Wellness

[gardenman]

I'm hanging in there in the HH Gregg contest. I've got 13,973 points so far and I'm trailing the leader by 1070. I'm in 252nd place right now so I've got to take some chances and hope for the best to move up higher.

We're starting off this week with another Thursday night game. This week the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. This should be a pretty easy win for the Falcons.

Then we have a Saturday night game between the Cowboys and the Bucs in Tampa. The Cowboys are seven point favorites in this game, but I've had this game in the loss category for the Cowboys for a while now. They've got the Eagles and Giants coming up and they just played the Giants. I think there's going to be a bit of a mental letdown for the Cowboys and the Bucs will want to put on a good show for the national audience. I think the game will be close, but I have the Bucs pulling out the win. I think the Cowboy's confidence may be a tad shaky after their last two games and Tampa has nothing to lose. They're likely to come out playing like the Redskins did against New England last week.

The early Sunday games start with Miami at Buffalo. This should be a win for Buffalo. Miami just fired Sparano as their head coach and few teams win right after getting the head coach fired. I think Buffalo should win this one pretty easily.

Seattle goes to Chicago. This one is a tough one to pick, but I'm giving a very slight edge to Chicago.

Carolina goes to Houston. I've got to give the edge to Houston. They're building confidence in TJ Yates as their new quarterback and while there may be a bit of a letdown after clinching a playoff spot, I still think they'll beat Carolina.

Tennessee goes to Indianapolis. I'm still convinced Indy will win a game or games this year and this might be the week, but until they win, I'm going to pick against them. I'm giving the edge to Tennessee in this one. Don't be surprised to see Indy pull the upset here though.

Green Bay goes to Kansas City. Playing in Kansas City is tough, but the Packers are just too good. Unless the weather is horrible, Green Bay should win easily.

New Orleans goes to Minnesota. This should be an easy win for New Orleans.

Washington goes to play the Giants. The Giants should win this game, but these NFC East games are never easy and the Redskins gained a lot of confidence in how they played against New England last week. I think the Giants will win, but it should be close. The Giants are relying on Eli to save them in the fourth quarter a lot this year and this may very well be the game where Eli doesn't come through. I think the Giants will win this one however and then lose next week to the Jets. (I'm hoping I'm wrong and the Giants lose this one too!)

Cincinnati goes to Saint Louis. I've got to give the edge to Cincinnati this week.

The late games kick off with Detroit at Oakland. I'm giving the edge to Oakland, but it should be a pretty competitive game.

Cleveland goes to Arizona. These are two teams that are still a year or two away from being competitive, but I think both are going in the right direction. I'm giving a slight edge to Arizona due to the concussion brewhaha over Colt McCoy.

New England goes to Denver. The Patriots should destroy Denver, but I'm picking Denver. Someway, somehow they're winning games they shouldn't and until that stops, I'm picking them each week. I think they'll need four quarters of football out of Tim Tebow this week and so far he's only really been showing up in the fourth quarter, but if he can perform like he's been performing in the fourth quarter the whole game then there's no team in football that can stop the Broncos. This will be a good test for the Broncos. Can they contain the Patriots offense and can Tim Tebow play at a high level for a whole game? We'll find out Sunday. I'm betting they can.

The Jets come to Philadelphia. Historically the Eagles have been killed by Plaxico Burress. I expect him to have another big game against us, but I think Vick will be better/healthier this week and the Eagle's offense should be able to match the Jets score for score. The Eagles defense is finally figuring things out and playing good football. Assuming they don't have a relapse, we should win this game. I've got it going for the Eagles.

The Sunday night game is Baltimore at San Diego. I've got to give this one to Baltimore. I had high hopes for San Diego this year, but those hopes are pretty much gone. Ray Rice is a beast for Baltimore and I think they'll win this one pretty easily.

And finally the Monday night game is Pittsburgh at San Francisco. This will be a good test for both teams. I'm not sure how mobile Roethlisberger will be, so I'm giving a slight edge to San Francisco.