In addition to doing the weekly picks, last year we also had a a recap / discussion thread for those who were interested where we talked results, injuries, predictions, etc. I see no reason not to do that again this year. Like last year, this will be an ongoing thread for the entire season, where the scores from the previous week will be posted, as well as potential talking points from the week's action. So, let's get to it!

NFL Week 1 Results

Tennessee 10 @ Pittsburgh 13
Jacksonville 12 @ Indianapolis 14
Detroit 27 @ New Orleans 45
Philadelphia 38 @ Carolina 10
Dallas 34 @ Tampa Bay 21
New York Jets 24 @ Houston 7
Kansas City 24 @ Baltimore 38
Denver 12 @ Cincinnati 7
Minnesota 34 @ Cleveland 20
Miami 7 @ Atlanta 19
Washington 17 @ New York Giants 23
San Francisco 20 @ Arizona 16
St. Louis 0 @ Seattle 28
Chicago 15 @ Green Bay 21
Buffalo 24 @ New England 25
San Diego 24 @ Oakland 20



Talking points from Week 1:

* Mark Sanchez's impressive debut win against the Texans

* Donovan McNabb's broken rib... upping the drama of a potential Michael Vick start in Week 3

* Drew Brees picking up where he left off with 6 TDs (!!!) and 358 yards passing

* Jake Delhomme picking up (unfortunately) where he left off with 4 INTs, a fumble and a benching

* Adrian Peterson absolutely beasting with 180 yards and 3 TDs

* Brian Urlacher OUT for the season with a dislocated wrist

* The absolutely INSANE finish to the Broncos vs Bengals game. Sorry Broncos fans, but Denver did not deserve to win that game on such a freak play.

So, how'd your team do this week and what else do you want to talk about? :-)

I almost shut the TV off last night with 4 minutes left and the Patriots behind 24-13.  But I didn't!  Go Pats!  I had to love the ESPN commentators who were telling us all that it appeared Tom Brady just wasn't playing like he used to, would he ever get better, etc., then made a complete about face in the last 30 seconds of the game extoling all of Brady's wonderful virtues, his playing skills, etc.  Sheesh. 

The Patriots trading Richard Seymour to Oakland I have felt was a very bad move.  But he was going to be replaced by the younger Jered Mayo so we were not to worry.  Mayo was injured and was out of the game for at least the second half.  What a great idea.  Bring back Richard!!

Felt badly about the Bears losing Urlacher for the season.  He is a great player and it is especially saddening that it happened in the first game.  Us Patriot fans have alot of sympathy for that kind of thing. 

By the way, is there anyone besides me having trouble remembering that the Baltimore Ravens are not the Baltimore Orioles?  I geuss I'm stuck in baseball mode.  Go Red Sox!!!

Well I got 3 wrong - which is a big improvement over my picks for last year.  I'm very impressed with the Jets this year - it looks like it's truly going to be a new era for that organization.

I watched the NE Pats/Buffalo and even though I picked NE to win, I felt badly for Buffalo.  They really played their hearts out.  OK, now it's on to this weeks picks.  GO GIANTS!

No sympathy for Buffalo here I'm afraid - go Pats!   :)

What happened to them yesterday I have no idea.  Maybe they really believed all the trash talking the Jets did all week.  But the Jets surely played alot better than New England Sunday. 

Buffalo won yesterday YAY! But their defense is giving the opposing quarterbacks WAY too much time to get the ball in the air. It's a good thing they are doing a good job keeping the WRs from CATCHING the passes. And the Buff QB is WAY too inexperienced to be running a no-huddle offense. Wonder how much Jim Kelly on the sidelines has to do with that?

Didn't think much of that Tampa QB at all. Does the boy know how to throw anything OTHER than Hail Marys? Dan Marino he is NOT!

I don't think the Bills stand a chance this coming weekend at this incredibly high powered Saints offense, unfortunately.

I can't get over Bret being in Minn. The Vikings were such a huge rival to Green Bay all these years, it just seems wrong for Bret to be playing for them now.

4 wrong this week.  Between the 2 Manning brothers, I swore I was going to have a heart attack & end up with 6 picks wrong. 

