NFL Picks Week 1

With much hemming and hawing I have made my picks for the 1st week of the NFL season. Deflate gate, Tim Tebow cut, Trent Richardson can't make the Raiders 73 man cut, domestic violence, Wilson's huge contract, Packers injuries, Jamies Winston, Marcus Mariota, Roger Goodell, Rex Ryan in Buffalo, Ndamukong Suh in Miami and Jerry Jones has made for an interesting off season...let's get going with the regular season...please!

Pittsburgh @ New England     (W)Patriots 21-17   They beat the NFL, the Steelers should be easy
Indianapolis @ Buffalo           (L)Colts 28-17   Without McCoy...no chance for the Bills
Green Bay @ Chicago             (L)Bears 20-17   Who knows with GB injuries
Seattle @ St. Louis                  (L)Seahawks 28-10   Big contract = Big wins
Cleveland @ NY Jets              (L)Browns 17-10   Neither team very good
Miami @ Washington             (W)Dolphins 17-6   Despite Suh Miami still needs to score
Carolina @ Jacksonville         (W)Panthers 28-24   Superman back to prove naysayers wrong
Kansas City @ Houston          (L)Texans 21-20   Defense wins games...We'll see
New Orleans @ Arizona         (W)Cardinals 28-14   Saints no longer rolling in
Detroit @ San Diego                (L)Lions 31-28   Stafford late to Johnson for the win
Baltimore @ Denver               (W)Broncos 28-21   Running game wins it
Cincinnati @ Oakland             (W)Bengals 30-10  Oakland is really bad
Tennessee @ Tampa Bay        (W)Titans 21-20   Mariota vs Winston...toss up
NY Giants @ Dallas                (W)Cowboys 35-17   Cowboys will "round up" the NFC East
Philadelphia @ Atlanta            (L)Eagles 23-16   Bradford likes change of scenery
Minnesota @ San Francisco     (L)Vikings 17-12   49ers still reeling from offseason

As you can see I finished 8-8 for the 1st week...I promise next week will be better as I absorb the losses of the Seahawks, Colts, Lions, Eagles and Texans!!

Giants "Luck" Runs Out Against Colts With 40-24 Loss

Andrew Luck completed 25 of 46 passes for 354 yards and 4 TDs against the Giants as the Colts beat the Giants 40-24. Eli Manning was 27 of 52 for 359 yards and 2 TDs in the losing cause.

This was the 1st game in Monday Night Football history when both quarterbacks threw for over 350 yards with no interceptions. The difference in this game may have been that Eli Manning overthrew his receivers, who appeared to have beaten the coverage in several instances, 11 times. The receivers can't help you when you are unable to get the ball close to them.

The Colt's Luck threw for 354 yards, his 5th consecutive road game with at least 350 yards, an NFL record. The NFL record book is at least as thick as the IRS instruction manual. The things they keep track of are amazing. Luck has also thrown for 300+ yards in seven straight games tying him for third place in NFL history with Peyton Manning. It was also Luck's 17th NFL game with over 300 yards in just 2 1/2 years of play.

The run game for both teams was average at best, just enough runs to keep the defense honest. Ahmad Bradshaw, ex Giants running back, led the Colt's with 50 yards on just 7 carries while the Giants could muster only 89 yards on the ground on 20 carries by 5 different backs, including Manning's 18 yards on 1 carry.

Tight End Coby Fleener caught a 32 yard TD from Luck. WR T.Y. Hilton (31 yards), WR Reggie Wayne (40 yards) and TE Dwayne Allen also caught TD passes from Luck. Corey Washington and Larry Donnell were on the receiving end of Manning's 2 TD passes.

Manning and Luck both fumbled twice but Eli lost one. Jonathan Newsome sacked Manning, causing a fumble that Sergio Brown returned to the Giants 4 yard line. Luck then threw his 4th TD pass, a 2 yard toss to TE Dwayne Allen.

The Colts sit atop the AFC South Division at 6-3, two games ahead of the much improved Houston Texans while the Giants fall to 3-5 in the NFC East, three games behind the Eagles and just 1/2 game in front of the hapless Redskins.

