Joe Biden is going to attack Paul Ryan tonight; I can’t wait, so the Steelers/Titans game is going to have to wait—I wouldn’t go anywhere near that game anyway.
But there are thirteen other games from which to pick, so we won’t spend too much quality time within the political arena.
Last week was a bright spot in a normally dismal year of prognostication, for I went 9-5 overall and 3-2 in this column. But my record is still fairly poor—31-44-2 total and 9-16 in what I’ve given here—so I can’t really claim to be doing much good other than the fact I’m heading in the right direction…finally
Oakland @ Atlanta (-9). The two teams that came fresh off a bye week went 2-0 last week (the Steelers and the Colts), yet only one of them covered (the Colts). Why are these numbers important? Because those teams from Week 5 played at home. The Oakland Raiders, however, have the unenviable task of going into the Georgia Dome against the first 5-0 Falcons team in the history of earth after their little week off. The funny thing is that of the other three teams that sat out Week 5, two of them are going on the road as well. I don’t like any of those teams either (numbers notwithstanding), and ‘tis for the same reason: Going from time off into a lion’s den never works out well. If you don’t believe me watch this contest—and be sure to take the over, for it’ll be wild.
New England (-3 ½) @ Seattle. This will be fun: The Patriots in the state of Washington against a guy that used to coach this exact team. For the ‘Hawks, they should prepare for something much worse than their climate of 300-days-of-rain per year, and something from which the twelfth man cannot protect them; New England just got their groove back. Thirty five points in the latter half of the Bills game two weeks prior along with a ten point win over a hall-of-fame quarterback leading a playoff caliber team with an improved defense has given the Pats a bounce in their step. Lay the points and hopefully it doesn’t rain too much, so the northeastern team can be the only storm we see in Seattle.
New York Giants @ San Francisco (-6 ½). Success from the city by the bay might be getting a little crazy, yet one can benefit from such hysteria at times. Games like these can prove a lot of things, too. These teams don’t like each other; they shouldn’t like each other; they’ll be fighting all game; and fans of the NFL must soak this game up like a sponge. The G-Men aren’t a good cover team, and the Niners are, so drop a touchdown plus a hook, and buy yourself—or your ladyfriend—something nice.
Green Bay (+3 ½) @ Houston. I know I went off on how good the Houston Texans are last week, and this looks like a pick against them for spite, but stay with me. The Packers need this game badly. They’re in a division that’s getting incredibly crowded. (Wouldn’t you just hate to be Detroit this year?—so good yet at the bottom.) Cheesehead Nation has a right to be worried, for they’ve got things about which to be bashful, but for one week they’ll throw on their funny looking headgear and watch their Green Bay Packers wonder down to Houston and put a beating on a Stupor Bowl contender.
Denver (+1) @ San Diego. Another prime-time contest for the Chargers, this time at home on Monday night, yet they’ll have the same results. The Broncos got tons of problems, but the Lightning Bolts got many more; most of them come from their head coach and his higher-ups, so watch them spill over onto the field (this time on ESPN instead of NBC), and for the sake of those reading this, I hope I get this MNF game right.
See you next week, and if you can’t be good be careful.
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