Week 12 Turkey Day NFL Picks-Will It Be a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

Green Bay has pretty much wrapped up their division as they continue their quest for an undefeated season, unless they suffer an unexpected set back like the Idianapolis Colts. Detroit started the season off like gangbusters, but have faultered somewhat the past five games. Whether the Lions make it to the playoffs will be decided today against the Packers. Miami is gaining momentum each week they play and Dallas has shaken the early season cobb webs loose. Baltimore needs to stay a step ahead of Pittsburgh and San Fran is breezing along comfortably in their division.

Aaron Rodgers is on a record setting pace, but will be facing a tough on the quarterback Lion's defense. Rodgers rarely makes a mistake and that is what makes him unbeatable. The Lion's, if they are going to win this game, will need to score touchdown for touchdown. Rodgers has way more weapons in his arsonal than Matthew Stafford does, so the Detroit defense will have to come up with a game plan that will neutralize some of those weapons. The Packers task on defense is much simpler, take out Calvin Johnson and job won, but the Packers chink in their armor is the defensive secondary. If the Lions drive a wedge into that chink the Packers will become vulnerable to a possible fatal blow and bye, bye undefeated season.

Miami is a tale of two seasons. The turn around is due to Matt Moore and Reggie Bush. Bush will tear a defense up on screens and will burn the secondary once he gets into the open field. If Bush has an excellent day Miami will have a good chance of winning. The Dolphins front line will need to pay attention to where Demarcus Ware is at all times or Moore will be running for his life. Moore's use of play action and screens will be a plus in his favor at avoiding Ware. Tony Romo has been on fire as of late and avoiding "the wish I had a V8" moment that left one scratching their heads over what he was doing in the final moments of earlier games. The Cowboys are dealing with injuries in key offensive postions, so a win hinges on Romo's play. Avoiding the interception or fumble is paramount.

Baltimore has been floudering on offense since they took down Pittsburgh. They lost to what-will-they-do-this-week Seattle and barely escaped the newly revised Cincinnati Bengals, who are chomping at their heals. On top of it, the Ravens defense has been giving up points. Ray Lewis is questionable, which if he doesn't play, Baltimore will be weaker against the run, and against the 49ers that would be Frank Gore. Joe Flacco and Torrey Smith have been making connection since the Pittsburgh game. We will see if that continues. Baltimore thrives on the mistakes of their opponents and forced three interceptions out of the Bengal's Dalton last Sunday. This will be more difficult with Alex Smith. Smith has been making good decisions under center and his favorite target to score is Vernon Davis. San Fran has a defense that is equally as tough as Baltimore. So, this game may be decided by the field goal kickers.

THU, NOV 24                        TIME (ET)    TV     LOCATION
Green Bay at Detroit                12:30 PM    FOX    Ford Field
Miami at Dallas                        4:15 PM      CBS    Cowboys Stadium
San Francisco at Baltimore      8:20 PM      NFL    M&T Bank Stadium

Week 10 NFL Picks-The Season Begins For Cincinnati

After what I thought was one of the best Sundays of football in the NFL's long illustrious history the saying, "That is a tough act to follow," is apropos. Teams like Baltimore, NY Giants, and Arizona proved "It ain't over till it's over." San Diego fell short of putting their game into overtime against Green Bay, but it was entertaining. The Chargers stand at a crossroads in their division. Cincinnati continues to surprise, but will be tested when they faceoff with Pittsburgh. Chicago exstinguished the fires of Philadelphia on Monday Night Football, but will be jumping into the frying pan against Detroit this Sunday. The line up looks good.

The Bengals success this year covers the huge mistake they made last year, and that was putting Noshow-Cinco and TOed-Owens in the same lineup. Enough said about that. Two rookies have taken center stage in Cincinnati, Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. They have been the catalyst for the offense, but have been supported by a good defense. It has been said their schedule for the first half of the season might have something to do with it, but their first 8 games may have given them the time to prepare for what's coming.

