Who said what now?

I don't even have to look back, I know that in an earlier post I talked about Gerrard as the backup to Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh. Yes. It's Leftwich. I know. Let's drop it.

I don't care how many commercials Peyton Manning is in, I want him advertising my shiz. He is hilarious. The latest Mastercard commercial where he's misinterpreting insults is genius. I don't care if it makes me a simple man, I love it. He will sell iceboxes to Eskimos when his playing days are over. Eli is not the advertising genius his brother is, but I don't care - he is winning football games, and Peyton is not. It's tough to say that the Giants are the team to beat, but they are. The problem with being the team to beat is that generally someones comes along and does so (see: last year's Patriots, the Greatest Show on Turf, and the 2000 Minnesota Vikings the year the Giants skunked them 40-0 in the NFC Championship game only to get abused by the Baltimore Ravens in what was not truly a Super Bowl, but was merely a Decent Thimble - obvious pun, bite me).

I called the Jets/Pats game all wrong, but some rather unfortunate incidents happened to the Patriots, see the miscued snap, the drop by Watson, and a couple uncalled penalties. But Cassel still threw for 400 yds, 3 touchdowns, and they lost. They could not run the ball and continually went into spreads that were Brady's bread and butter but that Cassel is still coming to grips with. He is decent, maybe even good, but Brett Favre Brett Favre Brett Favre really was the difference maker with one stat - 0, as in interceptions. I thought the Patriots abandoned a solid pass rush in overtime that had helped them subdue the Jets in the second half, but what do I know? Ty Law was useful when he had help deep, but he got exploited by Gaffney early in the second half. Kudos to both teams, but the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets deserve all the props.

Picks, and on time for a change!

Atlanta (-6.5) over Denver - Time change and a bad defense against a solid rushing attack and a developing stud quarterback at home. I don't need to dwell on this.

Miami (-10) over Oakland - Time change, a bad defense, and an offense missing a ton of pieces against a surprising Miami team. Also, Oakland is awful. So awful this game will probably get national coverage.

Giants (-7) over Baltimore - Ths is a tough one and quite possibly the biggest fan pick I have given. The only reason I really believe the Giants can cover this is because Joe Flacco has not been put under a ton of pressure this year. I don't know if that's a function of his O-line, or if it's the fact that they haven't been playing teams with great defenses (a little of both), but the Giant's pass rush has proved it can hang in and take on just about anyone. Flacco will make some mistakes under pressure, and the Giants know that's the game plan. The Giants are going to have to pound the Ravens early with the run (let's hear it for Brandon Jacobs) to clear up some time for Eli. He'll play a little pitch and catch downfield with Plax, and it's game over. However, not an easy win.

Houston (+8) over Indianpolis - Looking for Houston to cover, not to win. Indy is perhaps the biggest question mark in the NFL, looking both solid and porous all at the same time. I think they can handle Houston, especially at home, and that the 8 points are for the fans (see my above prediction). Houston is more than capable of covering, and should, considering they inexplicably blew a game to Indy earlier this year (anyone remember that Sage Rosenfels?)...

Tennessee (-3) over Jacksonville - Everything in me is screaming to take Jacksonville and the points, because if there's a team coming up that's going to beat Tennessee, the Jaguars might be it. But I'm alrso reminded of how horrible the Jags have played of late and how beating Detroit is barely even a moral victory, more just one on paper.

Chicago (+3.5) over Green Bay - It's tough picking against Green Bay at home as the season changes, but the Bears are no stranger to the cold, and evertime I've picked Green Bay because of Lambeau they've let me down. I'm taking the Bears to cover and win.

Philadelphia (-9) over Cincinatti - This team has to stop sucking at some point, but it won't against the Eagles, who are coming off a tough loss against the Giants and are licking their chops in need of a win. They are staring down the Bungles and everything that is wrong with the team.

New Orleans (-5.5) over Kansas City - FINALLY, Kansas City is no longer being given ridiculous spreads. They stopped making Vegas money, so the lines, that KC has been covering, are now back down to earth. New Orleans is another team that should be doing vastly better than it's record. A team like Kansas City is just the type of team that this potential offensive juggernaut needs to get the ship righted again.

Detroit (+14) over Carolina - This pick makes no sense to me, except Detroit has played spoiler against some huuuuge spreads. It's the only thing that's even leading me to pick them against Carolina, who is currently tied with Tampa for "Team I hate picking games for." Honestly, I think if you look at my Tampa/Carolina games, they are all a wash. Come to think of it, a lot of the NFC South is like that...hmmm.

San Francisco (-6.5) over St. Louis - ONLY if Steven Jackson isn't starting. I won't have time to check on this, but I am declaring this pick null and void (or at least reversed) if Jackson plays. A team with absolutely no running game is not much of a threat in the air (unless you are New England and you have three awesome wide outs and a solid tight end). St. Louis has an aging Torry Holt and Donnie Avery, who has been benched this week after letting me down for two straight weeks. Meaning he's good for 2 and at least a 100 yards.

Tampa Bay (-4) over Minnesota - Yes, picking Minnesota to lose, not Tampa to win, because we know that happens when I do that. I was going to play Antonio Bryant over Avery because he has been solid in recent weeks, but I went with Welker instead, who is a great 3 man in Fantasy because he's good for about 4 a week in yardage. He was a Stud last year, and is still a keeper. My team is going to be so stacked next year with Brady Quinn, Tim Hightower, Wes Welker, Donnie Avery, and Antonio Bryant, but this year we're playing for the draft pick...my keepers this year were: Julius Jones (injured and underachieving), Anquan Boldin (STUUUD, with a couple injuries), Joey Galloway (injured), Wes Welker (diminished returns due to Brady's absence), Todd Heap (let's not talk about that...), and the Giant's D (solid). Next year will be better...

Arizona (-3) over Seattle - Only three? I was about to go on about how this seems pretty far fetched, until I looked it up and saw that Seattle lost by 2 to Miami (beating the spread) and that Arizona beat the 9ers by 5 last week (missing the spread). Arizona is better than Miami and Seattle is worse than San Francisco, so I think this is a little odd, but what the hell. I'll take the easy points.

Pittsburgh (-5) over San Diego - San Diego is will not be back in the winners circle unless they get a ridiculous spread. The situation applies even against a banged up Pittsburgh team. San Diego has been such a dog, and they are about as banged up as the Steelers, but are ultimately a worse team. Not a tough pick for me.

Washington (+1.5) over Dallas - Tony Romo is coming off a broken widdle fingew, is going TO Washington, and the 'Skins are still the underdog? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. This is a game that Dallas can win and actually needs to win if they have any hope of remaining in contention for a playoff spot. And as much as Dallas needs it, I don't think they're pulling it out. They are the Yankees of the NFL in 2008...though the Chargers also share that sentiment. Dallas has just had a lot of problems, and they aren't in a place to recover right now. Boohoo Cowgirls. See you next year.

Cleveland (+5) over Buffalo - Call me crazy (you're crazy!), but I like Brady Quinn against the struggling Buffalo Bills. A completely winnable game for the Bills, but so was Thursday for the Pats. The Bills could gain some ground in the AFC East with this win, but I think they're slide is a little too steep to be stopped at this point. It was a good run boys, but fix your QB woes and we'll see you next year.

So far this week: 0-1-0.

-Jobimoto out.
"Rub some dirt on it."