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The Philadephia Eagles are like an abusive girlfriend. Eagle One, Rhino and myself would like nothing more than to completely separate from the so-called “Dream Team” and just be done with it. Yet, somehow, someway we keep coming back to them when it is time to put in the picks. The three of us all called for a Philly win on Thursday night, and we all took it on the chin. I tweeted out our picks, at @Capenews_Rich (you really should be following me), with this “For our picks contest, me, Eagle One and Rhino all are taking the Iggles tonight. I have a bad feeling about that.”

My inner Han Solo was dead on. I knew Seattle was the play, but couldn’t get past what should be, and deal with what really is.

Of course we all got this one wrong just a few hours after EO said that we’ll have to pick against the spread next year because this is just too easy picking winners. I swear, sometimes you know what’s going to happen before it does. I fully expect that EO’s on his way to a 5-11 week (let’s hope at least), he’s already 0-1.

Standings: Matt: 39-8; Rich: 38-9; Rye: 32-13.

Tennessee at Buffalo: The Bills circled the wagons, minus the unfathomable Fred Jackson, last week and played their little hearts out before a couple of un-clutch drops by Stevie Johnson late in the game cost them a chance to stay alive in the AFC East. The Titans, on the other hand, seem to have convinced Chris Johnson that he should play hard after getting his money and that they still have a chance, which they do. Since Tennessee needs it more, I’m going with the Titans. If they go 4-1 from this point they could make the playoffs.

Rich Picks: Titans

Matt Picks: Titans

Rye Picks: Bills

Kansas City at Chicago: Can’t you hear the promos now “Palko … Hanie … it’s the Chiefs and the Bears, on CBS.” Both teams can be passed on, but each has pitiful QBs. Both teams stop the run, and these are run-based offenses. This is the early leader for ugliest game of the week, and I think the Bears will find a way to kick one more field goal in a 9-6 final.

Rich Picks: Bears

Matt Picks: Bears

Rye Picks: Bears

Atlanta at Houston: You have to feel for the Houston Texans’ fans. Since the team moved to town it’s never made the playoffs. This year it seemed that the Texans had finally put it all together and were one of the AFC favorites, until the owner of the Houston Voodoo doll decided to wreak havoc on the QB situation and take down Schaub and Leinart. Now it’s on to some kid named Yates who had never played before last week. The Hawks, on the other hand, hardly seem impressive, but are piling up wins week after week. They’ll add another one this week and we’re all going to be saying “how the heck is Atlanta 8-4?”

Rich Picks: Falcons

Matt Picks: Falcons

Rye Picks: Texans

Oakland at Miami: This week’s strangest stat I found is this. The Miami Dolphins are 3-8 for the season, yet have scored more points (212) than they have allowed (206). Say what? The Dolphins are showing a feisty side we didn’t think they had. Oakland is in the driver’s seat in the AFC West and even though Miami will hang tough, I’m going with the Raiders.

Rich Picks: Raiders

Matt Picks: Raiders

Rye Picks: Raiders

Denver at Minnesota: You would not believe the argument I got into over Tim Tebow the other night. My friend Ronaldo believes “Tebow sucks,” I of course am pro-Tebow. We went back and forth with this heated discussion for about 45 minutes. I claimed he was in the top half of the league’s QB’s, he said he was one of the worst.

Since it’s a forgone conclusion I’m taking Denver, here’s the list of starting quarterbacks that are worse, in my opinion than TT: Vince Young, Caleb Hanie, Christian Ponder, Josh Freeman, Tavaris Jackson, John Skelton, Sam Bradford, Matt Moore, Colt McCoy, TJ Yates, Blaine Gabbert, Whoever is starting for Indy this week, Tyler Palko and, wait for it, Phil Rivers (the way he’s playing now).

That would make Tebow QB No. 16 o 32, right in the middle of the league. I realize he throws an ugly ball, when they allow him to huck it, but right now he’s winning games and making good decisions. That’s a recipe for starting in this league, and keeping your job.

Rich Picks: Broncos

Matt Picks: Broncos

Rye Picks: Broncos

Indy at New England: Vegas opened the line on this one at 21 points. If I were putting money down I’d have no problem giving up 3 TDs to Indy this weekend. Would you?

