NFL Predictions - Number Nine, Number Nine...

In My Humble Opinion
1

Geez, I can’t seem to get out of this 9-5 rut. I’m down to 79-35 now, tied with the best record over at the Sporting News. It’s a tough schedule this week, with a lot o’ games that could go either way. Well, here goes nothin’:

Panthers 21 at Falcons 27 (One of the tough ones right off the bat. Every stat I’ve looked at favors the Panthers – offense, defense, record, points scored, points allowed, turnover ratio. I may be in a rut, but you can’t say I don’t make the bold pick – Falcons it is.)

Bengals 20 at Browns 13 (I didn’t really just pick the Bungles did I? Remain calm. Nothing to see here. Move along.)

Lions 24 at Colts 27 (It’s starting to look like the Ol’ Cardiac Kids are back in Indy. Another come from behind win this week.)

Packers 20 at Dolphins 24 (The ‘Phins looked like Super Bowl contenders for three quarters on Monday night. Then the defense decided to leave early in order to avoid traffic.)

Vikings 23 at Buccaneers 13 (You can’t blame the defense. With that run, run, pass, punt offense the Bucs use, Sapp and the boys don’t get a lot of time to catch their breath.)

Jets 23 at Bills 24 (Another ‘tweener, but emotional let-downs tend to follow emotional highs in the NFL. I’m going with the home team who played the Vikings really tough in the Humpty Dome last week.)

Steelers 8 at Raiders 9 (That’s a safety for the Steelers, not a two point conversion. There could be a record number of punts in this game as two pitiful offenses try to battle two pretty good defenses.)

Rams 42 at 49ers 27 (The Marshall Plan is a little dinged up. Warner’s out. But that weak defense of the Niners is getting worse. That’s not a good thing when the Rams are coming to town. Rams’ fans – This Bud (Carson)’s For You!)

Saints 24 at Cardinals 17 (I’m not even Catholic and I know that a Saint outranks a Cardinal.)

Eagles 17 at Giants 13 (Another ‘tweener. I would not place a bet on this game either way. My head says Giants, my heart says Eagles. Picking by your heart is poor handicapping. Iggles it is.)

Jaguars 27 at Cowboys 16 (I can’t believe some lines have the ‘Boys favored in this. Sure, they won big last week, but c’mon, it was the Cards for cryin’ out loud!)

Chiefs 31 at Seahawks 13 (Yeah, I know, this could be one of those “let down” games for the Chiefs. I just don’t think the Chickenhawks have it in ‘em. Any side bets on the number of concussions suffered by Seattle QBs this week?)

Raiders 33 at Chargers 17 (Moreno can’t play. Leaf seems like he doesn’t want to play. Oh yeah, Harbaugh’s got to feel real proud about being named the hitting dummy…err, starting QB, for this game.)

Titans 20 at Redskins 27 (Fine, ‘Skins fans. Now look what you’ve done! I’ve gone and picked them! Are you happy now? REDSKINS RULE!![SUB]GO TITANS[/sub].)

There it is. Wish me luck, condemn me, curse me, praise me, or have me committed. You decide.

2

Ummmmm…Gazoo?

You list the Raiders as playing twice. Just a thought.

Oh, and GO SKINS!!!

3

Oops. That should be:

Steelers 8 at Ravens 9 (That’s a safety for the Steelers, not a two point conversion. There could be a record number of punts in this game as two pitiful offenses try to battle two pretty good defenses.)

4

Yep, Warner’s out for 5-6 weeks with a broken pinky. Martz is starting to look pretty smart for keeping Green as a high priced back up though. Green didn’t seem to have much mobility last week, but that may just be rust from not playing regularly. But most importantly, Marshall Faulk’s still in the game and as the cornerstone to this offense, the Rams should still be dangerous when it comes to moving the ball downfield.

And all you fantasy footballers out there - Martz has benched Todd Lyght and Kevin Carter for this game because of the defense’s poor play last week. Carter may play third downs, but don’t expect much play time for him vs the Niners.

5

**

I shall now commence upon smiting you…

And Monfort while I’m at it!

Yer pal,
Satan

*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Six months, two weeks, three days, 16 hours, 24 minutes and 19 seconds.
8027 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,003.42.
Extra life with Drain Bead: 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 55 minutes.

I slept with a REPUBLICAN moderator!*

6

Oh crap, Gazoo picked the Skins… Guess we’re going to be 6-3 now…

:stuck_out_tongue:

7

Nope, Satan, that was last week when you smited me. I’m sure there’s some rule in the Fallen Angel Manual that prohibits consecutive week smitings. Y’know, so the smiting gets spread around evenly. So, revenge is mine: Go Eagles!

