Tuesday, October 5, 2010

NFL: Week 4 Pick Results

Winning teams in bold.

Unanimous Picks (5-4)

Right

49ers @ Falcons
Panthers @ Saints
Lions @ Packers
Jets @ Bills
Patriots @ Dolphins

Wrong

Broncos @ Titans
Chris Johnson (53 yards on 19 attempts) did not have a good day. Add a lost fumble and a muffed punt, and the Titans become very beatable.

Ravens @ Steelers
It shouldn't be a surprise that the Steelers lost a game playing their third string quarterback. What is a surprise is that they were in it right to the end in spite of Charlie Batch's very underwhelming stats (12/21 for 141 yards, 1 interception).
Redskins @ Eagles
The first game the Eagles can't score at least 20 points is, not coincidentally, the first game Michael Vick only plays one quarter. The Eagles are finding out one of the biggest drawbacks of having Vick as a starting QB: his style of play puts him at high risk for a major injury.
Colts @ Jaguars
The Jaguars' defense gives up another 28 points. The good news, at least for this game, is that the offense is able to keep up, thanks to Maurice Jones-Drew (105 yards and a touchdown) and David Garrard (163 yards passing, 44 rushing, and 3 more touchdowns).

Split (APR: 1-4 SRS: 3-2 Line: 3-2)

Cardinals (APR) @ Chargers (SRS, Line)
Derek Anderson has another terrible outing: 7/14 for 64 yards and 2 interceptions. Ken Whisenhunt finally had enough when Anderson's second interception went all the way back for a TD. Rookie QB Max Hall finished the game, and had one more completion, 18 more yards, and two fewer interceptions in relief.
Texans (SRS, Line) @ Raiders (APR)
I could easily make the case here that APR had the Raiders overrated, but the fact is, neither of these teams looked good going into this game. But this week, the Texans combined for nearly 250 yards rushing, and that makes it a lot easier to win.
Bears (APR, SRS) @ Giants (Line)
Somehow, the Giants did what the Lions, Cowboys, and Packers could not: absolutely shut down the Bears' offense. The Bears had just 110 net yards, and took a mind-boggling (literally, for Cutler) 10 sacks. With a defensive performance like that, the Giants' middling offensive performance was more than enough for the win.
Seahawks (SRS, Line) @ Rams (APR)
The Seahawks just couldn't move the ball against the Rams. In the second half, they had just two drives longer than 9 (nine!) yards (one of which was a garbage-time drive at the end of the game). The Rams' defense is clearly much improved from last year.
Bengals (APR, Line) @ Browns (SRS)
The good news for the Bengals is their offense seems to be waking up: Carson Palmer passed for 371 yards in this game, the highest single-game total this year. The bad news is their defense somehow couldn't stop the Browns: 286 yards combined rushing and passing helped them put up 23 points, (including a final 10 play, 4:41 drive to grind out the clock).

Totals

This
Week
This
Season
%
APR 6-822-2447.8%
SRS 8-624-2252.2%
Line8-635-2756.5%