Rich Picks: Patriots

Matt Picks: Patriots

Rye Picks: Patriots

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh: The Red Rocket, Andy Dalton, has been fun to watch this year and gives Cincy fans reason to be pretty pumped about the future. Still, the Bengals are not ready to go on the road and win at Pittsburgh. With 5 games left, they’ve got a schedule that says 3-2, with losses to Pitt and Baltimore. That would put them at 10-6, and make them a wild card team that no one will want to play.

Rich Picks: Steelers

Matt Picks: Steelers

Rye Picks: Steelers

Carolina at Tampa Bay: Wow, this is a tough one. My first thought was to say TB, but then I thought that SuperCam might find a way. I’m going with my initial thought because Tampa is 3-3 at home, and Carolina is just 1-4 on the road. It’ll be ugly, but the Bucs get it done, 24-23.

Rich Picks: Buccaneers

Matt Picks: Panthers

Rye Picks: Buccaneers

NY Jets at Washington: The Redskins just befuddle me. I thought they were dead in the water, and then they go into Seattle and play awesome. The Jets need this one, but if we know anything at all, it’s that the Jets never make things easy on themselves. Washington will make it a game, but somehow keep their playoff hopes alive.

Rich Picks: NY Jets

Matt Picks: NY Jets

Rye Picks: NY Jets

Baltimore at Cleveland: Come on. There’s no way that the Browns beat Baltimore. Right?

Rich Picks: Ravens

Matt Picks: Ravens

Rye Picks: Ravens

Dallas at Arizona: For some reason the Cards always seem to give Dallas a good game. Dallas finds itself in the driver’s seat for the NFC East, and I think they’ll get over this speed bump.

Rich Picks: Cowboys

Matt Picks: Cowboys

Rye Picks: Cowboys

Green Bay at NY Giants: The G-Men are sinking fast. Their schedule has been really tough, and since beating the Patriots on the road they’ve gone south in a big way. Maybe they are the team that finds a way to end the Packers’ perfect season, but I think not. Green Bay has responded to every challenge and I see them putting a hurting on the Giants, who are coming off a short week.

Rich Picks: Packers

Matt Picks: Packers

Rye Picks: Packers

St. Louis at San Francisco: If I picked the Rams I think my bro Elias would jump on a cross-country flight just to slap me across the face. With a newborn at home I will keep him in place and go with his superb 49ers team, who have had 10 days to prepare for the hapless Rams.

Rich Picks: 49ers

Matt Picks: 49ers

Rye Picks: 49ers

Detroit at New Orleans: If you’re a fan of defense this is not your game. New Orleans is ramping up right now and they looked downright awesome against New York. With Suh not in the lineup for the suddenly reeling Lions, the Saints keep it going.

Rich Picks: Saints

Matt Picks: Saints

Rye Picks: Saints

San Diego at Jacksonville: Both of these teams are pretty horrible right now. With a new Head Coach trying to figure things out, I don’t like the Jags’ chances. San Diego is better, but they’re not good.

Rich Picks: Chargers

Matt Picks: Chargers

Rye Picks: Chargers

You know I love going to someone else’s house for the holidays because it is so stress-free. You bring a side, or dessert, and then gorge yourself. We host Christmas at our house every year, and let me tell you, it’s more stressful than waiting in line on Black Friday for 1 of 5 $199 42-inch 1080 flat screens in the days leading up to it.

The only downside is that this year I am absolutely and completely leftover free. No turkey sandwiches, or Tetrazini or soup. No green bean casserole, no stuffing. That part stinks.

For the record, we did pick the Thanksgiving Day games, I just couldn’t get them up online in time, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Matt and myself both picked the 3 winners, and Rye went 2-1, he liked San Francisco.

With a tremendous 12-1 week last week, Eagle One nudged ahead of me by a single game. He’s now 25-6 overall, I’m 24-7 and Rye is a respectable 22-9.

This week’s picks …

Vikings at Falcons: Normally this is a slam dunk, but with Adrian Peterson out of action for this one, I just don’t see how it’s even competitive. The Falcons roll.

• Rich Picks: Falcons
• Matt Picks:Falcons
• Rye Picks: Falcons

Browns at Bengals: Cleveland has a way of keeping games close, partly because they make teams play ugly, almost as ugly as they play. It won’t matter, the Bengals bounce back and keep pace for a wild card spot.

• Rich Picks: Bengals
• Matt Picks: Bengals
• Rye Picks: Bengals

Buccaneers at Titans: Tampa has underperformed and been spastic all season long. The Titans are still in the hunt, and are a decent home team. Some how, some way, Titans win a close one.

