I’m not going to preface this with anything other than oops.  Last week was just atrocious and hopefully no one that reads this bet using my picks after going 5-9.  If you did, and if I wasn’t a poor college student, I would pay you your losses, but alas I can’t. Last week dropped the overall record to 47-41 (.534) for the season. This is a big week for yours truly, so let’s take a look at the Week 7 picks.

 

49ers at Texans (-3): San Fran gets Frank Gore back, which is definitely good news for a team that was crippled offensively without him.  However, we shouldn’t forget what the Falcons passing offense did to these guys two weeks ago and the Texans are even better at throwing the ball around.  Houston seems like they’re on the verge of turning the corner after their typical slow start, and grabbing their first home win of the year this week would go a long way in helping them get into a muddled playoff picture.

Packers (-7) at Browns: One of the easiest picks of the week, considering the state of about half of the Cleveland players, who will be unavailable with the flu. That, and Cleveland stunk with all of their regular players as it was.  The Pack in a yawner.

Chargers (-6) at Chiefs: After the loss to Denver at home on Monday Night, San Diego is at a crossroads in its season.  A loss to Kansas City might be a deadly blow to a team that has underachieved so far this year, especially defensively where Shawne Merriman has only 13 tackles in five games.  A win gets them back to 3-3 and keeps them in the playoff conversation in a congested AFC.

Colts (-14) at Rams: Unless Peyton Manning suffers a catastrophic injury during the course of this game, there is absolutely no way that the Colts are not going to blow the Rams away. The Colts have beaten several good teams by convincing margins.  I wonder if Peyton will try and outscore Tom Brady and the Patriots from last week?

Vikings (+5) at Steelers: I think that everyone is kind of overstating how the Vikings’ D looked at the end of their game last week.  It was a complete blowout, and the D just packed it in early, nothing else. Also, Pittsburgh almost never covers the spread and likes playing in ugly, close games. This game will come down to a late field goal, and that will be the final margin.

Patriots (-16) vs. Buccaneers (in London, England): I don’t see how a game this lopsided is going to make the Brits like our version of football.  They send teams like Manchester United and Chelsea to the U.S. every summer.  We’re sending them the Tampa Bay Bucs.  The only thing that will even be entertaining about this game is to see how much New England can win by this week.

Jets at Raiders (+7): The Jets are beginning to play like the Jets again, which means that they’re due to throw up another stinker this week in Oakland.  Not to mention, the Jets’ run defense just took a big hit with the loss of Kris Jenkins, and Mark Sanchez will have to beat a tough Raiders secondary, which might be the only part of Oakland’s team that’s competent this year. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Oakland pull the upset.

Bills at Panthers (-7): This game is definitely more of a pillow fight than a football game, but I think the Panthers are going to come out with a fire under their feet and play a very good game to get back to .500 for the year, if only by the grace of God, himself.  I expect to see two very good things from the Carolina offense. First, they’re starting to run the ball again, which is absolutely necessary for them to do considering the quarterback play of Jake Delhomme.  Second, the disgruntled Steve Smith will be a factor as a result of the success on the ground.  That’s bad news for the Bills.

Bears (+1) at Bengals:  The Bears are far more battle-tested than Cincy is and Jay Cutler is playing pretty well right now.  The Bengals defense is a complete mess with injuries and they looked very vulnerable last week at home against Houston. In a game that’s basically a pick ‘em, I think the Bears will take it 27-24.

Falcons (+4) at Cowboys: I don’t know if anyone’s been paying attention to this team, but Atlanta is pretty good this year.  Matt Ryan is showing that last year wasn’t a fluke and the Falcons could, very quietly, join the conversation for NFC’s best team if they go into Dallas and knock off the Cowboys, who it’s impossible to tell what you’ll get from them.

Saints (-7) at Dolphins: Until a team actually gives me a reason to not have 100 percent confidence in taking the Saints, I am picking them for the rest of the season.  The Dolphins and the wildcat can’t keep up with Drew Brees & Co. on offense.

Cardinals at Giants (-7): The G-Men are coming into this one after being humbled a week ago in New Orleans, and they are not happy about that loss.  The Cardinals have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL so far this year, and after a couple of good games in a row, head into New York, where they were beaten 56-35 by the Jets last year in a sequence of three blowout losses in the Northeast.  I struggle to see ‘Zona play well in New York this time around, either.

