Week 13 - Revenge of the Turkeys

I think I just realized why I suck so much at picking games this year - I haven't focused enough on teams having revenge. I also haven't focused enough on teams getting embarrassed and then bouncing back (e.g. Buffalo) and teams getting overconfident from winning by large margins (i.e. Green Bay beating Chicago to a pulp then losing to the Saints).

Manwich Matchup of the Week
Pittsburgh @ New England - Suddenly, Matt Cassel might be THE marquee free agent pickup this summer! Of course, after Pittsburgh gets done with him, there may be a totally different story. Since there are not many games to go off of in the NFL, the NFL is unreal at creating hype for potential free agents. My all-time favorite rise-and-fall for a free agent? Anthony Wright, QB for the Baltimore Ravens in 2003. Two solid performances in November 2003 created all kinds of hype... until he went in the tank in December and lost in the playoffs.
Pick: Pittsburgh

Upset of the Week
Giants @ Redskins - Revenge is a bitch! This is where the Redskins get revenge for that opening loss!
Pick: Redskins

Tennessee @ Detroit - Of course someone had to ruin the "undefeated vs. winless" matchup. Damn. Oh well.
Pick: Tennessee

Seattle @ Dallas - Turkey day really has some shitty games! I assume this means people will eat even more turkeys.
Pick: Dallas

Arizona @ Philly - What the hell has happened to Philly? Can they even snap out of this funk? There are so many teams in the NFC in playoff contention that the Eagles may have just given up.
Pick: Arizona

Denver @ Jets - The Jets have won 7 of 8. The question is: when will this run end?
Pick: Jets

San Fran @ Buffalo - I still think of Chris Berman when I see this matchup, seeing as he picked these two teams to play each other in the Super Bowl almost every season between 1989 and 1997.
Pick: Buffalo

New Orleans @ Tampa - The whole NFC South is above .500! The Saints won the first game, so I have to assume Tampa will taste the sweet taste of revenge turkey against the Saints.
Pick: Tampa

CAR @ Green Bay - Both of these teams were completely embarrassed last weekend. Something tells me the Packers are more desperate at this point than the Panthers.
Pick: Green Bay

Miami @ St. Louis - It's the Trent Green Bowl! Loser keeps him!
Pick: Miami

Baltimore @ Cincy - I still don't believe in the Ravens. I watched them sweep Cleveland and in both instances they seemed to only win because of the incompetence of the Browns. I realize that may not mean much.
Pick: Baltimore

Indy @ Cleveland - The Browns were embarrassed last week, but I don't have the heart to pick them. Plus, Jerome Harrison has a bad hamstring, or at least he did last week, and most people don't heal that quickly from a hamstring strain.
Pick: Indy

Atlanta @ San Diego - I've probably picked almost every Falcons game wrong this season. It's really quite remarkable. I've also missed almost every Chargers game. We'll see what happens this week. If you go by desperation, the Chargers should win... but then again, they should have won about 4 other games based on that diagnosis!
Pick: San Diego

KC @ Oakland - Oakland won the first game... it's time for some payback! Plus, the Chiefs were embarrassed last weekend. Herman Edwards plays to win, as we all know. It just seldom happens.
Pick: KC

Chicago @ Minnesota - Battle for 1st place! Chicago beat Minnesota in a very unexpected shootout earlier this season... this time? defensive struggle maybe?
Pick: Minnesota

Jacksonville @ Houston - Eesh... don't think anyone will watch this one. What I do know is that the Jaguars edged out Houston the first time, so Houston should edge them out this time and earn a revenge turkey.
Pick: Houston

Last Week: 7-9 (somebody help me!)
Season: 97-78-1
Manwich: 7-6 (I hit the Giants and missed the Jets)
Upset of the Week: 1-11 (The Chiefs let up the most amount of points in their history! I have no luck this year.)