Weekly NFL Related Humiliation (Week Three)

This week is vexing. Two weeks in, and some teams aren't doing as well as you'd expect, others are looking surprisingly good. Makes picking winners and losers difficult.

San Diego at Green Bay (San Diego -5)
San Diego (1-1) looked awful on Sunday night against New England. They didn't play particularly well against Chicago, but managed to win, anyway in Week 1. Green Bay (2-0) hasn't lost yet, but they haven't been all that impressive. I know Norv Turner is crap, and the San Diego offense has looked crappy, but I just don't see them continuing to be as bad as they've been considering the players they have. It's just not possible for them to play that badly another week, is it? Giving up 5 points is a lot, for a struggling team on the road heading into Lambeau Field, but I'll chalk up picking the Chargers over the Packers to AFC superiority, and assume that the Chargers will finally play up to their talent level this week.

San Francisco at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh -9)
San Francisco (2-0) are another surprisingly undefeated team, while because of last year's crappy season, Pittsburgh (2-0) seem like a mild surprise with their solid start. Pittsburgh at home would seem a lock, but are they better than a touchdown better than the Niners? Short answer yes (there is no need for a longer answer).

New York Giants at Washington (Washington -3.5)
New York (0-2) have the look of a team that's trying to get their coach fired. Giving up 80 points in two weeks is pathetic. They've been hit by injuries, but that alone doesn't explain their lack of defense. Washington (2-0) are another team that you wouldn't expect to be undefeated, but here they are, 2-0 ready to get to 3-0. They don't look all that great, and they are coming off of a short week, but they should do fine against a Giants team that's in disarray. Jason Campbell should build in confidence, and he'll make some nice passes over the top of the Giants secondary. The 'Skins ought to be able to win by a couple of TDs in this one.

Dallas at Chicago (Chicago -3.0)
Dallas (2-0) has been rolling up some big point totals each week. Chicago (1-1) has been offensive (as in foul) on offense. Their defense is still solid, and Dallas' defense is a bit suspect, so this will be a battle of strength v strength and weakness v weakness. Chicago's defense will overpower Dallas' offense, and Chicago's offense will not make enough mistakes to lose this game. Chicago will win this, and win convincingly. Terrell Owens won't get to come up with any fine-inducing TD celebrations this week.

Tennessee at New Orleans (New Orleans -4.0)
Tennessee (1-1) split two close games this season, while New Orleans (0-2) has been blown out twice. But the Saints are still favored in their home opener, and I still like their chances to beat the Titans. The Saints have been underperforming on both sides of the ball. I don't expect that to continue at the Superdome. They've got too many weapons on offense to continue to stink as much as they have. They should be able to score plenty of points on the Titans, and in doing so, take away Vince Young's ability to effect the game with his legs. Vince Young isn't accurate enough with his arm (yet), to win just by passing, and the Saints defense will be able to run a QB contain and run-stopping scheme to take away the Titans' biggest strengths on offense. But if the Saints fail in this one, their season is already over, they aren't capable of working their way out of a 0-3 hole, even in a weak division.

Now to head over to Page 2 and see how my nemesis Bill Simmons picked these games . . .

I don't know if this is good or bad, but our picks are the same, except for the Dallas v Chicago game.