NFL Week 8 Predictions

I love NFL football on Halloween weekend.  Besides seeing all the interesting and creative costumes that the fans wear (like that guy dressed as Bill Cowher at the Steelers-Patriots game in '04), it also makes the dramatic upsets even more thrilling.  Anything can happen, no matter how freaky it might seem. 

And last week was pretty ghastly for me prediction-wise.  I went a pitiful 6-7, which puts me at 59-44 (57.3 %) on the season.  What sorts of thrills, chills, and horrors are we in for this Halloween?  (Hopefully nothing as horrifying as Clemson's performance against Georgia Tech on Saturday night.  GAAAH!) 

Giants over Dolphins

• I kinda feel bad for Tony Sparano.  It's hard to do your job when the folks who hired you basically told you that they had no confidence in you at all heading into the season.  Didn't the Raiders do sort of the same thing to Lane Kiffin back in '09?  On the other side, the Giants have been one of the more puzzling teams this season.  One week they're kicking butt; the next, they don't show up at all.  This week, though, it won't matter which Giants team we see this week, because the winless Miami Dolphins are in town.  

Texans over Jaguars

• Just when I thought Houston had packed it in after dropping two in a row, they went and dumped a family-sized carton of butt-whoop on the Titans.  No reason they won't do the same to the Jags, even without Andre Johnson.  

Titans over Colts

• Only one word can describe the Colts' 62-7 loss to New Orleans last week: ouch!  

Panthers over Vikings

• Battle of the Rookie QB's, Round Three: Cam Newton vs. Christian Ponder.  

Saints over Rams

• New Orleans gets a treat this Halloween by facing two winless teams back-to-back.  The Rams will need a lot of tricks to stop a high-powered Saints offense that scored 62 last week.  

Ravens over Cardinals

• Arizona's going to have a tough enough time fighting jet lag, let alone one of the league's best defenses. 

Lions over Broncos

• The scare that Matthew Stafford's injury last week gave Detroit was a week too early for Halloween.  Fortunately for them, Stafford looks like he'll be ready to go on Sunday, and the Lions should get back on track against Denver. 

Bills over Redskins
Steelers over Patriots

• Tom Brady has had his way with the Steelers these last few seasons.  This time, though, Pittsburgh will be prepared with the league's second-best pass defense.  Not saying New England's a pushover, though.  These next two weeks will show us exactly what kind of team the Steelers are (they've got a rematch with Baltimore next week).   Should be a good show. 

49ers over Browns
Bengals over Seahawks
Eagles over Cowboys
Chiefs over Chargers

• Looks like the Chiefs have finally found their groove, having won three in a row without two of their key players, RB Jamaal Charles and S Eric Berry.  The Chargers have yet to show that they can beat legitimate teams after falling to the Jets last week.  The momentum looks to be in KC's favor.  

Have a happy Halloween, and be safe trick-or-treating.  Oh, and for those of you readers in Clemson, especially those of y'all looking for a safe place for your kids to trick-or-treat, come to the Trunk-or-Treat at St. Andrew's Catholic Church this Sunday evening from 4 to 8.  I'll be there dressed as Troy Polamalu (my girlfriend's idea!), so stop by and say hi. 

Stay frosty, y'all!  And GO STEELERS!

B-)

NFL Week 7 Predictions

We've reached the point in the season where the contenders (and the pretenders) have started to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.  There were a couple of surprises last week, but I think I fared well for the most part, going 9-4 to put me at 53-37 (58.9 %) on the season.  There's a lot of excitement in store for this weekend, including a game in London, two Superbowl rematches, a battle for divisional supremacy, and L.T. facing his former team.  So buckle up, sports fans, 'cause heeeere we goooo! 

Dolphins over Broncos

• Denver traded away its best receiver, Brandon Lloyd, to the Rams last week.  Not exactly the vote of confidence Tim Tebow needed... 

Chargers over Jets 

• The big story here is that Jets RB LaDanian Tomlinson will be facing his former team for the first time, though I don't see him being the big-play guy that he was back in his prime.  The Jets snapped their three-game losing streak last week, but it was against the winless Dolphins, so the jury's still out on whether or not they're back to top form.  San Diego's gotten to 4-1 on the strength of its defense, which should be just enough to give them the edge.  

Titans over Texans

• The Texans seem to have taken their foot off the gas lately.  The Titans rebound from their blowout loss to Pittsburgh to take this game and the AFC South lead.  

Lions over Falcons

• They're no longer undefeated, but the Lions - and Jim Schwarz - will be fired up enough to beat Atlanta.  

Panthers over Redskins

• After a couple of good weeks, Rex Grossman is back to his under-achieving self, and it's now John Beck's turn at the helm.  Meanwhile, the Panthers are looking pretty comfortable with Cam Newton.  

