Week 9 - Rich

Let's face it, last week's football may have been the worst of the year. There were way too many blowouts and very few watchable games. As it turned out, probably the best game turned out to be the Packers-Broncos Monday Night game. How the Broncos did not win the game 17-13 is still beyond me. Blame Cutler? Shanahan? The end of the Broncos final drive was so poorly managed that you would have thought Dennis Green took over coaching the Broncos. Taking the Broncos -3, it made me absolutely sick. Last week's wagers: Cleveland -3 (W), New England -16.5 (W), Oakland +7.5 (W), Cincy +3.5 (L), Denver -3 (L). Again, bet on New England, against the Rams. 15-1 ATS on the year. This is not rocket science. Sadly, the Lambs have the week off this week....and the Pats....I think I heard they might be playing this week?

Pats. New England, so far this year, looks like the most dominant team in history. They are a machine. Flawless. This team has incredible talent AND is pissed off by the whole cheating scandal. I've never seen anything like it.

Colts. Indy, in most years, would look like a team that nobody could possibly stop from repeating as Super Bowl Champs. Offensively, they are still as good as anybody and their defense has improved dramatically since the return of Bob Sanders. Throw in a raucous crowd at the RCA dome, and you have one of the most unbeatable teams in history.

I'm going on record as saying this is the first ever Super Bowl played in November. Winner take all. Home field advantage is at stake halfway through the season. Maybe the Pats could come back to the RCA dome and beat the Colts in January, but there's not a snowball's chance in hell that the Colts can takeout the Pats in Foxboro in January. It's usually not wise to overhype one game, but when the stakes are this high and the rivalry this good, how can you not? This is the most anticipated regular season game since San Fran-NY Giants in 1990. Both teams were 10-1 entering that game and squared off on Monday Night Football. San Fran ended up winning the game 7-3. That game was a little strange, so hopefully this game will be more "normal".

Over/Under: 56. This is the highest NFL total I can recall. Even with that said, how does this game not go over the total? Regardless, the only thing we can't guarantee is that the game itself will live up to the hype. If they played 10 times (at Indy), I'd take the Pats by double digits 5 out of 10. The Pats would win by a TD or so 1 or 2; Pats by a FG 1 or 2. My take is that New England beats Indy outright 8 out of 10 times. They are just that good.

Week 8 picks

• NY Jets +3.5 Washington-As much as I hate the 1 win J-E-T-S, the Skins on the road don't blow out anybody. Even without Coles, the J-E-T-S can keep it C-L-O-S-E.
• Kansas City -2 Green Bay-The Packers play solid defense and the Chiefs quietly play solid D as well. This game should be low scoring, and barring another Favre miracle, the Chiefs win a close game.
• Arizona +3.5 Tampa-I think I've figured it out. Take the Cardinals as the underdog, but bet against them as the favorite. Seems to work pretty well so far this season.
• Carolina +4.5 Tennessee-Tough game to pick. The Titans are clearly the better team and I hate Testaverde's old ass, but this game (as are most Titans games) will be close. Titans win another game by 3-4 points.
• San Fran +3 Atlanta-I'm not giving points with the Falcons against ANYBODY.
• Jacksonville +3.5 New Orleans-I actually like this game a lot. The Jags are not getting any respect and are quite solid. New Orleans is starting to turn their season around but will stumble against a good AFC opponent. Jags win outright by a TD.
• Denver +3 Detroit-The Lions are a huge surprise this year. Who knew Kitna was right when he said they would win 10 this year? KJ should have a big day against the Broncos run D, but this is a do or die game for the Broncos. At minimum, they should keep this one close.
• Cincy -1 Buffalo-I've gotten burned a few times this year by the Bungles. This is a coin flip of a game, but I'm going to take what I think to be the better team here.
• San Diego -7 Minnesota-No brainer, the Chargers will have absolutely no problem with the QBless Vikes. Chargers by 20.
• Cleveland -2 Seattle-Another game that I like a lot. The Browns are quietly putting together a good season. The offense is clicking, and at home, they may blow the Seahawks out of the water. The Lions and Browns are good this year...and the Cubs made the playoffs. Unbelievable.
• New England -4.5 Indy-Biggest game in years...unfortunately New England may put up 50 on the Colts defense. Look for New England to lead most of the game by 10-14 with the Colts constantly trying to keep up. 8-0 ATS....no way I'm bailing on the Pats in the greatest "F you" game of the season.
• Houston +3 Oakland-No Matt Schaub OR Andre Johnson. Unfortunately Oakland is completely unimpressive offensively. If I had to guess, Oakland wins this game by a FG. Thankfully, nobody will point a gun to my head and make me watch this game.
• Philly +3 Dallas-With everybody talking about the Pats-Colts game, this is secretly going to be the best game of Week 9. Huge game in the NFC East. Thankfully, it's on Sunday Night instead of 1:00 while the Pats-Colts are playing. This game could be end of the season for the Eagles. I'm taking the desperate Eagles over a more talented Cowboys team.
• Pittsburgh -8.5 Baltimore-I have a horrible record on MNF this year, but am confident in this pick. The Steelers will blow out the Ravens on national television. Can you say exposed?

Good luck in Week 9