I went 8-6 last week, which puts me at 80-48 for the season, for an overall winning percentage of precisely 62.5%. (For a comparison, check out the "experts" over at ESPN.)
The following are my picks for the NFL's Week Ten:
Sunday, Nov. 12
Baltimore 6-2 at Tennessee 2-6 - 1:00 p.m.
Baltimore tops the AFC North, has won two in a row, and is playing at home against one of the weakest teams in the NFL.
RJ'S PICK: RAVENS BY 8
Buffalo 3-5 at Indianapolis 8-0 - 1:00 p.m.
The unbeaten Colts should remain that way for at least another week.
RJ'S PICK: COLTS BY 13
Cleveland 2-6 at Atlanta 5-3 - 1:00 p.m.
Sure, the Falcons got whipped last week by the Lions. But that was on the road, and Cleveland is much worse than Detroit (in my unbiased opinion, ha-ha).
RJ'S PICK: ATLANTA BY 7
Green Bay 3-5 at Minnesota 4-4 - 1:00 p.m.
This one could go either way. The Vikings have lost two in a row, and have been outscored for the season. But they're playing at home here, and Brett Favre's arm could fall off at any time.
RJ'S PICK: VIKINGS BY 2
Houston 2-6 at Jacksonville 5-3 - 1:00 p.m.
Jacksonville has been pretty damn unpredictable this year, but I can't see them losing at home to the sorry Texans. Well, actually I could see it, you know, in the literal sense, on the local CBS affiliate, but only if the Texans win the game, which I can't see happening. Unless it does. Is that clear?
RJ'S PICK: JAGUARS BY 4
Kansas City 5-3 at Miami 2-6 - 1:00 p.m.
Last week's win over the Bears made a diaper-clad Larry Csonka smile. But Miami still sucks.
RJ'S PICK: KC BY 11
N.Y. Jets 4-4 at New England 6-2 - 1:00 p.m.
NE would be in total control of the AFC East with a win. I suspect they'll get one at home against the mediocre Jets.
RJ'S PICK: PATRIOTS BY 5
San Diego 6-2 at Cincinnati 4-4 - 1:00 p.m.
The Bengals are at home for this one, so an upset win is not out of the question. However, San Diego clearly has the superior team.
RJ'S PICK: CHARGERS BY 3
San Francisco 3-5 at Detroit 2-6 - 1:00 p.m.
You know who I'm gonna pick. But I sincerely believe it this time. Really.
RJ'S PICK: LIONS BY 1
Washington 3-5 at Philadelphia 4-4 - 1:00 p.m.
Philly desperately needs a win here, after dropping their last three games by a combined total of 13 points. Washington needs a victory in order to maintain any hope of reaching the postseason.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - RJ Elliott
Ya'll ready for some football?
2 - Jet in Columbus
I know it's not NFL but what's the point spread for Ohio state tomorrow and any word on Coach Paterno over in PA?
3 - RJ Elliott
Ohio State is favored over Northwestern by 113. And Coach Paterno is dead.
4 - DOM
BAL
INDY
ATL
MINN
JAX
KC
NE
CINN
SF :)
PHL
DEN
DAL
PIT
STL
NYG
CAR
almost same as you.. first time i have same as an expert.. Golic.. Im not shure if thats a good or a bad thing.. lol.
5 - The Theory
Baltimore 6-2 at Tennessee 2-6... Baltimore could lose this one and make me happy, right? Wrong. Tennessee will see their lives flash before their eyes.
Buffalo 3-5 at Indianapolis 8-0... Indy. Though stranger things have happened than a 3-5 beating an 8-0.
Cleveland 2-6 at Atlanta 5-3... Cleveland will stay in this game for about 4 minutes. The Atlanta will deliver the whoop-@$$.
Green Bay 3-5 at Minnesota 4-4... Green Bay isn't as bad as I predicted. Neither is Minnesota as good as we thought two or three weeks into the season. I'm not really comfortable giving either team the edge here, but I guess I'll go Green bay.
Houston 2-6 at Jacksonville 5-3... Jacksonville. Unless Jesus interferes.
Kansas City 5-3 at Miami 2-6... Kansas City. Miami is a trainwreck.
N.Y. Jets 4-4 at New England 6-2... Patriots.
San Diego 6-2 at Cincinnati 4-4... This won't be a comfortable win for either team. But San Diego is definitely superior.
San Francisco 3-5 at Detroit 2-6... Detroit, hot off of an insane win last week faces a team with a sub-4 wins record. Which means they have a chance. Will they take advantage of it? I say no.
Washington 3-5 at Philadelphia 4-4... Can I pick a team who has let me down so frequently this year? Can I pick against a team who is just off their bye week... and historically just slays opponents after a bye? My heart says no, my head says yes. I guess I'll go with Washington, so that I will have a reason to celebrate, regardless of who wins.
Denver 6-2 at Oakland 2-6... Denver.
Dallas 4-4 at Arizona 1-7... Dallas.
New Orleans 6-2 at Pittsburgh 2-6... New Orleans. Can Pittsburgh even tie their shoelaces properly anymore?
St. Louis 4-4 at Seattle 5-3... St Louis. Under very similar reason as RJ used.
