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Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints (-3.5)
Two teams that most thought would be better coming limping into week 5. Carolina is worse, well at least for New Orleans sake I hope they are worse.
New Orleans 24 Carolina 16

Jacksonville Jaguars at Kansas City Chiefs (+2)
The Chiefs have looked frisky of late and Jacksonville is the type of team that can get upset in any week as they just don’t score much, but the Jags should be able to handle KC this week.
Jacksonville 20 Kansas City 14

Detroit Lions at Washington Redskins (-3.5)
Its going to be 21.
Washington 31 Detroit 16

Atlanta Falcons at Tennessee Titans (-8.5)
Apparently Vegas isn’t buying the resurgence of Joey Harrington. I just can’t see Tennessee blowing the Falcons out, lines too high.
Tennessee 24 Atlanta 17

Miami Dolphins at Houston Texans (-6)
Is it safe to say that the Dolphins are screwed. At least they seemed to discover that Ronnie Brown is their best player last week.
Houston 24 Miami 14

Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers (-6.5)
Seattle is a tough team to read. I keep wanting to write them off, but in that division who knows. The Steelers should rebound at home this week.
Pittsburgh 24 Seattle 20

Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots (-17)
The Patriots are starting to get those college football lines. Seventeen points is scary. I’d stay away.
New England 31 Cleveland 16

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams (+3.5)
Your offensive line must really suck if you need to pull your QB to prevent him from getting killed. Gus Frerotte lives.
Arizona 34 St. Louis 20

New York Jets at New York Giants (-4)
Do you still get the 3 points for being the home team when playing a team that plays in the same stadium? Lets call this a toss up.
NY Jets 20 NY Giants 18

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Indianapolis Colts (-10)
Losing your starting left tackle and starting running back in the same week pretty much sucks. Losing them before you play the Colts really really sucks.
Indianapolis 31 Tampa Bay 17

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos (Pick em)
The Chargers have screwed me every week so far this year. So consider this a protest pick.
Denver 24 San Diego 21

Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers (+3.5)
There are times when I don’t think I follow football close enough to bet some games. Who knew Trent Dilfer was on San Francisco?
Baltimore 17 San Francisco 13

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (-3.5)
So apparantly Brian Griese is the saviour? Free Kyle Orton!!!!
Green Bay 24 Chicago 16

Dallas Cowboys at Buffalo Bills (+11)
Trent Edwards… 2 weeks in a row. Lets go Buffalo!
Dallas 30 Buffalo 21

In a week where the visitors were favored in most games, the default strategy of choosing home games that all of the accounts should do would have (you would think) been a big loser; however, there were a huge number of upsets, and the “Choose the Home Team” would have earned enough to get this weeks Weekly Kudos.  Too bad no one did that….

 We did have some people who got more than half right this week in what is promising to be the low week (at least for now) for most players.  Best of the lot, with 8 points each, were  D. McGann, D. Wagner, N. Magee, K. Terminella, and B. Pierson.  Kudos to all 5 of you for a decent performance in what is otherwise a bad week, and keep up the good work.

 This week, I’ve arbitrarly decreed that there are not one, but TWO upset picks of the week.  In my mind, the bigger upset was Detroit brushing aside Chicago in Chicago; however, a number of you disagree, and are on the “Lions are for real” or the “Bears are posers” bandwagon, because D. Wagner, B. Moore, P. Pottberg, M. Edmonds, D. Buss, and Lee Gibbons all correctly predicted that Detroit would be on a winning streak coming to FedEx this Sunday.  On the other hand, in a game I thought could go either way, but chose to play safe and call (incorrectly) that the Eagles would tough it out, only D. Wagner and D. Buss correctly predicted that the Donnovan McNabb would find the turf more than the end zone (12 sacks!).  Kudos to all who predicted these upsets.

 However, in this drop the lowest week contest, the leaderboard for the season didn’t change much; only one person is, at present, keeping week 4s results for the season (i.e., Week 4 was the low point so far for all put one person, who did well this week)  However, it did open up a bit at the top, which now is being led by… well, ME, with 37, Jon Martin is second with 36, and Lee Gibbons is third with 35 (I must have miscounted last week in reporting raw scores, as a week like this, which saw the leaders faulter, means that the raw scores will be the real scores the following week).  Raw scores, however, do see some significant movement this week; I’m still first, with 43, but A. Fishman has moved into second with 41, followed by Jon Martin, Lee Gibbons, and  D. McGann (40).  While we aren’t using raw scores for final tallying, they are indicative of how well people are picking.  Props to all of our season leaders at this point.  There are still 194 points out there to be earned, so it’s still anyones contest to win!

