NFL Picks & Pans: Week 10

by Bruce Raffel on Nov 15, 2009 7:00 AM EST Comment 45 comments

After a very average week 9 in making predictions, especially on the Baltimore Ravens second loss to the Cincinnati Bengals this season, I'll try to get back on track today while the Ravens attempt to do the same on Monday Night Football when they visit the Cleveland Browns. I'll pick & pan that game Monday morning, but here is the rest of the slate for Sunday's games:

Steelers over Bengals: Consider me still a doubter, but as good as Cincinnati has looked this year, if they can beat the Steelers twice in the same season, they will jump to the top of most people's list as one of the best teams in the league. Until then, I'll take the Steelers in Pittsburgh over just about everybody.

Broncos over Redskins: As bad as Denver has looked in the past two losses, Washington is certainly not the same type of team that the Steelrs, much less the Ravens are.

Panthers over Falcons: My "Upset Special Pick of the Week" as I see Carolina's running attack and defense outscoring Atlanta's at home.

Dolphins over Buccaneers: In a Florida battle, Miami is the better team and Tampa should only hope to have two quick scores like they did last week to knock off the Packers.

Vikings over Lions: If you ask me, it's beginning to look a lot like last year for Detroit, and Minnesota is on its way to a post season appearance.

Jets over Jaguars: Jacksonville can't seem to get a pass rush and that will bode well for New York's rookie QB.

Saints over Rams: This one could be over by the end of the first quarter and St. Louis should end up being just another in the line of teams that have fallen to the undefeated New Orleans juggernaut.

Titans over Bills: Tennessee is beginning to look like a decent team under QB Vince Young and Buffalo is getting ready to implode with the simmering TO.

Raiders over Chiefs: Oakland can win a couple of games and Kansas City is one of the few teams they proved they can beat.

Cardinals over Seahawks: This is an important NFC West division game and Arizona seems to want it more than Seattle does and has more at stake riding on the game, namely another division title.

Cowboys over Packers: This should be a pretty decent shootout and the only thing that separates the two teams in my opinion is that Dallas can play defense while Green Bay doesn't seem to.

Chargers over Eagles: Philadelphia proved they have a hard time coming west and winning, as evidenced by their loss at Oakland, while San Diego won a great game at the Giants and just looks stronger.

Patriots over Colts (Sunday night): Earlier in the week, I was leaning the other way, but I think New England will take advantage of the injuries to Indianapolis' secondary and outscore the Colts in a great game that should either separate the Colts from the rest of the AFC or tighten up the pack of the better teams in the conference.

Last week: 7-6

Season record: 89-40

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Man, those Bengals are really, really good.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 15, 2009 7:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I've accepted that the division belongs to Cincy.

Unless they have a complete meltdown, but that’s unlikely to happen if you take a look at the upcoming games on their schedule.

It looks like we’ll be fighting with the Steelers for one of those wild card spots, should be fun.

by mlb32001 on Nov 15, 2009 8:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They beat the teams they HAD to beat so far this year to get a run at the playoffs going. Sweeping the division is a great accomplishment and will usually get you a playoff bid.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 15, 2009 8:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i think the begals might be using growth hormones. there probably the only team the NFL doesn’t bother to check. they will now and suspend 3/4 the team.

by raven on Nov 16, 2009 12:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well they might of lost Benson for the season ( Fingers Crossed)

Than we can try to gain on Pittsburgh and hopefully get the tie-breaker against them, while the Bengals meltdown slowly and enjoyably. End of 09 season prediction…..

Ravens 11-5
Steelers 11-5
Bengals 9-7
Browns 1-15

R.I.P. Tony Fein
May God watch over you wherever you are now and may you be in a better place. We will never forget you!

by Baltimore Warrior on Nov 15, 2009 8:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Although I'm a Steeler's fan

I’ve always respected the way Baltimore plays because they are very physical like us. I can’t get over that the Bungles swept both of us in this division. I can’t name one player on their defense.I still don’t believe that team would scare anybody in the playoffs.

by Dr Del on Nov 15, 2009 9:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They won't

They will collapse eventually and the Ravens and Steelers will have the last laugh while killing each other in the playoffs.

