphins, but that helps Palmer be better. It’s a home game and you gotta think that the Bengals are going to get on track at some point in order to save their head coaches’ job. We’ll see. Winner – Bengals.



Jacksonville @ Dallas – The dust has settled and now the Cowboys have to play the hand they were dealt. Jon Kitna is the starter and it’s been almost 2 years since his last start. He was able to get Dez Bryant involved last week and I expect that he’ll continue that. Dallas has to figure out their running game, is it going to be Barber, Jones, or whomever? Get one and stick with him until he gets hurt. The season is pretty much over unless they get something miraculous going on in Dallas. This game should allow them to at least get a win and feel good about themselves. IF they lose to this Jaguars team, they shouldn’t even show up for the rest of the year. Winner – Cowboys.



Washington @ Detroit – Matthew Stafford will get the start for this game. This week they get another NFC East squad in the Redskins. Based on the performance last week by the Redskins against the Bears, Stafford may want to let Stanton take this start. I do expect that the Redskins defense will play pretty well in this game, but I expect the Redskins to have problems running the ball against the Lions front 4. I don’t expect that Stafford will be as good as he has looked in previous weeks, so I gotta go with the veteran. Winner – Redskins.



Buffalo @ Kansas City – On the surface, this would be an easy pick because the Chiefs are showing that they can put points on the board and they can play some defense. Then they get the Bills offense that put up a lot of points and gained a lot of yards against a normally stout Ravens defense. Ryan Fitzpatrick is looking like a better version of Matt Cassel when he was in New England, but of course Fitzpatrick went to Harvard. This could be a test for the Chiefs that they really have to pass since this is a team that they should beat. Are they up to the task? Winner – Chiefs.



Green Bay @ New York Jets – The Jets are coming off of their bye and things haven’t been as entertaining without them being in the news. A week away allows Revis to rest his hamstring, and probably was a good break for this team. I imagine that they will make quick work of the Packers since they don’t have a running game and I think the Jets will get to Rodgers enough to beat him up. The Bears should be happy this week because they are on a bye and they get to watch the Packers lose. Winner – Jets.



Denver @ San Francisco – I guess call me crazy too. I really think that the 49ers can win the NFC West, unless the Seahawks just turn it on. None of the teams in that division are blowing me away. Yes, the 49ers are having QB issues, but I think that it gets better with Troy Smith starting this week. Here’s to lightening in a bottle for Smith. The Broncos need to bounce back from last weeks’ thrashing at the hands of the Raiders (of all teams), so I expect this to be a close game. Winner – 49ers.



Tennessee @ San Diego – Will Vince go this week? Will the Chargers get out of the gate this week? I’m pretty much giving up on the Chargers. They are having problems with their depth at LB but they are going to let go Merriman, they are having problems with their WR but they don’t want to pay their best one in Jackson, and for some reason this pool of talent just can’t seem to get it going. Sounds like front office and coaching issues to me. The Titans have a great running game and some underappreciated receivers. They just continue to push forward and win games. I expect that they will continue that trend this week. Winner – Titans.



Tampa Bay @ Arizona – Somebody has to win this game, right? The Cardinals need a QB and the Bucs need a consistent RB. This will be indoors and maybe this Bucs defense gets a little faster? I really have no idea. I just feel sorry for Fitzgerald having to endure this down period for the Cardinals. Winner – Bucs.



Minnesota @ New England – So the big question is how is Brett’s ankle? We know he can still text, but can he play this week? Yes, the streak is on the line and I imagine that Childress will start Jackson. If that happens, look for the Vikings to be energized with T-Jack back there and I think they’ll be excited enough to get this win. The Patriots haven’t looked good (barring that one game against the Ravens) since they traded Randy Moss. Are they still an elite team without a big play receiver? The Vikings have to have this game, in the biggest way. Winner – Vikings.



Seattle @ Oakland – The Raiders come off their best game in what, 10 years? They play a Seahawks team that seems to find a way to win. Can Jason Campbell play well two games in a row? That may be the biggest question. For some reason I think that he has turned the corner. Hasselbeck may play well in this game also, but I think it’ll come down to the running game of each team, so DMC (McFadden) vs. Marshawn Lynch. Who you got? Winner – Raiders.



