Sports

[gardenman]

Week ten? Oh, dang! We're really on the downhill side now. The season will be done before you know it. Oh well, on to this week's picks.

Buffalo goes to the Jets. I'm giving the slightest edge to the Jets here.  I think they're just a better team right now. I'm not sure how ready Tyrod Taylor is to come back.

Jacksonville goes to Baltimore. I'll take Baltimore.

Detroit goes to Green Bay. Ah yi yi, what has happened to Detroit??? They're now talking about cutting Matthew Stafford at the end of the year? I'll take Green Bay. The mindset of the Lions must be a mess. 

Miami comes to Philly. It really looks like the light has come on for Sam Bradford and he knows what he's doing again. Miami has one of the worst run defenses in the league and the Eagles are running the ball down everyone's throats these days. I'll take the Eagles big in this one.

Cleveland goes to Pittsburgh. I'll take the Steelers. I'm not wildly confident in them with Roethlisberger likely out, but we'll see what happens.

Chicago goes to Saint Louis. The St. Louis press is starting to turn on Nick Foles. I'm thinking that will fire Nick up enough to get him to have a good game this week. Nick is either very good or mediocre with more mediocre than very good, but he's about due for another good week. I'll take the Rams.

Dallas goes to Tampa Bay. I'm taking the Cowboys. They've been playing pretty good, just not quite good enough. Tampa's a lesser opponent. Pretty good should be enough to beat them. If, and this is a big if, the Bucs get a solid game from Jameis Winston and the Cowboys implode after last week's lost to the Eagles, then the Bucs could win, but I think the Cowboys have this one.

Carolina goes to Tennessee. Carolina's likely to lose one of these "easier" games at some point and this could be the point. Mariota's really coming into his own now. Momentum will be huge in this game. I'm giving the game to Carolina but an upset here would not surprise me at all.

New Orleans goes to Washington. DeSean Jackson looks to be on his way out in DC. His comments about the coach and QB not getting him the ball didn't sit real well with the coach who reminded everyone that DeSean didn't attend the OTA's, missed much of traning camp and then had been injured through nearly all of the season. Those weren't the kind of comments you typically hear from a head coach when a valued player complains. Once DeSean starts burning down the team, bad things happen. I'll take the Saints in this one. I wouldn't be shocked to see the Redskins lose out if they keep DeSean around.

Minnesota goes to Oakland. Two young, up and coming teams. I'll give a slight edge to the Raiders since the VIkings QB still has to go through the concussion protocol.

KC goes to Denver. This is one of those games that looked huge in the preseason. Now, not so much. KC has imploded and the Broncos look a lot better. I'll take the Broncos here.

The Patriots go to the Giants. This could get ugly for the Giants. Their defense is a trainwreck and Tom Brady picks apart good defenses. I've got the Patriots big time in this one.

Arizona goes to Seattle. If Seattle wants to salvage their season, this is the time to start. Arizona knows that a win here puts them three games up on Seattle with six or seven left to play. This should be a heck of a game. I'm taking Seattle, but only because they're playing at home. They've got to win this though or they're likely missing the playoffs.

Houston goes to Cincy. The good news is JJ Watt usually performs great on primetime games. The bad news is the Texans only have one JJ Watt. I'll take Cincy in this one.

[2blonde]

Gardenman, living in the Cleveland area, and continuing as a somewhat reluctant Browns fan, I hope you can feel my pain.  Our team is a mess, so even without Roethlisberger, the Steelers should do just fine.  I do have to add that the Browns are known to be totallly unpredictable (losing against easy teams and winning against tough ones), but they have been worse than ever this year........

[teganslaw]

Matthe Stafford wouldn't be out of a job long if Detroit released him. There are several teams that would be interested.

Which of the three undefeated teams will be the first to lose? I wouldn't be surprised if one of them fell this week. The Giants are unpredictable; they usually start to heat up the second half of the season and could beat NE. Also, Houston or Tennessee could pull an upset. I wouldn't bet money on it, but anything can happen.

[gardenman]

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@teganslaw wrote:

Matthe Stafford wouldn't be out of a job long if Detroit released him. There are several teams that would be interested.

Which of the three undefeated teams will be the first to lose? I wouldn't be surprised if one of them fell this week. The Giants are unpredictable; they usually start to heat up the second half of the season and could beat NE. Also, Houston or Tennessee could pull an upset. I wouldn't bet money on it, but anything can happen.

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Of the three, I would give the Titans the best chance at the upset. That Giant defense is a mess. Houston desperately needs a QB (and lots more.) Carolina has a good defense, but their only real offensive weapon is Cam Newton, and if the Titans can contain him (a big if)  then they could get the win. Marcus Mariota can stress a good defense to the breaking point. I would say the Titans have the best shot.

[gardenman]

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@2blonde wrote:

Gardenman, living in the Cleveland area, and continuing as a somewhat reluctant Browns fan, I hope you can feel my pain.  Our team is a mess, so even without Roethlisberger, the Steelers should do just fine.  I do have to add that the Browns are known to be totallly unpredictable (losing against easy teams and winning against tough ones), but they have been worse than ever this year........

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The Browns really need a quarterback. They haven't really had a good one since Bernie Kosar. If the Eagles don't resign Bradford before free agency starts, the Browns could try to sign him. They were apparently trying to get him from the Rams but lacked a Nick Foles to trade to the Rams. I'm not sure the Eagles would use the franchise tag on Bradford, so he could be available.