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Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins (-4)
I have no comment. Snooze.
Miami 20 Oakland 17

Houston Texans at Atlanta Falcons (+3)
This has got to hurt for Falcon fans, seeing Matt Schaub up close in their dome while they are stuck with Joey Harrington at QB. Tough times.
Houston 24 Atlanta 16

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns (+4.5)
The Browns have given up 105 points in three games and haven’t won a game they haven’t score 50 points. I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to put up 50 against the Ravens.
Baltimore 24 Cleveland 14

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions (+3)
Brian Greise to the rescue. Well at least he’s not Rex Grossman and making his 1st start against the sad sack Lion defense is a help.
Chicago 27 Detroit 17

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (+3)
Kelly Holcomb goes again for the Vikings, proving the theory that 3 bad quarterbacks are better than one.
Green Bay 27 Minnesota 20

St.Louis Rams at Dallas Cowboys (-13.5)
Sigh. Effin Cowboys.
Dallas 30 St. Louis 14

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (+3.5)
Buffalo is starting some guy named Trent Edwards at quarterback this week. Seeing these teams with these pitiful back-up quarterbacks has to make you feel better about Todd Collins and Mark Brunell.
NY Jets 24 Buffalo 10

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers (-3)
A battle for first place in the stunningly weak NFC South division. Is 8-8 going to be go enough to win it?
Carolina 20 Tampa Bay 16

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers (+2.5)
A battle for first place in the stunningly weak NFC West division. Is 8-8 going to be enough to win it? I’m original.
San Francisco 24 Seattle 20

Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals (+6.5)
Whole bunch of road favorites this week. There is an interesting subplot in this game as the Steelers took new coach Mike Tomlin over Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt who promptly jumped shipped to Arizona. If Arizona had a better team they might actually be able to get revenge.
Pittsburgh 24 Arizona 16

Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers (-12)
San Diego has pretty much shocked everyone by being so bad to open the season. Feel the power of Norv Turner. Not even Norv can screw this game up.
San Diego 31 Kansas City 16

Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts (-10)
We’ve seen this match-up before and it always seems to end up with the Colts running away with it. I say the trend continues.
Indy 34 Denver 16

Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants (+3)
While I felt like a genius for predicted the Eagles redemption last week, I’ve oddly block the Giants last game from memory.
Philadelphia 34 NY Giants 13

New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals (+7.5)
New England is the greatest team of all time….. SERIOUSLY!!!! UNSTOPPABLE!!!!!!! OMG!!
New England 34 Cincinnati 30

 This week’s Weekly Kudos go out to B. Moore and myself, with a weekly record of 12-4.  Closely following, at 11-5, are A.Fishman and Jon “I can’t pick” Martin (Jon, take it from me, you’re pretty good at picking!).  This week, the upset of the week certainly upset all of us as Redskins fans;  I don’t believe anyone actually picked the Giants to win that game from among us, so there are no Upset of the Week winners Kudos.  Unfortunately,  I can’t double check the ESPN side right now (it’s giving an error; perhaps next season, we’ll use something besides ESPN’s game, as it’s gone downhill in how well it has worked from last year), but I checked on Sunday, and that is from memory.  If I’m incorrect, I’ll update this and give Kudos where they are well deserved.

This week also begins the first Season Props; with Week 3 being in the books, anyone leading at this point has had at least two good weeks.  Season Props go to Lee Gibbons, Jon Martin, and myself, with 25 points at the moment using the dropped week criteria, with raw scores of 36, 36, and 37 (no drop).   For those who might be disenheartened, I started off fast last year, too, before getting soundly trumped in midseason, but there is also a HUGE log jam at 24-20 immediately behind these three; further, Lee can’t win that jersey (if he wins, the second place player gets it) and I can’t either, so if somehow Lee or I (or both) come out on top, the next highest still wins.  There are still 208 more games to be played, so it’s still anyone’s season to win that Redskins Jersey!

