Winnie CooperIn names sake alone, Winnie Cooper shall will me to win. In your heart and mine, Winnie will always have a place, and with a name like Winnie, who else would better fit an article predicting winners such as this one. You must read on, I have the Texans winning for God’s sake. They’re 1-10 on the year, so if my prediction screams true they’ll double up on Sunday. Hold your tits and toes, this is going to be one wild ride.
Atlanta at Carolina (-3) – The Carolina Panthers have really struggled running the football this year. If Stephen Davis was still starting, I would take the Falcons, because there is no way he can pound the Falcons outside the tackles. In an intelligent move, the Panther brass has decided to start Deshaun Foster for the second straight week. Atlanta loses when teams can run the ball against them. This game will be no different. Sunday is huge for both teams, and Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith will find open spaces after the Falcons are forced to gear their defense to stop the run. Take the Panthers at home. Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Buffalo (+4) at Miami – The little bird int the window says Miami 17, Buffalo 7, but I hate birds. If Buffalo wins out they could take the Patriot’s playoff spot, well technically anyway. Winning out starts this weekend in Miami. Many people expected more from the Buff, will they prove themselves this week against the weak Miami Dolphins? Ricky Williams had his best game of the year last week, and he’ll continue to get his fair share of carries down the stretch. This is an advertisement session for Nick Saban. He’s selling Ricky as a solid back. And he’s exactly that, but Ronnie Brown has the ability to be great which limits Ricky’s time in Miami. Look for Buffalo to slow Ricky just enough to take the Fins down in Miami.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Cincinnati (+3) at Pittsburgh – The Steelers were embarrassed on Monday Night Football, so they should be ready and rearing to dismantle the Bengals at home on Sunday. Unfortunately for them, the Bengals are one of the top 5 teams in football and they’re always ready to play. This showdown in Pittsburgh will be the weeks best game, but don’t expect the home team to come out on top. One more week for Ben Roethlisberger to find his touch, then the Steelers will start winning again. Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Dallas at N.Y. Giants (-3) – The Cowgirls will fumble their way to second place in the NFC East as the Giants vault themselves to the top of the pack. Look for this battle of 7-4 squads to come down to the wire with the Dallas defense failing to stop Eli Manning at the end of the game. A touchdown late will put the New York Football Giants up for good. Drew Bledsoe is too slow to get away from the Giant pass rush that stymied one of the best offensive lines in football last week in Seattle. I never thought I’d say this, but the Giants defense will be too tough for the Cowboys to pull off the upset.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Green Bay at Chicago (-7) – The Bears are good. Don’t be confused because their offense isn’t a high-powered, well-oiled, gas-hogging machine. The Chicago Bear defense is back in full force. Who’s touting Brian Urlacher as the most overrated player in the league now? Precisely. The Packers won’t do just enough to cover the spread in this one. For the billionth time this year, Brett Favre’s interceptions will outnumber his touchdown tosses. Thomas Jones will pound the Packers defensive front into submission early.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Houston (+8) at Baltimore – I don’t know what I’m doing here. Truly the Texans are a horrendous 1-10, and well on their way to the first pick in the 2006 draft. But they’ve played much better of late, really, they have. There is no question in my mind they fell victim to black magic against St. Louis last week, and they’ve played teams tough all year. David Carr looks much more comfortable in the past few games, paving the way for the Texan’s second victory of the season. The Raven defense might be the biggest disappointment of the year, in fact, Baltimore might give the Jets a run for the leagues biggest disappointment. On Sunday they’ll stake their claim for the top spot with a loss to the bottom of the league. I still think the Texans would be 5-6 if they were in the NFC North.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Jacksonville (-3) at Cleveland – David Gerrard isn’t as great as many people are expecting him to be. There’s a reason why he’s backing Byron Leftwich up. But David will be good enough to hand the ball off to Fred Taylor and Greg Jones upwards of 40 times. His legs will be good enough to make plays when his first read isn’t open and the Jaguar defense will step up in the absence of their starting signal caller. The Jaguars didn’t get this far (8-3) to lose it all because Leftwich broke his ankle. Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Minnesota (-3) at Detroit – The Vikings are winning football games left an right. A win this week would make it 5 straight for Brad Johnson and the Vikes. The Bears are running away with the division but with three very winnable games left on the schedule, the Vikings could find themselves in the playoffs at 9-7. I know, it’s unbelievable and highly unlikely, but look at Drew Bledsoe, probably the 15th best quarterback in the league and he is the 6th leading passer of all time. Crazy shit happens. Look for the Vikings to get their 5th straight against the Lions. Sorry, Detroit, Jeff Garcia doesn’t make all the difference. If I hear, ÒIf Jeff didn’t get hurtÓ one more time I’m going to make sure that person dies a painful death. Think hours and hours of ÒI’m a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie WorldÓ by Aqua on repeat.