I went 7-6 last week. That puts me at 36-24 for the season. For a comparison, check out the "experts" over at ESPN.
Here are my picks for the NFL's Week 5:
*Sunday, October 5, 2008*
Kansas City 1-3 at Carolina 3-1 - 1:00 PM (Line: Panthers by 10)
Last Week: Kansas City beat Denver, 33-19. Larry Johnson rushed for 198 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Carolina defeated Atlanta, 24-9. Jake Delhomme completed 20 of 29 passes for 294 yards and two TDs, with no INTs, fumbles, or sacks.
What To Expect: Kansas City is getting no respect from the oddsmakers despite their impressive win over the previously-unbeaten Broncos last week. Of course, that was a home game for the Chiefs, and Arrowhead Stadium is always a tough place to play for a visiting team. This week they are on the road at Carolina, where the Panthers are 2-0 this season. Offensively, Carolina is just mediocre. On defense, they are solid against the pass and average against the run. Kansas City's passing attack had been pathetic in their first three games, but new starter Damon Huard looked fairly impressive last week. As for running the ball, Larry Johnson has three touchdowns and over 300 yards over the last two games. Defensively, the Chiefs are awful against the run and only average against the pass. I predict a Panthers win, but it should be closer than most people seem to think.
RJ's Pick: Carolina by 5
RJ's Lame-Game Of The Week: Chicago 2-2 at Detroit 0-3 - 1:00 PM (Line: Bears by 3)
Last Week: Chicago beat Philadelphia, 24-20. The Bears defense held the Eagles to just 2-for-13 on third down conversions. Detroit had a bye week.
What To Expect: I am not particularly impressed with the Bears offense. Yes, rookie running back Matt Forte gets a lot of yards, but it's on a lot of carries; his yards-per-carry average is less than four. Kyle Orton is a mediocre game manager at best. The Bears run defense is solid, but their pass defense is porous. I do respect their red zone defense, however. The Detroit Lions, even when they are really bad (like, say, this season) usually play pretty well at home. Also, this is the first game of the post-Millen era, so expect the hometown fans to be going wild (at least in the 1st quarter). The Lions have an almost non-existent running game, and Jon Kitna throws too many picks. And their defense is an absolute joke, especially against the run. Still, I feel strangely compelled to pick them for at least one more week.
RJ's Pick: Detroit by 2
Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
NEWS FLASH: Bears suspend defensive tackle Tommie Harris.
2 - EEL
Here are my picks for WEEK 5. Hope i do better than last week! ( NO SPREAD )
BILLS
TITANS
PANTHERS
COLTS
CHARGERS
BEARS - SORRY R.J :-)
PACKERS
GIANTS
REDSKINS
BRONCOS
COWGIRLS
49ERS - 9 ERS !
JAGS
SAINTS
3 - Anthony D
No way 49ers are going to win!!!!!!
4 - Jack Y
BALTIMORE (+3.0) over Tennessee
Atlanta (+6.5) over GREEN BAY
DETROIT (+3.5) over Chicago
Kansas City (+9.5) over CAROLINA
Indianapolis (-3.0) over HOUSTON
San Diego (-6.5) over MIAMI
Washington (+5.5) over PHILADELPHIA
Seattle (+7.0) over NY GIANTS
DENVER (-3.0) over Tampa Bay
New England (-3.0) over SAN FRANCISCO
Cincinnati (+17.0) over DALLAS
Buffalo (+1.0) over ARIZONA
Pittsburgh (+4.0) over JACKSONVILLE
NEW ORLEANS (-3.0) over Minnesota
5 - smokytla
Hey everyone! I'm posting this week's research. This week is out of 82 "expert" picks with the exception of the NO game cuz Jaworski doesn't pick and the GB/Atl game only has 74 picks since 2 sources seem to have missed that game for some reason. The first set is of the total picks (which, using the winning team out of the total picks has a record of 43 wins for the season which is 1 better than any individual expert), the second is of all "experts" who have a season record of 40, 41 and 42 ... and the third is narrowed down to just the 3 who have a record of 42.
82 total picks:
Car 77-5
Ten 59-23
Chi 66-16
Ind 65-17
GB 69-5
SD 69-13
NYG 75-5
Phi 67-15
Den 65-17
AZ 44-38
NE 68-14
Dal 78-4
Jax 60-22
NO 67-14
"Experts" with Season record of 40 and up:
Car 18-0
Ten 13-5
Chi 14-4
Ind 13-5
GB 18-0
SD 15-3
NYG 18-0
Phi 18-0
Den 15-3
AZ 15-3
NE 15-3
Dal 18-0
Jax 15-3
NO 16-2
Top 3 "experts" ... with 42 as their season recordCar 3-0
Ten 3-0
Chi 3-0
Ind 2-1
GB 3-0
SD 3-0
NYG 3-0
Phi 3-0
Den 3-0
AZ 2-1
NE 2-1
Dal 3-0
Jax 2-1
NO 3-0
Hopefully it will be a better week this week and hope this info helps....
6 - RJ Elliott
Thanks EEL and Jack Y for your picks, and smokytla for posting the results of your research.
I believe this was the longest NFL Picks article I've ever written. Would anyone mind terribly if next week was unusually brief? I have an insane amount of school work to do over the coming week or so ... :-/
7 - CallmeMaddy
Nice picks. I'm not very good at picking, but I'm going with Pittsburgh. Mainly, because Pittsburgh's my team.
Oh, and I believe they are starting Moore (3rd string rb, because Mendenhall--who I hate--is out) and they resigned Gary Russell (Ew ...)
The offensive line really does suck. Poor Ben.
Sigh. Well, I hope the Steelers beat the Jags. They're a tough team, so I'm worried.
