Best game of week 2

This week's marquee game takes place between the Eagles and Cowboys

Alright here we go, I like getting more interesting each day, except yesterday’s games weren’t really exciting. The highlight of my day yesterday? Watching the first new episode of Entourage in, I don’t know how long. This weekend I resubscribed to HBO, because I just do these things on a monthly basis based on the shows that they are currently running. I switch between HBO and Showtime, but I left showtime after Californication and Weeds was over, and didn’t hook up again for this last Weeds season, I heard it was going up in smoke, sorry that was corny. Anyway, I had heard Entourage would be back again and so I figured it was worth getting back into HBO because at least they have some pretty good movies on demand and I decided I didn’t need Blockbuster online anymore and this would be a nice compromise. So I started watching some old episodes of Entourage and it felt like hanging out with old friends again, only friends that do way cooler things than me and my friends do. Then I got a new one last night and it didn’t disappoint at all. Ari made me laugh, Vince made me jealous (his first scene back he was banging two amazingly hot girls at the same time in a bungalow on the beach in Mexico) and E became even a bigger douche. I love that Horse saw him at his rehearsal dinner and he was even shorter then expected…somehow this makes me feel better about myself.

Apparently, A.V. Arias is paying Clay pretty well if he can afford HBO. Actually, I was supposed to get it for free for switching cable companies, but I was lazy and never called. Oh well. I'm moving in three weeks. I hope the following makes you jealous, though, I'm currently at my computer with a dip and two beers intent on finishing both before the picks are finished and put onto the website. I guarantee there's not another NFL picks columnist doing that.

Anyway, on to the picks.

6. Buffalo @ JACKSONVILLE (-6): I like this line, this is exactly where I would have put it. The Jags disappointed us last week and the Bills outdid our expectations, except for the guy who was really pissed off that we both picked Seattle and discounted the Bills…I guess that makes us 0-1 vs the public. I am not sure how to take the Bills win last week. Are they better then I thought, or is Seattle worse? Seattle is definitely worse, and losing Burleson is ridiculous. They had to go out and find guys off of the street to play wideout and Seneca Wallace had to run routes in practice because they only had two healthy receivers. Anyway, I do think the Bills are better, but I also think Jacksonville is still as good as I originally thought. They have three starters out on their O line and that is going to hurt. Buffalo had 5 sacks last week and held a pathetic rushing game to 85 total yards. This is a dangerous spot for the Jags, thought they got a break with Indy losing last week too. I think the game will be a defensive struggle, and I think the Jags win because they have the better QB. I think both teams will have trouble running the ball, which is great since I have Lynch and Jones-Drew on my team. A 17-10 win wouldn’t surprise me, but neither would a 16-13 win or even a loss the either way. I may switch this one back and forth the next few days, but I think the Jags have something to prove and they are playing at home. I think Buffalo’s offense could seriously struggle this week and the Jags won’t give them gifts like Seattle did last week. Too close, have to take the points. A healthy Jags O-line and I don’t think twice about them.

Bills +6

Wait, who is this guy who is angry with us? I must have missed that. Why is he mad? It could be Schlabach mad that Amy dumped him. I feel like I should write this guy an apology because he was right about us underestimating Buffalo.

(Come to think of it, we are pretty stupid. We always talk shit about how bad Seattle really is, but we always pick them.)

Jacksonville is still good. I’m not worried about them. They have a better defense and a better quarterback then Buffalo and I think they’re good enough, at home, to cover this week.

Jaguars -6 (you’re always spot on with the line; it’s a great place for it.)

5. San Diego @ DENVER (+1): I may have this high because I am excited for it, but it should be a good battle. Denver is the only team in the West that has a shot to challenge the Chargers for the division, and it starts here because they need to win at home to do that. Denver is one of the toughest places in the league to play, and they are going to be confident coming off of the shellacking they gave the Raiders on the road. The SD defense looked pretty shitty last week, which I think is partly real and partly a case of over confidence. I am a little worried about a defense without Merriman or Stephen Cooper. Merriman may not always have huge numbers, but when he is in the game, offenses plan to avoid him and that makes the field a lot smaller. The run D looked like garbage, so if they play better, I am pretty sure the Chargers will be good. I hope Cromartie learned his lesson last week and gives up this bullshit 15 interceptions thing and just makes plays. I think a wake up call in week 1 is good for a team like this. Now they have to make plays to win, you can’t always go for the pick.

I think LT has a huge day, and I don’t think the Chargers have much trouble scoring this week. If the defense can make a few plays and bring Cutler back to reality, I think they should have no problem. If Denver runs the ball like Carolina last week, though, and keeps the offense off the field, that is where SD could get in trouble. I personally don’t think that happens based on the Broncos last week, but Shanahan is no slouch.

Chargers -1

I’ve gone back and forth on this game, but not because I think the Broncos are better than the Chargers. In fact, I think the Chargers could play 100 games against this team and they should win every time. Notice I said “should.”

You were pretty accurate with your Merriman assessment. He did play to show how much of a team player he was and I think he did it at the expense of a team that would have been better off having 11 healthy guys on the field. If the Chargers cannot stop the run again this week, they could be in trouble. Brandon Marshall is returning and he could be up for a big game if the run is to set up the pass.

While you may be pining for LT to have a big game, I’m looking to Chris Chambers, who did nothing for me last weekend in fantasy.

