[Nikalibobwa]

its finally here. we have so many huge nfl fans here at bangthebook and for good reason; it is the greatest game on the planet!

i really do not understand how some of our cappers have sooo many picks on the board for week 1. anything can happen opening week. its so hard to cap week 1 based on last years squad and preseason only. but thats just my opinion. for this reason i will keep my plays limited in week 1 assuming i'll probably end up on the losing end anyway lol. gl to all should be a very fun day for us fans!

week1:

jags+7 the jaggies seem to always keep it close vs the colts. fred taylor is outta town so that gives the bowling ball jones-drew more of an opportunity to show his game breaking ability. the jaguars disappointing offense from last year should be ready to bounce back. their o-line was decimated last year. with starting 5 back in tact this should allow garrard to get his confidence back. my prediction: jags win outright or peyton gets the colts W with late game heroics.

panthers+3 the line continues to grow in this game and for no good reason. the panthers have always been a strong home team. delhomme will be ready to try and repay the fans for his blowup in the playoffs last year. panthers win by 6.

falcons-4 obvious biased pick here. however i am confident in making it. the falcons starting O moved the ball well in all preseason games. the addition of gonzalez will benifit turner and will be a huge target for ryan especially on 3rd downs. the defense is still suspect. the front 7 is younger and but faster. i believe the run defense has potential to be improved but the secondary struggled in all preseason games. if i am correct in the defensive theory this sets up a favorable matchup vs the dolphins. if the fins face a lot of 3rd and longs that plays against penningtons weakness-lack of arm strength.

[manong36]

gl, nikali. can't wait to see your positive YTD totals for nfl

[JIMBOJPC]

BOL Today Manog 36

[Nikalibobwa]

nice 2-1 start last week. i thought i had the 3-0 sweep going in the early going of the panthers game but i was way off on the delhomme prediction. i can only hope he will cough it up this week vs atl!

week 2:

steelers-2.5 the pit/ten game was about as good as a week 1 game could be. pit seemed to be in mid season form. the offense was balanced and patient. the defense made big plays and both sides of the ball were disciplined.
both defenses in this weeks matchup are missing key elements: pit in the defensive backfield and chicago with their leader in the middle. pit should be able to overcome this by simply toning it down a bit on the aggressiveness.
if anyone has forgotten i will remind you of cutler's knack for turning the ball over. with the steel curtain front 7 coming after him i can foresee plenty of bloopers in the chicago backfield. pit wins this one by 10.

raiders+3 the oakland run game looked impressive for what i watched of the san diego game. they held their own and gave themselves a shot at pulling out a week 1 upset. i think they keep this one close against a rebuilding kc team.

rams+10 stl has no chance of winning this game. they will never lead. however they should put points on the board after being shut out last week. the skins offense looks to be mediocre at best so i do not see them running away with this one. i see a 20-16 ball game here.

[Nikalibobwa]

2-1 again last week. again right on with two predictions but the steelers blew their chance to pull away by missing 4th q field goals in the third pick.

week 3:

titans+1 tennessee will not fall to 0-3. sanchez will run out of magic today vs a good overall underachieving club.

49ers+7 san fran will bully farve to death today. ap will not be enough to cover the 7 pts here.

chiefs+7.5 the chiefs have looked a lot better than last years team in the early going despite the 2 losses. i do not think they win but they should be able to keep it within the 7.

[Nikalibobwa]

1-2 last week. i was way off on the kc call. sorry to those who may have followed.

week 4:

bengals -6.5 the browns offensive has not managed to improve at all from their dismal '08 campaign and now have to face a cincy team who has shown promise in the defensive side of the ball. palmer and the cincy offense has also shown glimmers of promise at times thusfar this season and should have a great opportunity to show off today.

lions +10 the lions are still a bad team. however the offense has managed to put up some points this season. i think they can put up enough today to keep it within the spread vs chicago.

colts -10 the colts offense has been incredible the last couple of weeks. lucas oil stadium will be rockin' this afternoon. that will be too much for seneca wallace and crew to overcome. this one could be ugly. way ugly.

