Some Stunners On Sunday And A Monday Night Game To Go

The question whether Detroit would remain undefeated was answered with an strong affirmitive. The Steelers game was fury unleashed and the poor Titans were the recipients of that fury. Maybe, Rothlisberger should play with a special shoe all the time. But the big difference for the Steeler offense was the protection of Rothlisberger, giving him an opportunity to pick his targets and pick his targets he did. San Fran pummeled Tampa Bay. New Orleans and Green Bay continued their winning ways. New York Giants were viciously stung by Seattle. I was 8-5 in a topsy-turvy weekend of football.

Will Baltimore remain on top of the AFC North? The Ravens will be taking on a tough opponent from the Lone Star State, Houston Texans, who was bested by Oakland in their past outing. The drought has appeared to have affected the Texans, who look good one week and mistake proned the next. Against a tough Baltimore defense, mistakes can prove to be costly.

This is how I would have begun my picks for Week 6, but an important circumstance arose this past week and I had to make a trip to Ohio, so I didn't get the opportunity to finish my article. Detroit no longer stands on top with Green Bay as the only undefeated teams. They lost to a revived San Fran team, who is making a run for the playoffs. New Orleans was stunned by one of San Fran's previous victims, Tampa Bay. Baltimore remains on top of the AFC North and the Cleveland Browns sunk lower into the abyss. The Brady Bunch mounted an end of the game drive and handed the Cowboys a heart breaking loss. Carolina Panthers still Cam not win a game. The Bills got skinned by the Giants and Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta all won.

There is one game left I can make a pick on. It looks to be a fairly easy pick, considering one of the opponents hasn't won a game yet this year, Miami. Their opposition is the New York Jets, who Miami seems to find a way to beat. Not likely this time, not even remotely likely. Miami will have Matt Moore tacking snaps in place of Chad Henne, and Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas just haven't been doing it for the Dolphins. The Jets can be mistake prone at times, but that won't be the case against a weak-on-the-pass Miami defense. Look for Santonio Holmes to have a good game.

MON, OCT 17	TIME (ET)	TV	RESOURCES	LOCATION
Miami at NY Jets	8:30 PM		Tickets	MetLife Stadium

Week 5 NFL Picks-Will Detroit Lions Remain Undefeated

The Steelers got drubbed in a game where the final score should have been worse than it was if it wasn't for Houston mistakes. The Lions overcame a deficit in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys to remain undefeated. Trying-to-figure-out Cincinnati handed Buffalo its first loss. Baltimore defense manhandled the Jets and Sanchez. Green Bay, New england, New Orleans, and New York Giants all won their games. Last but not least, surprise Tennessee easily took the Browns down. I was 10-6 in Week Four. This is a bye week for some teams, which includes the Browns. There are only 10 games scheduled.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh will be interesting. First, Ben Roethlisberger is going to play despite the foot injury and Mendenhall is out, but that is of no consequence. The big problem with the Steelers last week, Wallace, their go to guy, did not figure into the passing attack. It seemed Roethlisberger favored Brown throughout the game. Now, whether that mistake was by design or Wallace was flat out covered, in order to win against the Titans, the Steelers will have to find a way to get the ball to Wallace. Tennessee's defense is tough and they will be going after Roethlisberger, who is lacking protection. Matt Hasselbeck will be tested in this game by a Steeler blitz attack, and if he overcomes it, I will be a believer.

Cincinnati will be at Jacksonville. Jacksonville is a one dimentional offense and the Bengals have a steady defense. Cincinnati's defense needs only to control Maurice Jones-Drew and the rest will be up to their offense. Blaine Gabbert will have to avoid the big mistake when the game comes to rest on his arm if they should fall behind in the score, which probably will be the case. Andy Dalton has proven he can win, Gabbert has yet to notch number one.

Green Bay has been cruising along and will be hosted by Atlanta. Green Bay just has too many weapons with a quarterback and receiving core that run like a well oiled turbo charged engine. Atlanta's defense will need to step it up a notch by putting pressure on Aaron Rodgers and hope their offense can match whatever Rodgers puts up. The Packers defensive secondary is vulnerable and if the offensive line gives Matt Ryan the time, that could be a possibility. The Falcons will have the home crowd behind them, which should help out alittle, hopefully.

