Week 17 NFL Picks

This past week my picks were dismantled by the top teams in the NFL. The Colts contemptuous move to sit Manning thus wiping out a perfect season and the losses by New Orleans, NY Giants, Minnesota, Baltimore, and Miami contributed to my 9-7 record. This week I think throwing darts at a list on the wall with my eyes closed will come up with better results. Well, I don't have darts, so it will be what it will be.

Indianapolis at Buffalo, depending on who the Colts will sit, is a tough call. What the heck, I will take the Colts. New Orleans has lost the it factor and better get it back fast. Carolina is taking on the role of spoiler. NY Giants, what can you say about their recent ignoble fall from grace. Minnesota is in a must win and are at home. Baltimore should beat Oakland and Miami is battered, which gives the Steelers the edge. Cinncinati at NY Jets will be a rocking game. The Jets have everything to lose, but I am taking Cinncinati's run game. Arizona is at home against Green Bay and should win. San Diego should have no problem with hapless Washington.

Now we come to the two biggest games this coming Sunday, Philadelphia at Dallas and Jacksonville at Cleveland. The Eagles and Cowboys game is going to be a street fight, two rival gangs fighting over dominance of the same turf. The Eagles will come out battered, but victorious. "Here we go Brownies" is echoing in the corridors of Cleveland Stadium once again. With Jacksonville you never know what team will show up week to week, which favors the Browns who are flying high. Let Cribbs and Harrison pound the spots off the Jaquars before the home crowd and end the season looking ahead to a better next season and beyond to Super Bowl XLVI, which I am anticipating the Browns to be in.

SUN, JAN 3 TIME (ET)

Indianapolis at Buffalo 1:00 PM CBS Tickets L

Ralph Wilson Stadium

Jacksonville 20 at Cleveland 27 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W

Cleveland Browns Stadium

Chicago 24 at Detroit 15 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W

Travel Ford Field

San Francisco 20 at St. Louis 18 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W

Edward Jones Dome

Pittsburgh 28 at Miami 18 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W

Travel Land Shark Stadium

NY Giants 24 at Minnesota 27 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W

Metrodome

Atlanta 20 at Tampa Bay 21 1:00 PM FOX Tickets L

Raymond James Stadium

New Orleans 23 at Carolina 26 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W

Bank of America Stadium

New England 30 at Houston 20 1:00 PM CBS Tickets L

Reliant Stadium

Green Bay 20 at Arizona 27 4:15 PM FOX Tickets L

U of Phoenix Stadium

Washington 12 at San Diego 34 4:15 PM FOX Tickets W

Qualcomm Stadium

Tennessee 30 at Seattle 17 4:15 PM CBS Tickets W

Qwest Field

Baltimore 20 at Oakland 18 4:15 PM CBS Tickets W

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Philadelphia 34 at Dallas 20 4:15 PM FOX Tickets L

Cowboys Stadium

Kansas City 13 at Denver 23 4:15 PM CBS Tickets L

Invesco Field at Mile High

Cincinnati 24 at NY Jets 21 8:20 PM NBC Tickets L

Giants Stadium

Cleveland Browns Made It Three In A Row-Look To Finale

The home stadium was rocking and the Browns were knocking, knocking off Oakland 23-9. Here we go Brownies, here we go, three in a row. You could say too little too late, but winning is good anytime, especially the ways things had been going in Cleveland Town. Smiles were galore in the Dawg Pound today. What stood out in today's game?

Jerome Harrison had another great day. He carried the ball 39 times for 148 yds and one touchdown. You can see by the number of carries what the Browns were relying on heavily. While Harrison's numbers appear impressive, he was not the stand out in today's game.

Joshua Cribbs was fairly quiet. No big returns and was used sparingly in the run game as well as in the passing game. Derek Anderson's numbers were equally unimpressive. Anderson was 8-17 with a total of 121 yds. He did have one passing touchdown of 19 yds to Massaquoi. So, by those numbers neither Cribbs or Anderson were the highlights in the game.

