Week 6 NFL Picks

It has been an interesting week for me. I had these picks and a column on the Philadelphia Eagles written then the internet went out. I will have the Eagles portion on here tomorrow but I will redo my picks below.

Last week I went 9-4 and Ryan Horne also went 9-4. Ryan and I are battling it out in NFL picks this year and we are tied at 53-24. To see Ryan’s NFL picks click here and you can follow him on twitter here.

 

Redskins over Eagles – Philadelphia is in trouble and this is a revenge game from last year’s Monday night game.

ELIMINATOR PICK

Steelers over Jaguars – This one is obvious.

Giants over Bills – Buffalo has won a lot of big games this year but they have all been at home.

Falcons over Panthers – This one could be a lot closer than people think especially with Cam Newton throwing late TDs.

Bengals over Colts – Give credit to Cincinnati. This is a very good team.

Packers over Rams – Green Bay is a machine, they are so good it is scary.

Lions over 49ers – I haven’t picked San Francisco since week 1 and that streak will continue this week.

Raiders over Browns – Oakland wins one for Al Davis at home.

Ravens over Texans – Injures are killing Houston right now.

Saints over Buccaneers – Close rivalry game but New Orleans pulls it out late.

Cowboys over Patriots – I don’t care how great a mind Bill Belichick is, how are you stopping the Cowboys with that secondary?

Bears over Vikings – Jay Cutler will get sacked in this game but I think Chicago pulls this one out late.

Jets over Dolphins – If I was Brandon Marshall, I too would try to get ejected.

Week 5 NFL Picks – “Just Win Baby”

Last week I went 8-8 and I am now 44-20 on the season. In honor of Al Davis with these picks I will “Just Win Baby”.

I am going against Ryan Horne and he is also 44-20 in his NFL picks this season so I have blown my lead and we are tied. You can find his blog here with his NFL picks as well as his Fantasy Football rankings.

Eagles over Bills – I think Philadelphia got their wake up call last week. By the way anytime these two teams play in Buffalo this video must be shown of Randall Cunningham being amazing…

Bengals over Jaguars – I think the Bengals Defense is really good. I liked Jacksonville earlier in the week but this Bengals D scared me away from picking them.

Titans over Steelers – Pittsburgh is banged up and the Tennessee is underrated.

Chiefs over Colts – Suck for Luck! Suck for Luck! Sorry Peyton…

Raiders over Texans – It is tough to see the Raiders losing this game after the death of Al Davis.

Vikings over Cardinals – I think Minnesota is a better team than their 0-4 record.

Saints over Panthers – I think Cam Newton has a big game but New Orleans offense is better.

ELIMINATOR PICK

Giants over Seahawks – Seahawks on the road, enough said.

Buccaneers over 49ers – I think San Francisco is a good team but I think Philadelphia lost it more than they won it last week. I also think the Tampa will play better than what they showed on Monday Night.

Chargers over Broncos – Suck for Tebow! Suck for Tebow!

Patriots over Jets – I think this will be a close game but it is hard for me to see the Jets winning a game with all the chaos going in their locker room

Packers over Falcons – Falcons are posers.

Lions over Bears – This is a good time to be a Detroit fan and the city deserves it.

Week 4 NFL Picks (Trap Week)

Image by Marianne O'Leary via Flickr

This is the week I like to call trap week. Every year during week 4 teams with losing records win and teams with winning records lose. This is the week where things start to balance itself out in the NFL.

Last week I went 8-8 and I am 35-13 on the season. Once again I am battling Ryan Horne in NFL Picks. Last week he beat me going 10-6 and he is 33-15 on the season. You can find Ryan’s picks here and you can check him out on twitter here.

Bills over Bengals – This would be a trap game if the Bengals had an offense.

Bears over Panthers – I say watch out for Carolina though, Bears O-Line is very shaky.

Titans over Browns – I have been on the Titans bandwagon since before the season. They have a very good Defense

Lions over Cowboys – High scoring game. Tony Romo better hope his O-Line keeps him alive today.

TRAP GAME *ALERT*

Chiefs over Vikings – Vikings have lead in all three games and the Chiefs stink except….Chiefs are at Arrowhead (great home-field advantage), they played well in the 2nd half vs San Diego and the Vikings still have Donovan McNabb. I smell an upset.

Rams over Redskins – Home game for the Rams against the Redskins who I think are a good home team. I know they will put pressure on Sam Bradford but I think the Rams breakthrough this week with the win.

Cardinals over Giants – Giants just won a big game and now head west. Cardinals are a good home team who has lost two close games on the road. I go with Arizona here.