R.I.P. Tony Fein
May God watch over you wherever you are now and may you be in a better place. We will never forget you!

by Baltimore Warrior on Nov 15, 2009 9:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Can you come over and tell the Frothing Steeler’s fans that, they seem to think we just lost to the Browns because Bruce Arians threw the game.

by Phantaskippy on Nov 16, 2009 2:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rather not

I would get flamed if I mentioned that the Bengals are better than you guys are right now. We have come to accept it here, but I highly doubt that BTSC will ever come to accept that.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 2:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I’ve noticed the entitlement of Steeler fans, it’s pretty bad.

But I love that we are setting all time Steeler records for offense and we apparently have the worst coordinator in history.

Earlier we had fans ready to jump off bridges, yep that was after the first Cincy loss. This one they are right back on the ledge after being convinced our season was just one nice on-ramp to the Super Bowl after the Denver win.

by Phantaskippy on Nov 16, 2009 2:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeaaaa

I kind of have accepted that the Denver wins are not THAT big of a deal. Sure they were off to a great start, but its Kyle Orton man. You cannot beat our defenses with 10 yard dump passes the whole game, and that his style. It was a 33 year old head coach. So the win for you and us is not that impressive at all.

The smartest move the Bengals have ever done is sticking with Marvin. I am glad to see him having this much success, because he deserves it for sure. He is a defensive minded coach that was given a high powered offense with a crappy defense for so many years, and don’t forget those arrests. But now he has a very good defense that is extremely young, fast and aggressive. Perfect for his style.

The Bengals can shut you down 3 and out any time, then launch themselves down the field in 5-6 plays at anytime. That is why they are a scary team right now.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 2:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, and for the first time I’ve seen they are flying to the football. They deserve to win these games. Lets just hope they can beat Indy.

by Phantaskippy on Nov 16, 2009 4:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now that even the Redskins beat Denver

our victory over them doesn’t look as good, eh?

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Nov 16, 2009 5:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Looks average

Until we are beating NE, Pitt, Indy and NOW…..Cinci, non of our wins so far are too impressive. Only one is SD

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 5:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I was actually hoping carolina won, and I got my wish

For some unexplained reason I hate the Falcons. I guess it’s just a little of M.V. nostalgia…..

R.I.P. Tony Fein
May God watch over you wherever you are now and may you be in a better place. We will never forget you!

by Baltimore Warrior on Nov 15, 2009 8:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Let me make sure I have this straight

First we beat the Steelers, then the Browns, then the Ravens, then the Ravens again and then the Steelers and the Steelers again but we were just lucky or surprised you or underestimated and we are soft and will collapse. Well…..if we are soft what does that make you after we beat you not once but twice and then we beat the Steelers not once but twice. Do you guys have any idea how pathetic all of you sound? I am not sure you can even beat the Steelers once let alone twice. MaLor is right the Bengals are a good team this year. You guys said your O played bad when we won. The Steelers are saying their O played bad. Maybe … just maybe…. the Bengals D had something to do with that. Ben is a very good QB and so is Flacco and both are described as cool in the pocket and the Bengals D rattled both of them in two different games this season.

Hey, I don’t know if we can win another game. Hell, we might lose all of the rest of the season, but, right now, this very day, we are atop the division and are one win away from sweeping the division. Next Sunday we will play another game and will give it our best shot. I don’t care about the past and I don’t care about the future. All I care about is now. The past is a canceled check and tomorrow is a promissory note.

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 15, 2009 10:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Do you guys have any idea how pathetic all of you sound?

Don’t you always say how much you pride yourself at being “classy” on these blogs? Why do you care so much what we have to say, you will not be facing us the rest of the season.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 1:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't remember ever saying I was proud to be classy

MaLor, you are a real piece of work.

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 16, 2009 8:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Comment below supposed to be reply.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 2:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just went through a couple of your prior comments

Malor

When l come to visit you site I try to be respectful. I expect respect in turn. If you visit a Bengal site and discuss respectfully and are not treated in kind, if I see it I will come down hard on the guy. I am here to talk football not smack. Yea I might give out a Who Dey once in a while but I try to keep it about the game.

