Week Three In The NFL.......

Last week much better on my predictions as I went 12-4....Any Challengers out there...Overall 19-13 for the season. By the way last week should be a good example of why you don't come here for point spreads as I was WAY off on the one game I did comment about the point spread. That is also why I don't give scores. What does it matter. The Win or Loss is the only thing that matters.
So, it's Sunday morning around 9AM and I am having my coffee.....Here we go for another exciting week in the NFL. 1st game on tap is my Saints. If they weren't at home this would be even tougher to call but I 'll go with the Saints to pull this one out in the 4th Quarter. Saints win. It could however come down to who has the ball last.
Titans travel to New York to face the Giants. I gotta feel like the Giants will get back on track at home. Giants win. The Steelers at Tampa Bay. Everyone is picking the Steelers because of the great defense they are playing. I believe the Bucs will show they have a pretty good defense as well. Bucs playing with a lot of confidence and again at home I am going with the Bucs to win in my Upset Special.  Bengals at Carolina....no contest the Bengals win in a rout. John Fox is running out of QB's & options. He will be lucky to finish the season as the head coach. Browns at Ravens...Are you kidding me??? Too much Ray's as in Lewis and Rice. Ravens win easily. Cowboys at the Texans...Here is another team on the ropes and the Texans are a team that can deliver the knockout punch. Look for Jerry Jones to turn BEET RED if Dallas loses this one and more than likely it will spell the end of the Wade Phillips Era. Texans are at home...see my theme today. Texans deliver....Goodbye Dallas....No Home Super Bowl this year.  Texans win it in 4th quarter last minute drive. 49ers at Chiefs. San Fran has to win. 49ers win in a close one. Lions at Vikings...this is what they call NUT CRUNCHING time for the Vikings. If they lose their season could be over. Vikings at home will get back on track and win. Patriots host the Bills. What do you think??? Patriots win...COME ON MAN!!! Washington at St.Louis...I am going to go with the Rams again at home one more time...Too much Stephen Jackson and Donovan has off day...Rams win. Eagles at Jacksonville...if Kolb was starting instead of Vick I would pick the Jags at home but Vick IS starting soooo...Eagles win. Raiders at Arizona...The Cardinals better get on track after an embarrassing loss at Atlanta last week. Cards get win at home. Chargers take the short flight to Seattle. Chargers win in a close one. Colts go to Denver...it was like watching two different teams from week one to week two. Peyton is back! Colts win. The Jets vs the Dolphins....The Jets need this one more...Jets win. Finally Monday Night Football has a good one between the Packers and the Bears. The Bears will be up for this one in front of the Home Crowd. Bears win in a dogfight...probably a last second field goal.

Week Two.....