Pittsburgh @ New Orleans – The Saints NEED a win and they get to welcome the Steelers into the bayou. I would normally say that this would be an ambush, but I think this is the worst thing for the Saints. The Steelers have been playing decent/good ball when they decide to run, and the Saints have problems stopping the run. Brees won’t have a lot of time back in that pocket, so I gotta go with the better defense. Winner – Steelers.



Houston @ Indianapolis – Rematch!!! The Texans hit the Colts early and often in their last game. The Texans have had some rough patches as of late and the Colts aren’t really impressing me. The Colts have lost Collie and Clark and it seems as though everyone is beat up otherwise. This game is in Indy on Monday night and that’s when magic happens. Going against the grain here. Winner – Texans.



Who you got?!?!?

NFL 2010 Week 7 Wrap Up

Ok, it’s getting quite sickening for me.  It’s time for some coaches (maybe some GMs too) to get pick slips.  If you watched some of these games, you should be thinking the same thing.  Let’s see how e did and you gotta always hope for the best. 

Cincinnati @ Atlanta – Shootout!!  It didn’t start that way, but it really ended that way.  The Bengals spotted the Falcons 21 points by halftime, but whatever happened at half time, they might want to look into doing that at the beginning of each of their next games.  Two Carson Palmer TD passes, a Mike Nugent field goal, and a fumble return by Adam Jones (the Artist Formerly Known as Pacman) and the Bengals are up 25-24.   The good news, Carson Palmer looked like the Palmer of old.  He threw for 412 yards and 3 TDs, and he worked his arm out by having 50 attempts (36 completions).  The bad news, they lost the game.  The Falcons, got up early and went to sleep but were able to get back on the horse with a monster game from Michael Turner (121 yards and 2 TDs), Matty Ice (Ryan) with a 299 yard, 3 TDs, and 1 INT, and Roddy White did his best Jerry Rice impersonation with 11 catches for 201 yards and 2 TDs.  The Falcons are 5-2 and things are looking great in Hot-Lanta.  Inquisitive Mind 1 – 0 for the week.  

Washington @ Chicago – I am a sage or something.  ‘The Bears normally play McNabb tough, but I imagine that you’ll see a big game from Arakbo and Landry, and maybe, just maybe big Haynesworth shows up this weekend’.  Pretty much says it all.  The Bears suck.  I don’t know what else to say.  The game was pretty much completed in a few plays on Sunday.  Play 1 - Earl Bennett gets a big play downfield and is stopped at the one.  The Bears offense lines up to run their play, then a challenge flag from Lovie.  If you don’t have enough confidence in your team to get 1 yard, go home.  They challenge the play and lose the challenge.  Play 2 - They call a QB sneak and as Cutler reaches across the goal line (yes it was a TD, but so was Calvin Johnson’s TD in the first game of the season, karma is a #*$(%), the ball is knocked out of his hands and is a fumble recovered by the Redskins. Play 3 - The Redskins punt and the Bears drive all the way back inside the 20.  Cutler throws the ball off his back foot (he does this ALL THE TIME) and DeAngelo Hall intercepts the ball (one handed, find the video, it’s nasty) and takes it to the house for a TD.  All of this happens in a two minute span in the 3^rd quarter.  Lovie has to go.  He didn’t challenge the turnover/fumble by Cutler but he challenged the ball being down at the one.  The Bears were able to run the ball pretty well and then they let Cutler go pass crazy and he ends up with 4 INTs (not all his fault, but I digress).  Can the Bears just start over?  Inquisitive Mind 2 – 0 for the week. 

St. Louis @ Tampa Bay – The Rams were up 17-6 at halftime and they just lost this game.  I mean they literally stopped playing and lost this game.  They did everything that they hadn’t been doing weeks before to lose.  Sad, sad, sad.  Inquisitive Mind 2 – 1 for the week. 

