NFL Week 11 - The playoff push

[Tyche]

Sorry for the formatting, copy/paste issue on the matchups. Anyway, wer're 12 weeks in and we have a pretty damn good idea what kind of team you are at this point. Predictions will get a little easier, and upsets will begin to dwindle down in my opinion. It's getting damn cold, power running teams are going to start to excell. On that same token, I think one power running team in particular will suffer their first loss of the season this week. There's always someone at least once a week, this week I'll take the heat.

NYJ @ NE - The jets have been playing amazingly the past 2 weeks. The Patriots, on the other hand, are also starting to find themselves. I think if Thomas Jones gets going again, New England has no chance in hell of winning. However, I don't see this happening. New England wins.

DEN @ ATL - It took 3 quarters before Denver was able to find a groove this past week. Atlanta has been playing really really well and the defense hasn't been to shabby. I see Matt Ryan further cementing his name into that RotY award and taking care of business at home with a strong showing by Turner as well.

DET @ CAR - Carolina is starting to skid a bit, but c'mon, this is Detroit and they get them at home. Carolina will bounce back and handle Detroit easily.

MIN @ TB - This is going to be a pretty good matchup in my opinion. Tampa is going to be able to run the ball at all, and Peterson could have another decent game. Still, Jeff Garcia will play very well and lead the Bucs to victory.

BAL @ NYG - A game for the fans of great defenses. Eli and Flacco are going to have tough times ahead this week. I don't think anyone is going to move the ball particularly well, but I just can't see the Giants losing.

OAK @ MIA - Oakland is a mess and Miami is reborn. Thanks to a very workable schedule and excellent coaching, Miami has put themselves in viable contention for a playoff spot. Miami shouldn't have too much of a hard time handling Oakland, but they've dropped the ball a couple of times this season in winnable games. Still have to take MY Dolphins.

NO @ KC - Drew Brees will throw for another 768 yards this week, leading Nawlins past a dismal KC team. I expect KC to actually put up a decent fight after an emotional loss last week.

PHI @ CIN - This just isn't going to be a good game at all.

CHI @ GB - This will be a good game though! Green Bay really needs to start catching up in the division to have some hopes at making the playoffs, because the wildcard spots are all but gone. Orton or not, I think the Packers will take care of the Bears passing attack and throw the ball around enough themselves to pull out a win.

HOU @ IND - Rematch of one of the most exciting finishes to a game this year. I won't say that Indianpolis is back, but...Indianapolis is back. They beat Pitt at home (I know they're an injury mess) and that isn't an easy game to win no matter how you spin it. Despite their record, Houston isn't a bad team, they've had some tough losses. This will be another L in their column.

STL @ SF - Singletary gets his first victory, I wonder how the presser will go? I wonder how long Martz will last? Lots of questions around this franchise. Niners will pop back after last weeks terrible coaching and play calling cost them the game.

ARI @ SEA - Arizona isn't that great on the road, and historically, Seattle is amazing at home. Kind of makes a difference when your entire starting lineup is made up of 3rd string and 4th string players. Arizona wins.

TEN @ JAC - Jax beat the shit out of Detroit last week. Sure it's Detroit, but it's also a good pick-me-up after some tough losses. I can actually see Gerrard making a mistake free game and moving the ball enough to allow Jacksonville to win and give the Titans their first loss.

SD @ PIT - There's just no way in hell Pitt loses another home game. They are way too good of a team to let that happen. Tomlin will have this club ready and they'll take care of things at Heinz field.

DAL @ WAS - There's a huge cloud of doubt hanging over this game. Does Portis play of does he not play? Personally, I don't think it's going to matter. I see Dallas winning this game regardless and start to push themselves back into the playoff picture.

CLE @ BUF - I hope Quinn has another good game, but I can't see the Bills losing this one. Gong to be a hell of a playoff race in the AFC East.

[tyven]

dont you predict a titans loss every week?

i predict 80+ points scored in the Den @ Atl game.

[Callisto]

Bears/Pack is huuuuuuuge game

[Headspace]

Black text is hard as fuck to read on the black skin.

[tyven]

cheering for Denver, Minnesota, Cinci, and Chicago this week. of course that means all of them will lose... i believe hasselbeck is coming back this week along with deion branch so Ari @ Sea could end up being a good game.

[Eticket]

I hope the 49ers can pull off the win vs St. Louis. I'm still in recovery after that 4th quarter against the Cardinals though so I haven't really thought much about it yet.

[Headspace]

Whitworth calls out Cincy's offensive line last game (then they only allow like 2 sacks), then gets ejected and fined after throwing punches at a guy who was eye gouging. Bitches are going to be fired up.

Also our 3rd round DT is only trailing Glenn Dorsey in tackles as far as rookie DTs go and has played in half the games.

Now that they can't be the worst team in the league, I'm rooting for them playing awesome spoilers.

[Callisto]

I hope the 49ers can pull off the win vs St. Louis. I'm still in recovery after that 4th quarter against the Cardinals though so I haven't really thought much about it yet.

Same actually, that was a really tough loss, and I'd like to see some success fall on Singletary

[Akiyama]

God damn Tyche. I'm fucking blind now. THANKS.

