Week 10 - Ya, why not?

[The Nac]

I don't make a ton of threads myself anymore because, on a handicapping scale, I'm very very low on the totem pole. That being said, here's my thoughts on this week's matchups:

Oakland @ San Diego (-7)
Love the bad blood matchups. SD hasn't forgotten that, before losing both games to Oakland last year, they had won 13 straight in this rivalry. Philip Rivers leads the NFL with 14 INTs, while Carson Palmer has 6 INTs in 2 games. Oakland will make a very intense game of this. Can see SD giving it up late...again.
OAK 27 SD 26

New Orleans @ Atlanta (pk)
The Saints have been very up & down this year. Look for another big game here, despite being on the road. Throw all the Matt Ryan home record stats at me you want, he's not on his game this year. Can't put my finger on it, but he doesn't look comfortable. Those poor decisions are going to cost his team the game.
NO 31 ATL 17

Tennessee @ Carolina (-3)
Cam Newton can throw on anyone, and will. A lot. Both defenses struggle against the run, but neither team can run the ball. Should be a passing shitshow.
TEN 23 CAR 31

Pittsburgh (-3) @ Cincinnati
People have been getting on Cincy about their record being due to a soft schedule, and that they're not as good as it suggests. Here's their first chance to shut people up. The Steelers have returned to form as of late, and will look to bounce back after giving their last game away to Baltimore. Pittsburgh will come in angry, but will need to keep their emotions in check against a much improved Bengals squad. I'm excited for this game.
PIT 24 CIN 27

St. Louis @ Cleveland (-3)
Cleveland shouldn't be favoured over anyone. With a running back injury situation that leaves us wondering which incapable RB with a silly last name they will bring in next, the Browns have truly returned the futility label to Ohio. Look for Steven Jackson to have a big day and carry the Rams to a big road win. That being said, this game will probably be very boring.
STL 20 CLE 16

Buffalo @ Dallas (-5.5)
Dallas is coming off a win against a tougher-than-they-should've-been Seahawaks squad. Buffalo is coming off a definitive beating by the Jets. Not sure I agree with the Cowboys being favoured by this much. I like free points. Bills should win this S/U.
BUF 34 DAL 29

Jacksonville (-3) @ Indianapolis
If ever Indy was going to get a spot to win a game, here it is. I don't buy into the idea that a team will give up their season for a better draft pick. To a man, I think in any locker room, they want to try and win. You'll see that this week when Curtis Painter finally leads his team to the promised land. I think this game will be much better than most expect.
JAX 24 IND 26

Denver @ Kansas City (-3)
This one is fun for me to debate, because I can see both sides. As a Broncos fan, it's easy for me to just hide behind the Tebow factor: look what he did against Oakland. He did show improvement, but still didn't put a complete solid game together. KC got embarrassed by the Fish, so again as a Broncos fan, we couldn't ask for a better spot. BUT, KC gets up for their divisional games. Just ask Oakland. Just ask SD. I'm not getting cocky, I'm going to be smart.
No prediction - GO DENVER!

Washington @ Miami (-4)
Miami won a game, and did so with conviction. The Redskins look...what's a good word...flaccid? The Fish are much better than their record suggests (though I'm still not sold on the coach or QB) and Washington is walking into a nightmare. What the Helu thinkin' pickin' the Skins?
WSH 13 MIA 26

Arizona @ Philadelphia (NL)
Not sure why there's no line here yet. Whether Kolb plays or not, the Iggles should win this by 15+.
ARZ 12 PHI 33

Houston (-3) @ Tampa Bay
Andre 3000 may return this week. Tampa couldn't get the job done against the Saints (though they tried to make a game of it late), and now they have the task of trying to slow down Arian Foster & Ben Tate. Ya, good luck with that.
HOU 30 TB 21

Baltimore (-6.5) @ Seattle
Another instance where you will see a tougher Seattle team because they're at home. Baltimore's coming off an emotional win over the Steelers, so this has TRAP written all over it. Pete Carroll is not to be underestimated.
BAL 24 SEA 23

Detroit @ Chicago (-3)
Chicago surprised a lot of people by going into Philly and taking one from the "dream team". On a short week vs a Lions squad that's beaten them already this year and has had 2 weeks to prepare - say goodnight Jay. Cutler may get sacked 10 times this game.
DET 33 CHI 23

