My good friend Eagle One is sitting at home, enjoying a little bit of a rest today. He hopes to be back on the gun range by the start of next week, and let’s just all cross our fingers and hope that he’s feeling up to it.
While he may not be able to sit in the cruise for the next few days, he was able to send in his picks. Matty-boy actually made up a little ground on ol’ Rich last week. I suffered through an uninspired 8-6 week. My defense, the NFL is weird this year, and one of my losses was in OT, and the other happened on the final drive. That’s the difference between 8-6 and 10-4, and also what picking the NFL can be like this year. It’s not your average season. Teams simply aren’t the same from week to week. EO posted a 9-5 week, so he’s got that going for him, and not much more this week.
Rich: 78-39 (.667)
Matt: 68-49 (.581)
Kansas City at San Diego: The only reason that these Thursday night games even exist is to appease the higher-ups at the NFL and give them programming for the NFL Network. I’m a fan of NFL Net, and watch quite a bit, but if you’re going to force feed us a package of Thursday night games, couldn’t you at least schedule some entertaining ones? Are you going to be huddled around the TV tonight watching Cassel versus Rivers? Me neither. However, I do need to pick a winner, so give me the Chargers, only because I think that they stink less than the Chiefs do.
- Rich’s Pick: Chargers
- Matt’s Pick: Chargers
Denver at Cincinnati: Don’t look now, but the Broncos are red hot. Peyton Manning seems to have figured out how to employ the weapons he’s got, and — more importantly — Denver’s defense is starting to come around. I see this game a lot like the Bengals contest against Pittsburgh from a week ago. Cincy falls in love with its deep passing attack, which leads to far too many three-and-outs, and too many opportunities for the Broncos. Cincy can’t keep up with them in a shootout, but they’ll try to.
- Rich’s Pick: Broncos
- Matt’s Pick:Broncos
Cardinals at Packers: It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago that the Cardinals were the surprise team of the NFL and everyone was hopping on the bandwagon. There have been a lot of injured fans jumping off that wagon. The Packers are getting it together, and the Cards in Wisconsin don’t stand a chance.
- Rich’s Pick: Packers
- Matt’s Pick: Packers
Lions at Jaguars: Just when it seemed safe to completely write the Lions off, they stage a comeback against a decent Seattle team and pull out a win. Calvin Johnson is obviously not himself this year, too many dropped balls and not enough athletic plays. Still, Stafford had a good week last week and the Jags hardly strike fear into anyone.
- Rich’s Pick: Lions
- Matt’s Pick: Lions
Bears at Titans: Okay, this is me playing a hunch. The Bears offense has struggled and the Titans seem a little better than we’ve given them credit for. This could be the ugliest game of the week, but I’m going with the upset here and taking the Titans. You’ve been warned.
- Rich’s Pick: Titans
- Matt’s Pick: Bears
Panthers at Redskins: SuperCam against RG3, if nothing else this game could be very, very entertaining. Griffin is pretty advanced for a rookie, and Cam has regressed since the middle of last season. I’m going with the hot commodity.
- Rich’s Pick: Redskins
- Matt’s Pick: Redskins
Ravens at Browns: The Ravens were in desperate need of that bye, and that’s why I’m taking them here. I think with extra time to prepare for a team that is mediocre on its best day that the banged up Ravens will figure out a way to silence Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden. I know, I’m out on a limb here.
- Rich’s Pick: Ravens
- Matt’s Pick: Ravens
Dolphins at Colts: You know how you look at the schedule and wonder what might be a game that’s a lot more fun to watch than the marquee would indicate? Well, I do that. Here’s the winner. The Dolphins have been playing pretty decent football, and so have the Colts. I believe this is a close one, but the Colts will find a way.
- Rich’s Pick: Colts
- Matt’s Pick: Colts
Bills at Texans: Some beautiful plans showed up online this week for a prospective new Ralph Wilson Field in Buffalo. Totally state of the art, totally beautiful, spacious and spectacular. Just like the Bills hopes of winning this game, it’s a pipe dream.
- Rich’s Pick: Texans
- Matt’s Pick: Texans
Vikings at Seahawks: I give up. I can’t figure out the Vikings. They should be good, they have a great running game, one of the most dynamic receivers in the game, a strong pass rush, decent linebackers. Then they lose at home to Tampa. So they’re a tough group to gauge. I’m running with the home field.
Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
Matt’s Pick: Seahawks
Buccaneers at Raiders: Maybe Tampa is good? Oakland certainly isn’t a good team, but they’re okay at home. Another game that’s just a tough one to figure because the two teams involved seem schizophrenic. I’ll go with the Bucs and hope that the good Josh Freeman shows up.
- Rich’s Pick: Bucs
- Matt’s Pick: Raiders
Steelers at NY Giants: Here’s your marquee afternoon game. I’m going with the Super Bowl champs in a game that should be entertaining for a couple of reasons. One, the Giants seem to show up in big games, and this is one that fits that bill. Secondly, the Steelers have a hard time protecting Roethlesberger, and the Giants pass rush, when engaged, can be relentless.
- Rich’s Pick: Giants
- Matt’s Pick: Giants
Cowboys at Falcons: I made the mistake of picking against the streak last week, and it bit me. Not again. Until further notice, go with Matty Ice.
- Rich’s Pick: Falcons
- Matt’s Pick: Atlanta
Eagles at Saints: How bad is the Saints’ secondary? I’m glad you asked. They’re so bad that I’ve decided to start Michael Vick for my fantasy football team this week and pin my hopes of getting back above .500 on his shoulders. Yeah, the Saints defense is that bad.
- Rich’s Pick: Eagles
- Matt’s Pick: Saints
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
