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Week five was another forgettable one as I slipped below the .500 mark again, picking 6 right and 8 wrong. That puts the season record at 42 on the plus side, and 33 wrong. Here are the picks for week six:

Miami at Green Bay – Miami gets the Packers at a perfect time, as QB Aaron Rodgers is recovering from a concussion, and star tight end Jermichael Finley is lost for the season. Green Bay already lost its’ top running back, so their offense is in trouble. Also, LB Clay Matthews is hurt so the defense will be hurting. Miami should win this game using a large dose of their running game, featuring Ronnie Brown and Rickey Williams.

San Diego at St. Louis – picking the Chargers to win scares me, but this is the type of game they have to find a way to win to stay in contention in the AFC West, and I believe they will. The Rams got plastered by Detroit last week so they’ll be motivated and should play better, especially at home, but the Chargers will pull out the victory.

Baltimore at New England – rematch of last year’s playoff game that saw the Ravens shock the Pats by running the ball down their throats, forcing turnovers and winning easily. This is New England’s first game without Randy Moss, and even though they re-acquired Deion Branch to replace him the passing game will need time to mesh. Baltimore is too good of a team and their defense will be the difference. The Ravens win on the road, in a game that’ll be much closer than the playoff game last year.

Cleveland at Pittsburgh –  this game has blowout written all over it. Ben Roethlisberger returns to the lineup for the Steelers after serving his suspension, and the Browns start rookie Colt McCoy as both Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace are hurt. Pittsburgh’s defense dominates the game and the Steelers win big.

Kansas City at Houston –  this game may sort out which of these teams is an actual contender, and which is the pretender. The Texans are usually better at home, but Kansas City’s defensive effort in a tough loss last week at Indianapolis was impressive. I’ll pick the Chiefs to continue their progress by upsetting Houston on the road.

Detroit at New York Giants – in picking last week’s games I commented that the Lions were a better team than their winless record showed, and they came up with a huge home win over the Rams. The Giants’ defense, however, is looking great and should bottle up the young Lions at home. Lions’ standout receiver Calvin Johnson is banged up and the Lions need all their weapons to compete. New York should win this game handily.

Atlanta at Philadelphia –  it’s uncertain whether Michael Vick will be ready to play against his old team, but regardless who is under center for the Eagles this week, I’ll take Atlanta to win on the road. The Falcons consider themselves to be serious contenders and with division rival New Orleans struggling, they smell blood.

Seattle at Chicago – hopefully Jay Cutler is back at QB for the Bears, but even if it’s Todd Collins, the Bears’ defense should throttle the inconsistent Seahawks. With the game being played at Soldier Field, I like the Bears in a rout as Seattle historically doesn’t travel well.

New Orleans at Tampa Bay – this is a chance for the young Buccaneers to make a statement in their division, and announce their arrival as a contending team. I don’t think they’re quite there yet, and the Saints have got to play with some urgency this week after that shocking loss to Arizona last week. The Saints win a close game with their passing game taking over in the fourth quarter.

New York Jets at Denver – The Jets are on a roll and really have looked liked one of the top teams in the league so far. This is a tough test for them on the road, but I feel their defense will confuse Kyle Orton enough to force a turnover or two which will be the difference in the game. The Jets win a close game with a big 4th quarter.

Oakland at San Francisco – the 49ers were everybody’s preseason pick to win the NFC West, and they are  0-5.  Are they ever going to win a game? The answer is yes – this week at home against the Raiders. Any team that faces the Raiders winds up in a dogfight, but the Niners are desperate enough to win that fight.

Dallas at Minnesota – this game is between 2 teams that were favored to contend for the Super Bowl this year, and both are struggling. The season may be over for the team that loses, and their head coach goes immediately to the hot seat. The Vikings blew out the Cowboys at home in last year’s playoffs, and the ‘Boys show no signs of coming out of their funk, in which they’ve played inconsistent, undisciplined football. The Vikings win this game, with Brett Favre having his best day of the year so far, taking advantage of Dallas’ mistake-prone secondary.

