NFL Picks, Week 5

NFL picks for Week 5..my, how time flies…

Last week: 11-2 (yes!)
Season: 39-21

Cincinnati at Dallas: The hapless Bengals visit the Stadium With The Hole In The Roof. Chad Ocho Cinco really needs to get it together. It’ll be hard for him without QB Carson Palmer. The Cowboys lost a tough game last week, and should be able to bounce back Sunday. Pick: Dallas

Tennessee at Baltimore: The Titans are undefeated heading into Crab City. The Ravens lost in overtime last Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Titans are good, but not good enough to skate through the whole schedule undefeated. Pick: Baltimore

Kansas City at Carolina: The miserable Chiefs got a surprising win last week over Denver. Can they make it two in a row? No. Pick: Carolina

Chicago at Detroit: The Windy City is having a rough week in baseball. They’ll make up for it in football, at least for a week. Pick: Chicago

Atlanta at Green Bay: Word is that Packers QB Aaron Rodgers may not play. That makes this game more interesting. Still, the Falcons have no business winning this game. Pick: Green Bay

Indianapolis at Houston: The Texans finally get to play a home game. Since the roof of Reliant Stadium was damaged by Hurricane Ike, the Texans will play eight home games outdoors. They came close last week in Jacksonville. Now, the suddenly mortal Colts come calling. Tough pick here. Pick: Indy

San Diego at Miami: The Chargers are once again starting to put it together. The Dolphins have the potential to be dangerous here. Pick: San Diego

Seattle at New York Giants: The Giants look like the best team in the league at this point in the season. Pick: Giants

Washington at Philadelphia: The Redskins got an unexpected win last week in Dallas. The Eagles failed to defend the honor of the NFC East last week, losing to Chicago for the division’s first loss against outside competition. Washington can’t help but have a letdown here. Pick: Philly

Tampa Bay at Denver: The Bucs continue to win games. The Broncos lost an unthinkable game last week in Kansas City. Denver bounces back here. Pick: Denver

Buffalo at Arizona: The Bills are undefeated. The Cardinals are really glad to be back home, after two bad losses on the East Coast. Like the Titans, the Bills can’t go undefeated forever. Pick: Arizona

New England at San Francisco: The Patriots are looking for answers after a bye week. The mad scientist, Bill Belichick, finds a way to get the Pats back on track. The Niners will be more than happy to help. Pick: New England

Minnesota at New Orleans: There should be plenty of offense on Monday night. Pick: New Orleans

Ugly Uniform of the Day

I am a fan of the throwback jersey. Most of the time. I make exceptions for that from time to time, though.

Before their run of four Super Bowl wins in the 1970's that put them on the map, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the most hapless franchise in the NFL. You would think the Steelers would want to forget about those days. But, no.. The Steelers have chosen to wear this ugly ensemble as a throwback uniform. This is what the Steelers wore in the 1960's when they royally stunk up the field.

The gold helmets and white pants do not go with the black jerseys. My high school wore black and gold, and they never tried to wear a gold helmet with white pants and a black jersey. But, the Steelers are in the NFL. They should know better.

This comes from the same city that gave us the Pirates' mix and match uniforms in the 1970's. Go figure.

Yuck.

College Picks: Week 6

Last Week: 14-6
Season: 75-25

Another week of picks…this week includes the first week of conference play in the Big 12.

Oklahoma at Baylor: Poor Baylor. The Bears open Big 12 play against the #1 team in the nation. Sooners get a warm-up for Texas this week. Pick: OU

Texas at Colorado: Longhorns rolled through their non-conference schedule. Buffs have a chance to pull the upset at night in the mountains. However, the better team should win this game. Pick: Texas

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State: Aggies vs. Aggies. The Texas Aggies are struggling in a big way, and now enter conference play. OSU has a very good chance to move to 5-0. If they don’t, something is wrong. Pick: OSU

Missouri at Nebraska: If Missouri is going to contend for a conference and national championship, they must win this game. The Huskers came close but just short of an upset over Virginia Tech last week. Missouri is a better team than the Hokies. Pick: Missouri

Texas Tech at Kansas State: See Missouri. If Texas Tech is going to contend for any type of championship, they must win this game. This will be closer than it should be, but Tech should win the game. Pick: Tech

Kansas at Iowa State: Jayhawks are favored in dangerous road trip. They should live up to that billing. Pick: KU

Oregon State at Utah: One week after knocking off top-ranked USC, the Beavers must travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utes. That’s an order as tall as the Wasatch Mountains. Pick: Utah.

Kentucky at Alabama: Alabama proved last week they are the real deal. Pick: Alabama

Florida State at Miami: Florida State appears to be slightly ahead of Miami in their respective rebuilding processes. This was once the biggest game in America. Now it’s barely on the radar outside Florida. Pick: FSU

Illinois at Michigan: The Wolverines saved their season last week with a comeback win over Wisconsin. The Illini were competitive with Penn State for part of the game last week. Someone at the Big Ten office doesn’t like the Illini, sticking them with back-to-back road trips to Penn State and Michigan. Pick: Michigan

Ohio State at Wisconsin: Buckeyes visit Madison in a huge game with Rose Bowl implications. Badgers still don’t know what happened to them last week in Ann Arbor after blowing a 19-0 lead. Pick: Ohio State

Oregon at USC: Trojans were exposed as mortal last week by Oregon State. USC bounces back against the Ducks. Pick: USC

Auburn at Vanderbilt: Hell is freezing over. Vanderbilt is ranked 19th in the nation, and College Gameday is broadcasting from Vandy on Saturday morning. All good things come to an end, though, as Auburn restores order in the SEC. Pick: Auburn

Connecticut at North Carolina: Huskies are 5-0, but face their biggest test yet. Pick: North Carolina

Boston College at N.C. State: Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien faces his former team. Pick: Boston College

Duke at Georgia Tech: Don’t look now, but the Dukies are 3-1. Yellow Jackets run all over Duke with the option. Pick: GT

Penn State at Purdue: Nittany Lions face challenging game as favorite in Big Ten. Purdue got plastered last week at Notre Dame. Penn State should be able to handle this one. Pick: Penn State

Iowa at Michigan State: Michigan State could be a surprise team in the Big Ten. They need this game to stay in the lead. Pick: MSU

South Carolina at Ole Miss: It’s desperation time for the Gamecocks, who can’t seem to capture the previous success of current coach Steve Spurrier and former coach Lou Holtz. They now head to Oxford to take on last week’s upset king Ole Miss. Pick: Ole Miss

Hardin-Simmons at Mary Hardin-Baylor: Both schools own the American Southwest Conference and Division III in Texas. UMHB has been a little better in recent years. Pick: Mary Hardin-Baylor

Ugly Uniform of the Day

The New York Jets today wore throwback uniforms formerly worn by the New York Titans. The NY Titans was the original name of the Jets franchise when they came into the American Football League in 1960.

In 1964, Leon Hess, owner of the Hess oil corporation, was a partner that bought into the team. The team moved to Shea Stadium, took the name of Jets, and changed the team colors to green and white to match the colors of Hess gas stations.

The Jets need to stick with the green and white uniforms. These Titans uniforms are putrid. Brett Favre threw six touchdown passes today. Even that performance can't outdo the stink that these uniforms laid out onto the Meadowlands turf today.

Leave these New York Titans uniforms at Shea Stadium. Never mind that Shea is getting blown up. The unis can be blown up with it.