That was an interesting week wasn’t it? More interesting than you’d like it to be if you’re a Seahawks fan. Raise your hand if you saw the Percy Harvin trade coming. Granted Seattle was struggling offensively, but typically teams don’t trade their most dynamic player to get better on offense! What followed was exactly what an NFL fan would expect, the unexpected. Russell Wilson became the first player in NFL history to throw for over 300 yards and rush for over 100, leading the Seahawks to 26 points in St. Louis. Of course, that wasn’t enough as the usually stalwart Seahawks defense and special teams completely collapsed allowing an anemic Rams team to post 28 points of their own. Week seven in the NFL has left me in a perpetual state of confusion.
The Prince of Pick’em entered last week with a sparkling 53-37-1 mark. The carnage of week eight produced a 7-8 record moving our season total to 60-45-1 against the spread. We can only hope for better results in the future. After all it’s not like we’re predicting the SoHi Stars are going to win a state championship. That would be easy.
San Diego Chargers @
DENVER BRONCOS -8
All bow before the great Manning! For he is King of football! Peyton threw his zillionth touchdown pass last week to break Brett Favre’s NFL record. Now his eminence will host AFC West rival San Diego in a key divisional clash. Lord Manning’s counterpart Philip Rivers is no slouch himself, but the Chargers roster has been decimated by injuries. Denver’s furious march towards another postseason collapse continues in grand style. Broncos win 34-19
ATLANTA FALCONS vs.
Detroit Lions -4
The Falcons and Lions travel across the pond for another NFL showcase in London, England. Ever wonder why the NFL continually sends a matchup to England that nobody in America would watch? Is the league pandering to its American audience by ridding the continent of such a snooze fest? If I was commissioner I would have the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, and Tennessee Titans continually play each other in a round robin tournament to determine which team “wins” the honor of being the worst ever. Londoners would have a field day gambling on all the prop bets and Americans wouldn’t be subjected to watching these teams play anymore. It’s a win-win for everybody. Lions win 19-16
ST. LOUIS RAMS @
Kansas City Chiefs -7
The St. Louis Rams are the best 2-4 team in the NFL. Really! St. Louis is fierce. My beloved Seattle Seahawks shouldn’t be embarrassed at all by losing to the Rams last Sunday. The Rams are good. I’m going to just keep telling myself that. Kansas City tallied a huge victory last week in San Diego to stay alive in the AFC West. This is a ripe spot for a letdown but facing an in-state opponent should be enough to hold the Chiefs attention. Chiefs win 24-20
HOUSTON TEXANS @
Tennessee Titans +2.5
How pissed is J.J. Watt? The Texans star defender is having a season for the ages and his offense refuses to win football games. No matter how well Watt plays, no matter how many sacks, huge hits, pass deflections, or touchdowns, the Houston Texans will find a way to lose. Nerd quarterback and beard aficionado Ryan Fitzpatrick consistently stinks, and the rare moment when Fitzpatrick does complete a pass to his own team the receiver fumbles it away. Last week the Texans led 13-0 with just over three minutes remaining in the first half against the Steelers. The Steelers held a 24-13 advantage at halftime. That’s impossible. Somehow, despite all that, Tennessee is so awful the Texans are still the play this week. Texans win 20-10
MINNESOTA VIKINGS @
Tampa Bay Bucs -3
The 2-5 Vikings travel to Tampa to face the 1-5 Buccaneers. Is it too late to send this game to London? Better yet is Pakistan a willing host? Mars? I’m not a soccer guy but the NFL could really learn something from the other futbol leagues. In the EPL, if a team is so terrible year after year they actually get demoted to a lesser league. Is it too late to exchange the Bucs for the Florida State Seminoles? Vikings win 27-20
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS @
Carolina Panthers +5.5
The defending Super Bowl Champion Seahawks have their backs against the wall at 3-3 when they head to Carolina to face the equally average 3-3-1 Panthers. It’s been a long time since a Seahawks team faced this much media scrutiny. Reports surfaced this week that there are some black members of the team that don’t think Russell Wilson is “black enough”. What the hell does that even mean?! Supposedly his lack of “blackness” is creating a rift in the locker room. It’s all over the internet, Google it. Personally, I think a pissed-off Seahawks team rallies around its quarterback and blows the doors off the Carolina Panthers. This is the lock of the week. Seahawks win 30-13
Baltimore Ravens @
CINCINNATI BENGALS +1
