2008 Super Bowl - Giants vs Patriots

This is a very difficult game for me to pick due to wanting so badly to be watching Patriots/Packers. However, it is the last pick of the season. I don’t even know what the spread is (it was 2 touchdowns I believe at one point) - but whatever it is, it is too high and the Giants will cover and I’ll even say Giants to win.

Game keys:

NE on offense: Kevin Faulk. He is one constant Brady has been able to go to now for years. He is a very solid receiver and tough player - one of those quiet players who could be a major reason NE pulls out a victory. He had 47 receptions this past year and when Welker is covered, appears to be Brady’s crutch.
NE on defense: Officiating could be a major factor. This could be a game where the adrenaline and overall dirtiness of some of the players involved could be an issue. The dirtiest player in the NFL, Vince Wilfork, needs to be watched carefully. This guy has been fined 4 times this past year for various offenses, including intentionally, clearly intentionally, trying to take out JP Losman’s knee. He’s a jackass. Add in Rodney Harrison who has always been a problem and the NE linebackers (Seau, Bruschi especially) who make a habit of hitting well after the play is over. With proper officiating, NE’s cheap play could affect them negatively in this game.
Giants on offense: KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING - IT’S WORKING! I would think as a coach against one the NFL’s best teams in a long time, it may be tempting to throw in some trick plays or somehow come at NE with a bunch of new plays. A couple wrinkles might be OK, but I would strongly recommend overall that the Giants continue the nice play mix on offense that they have been using the last 4-5 games. I think keeping Eli as comfortable as possible and playing within himself will be key, because we know Belichick will do his best to confuse and fluster Eli. Belichick, no question will be working hard to bring back Eli’s loser face. But the last few games, we’ve seen a maturing Eli who has handled immense pressure quite effectively (so much so that I have had to back off making fun of his loser face).
Giants defense: BE SENSIBLE WITH THE RUSH. I can see the pass rushers for the Giants (D-Line and linebackers) getting too pumped to flatten Brady and take him out of the game only to be burned by dump screens to Maroney or Faulk or Welker. I think some carefully thought out corner/safety blitz looks dropping Strahan and/or the other end (Oseawelhalkiwaher923n) back into screen coverage could be disruptive. The Giants D has to work hard to focus on one possession at a time because NE loves to fluster opponents by marching down and making things looks easy. Also, big note to Giants defense: WES WELKER RARELY GOES DEEP!! Every NE game I’ve watched has Welker running slants inside or little outs, but I’ve rarely see him go deep.

OK, my real take on this game. I really don’t like NE. I don’t mind Brady, but can’t stand Belichick. He is swarthy and annoying. I agree with the Senate for wanting to look into why the Spygate tapes were destroyed by the NFL (read about it here). NE cheated and was given the largest fine in league history - this is significant and I absolutely don’t know why the NFL would destroy the tapes and sweep the whole issue under the rug. Perhaps they were worried NE would win the Super Bowl and asterisk talk would begin. And, as I mentioned above, I think NE is a dirty team and they get away with a lot because often the dirty stuff is done by respected league veterans (Harrison, Seau, Bruschi - especially Seau).

That said, NE is good and may be one of the best teams of all time. Brady is extraodinarily efficient, Welker may be one of the most difficult players to defend in a long time (nobody can stick with him), and despite my dislike for the way some of the veterans play, they are a savvy group who know positioning really well (and apparently know what they can get away with). Vrabel in particular is a champ - the guy plays hard and is so disruptive on defense that I could see how he could be a major problem for the Giants.

I am rooting for the Giants. I was pissed at the Giants when they beat the Packers because they beat the Packers, not because they were dirty or unfair etc. This is a real team right now, and I’ll say it again, they seem to have come together as a team since Shockey got hurt. I would trade him so fast if I were Giants management. But the real surprise for me has been Eli. As I’ve already admitted, he has proven this critic wrong by his confident play over the last 6 games. I will be a bit surprised if he plays error free in this game though as Belichick will do everything in his power to bring Eli’s loser face back - but even a solid game from Eli may be enough if his playmakers step up (Burress, Bradshaw, Jacobs, Steve Smith, Boss, Ross, Strahan, Tuck, Pierce).

Giants 34 - Patriots 31.

Weekly Spread Picks - Conference Championships

Packers vs Giants (-7.5) Packers 41 - Giants 10 (look below for an explanation).

