Out on a Limb
Fantasy Football Predictions

Lambs Looking to Clinch

The views expressed in this column are not compiled from all of our correspondents, and they certainly shouldn't be used for gambling purposes.

Lambs Looking to Clinch

When the Seattle Seahawks take their ridiculous 1-5 road record to the Gateway City on Sunday afternoon, they'll be fighting for more than just a shot at the division title. After another disappointing road effort in Minnesota last week, the Seahawks find themselves tied with the Cowboys and just a game ahead of the Green Bay Packers to play into January as a wildcard. Seattle (8-5), which started 4-0, is a perfect 7-0 at home, but they just can't seem to get the job done on the road. They've lost several winnable road contests against the Redskins (5-8), Bengals (7-6), and Ravens (8-5), blowing a seventeen point lead with less than five minutes to play against the latter. Their only road win came in the second week of the season, when they waxed St. Louis' former team, the Cardinals, 37-0 in Arizona.

It's business as usual for the Rams, who continue to play to the level of their opponents. St. Louis hasn't exactly looked like the Greatest Show on Turf for much of this season, but they continue to do just enough to win. They're always a much more dangerous team when they're at home in the dome, as they're built predominantly on speed on both sides of the ball. After locking up a playoff spot last Monday in Cleveland, the Rams have a chance to close out the NFC West if they can beat Seattle on Sunday.

Game of the Week: Seattle at St. Louis

When the Seahawks have the ball: Matt Hasselbeck had his worst game of the year last weekend after having his two best games as a pro in the previous weeks. You can expect Mike Holmgren to have him running and gunning in this one, and expect a bounceback. Hasselbeck led a phenomenal fourth quarter comeback against the Rams when the two teams met in Seattle, and he should find plenty of open receivers against the Rams' young secondary. Despite the numbers, Shaun Alexander has been pretty disappointing this season. He's scored ten touchdowns and is already over 1,000 yards for the season, but he needs to do a better job of running the ball late. He's struggled to get much of anything late in the three heartbreakers (Cincy, Baltimore, Washington) that the 'Hawks have lost on the road, and all three ended up leading to blown leads.

When the Rams have the ball: Mike Martz has finally discovered that he has Marshall Faulk on his team, which is a scary thought for any defense that will have to face St. Louis come playoff time. Faulk has busted loose for over 100 yards in each of his last four games, and it would be less than surprising to see him turn the same trick this week against a team that's allowing an average of 35 points in their five road losses. Marc Bulger will be leading the air attack again, which will likely mean that a lot of balls will be underthrown. Bulger remains in a funk, but he just keeps winning, so Kurt Warner will be on the bench unless he gets to pull a Drew Bledsoe at some point in the playoffs. Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce are still as dangerous a 1-2 punch as there is in the league, but the Rams (trust me... if you lived in St. Louis, this is about all you would hear every Monday on sports radio) simply don't use Bruce enough. Bruce was always Warner's favorite target, but Bulger prefers to hit Holt. Holt will get the ball in some clutch situations, as will Dane Looker lining up in the slot. Bruce has faded away to become just a decoy in the red zone.

Special Teams: Jeff Wilkins is arguably the Rams MVP right now, and he's leading the league in points. He finally missed a field goal late against Cleveland on Monday night, but he's clearly another discovery that Martz finally made... rather than going for it on 4th and 2 from the opponent's 20 every time. Wilkins is great inside of 45 yards, but he doesn't have great range. Josh Brown has been solid but unspectacular for Seattle in his rookie year, but he's clearly got more range than Wilkins does for the Rams. Bobby Engram is always a threat to take a punt return to the house for Seattle, while the Rams' return men will really only have one goal... to hold on to the ball when it's kicked to them. They had a key fumble on a return inside of their own ten when these two teams met last time.

Coaching/Intangibles: You've either gotta love or hate both of these coaches. Holmgren is a little cocky, and he's yet to prove that he can really lead a team to the promised land without former star pupil Brett Favre. Sure... he took the Seahawks to the playoffs in his first year, with a team that Dennis Erickson had primed to go there that year anyway. "Evil Genius" Mike Martz is the most arrogant coach in football... at any level. Martz has easily pulled his best coaching job this season, as he's discovered a few weapons that he's refused to use properly for the last three years. Most people in St. Louis felt that if he didn't take this team to the Super Bowl this season, he'd be gone next year, but the job that he's done in 2003 should save his job either way. What the game should hinge on is whether or not Seattle feels like actually playing some football even though they're not in the Pacific Northwest. If they do, they'll have a great chance of winning.

The Verdict: I've learned my lesson. After picking the Seahawks nearly every week so far this season, it's time to go against them. Mike Holmgren won't be back in Seattle if he misses the playoffs, and it seems that they may find a way to miss out on the postseason party. St. Louis seems destined to head to Philadelphia for the NFC title game, but that's when their own road woes will catch up with them. Take the over, but not the points. Lambs 37, 'Hawks 34

Lock of the Week: Baltimore over Oakland - After a couple of weeks of being in limbo at the QB position, the Ravens have suddenly found a passing game that's about ten times better than it was when they were healthy at QB. Jamal Lewis will tear apart a worthless run defense in the black hole, and hey... we're bound by the ties of fate to pick against the Raiders the rest of the way anyway. Baltimore will take another huge step towards locking up the AFC North this week, but Cincy should stay right on their tails. Ravens 34, Raiders 20

Upset Special: Philadelphia at Miami - Upset, you say? That's right... the bookies have the Dolphins favored by two. The Eagles have homefield in their sights at this point, and they can't afford to slip. They would probably have a good shot at taking down St. Louis or Minnesota on the road, but why not make the dome-built teams come and play on some freezing natural grass in the NFC title game instead? Miami is still too one-dimensional, and until they learn to develop something resembling a running game OR a passing game, they won't be beating any teams that can legitimately claim that they're in the elite.... sorry, the Cowboys don't count. Eagles 23, Dolphins 9

And now, as those of us in St. Louis laugh aloud about how the Braves just traded their best pitching prospect for J.D. Drew....

- Phillies fans will now have six more chances to throw batteries at him
- Converting that with the Drew scale, that equates to four more actual chances
- Over/under on how many trips to the DL Drew takes: Four
- Over/under on games played: 95
- Knowing I'll never have to see old gimpy in Cardinal red again: Priceless

Minnesota at Chicago - Minnesota finally looked like they had a defense again last week. Sadly, that's not something that's required to keep the Bears off the board. Vikings 31, Bears 13

San Francisco at Cincinnati - And I thought Seattle was bad on the road... The Niners will try to avoid dropping to 0-7 on the road this week, with a not so inviting trip to Philly planned for next weekend. The Bengals aren't likely to treat Garcia, Owens, and Co. to a win here, though. Cincy has won their last four at home, and six of their last eight overall. Look for the Bengals to put up plenty of points against a team that's giving up 27 a game on the road. Bengals 34, Niners 23

Buffalo at Tennessee - The streak ends here. Steve McNair will find a way to break his throwing hand and still lead the Titans to victory in this one. The Bills waited a bit too long to try and save their season, and it will officially be put to rest by the Titans on Sunday. Titans 27, Bills 10

Atlanta at Indianapolis - Michael Vick found a way to beat Carolina last weekend, but heading into Indy to face Peyton, Marvin, and Edge won't be quite as easy. He'll give the Colts aggressive defense fits, but that shouldn't even amount to half of the damage that Indy's offense will do. Colts 41, Falcons 20

Detroit at Kansas City - Note to Lions: Draft a running back with your top ten overall pick this year... Chiefs 38, Lions 17

Jacksonville at New England - Did homefield just fall into the Patriots' lap? They'll keep on outworking everyone they play, and they should beat up on the warm weather Jags on Sunday. Patriots 27, Jaguars 13

Pittsburgh at New York Jets - Tommy Maddox has been so bad this year that I actually thought I heard a Steelers fan wishing that they had Kordell Stewart back. The Jets continue to look pretty tough down the stretch, and they should have little trouble winning this one. J-E-T-S 30, Steelers 17

Houston at Tampa Bay - What could be a more embarassing way for the Super Bowl champs to be officially eliminated from the playoffs than a loss to a second year expansion team? Stay tuned, as the Bucs are due for a loss this weekend and the Texans always seem to put up a good fight. Texans 23, Bucs 21

Dallas at Washington - Dallas will continue to beat up on one of the softest schedules this side of TCU. Spurrier earned a vote of confidence from Dan Snyder after last week's win, but that still doesn't mean he can coach on this level. Cowgirls 27, Deadskins 13

Cleveland at Denver - Tim Couch got the first standing ovation he's ever gotten in Cleveland last week. Unfortunately, he'll probably be hearing the old boobirds by the time he heads back home. Can Portis score six? Broncos 34, Browns 23

Carolina at Arizona - After failing to lock up their division for the third straight week, Carolina should finally punch their postseason ticket. The Cardinals will be pulling for San Diego to win one more game so that they can lock up the number one pick. Panthers 30, Cardinals 10

Green Bay at San Diego - The Pack will have to go back to the air attack this week, as they're playing what may be the worst secondary to take the field in over a decade. Don't be surprised to see Favre, injured or not, take advantage of that with his first 300-yard game of the season. Packers 31, Chargers 27

New York Giants at New Orleans - The Jim Fassell farewell tour will continue as the Saints keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Whodat! 27, Giants 17

(Last Week in Parentheses)
On the Year: 122-70 (10-6)
Game(s) of the Week: 8-8 (1-1)
Lock of the Week: 10-3 (1-0)
Upset Special: 4-9 (0-1)

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