Brad's NFL Picks - Week 14 - 2010

Brad's Picks was 13-3 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly: (as always, the home team goes by it's city or state, the visitor by it's team name.)

     the good:

Philadelphia 34, Texans 24. - It was Texans 24, Philadelphia 20 at the end of 3 quarters.

Kansas City 10, Broncos 6. - Kyle Orton had the worst game of his career. And then Josh McDaniels was fired as the head coach of the Broncos. Coincidence? I think so.

Green Bay 34, Forty Niners 16. - Very close game until the 3rd quarter started.

Minnesota 38, Bills 14. - Brett Favre threw one pass in the game. It was intercepted and run back 40 yards for a TD. Tarvaris Jackson finished the game and was 15-22-187 with 3 INT's and 2 TD's. Adrian Peterson had 16 carries for 107 yards and 3 TD's.

Jaguars 17, Tennessee 6. - Titans outscored the Jags 6-0 in the second half.

Bears 24, Detroit 20. - Lions led by three in the middle of the 4th.

New York Giants 31, Redskins 7. - The only fun part of the game was when Mike Shanahan lost a challenge and the Ump announced that Denver would be charged with a timeout.

Saints 34, Cincinnati 30. - Saints were down by three with 34 seconds left in the game. They had the ball on the Bengals 7. 4th down, 2 yards for a first. Saints line up and Brees starts his hut, hut thing. Everyone in the stadium knows he's trying to draw an off sides, including the Bengal player who jumps off sides. So, first down at the 2. Brees throws to Marques Colston for a TD on the next play.

Seattle 31, Panthers 14. - Panthers 14, Seattle 0 at the half.

Rams 19, Arizona 6. - Rams and Seattle are tied for the division lead at 6-6.

Falcons 28, Tampa Bay 24. - Bucs led by three with five minutes to go.

Cowboys 38, Undee 35. OT. - Peyton Manning threw four INT's. That's 11 in the last three games.

New England 45, Jets 3. Jets defense was third in the league before this game. Rex Ryan was treated to a little lesson in humility.

     the rest after the jump:

     the bad:

Browns 13, Miami 10. - Browns got the win when an INT set up a 23 yard field goal as time expired. Miami has lost 7 of the last 8 at home.

Steelers 13, Baltimore 10. - In the last four games these teams are 2-2. Each has scored 67 points (7 TD's and 6 FG's).

     the ugly:

Raiders 28, San Diego 13. - Raiders rushed for 251 yards. Chargers rushed for 21 yards.

     So, seven games were decided by 4 points or less.

     It was NFC 4, AFC 0 last week. On the season it's AFC 28, NFC 26. Visiting teams did good, winning 9, just like last week. On the season it's H 107, Visitors 85. Brad's Picks is 117 - 75. 74 games yet to be played.

     This week looks to have a lot of rainy games, especially in Minnesota, New Orleans, and Dallas. Read on.

     the Thursday night game:

Undepe at Tennessee - Division game. Weather should be below freezing, and maybe a little snow. Titans played an uninspired game last week against the Jags, while the Colts lost at home to the Cowboys (albeit in OT). Colts are still injury riddled, and Manning has been throwing too many interceptions. I'll take the Titans at home in the cold. Still, it could be one of those games where Manning kind of takes over.

     the 11:00 Sunday MST games:

New York Giants (8-4) at Minnesota (5-7) - Should be a low scoring game. Brett Favre hasn't practiced all week with a bruised shoulder, but Tarvaris Jackson looked okay last week in relief (15 of 22 for 187 and 2 TD's but also 3 INT's), although that was against Buffalo. Now he's had a full week of practice. Tough call. Giants looked good beating up the Reds last week. I guess I'll take the Vikings at home. Sidney Rice looked pretty good in his first game back from hip surgery - he had 5 receptions from Jackson for 105 yards.

Tampa Bay (7-5) at Washington (5-7) - Bucs are the better team. But it's going to be rainy, which might help the Reds.