Before the playoffs, I picked Wash to beat Seattle. But I noted the following in case Seattle ended up winning that game:
“*Note: If the NYG beat TB and SEA ends up playing GB, then the NYG will beat Dallas in Dallas and then come to GB for the conference championship, and lose by 30.”

Because accountability is more important at Packergeeks than being right, I will have to hold to this prediction, Packers by 30. Despite the potentially neutralizing cold conditions and other factors like the Giants actually being pretty good now, it still wouldn’t be right for me to now unpredict, as it were (interesting that you can’t “unpredict” something, but something can be unpredictable), a blowout. So, I have to come up with ways that this game could possibly be a blowout:
1) several Giants are frozen to the bench on the opening kickoff leading to an easy run-back for the Packers.
2) the incredible inconsistency the Giants exhibited throughout the season, even within games, catches up to them and they have an ironic meltdown in 0 degree weather;
4) Eli’s inner-wuss just can’t handle the pressure and the cold - his passes are way off target and cameras pick up tears frozen to a loser face;
5) Sterling Sharpe is added to the Packers roster shortly before gametime and nobody can tackle him because he’s super strong AND fat now;
6) after the first bad thing that happens to the Giants, Coughlin’s bewildered, almost-cross-eyed look goes fully cross-eyed leaving him unable to contribute as a coach;
7) an accidental illegal hands-to-the-face by Tauscher ends up pushing Strahan’s top front teeth together making him leave the game so he can pursue the ladies with his newfound, spaceless smile. The Packers dominate on offense, defense and special teams. (Out of concern for my masculinity/credibility, I need to note that I did NOT put a smiley face here for #8 - the computer won’t let me change it. I initially entered a #8 and don’t know why there is a smiley face - if anyone knows how to correct this let me know asap. I decided to edit this entry and put in this disclaimer so that Packergeeks readers aren’t concerned about Packergeeks authors and their ability to love NFL football while simultaneously using smiley faces).

SD @ NE (-13.5). New England 31 - San Diego 24.
NE will win this game, but SD will put in a hard-fought effort. Lots of trash talking in this one. One sneaky player who could make a difference is Comrartie. He has game and could be a difference maker in pass coverage, intercepting the ball and/or kick returns. While I agree with Bedard at jsonline.com re the Giant’s dirty play, I think NE is the worst in the league at this. Vince Wilfork is the dirtiest player in the NFL (eye poke and JP Losman injury prime examples), with Junior Seau, Bruschi and Harrison also hitting questionably late and unnecessarily. Oh, and Belichick cheats. This is the kind of game that could devolve into fighting and some ugliness. I’d root for SD, but Rivers makes it hard with all the trash talking he does - and he’s not even that good. If Volek plays, I’ll root hard for SD.

Packers vs Giants Game Keys

1) Packers will win this game because the Giants will try to run it constantly early on and this will fail. Then, Eli will need to start throwing and that will fail. If the Giants open up with some early passing and a balanced attack, the GB defense could be in for a difficult first half anyway. But most likely, the Giants will try to overpower the Packers on the ground and this strategy will not work. Eli will struggle to be effective because he’ll be intimidated by Lambeau and a lively secondary. Look for LOTS of incomplete passes and loser faces.

2) Special Teams - The flow of this game could be interesting as lots could happen in the beginning as each team tries to set the tone. It’s likely both teams open up with a score, but then a Packers special teams return will change the game. The Packers special teams unit has gotten virtually no attention at all as experts analyze this game. It will be special teams that helps give the Pack the early lead, which will be critical in this game.

3) Pack receivers on Giants secondary. The Giants secondary would have trouble with just Driver, Lee and Jennings, not to mention Robinson, Jones, Martin, Grant and the big surprise Sunday - Korey Hall. If Favre is able to throw the ball at all (I was just outside and it’s 10 degrees and windy and miserable), the Pack could have their way with the Giants.

4) Grant being more involved in the screen game. This would help counter the pass rush of the Giants, especially when they get extra aggressive and blitz linebackers/safeties.

5) Field position - punting. Hopefully Jon Ryan has a big day because getting first downs might prove to be difficult. Feagles is one player who could be severely affected by the cold weather - just imagine your grandpa out there trying to punt. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say he either has a shank or a blocked punt or something like that as frigid weather is particularly tough on osteoperosis.

