Weekly Scrimmage – November 5th 2014

Well here we are, nine weeks into the season. We’re starting to see some trends take hold. And we’re rethinking things from the beginning of the season. But what we’re most often left with is a gluttony of teams in the middle of the pack. We’re looking at thirteen teams with either four or five wins. And five wins is leading the AFC North with Cincy’s tie keeping them with a better winning percentage than Pittsburgh’s six wins. Any of those AFC North teams would be leading the NFC South right now. It’s sad to see a division usually looked at to be one of the tougher ones in football to lagging behind so badly. I would probably take every one of those AFC North teams except for the Browns against the division leading Saints in a playoff game right now. It’s just a mess of a division. As far as my weekly picks go, week nine was my first week in a while not getting double digit picks correctly. My most obvious miss was underestimating the Dolphins. I just typed those words. That happened. Sunday looked to be a pretty impressive effort that was more due to the Fins playing well than the Chargers shortcomings. Still, a team that started off so well now must compartmentalize this loss and move forward with their season. As the season grows older, I’m reminded that Rivers and company haven’t always fared well at doing just that.

Looking to week ten, here are my picks:

• Browns
• Falcons
• Chiefs
• Cowboys
• Dolphins
• Ravens
• Saints
• Steelers
• Broncos
• Cardinals
• Seahawks
• Packers
• Eagles

Even after their impressive overall game last week, I’m a little uneasy picking Miami here. In fact, with Calvin Johnson likely playing this week, I may be borderline crazy going with the road team here. The interesting matchup for playoff implications in the NFC race is the contest in New Orleans. The 49ers have been ravaged by injury but should be getting some guys back. This game is in the Superdome and the Saints are just a different team at home. Do you see things shaking out differently? Like my picks? Lonely? Leave a comment below.