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| The Jaguars play a home game in London this weekend. That makes sense considering the English are more accepting of shutout football games. (Getty) |
The slate starts off with a lot of expected blowouts (the first six could go in any order) and with six teams on bye, the close games will be fewer and farther between. Here's who the Stubborn OXen are taking:
Stally's Seven-Point Pick
@New Orleans over Buffalo
Stally: The Saints at home, coming off a bye, and playing the Bills. Seriously, what's not to like!?
Austen: I have this game much lower, but it is hard to argue with taking the Saints coming off a bye against one of the worst teams in the league, who are still starting a quarterback from Duke. This has to be some sort of record for a Duke quarterback.
Austen's Seven-Point Pick
Seattle over @St. Louis
Austen: I've watched about as much tape on Kellen Clemens as anyone in the world has. He is not very good and he is starting his first game since 2011 against the best defense in the NFL. This should get real ugly real fast.
Stally: I had no idea that guy was still in the league until it was announced he was starting earlier this week. How bad is he? Well, put it this way: the Rams were hoping Brett Favre would come out of retirement to play for over him. Oh, and by the way, Tim Tebow is still a free agent. Surely, he can't be worse than Favre at this point ...
Stally's Six-Point Pick
San Francisco over Jacksonville (in London)
Stally: The Niners managed to win in London the year I worked for them and they weren't very good. I can't imagine a far better San Fran team will have a hard time against the worst team in the league in this one. As Cousin Sal pointed out on The B.S. Report: the NFL should just give London the Jags, since they're already used to supporting really low-scoring football teams.
Austen: I know Jacksonville does not really have any fans, but did the NFL really need to give away one of their home games to London? And they pitted them against the 49ers? I think maybe the NFL doesn't want our football to spread overseas. Why else would they make them watch such an awful matchup?
Austen's Six-Point Pick
Green Bay over @Minnesota
Austen: The Vikings are such a mess that even Adrian Peterson is having a bad year. This is a guy who ran for over 2,000 yards on a bum knee with Christian Ponder as his quarterback (that hurt a little to say, since I am still trying to hang tough on the Ponder bandwagon). The Packers have a run game and their defense is actually not terrible. This should be a rough home game for Minnesota.
Stally: I thought Christian Ponder was hurt, but it turns out the Vikes actually thought a guy that somehow lost his grasp of an offense in Tampa Bay had picked up their system in a couple of weeks. Look, Josh Freeman, you dummy, the system is simple: snap the ball, hand it to Adrian Peterson. Ponder did that just fine, and I'm glad to hear he'll be at the helm of the ship. I'll still take the Packers in a blow out, though.
Stally's Five-Point Pick
@Kansas City over Cleveland
Stally: I still can't believe the Kansas City Chiefs are the last undefeated team in the league, but I'd be in more disbelief if they got knocked off at home by the Cleveland Browns.
Austen: This is two weeks in a row that Stally has nabbed the Chiefs before I could. I've been talking them up all year and he is finally buying into them, at least enough to take them at home over a really struggling Browns' team. Jason Campbell has had a real tough career, and it will not get any easier jumping back into the game against one of the best defenses in the league playing in front of one of the loudest crowds in the NFL. On paper, this looks to be a blow out.
Austen's Five-Point Pick
@Denver over Washington
Austen: Washington is improving every week, both on offense and defense. That being said, RG3 still might need to put up 50 points to win this one. Peyton Manning is licking his chops watching tape on this defense. Also, winning in Denver is always one of the most difficult places to win a road game, no matter who the quarterback is.
Stally: My biggest worry with Denver is that their defense gives up so many points and that the Redskins offense is rounding into shape. I still think that Peyton Manning torches this anemic Washington defense, and I'm probably just over worrying like Jason "Cougar" Levine when contemplating going out for Thirsty Thursday. However, I've stated my concerns; let them be noted.
Stally's Four-Point Pick
@New England over Miami
Stally: I'm about as low on my Patriots as I have been since Drew Bledsoe was the quarterback. (That's not a knock on Tom Brady, just a reflection of the era.) But, the Dolphins just lost at home to the Bills, the Pats should beat them!
Austen: I cannot remember the last time the Patriots lost two divisional games in a row. All I know is it is not going to happen this week.
Austen's Four-Point Pick
Pittsburgh over @Oakland
Austen: The Patriots was the last real obvious game to me, so I will stay with the tried and true decision to bet against the Raiders. The Steelers are improving and getting into a bit of a groove. The Raiders might have found a solid quarterback, but now they just need to find just about everything else.
Stally: No disagreement from me. We've earned a lot of points picking against the Raiders over the years, and I do agree that the Steelers have gone from bad to merely below average.
Stally's Three-Point Pick
@Cincinatti over New York Jets
Stally: The Bengals are a different football team at home, where they've beat both Green Bay and New England. I expect them to improve to 4-0 in their building against an underwhelming Jets team.
Austen: The Bengals are the better team, without question, but the Jets have beaten the better team in every game they have won this year. They are not very good, but they stay in games. Leon Hall is out for the Bengals, which is a huge loss for a defense that is struggling more than anyone anticipated. I have the Jets in a close one.
Stally: Homer pick.
Austen's Three-Point Pick
@Detroit over Dallas
Austen: I'm officially on the Lions bandwagon right now. Reggie Bush has been spectacular. Calvin Johnson is amazing as always. Matt Stafford is playing the best football of his career. This defense is better than I anticipated. If DeMarco Murray plays, I think it will be closer than I think, but if not, I think Dallas could be in for a rough outing.
Stally: As you all know, I basically own the Cowboys bandwagon, so I have them in a close shootout. Think of the Denver-Dallas game earlier in the year, and we're going to have something similar: a lot of points and no defense. I think Dallas will be the ones to outpace Detroit.
Stally's Two-Point Pick
Atlanta over @ Arizona
Stally: I don't care if Atlanta isn't close to going 13-3 again, they're better than the Cardinals! It's that simple.
Austen: Steven Jackson is back, which will make a big difference for this offense, so long as he is not still significantly injured. The Cardinals just are not very good. They are so bad that they cannot get the ball in the hands of Larry Fitzgerald. That's just inexcusable.
Austen's Two-Point Pick
Carolina over @ Tampa Bay
Austen: We did our picks after this game was over, but Stally for some reason had the Bucs in this one. I would have taken them much higher than this, but since I made my picks after the game, I will have to settle for taking them with my last pick. Either way, the Panthers are becoming the force that I thought they might at the start of the season. Once they get Jonathan Stewart back, they will be even better.
Stally: I tend to lean toward the home team on Thursdays and thought the Panthers would overlook the measly Bucs. Turns out I forgot something very important: the Bucs suck.
Stally's One-Point Pick
@Philadelphia over New York Giants
Stally: Philadelphia has lost something stupid like nine straight home games. I find that to be an anomaly, and I'm not putting emphasis on that stat. The bottom line is that the Eagles are better than the Giants. They should win.
Austen: The Eagles are the better team and they are at home. Not much else to be said, except ugh!
Austen doesn't get a one-point pick due to bye weeks for Chicago, Tennessee, Indianapolis, San Diego, Baltimore and Houston.
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