Winning team in bold.
Unanimous Picks (3-5)
I didn't notice it until I started working on this post: except for
Jaguars @ Rams, unanimous picks were all for the road team this
week. On a "not a coincidence" note, this is one of the worst weeks for
unanimous picks in the history of fspi.
Right:
Broncos @ Cowboys
Saints @ Bears
Jaguars @ Rams
Wrong:
- Bills @ Browns
- The Browns' 37 points in this game makes it look like a breakdown
of the Bills' defense. But the Bills gave up a couple touchdowns (a
punt return and an interception return) while the defense was on the
sideline. Beyond that, it didn't help any that Bills' quarterback
E.J Manuel left in the 3rd quarter, and that backup Jeff Tuel looked
every bit the part of an unexperienced rookie backup.
- Seahawks @ Colts
- The bad news for the Seahawks is that they gave up more points
than they have in almost 2 years. Still, they were in this game well
into the second half. But they settled for field goals too many
times, and that opened the door for the Colts to take over the game
in the fourth quarter.
- Panthers @ Cardinals
- The Cardinals' defense and special teams took over this game. The
Panthers' 2nd half: punt, safety, interception, punt, fumble,
interception. The Panthers only had 2 drives longer than 48 yards,
and none longer than 21 yards in the 2nd half. The short fields the
defense set up, along with a solid running game, were enough to get
the Cardinals to another win.
- Patriots @ Bengals
- Another bad week passing for Tom Brady (I'm sure the torrential
rain didn't help anything), and this time, the Patriots running game
wasn't able to bail them out. You just don't win if you can't even
score 7 points.
- Chargers @ Raiders
- I don't know what's wrong with the Chargers, but they sure didn't
look ready to play this game. Insted, Terrelle Pryor had a very good
day (18/23 for 221 yards and 2 TDs, as well as 31 yards
rushing), which helped them sprint out to a 24-3 lead. The Chargers
managed a 4th-quarter rally, but a late redzone interception by
Phillip Rivers put an end to that.
Split Picks: (APR 2-4, SRS 3-3, Line 3-3)
- Eagles (APR, SRS) @ Giants (Line)
- The Giants were only down a point at the start of the 4th
quarter. Facing a team playing a very inexperienced backup quarterback,
that should've been a pretty good situation for them. But then Eli
Manning started throwing interceptions. The first two gave the
Eagles a couple of touchdowns on short fields, and the last one
ended any real hopes the Giants might have had to get back into the
game.
- Ravens (SRS) @ Dolphins (APR, Line)
- I predicted that Ryan Tannehill would struggle against the Ravens
defense, and a 50% completion percentage, 6.8 yards per attempt
passing, and 6(!) sacks bear that out. It's impressive that in spite
of that, the Dolphins were still in this to the end, and had a
chance to tie in the final seconds of regulation.
- Chiefs (SRS, Line) @ Titans (APR)
- This game is a good example of how the Chiefs have earned their
5-0 record: their solid defense (#1 by points allowed) held the
Titans to a season-low 17 points. On offense, they have a solid
running attack (120 yards in this game), and enough passing yards from
Alex Smith to keep things going. Add in a special teams score, and
it was easily enough to give the Chiefs a win over their toughest
opponent so far this season.
- Jets (APR) @ Falcons (SRS, Line)
- Should the Falcons be added to the list of teams that are way
worse than they were last year? Their defense certainly looked very
bad in this game. Geno Smith threw for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns,
and only threw incomplete 4 times.
- The Falcons found themselves in the uncomfortable position of
playing from behind for most of the game. And when their offense did
finally establish a 1-point lead late in the 4th quarter, the
Falcons' defense proved utterly unable to stop the Jets from driving
down the field, and kick the winning field goal as time
expired.
- Texans (APR, SRS) @ 49ers (Line)
- Matt Schaub had an ugly, ugly game. 3 interceptions, a completion
rate barely over 50%, and under 5 yards per passing attempt added up
to a long, futile game for the Texans' offense. The 49ers offense
featured 177 rushing yards, which was enough to give them a pretty
convincing win.
- Lions (APR, SRS) @ Packers (Line)
- Calvin Johnson didn't play in this game, and Matt Stafford just
isn't the same quarterback when he's not available. The Packers
played solid defense, ran the ball well, and didn't make any of the
mistakes that cost them a win a couple weeks ago. The result was a
long, and ultimately futile day for the Lions.
Totals
Another ugly week of picks. And only the Jets' improbable upset on
MNF saves APR from a 4-10 week.
| This Week
| This Season | %
|
---|
APR
| 5 | - | 9 | |
| 34 | - | 27 | | 55.7%
|
SRS
| 6 | - | 8 | |
| 36 | - | 25 | | 60.5%
|
Line
| 6 | - | 8 | |
| 36 | - | 25 | | 60.5%
|