The award for top standout goes to the defense. Even though Oakland had 389 yds of total offense, the defense held where it mattered. One statistic that stands out are the three interceptions. Interceptions are drive killers and will break the back of the opponent. The Raiders also had four redzone attempts that failed to net them touchdowns and ended in three field goals, thanks to the defense. When the opposing quarterback throws 45 times you know they were desparate and desparate is what the Raiders were.

The Jaguars are last but not least. Jacksonville can look good one week and worst than the Browns used to look the next. The Browns can make it four in a row and carry that streak into next year to build on. You may think this as being over the top, I am naming the Browns in Super Bowl XLVI.

Week 16 NFL Picks

Week 15 turned out to be tougher than the previous week. I was 10-6. The NY Giants are playing hungry and mean again. The Giants should handle the Panthers easily. Baltimore at Pittsburgh will be a head banger and Baltimore will sneak past Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, no last minute heroics this time. San Diego at Tennessee will be hard fought. Tennessee is playing with an attitude, but the Chargers will out last the Titans. Close calls will be Houston at Miami, Jacksonville at New England, NY Jets at Indianapolis, Denver at Philadelphia, and Dallas at Washington. Each of those games I am giving to the home teams. The suprise pick is Washington over Dallas. Jacksonville will be freezing their booties off and wishing they were back in Florida. Some easy games will be Tampa Bay at New Orleans and Minnesota at Chicago in Monday Night Football. New Orleans was handed their first loss, but this week will get back on track offensively. Chicago is not a threat to anybody these days, least of all to Minnesota. Cincinnati's defense will handle the Chiefs and Arizona should have no problem with hapless St. Louis. Oakland will be visiting the Browns who are finally looking like a competitor, although they will be without Brady Quinn. Not to worry Browns fans, Joshua Cribbs is looking to add a few more kick return touchdowns to his NFL record. The rest will be won by the best.

FRI, DEC 25 TIME (ET)
San Diego 28 at Tennessee 27 7:30 PM NFL Tickets W
LP Field
SUN, DEC 27 TIME (ET)
Buffalo 20 at Atlanta 24 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Georgia Dome
Kansas City 18 at Cincinnati 27 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Paul Brown Stadium
Oakland 23 at Cleveland 20 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Cleveland Browns Stadium
Seattle 15 at Green Bay 20 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Lambeau Field
Baltimore 24 at Pittsburgh 23 1:00 PM CBS Tickets L
Heinz Field
Houston 27 at Miami 30 1:00 PM CBS Tickets L
Land Shark Stadium
Jacksonville 20 at New England 24 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Gillette Stadium
Tampa Bay 17 at New Orleans 34 1:00 PM FOX Tickets L
Superdome
Carolina 18 at NY Giants 30 1:00 PM FOX Tickets L
Giants Stadium
Detroit 14 at San Francisco 23 4:05 PM FOX Tickets W
Candlestick Park
St. Louis 15 at Arizona 35 4:05 PM FOX Tickets W
U of Phoenix Stadium
NY Jets 24 at Indianapolis 32 4:15 PM CBS Tickets L
Lucas Oil Stadium
Denver 18 at Philadelphia 24 4:15 PM CBS Tickets W
Lincoln Financial Field
Dallas 20 at Washington 23 8:20 PM NBC Tickets L
FedEx Field
MON, DEC 28 TIME (ET)
Minnesota 30 at Chicago 16 8:30 PM Tickets L
Soldier Field

The Browns Excel Over The Chiefs 41-34

The Browns are coming on strong down the final stretch, defeat the Chiefs. It was only lowly Kansas City today, but a victory none-the-less. Jerome Harrrison and Joshua Cribbs were firing on all pistons with five touchdowns, a total of 30 points of the 41 the Brown's scored. If you put there yardage together they had over 600 yards of body pounding forward motion. It was a good thing because Brady Quinn was misfiring with two interceptions.

Jerome Harrison had a 71 yard run for a touchdown and accumilated a total of 286 yds on 34 carries. An average of 8.4 yds a carry. Add 3 TD's to his production and Harrison was impressive. This kind of show solidifies his place at running back for the rest of the season and into the next.

