One game. After five weeks of what looked like a Readers runaway in the picking contest (wins in Weeks 1,2 & 5, ties in Weeks 3 & 4 with a 5 game lead), the Staffers have roared back with wins in the last two weeks to make it a close-fought contest. The Readers' lead is now down to a single game as we prepare for Week 8 of the NFL Weekly Picks. Will the Readers reestablish their dominance or will the Staffers continue to surge forward? Only the final scores will tell the tale. Twelve predictions are up for grabs. Six teams (Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, New York Jets, Oakland and Tampa Bay) have byes.
This week our reader is that MHR member known as Desertbroncofan. Desertbroncofan writes:
Well, here goes nothing...
I've been a Broncos fan for as long as I can remember. When I played youth football I was #11 in honor of Bobby Anderson (we share our last names).
My earliest Bronco memories were listening to games on KOA as we were driving home from Winter Park after a day of skiing and wondering who this Otis Armstrong kid was trying to steal Floyd Little's thunder.
I remember the 1977 season (of course) especially the AFC Championship game when my dad showed up at halftime with a big screen projection TV! We watched the Broncos finish off the faders (despite an apparent fumble by Rob Lytle - thankfully, no replay challenges back then) and make it to the Super Bowl, which I seem to forget what happened...
I spent 6 years in San Diego after college and had to deal with the largest contingent of fair weather fans that I had ever seen. It was cool, though because I was able to get cheap tickets when the Broncos came to town and the Murph was usually more than half full of Broncos fans.
I moved to Colorado Springs in 1994 and watched Super Bowl XXXII with a Packers friend from Denver.
I've been an MHR follower since 2008 and frequently commented on posts when I didn't have much work but haven't been as active lately now that I have more work.
For the past 11 years I've been living in the Mojave Desert in California and work at a Navy Base in the desert. I have been running a pool for the last 7-8 years and did pretty well for the first couple of years but as the Broncos have fallen away, so have my picks to the point where I have been a bottom dweller the past couple of years (pretty embarrassing, really) and since I have move confidence in my picks than I've shown lately, I decided to enter my name in competition.
So, anyway, on with the picks!
Desertbroncofan will be competing with Colby Mueller. Colby writes:
Hey My name is Colby. I live in Calgary, Canada so what do I really know about football. I am currently attending university and majoring in broadcasting and hope to be involved in sports someday. I have a frame like Demaryius Thomas which explains my high school receiving skills and my multiple triple doubles in high school basketball. I make lots of videos for this site during the season which helps me understand the players pretty well. (If there is something you wanna see let me know). In the prediction game, if I had a WWE theme song, it would be Vince McMahons theme song "You've got no chance in hell." Just Bring It.
Let's take a jump and look at their predictions.
| Readers | Staffers | |
| Last Week | 4-8 | 7-5 |
| Season to Date | 63-34 | 62-35 |
Desertbroncofan: Car - Cam has been a real surprise to me this year and I think that he will show that he is much closer to OROY than Ponder and I don't see the Vikings doing well outside on turf.
Colby: Car over Min - Carolina has been coming on and has the better rookie quarterback. I dont think Minnesota is capable of scoring enough points to beat Carolina on a bad day.
Desertbroncofan: NO - I had high hopes for Bradford this season until he got McHoodie as his OC. I think Brees will continue where he left off against Indy and this should be a blowout.
Colby: NO over St. Louis - New Orleans is arguably the best team in the NFC. I dont care who you play, 60+ points is impressive and the Rams are really struggling scoring points.
Desertbroncofan: Ten - This one could be an upset but I have just a little more faith in Hasselbeck than I do in Painter. This won't be quite as bad as Cleveland/Seattle last week but it will probably be close.
Colby: TEN over Ind - Indianapolis has been unable to catch a break losing close games and still living life without Mr. Manning. TEN is on the downhill now but couldnt have drawn Indy at a better time.
Desertbroncofan: Bal - This should have been a blowout for the Ravens but after that abysmal performance on Monday this could be closer than it should be. I think Suggs will make Kolb wish the Cards had picked up Orton instead of him.
Colby: BAL over Arizona - BAL will have no choice but to come out and win this. They were dreadful against the jaguars and Arizona is still trying to get the Kolb - Fitzgerald connection going.
Desertbroncofan: NYG - Don't have a lot of faith in Eli, but the Dolphins "just stink" (ask Reggie Bush)
Colby: NYG over Miami. Miami I would have thought would have a chance in this game but after they blew it against Denver, I think this is a good matchup for the giants to keep their lead in the NFC East. The giants saw that to beat matt moore, get after him and he will only pass checkdown.
Desertbroncofan: Hou - Kubes will have Foster running all over the place and the Jags will be riding too high after their surprise MNF victory.
Colby: Houston over Jax - Houston needs this game. They score a lot of points and Arian Foster is back to his previous form of 2010. They should not have trouble with this game.
Desertbroncofan: Buf - Ah, Shanny, what happened? Grossman over Beck, Griese over Brister? Neither worked out very well, but I don't see Beck picking up his first career victory in Buffalo. I see another 4 pick game for the Bills (besides, my boss is a Bills fan).
Colby: Buf over Was - This looked like it would be a good game but the Redskins are one their way down now. They got the most they could out of Grossman and Buffalo off a bye week will look to get back into the race in the AFC East.
Desertbroncofan: SF - Harbaugh has them motivated and it turns out that Alex Smith isn't as bad as all of his previous OC's made him out to be. Cleveland? When was the last time they were relevant? Back when our VP of Football Operations was tearing their hearts out, that's when!
Colby: SF over CLE - San Francisco does not have to play well to win. Alex Smith is helping this team this year that is lead by a tough defense. Cleveland could only put up 6 against lowly Seattle.
Desertbroncofan: NE - This should be the game of the week and it's a toss-up for me, but I'm going with the Patriots just because...
Colby: PIT over NE - Pittsburgh has recovered from a rough start and seems to have their form back. They are scoring high and Tom Brady has not been as strong as early in the year. The Patriots give up lots of yards and I think Pittsburgh could win this by two possessions.
Desertbroncofan: Cin - The Bungles are not your father's Bungles anymore (well, except for losing to the Broncos) and Seattle is just pitiful. I knew that Pete Carroll was just flash in the pan last year and based on his previous NFL coaching experience, this is about where I expected the SeaChickens to fall. Whitehurst is doing his best Jake Plummer look-alike but that will only get him so far.
Colby: SEA over CIN - The bengals are surprising me this year but Seattle is at home and their defense has not been terrible. I really like Earl Thomas there and other pieces on the D. If Tarvaris Jackson is back, I could see them winning a low scoring game.
Desertbroncofan: Phi - The "Dream Team" has been a nightmare, but when hasn't Tony Romo been a nightmare? Another close one but I'll take the Iggles at home.
Colby: PHI over Dal - Philadelphia seemed to figure some things out before the bye and are now taking on Dallas in Philadelphia that they must win. Michael Vick should be healthy again and hopefully will spark this team to 2010 form.
Desertbroncofan: SD - I was totally shocked that the chefs shutout the faders but Boller and Palmer are no Phyllis. It could be close since it's a division rival but I don't see Phyllis tossing 6 INTs (4 maybe).
Colby: SD over KC - San Diego is needing a break out game and this is the game to do it. In Arrowhead, they have the ability to put up a lot of points and distance themselves in the division. If this team can get momentum, the AFC West is theirs for the taking.