San Francisco @ Carolina – Well I guess the situation at QB has been solved for the 49ers.  Alex Smith was knocked out of the game and Carr took over and it looked a little better than a train wreck for the 49ers.  They gave a Carolina team their first (and maybe only) win of the season.  Singletary, it’s been good while it lasted, but I expect that you’ll be on your way out too.  Let the Troy Smith era begin in San Fran.  Inquisitive Mind 2 – 2 for the week. 

Buffalo @ Baltimore – What in the world happened?  The Ravens thought that Ray Lewis’ pre-game dance was going to win the game for them, but someone forgot to tell the Bills.  Ryan Fitzpatrick looked great and if it weren’t for the play of  Joe ‘Cool’ Flacco, the Ravens would have taken a nice ‘L’ here.  Ed Reed got his INT in his first game back and Ray Lewis sealed the deal with a fumble recovery at the end of the game.  The Ravens and Pittsburgh will be the two teams to beat in the AFC, write it down.  Inquisitive Mind 3 – 2 for the week.

Philadelphia @ Tennessee – Kevin Kolb showed up.  This is the guy that I have been talking about.  Kolb goes out and pulls out a forgettable performance (26 of 48 for 231 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs), prompting the never flappable Andy Reid to declare Vick the starter after the bye week.  Kolb got outplayed by Kerry Collins.  Kerry Collins retired a year ago, but for some reason, he still plays for the Titans.  Inquisitive Mind 4 – 2 for the week. 

Jacksonville @ Kansas City – Dare I say two good games by Matt Cassel, in a row too.  The Chiefs just beat a bad team in the Jaguars.  Thomas Jones filled in the lead dog runner act and ended the game with 125 yards (on 20 carries) and a TD.  Cassel had a 13 of 18 for 193 yards and 2 TDs performance that says he might be worth a quarter of his contract.  At least I did get one part right on my prediction ‘This has blowout written all over it’.  Inquisitive Mind 5 – 2 for the week. 

Pittsburgh @ Miami – (Laughing).  You can conclusively tell who has the ball when you have several people in a pile?  Isn’t it the guy who comes out of the pile with the ball?  Big Ben looked like he was testifying about the girl in the bathroom again ‘I had the ball at the bottom of the pile’, right and the young lady in the bar wasn’t drunk in the bathroom, right?  (Maybe that’s a low blow).  Nevertheless, the Steelers won and against a tough Miami team.  Many were saying that the Steelers are depending on Big Ben’s arm more since his return, but he attempted 27 passes and they ran the ball 27 times yesterday.  That’s balance.  Inquisitive Mind 6 – 2 for the week.  

Cleveland @ New Orleans – ‘This game ought to be entertaining and may not be the blowout that some expect’.  I still can’t believe the final score on this one.  I guess Drew Brees had that Jay Cutler disease and he decided that the other color jersey was the one to throw to.  The Saints ought to pick up David Bowens and see if they can convert him to a TE because he can catch balls from Brees all day.  Take away the two INTs for TDs and the one Hillis run (great field position) and the Browns didn’t show up for this game but put together enough to get this win.  That’s all that really matters.  Inquisitive Mind 6 – 3 for the week.  

Arizona @ Seattle – This was an ugly game.  If you were looking for offense, you were better off watching ANYTHING else on TV.  Hasselbeck threw for 192 yards and a TD, while both of the Cardinals QBs threw for a combined 114 yards and an INT.  They should pay the fans that had to watch this game.  This had to be a form of torture.  Inquisitive Mind – 7 – 3 for the week. 

New England @ San Diego – Note to Norv Turner:  Just pack it up.  You and AJ Smith, just pack it up and head home.  Thanks for your time and effort.  Gates played and had a decent game, but I’m not sure what it is for this Chargers team.  They suck too.  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 3 for the week. 

Oakland @ Denver – Wow!!!!  This is the Raiders team that I thought would be showing up this year.  No, I didn’t imagine them putting up 59 points a game or anything, but a team that was dangerous on both sides of the ball.  Campbell (12 of 20, for 204 yards and 2 TDs), McFadden (16 carries, 165 yards, 3 TDs, plus 1 TD receiving), and this defense should be playing like this all the time.  What was in the pre-game meal?  Whatever it was, have it again.  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 4 for the week. 

