Here are the picks for Week 4, which can't be worse than Week 3. Can it??
| NYJ (2-1) | 6 | BUF (0-3) |
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| NY | NY |
| PIT (3-0) | 2 1/2 | Bal (2-1) |
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| Pit | Pit |
| Sea (2-1) | 1 1/2 | STL (1-2) |
|
| Sea | StL |
| ATL (2-1) | 6 1/2 | SF (0-3) |
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| SF | Atl |
| Cin (2-1) | 3 | CLE (0-3) |
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| Cle | Cin |
| TENN(2-1) | 6 1/2 | Den (1-2) |
|
| Den | Den |
| NO (2-1) | 13 | Car (0-3) |
|
| Car | NO |
| GB (2-1) | 14 | Det (0-3) |
|
| GB | GB |
| Hou (2-1) | 3 | OAK (1-2) |
|
| Hou | Hou |
| Ind (2-1) | 7 | JACK (1-2) |
|
| Ind | Ind |
| PHI (2-1) | 5 1/2 | Wash (1-2) |
|
| Phi | Phi |
| SD (1-2) | 9 1/2 | Ariz (2-1) |
|
| SD | SD |
| Sun. Nite |
|
|
|
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| NYG (1-2) | 3 1/2 | Chi (3-0) |
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| Chi | Chi |
| Mon. Nite |
|
|
|
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| NE (2-1) | 1 | MIA (2-1) |
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| NE | Mia | |
Some of our thoughts and observations included:
- We were thrilled that our picks aren't exactly the same right down the line, because we saw last week how that worked out. We are also anticipating the Monday night affair, which will mark the first night game this season in which we have different picks. It's stunning that it took until Week 4 for that to happen.
- Buffalo is so bad at football that we have to swallow our pride and ride with Marky Mark Sanchez and the loudmouth Jets against the Bills. All signs point to jumping out on a limb and going with a Buffalo upset--Jets letdown after the two big division wins, no Darrelle Revis again, and Marky Mark can't have three straight good games, can he?--yet we're still sticking with Gang Green because the Bills just plain suck.
- The Ben Roethlisberger Benching Campaign has already begun. I've heard several reporters offer their opinions either hinting or outright saying that maybe Big Ben shouldn't automagically be the starter when he returns from the penalty box in a couple of weeks, seeing that the Steelers have been perfect without him. It's tempting, but not realistic. Unless Ben turns in two steaming piles of dung in his first couple of games, there shouldn't be any more outcry to keep him benched. Charlie Batch hasn't been quite that impressive that Pittsburgh needs his services even after Rapelisberger comes back. But we'll take ol' Charlie to make it 4-0 for Pitt against a struggling Ravens squad who couldn't cover 10 1/2 on the Browns last week.
- Speaking of struggling, that's what Jason did trying to pick Seahawks-Rams, which features two teams that he really doesn't like, kinda like Jets-Bills. He wound up going with boy wonder Sam Bradford and the Rams at home. Meanwhile, I had to take to the statistical page to help me with some of my picks because I sucked so bad last week that I needed extra guidance. And the stats say that the boy wonder is still only averaging 5.6 yards per pass attempt, which is horrible. Combine that with a possible missing running back (Steven Jackson may not play), and I'll take my chances with Seattle.
- Atlanta could really do some damage on Coach Psycho and the San Fran 49ers, and Jason is all over it, but here's why I'll pick the Niners to cover: They can't do any worse on offense now that they got rid of the old senile guy who couldn't get plays in on time. Plus, they should simplify things on offense with a new guy as coordinator, and that should mean more RB Frank Gore, and that could be huge for SF because the Falcons have given up an average of 5.1 yards per carry this season, which is horrible. I think Frank can keep it close.
- Now I done just lost my damn mind--I'm taking Cleveland to win a game! Jason couldn't pull the trigger even though they're playing the Bengals, who have not been impressive at all this year. QB Carson Palmer and the offense looks dreadful so far, even in a 20-7 victory last week. I will roll with the great Peyton Hillis over Cincy. If he can steamroll the Ravens D, imagine what he can do to the Bengals.
