CONTRIBUTOR
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GAME 1
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GAME 2
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GAME 3
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Kevin
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Green Bay Packers at TB Buccaneers (-1)
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San Diego Chargers (-7.5) at Oakland Raiders
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Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (-11)
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Packers +1
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Chargers -7.5
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Redskins +11
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2008 Record: 8-1 (88.9%)
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The Packers will be without Al Harris, who will
miss much less time than initially feared, but
it's unlikely that Brian Griese and the Bucs
attempt 67 passes this week. I expect Ryan
Grant and the Packers to run the football
better this week and look to turn over the
Bucs. The Packers are 2nd in the NFL in
turnover differential (+4) so far. Also, the
Packers are 13-4 against the spread (ATS) in
their last 17 games.
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Lane Kiffin has managed to keep his job one
more week, but my guess is this will be his
last week as Raiders coach. (The Raiders
have a bye next week so if Al Davis is going to
pull the plug, Monday would be the day.) The
Chargers are 3 points, a few seconds and a
blown call away from being a perfect 3-0 this
year. Despite the Chargers scoring 48 points
on the Jets last week, LT is off to another of
his typical slow starts. Last year, the Raiders
allowed the 2nd-most rushing ypg. I expect
this week to be the week that LT has a
monster week as LT and the Chargers run
away with this one.
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As a Cowboys fan, I try to avoid picking games
involving the 'Boys. However this line is TOO
big even if the game is in Dallas and Jason
Taylor is out. The Redskins have won 3 out of
the last 4 straight-up (SU). While I
expect/hope the Cowboys improve to 4-0, this
will be a hard-fought victory for America's
Team. In fact, the Redskins are ranked #8 in
this week's Domination Index.
Game Prediction: Cowboys 27, Redskins 24
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Jamie
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San Diego Chargers (-7.5) at Oakland Raiders
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Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (-11)
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Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5)
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Chargers -7.5
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Redskins +11
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Browns +3.5
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2008 Record: 6-3 (66.7%)
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SD has been impressive this year regardless
of the record mostly behind the play of P.
Rivers, who looks like he might be taking the
next step to becoming an elite QB. I'm not
100% sold on them but they seem to be
getting healthier and this is OAK they are
playing, who right now is just a team all over
the place starting with the coaching situation. I
look for SD to be able to cover this and win by
10+ despite being in the Black Hole. Oakland
is 16-31 ATS in home games versus division
opponents since 1992.
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11 points in this rivalry? Though I do believe
Dallas is the best team in the NFL, 11 points
just seems too much in this game which
always seems to be played close regardless of
how good or bad one or the other is. I don't
believe in this case Washington is that bad as
Cambpell also like Rivers has seemed to turn
a corner under Zorn. And Romo has a way of
keeping things closer than they should be. As
a longtime Dallas fan it makes my skin burn
as I say it but take Washington and the
whopping 11 points.
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Is this the week Cleveland starts to look a
little bit like the team it was last year?
Hopefully for D. Anderson's sake but I look for
them to do it mostly behind Jamal Lewis. The
Bengals did show some signs of life last week
vs the Giants, who I still say are over-rated
and usually play down to the competition. I
just find it hard to believe that the Bengals are
3.5 points better than any team in the league
right now as I still say no team has been in
more rough shape this year than the
Bungholes. From the front office, to the
off-the-field antics, to the on-field issues
coming from mostly the O-Line. The Bungles
are 8-19 ATS in Sept home games since '92.
Take the Brownies here
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Dan
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Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans (-3)
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Buffalo Bills (-8) at St. Louis Rams
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Arizona Cardinals at New York Jets (-1)
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Titans -3
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Bills -8
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Jets -1
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2008 Record: 6-3 (66.7%)
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In what promises to be an interesting
matchup, Minnesota takes their one-game
momentum on the road to yet another AFC
South opponent in Tennessee. The Titans
come in looking to start 4-0 for the first time
in team history. Led by their great running
attack, combined with a stalwart defense they
will look to expand their lead in the division.
Minnesota comes in off a huge win, but now
they have to travel to the always tough LP
Field. Minnesota will have trouble establishing
their passing attack vs the 3rd-rated passing
defense in the league in Tennessee. Look for
the Titans to stack up the line vs Adrian
Peterson and their secondary to display their
great ballhawking skills. Kerry Collins will
perfectly manage the game for the Titans,
and extend their streak to 4-0 both straight
up and against the spread.
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Well, who can't beat the St. Louis Rams so far
this season? In fact I am pretty sure myself,
Kevin, Sean, Brendan, Jamie, and six other
guys hanging out on the corner could give
them a game. Scott "soon to be updating the
resume" Linehan now takes up the who gets
fired next watch spot vacated by Matt Millen.
The Rams come in 0-3 vs the spread, and
have lost 4 of the last 5 meetings with Buffalo.