• Rich Picks: Titans
• Matt Picks: Titans
• Rye Picks: Titans

Panthers at Colts: If ever there were a game that the Colts were going to win, this would be the one, right? Naah. SuperCam will have fun in this one.

• Rich Picks: Panthers
• Matt Picks: Panthers
• Rye Picks: Panthers

Cardinals at Rams: Having to sit through this one would be punishment. These two teams are just a mess. Arizona is 1-5 on the road, and the Rams are 1-4 at home. I’m going to go with the Rams, and regret it.

• Rich Picks: Rams
• Matt Picks: Cardinals
• Rye Picks: Rams

Buffalo at NY Jets: The Bills are officially done. It was fun while it lasted, but now with their best player, Fred Jackson, done for the year, it’s going to get ugly. Jets need to win, and the will.

• Rich Picks: NY Jets
• Matt Picks: NY Jets
• Rye Picks: NY Jets

Houston at Jacksonville: Under normal circumstances this is a slam dunk, but having to play Matt Leinart at QB is hardly normal for Houston. With Andre Johnson coming back, and Arian Foster still in the fold, the Texans still have enough.

• Rich Picks: Houston
• Matt Picks: Houston
• Rye Picks: Houston

Chicago at Oakland: Thank God that the NFL didn’t got to 18 games, we’d be watching UFL players by the playoffs. Another starting QB went down, in Jay Cutler, and with it the hopes of the Bears to have a chance to be a major player in the playoffs.

• Rich Picks: Oakland
• Matt Picks: Oakland
• Rye Picks: Bears

Redskins at Seahawks: I just haven’t a clue. The Seahawks have a great home field, and you never know which Washington team is going to show up. They’re going coast-to-coast, so give me the Seahawks.

• Rich Picks: Seahawks
• Matt Picks: Seahawks
• Rye Picks: Seahawks

Patriots at Eagles: The Pats’ defense has been getting better, and they’re facing Vince Young. I’ll take that.

• Rich Picks: Patriots
• Matt Picks: Patriots
• Rye Picks: Patriots

Broncos at Chargers: It might cost me the contest, but I’m riding this Tebow thing for all it’s worth. The Chargers are heading south quickly, and the Broncos find ways to win.

• Rich Picks: Broncos
• Matt Picks: Chargers
• Rye Picks: Chargers

Steelers at Chiefs: We all saw what the Palko era is all about for the Chiefs, and it ain’t close to good.

• Rich Picks: Steelers
• Matt Picks: Steelers
• Rye Picks: Steelers

NY Giants at New Orleans Saints: The Saints in night games are almost automatic. The city is alive and the team feeds off it, and they say that alcohol is a depressant. New Orleans will win a track meet.

• Rich Picks: New Orleans
• Matt Picks: New Orleans
• Rye Picks: New Orleans

So as we head to the big part of Week 11, Rich holds a slight lead over Matt and Rye for first place, but it’s way early to worry about that. So far I have gone 11-4 (Thank you Tim Tebow and the Miracles) while both Rye and Matt are 10-5.

Speaking of Eagle One, our fearless public servant had himself quite the night this week. While patrolling Route 3 late at night he was called to the scene of an accident, a common occurrence in his line of work unfortunately. He believed that there was a fatality when he arrived on the scene, but thankfully not of the human persuasion.

A motorist had struck a deer. After attending tot he person behind the wheel, shaken but otherwise okay, he went to the road to check on the animal, which showed no signs of life. Now had my brother been there, he probably would have been thinking about how to strap that buck to front of his truck to get it home to make some jerky. Eagle One, though, wanted to clear the highway.

He circled it quickly, and then briefly looked away. All of a sudden Bambi opened its eyes and kicked him lightly. Needless to say EO was caught off guard. According to him he nearly had to call in a “code brown” over the radio. I’ll leave it to your imagination to figure that one out.

Since Matt had such a scary week, I’m letting him do the analysis.