6) Coaching - McCarthy’s team came out fired up last week, but promptly went down 14-0. There is no way McCarthy will let that happen in this game. No way. This team will score very early in the game and McCarthy will be insistent on grabbing the early lead. Coughlin may have a trick or two up his sleeve, but it likely won’t work out. McCarthy also may be aggressive and try a memorable trick play, but given the weather, it too, likely won’t work.

6.5) Weather - the younger team will deal better with the weather - advantage Packers.

7) The most important key: Favre is not alone this year. Over the past 10 years, Favre has placed the burden of winning largely on his shoulders. But he finally has a coach who has effectively reassured Favre, and the rest of the team, that there are 44 other players who can AND will contribute. If Favre screws up, the defense can get the ball back with a nice turnover play or special teams can provide decent field position or Grant can break an 80 yard run, or Driver (Jennings, Jones, Martin, Robinson or Lee) can break 3 tackles to get in the end zone or a rookie kicker can make a 50 yard field goal. This may be the key of the season - less pressure on Favre.

2008 Playoff Review so far

So far, I am 5 for 8 against the spread and 5 for 8 straight up. I was dead wrong re the Colts this past weekend, but that was the only mistake. I have made some nice calls (like NE beating Jax by 11, Packers handling Seattle) and some bad ones like Wash beating SEA and PITT beating Jax.

These playoffs have been exciting (mostly because the Packers are involved). I am buying that the Giants have come together as a team and are one of the hottest teams playing right now. The question as always with the Giants is when will the meltdown occur. NE continues to be NE - though I will say this again as I have throughout the season: their defense is old and simply not that good. If an opponent could figure out a way to just slow down the offense (stopping it is unrealistic), NE can be had. It was fun to see Dallas eliminated. I think they underestimated the Giants and ended up losing to a better team. Jax was a good story, but beating NE in NE was just too tall an order. At least they made it a good game. Seattle was overmatched and I’d say they were maybe the worst team in the playoffs. They were somewhat lucky to escape with a victory over Wash as the score of that game was deceptive. The Eagles, Saints, Vikings, and Cards would have likely been more difficult opponents than Seattle.

Divisional Playoff Picks

NYG @ DAL (-7.5) Not sure where the spread comes from on this one. The Giants are on one of their little hot streaks and Dallas hasn’t shown up since the Packers game. As I noted last week, if the Giants ended up beating Tampa Bay and going to Dallas, the Giants would beat Dallas. The key will be the Giants defensive line shifting to a run-stopping line, not just a pass rush line. If Dallas returns to playing decently, however, Dallas does have Marion Barber and the Giants secondary isn’t necessarily top notch. Witten, as always will likely be a big factor, but his counterpart, Kevin Boss may steal the show. Giants to cover - Giants to win outright 35-24.

This may be my last chance to rip on Eli this year. He has sort of shut me up the last few weeks, but even while playing well, he looks like a loser. Nobody seems to have talked about it, but I wonder if Eli is playing a bit better now that Shockey isn’t around. Sideline shot after sideline shot used to show Shockey jabbering away at Eli presumably asking for more balls to be thrown to him. Without that moron in his ear, maybe Eli isn’t as distracted.

Can you imagine what a Manning Thanksgiving sounds like? Peyton: “Eli pass the gravy, would ya?”. Eli: “Mom, Peyton asked for the gravy but he saw I had it in my hand and was about to use it…God…”. Peyton: “Eli, grow up.” Archie: “Boys, relax. Eli, what did we talk about? You have to be tougher, have thicker skin - don’t be so quick to cry”. Eli: “I know dad, it’s just that, God, nobody understands”…leaves table…

SD @ INDY (-7.5) At the beginning of the year, I had San Diego in the Super Bowl. If they have to get through Indy and then NE, I would say chances of that coming true are minimal. However, I continue to be intrigued by what I regard as one of the quietest yet smartest player personnel moves of the year: trading for Chris Chambers. With Gates out last week, having Chambers as the new go-to guy has opened up an offense that was hurting at WR. While I wrote a few weeks back that LT’s anger problem may help propel them in the playoffs, I’m noticing that his blockers may just be so bad it won’t matter. It will be interesting though as they get Lorenzo Neal back this week and that could make a big difference for LT. But still, I think defensively, aside from a pick or two from Comrartie, San Diego will be overmatched and lose this game. It’s strange I just wrote this and picked Indy and suddenly I’m wondering if I should change that and pick SD to win. Weird feeling. Couldn’t happen, could it? Dungy is too thorough a coach to have his guys unprepared, right? But nobody is picking SD and they are playing with nothing to lose. And LT is LT. Ok, Rivers is Rivers though too - talked myself through it. Indy to win and cover 27-17.

