i haven’t been the best at actually commenting on the football season the last couple weeks, so now, at the season’s halfway mark, i’ll play a little catch-up and see how things are shaping up… we’ll start with week six… notably, i accurately predicted that the Bills wouldn’t lose during their bye week… phew… beyond that, i went 9-4, bringing my season’s totals to 49-38… looking good…

week seven: the Bills were back in play and i need to get this off my chest… they were robbed of an impressive victory over the Ravens… seriously, the interception in the end zone at the end of the half gets disallowed, changing the momentum of the game going into the second half… and then, hello? forward progress was stopped in overtime… ugh… anyway, as for picks, i was appropriately 7-7 for week 7… lots of weird outcomes, which would be upsets in a normal season, but are simply the way the ball wobbles this season… and, speaking of the season, week seven brought me to 56-45 for the year…

week eight: more craziness than you could ever hope for… yeah, so last week was full of craziness and headlines and more strange outcomes… i mean, i actually picked the Bills to beat the Chiefs… and they almost did… that may actually be the theme that recurs for the rest of the season actually… and then there’s the Randy Moss nonsense… and the McNabb benching… and the rise of the Bucs, Lions, Raiders, Browns, and Rams… and the fall of the Cowboys, Vikings, and pretty much the entire NFC… in the midst of all that turmoil, i managed a safe 8-5 week, bringing my totals up to 64-50…

and that brings us to week nine… the season’s fulcrum… the week when everything changes or stays the same… and my picks are as follows…
- Lions over Jets… yep, first pick and it’s an upset… the truth is the Jet’s defense is struggling, the Lion’s offense is thriving and vice versa… it may very well be a close game that’s decided by the kickers, but i’m gonna say the Lions get the home field advantage and pull it out by 6…
- Dolphins over Ravens normally, i would pick the Ravens here, but the Dolphins are looking good this year, especially on the road… and the Ravens still aren’t quite consistent enough to maintain the level of confidence they should given their personnel… another close game, but the fins outlast the Ravens and win by about a field goal…
- Patriots over Browns… this is a surprisingly tough game to call… the Patriots defense probably won’t be able to contain the Brown’s run game, but they’ll certainly overpower the passing game… on the flipside, the Browns should struggle against both aspects of the Patriot offense as BenJarvus Green-Ellis continues to emerge and Brady continues to exploit the secondary with his death by a thousand cuts short game… Patriots by 11…
- Chargers over Texans… November is the month that traditionally sees San Diego thrive and Houston fold… this matchup will be the proof in the pudding… Chargers by 17…
- Bills over Bears… i literally hate picking the Bills to win this year, but the Bears are just awful… the Bills defense should quickly set the tone for the game and their Fitz-powered offense is more than sufficient to overpower the Bears aging defense… Bills by 1
- Vikings over Cards… this is a horrible game to have to call… both teams are dysfunctional and struggling, but i think the Cards have the worst of it… Vikes by 7…
- Falcons over Bucs… solely based on home field advantage… Freeman will certainly make this close if the Bucs are still within striking distance at the end, but i get the sense that the Falcons will run away early and keep the pressure on the entire game… Falcons by 10…
- Saints over Panthers… if not, then the world might spin backwards on its axis… Saints by 20…
- Giants over Seahawks… Seattle has the best home field advantage of any team in the league… unfortunately for them, the Giants are just ramping up and they’ll storm the gates today… Giants by 9…
- Colts over Eagles… this is another tough one, because the Colts are still licking wounds and the Eagles will be welcoming Vick back to his starting role… however, the Colts are ready to roll through the rest of the season and a certain number 18 won’t let them stop now… Colts by 5…
- Raiders over Chiefs… who would’ve thought that this game would’ve had meaning this year… no one expected either team to make much of an impact, but both are fighting for first place right now, but the hosting Raiders are streaking right now and the Chiefs just aren’t ready for them at the moment… Raiders by 13…
- Packers over Cowboys… the Cowboys stink… end of discussion… Packers by 7…
- Steelers over Bengals… the Bengals are overrated and can’t take the toughness of the Steelers… Steelers by 14…

peace… love… bdg…