I went 7-7 last week, and I'm 31-29 overall.
Not bad, but not exactly good either. As the season moves on, and the NFL picture becomes clearer, and the good teams/bad teams become easier to spot, I must do better.
Otherwise, I'm essentially just flippin' a coin here...
At any rate, here are my picks for Week Five:
Sunday, Oct. 9
Baltimore at Detroit 1:00 p.m.
Sigh. As you might have guessed by now, I am a Lions fan. Therefore I simply cannot pick against them, even if I think they will get crushed at home. Detroit by 1.
Chicago at Cleveland 1:00 p.m.
Cleveland rocks! Cleveland rocks! (At least when compared to Bears QB Orton, they do...) Browns by 3.
Miami at Buffalo 1:00 p.m.
The Dolphins, shockingly, have the best record in the AFC East, at 2-1. The Bills, meanwhile, are 1-3. If this game was being played in upstate NY in December, I would go with the Bills. But, instead, it's being played in October. Dolphins by 4.
New England at Atlanta 1:00 p.m.
Ouch! This is a tough one. The 2-2 Pats, Super Bowl winners from 3 of the last 4 years, are on the road against a high-quality NFC team. But Vick is hurt, and even if he starts this game, he can't possibly be 100%. So I'll go with the champs. New England by 3.
New Orleans at Green Bay 1:00 p.m.
Green Bay sucks this year. They are 0-4, and Favre looks like a has-been. Still, New Orleans ain't exactly a great team, and the Packers are at home. GB by 7.
Seattle at St. Louis 1:00 p.m.
Well, the Rams screw me every time I pick against them. Of course, they also screw me every time I pick them to win! So, I pretty much hate them. Seattle by 10.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - DJRadiohead
I am going to take Pittsburgh because I have a feeling they are ready to take the mantle in the AFC.
I take NE and Detroit. I will take Philly as well.
2 - visualsimplicity
I'd agree with the tough pick on NE and Atlanta. NE should win because everytime they flop a game, they always respond well.
Oh and JP Losman isn't going to be QBing Buffalo next week. I'd take Buffalo over Miami since their defense is still tough and Holcomb should be a little less sporadic.
And I'd take Philly over Dallas.
Denver over Washington because it's @Denver and Washington is probably the worst remaining undefeated team.
I'll also take Cincy over Jacksonville because that run defense is horrible and Johnson should have a field day.
3 - MCH
Baltimore will definately beat Detroit...write it on the wall.
4 - joe dirt
RJ,
I don't know who you are or how you became a sports handicapper, but you must have ate paint chips as a kid. Your record speaks for itself. Please find another hobby, maybe kayaking or knitting. You don't know poop from brown bread. Cowboys over Eagles? Are you serious? Skins over Broncos? What are you smoking, pass it this way. Anyway, give it up dude, and drop your bong retart.
Joe Dirt
E-A-G-L-E-S
5 - Mikey Stevens
Browns gona blow out those Bears! Bears no chance!
6 - The Theory
I don't like to make picks until the season is several weeks underway just because I don't know enough about football to judge until I've seen a team play a couple of times. So this week i'll make my pick debut.
Baltimore at Detroit- I want the Lions to win this one. Though the main reason is that I have a death wish against any sports team from Baltimore.
Chicago at Cleveland- Cleveland.
Miami at Buffalo- I have faith that Miami will continue to do better than people thought.
New England at Atlanta- Being a hardcore Philly guy the team that scares me the most is Atlanta. So any time Atlanta has an oppertounity to lose, I hope they will. Patriots have as good of a shot as any team to do so.
New Orleans at Green Bay- New Orleans. I don't give GB credit to be able to take advantage of home field.
Seattle at St. Louis- St Louis. Though I don't really know much of anything about either team. But if RJ picks Seattle... I shall not. ;-)
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Jets- Tampa Bay. Hooray.
Tennessee at Houston- I always hope Houston does well and they rarely do. But they can win this one.
Indianapolis at San Francisco- Colts.
Carolina at Arizona- Carolina
Philadelphia at Dallas- I'm in Eagles country and I can't pick against my team who's been playing well. I will be surprised if it's a blow-out, though. And despite how well McNabb has played injured, he's still a wild card.
Washington at Denver- I hate the redskins for completely trivial reasons. But I honestly think they are one of the worst teams to ever go 3-0. Denver will show 'em who's boss.
Cincinnati at Jacksonville- I'm not going to bet against a 4-0 team.
Pittsburgh at San Diego- Pittsburg.
7 - RJ
Well, at least I'm doing better so far than these three guys...
8 - Bennett
Yer kicking their asses, PJ. Keep up the good work!
9 - Bennett
Hmmmmm...... looked like an "R" to me...
10 - NFL PicK GURU
Browns -3 Under 35
Packers -3 Over 43
Buccaneers -3 Under 31.5
Rams -3 Over 47.5
Patriots -2 Under 41.5
Bills -3 Under 35
Ravens EVEN Under 32
Texans -3 Over 40.5
Colts -15.5 Over 45.5
Cardinals +2.5 Over 42.5
Eagles -3 oVER 43.5
bRONCOS -6.5 uNDER 35
Jaguars -6.5 Over 37
Chargers -3 Over 46
Lines from sportsbook.com 10/9 at 12:40
The NFL Pick GURU
11 - Temple Stark
OK, I've had trouble getting into the site.
PICKS, MINE
Funny story - I was at this Friends of the Library annual dinner. This is in Arizona. One of the items for the silent auction was four tickets for today's Arizona Cardinals game against the Panthers. $61 bucks a piece face value. They went for $35 bucks total.
I believe my record, has fallen after a good first couple of weeks. I went 11-5. I went 10-6. I went 7-7. I went 8-6. I'm going on memory right now. So I'm 36-24.
--Baltimore at Detroit 1:00 p.m.
Confidence factor - Detroit by 10
--Chicago at Cleveland
I thought this was the Bears comeback year. They remain in hibernation. CLEVELAND by 30
--Miami at Buffalo
MIAMI by 6
--New England at Atlanta
NEW ENGLAND by 1
--New Orleans at Green Bay
GREEN BAY by 12
--Seattle at St. Louis
If Seattle has a rivalry, St. Louis is it. They lose two starters wide receivers Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson and since I want Seattle to win they will (though they haven't won on the road, yet. But only after I pick ST. LOUIS by 11
--Tampa Bay at N.Y. Jets
TAMPA by 10
--Tennessee at Houston
TITANS by 19
--Indianapolis at San Francisco 4:05 p.m.
COLTS BY 7
--Carolina at Arizona
CAROLINA by 9
Philadelphia at Dallas
EAGLES by 10
Washington at Denver
SKINS by 17
Cincinnati at Jacksonville 8:30
JACKSONVILLE by 3
Pittsburgh at San Diego MNF
PITTSBURGH by 3
(Bye Week: Kansas City, Minnesota, N.Y. Giants, Oakland)
12 - Matthew T. Sussman
I hate picking scores of games, because the only numbers that matter at the end of a season are wins and losses. Only once in a blue moon does a score matter in the final week, and rarely does that score impact the tiebreakers.
13 - Temple Stark
Yes but they do show the "pickers" level of contempt or respect for the opponents. Otherwise, yeah, what Matt said.
14 - Matthew T. Sussman
That may make a good BC contest for next year.
Pick a point differential, and gauge it with the result, and like a "Price is Right" Cliffhangers game, see if you can get below a certain value.
15 - Msytery Man
I think that green bay is gona win big. Up like 30 at half
16 - rj
Final Scores:
GB 52(!), New Orleans 3 - RJ 1-0
Lions 35, Baltimore 17 - RJ 2-0
Browns 20, Bears 10 - RJ 3-0(!)
Bills 20, Miami 14 - RJ 3-1
Pats 31, Atlanta 28 - RJ 4-1 (and I picked the spread!)
Jets 14, TB 12 - RJ 4-2
Seattle 37, Rams 31 - RJ 5-2 (and I finally picks St. Louis correctly!)
Tennessee 34, Houston 20 - RJ 5-3
17 - Temple Stark
I'm 5 and 3 as well, though really I'm 6-2 with my St. Louis pick just to get Seattle to win.
But I'm 5 and 3.
18 - Temple Stark
Oh - and Mystery man has no (foot) balls
19 - RJ
Final Scores:
Carolina 24, Arizona 20 - RJ 6-3
Indy 28, SF 3 - RJ 7-3
20 - RJ
Final:
Dallas 33, Philly 10 - RJ 8-3
21 - RJ
Right now, I am ranked #19 for the week over at Maxim Online's Football Challenge.
Like, #19 out of 20,000 or so... ;-P
22 - RJ
Hmm...now it's saying I'm #10...
23 - RJ
Final:
Denver 21, Redskins 19 - RJ 8-4
(I've lost three close ones this week already - Washington missed a 2-point conversion to tie it was about a minute left; Miami was driving for the winning score as time expired; and Tampa Bay ran out of time with the ball and down only two points...)
24 - RJ
Not a single one of these eight "experts" has a better record this week (through 12 games) than I do...
25 - RJ
Heh, now I'm #59 over at Maxim Online...probably out of range for a weekly prize, too... :-(