Thursday Night Football picks

It's Wednesday night/Thursday morning, which can only mean one thing....... Thursday Night Football picks!!! Packers @ Detroit : Well, what can you say? Detroit has, without doubt, the worst pass defense I've seen in a long time. The Packers meanwhile have probably one of the best overall receiving corps in the league. And to cap it all, they're just finding their running game again. Last time these two teams met the Lions were missing QB Matthew Stafford, and by a cruel twist of fate they may be without him again for this game. I'm sorry Lions fans, I can't see how your team is gonna compete in this one. Packers win. Raiders @ Cowboys : Hmmm, not as bad a match up as you might think. Yes the Raiders suck, but so do the Cowboys at the moment. Expect the men in Silver and Black to put shutdown corner Nnamdi Asomugha on Cowboys receiver Miles Austin, and then get pressure on Tony Romo with trade scoop Richard Seymour. To counter, the Cowboys do have the kind of rushing attack that could rip Oakland apart, but they just don't have the balls to say no to Tony Romo so expect that great triple team to be under utilized once again. I think, as scary as this might be, that the Raiders might actually win this game. Raiders win (did I just say that?). Giants @ Broncos : Everyone is jumping on the New York bandwagon. And I'm not really sure why. They're not all that special of late. Last week they barely scraped a win against what's been a pretty average Falcons team this season. The only down point everyone is moaning about is the lack of production from their run game. Now I'm sorry, but it's obvious that it's not for a want of trying. The trouble is that the Giants don't run the ball anywhere near as often as they pass. You can't post gaudy numbers if you don't get the ball. Just ask Frank Gore or Terrell Owens. Why isn't the Panthers rushing attack leading the league? Is it because DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart have gone cold? No, it's because the Panthers just love Jake Delhomme (I hate them Panthers). And that's the issue I have with the Giants in this game. They don't/won't run the ball enough. Instead they put it all on Eli and expect him to roll out a repeat of his Superbowl performance. And it's not gonna happen. Especially against two of the best defenders out there; Broncos Safety Brian Dawkins and Cornerback Champ Bailey. And what's more, people have been hitting the Broncos offense hard for not taking deep shots. But they did against the Redskins. And I think they will against this banged up Giants secondary. It's a bit of a hail mary still, but I'm taking the Broncos. Broncos win. And there is even a little bit of time left for me to shell out some extra, extra credit: Matthew Stafford (Lions) -- I know he already got some yesterday, but that's why it's called extra, extra credit. And I've now had the full chance to check out those last two plays from Sunday. The NFL Network did a great job putting up a video on NFL.com of Stafford wired for sound. What you realise listening to the things he said is that the guy is tough. Physically, but most importantly, mentally. He has the physical attributes, we know that. He will get better at reading coverage and making plays as time goes on. But that toughness he showed will endear him to his team more than any TD pass. It's the kind of thing that separates the men from the boys, and the Matthew Stafford's from the JaMarcus Russell's.