It looks like you're stuck with me for at least a few more weeks anyways, hopefully I can manage to make this work properly this week and get a full column out of it. Last week was a pretty good rebound week for my picks, but Devin kept pace of course. Somehow we still have identical records after 7 weeks of the season, and we've been within 1 of each other all year. Enough aimless rambling though, on to who you can expect to win the games this weekend.

Houston Texans @ Buffalo Bills

As has been stated here numerous times already, the Texans are such an up and down team, they're hard to figure out. Going with their usual pattern, they're due for a letdown this week. However, as a Bills fan, and having seem them in person again this past week, I don't think that letdown will happen. The Bills offense has been nothing short of putrid, and the only reason they've won the past 2 weeks on the road is due to the fact that they've forced several turnovers and haven't really committed many of their own. Houston's offense is too explosive for Buffalo to bottle up all game long, and Owen Daniels in particular figures to tear it up on Sunday. The Bills give up the middle of the field all day long and are a dream come true for most opposing tight ends, and Daniels has been playing like one of the best lately.

Cleveland Browns @ Chicago Bears

The Browns are absolutely one of the worst teams in the NFL, a 6-3 win at Buffalo not withstanding... Devin and I have joked about how their best bet at this point would be to just let Josh Cribbs play QB full time at this point, as he's far and away the most productive member of the team. Chicago is coming off an embarrasing loss to the Bengals last week and return home knowing they have to beat a lowly Cleveland team to try and keep pace with Minnesota and Green Bay within the NFC North. The Bears should take this one easily, though I'm betting it will end up closer than expected.

Seattle Seahawks @ Dallas Cowboys

Personally, I thought Seattle would bounce back a little this year, but that appears to not be the case at all. Seattle has struggled thus far and barring a quick turn around will be staring up at San Francisco and Arizona in the division for the rest of the season. Heading to Dallas to face a surprising squad that knocked off Atlanta convincingly last week doesn't help matters. Miles Austin seems to have made himself Tony Romo's target of choice and the Cowboys' offense has flourished accordingly. Seattle has the better defense of the two teams, but Dallas seems much more capable with the ball in their hands. Dallas takes this one, but I don't think it's going to be a very pretty game to watch.

St. Louis Rams @ Detroit Lions

Speaking of not being pretty to watch... When was the last time the Lions were actually favored in a game? Detroit has definitely been playing better this year than last, despite what their record might indicate. On the other hand, St. Louis has been every bit as bad this year as the Lions were last. It's now been more than a full calendar year since the Rams won a game, a streak that now reaches 17 games. The Rams have absolutely nothing going on for them at this point and this game will probably prove one of their best chances to win this year. At least they are on a bye next week, though they might find a way to screw that up too. Detroit, at home, should be able to handle this game. I'll have to check the scores on Sunday night though, because there is no chance I'm spending any time watching this one.

San Francisco 49ers @ Indianapolis Colts

Well Michael Crabtree finally made his long overdue debut and he looked... well, decent I suppose. The guy has the ability to become a force for the 49ers but starting almost midway through the season is not the best way to go about it. The 49ers are 3-3 and have lost back to back games heading into Indy this weekend. Bad news is that it's about to become 3 straight. The Colts, and particularly Peyton Manning, have looked nothing short of dominant on their way to 6-0. On top of that, they're getting Anthony Gonzalez back at receiver to give Manning yet another target. The 49ers are likely in for a long day on Sunday and I can't see their offense, Alex Smith or not, keeping pace with the Colts.

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets

Last week's picks were full of road teams and this week the complete opposite is true. The Jets continue the trend for the week, hosting the division rival Dolphins. Miami is fresh off a game that saw equal parts epic collapse and incredible Saints offense put them down to 2-4. That means Miami now resides in last place in the AFC East and are quickly looking at a doubtful return to the postseason. The Jets were awful two weeks ago when hosting the Bills, but got the perfect rebound opportunity at Oakland last Sunday. Mark Sanchez should have a bit of his confidence back as he faces a Miami defense that is allowing over 25 points per game. Shonn Greene gets his chance to shine now, taking over for Leon Washington who is out for the year, but it's still Thomas Jones that leads the attack for the Jets. Tough divisional game, so it'll stay close, but the Jets find a way to hold on and move to 5-3 heading into their bye week.

Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens

This was one of the tougher games for me to pick this week, and it should be a good one to watch for the same reason. Baltimore is 3-3 after winning their first 3 games. The problem is the competition got notably more difficult in the last 3, facing New England, Cinncy, and Minnesota. They lost all three of those games, but by 6, 3, and 2 points respectively. They've had a bye week to fully prepare for the visiting Broncos and know they need a big win against a good team to have any hopes at the playoffs. All these things point to a Ravens win to me. Sure, Denver is undefeated and playing much better than most people expected and their defense has easily been the best in the league, but I smell let down. I think this is the week they play one of those games where things just don't bounce their way and they end up fighting an uphill battle all day long.

