Wellness

[gardenman]

And we start out this week with Minnesota at Green Bay. Green Bay should win, but with the way things are going these days, who knows? I'll take Green Bay anyway.

Chicago goes to Carolina. Carolina's favored, but I think Chicago will find a way to pull this one out.

Houston goes to Dallas. Dallas is playing well now. Their offense is controlling games and protecting their defense. JJ Watt is likely to cause chaos for the Cowboys, but I think they'll pull out the win anyway. I'm taking the Cowboys. (Assuming Romo survives the assault by JJ Watt.)

Buffalo goes to Detroit. I have no idea what the Buffalo coach is doing by benching EJ Manuel this week in favor of Kyle Orton. The Bills are in first place and playing pretty well and they're now benching their young QB for a guy who was retired a couple of months ago? This is one of those scary games to pick. If the team has lost confidence in Manuel and love Orton then that QB swap could be a brilliant move. If the team was behind Manuel and they view this as a panic move by the coach, the team could implode pretty quickly. I'm taking Detroit, but nothing would surprise me in this game.

Baltimore goes to Indianapolis in what could be one of the better games this week. Playing in Indy should give an edge to the Colts so I'm taking the Colts.

Pittsburgh goes to Jacksonville. I'm not picking Jacksonville until they show me they can win a game. I'll take Pittsburgh. That Steeler defense is a mess though.

Tampa Bay goes to New Orleans. New Orleans is a mess, but playing Tampa should give them a lift. I'll take the Saints. If they have issues this week you could see some pretty big changes there. Rob Ryan could find himself out of work once more. A new GM might even be in the works. They've made some interesting personnel moves in the last couple of years.

Atlanta goes to the Giants. Atlanta's a weird team. They're scoring a ton, but giving up a lot too. Eli's played well the last two weeks. I'm taking Atlanta despite them being four point underdogs this week. I think they'll get ahead and Eli will press to stay close and make some mistakes.

Saint Louis comes to Philly. The Eagles are slowly starting to get healthy again. We're back up to three starting offensive linemen playing in their normal spot (that's up from one last week) so the line should be playing better. Given we almost beat the Niners last week with the Keystone Cops playing offensive line, the Eagles should win this game. Twice last week the left guard was handing a guy off to Jason Peters (the left tackle) who didn't get the call and just let the guy go through clean. On the goal line the offensive linemen were all supposed to go left and one guy went right instead wiping out two of his teammates. They did the same thing earlier on a running play in the middle of the field leaving the tight end and running back somehow trying to block/get past six Niners. It was a mess up front last week. They can't play any worse than that, so they should play better.

The Browns play the Titans. God only knows who will win. Las Vegas has the Titans as the favorite so I'll go with that and pick the Titans.

Arizona plays Denver in what should be a really good game. Arizona's undefeated and Denver isn't really up to full speed just yet, but I'll go with the Broncos here. I think they'll win this one.

The Jets play the Chargers. I've got to go with the Chargers in this one.

KC goes to San Francisco. The Niners didn't look good last week. If the Eagles had five offensive linemen who weren't tripping all over each other last week they'd have won the game. The Chiefs looked like world beaters last week. I've got a feeling the Chiefs will pull this one out. I wasn't impressed by the Niners last week.

The Bengals go to New England for the Sunday night game. What the heck is going on in New England??? I've got to go with Cincinnati. Until Tom Brady is Tom Brady again, the Patriots will be pretty ordinary.

And Seattle goes to Washington for the Monday night game. Seattle has a bad history on East Coast games. They're a different team away from home. I think this game will be a lot closer than a lot of people think it will be. I still think Seattle will ultimately pull it out, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Washington have the ball at the end with a chance to win the game.

[Spurt]

I did awful with my picks last week---but here goes---

Vikings/Pack---Aaron Rodgers lit it up and Vikings played surprisingly well---but I'm going with Aaron and the PACK

Da Bears/Panthers---I just don't trust the Panthers, although I don't trust Jay Cutler either......but I'm going with DA BEARS!

It's THE BATTLE OF TEXAS---TEXANS/COWBOYS-I gotta go with JJ WATT and THE TEXANS!

Bills/Lions-what an odd thing to do to bench EJ Manuel--coachs must know some inside stuff we fans don't. Remember Kyle Orton got replaced by Tim Tebow in Denver if that means anything----so I'm going with the LIONS!

Ravens/Colts-Have to go with the COLTS and Andrew Luck and the Colts are at home too---this should be a good game---but this seasons---who knows-COLTS

Steelers/Jags-going with the STEELERS but not with heck of a lot of confidence....

Bucs/Saints- The Bucs came to life----Saints looks awful and it wasn't just their defense---Saints are at home but going with the BUCS. Rob Ryan's days are numbered.....

Falcons/Giants- the Falcons are a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for sure---all the talent in the world, but they are like a rollercoaster.....the Giants seem to have adapted their new scheme to fit Eli.......they won't have Cousins telegraphing the WRs ......I'm going with the FALCONS (hoping beyond hope so I don't have to hear it from my DS)!

Rams/Eagles--boy are the Eagles banged up---GARDENMAN have they called you to play on the offensive line....I think McCoy will get more than 17 yds....and I think Foles will play better too....I'm going with the EAGLES because I don't have much faith in the Rams.....

Browns/Titans---Browns are playing pretty good and Titans are not....going with the BROWNS!