Combined with Steven Jackson averaging 3.2
yards per carry, and Buffalo's 6th-ranked
defense giving up 93 yards per game on the
ground makes for a long day. Couple that with
the desperation move of the Rams to start
Trent Green to spark the offense is a
desperation play at best. I really like the
progression of Bills QB Trent Edwards,
combined with RB Marshawn Lynch, and WR
Lee Evans amazing 20.6 yards per catch
average. So, lay the points vs those same old
suck ass Rams.
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I have a feeling about going off the page on
this one, you know all the numbers look great
one way yet you decide to go the other.
Arizona comes into this game off a tough loss
in Washington, and decided to stay over the
week on the East Coast rather than fly home
and back for their tilt vs the Jets. To me that
really falls into the intangibles category, and I
have a feeling that Arizona will not be as crisp
due to being on the road for over a week. I
look for Jets QB Brett Farve to play, and also
to have a bounce back game vs a secondary
even Jason Campbell was able to hit up. Kurt
Warner will have a difficult time throwing the
ball, as Eric Mangini will look to mix up exotic
coverages, and use Kerry Rhodes in many
blitzing schemes. Look for a very close game,
but in the end it's time for Favre to stage one
of his classic comebacks on the New York
stage.
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Sean
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Green Bay Packers at TB Buccaneers (-1)
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Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Chicago Bears
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Denver Broncos (-10.0) at Kansas City Chiefs
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Packers +1
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Eagles -3
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Chiefs +10
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2008 Record: 5-4 (55.6%)
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I'm calling the outright upset. I know Green
Bay is minus some cornerbacks due to injury,
but Tampa Bay doesn't exactly have the best
passing offense in the NFL, and not even
close. Green Bay might struggle against a New
Orleans, but should be able stop Tampa. They
are still very good against the run, and Aaron
Rodgers has looked ten times better than
Brett Favre this year, and you could make the
case that Brett has better weapons to work
with in New York than he did in Green Bay. Bet
the moneyline on the Packers in this one and
get the extra cash.
Packers 24 Bucs 17
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Did anyone see that Philly defense last week?
They were nasty. What happens when that
pass rush plays against a young inexperienced
QB? Pretty obvious to me. It doesn't matter if
McNabb or Westbrook both don't play. The
Eagles are gonna roll in this one on the road.
Chicago's defense didn't look too great last
weekend against the Bucs, and like I
mentioned with my last pick, the Bucs dont
exactly have that high-powered offense. How
is this for a bold prediction? I am betting the
Philly defense/special teams outscores the
Bears offense in this one.
Eagles 23 Bears 3
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One word: rivalry game, and a hunch game. I
got burned picking KC last week, but this week
they are back at Arrowhead. Larry Johnson
looked pretty good last week. The KC defense
is pretty bad, but so is the Broncos. Get your
upset radar ready with this one, because this
one will be closer than you guys think. I am
high on Denver this year. Take a look at my
season predictions. I had them in the AFC
Title game. After this week I think they really
need to look at fixing their defense if they
want to contend with the big boys. Cutler is still
learning, he will make mistakes, and I predict
a couple this week. Kansas City will keep this
game close at home.
Denver 27 Kansas City 20
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Brendan
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San Diego Chargers (-7.5) at Oakland Raiders
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Buffalo Bills (-8) at St. Louis Rams
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Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5)
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Chargers -7.5
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Bills -8
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Ravens +5
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2008 Record: 5-4 (55.6%)
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Ok. So San Diego finally made me pay for
betting against them every week so I have
quickly learned my lesson and love them in
Oakland this week. Philip Rivers leads the
league in touchdown passes with 9 and seems
to be emerging as a franchise QB. Oakland
has a huge cloud hovering over the team not
knowing when and if their coach will be fired,
for all they know he could be fired at halftime
if they are getting blown out. The Chargers
are 9-1 in their past 10 ATS so lay the points.
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I know it's still early in the year but I think its
pretty clear that the Rams are the worst team
in the NFL. You could make a solid argument
that USC would give them a run for their
money on a neutral field. They are getting so
desperate to find a spark they have turned the
ball over to concussed Trent Green and on the
defensive side of the ball they cut one starting
DB and benched another one. It seems to me
like a bad team is just getting worse and
going up against a 3-0 Bills team that got a
scare last week from Oakland but fought back
nicely to get the W. Take the up-and-coming
Bills, who at this point you have to think have
a very solid chance of winning the AFC East
this year. The Bills are 4-1 ATS in their past 5
against the Rams.
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This last pick is strictly due to injuries and I
dont think the line has adjusted enough to
accomodate the magnitude of the losses the
Steelers have going into Monday night's
game. Willie Parker has already been listed
as inactive for the game and Big Ben was
already banged up going into Philly last week
and he got beat up worse than Peter McNeely
vs Tyson. I see a very low scoring game as
both D's are very solid against both the run
and the pass so it should be a one score
game so take the Ravens and the points.
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