Calling us “pathetic” for voicing our opinions on how we feel about your team without even mentioning “junglejohn” once in any of our comments is alright? Ok, I do not think you team is good, so am I pathetic? That is the message I got.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 1:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No MaLor you took me all wrong

First of all I don’t see the word proud or classy anywhere. I said respectful. That is not something that you should be proud of … it should be expected from civilized people.

Listen, you guys got beat twice this year by a team you are used to beating the crap out of and may beat the crap out of in the future – who knows. Football is a game of no excuses. The teams meet on a level playing field and the team with the most points wins .. period. Comments like “the only reason they beat us is because we under estimated them” or “they are a soft schedule” are pathetic. Frankly, I appreciated your first comment on this thread. We are a good team. We were not in the past. You guys beat the crap out of us last year and Raven fans flooded our boards rubbing our noses in it never mentioning that we were riddled with injuries including our staring RB and half the defense not to mention Carson Palmer. We just had to take it. You stomped us while we were dowm and stood over us and gloated. We may not be good next year – I hope so but who really knows but while we are we are enjoying it. I will admit that I mis spoke. I should have said some of you are pathetic as many of the Raven fans are showing sportsmanship. For that I do apologize.

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 17, 2009 9:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Did you see this on a bumper sticker?

The past is a canceled check and tomorrow is a promissory note.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 1:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No, actually I heard it in a leadership conference from one of my cospeakers

It rang home and seemed an appropriate in this case. One bumper sticker however does seem appropriate particularly in regards to you Mr. MaLor and also to you Raven. It said in bold letters “BITE ME”

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 16, 2009 8:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of Bumper stickers, I like this one… “Shake my bag.”

by ATXRaven on Nov 16, 2009 12:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe … just maybe…. the Bengals D had something to do with that.

Oh really?

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 1:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea, really!

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 16, 2009 8:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I was telling people before the season started that your defense was nasty. I loved Michael Johnson and Mauluga coming out of college. Tank Johnson is solid and signing Roy Williams give you some authority in the back with some young, but very athletic CB’s.

From a talent point, I think your defense is top 5 in the league. We must remember, shitty offensive performances generally come from a great defensive performance, mainly a great pass rush. This is something you have.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 16, 2009 1:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Don’t forget Trent Morgan, shut down corner. That was the key to the game, I kept saying we had to attack their 3rd CB, their top two are playing too well and then Super Rook shows up and makes play after play. He’s a former Wolverine, so I can’t be shocked, but dang that defense is solid.

They could lose to a team with a great run blocking line because you can get push on them, but they are swarming to the football like they have black in their colors.

by Phantaskippy on Nov 16, 2009 2:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Having two good CB's make you a lot better

and it shows in that you can still blitz and the secondary doesn’t get burned when you send the house at them because your corners can cover like blankets. Cincy is for reala nd one of the top five teams in the NFL, along with Indy, New Orleans, Minnesota and San Diego (or New England).

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Nov 16, 2009 5:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think Cincy could beat any of the AFC teams. Minnesota they might struggle with, but they could win that as well. Saints they might not beat, but they both have to make it to the Super Bowl to find out.

Indy and New England don’t impress me. Cincy can cover all NE receivers other than Moss, and if they can pressure Brady and run the ball they would win. I’m one of the few remaining skeptics on Indy. I just don’t think they can get to the Super Bowl. Someone will stop Reggie Wayne enough to win.

by Phantaskippy on Nov 16, 2009 10:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

On behalf of the team, thank you for the compliment MaLor. Seriously.

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 17, 2009 9:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah..you kicked the shit out of the steelers but we simply played poorly : )

by raven on Nov 16, 2009 12:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I acrually agree with you Raven. Your team does play poorly.

I would not however say we we kicked the shit out of the Steelers. We did however out score them. Lets see how you do against them in a couple of weeks. It will be fun watching two teams I don’t like beating the crap out of each other.

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 16, 2009 8:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kicked the crap out of our offense. I’ve never seen Ben unable to get into a rhythm until this week. That defensive game plan and execution was phenomenal.

by Phantaskippy on Nov 16, 2009 2:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs