All right, so that was a fun week of football, wan't it. On Thursday, you had yet another boring three pack of NFL games and Colt McCoy proving himself as a true Heisman contender. On Friday, we had Alabama just barely beating Auburn and then on Saturday we had Tim Tebow crying in his final game with Florida at home and Toby Gearhart single-handily giving Charlie Weis the boot at Notre Dame. Finally, we had Vince Young with one of the greatest drives in NFL season and the Saints and the Colts becoming 11-0 in their own way. But, a new week has to go on, which means it's time for another batch of picks. I finished 12-4 last week, one of my best weeks of picking this season, so hopefully my good lcuk can continue this week.
Let's begin (note: all game times are based on the Central time zone):
New York Jets (-3) vs. Buffalo Bills (in Toronto, Canada): Thursday- 7:20 p.m.
mj15's pick: New York
'Cause there ain't no football like Canadian football 'cause Canadian football don't stop! Seriously, though, who made up this idea. I mean, not only does it give Buffalo one less home game. Second, as Bill Simmons pointed out in one of his podcasts on Tuesdays, the crowd in Toronto is so terrible compared to the one you would have Buffalo. Finally, do people in Toronto really care about football? I know they have a CFL team, but I'm pretty sure the atmosphere is worse at their home games then the ones in small cities like Saskatchewan.
Still, the game will be played in Toronto, and on Thursday Night. And while I do like seeing the Ryan Fitzpatrick-Terrell Owens connection, I just don't see the passing offense play as well against the Jets. Add the possibility of the crowd making this game a more neutral game then a Bills home game, which will make the Jets feel more compfortable, and you have yourself a Jets victory.
mj50's pick:
Denver Broncos (-4.5) vs. Kansas City Chiefs: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Kansas City
There's something about playing against the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium that makes the Chiefs 80% more focused and more ready for a game then any other game in their season. And even though the Broncos have a new head coach, I still believe that this trend will continue.
mj50's pick:
Oakland Raiders vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (-13): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Pittsburgh
Big Ben's back! Ah, who am I kidding, Pittsburgh would have won with anyone of their QBs, including Dennis Dixon, who was pretty good against the Ravens (and the definite #2 QB of the team once they release Charlie Batch next year). Also, coach Mike Tomlin said that the Steelers "will raise hell in December." I believe him. In conclusion, Pittsburgh will win... BIG.
mj50's pick:
Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (EVEN): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Houston
Not as big as the other AFC South divisional matchup (which I'll get to in a moment) this week, but it's still big considering the fact that the losing team is probably done being part of the playoff chase. On one side, there's Houston, who has officially made second half destruction an art form, and the Jaguars, who are still right there but with the remaining games on their schedule, it looks more and more likely that they will make it. In the end, I decided to pick Houston. They're just to good to lose three games in a row, plus when you have the 3rd best passing offense against the 17th best passing defense, I see Matt Schaub having a pretty good game.
mj50's pick:
Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts (-7): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Indianapolis
How about those Tennessee Titans? Not only is Chris Johnson (a.k.a. Zulu Cthulu, becuase he's the most badass player on the planet) is tearing up defenses, but Vince Young is becoming so good, that he's leading his team in a 99 yard drive with two minutes left in the game and maturing into a great quarterback (or as most people say he is. In my opinion, I think Vince Young has been this good all along. I mean, he was rookie of the year in 2006, and then took his teams to the playoffs in 2007. It just took him some dedication in his work to finally make him more confident and more focused on his play). And, yes, the team looks like they're going to become the first 0-6 team to make the playoffs.
As for the game, though, I'm taking the Colts. As I mentioned last week, you just can't pick against them these days because they'll kill you on the inside when they win.
mj50's pick:
Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5) vs. Atlanta Falcons: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Philadelphia
The Falcons barelywon against the Bucs last week when Matt Ryan was hurt. What makes you think that this will happen again with Ryan out against the much more superior Philadelphia Eagles?
mj50's pick:
Detroit Lions vs. Cincinnati Bengals (-13): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Cincinnati
If the Packers were able to have a great day against the Lions last week, then I'm pretty sure the much superior Bengals will do the same thing. I have no other opinion about this game.
mj50's pick:
New Orleans Saints (-9.5) vs. Washington Redskins: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: New Orleans
After watching their game against the Patriots, is there any team that could potentially beat the Saints the rest of the season? I mean, they're more fun to watch then the Colts and the Vikings combined, and are so good to the point where Drew Brees can have a perfect passer rating and the defense can play very well against the PATRIOTS. Sorry, Redskins, but unless the Saints will vome to the game unprepared and emotionally wared off due to the Monday Night game, then you have no shot at winning this game.