Chargers -1

4. Indianapolis @ MINNESOTA (+1): Not like starting 0-2 means you can’t make the playoffs, no one wants to be in a hole that quickly, and one of these teams will be. Jeff Saturday is a very important part of the Colts offense, and the word on the street is that he may be playing. I don’t know how that works since he was supposed to be out 4-6 weeks, but I can’t imagine he would be as effective as usual. Minnesota worked this off-season on the pass rush, and if Peyton doesn’t have time he is not himself. On the other side of the ball, Indy couldn’t stop the run last week against a team that has no passing game, while Minnesota has one of the best backs in the NFL. I see AP going all day, and Indy’s offense doesn’t look like it is performing where it can, which should be enough for the Vikings to pull off the upset.

Vikings +1

This is an intriguing game. This may be the only time I say something positive about Tavaris Jackson, but he didn’t look horrible against Green Bay. Yes, he made an awful decision at the end of the game, throwing a pick – and sealing the loss - was the result. He did look FAST. He made correct decisions to run when he needed to. If he can get on the same page with Berrian and Rice, all he’s going to need to do is manage the game. Jackson is fast enough to keep the Colts defense honest and that is going to open up the game for Peterson.

The Colts just look old, don’t they?

Vikings +1

3. New England @ New York Jets (-1): If anyone would have told me that week two of the season the Patriots would be 1 point dogs at NYJ 3 months ago I would have laughed in their face. This is unbelievable. While we are on the Patriots, I want to point out that anybody blaming Bernard Pollard for this is just bitter. It was an accident very common to the game of football….get over it. It’s hard to look back at the Patriots now and predict how they will do. Cassel is not good, but Belichic is, and he isn’t going to put a lot of pressure on his QB in his first start since high school. He will run the ball a lot against a team that defended the run worse then most teams last year, and basically do what the Patriots always do. Run quick slants that are very hard to eff up, and keep it simple. The Jets may get something done against a somewhat suspect secondary, but the Pats have a great front 7, and the Jets newly rebuilt line will be tested. I am not sold on the Jets just because they held off a last second comeback against the Dolphins. They will have to do more then that for me to dethrone the Patriots, no matter who is behind center.

Patriots +1

Right on pace, I’ve open my second beer after three picks. Perfect timing for this game. For those of you who don’t already know, I’m a Patriots fan. I’m not an “it’s going to be okay” Patriots fan, either. I’ve been miserable all week. It’s taken over my social life and affected my job performance. At one point, I told my students, “It’s not even worth caring about anything anymore.”

Well, life goes on, I guess. My barber told me not to be so upset because if I got injured and couldn’t go to work, Tom Brady wouldn’t care. You know what, Peter? I think he would.

Who can be mad at Bernard Pollard? It did piss me off that some asshole made t-shirts that said “Bernard Pollard fan club, est. 9/7/08.”

With all of this said, there is absolutely no way in hell the Jets win this game. The Patriots have regained their “us against the world” mentality and will still win the AFC East, which is not a good division. Does it scare me that the Patriots will have to play someone like Pittsburgh, Indy, San Diego, or Jacksonville on the road come playoff time? Yes. Do the Jets scare me a little? No. Favre throws at least two INT’s this weekend.

Patriots +1 (this line is a joke)

2. Pittsburgh @ CLEVELAND (+6): This game seems closer to me, but in all reality, they could be further apart. They couldn’t have looked much further apart last week. Cleveland couldn’t do anything to stop or score on Dallas. Pitt doesn’t quite have the firepower that Dallas has, but they aren’t far behind, and they shouldn’t have any trouble scoring this week, again. The browns tried to beef up their pass rush, which could slow down the Steelers if their questionable O-line proves to be their weakness. I think Pitt has a better defense than Dallas, so things won’t get any easier. I think the Browns O is better then they looked last week, and I think they can score on any defense, but they have to prove it. The Steelers edged out the Browns by their head to head victories last year, which makes this game seem even more important. If you ask me, after the Browns performance last week, the Steelers will stroll to the division crown, and this will just be a quick stop. I think we find out this week if the Browns’ season last year was just one of those seasons where everything fell into place, or if they are here to stay. I hope it is the latter, and I am going to pick them as much out of that hope for that as I think all off-season the whole organization has been preparing for this game. I don’t know how you look past Dallas, but that is a possibility, and I think this team and crowd will be fired up. The goal of this season is to beat Pitt, the rest will fall into place if they can do that. I think they at least keep it close.

Cleveland +6

I can’t take stock of either team after last weekend. The Steelers looked good, but they played Houston. The Browns looked awful, but they played Dallas (and would it surprise anyone if Dallas was just that good?). Before the season, I suggested that this could be the season the Browns take the division from the Steelers, but I’m not so sure after week one. A lop-sided win has to count for something regardless of whom it was against.

Inter-division games are tough to call because teams tend to step their game up against the other. If this line were six points in Three Rivers, it’d be an easy pick. While this may change before final wagers are placed, I gotta take the points.

Cleveland +6

1. Philadelphia @ Dallas (-7): Saving the best for last in our column and the last game of the week. Then again, Ike has made the Houston game move to Monday. Could you imagine living in Cuba? Not only does the government absolutely suck, but you can’t even leave if you hate it. If you are studly baseball player you have to sneak out of the country to make money, which is kind of hard on an island. Oh yeah, and everyone lives in shacks and they get blasted by hurricanes every year. I don’t have a whole lot to say on this one, it is a great matchup, these two played some of the best football in week one, and should be competing for the division. The offenses are pretty even, and I think Philly has an edge on the defensive side of the ball. Give Dallas home field and I think we are damn close. That being said 7 points is flat out too much. If they got -3 I would probably still take Philly because I think either team could win, so grab your points. Lets go Donovan!

Philly +7

Oddsmakers can sure be assholes sometimes. When I saw the game, I said, “Shit, this will be a good game, but Dallas could win by 14, if they are that good.” Then I changed my mind. “The Eagles could win something like 27-24.” If this game were six points, I’d take the Cowboys, but seven is too high.

Philly +7