Week 8 Pick 'em

Last week I was an average 8-6 taking my overall record to 70-32.

Cowboys over Cardinals
Lions over Bears
Texans over Browns
Bengals over Packers
Jaguars over Rams
Panthers over Vikings
Raiders over Titans
Giants over Redskins
Chargers over Chiefs
Saints over Dolphins
Broncos over Eagles
Buccs over 49ers
Patriots over Bills
Steelers over Ravens

Good luck this week.

Turning Point Games

Week 8 provides five key games that could turn the season around for some teams.

1. Washington @ New York Giants
This division features four teams with winning records. New York, Philadelphia and Washington all stand at 4-2 while Dallas is 4-3. The winner of this game will get an early edge for the inside track lead in this division. The win is more crucial if Washington is victorious. The Giants are expected to win at home, and a loss could be more devastating to them, considering they still have to play at FedEx Field. The Redskins are looking really impressive at this point. The addition of Santana Moss has resurrected Brunell's career, considering how Coles last year did not help Brunell's cause at all. Meanwhile, the New York football Giants are now the talk of the town with Eli being a great hero. I can't believe I am saying this, but this game will be good. They are no longer running teams, we will see an aerial attack in this game.

2. Chicago @ Detriot
This divisional matchup will finally produce a winner with a winning record. Both teams come in at 3-3 with Minnesota at 2-4 and Green Bay at 1-5. I am starting to like both teams. The irony here is they are both defensive teams. Chicago is playing really good defensive football setting up a short field for their offense. Jones is running great, allowing Orton to play conservative and win football games. Detriot is doing really good against the run. They also have some ball hawks who pick off passes and take them to the house, just ask the Buccs. The return of Garcia will make this team a contender. Look for the winner of this game to be in the drivers seat, especially if the Bears win.

3. Kansas City @ San Diego
I have no problem picking the winner of this game, it will be San Diego hands down. Now let's take a look at the division with Denver at 5-2 Kansas City at 4-2 San Diego at 3-4 and Oakland at 2-4. Denver proved how vulnerable they are away from Mile High. Kansas City has been catching all the breaks, but they are in for a bumpy ride in San Diego. If Kansas City wins, they will make it a two team race. However, if San Diego wins, I see them being the more stable team down the stretch. Look out for the super chargers.

4. Philadelphia @ Denver
Two winning football teams in competitive divisions. Philly can not afford to lose because their rivals have all caught up with them. They also have five more division games left to go, so each game in the second half of their season is that much more crucial. The Broncos can not afford to lose at home because that is their comfort zone. If they lose this game also, they have allowed the division doors open, and who knows, maybe the Raiders can even move back into the picture with only four losses if they play like they did against Buffalo.

5. Buffalo @ New England
Wow, do I love this game. Another matchup for the lead in the division. I will give you the outcome again, hands down New England. This division features New England at 3-3 Buffalo at 3-4 Miami at 2-4 and New York Jets at 2-5. The only guarantee is that the Jets are out so far. The Bills will continue to play .500 football and the Pats seem to be in the drivers seat again. Too bad its in Gillete Stadium, Buffalo does not stand a chance. If the Bills do pull off a win, they still only go up half a game and make it an exciting race, but that is a big IF.

News & Notes

Lately I have been able to download and watch complete games of the NFL without commercial delay. Some important things I learned from watching these "other" games each week that are not televised is how exciting some of them really are. Additionally, how little time the athletes actually play the game, roughly 23 minutes of constant game time that does not include the time between the huddles where they are inactive. Some things I learned from watching these games will be listed below. These items I feel are important in considering the true outcome of a football game.

* Penalties: After watching countless games, I am in awe of how many bonehead penalties have caused crucial drives to stall, important defensive stands to be cancelled out, huge offensive plays to be called back. The saying is true, the teams with the worst records are the ones who committ the most penalties. Some of these penalties are worse than turnovers, cause they continue to reoccur and shoot the same team in the foot. I don't know if you blame the players or yell at the coaches for stressing the importance of each and every penalty. Prime example: the Raiders. They should not be allowed to play another game unless they keep their penalties under double digits, otherwise they are putting themselves at a big handicap.

* Blown calls: The official NFL standings would be nothing like they are now if you consider how many ill advised calls are made that change the complexion of a game. Secondly, I have seen play after play where the refs give an unusual spot on the same drive that results in a punt because of a 4th and 1. These are spots that are a couple yards off that do not get reviewed because the coaches are afraid of losing their timeouts. Also, how many horrific calls that are made that result in the outcome of a game. Example: Lions at Buccs week 4. The tight end for Detriot clearly scores a touchdown at the end of the game as he is sitting on the ground with possession of the ball then slides out and the initial call was a touchdown. I saw no irrefutable evidence to suggest why the ref overturned the call.

* Clock management: Considering these games are so quick and easy to watch you can give more of a focus on other things, simple things as how well the clock is managed. You will be so shocked to see how many times on kickoffs or after timeouts or through penalties the clock manager forgets to start the clock immediately when the player catches the ball on a kick return, etc. Literally, it happens four or five times a game with each infraction being about five to ten seconds.

