Saturday, October 6

Week 5 Pick'em

Arizona over St. Louis (6). The Rams have no Steven Jackson, no Marc Bulger, and no Orlando Pace. The Cardinals have a quarterback controversy with Matt Leinart picking up groceries on the side. I'll take the controversy here, especially if Warner keeps playing like he has so far.

Baltimore over San Francisco (5). Neither team is doing much on offense this year, each with a balky quarterback due to injury, but the Ravens defense is as stiff as ever. First team to 10 points wins.

Jacksonville over Kansas City (4). Jacksonville is just as unpredictable this year as they were last year, but I think the Chiefs' upset last week over the Chargers was more a product of San Diego's inefficiencies this year than Kansas City's prowess. Expect this one to be close, as Kansas City is putting the opposition's passing games on lockdown while being weak against the rush. This doesn't play well to the Jaguars' preferred method of scoring so far this season, as David Garrard has been solid and Maurice Jones-Drew has yet to get on track. Good thing the Chiefs won't find the endzone all day.

New York Giants over New York Jets (3). Two teams that really haven't shown me anything yet this year, but I'm willing to ride the strength of the Giants' victory over Philadelphia in this one.

Carolina over New Orleans (2). Another two teams that have yet to show me anything this season. Both secondaries are among the worst in the NFL, so look for Drew Brees to get back on track and David Carr to show the Panthers faithful why management brought him in this season to back up Delhomme. Plus, it's an away game against a division foe for the Panthers, so it should be that much easier to pull this one out.

Denver over San Diego (1). This one will be a close one, but it will end up being the Broncos offense vs. Tomlinson, as Denver's passing defense is among the best in the NFL. Tomlinson will break out for his best week so far this season, but it won't be enough.

Upset Special: Tampa Bay over Indianapolis (-10.0) Tampa Bay is a lot better than everyone (including Las Vegas, apparently) is giving them credit for, and Manning notoriously struggles against the Tampa-2 defense. Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham will step up admirably in Cadiallac Williams' absence and carry the day against the Colts.

1 comment:

ryan said...

WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, someone hasn't been reading his PFP 2006!! (or should I say my PFP 2006, John, its downstairs in my room, on the bookshelf) Peyton LOVES the Tampa-2 defense, he reads zones so well and has smart recievers who can find holes in zones so well, that he can just dink and dunk zone defenses. He may not have huge average per completion ratings, since so much of the defense is focused on removing the threat downfield, but his percentage is way up (if I had my copy of PFP 2006 I'd quote you the exact numbers).