Week 5 NFL Picks

Once again, work has totally gotten in the way of my blogging so I haven't gotten out my Red Sox-Angels preview but I already had picked the Sox in four anyway. Yeah, I know, the Angels smoked the Red Sox the entire year and finished with the best record in all of baseball. . . and they also played in the weakest division. So they'll be making another first round playoff exit at the hands of the Red Sox. The duck boat owners probably want to start thinking about gasing up the old duck boats for another parade soon.

Anyway, I thought I'd also post my picks for this weekend with a short-depth analysis of the Patriots-49ers game on Sunday. Does it seem like a year ago that the Patriots played? Here are my picks for this week. As always, winning team is in CAPS.

Sunday, October 5
Kansas City at CAROLINA
Don't be fooled by KC's win last week. They have no shot at winning in Carolina.

Chicago at DETROIT
The Lions will rally after the firing of Matt Millen and win one for the Ford's. Or they'll more than likely get crushed but, what the heck, I'm picking them anyway.

ATLANTA at Green Bay
Aaron Rodgers' shoulder has me concerned, as do two straight loses by the Packers.

SAN DIEGO at Miami
Don't be fooled by Miami's win in New England two weeks ago, either. The Dolphins still suck, at home or on the road.

SEATTLE at NY Giants
I may have picked a bad year to pick any team that the Giants are playing to win but I'm sticking with it for at least one more week (or year).

WASHINGTON at Philadelphia
You know it's October football when Philadelphia looks old and injured.

TENNESSEE at Baltimore
I guess I'm going with Tennessee until they're beaten.

Indianapolis at HOUSTON
I think that Houston is better than they're playing and I actually think that Indianapolis is worse than they're playing.

TAMPA BAY at Denver
That was a demoralizing loss at KC last week by the Broncos.

Buffalo at ARIZONA
I just don't know if Buffalo has the defense to stop Kurt Warner and the Cardinals consistently thoughout this game. And I don't know if their offense can put up 40 to beat the Cardinals.

NEW ENGLAND at San Francisco
There's only two things you need to know about this game. The first is that the Patriots are 8-0 since 2003 after they lose by more than 10 points. Second, they've won their last five games following a regular season bye week. Third, they haven't lost back-to-back games since November 2006, covering nearly two years. Fourth, they've won ten straight games in October dating back to 2005.

I guess that's four things you need to know, plus this little nugget: If the Patriots were going to switch quarterbacks this year, this would have been the time to do it. That tells me that the Patriots are comfortable with Matt Cassel as their quarterback for the forseeable future. And if it's good enough for Belicheat, than it's good enough for me.

While I'm at it, this might (not) be a good time to mention that the Patriots have scored the third fewest points in the NFL so far this year, with 49. Only Seattle and Cleveland have scored fewer. That's not good company to be in.

I'm still picking the Patriots 31-17 and I have no clue how the Patriots can possibly score less than 31 in this game with the return of Tom Brady.

Cincinnati at DALLAS
I'm picking Tony Romo and the Cowgirls here and I'd even pick them if Jessica Simpson were playing quarterback. That's how bad the Bengals are.

Pittsburgh at JACKSONVILLE
The Steelers were lucky to beat the Ravens on Monday Night Football but that luck runs out this Sunday when they face another physical opponent. How long will Big Ben's shoulder last?

Monday, October 6
MINNESOTA at New Orleans
Sure, New Orleans scores a lot of points. But they also give up a lot and that's generally not a good thing when you're playing against Adrian Peterson.