Arizona Cardinals Defeat Cowboys 28-17

DeMarco Murray had his record 8 game streak of 100+ yard rushing games halted by the Arizona Cardinals who held hin to 79 yards on 19 carries as Arizona won 28-17.

Carson Palmer was 22 of 34 for 249 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT for the Cardinals who improved to 7-1 on the year while the Cowboys lost their second game in a row to fall to 6-3, 1/2 game behind the Philadelphia Eagles who beat the Houston Texans 31-21.

Brandon Weeden, starting for the Cowboys in place of the injured Tony Romo, was 18 of 37 for 183 yards and a late 4th quarter touchdown pass to Dez Bryant but threw 2 INTs.

"You can't turn the ball over, and that is on me," Weeden said.

Read the ESPN recap here.

'Skins Dump Cowboys 20-17 In Overtime

The Washington Redskins, behind Texas native Colt McCoy, held off the Cowboys in regulation and won the game on a field goal in overtime, 20-17.

McCoy was 25 of 30 for 299 yards. Although he had no passing touchdowns he did score on a 7 yard run near the start of the 4th quarter that put the Redskins up 17-10.

DeMarco Murray had his 8th straight game with 100+ yards rushing and tied eight other NFL players with 1000 yards rushing in their team's first eight games.

The Cowboys were 17-1 in games where Murray had 20 or more carries. Murray only carried the ball 19 times in last night's game. Those 19 rushes were good for 141 yards. Demarco is on a pace for an NFL record 2108 yards on the season.

Dallas has lost three overtime games under coach Garrett. Interestingly the two previous OT losses were followed by losses in the next game.

Read the full ESPN recap article here.

Cowboys Top Giants 31-21 For 6th Win In A Row

The Dallas Cowboys, behind a solid effort by Tony Romo and a record breaking performance by Demarco Murry defeated the NY Giants 31-21 to improve to 6-1 on the year,

Romo threw for 279 yards and 3 TDs. Dez Bryant caught 9 of Romo's passes for 151 yards. TE Gavin Escobar caught 3 passes for 65 yards and 2 TDs.

The story of the game though, was Demarco Murray recording his 7th consecutive game to start the season. The old record was 6 in a row by Jim Brown set in 1958.

Murray, on a pace for more than 2000 yards rushing this season has 915 yards through 7 games a 130.7 average. That would work out to 2091 yards over the 16 game schedule.

Read the ESPN Recap here.

Cowboys Running Back Joseph Randle Arrested for Shoplifting - UPDATE

Joseph Randle, backup to Demarco Murray was arrested on Monday on allegations he stole $134 worth of merchandise from a Frisco, Texas Dillards department store.

Randle was charged with a misdemeanor Class B Theft of $50-$500. He was released on a writ bond at about 1:30 Tuesday morning.

A 5th round pick in the 2013 draft, out of Oklahoma State, Randle is being paid a base salary of $495,000 a year.

As a backup to Murray, Randle has seen limited action and has 113 yards on 16 carries for the Cowboys in 2014. He had the best game of his career on Sunday in the Cowboys win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks when he ran for 52 yards on 5 carries in the Cowboys 30-23 victory.

The Cowboys have said they will fine Randle an unspecified amout but they would not suspend him.

UPDATE
Cowboys to fine Randle 1 weeks pay, equal to $29,117

Read the ESPN article here.

Eagles Shut Out Giants 27-0

The Philadelphia Eagles shut down and shut out the NY Giants on Sunday night 27-0. With the eagles lack of offense the past couple of weeks this was comforting to the Eagles fans.

Conversely, the Giants fans, who had high hopes after the last two weeks need to be concerned. With the Eagles and the Cowboys both at 5-1, the Giants will have to play extremely well against Division and Conference opponents to make the playoffs.

By the way, this was the Eagles first shutout in 18 years! Their last shutout came against the NY Giants on December 1, 1996.

Read the ESPN "Rapid Response" article here.