Week Nine NFL Picks-The Upstarts Are Making Their Presense Known

The NFL season is headed into the back stretch. It is good to see some new upstarts leading the pack going towards the playoffs. Will these new presumptuous contenders be able to keep up their winning ways and if and when they finally reach that playoff pinnacle, be able to dislodge deeply entrenched playoff greats like Green Bay, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and New England, assuming they will acheive it? Detroit is on a bye this week. Buffalo faces defensively tough New York Jets. Cincinnati will be hosted by Tennessee.

Buffalo is riding high in the hotly contended AFC Division. They have been winning games with their offense. The Bills ace-in-the-hole is Fred Jackson. Jackson has been doing it all, running, catching, and scoring. I hope he continues putting up huge numbers because he is one of my fantasy players. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been steady with 14 passing touchdowns thus far this year. It is somewhat humorous he has five interceptions in the games he has won and only two in those he has lost. Go figure. He will be facing a Jets defense that goes after quarterbacks, so he will have to be on his toes and rely on the toes of Jackson. Keep you eye on the bouncing ball.

The Jets cannot afford to lose another game. The obvious key to preventing that from happening, their defense will have to control Jackson. Recently, a tire on my car has been annoyingly losing air and every morning it would be half flat. The only way to remove that annoyance was to plug the hole up.
When it comes to the run, the Jets defensive line have been like that leaky tire and the only way to stop Jackson is to plug the hole. Good luck with that one.

Shonn Greene will have to match Jackson yard for yard, score for score. Accomplish that, and then it will come down to Fitzpatrick verses Sanchez, Yosemite Sam verses Elmer Fudd. Which one is better at hitting their target?

Tennessee is neck and neck with Houston. Matt Hasselbeck has been carrying the Titans while Chris Johnson has not been playing up to potential. When Hasselbeck has a bad game, the Titans lose. That pretty much is an obvious conclusion. Johnson faces a tough front four of the Bengals defense. If he has a breakout game, it will be a surprise.

Andy Dalton and A.J. Green are building into a deadly combination. Green will be matched against a physical cornerback in Cortland Finnegan. Dalton may have to find an alternative target, but I am sure he will be looking for that one opportunity for the big play to Green. Like Tennessee, Cincinnati's running game has been a tade weak. Cincinnati's true test will come when they play divisional rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Two games to watch this weekend are Baltimore at Pittsburgh on Sunday vevening and Chicago at Philadelphia on Monday night. The Baltimore at Pittsburgh game will be defensively brutal. There will be alot of head banging in this one with Lewis and Polamalu. Roethlisberger and Wallace have become a formidable tandem. They seem to hook up at least one time each game for the big yard buster and touchdown.

Philadelphia is coming off a decisive win over Dallas. The Eagles offensive line opened up holes for LeSean McCoy and gave Vick the time to do his work of inflicting damage on the opponent's secondary. On the other side, Matt Forte has been putting up large numbers and Cutler has been avoiding the costly mistake. The Eagles surmounting task, take Forte out of the equation. Its anybody's guess.

Sunday November 6
Time (ET)	Visiting Team	Home Team	TV	Weather	Tickets
1:00 pm	New York Jets	Buffalo Bills	CBS		Buy Now
1:00 pm	Seattle Seahawks	Dallas Cowboys	FOX		Buy Now
1:00 pm	Cleveland Browns	Houston Texans	CBS		Buy Now
1:00 pm	Atlanta Falcons	Indianapolis Colts	FOX		Buy Now
1:00 pm	Miami Dolphins	Kansas City Chiefs	CBS		Buy Now
1:00 pm	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	New Orleans Saints	FOX		Buy Now
1:00 pm	San Francisco 49ers	Washington Redskins	FOX		Buy Now
4:05 pm	Denver Broncos	Oakland Raiders	CBS		Buy Now
4:05 pm	Cincinnati Bengals	Tennessee Titans	CBS		Buy Now
4:15 pm	St. Louis Rams	Arizona Cardinals	FOX		Buy Now
4:15 pm	New York Giants	New England Patriots	FOX
4:15 pm	Green Bay Packers	San Diego Chargers	FOX		Buy Now
8:20 pm	Baltimore Ravens	Pittsburgh Steelers	NBC		Buy Now

