Picked off

I can't believe it. At one point it was all looking so good for my picks this week, then disaster struck near the end. I'm not doing a proper recap just now, I'll do it tomorrow on either side of Monday Night Football (but posted as one article). For now just some thoughts about each game;

- Cam Newton huh? The second coming of *insert famous quarterbacks name here that the pundits thought he would be like*. Maybe the second coming JaMarcus Russell right now; very physically gifted, but struggling with turnovers.

- For a minute Indy looked like they might come back into the game against the Bengals. Only for a minute though. Nobody is talking about the Bengals but they're slowly putting together a good season in an AFC that has been turned on its head in 2011. Keep your eyes on them to sneak into the playoffs maybe.

- I find it hilarious that everyone is describing the 49ers/Lions game as some kind of hard fought battle between two of the top teams right now. No. Seriously no. It was a battle between two average teams who struggled to put together offensive drives. And I had to laugh at Jim Schwartz running after Harbaugh at the end, nudging him in the back while mouthing off, waiting for a hoard of players to come over and get in the way before he finally "flipped out", then trying to play the innocent card later in his press conference.

- St. Louis, this is Green Bay and their ugly uniforms. Green Bay, this is your unofficial bye week. Enjoy.

- My God, Eli Manning actually managed to hold on for the win. Of course the "law of Eli" says that next week he will have to have at least fumbles to make up for it.

- Blaine Gabbert; NFL quarterback. Not. Only five sacks though for Pittsburgh, I'm disappointed. More stunning was that the Jaguars actually managed to generate some pressure on their defensive front. It could just be the Steelers O-line to blame, but I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

- The Eagles get their second win, courtesy of Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman who is now being investigated by the FBI for the suspicious nature of just how badly he threw the game away to the Eagles.... if only. Thanks Rex, you cost me what should have been a safe pick.

- Then I get picked off again by Drew Brees! Who coincidentally got picked off multiple times by the Buccaneers defense. What happened Drew? This should have been a fairly routine win for the Saints, with the talent they have against a Blount-less Buccaneers. I guess the old phrase about "any given Sunday" comes to mind.

- The Texans minus Andre Johnson are going to have problems. It's the grand irony for the Texans; having spent years leaning on their offense for survival, they finally fix the defense... and now the offense goes out of the window. You couldn't make it up.

- A tough win for Oakland, who coped without the injured Jason Campbell. That's a collar bone injury some I'm not expecting to see Campbell back any time soon. It's a shame, just as the Raiders were heating up.

- Cowboys, you're killing me! Rob Ryan did it. He put down the game plan and he shut Welker down to just 3-4 passes prior to that final drive. It was all there for the taking, then the Cowboys offense just couldn't put it beyond reach. That was going to be the most satisfying pick of the week for me, and then it all came crashing down. Of course it helps when you can stop Brady driving down the field like that.

- The biggest upset for me though was the Vikings/Bears game. I predicted a possible massacre, I just called it the wrong way. McNabb looks slower than Brett Favre right now, but at least rookie Christian Ponder looked pretty handy. I called him my top quarterback in this years draft class and from first impressions I think I might have nailed that one. Time (and a lot more snaps) will tell.

Thanks to those upsets I'm 8-4 for my picks this week. And there was me thinking I was so clever taking the 49ers and the Giants over the Lions and the Bills respectively, only to get undone by Rex Grossman, Drew Brees, and Donovan McNabb. And Jason Garrett. I hate Jason Garrett.

See you tomorrow.