Last week was close, but for the sixth consecutive week, I had a losing week. The 6-7 brings my season total to 22-41-2.
Enough with moping though. This is a huge week for a lot of teams starting in the AFC East. For all the hate surrounding the Jets offense (or lack thereof) they are one win from taking over first place today from the Patriots. Last week they looked more impressive than they have all season as Shonn Greene not only had his first 100-yard rushing game, but his first 160-yard rushing game of the season.
The Patriots meanwhile were winless in Seattle. Leading by 13 in the fourth quarter, they blew their lead against a rookie quarterback as Tom Brady looked very mortal against a strong defense. It was the second time this season that the Patriots have led by two scores in the fourth quarter (Week Three against the Ravens) and blown the game. Despite that killer instinct I'm not going to say that Brady and Belichick have lost it. On the contrary, the Patriots just haven't found it yet. This is the youngest team that Belichick has coached with New England, so while Brady is getting up there the rest of the team should get better.
If you had told me it would only be 10.5 two weeks ago, I'd be elated.
NEW ENGLAND (-10.5) over NY Jets: I happened to catch one of the SportsCenter polls this week that compared the Titans miracle to "the comeback" earlier this week. Great stuff. This year's game doesn't have as much on the line, but Buffalo could also play it's way atop the AFC East with a win. Given that they are at home what a story that would be if they were over .500 this laste in the season. It's a story that I feel so warm about inside that I'm going to bet on them just because it would be too hard to root against them.
BUFFALO (-3) over Tennessee: The Browns ended an 11-game losing streak last week. If they win this week that's two wins in a row. Cleveland has had winning streaks before.
Cleveland (+1) over INDIANAPOLIS: The Packers are back. Last week was everything that the world thought it would be. Beating up on the Texans in Houston (everyone's darling to get to the Super Bowl before they played) was a sign that they should still be the team to beat in the NFC and NFL for that matter.
Green Bay (-5) over ST. LOUIS: Perhaps the NFL's two greatest surprises square off in the Humpty Dump. Christian Ponder looked bad last week (although fantasy owners would disagree) as he struggled for most of the game against the Redskins. He faces a tougher defense this week. The Cardinals have already won at New England this year. All that being said, I don't see where Arizona gets its offense from anymore. They struggled to score with the Bills for five quarters last week, and the Bills had given up over 40 points twice in the three weeks leading up to that. Arizona covers.
Arizona (+6.5) over MINNESOTA: Robert Griffin III is the NFL's biggest story this year and New York is (once again) America's biggest city. The two collide on Sunday coming off of statement victories. Justin Tuck has been encouraging RGIII to stay away from him this week, so look for RGIII to go his way and get a concussion.
NY GIANTS (-6) over Washington: This is the week where everyone lets the Saints re-enter the conversation as a contender. They had a bye week, a win over the Whale's Vaginas, and haven't lost since losing by one Week Four at Green Bay. Don't let the record fool you. The Saints are still good and they are slowly getting their parts back together. If they come out of Tampa Bay with a win, watch out.
New Orleans (-1) over TAMPA BAY: Cam Newton's confidence is on the line. Either he turns it around today or a huge question coming into next year is can Cam Newton get over his sophomore slump? He has had a bye week to think about the fact that he's got more interceptions than touchdowns. That's a lot of time. If he throws more interceptions than touchdowns today, that stays too deep in his system mentally. He catches the Cowboys at a good time with Demarco Murray unable to go, but I doubt it's enough to put Carolina over the top.
Dallas (-1) over CAROLINA: Ray Lewis is out and Terrell Suggs is in. I think the Ravens actually win in this situation, but I would commit murder if Ray Lewis was motivating me to do it (please note that this did not actually happen in real life). The Texans though are a better team than the Ravens at this point. They will come out with a little extra to prove and prove it as the team to beat once again in the AFC.
HOUSTON (-7) over Baltimore: The Raiders defense looked good against a top five offense in Atlanta last week. This week they face the league's worst offense in Jacksonville.
OAKLAND (-6) over Jacksonville: A pick em game! Pittsburgh is going to beat the Bengals. The Bengals can't handle the national spot light as we saw when they played the Ravens in the opening week. The Steelers aren't new to this and should handle A.J. Green.
Pittsburgh over CINCINNATI: The Lions got a pretty big win last week at Philadelphia and now are getting 6.5 points to play in Chicago. I think they can keep it close enough with the Bears as they slowly morph into the team everyone thought they could be at the start of the season.
Detroit (+6.5) over CHICAGO
No comments:
Post a Comment