Buccaneers over Bears

• In medieval times, bear-baiting was a popular form of entertainment in London.  The surging Bucs should give modern-day London a similar show this weekend.  

Browns over Seahawks
Steelers over Cardinals

• I've lost count of how many former Steelers players / personnel are now working in Arizona - Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, Joey Porter, and Clark Haggans, just to name a few.  I'm still picking Pittsburgh to win this rematch of Superbowl XLIII, but after their underwhelming second-half performance against Jacksonville last week, I gotta say that I've got a bad feeling about this.  At least they won't need Santonio Holmes to win the game for them, because Mike Wallace is also capable of making those diving touchdown catches, like this one against the Packers.

Raiders over Chiefs

• Al Davis may have passed on, but for the Raiders, his message lives on: "Just win, baby!"  And win the Raiders - led by new quarterback Carson Palmer - will against the hapless Chiefs.  

Packers over Vikings
Cowboys over Rams

• For once, you can't blame last week's loss on Tony Romo.  Interestingly enough, the World Series will also feature a St. Louis team coming to Arlington on Sunday.  

Saints over Colts

• This one's going to look nothing like Superbowl XLIV without Peyton Manning. 

Ravens over Jaguars

• Blaine Gabbert is certainly getting a trial by fire, having to face three of the league's best defenses in three straight weeks.  Baltimore will be less than sympathetic. 

NFL Week 6 Predictions

After doing pretty well with my picks the last few weeks, I took a step back last week, going 7-6 (44-33, 57.1% on the season).  Several of the games I got wrong were ones that I'd originally predicted the other way but changed my mind about.  Guess I need to stop second-guessing myself, and maybe I should just not read too closely into all the stats. 

I'm running late on this week's picks because I've been spending all week preparing for the Math GRE, and I've also been battling a cold.  (I'm not even in school anymore, and I'm still getting sick around midterm break, like clockwork!)  Ergo, I have neither the time nor the energy to write an analysis for each game, so this week, I'm just going to list my predictions: 

Falcons over Panthers
Bengals over Colts
Lions over 49ers
Packers over Rams
Bills over Giants
Steelers over Jaguars
Redskins over Eagles
Ravens over Texans
Raiders over Browns
Patriots over Cowboys
Saints over Buccaneers
Bears over Vikings
Jets over Dolphins

Stay frosty, y'all! 

B-)

NFL Week 5 Predictions

It's been kind of a rough week for me.  Last weekend started out all right, with the Rays shutting out the Rangers 9-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS and Clemson walloping Virginia Tech to move up to # 8 in the BCS rankings (which won't mean much, anyway, unless we actually get to play for the national title).  But then it all went downhill from there, with the Steelers choking against the Texans, and the Rays suddenly deciding that they were done playing baseball after Game 1.  So much for a magical season...

Predictions-wise, I fared a little better.  Got off to a rough start with the first set of games, but somehow I ended up going 10-6, which puts me at 37-27 (57.8 %) on the season.  I've got a little more time this week, and hopefully a little more energy, and a few less picks to make since the bye weeks are starting this week, so here goes: 

Titans over Steelers

• Tennessee's defense has been lights-out so far this season, and RB Chris Johnson is starting to look like his old self again.  That's bad news for a Steelers team that gave up over 150 yards to Arian Foster last week and is now without LB James Harrison.  There's still hope for the people of Pittsburgh, though, because hockey season is finally here, and the Penguins got off to a good start Thursday night.  

Texans over Raiders

• Houston's victory over the Steelers last week came at a price: WR Andre Johnson injured his hamstring and is expected to be out for at least a few weeks.  But there's no reason for them to hit the panic button just yet, as they'll be playing the Nnamdi-less Jokeland defense this week.   I'm not knocking the Raiders' offense, though, as they've been putting up some pretty good numbers this season.  

Colts over Chiefs

• Give Indy credit - they're trying; they just don't have much to work with without Peyton Manning.  Kansas City should give them as good of an opportunity as any to finally get a win.  

Bengals over Jaguars

• Don't look now, but the Bengals haven't been doing half-bad this season.  They've now got the number one defense in the league, which doesn't bode well for a lackluster Jacksonville offense.  

Giants over Seahawks

• I'll be honest - I was a bit worried about the Giants a couple weeks ago.  They've certainly proven me wrong!  

Cardinals over Vikings 

• Donovan McNabb is not the answer at quarterback for the Vikes.  Maybe it's time to give Christian Ponder a ponder (James Lipton beard on).  

Saints over Panthers

• Expect another big performance from Cam Newton in this shootout, but don't expect Carolina to come away with the win.  

Bills over Eagles

• Tough loss for Buffalo last week, but they should rebound against a struggling Eagles defense.  At least the folks in Philly also have hockey season to look forward to.  

