Blogger Deathsport: Week 4

I'm starting to get the hang of the Blogger Deathsport thing, I think.  After being under .500 the first week, I made better than average selections in Weeks 2 and 3, which gives me a current record of 24-22-1 and the fifth-place spot in the current Blogger Deathsport standings.  Let's see if I can't improve on that standing with this week's picks, shall we?  Here's what we've got, via the number supplied to us by the Blogger Deathsport head office in Dog River, Saskatchewan.

Buffalo (-8) at St. Louis
--Gonzo's Take:  This week, the Rams made the move to bench quarterback Marc Bulger and replace him with Trent Green.  Because when you're giving up 39 points a game, clearly your problem is at quarterback.  Bills to prolong St. Louis' misery.
 
Atlanta at Carolina (-7)
--Gonzo's Take:  In the two games where Matt Ryan has faced bad defenses (Detroit and Kansas City), he's looked outstanding.  In the game he faced a team with a real defense, he looked terrible.  Guess which heading Carolina falls under.
 
Philadelphia at Chicago (pick 'em)
--Gonzo's Take:  You saw what the Eagles did to a pretty damn good Pittsburgh team last week, sacking Ben Roethlisberger nine times and holding the Steelers to six points.  Now they get a shot at Kyle Orton.  It could get ugly fast.
 
Cleveland at Cincinnati (-3.5)
--Gonzo's Take:  One of these two teams was expected to be good this year.  The other one was not.  Cincy actually showed some signs of life in Week 3, though. . .Cleveland?  Not so much.  Browns drop to 0-4 after this one.
 
Washington at Dallas (-11.5)
--Gonzo's Take:  I know that Dallas crushed a Green Bay team that's (allegedly) better than Washington, but that's just way too many points to be giving in a division rivalry game.  Dallas may win, but the Skins should be able to stay with them.
 
Denver (-9) at Kansas City
--Gonzo's Take:  I don't know who the Chiefs are starting at quarterback this week.  I do know that it's not going to matter.  To borrow a line from Rick Pitino, Len Dawson isn't coming through that door. . .Steve DeBerg isn't coming through that door. . .hell, Todd Blackledge isn't even coming through that door.  Broncos to roll.
 
Houston at Jacksonville (-7.5)
--Gonzo's Take:  Houston is another team that, for various reasons, hasn't lived up to the hype this year.  The Jags are fired up after their big victory over the Colts last weekend in Indianapolis.  Houston's 27th ranked run defense should get trampled by the Fred Taylor/Maurice Jones-Drew combination.
 
San Francisco at New Orleans (-6)
--Gonzo's Take:  Drew Brees and company have just been unconscious on offense this season.  But the Niners, who have been a fairly nice story to this point, have a pretty fine pass defense.  This should be a pretty good football game. . .and I don't know why, but something's telling me that the Niners will keep this one closer than it "should be."
 
Arizona at New York Jets (-2.5)
--Gonzo's Take:  The Jets, quite frankly, looked awful on Monday against San Diego, and Brett Favre has been limping around with an ankle injury since then.  Let's go with the Cardinals to not only cover, but to win the game outright.
 
San Diego (-7.5) at Oakland
--Gonzo's Take:  The Lane Kiffin watch enters its third week, and is damn near to the point of being made into a Lifetime Original Movie starring Valerie Bertandernie (thank you, Family Guy). Raider fans would want this footage left on the cutting room floor.
 
Green Bay at Tampa Bay (-1)
--Gonzo's Take:  The Packers could, at times, have an entirely second-string secondary on the field today, with injuries to both their safeties, CB Grabby Grabberson nursing a broken toe, and CB Clutchy McGrabbyhands having ruptured his spleen last week.  McGrabbyhands will be replaced by something called Tramon Williams.  Tramon Williams once tried to cover his own shadow. . .the shadow caught 7 balls for 153 yards and a touchdown.
 
Minnesota at Tennessee (-3)
--Gonzo's Take:  Really, how many consecutive weeks did you think I was going to pick against Minnesota?
 
Baltimore at Pittsburgh (pick 'em)
--Gonzo's Take:  Pittsburgh's offense looked pretty rough last week, but their defense should get a bit of a reprieve.  CB Samari Rolle being out for the Ravens will give the Steelers a slight edge as well, and that should be all they need.  For tie-breaker purposes, I'll go with a score of Steelers 20, Ravens 17.