Reid Fischer's World of Rants

Last Week: 9-4  Season: 60-57

Evidently last week’s quickie selections provided better results.  I nailed two major upsets (Jacksonville and Green Bay), and I’m still alive in my eliminator pool.  Let’s keep it rolling:

– Bills over Bears: Upset Alert.  This does give me pause because the Bills are stupidly moving their home game to Toronto, which means there could be more Bears fans in the seats.  The Bills are winless in Toronto home games, but they have played really hard the last two games and nearly pulled upsets.  I think they take advantage of Jay Cutler and sneak away with this one.

– Ravens over Dolphins: Miami’s streak of undefeated play on the road should come to an end here.  Baltimore has had a bye week to rest up, and I think their defense will want to rebound from the horrible effort against Buffalo.  I still think the Ravens are the best team in the NFL, and they will prove it on Sunday.

– Patriots over Browns: I almost went with the upset here but ultimately proved gun shy.  The Browns have played surprisingly well with Colt McCoy under center, and after they won in the Superdome two weeks ago I’m not going to put anything past them.  Still, Tom Brady doesn’t generally lose games he’s supposed to win.  I think this will be very close, but I think the Pats will take it.

– Lions over Jets: Major Upset Alert.  For whatever reason, the Lions are very tough to slow down at home.  Especially with Matthew Stafford back, the offense has plenty of weapons to score lots of points.  As for the Jets, I’m still not buying the hype (after all my dreadful Broncos would have beaten them if not for a questionable call), especially after they got shut out on their own field last week.  Call this one a hunch.

– Texans over Chargers: This should be a very entertaining game, and for me this was the toughest to pick.  The Chargers’ offense has looked a lot more like its old self recently, but I think this will be a desperate game for Houston.  The Texans must win home games like this if they aspire to be a playoff team.  I think this will be a shootout, and I like Andre Johnson to make a big play late.

– Colts over Eagles: This is also a very tough pick.  The Eagles will have a huge home crowd behind them, Michael Vick is back under center, DeSean Jackson should be back, so why am I picking Indy?  Peyton Manning.  I’ve just seen too many Colts road games where they struggle early, the home team has a real chance to beat them, and Manning pulls a rabbit out of his hat for the win.  I sense a similar such game unfolding on Sunday.

– Chiefs over Raiders: Who would have thought this would be an AFC West showdown?  I think both offenses will be able to move the ball well in this game, especially the Chiefs, who have seemed to find some harmony between Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles.  Darren McFadden will also get his yards for the Raiders, but if Zach Miller is still hobbled it could really hurt their passing game.  I think Kansas City pulls this out on the road and starts to put their stamp on the division.

– Giants over Seahawks: The Giants have quietly put one of the NFC’s best records together.  Their running game is outstanding and their defense hasn’t broke yet.  The Seahawks are starting Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback.  This could get ugly in a hurry.  Even though they’re on the road, I’m taking the G-men in a blowout.

– Vikings over Cardinals: The Randy Moss saga proves just how messed up things are in Minnesota.  Even if Brett Favre manages to stay upright all year, the defense needs to shore up its gaping holes fast if they want to get back in the race.  Fortunately for them, they get a home game against one of the league’s struggling teams this week.  Minnesota may not be good right now, but Arizona is worse.

– Falcons over Buccaneers: Tampa Bay has to rank as one of the league’s biggest surprises at 5-2.  This game will tell us a lot about whether that record is a mirage or if we have a surprise playoff threat on our hands.  The Falcons have one of the league’s most dynamic offenses, and they’ll need to solve what has been one of the best defenses in this one.  I think Roddy White will have another big day and that will be enough to give Atlanta the win.

– Saints over Panthers: This is my eliminator selection for this week.  New Orleans looked like they were back last week, especially defensively, in an impressive win over the Steelers.  The schedule is shaping nicely for the defending champs, who get their bye following this one.  Carolina is frankly not very good, regardless of who is under center.  This week it will be Matt Moore who gets to struggle again.

– Packers over Cowboys: The Sunday night game looked good on paper before the season started.  Now it won’t be much more than a blowout win for the host Packers.  Dallas is in big trouble, partially because the offense is worse with Jon Kitna at quarterback, but mostly because the defense is embarrassingly bad.  That means that this week is a chance for Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay offense to have a rebound week and to get some confidence back.

– Steelers over Bengals: This is a rivalry that has been really one sided most of the time.  Cincinnati managed to break through with a win last year, but this year’s Bengals don’t have a lot going for them.  Terrell Owens is putting up monster numbers, but he’s the only one.  I think the odds of Pittsburgh losing two games in a row are less than none, so I pick them for that reason alone.  The fact that it’s against their big rival could make this a blowout and horrible fourth quarter ratings for ESPN.