Monday November 7
Time (ET)	Visiting Team	Home Team	TV	Weather	Tickets
8:30 pm	Chicago Bears	Philadelphia Eagles	ESPN		Buy Now

Week 4 NFL Picks-Will The Former Losers Continue To Be Winners

A change of scenery is good. It's refreshing. It's engaging. It gives the eyes a different perspective and challenges the senses. The scene of the NFL maybe under going a change. Although Green Bay, New Orleans, New England, and Pittsburgh are familiar landmarks, it is good to see former downcasts like Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, and Oakland entering as possibles in the playoff scene of NFL football. And, one thing this young season has shown us is the top choices are all very vulnerable. So, with this welcomed change the picks should get more difficult. I was 12-4 in Week Three.

Buffalo's offense has been a running and passing juggernaut and going up against Cincinnati should not change that. It's a good thing because the Bills are seriously lacking a defense. If their offense should faulter, the door may open for the Bengals, who must strike quickly to take advantage. In order for Cincinnati to have even a remote chance of making it a competition, their running game with Benson must be relied upon or hope their better defense can force a mistake deep in Buffalo territory. Buffalo has been playing smart ball. Just look at how they kept Brady from getting back on the field in the last minutes of play.

Detroit will be tested this week in confused, don't know what I am supposed to do Dallas. Maybe, the Dallas offense should all wear detailed diagrams on their wrists, showing exactly where they are supposed to be on any given play. Or better yet, on each down Tony Romo should do it the old fashioned way in the huddle and draw on their jerseys where he wants each one of them to go. If Dallas achieves some resemblance of order on their offense, the Lions will have their hands full. It could be the battle of the tightends or the slaughter of the quarterbacks.

Cleveland was fortunate in their meeting with the Dolphins. Two great catches was all they needed and realistically was all they had all game long. Peyton Hillis will be back on the field and should have an impact on what the Browns will do. Protecting Colt McCoy from the blitz will be crucial or it will be a long day for the Browns in the negative, but the presense of Hillis should keep the Titans off balance. And what can you say about a team who loses to the Jaguars one week and beats the Ravens the next. The Titans have been a surprise and are dangerous, even without the dominant running game of Chris Johnson. Tennessee has been defensively good. All in all, the Browns and Titans look eerily similiar. Cleveland, get Joshua Cribbs involved, he is the trump card in this game.

Darren McFadden has been shredding opponents defenses and New England's defense doesn't look to be an exception. New England will go to the run more against an Oakland defense that has been giving up yardage on the ground, which will also take some of the heat off of Brady. It is highly unlikely Brady would have two weeks in a row where his picks equal his touchdowns. Ball control and time of possession will be key for Oakland, keep McFadden on the field and Brady off.

SUN, OCT 2	TIME (ET)	TV	RESOURCES	LOCATION
Detroit at Dallas L	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Cowboys Stadium
Carolina at Chicago W	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Soldier Field
Buffalo at Cincinnati L	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Paul Brown Stadium
Tennessee at Cleveland L	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Cleveland Browns Stadium
Minnesota at Kansas City L	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Arrowhead Stadium
Washington at St. Louis W	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Edward Jones Dome
New Orleans at Jacksonville W	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	EverBank Field
Pittsburgh at Houston W	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Reliant Stadium
San Francisco at Philadelphia L	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Lincoln Financial Field
NY Giants at Arizona W	4:05 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	U of Phoenix Stadium
Atlanta at Seattle W	4:05 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	CenturyLink Field
Miami at San Diego W	4:15 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Qualcomm Stadium
New England at Oakland W	4:15 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Denver at Green Bay W	4:15 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Lambeau Field
NY Jets at Baltimore W	8:20 PM	NBC	Tickets | Travel	M&T Bank Stadium
MON, OCT 3	TIME (ET)	TV	RESOURCES	LOCATION
Indianapolis at Tampa Bay L	8:30 PM		Tickets | Travel	Raymond James Stadium

The Curious Case Of An Inept Cleveland Browns-Lose to Buffalo 13-6

The weather wasn't as bad as expected, but the Browns were worse. Still in the hunt for a playoff spot, although remote, Cleveland played their most disappointing game of the season. They were riddled with inept ball handling and presented a subpar second half offense. The game was never for the Browns out of reach of winning, but the goal line was out of reach, not even scoring one time. Late in the fourth quarter Mohamed Massaquoi was wide open going down the right side, but a break down in the protection of Delhomme caused his pass to fall short and it was intercepted, thus thwarting what could have tied the game. End of game, end of story.