Eagles (-7) at Redskins: Washington is a complete mess right now and couldn’t score on bad defenses before the most recent events surrounding Jim Zorn. The Eagles are embarrassed after losing in Oakland and I fully expect them to show up in a big way for this one.  Philly should (note: SHOULD) win by a solid margin.

The last couple of weeks have been somewhat unpredictable in the NFL and has left me with some spectacularly mediocre numbers.  An 8-6 record in Week Five pushes the season record to 44-32 (.579).  Let’s take a look at the Week Six matchups (Picks in Bold, Home Team listed second):

Texans at Bengals (-5): This is a game between two teams that have gotten off to very different campaigns in 2009.  The Bengals might be one of the biggest surprises in the AFC this year, leading the North Division with a 4-1, which really should be a 5-0, overall record.  The Texans continue to be a first half disappointment, coming off of last week’s loss in Arizona, where they failed to punch it in from a yard out late in the fourth quarter.

Lions (+14) at Packers: Since when are the Packers one of the better teams in the league this year? The Steelers couldn’t cover an 11-point spread last week against Detroit and I think that Pittsburgh is better than Green Bay.  I also don’t think the Lions are THAT bad anymore.  This is a divisional game. Much like against the Vikings, the Lions will compete.  Alas, they will probably lose.

Ravens at Vikings (-3): I think it’s time we all realized that Baltimore’s defense is not the class of the NFL anymore.  This, combined with the struggles of the Ravens’ offense and the way the Vikes have played in their first five games, means this one might not be as close as some people think.

Giants (+3) at Saints: The Saints’ offense was somewhat exposed by the Jets’ defense two weeks ago.  I think the G-Men will have similar success containing New Orleans and that Eli Manning won’t make the same mistakes as Mark Sanchez, allowing New York to win this battle of the unbeatens by a touchdown margin. I think it’ll be 24-17 Giants.

Browns at Steelers (-15): I’m starting to buy back into Pittsburgh after they looked shaky when Troy Polamalu went down with his injury.  The offense seems to finally be clicking and they have a great young RB in Rashard Mendenhall, who holds onto the ball much better than Willie Parker, making it far less likely that the Browns’ very pedestrian offense will get the ball in scoring position more than a couple of times.

Panthers (-3) at Buccaneers: Carolina shouldn’t have much trouble with Tampa Bay, if only because no one else has really had an issue playing against Tampa Bay.  Neither of these teams are good at all, and it might come down to which starting QB, either Jake Delhomme or Josh Johnson, makes less mistakes to determine the winner.  There might also be more defensive TDs than offensive in this game.

Chiefs (+7) at Redskins:  Giving the Washington Redskins 7 points is an absolute crime considering they just lost to Carolina and Detroit earlier this year and look like they can’t put 7 points on the board most of the time.  I actually don’t think it’s unrealistic to say Kansas City will pick up their first win this season over the ‘Skins, plummeting Daniel Snyder’s group of over-payed and under-talented football players into further disarray.

Rams at Jaguars (-10): Jacksonville seems to be like two teams in one.  Either they will play you very tough and look very competitive, or they will throw up a complete goose egg like they did last week against the Seahawks.  The Jags will come out looking to put that game behind them, and shouldn’t have much trouble doing that against the lowly Rams, who might be the worst of the winless teams in the league.

Cardinals at Seahawks (-3): It’s amazing how much different Seattle looks when Matt Hasselbeck is under center.  Their performance against the Jaguars last week was nothing short of dominant, and they now look to make another big statement by beating one of the favorites in the NFC West in ‘Zona.  The Cards survived at home against Houston last week, but still look like they might be experiencing some of that Superbowl hangover from last year.  This might be a rude awakening for Kurt Warner and Co.

Eagles (-15) at Raiders: After last week’s 44-7 loss to the Giants, New York LB Antonio Pierce noted that playing the Raiders felt like “a scrimmage.”  The Eagles should win this game by at least three-four TDs if the Raiders are as bad as Mr. Pierce is suggesting.  Plus, Philly needs to keep winning as long as the G-Men are unbeaten.

Titans at Patriots (-10): Have you seen the Tennessee Titans lately? They are a complete and utter disaster.  Going up against a New England team that doesn’t lose back-to-back games ever, I highly doubt that Tennessee will prove to be much of a road block.  Expect to see Vince Young make an early appearance in this game. Should be a blowout.

