The Readers are doing a very good job of drubbing the Staffers in the picks contest. Two outright wins were followed by two ties raising the possibility that the Staffers were turning their fortunes around. That hope came crashing back to earth in Week 5 when Bronco2661 edged Jeremy Bolander by one game. This week there will be a slate of thirteen games with Arizona, Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Seattle and Tennessee having byes in Week 6.
This week our Reader is that MHR member known as MDeesh. MDeesh writes:
I grew up in California, the god-forsaken land of Chargers and Raiders fans. However, my family made sure that I grew up to be a proper die-hard Broncos fan. I now live on the East Coast, another sad land where Broncos fans are few and far between. My roommates have come to expect a certain amount of yelling on Sundays, and they can always tell how the Broncos did based on my mood the next day.
MDeesh will be competing with Troy Hufford. Troy writes:
Troy Hufford's greatest asset in this Mile High Report Staff Challenge is his extraordinary brain. Currently in the final semester of his undergrad, he is on pace to achieving his Masters' Degree in Bioengineering with only 5 years of college courses. Don't let the nerdy engineering student facade fool you, though. This guy knows football. He watches more film than Jamarcus Russel, runs a faster 40 time than Rich Eisen, and once played an entire game of two-hand touch with a hangnail... something that Jay Cutler would never do. After becoming a MHR staff member, kentuckybronco evolved into Troy Hufford.
And now, onto the picks
| Readers | Staffers | |
| Last Week | 8-4 | 7-5 |
| Season to Date | 52-20 | 46-26 |
MDeesh: Washington -- The dream team continues to show that the dream they're having is a nightmare.
Troy: Washington wins. I can’t trust the Eagles to win until they prove to me that they aren’t going to keep turning over the football. 1-4 doesn’t sound like the kind of record a "dream team" should have.
MDeesh: Detroit -- It's hard to mine for gold when you're being eaten by Lions. It's tempting to predict a letdown for Detroit after last week, but San Francisco is also coming off an exciting win. The feel-good team of the year wins at home.
Troy: Give me the Lions. The front four is flat out scary. I’m surprised they didn’t put up more sack numbers against Jay Cutler, but when you look at the tape, the Bears couldn’t stop them. Cutler was on the run for most of the game and Chicago had 9 false start penalties. I hope Alex Smith is wearing his flak jacket.
MDeesh: Carolina -- Falcons are a tasty meal for hungry Panthers. Cam Newton gets his first road win against inconsistent Atlanta.
Troy: Atlanta will win. Newton puts up pretty stat lines, but it hasn’t translated to a winning record. Kind of like the Eagles prediction, until the Panthers can prove that they can win a couple, I can’t pick them to win.
MDeesh: Pittsburgh -- Steel is pretty hard to eat. Pittsburgh is the far better team and they win at home. The Jaguars starve and are the only team of cats to lose.
Troy: Pittsburgh. Not much of an explanation, here, but the Jaguars are bad... That’s it.
MDeesh: Green Bay -- One of the very worst teams in the NFL playing on the road against one of the very best teams in the NFL.
Troy: Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers is the man. The 2011 MVP will light up the Rams.
MDeesh: Buffalo -- The Giants continue to play like apathetic, blind dwarves as they lose to the only New York team that actually plays in New York.
Troy: Buffalo. What an interesting team. On paper, they really shouldn’t win this game, but you have to ride the momentum. The Bills incredible start should continue against an inconsistent Giants team.
MDeesh: Cincinnati -- Bengals are fearsome predators. Colts are young male horses. Bengals eat Colts.
Troy: Bengals. The Colts are still Manningless and winless. It won’t change against the Dalton-led Bengals, who are playing surprisingly well this season.
MDeesh: Houston -- Houston pulls off the upset of the week.
Troy: Ravens. Matt Schaub is still in mourning over the loss of Andre Johnson. The Ravens defense is no slouch and should make his life miserable this week.
MDeesh: Oakland -- I hate picking Oakland. It feels like treason to even suggest that they might win a game, but Cleveland has only beaten winless teams. Oakland wins an easy one at home.
Troy: Raiders. I’m buying into the Raiders running game. After an emotional win over the Texans, I think they ride the momentum and take down the Browns.
MDeesh: New England -- The Patriots have already had their surprise loss for the first half of the season. They win and keep pace with Buffalo before both teams have their bye week.
Troy: Patriots. Tom Brady isn’t playing the Jets, so he will win. I think it’s that simple.
MDeesh: New Orleans -- Tampa Bay looks for a reason to hope after last week's blowout loss. They don't find it this week.
Troy: Saints. Drew Brees is quietly having a great year and the Saints are the quietest 4 win team in the league. They’ll roll the young Bucs and reach a 5-1 record..
MDeesh: Chicago -- Chicago suffered a tough loss to a division rival last week, and they make the most of a chance beat up on a weaker division rival this week.
Troy: Bears. I am a huge Adrian Peterson fan (he’s on my fantasy team), but I don’t see the Bears losing this one. The Bears are two dimensional. The Vikings are one dimensional and Adrian can’t beat the Bears by himself.
MDeesh: NYJ -- See previous game. Substitute "NYJ" for "Chicago".
Troy: Jets. The Dolphins are the NFL’s worst team. They won’t win.