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Last Week: 6-8
Season: 81-49
Record Picking Redskins Games: 6-2
Against the Spread: 16-15-1
Lock of the Week: 6-2

Last Week’s Pats: Yikes, not much here. Correctly called not only the Patriots-Colts winner, but also got the margin of victory perfect.

Last Week’s Apologies: Where to begin? I’ll start with the Lions, who I said I would start to take seriously if they beat Denver. Well, they destroyed the Broncos, and now I am on notice. Also owe an apology to the Bills, who outlasted Cincy at home and an apology to myself for ever picking a Norv Turner-coached team to win a game on the road. Also, my bubble finally burst on my gambling lines. 0-4 last week. Ouch.

This Weeks Picks:

Atlanta at Carolina: The Falcons are just what the doctor ordered for the ailing Panthers. I think Carolina finally takes care of business at home.

Panthers 19, Falcons 13

Minnesota at Green Bay: Adrian Peterson is pretty good. But so is Brett Favre. If I had ANY faith in the Vikings passing game, I might lean towards an upset here—but I don’t.

Packers 20, Vikings 17

Denver at Kansas City: No one is establishing themselves in the NFC West, which is keeping the 3-5 Broncos alive in the race. I picked them to upset the Lions last week and they promptly got beat 44-7. I’m riding the Broncos one last time.

Broncos 23, Chiefs 20

Buffalo at Miami: I’m picking the Dolphins to win every week, so that when they finally do pull one out, I can say, “see, I told you they’d win this week.” In all honesty, I do think Miami wins at least one game this year, and this one seems somewhat logical, despite the fact that Buffalo has looked quite good the past few weeks.

Dolphins 21, Bills 19

St. Louis at New Orleans: I was very high on the Rams coming into the year, and it is just stunning for me to see them at 0-8. Part of me still believes there is an offensive juggernaut lurking somewhere inside of them, but the stats tell a different story.

Saints 34, Rams 23

Cleveland at Pittsburgh: Anyone interested in Brady Quinn? With Derek Anderson lighting it up week after week, Quinn isn’t ever going to see the field in Cleveland. But I do see the Steelers putting the clamps on the Browns this week.

Steelers 27, Browns 17

Jacksonville at Tennessee: Very interesting game. The Titans would be a stellar 7-2 with a victory. Again, the Jags proved last week to be the most inconsistent team in the league. I just never know what to expect. I’m going to say the Jags D shows up big time this week.

Jaguars 16, Titans 13

Philadelphia at Washington: Really on the fence here—I don’t yet trust the Redskins to string wins together or put teams away. On the other hand, you simply can’t like what you see from the Eagles right now. That sound you hear is the window slamming shut on the Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb era in Philadelphia.

Redskins 20, Eagles 17

Cincinnati at Baltimore: Both of these teams disgust me right now.

Ravens 23, Bengals 17

Detroit at Arizona: I finally caved and gave the Lions some much deserved credit this week. You know what that means…….

Cardinals 26, Lions 21

Dallas at New York Giants: I am a believer in both of these teams. As a matter of fact, with all due respect to Green Bay, I think these are your two best teams in the NFC now that the Giants have solved their early season defensive woes. Can’t tell you how impressed I am with the Cowboys offense—total balance, weapons everywhere. I see a very well played this Sunday coming down to the wire. But I think the Cowboys are just a smidge better this week.

Cowboys 27, Giants 23

Chicago at Oakland: The Bears better get moving if they have any plans at all to defend their NFC Championship from last year. Oakland is a good place to start.

Bears 20, Raiders 10

Indianapolis at San Diego: Very tough call here. I could definitely see Indy battling some post-Patriot fatigue. San Diego, on the other hand, seemed to be back on track until Adrian Peterson derailed them last week. I could see it going either way, but I’m sticking with the better team on this one.

Colts 28, Chargers 21

San Francisco at Seattle: Wow, San Francisco is significantly worse than I thought—and I thought they were pretty bad. Easy win for the Seahawks.

Seahawks 24, 49ers 9

4 To Score

1. Arizona (-1) against the Lions. The Cards burned me as my lock of the week last Sunday, but overall, I’ve done riding well riding them this year.
2. Chicago (-3.5) against the Raiders. Betting the Bears got some things figured out during the BYE week.
3. Dolphins (+3) against the Bills. I do think the Dolphins at least keep this one close.
4. Panthers (-4) against the Falcons. Thinking here is that the Panthers defense puts the clamps on them.