Minnesota @ Green Bay – Brad Childress, pack up your tent and roll out.  Please!!!!!  Yes, Brett had a terrible game (two INTs for TDs) but at the end of the game they have a chance to win and you end up calling a Sprint Out for your 40 year old QB?  Are you serious?  Yes, you move the pocket and maybe that throws off the defense, but why not just protect him (you had for the majority of the night)?  Who is calling this stuff?  Then to make it all better, Childress dumps on Favre during the post-game press conference.  There you go Chilly, be a man, now.  The Vikings have sooooo much talent on both sides of the ball.  This will be a waste if they can’t make it to the Superbowl.  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 5 for the week. 

New York Giants @ Dallas – Well, the good news is that Cowboys Stadium is now closed for the season.  No more of the sickening amusement park ride that has been the Cowboys this year.  The Giants started off the game terribly with Eli Manning throwing two picks and the Cowboys able to take advantage of those turnovers.  Then it went horribly wrong for the Cowboys on a missed blitz pickup and Michael Boley hit Tony Romo and ended up breaking his clavicle.  By this point the Giants went on a roll after this and seemed to break the game wide open.  A few series with Jon Kitna at the helm and then the Cowboys caught fire again and made this game.  In the end, Dez Bryant had his coming out party (3 TDs, 54 yards receiving, 118 return yards), and Manning looked almost like his brother by tossing 4 TDs (but also 3 INTs).  I think part of Jerry Jones died last night when he saw Romo laying on the ground.  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 6 for the week. 

Well it was a fun week watching the games, but I’ve gotta get better than a little over .500.  I think this week will be the turning point for a lot of teams as they head towards the playoff chase.  So I’m sitting at 59-45 for the year and I’m not making up any ground on the leaders, but I still have some time.  Mortensen, I’m coming after you.    

NFL 2010 Week 7 Picks

Week 7 and we're looking good.  Lots of parity or at least a lot of teams playing badly right now.  The league has sent out videos to teach these guys how to hit and I'm not sure that it's something that many will take into practice.  These players have been taught how to play the game and punishing people is part of the game.  You never want to hurt someone, but you do want them thinking about you and not the play that they are about to make.  Anyways, back to the picks.  Here they are,...............

Cincinnati @ Atlanta – The Falcons are looking to bounce back from that debacle last week where they didn’t show up against the Eagles.  The Bengals are looking for ways to ignite their offense and all of the pressure seems to be squarely on Carson Palmer’s shoulders (and rightly so).  Palmer hasn’t played well this season and he has tons of weapons.  The Bengals don't have a backup for Palmer, except his little brother and we all know that inserting him in the game would be a huge mistake.  I guess the Bengals have to dance with the lady they brung.  Winner - Falcons.

Washington @ Chicago – After a humbling loss last week against the Seahawks, what Bears team will show up?  The Bears are going to have to bring it this weekend.  The Redskins are a solid team with a decent offense, but they are underrated on the defensive side of the ball.  The Bears normally play McNabb tough, but I imagine that you’ll see a big game from Arakbo and Landry, and maybe, just maybe big Haynesworth shows up this weekend.  Go with the team with the better offense.  Winner – Redskins.    

St. Louis @ Tampa Bay – Hmmmm,….this is a pretty even game.  The Rams can run the ball and they seem to be playing pretty well as of late.  They have you thinking that on any weekend they can beat pretty much anyone.  There’s nothing to do in Tampa (except strip clubs, but I wouldn’t know anything about those), so I imagine that the Rams come to town and play a solid game and escape with a win.  Winner – Rams. 

San Francisco @ Carolina – It worked last week, so let’s try it again.  The 49ers get their 2^nd win of the season.  They have got to solve the issue that is their QB situation, but they are limited by having only Alex Smith and David Carr, but they do have former Ravens QB Troy Smith as their 3^rd QB.  Come one Singletary, Troy can’t be that bad.  Winner – 49ers. 

