Perry’s Week 6 picks

New Orleans Saints (-7.5) over Oakland Raiders

Anyone else have the feeling that the announcers for whatever game Ed Hochuli and his crew have are going to concentrate more on Ed Hochuli and his crew than the actual game? This guy is under the microscope more than an annoying Alaskan governor running for vice president. During the Saint’s Monday night loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Tiricio and Tony Kornheiser were absolutely obsessed with talking about Ed Hochuli’s inefficiencies. And the worse thing is they have forty-five minutes of highlight reels ready to play, so they have visual evidence of what they are talking about. Get over it. Missed calls happen, it’s part of the game. I understand the magnitude of a missed call is sometimes bigger than others, but human error has always been part of football. Please talk more football and less about Ed Hochuli and his crew. This is why I think the Saints will cover the points. How’s that for inside-the-game analysis?

Baltimore Ravens (+4.5) over Indianapolis Colts

Did you know the last time Joseph Addai had a 100-yard game it was Week 9 of last year against the New England Patriots? His yards per carry are dropping faster than the Dow. 4.8 in 2006, 4.1 in 2007, and 3.6 this year. I know the Colts have always had a superior passing game, but their running attack has always complimented that. And this season, the run ceases to exist and it’s causing the passing game to falter. The Colts haven’t looked good in any of their first four games. They could easily be 0-4 if it wasn’t for their 15-point comeback against the Vikings and their 17-point comeback last week against the Texans. More on that Texans’ game; what the hell was Sage Rosenfels doing? Furthermore, what kind of name is Sage? I know of one other Sage, but she’s a stripper and understands the art of securing balls. I guarantee she would have been on her knees running out the clock. Sexual entendres anyone? Anyway, I don’t see how I can take the Colts to cover till they prove themselves worthy again. They look awful.

New York Jets (-6) over Cincinnati Bengals

This will be the fourth game on the road for the Bengals this season and the second time at Giants stadium. This doesn’t mean anything, I just don’t have much to write about for this game. Actually, is Cedric Benson going to get some more playing time this week? Chris Perry’s 2.8 yards per carry and five fumbles isn’t getting it done, but it does get him votes for the worst starting running back in the NFL. The Jets also have the fifth best run defense, so whether it’s Benson or Perry I don’t see much happening on the ground for the Bengals. However, the Jets do have the 31st ranked pass defense in the league, so we could see an all-out-aerial attack on display this weekend starring Carson Palmer Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brett Favre. My prediction: New York Jets 63 Cincinnati Bengals 48 with both teams individually covering the over (44.5). One more thing, I have the toughest time spelling ‘Cincinnati.’ I like to spell it ‘Cincinatti,’ but apparently it’s not spelled that way. Every week I have this problem.

Carolina Panthers (+1.5) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I just switched this pick. I typed out ‘Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1.5) over Carolina Panthers’ then proceeded to stare at it for ten minutes with a confused “how long has that cheese been in my fridge” look on my face. I don’t think I can bet against Carolina right now. They are playing great football. Probably the second-best football in the NFC right now behind the New York Giants. Tommy John surgery has done wonders on Jake Delhomme’s elbow. As for the Buccaneers, they only could score 13 points against a horrible Denver Broncos’ defense and it looks like Jeff Garcia is back at the helm for Jon Gruden’s offense, by default. How about Warrick Dunn, though? In his 12th year as an NFL running back he continues to be productive. His durability amazes me. Oh, I almost forgot. Has anyone else noticed Jon Gruden is starting to get that coaching belly?

Minnesota Vikings (-13) over Detroit Lions

Minnesota isn’t playing good enough football for Vegas to be making them a 13-point favorite. However, Detroit is playing that bad for Vegas to be making them a 13-point underdog. You might as well pick against Detroit until they cover a spread. They have losses of 13, 23, 18, and 27 points this season (0-4 against the spread). I have nothing more to say about this game. Moving along…

Chicago Bears (-2.5) over Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta isn’t getting any love from Vegas yet. Home dog against the Bears. Who would have thought this was going to be a good game before the season started? By ‘good game’ I mean a battle between two 3-2 teams. The Falcons have looked impressive at home this year outscoring their opponents 72-35, but those two opponents were the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs. I don’t see them having the same success against a tough Bears’ defense and a Kyle Orton-lead offense. What do you think would happen if Kyle Orton got hurt and Rex Grossman had to come in and play again? We would probably see the same reaction if Ron Jaworksi had to take a leave of absence from Monday Night Football and ESPN decided to bring back Joe Theismann. Nobody would be happy.

Houston Texans (-3) over Miami Dolphins

Houston is due for a win and if the Miami Dolphins win another game then we might need to start talking about one of the best turnarounds in NFL history, dramatically speaking. How’s that for inside-the-game analysis?

Last week 3-3-1 (16-11-1)

I USED CURRENT ODDS THAT ARE BEING PLAYED AT CAESARS PALACE IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA.

In Football October 10, 2008