Another flopper has me down in the dumps, but a Monday night prediction has me riding the ship right back into my old winning ways. This is where I went terribly wrong in Week 11.
Atlanta Falcons at Baltimore Ravens (-4): WIN! Thank goodness for the Ravens, and the poor, suck in the 2nd half of the season Falcons. I needed an early couple wins to get me off to a good start. But unfortunately, a good start didn’t mean much in terms of overall record.
Buffalo Bills (+2.5) at Houston Texans: WIN! David Carr is questionable, but I don’t know if that helps or hurts the Texans? What I do know is Buffalo can play tough, and even with McGahee out, the Bill rushing attack is worth something. Houston at home has never impressed me. Expect a big play from Lee Evans that dumps the non-Cowboy club in Texas.
Chicago Bears (-7) at N.Y. Jets: WIN! Chicago won’t have problems with the Jets. Thomas Jones will give them the old Wham Bam Thank You Mam, surprise, and New York won’t have a swinging chance in this showdown. Rexxy Grossman is inconsistent, but this looks like a good match up for the young gun slinger.
Cincinnati Bengals at New Orleans Saints (-3): LOSS! It’s not like me to pick the Saints, but at home, and with a winner like Drew Brees, it’s time for even me to turn the corner. Against the Bengals, we might be watching Reggie Bush’s first dominate performance of his career. We also are going to see a point scoring fiesta in New Orleans, so get ready to Tivo this one, it’s going to be the Ultimate Highlight!
Indianapolis Colts (-1) at Dallas Cowboys: LOSS! The Colts are better than the Cowboys, even with Drew Bledsoe stuck on clipboard duty. Dallas’ defense struggles to defend the pass, Peyton Manning is the ultimate passer. 1 and 1 makes 2 right? Peyton kills Dallas all game long and the Colts win number 10. 10 straight wins is tough to come by, but a loss against the Cowboys just won’t happen.
Minnesota Vikings at Miami Dolphins (-3): WIN! Miami has turn the corner? I wouldn’t go that far, but the Vikings sure have. Soon to be passed up by the freaking Packers, Minnesota needs to hurry up and make a Quarterback change before Brad Johnson dies on the field of old age. Okay, seriously, I don’t know how either of these teams is as bad as they are, but Miami has shown they are a second half team, while Minnesota hasn’t shown me jack lately. Dolphins at home in this one.
New England Patriots (-5.5) at Green Bay Packers: WIN! How about them Packers? About 4 games ago, this would have been a 10 point spread, but the Pats have really struggled, and the Packers have found a couple victories. I love how that works out. Look for Tom Brady to get his “Top Quarterback” game show down, and terrorize the Packers pass defense that struggles against veteran QBs. Patriots on the road in a laugher.
Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs (-9): LOSS! The Chiefs are a decent squad, and if they get back to giving Larry Johnson the ball every other offensive play, they’ll down the Raiders, even if Aaron Brooks plays quarterback. Hell, if Payton Manning played QB in Oakland, the Chiefs would still win, and the Raiders would still suck.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns (+3.5): LOSS! A half point. The Steelers stayed in the playoff race (numbers wise, they aren’t technically eliminated yet, but God forbid they make it) and won by just enough to announce another loss for Lucky. Good Luck? Where has it gone?
St. Louis Rams (+7.5) at Carolina Panthers: LOSS! Lightening strikes twice as the Panthers cover for the 2nd week in a row. The Rams couldn’t do dick and I paid the hefty price.
Tennessee Titans at Philadelphia Eagles (-13): LOSS! I take no responsibility for this one, McNabb is out for the year, it happened relatively early, the Eagles would have come back, no doubt in my mind.
Washington Redskins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3): PUSH! The Redskins scored a meaningless touchdown, aha, meaningless in the game, but not meaningless to me. It made a win a push, never something that can be appreciated.
Detroit Lions (+2.5) at Arizona Cardinals: LOSS! Can’t say much about this one. Both of these teams are an enigma to me. The Lions can’t win when they should, and the Cardinals can’t win. However, this time around can’t didn’t mean much to the Cards, as they took it to the Lions and won a yucky one.
Seattle Seahawks (-3.5) at San Francisco 49ers: LOSS! The Hawks can look like a very bad team from time to time. How can I justify this? Take a look at the first 3 quarters of Sunday’s game against the Niners. Yeah, the Hawks were horrible in just about every facet of the game. Then they pretended to be good for most of the 4th quarter, getting right back in it. And yet again, they seemed to turn it over every other play in the last 5 minutes to guarantee a loss for each of us. Nice job guys.
San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos (-1): “The world thinks pretty highly of the Chargers, let me tell you what.” Ah, yeah, sometimes the world is right on. This is one of those times. I got straight LT’d in this one. That guy is unreal. Alexander ought to like this eh? A year after he set the all time record, LT is going to beat it in Week 13. I lost another.
N.Y. Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3): WIN! “I saw the Jaguars get smacked around last week by the Texans, and their real starting quarterback is probably going out for the year, but David Garrard is a gamer, and his receivers will step up for Monday Night Football. That being said, the Giants are physically hurting on both sides of the ball, especially defensive line, and Jacksonville has plans to run all over the Giants at home.” I still have it guys, Monday Night’s prediction will get me right back on track. Check out next week’s picks.