Fall Back

The H-Man, Hyman Rubin righted the ship, going from worst to first (for the week at least) -- with ten correct. James can be forgiven his measly 2 right picks, clearly showing the effects of sleep deprivation due to his one month old daughter Elin.

And tonight Hyman's beloved Gamecocks host Auburn on ESPN. Will the Cock's match the University of Buffalo and beat the spread against Auburn?

In the overall standings Craig Marcus holds a three win lead over Chuck Lyman and Walt Greason. All are performing better then their NFL teams (Pats -- I think, Dolphins, and Cowboys respectively).

The top four for the week were the only ones who took the Vikings to cover against the Bears. Those 1/2 can really add up. All of us overestimated Baltimore (or underestimated Cleveland at home) -- a pick we all got wrong. Others we mostly got wrong were the Rams on turf against the Cards and an emotional (and now 3-0) New Orleans team on MNF.

After three weeks a few good teams have established themselves: Indy, Cinci, Seattle, Chicago (the last two play each other this week on Sunday Night). Some teams are undefeated but haven't proven they belong. San Diego and Baltimore play in another battle of unbeatens.

then there is still a jumble in the middle. 7-9 looks like it could be good enough to win the once vaunted AFC East. Just how good are Denver? Philly? New Orleans?

There are also a few very bad teams. Cleveland and Oakland play this week for the early inside track on the number one overall pick. But there will be stiff competition as Detroit, Tennessee and Houston are potentially even worse.

We don't want to forget about baseball either. I'll try and post full playoff predictions on Monday. But this weekend there are still three playoff spots (NL West, Central and Wild Card) up for grabs. Will the Cards avoid an historic collapse? Will the Rocket get back to the playoffs after all? All still to be determined.

LotW goes to 2-0 with Seattle taking care of the Giants quite handily. This week we'll take Indy to beat up on the Jets. After all, if JP Losman can through for 300+ yards against the Jets, Peyton should have 400 by half-time.

Week II

A much better week for almost all of us with C. Marcus and Otero setting the pace with 12 a piece. 6 of the 16 of use finished in double figures. Hyman had a week as rough as his Panthers -- finishing with only six correct.

The Colts, Ravens and Chargers proved to be the most popular picks -- or should I say picking against the Raiders, Texans and Titans proved to be worthy. And no I don't know why I thought the Ravens wouldn't cover. Guess I didn't think their offense was better then the Raiders were bad. 3 of the 4 teams favored by double digits covered the number, with only Denver failing to do so, though they did eke out the win.

Buffalo and then Minnesota surprised the most people.

This week 0-2 Miami is the only team favored by double digits (at home against the Titans). Your survivor pool players don't have the Raiders to pick against this week.

Lock of the Week got on the Board with a win last weekend. We'll try and keep the good times rolling with the Seahawks favored by 3.5 home to the Giants. The Seahawks have not looked impressive, but we'll see if the Giants can survive a cross-country trip after their emotional victory last weekend at Philly.

Other key matchups -- have the Colts really looked 8.5 points better then the Jags shutout defense? also the Bears-Vikes, and Panthers-Bucs are important early season divisional matchups
.

We did bring Sexy/Back last weekend -- breaking down to it at the Matt Fay wedding. This week we are home, hoping to enjoy the Bills home opener against the Jets. But 5.5 is a lot for the Bills anemic looking offense.

Make it a good week

Week 1 -- Sexy/Back

Just because it was a forgettable, five win week, for me doesn't mean I can just ignore the blog. So it is a bit late, but here we go. Like Justin Timberlake, I'm brining Sexy Back.

Lots of new faces joining the regulars who have been here for years.

Week One finds none other then Chuck Lyman, the pride of Monsignor Pace (sorry State Baseball Champion Monsignor Pace) High School in Opa Locka Florida on top with ten wins. His picks of St. Louis and Atlanta seem to have put him over the top.

Overall James get the pick of the week for being the only one to take Detroit at home getting 3.5 against the NFC Champion Seahawks. Course he only made the pick because he is so sleep deprived from the new baby.

Overall Road teams won 11 of 16 games this weekend, making it especially tough on the "Home Dog" trend.

Week One trends:

Teams we knew would be bad -- an are:
San Francisco -- sure they covered but it was only Arizona.
Titans -- lost to the Jets at home, need I say more.
Green Bay -- is Favre already regretting his decision to return, me thinks YES. This week they are underdogs at home -- to the Saints. Did you ever think you'd see that, Norm?
Raiders - used to be the Raiders were solid on MNF, not anymore

Teams we knew would be good, and are:
Da Bears -- first shutout of a Brett Favre led team
Colts -- didn't look unbeatable but a road win is a road win, especially against a playoff team
Steelers -- we all saw Charlie Batch; we all pick Miami, we all were wrong

Be Afraid, be very afraid
Seahawks -- scored 9 points at Detroit, need more then Deion Branch
Washington -- lost at home, overrated
Panthers -- Hyman says they struggle against Vick and the Falcons; but History shows they beat Atlanta 24-6 and 44-11 last season
KC -- used to be toughest place to visit in the NFL; now Bengals tryin to prove last year no fluke
Pats -- only beat Bills by two, anemic offense and old defense concerns

Reason to be excited
Bills -- Chris called it; NE worse then expected, Bills able to compete; of course they still lost
NO -- Reggie Bush fantasy owners especially pleased, Texans fans not so much
Jags -- another team proving doubters wrong
Ravens -- shut out the offense of John Gruden, offensive guru

It's a busy week this week.

Matt Fay gets married.

Liverpool home to Chelsea and Manchester United visits Arsenal as the top four teams in the English Premier League do battle. Do yourselves a favor. Instead of watching four hours of NFL pregame on Sunday watch Arsenal against Man U from 11 to 1 Eastern on Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel. You'll be glad you did.

Lots of double-digit spreads this week, as the Colts, Bengals, chargers and Broncos all play at home.

Lock of the week sat out last week. This week we will take the Bears -8.5 to the Lions.

Make it a good week

2006 Season

Welcome to another season of Pigskin Pick'em. Get you entry in before Thursday's opener. Also let's get your playoff or at least Super Bowl predictions too. Mine will be forthcoming