Trav's Thoughts

Thanks to those who have commented or sent email expressing concern about the recent storms and flooding in Washington State. We're fortunate that we haven't been in any of the hardest hit areas.

As much of a football guy as I am, I completely forgot that there was a game on Thursday. You know why? Because I don't have a premium cable package and I don't get NFL Network.

My Raiders are in Green Bay today and the weather looks like snow. Oakland has already doubled its win total from last season and a win today could be the third in a row. Rookie QB JeMarcus Russell saw some action last week and may play again today. The Packers stumbled last week at Dallas and QB Brett Favre was injured. He is expected to play. At stake today for the Raiders is continued improvement on the path back to playoff contention next season. The Packers can win the NFC North today with a win. Oh yeah...Vinny needs a Raider win today for his fantasy football pool.

A strong running game has Minnesota in the mix for a Wild Card playoff spot. At 3-9, the 49ers join Atlanta and St Louis as the three worst teams in the NFC. The SF offense has been a mess all season, mostly due to injuries. It's tough to tell whether SF is on the right track, but it's certainly clear that QB Trent Dilfer is not the answer. He has thrown for only 7 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. Alex Smith wasn't much better, but at least he has an excuse...he was injured early in the season and tried to play through it.

The Seahawks can win the pathetic NFC West by beating Arizona today. Seattle is in the midst of a 4 game winning streak, and all the talk from fans is positive again. There's still something about this team that I don't like, but Pam is happy about the winning and life is good when my Lady is happy. The Cardinals have won 3 out of 4 and are in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. A win today put Arizona a game behind Seattle in the NFC West and bring the hand wringing back to the Emerald City.

The Colts travel to Baltimore where the Ravens are coming off a tough loss to New England. The Ravens had the game won, but through a series of odd events that the best fiction writers couldn't possibly concoct, the Patriots pulled off the comeback and escaped with the perfect record intact. Baltimore has a solid running game, but generally struggles to score points. Indianapolis has played well all season, despite serious injuries. The Colts can conceivably win the AFC South in several different ways.

Well, I went from one of my best results to my worst last week.

Week 1 = 12-4
Week 2 = 11-5
Week 3 = 10-6
Week 4 = 8-6
Week 5 = 9-5
Week 6 = 7-6
Week 7 = 10-4
Week 8 = 10-3
Week 9 = 9-5
Week 10 = 7-7
Week 11 = 10-6
Week 12 = 12-4
Week 13 = 8-8

Yeesh. Now I'm 123-69 for the season, or 64%. Ppppppfffffffffttttttttttt.

Here's my picks for this week. We're on the honor system here, so trust me when I tell you that I had picked Washington prior to the game Thursday evening.

Redskins over Bears
Bengals over Rams
Cowboys over Detroit
Packers over Raiders
Bills over Dolphins
Bucs over Texans
Titans over Chargers
Jaguars over Panthers
Giants over Eagles
Seahawks over Cardinals
Vikings over 49ers
Patriots over Steelers
Browns over Jets
Broncos over Chiefs
Colts over Ravens
Saints over Falcons

I suspect that when this schedule was put together, New Orleans at Atlanta might have been the game to decide the NFC South. Instead, the Monday night game is pretty much a yawner between a couple of sub-.500 teams trying to salvage whatever they can out of a disappointing season.

YAY! I get my Raiders at Green Bay in the morning on CBS, and the game isn't opposite the Seahawks this week. Wooooooooooooo!! Seattle is on FOX in the afternoon.

Have a great Sunday.