Chicago 7-1 at N.Y. Giants 6-2... Chicago. The Giants are sort of a trendy, dangerous pick. But that kind of pick really only gets you points if you're betting a lot of money. I don't see NY winning this one. I don't even think they'll make it close.
Tampa Bay 2-6 at Carolina 4-4... Carolina, who has totally turned up their game the past three weeks.
6 - DOM
Golic changed his Cinncinati pick.. I guess I dont have the same..
well unless some crazy shit goes down.. I would imagine the worst guy is going to have only 5 losses at the most. This week seems fairly easy.
7 - Erynn
I thought for sure you were in error about the Hawks as favorites, but sure enough!
The Hawks have nearly lost to St. Louis so many times while healthy, I fear you are correct this week.
8 - Taloran
re comment 3, Coach Paterno's death - I can't find any news items on this. Anyone have a link? I've checked ESPN, Reuters, my local TV and newspaper sites, and Yahoo - no mention of Paterno dying. ESPN says he'll miss the game tomorrow, but that's all.
9 - zingzing
paterno is not dead. sheesh. sarcasm? a joke?
um, lemme see. taloran is dead. see? you're not dead, right? wee!
10 - The Theory
yeah, you might have picked up on the sarcasm if the idea of ohio state totally routing Northwestern by 113 points wasn't entirely plausible.
11 - Taloran
I'm not accustomed to people joking about someone's death. Guess I should read more carefully. Excuse my imperfection, which must be terribly annoying to the flawless zingzing.
12 - zingzing
oh pishah. i'm not perfect! just dashingly handsome! dreamy, you might say. let's me get away with things that others... they might not get away with.
and i think you lie when you say that you aren't used to people joking about death. why you lie?
i killed my mother.
13 - Dominick Evans
Baltimore
Indianapolis
Green Bay
Atlanta
Kansas City
Jacksonville
New England
Cincinnati
Detroit
Washington
Denver
New Orleans
Dallas
Seattle
Chicago
Carolina
14 - RJ Elliott
Thanks for submitting your picks already, guys! :)
And as a reminder, everyone is welcome to place their own predictions here in the Comments section...and Suss is expected to do so... ;-)
15 - RJ Elliott
Off the subject:
Ohio State only won by 44 points, Jet, so they completely blew the 113 point spread...
COMPLETELY off the subject:
I think everyone can agree that Ohio State and Michigan are the best two college football teams in the country. But am I alone in thinking that Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Boise State all deserve to be somewhere in the top 10?
16 - Cynthisa
Hmmmm.... I'm 73-55 so far this year, which puts me at dead last in our group pool. The leader is 84-44. RJ, 80-48 would tie you for 4th! But, I got CREAMED last week - 5-9. D'oh!!!
Among other heresies, I thought INDI would finally take a loss, and picking against NO - who'd a thunk they'd hold on this long!?!?
My excuse was being distracted by my trip to San Fransisco last weekend. Bad weekend for picks, but FANTASTIC weekend for football - USC in town playing Stanford (er, rather, wiping the field with Stanford) and UCLA in town (well, relatively speaking) to play Cal, PLUS the Vikings playing 49ers too. You couldn't hop a cable car or queue up at a Starbuck's without bumping into someone in a team jersey of one color or another! (Hey, forgive the naivete, I'm a Los Angelena!)
17 - ROBERT
"well unless some crazy shit goes down.. I would imagine the worst guy is going to have only 5 losses at the most. This week seems fairly easy."
It looks like some crazy shit is going down, at least in the early games... :-/
18 - ROBERT
Final Scores:
Indy 17, Buffalo 16 - RJ 1-0
Miami 13, KC 10 - RJ 1-1
Jets 17, NE 14 - RJ 1-2
19 - ROBERT
Final Score:
Houston 13, Jaguars 10 - RJ 1-3
20 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
SF 19, Detroit 13 - RJ 1-4
Baltimore 27, Tennessee 26 - RJ 2-4
21 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
Philly 27, Washington 3 - RJ 3-4
Browns 17, Atlanta 13 - RJ 3-5
22 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
SD 49, Bengals 41 - RJ 4-5
Packers 23, Vikes 17 - RJ 4-6
23 - RJ Elliott
The incredible thing is, even at a dismal 4-6 only two of ESPN's "experts" has a better record than me:
Theismann 5-5
Salisbury 4-6
Hoge 4-6
Jaworski 3-7
Schlereth 4-6
Allen 4-6
Mortensen 4-6
Golic 5-5
Accuscore 4-6
24 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
Denver 17, Oakland 13 - RJ 5-6
Seattle 24, Rams 22 - RJ 5-7
Dallas 27, Arizona 10 - RJ 6-7
Steelers 38, NO 31 - RJ 7-7 (!)
25 - RJ Elliott
ESPN's "experts" -
Theismann 9-5
Salisbury 7-7
Hoge 7-7
Jaworski 7-7
Schlereth 8-6
Allen 8-6
Mortensen 8-6
Golic 8-6
Accuscore 8-6
I'm tied with three and slightly behind five. And Theismann is stomping me. Not good. :-/