A little pay back in my picks. Championship! Late scores, highlight interceptions, absolute domination, and a couple 12 round bouts all had something to do with my big week in the NFL. How man wins did I get? 7? 8? 9? Read on and remember… Hail to the chief.
Buffalo Bills (+12) @ Chicago Bears: It sure didn’t start well as the little bird on my shoulder was right about this one. The Bears looked damn good in an absolute destruction of the Buffalo Bills. The final score was 41-7, and honestly, it wasn’t that close. So I missed this one.
Cleveland Browns @ Carolina Panthers (-8): It was looking good late, as the Panthers were up 11 into the 4th… But these are the Panthers, and God knows they don’t like me to win. A “prevent” / “spread killer” defense was in effect for the Panthers, as the Browns drove down the field and kicked a field goal with a minute left to push this game right out the window. 0-1-1 wasn’t the start I was looking for.
Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings (-6.5): The Vikings got the wins rolling for good Ol’ Lucky. Or was it the Lions that did all the work? It wasn’t looking good late, the Vikings we down 17-3 as the 4th quarter got underway, never something you want when your team needs 7 points to get you the win. So basically, Minnesota needed to beat the Lions 21-0 in the 4th quarter alone for me to win. What do you know? A late interception return for a touchdown by EJ Henderson finished off the games’ scoring, and the Vikings beat the Vikings 23-0 in the 4th, covering the spread by 2.5 points. As it turns out this would be the first of many wins.
Miami Dolphins (+10.5) @ New England Patriots: I can’t believe the Dolphins covered in this one. Without Daunte, I thought I was dead in the water, but Joey Harrington wasn’t as bad as I thought, and the Dolphins kept it close enough for me, losing by 10. Finally, I won a close one.
St. Louis Rams (-2) @ Green Bay Packers: I didn’t get the 3 touchdown win I was looking for, but a late turnover late assured me a victory as the Rams kneeled down for the final minute for a 3 point win. Another close victory turned out to be my 3rd win in a row.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7) @ New Orleans Saints: The Bucs nearly pulled this one out as Bruce Gradkowski had better numbers than Matt Leinart and Vince Young combined this week. He had 225 yards and 3 scores, on 21-30 passing. Reggie Bush returned a punt to win the game. His first NFL TD was a big one, as the Saints went to 4-1 with a win over their division rival.
Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts (-18): Maybe the Colts aren’t that good? Maybe they just didn’t come to play? I don’t know. I know they won the game by a single freaking point and I lost this one by 2 touchdowns and a field goal. Damn them Colts. I blame them for my 2nd loss of the night.
Washington Redskins @ New York Giants (-4): The Giants finally put a couple good quarters together, came to play defensively, and got to the Redskins early. All these things gave them a much needed win at home. Eli Manning completed better than 68% of his passes, and Tiki ran for 123 yards as the Giants won easily.
Kansas City Chiefs (-3) @ Arizona Cardinals: Like the Lions, the Cardinals had to do a lot late for me to cover. And just like the Lions were bad enough to get heavily out-scored in the 4th, the Cards gave up 13 points in the 4th to lose by 3. Just enough for me to cover. I’ll take it.
New York Jets @ Jacksonville Jaguars (-7): 41-0… What do you think? Did the Jags cover? Jacksonville is a damn good team. If they don’t lose another game all season long, I won’t be surprised. The Jags really exposed the Jets’ rushing defense, to the tune of 3 1st quarter rushing touchdowns that just put the Jets away very early.
Oakland Raiders @ San Francisco 49ers (-3): When the Raiders win their first game of the season… scratch that, IF the Raiders win a game this season I’ll write an entire “Top Shelf” about them. It will be titled, An Ode to the Worst of Winners. Believe it or not, the Raiders went ahead with Randy Moss’ 100th career touchdown catch, but they gave up 27 2nd half points and the Niners won by two touchdowns. The 2nd win for the 49ers was my 7th win of the week.
Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles (-1): Donovan McNabb looked good early, and late, and TO didn’t do dick. The Fat 7th Grader playing quarterback for the Cowboys looked athletic rushing for a score, but ate some doughnuts at half time, and then came out and threw a couple more interceptions to assure the loss. Bledsoe has been a Private Pile for the better part of the season. The Eagles banged one out at home for my 8th W.
Pittsburgh Steelers (+3.5) @ San Diego Charges: My 3rd loss of the Week came when the Steelers broke down in the 2nd half, getting shut out by the Chargers 16-0. Big Ben looked better, but his 2 interceptions and 0 TD passes didn’t help his Steelers from falling to 1-3 on the season. And you all thought I was crazy when I said the Steelers would struggle in my Season Preview. It didn’t help me much in this game, but what can I do? 3 losses on Sunday… Not too shabby.
Baltimore Ravens @ Denver Broncos (-3.5): Half way through the 4th, those pesky Broncos were only up by a field goal which was turning out to be double bad for me. I’m not a big fan of the Broncs and I was losing my bet. But late in the game, a big interception by Steve McNair set up my favorite Bronco, Rod Smith, for a 4 yard touchdown catch as Denver went up 10. A later interception sealed my 9th win of the week, taking me to 9-3-2 in Week 5. Championship!