The Baltimore Ravens return to the playing field Sunday as they host the Miami Dolphins. I'll pick & pan that game tomorrow morning. For now, after getting back on the winning track last week and once again hitting my "Upset Special," we continue that trend in week 9 of the NFL regular season:
Falcons over Buccaneers: Two teams with identical 5-2 records, but I can't see the surprising one (Tampa Bay) going on the road and beat the Ravens next opponent (Atlanta) on their home turf, in a dome no less.
Bills over Bears: After coming oh so close and losing in OT the last two weeks, it time for both Buffalo to win and my "Upset Special Pick of the Week," as Chicago has looked shaky this season and the home town crowd should help propel the Bills to win #1 of the 2010 season!
Patriots over Browns: While no one thought Cleveland would go on the road and beat the New Orleans, this just cannot happen again and no way Bill Belichick lets New England overlook this game.
Saints over Panthers: This might be a tougher road game than New Orleans would like, but they seemed to get back on the right path in last week's win over the Pittsburgh, and Carolina is still one of the worst, if not the worst team in the league, although the Cowboys are trying to vie for that "title!"
Jets over Lions: Wow, wouldn't a lot of people be happy if Detroit could upset New York? The Jets looked awful in losing at home to Green Bay and must now go on the road to get back on track and stay in the AFC East race.
Chargers over Texans: Looks like it's just about that time that San Diego starts turning around their poor season to make another run at the AFC Worst, uh West title.
Vikings over Cardinals: I'd be even more optimistic about Minnesota's chances if Tavares Jackson was definitely the starter but even with the gimpy old man this should be a relatively easy win, if there is such a thing for the Vikes!
Giants over Seahawks: Seattle is usually a real tough team at home, but without Matt Hasselbeck I like New York's chances.
Chiefs over Raiders: Nice to see this game actually mean something at this point of the season as I see Kansas City's running attack outscoring the Oakland surprisingly prolific offense.
Colts over Eagles: A tough game to call but I like the smaller, athletic and quick Indy defense matching up well with the fast Philly offense and of course, then there's Peyton Manning, one of the Top 10 players in NFL history.
Packers over Cowboys (Sunday Night Football): Green Bay should absolutely destroy the train wreck that Dallas has become, this time on national TV, to push Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to the breaking point.
Steelers over Bengals (Monday Night Football): While it would be great to see Cincinnati pull off the upset and give Pittsburgh it's second loss in a row (should be 3rd!), I can't see this happening, although we can all pray!
Last week: 8-5
Season record: 69-48