Egads! It’s been over a week since my last post and all I’ve got are last week’s football picks that I never posted! I know I’ve been busy and all but geez, this is bad. Bad blogger!
As usual Ethan’s comments are in yellow and HOME TEAMS are in all caps.
DALLAS over Carolina - This is a tough game but I think the Cowboys will win because they need it more. On paper I think the Panthers have better players but they’ve wrapped up the division so they might take a step back intensity-wise. The Cowboys, on the other hand, are in a fight for their divisional title (such as it is) so I think they will be playing a little harder. Stephen Davis should struggle against a stout Dallas defense and I think Delhomme might struggle on the road and under pressure.
Agreed. Carolina is as overrated as an 8-2 team can be. The Redskins are not very good and the Panthers barely stole that game at home last week. Plus the Cowboys are coming off an embarrassing loss. I think they’ll be fired up and I think they’ll take Stephen Davis out of the game. I like the running game to be shut down, Delhomme to be brought back to earth a bit and the Cowboys to go to an unbelievable 9-2. PS, Mike I owe you $1. I bet him that the Cowboys wouldn’t get to .500. Oops.
San Francisco over GREEN BAY - Boy, is Favre in a slump. Over the past three games, he’s averaging 134 yards a game, 8.7 yards-per- ttempt, and his TD:TO ratio is 5:4. The reason the Packers have been competitive is because Ahman Green is averaging 148 yards/game. But Green’s always one play away from the shelf it seems. And here come the 49ers. Not a great team, but Tim Rattay has brought back the longball and, whattayaknow? Terrell Owens is a force again. Plus they have the #4 rush defense in the league. Even though its in Packerland, I like the 49ers big here. I think Jim Mora Jr. will take Green out of the game and dare the Packers to throw. Favre will have to shoulder the team and I don’t think his finger will let him. He has a broken finger in his throwing hand for crying out loud. Poor Brett. I hope this isn’t his last year.
Ooh! Disagreement! I’m with the Pack here. I don’t think Tim Rattay, as good as he has looked, can just waltz into Lambeau and take the win. True, the 49ers have looked their best this season with Rattay under center but I think mystique of Lambeau Field, and a healthy dose of Ahman Green, will carry the day. Favre may be the toughest player in the whole league and I bet he adjusts to his broken(!) finger this week and shoots the lights out.
New England over HOUSTON - I just can’t bet on Tony Banks. I don’t think for a second that the Texans would have won if Carr was healthy, the Patriots are too tough defensively. The Texans will have to lean on Jabar Gaffney in the passing game because Andre Johnson will be wearing Ty law as a jacket all afternoon and will be lucky to catch 4 passes. Domanick Davis should get his carries but I don’t think he’ll crack 100 yards against the 6th best rush defense in the league.
You have too high an opinion of Ty Law, I think. He’ll be playing somewhere else next year, but that’s mostly because of his cap number. But to this game. This one’s a gimme for me. The Texans are being built into a force. Charlie Casserly is making all the right moves to build a inner, starting with signing a winning coach in Dom Capers. This team is a clinic n How to Build a Team. But they’re still being built. Meanwhile, the Patriots are a legitimate playoff team and are competing for a first-round bye. I like the Patriots.
BALTIMORE over Seattle - I know, I know. I’m picking legit-QB-lacking Ravnens again. I was SO sure they’d be able to beat the hapless Dolphins last week, but they got blanked. But I believe. I believe that the 3rd- anked defense (#8 against the run) will cause problems for the country-crossing Seahawks. And I believe that Ray Rhodes’ 20th-ranked Seahwaks D will do something goofy like dare Billick to run. Anyways, this is my upset pick.
I’m with you on this one. The Seahawks have no confidence on the road. Matt Hasselback is like a Drew Bledsoe or Kerry Collins in that he gets nervous and inaccurate when he gets hit. I expect the Ravens to go after Hasselback early to rattle him and then let their highly-ranked rush D get a handle on Alexander.
PHILADELPHIA over New Orleans - I have been surprised to see how the Eagles have rebounded from their early season skid. This game will tell me if the Eagles are real or not. McNabb looks to be playing at the level he was expected to and Andy Reid seems to have found a game-breaking running back in Brian Westbrook. The thing I’m looking for is to see how the Eagles play against a team they should beat easily. If the Eagles walk (and that’s what I think will happen) look for them to be the team no one wants to play in the post season, assuming they make it that far.
Yeah, it’s the Battle of the Early Season Train Wrecks. The difference is everyone kind of expected it from the saints, while everyone was floored by the Eagles. When the two teams had mid-season resurgences, the Eagles were treated with a “Whew, that’s more like it” with the Saints it was more like “Huh. that’s different.” What I’m trying to say, without being too simplistic about it, is Eagles=Good, Saints=Bad. The Eagales seem to do everything right from the top down. Remember when the Eagles were blasted for letting Hugh Douglas go? Ten weeks into the seasom, Douglas gets his first sack for the Jaguars. Meanwhile, the Saints try to make the right moves and sometimes do (Deuce McAllister? Stud.). But they have more than enough bad ortune to offset the good. And a loser owner. Eagles win.
MIAMI over Redskins - I’m scraping the bottom of the barrell here, but there’s only one game this week between two winning teams, and we covered that one first. I’m reading all week about Patrick Ramsey not practicing and how the running game stinks. Tim Hasselbeck is likely to start this weekend and here’s where it gets ugly. Plus the game’s on the road and it’s against the Dolphins who are ready-made to embarrass the Redskins. They have a quality RB that can take advantage of Washington’s suspect Run D (#23). And don’t forget that the meanest O-Coordinator in the league, Norv Turner, knows a thing or two about the Redskins. The Dolphins will win this so handily that people will start to whisper that the Dolphins are back. They aren’t, but it’ll look like it this week.
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