mj50's pick:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers (-6): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Carolina
I can give you a bunch of statistics and historical facts about this game, but it's still going to be decided on one thing: Jake Delholmme. Better yet, will Jake Delholmme making enough mistakes to give the Bucs the win? My answer: no. Therefore, I believe the Panthers will win this game.
mj50's pick:
Chicago Bears (-9) vs. St. Louis Rams: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Chicago
(sigh) Boy, do the Bears suck! I've never been more dissapointed in this team since the 2004 season. The defense is crap, the coaches are terrible, the O-Line is blasphemous, the wide receiver are untalented and cutler, well he's not as good as I thought he would, but he's okay. At least the team will have a high first round pick. Oh wait, they traded it to get Cutler. Well, at least Lovie Smith and Ron Turner will get fired. Oh wait, Smith's under contract for two more years and the owners are to cheap to buy out his contract.
Well...... at least they have Robbie Gould. And, at least they're playing the Rams, who are actually worse than Chicago. I expect to see the Bears show some sign of okayness against the Rams (and hopefully some sigh of life in Matt Forte's rushing game) and win the game.
mj50's pick:
New England Patriots (-5) vs. Miami Dolphins: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: New England
I'd hate to be the Dolphins heading into this matchup. First of all, while these two teams have played some close games, New England has dominated them recently. Plus, the Pats are coming off a terrible loss (to them) to the Saints. It won't be close between the two teams. Patriots win... BIG.
San Diego Chargers (-13) vs. Cleveland Browns: Sunday- 3:05 p.m.
mj15's pick: San Diego
San Diego is on fire. Cleveland, well, is not. All I can say about this game is, don't expect to see a close one, even with the Chargers playing on the east side of the US (it's a 3:00 game). Chargers will win... BIG.
mj50's pick:
Dallas Cowboys (-2) vs. New York Giants: Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: New York
Yeah, Dallas had a pretty good game against the Raiders on Thanksgiving. And, yeah, New York just didn't show up last week at Denver and have continued to struggle. But, it's December, the time of the season when Tony Romo and the Cowboys play worse than me on a guitar. And with the weather in East Rutherford expected to be 43 degrees and windy, which means that I expect this trend to continue.
mj50's pick:
San Fransisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks (EVEN): Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: San Fransisco
Alrighty, then, who wants to watch some unimportant NFC West matchup between two mediocre teams? Anyone? Anyways, while the Seahawks are known to defeat the opponents in their division they should, the 49ers are better than them overall. Also, Frank Gore is way better than Justin Forsett, no matter how good he has been recently to Seattle and to me, one of his fantasy owners.
mj50's pick:
Minnesota Vikings (-4) vs. Arizona Cardinals: Sunday- 7:20 p.m.
mj15's pick: Minnesota
Kurt Warner is probably not going to play this week again. This will leave a matchup between MVP nominee Brett Favre, and Matt Leinart. I don't know why, but I think I'm going to go with Favre. And Adrian Peterson. And Percy Harvin. And Jared Allen. And, well, you get the point. To summarize, I'm picking the Vikings to win.
mj50's pick:
Baltimore Ravens vs. Green Bay Packers (-3): Monday- 7:30 p.m.
mj15's pick: Baltimore
What a game, huh? Two teams who right now are playoff bound playing in Lambeau Field. Personally, I'm picking the Ravens because I feel that the huge win over Pittsburgh will really help the Ravens into this game by making them more confident against Green Bay. After all, they did beat the defending champions last week, something they couldn't do in three meetings last week. Plus, the Packers O-Line, while they have been good the last two weeks, will not do great protecting Aaron Rodgers against the tough Baltimore defense.
mj50's pick:
RECAP
The Undertaker at "WrestleMania" "Lock of the Week":
Bengals over Lions
The Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson "Upset of the Week":
Kansas City over Denver
The Florida vs. Alabama: 2009 SEC Championship "I'm Not Sure" Pick:
Houston over Jacksonville
Week 13 recap and week 14 picks coming at ya next Wednesday! Enjoy your weekend of football watching, everybody. Especially this week, with most state high school championships taking place, the college football regular season coming to a close and, of course, the fifth to last week of the NFL season. It should be very fun to watch.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on the week thirteen predictions or anything else on this post, or if you have any suggestions to mj15 on his next blog entry, e-mail him at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mail might be addressed on a future post.
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