Weekly NFL Related Humiliation (Week NINE)

Now it gets interesting. The season is nearly mid-way done, and there are two teams clearly better than all the others, a few other solid contenders, a bunch of teams in the middle, and a few stinkers. That's how it usually is, but the two elite teams don't normally face each other while both are still undefeated in week nine. I'll stick to the televised games this week, most of them look pretty watchable, anyway. And congratulations to My Nemesis Bill Simmons™, not only did his Red Sox win their 2nd World Series in the past 4 years, but he's a new daddy, that's a good week (plus the new look Celtics looked pretty impressive). There's no post for his week 9 picks, just a quick listing of them on the front page of his blog with this note as to why he's not posting:

FYI: I'm off until next Friday, when I'll return with the Week 10 picks column. In fact, I'm not supposed to be typing anything right now because Manny Beckett Brady Pierce Garnett Ellsbury Simmons arrived this week (he's healthy and happy, thanks for asking) and the Sports Gal explicitly warned me, "You're taking a few days off to help me. It's not negotiable, and if you write anything about the Pats-Colts game this week, I'm going to do what Bridget did to Brady and ban you from the hospital."

Enough about him though, here are my picks, I have no excuses for not posting about making picks like my Nemesis (other than wanting to get back to playing Guitar Hero III)

San Diego at Minnesota (San Diego -7.0) BS Picks San Diego
I'd give two TDs in this one. I doubt the Vikings will keep it close. Still don't know if San Diego is for real, more will be known if their current win streak means anything when they get to go up against Indianapolis next week. LT and Rivers seem to be rolling again, and their defense has played well, too.

Green Bay at Kansas City (Green Bay +2.0) BS Picks Kansas City
Kansas City has been winning lately, but so has Green Bay. You have a passing team that can't run, versus a running team that can't pass. Also, both teams have solid young defenses that throw a lot of good schemes at their opponent. I expect Green Bay to be better at making the in game adjustments, and at some point Huard will have to throw the ball, which doesn't bode well for the Chiefs.

New England at Indianapolis (New England -5.5) BS Picks New England
The Colts are undefeated, and the defending Superbowl champions, yet they are 5.5 point underdogs at home. Probably won't be that close. The Pats are scary. The Pats have a chip on their collective shoulder. The Pats will paste the home team and avenge their late game collapse in the AFC Championship game in January. Expect a rematch in New England this upcoming January. The '72 Dolphins will be rooting hard for Indy, this is the best shot anyone is going to have at preventing them from going 19-0 all season (barring injuries, of course).

Dallas at Philadelphia (Philadelphia +3.0) BS Picks Dallas
I'm probably going to regret this, but I just can't pick nothing but the betting favorites. With Westbrook back, the Eagles are a different team. Also with the turmoil in their coaches life at the moment, either the team will rally, or get really distracted. I'm guessing they'll go the inspired route, but I wouldn't be surprised if they get trounced, also. Dallas have been a touch shaky the past 3 games, but they only lost one of those games. Also, T.O. will want to play well in Philadelphia, if only to say a big "screw you" to the fans that will be booing and heckling him like crazy during the game.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh (Baltimore +9.0) BS Picks Baltimore
Turns out despite being 4-3 the Ravens are a really bad 1-6 against the spread. That's an impressively bad record against the spread, they've been beaten by a few bad teams, and struggled against others struggling to close victories. Pittsburgh has been up and down the past 4 games alternating wins and losses. Even if Baltimore loses, I think they'll keep it close, even though they barely have an offense this year. Probably a Monday Night game worth skipping.

The Pats-Colts game is getting the full hype treatment, deservedly so, but seeing how the other teams begin either solidifying their playoff chances, or sliding into a better draft pick should be interesting, too.