• Rich Takes:Packers
• Matt Takes: Packers
• Rye Takes: Packers

• Rich Takes: Lions
• Matt Takes: Lions
• Rye Takes: Panthers

• Rich Takes: Jaguars
• Matt Takes: Browns
• Rye Takes: Jaguars

• Rich Takes: Raiders
• Matt Takes: Raiders
• Rye Takes: Vikings

• Rich Takes: Bills
• Matt Takes: Dolphins
• Rye Takes: Dolphins

• Rich Takes: Dallas
• Matt Takes: Dallas
• Rye Takes: Dallas

• Rich Takes: Ravens
• Matt Takes: Ravens
• Rye Takes: Ravens

• Rich Takes: 49ers
• Matt Takes: 49ers
• Rye Takes: 49ers

• Rich Takes: Rams
• Matt Takes: Rams
• Rye Takes: Seahawks

• Rich Takes: Hawks
• Matt Takes: Hawks
• Rye Takes: Hawks

• Rich Takes: Bears
• Matt Takes: Bears
• Rye Takes: Bears

• Rich Takes: NY Giants
• Matt Takes: NY Giants
• Rye Takes: NY Giants

Kansas City at New England: Do you have to ask?  A rookie coming into Foxboro for his first start.  Pats D will look good for second straight week.

• Rich Takes: Patriots
• Matt Takes Patriots
• Rye Takes: Patriots

So in Week 1 of the Super Contest between Eagle One, Rye and myself not too much was determined. EO and myself each went 10-4, Rye was 9-5.

Here’s our take on Thursday Night Football.

NY Jets at Denver: Back and forth I’ve gone on this one. Part of me thinks the Jets are going to come to town and make Tim Tebow look really bad, but then again the Broncos are just finding ways to get it done and are 3-1 with TT as the QB.

I’m going with the Broncos because they run a crazy offense that the Jets have not had much time to prepare for, on top of having the late game on Sunday night, and getting hammered there. I’ll probably regret it, but I’m going with Denver.

Rich Picks: Broncos
Matt Picks: Jets
Rye Picks: Broncos

So it appears that I’m going to have to get a primer into mixed martial arts and UFC-styled fighting. Falmouth High grad Taylor Pimental is going to be entering the world of MMA fighting in the next couple of months, taking on his first amateur bout either in the late winter or early spring, and it’s a big story that I will certainly be covering.

I’ve never cared for this style of fighting. Maybe it’s because when it first was introduced, 10 or 15 years ago, it seemed too barbaric. Every time I saw it there was tons of blood, carnage really. Noses were sideways, and the bouts just seemed like car wrecks.

On Wednesday night I headed over to the gym where Pimental trains. It’s an out of the way little nook where several fighters get together a few nights a week and pound on bags and targets with fantastic violence. Leg kicks exploded with audible cracks. Punches dented the bags and as soon as they expanded back to normal the dents were replaced by a bigger one.

Pimental has potential. He’s 6-3, 210-pounds and athletic. He’s got a motor and his coaches believe in him. At first look, in street clothes, he’s got a bit of a frat boy kinda of look, but when you see him in his element, working like a freak in the gym you can see what might be. It’s a long shot whenever you talk about professional athletics, but maybe he’s got what it takes to make the UFC big time.

Either way, he’s going to turn pro in the next year or so, and have some amateur fights along the way. I’m going to have to learn a little something about this sport.

Anyone that’s read my blog with any consistency over the past few years knows that my best friend is also my biggest nemesis. He goes by the moniker Eagle One, you know to protect his state government ID, and he works in a car, that’s all I can tell you. We’ve been best friends for nearly 20 years, and have spent most of that time making fun of one another and laughing at the other’s expense.

So the dirty bird thinks he can out-pick the NFL against me, even though I’ve picked winners at a clip of .692% for the year, although last week I did have my first non-winning week, going just 7-7 (hey, everyone’s allowed an off day now and then, right?). For the year my record is 90-40, but I’m going to push that to the side and start over at 0-0 so we can go head to head down the stretch. We are going to pass on the Thursday night game of this week, basically because we both forgot that we should have picked that one too.

Matt believes he’s going to win our contest handily, but obviously he’s having delusions. “I’m going to drop you like third period French,” he said. I think he’ll turtle, like the French.

To make things even more interesting, I’ve added a wrinkle into the mix. My 9-year old son, Rye, loves the NFL and watches games with me every Sunday. He loves the Red Zone Channel and his favorite team is the Patriots. He loves Tom Brady, Deion Branch, Rob Gronkowski and The Law Firm. His favorite players not on the Pats, to watch on TV, are Aaron Rodgers, Frank Gore and Matt Schaub, at least this week. He said he’s going to win the contest because “I’m smart.”

