THIS WEEKS PICKS

21 CHARGERS @ BILLS 27

17 VIKINGS @ BEARS 21

24 STEELERS @ BENGALS 13

24 TITANS @ CHIEFS 10

27 COWBOYS @ RAMS 17

14 RAVENS @ DOLPHINS 17

24 49ERS @ GIANTS 28

31 SAINTS @ PANTHERS 24

21 LIONS @ TEXANS 28

27 JETS @ RAIDERS 20

34 COLTS @ PACKERS 31

20 BROWNS @ REDSKINS 27

14 SEAHAWKS @ BUCCANEERS 24

34 BRONCOS @ PATRIOTS 17

A tale of two cities

"President, call in the National Guard! Send as many men as you can spare! Because we are killing the Patriots! They need emergency help!"

Those words have rarely been used by teams playing the New England Patriots over the past seven or eight seasons; however in 2008 they are becoming quite common.

The Denver Broncos travel to Foxboro this week to take on the Patriots, both teams struggling to find their identity this season. The Patriots coming off possibly the best regular season in history, only to run into the battering ram New York Giants in the Super Bowl, have been devastated by injuries, old age, and inconsistency. The Patriots lost their leader Tom Brady in the first quarter of the first game this season, Lawrence Maroney their leading rusher from last year is battling a shoulder injury, Matt Cassel is playing with no confidence and their defense looks old and slow. The Broncos coming off a 7-9 regular season, missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season started out looking like the 2007 Patriots, however mistakes and inconsistency have people wondering how good they really are.

The Denver Broncos (4-2) and the New England Patriots (3-2) were two of the original AFL franchises started in 1960. The two teams have combined to play in ten super bowls the Broncos are 2-3 and the Patriots are 3-2. Denver and New England have played 39 times with the Broncos leading the series 24-15. The first game ever played by the Denver Broncos was against the Patriots in 1960, Denver won 13-10. Since 2000 New England has been the class of the NFL going 94-39, playing in four super bowls winning three, conversely during the same span Denver has gone 81-53 yet to get to the big game. New England however has struggled against Denver going 2-5, none of those five loses were bigger than the 2005 divisional playoff game, where Denver handed the Patriots there first playoff loss since Bill Belichick and Tom Brady came into power.

One matchup to look at are the two Quarterbacks Matt Cassel vs. Jay Cutler.













Matt Casell has compled 92-142 for 910 yards 3 td's and 4 int's he also has been sacked 19 times. Jay Cutler is 146-228 1694 yards 12 td's 5 int's, only being sacked twice. Advantage Cutler.

The Broncos look to have the edge is this game.
Predection: Denver 34 New England 17

Here we go again! The sun has set on Week 6, yet another week of incredible comebacks, big upsets, and of course controversy. As the final seconds ticked away in Denver’s loss to Jacksonville there was a sour taste in the collective mouths of Bronco fans. The offense was not up to par with three turnovers, the defense gave up miles of yardage and some of the coaching decisions were shall we say, not great. However, those are forgivable and can be overcome during the course of a game. The taste that will not go away is that of Referees deciding the potential outcome of an NFL game with horrendous officiating (again).

The Broncos coming off two weeks of offensive mediocrity started out with a bang. The drive started on their twenty yard line, ten plays and eighty yards later it was 7-0 Denver. The drive was crisp, clean and flawless; finally the offense is back in synch. The first time out on defense it looked as though they had carried the momentum from the Tampa game over to this week, forcing a Jacksonville fumble, and the rout appeared to be on.

Staring at a blow out win and demoralizing a team that has given the Broncos fits over the past few seasons, the Broncos offense came back out with swagger and confidence. As Cutler was scrambling left looking for an open receiver the worst thing that could happen, happened , the collective wave of warm air that swept across the brisk afternoon in Denver was 70,000 excited fans exhaling here we go again.

The Broncos were able to hold Jacksonville to a field goal, however there was a sense that this game was going to take a terrible turn for Denver. The first half was a back and forth battle between the two teams, Denver had a chance once again to take control of the game, however as Michael Pitman dashed down the sideline to give Denver a first and goal, the official tagged Ryan Clady with a phantom holding penalty, taking away all the momentum that was gained. The third time The Broncos could take control Brandon Marshall fumbled on the ten yard line. There are only so many things that team can overcome, even with all the calls and momentum on Jacksonville’s side, Denver was only behind 10-7 at halftime.

The Jaguars took a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter when Maurice Jones-Drew galloped through the Bronco defense for a 46 yard touchdown run. Denver however answered with a 39 yard field goal by Matt Prater, to cut the deficit to 17-10. The next Jaguar possession is when the officials decided that Jacksonville should win the game. Following a Jones-Drew run that Champ Bailey stuffed out for a loss, Jacksonville faced a third and seventeen, the Broncos had regained the momentum all they had to do is stop the Jags and would have good starting field position for the drive to tie the game. David Garrard took the snap, was flushed out of the pocked and ducked out of bounds with only a gain of only four yards. Once again there was a yellow hanky on the field, illegal contact on Dre Bly, for anyone that saw the game, that was completely absurd, The Jaguar receiver shoved Bly to the ground yet Dre was penalized. Jacksonville ended up scoring on a pass from Garrard to push the lead to 24-10. Late in the fourth Quarter with Jacksonville facing a second and eight, the officials strike again. Marlon Mcree was called for pass interference on a play where it appeared the official had pre determined he was going to throw the flag long before the play was completed. Final score Jacksonville 14 Denver 17 officials 10.

On a day that started out so promising for the Denver Broncos, the only thing that fans can take comfort in was that the Broncos despite playing Jacksonville and the officials still had a chance to win. Something has to change; in an era where technology dominates it’s ridiculous that bad human judgments can change the outcome of a Game. Perhaps that was poetic justice for a certain officials blunder earlier in the year.