Peyton Hillis figured to be dominant in this game. Hillis did have a hundred yard effort running for 108 yards. His efforts were overshadowed by three fumbles, one of which occurred at a key moment shortly after Buffalo turned over the ball with a mistake of their own on their end of the field in the first quarter. Jake Delhomme only had a total of 86 yards of passing and threw one interception with no touchdowns. Hillis seemed to be his primary target again and Watson only caught one pass through the whole game. Jake only averaged a little over 4 yards per completion and compiled only two first downs passing. That pretty much sums it up as to what went wrong, no offense. Defensively the Browns hung in there and provided a gift for the offense, a gift they squandered. The gift was a Fiztpatrick fumble caused by a Chris Gocong sack that put the ball on the 25 yard line of the Bills. Hillis returned the gift on the very next play. Thanks but no thanks.

The Bills offense could only muster up one touchdown, but that is all they needed. Fred jackson had a good day running with 112 yards. Ryan Fitzpatrick spread 142 yards between 7 receivers. David Nelson caught an 11 yarder for the only score for the Bills. Ryan Lindell kicked two field goals to account for the other 6 points. The Bills were happy to get this win when considering all the close games that haven't gone their way all season long.

Joshua Cribbs was again unexplainably missing from the offensive scheme, not even used to return kickoffs. He was thrown to only once and ran the ball once, which almost ended disastrously. The Browns have been sidelining a key element in Joshua Cribbs. The Browns are lacking the long ball threat where Cribbs could be used and have abandoned something that worked quite well last year, the wildcat offense. I am not saying Mangini should rely on the wildcat, but he should be incorporating it at key moments. I am not saying Mangini should be going long all the time, but at least do something the opponents aren't expecting because judging by past performances, they certainly don't expect the Browns to go vertical. Mangini needs to unleash the offense or maybe he lacks confidence in his own offenses capabilities. You have to do what you have to do to win, or has he given up on this season?

Week 14 NFL Picks-Things Are Beginning To Take Shape

The Patriots dominated and handed the Jets, who were playing on borrowed time, a reality check. Ben Roethlisberger showed some nifty moves and sent the Ravens packin' after a brutal divisional confrontation. Dallas continued their revival defeating the Colts, while Peyton Manning imploded again. Oakland Raiders ravaged the inconsistent Chargers with a relentless running attack. Minnesota is a different team with Sidney Rice back on the field as demonstrated in the Vikings butt-kicken on the Bills. Chicago survived a scare from the continue-to-find-ways-to-lose Lions.

I was 12-4 for Week 13, my best week yet. As I looked the schedule over for Week 14 there could be some surprises on hand, especially in this bizzaro season of the NFL. Green Bay is playing Detroit and shouldn't take it lightly because sometime, some game everything will fall in place for the Lions, for once. Aaron Rodgers continues with the hot hand and Donald Driver showed he still plays with the enthusiasm of a young bull. Brady looks comfortable behind his offensive line and has a potent arsenol to draw on, add to that the running of Green-Ellis and the addition of Woodhead. The Patriots will be tested by the Chicago defense and if they prevail, there will be no stopping them. Baltimore will be breathing fire after their loss to the Steelers, so watch out Houston, there is hell to pay. Opportunity knocks for the Colts this weekend. They are playing the discombobulated Tennessee Titans. Totally frustrated Peyton Manning will be looking for redemption after 8 interceptions in two weeks.

Games of interest this week are Miami at NY Jets, NY Giants at Minnesota, Oakland at Jacksonville, and Cleveland at Buffalo. Miami is coming off a horrendous loss to Cleveland. Both Henne and Sanchez made some bad decisions in their previous outings, but that can happen to the best of them. Miami needs to go back to the wildcat or use Ricky Williams more. The winner of this game will be decided by the run and defense. The Giants offense has been plagued by mistakes, but somehow finds a way to win through their pass rushing defense. The Giants and Vikings are matched in the running game. It has not yet been decided whether Favre will be playing. If he does play they may be carrying the Iron Man out on a stretcher this time, maybe. Protection will be key for both quarterbacks. Jacksonville is now in control of the AFC South. Maurice Jones-Drew continues to steamroll opponents, which is Oakland's weak spot on defense. Oakland has a running attack of its own, but the edge goes to Jacksonville at quarterback and defensive takeaways.

