Things went back to normal in week 7 of the NFL 2008 season… the craziness continued and therefore the House lost again. The members emerged victorious for the fourth time this season posting 8 wins to the House’s 6. The Madden 09 Xbox 360 simulation continued it’s domination with 10 correct picks, extending it’s season total lead over the House and members. The House now only has 2 weekly wins on the season, to the membership’s 4, with 1 tie.
The results to-date are:
| * | The House | Madden Sim | Members |
| Week 7: | 6-8 | 10-4 | 8-6 |
| 2008 Overall: | 53-49 | 64-38 | 58.5-43.5 |
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The Challenge
Two picks were in disagreement this week and the House is calling shenanigans on both of them. The Titans’ run will end sometime, but The House incorrectly predicted it would happen in week 7 against the Chiefs. Sure, the Chiefs are a shoddy team, but the House thought a clock-managing running game led by Larry Johnson would keep the game in check as the team rallied around Tony Gonzalez, who will now be sticking around. Well, as we all saw well in advance of the game, but after the House made the pick, L.J. was sitting the game out via an in-house suspension. C’est la vie.
The second game in question was Minnesota-Chicago. The House picked the Vikings but did not account for the pair of fluke TDs that won the game for the bright-orange Bears. What a disappointment the Vikings have been so far this year. Is Brad Childress the next mid-season coaching cut?
We have some familiar faces at the top of the week 7 member leaderboard. Speng, plazamama and kozy4u2 had three of the top 4 pick sets this week, but all recently won in week’s past. We’ll give Speng the DVD prize pack again since he was the top guesser, but we’ll give the ball to someone different. 13 picks Speng? Pretty impressive. Among the titles in the prize pack this week is Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge – the most ambitious and highly anticipated adult release in DVD history. To win your own copy of the Pirates II 4-disc set, enter here.
Since the House was beaten, we have a DVD prize pack to award AND a game ball. Member neaner271 tallied 10 correct picks out of 14 and has earned a Nerf Pro Grip Football. Nice work.
Tune back in on Thursday morning to once again agree or disagree with the House’s NFL week 8 picks and predictions.
The League
As previously mentioned, the something is amiss in the NFL with some more wild upset games in week 7. Four big underdogs won their matches on Sunday… the Rams, Ravens, Packers and Raiders. The two big shockers in there was St. Louis decimating the banged-up Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay slapping around Peyton Manning and the Colts.
Personally, I thought the Rams would be easy to handle for the Cowboys, no matter how many player they had out. It looks as if the coaching change in St. Louis has shaken the entire team up and they are not playing like the squad that started the season. The Cowboys dropped three of their last four games and now face the Bucs and Giants in the next two weeks… and could be in a heap of trouble.
The Packers win can be summed-up fairly easily: they picked off Peyton Manning twice and returned both INTs for touchdowns. One of the pair was for 99 yards. Outside of that, the Pack did nothing else special… except win the game. The Colts are now 3-3 while the Packers are 4-3 and are tied with the Bears for the top spot in the NFC North.
In case you didn’t notice, the Tennessee Titans are still unbeaten. They’re certainly not getting the attention that the Patriots and Colts have for their perfect records in seasons past, but they’re making the plays when needed and simply winning their games. Their pain-in-the-ass, swarming defense helps a bit. Some strong performances from stay-puft LenDale White hasn’t been hurting either. By the way, Kerry Collins is still at the Titans’ helm. Tennessee host their struggling division rival Colts in the upcoming week. It could be a very big statement game.
Fantasy Land
Since I’m writing this as the Patriots are destroying the Denver Broncos, I’m not including any of the MNF players in the list below. I’m sure Randy Moss would make the list… but he’s a jackass anyway, so it’s no big loss.
Running back rules the roost this week, holding four of the top five spots. Steven Jackson tops all fantasy performers in week 7, participating in that Dallas shocker. You’ll notice a familiar face as #5… Houston receiver Andre Johnson has made the top 5 for the third consecutive week.
The rest of the week 7 fantasy numbers were:
Steven Jackson
Running Back – St. Louis Rams
In 34-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys
– 25 carries for 160 yards, 3 TDs.
Mewelde Moore
Running Back – Pittsburgh Steelers
In 38-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals
– 20 carries for 120 yards, 2 TDs. 5 catches for 14 yards, 1 TD.
LenDale White
Running Back – Tennessee Titans
In 34-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs
– 17 carries for 149 yards, 3 TDs.
Dominic Rhodes
Running Back – Indianapolis Colts
In 34-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers
– 20 carries for 73 yards, 2 TDs. 4 catches for 41 yards.
Andre Johnson
Wide Receiver – Houston Texans
In 28-21 win over the Detroit Lions
– 11 catches for 141 yards.
To review the Week 7 picks, visit the Beat the House main picks page. The week 8 picks and predictions will be up early Thursday morning. Make sure you get your picks in early to move up the leaderboard and get another shot at beating the house. Check in often, the board can drastically change over the remainder of the football season.
Stay tuned to see who will be named the Visionman Players of the Week and if any members have won the gaming PC this week. We’ll update you as soon as the players of the week are announced.
For all other NFL and sports updates, check out the TMRzoo Sports Zone.
See you next week.
