NFL Picks - Straight Up

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae.

Time to pick this week's NFL games. Tonight's picks are for the weighted "Straight Up" pool with points subtracted for incorrect selections. I thought I did OK last week going 13-1 for 101 out of a possible 105 points - it got me nothing but sixth place for the week. That's right, five people in my pool alone picked all 14 games last week. On the season I'm 54-20 and I don't know if that is good or bad; what I do know is that I have the highest winning percentage of the 28 people in my pool. Ok, on to this week's choices - the first six are pretty much slam dunks.

13) DENVER over Oakland - no Monday Night Football hangover in this one. The Broncos D stuffs an anemic Raiders offence.

12) DALLAS over Houston - the Cowboys put last Sunday's awful performance behind them and get T.O. the damn ball. They won't lose this week - they had better not, they are my suicide pick.

11) WASHINGTON over Tennessee - see explanation for Cowboys.

10) Chicago over ARIZONA - no Larry Fitzgerald = no chance. Matt Leinhart is going to see pressure like he has never seen before. Chicago rolls over the Cards one - this could get ugly.

09) San Diego over SAN FRANCISCO - LaDainian Tomlinson hasn't had a great game in a few weeks, that changes on Sunday.

08) Cincinnati over TAMPA BAY - Bengals coming off a bye week after getting spanked by the Patriots, someone is going to pay - its going to be a long afternoon for Chuckie and the Bucs.

07) ATLANTA over NY Giants - Atlanta's running game will keep the ball out of Manning's hands. Ron Mexico runs for a TD and throws for another.

06) PITTSBURGH over Kansas City - forgive me Hazel for I have sinned. Pittsburgh is banged up and I want to take the Chiefs, but I can't see the Steelers falling at home and going 1-4. I'm taking the Chiefs in the Spreads Pool.

05) NEW ORLEANS over Philadelphia - I STILL think the Eagles are counterfeit - as bad as Dallas was, they were in the game right til the end. The Eagles haven't proven they can stop the run, expect a heavy dose of McAllister and Bush. The play-action pass will work well for the Saints on Sunday.

04) Buffalo over DETROIT - The Lions are banged up on offence, so I see the Bills D dominating this game. Buffalo will play for field position and win by scoring on short fields.

03) NY JETS over Miami - I'll take Pennington over "happy feet" Harrington. Miami's defence might keep this one close, but I don't think the offence will be able to contribute enough in this one.

02) Carolina over BALTIMORE - Two very evenly matched defences. Steve Smith will be the difference this week as Carolina pulls one out in Baltimore.

01) ST. LOUIS over Seattle - The absence of Shawn Alexander will hurt the Seahawks this week. St. Louis is surprising a few people - look for Stephen Jackson to have a big game.

There you have it.

So we are coming up on Week 6 and I have neglected to post the standings in the Hazelspeeps Fantasy Football League. Our Commish Drisc's boys are undefeated so far.

5-0 Fighting Bobcats - owned by Commish Drisc who has taken to establishing point spreads for upcoming matchups.

3-2 Tina's Team - our girl Tina is back and holding her own in the football pool. She claims not to know much about football...but she's getting it done.

2-3 Ageswimmer - owned by Bushey, who is one of the quiet peeps on the board.

2-3 Ithaca Commons - owned by our boy Kevin who is studying hard in Rochester, NY.

2-3 Jack-O-Lanterns - owned by our resident Steinbrenner Hubie, who is leading the league in waiver moves...surprise surprise.

1-4 Hazel Mae's Cowboys - owned by El Presidente, who keeps forgetting to make moves with players who are on bye weeks. Drisc reached out and slapped me for that one "the idea is NOT to play players who are on bye weeks you dope!"

Well, that's about it for tonight - back to the Mets and Cards game. Have a great one peeps!

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

Song of the Day on Hazelspeeps - what some NFL coaches may be singing on Sunday night

Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys

"I wish I was a fisherman,
Trollin on the sea,
Far away from dry land,
And its bitter memories."

Peesth Out...Buh Bye!