RJ's Pick - TAMPA BAY BY 2
New Orleans (2-4) at San Francisco (2-4) - 4:15 pm (Sheridan's Line - Saints by 2½)
The Saints won their second game in a row last week, beating the Falcons 22-16. In their first three games, they allowed 103 points; in their last three, they've allowed just 49. In his first four games, Drew Brees had 1 TD and 9 INTs; in his last two games, he has 4 TDs and 1 INT. Point is, this team is improving quickly. The San Francisco 49ers, however, just seem to be getting worse. They have lost four in a row, including a blowout loss to the Giants last week. They've scored the fewest points in the NFL. RB Frank Gore and QB Alex Smith are both banged up. I see no reason to pick the home team here.
RJ's Pick - NEW ORLEANS BY 5
Washington (4-2) at New England (7-0) - 4:15 pm (Sheridan's Line - Patriots by 16½)
The Redskins edged out Arizona last week, 21-19. They have given up the fewest points in the NFC. Unfortunately, their offense is pretty anemic. Washington's top two rushers, Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, are averaging 3.9 and 2.9 yards per carry, respectively. QB Jason Campbell has as many INTs as TDs (5), and his quarterback rating is just 78.5. They are going to have to do better than their average of 189.8 passing yards per game to beat the Patriots. New England won at Miami last week, for their seventh blowout win in seven games. Tom Brady passed for 354 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, and then went home and banged a supermodel. His quarterback rating is somewhere around Bobby Fischer's IQ. No way the Redskins win this one.
RJ's Pick - NEW ENGLAND BY 20
Monday, October 29, 2007
RJ'S GAME OF THE WEEK: Green Bay (5-1) at Denver (3-3) - 8:30 pm (Sheridan's Line - Broncos by 3)
The Packers had a bye last week. The week before that, they barely won at home against the Redskins. The week before that, they lost at home to the Bears. They are dead last in the NFL with just 65.7 yards per game on the ground. However, they are second in the league with 273.7 passing yards per game. Also, the Green Bay defense is slightly above average. The Denver Broncos beat the Steelers last week on SNF. They are fifth in the NFL in yards per game, but 26th in points per game. Their defense is last in the league against the run, but second-best against the pass. QB Jay Cutler has more picks than TDs. RB Travis Henry is questionable for this week's game due to bruised ribs. Basically, this is a matchup to see who wins when the worst rushing (but second-best passing) offense faces the worst rushing (but second-best passing) defense. It really could go either way, especially in Denver and with a national audience.
Article comments
1 - RJ
Thanks for the quick publish!
2 - DOM @ HSU
here we go... 66-37 for the season.. this week is should be interesting...
CLEVELAND - i want to take STL soooo bad but i really like cleveland this year.. one thing that you forgot to mention is that Steven F**king Jackson is finally going to start after his groin injury sustained in week 4.. plus bulger is as healthy as he's going to be.. Cleves D isnt that good... put ALL the money on the OVER.. this should be a close game..
CHICAGO - chicago has come through for me every time... KITNA and C. JOHNSON should have a big game... but if DET cant stop RB Cedric Benson CHI's work horse who is way over due for a big week then CHI should get the W. Another tight game..im putting its fate on Benson.
INDY - very curtain.
MIAMI - call me crazy NYG are **WAY** over rated..
TENN - Al Davis is looking for an investor.. recent loss of an investor?.. has put 31% of share up in the air.. Raiders estimated worth 813 million.. 3rd worst in NFL..
PHILLY - tough game both teams are looking to improve dramatically.
PITTS - i could see CIN taking this one though.
NYJ - going to ride them into the ground on this one.. they are due for a win.. esp infront of a home crowd.
SD - should be a good game.. the spread has gone to SD -9.5
TB - Jags easily had playoff potential.. not anymore.. TB LOCK OF THE WEEK (besides INDY,PATS)
SF - the REASON is they HAVE TO WIN. and they know it. if they lose it will be by some dramatic play(s)
PATS - well when you're favored by 17 over a team thats 4-2... that might tell you something..
DEN - what a game... flip a coin.. Im going with a better head coach..
3 - RJ
Now this is funny.
4 - Steven
Your blog is interesting. Please keep it here and please stop promoting your blog in our Usenet newsgroups.
5 - DOM @ HSU
crowder had to be kidding, theres just no way...
6 - RJ
Okay, Sheridan now has San Diego by 10...FYI...
7 - alessandro
CLE, CHI, IND, NYG (soccer comment noted),TEN, PHI, SD, TB, NO, NE, GB,PIT, NYJ
8 - RJ
Final Scores:
Detroit 16, Bears 7 - RJ 1-0 (Key stats: Brian Griese throws 4 INTs...Kevin Jones rushes for 105 yards and a TD...)
Colts 31, Carolina 7 - RJ 2-0 (Key stats: Joseph Addai rushes for 100 yards and 2 TDs...Steve Smith held to just 2 receptions for 18 yards...)
Steelers 24, Bengals 13 - RJ 3-0 (Key stats: Hines Ward caught 8 passes for 88 yards and 2 TDs...Willie Parker ran for 126 yards and a TD...)