Maddy
8 - alessandro
Car - But if you're playing the spread I'd go with KC.
NO - Two unpredictable teams. Passing over running for this one.
Det - Orton is suddenly prolific but a dead-cat bounce for the Lions here.
GB - I hate these game-day QB decisions. Still, I just can't bring myself to pick the Falcons and see them go 3-2 to GB's 2-3.
SD - Miami is much improved and can possibly win, but SD will prove too much for the fish.
Sea- My contrarian pick of the week. Yeah, yeah the 'Hawks suck on the road but some things are in their favor here; healthy and no Burress.
Phi - I just wish Reid made better play calling in key situations. Iggles could easily be 4-0.
Ind- Big division game. Hou hasn't been kind to me. Watch them win. Bastards.
Den - How the heck did Garcia end up 3rd string?
No respect, no respect I tell ya. Sad about Bryant. Terrible.
Ari - Buf 5-0? Doesn't sound right but it can happen here.
Jac - Pittsburgh narrowly dodged Baltimore. They won't here.
NE - A new documentary is in the making: Finding Good Tom Brady.
Dal - The Cowboys haven't convinced me. Wade doesn't seem right to me. Nonenevertheless, they should beat WKRP in Cincinnati.
Bal - I have no feel for the Houston's, Tennessee's and Baltimore's of this world. I'm pathetic and worthless that way.
9 - DOM
36-24 overall
Carolina
Detriot
Packers
Chargers
Giants
Eagles
Titans
Colts
Denver
Arizona.. a desent team AT HOME thats lost two in a row doesnt wnt to make it three in a row.
49ers.. we will see in the first quarter what the bye week did for the patriots. coming into the bye they scored 17 pts against KC. 19 pts against the jets. and 13 points against Miami. 49ers are a far better team (on paper)... we'll see if the 49er's prep for this game will be the right one..
go niners!
Dallas
Pitsburgh
Vikings
10 - Adam
After a rough week last week I am at 40-20 going into week 5. One espn expert has pulled ahead of me, and accuscore still remains on game ahead.
Okay, better late than never. I'll make this quick.
Carolina
Chicago
GB
Chargers
Seahawks (gotta go with my team, go Branch and Engram!)
Eagles
Titans
Colts
Denver
Buffalo
49ers
Dallas
Jacksonville
11 - Adam
Oh yeah, Saints as well.
12 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
Carolina 34, KC 0(!) - RJ 1-0
Bears 34, Lions 7 - RJ 1-1
Atlanta 27, GB 24 - RJ 2-1
Miami 17, SD 10 - RJ 2-2
Giants 44(!), Seattle 6 - RJ 3-2
Washington 23, Eagles 17 - RJ 4-2
13 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
Tennessee 13, Baltimore 10 - RJ 4-3
Indy 31, Houston 27 - RJ 5-3 [Sage Rosenfels blew it in the 4th quarter! It's a sign of the Apocalypse!]
Denver 16, TB 13 - RJ 6-3
Arizona 41(!), Bills 17 - RJ 6-4
14 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
NE 30, SF 21 - RJ 7-4
Dallas 31, Bengals 22 - RJ 8-4
Pittsburgh 26, Jaguars 21 - RJ 9-4
15 - RJ Elliott
ESPN's NFL "experts" through 13 games:
Wickersham 6-7
Fleming 7-6
Hoge 8-5
Jaworski 7-6
Schlereth 9-4
Allen 6-7
Mortensen 8-5
Golic 8-5
Accuscore 8-5
Pick 'em 8-5
16 - EEL
DOM,
9ERS HAVE HAD THERE CHANCES FOR 2WEEKS STRAIGHT AND JUST CAN NOT DO IT ! THE INT'S J.T.O THROWS ARE KILLERS, OUR OFFENSIVE LINE IS BAD, HE JUST HAS NO TIME TO THROW THE BALL!
17 - EEL
R.J
WAS HOPEING YOU COULD WRITE A LITTLE MORE BUT THAT'S OK . ( JUST KIDDING ) :-) (I WOULDNT MIND AT ALL).
18 - EEL
R.J
DO THINK (MIAMI) COULD BE FOR REAL NOW ? OR DO YOU THINK ITS LUCK. THEY DID PLAY GOOD BALL ON SUNDAY ! I CANT TAKE THAT FROM THEM. THERE DEF WAS SUPRISINGLY GOOD.
19 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
Vikings 30, Saints 27 - RJ 9-5
20 - RJ Elliott
ESPN's NFL "experts" -
Wickersham 6-8
Fleming 7-7
Hoge 9-5
Jaworski 7-6
Schlereth 9-5
Allen 6-8
Mortensen 9-5
Golic 8-6
Accuscore 8-6
Pick 'em 8-6
21 - RJ Elliott
Through 5 weeks:
Mortensen 50-24
Accuscore 49-25
Fleming 47-27
Hoge 47-27
Schlereth 47-27
Golic 46-27
Pick 'em 46-28
Jaworski 42-27
RJ 45-29
Allen 45-29
Wickersham 43-31
22 - RJ Elliott
EEL,
Yes, Miami has been very surprising. I still don't think they are a playoff-caliber team, though.
23 - RJ Elliott
RJ ATS in Week Five: 4-9-1 [OUCH!]
RJ ATS through five weeks: 31-41-2 [D'OH!]
(By the way, the two missing lines from my column this week were Dallas over Cincinnati by 17(!), and Green Bay over Atlanta by 7.)
24 - EEL
R.J
If Miami keeps playing the way they are. They "might" have a shot, long way to go! Tell you what though they could make it tough for a few teams !
25 - RJ Elliott
Week Six picks are up!