Last Week
Joe:7-7Aaron: 4-10
Joe: 55-36Aaron: 49-42
Seattle at San Francisco (Thursday)
Aaron: So, wait...you're telling me that home teams are4-1 on Thursday nights this season while my record for picking Thursday nightwinners is 1-4? If only there was apattern to be discerned from this. WhileI research this, I'll just pick my Thursday night winners based on the cuterhelmet. And, yes, it IS the same formulaused by Dwayne in the "Give Me Odds" episode of What's Happening!! --original air date, November 10, 1977. Pick: San Francisco
Joe: I know the "WTF NFC West?!" storyline is apretty easy one, but SERIOUSLY, THOUGH! Seattle's resume has the most dubiousvictory (though doesn't the replacement-ref scandal seem like ages ago now),and they have to share their Pats win with the Cardinals, while the 49ers havebeen kind of enough to remind us every three weeks or so that we tend tooverrate them due to their being the 49ers. This seems like a classic reboundgame though. Pick: San Francisco
Tennessee at Buffalo
Aaron: Within a span of six months,Buffalo fans endured the controversial goal by the Dallas Stars and theirbeloved Sabres in game six of the Stanley Cup Finals AND the "Music CityMiracle" loss by their Bills. Thisgoes a long way towards explaining Joe's recurring Brett Hull, Lorenzo Neal,Frank Wycheck and Kevin Dyson-related night terrors. Pick: Buffalo
Joe: By my self-imposed directive thatI should pick the Bills to beat bad teams and lose to good teams this season,my pick here should be elementary. The win at Arizona threw that off-balancelast week. Time to restore balance to the force. Pick:Tennessee
Baltimore at Houston
Aaron: 37-year-old Ravens LB Ray Lewissuffered a "complete triceps tear", but there's reportedly a chancethat he could be back on the field before the end of the season. Older athleteplaying at an all-pro level suffers grotesque exploding muscle injury and haschance at an expedited, heretofore medically-impossible recovery time. Even Barry Bonds is like,"C'mon, y'all...". Pick: Houston
Joe: A bit of underreported good newsfor Ravens fans this week, as Lewis's triceps injury was to his non-snitchingarm. Repeat: his non-snitching arm. Pick:Houston
Washington at NY Giants
Aaron: The Giants went into SanFrancisco last week and beat a very good 49ers team without QB Eli Manningputting up exceptional numbers. LikeLinus and the Great Pumpkin, I keeping waiting for that annual late-Octoberappearance from "mediocre Eli". I never know what to expect when the NFC East Mega-Powers explode andthis one feels like we'll be retroactively talking about how "...we should'veseen this loss coming..." for the Giants come Monday. Still... Pick: NY Giants
Joe: Here I am, shaking my head atpeople who refuse to accept that Eli has evolved. And yet, these NFC Eastmatchups steadfastly refuse to make sense. Could the Giants drop all threegames against their division opponents? I guess I'm saying yes? Pick:Washington
New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Aaron: Damned if I can figure out theSaints. But, they're coming off a byeweek AND get to play the second-worst pass defense in the NFL, so we can allmothball New Orleans' whole "riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in avest" description for at least one week. Pick: New Orleans
Joe: Tampa's just as much of anenigma, though. I'm not sure I love them as much as I did in their blowout ofthe Chiefs, but with the transitive property at work, KC beat New Orleans, sothe Bucs should beat them by at least 40 points!!! Pick: TampaBay
Green Bay at St. Louis
Aaron: So, the Packers that we've beenwaiting for all season finally showed up last Sunday in Houston and people areready to elevate them into the "team you DON'T want to play"pantheon? I like this match-up for theRams, actually. They've got a very good pass defense and...wait, Houston had agood pass defense, too. Pick:Green Bay
Joe: I think the Packers win, but it'sback to those unsatisfying "why isn't this a blowout?" wins. Pick:Green Bay
Arizona at Minnesota
Aaron: Cardinals QB Kevin Kolbsuffered a serious injury last week that involved two of his ribs separatingfrom his sternum. Between this and theconcussion epidemic, my young son will NEVER play football. He prefers pitching, anyway. You know what kind of injuries keep a pitcherfrom making a start? A blister. A"tired" arm. Et cetera. Pick:Minnesota
Joe: The NFC's two feel-good surpriseteams of the season get to beat up on each other for our amusement. Taking thehome team against a good defense. Pick: Minnesota
Clevelandat Indianapolis
Aaron: It's a little unseemly toattribute every Colts win as an inspirational effort for theirleukemia-stricken head coach, while chalking up the losses to the"pressure" of playing for their leukemia-stricken head coach. There's some truth on both sides, I'msure. Also true? The Browns areabominable. Pick:Indianapolis
Joe: It's important for a growingrookie QB to feed on slow-moving prey like the Browns in order to sustain himthrough the lean weeks. Pick: Indianapolis
Jacksonville at Oakland
Aaron: Interesting stretch for myRaiders with three winnable games over the next three weeks. I'm not ready toread anything into last week's near-miss in Atlanta. Oakland committed 12 penalties (after enteringthe game with just 10 penalties all season), RB Darren McFadden averaged just2.5 yards/carry, and QB Carson Palmer crapped the bed with a latepick-six. Yet, somehow this sh*tty Jagsteam has become a de facto gut check for the Raiders. Pick: Oakland
Joe: Weird seeing such support for acrappy team on the road against an inconsistent team. Not buying. Pick:Oakland
NY Jets at New England
Aaron: I understand how thehyper-critical, hyper-cynical 24/7 news thrasher is designed to pulverizeprofessional athletes, but the recent Tom Brady backlash by Patriots fans seemsunfair -- even by the standards of a fanbase that has hated on him at times forthe length of his hair and his home in California. He's old, you guys. He's just old. Pick: New England
Joe: I hate when I'm forced to defendTom Brady, but Cam's exactly right. This is a classic anger game where the Patslet their fans re-inflate their heads while their teams runs up the score.Pick: New England
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati
Aaron: How do these low-scoring,defense-first AFC North showdowns always seem to be featured on Sunday night orMonday night in primetime? It's excruciatingfootball that's filled with field goals and punts. It's pro football's answer to the league thatlets the pitcher hit. Pick:Cincinnati
Joe: Too true. Picking against thetrends here -- Pittsburgh is a team in decline, while the Bengals are going tobe maddeningly tough to shake. All NFL prognosticators make"reverse-psychology" as integral to their strategies as I do, right?Pick: Pittsburgh
Detroit at Chicago
Aaron: The Detroit sportswriters getto cover Yankees 3B/pariah Alex Rodriguez AND Bears QB Jay Cutler in the spanof about five days? How will Mitch Albomjuxtapose the two and turn it into another saccharine best-seller that'sperfect for Father's Day?! Pick: Chicago
Joe: Hate everything about Detroitthis week, from their awful quarterback to the dome-team-outdoors thing, to thefact that even their wins look like losses. But I'm not ready for the 5-1Bears. I'm just not. Pick: Detroit
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