Cards/Broncos---This should be an excellent game.....Arians is an excellent coach and despite using a backup QB and losing players on defense due to injuries they are still winning.....however, how can you go against Peyton Manning playing in Denver---I'll go with the BRONCOS in a close one.....although I wouldn't be surprise if Cards won this one...

Jets/Chargers---the Jets fans are calling for a new QB---and Rex's hands are tied and he must play Geno Smith per Jets Management---lame duck coach Rex, and the Chargers are on a roll-CHARGERS!

Chiefs/49ers---Chiefs looked awesome against the Pats, and 49ers did not look so good in their win, going with the "other tribe"....CHIEFS!

Bengals/Pats---Bengals are winning and looking good, the Pats look like they have little talent to surround Tom Brady---going with the BENGALS! (and my cat Figgy does too)

MNF-OUCH!!! My Redskins against the Super Bowl Champ!!!!---ARRRRGGGHHH!!!!! I'm picturing what the Hawks defense will do to our OL.....and Russel Wilson and our horrible secondary too.....our running game is our only hope but it won't be enough---it pains me to say this but SEAHAWKS!

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[teganslaw]

One sports analyst wrote that the Seattle-Washington match up has the makings of a "trap" game. Washington is desperate, so this could be closer than expected.

If Pittsburgh loses to Jacksonville this week, it's going to be time to panic. I don't think they will lose this week, but one never knows.

It helps that the Eagles play at home, but I'm wary of St. Louis. They beat the Colts by over 40 points last year and it was at Indy! The Rams aren't that bad a team; they just don't always use the talent they have.

I have no idea who will win Sunday. I picked the Bengals just because they are a better team than New England right now. But then, I can't see NE having two consecutively bad games on national TV. Brady is bound to come on with a vengeance quite soon.

[Spurt]

On 10/1/2014 teganslaw said:

One sports analyst wrote that the Seattle-Washington match up has the makings of a "trap" game. Washington is desperate, so this could be closer than expected.

If Pittsburgh loses to Jacksonville this week, it's going to be time to panic. I don't think they will lose this week, but one never knows.

It helps that the Eagles play at home, but I'm wary of St. Louis. They beat the Colts by over 40 points last year and it was at Indy! The Rams aren't that bad a team; they just don't always use the talent they have.

I have no idea who will win Sunday. I picked the Bengals just because they are a better team than New England right now. But then, I can't see NE having two consecutively bad games on national TV. Brady is bound to come on with a vengeance quite soon.

Hey Tegan how are you doing---I hope your week is going well.....

This NFL season has been a strange one with a lot of surprises.....

Well I like the optimism that this might be a trap game for the Hawks, but I'm a pessimist at heart......and our best O linemen Trent Williams is banged up too and he protects Cousins....OY!

Good Luck to your Colts---that will be a good game against the Ravens...

How's Lucky doing.....

My Spurs have their first open practice tonight....then head to Berlin, Germany for an exhibition game.....GO SPURS GO!

[gardenman]

Based on media reports, it sounds like the Bills players are behind the move to bench EJ Manuel. That's good for Kyle Orton and potentially good for the team in the short term, but it could be very, very bad for EJ Manuel and the team over the long term. Orton's not a young guy and they might squeeze a year or two out of him, but they're likely to be looking for "their guy" all over again this off season.

[Harpa]

Haven't been able to watch one Bills game. In light of the QB change, I may change my prediction that they would take it to Detroit.

My other upset (over the computer model) is Washington socking it to Seattle.

And God only know about the Eagles! If they don't bring it this week, then those first 3 games were only luck and a fluke!

[redwingsgal]

I am not yet 100% confident in my Lions (due to the history of the team for my entire 55 years!!) I am hoping the change in Buffalo goes our way. Either way, I am with the Honolulu Blue and Silver all the way!!!

[cindyinfl]

Good evening fellow football fans.

I agree with Gardenman- I think Dallas can take this one- but JJ Watt is so good.....hope Romo can survive! I was born and raised in Dallas, so I always follow my Cowboys no matter what.

Now I live in Jacksonville Fl- home of the hapless Jags. For some reason, they just can't seem to pull out a win. There are so many things wrong with this team. Bortles is the only bright spot, but not good enough yet to carry the team. But hope springs eternal in Jacksonville~

i'll be rooting for my Seahawks against the Redskins.- that's a team I've never liked, so of course I hoping Seattle wins. I'll also be rooting for Tampa Bay (not because I really think they can beat New Orleans, but because I like Lovie Smith, and they are a Florida team)!

Good luck to everyone & hope your team wins.

Cindy

[Spurt]

What is it with these Thursday games......is a blowout going to be a trend....it seems that some teams over others prepare for a short week better perhaps...

[gardenman]

And it's game day!!! It's nice having an early Eagle's game this week. We'll have three starters back in place on the offensive line this week, so hopefully the team will perform a bit better on offense. Last week we pretty consistently had one guy doing the wrong thing at the wrong time on most plays. That's not good. On or around November 10th all five of the starters are projected to be back and playing. Between now and then we're more in survival mode. Get through these games without losing anyone else and pull out a few wins, then rally hard for a playoff push.

The Rams are a scary team to play right now. They're a team we should beat, but they've got two good defensive coaches who will likely try to find a way to exploit the weaknesses of the offensive line. In a perfect world it'll be an easy win on a nice relaxing Sunday. Unfortunately we don't play those kind of games anymore and this is likely to be a nail-biter.