After an eventful Week 7, the biggest news was the scuffle between coaches Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh. A handshake hasn't received that much attention since Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat got together on the White House lawn. Taking place beneath the drama was a sophisticated QB swaparoo: Campbell out, Palmer in. McNabb out, Ponder in. Grossman out, Beck in. But, most importantly, it's TEBOW TIME!
Overall: 9-2-1
Last Week's Predictions:
Oakland -5.5 vs Cleveland: WIN
The line ended up moving to -6.5 but the Raiders won by a touchdown. In fact, the Raiders were favored from the moment they got the ball. Last week, I proclaimed that I am officially a believer in the Raiders. The Jason Campbell injury does scare me, but Carson Palmer is historically a league average quarterback, and if he can get up to speed quickly, should be a suitable replacement. The Raiders play the Chargers in Week 17, which should determine the winner of the AFC West. Oh, and why would you ever give up a first round pick (potentially 2 first round picks) when you have literally no chance of winning a Super Bowl this year?
Tampa Bay +5 vs New Orleans: WIN
Not only did the Bucs keep it close, but they managed a huge upset over the Saints. Earnest Graham did a boss job filling in for LeGarrette Blount and exposed an extremely weak Saints' run defense. New Orleans is still an elite team; you just can't sleep on division rivals.
Week 7 Predicitions:
Pittsburgh -3.5 at Arizona:
Yes, Arizona is coming off a bye week. Yes, Arizona is the home team. Yes, the Steelers O-line is decimated by injuries. That being said, the Steelers won't lose to a dismal Cardinals team. Arizona is in the bottom half of the league in every facet of the game except run efficiency. Beanie Wells does scare me a little, going up against a Steelers' run defense that ranks 29th after adjusting for strength of opponents. But, with Rashard Mendenhall getting back on track last week, we have Big Ben and crew favored by 7.
Denver Tebows +3 at Miami
This pick is more of a religious prophecy than anything else. In what looks to be a home game for the god-fearing gunslinger, Tebow makes his first 2011 start against the league's worst defense in the league after adjusting for strength of schedule. Tebow is used to playing in Florida and it just so happens that the Dolphins will honor his 2008 National Champion Florida Gators before the game. It's TEBOW TIME!
The most accurate weekly projections from numberFire.com based on wall-street style analytics. numberFire outpredicted two of the most trafficked fantasy sites 70|PERCENT| of the time and are 54-55|PERCENT| against the spread over the last 3 seasons.