Cleveland (5-7) at Buffalo (2-10) - Should be a wet game in the rain, but both teams are used to wet stuff. Bills have put out great effort lately, but so have the Browns. I'll take the Browns because of Peyton Hillis, even though the Dolphins held him to 57 yards on 18 carries last week.

Green Bay (8-4) at Detroit (2-10) - Division game. Packers found a bit of a rush game last week, with rookie James Starks coming off the injury list and gaining 73 on 18. That's enough for me to take the Packers.

Oakland (6-6) at Jacksonville (7-5) - Another rainy game. Both teams run the ball well, so that negates some of the mud. I'll take the Jaguars in the home mud.

Cincinnati (2-10) at Pittsburgh - Division game. Steelers are off a tough Sunday night win in Baltimore while the Bengals played the Saints real tough. Division games are different, so the Bengals may make a game of this (remember, they swept the AFC North last year) but you gotta take the Steelers at home. It was Steelers 27, Cincinnati 21 in Week 9 on MNF. More rain in this game.

Atlanta (10-2) at Carolina (1-11) - Division game. Another rainy game, which favors the Panthers over the domer Falcons. Panthers refuse to give up, but I'll still take the Falcons.

     the 2:05 MST games:

Seattle (6-6) at San Francisco (4-8) - Division game. No rain by the Golden Gate - lots of sunshine instead. I'll take the Forty Niners at home, even though the Seahawks have been playing decent. Matt Hasselbeck will likely be without his best receiver, Mike Williams. Brian Westbrook will have another good game for the Niners.

St. Louis (6-6) at New Orleans (9-3) - Rams won a road game last week in Denver, but take the Saints here.

     the 2:15 MST games:

Kansas City (8-4) at San Diego (6-6) - Division game. Chiefs won 21 - 14 in Week One. Chiefs QB Matt Cassel underwent an appendectomy on Wednesday. It's possible he could still play - apparently, if the surgery was done with a scope, his only problem would be dealing with pain. That is to say, no risk of furyher injury. If he can't go, Cheifs will start Brodie Croyle, who is 0-9 as a stater for the Chiefs. But that was before they came up with a decent D and a great running game. Still, I'd be taking the Chargers here even without the departed appendix. Rivers has been getting his injured receivers back, and this is despite (or because of) the Chargers being blown out by the Raiders last week.

Denver (3-9) at Arizona (3-9) - Broncos owner Pat Bowlen "relieved HC Josh McDaniels of his duties..". In other words, McDaniels became the third NFL HC to be fired in the middle of the season. Broncos RB Coach Eric Studesville takes over as Interim HC. Arizona is really hurting for a QB and will likely go with rookie John Skelton. If McDaniels was still the HC I'd pick the Broncos here. I'll do it anyway, because I don't expect many changes without him, and heck, Interim Head Coaches (Jason Garrett of the Boys and Leslie Fraser of the Vikings) are 5-1 this season. Weather should be in the 70's and very sunny.

New England (10-2) at Chicago (9-3) - It will be cold, with maybe some snow showers, but the Patriots are used to that. Really hard call to make, so I'll go with the Bears at home. Cutler seems to have stopped throwing INT's, although he gets sacked a lot. Bears defense has been great. Patriots don't often lose focus, but maybe after their huge blowout of the Jets?

Miami (6-6) at New York Jets (9-3) - Division game. Another rainy game. I'll take the Jets to rebound from a blowout in New England.

     the SNF game:

Philadelphia (8-4) at Dallas (4-8) - Division game. This is interesting. Remember how the Eagles lost two games in a row at Dallas last January? By a total of 40 points? Different teams this year. Vick has the Eagles on a roll, while the Boys descended into loserville. But they've been on the rebound since Jason Garrett took over as Interim Head Coach (3-1, could easily be 4-0). Vick has been getting the crap beat out of him, so that might slow him down. I'll take Dallas. Eagles lost by 5 at Chicago two weeks ago.

     the MNF game:

Baltimore (8-4) at Houston (5-7) - Take the Ravens. But don't put your money on it. Texans don't have a great pass defense but the Ravens just lost a real tough game at home last week to the Steelers. They might not have their chin straps snapped.