I can't believe both managed to pull off wins and I even went to bed during the final Miami drive of last night's Miami/Colts game. I thought Miami would score for sure and I couldn't bear to watch. I was so surprised to turn on ESPN this morning and see that the Colts managed to hold them off.  As for Giants, that one was another nail-biter and I found myself constantly getting up & leaving the room because my nerves were shot.  My DH actually went to bed in disgust because he was sure the G-men were done, but I hid out in the kitchen leaving my youngest son alone in the living room wearing his big foam Giant's helmet. and waiting to either hear him yell or cheer.  He then told me to come back in because the Giants needed a chip shot field goal to win the game, so I thought it was safe to watch.  The kick is good and my son and I are jumping up & down with glee.  But wait, Wade Phillips has managed to sneak in a time out and the Giants have to re-do the kick.  I had to cover my eyes for that one, but thank God, that kick was even better.    Phew!  I hate when they play late night games - I usually get myself so worked up that I take forever to fall asleep. 

Lots of surprises this week - Jets/Patriots included.  I did pick the Jets, but I  wasn't sure if Brady would really be back in full force or not.  I guess he still needs some more time to back in the swing of things. 

I wish my TV was set up to see them all, because I just love this game!

NFL Week 2 Results

Houston 34 @ Tennessee 31          
Minnesota 27 @ Detroit 13                
Carolina 20 @ Atlanta 28            
St. Louis 7 @ Washington 9            
New England 9 @ NY Jets 16            
Oakland 13 @ Kansas City 10          
Cincinnati 31 @ Green Bay 24            
New Orleans 48 @ Philadelphia 22        
Arizona 31 @ Jacksonville 17          
Tampa Bay 20 @ Buffalo 33                
Seattle 10 @ San Francisco 23            
Pittsburgh 14 @ Chicago 17                
Baltimore 31 @ San Diego 26           
Cleveland 6 @ Denver 27               
NY Giants 33 @ Dallas 31               
Indianapolis 27 @ Miami 23

Talking points from Week 2:

* Another QB, Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck, out with a broken rib.

* A career day for Tennessee RB Chris Johnson, 284 all purpose yards, yet the Titans lose?!

* What's wrong with the Patriots? Is Brady not his old self, or is the defense that bad?

* Another ridiculous day for the Saints' Drew Brees with 311 yards and 3 TDs.

* Are the Chiefs really that bad?

* Are the 49ers really that good? (Frank Gore sure looks legit!)

* Which 0-2 team will bounce back and be a contender: Panthers, Browns, Lions, Jaguars, Chiefs, Dolphins, Rams, Bucs, Titans

* Which 2-0 team is the biggest pretender: Falcons, Ravens, Broncos, Colts, Vikings, Saints, Giants, Jets, 49ers
 

NFL Week 3 Results

Washington 14 @ Detroit 19              
Tennessee 17 @ NY Jets 24          
Green Bay 36 @ St. Louis 17           
Cleveland 3 @ Baltimore 34          
San Francisco 24 @ Minnesota 27      
Jacksonville 31 @ Houston 24           
Atlanta 10 @ New England 26            
NY Giants 24 @ Tampa Bay 0         
Kansas City 14 @ Philadelphia 34        
Chicago 25 @ Seattle 19               
New Orleans 27 @ Buffalo 7            
Miami 13 @ San Diego 23                
Denver 23 @ Oakland 3                
Pittsburgh 20 @ Cincinnati 23          
Indianapolis 31 @ Arizona 10            
Carolina 7 @ Dallas 21   

Talking points from Week 3:

* Another QB down: Chad Pennington of the Dolphins is out for the season with a shoulder injury... could be the end of his career considering it will be his 3rd surgery on the same shoulder.

* Injuries to 49er running back Frank Gore (right ankle strain), Colt DE Dwight Freeney (strained right quadriceps) and Cowboys RB Felix Jones (sprained ligament in his left knee).

* Detroit getting its first win of the season... and first win in their last 20 games!

* The AMAZING throw by Brett Favre and catch by Greg Lewis that gave the Vikings the come from behind win over the 49ers with 2 seconds left.

* The scrappy Bengals' 14 unanswered points in the 4th to give them the win over the Steelers.

* The benching of Brady Quinn (after 0 TDs and 1 INT) at the half by the Browns in favor of Derek Anderson... who went on to throw 0 TDs and 3 INTs.

* Tampa Bay's decision yo bench QB Byron Leftwich in favor of second-year pro Josh Johnson.

