Week 10 Review/Week 11 Preview

 
For the Week/Season:

v. W/L:                      (8-5-1)/ (83-61-1)

v. Spread                    (8-6)/ (62-83)
v. Aggregate:             (8-6)/(90-55)
 
Bye Weeks: Minnesota, NY Giants, Seattle, Tennessee

Tampa Bay -1.5 At Carolina 48.5 48.5   While the Panthers have struggled all year, one of the more encouraging signs is watching how the Bucs have started to slowly turn things around under Coach Schaino’s watch. On offense, they’ve developed a nice, balanced attack. This is a far more important game for the Panthers, ‘cause if they lose hereand Newton plays poorly, ownership and the fan base will be calling for Coach Rivera’s dismissal. One of these weeks Cam Newton has to have a bounceback week. Maybe this is the week.   Projected Final Score: Carolina 21, Tampa Bay 20
At Washington  3.5 Philadelphia 44

By the look of things last week may be the last time we see Mike Vick in an Eagles’ uniform. He suffered an awful head injury last week and was probably seeing stars as he was escorted from the field in the first half of the Dallas game. Nick Foles entered in relief and had a pretty good outing, it was just a matter that the Cowboys got hot and scored three touchdowns in the blink of an eye to blow the game wide open at the end. Let’s face facts: The Eagles won’t be fighting for the playoffs this year and Coach Reid is likely gone at season’s end. It’s a shame because he’s had a fantastic run in Philly until recently. The ‘Skins are coming off of a bye and should be raring to get after whatever the Eagles bring to the table.

 Projected Final Score: Washington 24, Philadelphia 20

Green Bay

-3.5

At Detroit

51.5

The Packers were off last week and find themselves in the unenviable position of having to travel to Detroit to face a Lions’ team with their backs up against the wall. After last week’s loss to the Vikings, the Lions are now desperate for a victory to keep from falling into a deeper hole at the bottom of the NFC North. This is also a big game for the Pack, as they’re just a game behind Chicago in the standings and have been playing increasingly better with each week.

Projected Final Score: Green Bay 31, Detroit 24

At Atlanta

-10

Arizona

44

The blush is off the rose for Atlanta as the Saints knocked them from the ranks of the unbeaten 31-27. This week they return to the comforts of the Georgia Dome where they remain undefeated and are a very tough opponent to face. The Cardinals travel east where they play poorly (except for Foxboro) and whomever draws quarterback duties ought to receive hazard pay as well since the Cardinals’ putrid offensive line is bound to break down in ways unimagined. How can Larry Fitzgerald reasonably compete when the O-Line won’t give the quarterback any chance to throw the ball?

Projected Final Score: Atlanta 28, Arizona 17

At Dallas

-7.5

Cleveland

43.5

Based on their win in Philly last week, maybe the Cowboys have turned a corner. Maybe. This week, they return to Jerry’s Palace to face a Cleveland team that may be struggling but fight valiantly each week. The Browns’ offense will most likely falter against an aggressive Cowboys’ defense. They simply do not have the horses to compete against Dallas, provided that the Cowboys decide to show up and play with some consistency, and that’s a factor that varies from week to week.

Projected Final Score: Dallas 27, Cleveland 13

At St. Louis

-3

NY Jets

38

Give the Rams a ton of credit, as they went to San Francisco as double-digit underdogs last week and left Candlestick with a 24-all tie. They held a good lead well into the fourth quarter before the ‘Niners came roaring back but played well enough to force an extra session in which they threatened to win the game. They should be highly motivated to deliver the same level of intensity as the lowly Jets travel from Seattle, where the offense could only muster a meager attack. What was with Sanchez anyway? Throwing that pick to Sherman in the end zone was awful. An eight-year old could’ve delivered a better ball than that! Except for that big opening day win, the Jets have been awful for the most part. True, the offense had some success against New England a few weeks ago, but that’s not saying much. If they come out focused, the Jets can beat the up-and-coming Rams but Coach Rex needs more from Sanchez than a pedestrian effort.

Projected Final Score: St. Louis 21, NY Jets 14

At New England

-9

Indianapolis

53.5

When all of the local yahoos on sports radio were predicting a blowout win over Buffalo, we counseled that the game was going to be a lot closer than the line prepared by the Vegas Boys. We said “NO WAY” to 11 ½ and it was one of our better plays of the week. The Patriots’ defense is a monstrosity. This week, the spread is still too high for comfort. If anything, Andrew Luck (in barely half of a season) has proven to be a marvelous young quarterback and he has weapons beyond Reggie Wayne to target. The problem with New England these days is that there’s way too much reliance on Brady and the offense to make plays. While they’ve done that for the most part, Tommy Boy and the offense have sputtered on occasion this year and the defense lacks the depth to hold up their end of the bargain and the Pats wind up playing needless shootouts as occurred in the Buffalo game. Remember, it was only one bad pass by Fitzgerald at the very end that sealed the deal. They could’ve very easily come out on the losing end of that one. Fitzgerald was right about one thing though; Brandon Spikes is a punk. That shot of him flexing his biceps toward the Buffalo bench as Fred Jackson was being helped off the field was a classless stunt. In the “Glory Days” of the Patriots’ defense, one of the veteran leaders would’ve fixed his ass but good for behaving so deplorably.