[Spurt]

Picking the JETSJETSJETS in a close one......

the rest of my picks later .....

[teganslaw]

Indianapolis signed former Tennessee quarterback Charlie Whitehurst as a back up. Luck is expected to be out at least  a month, maybe more. Whitehurst is a veteran and was back up to Hasselbeck in Seattle, but I don't know how good he is. There are different opinions about his talent: some say that he he is a good signing, others don't think much of him. I don't recall any games he played against the Colts. Maybe he'll never play a snap this year, but Indy needed another QB just in case.

BTW, Whitehurst has some nice hair. He and Colts TE Coby Fleener can talk hair products if nothing else.

Spoiler

[Spurt]

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I do so badly on my NFL picks---but it's been such a wacky year-----Here goes---

Jags/Ravens---I'm picking an upset and going with the JAGS! No reason just a hunch......

Lions/Packers---The Lions have not seen such a disappointment since they met Daniel in the Lion's den......SHEESH!!!  And now they are talking about getting rid of Stafford, I don't think he is the problem.....I think they need a NEW GM and a NEW Coach!!! But Stafford need not worry---teams will be lining up to grab him if this does occur!!!  And Lions QB's don't grow on trees or in the NCAA, where they use systems that don't fit the NFL---So this should be any easy one--the PACK WILL BE BACK!!!

Dolphins/Eagles ---So a different coach wasn't the answer for the Dolphins---media gave him praise too soon it seems....the Eagles have been slowly turning things around, but still not quite sold on what they are doing, after all they barely pulled out the game against the Cowboys---they still have weaknesses....but just gotta go EAGLES on his one...

Browns/Steelers---The Steelers are Benless once again---but even with a backup at the helm they are the better team against the Browns---just hope they have burned those horrible bumble bee uniforms---STEELERS

Bears/Rams---The Bears seem to be turning things around with their mix of plays on offense......the Rams have a good solid defense and good decent running game....the Bears still lack a decent defense, so I'm going RAMS!!!

Cowboys/Bucs---Team Turmoil (aka the Cowboys between Hardy and Dez---they should use this explosiveness ON THE FIELD, instead of creating drama off of it).....against a Buc team that had a nice win against the Falcons and then imploded against the Giants---this is a coin toss---Jerrah will certainly put the pressure on Garrett.....going COWBOYS!

Panthers/Titans---Panthers are one of the few unbeatens, and are on a roll.  I'm impressed with how rookie QB Mariota has adopted from his Oregon system to the NFL pocket......still Titans need a whole lot of improvement in many positions in order to be relevant, gotta go with PANTHERS!!!

Saints/Redskins--Sorry @gardenman  but I disagree with you, and concur with DeSean, with Garcon dropping soo many passes---they need to utlize DeSean more----and Matt Jones needs to stop fumbling and Reed and some others need to learn how to catch too---And defense please let's go back to fundamentals and actually TACKLE the opponents----Going with REDSKINS and hope they rebound as good as their NBA counterparts the Wizards (good win against my tired Spurs).....

Vikings/Raiders---2 good young teams---with 2 young QBs and teams who are moving on up----should be a good game.....going with DA RAIDERS!!!  Somewhere John Madden must be smiling!!!

Chiefs/Broncos---I'll pick the Broncos to rebound after a loss to a desperate Colts team.......BRONCOS...the Chiefs are a mess, and I wonder if Reid will keep his job....

Patriots/Giants-- Another weak NFC East team to help the Pats pad their wins....going with PATRIOTS!!!  Can the Pats play an opponent that's a real challenge...SHEESH!

Cardinals/Seahawks--interesting game as Seahawks need a win to get into the playoffs.....but I'm counting on a solid Cardinal team to take the victory and solidify their position as top team in the Division---CARDINALS!

Texans/Bengals---Poor JJ Watt---hey Texans he needs some help out there on both defense and offense---going with my cat Figgy's team---THE BENGALS! She will be wearing her Bengal collar and cheering her team on!!!

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

Indianapolis signed former Tennessee quarterback Charlie Whitehurst as a back up. Luck is expected to be out at least  a month, maybe more. Whitehurst is a veteran and was back up to Hasselbeck in Seattle, but I don't know how good he is. There are different opinions about his talent: some say that he he is a good signing, others don't think much of him. I don't recall any games he played against the Colts. Maybe he'll never play a snap this year, but Indy needed another QB just in case.

BTW, Whitehurst has some nice hair. He and Colts TE Coby Fleener can talk hair products if nothing else.

Spoiler

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@teganslaw  Hi TEGAN---some are calling Charlie Whitehurst, Clipboard Jesus---LOL!!!  Perhaps Chaz Dean and the Wen team need to get Charlie, Clay Matthews, and Coby Fleener as models----

  

Take Care!

[teganslaw]

 I've heard Whitehurst called "Clipboard Jesus." That's got to be a good sign for the Colts. Who else has a "clipboard Jesus" as backup?

The early games shown in my area are Packers-Lions on FOX and Bears-Rams on CBS. Usually CBS shows AFC games; maybe there weren't any available here. The later game is Patriots-Giants. Will probably watch the Packers. I like seeing Aaron Rodgers, and hope he gets back on track.

 SPURT, I picked Washington in my football picks this week and also have Jordan Reed in my fantsy football line up, so hoping that they deliver. Please send your best vibes out for that team today.