Saturday, September 8

Ryan's Pick 'Em Week 1

Here are my week one picks, the point values are obvious and the home team is signified with an "@", and yes, I picked 4 road teams to win.

6) Philly over @Green Bay - The Packers will have a good team this year, but the Eagles really are the class of the NFC, as the more complete team they should win this one handily
5) Denver over @Buffalo - The Broncos have had some poor opening days on the road in recent memory, they have lost their last 3 road openers, yes, even in 2005 when they went 13-3. This contest shouldn't prove difficult as the Bills are overmatched on both sides of the ball.
4) @Houston over Kansas City - The Texans are entering a new era just as the Chiefs are leaving one. The Chiefs defensive woes will be exploited by Houtson's new backfield combo of Schaub/Green, and Damon Huard will be, well, Damon Huard.
3) @Minnesota over Atlanta - This is one that I'm actually worried about. Just like Katrina it is difficult to predict, or measure for that matter, the impact of something like the Vick trial and suspension. The Falcons could all miraculously step up and play out of their heads, Harrington could click when finally given a decent run game and defense, or they could fall apart as expected without their "playmaker".
2) Baltimore over @Cincinnati - I think this is the easy pick to make, Baltimore is a good team that made a major upgrade at RB to counter their aging O-Line, the Bengals are good, but I'll take the balanced Ravens over the offense-heavy Bengals.
1) Carolina over @St. Louis - Yeah, I'm not sure what to expect here. I think the popular opinion on the Panthers is that no one has any idea which team will show up or whether or not they'll play to their talent level, which is easily in the upper echelon of the NFC. If the Panthers play to said level, they should have no trouble with the Rams, as they can bottle up Steven Jackson and run (and pass) buck wild over a weak Rams defense, but will they?

"PAT" Game - Tampa Bay over @Seattle - Yes, I know its the largest line on the board, but this matchup pits the most oveerrated team against a pretty underrated Bucs team, so I'll give this one a ride.

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