NFL: Week 5
It's been a tough week for my favorite sports team and much like the Bengals and Reds I'm trying to recover from their pitiful performances. The Bengals lose to the Browns and then the Reds get no-hit by Roy Halladay in their first playoff game in 15 years. I guess the bright side is I will never forget the first Reds playoff game I ever saw. Hard to forget seeing your team get no-hit in the postseason.
Anyway back to football, the Bengals try and bounce back from a loss to the Browns against 2-1 Tampa Bay. Before I get into the Bengals game, my picks for the rest of the NFL. I went 9-5 last week, bring my overall record to 38-24, which is respectable, but I can do better.
Week 5
Jacksonville over Buffalo: The Jags got lucky with a 59 yard field goal to beat the Colts last week and Buffalo got shellacked by the Jets. Both teams aren't very good an probably will have Top 10 picks in the draft. Jacksonville has Maurice Jones-Drew and he will be the difference.
Atlanta over Cleveland: The Browns are better than their record appears, but the Bengals played like crap last week, leading to Cleveland's first win. RB Peyton Hillis is a very underrated back, but he is just about it for the Browns on offense. Atlanta has too many talented players and will win on the road.
Detroit over St. Louis: The entire NFC West is a combined 1-8 on the road so far this season and that does not bode well for the Rams. Detroit has played well, despite a 0-4 record. Lions RB Jahvid Best is in for a big game and I like the Lions to get their first win of the season.
Indianapolis over Kansas City: The two teams playing in this game have records of 3-0 and 2-2. Most would think that the Colts have the 3-0 record. Nope, the Chiefs are the NFL's last undefeated team and the Colts are 2-2. I think the Chiefs lose their first game of the season this weekend in Indy. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I really like Peyton Manning. He is too good and the Colts are too talented to go to 2-3.
Green Bay over Washington: Donovon McNabb won in his return to Philly, thanks in large part to Eagles QB Michael Vick getting hurt. Green Bay lost linebacker Nick Barnett to a season ending wrist injury and as the Packers injuries start to pile up, it's a cause for concern. The Packers are the better team though and they win a close one in the nation's capital.
Chicago over Carolina: The Bears will be without QB Jay Cutler who had the snot kicked out of him last Sunday night against the Giants. Cutler was sacked 10 times and suffered a concussion in the process. The Bears will turn to backup QB Todd Collins in Carolina. The Panthers were able to stick with the Saints for the most part last week, but they are still a young team with a lot of inexperience. The Bears win without Cutler behind their defense.
Baltimore over Denver: The Ravens needed a touchdown pass from QB Joe Flacco to WR T.J. Houshmanzadeh late in the 4th quarter to knock off the undefeated Steelers last week and improved to 3-1. Denver was able to hold off Tennessee and held RB Chris Johnson in check for most of the game. Baltimore's defense usually wins the game for the Ravens and even though Bronco QB Kyle Orton has carried Denver with his arm, the Ravens win.
Houston over NY Giants: The Giant defense was outstanding last week, but the real question is can they do it two weeks in a row? Houston has a better offense than the Bears and it will interesting to see what Giant defense shows up. Even though Texan WR Andre Johnson did not play last week, due to injury, he should be back Sunday. I see the Texans scoring a lot of points and putting up a lot of yards in a win.
New Orleans over Arizona: The Cardinals are going to start undrafted rookie Max Hall and the Saints will be starting Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees at quarterback. Advantage Saints. Even with Drew Brees not 100% the Saints should win easily.
San Diego over Oakland: The Black Hole is never an easy place to play, but the Chargers have been playing better and are coming off a 31 point victory over Arizona. Raiders will keep it close, but not long enough. The Bolts win.
Dallas over Tennessee: Dallas has had two weeks to prepare for the Titans and they will be ready to play. Dallas is a very good football team and they are trying to save their season after a 1-2 start. Chris Johnson might have a big day, but Dallas is going to bring a lot of pressure on Vince Young. Cowboys win, but this game might come down to the final two minutes.
San Francisco over Philadelphia: If QB Michael Vick was playing in this game the Eagles would have a much better chance. Kevin Kolb has not looked very good this season and it's a long flight to San Francisco for the Eagles. The 49ers are desperate for a win and I think they finally get one at home.
Minnesota over NY Jets: The Vikings have a new weapon on offense in WR Randy Moss. That's right, Moss is back in a Vikings uniform after the New England Patriots decided to trade Moss and get what they could for him. I still don't understand why the Patriots would trade their most dangerous weapon, but Bill Belichick has been known to trade players in the last year of their contract. Brett Favre and Moss will finally get to play with each other and with or without CB Darrelle Revis the Jets will not be able to stop the Viking offense. Moss is the best deep threat receiver in the league and with him getting a lot of attention, look for Adrian Peterson to have an even bigger impact. Now that's a scary combination.
And...
Bengals over Tampa Bay: If the Bengals don't win on Sunday, they might as well pack it in and call it a season. Falling to 2-3 is just to hard to over come and the Bengals schedule only gets tougher as the season goes on. It's only Week 5 and this is a must win game for the Bengals, Carson even said so himself. The Bengals have to win or expect for everyone to be calling for Marvin's job and the Mike Brown sucks t-shirts to resurface.
The keys for the Bengals will be how the offensive and defensive lines play. Cedric Benson has to be able to run the ball and Carson needs to throw the ball the same way he did last week. The only way those guys have success is if the line blocks for them and controls the line of scrimmage. On the defensive side of the ball, Tampa Bay will be handing the ball off to RB Cadillac Williams and the defensive line must also control the line of scrimmage and force Tampa to throw the ball. Controlling the line of scrimmage and stopping the run will win the game for the Bengals. Let's hope they cut down on the penalties too, those have been a killer so far this season, especially in the red zone. Bengals will go into the bye at 3-2 and stay alive for the playoffs.