Well let's counted 'em up.....7-8 this past week but still believe I had the Bears-Lions game....HORRIBLE CALL in the endzone. Why is it when your are running the ball you just have to break the plane but when you are catching the ball, you must maintain control all the way to the bench! STUPID RULE!!!
Now for this weeks picks. Lots of surprises last week...as expected it always happens in a new season. So..Here we go again...Bears at the Cowboys.....the Bears didn't win last week the Lions lost. Cowboys redeem themselves at home and win for the fans at home. Falcons at home against the Cardinals...the Cardinals struggled against the Sam Bradford led Rams last week and almost lost it. Falcons will win at home. Buffalo at Green Bay...It's bad enough when you have to play Green Bay at home but in Lambeau that's a tall order for any team. Packers win at home. Eagles at Lions.....this would have been close if Matt Stafford and Kevin Kolb were starting at QB. Unfortunately for the Lions, the now fully healthy and back to his old running self Michael Vick will start for the Eagles. Too much Vick for Lions to handle. Eagles win on the road. Steelers at Titans...should be a slug fest but I'll lean to the home team on this one Titans win with Chris Johnson's running. Ravens at the Bengals...the Ravens were not as good as they played last week and the Bengals are not as bad as they played look for the Bengals to get back on track with the Home Field advantage. Bengals win in a close one. Chiefs at Cleveland....Poor Jake he just can't get a break. Although Senaca Wallace will have a good game and probably steal the starting QB job from Delhomme the new and improved Chiefs who showed last week they do have a defense. Chiefs win. Tampa Bay at Carolina....I really don't know what people see in the Panthers but they keep picking them. If Matt Moore gets the start he will struggle & the upstart Bucs will win their second in a row for the first time since Jon Gruden was the coach. The Dolphins travel to Minnesota. If this were in Miami the outcome might be different. Look for the Vikings to get back on track at home. Vikings win. This week we will find out if the Seahawks are for real or not as they travel to Denver to take on the Broncos. I can't see Josh McDaniels not having his team ready to play at home. Broncos win. Rams at Oakland....I am just going to go with the home team simply because the defense did a pretty good job for most of the game last week against Chris Johnson...and if the Rams can't run the ball Bradford is in for a long day...Raiders win. Here's another game to see if a team is for real...the Texans at Washington. Although the Redskins played good defense, they still haven't shown if they can score on offense. I'll lean toward Houston...Texans win. Jaguars at Chargers...the Jags actually surprised me last week but I'll go with the Chargers to get back on track in front of the Home crowd..but I will say this if the Chargers lose and go 0-2 this could spell the end for Norv Turner if he cannot right the ship real quick. Chargers win at home. The Patriots at the Jets....Are the Jets as good as they say they are...we will see this week in another tough test. I believe the Jets will get back to good defense and find a way to harass Tom Brady. The AFC east is a tough division and the Jets cannot afford to go down 0-2. Jets win at home. The big game Sunday is Manning vs Manning in the Manning Bowl. I warned all of you last week the Colts are in trouble. Too many key injuries. Look for the Eli led Giants to upset the Colts at home. This is one time if I were a gambler I'd  take the 5 1/2 points with the Giants. Giants win a big one and Colts go 0-2 for the the first time since Jim Mora was the coach. Finally......what you all have been waiting for the Monday Night Matchup with the Saints traveling to San Francisco to play the 49ers. The 49ers are not as bad as they looked last week. They just read to many of their own press clippings. The difference in this game will be the defense....New Orleans' defense. They held Brett Favre and the Vikings to ZERO points in the second half of last weeks game plus they have almost had a bye week being off for eleven days. The Saints under Payton have done well out of a bye week. It will be close in the first half but then the Saints will pull away in the second half. Saints win and go 2-0. Don't forget to give me your predictions and see how well you can pick against me.

Prediction Time.....

Let's see how you match up against my picks for opening week.....I am not going to get into scores simply because the only thing that matters is the outcome and I am not here to help you win a bet with or without  the points. I do not do point spreads. It's not my thing. So...Here we go....The Panthers are in New York to face the Giants and will lose their first of many games this season. Giants win at home. The next game is intriguing the Colts must travel to Houston to face a much improved Texan team with something to prove. One reason the Texans like playing the Saints in pre-season is because they get to test out against a very similar team. This will go down to the wire but I'll go with the Texans at home to win. Falcons and Steelers...easy no Big Ben NO WIN....Falcons will win easily. Browns at Tampa Bay....2 very evenly matched teams but the Browns will have a spark with Jake Delomme at QB and win this one. Broncos at Jacksonville....Jaguars don't stand a chance. Broncos win. Miami at Buffalo...Bills still searching for right formula...Dolphins win. Lions on the road against Chicago and it is still warm outside which doesn't help the Bears. Lions upset the Bears at home.Raiders at Tennessee...Titans all over this with Chris Johnson getting over the 100 yard mark in the 1st half. Here is another good matchup the Bengals at New England. Although the Bengals are much improved so are the Patriots from last year. I going to lean to the Home Team. Patriots win in a close one. Packers at the Eagles. Eagles will put up a good fight in the 1st half then will succumb to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers potent offense in the 2nd half. Packers win. Cardinals at St.Louis....If he can stay healthy for a season Sam Bradford will have a pretty good year. Look for him to give the Rams the edge at home. Cardinals still searching for a QB. Rams win. 49ers at Seattle...Are you kidding me??? Singeltary will welcome Carroll back to the NFL with a beating. 49ers win.  The Cowboys have to open up on the road in Washington. Not a good thing when you are playing poorly. Look for the Redskins to give Mike Shanahan his 1st win with his new team. Ravens at the Jets for game one of Monday Night Football. The Rex Ryan led Jets are on a mission. Jets will give Ray Lewis another reason to retire. Jets win. Game two has the Chargers at Kansas City. Although the Chiefs have come a long way in the offseason with a good draft and free agent pick ups look for San Diego to be just too much offense for the Chiefs to handle. Chargers win.

