The National Football League: 2009 edition

No picks yet, but there are some great games this week. Baltimore at New England. Are you kidding me? This could well be a preview of the AFC championship game. The Ravens have looked great every game, the Pats have tended to slide by. Tough spread has the Pats giving 2. Man, I don't know, I like the Ravens to win this game. Are the Pats that much better than SD?

Cincy at Cleveland. The battle of Ohio should be a cakewalk for the Bengals this year. This is hard for me, because I remember two years ago the Browns were a dangerous squad. No defense, but the DA to Edwards connection put points on the board. Somehow it all went terribly wrong. Is Mangini the guy to turn it around? I wouldn;t think so, but I didn;t think the kid coach in Denver woudl be 3-0.

Buffalo and Miami somehow became hated divison rivals, although it is hard to think of two cities that would be more dissimilar. Maybe that is part of the rivalry. Somehow the Bills are 2.5 point favorites on the road against Bill Parcells squad. The injury to Finss QB Chad Pennington accounts for most of that. Can backup Chad Henne make up for skipping Matt Rayn in the draft? Or will this be a statement game for the Bills? Hard to say but I can't see the Bills giving 2.5.

The underachieving Steelers are 6 1/2 point favorites hosting the Bolts. This is a classic matchup of west coast finesse against coal country muscle, only these Steelers have yet to show the Super Bowl winning panache of last year. Phillip Rivers throws the best long ball in the game today, and the Steelers have not exactly been the Steel Curtain of yore.

The signature matchup of the week features GB traveling to the unfriendly confines of Minneapolis and taking on the Vikes of AP and #4. Make no mistake, this is the grudge match of all grudge matches. Brett versus Rodgers. Brett versus the Packers frontoffice. Brett versus McCarthy. Brett versus the chessehead nation, who for some unknown reason turned against their former hero. Whatever, the guy can still sell Wrangler jeans. For all the Brettness, this game may turn on the Vikes fearsome pass rush against the human pinanta, Aaron Rodgers. Go with the pass rush.

Great week coming up.
 
I wonder where the Minn/GB Monday night game will rank in terms of viewers all time for a Monday night football game? Gotta figure it will be close to the top.
 
This week's picks.

Baltimore at NE(-2). I may be crazy, but NE just has not seemed like itself this season. Baltimore has dominated. I'm taking the points. Ravens.

Cincinnati(-5.5) at Cleveland. Browns' players have reportedly filed a number( I believe it is 5) of grievances against Coach Mangini's harsh fines. Not a good sign. Giving the 5 1/2 here and taking the Bengals.

NY Giants(-9) at KC. I hate giving this many points on the road, but that's why they call it gambling. Giants.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears(-10.5). Vegas not giving Lions much respect after their home win against the Skins last week. What's interesting is that the Skins are 7 point favorites at home against TB. It's like last week didn't happen. Anyway, this spread is a little wide in my judgment, but I think Cutler will be able to exploit the Lions defense. The Lions were able to control the ball against the Skins, but I doubt they can do it against the Bears' defense. Give the points and take the Bears.

St. Louis at SF(-9.5). SF lost a tough game and starting RB Frank Gore against the Vikes. Easier test this week. St. Louis lost QB Marc Bulger last week, but he will apparently play. Give the guy credit. He mayt be in for another pounding. Lay the points here. Niners.

Dallas(-3) at Denver. Denver is 3-0. I doubt they will go 16-0. Dallas has too much talent on both sides of the ball, even facing a trip west after a monday nighter. Give the points. Cowboys.

I probably am playing too many games this week, but there seem to be an unusual number of interesting matchups. Some other games of interest.

TB at Washington(-7). Did the vegas guys miss the last two weeks Redskins games? the game where they were booed off the field by their own fans after squeeking by woeful St. Louis 9-7? The game that ended Detroit's 19 game losing streak in front of Dan Snyder and his new BFF Tom Criuise? The Skins score TDs like they have to pay huge fines for entering the end zone or even throwing passes into it. Actually, it is one of the few things at FedEx Field that is not overpriced. Against all that TB has established itself as one of the worst teams in the league, and things seem to be going downhill at an accelerating rate. I hope the Skins brass calls in additional security for this probable debacle because another ugly win or heaven forbid, a loss, could result in a riot. My advice to Snyder is take the chopper this week. You and the coaching staff may need it for a Saigon-style exit. No way I'm touching this game.

