NFL Lockdown - Week 6

This week's NFL Lockdown Girl of the Week is the stunning Alexia Cortez.

Photo courtesy of IGN.com

Last week was a great week for me on the pick ‘em front.  I pretty much dominated the week.  I got hurt by the Bucs laying an egg and getting thumped by a 49ers squad that I don’t think anybody saw coming.  Besides that, all went according to my plan.  If this wasn’t for entertainment purposes only and I was actually betting, I could have definitely made some good one.  Let’s hope I can keep the momentum rolling this week.

Last week: 10-3

Season:  19-10

The Jeff Report NFL Lockdown Lock of the Week St. Louis (+14.5) @ Green Bay (-14.5) – Green Bay.  The Packers are the best team in the league and St. Louis is in a world of hurt right now.  I imagine this game will look like when the older brother holds his younger brother’s head at arm’s length and the younger brother swings his arms wildly but gets nothing but air.  The Rams are just going to try to see what sticks and I don’t think anything will.

Jacksonville (+12) @ Pittsburgh (-12) – Jacksonville.  I don’t know that I wholeheartedly believe in this pick, but Pitt has done a horrible job of covering so far this year and I’m not ready to give them 12 points.  It’s like that early time in a relationship, say you’ve been dating for 3-4 months, you know you really like the girl, but maybe you’re a little weary about the bachelorette party in Vegas, you’re not quite sure what’s going to happen and you’re not sure if you can get behind it.

Philadelphia (-1.5) @ Washington (+1.5) – Phladelphia.  Even though it’s at Washington and the Redskins having been playing really well, we’re gonna call this a slump buster for the Eagles.  They had their safe option they always knew was there (Donovon McNabb), then they decided they could do better and go with the “hot girl they thought they had a chance with” (Michael Vick), and now they’re in that period where they realized that maybe the way they had it way back when wasn’t so bad.  It’s too late now though and eventually they’re just going to have to go the match.com route. 

San Francisco (+4) @ Detroit (-4) – Detroit.  San Fran surprised a lot of people by destroying the Bucs last week, but Detroit is a different animal.  Alex Smith won’t be able to get comfortable with this Lions D terrorizing him.  I’m reminded of a scene from Piranha 3-D, matter of fact, I feel as though that would be a good name for the Lions D, the Piranha 3”D” (you see what I did there?).

Carolina (+4) @ Atlanta (-4) – Carolina.  Atlanta has struggled and I am going to ride the Cam Newton cover train as long as it keeps chugging along.  NEVER walk away from the table when you’re on a heater.

Indianapolis (+7) @ Cincinnati (-7) – Indianapolis.  The Bengals have quietly had a solid defense this year and somehow Marvin Lewis is getting this thing to work.  The Bengals owner is like the guy that sticks with the “not quite as attractive girl he dated in high school,” everyone was asking why he was with her when he could get the head cheerleader and then they’re 40 and they realize she aged the best, is the best wife, the best mother and they’re all jealous.  Not to say Lewis will make all other teams jealous but I have to believe this will pay off in the end.

Buffalo (+3) @ New York Giants (-3) – Buffalo.  The Giants are playing OK, but the Bills are really off to s strong start, they have the momentum and they would like to stake their claim as the best team in the state (even though the Giants play in a different state). 

Houston (+7) @ Baltimore (-7.5) – Houston.  Houston is doing what Houston does.  The Texans are the football equivalent of M. Night Shyamalan.  In fact, let’s compare the Texans history to Shyamalan’s film career.

‘The Sixth Sense’ (Nominated for best picture, M. Night nominated for Best Picture, huge box office success) – The Texans winning their inaugural game against the Cowboys (huge win, Monday Night, starting off the franchise 1-0)

‘Unbreakable’ (vastly underrated and in some ways Shyamalan’s most superior film) – 2003 season Texans went 5-11 (while not a great record it was an underrated season as they were getting the players in place and making solid draft choices to get this team on track to the playoffs)

Photo courtesy of Wrockette.com

‘Signs’ (this movie was still solid and did well at the box office, but people were starting to get turned off by the M. Night shtick and he was starting to get too involved in the twist at the ending that he forced himself to put in the film) - 2004 season Texans went 7-9 (this is where the Texans looked like they were about to turn the corner, they had the players, they had the coaching and they finally looked ready to make it happen, but their depth was a concern and people still questioned if Dom Capers could put it all together.)

‘The Village’ (the movie that ended America’s love affair with Shyamalan) – 2005 2-14 season (after this there was no more Texans to the playoffs talk and Dom Capers lost his job).

‘Lady in the Water’ (this movie was so putridly awful it now spurred an anti-Shyamalan sentiment from the public) – 2006 6-10 season (while better than the previous season, the question was would they ever be able to get this thing back on track)

‘The Happening’ (critically, this movie wasn’t as bad as the others but there was so much anti-Shyamalan out there that people just didn’t’ want to waste their time, but it showed that he could possibly be getting back on track as a filmmaker) – 2009 9-7 season (Gary Kubiak had finally done it and given this team a winning record.  While they missed the playoffs, it was still a good season and had the Texans primed to take the division the next year)

‘The Last Airbender’ (just pretend I’m vomiting right now) – 2010 6-10 season (while they had lots of injuries this season was still a huge disappointment.  After seemingly being on the right path this began to question whether Kubiak was the guy to get thejob done).

And now here we are, Shyamalan recently got a ‘story by’ credit for the movie ‘Devil’ which actually wasn’t too horribly panned by critics, but it got such a viscerally negative reaction they actually pulled Shyamalan’s name from the trailer.  The Texans are 3-2 in the weakest division in football and people are already looking to next year.  Welcome to being a Houston Texans fan.

Cleveland (+6.5) @ Oakland (-6.5) – Cleveland.  Oakland burned me last week and I’m bitter.  My dad always told me “bet with your head and not your heart” but I’m making an exception cause I hate the Raiders.

Dallas (+7) @ New England (-7) – New England.  While Demarcus Ware wreaked havoc on Matt Stafford two weeks ago almost lifting the Cowboys to victory, they won’t be able to do the same thing against Tom Brady.

New Orleans (-4.5) @ Tampa Bay (+4.5) – New Orleans.  I give the Bucs credit for hanging with teams (except for last week) but New Orleans has too much on offense and will take this game by a touchdown or more.

Photo Courtesy of IGN.com

Minnesota (+3) @ Chicago (-3) – Minnesota.  Chicago is banged up and can’t protect their quarterback, which is definitely not a good sign against the Vikings pass rush.  They finally discovered Adrian Peterson again last week and I expect him to run all over the Bears D.

Miami (+7) @ New York Jets (-7) – This isn’t even a fun one to pick.  The Jets are in full on American public vs Michael Jackson mutiny and the Dolphins are hopeless.  I’m gonna take the Jets on this one, but I’m not happy about it.