For those looking for one last affirmation that Redskins fans know Football, however, I’ll leave you with this:  for the raw score at ESPN, even our LOWEST ranking players are still superior to over 60% of all players in terms of how well they’ve predicted the game; that’s not “They’ve gotten 60% of the games right.”  That’s that they’ve exceeded the ability to prognosticate of 60% of the players.  That’s OUTSTANDING.   I’ll bet that a lot of Cowboys fans can’t get anywhere near that high!

 Don’t forget to make your pics this week; for those using the overflow, you can make picks at any time, and weeks in advance if you need to.  For those using the ESPN Pick’em, picks unlock normally around noon on Thursday (earlier for weeks with a Thursday night game), and don’t lock until game time for each game.  For those who are on the fence, it’s still not too late to try to win; yes, you’ll be a LITTLE behind, but remember that in the overflow, you get the default picks free, so you’re not really so far out that you don’t have a chance.  The URL is http://tinurl.com/329arb, but you must sign up this week before 10:00PM EDT; I won’t add anyone without Lee expressly telling me who registers after that time.

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Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans (+7)
I felt pretty wise last week after my big Houston prediction came through for me, but I’m off the bandwagon this week. The Colts are a better squad and the Texans aren’t nearly as good as they looked last week.
Colts 31 Texans 21

San Diego Chargers at Green Bay Packers (+6)
Another bandwagon de-railer here. San Diego got whooped last week and the Packers rolled, so I was hoping for a smaller line here. Green Bay has a solid defense, and this should be fairly close.
Chargers 24 Packers 21

Minnesota Vikings at Kansas City Chiefs (-3)
The Minnesota QB situation is ugly, much like the KC QB situation. I don’t anticipate many TVs outside of the the diehard Viking and Chief fans tuning into this bad boy.
Chiefs 20 Vikings 16

Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles (-6)
Another line I wish was closer. Lost in all the complaining about Donovan McNabb was that he was actually pretty good in the 4th quarter last week. The Lions aren’t a great squad, and I’d expect McNabb silence the boo-birds for one week.
Eagles 31 Lions 16

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (-17)
The Patriots have already been coronated as the best team in the world by a large margin by most media types. I don’t know about that, but they are better than the Bills.
Patriots 30 Bills 14

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets (-3)
Have the Dolphins realized it was a mistake to sign Trent Green to be their QB yet?
Jets 24 Dolphins 14

San Francisco 49ers at Pittsburgh Steelers (-9.5)
San Fran haven’t exactly impressed in their two victories, but undefeated is undefeated. Sadly, they won’t be able to use that line next week.
Steelers 28 49ers 21

Arizona Cardinals at Baltimore Ravens (-8)
Can I just mention I hate the lines this week. The Cardinals looked much better last week, while I don’t think they can win, I expect a tight game.
Ravens 20 Cardinals 17

St. Louis Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-4)
This is another pick’em game in my mind. Without Orlando Pace and on the road, I’m going against the Rams.
Buccaneers 24 Rams 17

Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos (-3.5)
David Garrard hasn’t been bad, but the Jaguars can’t score. That tends to be a problem in the NFL.
Broncos 17 Jaguars 13

Cincinnati Bengals at Seattle Seahawks (-3)
Giving up 50 points against the Browns isn’t good. I can’t imagine the Bengals defense is that bad and when in doubt, go with the AFC.
Bengals 31 Seahawks 28

Cleveland Browns at Oakland Raiders (-3)
Whole bunch of barnburner games this week. Either Josh McCown has something on the Raiders coaching staff or Dante Culpepper is completely terrible.
Browns 24 Raiders 20

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons (+4.5)
I’m going against the Panthers until further notice. Joey Harrington don’t mess this up for me.
Falcons 20 Panthers 17

New York Giants at Washington Redskins (-4)
Geez, Carolina is a bigger favorite on the road than the Redskins are at home. Full Redskins-Giants preview here.
Redskins 27 Giants 13

Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears (-3)
Just a feeling, but Rex Grossman is going to be out-Rex Grossman’ed this week. Tony Romo is going to give the ball up at least twice this week.
Bears 20 Cowboys 14

Tennessee Titans at New Orleans Saints (-4)
Apparently the Titans are better than I thought. I think the Saints get their 1st win this week, but in typically Titan fashion, it’ll be close.
Saints 20 Titans 17

 For players using the ESPN Pigskin Pick’em, please ensure that you at least visit the page; Thursday is the day picks typically open back up, but be sure to configure your account to notify you to make your picks; if you don’t visit, it does NOT auto-assign, but if you do, it does, which allows you to at least get the free home games.  For players using the overflow, it WILL autoassign for you; over the course of the season, that may help, it may hurt; I wouldn’t trust it to be a winning strategy, so make your picks (oh, and for the overflow, you can pick weeks ahead of the current, as well).  For those who haven’t joined yet, it’s still not too late; just join the overflow at http://tinurl.com/329arb and sign up; I’ll create your account well in advance of the games this weekend, and you aren’t too far behind even yet to win.  There’s still room for 7 more players.  Good job to all of the players, and Hail to the Redskins!