Raiders over Patriots – If this was the Patriots of the mid-2000s there is no way I pick them to lose this game. However I think this team isn’t great. I feel their defense is terrible and Oakland should be able to score on it early and often. Also this game being played on the west coast doesn’t help New England and let’s not forget the bad karma for Boston area sports teams right now.

Steelers over Texans – Steelers played terribly against the Colts on Sunday Night. I think they makeup for it in Houston today. I also believe the Texans are not ready to win this type of game yet.

Jets over Ravens – I think Jets defense bounces back and gives Joe Flacco hell tonight. I think that is the difference in this game.

TRAP GAME *ALERT* OVER

Saints over Jaguars – Saints’ plane arrived in Jacksonville and that’s all you need to know.

Falcons over Seahawks – Falcons should be good enough to win this game, right????????

Chargers over Dolphins – Tony Sparano‘s last game as Dolphins head coach.

Packers over Broncos – Packers are just better.

Eagles over 49ers – 49ers are better than expected but this is a tough one.

Buccaneers over Colts – Curtis Painter starting on the road. Curtis Painter starting on the road. Curtis Painter starting on the road. Curtis Painter starting on the road. Curtis Painter starting on the road. Curtis Painter starting on the road.

MoneyBall and NFL Week 3 Picks

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I saw Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill on Saturday afternoon and I loved it. I feel this is one of the best sports movies of all-time and the fact that the outline for the story is true is even more amazing. The one negative I had for this movie was the inaccuracy of some of the events. It was a small negative to me because this is a Hollywood movie and not a documentary.  Now here are several things about this movie stood out in my opinion:

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill – These two played off each other really well. I have to admit that the pairing of these two just seemed weird but it worked out. I believe their character’s relationship elevated this movie.

Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg was excellent. From the first scene with his family to the end, Pratt made me understand who Hatteberg was and definitely stood out in a movie with Pitt and Hill in it.

Ron Washington – If you watch this, you will understand how Washington’s character was very funny and well needed foil for Beane.

Who was the good guy and who was bad the guy – I am a New York Yankee fan so I was expecting this to be a movie in which the Yankees got ripped for their payroll. While they did mention it, this movie was more about scouting and what was a good baseball player more than teams and payrolls. For that I give this movie another thumbs up.

I recommend everyone see this movie. To show you how powerful this movie is, as I walked out the movie theater I held the door for older man with a baseball cap on wiping away tears. This movie was that good.

Now onto my NFL picks. I am doing these with Ryan Horne also of iConSports. You can read his blog and his NFL Picks here and his twitter @ryanhorne1028. He is very good for more fantasy news on both sites so check him out! As for picks,  we both had good weeks last week so let’s see if we can keep it up.

Last Week: 15-1 (I hate the Miami Dolphins even more after them giving me my 1 loss last week)

Season: 27-5

Patriots over Bills – Buffalo is good but they are not ready for this.

Bengals over 49ers – This will be the Bills/Raiders of last week. A game no one is talking about but will end up being a very good game.

Dolphins over Browns – Simple Dolphins math: lose at home, win on the road.

Titans over Broncos – Cause Tim Tebow is playing at WR.

Lions over Vikings – So I was wrong, Donovan McNabb isn’t Brett Favre.

Saints over Texans – Hey Houston, now you play the big boys.

Eagles over Giants – If the Giants were healthy, I would pick them for revenge factor.

Jaguars over Panthers – Trap game. Cam Newton has been good this year but the offense did score 16 points last week. Let’s slow down on them until they can show they can win a game.

(ELIMINATOR) Chargers over Chiefs – Even Norv Turner can’t screw this up, right????

Jets over Raiders – I think the Jets pull out close one with late INT.

Ravens over Rams – Man the Rams just don’t get a break with the schedule.

Falcons over Buccaneers – I just have a hunch they win this game even though I think Tampa is better.

Bears over Packers – Revenge game! I think Cutler goes off if he actually has time to throw the ball.

Seahawks over Cardinals – People don’t realize how loud that crowd in Seattle is. It could make Tavaris Jackson look good.

Steelers over Colts – Peyton Manning isn’t playing, enough said.

Cowboys over Redskins – I like the skins but I don’t think they win a primetime road game in Big D after Tony Romo played the hero last week.

