NFL Picks Week 7

I finished last week 8-6 which brings my overall record to 52-38. Who do I have to thank for my oh so mediocre showing? The Cardinals and the Ravens to start with. The Seahawks losing to the Panthers calls into question the 'Hawks defense. And the Bears...my, my, my...the Bears lose in OT to the winless Lions.

And, of course, the Giants on Monday Night Football. The Eagles and the Giants combined for 7 turnovers and 19 penalties in one of the most hard to watch MNF games ever. Is the NFC East still the dominate force it was?

Well, on to this week:

Seattle @ San Francisco   (W)Seahawks 21-17   I hope a division rival wakes up the 'Hawks
Buffalo @ Jacksonville   (L)Bills 20-16   I hope London takes the pressure off the Bills
Minnesota @ Detroit   (W)Vikings 28-24   The Lions can't start a win streak...can they?
Atlanta @ Tennessee   (W)Falcons 28-17   Falcons back on track
New Orleans @ Indianapolis   (L)Colts 20-17   No trick plays Pagano...okay
Pittsburgh @ Kansas City   (L)Steelers 24-23   Reid may be fired after this game
Cleveland @ St. Louis   (W)Rams 21-19   Rams at home not a sure thing
Houston @ Miami   (W)Dolphins 23-17   Campbell...has he turned things around?
NY Jets @ New England   (W)Patriots 28-23   Signature game for both teams
Tampa Bay @ Washington   (L)Bucs 17-16   Neither team ready for playoff time
Oakland @ San Diego   (L)Chargers 24-20   Chargers win at home...I think
Dallas @ NY Giants   (L)Cowboys 21-20   Giants looked really, really bad on Monday
Philadelphia @ Carolina   (W)Panthers 28-17   Cam's the man...and Philly is not very good
Baltimore @ Arizona   (W)Cardinals 19-16  Could be the upset of the week

The Ravens have lost every time I pick them so they probably win to put me at 13-1. Check back during the weekend for my triumph.

The Bills give away 21 points and wonder why they can't win! The Steelers are very odd...one week great and the next lose to the Chiefs. Same with the Colts! How can the Buccaneers be bad enough to lose to the Redskins...Go figure!  Thank God for the interception of Flacco or I could very well have lost that game in OT. The Cowboys are lost without Romo! Maybe Da Raduhs are legit!

So I finished 8-6 again! I'm at 60-44 overall...hardly where I should be! 

Battle of 2-12 Teams Goes to Jacksonville

A battle of 2-12 teams that could determine who gets a shot at Marcus Mariota in the spring draft, was won by the Jacksonville Jaguars over the Tennessee Titans 21-13.

Tennessee took a 10 nothing lead before Blake Bortles hit Marcedes Lewis with a 4 yard pass with :31 seconds on the clock in the 1st half.

Toby Gerhart scored on a 1 yard run in the 3rd quarter to put the Jags ahead 14-10. Jordan Todman broke loose on a 62 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter to put Jacksonville up 21 10 with 9:13 left in the game.
Ryan Succop  hit a 23 yard field goal with about 6 minutes to go to put the score at 21-13 and the Titans were driving when Charlie Whitehurst was sacked on the last play of the game to seal the win for the Jaguars.

Jerry Jones Insists Romo Must Play on Sunday

The Dallas Cowboys meet the Jacksonville Jaguars in London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday. The Cowboys are 6-3 and in the hunt for a playoff spot this year. The Jaguars are 1-8 and going nowhere this season. In the end this is a meaningless game for the Cowboys. Dallas is a 6 1/2 point favorite and should beat the Jaguars handily.

Cowboy quarterback, Tony Romo, suffered two transverse process fractures in his back during the game against the Redskins in late October. Romo left the game but returned in the 4th quarter to try and win the game. He didn't look very good and the Cowboys lost. Head coach Jason Garrett said following the game that owner Jerry Jones did not insist that Garrett put Romo back in the game. Read the rest of this article and extrapolate the data backwards to that game.

Romo made the long flight with little pain he said and he is walking, throwing passes and even participated in team walk through drills this week.

What is a transverse process fracture you ask?

A fracture of a bone is the same as a break in the bone. A fracture of a transverse process is a break of a part of one of the bones in the spine. This part extends out from the side of the main body of the bone (called the vertebral body). A transverse process is shaped like a wing. They extend from both the left and right sides of the vertebral body.

If the injury is limited to a break of a transverse process with no other bone or organ injury, hospital care may not be necessary. Medication for pain control, special back bracing, and limitations in activity are done first followed by physical therapy later.

Romo says if he keeps improving he'll have a good chance of playing. Coach Jason Garrett would not comment on whether or not Romo would play. The only person who speaks of Romo definitely starting is Cowboy owner Jerry Jones.

Remember that Romo had back surgery last off season and these fractures are to the bones on the edges of the spine. Could the consequences of sitting Romo for one more game be that dire? The Cowboys are 6-3 on the season. Yes, they have lost their last 2 games and are in a fight with the Eagles for a playoff spot but the Jaguars are 1-8, their only victory over the Cleveland Browns by a point, and going nowhere. The Cowboys should win this game.

I'm using quotes from Jerry Jones here in an ESPN.com article by Todd Archer to show just how little Jones looks at the future, a player's or the team's, in insisting Romo will play.

"I'm anticipating him playing, have no reason to think that he won't, and this will be a nice little practice session for him out there today," Jones said. "But my expectations are for him to play."

"Any time he can play, we want him to play," Jones said. "We're a better team, to be trite, with him playing. And so as far as the meaningful games, I'm talking about -- we didn't play him in the preseason obviously but felt we could have had we needed him to win the game -- but these games, we don't play many of them. You know that. And every one of them counts so much.

"Invariably any time you do lose one of these games in the regular season, our experience with us, especially these last several years, is we needed every win we could get. There's no such thing as holding him out and forgoing the potential chance that we win.

Romo may well have the best game of his career on Sunday. The Cowboys may make the playoffs by virtue of this win, but is it in the best interest of the team, Tony Romo and the Cowboys fans to take a chance with your 100 million dollar franchise quarterback?