Who Ya Got? Week 5
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by Tylersalt
I'll join the fray of weekly picks announcements. Once again, these are in descending order of confidence. These are the same picks I'm using in my Yahoo! Pick'em leagues, so there is a great deal of pride riding on them. :-)
Last week: 7-7 This season: 35-27
Away we go! Home teams in CAPS.
What can I say? There are certainly a great number of media members giving oral to the Patriots right now, but this is not the week they lose. I don't see this team falling into the trap of looking ahead to next week against Dallas. The Browns have surprised some people this season and are remarkably in the thick of it in the AFC North, but they won't be able to handle the Pats. Tom Brady and Randy Moss set the record, 38-17.
Apparently the Bears weren't who we thought they were. With their injuries on defense and complete inability to move the ball on offense, this Chicago squad is decidedly mediocre and will be no better than the Cubs this year. The Packers' running game (or distinct lack thereof) will catch up with them sooner or later, but I think Brett Favre will be able to air it out against a depleted Bears D. Pack keep marching on, 24-10.
I've got the 'Boys way up here near the top again, and that's where they belong based on their performance so far. Buffalo showed some life last week against Gang Green, but they're in a completely different league from Dallas. HOWEVER. This is the very definition of a trap game, with New England coming up next week, and I have a whole lot less confidence in Wade Phillips' ability to coach around than I do in Bill Belichick. I think the Bills give the Cowboys a stiff dose of rookie Marshawn Lynch, and Trent Edwards does just enough to keep it close, but the Cowboys pull it out in the end. Dallas, 24-21.
COLTS over Buccaneers
I still don't get this Bucs team. I think they're pretty good, but the loss of Cadillac Williams will hurt them. Earnest Graham is a nice back, and you can definitely run on the Colts, but I think it will just be too much of Peyton Manning. Marvin Harrison and Joseph Addai are both questionable for the game and are likely game-time decisions, which could all spell good news for Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and even rookie Anthony Gonzalez. Colts win, 28-14.
Just what the doctor ordered for this suddenly struggling Ravens defense: the offensively inept San Francisco. Who would have thought that the Niners would miss Norv Turner as much as the Chargers want to run him back out of town? Alex Smith will not play, although reports of his demise may have been wildly overstated -- his injury doesn't seem to be as bad as previously thought, and he hopes to return this season. Frank Gore alone can't win games for San Fran, although who knows? Maybe Trent Dilfer will show up for a game against the team he won a Super Bowl with all those long years ago. Eh, probably not. Ravens win a clunker, 13-6.
I never thought I'd say this, but the Cards seem to be moderately for real this season. Their defense has improved by leaps and bounds (especially against the pass), Edgerrin James has recaptured some of his former glory, and the quarterback platoon of Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner seems to be effective against all odds. Anquan Boldin is out, so expect Larry Fitzgerald to get the lion's share of balls thrown his way. We could see some shaky play at QB, as Warner's playing against his old team, Leinart's alma mater just got embarrassed by Stanford, and the Rams are starting Gus "Headbutt" Frerotte. The Rams reek worse than Ricky Williams' apartment after a "meditation session," however, so the Cardinals move to 3-2 and beat their division rivals, 21-7
For years, I picked Joey Harrington in the last or second-to-last round of my fantasy drafts, figuring that with all the wide receivers Matt Millen kept drafting in Detroit, sooner or later he'd figure out how to throw to one. I was wrong. However, now Harrington seems to have found the only possible situation in which he could be seen as an upgrade, and his confidence is soaring. However, the Falcon's prospects this season are not, and they run into Vince Young and a tough Titans team this week. The Titans are definitely better than the Houston team Atlanta beat last week, and the bye week will definitely help them. Young beats Harrington, 24-13.
The Lions put together a helluva win last week over the Bears, and are the surprise positive story of the year. The Redskins are coming off a bye, however, and were most likely studying tape of how the Eagles dismantled Detroit just two weeks ago. Hopefully Joe Gibbs' coaching staff decides to go pass-happy instead of wearing ugly-ass throwback uniforms. Both teams are missing major offensive weapons in Santana Moss and Calvin Johnson, as neither is expected to play. The underrated Redskins defense prevails and Antwaan Randle El has a very good day as the Skins win, 20-17.
This one's pretty simple. Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and the rest of the Saints have ONE MORE CHANCE with me, they're coming off a bye, coach Sean Payton has performed voodoo exorcisms or something, and the Panthers are starting David Carr. Saints prevent their fans from committing mass hara-kiri, and win 24-13
**UPSET SPECIAL**
Shows how much Vegas has jumped off of the Chargers sinking ship that Denver is favored in this game. Not much of an upset, but I only picked one other underdog and I'm much more confident about this game. You can definitely run on this Broncos team, and Bolts fans had better hope that LaDanian Tomlinson does just that. The Broncos will probably be distracted with the issues surrounding tailback Travis "I Thought Pot Decreased Sperm Count" Henry, and I'm not convinced they're not decidedly mediocre. Chargers rebound in a big way, 28-10.
**GAME OF THE WEEK**
Only the game of the week because these teams are so evenly matched. This game could seriously go either way. These teams are very similar, and I think it will come down to the running backs. Willie Parker will outperform Shaun Alexander, and the Steelers will win accordingly, although not by a whole lot and without scoring a lot of points. Steelers win a tight one, 17-14.
Technically the Giants are the home team, but these two teams still ridiculously share a stadium, so it doesn't really matter. This could be the worst game of the week. Giants coach Tom Coughlin has been holding this team together with spit and duct tape, and it feels like it could fall apart any moment. Derrick Ward seems like the real deal, and Plaxico Burress is tied with Randy Moss for the league lead in touchdown receptions, but this defense is summed up in four syllables: in-con-sis-tent. I just don't quite trust the Jets enough to take advantage to the degree they would need to in order to win. Giants win ugly, 13-10.
The Dolphins are bad. Just plain bad. Ronnie Brown is having a pretty good year, but he's the only bright spot in south Florida pro football (that college team is doing rather well so far). This game could be closer than the Texans want with three of their important offensive weapons hurting (Andre Johnson, Jacoby Jones, and Ahman Green), but the Houston defense steps up and forces Trent Green to beat them, which he can't. Texans win, 20-7.
This is gonna be a tight game. It's all going to depend on which Jags defense shows up. If they can do the same thing to Larry Johnson that they did to Henry and the other Denver running backs two weeks ago, the Jags will win. However, if LJ forces them to stack the box and Damon Huard is able to go vertical with rookie Dwayne Bowe, then the Chiefs will pull it out. I think the latter is a little bit more likely. Chiefs pull another win out of their butt, 21-13. Bonus prediction: Maurice Jones-Drew realizes that he's a pretty good running back again.
Bye Teams: Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles
