Out on a Limb
Fantasy Football Predictions

Beasts of the East

The predictions made here each week do not represent the views of everyone on FIC and should not be used for gambling purposes.

Some try blind guesses by having their pets pick the games each week based on which treat they decide to choose. Others make themselves out to have bizarre psychic nicknames. Still more throw darts at a board and pick whoever it lands on. And, yes... there are a few actual experts, but I'm not one of them. Kick off every weekend with "The Mutt" as he tests his skills all season long against a few of our correspondents in the race for the FIC Cup.

Official FIC Cup Standings (Last Week in Parentheses)

Tim Noakes 37-22-1 (10-4)
The Mutt 31-28-1 (6-8)
Jeff Brown 31-28-1 (5-9)
Chris Wang 19-24-1 (8-6)
Jay Schell 22-37-1 (3-11)
Zach McCann 21-38-1 (2-12)

Beasts of the East

A pair of unbeatens..... whoooooops! That was last week. Both the Mammals and the Pats were clear favorites on the road last week with a chance to move to 4-0. However, someone forgot to tell these two Eastern Division foes that, and perhaps the impact that this week's game could have when the two teams meet in Miami may have had a bit to do with that.

Neither of the two teams remains unbeaten, but they do remain tied atop the AFC East Standings, with a chance to take a one game lead in the division as well as taking the edge in the tiebreaker. Each are serious Super Bowl contenders, and both teams have put an average of over 30 points a game on the board thus far this year. What's not to like about this game?!?!

Game of the Week: New Engalnd at Miami (-3)
New England Offense vs. Miami Defense
The Pats have taken to the air for much of the year, and have posted an astounding 325 yards/game. QB Tom Brady looked very comfortable in each of the first four weeks, even torching a strong San Diego secondary last week for over 300 yards in the loss. His two picks were costly, but were somewhat of an abberation. Running back Antowain Smith has been very effective, but has been somewhat of an afterthought in the league's new version of the "Greatest Show on.... Grass".

The Miami secondary has always been considered a strength, but after last week, it's anybody's guess which team will show up. Trent Green annihilated the Miami secondary last week to the tune of 348 yards and 5 (that's right, five) TDs. If that same bunch of defensive misfits shows up against Brady and the Pats, it could be a long day for the Mammals. Thankfully for the Dolphins, though, the Patriots don't have Tony Gonzalez, who scored three of those touchdowns and accounted for 140 yards. Expect the Dolphins to put every ounce of their concentration into nickel packages this week, and expect Antowain Smith to have to step up his role a bit for the Pats to get the job done. Advantage: Patriots

Miami Offense vs. New England Defense
Miami likes to feature a grinding ground game with Ricky Williams shouldering much of the load. They set up the short pass with the run, and Jay Fiedler does his job well, holding onto the ball and eating up a little clock. That said, if the Dolphins get into a shootout and need to come from behind, they're in trouble. Fiedler has yet to prove he can air it out with the best of them, and when his team fell behind and made him throw the ball last week, he was picked four times.

Pats coach Bill Belichik is constantly praised for being a defensive genius, and he employs a "bend but don't break" type of scheme with this Pats team. They're not among the leaders in yards against in any category, but play a solid field position game and are an aggressive team that causes turnovers. The problem with this scheme lately? They've allowed the big runs in the past couple of weeks. The past two feature backs that the Pats have faced (Priest Holmes and Ladanian Thomlinson) have accounted for 397 yards. Few are in their class, but the Dolphins' Williams is one of them. Belichik better get that big brain of his working, and fast, or his linebacking core will be trampled all over for the third straight week. Advantage: Dolphins

Special Teams
The Pats can't be touched here, by any team in the league. Vinatieri is as clutch as they come, and Troy Brown should be back in the fold this week. While Olindo Mare is certainly no slouch, special teams run a lot deeper than the place kicker, and the Dolphins unit just can't match up as a whole. Advantage: Patriots

Coaching/Intangibles
Belichik and Wanstedt are both coaches who rely upon their defensive schemes and ball-control very heavily, and both have the experience of leading their teams into hostile, playoff-type games. The only factor that really comes into play as an intangible is the home field, so the slight edge goes to the Dolphins. Advantage: Dolphins

The Crystal Ball
The Dolphins will show up defensively this week, and the Pats have nothing to compare to a big, dominant TE like Tony Gonzalez. They also don't have an answer for Ricky Williams on the defensive side of the ball right now. It should be tight, but the Dolphins will take it with a late field goal. Dolphins 24, Patriots 23

Lock of the Week: Philadelphia (-3) at Jacksonville
Fred Taylor still isn't broken, but seriously. The Eagles look unbeatable since their game at Tennessee to start the year, and Jacksonville isn't nearly as hostile a place to play. McNabb will light up an untested Jags defense that's coming off of a game against the Jets, which, in layman's terms, is a bye week. Eagles 31, Jags 17

Upset of the Week: St. Louis (-7) at San Francisco
OK. Warner out. Martin in. You think Martz might remember #28 now? Without Warner to throw a handful of interceptions, the Rams may finally get off the snyde. It's awfully hard to ignore the fact that they've beaten the Niners the last six times they've played. If they lose, expect people to start calling for Martz' head in St. Louis, and expect the Niners to bust out the "same old sorry Lambs" chant again. Rams 27, Niners 24

A few things to ponder while the Diamondbacks try to figure out what happened to their co-Cy Young winners in the postseason:

R.D.C.I. (figured at 2/day) - Dayne Cheeseburger Consumption 62, Giants 55
Dayne's Rushing Yards - 78
Remaining Unbeatens - 2
Remaining Winless Teams - 3
Points Scored by Jets in Week One - 37
Points Scored by Jets in Week Two, Three, and Four - 13

Pittsburgh at New Orleans (-3) - Stallworth - Out.... Horn - Questionable.... Look for a healthy dose of Duce, but Pittsburgh's weakness lies in the air. Tommy Maddox will enjoy immediate success, but Cowher's quarterback carousel will burn him in the end.... not this week, though. Steelers 23, Saints 20

Washington at Tennessee (-5.5) - The Titans showed some bite in the second half of their game in Oakland last week. Daniel Snyder will make a surprise announcement that he's so desperate to find a QB that Spurrier will become a player/coach and return to the field. Titans 30, Redskins 13

Tampa Bay (-1.5) at Atlanta - Coming off of two consecutive bye weeks, the first of which was against the Bungles, the Dirty Bird better be well-rested for this one. Jon Gruden's new offense won't help much, as Vick will tear his defense apart singlehandedly. Falcons 30, Bucs 24

Oakland (-3) at Buffalo - Bledsoe will give Gannon and Co. a taste of their own medicine, putting the ball up an unprecedented 70 times in this one. Without a healthy Charles Woodson in the secondary, that should spell trouble. Bills 37, Raiders 34

Arizona at Carolina (-3.5) - While the Redbirds of St. Louis are tearing up Arizona's baseball team, the Arizona Cardinals are suddenly making a little noise in the NFC West. When they face Old Man Peete and the Cats this weekend, a shot to tie the Niners for the division lead will be on the line. Banged up or not, they won't let that slip. Cardinals 20, Panthers 14

New York Giants at Dallas (Pick'em) - Need a cure for insomnia? While other games may be less competitive, this game gets the snoozer of the week tag. The Giants archaic offense has produced all of 16 points in the past two weeks, and the Cowgirls somehow mustered a win against the "high-powered" Rams by putting 13 on the board. Grab your remote, and switch it over to CBS, because whatever the AFC game is in your area has to be more entertaining than this. That said, Michael Strahan will sack Quincy Carter in the end zone in the waning seconds of the game.Giants 2, Cowgirls 0

Cincinnati at Indianapolis (-13.5) - Two touchdowns are tough to give. Jon Kitna is tougher not to pick against. Dolts 34, Bungles 6

Kansas City at New York Jets (No Line) - The J-E-T-S burned the Mutt pretty bad last week. Some thought they might contend for the Super Bowl, but 1-15 seems much more likely. Priest + Gonzalez + Green = B-L-O-W-O-U-T, assuming that the fans in the Meadowlands can spell that. Chiefs 38, Jets 3

San Diego at Denver (-6) - The Mutt's personal game of the week... L.T. will face his toughest test yet, but if Brees can manage over 150 yards through the air, the Bolts will shock the world and move to 5-0. They just might feel like they're a mile high! Bolts 20, Broncos 17

Baltimore at Cleveland (-8) - The Dawg Pound's already dreaming of days gone by when Kelly Holcombe was at the helm. Chris Redman is no better than Couch, but the Ravens have a running game, and Todd Heap arrived in a major way on Monday night. Art Modell may be lynched in the stands, but will leave Cleveland whispering, "Lenore." Ravens 20, Browns 13

Green Bay at Chicago (-1.5) - After losing consecutive heartbreakers to the Bills and Saints, one has to wonder if the Bears luck is finally running out. Green Bay will bust out the Champaign early as they steal one from the Bears to take a strangle-hold in the NFC Norris. Packers 23, Bears 17

And now, for our new guest columnist feature. Starting with week six, we'll be asking all of you to throw out a little insight on the games within the column. There will be a contest each week (the most convincing argument for the Game of the Week in our Game of the Week Poll) for the lucky winner who gets to shout out their feelings on the game and pick head to head with The Mutt. As this is still new, Barry Lewis, our Giants Correspondent, will be throwing in his two cents!

Guest Pick Set

Barry Lewis - New York Giants Correspondent

Game of the Week
San Diego at Denver (-6) - This is probably going to be the best game of the week. Denver has got to be peeved and embarrassed about the way they lost on Monday night. San Diego has something to prove yet again because they are on the road at Mile High and this is a divisional game. Tomlinson will not be able to get outside the way he did against the Pats and Brees will make mistakes this week. This is a must win game for Brian Griese and I would expect a big game from Ed McCaffrey who responded well last week for 9 catches. Look for McCaffrey to get in the end zone and I think we will see Clinton Portis get the majority of the carries this week too. Denver 31, San Diego 17

Upset of the Week
St. Louis at San Francisco (-7) - If it couldn’t get any worse for St. Louis, it might this week. When bad teams lose, they lose for a number of reasons. The reasons for this week are Kevin Barlow and Garrison Hearst. I think the 49’ers defensive secondary is average and that might give the Rams some encouragement. But to me, the problem hasn’t been Warner or Faulk's lack of production. It seems to me that the Rams, with the exception of Torry Holt, look “slow” and there is no reason for it. If the Rams lose this game, Martz better start getting ready for his January plans because they won’t be on a football field. St. Louis Rams 24, San Francisco 21

Lock of the Week
Tampa Bay (-1.5) at Atlanta - Tampa is running on all cylinders and is not going to be stopped going forward. Atlanta has no 3rd down answer against the Bucs secondary and I don’t see Warrick Dunn or TJ Duckett doing much in this one. It could be low scoring though as Atlanta has been competitive all year and in each of their 3 opening games. Saying that, bad teams lose games the way the Falcons have this year and it will continue as the Bucs is my lock of the week with Keyshawn finally scoring his first touchdown of the year. Tampa Bay 20, Atlanta 13

New England at Miami (-3) - I said going into last weeks’ game against the Chargers, that the Pats would split their next two. Because the Pats lost last weekend, I am following through with a Pats road win in Miami. Why? Because the Pats lost last week for 2 reasons: a) LaDainian Tomlinson was able to get to the outside on the Pats front 7 and b) because Tom Brady made 2 bad decisions while marching in for scoring opportunities. Well, Bruschi and Phifer are back and will be more productive than they were against the Chargers. New England 23, Miami 16

Pittsburgh at New Orleans (-3) - Pittsburgh is starting Tommy Maddux this week. The ability for Hines Ward and, in my opinion, Plaxico Burress to get involved in the offense this week will be the key to beating the Saints. This is because, unlike last week, the Saints are going to attempt to run Deuce McCalister more so than last because of injuries to Joe Horn and Dante Stallworth, who are questionable for Sunday. Pittsburgh 31, New Orleans 18

Washington at Tennessee (-5.5) - Tennessee is going to look for some respect this week after getting handed to them against the Raiders. They are at home and you know that Jeff Fisher has no problem showing Heir Spurrier what it means to represent the AFC in a Super Bowl. Washington is underachieving defensively and their offense continues to not utilize Stephen Davis properly. This will continue this week with the Titans at home. Tennessee 24, Washington 13.

Oakland (-3) at Buffalo - Oh My….10 months later and Drew Bledsoe is getting his shot at the Raiders. Price and Moulds have been unreal this year and Travis Henry has been ok despite his fumble problems. Saying that, Buffalo has a bad defense, and with Garner, Rice, Brown and now Porter involved, it all smells like a route. Oakland 38, Buffalo 23

Arizona at Carolina (-3.5) - This could be the toughest game to call of the week. Arizona has two banged up starting running backs in Thomas Jones and Marcel Shipp and a banged up wideout in David Boston. In the meantime, the Panthers are the surprise of the NFL with a 3-1 record and a very tough and quick defense led by Dan Morgan and Julius Peppers. If Rodney Peete continues to perform the way he has, Carolina should have no problems in this one. Carolina 21, Arizona 10

New York Giants at Dallas (Pick'em) - The New York Giants need to stop turning the ball, 7 times in 4 games, at critical junctures like last weekends’ game against Arizona where they lost 21-7. This will be another defensive battle, unless the Giants spread out formations, which could entirely happen. Giants 16, Dallas 3

Cincinnati at Indianapolis (-13.5) - Indianapolis is coming off a bye week and Cincinnati is not. That smells like trouble if you ask me for anyone that is willing to give up 2 touchdowns no matter what the circumstance. Corey Dillon is due for a breakout game like Shaun Alexander was last week and I think that we are going to see that happen. Saying that, Indy is going to win the game because they have the weapons to survive. Indy 37, Cincinnati 27

Kansas City at New York Jets (No line) - The Jets stink. Priest Holmes is going to run all over them. Good luck Chad Pennington…Kansas City 27, New York Jets 6

Philadelphia (-3) at Jacksonville - This should be considered a good test for the Jacksonville Jaguars because Philadelphia is one of the two teams in the NFC that are currently considered favorites after the first month to get to the Super Bowl. The Jags got great production from Stacey Mack and Fred Taylor last week, in order to dismantle the Jets. However, the Eagles are not the Jets as we all know. McNabb is going to take this game to town knowing that either Dallas or New York are going to be 3-2 after this weekend. Philly 27, Jacksonville 21

Baltimore at Cleveland (-8) - Baltimore was impressive this past week with a big win at home on Monday night against the Broncos. This should be a close game again with the Ravens pulling this one out on the road led by Jamal Lewis who had a fairly productive game (98 total yards and 1 TD). Baltimore 23, Cleveland 13

Green Bay at Chicago (-1.5) - No matter how you look at this game, this is a must win for the Bears. The Pack are leading the division by a game, and because of the runs that the Panthers, 49ers and Saints have had, the Bears cannot go below .500. The Bears are showing the league why they are a playoff team but have lost a couple of games that they should not have lost, including last weeks game against the Bills. The Bears defense has been fairly shaky this year and with a number of defensive linemen hurt, it could be a high scoring game in Champaign. Nevertheless, expect the Bears to edge out the Pack again at home. Chicago 33, Green Bay 27

All games are predicted against the spread as published in Tuesday's edition of USA Today. We welcome guest interaction, so please feel free to make a few comments/predictions of your own in our comment box listed below.

On The Year
Overall: 31-28-1
Game of the Week: 3-1
Lock of the Week: 1-3 (YUCK!)
Upset Special: 2-2

Want to state your case on what the "Game of the Week" should be each week? Starting with Week Three, we'll be running a poll each week to decide which game deserves the honor. If you'd like to vote in this poll, please click this link to take you to the forum! Be on the lookout for more ways to get involved in future weeks.

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