Thursday Night with Big Baby Dean

2* Auburn (+3.5) @ West Virginia 730pm

Both teams are horrible this year and are not very good ATS. Pat White will be back in the WVU offense and will be playing in front of a home crowd. Well in this matchup I will take the SEC team over the Big East. The Big East is flat out awful. Yes Tuberville and the Auburn Tigers have been playing like crap this year, but that is against some beastly teams in the SEC. They were supposed to lose those games anyway. Also, Auburn's defensive coordinator has seen this spread offense before while coaching the defense at Pitt the last few years. And oh yea, they held Pat White and Steve Slaton to 9 points that game. I went against WVU once on Thursday and am going against them again. Take the points.
Pick: 2* Auburn (+3.5)

And now for the NFL Weekly Wrap Up...

A long time reader by the name of Mister Ted asked if he can do a writeup for the NFL this week..and what the hell why not..Mister Ted has a great football mind and is up for the task each week. Come back for more of Mister Ted...

* The Dolphins have done a nice job in upsetting teams like the Patriots and Chargers, but stupid throws such as the one Chad Pennington made on Sunday will absolutely kill your chances of winning. You can't be giving any team, let alone the offensively challenged Ravens, free points. Eat the ball, take the sack, and it's a whole different game.

* Talk about inconsistent football, look no further than the Chargers. The final score doesn't do this game justice…the offense mustered 70 yards on the ground (40 for LT), coughed the ball up twice, and Rivers threw a pick. The Bills, meanwhile, are playing perfect football; balanced offensive attack, no turnovers, minimal penalties, and winning both sides of the line of scrimmage. Dick Jauron for Coach of the Year, you heard it hear first.

* The Saints welcomed back Shockey and Colston to the lineup, but unfortunately for Sean Payton neither of them can play defense nor hang onto a football (Shockey lost a fumble, Colston 2 drops, 0 catches)... The Panthers have a nice combo at RB, and a healthy Delhomme throwing to S. Smith to keep the safeties out of the box. That's a good recipe for winning.

* At 0-7, it's pretty clear that the Bengals need some changes on both sides of the football. That's what happens when you draft players who would rather make the police blotter than the stat sheet. They lack a presence at running back, Carson Palmer's best days may be behind him, and their best player on defense is NFC-East castoff Dhani Jones.

* Wasn't the Bears/Vikings game suppose to be a defensive struggle? Apparently not with the two teams combining for 28 points in the first quarter alone. How much more of the Gus Frerotte Show will Coach Brad Childress subject his team to? Seven interceptions coupled with a 72.6 QB Rating won't win many games...Kyle Orton on the other hand has a QB Rating of 91.4…that's how you effectively manage a game.

* Plaxico Ramirez? Or does Manny Burress sound better? To Plax's credit though, that offensive pass interference call was ridiculous…everybody who watched the game knows that. But to get penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike is detrimental to the team. Shut up and play, let the coach yell at the refs. He needs to stop pulling this bullshit because the games from here on out are only going to get tougher for the G-Men.

* Kudos to DeMarcus Ware for recording a sack for the tenth straight game…that's a pretty incredible accomplishment. Other than that there were not many highlights for the Cowgirls. They got man-handled by an inferior offensive line and the offense looks lost without Romo.

* The Titans are 6-0 with Kerry Collins under center. Like Orton, Collins manages the game perfectly…11 completions, 120 yards, and hand the ball off to Chris Johnson or Lendale White. Lather, rinse, repeat if necessary, then sit back and watch your defense dominate opponents. If you haven't already, throw the towel in on the Herm Edwards regime in KC. I am convinced that this franchise strives for mediocrity year-in, year-out.

* The same can be said for Detroit; at least they fired GM Matt Millen before he can mess up another draft. This team won't be competitive until 2010... Don't write in Chris Johnson as ROY just yet; Steve Slaton continues to rack up numbers with a much weaker offensive line.

* I really thought they would be a more watchable team this year with Brett the Jet at QB, but honestly I haven't been entertained once by the Jets this season. Sunday was no different against the Raiders. How did they lose this game with all of those penalties Oakland committed, not to mention Thomas Jones' best day as a Jet? Don't say because of a lucky kick by Janikowski in OT, because this game had tie written all over it and honestly, it looked like Mangini would have been ecstatic with that.

* The Browns fought hard and valiantly, but in the end they couldn't tie it up with a game-ending field goal. Clinton Portis is having an MVP-like year, and Campbell continues to play solid football. This is the second best team in the tough NFC East, and third or fourth in the Conference.

* Peyton looked a lot like Eli did against the Vikings the past two seasons. Two interceptions returned for touchdowns, one of them coming at the 1-yard line. Unacceptable… Ryan Grant finally produced what millions of fantasy football owners expected him to do all season: produce like the 2nd round pick he was suppose to be.

* Poor Mike Holmgren. His last memories as a head coach will be Seneca Wallace throwing lame ducks to Koren Robinson; I don't think any coach deserves that….Talk about dedicated, all-out football players, and Earnest Graham fits the bill. This guy has been filling in at FB the past two weeks and doing a great job as lead blocker for Warrick Dunn. With Dunn and Graham in the backfield together, the offense has produced back-to-back victories in convincing fashion.

* When your QB injures his finger on the first play of the game, he'll be in for a long night. Cutler was misreading coverages, throwing with less velocity, and missing his spots all night. Great time for a bye week. Andre Hall's stat line for MNF: 2 carries, -7 yards, and 2 fumbles lost. WOW. Mike Shanahan really found a keeper there…