Lou's Week 5 Pro Picks

I have gained my swagger back after going 12 of 14 last week, moving up to a respectable 86% overall for the season and beating my new nemesis Mike Maciejewski in ALL 4 head to head match-ups. Who said it couldn’t be done!?

Cleveland over Buffalo
Easily the most exciting match-up this Sunday will feature two teams not really good at anything, proved by the sum of one win between them. The Browns, still needing their first win, have their best chance to get one against Buffalo. Despite popular opinion, the Browns do have weapons. QB Derek Anderson had a great game against Cinci last week and is hungry to solidify his role as the Brown’s starting quarterback this week. With Jamal Lewis likely to sit out Sunday, Jerome Harrison will start again this weekend. Harrison has looked good so far and had a great game against the Bills last year. Not to mention talented return-man Joshua Cribbs and the recent acquisition of rising start, Chansi Stuckey. The trade of overly hyped Braylon Edwards has only helped C- Town. If the Browns are able to contain Buffalo’s lead rusher and receiver Fred Jackson, they will finally get the win this week.

Denver over New England
Denver has beaten all of its opponents so far by a stiff defense and a relentless running game; this match-up against the Patriots won't be any different. Bronco’s QB Kyle Orton has yet to throw an interception. Starting running back Correll Buckhalter is out, but back-up running back Knowshon Moreno will play and has had a stellar rookie season up to this point. Even if the Pats had a run game (which they don’t since Fred Taylor is out from ankle surgery), Denver would dominate it as they are ranked 5th against the run and 2nd overall, giving up an average of just 240 total yards per game. Denver takes this one at home and continues on undefeated.

Atlanta over San Francisco
Atlanta RB Michael Turner has almost as many total rushing yards as San Fran’s Frank Gore, except Mike’s played one less game. This really doesn’t say much for either of them because both have yet to live up to their pre-draft Top 10 fantasy projections. With Frank Gore out with an ankle injury, Glen Coffee will get the start this week. Coffee may be eager to prove himself against a tough rushing defense, but he won’t get a chance against an Atlanta team ranked 25th against the rush. In the end, the Falcons should be refreshed coming off a BYE week and be able to handle a 49er’s team ranked 28th in yards per game. This could get ugly, but Atlanta should come out on top.

The Rest
Baltimore over Cincinnati
Pittsburgh over Detroit
Dallas over Kansas City
Minnesota over St. Louis
NYG over Oakland
Philadelphia over Tampa Bay
Indianapolis over Tennessee
Jacksonville over Seattle
Houston over Arizona
NYJ over Miami
Washington over Carolina

No Win Situation

On Tuesday Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith addressed the media on his teams performance. His assessment "Absolutely embarrassing". "Everything is wrong with it right now. I'm not the least bit happy in a lot of areas. I've seen us be tough and physical to soft and bewildered" he added. His statements beg the question who put this team together? These so-called soft players are the ones he drafted, traded for and/or signed through free agency. I think the majority of the criticism should go to the GM. I feel it's about time Mr. Smith steps up and admits his mistakes. Another question is when were we a physical team? Not this year or last year or even the year before. I only recall us being a physical team when Bobby Ross and Marty Schottenheimer were roaming the sidelines. They brought this team discipline, toughness and leadership. A.J. needs to start holding himself accountable before he throws the players under the bus. Charger fans are sick and tired of excuses why this team can't win a Super Bowl. I believe that the Chargers still are a Super Bowl team, and everyone has to remember that the Pittsburgh Steelers are also 2-2. Do us a favor A.J. please take a long look in the mirror, and let's figure this thing out. Every team encounters adversity, and how we deal with it will determine if we are a Super Bowl team or an average team.

Steel City Blues

On NBC Sunday night football the chargers fell to the Steelers in 38-28. In a prime time showdown the only team that showed up was the Steelers. San Diego gave up 165 rushing yards to backup running back Rashard Mendenhall, who also scored a pair of touchdowns. It's mind boggling to think that the Steelers don't even need their starting running back to run wild on our defense. Pittsburgh after scoring the the first touchdown was not done. They scored twice after that to take a 21-0 lead on the bolts at halftime. Super Bowl teams do not play catch up or give up that many yards to any opponent. Pitts QB Ben Rothlisburger was finding every receiver open on cuts and curl with no threat of being sacked. Charger QB Phillip Rivers had a fine game throwing for 254 yards 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Charger TE Antonio Gates came through with another good performance 9 catches 124 yards and two touchdowns. Charger Fullback Jacob Hester made an incredible play on Special Teams. Steelers kick returner Stefan Logan trying to get better field position had the ball ripped from his hands from Hester, who took it 41 yards for a defensive touchdown. This cut the score to 28-14. Pittsburgh responded like good Super Bowl teams do and scored one more touchdown and field goal to put the game out of reach. Clinton Hart put it best when he said "They're a good football team. They're world champions and they came out here to play" Yes they did and the whole world could see that in a prime time embarrassment.