Madden Extra

Back for another week of picks and starting to worry about my selection percentage. I'm 42-23 to this point. Week 8 is killing me, 5-5 so far, not good. And it can only get worse now with Mpire threatening to sabotage my picks over the "favorite" curse. Oh well, even if I'm losing my picks, at least I've started to win some games on the field. Dillon for President! Thats what I say.

We've got what I consider to be 2 solid canidates for Game of the week. Chicago @ Washington would have to be my pick right now, but if Mike's Dolphins win another game before this match up with Snoop, you could make a strong argument for that one too. Toilet Bowl is obvious. Indianapolis and New England trying to avoid being labeled "biggest disappointment" of season 2. And of course, who could forget, the Browns/Bengals classic which now has a new twist: Moline's unhappiness with my picking against him. So lets see how they roll out this week.

Previous Picks

MVPElway7's Picks Week 9

MVPElway7's Picks Week 8

MVPElway7's Picks Week 7

MVPElway7's Picks Week 6

MVPElway7's Picks Week 5

MVPElway7's Picks Week 4

Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis Rams

I believe in Skillz' skills, but not his team's skills.(did that make any sense?) The simple factor here is: You usually have to be able to score some points to stop the Rams. The 9ers beat them most recently by shutting down the Rams offense. But that was the 49ers defense, not the Cardinals. I still believe that the problem for the Cardinals is the combination of weakness in the front seven, combined with weakness in the secondary. If ever there was a team who can take advantage of those factors, it's the Rams. I see this game being won in short spurts by Angelo, putting touchdowns on the board quickly, causing the Cardinals to respond with passes, which is a recipe for disaster in Arizona.

Pick: Rams 31, Cardinals 17

Real Score:

Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints

So far I have nothing on the new Saints owner. No games played or even scrimmages to go off of, so I'm playing it blind. I don't think I need to see much other than Dajo's record and schedule though. The Falcons have been beating competition that they arguably have no business beating. Dajo has his team firing on all cylinders, and seems to be able to do whatever he needs to in order to pull out victories. I also have to give the edge to the Falcons for the simple fact that the new Saints owner will most likely be less familier with his team than he'd like to be. The score is a shot in the dark, but the outcome, I'm confident of..

Pick: Falcons 27, Saints 13

Real Score:

Baltimore Ravens @ Oakland Raiders

Ok, as of this point, we have no further word on the play of the Raiders. What I do have word on is that the Ravens got back on the winning side of things over the Browns in week 8. I've played against these Ravens and I'm confident that this defense can slow down that onslaught of an offense we've witnessed recently out of Oakland. I think Peso has his confidence back now, and should be able to run on this raiders defense. I think the Raiders score on some quick strikes, but in the end, will lose to the Ravens' ball possession style.

Pick: Ravens 24, Raiders 21

Real Score:

Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants

Well, here's the one I would label" Gme of the Week" right now. The Bears roll in at 5-2 (when this was written) , and the Redskins are Coming in 4-3 with their losses all coming to Freak show opposition from within and without the division. These teams are both at somewhat of a crossroads. The Bears need every win to in that tight race with the Vikings. The Redskins, well, we all know the situation in that division. I have to be honest, for a game of the week, this could be really boring. These are 2 of the strongest defense in our league.It has HOCKEY GAME written all over it. So, following that theme, the Capitols at least made the playoffs, so they can beat the Blackhawks, right? I just have a feeling about the Redskins.

Pick: Capitols 3, Blackhawks 2

Real Score:

Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals

I'm all excited about this one. The last meeting early on in the season, came down to a late field goal by Dawson to pull out the win. Both teams have improved mightily since then. The Bengals desperately need this win to be a factor in the division race. The Browns have to get every win they can, as most likely, only the division champ will make the playoffs, and it's getting tight with the Ravens. So, when making this pick, there are so many things to consider. The Bengals play at home has been very good. The Browns offense has straightened out most of it's turnover problems. But forget all that. Moline has expressed that he would like to see more respect from me when making my selections involving his Browns. Even more important to me, is the fact that every time I have picked myself to win, I have lost. So, now I will satisfy both of us, and hope that reverse psychology kicks in..