Anyway back to football, the Bengals try and bounce back from a loss to the Browns against 2-1 Tampa Bay. Before I get into the Bengals game, my picks for the rest of the NFL. I went 9-5 last week, bring my overall record to 38-24, which is respectable, but I can do better.
Week 5
Jacksonville over Buffalo: The Jags got lucky with a 59 yard field goal to beat the Colts last week and Buffalo got shellacked by the Jets. Both teams aren't very good an probably will have Top 10 picks in the draft. Jacksonville has Maurice Jones-Drew and he will be the difference.
Atlanta over Cleveland: The Browns are better than their record appears, but the Bengals played like crap last week, leading to Cleveland's first win. RB Peyton Hillis is a very underrated back, but he is just about it for the Browns on offense. Atlanta has too many talented players and will win on the road.
Detroit over St. Louis: The entire NFC West is a combined 1-8 on the road so far this season and that does not bode well for the Rams. Detroit has played well, despite a 0-4 record. Lions RB Jahvid Best is in for a big game and I like the Lions to get their first win of the season.
Indianapolis over Kansas City: The two teams playing in this game have records of 3-0 and 2-2. Most would think that the Colts have the 3-0 record. Nope, the Chiefs are the NFL's last undefeated team and the Colts are 2-2. I think the Chiefs lose their first game of the season this weekend in Indy. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I really like Peyton Manning. He is too good and the Colts are too talented to go to 2-3.
Green Bay over Washington: Donovon McNabb won in his return to Philly, thanks in large part to Eagles QB Michael Vick getting hurt. Green Bay lost linebacker Nick Barnett to a season ending wrist injury and as the Packers injuries start to pile up, it's a cause for concern. The Packers are the better team though and they win a close one in the nation's capital.
Chicago over Carolina: The Bears will be without QB Jay Cutler who had the snot kicked out of him last Sunday night against the Giants. Cutler was sacked 10 times and suffered a concussion in the process. The Bears will turn to backup QB Todd Collins in Carolina. The Panthers were able to stick with the Saints for the most part last week, but they are still a young team with a lot of inexperience. The Bears win without Cutler behind their defense.
Baltimore over Denver: The Ravens needed a touchdown pass from QB Joe Flacco to WR T.J. Houshmanzadeh late in the 4th quarter to knock off the undefeated Steelers last week and improved to 3-1. Denver was able to hold off Tennessee and held RB Chris Johnson in check for most of the game. Baltimore's defense usually wins the game for the Ravens and even though Bronco QB Kyle Orton has carried Denver with his arm, the Ravens win.
Houston over NY Giants: The Giant defense was outstanding last week, but the real question is can they do it two weeks in a row? Houston has a better offense than the Bears and it will interesting to see what Giant defense shows up. Even though Texan WR Andre Johnson did not play last week, due to injury, he should be back Sunday. I see the Texans scoring a lot of points and putting up a lot of yards in a win.
New Orleans over Arizona: The Cardinals are going to start undrafted rookie Max Hall and the Saints will be starting Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees at quarterback. Advantage Saints. Even with Drew Brees not 100% the Saints should win easily.
San Diego over Oakland: The Black Hole is never an easy place to play, but the Chargers have been playing better and are coming off a 31 point victory over Arizona. Raiders will keep it close, but not long enough. The Bolts win.
Dallas over Tennessee: Dallas has had two weeks to prepare for the Titans and they will be ready to play. Dallas is a very good football team and they are trying to save their season after a 1-2 start. Chris Johnson might have a big day, but Dallas is going to bring a lot of pressure on Vince Young. Cowboys win, but this game might come down to the final two minutes.
San Francisco over Philadelphia: If QB Michael Vick was playing in this game the Eagles would have a much better chance. Kevin Kolb has not looked very good this season and it's a long flight to San Francisco for the Eagles. The 49ers are desperate for a win and I think they finally get one at home.
Minnesota over NY Jets: The Vikings have a new weapon on offense in WR Randy Moss. That's right, Moss is back in a Vikings uniform after the New England Patriots decided to trade Moss and get what they could for him. I still don't understand why the Patriots would trade their most dangerous weapon, but Bill Belichick has been known to trade players in the last year of their contract. Brett Favre and Moss will finally get to play with each other and with or without CB Darrelle Revis the Jets will not be able to stop the Viking offense. Moss is the best deep threat receiver in the league and with him getting a lot of attention, look for Adrian Peterson to have an even bigger impact. Now that's a scary combination.
And...
Bengals over Tampa Bay: If the Bengals don't win on Sunday, they might as well pack it in and call it a season. Falling to 2-3 is just to hard to over come and the Bengals schedule only gets tougher as the season goes on. It's only Week 5 and this is a must win game for the Bengals, Carson even said so himself. The Bengals have to win or expect for everyone to be calling for Marvin's job and the Mike Brown sucks t-shirts to resurface.
The keys for the Bengals will be how the offensive and defensive lines play. Cedric Benson has to be able to run the ball and Carson needs to throw the ball the same way he did last week. The only way those guys have success is if the line blocks for them and controls the line of scrimmage. On the defensive side of the ball, Tampa Bay will be handing the ball off to RB Cadillac Williams and the defensive line must also control the line of scrimmage and force Tampa to throw the ball. Controlling the line of scrimmage and stopping the run will win the game for the Bengals. Let's hope they cut down on the penalties too, those have been a killer so far this season, especially in the red zone. Bengals will go into the bye at 3-2 and stay alive for the playoffs.
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