The Cincinnati Bengals started the year brilliantly with three consecutive victories, including a 23-16 win in Baltimore. Since that point the Bengals bombed in Boston, posted a rare tie at home against the Carolina Panthers, and were crushed 27-0 last week in Indianapolis. Cincinnati went from Super Bowl contender to also-ran in under a month. In the same time span quarterback Andy Dalton went from capable game manager to the pariah of Cincinnati. Fortunes change quickly in the NFL. Things can’t get much worse at this point, which means this is a great spot to back the Bengals. Bengals win 21-20
MIAMI DOLPHINS @
Jacksonville Jaguars +6
The Miami Dolphins are a hot side. The Fighting Tuna gave the Green Bay Packers all they could handle two weeks ago. In fact, Miami had the game in hand until Aaron Rodgers remembered that he’s Aaron Rodgers and promptly won the game for the Packers. The Dolphins backed up that impressive showing with a resounding victory over the Chicago Bears last week. Miami’s quarterback Ryan Tannehill is showing signs of competence which should be enough against a helpless Jacksonville Jaguars team. The Jags posted their first victory last week against the Cleveland Browns meeting their quota for the 2014 season. Dolphins win 30-14
CHICAGO BEARS @
New England Patriots -6
Some things you just can’t explain. Chicago can’t win a home game. The Bears have been outscored by an average of 12.3 points per game at home. That mark flips to plus 5.75 in away games. At 3-4 the Bears badly need a win to stay close to Detroit and Green Bay in the NFC North. The 5-2 Patriots have sufficiently recovered from a slow start to the year. With a huge game looming against the Denver Broncos the following week where will the Patriots focus lie? New England gets the victory but not without a nervous moment or two late. Patriots win 30-27
Buffalo Bills @
NEW YORK JETS -3
Rex Ryan and crew finally get their second victory of the season when the New York Jets host their in-state rival the Buffalo Bills. The Jets will debut the newly acquired Percy Harvin after receiving the playmaker from the Seattle Seahawks in a shocking mid-season trade. To that I say good riddance! Harvin is a team chemistry killer. Everything will be rosy for Rex and the boys this week but an already toxic Jets locker room is adding a poisonous ingredient. This won’t end well. Jets win 26-21
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES @ Arizona Cardinals -2.5
Arizona sits at a tidy 5-1, good enough to top the challenging NFC West division, but the road to hoe is about to get tougher. The Desert Bats next two opponents have a combined 11-2 record! The Philadelphia Eagles visit Phoenix this Sunday before the team travels to Dallas for a matchup with the surprisingly strong Cowboys. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles has found his groove in recent weeks along with a rediscovered rushing attack led by LeSean McCoy, but Philadelphia’s defense will be the difference in this contest. Arizona’s Carson Palmer has limited the turnovers this season, but Palmer’s career penchant for throwing the ball to the other team will resurface in this affair. Eagles win 30-17
OAKLAND RAIDERS @
Cleveland Browns -7
Is this the week we start hearing chants for Johnny Football in Cleveland, Ohio? Just a few days ago the then 3-2 Browns were heading to Jacksonville to face the winless Jaguars. With games against the Raiders and Tampa Bay Bucs following that contest Cleveland fans held hopes of reaching 6-2. Not so fast! The Browns were sent crashing back down to earth in an unsettling 24-6 debacle in Jacksonville. Brian Hoyer only completed 16 of 41 pass attempts. Ouch. Now the Browns confront the prospect of losing to the only remaining winless club this week, the Oakland Raiders. Two losses in a row against winless opponents would be a very Browns thing to do. Raiders win 19-17
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS @
Pittsburgh Steelers +3.5
Lost in all the Andrew Luck hysteria has been the excellent play of the Indianapolis Colts defense. That defense will carry the day against an aging Steelers team. Pittsburgh has always been associated with dominant play at linebacker. Outside of Lawrence Timmons can you even name a linebacker on the team? You probably never heard of Timmons! The Colts are going to put points on the boards. Expecting the Steelers to match them against the underrated Colts defenders is a tall task. Colts win 31-20
GREEN BAY PACKERS @
New Orleans Saints even
Aaron Rodgers is on a roll. The star passer has thrown 13 touchdowns without a turnover during the Packers current four-game winning streak. There’s no reason to expect Rodgers roll to slow when Green Bay visits the bayou this weekend to face the New Orleans Saints. The Saints can’t stop anyone from scoring points. Drew Brees can match Rodgers throw for throw but the veteran has shown a trend of poorly timed interceptions. Saints turnovers will be the deciding factor. Packers win 38-30
Washington Redskins @
DALLAS COWBOYS -10
The Pre-Columbus Americans were already without Robert Griffin. Then the team benched ineffective backup Kirk Cousins last week looking to journeyman Colt McCoy for hope. We all know how this story ends. Dallas takes a scalp in emphatic fashion. Cowboys win 40-17
