PV’s Upset Specials: Week 11

Another tough week after such a good start to the season. A very frustrating week, as the Lions defense did the job by holding the Bears to one offensive touchdown, Cutler to 123 yards, and Forte to 67 yards rushing. When you look at that it would seem that the Lions won, but Jim Schwartz has some growing to do as a coach and the first lesson learned would be do not kick the ball to Hester. Two special teams and defensive touchdowns lead to the demise of the Lions. Stafford had 63 passing attempts, whoa! Anyhow enough of my complaining about bonehead calls that lead to a 1-3 week, hold on, wait, I have to say something about the Falcons going for it on 4^th and 1 in their end of the field in overtime; terrible coaching.

I fell to .500 straight up, but remain a few games above .500 against the spread.

Straight up: 9-9
Spread: 11 – 9

This weeks upset specials:

Chargers over the Bears (-2.5) – This looks familiar, same prediction different team. The Bears are not as desperate as the Chargers and the Chargers will have a more balanced game plan than the Lions, as well as not kicking to Hester. Let’s not forget the Bears only scored one offensive touchdown last week. Remove Hester from the equation and the Bears lose. They’re really not good.

Raiders over the Vikings (-1.5) – The Raiders have a much better team than the Vikings, and should overcome any dome troubles to win this one on the road. I’m kind of shocked that the Vikings are favorites in this one.

Eagles over the Giants (-3.5) – I’m pretty shocked by how well the Giants have played so far this season, but the desperate Eagles will win this one in a classic NFC East match-up.

Bills over the Dolphins (-2.5) – The Bills will rebound this week in Miami despite the Dolphins finally figuring out their team over the last few weeks. The Dolphins have been playing much better and Reggie Bush has been running the best of his career, but the Bills will reach back and re-establish themselves after a horrible performance against the Cowboys.

Good luck everyone!

PV’s Upset Specials: Week 9

This week I try to rebound coming off a rough week with only calling the Giants against the Dolphins correctly. I would have been 2-2 if Houston did not choose to kick a field goal with: 20 left already up by a touchdown. At least in the Cowboys loss Rob Ryan took full blame for it and saved me ranting about it this week on the blog; terrible defensive plan. My season totals took a bit of hit this week.

Straight up: 6-4 (only picked two last week)
Spread: 8 – 4

This weeks upset specials:

Buccaneers over the Saints (-7.5) – I’m going to repurpose this one saying once again the Bucs will upset the Saints this week. In the first meeting the Buc won 26-20 and they will win again by running it down the Saints throats. Freeman has been in a bit of a funk the Bucs, but expect him to have a nice game throwing the ball.

Rams over the Cardinals (-4.5) – The Rams have found their running game again with a healthy Steven Jackson, and they will continue to run him 30 plus times thus given Sam Bradford wide open receivers to throw to in man coverage. Rams will win quite easily this week.

Ravens over the Steelers (-3.5) – This game will be decided by a field goal either way, but the Ravens will find a way to win this one after coming off a huge come from behind victory last weekend. Two solid defenses square off in this one, but I think both teams will score a lot of points.

Jets over the Bills (-1.5) – Jets defense is coming on and the other Ryan will put together a good defensive scheme to shut down the Bills running game. If that happens it should be an easy day for the Jets. J-E-T-S! JETS!

Good luck everyone!

This weeks power rankings!!!

1 – Green Bay Packers (3-0)
Packers continue to roll and their defense hasn’t even kicked into full gear, yet. Aaron Rogers and company continue to make teams pay with the big play, and running back Ryan Grant had a huge game against he Bears this week.

2 – Detroit Lions (3-0)
The Lions move up a spot as they overcame a 20-0 hole at halftime to the Vikings to win 26-23 in overtime. This was the first time the Lions had won in the Superdome since 1997. The Earhole Bowl II takes place this Sunday at high noon when Smitty’s Lions square off against my Cowboys in Texas. I’m going with ‘Boys because of home field advantage.

3 – Buffalo Bills (3-0) I did not respect the Bills last week and they took 16 points away from me in my confidence pool. I also ignored them in the power rankings, which was stupid on my part. They make a high debut at #3 this week. They seem to be able to hang with anyone, but I’d like to see some better defense. That seems to be a problem with a lot of teams right now, defense.

4 – New England Patriots (2-1)
I’ll tell you why the Patriots are 2-1 instead of 3-0 right now, no running game. Not that they don’t have a running game, but the pass happy Patriots seem non-committed to running the ball consistently. This is part of their offense and it’s sad because they can run the ball they just choose not to. I’m going to sound redundant, but they do have some defensive problems.

5 – New Orleans Saints (2-1)
It took 40 points, but the Saints beat the Texans so they’ll move up a spot this week. Again, the whole game is on the shoulders of the New Orleans offense as they have very little defense. What I did not take into account when I left the Saints out of the playoffs is that defense would be at a premium this season. They might just be able to outscore everyone.

6 – Houston Texans (2-1)
Wade Philips may be back where he should be, a defensive coordinator, but his defense was not very good against the Saints. Still the Texans are good club and should win their division easily. They drop a two spots this week.

7 – Dallas Cowboys (2-1)
The Cowboys make their debut at #7 on the power rankings this week after their second consecutive win lead by a flak jacket wearing Tony Romo throwing to mostly rookie receivers. Romo has elevated his level of play this season and Rob Ryan’s defense is making huge plays in the clutch. This is a winning formula that has a big test this week against the Lions.

8 – San Diego Chargers (2-1)
The Chargers struggled this week against a 0-3, Kansas City Chiefs team. Their offense seemed to be lacking a bit with Antonio Gates out of the line-up and never really seemed in sync. They are notoriously slow starters so I’ll hold them at #8 this week.

9 – Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
The Steelers were able to overcome a lackluster performance and survive the Colts, 23-20.  Peyton Manning may be out, but the Colts still have a solid defense and should be able to move the ball with the talented support staff that Manning had at his disposal in years past. That’s why the Steelers hold their spot this week in the Top 10.

10 – Carolina Panthers (1-2)
A lot of the Panthers game was played in a monsoon, but they overcome it and won the game under adversity. This was the type of the game this team needed to see if they could handle not scoring at will. They handled it better as they won for the first time this season. The Panthers should move to 2-2 after they beat the Bears. I would just let Cam Newton take control of the game.

Who left the Top 10?

Atlanta Falcons (1-2)
Not sure what’s going on with this team, but they need to work on some things in order to get the team on track.

New York Jets (2-1)
I said it last week, I don’t think the Jets’ defense is very good this season, and Mark Sanchez does not look like he’s matured at all at the QB position.