Buffalo @ Baltimore – The Ravens get Ed Reed back to help that defense get better and hopefully they can find TJ Houshmandzadeh and get him off the milk carton he’s been on all year.  This will be a long trip home for the Bills after this but whuppin.  Winner – Ravens.

Philadelphia @ Tennessee – Kevin Kolb gets the start.  (Think before you type the next sentence IM).  Last week I let my feelings be known about Kevin Kolb and he went out and destroyed the Atlanta team (my fantasy team defense), so with that said what do I say this weekend about him?  I don’t think that he can do it two weeks in a row.  The Titans will maybe have VY on a gimpy knee, but if they have Kerry Collins, this turns into an even contest.  The Titans defense is pretty stingy and they are a feisty group and the Eagles will be without DeSean Jackson.  I expect a lot of 8 in the box to stop the Eagles running game.  Because ‘in Kolb, I don’t trust’, I have to go with the Titans.  Winner – Titans. 

Jacksonville @ Kansas City – The Chiefs lost a close one last week, that they should have won.  Jacksonville is starting, who?  In Kansas City?  This has blowout written all over it.  Winner – Chiefs.

Pittsburgh @ Miami – Big Ben in game 2 of his season.  He looked a little rusty last week, but I still will look for the Dolphins to make him make a mistake in the passing game while trying to load the box and stop Mendenhall.  Miami, can run the ball, but this is the Steelers defense and I don’t care what these guys were told about playing, they are going to hit people in the mouth and take names.  Look for a lot of penalties in this game.  Winner – Steelers. 

Cleveland @ New Orleans – This game ought to be entertaining and may not be the blowout that some expect.  McCoy played decently against the Steelers last week and he actually may have Cribbs and Massaquoi back from concussions.  This will be a very interesting test for the Browns this weekend.  The Saints are looking to keep throwing the ball downfield and seem to be on the uptick as of late with their play.  Winner – Saints. 

Arizona @ Seattle – After a surprising win against the Bears last week the Seahawks return home and get the Cardinals.  They can’t lose this game, right?  They seem to be turning the corner, right?  Okung played well against Peppers last week, so he should be ready for an active Cardinals defense, right?  Winner – Seahawks. 

New England @ San Diego – No Gates, No Merriman, No Jackson.  San Deigo can’t seem to get to the games on time because they seem to wait and start playing in the second half.  The Chargers will have to run the ball a little more, but I just don’t see them playing well enough to win against a suddenly hot Patriots team.  How many points will both teams score?  Let me know your over/under.  Winner – Patriots. 

Oakland @ Denver – Starting at QB for the Raiders, Kyle Boller.  (Crickets chirping).  Jason Campbell bombed, Bruce Gradkowski is hurt and he bombed, so why not go with QB #3?  (This week must be an ode to former Ravens QBs).  The Raiders should get back McFadden from a hamstring injury and they should actually go into this game with no stress on them since I don’t think that anyone outside of their locker room thinks they will win.  They are playing in Denver and I expect that it’ll be close, but the Broncos should eek this one out.  Winner – Broncos. 

Minnesota @ Green Bay – Brett Favre returns to Green Bay in purple.  Yeah!!!!  This would be a bigger deal if the Vikings had a better record.  The Packers are beat up all over the place.  Marshawn Lynch would have looked great in the Green and Gold.  This should be a shootout if the Packers can protect Rodgers, otherwise, the Packers 2^nd stringer should prepare to play this weekend.  Winner – Vikings.

New York Giants @ Dallas – The Cowboys need a win badly.  They are playing in their billion dollar stadium on Monday night in front of the world.  I think that everyone’s job is on the line despite Jerry Jones’ statements to the contrary.  The Giants are starting to roll and play a lot better and this will be a rough game for the Cowboys to have to win.  The Cowboys need to go a lot of 3 receiver sets and find Dez Bryant for his coming out party.  We’ll see what happens.  Winner – Cowboys.  

Who you got?!?!?!?  

NFL 2010 Week 2 Wrap Up

This was a good week!!!  The word of the week is turnovers, underlying the fact that unless you’re Baltimore and you have a lot of them, you should lose. 

