Why: This season is going to be dreadful for the Jets, as Chad Pennington's legs wear out and they lose Curtis Martin forever. It will be even more dreadful, as J.P. and co. defeat them in this battle of the AFC East likely bottom dwellers.
Matchup: Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions
My Pick: Lions 33 - Packers 7
Why: The Packers won't scare anybody this year, including their division rivals. Kevin Jones is an emerging back and Roy Williams is a great receiver. Both should have big season and big games.
Matchup: Washington Redskins vs. Houston Texans
My Pick: Redskins - Texans 6
Why: David Carr is still light years away from becoming an elite, or even good quarterback in the NFL. While his offensive line has been blamed in past years (quite deservedly), Carr simply hasn't gotten the job done. The Redskins D will make him pay, Sean Taylor gets 2 sacks.
Matchup: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts
My Pick: Colts 45 - Jaguars 35
Why: The Colts will not be denied a Super Bowl berth this year. They will rise to the occasion against their biggest division rivals and crush them, in a firewagon game. Peyton Manning, Brandon Stokely, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne are simply too good to be ignored.
Matchup: Tennesse Titans vs. Miami Dolphins
My Pick: Dolphins 25 - Titans 14
Why: Any team stacks up well against Tennesse. Ronnie Brown will tear up the Titans weak run defense, for, let's say 150 yards.
Matchup: Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings
My Pick: Bears 20 - Vikings 19
Why: Minnesota is always a hard town to play in, but if Rex Grossman's Week 3 performance is any indication, he may have finally crossed the barrier from #### QB to good pro quarterback.
Matchup: Cinncinati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
My Pick: Bengals 10 - Pittsburgh 9
Why: I'm going with the massive upset pick. Big Ben and the Steelers are almost impossible to bring down at home. However Rudi Johnson will have a field day with any defense, including the one featuring...duh duh duh...Joey Porter. I also like their new acquistion, safety Dexter Jackson, he should have a pick in the game.
Matchup: Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
My Pick: Buccaneers 24 - Panthers 22
Why: The Buccaneers are coming together and they will rise to the occasion against their toughest division foe. This game may be their best chance to steal the weird but wonderful division that is the NFC South.
Matchup: Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns
My Pick: Baltimore 40 - Cleveland 6
Why: An easy choice, the Browns are terrible and don't really even deserve to be an NFL team.
Matchup: St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals
My Pick: Cardinals 17 - Rams 10
Why: I'm picking the Cardinals for Super Bowl champions, they should have a cakewalk over the Rams, with their potent offense attack (see Kurt Warner, Edge James, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Neil Rackers, in no order of importance).
Matchup: Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Francisco 49ers
My Pick: Eagles 29 - 49ers 0
Why: I know I'm picking a lot of road teams, which is never a good idea. However the 49ers are another one of those horrible teams who everybody is expected to beat. Even without T.O., the Eagles have looked pretty impressive this year. I expect a rout.
Matchup: New York Giants vs. Seattle Seahawks
My Pick: Seahawks 30 - Giants 27
Why: Shaun Alexander is still one of the most dangerous players in the entire league, coupled with Eli Manning's continued struggle to develop as a passer, results with a narrow victory for the home side.
Matchup: Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots
My Pick: Denver 20 - New England 17
Why: Denver is a dangerous team. The losses on the New England defense will be lit up by Jake Plummer and co, for a narrow win.
Matchup: Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints
My Pick: New Orleans 10 - Atlanta 6
Why: If my facts are straight, this game marks the return of the Saints to the Superdome. For obvious reasons, the team and the fans will be pumped to the roof and this will translate into a victory for the team. The emotional roller coaster will continue to roll.
Those are the picks for Week 3.
This session of the Ultimate Canadian Blogging Experience is ending......now.
I'm having difficulty in seeing the Buccaneers beating the Panthers. What with Simms' obvious malaise at the quarteback position at present. His performances haven't exactly inspired a vote of confidence from Gruden whose responses have been somewhat less than charitable. Needlless to say he'll have to go with Simms as he's little else beyond Rattay and Gradkowski who aren't exactly going to set the world alight.