Joshua Cribbs, the Browns top offensive producer, once again stole the show. He set a new NFL record with 2 kick off returns for TD's making a total of 8 for his career. Cribbs first was 100 yds and his second went for 103 yds. Cribbs is a key player for the Browns and has proven his flexibility to play many positions, quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and special teams. I have spoken many times about how Mangini needs to incorporate that into the game plan.

Kansas City didn't sit down and gave the Browns a scare near the end. The Brown's defense couldn't stop Matt Cassel or Jamaal Charles all day. Cassel had 331 yds of passing and two TD's. Charles had 154 yds of running and one TD. A decent day by standards, but fades into the background compared to Cribbs and Harrison.

The Browns are now 3-11. Next week they play the Raiders and then end the season with the Jaguars. The Browns can put an exclamation point on their season by winning these two final games and carry a streak of five into next year. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, one game at a time. A final note, Harrison broke Jim Brown's single-game team rushing record. It was a day of records.

Week 15 NFL Picks

Hooray, hooray, I broke the 4 loss barrier. Last week I thought the picks were tough and I come away with a 14-2 record. The Cardinals and the Giants let me down or else it would have been perfect. Arizona should have an easy game with Detroit, if they don't turn the ball over 7 times. The Giants won't have it so easy with the Redskins at home on Monday Night Football. This will be a tough one to call, turnovers will be key, but aren't they always. Indianapolis will have to play heads up with Jacksonville. You never know what the Jaguars will do week to week. Dallas at New Orleans, "whodat" is all you have to say. Games that could go either way are Miami at Tennessee, Atlanta at NY Jets, Cincinnati at San Diego, Green Bay at Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay at Seattle. Easy wins should be Houston over St Louis, Baltimore over Chicago, and Minnesota over Carolina. What does that leave us? San Francisco at Philadelphia, New England at Buffalo, and Cleveland at Kansas City. Philadelphia has it going with its different formations and quarterback sets, but if the 49ers ball hawk like they did against the Cardinals, Eagles watch out. New England weather and Buffalo weather are similiar, so no advantage there. New England should win. The Browns got a big thrill out of beating the Steelers and are flying high, hopefully they won't come crashing down. I am taking the Browns. That's all, play ball.

THU, DEC 17 TIME (ET)
Indianapolis 26 at Jacksonville 21 8:20 PM NFL Tickets W
Jacksonville Stadium
SAT, DEC 19 TIME (ET)
Dallas 14 at New Orleans 30 8:20 PM NFL Tickets L
Superdome
SUN, DEC 20 TIME (ET)
New England 24 at Buffalo 21 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Arizona 34 at Detroit 10 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Ford Field
Miami 27 at Tennessee 24 1:00 PM CBS Tickets L
LP Field
Cleveland 23 at Kansas City 18 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Arrowhead Stadium
Houston 30 at St. Louis 18 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Edward Jones Dome
Atlanta 20 at NY Jets 24 1:00 PM FOX Tickets L
Giants Stadium
San Francisco 20 at Philadelphia 30 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Lincoln Financial Field
Chicago 15 at Baltimore 28 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
M&T Bank Stadium
Cincinnati 21 at San Diego 27 4:05 PM CBS Tickets W
Qualcomm Stadium
Oakland 20 at Denver 30 4:05 PM CBS Tickets L
Invesco Field at Mile High
Green Bay 24 at Pittsburgh 27 4:15 PM FOX Tickets W
Heinz Field
Tampa Bay 17 at Seattle 20 4:15 PM FOX Tickets L
Qwest Field
Minnesota 32 at Carolina 20 8:20 PM NBC Tickets L
Bank of America Stadium
MON, DEC 21 TIME (ET)
NY Giants 24 at Washington 23 8:30 PM Tickets W
FedEx Field