Bills at Jets (-10): The Jets have gone from 3-0 and Superbowl contenders to 3-2 and really needing to win this one at home against a Bills team that just cannot do anything offensively, being held to just three points by the Cleveland Browns last week.  I expect the Jets to get back on track this week by taking care of business before heading out to play Oakland.  As for Buffalo, maybe they’ll actually get Terrell Owens involved in the offense, but he’ll be up against Darrelle Revis, so it won’t be easy.

Bears at Falcons (-3): I really have no idea who to pick in this game. Two pretty good teams in a game that they could both use to keep up with the undefeated team that are ahead of them in their respective divisions, and both coming off of solid victories.  When all else fails, take the home team and hope for the best, plus Matt Ryan is my fantasy QB so I would like it if the Falcons won a high-scoring game.

Broncos (+3) at Chargers: After five weeks of mocking them, I can deny it no more. The Broncos have a good football team, as unjust as it may be, they are good, and probably the best team in the AFC West, especially with the Chargers struggling so far this season.  Here’s the chance for the Broncos to separate themselves from the rest of the division.  Now that I’ve stopped saying they aren’t that good, they’ll probably get killed, but that’s football, right?

The big one is the game on Monday Night, with Brett Favre going up against his old mates from Green Bay.

Week Four of the NFL Season is just about 36 hours away now and I almost forgot to make my pick for this week…oops.  Last week was another solid one, going 10-6 to push the overall record for the year to 29-19 through the first three weeks.  Let’s see if I can give all of those 10 games over .500 back in one week.

(Picks in Bold, Home Team listed second):

 

Ravens (+2) at Patriots: It’s not very often I pick against the Pats at home, but I really think that this Ravens team is the best in the AFC right now.  Their offense is drastically improved from a year ago, Joe Flacco is a star in the making, and their defense is still formidable enough to allow the Ravens to win close games.  Baltimore wins it, 31-28.

Bucs at Redskins (+8): Two of the worst teams in the league are battling at FedEx Field, with most ‘Skins fans preferring to see an encore presentation of U2 instead.  The ‘Skins offense should be able to take advantage of a non-existent Tampa secondary and shouldn’t give up more than 10 points against Josh Johnson and the worst offense in the NFL.  Expect Santana Moss to have a big day in this one.

Titans (-3) at Jaguars: Tennessee can’t possibly start the year 0-4, can they? This is a competitive football team that’s run into some tough opponents to start the year, and Jacksonville might just be the break they need.  If Chris Johnson can get going and the Titans neutralize Maurice Jones-Drew, then Tennessee should pick up their first win in ’09.

Raiders at Texans (-9): In a game that both teams need to win to prove something to their fans, Houston will finally find a way to win at home, mainly because of the erratic play of Oakland QB JaMarcus Russell, who is looking more and more like a big, 275-pound bust.  The Texans should have very little trouble moving the ball against Oakland’s front seven, too, which could make this one more lopsided than Oakland’s 23-3 loss last week to Denver.

Lions (+10) at Bears: After Detroit’s hex-breaking victory last week (that I said would happen, by the way) over Washington, I expect the Lions to play a bit above their expectations for a little while.  Although I am confident the Bears will win this game, Chicago’s offense haven’t done much to make me believe that they could win by more than a touchdown.

Bengals (-6) at Browns:  It’s not easy to pick a team that hasn’t scored a touchdown in the last two games, so I didn’t.  The Browns might be the worst team in the NFL this year and part of the problem is that the offense can determine who its leader is, because of Eric Mangini’s nonsensical act of keeping the starting QB decision under wraps until the last minute.  Either way, neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Anderson have played well this year.  Going up against a surprisingly good Cincy squad doesn’t bode well for them.

Seahawks at Colts (-11): After seeing what the Colts did to the Cardinals in Arizona last Sunday night, I’d be a fool to pick them to go down against the Seneca Wallace-led Seattle Seahawks.  If the Colts play the way they should, then this one should be in the bag by halftime.

Giants (-9) at Chiefs: After seeing Kevin Kolb light up the Chiefs last weekend, it’s hard to imagine Eli Manning doing anything less than that.  Even worse for the Chiefs, the Giants have a more proficient power running game and might have a slightly better defense than the Eagles, too.  I expect another blowout in this one for the G-Men.

