Week 9 NFL picks

It's that time again, Friday night is pick night. Just to recap, I'm 18-8 now after two weeks of doing this. Let's see if we can't rustle up a clean sweep this week. Here's my picks for week 9 of the NFL: Redskins @ Falcons: A lot can happen in a bye week. You have a chance to sit down, reflect, rest and hopefully comeback stronger. It's just a shame that Washington is so bad. And to make things worse, they've lost TE Chris Cooley. All this spells bad news for a Redskins team travelling to the Georgia Dome to take on a Falcons team that will be relishing the chance to put some points on the board and find their groove again. Look for Tony Gonzalez to have a big game with Roddy White's questionable playing status this week. I'm going Falcons. Cardinals @ Bears: Both teams have been a bit topsy turvy this season. Honestly though, I think the Cardinals have been the better side. Last week Warner handed Carolina the game, but don't expect him to do the Bears any favours this week. And with Jay Cutler throwing plenty of picks himself, expect Cardinals cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and safety Adrian Wilson to have a happy day in Chicago. I'm backing the Cardinals. Ravens @ Bengals: Boy we've got a clash on our hands!! It's been a role reversal of sorts this year with the traditionally run heavy Ravens finding a pass game all of a sudden, and the pass happy Bengals looking to running back Cedric Benson to turn up the heat on teams. If there's one thing for certain, this Sundays game will produce a great matchup. Question is, who wins? This is a tight one. The Bengals have been last minute specialists this year (including beating the Ravens) and a recent slump by the Ravens was violently turned around last week against the previously unbeaten Denver Broncos. It's close, but I think the Ravens have the edge. When the teams last met, Benson broke the Ravens streak of consecutive games without giving up a 100 yard rusher. I can't imagine that sits well with them. I think they'll come out looking to stuff Benson and force Palmer to beat them through the air. And with Ed Reed lurking in that secondary, it's always playing with fire to throw the ball. I think the Bengals get burnt. Give me the Ravens in this one. Texans @ Colts: This match is probably closer now than it's ever been in recent years. Matt Schaub is up there with Peyton Manning as one of the top Quarterbacks in the league right now. Trouble is, he's just lost Tight End Owen Daniels to injury and his number 1 back has been ousted (we think) by Ryan Moats. That represents a weekend of change for the Texans, as they try to pick their way around this setback. Steve Slaton and Andre Johnson will have to take up some of the slack, but that's gonna be hard with Johnson drawing a LOT of double coverage this week. The only relief they have is knowing that Colts Safety 'Bob' Sanders is out for the season through injury. Manning and co have no such worries offensively. They've been taking teams apart all year and after a scare last week against the 49'ers, I think they'll come back strong. I'm taking the Colts in this one. Chiefs @ Jaguars: Crikey, it's gonna be a long day for Kansas fans. I'm sure they've heard every pun there is going about being swept off to Oz, so I'll refrain. They can only hope the Jaguars do as well. Maurice Jones-Drew made a statement last week, even as the Jaguars went down. That statement said "give me the ball, let me win games for you". This week I think Jack Del Rio will be listening. He already mentioned earlier in the week that he was dissatisfied with the play of his QB David Garrard, and felt that the team wasn't running the football enough. This week they have the Chiefs at their mercy. And with the Chiefs main running back Larry Johnson not a factor anymore, it puts all the pressure on the Chiefs passing game to come up big. And I just don't think it will. I'm taking the Jaguars. Dolphins @ Patriots: By all accounts, Joey Porter doesn't like Bill Belichick and the Patriots that much. Well, he's gonna hate them after this week 9 loss. I like the Dolphins, they have some spirit and they've been brave to break the mould and go with the 'Wildcat'. But I don't think they can hang with the Patriots in this one. Moss and Welker will be catching balls left, right and center, and the Dolphins just don't have the weapons to keep up. You can't put the ball on Chad Henne and expect him to bring this one back from the brink. I'm taking the Patriots. Packers @ Buccaneers: Aaron Rodgers is the most sacked QB in the NFL right now. But two things should make you pause. Firstly, nearly half of all those sacks have been registered by the Minnesota Vikings. Secondly, the Packers o-line is only partly to blame. Rodgers does hold onto the ball too long. Both things are easily correctable (at least in the sense that the Packers don't have to play the Vikings again this regular season). What is not so easily corrected is the Buc's. And by that, I mean every phase of their game; offense, defense, special teams. They're a team in fluctuation right now. They're trying to fit all these new parts into the right slots and figure out where they're going. They also seem to be flat out defiant about using their run game, which a) might actually prove quite handy & b) might burn some serious clock and help keep their defense from being pounded so badly in future. Their fans can only dream. I'm backing the boys from Green Bay in this one. Packers win. Panthers @ Saints: This one could well be the reckoning. For the last two weeks (on blogger, and for the whole season in private) I've been pleading with the Panthers to give