Another goofy session of making picks here at IMLD, and here are the results of our giggling and brainfarting, er, brainstorming...
| KC (4-3) | 4 | Mia (0-7) |
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| KC | KC |
| NO (5-3) | 9 | TB (4-3) |
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| TB | TB |
| Atl (4-3) | 6½ | IND (0-8) |
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| Atl | Atl |
| HOU (5-3) | 10½ | Cle (3-4) |
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| Hou | Hou |
| BUF (5-2) | 2½ | NYJ (4-3) |
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| Buf | NY |
| SF (6-1) | 4 | WASH (3-4) |
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| Wash | SF |
| DAL (3-4) | 11 | Sea (2-5) |
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| Dal | Sea |
| TENN (4-3) | 1½ | Cin (5-2) |
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| Tenn | Tenn |
| OAK (4-3) | 7 | Den (2-5) |
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| Den | Oak |
| NE (5-2) | 9 | NYG (5-2) |
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| NY | NY |
| ARIZ (1-6) | 2½ | StL (1-6) |
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| StL | StL |
| GB (7-0) | 5½ | SD (4-3) |
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| SD | GB |
| Sun. Nite |
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|
|
|
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| PIT (6-2) | 3 | Bal (5-2) |
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| Pit | Pit |
| Mon. Nite |
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| PHI (3-4) | 9 | Chi (4-3) |
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| Phi | Chi |
Some of our thoughts and observations included:
- We're split on six games for the second week in a row, and it feels like we're destined to go 3-3 in those picks again, just like last week. Maybe we can at least get back to winning more of our common picks than losing them. We went 4-1-1 in Week 6 in common picks and 5-5 the next week, but lost more of them than we won last week. We start with both Jason and me liking Kansas City to follow up that wild Monday night win by covering a mere four points against the lowly Dolphins. Jason cites the Chiefs always being tough at Arrowhead Stadium or whatever corporate name is there now, and I cite the high improbability that Reggie Bush or Daniel Thomas turns in a running performance like what Bush did last week against the Giants, a game Miami still managed to lose.
- We'll take Tampa Bay to cover that nine at New Orleans despite the Saints looking for redemption off that bad loss in St. Louis and looking for revenge off that bad loss in Tampa. I said it last week--I'm not trusting the Saints against anyone who can run the fucking ball, and Earnest Graham broke 100 yards for the Bucs when they beat NOLA. Graham's out, but a better RB is back, LeGarette Blount, so we like Tampa to cover.
- We like Atlanta over Indianapolis because Atlanta's playing great football and Indy is playing the opposite of great football. I said this last week--the Colts are playing as bad as I can remember a team playing. In every phase, they're bad, really bad, Suck 4 Luck bad. Don't fire coach Jim Caldwell, give him a job in the front office for engineering a really shitty season and creating a path by which Andrew Luck can be drafted as Peyton Manning's heir apparent. Jason says the Falcons are like 1-16 lifetime against the Colts, and he liked what the Falcons were doing without rookie WR Julio Jones, who should return in this game. But he doesn't care, he still wants Atlanta. As for me, this is my lock of the week, but last week proved that Atlanta fans should now be worried.
- And we'll both agree to take Houston to cover the big number against Cleveland. I'm worried because Cleveland has a decent defense and may backdoor this number, but then I look at the Browns and wonder, how the fuck do they ever score points? Indy, Miami, Seattle--that's how the Browns won three games, if you're like us and baffled at how Cleveland comes in to this one at 3-4. The Texans are way better than those squads, even without WR Andre Johnson.
- Jason surprised me by differing with me on this one. He'll go with Total Fraud and the Jets to knock off the Bills in Orchard Park. Or, as Jay puts it, he's picking the Jets, and Mark Sanchez happens to be the QB, he's not picking Sanchez per se. Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Jason specified that he's taking the Jet defense to stop the Bills, and to that I respond, the Jets rank 25th in rush defense, and Fred Jackson and Buffalo rank 5th in rush offense, ripping off five yards per carry. The New York D ain't what it used to be. I'd probably go with Gang Green if they were. The Jets and Bills may go back and forth in a seesaw battle, but the Bills running may be the difference. That, and Buffalo is now 4-0 at home if you call Canada home while the Jets are 0-3 when traveling.
- I'm picking the Redskins to knock off San Francisco because SF needs an attitude adjustment, and I don't care who gives it to them, John Cena or Lex Luger. I was so turned off by watching the 49ers throw the rock around to linemen last week, as if throwing to regular WRs to boost their 31st-ranked passing game was just so passe. Someone needs to slap the shit out of them, and Washington and their 3rd-best sack defense may be just the team to do it. Jason will take SF gladly, and he wouldn't mind if Coach Insane wants to execute some wrestling moves of his own at midfield on the Skins coaching staff, and I would like to see that too. I just want to see him explode in anger after a loss rather than get all chesty after another win. And, was last week's shutout rock bottom for the Skins and the Shanahan Boyz? Do they have it in them to bounce back and turn their team around?
