Week 4 picks

Zip City Week 4 Picks, brought to you by 2 half-pound blue-cheese burgers from WholeFoods. Wow. Meaty. Full.

This is the first week of the season with teams not playing (not counting the involuntary bye week of the Texans and Ravens in Week 2) so there will be fewer games to pick, fewer games to bet on. I am trying something different this week, with the spread being written just next to the team I'm picking, since the spread is always the same both ways, either with a plus or a minus. if you don't like it, let me know and we'll go back to ye olde sweet style. Here goes...

Arizona
@ New York
The second east-coaster in a week for Kurt Warner and co. Brett Favre is limping and I am definetely not sold on this Jet defence. This has gunslinging written all over it, so be careful. I'm taking the points in this matchup.
Pick: Arizona +1.5

Green Bay
@ Tampa Bay
Should be a pretty interesting game with both teams fighting for first place in their respective divisions. Green Bay's defence looked flat against the Cowboys, but Joey Galloway is very questionable for the second week in a row.
Pick: Green Bay +1.0

Minnesota
@ Tennessee
Not playing this one. Nu-uh. No way.
Pick: Tennessee -3.0

Cleveland
@ Cincinnati
The winner will be 1-3. The loser, 0-4. Last year they ripped each other for nearly a thousand yards of offence in the first game. Cincinnati had a decent showing against NYG last week, and the feeling is that they can continue to build upon that.
Pick: Cincinnati -3.5

Atlanta
@ Carolina
(Note: I originally posted this pick the other way around, but decided to change it after 5 minutes or so. Carolina lost to the Vikings last week.) The battle for NFC South supremacy! Wow! Shocking! Atlanta is resting neatly next to Carolina with a 2-1 record. Still, the Falcons beat two lousy teams, Carolina actually upset San Diego 3 weeks ago. We'll see if this Panthers team can handle a inferior divisional foe at home.
Pick: Atlanta +7.0

Houston
@ Jacksonville
What an ending to the Colts-Jax game last week! Jacksonville, literally, with their season on the line (well, 0-3 means that you still can go 13-3, but you can never bet on a 13-game win-streak. Like the Pats last year, that was an anomaly). Now, the Jaguars can gain ground on Tennessee by beating two teams from their division in back-to-back weeks. And Houston has looked awful so far. I was never quite sold on them, but to be honest, I did not expect them to be this bad by Week 4.
Pick: Jacksonville -7.5

Denver
@ Kansas
Pick: Denver -9.5

San Francisco
@ New Orleans
To quote mr. Simmons: Do we like JT? I'm not sure, but I don't think the Saints can cover here.
Pick: San Francisco +5.5

Buffalo
@ St. Louis
Pick: Buffalo -8.5

San Diego
@ Oakland
Must-win last week for the Bolts too. They should be able to keep the train going this week against Oakland, where Al Davis and Lane Kiffin haven't spoken in almost a year. By the way, and I missed this a couple weeks ago; good choice by Shawne Merriman to have knee surgery. I don't like him, but I respect his talents and I would hate to see him not being able to play any more because of a busted knee.
Pick: San Diego -7.0

Washington
@ Dallas
Please don't let me down now, Jason Campbell. I believe in you!
Pick: Washington +10.5

Philadelphia
@ Chicago
Pick: Philadelphia -3.0

Baltimore
@ Pittsburgh
Flacco is getting five-and-a-half on the road. Take the points and hope he doesn't throw to many interceptions.
Pick: Baltimore +5.5

Bye: Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami, New England, New York, Seattle

Last week: 6-9

Season: 23-21