NY Jets at NO(-6.5). Basically the flip side of Washington-TB. Two teams that have produced nothing but success so far. NO's pinball game offense versus Rex Ryan's crazed blitz schemes. NO's formerly suspect defense against rookie QB Mark Franchez, or is it pronounced Sanchise? I like the Saints here but not enough to give the points against a Jets squad that has done everything asked of it so far.

SD at Pittsburg(-6.5). Spread seems rich to me, but Bolts seem to have some issues with injuries and don't travel too well.

GB at Minnesota(-3.5). I want to like the Vikes a lot here, but they were lucky to get past SF last week. GB has definite issues on their O line, but if they get them sorted out, they have weapons. This is the week to sort them out, because otherwise, they might be watching their backup QB. Despite the QB drama, this one will be decided by the big uglies up front.
 
Quote from R. Raskolnikov:

I wonder where the Minn/GB Monday night game will rank in terms of viewers all time for a Monday night football game? Gotta figure it will be close to the top.
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Too bad it's not at Lambeau Field. Very nice thread triple A !
 
TB @Wash -7......Wash
Balt @NE -2.5.........Balt
Jets @NO -6.5......NO
SD @Pitt -6.5........SD
GB @Minn -3.......Minn

I haven't put any money down yet, just have my eye on these 5 games. I'll probably narrow it down to 3 by Friday.

TB @Wash -7.......Washington was embarrassed on the road last week and TB is going to throw fresh meat at their problems in the form of a new QB.

Balt @NE -2.5.....Looks like we both like the Ravens to win this one outright, AAA.

Jets @NO -6.5....NO has a defense and a running game? This team might be for real, and they're playing at home. The rookie Sanchez gets his first loss this week. Hopefully he doesn't get knocked out of the game (QBs don't dive head first in the NFL for a reason, Sanchez)

SD @Pitt -6.5....I like Pittsburgh to win this one, but it will be close.

GB @Minn -3....Favre is playing against his old team at home and Minn only has to give 3 points? Am I reading that right?
 
Quote from 4444CJones4444:

TB @Wash -7......Wash
Balt @NE -2.5.........Balt
Jets @NO -6.5......NO
SD @Pitt -6.5........SD
GB @Minn -3.......Minn

I haven't put any money down yet, just have my eye on these 5 games. I'll probably narrow it down to 3 by Friday.

TB @Wash -7.......Washington was embarrassed on the road last week and TB is going to throw fresh meat at their problems in the form of a new QB.

Balt @NE -2.5.....Looks like we both like the Ravens to win this one outright, AAA.

Jets @NO -6.5....NO has a defense and a running game? This team might be for real, and they're playing at home. The rookie Sanchez gets his first loss this week. Hopefully he doesn't get knocked out of the game (QBs don't dive head first in the NFL for a reason, Sanchez)

SD @Pitt -6.5....I like Pittsburgh to win this one, but it will be close.

GB @Minn -3....Favre is playing against his old team at home and Minn only has to give 3 points? Am I reading that right?
More...

I watched the replay of the Jets-Titans game last night on the NFL Network. BTW, how great are those replays? They edit out all the commercials and deadtime, so the game takes an hour.

The Jets were very lucky to win. The Titans gift wrapped two TDs for them in the form of fumbled kicks. The titans offense looked like they had never seen a blitz before. I think Brees will make them pay if they try that on him. I'm still avoiding this game, but I feel better about the spread now. At first, I thought it was way wide, but I guess it is about right. NO will have to stuff the Jets run game, which the titans did pretty easily but they have a much better defense than NO. Too many moving pieces for me.
 
For week#4 NFL I like Saints -7 over the Jets amazingly one of these teams will be 4-0 also the Cowboys -3.

Seems that a lot of people like the SKINS this week the number started at -6 now its -8 too high for me to play this game.
Good Luck
 
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