- We'll also differ on Seattle traveling to Big D. I believe the scientific descriptor Jason gave to the Cowboys was that they're "too stupid" to cover eleven points on anyone, plus he thinks the Seahawks can give teams a little fight. I guess I'm a little too enamored with Dallas RB DeMarco Murray, but he's still got that Cowboys rushing record from two weeks ago--I don't think they took that away yet--and he looked damn good last week against Philly, but the Boys couldn't stick to the run because they were behind so early. I don't think getting behind early will be a problem against Seattle, and I think Murray continues his impressive running. Guess we'll all find out if Seattle's stellar 3.2 yards per carry surrendered is legit or a product of their schedule.
- Apparently, we're not big believers in the Cincinnati Bengals, because we were both surprised that they were not favored to go into Nashville and win, and yet we're both taking Tennessee. Another scientific assessment from Jason: "Fuck Chris Johnson." Well put. I don't think we'll have to worry much about him, because it seems the coaching staff is ready to let Javon Ringer take most of the carries for now. Hopefully that will provide a spark for the Titans offense. Cincinnati's Cinderella carriage is about to take on some pumpkin seeds with a very tough schedule ahead of them, and maybe they get caught looking ahead here.
- Did Denver find a QB to look as bad as Tim Tebow? Maybe he'll be across the field this Sunday. Carson Palmer will be the starter for Oakland against the Broncos, and he's already pulling strings and getting jobs for his guys like T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Yeah, that was the problem in your first Raiders game Carson, you were missing Housh. I'm holding up to my promise to consider picking Tebow and the Broncos whenever I found a team Denver can run on, and Oakland fits the bill. I can't pick Denver to win, but certainly to cover. Jason can't get his mind past last week with all the "Te-blowing," as he called it, and he has to take Oakland over Denver because Tebow's just that bad. (Seriously, Jay, T-shirts! With Te-Blow all over them! And maybe some rather rude graphics too!) I was tempted to go with the Silver & Black because, well, Palmer can't fuck up bad enough to not cover against Tebow, can he? Then I thought about Palmer's most recent games, and I thought, yes, he can.
- We're both shocked that New England is favored by nine over the Giants for two reasons: 1, the Patriots have a defense that will let a high school team back in the game, and 2, the Giants showed how to beat the Pats a few years ago in something called the Super Bowl, and Eli Manning wasn't nearly as smart then, and this Randy Moss guy was on the field for New England. The G-Men are going to bust Tom Brady in the fuckin' mouth and pound him every snap until he's begging for his mommy. New York is missing some key players, which may help explain the line, but it doesn't matter. The Giants are only as good as their pass rush, and the Patriots are never good at defense, so give us New York to stay close.
- In one of the all-time Tidy Bowl® Crap Games of the Week, we can't imagine St. Louis putting together such an awesome, complete game against the Saints and then going to Arizona and losing to QB John Skelton. I'll admit that I'm afraid, though, because Skelton seemed to know nothing about playing the QB position at the end of last year except throw the ball deep up for grabs. And he didn't have Larry Fitzgerald to catch those throws because he was hurt. But we'll still stick with the Rams.
- And now for some of my twisted pretzel logic for why I'm picking San Diego to rebound from that Monday night embarrassment and upset the juggernaut Green Bay Packers: The Chargers are 3-0 at home, this is the time of year where they seem to get hot, the Pack may be cold coming off a bye, Philip Rivers has to be better than he has been, and he had to be thoroughly shamed at what happened Monday night and wants to redeem himself. It's time for San Diego to show what they got. They are a way better team than what they've shown thus far this year, and this is the right time to put it all together and make their annual push for an AFC West title. Jason's hearing none of my bullshit. He just knows that the Pack have made a habit of giving up FGs and coming back with TD drives, and giving up 3 to get 7 works.
- Another hard-hitting prime time Ravens-Steelers battle awaits Sunday night. The spread may be the traditional home team by three points, but we both think this is Pittsburgh's game by a lot. There's the revenge factor for what Baltimore did in Week 1, and there's Ravens QB Joe Flacco looking almost as bad as any QB in the league the last two weeks.
- Jason has a knack for nailing Chicago Bears nighttime upset wins, and he's going for it here in Philadelphia. Bears coach Lovie Smith is 4-2 as a head coach against Michael Vick, including knocking off the Eagles in Chicago last year when Philly was the hottest team in the land. There's something about Lovie's Cover-2 defense giving his guys a chance to look into the backfield at all times, so when Vick starts to run, they lock in on him and limit his mad dashes. Combine that with the Bears sorting out their playbook and going with more Matt Forte and less long dropbacks for the QB with a bad o-line, and Jay's got the Bears all the way. I just can't believe that a team could look as awesome as Philadelphia did last week and go right back to subpar play the next game. I don't think they can slow down Forte, but between rushing and throwing on the execrable Bears secondary, I think the Eagles can step right over Forte's production and keep producing monster plays of their own en route to a big win. Plus, what's QB Jay Cutler gonna do when Trent Cole and the rest of the d-line runs wild on him? What would you do, brother???
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