NFL 2012 Week 7 Predictions

Top 5

1. Atlanta

2. Chicago

3. San Francisco  

4. Houston

5. Green Bay

Bottom 5

28. Philadelphia

29. Cleveland

30. Oakland

31. Kansas City  

32. Jacksonville

Cards +6.5 over Vikings, 23-24

-Pure cover baby. The number is too big, and too many teams are covering stuff like this. Interesting game. I think the winner continues with some rep as a “good” team, and the loser starts to be talked about as one of the early surprise teams starting its inevitable downward spiral. And actually, might be true.

Ravens +7.5 over Texans, 20-24

-In all reality, the Ravens are too injured to be able to win this. But the Ravens are much stronger on offense than we give them credit for. So they keep this close. And 7.5 for two teams that wouldn’t have been separated by more than 3 points a week ago is a lot.

Cowboys -1 over Panthers, 29-17

-Cowboys will pass all over the place on the Panthers terrible secondary, and there’s the game. Cam finds a new way to self destruct, helped by Demarcus Ware. Did you know the Cowboys are number 1 against the pass? Does that even make sense? True though.

-2^nd best eliminator pick.

Packers -5 over Rams, 34-13

-Am I missing something here? Packers will score. Rams can’t. Everyone on the same page now?

Saints -1 over the Bucs, 27-21

-I don’t trust the Bucs, and I at least trust the Saints to score points and still take a bye week to plan for an opponent.

Bills -3 over Titans, 24-13

-Bills have either won or lost big this year, so this is the one close game it doesn’t make sense to take the points for. Bills should just be better, they have more talent. Titans having the extra time off doesn’t matter.

Patriots -9.5 over Jets, 38-13

-This has all the hallmarks of an “eff you” game by the Pats: coming off a loss, at home, offense humming, and playing versus the hated Jets. Such a weird set of 3-3 teams, but I really think they show their differences starting this week. And for those saying the Pats really aren’t that good, please look at the offensive numbers. Not only are the Pats by far the best offense this year, they are actually on some kind of historic pace in yards and first downs. Now if they could only finish drives with touchdowns just a little more.

-Best eliminator pick.

Bengals +1.5 over Steelers, 21-20

-The Steelers are really injured and I think Cincy kills the Steelers over the top with AJ Green just one too many times for the Steelers to stay in this. With Raven injuries, this division is about to get really interesting.

Bears -5.5 over Lions, 28-20

-Dangerous to take a large point spread with the Lions being so good at covering them late in games. But I continue to love my Bears, and this game has a “Matt Stafford throws two late pick sixes” kind of feel to it.

Record last week:

Straight Up: 4-6

By Spread: 6-4

Record this year:

Straight Up: 43-32

By Spread: 37-37

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 432-229
By Spread: 357-310

MIKE