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| Seattle Chucky |
by Gene Henke
Hello everyone and Happy Halloween! Last week the SwampMan only hit a disappointing two out of the five murky picks. Sorry about that everybody! The Dolphins blew a huge lead, the Lions decided to win in dramatic fashion and not cover, and the Jets well, they just got their butts handed to them. No excuses however, I’m just sayin! The good news is I am excited about this weekend’s games as I have a slimy bucket full of promising winners to share. I feel pretty strongly about these picks so please enjoy the thought process of my sludgy brain and take my insight into consideration. Without further ado here is this week’s Halloween edition of The Weekly Muck, it’s only treats over here baby!
MINNESOTA VIKINGS +10.5:
The Purple People Eaters were no doubt embarrassed once again last week when the Packers hammered them on Sunday Night. Christian Ponder got the start this time around and as expected, crapped the bed. The Cowboys are also coming off of a devastating loss to the Lions in last week’s game of the week, just like I said it would be might I add, heheh! Although the Lions didn’t cover the three point spread for us, grrr. I think the Vikings will compete with the wounded Cowboys despite who their QB is. Whether it is Ponder or Freeman, at this point they are both pretty much at the same level of ability so I see don’t see it as having much of an impact. I said it once and I will say it again; the Vikings have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball. If whatever QB plays even halfway decent, they could easily keep this game closer than ten points. I expect a heavy dose of the Earth alien Adrian Peterson and a hard fought game by the Viking defense. The Cowboys are injured and internally combusting. That being said, I think the purple people hang around in this one. Take the points.
TENNESEE TITANS -3:
The Titans are coming off of a bye week and previously having dropped three straight games as losses. They will travel into St. Louis whom we just watched play the Seahawks in a surprising Monday Night thriller. The Rams defense went all out in this one. You can say they treated it as their mini Super Bowl considering it was on a primetime spot against their big brother division rival. While they played well, it is a shame that their offense is completely anemic. Kellen Clemens is a decent backup QB, nothing more. The Ram team did what teams usually do in this situation and they rallied around their backup QB. Thsis is usually only good for the first week. This Titan defense is stout and will be licking their chops looking to feast on the backup QB this Sunday forcing him into some similar mistakes that the Seahawks were able to do. Clemens will have an even worse outing than he did last week and will not be able to get his team into the endzone once again against this mean and pissed off Titan defense. There is a reason the away team is favored here. They have had two weeks to prepare and the Rams are off a short week. The Hurt-Locker will be able to evade that pesky Ram pass rush to make things happen and put up some points. Also, don’t think for a second this Titan team won’t rally around their new coach and want to get him a win over their old head coach Jeff Fischer and assure their organization that they made the right choice. There is a little extra motivation for ya! Take the Titans as a treat baby!
WASHINGTON REDSKINS PK:
The Skins looked good last week until their fourth quarter meltdown that consisted of the Sherriff Peyton Manning doing what he does best putting up 31 4th quarter points to seal the victory. Although Philip Rivers is playing well, he is no Sherriff and will be under the gun this weekend. Redskin defenders Brian Orakpo and company will be swarming Rivers as they did Peyton Manning and feed off the home crowd energy. The Skin defense was able to cause a bunch of turnovers that the Broncos were able to eventually overcome. The Chargers won’t be so lucky when they are faced with a similar situation. Look for Washington to establish the run game heavily in this one, controlling the game throughout. The Charger defense has shown that they can be beat. At home and desperate for a win, RG3 will be on point this Sunday and make some magic happen while leading his team to their third victory. The Skins will squeak one out here at home.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS +7:
Big Ben has been a victim of a big mess thus far this season. The veteran club has been battered time and time again so far. I like Tomlin to round up the troops and restore some faith into his club as they head into Foxborough to take on Mr. Brady and the Pats. The Steelers were beat up last weekend in the Black Hole when the Oakland Raiders came to play. The Steelers battled back but to no avail as they dropped another game after two straight wins. The Patriots on the other hand were in fact able to comeback from a 17-3 deficit against the Dolphins to eventually win the game 27-17. Swampthing was not happy about this as he picked the Dolphins to cover the spread and still can’t believe they blew it with a lead like they had at halftime. Oh well, ‘stuff’ happens. I fully expect the Steelers to bounce back this week and give this game all they got. They know who they are playing and what a win against a team like the Patriots could do for them and their season. A statement win such as this could totally revive their mojo. Therefore I think Big Ben does what he does best, and puts his team on his back once again. He will leave it all out there on the field this weekend and keep this one within the number. The Steelers will be able to establish the run game with their rookie running back Le’Veon Bell, and give the Pats all they can handle. Pittsburgh is a veteran defense, and they are no strangers to Brady and this offense. They come into this one ready for war to keep this one close and exciting, take the generous points.
***BLACK LAGOON BONUS PICK - HOUSTON TEXANS +3:
In their last outing, the Texans nearly served the undefeated Chiefs their first loss two weeks ago in Kansas City. This factor makes it even more impressive. Houston fell just short of getting a win losing by one point and then headed into their bye week to get ready for the big Sunday Night game against the mighty Colts. Before the Chief game, the Texans gave the nod to their hometown college football hero Case Keenum to take the reigns as their QB moving forward. The kid played great considering the circumstances. His first NFL start, against an undefeated opponent, and in one of the most hostile environments the league has to offer. That being said, this was a smart move by the Texans as they got the green QBs feet wet with a start before the bye week. This allows Keenum two weeks to watch tape, go over his mistakes, and prepare for his next start. Two weeks to prepare is definitely much needed when facing the Colts. Andy Luck has been stellar thus far as expected, and will look to continue his dominance coming off a HUGE win over the Broncos two weeks ago. The Colts have also had a bye week to prepare for this game, although I think it will have the opposite effect on them. The bye week will cool them off in a sense as they now have to go on the road into Houston to take on a desperate team who has been nothing but a disappointment this year. The Texans are still loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. With a new QB at the helm, it has brought energy, hope and new life into this team. This next game could serve as a huge statement game to the rest of the league and it is their chance to say “we are who you thought we were, and we aren’t going anywhere.” The defense will be focused and going all out this week. I anticipate JJ Watt and friends to be in Luck’s face all night while they feed off of the energy from the crowd in this primetime spot. I think Keenum will put together another impressive start and the Texan run game will have success to hand the Colts a big L Sunday Night. There is nothing like a primetime home doggie to end the day on a positive note. This game will serve as Swampthing’s Slimy Spoiler of the week as you know he loves his doggies! Woof Woof baby!
Well folks that about does it for the Halloween addition of The Weekly Muck. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Be safe out there trick or treating out there all you little monsters, and be sure to stop by the Swamp to pay me a visit! I will be the guy in a Swampthing costume. As always please feel free to tweet me @swampy_swami with any questions you may have about the games or any others that I haven’t mentioned. I will answer as soon as I can with my input. Until next time everybody, be safe and Happy Halloween! MuHaHaHaHaaaaaa
- Swampthing
- Swampthing
Oh shittttt. Great write up.
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