2006 NFL Week 7 Picks

Last week was a tough week for everyone. Trevor and Ryan went 8-5 and RJ and Vin went 7-6. Overall, only 58% right. All the upsets last week meant you could win your pool with 9 or 10 correct. This week, we attempt to right the ship.

The featured games this week are Carolina @ Cincinnati, Pittsburgh @ Atlanta, Arizona @ Oakland, Minnesota @ Seattle, and NY Giants @ Dallas. You can download the podcast directly (running time 45 mins) or subscribe to the feed.

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

Week 7 Picks

**The weekly winner from the Sportscolumn Weekly Pickem Contest will be featured as the fifth prognosticator.

Locks of the Week Sponsored by:

[Editor’s Note: This year, we’re making the Locks of the Week a little more interesting as we have a side bet amongst the four experts. The person with the most money at the end of the year in Locks betting takes home all the money. Disclaimer: The amounts discussed are for illustrative and entertainment purposes only. Gambling may be illegal in your locale.]

Vegas Vinny: How could I possibly watch the second half of the Debacle in the Desert and pick the Arizona Cardinals to win this week? And how could I possibly make them my lock of the week? Easy. They get to play the Oakland Raiders, who if we were playing futbol would have been relegated to Serie B by now. (Go ahead and promote the USC Trojans.) At the beginning of the year, a Raiders fan told me (although he normally doesn’t know shit from shinola) that if I wanted to make money this year, I should just bet against the Raiders at every turn. Well the Raiders are 1-4 ATS this season and I’d be up a hefty sum if I’d just taken his advice. Arizona might never win a big game again but this is an easy game served up by the football gods. The Cards are only giving 3 points? Have you seen an Oakland Raiders game this year? Dumb penalty after dumb penalty means easy yards for the opposing offense and 1 and 15 starts for opposing defenses. They are so bad you almost feel sorry for them. Then the camera pans to a crowd reaction shot at the Colliseum and then you’re happy they’re losing. Fans aside, this game is an easy win. I’m so confident, I’m stepping it up this week and putting $110 against the Raiders to win $100. (Balance = $880)

BostonMac: Thank God for the Oakland Raiders. While America slept on Monday night, the Cardinals carved up a choke of epic proportions. The good news is that people like me on the East Coast went to bed thinking the Cardinals had arrived and that the Bears were a fraud. I said a few weeks ago on the podcast that I was squarely jumping off the Cardinals bandwagon, and that I wouldn’t let them suck me in again, but after watching Leinart’s performance, at least in the first half, against the Bears (coupled with the firing of Martyball-esque offensive coordinator Keith Rowen) I can’t help but feel that Arizona is on the right track, choke-jobs-of-the-century notwithstanding. The best part of this game is that the Cardinals are going to blow the Raiders out of the water right in the Black Hole, and Raider Nation can see what they could have had, if Al Davis and company hadn’t been stupid enough to pass on Leinart in favor of Aaron Freaking Brooks. I am still looking for the Raiders to go oh-fer, and the Cards (-3) to cover on the road against hapless Oakland. $110 to win $100 on Arizona (-3) over Oakland. (Balance = $1035)

Trevor F: I’m taking the New York Jetropolitans to make the home cover this week. They are not a bad team whereas the Detroit Lions are definitely a bad team. Toss in that this should be a letdown game for Detroit after their win over Buffalo last week and you have a receipe for a beatdown. I think the Jets will play a full four quarters this week as the scare Miami put into them in the fourth quarter of last week’s game is a good teaching tool for Eric Mangini to use. Take the Jets and give the 3.5 points. $55 on the Jets (-3) to win $50. (Balance = $985)

RJ Warner: We’ve each taken turns homering on a lock of the week, so it’s my turn to take the defending World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5) over the never-had-two-consecutive-winning-seasons-in-their-40-year-history Atlanta Falcons. Hotlanta isn’t so much anymore, as the Giants waltzed into the Bandwag –I mean Georgia– Dome and put a solid beatdown on Vick, Dunn and co. The bridges have been cleared of jumpers in Pittsburgh (at least for now), and Steeler (conster)Nation breathes a huge sigh of relief that the team actually remembers how to play football. Pittsburgh came back strong and completely dominated a confident Chiefs team that had won two in a row. Atlanta’s vaunted run defense was Tiki-torched (lame, I know) for 185 big ones. The Falcons still had a nice game on the ground last week, but the Steelers specialize in not allowing nice games on the ground, and they have the heads of Rudi Johnson (47 yards), Ladanian Tomlinson (36 yards) and Larry Johnson (26 yards) to prove it. The Steelers defense can force Vick to be one dimensional and the downfield threats of Roddy White, Micheal Jenkins and Alge Crumpler wouldn’t scare the Pittsburgh Passion (our women’s professional team). Pig Pen seems to have recovered his wares at quarterback, and he picked apart an improved Chiefs defense with a 16-19 game and two scores. So other than that I like the Steelers, and I’m going to put 110 bucks on it because I’m bored with nickeling and diming myself around the even mark. Time to step it up. (Balance = $920)

Enjoy the Podcast? Please give us a good rating on Yahoo!