JAX @ NE (-11.5) After Jax’s improbable last second comeback last week, they could either ride that momentum and make this a game or totally sputter-out. It’s like golf. Notice, when an amateur weekend golfer hits his approach shot off a tree by the green only to have it eventually end up 10 feet from the hole because of a lucky ricochet, he stands over that putt thinking “I should be in the woods right now, I didn’t deserve this, I didn’t even call backboard…” - and then 3-putts. When a pro golfer has the same thing happen, he steps up to the putt thinking “nice break, certain birdie, let’s get this to -6 now…” Now Jax should have won that game outright, but were it not for a few horrendous play-calls by Pitt, especially on the 2-point conversions, Jax could very well be at home this week. Anyway, the thought here is that good players/good teams take advantage of breaks and roll with them instead of feeling kind of guilty for benefitting from such fortune. This will be a real test for Jax - have they officially become a good team? We’ll find out this weekend. I do think they’ll cover, but NE will likely win 27-16.

SEA @ GB (-8.5) See here for pick.

Packers - Seahawks

I wanted to share my pick for this weekend’s game early - so I don’t wait until Friday and change my mind 3-4 times due to reading way too much about the game. Overall, I do not think this will be a very close game. It may be a decent game in the first half, but I think McCarthy’s better team will make the better halftime adjustments and handle the Seahawks. Seattle also is 3-5 on the road this year and away from the 12th man, they play differently.

I do foresee Ryan Grant being a significant counter to the rush-happy Seattle defense, limiting the effectiveness of Kerney and Julian Peterson. I’m guessing a fair number of run plays will be called in the first half as well as screens and play action. This will also open up the passing game for Favre which will leave Seattle’s defense guessing. Koren Robinson, Donald Lee and James Jones will have a big games and the special teams on both teams will factor into this game significantly. The Packers need to keep an eye on Patrick Kerney (obviously), but also on Nate Burleson. He is a firey competitor who can burn us on punt/kickoff returns but also as a receiver. My guess is Hasselback will throw at least one pick and the Packers pass rush will awaken and cause a fumble or two. While Packer fans may be concerned re Favre forcing throws too, I think he’ll manage his game well and I don’t think he’ll end up with more than one pick.

Shaun Alexander will continue to be mediocre but smile and act like he’s a superstar and Hasselback will continue to be jealous of his brother having a hot wife. (By the way, does Elizabeth Hasselback sleep with lip gloss on? Never seen her without it - scaring myself for noticing that).

Packers 34 - Seattle 16.

Week 17 Spread Picks

NE @ NYG (+14.5) – Huge spread here. I can see Coughlin doing something stupid like playing his starters most of the game, having 2 or 3 of them get hurt and still getting crushed. Then Eli will make that loser face again and nobody will be sure if he is elated or suicidal.

BUFF @ PHILLY (-7.5) – Buff has been my go-to pick all year because I just like Buffalo. (And I’m not sure why really. Sure, I like Lee Evans and Tim Russert, who’s a huge Buffalo fan, but I’m still not sure. Maybe it’s because they are a small market, cold-weather team. Maybe it’s because I like eating buffalo meat). I do think Philly right now is the best non-playoff team in the league. Philly rolls in this one.

CINCY @ MIA (+2.5) – I have grown tired of Parcells and his ways. He will have an awfully difficult time NOT involving himself in GM/coaching roles. Has anyone ever noticed that he is just not fun to look at? He has a Mike Shermanesque body and he almost always has a scowl on his face (because he’s just been defensive about something).

SF @ CLEVE (-9.5) – Cleve needs this game and while they choked last week when they needed that game, I think they’ll get some revenge here on the poor SF. Now, this is assuming the quarterback with the highest winning percentage in NFL history is still having back problems and unable to play: the 2-0 Sean Hill.

DET @ GB (-3.5) – The Packers will win this one because McCarthy is pissed off about the Bears loss. Anyone else ticked off at the emphasis so many announcers (especially Aikman) put on the “Green” in Green Bay? Drives me nuts.