The big game will be Chicago at Detroit. Detroit has proven their legitimacy as a contender and their win against Dallas substantiated that. After years of losing, this is a welcomed change for the steady Detroit fan. Monday night, Detroit and its fans will be in the spotlight. Stafford and Johnson are a deadly combo. Eight of Stafford's 11 touchdowns have been to Calvin Johnson. Chicago's task will be to break that combo up. It is their only hope. They are in a division with two undefeated teams and a must win stuation. Matt Forte and Devon Hester are Chicago's impact players, but if Detroit stuffs the run Jay Cutler, who has only 5 touchdown passes for the season, will have to win it, unless the defense scores some touchdowns.

The playoff picture is beginning to take some shape. There are a few teams who need to win this weekend or they will fall seriously behind with little hope of recovery. The only division that is still wide open is the AFC North. Baltimore and Cleveland are on a bye week.

SUN, OCT 9                          TIME (ET) TV  LOCATION
Tennessee at Pittsburgh L          1:00 PM CBS  Heinz Field
Seattle at NY Giants L               1:00 PM FOX  MetLife Stadium
Cincinnati at Jacksonville W     1:00 PM CBS  EverBank Field
New Orleans at Carolina W       1:00 PM FOX  Bank of America Stadium
Oakland at Houston L                1:00 PM CBS  Reliant Stadium
Philadelphia at Buffalo W          1:00 PM FOX  Ralph Wilson Stadium
Kansas City at Indianapolis L    1:00 PM CBS  Lucas Oil Stadium
Arizona at Minnesota W            1:00 PM FOX  Mall of America Field
Tampa Bay at San Francisco L  4:05 PM FOX  Candlestick Park
NY Jets at New England W       4:15 PM CBS  Gillette Stadium
San Diego at Denver W             4:15 PM CBS  Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Green Bay at Atlanta W             8:20 PM NBC  Georgia Dome

MON, OCT 10                      TIME (ET) TV  LOCATION
Chicago at Detroit W                 8:30 PM ESPN Ford Field

Cleveland Browns Had Plenty Of Wasted Offense and Lose To The Titans

If you throw 61 times in a game and only connect for one touchdown, something ain't right. On top of that, if you achieve 25 first downs to your opponenets 13 and lose 31-13, something definitely ain't right. Add to that, time of possession for the Browns was over 36 minutes to the Titans 23 minutes and they could only manage two field goals and one touchdown out of all that offense. It just catagorically ain't right. Unless they come up with a solution, Cleveland is headed into an offensive sinkhole of their own making.

Colt McCoy was chased around all afternoon and managed 350 yards on 40 completions. His longest pass play was 27 yards. Nine of his completions amounted to gains of between 10 to 27 yards. The rest, 31 passes, amounted to gains on an average of 6 total yards. That will not get the job done. McCoy threw passes to just about everybody on the bench. Hillis didn't help the cause either with only 46 yards of rushing. Needless to say, the line definately didn't help the cause either, or maybe, the Titan defense was that good. I'll let you decide that one for yourself.

Matt Hasselbeck, on the other hand, only needed half a game to beat the Browns. Hasselbeck managed three touchdowns out of a total of 10 completions. The Titans did get a good running game out of Chris Johnson. He ran for 101 yards. The Titans only touchdown in the second half was on an 97 yard interception by Jordan Babineaux. The Titan defense was on the field a good portion of the game, but were steady as a rock through it all. They only allowed the Browns to score their one and only touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Browns seriously need a vertical threat. I don't know who is the problem when it comes to this missing feature, Mccoy, the line, the wide receivers, or the coaching staff. Probably alittle of everything, but I am going with the coaching staff. They have to unleash Colt McCoy and take shots down field. They need to make up their minds on Joshua Cribbs and utilize his speed as a wide receiver. If you want a go to guy, you got to throw to that guy. The opposing defenses are showing no fear of the Browns passing attack. Pin the opposing secondary's ears back and strike some terror into them. Do that, and maybe you will be surprised at what may happen. At least the fans will be, surprised that is.

