We’ve all heard these motivational and life quotes:  lead by example; never tug on Superman’s cape; always take home teams.I did the opposite of all of the above (Trent Richardson is Superman). I’ve been preaching home teams since the day I could gamble on football, and what do I go and do? Not lead by example and take a road team. Even though the Chargers only lost 7-6, and they easily could have won the game, this is why you never, almost ever, take road teams. Things – and by things I mean negative things like turnovers, weather, sacks, coaching decisions, bounces, and a whole plethora of other things – tend to always happen more often than not to road teams. It’s science. Good thing we have a whole slew of other motivational quotes to fall back on like: learn from your mistakes;if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again; always buy two pairs of Air Force Ones. And to compound last week’s loss even more, I chose a losing road team during a week when roadies went 8-6. I need a road trip…
Teams Already Used – Houston, New England, Chicago, Green Bay, San Francisco, Atlanta, Minnesota, San Diego
Seattle, My Week 9 Pick –Back to taking a solid home team, and there is no better place to start then the team who plays in CenturyLink Field. I don’t think Christian Ponder will cause the Seahawk defense any trouble as they have already defeated the likes of Tony Romo, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers on their home soil. The sound level during games at CenturyLink Field was measured at a high of 112 dB, which is just below the noise created by a jet plane, and just above the buzz of a chainsaw. Anything over an 85 dB rating can potentially cause noise induced hearing loss. I think the NFL needs to forget concussions created by DB’s taking headshots and start to focus their attention towards high dB levels, and its damaging effect on the 50,000 spectators in attendance. There’s a bigger problem out there people. But, until they do, I’m taking the Seahawks to tone down the Vikings.
Houston – If you haven’t used the Texans and you are looking for a safer bet this week, then Houston is the team for you. Coming off a two-week rest, they host the enigmatic Buffalo Bills. The Houston offense should have no problem running over the bottom five defense of the Bills. And the top five Texan defense should have no problem slowing down the Bills sporadic offense. Side note: how did Dallas allow Houston to use the Texan moniker? Jerry Jones had to lose it in a game of poker, right? He probably went all in with cowboys (king, king) and lost due to a turnover. Zing! Anyways, take the poker playing Texans.
Denver – The Broncos are currently playing some of the best football in the entire NFL. The offense is finding its stride; the defense is become tougher every week; and their kicker Matt Prater is a perfect 100% on field goals this year. Yes kickers are people too. The Bengals are a poor man’s Broncos, and the poor man hardly ever beats the man. Peyton Manning is becoming healthier and sharper as the year goes on and when he is on, the other team is off. Look for another dominating performance by Denver.
Detroit, Potential Suicide -One, the Lions are a historically abysmal road team and have only one win out of four games when traveling on the road this year. Two, the Jaguars have played two surprisingly competitive road games despite the injury to their most important weapon MJD. Three, the Lions may be looking ahead to division games against the Vikings and Packers coming up in the following weeks. Four, Jaguars (car or animal) are faster than a lion. Don’t take the lion outside of its domain.