Jets @ Patriots
Broncos @ Falcons
Lions @ Panthers
Vikings @ Bucs
Ravens @ Giants
Raiders @ Dolphins
Saints @ Chiefs
Eagles @ Bengals
Bears @ Packers
Texans @ Colts
Rams @ 49ers
Cardinals @ Seahawks
Titans @ Jags
Chargers @ Steelers
Cowboys @ Redskins
Browns @ Bills

Basically agree with all of Tyche's picks except the Titans (who I think recover on the ground) and with the Jags being inconsistent, th Cowboys/Redskins game as I don't really know about the Cowboys. Even with Portis being 50/50, I like them at home more.

[archibaldcrane]

Must-win game for the Packers here. They can't lose this one, period.

[tyven]

pack got fucked last week on two ludacris penalties, one a call and the other a no calll, i wouldnt be surprised if they came out this week and hammered the shit out of chicago.

[recuperi]

I can only pray SD wins and Denver loses Maybe what LT said after the game will actually get the OL motivated to block better, but it's all up to the defense really.

I think the Jets will probably be able to pull out a win against the Patriots. NE has become more dependent on the run these days, and NYJ is about as good as it gets against the run. As long as Favre doesn't throw any picks to what's pretty much a first string Dline with second string every where else, they should be able to pull one out. Jones' production won't really matter much, and any big plays from the backfield will come from passes to Washington.

And yeah, Seattle has a chance to show they just have horrible backups if they win this week.

[tyven]

what did LT say? i remember after week 1 portis called out his Oline and that sure as hell worked.

[Akiyama]

If Hasselbeck plays, they COULD pull off the upset.

Jets could beat the Pats, but same record, I gotta go with the home team. Ty Law could play a huge factor though if he plays.

SD and Denver... god. I mean.. seriously. They are waaaay underperforming, and didn't Denver bring back Tatum Bell or someshit? Or another Bell? I can't remember. They have like.. zero RB depth now. They are in the same shape as Seattle was with WR. Either way, I could see the winner of that division being 9-7 or 8-8 and backing in the playoffs. I think Atlanta beats Denver, though I wouldn't bet money on it. It's really a toss up to me. Can Atlanta's defense match last week's intensity when they stopped Brees (for the first 3 quarters) and hound Cutler all day? For the sake of my fantasy team, I hope not, but eh. I like the Falcons.

As far as SD goes... if they can't win this week, they have huge issues. Fire Norv btw.

[tyven]

oh man headspace i hope you are a part of this
ProFootballTalk.com - BENGALS FANS BUY BILLBOARDS TO ATTACK OWNERSHIP

BENGALS FANS BUY BILLBOARDS TO ATTACK OWNERSHIP
Posted by Josh Alper on November 12, 2008, 2:10 p.m. EST

A group of Bengals fans have rented space on four billboards around Cincinnati to plead with the team to make changes to the managerial structure. One of them reads “Dear Bengals, Hire a general manager. Love, your fans.”

The billboard buyers are trying to raise funds to keep the messages up via a website called WhoDeyRevolution.com. They hope to raise $4,500 and are taking donations through the site. It’s the second phase of what they’re calling “Project Mayhem,” whose two stated goals are disrupting the natural order of Mike Brown’s Bengals and reducing Mike Brown’s profits. The first phase was calling the team’s “jerk line,” designed for reporting unruly behavior at Bengal games, and reporting Brown as a jerk.

As you can tell from the billboard, it is Brown’s refusal to bring other voices into the decision-making process they find particularly galling. “18 seasons of Mike Brown making football decisions have led the Bengals to a record of 98-183, the worst winning percentage of all professional sports teams over that stretch,” they write. “Einstein’s famous quote “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” should be framed and put above the door to Mike Brown’s office.”

[Akiyama]

LOL., go get em!

[recuperi]

what did LT say? i remember after week 1 portis called out his Oline and that sure as hell worked.

That's pretty much what he did

Tomlinson is disappointed that the Chargers' running game is no longer able or willing to impose their will on opposing defenses, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

I'm hoping that's enough to get em back to what they did last year, but he picked a hell of a week to call em out. I would love to see them run on Pitt though, so maybe that's the way he was thinking too

[Wulfgang]

As usual, going with the Titans yet again. Gerard is playing well, but the first Titans loss will not be in week 11. Their remaining schedule is as follows:

Week 11: @JAX
Week 12: NYJ
Week 13: @Lolions
Week 14: Clowns
Week 15: @Texans
Week 16: Steelers
Week 17: @Colts

My prediction is that the Titans go 15-1 losing their very last game of the regular season to the Colts. The Colts will not win the AFC South and will likely have to play their asses off to capture an AFC wildcard spot making them a pain in the ass in the last week of the season. Jets pose a fairly legitimate threat but TENN should end up with a win. I'd say the Steelers would be the first loss except that the game is at home; even then, the Titans will almost definitely have already locked up the AFC South by then, so their desire to win could wane after that (although for a perfect season, I doubt it will), Steelers are nasty though regardless.

If TENN loses to JAX or NYJ or another team soon, I see them going 13-3 losing to the early team and then also to both the Steelers and the Colts since they will have locked up the division regardless of those losses and the perfect season incentive is gone.

Not a Titans thread, but they're what I know best.

[Mizango]

Jake will suck and we will lose to a Fat, out of shape Culpepper. As we Carolina people called it last week that Jake would play down to the level of the Raiders, I foresee the same thing this week in Detroit.

Had we played a weak team we would have lost, the Raiders are just that fail worthy.

Lions 20 Panthers 17 and our first loss at home. Wishful thinking because I want Fox to GTFO of the state.

[Norelco]

Buffalo is gonna be insane on Monday night (the crowd will be at least). Count on it.