Yehaw! That's right folks, it's time for Fox's Weekly Pick'ems. Now last week snapped a two consecutive week of ten-plus correct pick'ems. Still 9-7 is a pretty good record. Unfortunately, even 9-7 won't get you in the playoffs. Speaking of playoffs, we already have the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and Denver Broncos clinching a playoff spot in the AFC while the Atlanta Falcons are the only team in the NFC to clinch a playoff spot. Now the next few weeks are going to be key to some teams who are in the hunt. Everyone of these games is going to matter and everyone is going to be paying attention to the box scores. That being said, let's get started! Last Week's Record: 9-7 Season Record: 108-78-1 Interesting Picks: Monday 8:30 p.m. Houston Texans @ New England Patriots For the past couple of weeks, we have seen each team mow down what many are to believe as 'low-tier' competition. Now will be the ultimate test for each side. Are the Texans a legitimate powerhouse in the AFC? How will the Patriots' juggernaut offense coop against a defense that has the ability to snuff it out? However recently, the Texans defense has been struggling against the pass. Injuries to DBs Brice McCain and Johnathan Joseph have caused the Texans to allow an average of 352.0 passing yards in the past 3 games. But at the same time, the Patriots offense lost Julian Endleman for the season due to a foot injury from last week's win over the Dolphins. Also the Patriots have yet to go up against a pass rusher in the likes of DE J.J. Watt, who leads the AFC in sacks with 16.5 and has 15 passes defended. On the defensive side, it has been a while since the Patriots faced against a high-powered, balanced offense. The main focus will be to stop RB Arian Foster but that would leave the likes of Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter, and Owen Daniels to run rampant against one of the weaker secondaries in football. With the first round bye and home field advantaged at stake, this could be a classic showdown. But in the end, the Texans just have too much for the Patriots to handle. Pick: Texans Semi-Interesting Picks Sunday 1:00 p.m. Dallas Cowboys @ Cincinnati Bengals Both teams have been red hot as of late. The Bengals have won 4 straight going into this game and the Cowboys have won 3 out of 4 games in that same stretch. Each team is within striking distance of their respective divisional leaders so this game will mean a lot. But regardless, the Bengals are heating up, especially RB BenJarvis Green-Ellis, who has rushed for over 100 yards in his last three games. The key to victory would be to negate Cowboy's team-leading receiver TE Jason Witten (88 on the year), who has been targeted an average of 10 times in the last 4 games. Pick: Bengals Baltimore Ravens @ Washington Redskins This will prove to be interesting as the Redskins are riding a 3-game winning streak, all against NFC East opponents, and are now 1 back for the divisional lead and possibly a playoff spot. Already there have been talks of how amazing Robert Griffin III and rightfully so. Already he's broken the single season rushing record for a rookie QB with 714 yards and the Pistol Formation the Redskins seem to run has confused many defensive coordinators. Unfortunately, as good as Bob has been playing his style leaves him open to taking big hits from defenders. As old and banged up as the Ravens defense is, they still can hit hard and hit fast. On the defensive side of the ball, the 'Skins still got to deal with one of the elite RBs in Ray Rice. Not too mention that the 32nd ranked passing defense has to defend against Joe Flacco and his receiving corp of Boldin, Smith, and Pitta and without one of their top CBs Cedric Griffin, who was suspended on Tuesday for violating the NFL's policy on PEDs (another aderall case). Though the Ravens missed out last week in a 23-20 loss to the Steelers, they'll make it up this week with a W in D.C. Pick: Ravens Sunday 4:25 p.m. New Orleans Saints @ New York Giants After last week's loss to the Redskins, the Giants now hold a one game lead above the Redskins and Cowboys. This week's match up against the Saints is a must win. The last time these two teams met, the Saints were able to put up 35+ points in their 2011 and 2009 meetings. Unfortunately for them, those games were played in New Orleans. This time around, it's going to be in MetLife Stadium in the cold. Not too mention that in the past 2 games, Drew Brees has throw 7 INTs, including 2 that were returned for touchdowns. Also the Saints still have the worst defense against the run and last week, Giants Ahmad Bradshaw ripped off 104 yards against the 'Skins. As long as the Giants can move the ball on the ground, they will take this one. Pick: Giants