Jets at Saints (-7): At the beginning of this week when I saw this one, I was inclined to pick the Jets to, at the very least, cover.  However, with the injuries to both Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland, it’s hard to imagine the Jets’ secondary holding Drew Brees in check for the whole game.  I also think we’ll see Mark Sanchez, under the pressure to come up big yet again, finally struggle a bit in the Superdome.  I think it’ll be something like 27-13 in favor of the ‘Aints.

Bills at Dolphins (+1): I really don’t know what to make of either of these teams right now.  The Bills lost about half to their defense, with injuries to Donte Whitner, Leodis McKelvin, and Paul Posluszny while the ‘Phins lost Chad Pennington for the year with yet another injury to his throwing shoulder (which I said might happen in my season preview.)  However, I think the Wildcat will prevail in this battle of struggling teams.  Miami in a low-scoring and ugly one, 17-13.

Cowboys (-3) at Broncos: It’s about time that the Denver Broncos had to play some decent teams, after winning over Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Oakland.  Dallas comes into this one coming off a tough win at home over the Panthers and desperately needs a statement win to show that they are going to compete in the NFC East this year.  For Denver, this is the start of a rough three game stretch.  After Dallas, it’s home to the Patriots and then to San Diego.

Rams at 49ers (-10): The Niners are without Frank Gore, which is very bad news for my fantasy team.  The Rams are without Marc Bulger, which is very bad for their real team.  St. Louis’ offense was awful with Bulger at the helm, so God only knows how much worse they could get with Ravens reject Kyle Boller.  The SF defense is going to be fired up, as well, after last week’s crushing last-second loss in Minnesota.

Chargers (+7) at Steelers:  Neither of these two teams has looked overly impressive in their first three games.  The difference is that San Diego are healthy and have a much more effective offense than the Steelers.  I don’t know how the Chargers are being given seven in this game, but I’ll gladly take it to the bank.

Packers at Vikings (-4): Brett Favre says it’s not about revenge, but at least part of it might be.  He has the best weapon of vengeance that any NFL QB could possibly want too, with Adrian Peterson carrying the football behind him.  Aaron Rodgers hasn’t really been tested too much, yet, and he didn’t look great in the loss to the Bengals in Week Two, either.  I expect the Vikes to win by a touchdown, 28-21.

Disappointment. A feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized. The Washington Redskins are definitely disappointed with the way they have played in the first three games this season including losing to the Detroit Lions, a team that had not won since December 23 of 2007.

I’ll get to the Detroit loss in a second, but can we talk about how the Redskins only managed to put up nine points in Week Two against the St. Louis Rams! It was an embarrassing game for the Skins and their hometown fans. 

After the game, the locker room was apparently silent and looked as if the team had just lost. The fans (with reason) let their team know how they felt.

“I understand that they want us to beat the Rams by 40,” said Chris Cooley, who led the Redskins with seven catches for 83 yards. “But we still won, and if we continue to win games, that’s great. The booing was unnecessary.”

Players never like to be booed by their home fans but Washington’s offense accumulated just three field goals, all less than 28 yards. I mean come on…they couldn’t score a touchdown. Just a week before against the New York Giants, the team had to execute a fake field goal run for a touchdown.  That play there showed the real desperation that Coach Jim Zorn is feeling standing on the sidelines watching his offense play.

The offense really should be much better than it is. Clinton Portis is a big time playmaker at the running back position and Jason Campbell has weapons in Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle-El, and Chris Cooley. Yet, the Redskins offense has been disappointingly bad and has destroyed anyone’s fantasy team with a Skin on it (luckily not mine!).

So after the nine-point embarrassment against the Rams, most figured the offense would turn things around against the Detroit Lions. Guess again. The Skins offense struggled to score once more and the run game stunk.

Clinton Portis and the Washington running attack rushed for just 65 yards.  The Skins came out strong, but Coach Zorn elected to go for it on a fourth and goal from the one and Portis was stopped.  The Skins never really recovered after that play.

Which brings us to the next issue. Should Zorn be fired? Skins owner Dan Snyder wants more than anything to win now. The recent signing of Albert Haynesworth to his enormous contract is evidence of that. So it is expected by Snyder and Skins fans for the team to compete to win the NFC East.

