I don’t ask for much on the weekends. I like a little peace and quiet, a little time for church, a little time for relaxation, and big wins from my sports teams, the kind that give me peace and quiet rather than tension and nervousness. I’m not going to get that today, because the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Baltimore to play their second game against the Ravens, and the division title could be at stake. The Steelers won the first matchup and lead the Ravens by a game in the standings. Baltimore needs the win to even up the head-to-head matchup and make this a brand new season for them.
I’m hesitant to even predict today’s game, but since I’m wearing the jersey today, I’ll pick the Steelers by three in a defensive battle, 13-10. Pittsburgh played like monsters on the road against New England two weeks ago and found a way to win against the ‘Boys last week, and I think they’ve begun to gather momentum at the right moment. We’ll find out today.
As far as the rest of the league, here are a few of my other predictions:
- I promised Jazz Shaw that I would no longer pick his teams to win, which should tell you how valuable my selections really are. However, I just can’t bring myself to pick the Cowboys, especially with TO providing his special kind of clubhouse poison, so I’ll split the difference and pick the Giants by a TD over TO and the Bills to upset the Jets on the road.
- Detroit will shock the world … by coming within 20 points of Indianapolis today. Biggest news in this blowout? Peyton Manning takes the second half off to cut a few more commercials.
- Both San Diego and Kansas City manage to lose today, which will be tough, since they’re playing each other. The Chargers are 1-5 on the road, and the Chiefs are 1-5 at home. Why isn’t this epic battle scheduled for the NFL Channel? All right, all right, Chargers by three.
- The NFL Channel missed another classic between Seattle and St. Louis, both 2-11, and with the same matchup as the Chargers/Chiefs records. Two games, four losers, and that’s an easy prediction to make. Seattle wins this one in front of 2,395 screaming Lambs fans, by a margin that no one will remember an hour later.
- Minnesota loses to Arizona. That’s it. No funny quips. The Vikings will find a way to lose.