Pick: Browns 24, Bengals 21

Real Score:

Miami Dolphins @ Dallas Cowboys

Ok, Mike is another guy that has been on me about "respect". I haven't gotten to see a result since the Dolphins moved to 3 and 3. I do think however, that they are probably the toast of their division, if for no other reason than they have Ricky Williams, and Mike has really started to use him effectively. Unfortunately, Ricky runs into a monster defense this week. I hate to pound this point into the ground, but in case you all haven't noticed, Snoop is pretty good at defensive game planning. I can't say I expect a high scoring affair, but it should be exciting. The Dolphins will give them a run, but the Cowboys will own the 4th quarter.

Pick: Cowboys 17, Dolphins 14

Real Score:

Detroit Lions @ Kansas City Cheifs

So, we've all followed the trials and tribulations of UR4BIDN's monstrosity of a schedule. Poor bastard never even gets time to come up for air. He has put together some impressive performances, but his team usually lets him down. He may get that win over the Vikings if the game ever gets continued, but he will not get passed this Chiefs team. If the Chiefs didn't have enough incentive to win before week nine, I went and pissed them off for you UR4BIDN, sorry.

Pick: Chiefs 28, Lions 20

Real Score:

New York Jets @ Houston Texans

Great, I have to pick between the Jekyl and Hyde teams. Please, one of you guys, get some consistency. Each of them has shown the ability to beat, or at least compete with real quality opponents, or lay down and lose snorers. So, I don't know, flip a coin again? Well, the Jets have the higher rated team, but the Texans have a better record. If I have to pick one, I'll go with Cookie and his Texans. I like their style of play a little more, and I like their uniforms.

Pick: Texans 20, Jets 17

Real Score:

San Diego Chargers @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Rated "R" for violent content, children under 17 not admitted without an adult.

Pick: Chargers 35, Jaguars 10

Real Score:

Seattle Seahwaks @ Minnesota Vikings

Last I looked, the Lions had a 17-14 lead on the Vikings at the half (long half time). I know Hurricane has struggled, but he can usually outperform the Lions week to week I think. Looking at it from a strategical stand point: Shawn Springs may be the best cover corner in this game. Moss is the bomb and all, but if you are going to pin your hopes on someone to stop him, it might as well be Shawn Springs. Alexander should run all over that Vikings front seven, and that'll slow the game down enough to keep the Randy Ratio realistic. It'll be close, but the Hawks prevail in a big upset.

Pick: Seahawks 27, Vikings 21

Real Score:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers

Gee, great, the "substitute coach" bowl. How am I supposed to pick games in these circumstances? All of this uncertainty at the coaching positions has created a very strange situaton for both of these teams. If Shawn ever comes back, he'll be wondering what the hell is going on with his team. If Tidus comes back, he may just continue letting other people coach his team, hell, they are having more success now. Who knows who'll be coaching these guys this week. Rumor has it that Vapor is taking over for the 49ers. If he can still remember how to run that offense, he'll be tough to stop by a fill in. Based on that, I gotta go with the 9ers in an upset.

Pick: 49ers 31, Bucs 17

Real Score:

Tennessee Titans @ Buffalo Bills

Well, unless you have one of the highest rated teams in the game, the question these days isn't whether you can beat the Titans, but whether or not you can post more than a field goal against him. I think the Bills will be only the third team to score a touchdown on the Titans (yes, thats right, I said third team to put 7 freaking points on the board), but they'll lose, just like all of the rest of the victims, slow and painful. Tell you what, for practice, we should all start looking at the box cover of Madden 2001 so we can get used to that heavy dose of Eddie we'll be recieving each week. It's really getting disgusting.

Pick: Titans 31, Bills 7

Real Score:

The Toilet Bowl. nuff said

Last but not Least, the World Famous PSX2Central "Toilet Bowl Matchup"

New England Patriots @ Indianapolis olts

The most interesting part this week may be the post game press conference from the losing coach. No matter who loses, that presser may put even the great Jim Mora to shame. In all seriousness, I have it on pretty good authority that the bloom is off the rose in New England, and the coach has all but completely lost interest. Brad for all the tough losses, is still putting it all out on the field most nights, and that should be enough to get him another win. It must be the Toilet bowl, because I am confident in picking the Colts? The Colts? jesus, what have the Pats come to?

Pick: Colts 35, Patriots 21

Real Score:

for week 9's picks, click here