Indianapolis at Washington – Mike Shanahan has the ‘Skins playing over their heads, and Peyton Manning hasn’t been his usual surgical, pinpoint self so far this year. However, he usually rises to the occasion in prime time games so I see the Colts winning on the road.

Tennessee at Jacksonville – the Titans have been disappointing so far this year, and the Jaguars a surprising success. This is a division game so it should be close, but the Titans’ defense will be the difference as they harrass David Garrard all day. On offense, the Titans will ride a huge day by Chris Johnson to a well-earned victory.

This NFL season is only 5 weeks old and already it is extremely depressing if you’re a Buffalo Bills’ fan. The team has a bye this week and it couldn’t come at a better time for the fans, who have to be suffering from failure overload after watching this team play so far this year. Most prognosticators had the Bills finishing around 2-14 for the year and most likely having the top pick in next year’s college draft, and even though I saw it differently, that a team that was 7-9, 7-9 and 6-10 for the last 3 years should improve on that, it’s not going to happen. So I’m giving in and assuming that the Bills will be looking for that elusive franchise quarterback next April. Frankly, I think the team needs impact defensive players, mostly linebackers (especially if they plan on staying the course with the 3-4 defense), but there’s little doubt that if they have the top pick, they’ll use it on a QB. For Bills’ fans who need something to make this dismal season a little easier to swallow, here’s a peek into the team’s possible future. I took a look at scouting reports, highlight videos and interview videos of the players considered the top 3 QBs coming out in the next draft, and here’s a rundown of that trio of prospects, followed by my opinion about who the Bills should pick, if the draft were held today:

Ryan Mallett (Arkansas) – Mallett is an imposing physical specimen at 6’7″ and 238 lbs. He has a great arm and they say he can make all the throws necessary to play at the next level. Here’s what I don’t like in his scouting report – not very accurate, bad footwork, not real mobile, needs to improve decision making, can be a statue at times in the pocket. Translation: Trent Edwards Jr. Also, for some reason, the scouts say he has “potential for some character issues”, which I don’t quite understand. To me, you’ve either proven you’re an idiot or you haven’t – you can’t have “potential” bad character.

Jake Locker (Washington) – he’s the only senior among the top 3, and supposedly if he’d decided to come out last year he would have been rated higher than Sam Bradford, who was the top choice. Locker is 6’3″ and 226 lbs., and looks impressive in highlight videos. He has an above average arm, is extremely mobile, has good mechanics and plays in a pro style offense at Washington. The negatives on him are that he lacks field vision, tends to lock on to a single receiver, and hasn’t been a winner (his college won-lost record with the Huskies is 8-20).

Andrew Luck (Stanford) – Luck is actually only a redshirt sophomore but is eligible to come out next year. He’s 6’4″ and weighs 235 lbs., and after reading the scouting reports and watching the interview and highlight videos, if I were making the pick for the Bills, I’d choose Luck. His only negative is lack of experience, but despite that, here’s what the scouts have to say about his overall game: unflappable, great poise and pocket awareness, makes quick and smart decisions, exceptional technique, great footwork, no wasted motion in his throwing delivery, strong arm and great accuracy, even when moving out of the pocket.

Like I said, if I were making the pick today, my choice would be Luck. Actually, when watching interview videos, Luck was the brightest  but I was most impressed with an interview video of Levi Brown, currently the Bills’ 3rd QB, even more so than any of the three top prospects for next year. In the end, Luck seems to stand out. Even though he plays at the same school as Trent Edwards, he is a much better prospect than Trent. To be the quarterback in Buffalo, you can’t be one of these robotic surgical technicians – you have to, above all else, be a REAL FOOTBALL PLAYER!! You have to be able to play in horrible weather, throw accurately in windy conditions and be a leader. So what sealed the deal for me was this video of a play Luck made in a game against USC. Check it out below.

Luck Lays Out USC’s Wright