Week 7 Pick Ems

Horrible outing for the two of us. Jonathan and I gotta pull it together.

There are a lot of tough games to sort through this week. The Monday Night outing of Indy @ Jacksonville is a flip of the coin game (if not for a weirdly rough start defensively week 1, the Jags would also be undefeated).

I like writing these Pick ‘Ems because it gives me a chance to go around the NFL and ramble. If there were, oh, 10 more hours per day I could do an NFL blog too.

For recreational non-gambling don’t-bet-the-farm-on-these purposes:

Last week

Kyle – Against the Spread – 0-3
Straight up – 6-7
Jonathan – Against the Spread – 1-3
Straight up – 7-6

To Date

Kyle – Against the Spread – 6-6 (.500)
Straight up – 58-31 (.652)
Jonathan – Against the spread – 10-11 (.476)
Straight up – 54-35 (.601)

Kyle’s pick	Kyle’s Thoughts/Notes/Ramblings	Jonathan’s pick
	ARI (+8) @ WAS – Poor Cardinals. Talk about a cursed franchise. Among top defenses in the NFC and you’re down to your third quarterback. It’s a shame really.
	ATL (+8.5) @ NO – Are the Saints back? I never really thought they were good to begin with, but I thought they were better than 1-4. What is up with Marques Colston dropping balls, too? Robert Meachem sidelined every week, in the coach’s doghouse… this explosive offense is nothing like it used to be. Then again, they won’t need to be against the Falcons.
	BAL (-3) @ BUF – Quarterback controversies abound in this matchup in the Northeast. I’ve said before I think the Ravens are better with Kyle Boller than Steve McNair – hope they prove me right.
	MIN (+9.5) @ DAL – Adrian Peterson‘s homecoming of sorts, as he faces off against the team he grew up to love. Unfortunately the running game plays to the Cowboys’ strengths (Roy Williams in the box), and Dallas should win handily.
	NE (-16.5) @ MIA – The 6-6 Dolphins shut out the 9-3 Patriots in December of last year at home. Tom Brady plays his worst games against the Dolphins. They’re very, very hurt at runningback. The Patriots just might be looking ahead toward games against Washington and Indy in the next few weeks. And it’s a rivalry game. All that said, I’m still taking Pats, but I have a feeling the winless Dolphins will give them trouble.
	SF (+9) @ NYG – Everyone’s calling the 49ers the Ravens of the NFC. I kinda like it. Great defense; no offense to speak of… they could pull the upset but I stuck with the New Yorkers.
	TB (+2) @ DET – The Rod Marinelli Bowl. I like the Bucs defense and the Bucs quarterback better, although Detroit has a more explosive offense. Neither can run the ball. Talk about a crappy game.
	TEN (-1.5) @ HOU – Vince Young has the right attitude. He said somewhere that this game isn’t about his homecoming anymore – that was last year and that was over. It’s time to just play football. I think the Texans bounce back after a rough stretch, remember how to play defense and take care of business at home.
	KC (+3) @ OAK – Who do I hate worse… of course the Raiders take the cake. I think the team is better than last year, but they’re not that much better. Just my opinion. When Kansas City and Dwayne Bowe face a stud cornerback (like Rasheen Mathis a few weeks back), their team struggles on offense. Nnamdi Asomugha could give them fits, but I just think the Chiefs are a better team.
	NYJ (+6) @ CIN – The uber-disappointment bowl. I could see the Jets winning this game, but it’s in Bengals town so I’ll go with the stripes.
	CHI (+5.5) @ PHI – Tough game to pick. Just when you think the Bears are back they blow a should-win against the Vikings at home. I don’t see them stopping Brian Westbrook in Philly if they completely failed in stopping Peterson at home.
	STL (+8.5) @ SEA – After two tough losses, the Seahawks are lucky to have the worst team in the NFL coming into town.
	PIT (-3.5) @ DEN – Part of me wants to stop including the Broncos games in these segments. No thought goes into them for me. I cannot force myself to write the other team in the pick column. Can’t do it. I’m like Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar – the goddamn pen is always blue.
	IND (-3) @ JAC – Game of the week. Good for you, ESPN, you nailed one. Just watch out for Jimmy Kimmel trying to hijack the booth.