Top Picks for NFL Week

Top play: Rams/Cardinals OVER 44 One way or another,whether by trailing early or just plain stubborness, Mike Martz ALWAYS seems to abandon the run. No reson for to believe he'll consistantly hand the ball to Jackson and Faulk and let them pound away.The Cards running game has been just awful since preseason, so they'll once again try to take advantage of their top notch receivers Boldin and Fitzgerald and the arm of Warner.

As seen before, both these qb's Bulger and Warner love to put it in the air and we could see quite a shootout in the desert between the former MVP and the guy who replaced him in STL.Neither one of these secondaries impress me, as Tim Rattay and Eli Manning both made plays against them. No reason to think they'll fare much better this week.

Considering that both of these teams special teams don't stop anyone on returns, we could see some entertaining plays here. Both QB's can be turnover prone, so we may see a defensive score or two also.Noreason this game can't turn into a 35-31 shootout, where the team who has the ball last may have the advantage.Top play of the week: Rams/Cards OVER 44.Regular play: NY Jets -6 over Miami Okay, anyone believe the Dolphins are that good, or the Jets are that bad based on last weeks results?? Not me.I like how this one sets up, Miami off a big home victory against what I see as a poor Broncos team, and the Jets go into one of the toughest places to play, KC, and laying an egg.

If these teams played up to (or down to) their talent level, this spread would look more like the 49ers/Eagles spread. I'll lay these 6 points with glee.The Jets still have a great linebacking corps, and add to that the addition of cb Ty Law, and this could be a rude awaking for qb Frerotte and coach Saban.

Don't think rookie rb Brown will be able to shoulder this huge of a load, and Frerotte will be running for his life this week, making bad decisions.The Jets were killed on the ground last week by RB's Johnson and Holmes. This Dolphins O-Line is nowhere near the class of the Chiefs blockers.

Now, I give Miami credit for having a nice, but again defense. But, I've watched a lot of Dolphins football the last few years, and they are less imposing when they go on the road.And as bad as people say Pennington looked, he still put up some numbers when he wasn't getting bad snaps in the shotgun. I'm sure coach Edwards has began to fix that snafu, and the Dolphins secondary looks a little weak without the guys who had good games vs the Jets last week, CB Surtain and S Knight.

The Jets won't get behind early, so RB Martin will be a bigger factor in the gameplan.This is a regular play, but a "strong" regular play, imo.Regular play: Jets -6.Regular play: Detroit -1 over Da Bears.Ok, Lions, you want to be a contender, you have to win these type of games against teams like the Bears.

I believe the Lions can take advantage of the Bears secondary and their short defensive backs. The line must block well for Harrington, and even though his numbers weren't the most impressive last week vs. GB, I did like that he spread the ball around to the receivers and tight end.Blocking Urlacher will be the key to the success of the offenmse, as with Schlesinger still hurt, his replacement FB Smith must step up.On the other side of the ball, I look for the Lions D-line to be able to stuff the run early, and force Orton (who I am high on for the future), to make plays. I like the Lions secondary matchup against the bear receivers and believe they can generate some Orton mistakes in only his secong career start.

The Lions got a taste of black and blue football last week, and came out on top. They hit hard and played with emotion. Like I stated at the beginning, if the Lions are to be contenders, they must beat teams like the Bears.Regular Play: Lions -1.

By: John Onan