Related articles

• “Moneyball” Red Carpet: Chris Pratt Talks Brad Pitt To Brad Blanks (929dave.radio.com)
• Jonah Hill Talks Brad Pitt, Being an Underdog, and the Best Night of His Life (popsugar.com)
• “Moneyball”: Will it be money? (wrapupp.com)
• Movie Review: Moneyball? More Like Boringball! Unless You’re Way Into the Game – or Brad Pitt (eonline.com)

AFC Preview – Colts Run into Luck

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In the late 1990s the San Antonio Spurs had a great team led by All-Star Center David Robinson. Then in the 1996-97 season Robinson got injured and the Spurs went into the tank. That year the Spurs got the number 1 pick in the draft and drafted a future Hall-Of-Fame Power Forward, Tim Duncan. The Spurs went from great to dynasty in one bad year. With the injury of Peyton Manning and possibility he will miss a lot of time this year, the Indianapolis Colts could be headed for a terrible year but is that a bad thing? Manning’s injury and age could mean it is time to look elsewhere and has luck would have it there is a quarterback in college right now that people compare to Manning. Andrew Luck from Stanford could not only be the next Peyton Manning, he could be his replacement in Indy. I start my preview by saying I will not put the Colts in it cause I don’t know when Manning will actually play, if at all. I doubt they make the playoffs either way but if Manning misses a lot of time, the Colts could have found Luck.

AFC WEST

You know the saying “Save the Best for Last”? Well that’s what I am doing here and I will start with the worst division in the NFL. But is this division really bad? I don’t think so because I can see two teams coming out of this division to make the playoffs.

San Diego Chargers – Even Norv Turner can’t screw this up this year right? They even changed the kickoff rule to help this team out. If the Chargers don’t win the division this year, I will nominate Norv Turner for Worst Coach in NFL History. He would replace Rich Kotite.

Oakland Raiders – 2nd Playoff team out of this division. Hue Jackson will be a good coach for this team. He keeps his offense from last year which means Jason Campbell will have the same offense for two straight seasons (1st time in Campbell’s NFL career). The rest of the division is a joke and I feel the Raiders will use this to their advantage.

Denver Broncos – Kyle Orton > Tim Tebow. Still no playoffs or .500 record or respect in Denver.

Kansas City Chiefs – From first-to-worst. This team had an easy schedule and capitalized on the Chargers bad season last year. This year they wake up from their dream season and end up back in the basement.

AFC South

Tennessee Titans – That’s right I am not picking Houston to win this 3 team division. I think Matt Hasselbeck will be a good addition to the team. I feel Kenny Britt will have a good year and Chris Johnson will be Chris Johnson. This team has done it before and despite a change in head coach I feel they are poised to take this division again.

Houston Texans – This team is too soft for me. Their defense is better but not by much and I am not sold on their offense carrying them to a division title. Yes their offense is really good but is it enough? No.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Enjoy Sunshine from Remember The Titans era as your QB for the next few years and years after that if you plan on following the team to Los Angeles.

AFC East

New York Jets – I think this team is more focused on 1st place now more than ever. There schedule isn’t as hard as people are making it out to be. I see them winning that elusive division title.

New England Patriots – I still think this team makes the playoffs but any team that has to rely on Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco will not go 13-3 again or 12-4. I think they go 11-5 or 10-6 but that won’t be good enough to win the division this year.

Buffalo Bills – I think this team is on the rise. I expect Ryan Fitzpatrick to continue his good play from last year and I can see this team winning a game vs the Jets and Patriots. I don’t think they will finish .500 but……

Miami Dolphins – the Bills are in better shape than the Dolphins. No one likes the Quarterback, the owner publicly went after another head coach while he still had one. This team is a mess and at this point the only normal thing on this team is Brandon Marshall and that’s sad.

AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers – if you want to know why, just watch their video yearbook from last year and know there best player was injured all of last year.

Cleveland Browns – Surprise!! I think the West Coach Offense will really help out Colt McCoy. I think the pieces are there to make a big push and by pieces I mean playing the AFC South and NFC West. Last time the Browns had a winning record they played the NFC West. I think history repeats itself.

Baltimore Ravens – Eventually that defense will slow down. Eventually Joe Flacco will be asked to do more than he is capable of. Eventually that Ravens swagger will start to fade away. I feel this is the year all of this will happen. However your hot female fans will never fade away.  Best in the league.

Cincinnati Bengals – Their best offensive player just got out of jail. Their 2nd best offensive player retired rather than play for them. Their third best offensive player is in New England. Good luck in the draft next year!

AFC Playoffs:

Wild Card

5. Patriots over 4. Titans – No explanation needed.

3. Chargers over 6. Raiders – Rivalry game, Chargers better team.

Divisional Playoffs

5. Patriots over 1. Steelers – Pats matchup great with the Steelers.

2. Jets over 3. Chargers – Norv Turner on the road, in cold weather??? Come on Man!

AFC Championship Game

2. Jets over 5. Patriots – Jets know how to play the Pats and this game being at home will provide them the emotional edge.

Thursday I will do my NFC Preview…

Related articles

• How Many Wins Is Peyton Manning Worth? (thebiglead.com)
• Benigno’s Best: Week 1 NFL Power Rankings (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Season preview: 2011 Colts (cbssports.com)
• A.F.C. Scouting Report (fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com)