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

Browns Top Dolphins 17-16 On Two Sensational Catches

It is said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." After their win against the Dolphins, Colt McCoy summed up their play this way, "We played like garbage for the most part of the day. As ugly as it was, it was a huge win for us." From a statistical point of view, the Browns looked like the Mona Lisa with a bad hair day, but from the vantage point of the fans, it was a beautiful win with some defining moments, one of them associated with Joshua Cribbs. Cribbs didn't return kickoffs or punts because of a groin problem, but on his spectacular leaping touchdown catch he must of had a miraculous recovery.

Colt McCoy was right about one thing, his play was ugly. He went 19-39 with 210 yards. For most of the game, exactly a little over 56 minutes, McCoy's passing looked like a person trying to throw a cracked wiffle ball. It is near impossible and ridiculously inaccurate. That pretty much described his attempts to target Cleveland receivers. Still, he got the job done with alot of help from Cribbs and finally, Massaquoi. Massaquoi hauled in the go ahead touchdown in the final minute of play.

The Browns defense got the job done. They totaled 5 sacks on Henne and 8 other hits. They caused Reggie Bush to fumble twice, one of which they recovered. With Miami on the Cleveland 47 and the game on the line, all Henne needed to do was complete a few passes to put them in field goal range. The Browns defense rose to the occasion and it was an interception by Mike Adams that sealed the victory.

Next Sunday, the Browns will be hosting the high flying Tennessee Titans, who are coming off victories against Baltimore and Denver. Baltimore dismantled Pittsbugh in their first game and took apart St Louis. What does that tell us about Tennessee? The Titans are dangerous. Colt McCoy cannot afford to have a 50 per cent completion rate in this one. Hopefully, Hillis will be back to take some of the pressure off McCoy, who can't handle the blitz very well.

Finally, the answer to the wide receiver issue is a groin pull away. Start using Joshua Cribbs as a wide receiver and he can have more of an impact than just being used as the kick-punt returner. He could be to the Browns offense what Wallace is to the Steelers, a viable long threat.

Week 3 In The NFL-Rivals Weekend

Indy Colts just can't get cut a break, but who really cares. They face the Steelers on Sunday. So, the hometown fans won't have much to cheer about unless Manning, due to frustration from watching the massacre, runs out onto the field and grabs the ball from Kerry to take the snaps. It's a good thing there isn't any snow to make snowballs, if you get my drift. The rest of the games are not as obvious when it comes to picking the winner. I was 14-2 in Week Two.

The Houston at New Orleans game features two strong offenses. Houston's number one rated defense against the pass will be put to the test by Brees, but he has the uncanny knack of finding the open man. To prevent that from happening, the Texans will have to keep Brees from leaving the pocket and gaining extra time. In the Dome, at New Orleans, I give the edge to the Saints.

The New York at Philadelphia matchup is a division rival game with no real clear winner. Michael Vick is scheduled to start, but whether he will finish this one will be up to the Giants defense, who will be looking to take him out. The Eagles will be looking to establish a running attack, but that is the Giants defensive strength. The Giants receiving core is battered, so they will be relying on Jacobs and Bradshaw to set the tempo. If that fails, Eli Manning will be hard pressed to establish any kind of passing attack making him an easier victim to the turnover.

The New England at Buffalo matchup is a good one to watch. The Bills have a strong run game with Jackson, so if they can keep Brady off the field, their chances of surviving definately increases. That being said, Brady doesn't need alot of time because he can strike quickly with the deep on talent receiving core he has to work with. Both teams can put up the points, but the Patriots will put up more.

Another rival game is Green Bay at Chicago. Jake Cutler will have to avoid the turnover if the Bears want any kind of chance to win this one. The Packers will be putting the heat on Cutler, so the Bear offense will have to get Forte involved more to prevent that from happening. As seen in the Saints game, the Packers secondary can be picked apart by a capable quarterback. Aaron Rodgers will be facing a tougher defense in the Bears than he has faced in the first two games.

