|
NFL Team Rankings
Baltimore Ravens (+7.5) at Atlanta Falcons
Here are two teams that are fighting for respect. Baltimore is still at least a year away from being able to compete week in and week out. Atlanta, on the other hand, has put together a string of three straight wins. A fourth will put them at 5-3. With their remaining schedule, the Falcons have a realistic shot at getting 10 wins. The pick: Atlanta 24-16. Tennessee Titans (+3) at Indianapolis Colts
Pity Tony Dungy. He goes to a team with an excellent offense in place, and things go awry. Of course, he'll catch the blame for the mediocre offensive numbers, but the plain truth is Edgerrin James isn't Superman. James, like many others before, is not the same player he was before the knee injury. With James getting about 3.5 ypc, this offense isn't as threatening. If you were one of the lucky ones to grab Ricky Williams the 2nd, give him a start this week as the Titans defense is very accomodating. The pick: Indianapolis 26-21. Cincinnati Bengals (+3) at Houston Texans
Well, the Bengals have gauranteed the win this week. Of course, we're not sure which team they think will win. As unappealing of a game this is, there are some viable fantasy options here. Dillon is always capable of the monster game for the Bengals, and Bradford and Miller are quietly producing quality numbers for Houston. The pick: Houston 27-18. New York Jets (+7.5) at San Diego Chargers
The Jets are real bad. The Chargers are real good. Tomlinson will be the Week 9 Fantasy Player of the Week. The pick: San Diego 26-17. Dallas Cowboys (+3) at Detroit Lions
Now that Smith has the record, does anyone really want to watch the Cowboys? Now that nothing is still happening in Detroit, does anyone really want to watch the Lions? Let me take a moment to remind you that both of these fine franchises will play host to millions on Thanksgiving Day. Yippee! The pick: Detroit 19-18. San Francisco 49ers (+3) at Oakland Raiders
The Battle of the Bays find one team reeling while the other is reving up the engine. The 49ers stumbled a bit out the gates but are averaging 30+ points over the last four weeks. Their ground game has been huge all year. On the other hand, Oakland came out sizzling this season (while averaging 40+ points over their first four games) but has scored a total of 44 over their last three contest. Their running attack has struggled over that period. The pick: San Francisco 28-26. Minnesota Vikings (+7) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Tice is slowly showing he's not ready to be an NFL head coach as the Vikings have crawled to a 2-5 record. Those five losses include defeats to Chicago, Carolina, Seattle, and the Jets. Not exactly a Who's Who of the NFL elite. Their offense has been inconsistent while their defense has been bizzaro-Buccaneer. Over in Tampa Bay, the head coach may have changed, the the defense is still carrying the team to victories. This defense has allowed single digit scoring in five out of eight games this season. What a ratio. If the offense could get things turned around (where have I heard that one), this team would be unstoppable. The pick: Tampa Bay 21-10. St. Louis Rams (-3) at Arizona Cardinals
Would the real St. Louis Rams offense please stand up. For the first five weeks of the season, they averaged just under 15 points a game. In the two weeks following, they scored 28 and 37. Amazingly enough, they still have a shot at the playoffs. Arizona has already exceeded preseason expectations with their 4-3 record. Of course, they haven't beaten anyone good yet. The pick: St. Louis 23-21. New England Patriots (+2) at Buffalo Bills
This could be the game of the week. Bledsoe hosting his former team. A story-book ending would see him throwing for four TDs including the game winner with no time left. With this offense, it could happen. With New England inability to stop the run, we're more likely to see Henry have an amazing day. Of course, the Bills have trouble stopping anyone so there's a good chance the Patriots will break out of their currenty offensive funk. People have been wondering, "what's wrong with New England". Isn't it obvious? Their opponents have been too good. They've lost four straight to San Diego, Miami, Green Bay, and Denver. That's four of the top teams in the league. The pick: Buffalo 28-24. Washinton Redskins (+3) at Seattle Seahawks
Whoa, one of these teams will leave this game with a winning streak longer than one. If you have Kenny Watson, throw him out there this week. Davis is likely sitting, and the Seahawks are horrible against the run (allowing an average of 177 rushing yards per game). The pick: Washington 23-20. Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5) at Chicago Bears
I just really like this Philadelphia team. With McNabb, they can score on anyone. With their defense, they can slow down any team. Granted, the WRs aren't scaring anyone, but Thrash, Freeman, and Co. can make plays when needed. This just looks like the makings of the 2002 NFC Champions. The Bears are the opposite of all of the above. The pick: Philadelphia 28-14. Jacksonville Jaguars (+3) at New York Giants
These two teams are almost mirror images. Neither are playing very well right now. They both have very good starting RBs. They both have #2 RBs that are hated by fantasy GMs everywhere (Mack because he vultures TDs from Taylor, and Dayne, well, because he's Ron Dayne). With the loss of Hilliard, both teams have a WRs corp consisting of one very good WR and a bunch of no-names. The difference is at TE. Shockey is a difference-maker. He'll be the difference this Sunday. The pick: New York 17-14. Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) at Cleveland Browns
Steeler football has returned. After getting ripped up for two weeks to open the season, Pittsburgh is 4-1 since their bye week. They don't look pretty, but they are winning. Zereoue will once again start for the injured Bettis. Cleveland football is still here. They couldn't run the ball last season (finishing 31st) and are actually worse this year (currently 32nd). Green certainly does not look promising coming off a 3-carry outing last week versus the Jets. However, Couch is finally feeling 100% healthy and gives them a chance to win any game. The pick: Pittsburgh 24-20. Miami Dolphins (+4) at Green Bay Packers
Well ABC has a great one on tap this week. Of course, Ray Lucas needs to turn in a little better effort than he did week seven (how could he not). Williams and McMichael will do all they can, but the overall talent of the Packers will just be too much. Favre is hobbled, but you know he'll suck it up and be out there running around like he always is. Green will be relied upon a bit more (and Miami has been prone to allowing big days on the ground). And of course, since it's November, the weather will play a role. A game in the high 30s (after a weekend of intermittent snow) will not be favorable toward Miami. The pick: Green Bay 27-18.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||