49ers over Buccaneers

• A game that looked like a snoozer just a few weeks ago has now gotten interesting with both teams at 3-1 and leading their respective divisions.  This one's a tough call, but my gut tells me the Niners will surprise once again.  

Jets over Patriots

• I originally had this one picked to go the other way, given the Jets' struggles in their last two games, and 'cause it's Tom Brady and everything.  But New England's defense is just plain awful, and the return of Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold should help the Jets keep Mark Sanchez from getting too banged up.  

Chargers over Broncos

• Denver's another place where there's been calls for a change at QB.  Meanwhile, San Diego's managed to get things done even without TE Antonio Gates.  Then again, they've had to deal with injuries to LaDanian Tomlinson the last few years and still looked hardly any worse for wear, so why am I not surprised?  

Packers over Falcons

• Yet another playoff rematch for the Packers, who show no signs of slowing down.  Atlanta will make it a game, but they've still got a long way to go after it took them nearly everything they had just to come out of Seattle with a win last week.  

Lions over Bears

• No lead is safe against Detroit, who overcame yet another 20+-point deficit to beat the Cowboys last week.  These Lions are for real.  This game should be a good test for them.  Plus, we'll get our first look at what DT Nick Fairley, the Lions' first-round pick this year, can do.  Can you believe Detroit hasn't played a Monday Night game in over ten years? 

NFL Week 4 Predictions

I'm a little later than usual with my predictions this week, because I just couldn't help but revel in the moment after my Rays pulled off the greatest comeback in baseball history on Wednesday night.  I turned the game off in the sixth when they were down 7-0, thinking the season was as good as gone, and went on CBS's website to get caught up on Hawaii Five-O.  I went back on the Rays' site afterward to see the final score, and to my surprise, it's tied 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, and Dan Johnson - of all people! - has just hit a game-tying home run.  So I'm flipping back and forth on Gameday between the Rays-Yankees and Red Sox-Orioles games, and I see Baltimore come back from a 3-2 deficit in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to win it 4-3, thanks to a bobbled catch by none other than former Rays outfielder Carl Crawford (karma's a bitch, ain't it?)  And then, a few minutes later, Evan Longoria hits his second home run of the night to win the game for Tampa in the 12th, capping off the Rays' unprecedented comeback from nine games back at the start of September to knock off Boston for the AL Wild Card.  I couldn't really celebrate the moment exactly when it happened, because I was on the phone with my girlfriend, who had called me just a minute earlier, but when she asked me how my day was going, I was able to tell her, "It just got a lot better!"  Needless to say, I was too numb with euphoria to write anything, so I had to put off Part 2 of my Twitter rant for another day, so that's why I'm running behind with my picks this week.

Whew!  Didn't intend to ramble for that long.  Onto my predictions.  Last week I went 9-7, which puts me at 27-21 (56.3 %) on the season. 

Bills over Bengals

• After seeing them come back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Patriots, I'm officially impressed with the job Buffalo has done so far.  It's easy to see the change in this team's attitude - they never quit, even when the game gets tough.  

Titans over Browns

• Playing against Cleveland's defense just might be the shot in the arm that Chris Johnson needs.  Then again, the Titans haven't done too badly without him so far.  

Texans over Steelers

• Pittsburgh's running game looked pretty lackluster last week, and its defense struggled to contain Joseph Addai.  Can they really expect to fare any better against Arian Foster? 

Lions over Cowboys

• We all expected the Lions to have a breakout season, but few of us expected them to be undefeated so far.  The Cowboys, though, look like they're just barely hanging on. 

Eagles over 49ers

• I think it's time to stop calling Philly's defense the "Dream Team."  Luckily for them, their opponent this week doesn't have much on offense to challenge them.  

Panthers over Bears

• Cam Newton's stats were a lot more down to earth against the Jags last week, but more importantly, his team finally got the win.  Chicago's defense hasn't looked too good these last few weeks, and their offensive line took a big hit with rookie Gabe Carimi's injury, leaving them pretty vulnerable to a Panthers team that's starting to look pretty hungry. 

Rams over Redskins

• All the stats tell me to pick Washington, in spite of their struggles against Dallas on Monday night.  Call me crazy, but I think St. Louis just might be hungry enough to finally get a win this Sunday. 

Saints over Jaguars
Vikings over Chiefs
Giants over Cardinals

• Big Blue surprised me last week with a win over Philadelphia.  Guess they're not as banged up as I thought they were... 

Seahawks over Falcons

• Atlanta just hasn't been playing like it's capable of playing, and struggles on the road.  Not a good sign when you're going into one of the toughest stadiums in the league to play in.  

Packers over Broncos
Patriots over Raiders
Chargers over Dolphins
Ravens over Jets
Buccaneers over Colts