8

Just checked out ESPN. I’m still beating all those guys. (Although Shottenheimer is only a game behind me.) Looking at their picks though, I could either jump way ahead, or fall seriously behind. I can’t believe so many people are picking the freaking Cowboys!

Satan - having lived in NJ for 10 years when I was growing up, I became a semi-fan of both the Eagles and the Giants. Since the Giants have had much more overall success though, my heart is rooting for the Eagles this year.

9

You know what they say about honoring the streak…if not, c’mon over and we’ll pop Bull Durham into the VCR. :wink:

Oh yeah, Jerome Bettis and the Ravens’ lack of an offense will start to wear down the Ravens’ D this week. Bettis probly won’t get 100 - even Stephen Davis didn’t quite - but he’ll find enough running room for the Steelers to win.

10

:stuck_out_tongue:

11

Although the Vikings are 7-0, and the Bucs are 3-4, the people making the betting lines are favoring the Bucs by 3. Now granted the Vikes are a Dome team, but they have played outside, on grass and in the rain. So the playing outdoors thing should not make that big a deal. It’s just a matter of no respect.
Gazoo on the other hand you show a world of wisdom by picking the Vikes by 10.:smiley:
Keep up the good work.

p.s. The Bengals still SUCK!, but Corey Dillon ROCKS!

12

:cool:

I agree, the Vikings aren’t getting very much credit for being the last undefeated team. I don’t think Paul “Dr.Z” Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated has picked them once all year. If the Lions can beat the Bucs by 14, the Vikings can certainly beat them by 10.

13

This lines have nothing to do with predictions. The lines have to do with where bettors are wagering their money. The oddsmakers want to have an equal amount of cash on each team. When that happens, they are guaranteed to make money.

Now, if a lot of money is going to the favorite, the line will move the opposite way. So if everyone is taking the favorite giving 7 points, they will raise it to, say 7½ so people will be more likely to start betting on the underdog.

As such, if you feel smited by your team not being favored in a particular game, go to Vegas and drop several million dollars AGAINST your team. Have some friends do the same. The line will move accordingly…

Yer pal,
Satan

*TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Six months, two weeks, five days, 18 hours, 46 minutes and 23 seconds.
8111 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,013.91.
Extra time with Drain Bead: 4 weeks, 3 hours, 55 minutes.

*THE YANKEES WIN! THAAAAAAH YANKEES WIN!
1996 · 1998 ··· WORLD CHAMPIONS ··· 1999 · 2000
26 Titles! The #1 Dynasty of all-time!
And most importantly… RULERS OF NYC!!

14

I humbly bow before Satan and his Giants. They controlled that game from start to finish.

I was worried about that Jaguar prediction once the Cowboys took my advice and put Cunningham in, but the Jags were able to pull it out in OT. Fantasy Football players everywhere are scrambling to claim some guy named Alvis Whitted.

15

Steelers (4 games without giving up a TD) 9, Ravens (5 games w/o scoring a TD) 6.

Eerie, though you got the winning team wrong on this one. The Steelers scored a TD and missed the extra point and almost pinned the Evil Ravens on the 1 Yard line, but the punt was previously touched, albeit slightly, and placed on the 10. As long as well as the Steeler Defense was I am sure that they would have scored a Safety. No record Punts, though. Both teams moved the ball but couldn’t really score.

Nice Picks.

16

Yeah, Gazoo, when it was 6-6 in the third quarter, I must admit I was thinking about your picks as well.
Nice call.

17

And well you should! :smiley:

Yer pal,
Satan

*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Six months, three weeks, 13 hours, 37 minutes and 20 seconds.
8182 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,022.84.
Extra life with Drain Bead: 4 weeks, 9 hours, 50 minutes.

THE YANKEES WIN! THAAAAAAH YANKEES WIN!
1996 · 1998 ··· WORLD CHAMPIONS ··· 1999 · 2000
26 Titles! The #1 Dynasty of all-time!
And most importantly… RULERS OF NYC!!*

18

Good picks, Gazoo! I see you’re 10-3 headed into tonight - at my party the other night, we were talking about what a difficult set of games it was to pick this weekend.

Needless to say, your failure to honor the streak also came up. Hopefully, the football gods won’t punish us Redskins fans for that lapse on your part. :slight_smile: At any rate, I’m rooting for you to finish the weekend 11-3, which would definitely lift you from your rut!

Oh yeah - I can say “I told you so” about one of your few wrong picks. :smiley:

19

Looking back on that Ravens pick, I’d probably pick them again. I’m just glad I didn’t have to watch that one. Oh well, still a pretty good week.

20

I’ve gotta agree with you on both counts. :slight_smile: