NFL Picks For Week 6

Finished 9-5 last week. Overall record 45-32. The Chiefs were an especially hard team to watch last week so for spite I picked the Vikings over the Chiefs this week...that and Jamaal Charles ACL problem. Jacksonville allowed the Bucs to score 38 points...shame on them but they are playing the Texans this week. (Full disclosure I picked the Texans) The Ravens lost in OT...Who knew? I think the hardest loss to take was the Chargers. They let the Steelers march 80 yards in 1:38 and gave up the touchdown. I hate the "prevent" defense.

Here are my picks for week 6:

Atlanta @ New Orleans   (L)Falcons 28-17   Atlanta is too much for the Saints
Cincinnati @ Buffalo  (W) Bengals 35-13   If Taylor wasn't hurt, a much closer game
Denver @ Cleveland   (W)Broncos 21-17   Prohibitive pick, possible upset if Browns throw for 457
Chicago @ Detroit   (L)Bears 24-21   Does the whole league have the Lions playbook?
Miami @ Tennessee   W)Dolphins 21-20   Okay...I always pick the new coach
Kansas City @ Minnesota   (W)Vikings 28-21   No Charles, no win for the Chiefs
Washington @ NY Jets   (W)Jets 17-14   Jets rested...Redskins bad
Arizona @ Pittsburgh   (L)Cardinals 35-21   No last second TD in this game
Houston @ Jacksonville   (W)Texans 19-16   Someone has to win...why not Houston
Carolina @ Seattle   (L)Seahawks 24-21   Unbeaten no more...'Hawks win
San Diego @ Green Bay   (W)Packers 28-17   Who picks against Rodgers
Baltimore @ San Francisco   (L)Ravens 23-16   Don't let me down again Flacco
New England @ Indianapolis   (W)Patriots 28-17 Checking inflation after each snap
NY Giants @ Philadelphia   (L)Giants 23-22   Eli plays well, Bradford not so much

Check back during the games on Sunday and late Monday night to see how I've done.

As always, comments are welcome. Check me out on Facebook at: www.facebook/wdbarrsports

Falcons are the first of the 5 unbeaten to fall! I finished 8-6 this week. The Falcons, Bears, Cardinals and Giants let me down. I picked the Ravens the last 3 weeks with no luck. 53-38 overall...I'll do better next week I promise

NFL Picks Week 17

After an 8-8 week I've decided on a new strategy for picking the winners. This new plan will only work for the last week of games because I need 15 weeks of data.

I took an average of the scores by every team to pick my winners. 3 games should be toss ups, SD @ KC, CHI @ Minn and ARI @ SF.

I went against the scores in one contest, PHIL @ NYG because the Eagles will be down after elimination and Mark Sanchez is their QB.

Here Goes:

(W)Cleveland @ Baltimore     Ravens 26-19     Back to the drawing board at QB for Browns
(W)Dallas @ Washington     Cowboys 28-19     How bout them Cowboys
(W)Indianapolis @ Tennessee     Colts 29-16     Unless all the Colts rest
(W)Jacksonville @ Houston     Texans 23-15     JJ Watt sets record for TDs by DL
(L)San Diego @ Kansas City     Chargers 23-22     Go Bolts, make me a winner
(L)NY Jets @ Miami     Dolphins 24-16     Sad goodbye to Rex Ryan
(L)Chicago @ Minnesota     Bears 21-20     This is a hard one to pick
(L)Buffalo @ New England     Patriots 31-24     Patriots rest but still win
(L)Philadelphia @ NY Giants     Giants 24-17     Eagles are just bad the last 4 weeks
(W)New Orleans @ Tampa Bay     Saints 25-17     There must be a passing record for Brees to get
(L)Carolina @ Atlanta     Falcons 25-20     Falcons can win NFC South...Yes a team will be in
(W)Detroit @ Green Bay     Packers 30-20     Rodgers just getting warmed up,,,again
(W)Oakland @ Denver     Broncos 29-19     Offense starts with Peyton...he said so!
(L)Arizona @ San Francisco     Cardinals 19-18     Lindley, Lindley, he's our man!
(W)St. Louis @ Seattle     Seahawks 25-21     No trick plays this time Fisher
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh     Steelers 25-21     "No Bengals victory in Pittsburgh" says Ben

Green Bay outlasts Falcons 43-37 on MNF

The Green Bay Packers held off the Atlanta Falcons last night on MNF by a score of 43-37. The game was still in doubt late in the 4th quarter until the Packers recovered a Falcon's onside kick attempt and James Stark took a handoff from Aaron Rodgers 41 yards to the Falcon's 6 yard line with just over a minute to go in the game.

It was a game of two halves as the Packers built a 31-7 lead after two quarters and the Falcons held Green Bay to 12 points in the second half while scoring 30 points of their own.

Aaron Rodgers connected on 24 of 36 passes for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rodgers has now thrown 35 TD passes with just 2 INTs all year. Matt Ryan, of the Falcons, was equally effective going 24 for 39 for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns.

The Packers rushed for 179 yards on 30 carries with 2 touchdowns. James Stark led the Packers with 75 yards and a touchdown and Eddie Lacy ran for 73 yards and a TD. Lacy also caught a touchdown pass from Rodgers.

Although Atlanta was held to 91 yards on the ground for the night, Steven Jackson gained 50 yards and had a 4 yard touchdown run.

Julio Jones had a career best receiving game with 11 receptions for 259 yards with a 79 yard touchdown catch and run. Roddy White, Harry Douglas and Eric Weems also caught touchdown passes from Ryan.

Jordy Nelson caught 8 passes for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns for Green Bay including a 60 yard touchdown reception.

News and Notes From Week 7 in the NFL

Thursday through Sunday in the NFL was pretty exciting. The Redskins, behind backup quarterback Colt McCoy, beat the Titans 19-17. The St. Louis Rams used special team subterfuge to upset the Seahawks 28-26.

After looking so good last week, the Browns lost 24-6 to the here to fore winless Jaguars. The Bills lost key players but rallied on a TD pass from Kyle Orton to win 17-16 over the Vikings.

Matthew Stafford engineered two late TD drives to topple the Saints 24-23. The Chiefs used a last second FG to beat the Chargers, while Demacro Murray set an NFL record that had stood for 56 years as the Cowboys humbled the Giants 31-21.

The Bears are bickering among themselves and with their fans...again.

Oh yes, Rodgers, Brady and Manning were their same old selves...ho hum!

Frank Schwab of Shutdown corner on Yahoo Sports has his weekly winners and losers story here. Be sure to check it out.

Packers Beat Dolphins with :03 on the Clock 27-24

Aaron Rodgers threw a 4 yard touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless with 3 seconds remaining in the game to overtake the Dolphins 27-24.

Rodgers threw for 264 yards on a 24 for 42 passing day with 3 TDs and no INTs. Jordy Nelson caught 9 passes for 109 yards and 1 TD. Rodgers has 15 TDs on the year with 1 INT

The Dolphins failed on a 4th and 1 at the Packers 1 yard line in the third quarter. The Dolphins have attemped a league leading 9 4th down plays but have only succeded on 2 of them.

The Packers remain tied with the Bears atop the NFL Central with a 4-2 record.

Read the ESPN article here

Packers Send Vikings Packing

The Green Bay Packers had an easy time with the Minnesota Vikings with a 42-10 drubbing of the Vikes on Thursday night. Aaron Rodgers was 12 of 17 for 156 yards and 3 TDs in his short time on the field. Rodgers reached 200 TD passes for his career in 99 games. On;y Dan Marino reached 200 TD passes quicker as he accomplished the feat in 89 games.

Read the ESPN Rapid Reaction to the Thursday Night game here