Week 5: The Return of the Jet-i

Hey, it's Stally.  I'm sure everyone is excited that Austen being back from Europe.  I know I am as it makes my opinions look a lot smarter when contrasted to his weird ideas.

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!

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.

Week 4: The Auto-Draft

It wasn't surprising that the Ravens
knocked out the Browns. (AP)

It's just me, Stally, this week.  Austen is still in Europe, so he emailed me his picks based on confidence points, so that we could do an auto-draft.

The auto-draft was setup so that each guy always took whatever game he had with the highest amount of confidence points remaining.

Austen's Eight-Point Pick - @Baltimore over Cleveland

Confidence: Austen - 15, Stally - 15

Austen and I both gave the Ravens 15 confidence points this week and were rewarded with a win.  Props to the Browns to keep it within seven, but a Thursday night game with a disparity of talent that favors the home team is an easy choice.

Stally's Eight-Point Pick - @Houston over Tennessee

Confidence: Stally - 14, Austen - 13

I'm completely out on Tennessee.  I still think Houston has some flaws that might be exposed against a better team, but they won't see that in the AFC South.  Austen seemed to share a similar feeling on this game.

Week 3: Austen Goes to Europe

After a decade of futility, the 49ers definitely
have their traditional swagger back. (Getty)

Wow!  We actually got our picks out early this week.

It wasn't without the usual snags.  Stally's working about 16 hours a day as NASCAR is in town at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  Meanwhile, Austen claims to very swamped with life as he prepares for a week-long trip to Europe (don't we all feel bad for him).

However, the crunch meant that the OXen actually had to push out the predictions early this week and you might actually get to read them before the 4 o'clock slate of games on Sunday!

Stally (Eight-Point Pick) - San Francisco over @Minnesota

Stally: I'd have to power rank the 49ers as Number 1 in the NFL right now.  The Vikings, on the other hand, needed overtime to beat the Jags at home and lost to the Colts.  There's a huge disparity here.

Austen: The 49ers might not be the best team in the league, but they could play a pretty terrible game and still knock off a Vikings team that is in the bottom three in the league.

Week 2: Don't Overreact

Robert Griffin III gives Redskins fans a lot to cheer about. (Getty)

Ok, so we've seen one week of games.  It's pretty easy overreact to the outcomes, but keep in mind that some teams probably came out fired up (the New York Jets) and some teams came out flat (the New York Giants).

It's not a long season.  There's no time to slump in the NFL, but there are 16 games and every team is still capable of going 15-1, so it's way too early to overreact to one poor outcome.


Stally (Eight-Point Pick) – @New England over Arizona

Stally:  Tom Brady at home or Kevin Kolb on the road?  This was a pretty easy choice to make.

Austen: Kolb is terrible and Brady is a champ. I'm having a hard time seeing a Cards win.

Week 1: Let's Kickoff the Season!

Neither of us have any idea why Ryan Tannehill is starting. (Getty)

We're back!  The Stubborn OXen had a big get together in New York City this weekend to watch USC outlast Syracuse in football.  We also had the chance to fire back up the blog.

We have drafted our teams for the season and will share them in the next few days, but in preparation for Sunday kickoff, let's take a look at this week's picks.

Austen (Eight-Point Pick) – @Houston over Miami

Austen: Has anyone watched Hard Knocks? The Fins are awful. Texans are my sleeper team in the AFC. All points to a Houston win.