* What the #@$! is going on with the Titans (0-3) and Panthers (0-3)?!?

I am so glad the Lions finally won a game!!  It must feel like they have won the Super Bowl! 

I'm really disappointed in Brady Quinns' playing.  I followed him while he was quarterback for Notre Dame and thought he would do really well in the NFL.  Maybe he just needs time?????

What is going on with the Titans and Panthers? Apparently not too much.  :)

Nice to have the Patriots win on Sunday.  Believe it or not Patriots fan and Boston media have been ready to jump off the ledge already.  Sheesh.

"What is going on with the Titans and Panthers? Apparently not too much.  :)"

Ouch! True, but ouch.

In fact, if we lose again this week I may have to take the Titans out of my signature... this is just damn depressing.

Wow!! This has never happened in all the time I've been doing these picks - 13/14 right!!!  Now if Minnesota can win tonight......Go Vikings!   :)

I see Eli Manning has a heel injury.  Sure hope it is just a bruise and not something worse like a plantar tendon issue.  I speak from much too much experience - they can be a bear to correct sometimes! 

NFL Week 4 Results

Detroit 24 @ Chicago 48               
Oakland 6 @ Houston 29               
Tampa Bay 13 @ Washington 16         
Seattle 17 @ Indianapolis 34            
NY Giants 27 @ Kansas City  16          
Baltimore 21 @ New England 27        
Cincinnati 23 @ Cleveland 20           
Tennessee 17 @ Jacksonville  37       
Buffalo 10 @ Miami  38                   
NY Jets 10 @ New Orleans 24           
Dallas 10 @ Denver  17                  
St. Louis 0 @ San Francisco 35            
San Diego 28 @ Pittsburgh 38

Green Bay 23 @ Minnesota 30

Wow Joy!  Looks like you got 14 right.  Congratulations! 

NFL Week 5 Results

Cincinnati 17 @ Baltimore 14
Cleveland 6 @ Buffalo 3
Washington 17 @ Carolina 20
Pittsburgh 28 @ Detroit 20
Dallas 26 @ Kansas City 20   
Oakland 7 @ NY Giants 44
Tampa Bay 14 @ Philadelphia 33
Minnesota 38 @ St. Louis 10
Atlanta 45 @ San Francisco 10
Houston 21 @ Arizona 28
New England 17 @ Denver 20
Jacksonville 0 @ Seattle 41
Indianapolis 31 @ Tennessee 9
NY Jets 27 @ Miami 31

Well, not so good this week!  :) 

So, Eli Manning does have plantar fasciitis.  Poor man.  I love it that just from the information they gave out in the press I diagnosed it before anyone else did.  Maybe the Giants will hire me as an off-site diagnostician.  LOL  I am the Queen of plantar fasciitis, having suffered with it for three years, with 7 procedures and surgeries later.  If there is anything you want to know about it just ask! 

Five teams still with perfect records - amazing.  Either the NY Giants or the New Orleans Saints will have their run stopped this week.  I'm picking the Giants, but could just as easily go with the Saints.  Will be a good game to see.  I do hope my Patriots can pick themselves up and get to playing better - New England is sitting on pins & needles wondering what this week will bring.  Since we are playing Tennessee in Foxborough, you'd think we'd stand half a chance to win.  We'll see.

Pam's Bengals are doing great this year - I'm rooting with you Pam!  Really like that Carson Palmer.

Bookmonkey, I have a question, how do you pick which team you think will win? Do you guess by what they've done in a previous game? Do you pick the teams you like best? How do you keep track of the statistics of each game? 

I'm not really a die hard football fan. I used to watch the Saints games with my husband, then my daughter. Now, I feel kind of silly yelling at a TV.

I was just wondering how you keep track of how all the other teams are doing. Is there a website? I rarely watch the sports news on local channels and I don't watch ESPN.

There are only two sports I watch and limited at those. Football and Auto Racing.

Most of the time I actually try to pick based on the teams' recent performance, as well as their relative strengths / weaknesses against each other head-to-head. Occasionally I do pick with my heart instead of my head though... like the first 4 weeks I picked the Titans. UGH! You think you feel silly yelling at a TV? There has been some embarrasing stuff yelled at the TV (specifically the Titans) in this house this season.