- And I'll take Denver to win as well. Jason is with me on covering the spread against the Titans, but I think they can go in to Nashville and get the win. Kyle Orton is putting together a monster year at QB, including outgaining Peyton Manning last week by a wide margin, and I have a hunch that he will pull out a late win on Tennessee, who I don't believe have the explosive offense to put up a large amount of points and fend off a late Orton rally. They can't rely on the Giants to melt down every game.
- And I'll take Carolina to win too. Wait, what? Hey, what the hell. The Saints can go up and down the field eating up yards at will, but they found a way to lose last week. Why not this week as well? I would think Carolina will take the opportunity in rookie QB Jimmy Clausen's 2nd start to take pressure off of him by relying on their big running attack and getting RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart going, and New Orleans is a nice defense to get your running game going against. Or I may just be fucking insane. This is what a 3-13 week does to you, folks.
- Okay, back to big favorites--Green Bay squoosh over the hapless Lions. Jason loves New Orleans and Green Bay for the same reason--disappointing division loss last week, bounce back and crush the opposition this week. I'll side with him on the Packers. The Lions just stink.
- So do the Raiders. It's a great time for Houston's vaunted offense to get back on track, especially RB Arian Foster, who has fallen back to the pack since that season opener against the Colts. Foster can rip this D as easily as he ripped Indy.
- We can't take Jacksonville to cover seven points at home against the aforementioned Colts because that's how bad the Jaguars have been. And boy, does Maurice Jones-Drew look done. Now, I've prematurely called someone's career and pronounced it over many times before. Jason can tell you all about how hard I argued to him back in 2003 or so that Carlos Delgado was DONE as a baseball slugger and that he shouldn't keep Delgado on his fantasy baseball team. The next year, Delgado hit something like 39 HRs and had a humongous season. So I'm real good at wrongly saying a player's best days are way behind him. But Jones-Drew isn't running the same at all right now. Whether it's because of injury or because he really has nothing left, it's hard to tell. But my opinion is that he's not good at football anymore, and that offense is putrid without him leading the way.
- The Game Of The Week has Donovan McNabb returning to Philly with his new team, the Redskins. I think he's going to get booed very loudly because he was very good but not a champion, and that makes all the difference. I think he would receive a mixture of cheers and boos had he led the Eagles to a title, but 5 conference finals and a Super Bowl appearance aren't enough to make Philly fans not hate you after your departure. I think he'll have a decent game, but Jason and I will take the Eagles to soar. How can you go against what Michael Vick has done since taking over?
- Despite keeping a close eye on LaRod Stephens-Howling, the Arizona kick returner, and acknowledging that the San Diego Chargers are likely to give up another special teams TD, we'll still take the Bolts to cover because the Cards are really bad. Back to my stats page: The Cardinals are averaging the exact same amount of yardage per pass attempt and per rush attempt. Jason's response to that little nugget: "That sucks, unless it's 10." It's not. It's 5.8.
- Now this pick is really scary. Jason and I both have the Giants to beat the Bears on Sunday night, but only by 3 points, which means we'll take the Bears to cover that 3 1/2-point spread. When we try to be this precise with our pick, it almost never works out. You've been warned.
- For Monday night, Jason really drove home the point that in a close division contest like this, with a spread of one point, which is basically a pick-em, you have to just go with the better team. And Jason believes, even after last Sunday, that the better team overall is the Dolphins. It's hard to argue how bad New England is defensively, but I can't buy them being so bad that they make Chad Henne and the Miami offense measure up to Tom Brady and the Pats O. Miami let Marky Mark and Braylon Edwards hook up for yardage in the air last Sunday. What's going to happen when Brady and the Straight Cash Homiez invade South Beach? And my secret weapon in this game is BenJarvus Green-Ellis running for big yards against Miami's front line, making the secondary start to play the run and opening up the field for Brady. Then the better of the two teams will definitively be revealed.
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