2011 NFL Survivor Pools: Week 7 Picks and Analysis

Mike Brown, general manager of the Cincinnati Bengals and former star of HBO’s Hard Knocks—Time’s Man of the Year? He gets my vote in performing what is being called the trade of the century. He drafted Andy Dalton, he drafted A.J. Green and now he has Carson Palmer, a quarterback who swore he’d never play for the Bengals again and trades him to Oakland for a 2012 first-round pick and a 2013 second-round pick.

Carson Palmer is not worth a first-round pick! Mike Brown got one, and a second too. He can now firmly root for Palmer and the Raiders to fall short of the playoffs, get a better draft pick and enhance their team even more than he did last year. Just when you thought the Bengals were going away…they totally redeem themselves! 

My Week 6 picks went 4-0, and this week six teams have byes. With the exception of the Eagles, five of the six teams on bye have winning records (Buf, NE, Cin, NYG and SF) and the pickings are getting slim.

Games I Like

Steelers over the Cardinals 

Pittsburgh is getting better and better each week and Rashard Mendenhall has finally broken out of his shell with a 146-yard performance and a touchdown last week against Jacksonville. Arizona is coming off a much-needed bye week following their fourth consecutive loss to the mediocre Minnesota Vikings. Thirteen days of practice will not be enough for the Cardinals to take down the perennial powerhouse Steelers. Big Ben rolls on.

Cowboys over the Rams 

Tony Romo and company seem to find new ways to lose every week, but I don’t expect that to happen here against a winless St. Louis team that may be without starting quarterback Sam Bradford. He will be a game-time decision Sunday and should his high ankle sprain prove to be too much, A.J. Feeley will get the start.

The absence of Cowboys running back Felix Jones should not be a problem against the NFL’s worst rush defense. DeMarco Murray and Tashard Choice will handle the duties and hopefully Romo will keep his cool for a full 60 minutes.

Packers over the Vikings 

When something isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Green Bay hasn’t lost yet; let's keep rolling with the Packers. Minnesota on the other hand is broken. Rookie quarterback Christian Ponder will make his first ever NFL start against the defending Super Bowl Champions and to be honest, it’s the right move. Ponder gave Vikings fans several reasons to smile when he got garbage time against the Bears last week. He’ll definitely bring an improvement to the passing game and with that improvement, Adrian Peterson’s game will be better too. All this improvement will not be enough to take down Aaron Rodgers and they should roll by a couple touchdowns.

Saints over the Colts 

This is a simple one. The Saints are at home and coming off a messy game against divisional rival Tampa Bay. They need this game a lot more than Indianapolis needs their first win of the season. New Orleans had four turnovers against the Bucs and Sean Payton needed surgery after the game; things can only go up. 

Rookie Mark Ingram has a touchdown in three of his last four games, tight end Jimmy Graham, their leading receiver (620 yards) has exactly double the yards of the next closest receiver and Marques Colston has improved with every game since returning. All three should have a great game, especially Ingram who's going up against the Colts' 30th  ranked rush defense.