“Son,” my father told me when I asked him about the upcoming
Eagles game, “I couldn’t tell you when, where, or against who they’re playing
this weekend.”

Woah

“And that’s the case for maybe the second time in since I
was nine. … Maybe.“

So yeah, Philly has been pretty focused on the reigning
champs – rightfully so, too, the team won the chip we’ve all missed so much for
so long – but the Birds are playing this weekend too (4 p.m., at Seattle,
against the ‘Hawks).  Sure, the Sixers
and Flyers have had a couple of games, but this will be the town’s first real
chance to see if we as fans can truly bounce back as victims.  I hope no.

As always, my pick will always be the first one listed. Home
team in caps, “over” if I’m picking a home team and “at” if it’s a
roader.  All lines as of Thursday morning.

Houston (+5) at MINNESOTA

I’m buying into the whole scheduling thing when it comes to Houston.  They can turn it around.

Jacksonville (-8) at CINCINNATI

I switched this pick just because I couldn’t stand to see ‘Cincinnati’ in the
winners column.  At this point I think
I’d rather lose with Jacksonville
than with the Bengals.

Tampa Bay (-9.5) at KANSAS
CITY

“Tyler Thigpen hands off to Kolby Smith for a gain of one”

Baltimore (+2.5) at CLEVELAND

This week’s ‘sneaky interesting’ game of the week.  Cleveland
has looked less-awful as of late – winning three out of their last four and
playing Washington tough – and BMore is coming off two wins of their own.  Cleveland
finally looks healthy (and unsuspended), but the Ravens are the pick off the strength
of Derek Anderson’s name.

In other news: the people want Troy Smith.

BUFFALO (-5.5) over New York Jets

Every year I pick on team to be own in Madden – I then run a
fantasy draft, make a few trades, and make them my own.  Inevitably, the real life version of that
team goes on to be awesome.  It worked
for the Pats before their dynasty started, and it worked for the Broncos before
that, it worked for the Bears during their Superbowl year, it worked for
Panthers, etc. etc. etc..  I’m bringing
this up because my team is year is the Toronto Bills, and it’s infuriating me
that they’re not becoming World-Beaters.  
Maybe I need to actually play the game once or twice.

ST. LOUIS (+3) over Arizona

St. Louis
has covered every week since Jim Haslett took over – maybe they’re a better
team than we all think.  Plus the
Cardinals aren’t any good – can’t tell me otherwise.

CHICAGO (-13) over Detroit

The line is too high, but I’ve already decided to bet
against Detroit
every week this season.  If vegas wants
to take advantage of that, so be it.

As an aside, you just have to love all the QB talk coming
out of Detroit.  When Dan Orlovsky was told that the Lions had
signed Culpepper he asked the reporters “The Bears signed Culpepper?”

When he was told that no, his team had. He responded “Oh.”
And then “no comment.” 

Meanwhile, their coaching staff has told the press that they
won’t “embarrass” second year quarterback Drew Stanton by playing him.  Good times.

TENNESSEE (-4) over Green Bay

Game of the week.

DENVER (-4) over Miami

Denver
is at home, coming off a bye and an embarrassing loss.   Combine that with the light Colorado air and the fact that Miami is 25^th in the league
against the pass and this one is a no-brainer.

Atlanta
(-3) at RAIDERS

I don’t like the fact that Sam Baker is down for the year,
but I like Tom Cable far less.

Dallas (+9) at NEW
YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS

NFC East games never seem to end up in blowouts, plus
everything about this game screams close game – with Romo out Dallas is going to be pounding the ground
game, and in the cold jersey air look for the Giants to return the favor.  I, like everyone, like the G-Men to win and
Dallas to cover.

New England (+6.5) at INDY

This game used to be awesome.

Pittsburgh (+2) at WASHINGTON

This one is a homer pick for me – I’ll be in Pittsburgh this Thursday
and would really prefer a happy
town.  If their team loses, there just
isn’t much else for the Steel
City to turn to.

Philly (-7) over SEATTLE

The Birds destroy bad football teams, which is bad news for
Senaca Wallace this week.

Last Week:      5 – 7 -
2

Season:            57 -
53 – 5

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at 1:57 pm and is filed under NFL picks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.