CONTRIBUTOR
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GAME 1
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GAME 2
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GAME 3
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Kevin
2009 Record: 52.9% (27-24)
2008 Record: 63.3% (31-18-2)
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Ravens (-10.5) at Raiders
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Giants at Vikings (-7.5)
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Steelers (-3) at Dolphins
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Ravens -10.5
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Vikings -7.5
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Steelers -3
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The Ravens face a must-win situation against
the Raiders, who are still the league's most
dysfunctional franchise despite some
impressive wins this year (Steelers, Bengals,
Eagles, etc.). With a renewed focus on the
ground (109 rushes to 81 passes in the past
three weeks), Ray Rice and the Ravens
should be able to exploit the Raiders rush
defense that has allowed the most rushing
touchdowns in the NFL. The Ravens have beat
bad teams handily this year and week 17
won't be any different as I predicted a 31-10
victory at FootBaltimore.com.
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The Giants will be without Brandon Jacobs,
who's had a disappointing year. And Ralph
Vacchiano of the NY Daily News says of
Ahmad Bradshaw, "I don’t expect him to
play, but if he does I think you can expect
just a few carries for him..." Meanwhile, the
Vikings, who have lost three of their past
four games, need to win to clinch a first-
round bye and to establish some
momentum heading into the playoffs, which
should not be discounted.
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The Steelers have won two close games
against good teams and are possibly
building some momentum heading into a
playoff run. While they need some help to
make the playoffs, they need to take care
of business first by beating the Dolphins in
a 1 p.m. matchup. Hines Ward says he will
play and Santonio Holmes is on an
eight-game streak of 74+ receiving yards.
With an inexperienced Dolphins secondary,
the Steelers should be able to air it out. In
addition, Ricky Williams is questionable
with a shoulder injury.
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Dan
2009 Record: 54.0% (27-23-1)
2008 Record: 60.0% (30-20-1)
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Bears (-3) at Lions
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Titans (-6) at Seahawks
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Ravens (-10.5) at Raiders
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Bears -3
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Titans -6
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Ravens -10.5
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Happy New Year to all, and I hope to start off
with a bang and bring some winners to ring in
the New Year. Last week Jay Cutler gave the
performance all in Chicago have been waiting
for, while the Lions looked overmatched yet
again against the 49ers. The Bears are
looking to finish strong, and also Jay Cutler
will look to put this season behind him, but
not until he shreds the dead last ranked
defense against the pass at the end. The
Bears will look to go vertical, and they also
thumped the Lions earlier this year 48-24.
Chicago has also won 7 of the past 9
meetings with the Lions, and Detroit has gone
4-12 against the number in their past 16
home games. Detroit has also lost 14 in a row
Vs NFC Central foes, and that streak doesn't
have an end in sight. Look for a strong day
by Matt Forte, and also a good day for Cutler
who will look to turn the page in 2010 for the
monsters of the midway.
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Although this may be a meaningless game,
after all both teams have no playoff hopes
and most likely the car engines are running
in the parking lot. Both teams are coming
off tough games, the Titans were smoked
at home, and Seahawks were blasted at
Green Bay The Titans Chris Johnson has a
chance to make history, but having the
most rushing yards in a season, and also
to surpass Marshall Faulk for the most
yards from scrimmage as well. Seattle is
4-10 Vs the spread in their last 14 games,
and has missed the number 4 games in a
row. I like the matchup of Chris Johnson
going against the 25th ranked defense
overall, and 14th ranked rushing defense. I
would say Johnson will get to the 2k rushing
yard mark, but will fall short of Eric
Dickerson's record. Look for an inspired
Titans team to fight their way to finishing at
the . 500 mark, and for Vince Young to
have a great bounce back game.
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So the Black Hole has been a bit of a trap
for opposing teams this year, but it won't
be when the Ravens come calling to town.
For the Ravens it can't get much simpler,
win this game and you are in the playoffs,
and I know that Baltimore will run away and
not look back. The Ravens have lots of
history at their back, as they have won 5
out of the 6 past meetings, and are 2-0-1
Vs the number in their last three. The
Ravens have posted an astonishing 11-0
record Vs the spread when playing a team
with a losing record, and the Raiders are a
woeful 16-38-1 Vs the spread in their last
55 home games. I have to go with the
matchup of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee
going against the 29th ranked rushing
defense in the league, who also allows an
average of 150 yards per game. The
veteran leaders of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed
will not let the Ravens fail in their quest to
make the playoffs, and will establish their
will the whole day in Oakland.
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Sean
2009 Record: 53.1% (26-23-2)
2008 Record: 52.9% (27-24)
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Eagles at Cowboys (-3)
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Ravens (-10.5) at Raiders
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Bengals at Jets (-9.5)
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Eagles +3
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Raiders +10.5
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Bengals +9.5
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Dallas might be playing great football, but I
will take points in this rivalry every time. I
think Philly is the better team as a whole.
The X-factor for me this game is DeSean
Jackson. Dallas gives up the big play a little
more than you would hope for a playoff team,
and I think Jackson has two long scores this
week. Philly upsets Dallas 27-23
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Baltimore needs a win and they are in,
funny thing is that a lot of crazy things
usually happen towards the end of the
year. If Oakland can play spoiler this
week, it would be a successful season in my
book for the Raiders. Remember last year
when the Eagles needed like 4 teams to
lose to have a chance at making the
playoffs, I could actually see something
crazy like that this week. This will be
closer than people think.
Baltimore 20 Oakland 16
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The Bengals might not play a lot of their
starters the whole game, and have a real
simple gameplan just in case they play the
Jets the following week, but don't think they
will just lay down this week. This game
should be very low scoring as the weather in
NJ is going to be very cold/windy tomorrow
night. Give me the points here.
NY Jets 17 Cincy 10
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Jamie
2009 Record: 46.8% (22-25-1)
2008 Record: 55.1% (27-22-2)
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NO PICKS FROM JAMIE THIS WEEK.
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