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The Lineman: Week Nine NFL Picks

Week Eight was full of surprises, not many of them pleasant. The St. Louis Rams taking down the New Orleans Saints was the big shocker while the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens managed to escape with wins but were unimpressive failing to cover.

It all it added up to a disappointing 2-4 week but we bounce back in Week Nine.

Record: 25-23; Last week 2-4; Pick of the Week: 6-2

PICK OF THE WEEK Atlanta Falcons (4-3) at Indianapolis Colts (0-8) (Line Falcons minus-7.5)

You have to feel for Indy, no NBA and no NFL. It is apparent now that there will not be any meaningful football played at Lucas Oil Stadium until the Super Bowl hits town in February.

It has been a truly miserable season for Colts fans, who can’t even get excited about the possibility of landing superstar college quarterback Andrew Luck with injured Peyton Manning having just signed a ba-zillion dollar contract. After being pounded 62-7 by the Saints, the Colts bounced back last week and only lost by 17 to the Titans but now await the Falcons coming off a bye week, well rested and starting to take flight as they chase a third straight win.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, his superb pass-catching trio of Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones and the punishing running of Michael Turner are likely to heap more embarrassment on a Colts defence that is surrendering a league worst average of 31.5 points a game.

The Lineman: Week Seven NFL Picks

By Steve Keating

That was more like it, a very solid 5-1 effort in Week 6 after a very tough month of average results.

Could we be perfect in lucky Week 7? Feels good.

Record: 19-17. Last week 5-1

Pick of the Week: 5-1

PICK OF THE WEEK

Green Bay Packers (6-0) at Minnesota Vikings (1-5)

NFL Week 16 picks

Well the Lineman hopes everyone is having a good holiday and would like to add to all the good cheer with a winning Week 16.

Happy Holidays and may all your picks be winning ones.

Record: 47-43. Last week 3-3. Pick of the Week: 8-7

PICK OF THE WEEK Dallas Cowboys (9-5) at Washington Redskins (4-10) (Line Cowboys minus 6 1/2) The Dallas Cowboys finally put an end to talk of a December swoon — for one week at least — after rolling into the Big Easy and taking down the unbeaten Saints last Sunday. After three tough contests against the Giants, Chargers and Saints, the Cowboys get a doormat for Christmas and it could be the perfect gift.

With the Giants and Packers also making moves and the NFC East crown still within reach, the Cowboys will have to keep their foot on the gas against the Deadskins, who were demolished 45-12 by G-Men in a Monday Night Massacre.

Cowboys against Redskins remains one of the NFL’s nastiest rivalries and Washington has won three of last four at home over the Cowboys. The Redskins could not provide disgruntled fans a better Christmas present than atoning for their Monday Night stinker by denting Cowboy playoff hopes.

But Christmas and a short week make a bounce back by the Redskins unlikely. This game should at least provide Skins fans a chance to say “goodbye” to coach Jim Zorn, who will finish the holidays dusting off his resume.

Week 11 NFL picks

Well, that was a bruising week but 2-4 still leaves the Lineman above .500.

After the last 2-4 we had a big bounce back week so that’s the game plan again.

I was going to start off by making the Miami Dolphins my Pick of the Week but since that game has been played, well that would be cheating (I think).

Anyway, I get the impression many of you think I would still make the wrong pick – even if the game had been played.

But the Lineman can take a hit and is looking for revenge this week — starting with Pick of the Week.

Week Ten NFL Picks

Well, the Lineman was back on track last week with a satisfying 4-2 performance that should have been 5-1 (Come on, who would EVER pick the Bucs to do in the Pack). At first glance – and second – this looks the toughest test so far this season with compelling stats to go both ways on a number of games. But no sitting on the fence, so here we go.

Record: 29-25. Last week 4-2. Pick of the Week: 5-4

PICK OF THE WEEK:

Denver Broncos (6-2) at Washington Redskins (2-6) (Line Broncos minus 3 1/2) I was not one of those getting all gushy about the Broncos 6-0 start to the season and two straight losses — albeit to tough opponents — have brought the Mile High boys back to earth.

But like everyone else I have been far less than impressed with the dysfunctional Redskins, who brought a bingo caller out of retirement to call plays.

The Redskins opened the season with the Tour of the NFL Dregs and still gave the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs their only wins of the season so far. Things get tough from here on in.

Denver ‘s defence is for real and can still cause havoc but quarterback Kyle Orton has struggled and the offence is sputtering putting just 17 points on the board the last two games, scoring one touchdown.

The Lineman basks in glory, fears the worst

Well, the Lineman got the season off to a perfect start (click the link). Steelers get the win, Titans cover, score one for the Lineman.

We will bask in the glory while it lasts because the Lineman understands this is just the first play in a long season. Let’s hope we are still on the right side of the scoreboard come Tuesday.

Record won-loss: 1-0.

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PICK OF THE WEEK: Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns (plus 3.5): Future Hall of Famer Brett Favre is back (again) and has something to prove. Adrian Peterson is the NFL’s top running back.