Pittsburgh @ Tennessee – The Steelers find ways to win.  That defense is playing extremely well even though we don’t know who will start for the Steelers at QB next week, I still think they are ok.  Dennis Dixon hurt his knee which brought in Charlie Batch and the offense couldn’t get going.  After a great Week 1 performance, Vince Young looked terrible (I think the Steelers D had something to do with that) and even he was benched for Kerry Collins.  Sloppy game with lots of turnovers, but the Steelers lasted through it all.  Good hard fought win.  Inquisitive Mind 1 – 0 for the week.  

Miami @ Minnesota – I’ve said that Miami is a team that may not beat you but they won’t beat themselves either.  They are always fundamentally sound and it showed against a listless Vikings team.  AP got his 28 carries (maybe someone in Minny was reading this?), but Favre looked terrible.  He kind of has that snowball effect thing down pat.  Once it went bad, it kept getting worse.  He needs receivers and barring a miraculous healing effort by God, Sidney Rice will be too late.  Vincent Jackson is free and he’s available.  Inquisitive Mind 1 – 1 for the week.  

Arizona @ Atlanta – This is the Falcons team that I was looking for in Week 1.  The Falcons struck early and often and ran up the score on the Cardinals.  Ryan had a low total of passing yards, 225, but had 3 TDs.  Plus when you rush for more than 200 yards as a team, you don’t have to throw far.  Hopefully Michael Turner’s groin injury is as minor as they say.  This team has a chance to do somethings in the NFC this year. Inquisitive Mind 2 – 1 for the week.  

Baltimore @ Cincinnati – For those that follow, I trust in Ray and it hurt me to have to pick against him and the Ravens, but after seeing what I saw yesterday,……you gotta feel that somewhere, the nonsense has to stop.  I tripping penalty on a LB that gets blocked into a QB, a roughing the passer call on a LB when he is tackling a QB before the QB is in his throwing motion?  6 points.  The Ravens shut down the Bengals the entire game.  Flacco had an equally bad game with 4 INTs, and his team still should have won.  Ray will get a fine, but as he said, sometimes you just gotta be honest about things.  Inquisitive Mind 3 – 1 for the week.   
Kansas City @ Cleveland – Another good showing by the defense for the Chiefs and if not for them, this would have been an ‘L’.  Cassel looked terrible as this looked like a game between two bad teams.  Seneca Wallace showed that he’s better than Delhomee as he moved the Browns up and down the field pretty well.  I guess we’ll see him starting next week too.  All you can say is that the Chiefs are 2-0 (E. Wise, I know you’re somewhere smiling today).  Wow!!!  Inquisitive Mind 4 – 1 for the week.  

Chicago @ Dallas – Wow!!  Did these teams switch jerseys before the game?  The Cowboys looked terrible, at home.  I think we can go ahead and quash any of that playing the Superbowl as the home team talk.  Both teams stopped the others ground game which would normally give the edge to the Cowboys, but Jay Cutler played pretty well with a 21 for 29 for 277 yards and 3 TDs.  Jason Witten was knocked out of the game, but looked poised for a return, but it’s probably good the Cowboys erred on the side of caution.  Can the Cowboys cut Roy Williams now?  At least I was right about Dez Bryant showing up.  Inquisitive Mind 4 – 2 for the week.  

Philadelphia @ Detroit – Mike Vick looked good in (21 of 34 for 284 and 2 TDs) and out (7 carries for 37 yards) of the pocket.  I think this one came down to LeSean McMcoy having an equally good game.  McCoy ended the game with 120 yards and 3 TDs on 16 carries.  A Shaun Hill led Lions team didn’t go quietly in the night.  Jahvid Best (17 carries for 78 yards, 2 TDs) and Shaun Hill put up nice numbers and given a stop or two by the defense may have had a chance to win this game.  A lot closer than many thought.  Detroit might be on the way back to being good.  Inquisitive Mind 5 – 2 for the week.  