The 125th edition of the most storied rivalry New England collegiate sports takes place tonight in Providence. The Friars of Providence College play host to their interstate rivals, the Rhode Island Rams. Led by second year head coach Ed Cooley, PC has come out of the gates running, posting a 6-2 record thus far. On the other end, Dan Hurley has had a tough start to his tenure as University of Rhode Island head basketball coach. Through eight games, the Rams are 2-6, with their only wins against Auburn (2-5) and Vermont (4-3). The Rams are facing the challenge of rebuilding and reinventing their style following the departure of run-and-gun coach Jim Baron, while the Friars posses some fire power, and have their sights on a potential tournament bid. Despite heading in different directions, all bets are off when it comes to this rivalry. Providence College will have the benefit of the home court, where they have won the past four matchups againt Rhody, but look for the Rams to come out swinging, leaving it all on the floor for their new coach, and the fans. My Prediction Rhody uses its full court press to disrupt the PC offensive flow, and pulls off a late comeback... Rhode Island 67 Providence 63 - Kevin Aherne
The 2012 Heisman Trophy Race has been an unbelievable, unprecedented, uncanny watch. This season's random, high-paced, twist and turn happenings created heroes and zeros by the week. Names like Barkley, Lattimore, Smith, Miller & Robinson all were once considered the best college football play in the land, but now there are just three men standing. Lets take a look at the finalists: Johnny Manziel (aka Johnny Football): You must be a men among boys to be coined with that name. Though Manziel is just a Freshman at Texas A&M his decision-making is akin to a veteran. He has the arm of a pro, throwing for over 4,000 yards in 2012. Johnny Football led his club to a Cotton Bowl berth where they will face the Oklahoma Sooners. His mantle-piece for 2012: rolling the defending champ goliath, the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. However, A&M's losses to Florida and LSU may weaken the freshman's chances. That, and Heisman voters hate freshmen. In fact, it is almost a given he will not win based on that alone. Collin Klein has certainly emerged as one of the top collegiate athletes in recent years. Throwing and running at will, Klein is a shoe in to start in the NFL. Leading Kansas State to the number one ranking in the country for the first time in school history is his mantle-piece. Ironically, that was the direct result of his fellow Heisman finalist's victory over Bama. Unfortunetly for Klein, just one week after taking over the top spot in the land, Kansas State choked hard at Baylor. A daunting 52-24 loss crushed the team's title hopes and likely Klein's Heisman chances as well. In that loss (to a team they should have beaten by 30), Klein threw a season-high three picks and completed just 54% of his passes. Looking frustrated and often confused, Klein aroused doubts in many voters' minds as the nation watched him flounder. The last time a defensive player won a Heisman, Notre Dame's Manti Te'o was a six year-old kid growing up in Hawaii. The emotional, physical, and mental leader of the top ranked team and defense, Teo definitely belongs in this discussion. Although the Senior Linebacker's seven interceptions and 103 tackles are impressive, the stats may not be enough to sell the voter on Te'o. Te'o could have gone on to the green NFL pastures after last year, but he returned to South Bend for one final season. That's saying a great deal, considering the Irish's inability in recent years to be relevant in December. Not only did he return, he inspired a team, a campus, and perhaps a nation. After suffering the loss of both his girlfriend and his grandmother before the Michigan game, Te'o rallied his teammates to pursue perfection. Notre Dame took down elite program after elite program in 2012, all thanks to Teo and his defense, which allowed only two rushing and nine total touchdowns all year. It is no wonder the Irish will be playing for the BCS Championship on January 7th. It should also be to no ones surprise if the kid from Hawaii ends up with the ultimate mantle-piece, the Heisman Trophy. -Pal Julian Edelman had finally rounded into form as a solid contributor to the Patriots this season. However, this week he and the Pats received a bad break as Edelman suffered a broken foot in New England’s division clinching victory over Miami this past Sunday. Edelman, after years of inconsistent play had finally become a consistent weapon for the Pats passing attack, as well as a returner on special teams. The Patriots signed 33 year-old free agent journeyman Donte Stallworth to help ease the loss of Edelman, as well as Gronk on offense. Stallworth hasn't played since being cut by New England this past August. The Pats came into this season with a pleathura of depth at the wide out and tight end positions, however they are now becoming very thin at both positions due to the dreaded injury bug. The Patriots still have an arsenal of weapon including the under achieving Brandon Lloyd and three solid running backs in Ridley, Vereen, and Woodhead. It's going to be all hands on deck this Monday evening as the Patriots have the surging number one seeded Houston Texans coming to town. Even with the running backs exceeding expectations, New England certainly will be tested at home in this potential AFC Championship preview. - Joe Passarelli |
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