CAR @ TB (+2.5) – Tough game here. I can see Gruden coaching hard for a win for momentum sake, but Carolina has been a quality road team this year. TB is a pride-team though, so I have a hard time seeing Carolina winning here.

JAX @ HOU (-6.5) – Jax will go to the bench quickly in this one and no back-up corner can hang with Andre Johnson (even with the spice-man throwing to him).

SEA @ ATL (-2.5) – I would love to see Seattle lose by 30 so that their momentum for the playoffs might be in question. But that won’t happen, they’ll probably eke out a win and then crush whoever they face in the first round b/c of home-field advantage.

NO @ CHI (+2.5) – I want New Orleans because it may help wipe away the cocky, celebrating faces of the Bears players which I have come to resent.

STL @ ARI (-5.5) – Bulger apparently called Warner for advice on how to deal with his concussions and Warner told him to wait until he is ready to come back. There was seriously an article about this advice he gave this past week. Seriously. St. Louis here because that is lame/non advice. Warner is lame.

MIN @ DEN (+1.5) – Great quotes from Champ Bailey after Phillip Rivers trash-talked Jay Cutler. Read them here. Big game for MN, though a Wash loss at this point is unlikely.

SD @ OAK (+6.5) - Sapp is a moron. I’ll take Oakland here though as I think J-Marc may play so well that everyone begins to question why Oakland chose to waste a season NOT developing him.

PITT @ BALT (+5.5) - tough game - crack pick warning. McGahee is apparently out leaving Balt with officially zero offense. However, Roth will sit this one out and right now, several Ravens players apparently hate several Steelers. Taking Balt.

KC @ NYJ (-5.5) - blowout alert. Though there is the small side story of Edwards going back to NY for the first time, this game won’t be close. It will be Pennington’s last a Jet and he’ll go nuts. Great quarterbacks do that. By the way, why wouldn’t Chicago make a hard play for Pennington in the offseason?

DAL @ WASH (-7.5) - Sizeable spread here. I think Wash will win assuming Gibbs doesn’t break another rule costing 15 yards and eventually, the game. I will be rooting, however, for Wash to blowout Dal to leave Dal questioning a little bit how they have attained a rather lofty reputation despite some clear weaknesses.

TENN @ INDY (+6.5) - I know Indy will try hard to win this game. But Tenn has to win and I think Vince will have a huge game against a second-string defense. What happened to Jeff Fisher’s mullet? I miss that.

Review of Week 16 picks (7 wins 9 losses)

Weekly review of my spread picks - bad week for me last week.

Lowlights:
NYJ @ TENN (-8.5) – If Pennington starts, it will be hard for me to root against him, but I will anyway because I think this could be a pounding by TENN. (nice call - a 4 point crappy game).

DEN @ SD (-8.5) – This is the kind of game Shanahan may be able to squeeze out. SD has already clinched but I can see some more second-guessing of Norv when he pulls LT early in the second half. (nice call again…blowout by SD)

Highlights:
WASH @ MN (-6.5) – After the Wash victory last week, I Salisburied and claimed they would roll over MN en route to the playoffs. I said this with serious, serious conviction. Now, I’m not sure they’ll cover. (Looks like the Salisbury in me was right this time).

Week 16 Spread Picks

PITT @ STL (+7.5) – Stephen Jackson and Polomalu will get their hair entangled on a play in the first half. There will be a very strange game delay as two of the NFL’s tough guys untangle their long flowing hair. Rams may upset here.

DAL @ CAR (+11.5) – Is Dallas crashing? I hope so. I would love for Owens to resume his toxic ways and for Romo’s excessive smiling to catch up with him.

KC @ DET (-4.5) – Who cares?

OAK @ JAX (-12.5) – When the TV flashed to Lane Kiffin last week, I swore, he looked like he was 17 years old. It’s an odd sideline really, with a child for a coach and a wooly mammoth for a D coordinator.

HOU @ INDY (-7.5) – I expect Houston to finish strong and be good next year knowing that Sherman won’t be there to disrupt progress anymore.

PHILLY @ NO (-2.5) – I hesitate here – Philly is playing well and they are just the annoying kind of team that would go in and foil someone’s playoff hopes. But I think NO will pull it out in large part because McNabb will play just poorly enough to resume calls for his ouster…

CLEVE @ CINCY (+2.5) – Interesting game, two former defensive minds coaching two offensive machines (though Cincy’s machine may be broken now).

