Wow, week 10! This season went by pretty quickly, no? Just think, when the season started, the Detroit Tigers appeared to have locked up the AL Central, shows like "Trauma" and "The Beautiful Life" still had a promising future in the TV business, Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian were single and have yet to date each other, no NFL player has yet to be fired because of his Twitter comments, this blog was only in it's second month and had yet to reach the ten posts mark and Patrick Swayze was still alive. And yet it only felt like yesterday.
Now, on to the picks!To recap, for the second straight week in a row, me and daddy-o tied with an 8-5 record. As for the overall record through week 9, I'm currently leading with a record of 83-44, five games ahead. It's pretty good, though anyone could've always done better. Anyways, the following are my picks for this extended week of football (as always, the game times are based on the Central time zone):
Chicago Bears vs. San Fransisco 49ers (-3): Thursday- 7:20 p.m.
mj15's pick: Chicago
So, in the first non-opening week Thursday night game of the season, we have the 4-4 Chicago Bears against the 3-5 San Fransisco 49ers. Pretty sexy on paper, am I right? Anyways, while last week's lost to the Cardinals was embarassing for Chicago, we can all agree that Alex Smith isn't as good as Kurt Warner or that Isaac Bruce is as good as Larry Fitzgerald (they do have a better running back than Arizona had last year, and the Cards rushing game put up 123 yards). I expect to see a rebounf game for the Bears and most improtantly the Bears defense as they put a pretty okay showing against San Fran.
mj50's pick: Chicago
Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans (-6.5): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Tennessee
This Tennessee team definetly has the same type of mojo they had in 2006 when Young played in his rookie season. They're sort of tough to beat again. And the reason: Chris Johnson. He has definetly been on beast mode with his "running from the cops speed" as Gus Johnson likes to call his quick feet. If Tennessee can give him at least 20 touches against the 32nd ranked rushing defense, the Titans should be able to get their third win. BIG.
mj50's pick: Buffalo
New Orleans Saints (-13.5) vs. St. Louis Rams: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: New Orleans
Four words: Look. At. The. Records.
mj50's pick: New Orleans
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Miami Dolphins (-10): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Miami
Congratulations, Tampa Bay! You guys finally got your first win of the season. Now, let's see you get one without those throwback uniforms. Personally, I see this as all-Miami, even with Josh Freeman as Tampa's newest savior at QB. Expect to see quite a performance by the wildcat.
mj50's pick: Miami
Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings (-16.5): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Minnesota
Poor, Las Vegas. They just couldn't put the odds any higher for people to pick Detroit. Anyways, I've said this before in this post and I'll say it again: Look. At. The Records. Vikings will win. BIG.
mj50's pick: Minnesota
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Jets (-6.5): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: New York
Did you know, that despite being third in their division and depite the low attendances in their home game, the Jaguars have a 4-4 recordd. This should definetly be discussed more. Anways, while the Jags have been on sort of a roll lately, the Jets are at home with two weeks to prepare and with a chip on their shoulder after losing to the Dolphins (I wonder how caoch Rex Ryan feels about the "gimmick" Dolphins now?). I expect to see the Jets actually bring a good effort into this game and win against Jacksonville.
mj50's pick: New York
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (-7): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Pittsburgh
And now onto the game of the early afternoon, as the Bengals and Steelers battle it out for first place in the AFC North after their thrilling game played back in September. Yes, Cincinnati is a good. In fact, I believe they are the team not named the Steelers, the Colts and the Patriots that can run the table. They're defense is great, rushing game is terrific with Cedric Benson and Carson Palmer is back to his old self. But as I might have given a clue a little earlier, the Steelers are still one of the best teams in the NFL. Besides, Pittsburgh has one thing in this game that they didn't have the first time these two played: Troy Polomalu.
Trust me, Bengals fans. You may think it had nothing to do with it, but your victory was mainly becuase of #43 not being in the game during your team's game winning drive. In a close one, I expect to see the Steelers to win and to be back on top of the division (as they should be).
mj50's pick: Pittsburgh
Denver Broncos (-4) vs. Washington Redskins: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Denver
Yes, Denver lost the last two games and have proven themselves to be the team that they thought they were. And yes, it appears more and more that they will once again blow the division to the Chargers who had an impressive victory against the Giants. But they aren't as bad as the Redskins, who are so ashamed by their suckiness, they won't even let their fans bring signs to their stadium. Denver will win this one. No doubt.