But I’m sorry, if you score just nine points against the Rams and lose to the Detroit Lions, you have no chance in hell to compete against the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys.

If Zorn wants to save his job, he has to prevent the team from self-destructing and blaming one another for their problems.

“You either want it or you don’t. A lot of these guys don’t want it,” Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. “They want the other stuff.”

If Skins players continue to say things like that and ‘oh yeah, call their fans “dimwits,”‘ then it is going to be a LONG, disastrous year.

Now, it’s only Week Three. The NFL seems to have wanted the Redskins to be a playoff team by the way their schedule was created. The teams the Skins play in the next three weeks have a combined record of 0-9 (Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Carolina)!

If the Redskins don’t win all three of these games, I believe Jim Zorn should be fired and will be. Dan Snyder will have to set a flame underneath his team and let them know he is not messing around. I think that the loss of Zorn would also be advantageous to the team because it would eliminate a distraction that will undoubtedly be in Washington the next couple of weeks.

-Tom “Terrific” Anderson

Week Three in the NFL is officially in the books, with Indianapolis and Dallas winning their primetime battles with Arizona and Carolina, respectively.  There’s a lot that can be said about all four of these teams so far this year, so let’s get right to it.

On Sunday night, the hotly anticipated matchup between two of the league’s most proficient passing offenses turned into a one-sided affair, as the Colts handled the Cardinals, 31-10. 

After the Cards failed to score and extend an early 7-0 lead, it seems like the wheels just completely came off on both sides of the ball. They gave up multiple big plays to Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, and even rookie RB Donald Brown. 

The big issue that the 1-2 Cards seem to have right now is that their offense has no balance, with the running game being amongst the worst in the NFL. 

Tim Hightower was limited to nine carries for 22 yards in the game, forcing Kurt Warner to throw 52 times in the game. Warner was often under a ton of pressure from Dwight Freeney and the rest of the Indy D-Line, which dominated in the trenches throughout the game, accumulating four sacks in the win. 

The Cards are going to need to shore up their running game if they really expect to make it back to the playoffs this season. They get a bye this week before hosting another disappointing team so far in the Houston Texans.

The Colts have to feel good about themselves right now, moving to 3-0 and already holding a two game lead in the AFC South. 

Peyton Manning is proving that he can win games with just about any combination of receivers on the field, as the unlikely Pierre Garcon once again looked very good in place of the injured Anthony Gonzalez. And Donald Brown looks like a very smart first round pick. 

The Colts now head home to take on a banged up Seahawks team before going into Tennessee to take on the 0-3 Titans.

Moving into the Monday Night game, it was another matchup of offenses that never really came into being, as Dallas grinded out a 21-7 victory over the still winless Panthers. 

The big story in Big D was just that. Their defense finally showed up the way most people expected them to, pressuring Jake Delhomme, sacking him three times, and getting three turnovers from the struggling starter for Carolina. 

There is some concern as Felix Jones left the game with a knee injury, but Tashard Choice carried the ball 18 times for 82 yards and a TD for Dallas’ lone offensive score.

Dallas now looks to move to 3-1 as they head to Mile High Stadium to take on the 3-0 Denver Broncos next week.

As for the Panthers, it might be serious time for them to consider their options at QB.  For the second time in three weeks, Jake Delhomme was terrible, looking lost on the field and not being able to protect the football. 

They also need to get back to running the football, which is what their team is built on with DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart on the roster.  It’s now critical for Carolina to get a win after the bye week, and they get a decent shot, hosting the Redskins in Week Five.

Every week of the college football season there tends to be some attrition within the ranks of the unbeaten.  This weekend proved to be no different, as it seemed like there were an unusually high amount of teams getting handed their first loss.

Most notable of these teams are Ole Miss, Cal, and Miami (Fla.), who will all be coming out of the Top 10 on Monday morning.

Let’s start with the Ole Miss Runnin’ Rebels, who proved to be a good bit overrated, especially on the offensive side of the ball, in their 16-10 letdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia on Thursday night.

 

Heisman darkhorse Jevan Snead looked like anything but that as he was a miserable 7-of-21 for 107 yards and one long TD pass that brought the slimmest amount of credibility to his lackluster performance. 

