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Winnie Cooper
In names sake alone, Winnie Cooper shall will me to
win. In your heart and mine, Winnie will always have
a place, and with a name like Winnie, who else would
better fit an article predicting winners such as this
one. You must read on, I have the Texans winning for
God's sake. They're 1-10 on the year, so if my prediction
screams true they'll double up on Sunday. Hold your
tits and toes, this is going to be one wild ride.
Atlanta
at Carolina (-3) - The Carolina Panthers have
really struggled running the football this year. If
Stephen Davis was still starting, I would take the Falcons,
because there is no way he can pound the Falcons outside
the tackles. In an intelligent move, the Panther brass
has decided to start Deshaun Foster for the second straight
week. Atlanta loses when teams can run the ball against
them. This game will be no different. Sunday is huge
for both teams, and Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith will
find open spaces after the Falcons are forced to gear
their defense to stop the run. Take the Panthers at
home. Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Buffalo
(+4) at Miami - The little bird int the window says
Miami 17, Buffalo 7, but I hate birds. If Buffalo wins
out they could take the Patriot's playoff spot, well
technically anyway. Winning out starts this weekend
in Miami. Many people expected more from the Buff, will
they prove themselves this week against the weak Miami
Dolphins? Ricky Williams had his best game of the year
last week, and he'll continue to get his fair share
of carries down the stretch. This is an advertisement
session for Nick Saban. He's selling Ricky as a solid
back. And he's exactly that, but Ronnie Brown has the
ability to be great which limits Ricky's time in Miami.
Look for Buffalo to slow Ricky just enough to take the
Fins down in Miami.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Cincinnati
(+3) at Pittsburgh - The Steelers were embarrassed
on Monday Night Football, so they should be ready and
rearing to dismantle the Bengals at home on Sunday.
Unfortunately for them, the Bengals are one of the top
5 teams in football and they're always ready to play.
This showdown in Pittsburgh will be the weeks best game,
but don't expect the home team to come out on top. One
more week for Ben Roethlisberger to find his touch,
then the Steelers will start winning again. Game
Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Dallas
at N.Y. Giants (-3) - The Cowgirls will fumble
their way to second place in the NFC East as the Giants
vault themselves to the top of the pack. Look for this
battle of 7-4 squads to come down to the wire with the
Dallas defense failing to stop Eli Manning at the end
of the game. A touchdown late will put the New York
Football Giants up for good. Drew Bledsoe is too slow
to get away from the Giant pass rush that stymied one
of the best offensive lines in football last week in
Seattle. I never thought I'd say this, but the Giants
defense will be too tough for the Cowboys to pull off
the upset.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Green
Bay at Chicago (-7) - The Bears are good. Don't
be confused because their offense isn't a high-powered,
well-oiled, gas-hogging machine. The Chicago Bear defense
is back in full force. Who's touting Brian Urlacher
as the most overrated player in the league now? Precisely.
The Packers won't do just enough to cover the spread
in this one. For the billionth time this year, Brett
Favre's interceptions will outnumber his touchdown tosses.
Thomas Jones will pound the Packers defensive front
into submission early.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Houston
(+8) at Baltimore - I don't know what I'm doing
here. Truly the Texans are a horrendous 1-10, and well
on their way to the first pick in the 2006 draft. But
they've played much better of late, really, they have.
There is no question in my mind they fell victim to
black magic against St. Louis last week, and they've
played teams tough all year. David Carr looks much more
comfortable in the past few games, paving the way for
the Texan's second victory of the season. The Raven
defense might be the biggest disappointment of the year,
in fact, Baltimore might give the Jets a run for the
leagues biggest disappointment. On Sunday they'll stake
their claim for the top spot with a loss to the bottom
of the league. I still think the Texans would be 5-6
if they were in the NFC North.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Jacksonville
(-3) at Cleveland - David Gerrard isn't as great
as many people are expecting him to be. There's a reason
why he's backing Byron Leftwich up. But David will be
good enough to hand the ball off to Fred Taylor and
Greg Jones upwards of 40 times. His legs will be good
enough to make plays when his first read isn't open
and the Jaguar defense will step up in the absence of
their starting signal caller. The Jaguars didn't get
this far (8-3) to lose it all because Leftwich broke
his ankle. Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Minnesota
(-3) at Detroit - The Vikings are winning football
games left an right. A win this week would make it 5
straight for Brad Johnson and the Vikes. The Bears are
running away with the division but with three very winnable
games left on the schedule, the Vikings could find themselves
in the playoffs at 9-7. I know, it's unbelievable and
highly unlikely, but look at Drew Bledsoe, probably
the 15th best quarterback in the league and he is the
6th leading passer of all time. Crazy shit happens.
