Observations and Predictions... Week 3

I went 11-5 last week. The Cowboys continued to disappoint me. OK, I'm short on time so here are the picks of the week.

The Bengals on the road beat the Panthers. The Cincy defense trumps a rookie QB making his debut. Pats over the Bills. The Bills have looked punchless. I don't expect Poo Poo Fitzpatrick to change things. Niners win one on the road over the surprising Chiefs. Titans squeak by the Giants. I expect a big day from Vince Young in NY. Ravens over the Browns in Baltimore. Steelers beat the Bucs in the battle of the unbeatens. Their defense is too good for the young Bucs. It will be close. Saints beat the Falcons in a shootout. Expect lots of passing yards as both teams have injuries to their running games. Vikings trounce the Lions. The Cowboys rescue their season by beating the Texans... i hope. Eagles go on the road and beat the Jags. Vick continues to impress. Redskins beat the Rams in St. Louis. Colts over the ailing Broncos. Cards in a close one over the Raiders. Chargers whoop on the Seahawks. Jets beat the surprising Dolphins in Miami. Packers over the Bears on Monday Night.

Observations & Predictions... Week 2

What a crazy opening weekend. I went a craptastic 8-8. Hopefully I have a better showing this week. Speaking about crappy Week 1 performances, what the hell happened to my Cowboys? How does Alex Barron still have a job this week? The Boys, Colts, Niners and Falcons let me down. The Bolts let me down big time. KC looked a lot more impressive (especially on defense) than I expected. On to this weeks picks.

Performers of the Week
QB:Peyton Manning: Huge effort in a loss. 433 yards and 3 scores.
WR: Miles Austin: Proves last year was no fluke. 146 yards and 1 TD.
RB: Arian Foster: HUGE. 231 yards and 3 TDs.
TE: Dallas Clark. It wasn't a huge day for TE's but Clark had his typical strong day. 80 yards and a score.
DEF:Seahawks: Started the season right in shutting down the Niners.
ST: Chiefs: Really set the tone for the game with a punt return for a score.

Steelers at Titans should be a real old fashioned slugfest. Without Big Ben I don't think the Steelers have enough offensive firepower to handle the Titans. Expect another solid day from Chris Johnson (no surprise). Titans in a tight one. The Bengals pull out a close one over the Ravens. Benson runs well against this defense (237 yards a year ago). Eagles trounce the Lions. The Vick should start supporters get more ammunition. Falcons over the Cards. Matt Ryan picks apart the Cards D with a big game. Vikings in another defensive battle beat the Dolphins. Favre continues to connect with his new favorite target in Shiancoe. Chiefs go to 2-0 and beat the Browns in a very entertaining game. Jones and Charles will go crazy. Panthers run all over the Bucs. Packers have a huge day throwing the ball against the Bills. My Boys win one at home against the Bears. Peppers will be a handful for Doug Free, but Romo has a big day against a suspect secondary. Watch Dez Bryant in the slot. The Broncos pull one out at home against the resurgent Seahawks. The Raiders win a close one at home over the Rams. Chargers even their record against the Jags. The Pats keep the Jets winless and put Rex in panic mode. Texans beat the Redskins at home. Another big day for Foster. On Sunday Night, the Colts take out their week one frustrations on the Giants. Expect Manning to have a huge day (if I phrase it that way I'm guaranteed that either Manning will).

Expect the Saints to whoop up on the struggling Niners.

Fantasy Picks of the Week
QB: Michael Vick-Expect a very big day both running and passing against the Lions.
WR: Andre Johnson-Didn't have a big week one. Expect that to change against the Skins.
RB: Darren McFadden-May have rescued his career in week one. Look for his strong play to continue.
TE: Tony Gonzalez-Will shred the Cards underneath.
DEF: Philly-The eagles will dominate the Lions on both sides of the ball.
ST: Denver-I expect this to be a clsoe one. Prater owners will be happy.

Observations and Predictions... Week 1

Here it is. After months of waiting, the NFL season kicks off tonight. Every team starts off on equal footing and is a contender... at least for one week (OK, maybe not the Bucs, but you get what I'm saying). Without further ado, here are the picks.

Thursday Night
The NFC Championship Game rematch will not disappoint. I think it will be a back and forth game with the Saints puling out a win in the 4th Quarter. Peterson will play inspired football, but the Vikings secondary will have a tough time dealing with Brees and his receiving corps.

Sunday
Oakland at Tennessee will be a tighter game than people expect. The Titans will win on a late TD run by Chris Johnson. The Giants will exact some measure of revenge (in a close defensive battle) on the Panthers for the severe ass-kicking they handed them at the end of last year. The Colts beat the very game Texans. This game will be a shoot-out, but the seasoned Colts put the upstart Texans in their place. Denver behind strong play from Kyle Orton gets the jump on the Jags. My upset of the week, has the Falcons beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh. A healthy Michael Turner, plus the absence of Big Ben will hurt the Steelers. The Dolphins head up to Buffalo and escape with a win, luckily for them it'll be warm and sunny, so weather won't really play a factor.Watch out for that Dolphins offense, its very capable of being a big play offense this season. Chad Henne will have a new best friend (target) in Brandon Marshall. The Bears dominate the not ready yet Lions. Although Jahvid Best will impress, the young Lions still have some work to do. The game of the week pits two playoff teams from a year ago against each other. The Pats should win one at home against the Bengals. Brady and Moss (and Welker and Edelman and Hernandez) will prove to be too much for the Cincy secondary. In the Not Game of the Week (or the Toilet Bowl) the Browns head down to Tampa Bay and come away with a win. The Niners pick up a big division win on the road in whipping the Seahawks. The Packers start the year the right way with a win on the road in Philly. Rodgers is a stud. The Cards beat the young Rams. It will be close, and Bradford will provide thrills, but the Cards veterans shine through.

Sunday Night
Dallas goes on the road to Washington and comes away with a win. Shanahan's team will play tough, but the Boys are stacked.

Monday Night
The Jets get the season started right at home in beating the Ravens. Expect ugly defensive football. In the second game of the night, the Chargers (my lock of the week) take their act on the road and beat the snot out of the Chiefs.

Fantasy Football Players of the Week
QB: Derek Anderson-With his coaches rep on the line, he steps up and lets people know the post-Warner offense will be okay.
WR: Johnny Knox-Big day for the Bears big threat. The Lions secondary resembles swiss cheese.
RB: Maurice Jones-Drew-The lone bright spot in the Jags dreadful performance against the Broncos.
TE: JerMichael Finley: The Eagles struggled against tightends last year. A REturning Stewart Bradley should help, but he'll take a few weeks to round back into form.
DEF: Miami-Will be aggressive against the punchless (save Spiller) Bills.
ST: Titans-Their return game struggled last year. I imagine Fisher wants to set a tone that it won't struggle again this year.

Till next week...