Without further adieu, here are our Week 10 predictions …

New Orleans at Atlanta: For me this game comes down to one guy above the rest, and it isn’t either one of the quarterbacks. When Michael Turner has it going, the Falcons are very tough to beat, especially sine he opens things up nicely for Roddy White and Julio Jones. Atlanta seems to have found their mojo over the past few weeks and this is a huge game in the division. I think Turner has a big day against a New Orleans defense that has underperformed quite a bit.

• Rich Picks: Atlanta
• Matt Picks: New Orleans
• Rye Picks: Atlanta

Steelers at Bengals: If you had Cincy at 6-2 at this point, well you’re a better man than me. The Bengals have been on the upswing, but let’s take a closer look at their schedule. The only really good teams they faced were San Fran and Buffalo (they split those 2, with a close loss to the 49ers and a closer win over Buffalo), and since they’ve had a cakewalk of a slate. This is their first of 2 against Pitt, and I just don’t see them slowing down the Steelers, who are going to be pretty mad after losing on Sunday night.

• Rich Picks: Pittsburgh
• Matt Picks: Pittsburgh
• Rye Picks: Pittsburgh

Rams at Browns: Is there an uglier football team in the NFL than the Cleveland Browns? They just play the worst games, and they make their foes do the same. St. Louis looked like the worst team in the league over the first half of the season, but they showed something against New Orleans a couple weeks back and the addition of Brandon Lloyd helps them a lot. St. Louis has playmakers, and I will go with that alone.

• Rich Picks: St. Louis
• Matt Picks: St. Louis
• Rye Picks: Cleveland

Buffalo at Dallas: The Cowboys are good at home, awful on the road. This game is in Dallas, and the Bills are not quite as good as they led us to believe they were early on. Ryan Fitzpatrick has slipped back to earth and the Cowboys do a decent enough job against the run and will keep Fred Jackson from killing them. Dallas needs to win this one at home, and I think they will.

• Rich Picks: Dallas
• Matt Picks: Dallas
• Rye Picks: Dallas

Jaguars at Colts: Indy believes … in Suck For Luck. I have not picked them to win a game this year, and I will not.

• Rich Picks: Jacksonville
• Matt Picks: Jacksonville
• Rye Picks: Jacksonville

Broncos at Chiefs: I believe in Tim Tebow. Some weeks that makes me look great, and others it makes me look stupid. He looked pretty good last week against an Oakland team that is much better than this KC team. I’m riding the Broncos. (note: Matt and I are on polar opposites of the Tebow debate, so his pick comes as no surprise).

• Rich Picks: Denver
• Matt Picks: Kansas City
• Rye Picks: Denver

Redskins at Dolphins: The crappiest game on the slate may also be the toughest one to pick. Miami looked like it had a heartbeat last week, while the Redskins looked pretty bad, well except for Roy Helu (who would have won me my fantasy game had he not been on my bench. Who knew about Helu?). I’ve gone back and forth on this one, and have come back to this. Miami won last week, and they’re a pretty bad team. They’re going to have a letdown here and lose to the Skins.

• Rich Picks: Washington
• Matt Picks: Miami
• Rye Picks: Washington

Cardinals at Eagles: Arizona is a bad football team, and the Iggles are still capable of making a run to the postseason, but they have to win this one, and just about every one that follows. They’ll get this one.

• Rich Picks: Philly
• Matt Picks: Philly
• Rye Picks: Philly

Houston at Tampa Bay: Houston right now would be your top seed in the AFC playoffs, and they’ve done it without Andre Johnson. Thank goodness the year is not 2012, or that would just confirm all end of the world scenarios. I’m going with the Texans, they’ve just gotten the job done consistently all year long.

• Rich Picks: Houston
• Matt Picks: Houston
• Rye Picks: Houston

Titans at Panthers: These are the types of games that make picking the NFL a mystery sometimes. Carolina keeps in games, but finds ways to lose them at the end – which I think will end in year 2 of the SuperCam experience, he’s the real deal. Tennessee is a mystery unto itself, not to mention Chris Johnson. I’m totally rolling the dice and going with Tennessee, and I don’t feel that good about it at all.

• Rich Picks: Titans
• Matt Picks: Carolina
• Rye Picks: Carolina

Ravens at Seahawks: Seattle just stinks, and the Ravens have that look of a team that could kill everyone in the postseason.