[Nikalibobwa]

another subpar day yesterday. the browns showed some life when it looked like cincy was money in the bank early. good call on the lions scoring but the lions d just blew. right on the money with indy.

monday night:

vikings -3 i got this one early and bought the half pt. this should be a defensive battle which most likely means it will end up a shootout. in the end, either way it goes i think the vikes d wins this one by forcing turnovers late. should be a good one.

[Nikalibobwa]

week 4:

vikings-9.5 the vikings offense has really been hitting lately. the run game is always a threat. if farve can continue to play like he did on monday night... look out. stl offense has been horrible. this game could be over at the half unless the stl defense steps up big.

panthers-4.5 delhomme has finally calmed down a bit the past couple weeks. washington has been thriving on playing weak teams and having to play come from behind even to get those wins. if the skins fall behind early in this one it will be ballgame.

browns+7 cleveland showed some life before falling short vs cincy last week. maybe those couple of quarters were a fluke. but buffalo imo looks weaker every week instead of stronger leading me to believe if they are able to pull out this win it will not be by much. bills win at home on a late fg.

bengals+10 as good as baltimore looks right now you can not deny that cincy looks to have a nice balance to their performance as well. if the bengals can get some points on the board early they stand a chance to hang with the ravens till the final horn. even if the ravens jump out in front early i believe cincy should be able to keep it within two possessions.

patriots-3 if the broncos defense can hold ne today i will finally be convinced that they are for real. until that happens i am not sold. the den O will have trouble winning the field position battle which will in turn put more pressure on the d to hold. i do believe the broncs are good enough to hang around all game but the pats win by at least a td.

jaguars+1.5 this line is way off. the jags have been pass happy the last couple weeks. however the sea run d is suspect enough that the jags should be able to have balanced success on offense all day. hassellback or not the jaggies will lead this on throughout and win by 10+.

[Nikalibobwa]

another .500 week last week going 3-3. i had miami monday night but was too gunshy to pull the trigger.

week 5:

texans+5 i have been on the bengals the last few weeks and each week they have had to come from behind to pull it out in the final seconds. i think two things happen differently today. i think they control the game on their home field throughout. but i also see the texans hanging around and taking this one from them late. if cincy punches 2-3 tds early it will be a different story but the bengal d will have a tough time containing slaton, johnson and crew for 4 quarters.

steelers-13.5 with polamalu back on the field the steel curtain d should be back in tact. it will appear to be steel curtain d vs the awful browns offense anyway. i will be surprised if cleveland gets across midfield!

ravens+3 the ravens do not have the defense of years past. however they are still good enough to shake up the min offensive philosophy. they will need to lean on farve more. i expect brett to cough it up at least twice. the viking d has been great this year but they have shown they may have a weakness in stopping the pass. flaco could have a big game in this one.

jaguars-9.5 so even though i was WAY off on my jaggies prediction last week i still like them today. its hard not to like any team playing stl. despite the blowout loss last week holt became i bigger factor on offense. he has said this will be an emotional game for him facing his old squad for the first time. i think the jaggies offense keeps this one out of reach.

bucs+3 johnson has been showing that he may be the guy in tb. his skilled players on offense like him meaning they will be on top of their game to try and keep him in the starting role. the south fla bulls lost in this stadium a few days ago so the fans gotta focus back on the pro squad! these are bitter nfc south rivals and the home team should roll in this one.

pack-13.5 the lions offense has been rockin for the past few weeks. it is been consistent so now teams actually have to spend more than an hour a week to prepare for it. unfortunately for the lions the pack have had two weeks to prepare. the gb defense will be ready for a dominate performance at home.

i have a few potential afternoon/night games but i'll wait and see how the early card pans out before deciding to press on or call it a day! good luck to all.

[Nikalibobwa]

not lookin good early. here's what i got for this afternoon/tonight. no write ups

raiders+14
cards+3
jets-9
falcons-3