the ball to Williams and Stewart and let them run wild. Last week I didn't think they would (as usual) and suddenly they surprised me (and cost me a pick. I hate them Panthers). I also have developed a fondness for going against the Saints. First in week 7, I took the Dolphins, who shot into a big early lead then somehow (read: giving the ball to Henne) managed to blow it. Then I took the Falcons last week who ended up one missed pass interference call away from at least taking the Saints to overtime. This week, I'm going to go on a limb again and take the Panthers. Every week they disappoint. Every week they do the exact opposite of what I said they'd do. And every week the Saints seem to live up to their name and produce some sort of divine intervention to save their skins. Well this week is different. After putting on a clinic against the Cardinals last week, the Panthers surely will run that Prolate spheroid (or ball, as it's otherwise known) into the ground and surely the Saints will not escape again. Surely they will mirror the Cardinals of last week and end up throwing picks-a-plenty. Surely? Won't they? This week both John Fox and Drew Brees may conspire to tear me down. I'm taking the Panthers. God help me. Lions @ Seahawks: ..... wins the award for least interesting game this week. Nate Burleson and T. J. Houshmandzadeh should both have good outings against the Lions. I'm backing the Seahawks. Chargers @ Giants: The Giants look bad. Really bad. But you never know. When Brandon Jacobs gets 20 or more carries, the Giants are 11-1 (or so I'm told). And if Jacobs is getting 20 carries that probably means Ahmad Bradshaw is getting his fair share as well. And that means that the Giants are physically dominating the other team. So the question is, which Giants team do we get this week. Physical masters, or passing amateurs? 'Cos if they try and shoot it out with the Chargers then there will be a lot of unhappy people trudging home in New York on Sunday. Philip Rivers and co will let loose and the scoreboard operator will be earning his crust this week. I really like the Chargers in this one. I mean really like the Chargers. I mean like "holy crap, I need to remortgage the house so I can bet on the Chargers to win".......... which is why I'm taking the Giants. I just can't see Tom Coughlin coming into this game and deciding that shoot out is the best option. I think he's gonna look at the Chargers, realise that Tomlinson and Sproles can't run the ball this year, realise that Eli and his young receivers haven't connected properly yet, and then he's gonna smash the rock right up in the Chargers face. Either that or get into a shootout and get blown away. Still I think the Giants might pull this one out of the bag. Give me the Giants. Titans @ 49'ers: At first I was afraid, I was petrified.... then I realised that the Titans can't throw the ball and it was all good. The 49'ers play good run defense under Mike Singletary. No, scrap that, they play great run defense. Last week they almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season against the Colts. And they became the first team this season to shut Peyton Manning down for less than 300 yards passing. Expect them to focus on Chris Johnson and the Titans running game, forcing a slightly rusty and unspectacular Vince Young to beat them aerially. And expect him to fail miserably. Meanwhile the Titans banged up secondary is just waiting to be torn into little chunks by Alex Smith and his two favourite toys: Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. Crabtree could even get his first touchdown as a 49'er this week. And believe it or not, shock of shocks, I'm actually gonna take my coveted red and gold warriors this week. 49'ers win. Cowboys @ Eagles: Tough pick. The Eagles have suddenly let rip of late and are gashing teams for huge yardage. DeSean Jackson is tearing off big receptions and returns like it was run of the mill stuff for him. But it ends against the Cowboys. If McNabb holds the ball too long he's gonna get dumped on by DeMarcus Ware. And that's only if the Eagles can even prise the ball away from the Cowboys, whose three headed rushing attack and sure handed passing attack will doubtless consume some clock. I'm thinking that Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton will have another great weekend, while the Eagles will struggle to run the ball against a half decent run defense. I'm taking the Cowboys. Steelers @ Broncos: Last week the Broncos unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt against the Baltimore Ravens. This week they play a Steelers team that shares a similar mould. Like the Ravens, the Steelers have a varied and aggressive defensive approach. Like the Ravens, the Steelers have a standout safety who they can unleash to terrorize opposing the offense. And like the Ravens, the Steelers can run the football on you. Unlike the Ravens, the Steelers also have a Pro Bowl caliber QB who can mince your secondary at will. With Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward downfield, the Steelers always pose a serious deep threat. Their receiving corps also adds more punch to an already fearsome rushing attack in a way that no other team can match. They have the holy grail of all offenses; perfect balance. And this I'm afraid (for Broncos fans at least) will be too much to handle. I'm taking the Steelers. So, there we have it. Those are my picks for week 9 of the 2009 NFL season. May they all come up trumps. Fingers crossed. And by the way, if you've been following the blog and enjoy it, don't keep it to yourself. Pass the word on to as many people as you can and feel free to comment away.