NFL 2010 Week 9: Time Out at the Halfway House

At the end of this week, the 2010 NFL season will have reached the halfway point for the 2010 season. By virtue of just one loss while the other contenders have two or more, one could say the New England Patriots look like the dominant team, but they surely aren't the sure bets of old. Are they better than the Ravens, whom they beat in overtime, the Steelers, or the Jets?  In the NFC, the Giants appear to be deeper and more forceful than other teams.  There are also some teams that are just plain terrible most noteworthy among them, the Dallas Cowboys who had visions of being the home team host of the Super Bowl, but they are fragmented, sloppy, and undisciplined. Their head coach, Wade Phillips, seems to be just as casual about losing as ex-Orioles manager, Dave Trembley. Sorry guys, at this level, "we tried hard," doesn't cut it.

So here are the games and our picks for the week.

Miami at Balitimore (-5 1/2)
The Ravens should dominate this game. Something gives: Miami has not lost a road game. The Ravens have not lost a home game. The Ravens off their bye should be fresh and the new pieces settled in to make this a good game for the Purple and Gold.

San Diego (-3) at Houston
Houston will be ready to get back on its feet after losing to the Colts. Yes, we've heard the Chargers get better with age in the season, but they haven't proven that yet.

Arizona at Minnesota (-8)
The Vikings are the second NFL team to undergo a Moss removal process this year. The team is in chaos, but should prevail over the bare cupboards of Arizona.

New Orleans (-7) at Carolina
No contest. Carolina is waiting for the meat wagons to clearout the slaughter house.

New England (-4.5) at Cleveland
No contest. New England wins.

Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-8.5)
Tampa Bay is one of this year's surprise teams but no one will be surprised when Atlanta wins.

Chicago (-3) at Buffalo
Neither team is very good, but Chicago has shown more so far this year. It's "DA BEARS."

New York Jets (-4) at Detroit
The Lions beat the Redskins and they finally have some power?  The Jets are better than a four point favorite for sure.

New York Giants (-7) at Seattle
It's a long flight to Seattle, but still this is no contest. The Giants win.

Indianapolis @ Philadelphia (-3)
Indy isn't the team of years past and is beat up, but they'll still take care of the Eagles.

Kansas City at Oakland (-2.5)
Both teams are far better than expected but KC has proven itself more consistently than Oakland.

Dallas at Green Bay (-2.5)
Fans will see another cheesy effort from Dallas leading to another emabarassing lost for the Cowboys.

Pittsburgh (-4.5) at Cincinnati
Cincinnati is going to rise up and win an upset at some point soon, but does anyone thing the Steelers aren't going to be plenty prepared. When they flush their toilets in Iron City, the sewage flows down stream to Cincinnati. Get the message.

The Bye teams are:
Denver
Jacksonville
San Francisco
St. Louiis
Tennessee

This week there is also a Bye-Bye team, the Washington Redskins who seemed to completely mail a season that had hope in the second half last week. Mike Shannahan's benching veteran QB, Donovan McNabb has been the talk of the Mid-Atlantic for the past week especially given how horribly Rex Grossman fared upon his first possession. It was one of the ugliest sights by a team not called the Cowboys this year.