Wesley lowers the boom on Clifton Smith – unfortunately the hit is a penalty and totally bush league.  And it earned him a 1-game suspension.  At least he made all the highlight reels right.

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What is wrong with this picture?  Is it the fact that Fox is advertising this game on October 4th, when in reality the game is on October 5th on ESPN’s  Monday Night Football?  Or is it the Favre vs Packers, instead of the Vikings vs. Packers.  If there is a field full of Favres taking on the Packers, that would be kind of awesome – would their uniforms be Wrangler jeans and jean jackets?

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Down week last week puts the overall NFL record at 13-8 for the season.  Some exciting games this weekend and there is sure to be a lot of close games.  Lets get back on the winning track – picks are in italics

1. Baltimore (+1.5) @ New England.  I really like the Ravens’ D in this one to get pressure on Brady and give him a difficult time getting comfortable in the pocket.  Joe Flacco has been a surprise thus far this season and will look to continue on his remarkable season with help from the running game.  This game should be exciting to watch, and I see Baltimore pulling off the upset.

2. New York Giants (-9.5) @ Kansas City.  The Giants passing game has been surprisingly good this season with a lot of untested wide receivers.  They will continue to rack up a lot of yards in the air and get their running game on track in this game against a bad Chiefs team.  Look for the Giants to win by 2 touchdowns.

3. Seattle @ Indianapolis (-10.5).  Look for the Colts to continue their offensive dominance of the past two weeks in this game.  The Seahawks are injured on both sides of the ball and will have a tough time getting anything going on offense and stopping the Colts.  West Coast teams generally put on poor performances when they head across country – Colts win big.

4. New York Jets @ New Orleans (-7.5).  The Jets will not be fortunate enough to get several muffed punts and fumbled kickoffs in this game, and the pressure will be on Mark Sanchez to keep up with Drew Brees and the Saints offense – which will lead to a couple key interceptions.  Look for a the Jets to finally lose a game this season.

5. San Diego (+7) @ Pittsburgh.  The Steelers’ secondary is just not the same without Troy Polamalu, and it showed last week as they were not able to stop the Bengals from scoring the winning touchdown.  Philip Rivers will be able to exploit this hole in the secondary and be able to move the ball.  This will be a close game coming down to game winning touchdown or field goal by either team.  If the Steelers win, they do not cover.

6. Green Bay @ Minnesota – Over/Under 45.5.  This divisional contest will be an emotional game for both Favre and the Packers.  Both teams have played well as of late and this should be an exciting game, but a hard one to judge who will win.  Play it safe and go with the over on the points.

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You think the Vikings are glad they picked up Favre right before the season?  Drives them 80 yards down field with 87 seconds on the clcok, culminating with the touchdown pass that he threw 50 yards on a rope while about to get hit – just like Favre drew it up in his Wrangler jeans commercials.  As much credit as Favre is getting, you have to wonder what the 49ers were doing on defense – if they played a prevent defense there, that ball is probably intercepted.

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Off to a solid 10-3 start to the NFL season.  A bunch more good matchups in week 3 – picks are italicized.

1. Atlanta (+5) @ New England.  The Pats haven’t looked very good this year and are lucky to be at 1-1.  The Falcons on the other hand have played as advertised on offense, but their defense has stepped up and played pretty well so far.  This should be an fun game to watch with a lot of points.  If New England wins, the do no cover.

2.  Cleveland @ Baltimore (-14).  The Ravens D has not played as well as in previous years, but the offense led by Joe Flacco has made up for it.  The Browns have played horribly so far this year with Brady Quinn at quarterback, and it won’t get any easier for them this weekend.  The Ravens coming off a huge win last week in San Diego win this game huge.

3.  New York Giants (-7) @ Tampa Bay.  The Giants come into this game banged up on defense, but the offense has surprisingly looked really good on offense.  Tampa Bay has lost 6 straightt going back to last season, and their defense is nowhere near as good as it has been in the past.   There will probably be a lot of points put up by both sides in this game, but the Giants will cover.

4. New Orleans @ Buffalo Over – 52.  Both these teams put up a bunch of points in the first two games, and expect more of the same in this one.  We could be looking at 60 to 70 points in this one.

5. Pittsburgh (-4) @ Cincinnati.  The Bengals defense has been solid thus far, and Cedric Benson has been a pleasant surprise.  But Pittsburgh is always be a safe bet, and will be looking to get back on track after the lost to the Bears last week.  The Steelers have beaten the Bengals 5 in a row and 10 of the last 11.  Expect more of the same in this one even without Polamalu.

6.  Indianapolis @ Arizona Over 48.  One of the most exciting games of the weekend with 2 of the best quarterbacks leading each team, and suspect defenses.  There will be points a plenty in this one, so go with the over.

