NFL Week Nine Open Thread

Joe Concha's Pigskins and Politics follows:

Pigskins and Politics: Week 9

The NFL salary cap, which also serves as the cornerstone of Obama's economic policy in terms of redistribution of wealth, has again made prognosticating a difficult task. Seriously...who is the frontrunner to even make the Super Bowl this season?

The Giants? Very beatable.

The Titans? Five words: 35-year-old Kerry Collins.

The Redskins? Not exactly a team that steps on the throat of opponents.

The Steelers? As long as they keep wearing those throwback Arizona State uniforms and allow Big Ben to get beat up more than Sarah Palin every week (league-high in sacks allowed), they simply cannot be trusted.

And those are the frontrunners...

That said, let's try to nail some jelly to the wall with our not-for-profit picks:

Browns (-2.5) over Ravens: Ohio is once again a very key state in the election, and it's hard to root against Joe the Plummer's favorite team. Speaking of Joe, the world is still waiting with bated breath for the champion of privacy law, Keith Olbermann, to stand up via one of his Special Education Comments and rail against the Obama campaign for digging into Joe's private records after he had the audacity to ask Dear Leader a question about his tax policy. In a related story, snow is in the forecast for hell and surrounding areas this weekend...

Bills (-5.5) over Jets: Buffalo is a tough out at home. And Brett Favre is making damn sure this season that his unbreakable record of most interceptions all-time is never broken.

Cowboys (+9) over Giants: One rule to follow...courtesy of my entrepreneurial friend Mike from Vegas:

When an entire world of experts picks one team to win before the game is even played (See: McCain v Obama Nov 4th), always go opposite. That said, and despite Brad Johnson at QB and Jason Witten questionable to play, Dallas finds a way to keep this baby close.

Dolphins (+3.5) over Broncos: Old-school AFC matchup pits the soft Broncos against the resourceful Dolphins and their Wildcat offense. Hard to believe Denver is a division leader in the awful AFC West, and while a warm-weather team going to chilly Denver has historically been a death march, the forecast calls for 74 degrees and sun. Global warming will likely be blamed for yet another disappointing Bronco loss...

Colts (-6.5) over Pats: What was once must-see TV is now just like NBC's pregame show: Take it or leave it. Indy really needs the game and the Pats haven't rally beaten anyone of note (Chiefs, Niners, Jets, Broncos, Rams), so go with Eli's brother at home.

Rams (+3) over Cardinals: Only in the NFL can a team start out 0-6 and still be within one game of the division lead.

Vikings (-4.5) over Texans: Minnesota was touted as a dark-horse Super Bowl pick early in the season. But now, like the Obama team is already doing, the Vikes are trying to lower expectations from what their goals were over the summer.

Packers (+4.5) over Titans: This is one of those games that looks weird to watch for about three quarters for this reason: Some teams in the NFL simply seem to never play each other. And after a quick google search, it turns out that the Packers have only played the Titans once in Nashville since they moved there 11 years ago.

Just thought I'd share...

Chiefs (+9) over Bucs: A scary game for anyone forced to sit through it. But if you think that's scary, and forget about Obama's frightening brand of socialism in terms of taxation, what about his handling of news outlets who don't agree with him? As you probably know, the Washington Times, New York Post and Dallas Morning News were thrown off Obama's press section on his campaign because their newspapers publicly endorsed McCain? Forget Pittsburgh's Iron Curtin...Welcome to Obamagrad!

Bears (-12.5) over Lions: Could this be the year when there are somehow TWO 0-16 teams in the NFL?

Jaguars (-8) over Bengals: (SEE: "Bears over Lions")

Seahawks (-6.5) over Eagles: Jake Tapper, Eagles fan and ABC political guru, conjured up this wonderful headline to report that Aerosmith's Joe Perry's endorsement of John McCain:

"Livin' It Up When I'm Going Down"

This, of course, is a line from the band's hit song, "Love in an Elevator". But Tapper's implication is clear: Joe Perry likes McCain but is betting on a sinking ship.

Wouldn't "Walk This Way" be a better headline when an Aerosmith member endorses a candidate? Not for Tapper, who wants to make damn sure he doesn't get thrown off the aforementioned Obama Plane (sponsored by Pravda).

Falcons (-3) over Raiders: Another case of two teams who never play each other (11 times in nearly 40 years, and they haven't met in Oakland in eight years). Regardless, Matt Ryan is already a better draft pick than JeMarcus Russell, and Michael Turner is a human bowling ball who will roll strikes through the Raiders front seven.

Redskins (-2.5) over Steelers: On the contrary, this IS must-see TV...just be sure to turn the sound down after Kornheiser harps on the same theme for the 37th time. As Lloyd Bentsen once said to Dan Quayle: Tony...I knew Howard Cosell. Howard Cosell was a friend of mine. Mr. Kornheiser...you're no Howard Cosell.

So this marks the last Pigskins and Politics column before we have a new President with a hyphen and an "Elect" after the title.

Let's hope, if for no other reason but to teach the media to be honest again when reporting on both candidates equally in the next election, that John McCain, who has faced hurricane-force winds from a media hell-bent to keep him or any Republican out of office, is the guy who wins his own Super Bowl this week.

Joe Concha is a weekly contributor to NewsBusters. Email questions or comments to joeconcha@yahoo.com.