LAST WEEK: 9-5 :: OVERALL: 52-36
And then there was one. With the Giants losing on Monday night, there remains only one unbeaten team in the NFL. The Tennessee Titans are clinging to a 5-0 start with a fairly unimpressive win over the Baltimore Ravens (who are 2-3 after three straight losses) and for some strange reason, the division with the second-best record is the NFC South!!!
What is this league coming to?
Let’s take a look a my upset specials this week!
I know, I know. They only lost to the Cardinals in overtime. But you gotta admit, the Cards pretty much owned that game. It was a miracle comeback that even allowed the game to get to overtime. Arizona deserved that win. And the week before that, Dallas came close to losing to Cincinnati, and they did lose the week before to Washington.. in Dallas! Now with Romo gone and several other important pieces of the team out (Roy Williams, or not) the Cowboys could struggle against a rejuvenated Rams team, who are also the home team. I know it’s an upset, but… WINNER: St. Louis.
Here’s a game that pits two of those NFC South rivals against each other. New Orleans is surprisingly on the bottom of the division right now, and will be out to prove they are the best not the worst team in the South. Carolina will want to rebound from the beating they took in Tampa last week. Yikes. Both are very good teams. Tough game to call either way. Should be fun to watch! But, I gotta pick someone… WINNER: New Orleans
Now, before you call me a homer for this pick… hear me out. The Bills are getting their starting QB back, apparently none the worse for the wear. They also get Roscoe Parrish back. They also are coming off a bye. They also play very well in big games at home. They also are awesome. (OK, that might be the homer coming out…) San Diego has been getting better each week, though, too, and with a big emotional win over their biggest rival of late – the New England Patriots – perhaps they come to Buffalo either “charged” up, or spent. In the middle of an insane, 16,000 miles of travel, I’m betting for the latter. Too many edges to Buffalo in this one. Buffalo proves they are legit. WINNER: Buffalo
I am becoming a big Ben Roethlisberger fan. Seriously. I don’t even like the Steelers. But I am just shocked by how tough he is. Their line is awful, but HE is still winning games, even while he’s almost completely broken! The Bengals are just sad. They came close against the Giants and Cowboys on the road, but at home, still without Carson Palmer, they will be embarrassed by their division rivals. WINNER: Pittsburgh
Lots of division games this week. This could be a pretty good game. Not sure really who the Vikes are this season. They can be dominant, or they can lose to just about anyone. Almost the same story for the Bears, but they looked pretty good even in defeat last week. Going with the home team in this one. WINNER: Chicago
I can’t believe the list of winners I am picking this week. Take a look at it at the end of this article. This game is another one of the crazy picks. It may just be a hunch. It may be Kansas City’s defeat of Denver earlier this year where LJ ran for 200 yards. It may be that I am not impressed at all with Tennessee’s team, particularly their offense. It may just be that I am crazy. WINNER: Kansas City
The Dolphins keep having success with their tricky offensive playbook, but will it be enough against the number one defense – in every category – in the NFL? Thanks to the Ravens’ anemic offense, they just may. Miami played tough again in Houston last week, coming off back to back wins over two AFC power houses. The Dolphins should triple their 2007 win total by week seven. WINNER: Miami
San Francisco is another confusing team. They have some great players. They have had some success this season. But at 2-4, not very much. Frank Gore could be a bit of a problem for the Giants, but you’ve got to think the Giants will want to prove that they are much better than they looked in Ohio on Monday. They were embarrassed. A loss to the Niners at home would be (perhaps) even more embarrassing. WINNER: NY Giants
Can you remember the last time (if ever?) that a 1-4 team was favored by 9 points??? Detroit is that bad. And now they don’t even have Roy Williams. Or Jon Kitna. (Is that bad?) WINNER: Houston
Believe me… I like Brett Favre. I have always like him. I think he gives the Jets much more legitimacy. Still… they just don’t impress me. And honestly, the Raiders do. More than in recent years. They have a pretty good defense, and a decent offense. I just don’t trust the Jets. WINNER: Oakland
Both of these teams had very different weeks last week. The Browns got their second win on Monday night against the defending (and previously unbeaten) Super Bowl champs. The Redskins seemed to fight off a valiant effort by the winless Rams, only to allow a completion on a desperation pass, and a last second loss on a long FG. Washington is a legitimate 4-2, while I’m not sure Cleveland is a legitimate 35-14 winner over the Giants. Will be tough for Cleveland to win, even with their potentially potent offense. WINNER: Washington
Green Bay is still playing well, despite their young QB still playing injured. Indianapolis is playing better and better, because of their older QB. I want to pick Green Bay in this one because they are a good team, at home, playing a Colts team with a few injuries still… but… I can’t pick against Peyton for some reason. WINNER: Indianapolis
Tampa Bay has had some impressive wins this year. This should have been a better game than it will be. Seattle will be making another trip to the east coast and it has not been pretty. I don’t expect this will be much of an “impressive” win for the Bucs. They should win easily. WINNER: Tampa Bay
They only have two losses. The most recent was pretty bad. They also lost to Miami. That’s bad. Still, the Pats are 3-2. And they are the home team in this game. And, while it is really hard for me to think that the Broncos will win easily, I can actually see that happening. Cutler has had a good year, Marshall has had a great year, the Broncos always have a good running game…. if their defense can hold up against a weakened Pats offense… it could actually be pretty ugly. WINNER: Denver
You could never have convinced me before the season started that I would pick St. Louis, Kansas City, Miami, and Oakland to all win in the same week. Never. But, in week seven… that is precisely who I have picked. If that does actually happen… that will be insane. I’d like to point out in advance, that I predicted the insanity here!
Week six had some amazing finishes. What will week seven hold?
A Bills game! Go Bills! And see ya at The Ralph for the BBR Game!
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