NFL Picks - Week 9: "Because Peyton Hillis just needs to knock it off"

Week 8 NFL Picks: 6-8
NFL results season to date: 58-51-7

Week 8 College Football results: 1-2-1
College Football results season to date: 14-19-1

Week 9 NFL Picks (winners in parentheses):

Atlanta vs. Indianapolis (Atlanta, road, -7) The Colts are going to get a healthy dose of Michael Turner. Even if they are successful in stopping him, the Falcons should still be able to successfully throw the ball.
New Orleans vs. Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay, road, +8.5) The Buccaneers seem to have the Saints number of late, and they've proven that they can win in New Orleans the last two seasons.
Houston vs. Cleveland (Houston, home, -11) The Browns are pretty much down to Peyton Hillis at running back. Unfortunately, Hillis has pretty much decided that he's not going to try until the Browns give him a long term contract, which isn't coming anytime soon considering that he's a white running back who couldn't even break the two-deep depth chart on his college team. He even went as far as skipping out on a charity event this week that he had committed to without even having the courtesy of cancelling or having a good excuse. Needless to say, Cleveland is going to need Colt McCoy to throw the ball in this game in order to win, which doesn't bode well for the Browns.
Buffalo vs. New York Jets (New York Jets, road, +1.5) The Bills are at home and are a much improved team. I just don't think that Ryan Fitzpatrick will be able to throw against the Jets secondary.
Kansas City vs. Miami (Kansas City, home, -4) While I'm not ready to say that the Chiefs have put things together after a horrendous start considering that their recent win streak has come against a handful of bottom dwellers and a Norv Turner coached team, their one and a half year deal with the Devil for the easiest schedule in the NFL continues this week with a date against the Dolphins.
San Francisco vs. Washington (San Francisco, road, -3.5) Rex Grossman is probably good enough to win 50% of the time, while the other 50% of the time he looks absolutely terrible. The conservative John Beck probably won't ever look as bad as Grossman, but he sure as hell hasn't proven that he can do enough to win any games at the NFL level...So yes, If I'm a Pigskins fan, I'm calling for Rex Grossman to start this week against the 49'ers, even if it does end ugly.
Dallas vs. Seattle (Seattle, road, +12) The Seahawks just don't seem to have it without a functional quarterback this season. I look for Matt Barcley to reunite with Pete Carroll next year. The Cowboys should be able to take advantage of a thin Seahawks secondary and put this game out of reach relatively early.
Oakland vs. Denver (Oakland, home, -9) Tim Tebow's only chance of success is with run options, bubble screens, and misdirection passes. The Lions proved last week that you can win if you take those plays away and make Tebow read his progressions and try to beat you down field, which is something that Tebow has pretty much proven that he is incapable of doing.
Tennessee vs. Cincinnati (Cincinnati, road, +3) It's time to jump on the Bengals bandwagon, as they're an up and coming team with an easy schedule. I can't see the Titans running on their defense, and Tennessee's passing game is not necessarily their strong suit. Gimme the points in this one.
Arizona vs. St. Louis (St. Louis, road, +3.5) Sam Bradford should be back for the Rams, while John Skelton will be starting for the Cardinals in place of the benched injured Kevin Kolb. It's officially time to put Arizona in the mix in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes...Thankfully for Cardinals fans, they packaged DRC and second round pick to get Kolb instead of giving up their first rounder in 2012.
New England vs. New York Giants (New England, home, -9) The Patriots and the Giants have two of the worst secondaries in all of football aside from the Rams. Look for both teams to air the ball out and run up the points. The Giants just have too many injuries with Ahmad Bradshaw, Hakeem Nicks and Jason Pierre-Paul all likely to miss this game due to injury.

I was equally as infatuated when a cheerleader I used to like in high school used to do this...I'm just a little gayer now.

Green Bay vs. San Diego (Green Bay, road, -6) I was initially going to go with the Chargers expecting a post bye week let-down game from the Packers, but from all accounts that I've heard, Green Bay is zoned in and fully ready for this game.
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh (Baltimore, road, +3.5) Even though the Pittsburgh defense has been stellar at home, there's no way that I'm betting against the Ravens with this spread considering: a) they kicked the Steelers asses up and down the field in week one; b) the Steelers have 3 of 4 of their starting linebackers likely out for this game (including James Harrison and Lamarr Woodley); and c) the Steelers defense hasn't been able to generate many sacks or turnovers even when they had their star players all playing at once.

Monday
Philadelphia vs. Chicago (Chicago, road, +8) I'm not convinced that the Eagles have turned the corner just because they've won back to back games against struggling teams at Washington and at home against Dallas. I still expect the Eagles to win at home on Monday Night Football, but the Bears should put up a pretty good fight behind Matt Forte, who will be going against one of the worst linebacking corps in all of football.

College Football's Top Games of the Week:

LSU vs. Alabama (Alabama, home, -4.5) I love Alabama's defense overall, while LSU may have the best secondary in recent college football history. While LSU's offense plays pretty conservative and doesn't turn the ball over, I just don't have enough faith their quarterback situation that they will be able to make enough plays to overcome the Crimson Tide's "Game of the Century" type pressure on the road.



Even Alabama's band chicks are pretty damn good looking!




Don't get me wrong, while I think most women from Louisiana are pretty hot, this wanna be LSU Tiger Cheerleader is just a hot mess.

Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State (Kansas State, road, +21) I think this will be a shootout with Kansas State being able to keep up with Oklahoma State for the most part, or at least within 21 points worth.
Arkansas vs. South Carolina (Arkansas, home, -5) Steve Spurrier is kind of like Jenny McCarthy. Really hot 15 years ago, not too bad now, but you have to be pretty desperate to put up with all the baggage that comes attached. Aside from losing to Georgia, the Gamecocks haven't played a good team yet this year. I like Arkansas in this one.

Jenny McCarthy should just put the wiener in her mouth, vaccinate her kids, and shut the fuck up.

Oregon vs. Washington (Oregon, road, -16.5) The Huskies are better this year, but they're still no match for the Ducks.

Because pictures of the Oregon Cheerleaders never get old...especially when they're getting all hairband on that ass!

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