• Rich Picks: Baltimore
• Matt Picks: Baltimore
• Rye Picks: Baltimore

Detroit at Chicago: Now this is going to be one fun football game. The Lions have not been the same since Jahvid Best went down a few weeks ago. They can’t run the ball at all, not that they ran it all that great with him, but he was a good safety valve for short passes. The Bears stunned me, and quite a few people, with their showing against Philly on Monday Night. I’m going the upset route and taking them against Detroit.

• Rich Picks: Chicago
• Matt Picks: Detroit
• Rye Picks: Chicago

NY Giants at San Francisco: San Fran wins and wins, even though they don’t seem all that good. Harbaugh has found the right mix with Alex Smith and Co. and I’m going to take them, plus there’s always that East Coast team going West thing at work. Give me the 49ers.

• Rich Picks: San Francisco
• Matt Picks: San Francisco
• Rye Picks: San Francisco

Patriots at Jets: I just don’t see the Patriots dropping 3 in a row. I know the Jets defense is good, but Sanchez isn’t. The Pats will find a way on the road and all will be right with the world.

• Rich Picks: Patriots
• Matt Picks: Patriots
• Rye Picks: Patriots

Minnesota at Green Bay: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I will not pick against an undefeated team before it loses.

• Rich Picks: Green Bay
• Matt Picks: Green Bay
• Rye Picks: Green Bay

Last Week: 9-4

Overall: 83-33 (.715 percent)

It’s been a week of craziness, one where free tickets to the Bruins ended up costing me close to $500 in the long run, but more on that later in the week.

I’ve been doing well in the NFL picks, and next week we are going to be bringing in our friend Eagle One to join the competition. He seems to think that he’s smarter than me when it comes to the NFL, and the gauntlet has been thrown. I would have had him join this week, but we just upgraded our blog software and weren’t sure if it would be ready for Sunday.

On to week 9

NY Jets at Buffalo Bills: You have to love the Bills resurgence, and the fans are going nuts up there. The Jets could easily be under .500 and I think the Bills may just be for real this year, even though I just traded away Ryan Fitzpatrick in my fantasy league. Let’s ride the home team and hope the Bills are able to outscore the Jets. Bills win a tight one.

Seattle at Dallas: The Cowboys are a headache. They should be so much better than they are. I’m going to throw in with Dallas because I just have no faith whatsoever in Tavaris and company. Dallas by a TD.

Atlanta at Indianapolis: The Falcons keep Indy off the board.

Miami at Kansas City: I said it last week, the Chiefs are better than you think. They don’t have to be to win this game, though. KC by double figures.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans: The Saints are going to be ticked off. Coming off of a putrid showing in St. Louis I think that Drew Brees and the boys are going to light up Tampa today. NO by a lot.

San Francisco at Washington: Oh the poor Redskins. They’ve lost most of their playmakers and now start John Beck at QB. San Fran is rolling, and that continues.

Cleveland at Houston: You need to score to win games, and the Browns can’t score. They are an ugly team that plays ugly games, so it might be close for a while, but the Texans pick up their 6th win here.

Cincinnati at Tennessee: This one is going to be close, but I’ve got a feeling that Chris Johnson wakes up today and the Titans get it done.

Denver at Oakland: I give up. I have no idea which Denver team shows up, so with that said I’ll go with the Raiders and just not watch.

NY Giants at New England: The David Tyree Bowl, of course Tyree was pumping gas earlier this week before ESPN and every other media outlet dragged him before the cameras to do countless retellings of the the luckiest catch in NFL history. The Pats don’t lose at home, and won’t today.

St. Louis at Arizona: Every week there’s at least one game that I’d pass on if given free tickets to go to, and airfare and accomodations, and this is the one this week. I guess the Cardinals, but they’re both so bad it could end in a tie. AZ wins 12-9.

Green Bay at San Diego: The Chargers just aren’t as good as we thought they were and the Packers are awesome. Ride the undefeated teams I always say. Green Bay keeps it going.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh: This is going to be a physical, low-scoring game. The Steelers win based on the home field, and they have the better quarterback and more playmakers. Pitt, 20-13.

Chicago at Philadelphia: The Eagles are finally playing like we thought they would. Shady McCoy is a darkhorse MVP candidate, and he’ll have another big game as the Eagles close in on .500 with a blowout win at the Linc.

