I was surprised that the game turned out the way it did this past Sunday. The Packers came into the game with a 3-3-1 record and really could have used the win against New England. This season has been a story of upsets when it comes to the way games were called that shot us in the foot with a combination of the team making its own mistakes. Ty Montgomery running out the ball and fumbling at the end of the Rams game put us a game back. The tie against the Vikings shouldn’t have happened, we should have won that game. I’ll give the Redskins their win, but the Lions weren’t deserving either. We have been in holes like this before and made the playoffs still, but a team I was expecting to be more dominant this season has looked a bit weak. When it came to the Patriots, we had a nice 17-17 score line that made it felt like we really could have won, but fumbling happened again and we just couldn’t recover in the time left. One positive thing to come out of the game was that Rodgers wasn’t wearing the knee brace anymore, so at least he’s healed up. I think we can run the table if we put our minds to it. Let’s check my scores for the week:

Raiders 24, 49ers 21
Ravens 21, Steelers 17
Bears 27, Bills 14 – Correct
Panthers 30, Buccs 20 – Correct
Chiefs 35, Browns 20 – Correct
Dolphins 23, Jets 17 – Correct
Vikings 27, Lions 24 – Correct
Redskins 28, Falcons 24
Texans 26, Broncos 19 – Correct
Seahawks 20, Chargers 17
Rams 27, Saints 26
Packers 24, Patriots 21
Cowboys 25, Titans 21

Not a great week. I went 6-7, bringing my season total to 78-65. Staying ahead of the curve, but not great. Like the Packers, I’m floundering. I hope that the ship gets righted soon. Rumors are swirling around Mike McCarthy needing to do something if he wants to keep his job. I think he’s been a good coach, and I don’t think the performance here is his fault. I do believe that they can make the playoffs again, after missing for the first time last year in nearly a decade. Let’s make some picks for this weekend and move on.

Steelers 27, Panthers 24
Bears 30, Lions 20
Saints 31, Bengals 24
Falcons 27, Browns 10
Jags 28, Colts 21
Chiefs 32, Cardinals 17
Jets 20, Bills 13
Redskins 23, Buccs 19
Patriots 31, Titans 20
Chargers 27, Raiders 10
Packers 27, Dolphins 13
Rams 35, Seahawks 20
Eagles 24, Cowboys 20
49ers 21, Giants 15

Facing the Dolphins this week, I don’t see it being much of a challenge, but there have already been a number of games this year that I felt should have been victories that turned into losses. It’s only the mid way point in the season, but being so far back on the “in the hunt” chart doesn’t feel good. I can remember years where we were 4-4 or even 4-5 and still managed to string together wins… it’s a long season and there are still 8 games to play. If at least 6 of those are wins, we should be able to make our way in.