Buffalo @ Green Bay – No contest, period.  The Packers weren’t able to run the ball as much as I thought, but it really didn’t matter.  Inquisitive Mind 6 – 2 for the week.  

Tampa Bay @ Carolina – The Bucs came out and did work against the Panthers.  They controlled the game and Josh Freeman had a good outing (12 of 24 for 178 yards and 2 TDs).  The Panthers looked terrible and we saw both QBs (Moore and Clausen) look equally bad with the telling sign being John Fox saying that ‘it’s too early to tell who the starter for week 3 will be’.  I know already.  Inquisitive Mind 7 – 2 for the week.  

Seattle @ Denver – I knew I shouldn’t have gone with Pete Carroll on this one.  The Seahawks looked as bad as they looked good in Week 1.  If you didn’t see this game and you wonder how the Broncos won, you just have to look at one person’s stat line, Kyle Orton:  25 of 35 for 307 and 2 TDs.  Inquisitive Mind 7 – 3 for the week.  

St. Louis @ Oakland – Talk about an ugly game.  Bruce Gradkowski replaced Jason Campbell after halftime and the Raiders held on to a win.  Darren McFadden may have finally proven that he can carry the load with an awesome game (30 carries for 145 yards).  Somebody had to win, right?  Inquisitive Mind 8 – 3 for the week. 

Houston @ Washington – This was an amazing win for the Texans.  They were down 17 to the Redskins at home in the 3^rd quarter and many thought this was going to be a Redskins 2-0 start.  Then, boom, boom, boom and the Texans tie the game on a beautiful catch by Andre Johnson.  Matt Schaub ended up throwing for 497 yards (38 of 52) while McNabb threw for 426 yards (28 of 38).  This was gut wrenching for the Redskins, but I might have to say that the Texans are for real this year.  Inquisitive Mind 9 – 3 for the week.  

New England @ New York Jets – This game didn’t necessarily live up to the hype, but the Jets found a way to throw the ball downfield and I think, actually surprised the Pats.  Mark Sanchez looked like the better QB and there was a LT sighting (11 carries for 76 yards) for the Jets.  Moss got a touchdown reception, but other than that he had 2 catches for 38 yards.  Revis did end up leaving the game in the 2^nd quarter as his hammy tightened up on him.  This was a completely different Jets team from Week 1.  Good win, or it could have been trouble for the Jets.  Inquisitive Mind 9 – 4 for the week.  

Jacksonville @ San Diego – We had a Luke McCown sighting.  If you’re a Jaguars fan, that’s terrible news.  Phillip Rivers was efficient as ever with his 22 for 29 for 334 yards, 3 TDs, and 2 INTs (so he was really 24 of 29).  McCown replaced Garrard in the 4^th but got shaken up himself.  Garrad ended the game 15 of 23 for 173 yards, 1 TD, and 4 INTs.  Looks like the same ole Jaguars team that stunk last year.  Inquisitive Mind 10 – 4 for the week.  

New York Giants @ Indianapolis – This turned out to be a laugher.  I still have no idea why people continue to put Eli Manning in the discussion as a good QB?  The only thing that he and Peyton share is blood.  Peyton proved, yet again, that he is the best Manning around with a 20 of 26 for 255 yards and 3 TDs performance.  He controlled the game and the Colts defense continued to acquaint themselves with Eli.  The funniest part of this game was Brandon Jacobs throwing his helmet into the stands and pleading that ensued to get the helmet back.  How do you throw your helmet into the stands?  Inquisitive Mind 11 – 4 for the week.  


New Orleans @ San Francisco – This was a great game.  The 49ers had the game plan and pretty much executed that game plan, minus the 4 turnovers, and they almost pulled it off.  They were 3 inches from a win and that has to hurt.  So now we know how to beat the Saints:  1) Wind 2) Great mix of run and pass to keep Brees on the sideline 3) Some luck.  How many people will talk about the Heisman curse with Reggie Bush breaking his leg?  Inquisitive Mind 12 – 4 for the week. 

After that terrible last week, a 12-4 record really helps you bounce back.  So for the year we are at 19-13 and not in bad shape with the professionals.  WHO DAT?!?!?!?