Last Week: 10-3

Overall: 74-29 (.718 percent)

Okay, I almost forgot to get these up. It happens. Saturday I usually do them, but we had our Fall Ball title game (Landfall lost, ugh) and then family stuff and prepping for the nor’easter. Sunday morning I had to go cover the Marathon, and realized as I pulled into my driveway that I hadn’t posted these yet. So with no thought at all, here are my week 8 picks.

New Orleans at St. Louis: Nice to have a layup to start with. Saints win with no problems at all.

Miami at NY Giants: Hey, another lay-up. Giants in a rout.

Jacksonville at Houston: Jax is playing great defense right now, but they can’t score. Arian Foster is showing why he was just about every fantasy league’s top pick heading into the year and he’ll do enough here. Texans win.

Arizona at Baltimore: If I could pick the Cardinals to score negative points I’d think about it. Baltimore will destroy the Cards.

Minnesota at Carolina: The year of the Rookie Quarterback. Let’s roll with Cam Newton over Christian Ponder. Panthers.

Indianapolis at Tennessee: Glad I don’t have to watch this game. Titans by several scores.

Detroit at Denver: As stated earlier this week, I’m all-in with Tebow. With a banged up Stafford, no Best and Tebow doing his thing, I’m going with the upset and taking Denver.

Washington at Buffalo: Even in Toronto I think the Bills will enjoy home field and take down a hurting Redskins team. Buffalo wins.

Cincy at Seattle: Picking Cincy on the road is a hard thing to do, but I’m going to do it here. The Seahawks are just not good. Cincinnati by a field goal.

New England at Pittsburgh: Patriots have Pittsburgh’s number, home or away. I’ll stick with that trend and go Pats by a TD.

Cleveland at San Fran: Alex Smith is an MVP candidate, cover your head and stop the sky from falling on it. 49ers by a lot.

Dallas at Philly: The game of the week. Can’t wait for this one. I think Shady has a big, big night and the Eagles comeback continues.

San Diego at Kansas City: Another upset pick for me. I think the Chiefs might be better than we give them credit for and the Chargers haven’t excited me at all. Let’s go Chiefs in a Monday night classic.

Tebowmania is sweeping the nation, and I’ll admit it, I’m all in.

I understand the naysayers, I really do. There are plenty that don’t dig his uber-clean persona and aww shucks attitude. Others love to tear apart his unorthodox throwing style and poor statistics, but admit it, there’s a lot more to Timmy T than just numbers on the page.

Going back to his days at Florida all this kid has done is find ways to win football games, period. It may not always be pretty — heck, sometimes its downright ugly — and with the style that he plays its rarely going to be by the book, but he gets the job done.

Down 15-0 in the fourth quarter against Miami the chances that the Broncos win that game are so small that it’d be hard to set a line for. Vegas bookmakers would have gladly given you 100-to-1 without blinking. But he found a way to lead the team back, its just what Tebow does.

As the fantasy stat line crawled by around 3 PM that afternoon I saw that he was something like 4-for-9 for 28 yards. That tells me right there that his coach was afraid to put the game in his hands and was trying to just let Tebow manage rather than quarterback like Tim Tebow.

When you’ve got this guy at quarterback you cannot run an offense similar to the Green Bay Packers, it won’t work. Tim Tebow isn’t about finding his fourth read, or looking off the safety to beat the Tampa Two. He’s not a classically trained pianist, he’s more of a jazz man, a improvisational genius.

He throws the ball strangely, and he’s going to make mistakes. You have to know that you’re going to get some bad with the good, and he doesn’t always pull off the miracles — remember that 2010 title game? — but the good far outweighs the bad with No. 15.

In 13 career appearances, most of which have been spot duty here and there, his completion percentage is still under 50-percent (58-for-119, 48 percent, 894 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT). Those numbers aren’t great, but they’re not that bad either. Yes, he needs to hit on more of his passes, but he has yet to be allowed to really find his groove as a passer. I think he will eventually become at least an average thrower of the football, and his running skills are what take him to the next level.

With his feet he makes things happen. He’s averaged about 5.5 carries per game, and has turned that into an average of 5.5 yards per carry. He’s found the end zone 7 times, which means that out of every 8 or so times he tucked and rushed he’s found pay dirt. Not bad, huh.

As he becomes a more competent thrower, he should become more dangerous as a thrower. Defenses will have to respect his arm more, which will open things up for the running game.