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Tampa Bay (-4) at New Orleans – The Saints have no right to play close to the Bucs. New Orleans’ defense is better than people think, but to say they’re good is a flat out lie. The Bucs are solid on both sides of the ball. I know the Saints have nothing to play for, and usually they win these meaningless games, but this is even a tough year for the Òonly win when it hurts youÓ Saints. Cadillac Williams will rush for just around 150 yards as he carries the Bucs to 8-4.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Tennessee at Indianapolis (-16) – The Colts won’t slip up against the Titans. There is no way Peyton, Coach Dungy, and the Defense will overlook this match-up. The Titans don’t have a powerful offensive line. That will be exploited on Sunday in Indianapolis. Edgerrin James will find loads of room to run, as he always does. James almost doubles the amount of 5-9 yard runs of any other back in the league. He’s a sure thing. If the Colts go undefeated this year, he’ll be the difference. Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Arizona (-3) at San Francisco – The Cardinals have really struggled, but they’ve found offensive fire power with Kurt Warner throwing powder-puff balls to Larry Fitz and Anquan Boldin. Those two receivers form one of the leagues top receiving units. If the Cards could only get a running game going. Dennis Green is coaching for his job here, but what he really needs is enough losses to draft a top signal caller. This week won’t help as Arizona will walk into San Francisco and trounce the 49ers. Three words: Alex Smith starting. This is exactly what the 49ers need to do. Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Oakland, it’s time for your stubborn donkeys to do the same. It’s time to see what the youth can do.
Game Date: 12/04/05 16:10 ET
Washington (-3) at St. Louis – The Rams won’t get lucky for the second straight week… wait, they’ve been luck since I could spell football. So what if that was only a couple years ago. They can’t get lucky against the Redskins. Not with LaVar Arrington making sure luck gets it’s ass pounded into the ground. There is no way the Redskins give up all those rushing yards two weeks in a row, is there? My bet is staying away from the Rams. One of these days, this luck crap will run down their leg, you’ll see. That day will be Sunday. Clinton Portis will have his best game of the year yardage-wise and Mark Brunell will find Santana Moss for old-times sake.
Game Date: 12/04/05 16:10 ET
Denver at Kansas City (+1.5) – The Broncos are 9-2. Amazing. Who would have thought, after losing to the Miami Dolphins on opening day the Broncs would win 9 of the next 10 on route to the second best record in football. Not I. I didn’t even think the Broncos would have a 1000 yard rusher on the year. Well, I’m sticking to my guns. The Chiefs have more on the line at home against Denver, so they’ll play to win. Larry Johnson will rush for more yards than Denver has given up to any other back all year. And Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell will both fail to reach the 100 yard plateau… in this game. Just trust me on this one, the Chiefs need this game and Angry Larry will pull them past the Broncos. Game Date: 12/04/05 16:20 ET
N.Y. Jets at New England (-10) -The New York Jets will lose their 10th game of the year, streaking their losses to 7 in a row. It’s been a tough year for Jet faithful, and I don’t know if it’s getting better anytime soon. Fortunately for the Jets, they’re still in the Reggie Bush lottery. Another big loss on Sunday could put them in a tie for first place in that league. The Jets still have one of the best secondarys in football, so look for the Patriots to pound all day long against New York’s front seven. Tom Brady will have a solid bounce back game.
Game Date: 12/04/05 16:20 ET
Oakland at San Diego (-11) – The Raiders have struggled to do just about everything. The defense, which was stout to start the season, has really tailed off of late, causing Kerry Collins to panic like that guy swatting the bee away in that Milwaukee’s Best commercial. And like that commercial, Collins should be crushed by a giant can of beer. God knows that’s his dream. Look at him. Collins needs to get his back foot chopped off so he can’t throw off it, then maybe the Raiders would have a chance. But, probably not. Ladainian Tomlinson will look like a scary combination of Tecmo Bowl’s version of Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson, leaving the rest of the writers to agree with Coach Schottenheimer’ s Week 12 assessment.
Game Date: 12/04/05 20:40 ET
Seattle (-4) at Philadelphia – The Hawks will win easily. How Seattle managed to win last week is beyond me. Terrible calls went against them, then more terrible calls went against them, then their offense played like garbage, and they still managed to pull out before anything bad happened. 9-2. That’s solid. The Eagles aren’t playing for much on Monday. The Hawks will be playing for home field throughout the playoffs. Watch Seattle dismantle the Eagles. Shaun Alexander loves to play in prime-time. He’ll run all over the Eagles defense.
Game Date: 12/05/05 21:10 ET
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