The Sports Inquirer

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Last week: 6-7-0

Season: 34-37-1

No foreplay, lets get right to the picks (home team in CAPS)

CAROLINA (-7.5) Atlanta: The Panthers have turned their season around with a top-five defense and the continued evolution of Cam Newton. We’ve talked about all of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL from Andrew Luck to Russell Wilson to Colin Kaepernick to Robert Griffin III and others and that’s well deserved. People tend to forget that this is only Newton’s third season in the NFL. Peaks and valleys are going to happen to every quarterback. We’ll get to Tom Brady later but here you have a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the top-10 quarterbacks of all time and he’s currently in the worst stretch in his career. It happens. Newton had a strong rookie campaign, an inconsistent second year and has now evened out into one of the better signal callers in the league.

The Panthers have also benefited from a weak schedule during its three-game winning streak, besting Tampa, Minnesota and St. Louis during that stretch. They’re beating the teams they’re supposed to on the schedule. This continues on Sunday against a reeling Atlanta squad at home.

DALLAS (-10.5) Minnesota: Can we officially kill the “Tom Brady gets mad at teammates and the media says nothing yet Dez Bryant does the same thing and the media kills him” double- standard talk. First, if Dez has half the career Brady does, he’ll be fortunate. Second, while Brady’s emotions came from a team-first angle, Dez was focused on his individual numbers and besting Calvin Johnson in his personal quest to be the best wide receiver in the league. While this selfishness can actually benefit the Cowboys with their top player working hard and ultimately producing, Bryant was out of control last week on the sidelines.

That being said, Dallas should roll over a Minnesota squad that for some reason during the trade deadline kept Jared Allen and Adrian Peterson. Maybe its the NBA mentality in me where trades happen quite often, but what’s the point of keeping those two players when you’re going to win only five games this season at best? Trade those guys for draft picks, clear some cap space and start over.

New Orleans (-6.5) NEW YORK JETS: I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Geno Smith. The game last week against Cincinnati was a rough one but he has the skills to develop into a solid starter in the league. The Saints should start thinking about home field advantage situations for the postseason since they will win the NFC South division by early December. New Orleans goes on the road and wins by a touchdown over New York.

ST. LOUIS (+3) Tennessee: This is one of those games you stay away from if real money is involved. The Rams defense has shown some spunk and put up a good fight last week against Seattle at home. I don’t have a good read on Tennessee so I’ll take the points and give the Rams the home victory.

WASHINGTON (+1) San Diego: The oddsmakers must know something I don’t because how are the Redskins a home dog to San Diego? I know that Philip Rivers has had a nice bounceback season and the Redskins just lost at Denver but I’ll take the home team to win a close one by a field goal.

OAKLAND (-2.5) Philadelphia: You want me to trust Matt Barkley and/or Nick Foles on the road playing quarterback for the Eagles? Give me the Raiders to win by double-digits.

SEATTLE (-16) Tampa: I don’t like laying so many points in an NFL game but the Bucs are terrible and the Seahawks look poised for a bounceback game of their own after barely surviving the win at St. Louis.

CLEVELAND (+2.5) Baltimore: I’ll make this my upset special and take the Browns to surprise the inconsistent Ravens and emerge with a win.

NEW ENGLAND (-6.5) Pittsburgh: Patriots seem to always win these late afternoon home games and that won’t change this Sunday.

Indianapolis (-2.5) HOUSTON: I picked the Texans to make the Super Bowl this season. That pick isn’t looking so good right now.

GREEN BAY (-11) Chicago: The Bears are without Jay Cutler and the Packers’ offense has hit a strong stride. This one can get ugly early.