Week 14 NFL Picks

It was another 4 loss week with 12 wins. This week I think is the toughest of all the weeks for making picks. Alot of close games being played between teams that can win big or lose big. Denver at Indianapolis is a tough pick. Indianapolis has been dodging bullets at times and if Denver is on their game it could adios perfect record. Still, I go with the Colts at home with Addia coming on strong. Other iffy games are Miami at Jacksonville, Seattle at Houston, San Diego at Dallas, and Philadelphia at NY Giants. I am taking Miami, Houston, San Diego, and NY Giants. Baltimore took it on the chin with Green Bay, too many interference calls. Baltimore will beat Detroit, but will have to get penalties under control. Tennessee has found it's groove and the ability to come out on top and New Orleans are an offensive juggernaut. Cincinnati at Minnesota will be one of the games to watch. Cincinnati's defense will need to be on their toes and if they come to play Brett Favre will have a repeat of last week, but offense to offense, the Vikings have it. Another huge game is Pitttsburgh at Cleveland. It is going to be cold and weather is an equalizer. The Browns will win with a late field goal, I think. All other picks are what they are.

THU, DEC 10 TIME (ET)
Pittsburgh 23 at Cleveland 24 8:20 PM NFL Tickets W
Cleveland Browns Stadium
SUN, DEC 13 TIME (ET)
New Orleans 30 at Atlanta 24 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Georgia Dome
Green Bay 28 at Chicago 20 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Soldier Field
NY Jets 21 at Tampa Bay 18 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Raymond James Stadium
Miami 24 at Jacksonville 21 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Jacksonville Stadium
Detroit 13 at Baltimore 23 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
M&T Bank Stadium
Seattle 18 at Houston 30 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Reliant Stadium
Denver 27 at Indianapolis 35 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Lucas Oil Stadium
Buffalo 27 at Kansas City 18 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Arrowhead Stadium
Cincinnati 24 at Minnesota 28 1:00 PM CBS Tickets W
Metrodome
Carolina 20 at New England 28 1:00 PM FOX Tickets W
Gillette Stadium
Washington 21 at Oakland 18 4:05 PM FOX Tickets W
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
St. Louis 17 at Tennessee 26 4:05 PM FOX Tickets W
LP Field
San Diego 30 at Dallas 23 4:15 PM CBS Tickets W
Cowboys Stadium
Philadelphia 23 at NY Giants 30 8:20 PM NBC Tickets L
Giants Stadium
MON, DEC 14 TIME (ET)
Arizona 34 at San Francisco 20 8:30 PM Tickets L
Candlestick Park

Scenarios In Which The Browns Might Beat The Steelers

The weather looks to be cold with snow for the Thursday Night NFL game between the Browns and the Steelers. The stadium will be filled with alot of Steeler fans if the old pattern holds true. The current mood of the Brown's fans may affect how many of them will show up. What the heck, it is a Thursday night game, Steelers and Browns, the Dawg Pound should be a happening place at least. The question is: Can the Browns do it, win one for the hometown? There are a few scenarios that would give the Browns a slight advantage.

Scenario number one: The Browns might win if there is a blizzard. A blizzard would level the playing field, in which case, neither team will have the edge and it would give the Browns a fighting chance. This situation I would give to the Browns since they are the home team.

Scenario number two: The Browns use Joshua Cribbs in an expanded role. Joshua Cribbs has proved his worth and Mangini needs to recognize how he can use that to his advantage, either in an increase in ball carries or using him more in the wide receiver plan of attack. How about the way Miami uses its running backs? Cribbs can throw and he can run. Do this and I give the edge to the Browns.

Scenario number three: Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, and Troy Polamalu don't play. The absence of these three pivotal players would weaken the Steelers significantly. This would give the Browns a superior position in offense and defense. The victory will go to the Browns.

No doubt there are other scenarios in which the Browns might have the edge. The Browns offense has proven it can score TD's. The defense has proven it can hold its own. The Steelers are in a deep slump. Given these factors, now is the time to strike. See you Thursday night when the Steelers come to Cleveland for an AFC North showdown. Dress warm, it's going to be cold.