The poor Browns aren’t catching any breaks in Week 1 with the NFL allowing Vikings defensive linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams (two of the best in the business) to continue to play while their long-running drugs saga works it way through appeals.

Nasty pass-rusher Jared Allen spearheads a Minnesota defence that might be one of the league’s best guaranteeing it will be a long day for the Browns starting quarterback, the not so mighty Brady Quinn.

Winnipeg sends former NFL star Pacman Jones packing

Ricky Williams, Doug Flutie and Warren Moon are among former NFL players who’ve deftly used Canada as a springboard to resurrect their careers south of the border, and Adam “Pacman” Jones seemed on the verge of following in their footsteps, albeit under very different circumstances.

After a week of intense speculation, it’s game over for Pacman, at least in Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers have announced that they’ve decided to abandon their attempt to bring the former Dallas Cowboys cornerback and kickoff return specialist to the Canadian Football League.

Sports Illustrated and Canadian media reported that Jones had an agreement in principle with Winnipeg. Jones confirmed the news himself in this 43-minute video on ustream.com, during which he mistakenly called the CFL the UFL while making it abundantly clear that he would clock his time in Canada until an NFL offer came along.

The day after Jones’ video surfaced, Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly was quoted as saying, “It is unfortunate that this situation became public. However, our position has remained consistent. We will pursue athletes that we believe will contribute to our organization on and off the field.”

Jones has been arrested six times since the Tennessee Titans made him the sixth overall selection in the 2005 draft. He has twice been suspended by the NFL for off-field incidents (including for the entire 2007 season) and was released in January by the Cowboys.

Jones seems to have two options left to get back into football. He can either hope and pray that an NFL team picks him up or he can sign with the United Football League, an upstart four-team circuit that will play its charter six-game schedule beginning next month.

Terrell Owens hasn’t met a camera he didn’t like

Terrell Owens’ new reality show on VH1, “The T.O. Show”, debuted on Monday night and the reviews were not kind. One media member simply called it “a train wreck”, while television critic Jonathan Storm used more colorful language saying, “The T.O. Show is so shallow mosquitoes couldn’t breed in it…”

Neither the reviews of the show nor the fact Owens allowed cameras to follow him around are a surprise. Ever since he entered the NFL with the San Fransisco 49ers, Owens has been a lightning rod for controversy and has seemingly loved every minute of it.

T.O. plays the role of the petulant child extremely well. (Which is surprising since he’s also written a children’s book on the value of sharing). He hasn’t learned to differentiate between good and bad attention. But he has learned how to get it, which has ranged from the good, to the bad to the bizarre.

Owens will suit up for his fourth NFL team this year in Buffalo as a member of the Bills. For all of his talent, is Owens worth the sideshow he creates? Or as a fan, would you rather have a slighty less talented player, who simply plays football?

Winners and losers of the 2009 NFL draft

Most football experts will tell you that it takes three full years to evaluate an NFL draft class, but don’t tell that to the media, who are only too happy to provide the instant gratification of a thumbs up or down analysis after less than 72 hours.

Draft guru Mel Kiper of ESPN gave the Green Bay Packers his highest grade, an A, based primarily on their top two picks of defensive tackle B.J. Raji and outside linebacker Clay Matthews. While the Oakland Raiders, who selected the speedy, but unpolished wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bay with the seventh overall pick and the Dallas Cowboys, who didn’t have a pick until the third round after trading away earlier selections, both received the lowest mark of D.

Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole broke down the AFC and really liked what the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens accomplished on the weekend and was completely befuddled by the Raiders. “This draft is another cry for help by the Raiders as they keep taking players based on outdated theories about what works in the NFL,” he wrote. But fellow Yahoo! Sports writer Charles Robinson agreed with Kiper, saying the Packers addressed almost all of the teams needs.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com absolutely loved what the Philadelphia Eagles did, giving them an A+, but it wasn’t just for the players they drafted. When Jeremy Maclin, widely considered the second best receiver in the draft, fell all the way to the 19th pick, the Eagles pounced moving up two spots to grab him. They also traded five draft picks for Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters and cornerback Ellis Hobbs.

Not everyone handed out letters but that didn’t make them hold back their views. Peter King of Sports Illustrated really liked the drafts of Baltimore — “First two picks were gems for a team that rarely blows the high picks. Cincinnati, Hard to knock this draft. Impossible, quite frankly. Might be the most starry top four since Hunley-Koch-Blados-Esiason of 1984″ — and Philadelphia: “Now, no one knows if Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy are going to be players. But getting them at 19 and 53, respectively, constitutes the best value picking of any team on day one of the draft.”

Whose draft did King dislike? Dallas. “Who knows these guys? Sounds like a special-teams jamboree in San Antonio this summer and the New York Giants, Sorry. I still can’t figure why, with five picks in the top three rounds, they didn’t go get Anquan Boldin or Braylon Edwards,” he said.