Now for the 2010 Super Bowl Prediction...

In the AFC the Chargers and Jets will get the Bye with the Chargers having Home Field thru out the Playoffs. In the Wildcard Round the Bengals and Titans survive. The Patriots and Broncos go home for the Holidays. In the next Round Jets win at home against the Bengals and the Phillip Rivers led Chargers finally get to the AFC Championship game beating the Titans in San Diego. In the AFC Championship game the Chargers finally use home field to their advantage. LaDamian Tomlinson once again is on the outside looking in. Jets cut Tomlinson after game saying he's a Jinx. The Chargers are smoking hot at home. Phillip Rivers picks on Darelle Revis and Revis is burned for 2 touchdowns in the game. Rex Ryan is overheard asking  Revis for his signing bonus back after the game. Chargers are on their way to the Super Bowl.
In The NFC the Saints and Packers get the Bye with the Saints edging the Packers by one game to get Home Field advantage thru out the Playoffs. For the 2nd year in a row the road to the Super Bowl goes thru New Orleans.Vikings and Falcons survive the Wildcard Weekend and the 49ers and Eagles going home for the Holidays. In another addition of last years NFC Championship part 3 the Vikings once again lose to the Saints and Brett Favre has FINALLY had enough...this time FOR REAL! He takes more punishment in this game than all 3 combined. After the game Favre is quoted as saying "My body is shot" "I am done for good" Favre retires after 20 long NFL Seasons with his consecutive game streak in tacked at 301 starts in the regular season. In Lambeau the Packers are too much for the Falcons in the Frigid Frozen Tundra. Packers win easily. In New Orleans the Saints defy the odds and using the "WHO DAT NATION" as their inspiration beat the Packers in Overtime. The new overtime "Brett Favre" rule actually works to the Saints advantage as they quickly move the ball down field to score a touchdown....GAME OVER!
In the Super Bowl the starry-eyed Chargers can't believe they made it finally and get caught up in the hoopla while the Sean Payton/Drew Brees led Saints are all business on their way to a 2nd consecutive Super Bowl proving all of the naysayers wrong. As the Saints approach the podium to accept the Lombardi Trophy fans have already started chanting "THREE DAT"!
Now it's your turn to give me your predictions....FIRE AWAY!

AFC picks for 2010....