Finally, the Washington at Dallas game. The question at hand, will Tony Romo survive, if he plays? The Dallas line will have to protect him alot better than they have in prior games. If they do, Dallas will come off the victor. The Redskins have a balanced offensive attack, so the Dallas defense will have their hands full. Rex Grossman has been getting the job done, but will have to avoid making that crucial mistake, which he has conmmitted three times in the past two games.

Its going to be a good weekend of NFL football. There are alot of evenly matched teams where it could go either way, and that includes the Baltimore at St Louis game, considering what happened to the Ravens last Sunday. It is also good to see the Detroit Lions finally giving their fans a legitimate reason to cheer. Jacksonville's new slogan, "You're darn tootin', we gotta blitz Cam Newton. One game to keep a close eye on is the Miami at Cleveland. Will the Browns make in two in a row? It's Henne-one's guess, so to speak.

SUN, SEP 25	TIME (ET)	TV	RESOURCES	LOCATION
Houston at New Orleans W	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Superdome
NY Giants at Philadelphia W	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Lincoln Financial Field
Jacksonville at Carolina L	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Bank of America Stadium
New England at Buffalo L	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Miami at Cleveland W	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Cleveland Browns Stadium
San Francisco at Cincinnati L	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Paul Brown Stadium
Denver at Tennessee W	1:00 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	LP Field
Detroit at Minnesota W	1:00 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Mall of America Field
Baltimore at St. Louis W	4:05 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Edward Jones Dome
NY Jets at Oakland W	4:05 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Kansas City at San Diego W	4:05 PM	CBS	Tickets | Travel	Qualcomm Stadium
Arizona at Seattle W	4:15 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	CenturyLink Field
Atlanta at Tampa Bay L	4:15 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Raymond James Stadium
Green Bay at Chicago W	4:15 PM	FOX	Tickets | Travel	Soldier Field
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis W	8:20 PM	NBC	Tickets | Travel	Lucas Oil Stadium
MON, SEP 26	TIME (ET)	TV	RESOURCES	LOCATION
Washington at Dallas W	8:30 PM		Tickets | Travel	Cowboys Stadium

Week Two-First Victory In The Book For The Browns

Can one person make that much difference in a way a team succeeds? If your name is Peyton Manning, apparently it does. The Browns were able to get on the road of victory after taking advantage of that fact. The Steelers beat up on a what-a-difference-a-year-makes 0-2 Seahawks. The Lions and Bills happily maintain their winning ways. New England, Green Bay, and New Orleans continue to offend or is it, continue to be offensive. There were some blowouts and there were some close ones. All-in-all it was a good weekend of football.

In one recent article by a certain sports website, the Browns were referred to as a "below-average team". Well, the below-average Browns walked away from Indy with a win with the help of Peyton Hillis. Hillis ran for 94 solid yards and two touchdowns. Colt McCoy had just an ok day throwing for 211 yards and one touchdown. The Brown's defense was more alert for this one and it was Reggie Wayne who got caught taking a nap on a third down interception by Usama Young.

On the negative side, the Browns had a serious case of the muffs, but fortunately only lost one of them. The offense is still missing that crucial piece of the puzzle called a premier wide receiver. I am still at a loss as to why Joshua Cribbs is not being used more as a wide receiver. Are they afraid he might get hurt or something?

Going against Miami this weekend, the Browns can prove they are more than just a below-average team. Colt McCoy has an opportunity here to have a greater impact with a Miami defense that is 30th against the pass, but that rating may be slightly deceiving since New England racked up huge passing yardage against them in the first game. No doubt the Browns will also try to test the waters of a weak-on-the-run Miami defense and establish the run game early with Hillis. It is definately a plus the Browns are playing at home on top of it.

All this having been said, Miami will not be a push over after losing their first two games. Chad Henne was superb against New England, but abysmal against Houston. It depends on what Henne will show up.