Top Shelf Games: Talent-rich, highly competitive and aged in oak barrels... spiritually speaking
Atlanta Falcons at Denver Broncos (-5.5) - Who wants to see the NFL's hottest offense try their hand against the nastiest defense this week? I know I do in our Lady Blitz Game of the Week! I will be legitimately but begrudgingly impressed with the Falcons if they can outduel Orange Crush 2.0 for four quarters at Mile High. But if you happened to check out my quarterly awards earlier this week, you already know that I'm skeptical that Atlanta can keep up those high-flying big plays against a much, much, much better defense than they've faced so far this year.
Houston Texans at Minnesota Vikings (-6.5) - Speaking of great defenses, it doesn't get much better than the Vikings, and the Texans aren't too far behind on that side of the ball either. At some point, Minnesota is going to drop a game, and if Houston can keep Sam Bradford & co. out of the end zone, this game is a reasonable candidate. But on the flip side, the Texans offense isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, and I think they are going to get ground down by the Vikings' physical style and ballhawking abilities once Brock Osweiler starts getting impatient.
New England Patriots (-10.5) at Cleveland Browns - By no means is this game on the top shelf for its competitive potential - though to be fair to the Browns, they've hung in there in their last three losses more than they'll get credit for. But it's time to let the popcorn and touchdowns fly with a vengeful Tom Brady returning from suspension against the only winless team in the league. You already know how this one ends.
Cincinnati Bengals (-1) at Dallas Cowboys - One more Cowboys win this week, and we are headed for a full-blown quarterback controversy with Dak Prescott and Tony Romo. At minimum, Dallas fans should rest easy that they might just have their most important position figured out for a while. I've gone back and forth on this, and I keep thinking how much better the Bengals defense looked last week with the return of the loathed but effective Vontaze Burfict. Cincy's might at the line of scrimmage could severely limit the Cowboys' running game this week and give Andy Dalton plenty of chances to put more points on the board.
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (-7.5) - Could this be the week Odell Beckham gets out of his slump with a big-time Sunday night game? One can hope. You just get the feeling the Giants are going to have to start taking some frequent shots downfield to stay competitive, especially with this kind of offensive competition. I'm not sold on Green Bay winning this one since New York has played spoiler to Aaron Rodgers' pocket often these past few years, but they don't look solid enough right now to go toe-to-toe with the Packers at home after a bye week.
Well Drink Games: They may surprise you from time to time without all the high expectations
New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (-7) - Given how porous the Jets' secondary has gotten these days, I think we're in for another fireworks show at Heinz Field starring Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. It should be fun, and one of us morons will actually take Big Ben off of her fantasy team's bench this time around. Don't you want to hear more about how my fantasy team is doing? Yes, said no one ever.
Washington Redskinks at Baltimore Ravens (-4) - I am contractually obligated to call this the Battle of the Beltway with the hottest quarterback duel that will take place specifically in Baltimore at 1pm ET this week. I'm still not real sure what to think about the Ravens. There's no shame in losing to a good Raiders team, but they haven't had a convincing, dominant win yet this season. My guess is that they'll keep the Redskinks emerging ground game in check and eke out another late go-ahead score with Washington's thin secondary reeling.
Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Detroit Lions - How 'bout them Eagles? I couldn't be more stunned at how well they've done out of the gate this year against some solid competition. They're just so balanced on both sides of the ball, and no one's cracked the code on Carson Wentz just yet. Give me that any day over the rollercoaster that is the Lions offense.
Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5) - I get that the Rams are 3 - 1, but I'm just not sure that I trust it. Of course the Bills are an ever-mercurial weekly mystery box, but their defense is starting to come to form against some perennial heavies like the Cardinals and Patriots. I'll take a chance on a Buffalo road win versus the "explosive" offensive talents of Case Keenum and Brian Quick. How is this a thing?
San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders (-3.5) - If ever there was a must-win situation for the Chargers, you're looking at it this week. They'll pay a visit to their divisional foes in Oakland before embarking on a Broncos-Falcons-Broncos sandwich. After their tremendously bad luck these past few weeks, it feels like something's gotta give for San Diego, but I just can't shake how much better the Raiders have been in late-game situations. If this one goes down to the wire, give me Oakland all day.
Washington Redskinks at Baltimore Ravens (-4) - I am contractually obligated to call this the Battle of the Beltway with the hottest quarterback duel that will take place specifically in Baltimore at 1pm ET this week. I'm still not real sure what to think about the Ravens. There's no shame in losing to a good Raiders team, but they haven't had a convincing, dominant win yet this season. My guess is that they'll keep the Redskinks emerging ground game in check and eke out another late go-ahead score with Washington's thin secondary reeling.
Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Detroit Lions - How 'bout them Eagles? I couldn't be more stunned at how well they've done out of the gate this year against some solid competition. They're just so balanced on both sides of the ball, and no one's cracked the code on Carson Wentz just yet. Give me that any day over the rollercoaster that is the Lions offense.
San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders (-3.5) - If ever there was a must-win situation for the Chargers, you're looking at it this week. They'll pay a visit to their divisional foes in Oakland before embarking on a Broncos-Falcons-Broncos sandwich. After their tremendously bad luck these past few weeks, it feels like something's gotta give for San Diego, but I just can't shake how much better the Raiders have been in late-game situations. If this one goes down to the wire, give me Oakland all day.
House Punch Games: Most likely to be lop-sided, sloppy and/or otherwise painful to digest
Arizona Cardinals (-3.5) at San Francisco 49ers - Boy, the Cardinals have looked some kind of rough these first few weeks after a knockout 2015 season. As important as Carson Palmer has been to this team in the Bruce Arian era, I think this offense will get a little addition by subtraction while Palmer sits out with a concussion this week. He's already given up eight turnovers in four games, and backup Drew Stanton previously went a steady 5 - 3 as a starter back in 2014. A steady 0.500 performance is all the Cardinals really need to keep the edge over the recovering 49ers... I hope.
Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins (-3.5) - I soooooo want to pick the Titans here on the strength of a good and possibly underrated defense, but I fear for Marcus Mariota's ability to evade the Dolphins' pass rush. I see an ugly low-scoring slog here where Miami gets an opportune turnover or sack late in the fourth quarter.
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts (-4.5) - Fun fact: did you know this game marks the first time an NFL team has played without a bye following a trip to London? I sincerely thought there was a misprint when I looked through the schedule this week. That seems downright insane to me, and I don't know why Jim Irsay isn't viciously subtweeting the NFL schedulers over it. This is a risky pick, but I don't like those travel conditions, and I really don't like how rough Indy's defense has looked this year. The Bears might have just enough in them to catch the Colts unawares with all that jet lag.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers (-7) - Oy. What a craptacular NFC South matchup between two 1 - 3 teams that also happen to be tied for second place in the division. If Cam Newton doesn't play on Monday, this could get even worse in terms of entertainment value. Although Carolina's uncertainty at quarterback gives the Bucs a chance, I'll take Ron Rivera's coaching decisions 24-7 over Dirk "who needs those 4th quarter timeouts?" Koetter any time.
Lovely Lady Locks
Based on my perfectly pedestrian 27 - 24 record last year, I think Kenny Rodgers would tell me to fold 'em in repeating this Lovely Lady Locks spread picks feature. But I'm playing with Monopoly money, so I'm going to do it again! Buyer beware. For Week 5, my Lovely Lady Locks are:- Patriots -10.5 over Browns
- Steelers -7 over Jets
- Eagles -3 over Lions
So How's My Pickin'?
Straight Up Record: 31 - 32
Against the Spread: 6 - 6
No comments:
Post a Comment