Well, I just want to leave my readers with some information I thought was vital to each games outcome. Knowing that they say the NFL is a game of inches and how each and every second counts, don't you think they should be more consistent during the game to make sure the inches and seconds are being counted properly?

Week 7 Pick 'em

After completing a terrific 13-1 week last time, my overall mark is now at 62-26. Check out this weeks picks:

Dolphins over Chiefs
Browns over Lions
Packers over Vikings
Colts over Texans
Saints over Rams
Bengals over Steelers
Eagles over Chargers
Redskins over 49ers
Seahawks over Cowboys
Bears over Ravens
Raiders over Bills
Broncos over Giants
Cardinals over Titans
Falcons over Jets

Have a great week.

Week 6 Pick' em

This weeks pick' em hopefully is better than last weeks results. I had 7 picks right last week.

Pittsburg over Jacksonville
Chicago over Minnesotta
Tampa Bay over Miami
Dallas over NY Giants
Baltimore over Cleveland
Carolina over Detriot
Cincinatti over Tennessee
Kansas City over Washington
Atlanta over New Orleans
Buffalo over NY Jets
Denver over New England
San Diego over Oakland
Seattle over Houston
Indianapolis over St Louis

Good Luck this week.

Week 5 Pick' em

Another good performance last week going 10-4 has put my mark at 42-18. Check out this week's picks.

Lions over Ravens
Bears over Browns
Dolphins over Bills
Patriots over Falcons
Packers over Saints
Rams over Seahawks
Buccs over Jets
Texans over Titans
Colts over 49ers
Panthers over Cardinals
Eagles over Cowboys
Broncos over Redskins
Jaguars over Bengals
Chargers over Steelers

Good luck and see you next week.

Week 4 Synopsis

This week, I will separate the teams in particular categories of who to look out for that are surprises this year, the usual contenders, pretenders, and the teams that have no chance. We are a quarter of the way through the NFL season.

LOOK OUT FOR...

Miami Dophins: This team has a realistic chance of winning their division. Their defense has remained solid from previous years and they have an offense to boot. They have become an exciting story for the Dolphins fans thur far.

Cincinatti Bengals: Wow, what a cinderella story this has become. Marvin Lewis is displaying his true genious this year as he has the Bengals playing at their highest level. I see no reason their success will fade considering they are dominating the field on both sides.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Right now they are hovering around in the middle of the pack. But they are not a team you want to face any given week because of their physical play and I rest their fate on the arms of Leftwich. Their defense is solid but they will only go as far as the health of their young quarterback.

San Diego Chargers: I put them in this category because I feel many people wrote them off after a shaky 0-2 start. I knew they would be dangerous and it seems as if this giant has awaken. Look for them to win the AFC West once again.

New York Giants: They are a team with a whole new look with Plaxico in the lineup. He spreads the field and opens things up for Shockey and company. Eli is coming into his own and will take this team far.

Carolina Panthers: After a year absence from the playoffs, the Panthers look solid once again. They are in a very tough division, but they have experience on their side. The offense has all their key players back and the defense is holding its ground.

Seattle Seahawks: Although they will be without the two starting receivers this week, the Seahawks benefit from a soft schedule. They should be able to run the tables in their division. The defense has been playing better lately and Alexander is back to form.

THE CONTENDERS...

New England, Pittsburg, Indianapolis, Denver, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Atlanta.

THE PRETENDERS...

Buffalo Bills: Until coach Mularkey realizes that Losman is not the right guy this team is just a pretender. The prospect of putting in Holcomb will dramatically raise the value of this team because Holcomb can air it out like he did in his days at Cleveland.

Baltimore Ravens: No passing game, no go. Everything else is well tuned aside from the brain of this team which is the quarterback. Not even the return of Boller will help them.

Kansas City Chiefs: I called this one too. After they crushed the Jets and beat the high powered Raiders in Oakland, I knew this team was still a fluke at 2-0. Right after they were blown out on Monday Night against Denver and blew a huge lead at home against Philly. The collapse has started earlier than I thought.

Washington Redskins: This team is undefeated now at 3-0 but just like last year I see them going on a skid of many losses in a row. To start, they have two tough away games at Denver and Kansas City, I will reevaluate their character after that.

Dallas Cowboys: This is a good team now, but the season is 16 weeks long. Bledsoe has gotten off to fast starts before, but once he stumbles there is no turning back for him. Sorry tuna, this ship is starting to sink.

The Whole NFC North Division: Chicago has no quarterback. Detriot can not be taken seriously with Harrington. Minnesota is a shell of their former self. Green Bay is old and plagued by injuries, with Ahman Green being the latest victim.

NO CHANCE:

NY Jets, Cleveland, Tennessee, Houston, Oakland, New Orleans, St. Louis, Arizona, and San Francisco.

We will see how true this assessment is at the midpoint of the season.

Week 4 Pick 'em

After going 11-3 last week, I have a season Pick 'em standing of 32-14. Let's see what we have in store for this week.

Buccs over Lions
Seahawks over Redskins
Bengals over Texans
Jaguars over Broncos
Colts over Titans
Chargers over Patriots
Saints over Bills
Giants over Rams
Ravens over Jets
Falcons over Vikings
Chiefs over Eagles
Raiders over Cowboys
49ers over Cardinals
Panthers over Packers

Good luck and have fun watching the games.