WEek 4

I did okay this week.

End of the first quarter, of the season

Extremely frustrating is the best way I can explain the play of Miami over the past two weeks. They had an extremely inconsistent Jets team beaten, yet they miss a make-able field goal and end up losing. Their defense had a minor meltdown (not as epic as the meltdown of the Bills defense to be sure) and they let Arizona tie the game. They force a punt in overtime but end up throwing an interception after reaching mid-field. Loss. I may have to start putting less faith in Miami and more in Minnesota.


This week was better to me than the last two, it’s tough to be on the wrong side of close games (Tampa/Washington, Miami/Arizona, Seattle/St. Louis, Minnesota/Detroit) but it means that I was not completely off on any game except Buffalo’s. Below I will have my picks for the last week listed, straight up in bold and against the spread italicized.


Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens -12.5

Baltimore is a very strong team, but tends to play poor after big wins. Cleveland has a promising defense and a young offense that is learning. Baltimore might struggle some, but will not lose to Cleveland.


Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons-7.5

Carolina is a team that hasn’t been able to yet reach their full potential and Atlanta looks like the class of the NFC thus far.


New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills+3.5

New England has had trouble with their offensive identity and Buffalo has too much talent to keep playing poorly.


Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions -6.5

Minnesota had an extremely impressive win over the 49ers recently and I figured that meant a letdown against a Detroit team that desperately needed a win over a mediocre opponent at home.


San Diego Chargers@ Kansas City Chiefs +0.5

Kansas City is having problems coming together as a team and San Diego has better play makers on both sides of the ball with a quarterback that can be trusted, at least more so than Matt Cassell.


Seattle Seahawks@ St. Louis Rams +2.5

Seattle has a solid defensive team and is playing a Rams team that looks to have troubles getting going on offense.


San Francisco 49ers @ New York Jets +3.5

San Francisco is a better team than they played against Minnesota last week and they needed to show that to the league by pounding the Jets, who I do not trust to play well in any game.


Tennessee Titans @ Houston Texans -12.5

Houston is probably the best team in the entire league and Tennessee has had epic problems on defense and offense so far this season.


Oakland Raiders @ Denver Broncos -6.5

Some people might have picked Oakland to cover the spread after they beat Pittsburgh the week prior. Well I don’t see the Steelers winning any more than 9 games this year and Denver should come out of the AFC West on top.


Miami Dolphins @ Arizona Cardinals -6.5

Still no faith in Arizona and I think Miami is due to win one of their close games soon. That being said I do not think they win this upcoming week.


Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars +1.5

That spread was an insult to the Bengals. Jacksonville is in contention with Tennessee, the Jets and Cleveland for worst team in the league right now.


New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers -7.5

The Saints need a win more than the Packers. The Packers have a better defense. Figured it would be close but Green Bay would go to .500.


Washington Redskins @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers-2.5

I thought that Tampa could take control of the game early at home using their rookie running backs and stout defense. Washington is progressing from last year but will drop a few they could win yet this season.


New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles -2.5

Since the beginning of the season I have had this game pegged as a win for Philadelphia. New York doesn’t have the same explosiveness on offense they experienced at the end of last year’s campaign. Philadelphia is still figuring themselves out on offense but have come together defensively.


Chicago Bears @ Dallas Cowboys -3.5

Chicago’s defense is very strong, with their pass rush being one of the best in the league at the moment. Dallas has a history of under-performing.


This week I fared slightly better than the last couple, with 10 straight up right giving me 35 for the season and placing me at the 79.3 percentile ranked 113,606 on ESPN while I got 9 spread picks right for a grand total thus far of 33 putting me at the 90.1 percentile and ranked 14,090. Looking at next week already and feel as if I can improve on those numbers, but we shall see.