7. Tennessee @ NY Jets (-3).  There may be cause for concern for a bit of a hangover after the huge win against the Pats last week amidst all the offseason comments made by new coach Rex Ryan.  But I like the Jets defense, and Mark Sanchez has played pretty well in his first two games.  the Titan’s D played poorly last week against the Texans, and Chris Johnson will need to have another big game if the Titans have any shot – although I don’t think the Jets will follow the Texan’s gameplan.  Expect another strong performance by the Jets and a victory.

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You’d think the Texans would have someone covering one of the fastest guys in the NFL, especially after ripping off a 57-yard touchdown run earlier in the game.  Johnson lined up as the only receiver on the near side unguarded.  The Texans thought about sending a defender his way, but decided to overload the far side.  But in their defense, a lot of the Texan players probably had Johnson on their fantasy league team and wanted him to rack up the points.

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So the big question here is how did Bengals fans get front row seats at Lambeau – don’t people wait years to get tickets?

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Solid 4-1 start in week one.  Let’s keep the wins coming – here are this weekend’s picks, winners are in italics.

1. Carolina @ Atlanta (-6).  Jake Delhomme is a mess, 9 interceptions and 2 fumbles in his last two games.  The Falcon’s defense really surprised me last weak against the Dolphins, and Matty Ice and the offense looked really efficient.  Falcons win this one big.

2. Cincinnati @ Green Bay (-7).  The Bungles looked awful last week against the Broncos.  Aaron Rodgers had his moments last week against a stingy Bears defense.  Look for the Packers to play a lot better offensively this week and put up a lot of points.

3. Houston @ Tennessee (-7).  The Texans looked awful last week against a rookie quarterback, and the Titans played the Steelers tough in Pittsburgh.  The Titans D will force several turnovers and Kerry Collins will continue his consistent play.  Titans win this by at least 2 scores

4. Indianapolis (-3) @ Miami.  Like I said last week, the Dolphins will not be as good as they were last year.  The Dolphins had too many turnovers last week against a supposedly bad Falcons D.  The Colts will be able to move the ball with ease and win easily.

5. Minnesota (-10) @ Detroit.  The Lions were able to put some points up against the Saints last week, but the Viking’s D will be a different story.  Stafford has a tough game, and Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson rack up a ton of yards and points on the Lions.

6. Oakland (+3) @ Kansas City.  The Raiders looked good on Monday night and should have won that game against the Chargers.  Matt Cassel is questionable for the game, and I am not sold on him as quarterback outside the Patriots system. The Raider’s D plays tough, and Darren McFadden has a big game.

7. Baltimore (+3) @ San Diego.  The Charger’s defense looked suspect last week against the Raiders, and took a big hit when they placed NT Jamal Williams on IR.  LT hasn’t been the same since his record breaking season, and the Raven’s D can focus on Philip Rivers.  Joe Flacco will make some big plays in this game, and the Ravens go out west and steal a game from the Chargers.

8. New York Giants (+3) @ Dallas.  The Cowboys are expecting 100,000 people in the first regular season NFL game in their ridiculous new stadium and will be fired up. But the Giants have a solid defense and their passing game surprised me last week.  The Cowboys defense looked really suspect last week against the Bucs.  Tony Romo will have  some costly interceptions and the Giants ruin the debut of the new Cowboy Stadium.

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I was catching this game last night and saw Louis Murphy make this touchdown catch right before halftime before I changed the channel.  Well at least I, and probably everybody else watching the game, thought it was a touchdown.  The Raiders had to settle for a field goal, and eventually lost by that four point differential.  Nice job NFL

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In an eerie trend of atheletes who are on the cover of the Madden game getting injured – Troy Polamalu left last Thursday night’s game with a knee injury that will keep him out at least 3-6 weeks.   Fantasy owners are probably hoping Larry Fitzgerald, who shares the Madden 2010 cover with Polamalu, wraps himself in bubble wrap when suits up to play.  Here’s a quick rundown of the cover atheletes and their ill-fated seasons following:

2002: Daunte Culpepper – Suffers a knee injury and misses 5 games and produces horrible numbers – Vikings finish the year 5-11.

2004: Mike Vick – Breaks his leg in a preseason game and misses all but last few games of year – Falcons struggle to a 5-11 record.

2005: Ray Lewis – Suffers a season ending hamstting injury in Week 6.

2006: Donovan McNabb – Tears his ACL midway through the season while running out of bounds

2007: Shaun Alexander – Suffers a broken foot and misses 6 games.  Ultimately his career is never the same.

2008: Vince Young – Has a mental meltdown and is replaced for the rest of the season and following season in favor of Kerry Collins.

2009: Brett Favre – After a fast start – the Jets miss the playoffs and Favre suffers a torn bicep

Which brings us to Madden 2010 with Polamalu getting injured in Week 1 of the 2009 season.  If I were an NFL athelete, I would stay clear of that cover.

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