As far as resources go, I visit NFL.com and listen to / watch the ESPN football shows. I leave ESPN on as background 'noise' almost all day long... I'm kind of a sports 'junkie' (especially NFL & NBA).

My husband and I have been picking games 'against' each other for 4 or 5 years now. We keep a spread sheet of each week's games, the winners and losers, and our running total for the season. Going into tonight's game I am 59-30 on the season and he's 60-29. All in good fun.

NFL Week 6 Results

Detroit 0 @ Green Bay 26
NY Giants 27 @ New Orleans 48
Cleveland 14 @ Pittsburgh 27
Houston 28 @ Cincinnati 17  
Kansas City 14 @ Washington 6
Carolina 28 @ Tampa Bay 21
St. Louis 20 @ Jacksonville 23
Baltimore 31 @ Minnesota 33
Arizona 27 @ Seattle 3
Philadelphia 9 @ Oakland 13
Buffalo 16 @ NY Jets 13
Tennessee 0 @ New England 59
Chicago 14 @ Atlanta 21

Denver 34 @ San Diego 23

Thanks for the info Bookmonkey.

I've just recently started following the Saints. I have a brother in Tennessee who favors the Titans. When I visited him a while back the Titans were doing real well. I usually root for the underdogs because I feel bad for the team and the fans.

How fun to have a contest with your husband! 

I'll check out the NFL.com site you mentioned. Thanks again!

NFL Week 7 Results

Green Bay 31 @ Cleveland 3
San Francisco 21 @ Houston 24
San Diego 37 @ Kansas City 7
New England 35 @ Tampa Bay 7 (played in London)
Minnesota 17 @ Pittsburgh 27
Indianapolis 42 @ St. Louis 6
NY Jets 38 @ Oakland 0
Buffalo 20 @ Carolina 0
New Orleans 46 @ Miami 34
Atlanta 21 @ Dallas 37
Chicago 10 @ Cincinnati 45   
Arizona 24 @ NY Giants 17
Philadelphia 27 @ Washington 17

Sorry for the late update... busy week!

NFL Week 8 Results

St. Louis 17 @ Detroit 10            
Miami 30 @ NY Jets 25                  
Seattle 17 @ Dallas 38                  
Cleveland 6 @ Chicago 30          
Denver 7 @ Baltimore 30             
Houston 31 @ Buffalo 10               
San Francisco 14 @ Indianapolis 18       
NY Giants 17 @ Philadelphia 40          
Oakland 16 @ San Diego 24            
Jacksonville 13 @ Tennessee 30        
Minnesota 38 @ Green Bay 26            
Carolina 34 @ Arizona 21               
Atlanta 27 @ New Orleans 35

Talking points from Week 8:

* Saints and Colts continue their unbeaten streaks. Do you think either will go the distance? On paper the Saints have a very favorable schedule, but one team standing in their way is the last one to go undefeated in the regular season, New England.

* On the flip side, the winless Buccaneers have a brutal schedule ahead of them and may well be looking at an 0-16 season.

* The atrocious QB play in Cleveland. There are 32 teams in the NFL... QB Derek Anderson is ranked the #34 QB in the NFL... yes, you read that correctly. There are 2 backup QBs with better stats than Anderson. And Brady Quinn isn't doing much better.

* Favre's triumphant return to Green Bay, throwing 4 TDs in an impressive win that brought the Vikings to 7-1 and put them 2 games up in the NFC North.

* The Browns unexpected firing of their GM, George Kokinis, and alleged 'investigations' into the backgrounds of head coach Eric Mangini and his coaching staff. Insiders think the Browns organization is looking for a way to fire Mangini 'for cause' without having to pay him... only gonna get uglier until (not if) that firing occurs.

* New information surfacing that Raiders coach Tom Cable has had complaints against him in the past for domestic violence against both his ex-wife and girlfriend... kinda puts the incident where he broke an assistant coach's jaw (which the D.A. refused to file charges over) into a new light. Wanna rethink that one Mr. District Attorney? Another situation where the firing of the coach is a matter of 'when', not 'if'.
 

Lots of great talking points!

Although I am picking both of them to win their games Sunday, I'm not quite ready to think 16-0 yet.  I think the Saints particularly are vulnerable.  My second favorite quarterback (after Tom Brady) is Peyton Manning, so I think I'd give the 16-0 nod to them.

