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By David Staba
It’s a
holiday week,
and we’re all in a hurry.
So let’s
cut to the
chase here. While you could easily expend any number of paragraphs
rationalizing why the Buffalo Bills could and should beat the Seahawks
on
Sunday in Seattle, what’s the point?
There were
plenty of
logical reasons for Buffalo to upset, or at least show up against, the
New
England Patriots in their last road debacle (calling the Bills’
showings outside of Orchard Park
“games” does a disservice to the concept of competition). And look what
happened.
This isn’t
based on one
or two isolated incidents, either. Buffalo has won two road games since
Opening
Day 2003. One was in Jacksonville against a Jaguars team in utter
disarray in
Week 2 of last season. Then there was the walkover in December against
a New
York Giants team that had given up around Halloween.
The
Seahawks, a
five-point favorite, have plenty of flaws, not the least of which is
their
dependence on a wide receiver who should have retired last century. But
the
last 10 home teams to smack Buffalo around had weaknesses, too. And the
Bills
couldn’t take advantage of any of them.
Until the
Buffalo’s
vaunted-at-home defense proves it can make enough plays to win a game
away from
Ralph Wilson Stadium, and Drew Bledsoe shows he can do more than
completely
melt down when the fans are less than friendly, I’m not predicting
either will
happen. Seahawks, 24-12.
Indianapolis
(-9) at Detroit: Nor am I picking
against Peyton Manning, who will throw no fewer
than four touchdown passes on Thanksgving Day, until further notice.
Colts,
37-24.
Chicago
at
Dallas (-3.5): Bill
Parcells couldn’t ask for a much better situation to break in Drew
Henson.
Cowboys, 20-6.
Baltimore
at
New England (-7): Kyle Boller’s
getting better, but he’s not ready to win in
Foxborough. Patriots, 23-20.
Philadelphia
(-7) at N.Y. Giants: Think the Eagles
might blitz Eli Manning a little? Eagles, 28-19.
Washington
at
Pittsburgh (-11): Another “until
further notice” game. Steelers, 30-14.
Cleveland
at
Cincinnati (-5.5): Maybe the Browns’
problems the last few years weren’t all Tim
Couch’s fault, eh? Bengals, 26-13.
Jacksonville
at
Minnesota (-6): Think
Daunte Culpepper will be glad to see Randy Moss in uniform? Vikings,
38-20.
Tampa
Bay (-2)
at Carolina: Nick
Goings finally gives the Panthers a running game, but that defense is
still
pretty beat up. Bucs, 23-17.
San
Diego at
Kansas City (-3): San Diego still has
plenty to play for. Chargers, 26-24.
Tennessee
(-1.5) at Houston: The Titans and
Texans are both 4-6, but headed in opposite
directions. Titans, 19-16.
New
Orleans at
Atlanta (-9.5): Michael
Vick against the worst defense in football. Hmmm … Falcons, 34-9.
N.Y.
Jets (-3)
at Arizona: Denny
Green should have the Cards fired up at home after last week’s
embarrassment
against Carolina, but I’ll take Quincy Carter and Curtis Martin over
Shaun King
and Emmitt Smith. Jets, 17-12.
Miami
at San
Francisco (no line): The oddsmakers took
this one off the board, ostensibly because A.J.
Feeley has an injured hip and Jay Fiedler just went on the injured
reserve
list. But it’s more likely that there’s no line because not even people
who get
paid to analyze football games want to contemplate this disaster.
49ers, 3-2.
Oakland
at
Denver
(-10.5):
Some day soon, watching the Raiders get gutted will get old.
Some day.
Broncos, 37-6.
St.
Louis at
Green Bay: Word
out of St. Louis has it that Mike Martz is already preparing excuses
for what
Brett Favre does to his secondary on Monday night. Packers, 33-20. Last
week:
13-3 overall, 8-7-1 against the spread. Overall: 102-58 overall,
83-74-3
against the spread.
David
Staba is the sports editor of the Niagara Falls Reporter and
welcomes
email at dstaba13@aol.com.
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Niagara Falls Reporter |
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Nov. 24 2004 |