I got the Rams right again on Thursday night (the second week in a row I had them and Austen didn't), so let's see if I can keep rolling as we start Sunday!
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| Stally believes the 49ers' stifling defense should shut down a struggling Bills' offense in San Francisco. |
Stally's Seven-Point Pick - @San Francisco over Buffalo
Stally: You have one of the best teams at home against one of the lesser teams. This is a pretty easy one, the Bills aren't gonna beat the Niners at "The 'Stick," no way, no how.
Austen: Unless Mario Williams has the game of his life, the 49ers are taking this one.
Austen's Seven-Point Pick - Green Bay over @ Indianapolis
Austen: The Packers have to win games like this one in order to get back atop the division. I think they will take care of business on the road, especially with Dwight Freeney dinged up.
Stally: I didn't have the Packers as high as this, but I can't argue. If Green Bay is going to get back to being an elite team every week, this one shouldn't be close.
Stally's Six-Point Pick - @New England over Denver
Stally: I'll admit that this is an overdraft, but I have all the confidence in the world that the Patriots win this one at home. With that kind of confidence, I saw no reason to pass on the Pats.
Austen: The Patriots should win this game, but losing Dont'a Hightower could hurt a defense that already is not all that good. Peyton Manning is getting better each week, so I think this one will be a lot closer than Stally thinks. Oh yea, both the Pats tight ends are banged up. That's a huge issue for this team that relies very heavily on them to generate offense.
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| Austen is not holding out much hope for his Jets and Mark Sanchez against the undefeated Texans. |
Austen's Six-Point Pick - Houston over @New York-J
Austen: I will be at the game, so I am hoping I am wrong when I think this will be the biggest blow out of the week. The Texans are a well-oiled machine who have not even come close to losing a game yet this season. The Jets were a solid team that has now lost their best offensive player and their best defensive player, and are coming off laying an egg at home against a team that is very similar to the Texans. Throw in the fact that they will most likely be down two more offensive playmakers (Dustin Keller and rookie Stephen Hill) and well as underrated run stuffing nose tackle Sione Pouha and you have the makings of a horrible game.
Stally: I had to assume Austen was going to write a letter of apology to his beloved, God-damn Jets. My favorite thing about Austen talking about the Jets is that sooner or later he starts listing guys that normal football fans have never heard of. Look, a friend (actually it was you, Austen) once told me that excuses are like assholes, everyone's got one and they all stink. I don't want to hear how losing a lazy, cancerous player like Santonio Holmes is the reason the Jets are going to go 6-10 instead of 14-2.
Austen: I really don't think anyone had them going 14-2, ever. Holmes definitely could be the difference between a 9-7 and 6-10 season, which could be the difference between a playoff berth and a new coach/GM tandem. Obviously I did not think that highly of them because you drafted them in the seasonal draft.
Stally's Five-Point Pick - @New York Giants over Cleveland
Stally: I'm certainly not breaking any news by stating that the Browns are probably the worst team in the NFL (only Cleveland and New Orleans have yet to win a game this season). The Giants have been about as good as I expected, which is a bit better than average, so they're an easy pick at home.
Austen: The Giants should win easily. The Browns can't generate offense and cannot stop anyone on defense. Not a good makeup.
Austen's Five-Point Pick - Chicago over @Jacksonville
Austen: Matt Forte and Michael Bush should be able to win this game single handed. The Jags have been horrible at stopping the run this year and their offense stands almost no chance against what is quickly looking like the best defense in the league. Romo threw five interceptions against them last week, so what chance do you think Blaine Gabbert has? None.
Stally: I do think Jacksonville is a weird team that I always hate to completely bet against, but I agree with everything you said.
Stally's Four-Point Pick - Baltimore over @Kansas City
Stally: Remember when the Ravens ran over the Chiefs 30-7 at Arrowhead in the playoffs two years ago? Yeah, so does Kansas City! While the Chiefs do play well at home, this is a still a talent mismatch and Matt Cassel has been far from good this year at QB.
Austen: This is the exact type of game that Joe Flacco somehow screws up. He is terrible on the road and this defense is not even in the top half of the league this season. I still have the Ravens in this one, but it will be a lot closer than you think.
Austen's Four-Point Pick - @Cincinnati over Miami
Austen: Cincinnati is good and at home, Miami is bad and on the road. Sometimes its just that simple.
Stally: Agreed. Good luck finding this snoozer on TV today.
Stally's Three-Point Pick - San Diego over @New Orleans
Stally: I feel like the Chargers offense mimics that of a beginner video game player's team: If you turn up the difficulty, they struggle, but if you flip it back over to "Rookie" like the Saints defense will do, they'll dominate.
Austen: I've got the Saints again this week. They have been killing me so far, but for some reason I think this will be the week that they finally put it together in a close one.
Austen's Three-Point Pick - Arizona over @St. Louis
Austen: I hesitated on this one, but betting against the Rams in the past has always been such an easy choice. I need to stop living in the past because these Rams are like none we have ever seen. Nine sacks and only three points allowed? I don't think the Rams have ever done that. Bravo.
Stally: Ok, you do know the Rams used to be referred to "The Greatest Show on Turf," right? I mean, awesome, they dominated Kevin Kolb's offense. This guy here saw that coming and I had the Rams. The Cards got lucky against the Pats and snuck by the Seahawks and Dolphins at home, so I thought they were an overrated 4-0.
Austen: The Greatest Show on Turf was the Rams offense. I'm not sure the Rams defense has ever been this good. Jeff Fisher has officially turned this team around.
Stally's Two-Point Pick - Seattle over @Carolina
Stally: Carolina is a bad football team with no real identity. Seattle is no great shakes either, but at least I can believe in them to win a game here and there.
Austen: I have Carolina in this one. I just don't trust the Seahawks on a cross country trip.
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| Can all star rookies Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris knock off the undefeated Falcons in Washington? |
Austen: The Falcons are not a great road team, but Matt Ryan has been almost perfect all year. The Redskins secondary is banged up and I think that's why the advantage has to go to the Falcons.
Stally: I like the Redskins in Washington. I certainly would give Atlanta the nod if this was in Georgia, but I'm going with the RG3 upset this weekend. The Falcons are certainly better than the Cardinals, but I do believe they'll lose their undefeated season sooner than later.
Stally's One-Point Pick - Philadelphia over @Pittsburgh
Stally: This is really a tough call as I don't think either one of these teams are a as good as they've been in years past. The Eagles will likely have a rude regression to the mean as they've won their three games by a combined four points, but I also think the Steelers are a mess with no identity, so I'm taking Philly this week.
Austen: The Steelers get James Harrison and Troy Polamalu back. You have to give them the advantage at home. Don't see much reasoning behind taking the Eagles here.
Austen's One-Point Pick - @Minnesota over Tennessee
Austen: Look for special teams to be a factor again in this one. The Vikings are on an absolute tear right now and the Titans are down their starting quarterback. Matt Hasselbeck might be better than Jake Locker, but he is still worse than Christian Ponder. Look for Ponder to have another solid game minimizing the turnovers and giving his team the win.
Stally: That's not really fair to Hasselbeck. He's been a respectable quarterback in this league for a decade and a half. I like him more than Ponder and I'm looking at him to lead an unexpected upset this week.
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