Seeing Brett As a Jet and NFL Week Seven Picks

This week, I am forgoing watching my Packers on television to watch a couple ex-Packers live. Brett Favre, the NFL's fourth-rated passer (three spots ahead of understudy Aaron Rodgers), comes into the Oakland Coliseum, and a friend of mine got tickets.

But not to worry, I have NFL Sunday Ticket (TM) and TiVo (TM); I won't miss a play, I just won't see any for about six hours (I also have to work Sunday night).

Plus, I get to go into the Hornet's Nest and rooting for the Jets. I may not do this if I get a chance to see the Packers play the San Francisco FortyNiners in December, since the Niners are now my second favourite team because I live here and my wife is a lifelong fan. Frankly, in that game I am not sure how I will root.

The resentment I have toward Favre for essentially putting a gun to the Packers' head to choose between him and his understudy, and upon making their choice, to trade him, is mitigated by several factors.

Chief among them is what Favre did for the team up to that point. Almost as important was his admission that his attempts to demand he go to a division rival were motivated by revenge, and that now that the divorce was over, he would always be a Packer.

It is true that the better Favre does, the more fuel there is for those irrational people who are blaming the Packers current struggles on Aaron Rodgers. But there is also the fact that the better the Jets do, the better the draft pick the Packers get.

So it's an easy call against the Raiders, the most pathetic franchise in the league thanks to the ego-maniacal Al Davis. He refuses to see that he has gone from one of the most innovative football minds to a doddering fool who won't let go of a mind-set that is about two decades obsolete. He is as much proof as our current Administration of the dangers of not listening to and even firing anyone with a dissenting opinion.

My friend got the ticket from a season ticket holder, who warned him not to wear anything green (indicating Jets) or red (Niners), as Raiders fans have a reputation for threatening behaviour toward those who do. Well, I have two hopes for this situation since I will be wearing my Packers jersey:

1. It looks enough like an Oakland A's jersey that they leave me alone.
2. They act like adults and recognize that it's everyone's right to root for whomever they wish...okay, that's not likely, so maybe they'll think twice because I am a former tight end and appropriately sized.

In the meantime, I want to offer my picks for the week, once again ranked from least to most likely to win. Thus far this season, I am 57-31 (.648), which is not bad considering how crazy some of these weeks are—i.e. only a Rams fan or Washington-hater would have picked St. Louis to win their first in Washington last week.

However, I have not been very good at ranking the games. Those that are ranked higher should be won more often than the lower ranked games, yet if I were to assign points equal to games' rankings, there would have been 700 points possible for me thus far. Thus, my point percentage should be substantially higher than .648; instead, I have just 445 points (.636).

In other words, you can trust my picks more than my rankings, but here goes anyway:

1. Saints over Panthers: I believe the Saints are better than their record and the Panthers are not as good as their record--that is the sole reason for this pick, and that is why I am least sure of my only upset pick this week.
2. Dolphins over Ravens: this pick is because John Harbaugh stoked a much-improved Miami team with his comments, and they showed a general lack of respect for that team's abilities. If that translates to how the team is prepared and heightens preparations for their opponent who already knows the offense of Cam Cameron, the 'Phins have the advantage.
3. Colts over Packers: as I said in my preview of this game, looking solely at statistics, this game would seem to favour Green Bay. However, the Colts are getting better and the Packers are not the team that won their first two games.
4. Patriots over Broncos: once again, THE BRONCOS ARE THE MOST OVER-RATED TEAM IN FOOTBALL. Since the game is in New England, I will go with them.
5. Texans over Lions: this is actually one of the maybe four or five games remaining the Texans can win. But if the Lions, now without their second-best receiver, don't win this one, the only one I give them a shot in is their home game against Minnesota in December. That makes the Texans ripe for an upset.
6. Chargers over Bills: Phillip Rivers is the league's top-rated passer, and the Bills are not as good as their record. This is not to say the Bills are not for real, just that the Chargers are better.
7. Offensively Named Ones over Browns: I believe Cleveland is righting their ship and will prove to be closer to the team we expected them to be than the team we saw in September. But Washington will be stinging from that embarrassing loss last week, and they are probably better anyway.
8. Bears over Vikings: both teams will play more inspired football than they did last week, and both teams are at about the same level. But the Bears are at home and have the better quarterback.
9. Cowboys over Rams: either Tony Romo plays at less than 100 percent (that injury will directly lead to at least one interception or fumble) or Brad "Weak Arm" Johnson plays. Either way, this is no longer a gimme.
10. Jets over Raiders: I hope Al Davis watches the second straight blow-out since the unjustified firing of Lane Kiffin. He won't accept it means he is to blame, but how many more coaches will he be able to fire before none will take the job?
11. Steelers over Bengals: yeah, Cincinnati is still without a win or Carson Palmer, but they have been close many times and division games are never a sure thing.
12. Giants over FortyNiners: the question is how long will Mike Nolan continue to do the job he does so badly? With the Giants coming off a stinging loss, they will come with at least their "B" game, and I would rate this higher if it weren't for greater locks.
13. Buccaneers over Seahawks: we saw last week that Seattle has no offense without Hasselbeck, and they have the added problem of Maurice "As Big a Mouth as Mercury" Morris calling the very good Bucs defense old.
14. Titans over Chiefs: what little chance the Chiefs had was blown by the damage done by the public resentment from Tony Gonzalez and the inactivation of Larry Johnson.