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles

One of only two road teams I picked this week, the New York Giants need to wake up quickly. Losing to the Saints 2 weeks ago wasn't a big deal, though getting embarrased by them as they did was. Losing at home to Arizona on Sunday night was a much bigger problem however. The Giants need to win this game or they are going to have a ton of doubters on their hands. Lost in the 5-0 start is the fact that 4 of those teams were the Redskins, Bucs, Chiefs, and Raiders. Dallas was the only real team they faced and they narrowly beat them 33-31. Looking ahead, a rematch with Washington and a home game against Carolina are the only games that can be considered easy left on the schedule. Philadelphia has played almost the exact same schedule as the Giants thus far, replacing a win over the Cowboys with one over the Panthers and a bye instead of the loss to Arizona. They may be without Brian Westbrook this week as he was concussed in their game against Washington on Monday night. LeSean McCoy has looked decent in spot duty so far and will need to step up if Westbrook does in fact have to sit this one out. The NFC East is highly competitive if nothing else, and the winner of this game will do a lot to help themselves towards taking the division. I think the Giants bounce back this week after back to back disappointments.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans

I'll probably be in the minority with this pick, but Tennessee has to win sooner or later. I know they look like they've quit already, and I know Vince Young is being thrust back into the starter's role this week, but at home, against a Jaguars team that isn't very impressive... I just think the time is right for them to get a W finally. For the record, I think Young is pretty lousy as a quarterback in the NFL, but I understand they have to give it one more chance to see what they have. I think he provides the spark needed to win this game this week, but it won't take long for everybody to remember why he's been on the bench for so long. Big day for Chris Johnson propels the Titans to victory. On the bright side, there is likely going to be just as many Jags fans at this game as there are in Jacksonville on any given Sunday. ZING!

Oakland Raiders @ San Diego Chargers

I thoroughly believe the Raiders win against the Eagles was a complete anomaly and that they due in fact suck badly. How JaMarcus Russell has remained a starting quarterback in the NFL for this long is beyond me, but when Al Davis is pulling the strings and your head coach is breaking people's jaws, anything is possible I suppose. Russell has a 47.2 rating on the year and completes barely over 46% of his passes. Only Derek Anderson is worse, and nobody else is really even close. As for San Diego, they happen to have a rather good quarterback in Phillip Rivers. Their defense has given up a fair amount of points this year, but the offense also puts up about 27 a game. San Diego should have a much easier time in this one than they did in the season opener and I expect a double digit win.

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers

OMG it's Favre Bowl! I think I may be one of the few people that really isn't all that excited about this game. I won't pretend I'm not intrigued, but more so by the fact that these are two pretty good football teams doing battle for a division. The Vikings are 6-1 and coming off their first loss of the season, while the Packers are 4-2 and have had successive beatdowns of weak opponents. Favre is good, we know this... but Adrian Peterson is just ridiculous. I've never seen a player who looks so much like a game of Madden every week. Between the stiff arms, trucking over people, and just sprinting past everybody, he is absolutely the most entertaining player in the league right now. Anyways, the key to this game is clear, the Packers HAVE to protect Aaron Rodgers far better than they did in Minnesota a few weeks ago. The kid is a great quarterback and if he has time to throw the ball, it's very difficult to stop the Packers. Even with him ending up on his back 8 times against the Vikings before, he put up phenomenal numbers in that game. Favre said this is "just another game" and he's not viewing it any differently. I say he's a tremendous big fat liar. You know damn well he wants to have the game of his life on Sunday and I for one hope he puts up something more reminiscent of the end of last season. I've made my stance on Favre perfectly clear and would nothing more than for him to fail miserably in this one. For this week only, I'm a full fledged Packer fan.

Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals

After having witnessed Jake Delhomme in person last Sunday, the man officially has lost it. Sure, he put up 300+ yards on the day, but the interceptions were just awful, and back breaking on top of it. It was against the Cardinals in the playoffs last year where the slide began and there has just been no recovering since. The Bills offense made the Panthers defense look stout last weekend, but they really aren't all that good. They are certainly not good enough to keep up with Arizona's passing arsenal. The Cardinals are moving themselves away from the rest of their division and another win here keeps up the momentum because San Francisco is about 98% ensured of losing their game as well. If the turnovers continue for Carolina, this game could be ugly fast as Arizona is highly capable of converting them into points in a quick fashion. Cardinals win this one going away.

Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints

Every time I think the Falcons are for real, they turn around and drop a game by double digits. First New England beat them by 16 in Week 3, then the Cowboys did the same last week. Both games were on the road, but still, if Atlanta wants to be a serious contender in the playoffs, they need to win one of those games once in a while, and certainly not lose by as much as they have. Unfortunately for them they are playing the Saints, in New Orleans on Monday Night. This may be the first non Buffalo Monday Night game I fully devote my attention to in awhile, because I think this one has potential shootout written all over it. Atlanta surely wants to prove they can hang with the NFC elite, and New Orleans is definitely the class of the league at the moment. Both teams have big time offensive ability and similar defenses in terms of points surrendered. I see the offenses being showcased in this game. I'm taking the Saints to stay undefeated in a fireworks show, but Atlanta stays close because they are a solid team and this is a divisional game.

BYE: Cincinnati, Kansas City, New England, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington

Last Week: 10-3

NFL Season: 70-33

Devin's Picks:

Houston Texans @ Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns @ Chicago Bears

Seattle Seahawks @ Dallas Cowboys

St. Louis Rams @ Detroit Lions

San Francisco 49ers @ Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets

Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans

Oakland Raiders @ San Diego Chargers

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers

Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints

Last Week: 10-3

NFL Season: 70-33