NYG @ BUFF (+2.5) – Please, please Buff, knock the Giants down some more. I just want the meltdown to continue. I do think the Giants would be a desirable playoff opponent though for the Packers if they could make it that far.

GB @ CHI (+7.5) – I learned today on ESPN’s D-List (a Milwaukee radio show) from Brandon Lang that the Packers are 11-2-1 against the spread this year, one of the best spread records in NFL history. This will be an interesting one as Bears are going to want this one badly.

TB @ SF (+6.5) – For any of you who mysteriously remained tuned in to the MN @ SF game the other week (MN in a blowout), you got to see one of the best moments in the NFL this year. Sean Hill, a 6 year back-up QB got into a game for the first time, and threw his first NFL touchdown pass. He went nuts, the 7 people left in the stands went nuts and it was just really cool to see someone really wildly excited just to be playing in the NFL.

ATL @ ARI (-10.5) – How can a team with Boldin and Fitzergerald be 6-8? It just doesn’t make sense. You don’t need a RB, a defense, special teams or even an offensive line. You especially don’t even need a QB of merit – this team may simply dissolve when one or both of these guys leaves.

MIA @ NE (-21.5) – Right now, Miami is like a very low self-esteem teenager who was just given a compliment by a teacher in class for something which leads him to suddenly have this wind of confidence that makes him think he can probably do anything. So, he asks out the hot cheerleader who laughs at him and he’s back to square one. (Look for Miami to make a game of it off nothing but adrenaline in the first half, then NE to wake up – Gado will get lots of national attention after this game).

BALT @ SEA (-9.5) – In a way, it’s sort of too bad Billick’s time in Baltimore may be limited (despite what I regard as a fake recent statement of support by the team) because I’ve noticed lately, he is actually looking more and more like a raven, seriously, look at him and then look at the helmet.

NYJ @ TENN (-8.5) – If Pennington starts, it will be hard for me to root against him, but I will anyway because I think this could be a pounding by TENN.

WASH @ MN (-6.5) – After the Wash victory last week, I Salisburied and claimed they would roll over MN en route to the playoffs. I said this with serious, serious conviction. Now, I’m not sure they’ll cover.

DEN @ SD (-8.5) – This is the kind of game Shanahan may be able to squeeze out. SD has already clinched but I can see some more second-guessing of Norv when he pulls LT early in the second half.

Review of Week 15 Spread Picks (13wins 3 losses)

Last week was a nice week for the picks. Had a few errors but mostly a decent week. Here are the highlights and lowlights from this past week.

Highlights:
BALT @ MIA (+3.5) – Balt will have to find the courage to play this game well and I don’t think they will. My dream scenario of an 0-14 Miami team knocking off the 14-0 sweatshirt-wearing, cheating, swarthy Belichick and company may not get to happen. Miami wins. (Overtime thriller - Balt should have won though if Billick had any stones and/or the can’t-miss Stover makes an easy field goal).

JAX @ PITT (-3.5) – Jax is the better team I believe with the awakening of their offense. Jack “of the river” made a tough decision at the beginning of the year and I think it’s obvious now why he did it – Garrard looks tough. (Jax is scary and could dethrone Indy and/or take New England out. This is a good team.)

SEA @ CAR (+7.5) – Carolina has too much pride to get handled here – they may lose but they won’t get crushed (which is exactly what I said last week when they got crushed by Jax). (Surprised somewhat that Carolina won - though that’s a lie as I picked them in my straight up pool too. Holmgren has had some trouble in his coaching career with odd games like this - games his team should probably win).

Lowlights:
INDY @ OAK (+10.5) – Bad spread here – Indy by 30 unless they pull starters. I haven’t read anything about what Al Davis makes of another crappy season – that’s because I don’t really care. Isn’t it amazing Oakland was in the Super Bowl a few years ago??? (This was actually a good game - Indy was challenged throughout.)

WASH @ NYG (-5.5) – Sorry Skins fans, this week Todd Collins will play like Eli usually does. After the game, Collins will make up a drink naming it after himself and get really hammered and think it’s hilarious that his drink sounds like another drink. (Though Collins played poorly, the Skins didn’t - resilient team these Skins. Will likely beat the Vikings this week).