mj50s' pick: Washington
Atlanta Falcons (-1.5) vs. Carolina Panthers: Sunday- 12: 00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Atlanta
This one was really tough for me to pick. Even more tougher than the Pats- Colts game (which we'll get to in a few paragraphs) if you believe it. While Atlanta does look like the better team on paper, Carolina has played sneakliy weel the last few weeks. In fact, they outplayed New Orleans in nearly every way last week despite the lost. Eevntually, I made a decision to pick the Falcons. It just comes doen to the QB and the intangibles, and I felt that Atlanta was better in both categories.
mj50's pick: Atlanta
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Oakland Raiders (-2): Sunday- 3:05 p.m.
mj15's pick: Oakland
Really terrible game to think about because both teams suck so badly. I'd rather see footage of Tom Cable beating up his ex-wife than watching this, or even talking about this. I ended up choosing Oakland because their defense is slightly better and they won the last tiome they met back in September. Than again, I just flipped a coin and it went to Oakland. So....
mj50's pick: Kansas City
Dallas Cowboys (-3) vs. Green Bay Packers: Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: Dallas
How 'bout them Cowboys? They have a three game win streak going and are first place in the NFC East. Aside from that, I still don't see them being a real contender. As you may have known, the team doesn't really tend to do well in the later months of the season for the past few years. But this column isn't about predictions of months to come. It's about predictions of games in the next seven days. In this case, I like the Cowboys to make it four straight wins in a row. The passing defense is no match for the hot streaking Tony Romo.
mj50's pick: Dallas
Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals (-8.5): Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: Arizona
Okay, so maybe I was wrong about Seattle winning the division and Arizona getting into one of those Super Bowl hangovers. But, in my defense, it was September. Also, how would I have known that Kurt Warner wasn't going to break down of old age, that the defense was going to be pretty okay and that Seattle's bad year last season wasn't just some fluke, that indeed they maybe are mediocre. Then again, this is the NFC West, where usually teams remain the same spot in the standings for years.
mj50's pick: Arizona
Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Diego Chargers (-2.5): Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: San Diego
I actually picked the Eagles to win this one in the beginning. But then I remembered that this was the period of the Eagles usual cycle of games where things start to fall apart and the city begin to worry before they go on a hot streak starting somewhere on Thanksgiving. Also, when you're a team with a lot of things going their way like the Chargers have, they're like Tiger Woods in the final round of the Buick Invatational. You can't stop it.
mj50's pick: Philadelphia
New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts (-3): Sunday- 7:20 p.m.
mj15's pick: New England
Yeah, baby! This is the matchup you want to see. Tom Brady facing Peyton Manning for the first time since the highly proclaimed Super Bowl 41.5 two years ago. The Colts are trying to continue their unbeaten season and their 17 games regular season win streak. The Patriots trying to make this a big statement game. It's got all the formulas in there for what should be another great game in the decade's best rivalry.
All right, so as usual I had to think very hard about this. And while I do think this game will go down to the last few moments, I picked the Pats. Here's why:
1. Bill Belichick. Do you really believe that a rookie head coach like Jim Cladwell will beat one of the NFL"s greatest mastermind in a head-to-head duel? I don't think so.
2. The injuries for the Colts. Thanks to injuries of players like Bob Sanders and Marlin Jackson, they have barely been able to get past teams like the 49ers and the Texans.
3. The trends of games played between this rivalry. First, it leaned toward New England. Then, it leaned toward Indy. Then New England again. Then it went back to Indy again. I expect in this case, the rivalry will shift towards New England again.
4. Tom Brady only lost twice to Peyton Manning. The guy has his number.
mj50's pick: Indianapolis
Baltimore Ravens (-11) vs. Cleveland Browns: Monday- 7:30 p.m.
mj15's pick: Baltimore
In a game that ESPN questionably and regrettably picked as their week 10 matchup, we have the old Browns against the new Browns meeting each other for the 9th year in a row in Browns Stadium. You know, I could spend a few sentences discussing why the Ravens will destory Cleveland. Instead, I'm going to only give the same four words I've already said twice thius post (I like repeating myself): Look. At. The. Records.
mj50's pick: Baltiimore
RECAP
The Undertaker at "WrestleMania" "Lock of the Week":
New Orleans over St. Louis
The Mine That Bird Winning This Year's Kentucky Derby "Upset of the Week":
New England over Indinapolis
The "Goodfellas" vs. "The Godfather" "I'm Not Sure" Pick:
Atlanta over Carolina
And there you have it! As always, I want to thank the Internet and my seven years of watching the NFL for helping me make these picks. Honestly, though, if I were you these would be one of those weeks where you should just stay away from my picks. There are quite a few games I picked that I wasn't necessarily confident about. Then again, you probably don't gamble on picks anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Week 11 picks and a week 10 recap coming next Wednesday! Until then, enjoy the rest of you Veterans' Day.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
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