Look for the Vikings to get their 5th straight against
the Lions. Sorry, Detroit, Jeff Garcia doesn't make
all the difference. If I hear, ÒIf Jeff didn't
get hurtÓ one more time I'm going to make sure
that person dies a painful death. Think hours and hours
of ÒI'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie WorldÓ
by Aqua on repeat.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Tampa
Bay (-4) at New Orleans - The Saints have no right
to play close to the Bucs. New Orleans' defense is better
than people think, but to say they're good is a flat
out lie. The Bucs are solid on both sides of the ball.
I know the Saints have nothing to play for, and usually
they win these meaningless games, but this is even a
tough year for the Òonly win when it hurts youÓ
Saints. Cadillac Williams will rush for just around
150 yards as he carries the Bucs to 8-4.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Tennessee
at Indianapolis (-16) - The Colts won't slip
up against the Titans. There is no way Peyton, Coach
Dungy, and the Defense will overlook this match-up.
The Titans don't have a powerful offensive line. That
will be exploited on Sunday in Indianapolis. Edgerrin
James will find loads of room to run, as he always does.
James almost doubles the amount of 5-9 yard runs of
any other back in the league. He's a sure thing. If
the Colts go undefeated this year, he'll be the difference.
Game Date: 12/04/05 13:05 ET
Arizona
(-3) at San Francisco - The Cardinals have really
struggled, but they've found offensive fire power with
Kurt Warner throwing powder-puff balls to Larry Fitz
and Anquan Boldin. Those two receivers form one of the
leagues top receiving units. If the Cards could only
get a running game going. Dennis Green is coaching for
his job here, but what he really needs is enough losses
to draft a top signal caller. This week won't help as
Arizona will walk into San Francisco and trounce the
49ers. Three words: Alex Smith starting. This is exactly
what the 49ers need to do. Cleveland, Detroit, Green
Bay, Oakland, it's time for your stubborn donkeys to
do the same. It's time to see what the youth can do.
Game Date: 12/04/05 16:10 ET
Washington
(-3) at St. Louis - The Rams won't get lucky for
the second straight week... wait, they've been luck
since I could spell football. So what if that was only
a couple years ago. They can't get lucky against the
Redskins. Not with LaVar Arrington making sure luck
gets it's ass pounded into the ground. There is no way
the Redskins give up all those rushing yards two weeks
in a row, is there? My bet is staying away from the
Rams. One of these days, this luck crap will run down
their leg, you'll see. That day will be Sunday. Clinton
Portis will have his best game of the year yardage-wise
and Mark Brunell will find Santana Moss for old-times
sake.
Game Date: 12/04/05 16:10 ET
Denver
at Kansas City (+1.5) - The Broncos are 9-2.
Amazing. Who would have thought, after losing to the
Miami Dolphins on opening day the Broncs would win 9
of the next 10 on route to the second best record in
football. Not I. I didn't even think the Broncos would
have a 1000 yard rusher on the year. Well, I'm sticking
to my guns. The Chiefs have more on the line at home
against Denver, so they'll play to win. Larry Johnson
will rush for more yards than Denver has given up to
any other back all year. And Mike Anderson and Tatum
Bell will both fail to reach the 100 yard plateau...
in this game. Just trust me on this one, the Chiefs
need this game and Angry Larry will pull them past the
Broncos. Game Date: 12/04/05 16:20 ET
N.Y.
Jets at New England (-10) -The New York Jets
will lose their 10th game of the year, streaking their
losses to 7 in a row. It's been a tough year for Jet
faithful, and I don't know if it's getting better anytime
soon. Fortunately for the Jets, they're still in the
Reggie Bush lottery. Another big loss on Sunday could
put them in a tie for first place in that league. The
Jets still have one of the best secondarys in football,
so look for the Patriots to pound all day long against
New York's front seven. Tom Brady will have a solid
bounce back game.
Game Date: 12/04/05 16:20 ET
Oakland
at San Diego (-11) - The Raiders have struggled
to do just about everything. The defense, which was
stout to start the season, has really tailed off of
late, causing Kerry Collins to panic like that guy swatting
the bee away in that Milwaukee's Best commercial. And
like that commercial, Collins should be crushed by a
giant can of beer. God knows that's his dream. Look
at him. Collins needs to get his back foot chopped off
so he can't throw off it, then maybe the Raiders would
have a chance. But, probably not. Ladainian Tomlinson
will look like a scary combination of Tecmo Bowl's version
of Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson, leaving the rest of
the writers to agree with Coach Schottenheimer' s Week
12 assessment.
Game Date: 12/04/05 20:40 ET
Seattle
(-4) at Philadelphia - The Hawks will win easily.
How Seattle managed to win last week is beyond me. Terrible
calls went against them, then more terrible calls went
against them, then their offense played like garbage,
and they still managed to pull out before anything bad
happened. 9-2. That's solid. The Eagles aren't playing
for much on Monday. The Hawks will be playing for home
field throughout the playoffs. Watch Seattle dismantle
the Eagles. Shaun Alexander loves to play in prime-time.
He'll run all over the Eagles defense.
Game Date: 12/05/05 21:10 ET
WAGERING
SMART MAKES WATCHING NFL GAMES MORE FUN
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