Last week saw me go 9-4; six teams not playing again.
This puts my season at 62-28.
For this week:
Sunday at 1:00pm ET -
Atlanta (3-3) @ Detroit (5-1)
Chicago (3-3) @ Tampa Bay (4-2)
Seattle (2-3) @ Cleveland (2-3)
Denver (1-4) @ Miami (0-5)
Houston (3-3) @ Tennessee (3-2)
San Diego (4-1) @ NY Jets (3-3)
Washington (3-2) @ Carolina (1-5)
Sunday at 4:00pm ET -
Kansas City (2-3) @ Oakland (4-2)
Pittsburgh (4-2) @ Arizona (1-4)
St. Louis (0-5) @ Dallas (2-3)
Green Bay (6-0) @ Minnesota (1-5)
Sunday Night -
Indianapolis (0-6) @ New Orleans (4-2)
Monday Night -
Baltimore (4-1) @ Jacksonville (1-5)
Byes -
Buffalo, Cincinnati, New England, NY Giants, Philadelphia, San Francisco
After six weeks of play, right now I would predict, for the third week, Green Bay over New England in Super Bowl XLVI.
As far as picks go, I need to see more out of the Lions before I give up on them completely - more on that below, though. That's a tough game to call, but I like them over a questionable Falcons team on the road. Tampa and Chicago is a tough call too; Tampa has a Jekyll-and-Hyde thing going on this year and Chicago is still not as good as people think... I'll take Tampa at home. Seattle... yeah, still not buying. Miami gave one of the saddest performances of the year on Monday night, and on a short week, I expect them to get obliterated by a Tebow-led Broncos team coming off their bye. Does this mean Tebow will ascend? I don't think so, but expect 2-3 good weeks while teams gather substantial amounts of pro-level film on him... and he should feast on a Miami defense that looked completely disinterested against the Jets. Houston/Tennessee is an interesting matchup; it'll say much about both, but I like Houston more, even without Andre Johnson. San Diego, coming off a bye, over a Jets team on a short week, no question... and I do like Carolina to win this week over a Redskins team in flux, even as teams start to figure out Cam Newton (it's that whole having film thing that helps, as I mentioned re: Tebow above).
For the afternoon games, well they're all four no-brainers pretty much. I like the Chiefs the most out of the underdogs there, but let's face it - those four games and the two night games are your eliminator/survival buffet this week. I don't buy Dallas entirely, and I think St. Louis has to win sooner or later, but with a brand-new Brandon Lloyd and a banged up Bradford? Hm. The Ponder-led Vikings could have a surge against a suspect Green Bay pass defense, too (again, that film thing), but come on, no matter how bad the Packer defense is, Aaron Rodgers makes up for it.
Indianapolis gets another night game, despite being awful. Peyton Manning is the league's MVP among all players injured right now. And how did Jacksonville get a Monday Night ticket? Seriously.
I'm gambling on Dallas as my top survival pick this week, with Pittsburgh (if you didn't use them last week), Oakland, New Orleans, Baltimore and Green Bay all on the table too. If you're feeling frisky, I love Carolina as a ballsy survivor pick this week.
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Some discussion this week. I like the Lions this year. That's my team. But they have some serious concerns. Let's face it. First up - Jahvid Best with another concussion. That's three in three years. I think the NFL is as shady as it gets about concussions (which are season-ending injuries in baseball and hockey, often enough), and I hope for the young man's future that he ends up shut down for much of the year, if not the rest of it. This leaves the Lions with three RBs on roster - all-purpose Mo Morris, power-back Keiland Williams and the suddenly-damaged Jerome Harrison. That Ronnie Brown trade? Not happening, because Harrison failed his physical. So let's be real and realize they only have two RBs. This bodes poorly because if the Lions are to have a tenuous lead over another team late in a game, they don't have the running game to draw it (and the clock) out. This was part of their loss to San Francisco. Secondly, the Lions have a suspect pass defense, as we all knew. Look at the Chicago game - despite the D-line playing a lights-out game, Cutler had a great stat-line. I'm thinking of 2007 right now, when a less-talented Lions team was 6-2 at the halfway mark. That team floundered, finishing the season 7-9 before going 0-16. Do I think this Lions team has similar woes in store? Of course not. But given the above issues, 5-1 start aside, I wonder about this team going forward. I expect a 10-6 record from them, which means going 5-5 the rest of the way. I think they can still do it, but the euphoria of a 5-1 start may trip them up going forward as they do begin to lose games. Let this team respond better to adversity than the Lions of 2007.
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