I watched that Minnesota-Green Bay game, and I have to tell you, I just loved it.  Favre did a great job.  Maybe because he is one of the older guys I want him to win.  Of course I am old, too.

What allegations are being investigated in the Eric Mangini case?  No love lost here for Mangini being a Patriots fan.  Maybe he was caught taping the other sides calls, too?  :)

That whole Tom Cable thing really annoys me.  I don't understand why no charges were filed, unless broken nose decided not to press charges.  Why would you even say he broke your nose if he didn't?  I think the better part of valor here for the Raiders is to fire him.  Causing way too much of a distraction at the least.  Of course the Raiders terrible record also points out the fact that he is not doing much of a job coaching either. 

What do you think of NFL teams playing in London?  Do you think it is worth the wear and tear on the teams?  Of course NE had a bye week which worked out for them, but Tampa Bay didn't.  Personally I think it is not worth the effort.  Perhaps the NFL doesn't feel it is making enough money off games here in the US.  Call me pessimistic.

On the Tom Cable thing, it's my understanding the D.A.'s reasoning was that he didn't think they would be able to prove intent, which is a necessary element to convict someone of aggravated assault. Supposedly Cable shoved the guy, who then fell into a desk and that (the desk) is what actually broke his jaw, not a direct punch or hit. The D.A. didn't think the shove necessarily showed intent to cause the kind of injury that resulted... of course, that was before this new info came to light.

As for playing in London, I don't really think American football is ever going to be huge anywhere other than America (otherwise NFL Europe wouldn't have folded), so I don't know that it's worth the effort in that sense. However, I don't think there's really any undue hardship on teams from a travel point of view. A 7 hour plane trip to London (from the East Coast) isn't significantly worse than New England traveling across country to play San Diego (about 5 hours) or Tampa Bay going to Seattle (also about 5 hours) for example. Having said that, if they are going to continue doing the London game I think they should only send teams that are East Coast based.

I have some choice words to describe the performance (or lack of)  of my Giants, but I'm too much of a lady to write them here.  Let's just say I've seriously bummed out and leave it at that.  I haven't even been able to watch more than 10 minutes without leaving the room during the past 3 games.  My picks this season have been awful - between the Jets & Giants I should learn to pick with my head instead of my heart.

NFL Week 9 Results

Washington 17 @ Atlanta 31
Arizona 41 @ Chicago 21
Baltimore 7 @ Cincinnati 17
Houston 17 @ Indianapolis 20   
Kansas City 21 @ Jacksonville 24
Miami 17 @ New England 27
Green Bay 28 @ Tampa Bay 38
Carolina 20 @ New Orleans 30
Detroit 20 @ Seattle 32  
San Diego 21 @ NY Giants 20
Tennessee 34 @ San Francisco 27
Dallas 20 @ Philadelphia 16
Pittsburgh 28 @ Denver 10   

Talking points from Week 9:

* The QB see-saw in Cleveland which has, yet again, tipped back to Brady Quinn.

* The concussions suffered by Washington's Clinton Portis (RB) and Philadelphia's Brian Westbrook (RB) and, more importantly, how seriously they (teams, coaches and players) FINALLY seem to be taking the issue by holding these players out of games.

* The Titans' 2 game win streak with Vince Young starting. Personally I think it has more to do with who they played and the fact they got their starting DBs back than it does Young's play per se... and it doesn't hurt that receivers are now catching the same type passes they were routinely dropping early in the season.

* Down to 2 undefeated teams: Colts and Saints. Which will be the last one standing? The Colts play the very tough New England Patriots this week, while the Saints match up against the abysmal St. Louis Rams.

* The 4 game suspension handed down by the league to Eagles cornerback Joselio Hanson for violating the league's substance-abuse policy by taking a diuretic. I was somewhat surprised that the league went ahead with this considering the legal action over their attempted suspensions of Vikings players Kevin Williams & Pat Williams (no relation) is still pending (a judge issued an injunction prohibiting the NFL from suspending the players until the outcome of the trial, scheduled for March).

* Anyone want to share their thoughts on the Larry Johnson (KC) situation? For those who may not be aware, he was dismissed by the Chiefs for using a gay slur twice, once on his twitter account and once in the presence of reporters. I have a pretty strong opinion on it if it had occurred in a vacuum, but his prior off the field incidents and, more importantly, dwindling on the field production really put him behind the 8 ball on this one.