Tailback Dexter McCluster wasn’t much better, as he was limited to 15 carries for 85 yards, in part due to the good pressure put on the Rebs’ O-Line by a strong South Carolina rush. 

The surprise of the game would definitely have to be the strong play of Gamecocks QB Stephen Garcia, who wasn’t spectacular, but did what he had to do in order to give his team only its second win in 34 tries against Top 5 opponents, and the program’s first in 27 years. 

Steve Spurrier desperately needed this win to prove that he has improved South Carolina football since taking the reins and to show that they have the potential to wreak some havoc in an always competitive SEC.

Moving into today’s games, it’s very hard to say that the Cal Golden Bears weren’t looking past Oregon because they basically stayed in Berkeley for this one, as the Ducks derailed the sixth-ranked team in the country, 42-3.

Jeremiah Masoli was spectacular, going 21-of-25 for 253 yards and 3 TDs (all to his favorite target in Ed Dickson). 

Major kudos to the Oregon defense in this one, though, as Jahvid Best was almost a complete non-factor, as he was limited to 55 yards on the ground by a team that now has a couple of wins under its belt to help forget their season-opening losses to Boise State, and yes, I meant losses, lest we forget LeGarrette Blount.

The last game that really impacts the early-season look at the rankings was the biggest game of the weekend.  Apparently, Virginia Tech forgot that this game was supposed to be the statement win for the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC and their entry into serious consideration for the BCS because the Hokies dominated from start to finish in an impressive 31-7 beatdown of the ‘Canes. 

Va. Tech won it exactly the way a Frank Beamer coached team usually wins games with a suffocating defense that held the ‘Canes to 209 total yards of offense, combined with a physical and grinding rushing attack that tallied 272 total yards of offense and 2 TD’s. 

After it looked like the loss to Alabama ended hopes of a national title run and as much as they struggled against Nebraska last week, the Hokies proved once again to be the class of the ACC this year, leaving no doubt in this one, especially with the losses for Florida State and North Carolina today.

Embarrassment Alert: At the time of this post, the Greg Paulus-led Syracuse Orange are trailing the Maine Black Bears 17-13. 

If this one falls in favor of Maine, then I think we can finally agree to say that the grand experiment of bringing in a guy who hasn’t played football since his senior year of high school is a complete failure.

Also, keep an eye out west, where Cal Poly leads San Jose State, but we’ll cut the Spartans some slack because they are the sacrificial lambs for the USC’s and Cal’s of the world, so they don’t know how to play to win games.

After last week’s 11-5 triumph for yours truly, I realize that I am bound to follow it up with something slightly less spectacular.  It’s the law of averages, really.  After two decent to above average weeks in a row, I have to come back to Earth…or do I?

Maybe I’ve finally found the right formula in picking games. OK, probably not, but I’ve been lucky so far and avoided disaster, so let’s see if I can keep it going in Week Three. (Picks in Bold, Home Team listed second):

Redskins at Lions (+6): A week after finally realizing the error of my ways by picking Detroit, I am going right back to the one team that fails me the most.  Honestly, I have been so uninspired by the ‘Skins in their first two games that it wouldn’t shock me to see the Lions find their way to a stunning victory, which would be their first since December 2007.  Look for Calvin Johnson to come up big against this Washington secondary.

Note: I’ve picked the Lions 11 times in the past two seasons. I’m 0-11 picking them. So naturally, I picked them again this week.

Packers (-7) at Rams: Green Bay is going to come out firing on all cylinders after last week’s embarrassment against the Bengals in Lambeau.  This is bad news for a Rams team that has managed to score a grand total of seven points in its first two games of the 2009 campaign.

49ers (+7) at Vikings: I like the Vikings to win this game, although it wouldn’t shock me to see either team win it, which is why I struggle to see this one be a victory of seven points or more.  This is a game that will be won on the ground and in the trenches by Frank Gore or Adrian Peterson.  That adds up to a low-scoring affair in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Falcons at Patriots (-5): Bad news for Matt Ryan & Co. The Patriots haven’t lost back-to-back games in almost three full seasons.  Worse for Atlanta, New England are still mad about losing to the Jets last week and they are looking to take it out on someone.  I think the Pats will dominate a pretty good Falcons team at Gillette Stadium.