New York Giants @ San Francisco (-3.5)
The Giants ended that vaunted Patriots home streak. Time for some of the Eli haters to lay off a bit. SanFran is brimming with confidence, and look to defend their 1 loss record against another solid opponent. And they will.
NYG 26 SF 30

New England @ New York Jets (-1.5) - SNF
It's very easy to get on the Jets bandwagon after their convincing win in Buffalo and New England's home loss to the Gmen...so I will. Jets win.
NE 27 NYJ 29

Minnesota @ Green Bay (-13) - MNF
The trendy thing right now is to pick GB, and why not? Minnesota comes into this game with a reason to feel confident - they took it to the Pack last time out and lost by 6. At some point you wonder if GB will lose. It could be this week.
MIN 34 GB 33

[resteasy]

like it. I was telling people today several of these same things.

1. I think minny could surprise and actually upset. My only concern is it being in green bay.

2. jags indy may be a good game because I think it may be close and may be the colts first win.

3. I had chicago all last week laughing at the overrated eagles. I was mostly on the spread but had them in my straight up win/loss pool too. This week the lions come off bye and are focused. They need the win so as not to lose the tie breaker. Should be good.

4. Jets have been great at covering receivers lately. Pats have been having trouble getting it to receivers. 1+1= ?

5. Buffalo should not be 5.5 underdogs to dallas. Dallas is another highly overrated team (like the eagles) yeah I'm a giants fan but perhaps that makes it more obvious to me? I don't know all I do know is there isn't a reason to have 5.5 pts.

6. cleveland blows and are getting worse. Redskins also riding the downward spiral.

7. Matt Ryan's home record means nothing to the saints. They've beat Ryan at home the last 2 years. In fact atlanta has won only 1 of 5 IN atlanta and that was in 2008.
Still, saints are inconsistent and the line is correct at pickem. I'm actually picking the falcons.

8. I think cincy shows something this weekend. At home in division this will be a good game and I do believe they win as well.

Some things I'm a bit against.

1. SD I think wins handily tonight. Early lead and lots of grind it out running football with some palmer picks in the mix.

2. San Fran handled the skins. No doubt. But they had trouble against the eagles and lost to the cowboys. Something is in the nfc east water (though dallas is not anywhere near the east or north or northeast....) and the giants are good at figuring what went right on defense. If the 49ers have trouble early moving the ball then you know the gmen have it figured out. Otherwise you're right.

3. houston and philly should roll.

Good luck with whatever you wager.

[Cash Calloway]

Like the write ups. Buffalo has Rian Lindell out now for the Dallas game after injuring his shoulder last week. Kyle Williams their best defensive lineman has also been out the last 3 games and in those 3 they only beat the hapless Skins. Hope the Bills roll to a victory though.

[The Nac]

Good to know. Thanks CC!

[BOBBYW]

gl..

[The Nac]

[kermit]

nice write up Nac i like alot of the pics

Indy doesnt want to give up before any game but they seem to lose any confidence and momentum at the first sight of the opponent showing up for the game, Jax looks pretty bad too but might want to get some revenge for all the years that Indy has thumped them with Manning at the helm, I want the Colts to win but have a hard time seeing it happen

Great thoughts on Bears and Lions I think this is going to be one of the better games this week and the Bears defense could be what slows down the lions, if the lions defense can slow down Forte and balance out the offense I can see the 10 sacks coming true but the past few weeks the bears have done a good job with play calling to keep Cutler upright, the winning team in this one will come down to whoever can execute thier game plan better on both sides of the ball

KC and Denver, love division matchups even if no one in the division actually wants to win it, it will be interesting to see what Tebow can do with a team that will be energized around him from the win last week and as weird as it is Denver could win that division (at least mathematically) KC is tough at home but it didnt seem to stop the fish last week so I have no idea how that game will play out either lol

Agree with Buffalo and Dallas, I'm not sure why Buffalo is a 5.5 point dog they are not that bad of a team and the cowboys are over-rated I think buffalo wins S/U too

just starting to do my capping but nice call on the Oakland upset last night

[The Nac]

Originally Posted by kermit

nice write up Nac i like alot of the pics

Too bad you laughed at me on Sunday when I told you Eli was going into Tom's house and winning. What did you say? "Well, I'm not worried about you moving ahead of me in the standings" in reference to the Best Capper contest. Also called Chicago winning outright.

3-0. Check the standings. Boom.
See ya Sunday.

[The Nac]

I think the 2 games that have stunned me the most so far are TEN/CAR and ARZ/PHI.

Pretty sure I'm betting against Philly the rest of the year.