RJ's NFL Picks - Week 11
I went 8-8 last week, which puts me at 88-56 for the season, for an overall winning percentage of roughly 61%. (For a comparison, check out the "experts" over at ESPN. There are nine of them: I am ahead of six, tied with one, and just barely behind the other two.)
The following are my picks for the NFL's Week 11:
Sunday, November 19th
Atlanta (5-4) at Baltimore (7-2) - 1:00 p.m.
Atlanta has lost two in a row, and Vick has committed a total of six turnovers in those two losses. He’s gone from looking like a potential MVP candidate back in late-October to being booed by his own fans in mid-November. You can’t expect to be viewed as a serious Super Bowl contender if you lose back-to-back games against the Lions and the Browns (combined record: 5-13). Baltimore has won three in a row, going undefeated ever since Billick started running the offense. I predict the obvious.
RJ’s Pick – Baltimore by 7
Buffalo (3-6) at Houston (3-6) - 1:00 p.m.
Houston upset the enigmatic Jaguars last week on the road. Meanwhile, Buffalo nearly upset the still-undefeated Colts on the road. Both of these teams are pretty bad, but are capable of putting a decent performance together on occasion. And both of them are much better at home than on the road. Therefore, I’ll go with the home team.
RJ’s Pick – Houston by 2
Chicago (8-1) at N.Y. Jets (5-4) - 1:00 p.m.
You gotta think the Bears will be able to beat the Jets on the road this week after beating the other (better) team from New York on the road last week.
RJ’s Pick – Bears by 11
Cincinnati (4-5) at New Orleans (6-3) - 1:00 p.m.
The Bengals have fallen on hard times. They’ve lost three in row, and suffered an almost-historic 2nd half collapse last week (at home!) against the Chargers. I still have difficulty believing the Saints are for real, but they should be able to win this one at home.
RJ’s Pick – New Orleans by 3
Minnesota (4-5) at Miami (3-6) - 1:00 p.m.
Miami has won two in a row, both of which were big upsets (Chicago on the road, and KC at home). And they’ve done it with Joey-friggin’-Harrington at QB! The Vikings have lost three in a row, and haven’t beaten an AFC team all year. I gotta go with the momentum here, but barely.
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Article comments
1 - The Theory
Atlanta (5-4) at Baltimore (7-2)... Holy crap what happened to Atlanta? Their fall from grace has been amusing for me... one of the many solaces I can find in a football year that has found the Eagles underperforming. Well. Baltimore should take care of Atlanta readily enough.
Buffalo (3-6) at Houston (3-6)... I was going to pick this match by flipping a coin, since I really have no read on this match whatsoever. But I don't have a coin on me. So I was going to just go with RJ's pick, because his logic sounds plausible. However, I don't like doing that. Sure, once in a while... but I don't like making a habit of it. So I trucked over to ask.com, plugged in "virtual coin flip" and found random.org's coin flip (located at www.random.org/flip.html if interested), selected the US 25 cent Pennsylvania state coin and said that head was the home team and tails was the away team. Pressed the button and *presto* we've got HEADS. Which apperently means I think Houston is going to win. Ok. Why not?
Chicago (8-1) at N.Y. Jets (5-4)... I flipped the virtual coin for this one, too, with the same qualifiers, but it came up heads also. I'm not saying that NYJ will be easy, but I can't believe Chicago will lose this one.
Cincinnati (4-5) at New Orleans (6-3)... I think we might see an upset with this one. I would flip a coin to see what it said, but the webpage stopped loading. So whatever. I'll use my pure smarts here and call for the upset. Cincinnati.
Minnesota (4-5) at Miami (3-6)... Yeah, I'd like to see Miami win, just to see the look on Miami fan's faces when they realize that Joey Harrington still stinks yet got them another W. Yet, I also realize that all momentum must come to an end, especially after several games where Miami played out of their mind, pulling huge upsets. I give this one to the Vikings.
New England (6-3) at Green Bay (4-5)... Brett Favre v Tom Brady. It is weird to me that NE would sign the old fart, Vinnie (whom I've always liked, but gosh. The man is old!) for no reason. Which means there must be a reason. Which must mean nothing good. I'll take Green bay in this one.
Oakland (2-7) at Kansas City (5-4)... Yeah. KC.
Pittsburgh (3-6) at Cleveland (3-6)... This is always a good game because Cleveland and Pittsburgh hate each other. Even when the two teams stink it's great to just seem the blood thirsty fans go ape-shit. Cleveland fans are always getting disappointed but this may be their game of the year. Cleveland.
St. Louis (4-5) at Carolina (5-4)... Carolina.
Tennessee (2-7) at Philadelphia (5-4)... Philadelphia. Or someone might want to keep the pill bottles out of MY reach.