And then there’s the intangibles, the things you can’t take to Footballoutsiders.com and run through a computer. His teammates seem to believe in him. He’s got leadership skills that are off the charts. If you jumped in Doc Brown’s Deloreon and traveled to 2050 and came back to tell me that the United States is flourishing under President Tebow I would not be surprised whatsoever. He’s not only the guy you want in the fox hole with you, but he’s the one you want barking out the orders.

Putting football aside, he’s also the type of guy that you want to root for. He seems very genuine, and as a Christian I enjoy the fact that there is a role model I can point my kids to and show them that he’s there. Heck, there’s only one football jersey that I’d buy for my son Rye that didn’t have the flying Elvis or Pat Patriot on the sleeve and it comes in those ugly midnight blue and orange colors with a 15 on the front.

Tebow is good for the National Football League. He’s polarizing. You love him or hate him, but you have to watch him and he demands that you have an opinion on him. My opinion is that he’s a good thing, and worth rooting for.

Last Week: 9-4

Overall: 64-26 (.711 percent)

So it’s Saturday night, and I realized that I haven’t posted my picks yet, so I had to get on it. This week could be ugly for me. I’m fighting off sleep, and losing the battle.

We used free tickets today to visit King Richard’s Faire in Carver, and followed that up with my nephew’s 2nd birthday party. That’s a long Saturday if there ever was one.

I enjoyed my first visit to King Richard’s, for the most part. The thing is, I’m one of those people that starts to do the math on how much money they’re clearing and it’s just mind-boggling.

My math is probably off, but let’s figure this out quickly. They’re open 8 weekends, two of which are holiday weekends. That’s 18 days of business. They’ve got to average, at least 1,000 patrons per day. That’s at least 18,000 visitors, and I know I’m being conservative. At $27 per adult visitor, that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $486,000 on attendance alone. Now when we figure in all of the memorabilia and the food — which is about the same as Fenway Park — we’re talking big, big dollars. Not bad work for just 2 months out of the year.

The shows were pretty good. The costumes were fun, although there are certainly people that didn’t seem to get the whole Renaissance thing. I mean, Captain Jack Sparrow? Why not just dress up as a Stormtrooper while we’re at it? I will say I did enjoy seeing the St. Pauli’s Girl at nearly every turn, and there were a few visual wardrobe malfunctions here and there.

On to week 7′s games.

Seattle at Cleveland: I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think the Seahawks might not be that bad after all. I’ve got a feeling, and I’m taking Seattle.

Atlanta at Detroit: Tough one to pick here. No Jahvid Best is bad news for Detroit, but they still throw it all over the place. Atlanta hasn’t been good on the road, so I’ll take the Lions to rebound (and because I saw a Liger today at the Faire).

Houston at Tennessee: Man, tough games to judge this week. Houston is finding ways, and the defense has been solid. I guess I’ll take the Texans.

Denver at Miami: Two teams that are really, really bad. I’m all-in on Tebow right now, so give me the Broncos, especially with the extra week to prepare.

San Diego at NY Jets: New York really, really needs to win this game. San Diego is a west coast team coming east for a 1 PM game, things are stacked up well for New York, so I begrudgingly will ride them.

Chicago at Tampa Bay: Like I said, tough week to pick. Tampa’s at home and looked pretty good last week. Let’s go with the Bucs.

Washington at Carolina: Two quarterbacks with a lot to prove. I can’t get behind John Beck yet, so let’s go with SuperCam and the Panthers.

KC at Oakland: The Chiefs have an experienced quarterback, the Raiders had to go out and trade for Carson Palmer now that Campbell’s hurt. Too much unsettled for the Raiders, so we’ll go with the Chiefs.

Pittsburgh at Arizona: The Steelers look like they’re getting it figured out, the Cards are pretty bad. Steelers win.

St. Louis at Dallas: It looks so easy to take Dallas here, and I will. My inner Han Solo keeps saying I’ve got a bad feeling about this, but whatever, Romo and the Boys.

Green Bay at Minnesota: Ride the undefeated team. Green Bay wins again.

Indy at New Orleans: Think maybe NBC is wishing they could flex games already? New Orleans in a rout.

Baltimore at Jacksonville: Well, at least Ando doesn’t have to waste his Sunday worrying about his awful Jags. Instead it’s Monday night this week, and the Ravens put the smack down on Jacksonville. Ravens in a blow out.