Titans (+3) at Jets: Good news for Kerry Collins & Co. The Jets haven’t stopped talking about last week’s win over the Patriots, clearly a sign of a team that is not prepared to take the field against a desperate 0-2 Tennessee side.  The Titans, behind Chris Johnson, are going to take it to the overconfident and unaware New York defense all game in this one.

Chiefs at Eagles (-9): Donovan McNabb might not be playing in this one, but if the Chiefs show up and play the way they did last week at home against the Raiders, then Kevin Kolb might look like Joe Montana out there on Sunday.  The Eagles’ D will also be thankful to be facing a much more pedestrian offense after getting torched by the Saints last week.

Giants (-7) at Buccaneers: The Giants are looking really good after going in and grabbing the W in Dallas last weekend.  The Bucs have looked awful in their first two games of the season, losing to Dallas and Buffalo.  I expect the G-Men to go into Raymond James Stadium and win this one much easier than last week’s game.

Browns at Ravens (-14): Under normal circumstances, I would always take the points here.  However, after seeing Baltimore’s offense put up big numbers against a solid San Diego defense and seeing the Browns get smacked 27-6 by a Broncos team that I really don’t think is that good, it’s hard to see the Ravens not annihilate them in Baltimore.

Jaguars at Texans (-4): Last week we saw both of these teams play the way I expected them to in Week One.  The Texans’ offense was nothing short of explosive against the Titans in Nashville, while the Jaguars looked like a team that would struggle to fill its stadium because everyone knows they’re not good enough to compete this year.  The Texans will build on last week’s momentum and crush Jacksonville to make up for losing their home opener.

Bears (-3) at Seahawks: At first I almost picked Seattle. Then I had flashbacks to last season when Seneca Wallace had to step in for the oft-injured Matt Hasselbeck…it wasn’t a pretty sight.  The Bears will get the job done, and the misery will begin for the Seahawks and their fans.

Saints (-7) at Bills: It’s very hard not to expect New Orleans to explode for 40+ points, especially against a defense that isn’t even close to as good as the unit they faced last week.  Drew Brees has made this entire offense better than anyone ever thought it could be, and he will continue his great start in Ralph Wilson Stadium against a Bills team that should be 2-0 going into this game.

Steelers (-4) at Bengals: Pittsburgh owns Cincinnati on the road much like the Patriots owned the Jets on the road.  However, this does not mean that the Bungles will get the same result as the Jets this year.  I think that Chad Ochocinco will have a big game against a depleted Steelers’ secondary, but at the end of the day, Big Ben will push his team to a seven point victory, 24-17 is my guess.

Broncos (+2) at Raiders: I have absolutely no clue how or why the Raiders are a favorite in any game.  I understand that they won last week in their pillow fight with the Chiefs, but have you seen their offense?  If the Broncos can score 17 points, they’ll win this game and I will continue to give them no respect for their quick start purely based upon beating the Bungles, Browns, and Raiders.  I wish that my Jets had this schedule to open the season.

Dolphins (+6) at Chargers: The Dolphins’ offense is basically designed to keep games close by milking the clock as much as humanly possible, kind of like what they did against the Colts on Monday Night.  If they can accomplish that feat again, they’ll lose in a very similar way, which means they won’t get blown out.

Colts at Cardinals (-3): In what will most likely be one of the highest-scoring games in Sunday Night Football history, I like Arizona to manage to outlast a depleted Indy team in a game that fits exactly into Kurt Warner’s style: Arena Football (Note: I was trying for about 20 minutes to think of a way to make a joke about bagging groceries, but I failed. If you can think of a way to fit it into this, send it to me and I will give you all the credit.  If it doesn’t make sense, I will post the comment and mock you publicly for the dozens of readers on this blog to see.)

 

Monday Night

Panthers (+9) at Cowboys: Dallas should be able to control this game fairly easily, but their secondary should be having nightmares about Steve Smith right now. Smith has been limited in his first two games, but it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out of his shell.  Against Dallas’ mediocre secondary, expect Smith to go for a couple of big plays, to at least keep it close.

Two seasons ago, New England Patriots star Tom Brady and Indianapolis Colts phenom Peyton Manning were in a league of their own.

Peyton Manning was coming off of a Super Bowl victory and Tom Brady was introduced to a new, valuable friend in Randy Moss. Brady and Manning were the cream of the crop. They were 1 and 1A. 