The Pittsburgh game will test whether they can cut the mustard. Pittsburgh had victory snatched away from them by Baltimore and will be looking for redemption or someone to hit. It will be a good game, but in order for Pittsburgh to lose this one, they will have to seriously stumble.

San Diego is in a three way tie in their division. Philip Rivers doesn't like to lose. No suprising revelation in that statement. He puts his heart and soul into every game and when he does lose, you see the disappointment written all over his face. Mistakes have plagued his game play. He has been trying to force the ball into passing situations that backfire. San Diego takes on Oakland Thusday night. Injuries have been disruptive, but good teams overcome. Well, maybe if your not Indianapolis. What may help the Chargers cause, Ryan Matthews is expected to play.

San Diego's injuries will be offsetting because Oakland has injuries of its own in key positions, like running back Darren McFadden, who was having a great year. Michael Bush has been filling in very nicely. Carson Palmer is now calling the plays and is listed as probable. Despite San Diego's woes, the only way I see Oakland winning this one is by their defense stepping up and creating mistakes.

Detroit destroyed Denver before their bye, but Denver is not Chicago. The Lions are a dominate passing team with Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. Chicago's defense just shut down Michael Vick and company on Monday. So, Stafford and company will have their hands full, hopefully footballs. If their defense plagues Jay Cutler like they did Tim tebow, half the battle will be won.

Chicago's challenge will be to shut down Stafford and cover Johnson. The easier of the two would be to strike at the point of attack, Stafford. Chicago has the defense that can harrass and disrupt the quarterback via Julius Peppers, and Brian Urlacher dropping back into coverage. Jay Cutler has a rifle arm and if he is in rythmn with his receivers, Detroit will be looking from behind. All in all, if both teams live up to their expectations, it will be a good game. Maybe, one of those down to last minute thrillers.

I don't know what to say about the cleveland Browns. Luckily, they are playing St. Louis in Cleveland. At least they won't be in a hostile environment, but that could change. The Browns defense will have to control Steven Jackson, the Rams main offensive weapon. Unfortunately, they couldn't stop Arian Foster and Ben Tate last Sunday. Both Houston backs had a hundred yard plus day. Jackson will be like a fired up thoroughbred race horse waiting for the gates to open. The Browns coaching staff has finally wised up to using Joshua Cribbs at wide receiver. It's about time. This week the Browns are even giving consideration to using him at the running position.

THU, NOV 10                      TIME (ET)   TV     LOCATION
Oakland at San Diego             8:20 PM     NFL    Qualcomm Stadium

SUN, NOV 13                      TIME (ET)   TV     LOCATION
Arizona at Philadelphia          1:00 PM    FOX    Lincoln Financial Field
Tennessee at Carolina            1:00 PM     CBS    Bank of America Stadium
Houston at Tampa Bay           1:00 PM    CBS    Raymond James Stadium
Washington at Miami             1:00 PM    FOX    Sun Life Stadium
Jacksonville at Indianapolis   1:00 PM     CBS    Lucas Oil Stadium
Denver at Kansas City            1:00 PM    CBS    Arrowhead Stadium
Buffalo at Dallas                     1:00 PM    CBS    Cowboys Stadium
New Orleans at Atlanta          1:00 PM    FOX    Georgia Dome
St. Louis at Cleveland            1:00 PM    FOX    Cleveland Browns Stadium
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati          1:00 PM    CBS    Paul Brown Stadium
Baltimore at Seattle                4:05 PM    CBS    CenturyLink Field
NY Giants at San Francisco   4:15 PM    FOX    Candlestick Park
Detroit at Chicago                  4:15 PM    FOX    Soldier Field
New England at NY Jets        8:20 PM    NBC    MetLife Stadium

MON, NOV 14                    TIME (ET)   TV    LOCATION
Minnesota at Green Bay         8:30 PM    ESPN   Lambeau Field

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