The Return of Thursday Night Football!!!
Ok people its that time of year, we are well into Fall, November is half way gone, the holidays are almost here, and Thursday Night Football is BACK! Football on 3 nights a week, I love it!!! So lets do a quick run down of my picks.
Oakland at San Diego on Thursday Night Football - As a divisional game this is even more of a wild card, but I will say that both teams have key things missing from their working formulas. The Chargers obviously are missing a player like Darren Sproles this year, not to mention, I believe that Malcolm Floyd is out for tonights game. As for the Raiders they are missing the QB that was comfortable running this offense, but he's replaced with another QB who was once one of the NFL's elites. For now Carson Palmer is still getting used to the offense but he has as much upside as he's shown downside. The other missing part is Darren McFadden, he has been their work horse and #1 RB, Bush and the other back ups are good backs as well but they just don't seem to compare to McFadden. Oakland's best bet is to get Jacoby Ford involved in the Rushing Offense, Receiving Offense, and the Special Teams, he's a playmaker and if he can get hot the Raiders have a good chance tonight. But with that said its Norvember and I'm choosing the luke warm Chargers to get hot tonight and claim the lead in in the AFC West. San Diego Chargers win against the Oakland Raiders in a high scoring event tonight, lets say... 31-27.
Ok, the first pick was a bust...Thanks to Phillip Rivers, but it was great to see Carson Palmer looking like he's on the way to being is pre-injury self.
New Orleans over Atlanta - The only thing that makes me a little weary of this pick is that the game is in Atlanta, but I'm picking this game based on offense because both defenses have yet to be impressive this year.
Pittsburgh over Cincy - This is another tough divisional match up, but I'm picking the Steelers veteran defense having an advantage over the rookie QB. But I don't see this being a big scoring affair, Cincy also has a great defense, but I think that Big Ben will make the needed adjustments to manage his offense in this Field Goal battle.
St. Louis over Cleveland - Eh... if the Rams that showed up against the Saints play in this game (same jerseys too) then they should be able to get another win this week.
Buffalo over Dallas - Both of these teams seem to have some roller coaster issues, I just flipped the coin on this one.
Indy over Jacksonville - The Colts get their first win today against a team who much like them lack a true identity. They gotta win sometime right? This is a perfect team to get one against.
KC over Denver - Once again a decent divisional matchup, KC has shown itself to be a better team. Denver has been good in spurts but I'm not sure how that will hold up. I don't really believe in Tebow having multiple good weeks as a starter.
Washington over Miami - Again I'm picking an away team, I think the Redskins are still hungry for a win due to their current losing streak, and Miami is a subpar team while Washington has shown to be a better team than they have looked like lately.
Philly over Arizona - Although dysfunctional the Eagles are a better team than the Eagles, plus I don't see Kolb beating Vick in anything, it didn't happen last year with the starting job and it aint happening this year in a match up.
Houston over Tampa Bay - The Texans are a great team and are playoff bound (thanks to Peyton Manning) I think they will continue to show their high caliber of play throughout the rest of season. The Buccs don't have enough weapons to offensively compete with the high powered Texans offense.
Carolina over Tenesse - The Panthers are due for another win, the Titans don't really have an identity right now, they are good then bad, then average, but the Panthers have played at a high level against many teams better than the Titans. Pure up the Cam Juice!
Baltimore over Seattle - This should be an easy win, but Seattle did beat the Giants. So if the Ravens prepared properly for this matchup they should prove that they are the better team.
Detroit over Chicago - I'm on the fence about this pick. But that's just who I picked. We'll see what happens. The Bears did look like a very good team against the Eagles on Monday.
San Francisco 49ers over New York Giants - This is the pick that I am supposed to make as a fan and as someone who has watched the 49ers this year I believe that this is a winnable game. This is a true test of who the 49ers are. The 2 previous top tier QBs that we have faced have had good games, one lead to a 49ers loss in overtime, the other required the 49ers to work hard to comeback for a win. The 49ers defense will have to operate on all cylinders today to get a win. Which means not giving up the deep passes and continuing to stop the run. Some help from the special teams would be nice too.
New England over NYJ - I just can't see the Patriots losing three in a row. This might be drastic but I'm going to say if the Patriots lose this one then this is the end of their dynasty and they may also miss the playoffs.
Green Bay over Minnesota - I don't know if the Packers will lose this year or not, but I know that them losing to the Vikings wouldn't even happen if Favre made a come back...