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Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers (-10)
For the Bills, this could go two ways: They could play hard to win for Kevin Everett or they could be shaken and get blasted. After hearing JP Losman interviewed a few days ago, trust me they are extremely shaken.
Pittsburgh 30 Buffalo 13

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (+7.5)
Remember a couple of years ago when Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crennel were highly regarded coaching candidates, yeah that didn’t work out so well. How can you have a QB competition for all of training camp and then trade the winner after one game?
Cincinnati 24 Cleveland 13

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (+7.5)
Pacman Jones may be a bad guy (and I’m not just talking about in wrestling), but he was by far the Titans best cover man. David Garrard couldn’t take advantage of his absense, but Peyton Manning will.
Indianapolis 31 Tennessee 20

Houston Texans at Carolina Panthers (-7)
I had a chance to watch the Panthers a few times this pre-season and Jake Delhomme is done. He was also Brett Favre-esque in making ridiculously bad decisions. This has upset written all over it.
Houston 21 Carolina 20

San Fransisco 49ers at St Louis Rams (-3)
St. Louis looked like complete garbage in their week one ass kicking at the hands of Carolina while San Fransisco didn’t look much better in their win over Arizona. The Rams lost Orlando Pace and starting cornerback Tye Hill to injury already and look to be in for a very long season.
San Fransisco 24 St. Louis 16

Green Bay Packers at New York Giants (-2)
The Packers have done a complete 180 from their recent teams. They now have a very good defense and a pretty weak offense. The Giants are depleted thanks to injuries and weren’t that good to begin with.
Green Bay 17 New York Giants 14

Atlanta Falcons at Jacksonville Jaguars (-10.5)
The Jaguars historically have had a very good run defense but they were slaughtered by the Titans last week to the tune of 282 rushing yards. The Falcons historically are a very good running team but were held in check last week. It probably doesn’t really matter if Joey Harrington keeps throwing TD passes to the wrong team.
Jacksonville 21 Atlanta 16

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+4)
NFL GM tip of the week: Don’t sign any QB to start for your team after he stars for the Eagles in a replacement role.
New Orleans 31 Tampa Bay 14

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions (-3.5)
The Lions are going to score points which means Tarvaris Jackson will have to do more than make the dump off throws and hand off to Adrian Peterson. That won’t turn out well.
Detroit 27 Minnesota 17

Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins (+4)
The Cowboys secondary looked pretty sucktastic last week against the Giants. Sadly, Trent Green can’t throw the ball more than 20 yards downfield anymore.
Dallas 21 Miami 18

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals (+3)
That Monday night classic between the Cards and the 49ers showed two highly drafted QBs struggling to hit 100 yards passing each (otherwise known as the Brunell line). Don’t you feel better about Jason Campbell’s performance now?
Seattle 24 Arizona 20

New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens (-10)
Kyle Boller versus Kellen Clemens. Feel the excitement.
Baltimore 17 NY Jets 10

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (-10)
This line is a week one overreaction. Jay Cutler isn’t that good despite a 300 yard passing game last week and the Raiders defense isn’t that bad despite giving up 36 points last week. Normally I’d be worried about Dante Culpepper getting a start, but Josh McNown threw 2 picks and fumbled 3 times last week.
Denver 20 Oakland 14

Kansas City Chiefs at Chicago Bears (-13)
Get ready for a week’s worth of ‘Rex Grossman has turned the corner’ stories on ESPN.com.
Chicago 34 Kansas City 14

San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots (-4)
There wasn’t a more overblown story last week than Randy Moss’ return to glory after a good game. Luckily the Patriots cheated so we didn’t have to read too many 16-0 stories.
San Diego 24 New England 20

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles (-7)
Seven points is too many. I’m a homer and I’m obviously going to pick the Redskins, but seven points is still too much. Full preview on Monday.
Washington 20 Philadelphia 17