Washington (3-6) at Tampa Bay (2-7)... Yah. Washington. Who has fans that STILL think they have superbowl hopes this year.
Detroit (2-7) at Arizona (1-8)... I don't really want to pick this one... pssh. Gosh. Gee. Arizona. But I'm not going to get drunk if I'm wrong.
Seattle (6-3) at San Francisco (4-5)... Ecchhhh. I still tend to think San Francisco is better than they're letting on. But I don't think they'll show that this game. Seattle.
Indianapolis (9-0) at Dallas (5-4)... It's been, what? A month? Month and a half? since TO's pill mishap and all of a sudden RJ is getting his jokes in? That's actually funnier than the actual jokes. Here's a joke, how many lawyers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? I don't know and I don't care because Indy is going to trounce Dallas.
San Diego (7-2) at Denver (7-2)... San Diego. Because I'm not embarrasingly biased. Though I make up for that by being embarrasingly uneducated.
N.Y. Giants (6-3) at Jacksonville (5-4)... NYG were embarrased last week by Chicago. However, it was CHICAGO. Arguably the best team in the conference. However, it seems that there are two NYG teams. One who shows up for business, and the other who looks kind of bad. They've been kind of bad for four games, which isn't really that great of a percentage so far. This game will depend entirely on which team shows up for the Giants. Which may actually depend on how the Eagles and Cowboys do on Sunday. Will the Giants be back on their heels, looking behind them in the standings, or will they just take care of business. I'm going to go with Jacksonville, becuase the Giants have proved diddly squat to me so far.
2 - DOM
My gut.............My Brain
Atlanta............Baltiomore
Buffalo............Houston
Cinncinatti........NO
Dallas.............Indy
Oakland............KC
SF.................Sea
I fliped a coin.. =)
heads= Brain
Tails= Gut
These are my Picks/results
Atlanta
Houston
Chicago
Cinncinatti
Indy
Minn
NE
Oakland!!
Pittsburgh
Carolina
Philly
Tampa
Arizona
SF:)
SD
Jax
3 - President Bush
One-hour Warning!
4 - Dubya Bush
Final Scores:
NE 35, GB 0 - RJ 1-0
Carolina 15, Rams 0 - RJ 2-0
Baltimore 24, Atlanta 10 - RJ 3-0
TB 20, Washington 17 - RJ 3-1
Bears 10, Jets 0 - RJ 4-1
5 - Dubya Bush
Final Scores:
Bengals 31, NO 16 - RJ 4-2
KC 17, Oakland 13 - RJ 5-2
Bills 24, Houston 21 - RJ 5-3
6 - Dubya Bush
Final Scores:
Dolphins 24, Vikings 20 - RJ 6-3
Steelers 24, Browns 20 - RJ 6-4
7 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
Titans 31, Eagles 13 - RJ 6-5
8 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
Arizona 17, Lions 10 - RJ 6-6
49ers 20, Seattle 14 - RJ 6-7 (!)
9 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
Dallas 21, Indy 14 - RJ 6-8 (!)
Oh yeah, this week has been fun...
10 - RJ Elliott
NFL "experts" -
Theismann 8-6
Salisbury 10-4
Hoge 6-8
Jaworski 7-7
Schlereth 8-6
Allen 9-5
Mortensen 9-5
Golic 7-7
Accuscore 9-5
11 - DOM
GO SF!!
9-6..
12 - The Theory
7-8.
This week is especially cruel because most of my picks were leading at halftime... sometimes even well into the 3rd quarter... only to cough it up in the final minutes.
With the exception of Philly, who lost McNabb for the year. Curses on them.
13 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
SD 35, Denver 27 - RJ 7-8
14 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
Jags 26, Giants 10 - RJ 6-8
15 - RJ Elliott
ESPN "experts" -
Theismann 9-6
Salisbury 12-4
Hoge 8-8
Jaworski 8-8
Schlereth 10-6
Allen 11-5
Mortensen 9-7
Golic 8-8
Accuscore 11-5
Every single one of them beat me this week... :-/
16 - MCH
What were the ESPN commentators final standings?
17 - RJ Elliott
Er, that should be:
Final Score:
Jags 26, Giants 10 - RJ 7-9 ...
18 - MCH
Wow, Salisbury did good.
19 - RJ Elliott
Yeah, he's one of the better ones. Mortensen, on the other hand, is usually pretty awful...but even he beat me this week! :-/
20 - The Theory
Aren't there Thursday games this week? Will the week 12 picks be up in time to pick them?
21 - Dubya Bush
I'll work on them tonight! :)
22 - RJ Elliott
Week 12 picks are up!