Heavy snow has hit the Buffalo area this week and the weather for Sunday looks like a mix of rain and snow. Good ole football weather, got to love it, wouldn't have it any other way. The Bills and the Browns are teams that play in the elements, always have. The Bills have lost some tough games. Their record is not the true reflection of  their efforts. Buffalo is weak on the run, so that fact and the weather may play into the Browns strength, Peyton Hillis and Ben Watson. The Browns have been living off the short game with Jake Delhomme and it seems to work. The Browns defense has been opportunistic in crucial moments with picks, but will need to pay attention to Fred Jackson.

Mangini, get Joshua Cribbs more involved any way you can. Go for the long ball a few times, an aspect sorely missing. A winning team must be able to go vertical. You may catch Buffalo off guard since they will be loooking for the run or the quick hit. It's the perfect set up and the Bills won't be expecting it.
 
THU, DEC 9 TIME (ET)
Indianapolis 34 at Tennessee 15 8:20 PM NFL W
LP Field
SUN, DEC 12 TIME (ET) TV
Cleveland 24 at Buffalo 20 1:00 PM CBS L
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Cincinnati 23 at Pittsburgh 27 1:00 PM CBS W
Heinz Field
Green Bay 26 at Detroit 24 1:00 PM FOX L 
Ford Field
NY Giants 23 at Minnesota 24 1:00 PM FOX L
Mall of America Field
Tampa Bay 20 at Washington 23 1:00 PM FOX L
FedEx Field
Atlanta 30 at Carolina 17 1:00 PM FOX W
Bank of America Stadium
Oakland 22 at Jacksonville 24 1:00 PM CBS W
EverBank Field
Seattle 20 at San Francisco 17 4:05 PM FOX L
Candlestick Park
St. Louis 20 at New Orleans 28 4:05 PM FOX W
Superdome
Miami 23 at NY Jets 21 4:15 PM CBS W
New Meadowlands Stadium
Denver 18 at Arizona 24 4:15 PM CBS W
TU of Phoenix Stadium
Kansas City 24 at San Diego 27 4:15 PM CBS W
Qualcomm Stadium
New England 30 at Chicago 23 4:15 PM CBS W
Soldier Field
Philadelphia 28 at Dallas 20 8:20 PM NBC W
Cowboys Stadium
MON, DEC 13 TIME (ET)
Baltimore 20 at Houston 13 8:30 PM W
Reliant Stadium

Browns and Bills Mesmerize the Spectators

How is it possible for a team to win a game when its quarterback ends up with a 15.1 rating and 2 for 17 with a total of 23 yards? The amazing Browns pulled off the impossible with a mind boggling 6-3 victory over the Bills who need to hang their heads in shame for losing. Trent Edwards was 16 for 31 and 152 yards supported by a 145 yard ground game.

Cundiff basically won the game with the help of Jamal Lewis and Joshua Cribbs. I have asked this before and I am asking it again, why isn't Mangigi using Joshua Cribbs more strategically in the running game and more in the WR position? Week after week he produces more offense than anyone on the team.

Let's see, out of 59 minutes and 37 seconds both offenses could only produce 6 points. Electrifying! I am glad I wasn't at this game. Or maybe I am looking at it the wrong way. Maybe the defenses were so dominating the offenses couldn't get off their butts or the bench. Kudos to the defensive coordinators, razeberries to the offensive coordinators. Or maybe, and this is only speculation, both teams were partying the night before and were just too tired for this one.

The Browns came off a good effort the week before against the first place Bengals, even though they fell short in overtime. Things were looking a little brighter in Brown's country. Then yesterday's game, a win is a win. My brother-in-law sent me a text after the game which read, "Yeah! Woo-hoo." You need to read between the lines.

This week they are facing the Steelers. I wonder what their game plan is going to be? Is it possible for a game to end 0-0? Oops, I forgot, the Browns are playing the Steelers who almost got beat by the Detroit Lions. Anything that can happen does happen.