Written by Chris Hutchison

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Sweet Methuselah, what a beat down the poor oddsmakers took this week.  How will they feed their pet pandas or afford vacations on the space station after this?

I won the week with a sad 7-9 record, which looks less lame in comparison to DJC's 6-10 and BT's lowly 3-13.  Even BT's Executive Lock of the Week finally failed, as the Saints joined the Browns as the only Defeated teams left.  YTD, that puts us at 23-25 (Me), 20-28 (DJC), and 18-30 (BT).

The Bye weeks have begun, with the Colts and Steelers taking the first naps.  The Browns play the Thursday night game this week, so they won't be included either, which makes my plans for Sunday much more relaxed as I'll get to watch games I want to see rather than one that feels more like work - or an epic struggle, if you will - to sit through.

The Big 10 schedule also begins this week, so now it's time to see how bad the Buckeye Defense truly is.

All odds are from VegasInsider.com:

OSU at MSU -3

Me - After getting all they wanted from a bad UAB team last week, the Buckeyes do not scare anyone.  They may not get crushed in their first road game, but 3 is enough for Sparty to cover.  Pick: Spartans

DJC - Urban will put some trickeration out of the hat this weeekend.  Pick: Buckeyes

BT - Mich St. lost to ND for crying out loud.  Pick: Buckeyes

NE at BUF +4

Me - This is a tough one.  I think that the Pats aren't anything special this year (thus the 1-2 record), but probably are still enough to take out a decent but not-ready-for-primetime Bills team.  However, getting 4 at home, if New England wins by 3... Pick: Bills

DJC - Bill  is mad. You don't want to see Bill when he is mad.  Pick: Patriots

BT - Executive Lock of the week.  Pick: Patriots

MIN at DET -4.5

Me - You have to take Minnesota seriously after what they did to the 49ers.  Playing in another Dome, against a 1-2 team that is lucky to have even the 1 win, a Lions team with a poor secondary and a questionable QB... 4 1/2 might be a lot for them to cover even if they eke it out.  Pick: Vikings

DJC - Pick: Lions

BT - The Lions snap out of it and play some D for once. Pick: Lions

CAR at ATL -7

Me - At some point, Cam is gonna get his act together and this team will become dangerous.  This is not the week, however.  Pick: Falcons

DJC - Whatever happened to Cam Newton?  Pick: Falcons

BT - Has anyone noticed that the Falcons are really good?  Pick: Falcons

SF at NYJ +4

Me - Jets deserved to lose to a pretty bad Dolphins team, and the Niners will be angry after getting punched in the nose by the Vikings.  Sanchez will get pressured like nobody's bidness, and he'll make mistakes.  The home crowd will Boo and chant for Tebow, who probably will get some late game action and do just enough to have that controversy blow up like dynamite in a port-o-john.  Couldn't happen to a better team.  Pick: 49ers

DJC - Pick: 49ers

BT - I hate the Jets.  Could be a shutout.  Pick: 49ers

SD at KC -1

Me - Both these teams are pretty bad, so I'm gonna have to go to the stats.  Chargers rank 4th in Run D, allowing only 67.3 yards/game.  The only thing the Chiefs can do is run, and only Jamaal Charles can do it.  SD shuts him down, they win.  Pick: Chargers

DJC - I have always wanted to go to a game at Arrowhead.  Pick: Chiefs

BT - I can't believe KC won last week.  Pick: Chargers

TEN at HOU -12

Me - The Titans scored on a lot of fluky crap last week.  You're gonna try to tell me that Jake Locker and CJ15YardsPerGame will keep this one within 2 TD's?  Nah.  Pick: Texans

DJC - Pick: Texans

BT - 12 points is allot.  Give me the upstart Titans.  Pick: Titans

SEA at STL +2.5

Me - What does one expect from the suddenly powerful NFC West?  Seattle has a good D, that's for sure, but even though everyone seems to be lauding Russell Wilson for his play, he IS only throwing for 144 yards/game.  What I've seen is a super-conservative Offense that just hopes not to make mistakes and hope that the D can play well enough to win in the end (or get a ref to win it for them).  I think I'll go with the home dog here.  Pick: Rams

DJC- Wasn't Pete Carrol's reaction to the catch Monday annoying? He annoys me as much as Urban Meyer did five years ago. I love Urban Meyer now.  Pick: Seahawks

BT- Pick: Rams

MIA at ARI -6.5

Me - The Fins are a lot like the Seahawks, just their D isn't as good, and neither is their QB.  Tannehill has the worst QB rating in the NFL (58.3), worse even than Brandon Weeden, who had that immortal 5.1 in the first game to bring the average down.  Even though Zona's Offense is mediocre at best, their D is playing lights out right now and a Rookie QB is right up their alley.  Pick: Cardinals

DJC - Pick: Cardinals

BT - Miami on the road with or without Bush.  I'm not a Cardinal believer yet.  Pick: Dolphins

OAK at DEN -6.5

Me - I dunno... a TD might be too much to be giving Denver against an Oakland Offense that is inconsistent but dangerous.  Still, the Broncos REALLY need this game, and Peyton has always been good at bouncing back... Pick: Broncos

DJC - Pick: Broncos

BT - Pick: Broncos

CIN at JAX +2.5

Me - I STILL don't believe in the Bengals, but this is a helluva season-opening schedule they have.  They lose badly to the only good team they play (Ravens), then squeak out wins against bad teams (Browns and Redskins).  Well, here's another bad team for ya, Kitties.  Go ahead and run your Paper Tiger record to 3-1.  Pick: Bengals

DJC - I like ginger quarterbacks.  Pick: Bengals

BT - Pick: Bengals

WAS at TB -3

Me - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Freeman & Co. have a field day against the 31st ranked Pass D of Washington (337 yards/game, 10 TD passes allowed).  Pick: Buccaneers

DJC - I wonder what shenanigans Schiano will be up to this week.  Pick: Redskins

BT - Give me the Bucket of … nevermind.  Tampa will cover.  Pick: Buccaneers

NYG at PHI -2

Me - Games like this one are hard to call.  Any Giants game is hard to call, since they'll win almost every game in which they play well, but you never know when those are coming.  Still, I think Vick's turnover problem is enough to get New York the win.  Pick: Giants

DJC - Pick: Giants

BT - GMEN!  Eli is my boy.  Pick: Giants

CHI at DAL -3

Me - Jay Cutler doesn't like pressure, as evidenced by his 58.6 QB rating.  The Cowboys like to bring pressure, and they're pretty good at it.  Pick: Cowboys

DJC - Pick: Bears

BT - Intriguing game.  Which Bears team and which Cowboys team will show up?  Pick: Cowboys