Cleveland 27, Rams 20 - RJ 4-0 (Key stats: Derek Anderson threw for 3 TDs with no picks...Braylon Edwards caught 8 passes for 117 yards and 2 TDs...)
9 - RJ
Final Scores:
Tennessee 13, Oakland 9 - RJ 5-0 [and I nailed the spread!] (Key stats: Vince Young completes just 6 of 14 passes for a laughable 42 yards, but the Titans win anyway...LenDale White rushes for 133 yards...Daunte Culpepper was sacked 5 times...)
Giants 13, Miami 10 - RJ 6-0(!) (Key stats: Eli Manning completed just 8 of 22 passes for 59 yards, but ran for 25 yards and a TD...Jesse Chatman, in his first NFL start, rushed for 79 yards on 16 carries...)
Eagles 23, Vikings 16 - RJ 6-1 (Key stats: Kelly Holcomb left the game with a neck injury in the third quarter...Donovan McNabb passed for 333 yards and a TD...Brian Westbrook caught a pass for a TD and rushed for another TD...)
10 - RJ
ESPN's NFL "experts" through seven games:
Wickersham 4-3
Salisbury 6-1
Hoge 5-2
Jaworski 7-0
Schlereth 6-1
Allen 6-1
Mortensen 6-1
Golic 5-2
Accuscore 5-2
11 - RJ
I'm also 5-2 ATS so far...
12 - RJ
Final Scores:
New England 52(!), Washington 7 - RJ 7-1 (Key stats: Tom Brady threw for 306 yards and 3 TDs, and ran for 2 more TDs...Mike Vrabel caught a TD pass and recorded 13 tackles, 3 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles...)
San Diego 35, Houston 10 - RJ 8-1 (Key stats: Philip Rivers completes just 7 passes, but 3 were for touchdowns...Antonio Gates caught 3 passes for 92 yards and 2 TDs...Antonio Cromarte recovered a fumble for a TD, and also intercepted two passes, one of which he returned 70 yards for a TD...)
13 - RJ
Final Scores:
Jacksonville 24, Tampa Bay 23 - RJ 8-2 (Key stats: Jeff Garcia throws 3 INTs and completes less than 50% of his passes...Quinn Gray does better than expected, completing 7 of 16 passes for 100 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INTs...)
New Orleans 31, San Francisco 10 - RJ 9-2 (Key stats: Drew Brees completes 31 of 39 passes for 336 yards and 4 TDs...Marques Colston caught 8 passes for 85 yards and 3 TDs...San Francisco's defense records zero INTs and zero sacks...)
14 - RJ
Final Score:
Bills 13, Jets 3 - RJ 10-2 (Key stats: Kellen Clemens came into the game for Chad Pennington late in the 4th quarter, and proceeded to throw 2 INTs...Lee Evans caught 5 passes for 138 yards and the game's only TD...)
15 - RJ
ESPN's NFL "experts" through 12 games:
Wickersham 7-5
Salisbury 9-3
Hoge 9-3
Jaworski 11-1
Schlereth 9-3
Allen 11-1
Mortensen 8-4
Golic 9-3
Accuscore 8-4
16 - RJ
I'm now 9-3 ATS, with just the big MNF game left to go...
Shocking facts: If the Broncos beat the Packers tomorrow night, the Detroit Lions will be tied for 1st place in the NFC North...excluding the Packers, there are only four (4) NFL teams with a better record than the Lions...and two of them are the undefeated Patriots and Colts, who are simply in a league of their own right now...
17 - RJ
Denver up 7-0 in the first quarter...consider this an open discussion thread...
18 - alessandro
Well, I guess I'll close the Pack/Bronc. thread with a "Wow!" One pass, 16 seconds, game over.
10-3.
19 - alessandro
Where's Matt with his picks anyway? Is Suss a sussy?
20 - RJ
Final Score:
Green Bay 19, Denver 13 [in OT] - RJ 10-3 (Key stats: Brett Favre throws for 331 yards and 2 TDs, including an 82-yard bomb on the first play of overtime...Ryan Grant rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries...Greg Jennings caught 6 passes for 141 yards and the game-winning TD in OT...)
(I also finished the week 10-3 ATS...)
21 - RJ
ESPN's NFL "experts" -
Wickersham 7-6
Salisbury 9-4
Hoge 10-3
Jaworski 11-1
Schlereth 9-4
Allen 11-2
Mortensen 8-5
Golic 9-4
Accuscore 8-5
22 - DOM @ HSU
well 8-5 this week.. i put all my money on the over so that was good.. (see comment #2 Cleve STL pick)
my lock of the week pick TB didn't win, i think thats the craziest upset..
miami only lost by three.. possibly could have won.. not to surprising although some of my friends thought the giants were going to win by like 15.. :)
23 - Chris
RJ you dont count your wins with the spread cuz giants didn't cover the spread.
24 - DOM @ HSU
ya actually he is right.. you went 9-4 ats this week..
teams you chose that didn't cover: Denver, TB, Minn, NYG.
25 - RJ
WEEK NINE picks are up!