Projected Final Score: New England 31, Indianapolis 24

At Houston

-16

Jacksonville

42.5

We have a winnah! This is the largest spread of any game so far this year. The Texans barely prevailed over Chicago in the pouring rain at Soldier Field on Sunday night. They capitalized on several turnovers by the Bears and knocked Cutler out of the game before halftime. It was hard to get a read on how well the Texans played on Sunday night because of the awful weather conditions but (as they’ve done all year) the Texans made the necessary plays on both sides of the ball. The Jag-u-ars may be the worst that the NFL has to offer this year (though KC’s pretty much in the same sentence). They got their clocks cleaned by Indy last Thursday night so it’s not exactly rocket science to figure out how this game will likely turn out.

Projected Final Score: Houston 31, Jacksonville 13

Cincinnati

-3.5

At Kansas City

44

The Bengals decided to play up to the level of their opposition last week and overwhelmed the Giants 31-13 at home. As always, one never knows with any degree of certainty whether the Bengals will play like Bungles or Bengals. It’s a hit or miss thing week by week. Last week, they knocked off the world champs. This week, what’ll they do against a bunch of world class chumps? The Chiefs’ fans have literally had it with Pioli and the mess that he’s created since coming over from New England several years ago as an (alleged) franchise savior. The Matt Cassel Experiment has exploded miserably and Coach Crennel seems destined to be the fall guy. On Monday night, the Chiefs travelled to Pittsburgh where they played a whale of a game, falling in overtime by a field goal. They’re due for a letdown after having played so well against their former coach.

Projected Final Score: Cincinnati 24, Kansas City 17

New Orleans

-4.5

At Oakland

54.5

Last week, the Raiders traveled east where generally very bad things happen. This trip to M&T proved to be a very, very bad experience as the Ravens hung a 55-spot on the board against the once-feared Raiders. Somewhere, Mr. Davis is watching this and is most displeased. If firings could be made from the netherworlds then Coach Allen would already have been bounced out on his ass. This week the Raiders return to the comforts (?) of the Black Hole where they hope to regroup and rebound against the Saints. After last week’s big win over Atlanta, the Saints have to feel as if they’re back in the hunt. Their performance in games such as this one will determine whether they’re back in the playoff chase or whether last week was an outlier. They need to play with a sense of urgency every time they step on the field and that degree of intensity is difficult to maintain from week to week. The defense can still be exposed, and that quite easily, so we’ll have to see about New Orleans.

Projected Final Score: New Orleans 33, Oakland 24

At Denver

-7.5

San Diego

50

Peyton Manning and the Broncos’ offense were in cruise control last week as they blew the doors off of Cam Newton and the Panthers 36-14. And Denver has still not peaked as of yet. They are serious candidates to run the table, and look to take the next step in that process as the awful San Diego Chargers come to Mile High this week. The Chargers went east to Tampa Bay and were drubbed 34-24 by the Bucs. They played yet another sloppy, undisciplined game and paid for it. Yet GM Smith and Coach Turner continue to muddle along. Time is running short for this management team.

Projected Final Score: Denver 34, San Diego 24

At Pittsburgh

-3.5

Ravens

46

The spotlight on Sunday night shines brightly on Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, where the Ravens come to town to renew acquaintances in their bitter AFC North rivalry. Last week, the Ravens toyed with Oakland en route to a 55-20 rout. That game was nothing more than a tune up for this week. The Steelers had one less day to prepare for this game on account of Monday night’s OT win over KC. Big Ben was injured and will not play in this game and his absence may turn the tide in the Ravens’ favor.

Projected Final Score: Ravens 24, Pittsburgh 20

Monday Night Football Line

 

At San Francisco

-5

Chicago

38.5

We do know if it rains in Frisco on Monday night that the Bears will have trouble holding onto the ball. On Sunday night against Houston, they repeatedly turned over the ball as the offense got no traction whatsoever, losing 13-6. The question is whether Cutler can rebound from his head injury in time to start the game or whether it’ll be Jason Campbell (sigh) who’ll get the green light. The ‘Niners played poorly against St. Louis for three quarters before getting their act together in the fourth to pull even at the end of regulation. They had a chance for a winning field goal in overtime but David Akers missed the kick and they had to settle for a 24-all tie. This week, the ‘Niners know that they have to rebound from what was overall a lackluster performance.

Projected Final Score: San Francisco 23, Chicago 14