Well, it is time for people to give a new man props and that’s Drew Brees. Don’t get me wrong, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are still phenomenal quarterbacks and I’d take them on my team any day, but look at what Drew Brees has done on the New Orleans Saints the past three seasons.

In each of his three seasons with the Saints, Brees has thrown for over 4,000 yards and averaged at least 29 TDs. Last season, Brees came up just 16 yards short of breaking Dan Marino’s single season record for passing yards. Brees finished with a fat 5,069 yards…the second greatest total in NFL History.

So how has Brees followed up his near historic season? He has thrown for nine touchdowns in his first two games and is on pace for 72 this season. To put that in perspective, Tom Brady holds the record with 50 TDs in one season where the Patriots went 16-0.

Drew Brees needs to win and play well in the playoffs. I get that.  Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have won Super Bowls…I hear ya. But that doesn’t mean the media and public can’t give this man some love for his personal achievements.

Do you think Entourage regrets not having Brees instead of Brady come on the show? I hear Brees is a big hitter on the golf course…

-Tommy T

Peyton Manning and the Colts made the most of their limited time on the field last night, coming up with big plays and quick scores in a 27-23 Indy victory that you couldn’t tell from the final stats. 

Miami held the ball for just over 45 minutes in the game, using a grinding, hard-nosed offense to maintain possession and run the clock down. 

However, at the end of the day, the Wildcat was caged just enough by a Colts’ defense that proved, once again, not to be able to handle a solid rushing attack effectively.

Looking back at the game, there are two things we can take away very quickly, and they point directly to the result of the game, that is, for as efficient as the Colts’ offense can be, the Dolphins can be equally as inefficient. 

The other problem for Miami is that most of their long, protracted drives only resulted in field goals, which is never going to be enough against one of the most prolific offenses in the league. 

The scariest part for Dolphins’ fans and for the rest of the league is that I don’t think Miami could have played much better and they still lost.

For the Colts, they have become the Cardiac Kids, winning their first two games of the year over the Jaguars and ‘Phins by a total of six points, with both of their opponents having opportunities to win the game late in the fourth quarter. 

They were completely exposed by the Miami rushing attack, as evidenced by Ronnie Brown’s big day on the ground. 

It’s fine to play close games with lesser opponents as long as you win, but as the season progresses, these kinds of games will take their toll on a mediocre Indy defense, which means that the close wins could become close losses, and with a fairly tough schedule, that’s a habit the Colts will want to get out of quickly.

In a game where the New York Giants were thoroughly dominated by the Dallas Cowboys, it was once again QB Tony Romo’s inability to avoid making mistakes that cost Dallas a win in the opening game at the magnificent Cowboys Stadium.

A record 105,121 fans got to be first-hand witnesses to Romo’s three interception performance, which allowed a New York team, that was far from spectacular, to hang around just long enough to be able to strike late with a game-winning Lawrence Tynes’ field goal, after a great two-minute drill was engineered by Eli Manning and Co.

Obviously, this leads us to ask the question once again about Romo’s ability to win when it counts most. He’s in a tough place to be a good-but-not-great QB, especially when you consider the Cowboys’ storied history and the fact that two of the best QB’s of all-time in Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman played there before him.

Excluding the miscues, as hard as that might be to do, Romo’s numbers are usually respectable, but last night he was a miserable 13-of-29 for 127 yards, and only found the end zone once, on a one-yard TD pass to Jason Witten.

You can’t really blame Dallas’ rushing attack of Marion Barber and Felix Jones, who combined to tear up the G-Men’s vaunted defense to the tune of 220 yards with two TD’s on only 25 carries.

Give a little bit of credit to the Giants, though. Eli Manning had another solid game against the ‘Boys, as we’ve seen so often these last few years, going 25-of-38 for 330 yards and two TD’s, which made up for the lack of effective running by Brandon Jacobs, who was held to just 58 yards.

Also, so much for the Giants missing Plaxico Burress, as both Steve Smith and the very surprising Mario Manningham each had 10 catches in the game, combining for 284 yards and two TD’s. The Giants scored 24 of their 33 points coming off of Dallas turnovers in the game.

The other story to come out of this game was Justin Tuck’s apparent shoulder injury, suffered in the 3rd quarter, that forced him out for the remainder of the game. Tuck went for X-Rays that came back negative, but is still scheduled for an MRI this morning.