This Week's PicksBy Andy Ross | Sunday, November 3, 2002 9-5 last week against the line, and 9-5 straight up. That seems a little odd at first, but what happened was that several of the teams I picked to cover and not win went ahead and won. And Notre Dame won also, but I won't pick a college game every week like that. My overall record goes to 19-9, 9-5 against the line. You might want to run to Vegas when you get through reading these picks. I'm a little late with this though, due to Homecoming activities.
Buffalo is getting used to these games, having played in the Flutie Bowl in San Diego last year. I've been saying how much I hate New England but how I can't pick against them (and they still go ahead and lose). This time I get to pick against them if I want to. Buffalo looks determined to go to the playoffs, while the Patriots continue on their 4 game slide and have now started pointing fingers. But that is the way the league works—New England has played 4 Super Bowl contenders in the last 4 weeks, while the Bills have played Detroit, Houston, and a Fiedler-less Miami. So you know what, I'll just go ahead and pick the Patriots to cover, and the Bills to win. You might wonder how this is possible. My answer is that my head says pick the Patriots and my heart says pick the Bills.
How bad can Tampa's offense be? It makes this 7 point spread look like 14 points. And it's not like the Vikings have a good defense, so the Bucs should get their act together. I have no respect for Minnesota, although they have won 2 out of their last 3. Remember a few years ago when the Vikings went 15-1? They lost in Tampa Bay. The Bucs have beaten the teams they should beat every time, while losing the big games (Saints, Eagles). This is not a big game, so I am picking the Bucs to win by more than 7.
Raven LB Ray Lewis might be out for the season, which would be a huge blow to the Ravens, who have been exceeding expectations for this season. Raven starting QB Chris Redman is also out, but I suspect that the offense will not lose anything with QB Jeff Blake having his second start. Atlanta has finally recovered from those 2 close losses it had to start the season. Atlanta should kill the Ravens, but I just have a feeling that they will let down, and the Ravens looked good in the second half last week against Pittsburgh. So I will go with the Falcons to win and the Ravens to cover.
This is a very similar game to the one above. One team has shown it's a contender, while the other has been down. You'd think that the Eagles would romp all over the Bears like they did last year in the playoffs. But I thought the Eagles looked very lackluster on Monday night against a poor Giants team. The Eagles are pretty large favorites for a road team, and I am worried that Chicago is due to wake up and take someone out. But the Bears looked so bad against a bad Vikings team. So I will pick the Eagles to win big, but I would not recommend betting much on that.
This is a huge game for first place. Pittsburgh is looking like the team everyone thought they would be. Steeler RB Bettis may be out, but he's old and has lost a step anyway. The big news is that Steeler QB Maddox is not out. Therefore I am going to pick the Steelers to win big.
The Lions have played tough every game since Joey Harrington took the helm at starting quarterback. The Cowboys are horrible. Cowboy RB Emmitt Smith sure was happy he got that record. Did you see anyone complaining that they lost to the Seahawks? I really feel that the Cowboys had their priorities mixed up and that the record was a distraction. How could it not be? Go with the Lions to win big.
Bengals head coach Dick Lebeau is predicting a Bengal victory this week. So have a couple of their players. In my experience since following football, teams that make rash predictions (and this isn't really that rash) usually do actually win. The Houstons are tough to figure out. Will they fall a little bit after their win last week in Jacksonville? I think so, so I am picking the Bengals to win.
The Chargers look like they might actually be the team to beat right now. The Jets are getting their act together, but they have been playing lackluster competition. Inserting QB Chad Pennington into the starting lineup was definitely the right choice. I know the Chargers will win, but I just have this feeling that they are due for a lackluster performance so I will pick the Jets to cover.
This is a big rivalry in Northern California, but really only among the fans. They play each other once every 4 seasons now—definitely not enough time to really let bad blood boil. The Raiders will continue to lose unless they develop a smash-mouth running game. 2 years ago, they led the league in rushing and went to the AFC Championship. The past 2 seasons they have definitely dropped a notch. Their precision passing game has too much room for error. The 49ers have not looked as good as they were supposed to look but they are comfortably in first place because their division is so bad. I will pick the Raiders to win but the 49ers to cover (read between the lines on that one).
The Rams will win this game by more than 3 points and that is my stone cold lock of the week. Somebody setting these lines must be a big Cardinals fan. The Rams have a 2 game winning streak and are coming off a bye week—hopefully enough time for head coach Mike Martz to think of more plays for RB Marshall Faulk. The Cardinals are very average. They have beaten teams they could have, and lost to those they could not have beaten. They cannot beat the Rams, and the Rams will win big.
Here's a tough game to figure out. I think the Seahawks will really miss the loss of starting QB Trent Dilfer. Backup Matt Hasselbeck has no confidence in himself and the team has no confidence in him. The Redskins are one win away from a .500 winning percentage, which will put them right back in the thick of things in the NFC. I think the Redskins will pull this out in Seattle, despite the absence of starting RB Stephen Davis.
That Monday night game last week may have been painful to watch for both Giants and Eagles fans, but the Giants were able to put themselves in a position to be ahead well into the second half. And their defense bended but did not break. Meanwhile the Jaguars have really been down their last few games (3 straight losses). The Giants really seemed to miss TE Jeremy Shockey, but he is back now. I am picking the Giants to win big.
The Packers are looking like a pretty good football team right now. The did not reach expectations early in the season, but they were still winning games. Now they seem to have figured it out. They will really lose a step if QB Brett Favre is not 100%. But the Dolphins have not looked good with backup QB Ray Lucas calling the shots. The Packers play well at home on prime time TV. They will win this game big. |
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