Like tophat, I would go with Carolina as well. I think Chris Simms is in major trouble right now. He's still very early in his career, he's getting demoralized, and the Bucs appear to have no running game to help him out. I think the 49ers will play the Eagles fairly close but still lose, something like 27-20, maybe. Other than that, I can't say I disagree with any of them which means you are in serious trouble.
ricko, ....... Gruden has a major problem on his hand as Simms is a work in progress. They made the mistake in preseason by not giving him enough snaps in order to get his timing in order and iron out those flaws that've become persistent in his game. Instead of him being a positive influence on a game. Each time he steps out unto the field he become a possible liability as Gruden never knows what he's going get from his on field leader. And that if anything doesn't inspire a lot of confidence from the rest of his teammates despite their assurances.
top, ricko thanks for stopping by. You gotta have at least one upset pick right?? It wasnt so many years ago that the Bucs won the Super Bowl, and they weren't supposed to go anywhere that year
babemagnet ....... Panthers were deserving of the win as I can't understand Gruden's play calling at such a late juncture of a game. He gambled and lost and in doing so lost the game. The Bucs' season is now in a shambles and with Simms' loss after the game things are looking inevitably bewildering. He's had to have his spleen removed.
babemagnet, .......They're caught between a rock and a hard place. They're now trying out veteran qb's , amongst them are Shaun King, Tommy Maddox and there's talk of going after Raiders' third stringer Marcus Tuiasasopou. Boy are those earth shattering playmaking generals and with what they've got already they might as well have shot themselves in the foot for all the help they're going to get fom either.
babemagnet .......None other than the one and the same who cried off when Roethlisberger took over from when he got injured. He wanted the job back after he regained his fitness but Cowher didn't accede to his request and as we all know the rest is history.
I'm not holding out for much success for Gradkowski as there's a hell of a lot of difference between entering a game midway through a quarter and officially starting a game. As it'll be all about his composure at the start. That'll determine how well he plays.
yeah, the Bucs sure aren't the same team they were back 5 years ago. Warren Sapp is gone. Keyshawn Johnson is gone. Brad Johnson is gone. They've even lost their Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jackson.
babemagnet..... What makes the Eagles so good is that they're a weel run organization from top to bottom.
Needless to say all teams make mistakes but then they get over it and move on, as in the case of TO.
They must surely now feel vindicated by their actions as it's now up to Parcells and Jerry Jones to deal with his petulant and childish antics. Things aren't going to get any better if he keeps on up with his divisive displays of immaturity.
Hey, I need some help over here to try and resuscitate these three teams, Raiders, Packers and Dolphins as they're mightilly overmatched in this here 'big man's league'. They just can't seem to do anything right at the moment. Of the three the Raiders are by far the most pitiful. And the other two aren't that far behind. Favre is playing more like puch drunk prizefighter and anyone who believes that he can still make a difference. Please show me evidence of that , as I've yet to see it for myself this season.
Culpepper can grouped in that same basket as he's been a total disappontment to Saban and has made what was meant to be a promising situation all of a sudden a whole lot worse. Chris Chambers must be longing for the days when he had Fiedler, Frerotte or Feeley throwing to him. Now he can't buy a catch even if it were sent by parcel post because Culpepper's too busy dancing around
top, TO is a circus act, no doubt about it. Did he try to kill himself?? I doubt it. He has far to much pride and self-love to pull something like that.
As for the Raiders, Packers and Dolphins, the Raiders are just dreadful. What ever happened to the Randy Moss who actually made highlight reel catches and took over games??
I believe that Favre is still a quality player. He just plays on a lackluster team. Outside of Donald Driver, the receiving corps isn't very good and the run game is pretty bad. You have to give the man credit though, he's started like 220 games in a row.
Daunte Culpepper has been nothing but a bust so far. I'm sure you're right about Chambers. If I were him, I would have tore all my hair out by now, just screaming for some help with the offense. Ronnie Brown, will you step up??
babemagnet ...........Favre is no longer the player many still believe him to be . His skills are definately diminishing and had it not been for the fact that they're batting was at its optimum. We'd definately be taking a different approach to this game much to the victim's chagrin.
My name's Jacob Doering. I like sports. I'd like to become a sportswriter or broadcaster one day, but if it doesn't turn out that's ok. My philosophy on life is "I could be dead right now, so I might as well enjoy it." Just in case you wanted to know. I live just outside Woodstock, Ontario. I'm 16. If you want to send me an email my address is babe_magnet_0 07@hotmail.co m, or if you want to talk sports or whatever, add me to your MSN Messenger.