Let's start with our favorite home town alum Peyton Manning and the Colts in the AFC South. Should be another banner year right? Wrong! The Colts will struggle this year. Already injuries are hitting them hard with Addai having a concussion and Bracket the starting All-Pro Linebacker hurting along with starting OT Tony Ugoh. This is not going to be Peyton's finest hour. He will have more than one game to win all by himself.  The question is how many can he pull out? It will be a tough race between the Titans and the Colts. This year, though, I believe will belong to Chris Johnson and Vince Young along with one of the longest tenured coaches in the League, Jeff Fisher. The Titans ended their season last year on a high note and that will carry over into this season. Look for the Colts to finish 2nd and the Texans 3rd with the Jags bringing up the rear again. This should finally spell the end for Jack Del Rio. Del Rio could never find a quality quarterback to lead his team and ultimately that will cost him his job. Titans win division and the Colts don't make the Playoffs.
In the AFC North my surprise pick(and NO I am Not on DRUGS) is the Cleveland Browns to not only have a better season but I will go out on a limb and say they will upset a few teams and probably be the spoilers for a few more. A slim chance at a Wildcard spot but a lot of things will need to fall their way along with not being bit by the injury bug AND they get great quarterback play from Jake Delomme who definitely wants to prove he is NOT washed up.. Look for the Bengals to win the Division. It's a toss up between the Ravens and the Browns for 2nd place and the Steelers have too many off the field problems plus a very tough schedule(which includes the Super Bowl Champs IN New Orleans) to finish any place but last.
In the AFC West The Chargers will dominate again with the Broncos the only challenger. The Chiefs and the Raiders are in rebuilding mode and don't stand a chance against the other two. Chargers win the Division and the Broncos get a Wildcard Spot....My surprise pick in this Division is Tim Tebow. Watch for Tebow to start by mid-season should Kyle Orton not be getting the job done. Josh McDaniels will not hesitate to pull the plug on Orton if he feels Tebow can give him a spark. Tebow will still get playing time in a Michael Vick type situation.
Lastly, let's look at the AFC East.....Lots of talent and only time will tell but this is a prediction so here I go.....
I am going to go with the Jets to win the Division. I really like what Rex Ryan is doing up there. He may end up being a better coach than his dad. The Patriots will get the Wildcard---TWO WORDS---Bill Belichick. The man is a flat out winner and it's hard to bet against him. It will be tough for the Dolphins to match up and unfortunately for the Dolphins they have to play the Jets and the Patriots twice. They will finish with a winning season though, just in 3rd place in a very tough Division. In Buffalo the Bills are still searching for an identity. They will come in last....again.
Tomorrow........Who wins in the playoffs and who gets to the Super Bowl and the winner of that game.

Season Begins Thursday......

The matchup is awesome! Of course I am a little prejudice to say the least considering the home town boys are playing. So let's take a look into the future of this NFL football season and see what Frankie Raye has to say. I won't pick wins for every team this year but I will give you my take on what teams will show their stuff including a couple of MY surprise teams of 2010.
Let's take it by Divisions first and we'll start with the NFC South. Don't believe all that curse stuff and teams that won the Super Bowl have a hard time repeating. I remember all the Naysayers last December telling everyone who would listen that "No Team that lost its last 3 games had ever made it to the Super Bowl" let alone win one. Strike that one down. We are in a different NFL world these days and normal rules don't apply. The Saints will win the NFC South with a strong challenge from the Falcons but ultimately they will succumb to the Saints. The NFC South looks like this Saints(Division Winners), Falcons(2nd Place and a Wildcard in Playoffs), Bucs will be improved and finished 3rd, while the Panthers finish dead last and John Fox good coach that he is will be looking for a job.
In the NFC North a much improved and well coached Packers team will win the Division with the Vikings getting enough out of Brett Favre to garner the other Wildcard spot. The Lions will surprise and finish 3rd getting to .500 and showing some promise. Lovie Smith, however, showing that he has worn out his welcome in Chicago will be looking for work as the Bears will finish last in the North.
In the NFC West.....WHO CARES??? The 49ers will take the whole enchilada and win their 1st Division title since Steve Young was quarterbacking. The rest of the pack is hard to distinguish one from another but I'll say the Cardinals have enough talent left over to finish 2nd but it won't get them to the Playoffs this year. The Seahawks are in transition and I do not believe Pete Carroll will make that much of a difference. His previous stints in the NFL as a head coach were less than spectacular. The Seahawks will finish last and the Rams will get enough of a spark from new quarterback Sam Bradford to finish at .500 and 3rd place in the West.
In the NFC East many are picking the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl. I believe the Cowboys will have enough troubles getting out of their own way. There is something wrong in Dallas and we'll probably never know the answer but it ain't pretty. The Eagles and Giants are pretty evenly matched and will fight for the title this year. The team that really intrigues me is the Redskins. Now there is a coach(Mike Shanahan) who can make a difference. Look for the Redskins to be the spoilers of more than a few teams including the ones in their division. The biggest problem the Redskins will have is the same problem the Eagles had over the last several years...Can Donovan McNabb stay healthy for an entire season??? I am going to call it this way....Eagles(Win Division), Giants come in 2nd and out of the playoffs with the Cowboys finishing 3rd and possibly Wade Phillips looking for a job as well. Redskins will finish strong but not enough to get out of the cellar this year.
Tomorrow the AFC...........