HH's Hump Day NFL Pick'em - Week 9

Welcome everybody to Week 9 of the Hump Day NFL Pick'em, with special prizes brought to you each week by our friends at NRG!

While Sunday was a somewhat relaxing day at the Hump Day offices, Monday night involved quite a bit more stress followed by elation (followed by tiredness) as we watched our Washington Redskins beat the evil Cowboys on national TV.  As satisfying and fulfilling as that was, we were disappointed to learn that we finished with our standard record of 8-7, handing us a repetitive eight points.  Would any of our twenty contestants come close to that monotonous number?  Here were the top 10 performers:

Contestant	Points
Canukskin	10
ENsDad27	10
YA BAUGHT IT	10
HogHunter	9
Theodore Gorath	9
lesagecr	9
speddfreak	9
zcurley83	8
tao9087	8
redskins8784	8

Similar to last week we had a three way tie at the top, only this time with ten points.  After our lovely assistant drew a name out of my favorite Redskins hat, the winner was:

Congrats to ENsDad27!!!!!!  Please email me your address as soon as possible and we will get your Redskins tickets right out to you.

So with yet another 8-7 week, we improved our overall record to 57-63-1.  At this rate we should break .500 around some point next season.  With thoughts of nine or more wins dancing in our heads, let us now move on to Week 9!

Here we go!

For those of you who are new to our game, I state the rules:

This is a weekly contest in which I will make my game picks each Wednesday and invite you, the loyal Hogs Haven readers, to make your own picks in the comments section.

I will incorporate the spread as determined by Las Vegas the Tuesday before the games and you can earn 1 point for each correct choice.  I will add up the points at the end of each week, and the winner will earn a fabulous prize, courtesy of NRG, that will then be mailed to them.  If there are multiple contestants tied for the lead, there will be a drawing to determine the overall winner.  There will only be twenty contestants, so the first twenty responses will get in.

Each week the prize will change, and this year (unlike last year), a prize will be given out every single week since you are now only competing against each other and not me.  Simple right??

Here are my picks for this week:

New Orleans Saints (-2) at Carolina Panthers: This game appears to be too competitive for a Thursday Night broadcast.  Pick: Saints (-2)

San Diego Chargers (+1.5) at Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins had the pleasure of playing the Jaguars last week and the Chargers are coming off a loss to the Broncos.  Seems like one team might be a little angrier.  Pick: Chargers (+1.5)

Jacksonville Jaguars (+11.5) at Cincinnati Bengals: Well, Vegas, you've finally done it.  I'm taking the Jaguars here and only slightly cringing.  Pick: Jaguars (+11.5)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+6.5) at Cleveland Browns: Why do I get the feeling this is the game I'll see the least on the Redzone Channel? Pick: Buccaneers (+6.5)

Washington Redskins (+1.5) at Minnesota Vikings: Colt or RG3?  Does it really matter?  No, because either way my suddenly hot Redskins are bringing the pain (and DeSean Jackson) to Minnesota.  Pick: Redskins (+1.5)

Philadelphia Eagles (-2) at Houston Texans: In my experience, it's always wise to bet on the team starting the quarterback with the most facial hair.  Pick: Texans (+2)

New York Jets (+9.5) at Kansas City Chiefs: The Jets are getting 9.5 points.  I don't think even the Mike Vick/Geno Smith cluster can blow this for me.  Pick: Jets (+9.5)

Arizona Cardinals (+3.5) at Dallas Cowboys: I really hope Jerry Jones continues to do in-game interviews with the broadcast team going forward. Pick: Cardinals (+3.5)

St. Louis Rams (+9.5) at San Francisco 49ers: You know the old saying, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth."  No one knows what that means, but it reminds me of my saying, "Always take the Rams and 9.5 on the road."  Pick: Rams (+9.5)

Denver Broncos (-3.5) at New England Patriots: Get your popcorn ready for this game!  Also, really yell at your kids beforehand so they're scared enough to leave you alone for the next three to four hours.  Pick: Patriots (+3.5)

Oakland Raiders (+15) at Seattle Seahawks: Vegas continues its road team generosity.  It's so liberating picking the Jaguars and Raiders in one week!  Pick: Raiders (+15)

Baltimore Ravens (+1) at Pittsburgh Steelers: I'm picking the Steelers as a punishment to Joe Flacco for delivering me a grand total of one point in fantasy last week.  This is what you get, Joe.   Pick: Steelers (-1)

Indianapolis Colts (-3) at New York Giants: We're kind of hoping Andrew Luck got all of the butt throws out of his system last week.  Pick: Colts (-3)

So there are my Week 9 picks. The winner this week will have this fabulous prize to look forward to, courtesy of NRG:

That's right - it's another chance at a Pierre Garcon signed football!!!

I will announce this week's winner next Wednesday on the next Hump Day post.

Good luck!!