Pick'em

Chicago 31 Cleveland 10- Chicago will come out pumped up and play well against one of the worst secondaries in the game. This would make me even angrier about last week after you see them click and tear up the field this Sunday. This win will spark talks that they are back in the chase for the division, but I do not see that happening at all.

Detroit 21 St. Louis 17- The game of the week. Honestly, St. Louis can not score, and Detroit's defense is not nearly as bad as everyone thinks. Without having to spend the entire game on the field, like they usually do, expect the Lions to put up a rather impressive game defensively. St. Louis will get some points off of turnovers and good field position and expect them to threaten for the win late, but they will be unable to execute and the Lions will continue their long slow trudge out of the cellar.

Green Bay 31 Minnesota 21- This prediction reflects my opinions of these two teams just for this week. I think Minnesota is a better team that will pull away slightly by the end of the regular season. That being said, the idea of being in 1st place in the division and bringing Brett Favre back home will be enough random factors to equalize these teams for a week. Brett Favre will also not tear up the Packers like he did during the meeting earlier in the season and the combination of weather and crowd hostility will cause him to struggle for the second week in a row. I expect for it to be noticeable that the Vikings are the better team, but to many things will go wrong early and then the Packers will hold on at the end.

(Photo courtesy of mouthpiecesports.com)

Different shade of purple

After building a momentous lead in the early part of the game this weekend, Minnesota allowed Baltimore to churn their way back into the game and barely survived as Steven Hauschka missed a game winning field goal. Even with Brett Favre having a quarterback rating of nearly 137 with no turnovers they still nearly lost to game to a Baltimore team that appears to be reeling after a third straight defeat.

In no sport more than football however, does the statement "a win is a win" matter more. Every week we have seen with flashes of brilliance followed by disappointing performances and visa versa. The common trend for Minnesota through all that time however is a team who has put up a minimum of 27 points in every performance, although this will be tested next week against the Steelers, and a quarterback who has not hardly at all turned the ball over (12TD compared to 2 ints).

Now with a two game advantage in the loss column over both the Bears and the Packers a new sense of reality seems to be coming over a team that realized the potential benefits of Brett Favre but still where aware of his recent history in New York. With their success in close games against San Fransisco and Baltimore just fueling the confidence fire. It appears at this point at least that there might be something more that this old quarterback brings besides what appears on the surface. After all a win is a win.