Sports Articles Johnson

Week 6 in the NFL

My 3 best bets are:
Bears -5.5 over Vikings
Browns – 4.5 over Dolphins
Chargers -9.5 over Raiders

Featured game:
Bears over Vikings

Though the Chicago Bears were quick to replace Rex Grossman with Brian Griese at quarterback, they are stuck with Cedric Benson regardless of how disappointing their running game has been this season. Chicago (2-3) will look for a better effort from Benson and try to reach .500 again when it hosts the Minnesota Vikings (1-3) on Sunday.

The defending NFC champion Bears stumbled early this season, but avoided their third straight loss last Sunday night with a 27-20 upset over division-leading Green Bay. Griese, the new starting quarterback, was efficient as he completed 15-of-25 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns.

That was in stark contrast to his first start in place of Grossman against Detroit on Sept. 30, when Griese completed 34-of-52 passes for 286 yards but was intercepted three times in the 37-27 defeat. The Bears running game, though, continued to struggle as Benson -- who was handed the starting job when Thomas Jones was dealt to the New York Jets -- had 64 of Chicagos 82 yards. The Bears are 27th in the league as they
e averaging 82.6 rushing yards per game, well down from 119.9 last season. Chicago also started slow last season by averaging 97.7 yards in the first six games.

Smith and the Bears still are waiting for Benson to live up to the potential he showed last season when he had 647 yards and six touchdowns as Jones backup. This year, Benson is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry and his 10-yard scoring run Sunday was just his second touchdown of the season.

Benson and the Bears will next face one of the NFLs top rushing defenses as Minnesota is allowing a league-low 62.0 yards per game. That could open up the passing game for Griese since the Vikings are giving up 266.8 passing yards per game - third-most in the NFL.

However the Bears score, they believe theyve turned the corner after a disappointing stretch that began with their Super Bowl loss to Indianapolis.

The Bears swept last seasons series and have won eight of 12 meetings since 2001, which includes six straight wins in Chicago.

Minnesota looks to snap that skid with Tavaris Jackson back at quarterback. Jackson, in his second year, sat out the two previous games with a pulled groin. Jackson has completed 30-of-56 passes for only 329 yards and one touchdown, but hes thrown five interceptions - four of which came in his last start during a 20-17 loss at Detroit. Jackson, whos made only four pass attempts against the Bears, knows he has a lot to prove Sunday. The Vikings hope his return, and coming back from their bye week, will jump-start a struggling offense. Minnesota has lost three straight since opening the season with a 24-3 win over Atlanta.

Minnesota is averaging 178.3 passing yards per game - fifth-fewest in the NFL - but a bigger concern is a loss would drop the Vikings to 1-4 in the division, an almost impossible deficit to make up.

This is a bad matchup for the Vikings and they won’t win.

Here are the rest of the picks.


Favorite Spread Underdog My Picks
TAMPA BAY 3 Tennessee Tennessee
CHICAGO 5.5 Minnesota CHICAGO
JACKSONVILLE 6.5 Houston Houston
CLEVELAND 4.5 Miami CLEVELAND
BALTIMORE 9.5 St. Louis BALTIMORE
GREEN BAY 3 Washington GREEN BAY
Cincinnati 3 KANSAS CITY Cincinnati
Philadelphia 3 NEW YORK (NYJ) Philadelphia
ARIZONA 4 Carolina ARIZONA
SAN DIEGO 9.5 Oakland SAN DIEGO
New England 5.5 DALLAS DALLAS
SEATTLE 6.5 New Orleans New Orleans
New York (NYG) 3.5 ATLANTA New York (NYG)

Good luck with your action tonight!






by Johnson