Sports Articles Johnson

Week 7 in the NFL

Saturday Night’s Recap
Pick – Red Sox over Indians
Result –
Amount - 50 units
Season Bankroll - +$



My 3 best bets are:
Patriots -16.5 over Dolphins
Jaguars +3 over Colts
Cowboys -9.5 over Vikings

Featured game:
Patriots -16.5 over Dolphins

The New England Patriots are on a quest for NFL immortality, while the Miami Dolphins could be on a collision course for a dubious place in the record books. The two AFC East foes, currently standing on opposite ends of the football spectrum, will clash this Sunday in a Week 7 matchup from Dolphin Stadium.

New Englands sensational 6-0 start to the 2007 campaign has already began to stir up talk as to whether the powerhouse club can join the storied 1972 Dolphins as the only teams to go undefeated through an entire season. The Patriots have certainly looked the part of a serious challenger to that glorious standard thus far, having won all six of their games by 17 points or more and scoring at least 34 points in every one of those contests.

The Patriots biggest test came last week in Dallas, and they passed with flying colors. Fueled by a career-high five touchdown passes from quarterback Tom Brady, New England handed the previously-unbeaten Cowboys a resounding 48-27 defeat in the years most highly-anticipated showdown to date.

The remarkable Brady racked up 388 passing yards to lead another prolific day for the New England offense, which enters Sundays contest atop the NFL in total yards (431.2 ypg), passing yards (289.5 ypg) and scoring (38.3 ppg). In the process, the unflappable signal-caller has emerged as the clear favorite to take home the leagues MVP award at years end.

Bradys latest outstanding performance made him the first player ever to throw at least three touchdown passes in the first six games of a season, while his 21 scoring strikes for the year put him on pace to shatter Peyton Mannings NFL record in that category.

His main target against the Cowboys was underrated wide receiver Wes Welker, the former Dolphin acquired by New England from Miami in exchange for a pair of draft picks during the offseason. Welker amassed personal bests of 11 catches and 124 receiving yards along with the first two-touchdown game of his career.

While the Patriots have been soaring through the seasons first six weeks, the once-proud Dolphins have been floundering in head coach Cam Camerons debut season. Miami matched its worst start in franchise history with last Sundays 41-31 setback in Cleveland, which left the team in an unwanted 0-6 hole. The Dolphins have lost nine straight games dating back to last season, the teams longest concurrent losing streak ever.

Miamis last victory came at the expense of the Patriots in Week 14 of last season, a 21-0 triumph at Dolphin Stadium.

Cleo Lemon will make his second straight start under center for Miami on Sunday. The 28- year-old was productive in last weeks loss to the Browns, as he threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a pair of scores. Lemon will be working with a weakened receiving corps this week as Miami shipped veteran wideout Chris Chambers to San Diego for a 2008 second-round draft pick just prior to Tuesdays trade deadline. The seventh-year pro was leading the Dolphins with 415 receiving yards on 31 grabs this year, while his 405 career receptions rank fifth in team annals.

Historically Speaking

Miami holds a 47-33 lead in its all-time regular season series with New England, and has split its home-and-home with the Patriots in each of the last three seasons. New England was a 20-10 winner when the teams met at Gillette Stadium in Week 5 of 2006, but as mentioned, the Pats were blanked, 21-0, in the return matchup in Week 14. New England last won in Miami during the 2005 campaign.

In addition to the regular season series, the teams have met three times in the postseason, with New England holding a 2-1 advantage there. The Patriots most memorable postseason victory over Miami came in the 1985 AFC Championship, when New England escaped with a 31-14 triumph en route to its first-ever Super Bowl appearance. The clubs also met in AFC First-Round Playoff matchups in 1982 and 1997, with Miami winning the former (28-13) and New England taking the latter (17-3).

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is just 7-9 against Miami in his head coaching career, including 7-7 while with New England. Cameron will be meeting both Belichick and the Patriots for the first time as a head coach.

The Offenses

No team has been able to slow down New Englands top-ranked passing offense or its lethal combination of Brady (1771 passing yards, 21 TD, 2 INT) and wide receiver Randy Moss (40 receptions, 610 yards), whos already been on the other end of eight of his quarterbacks 21 touchdown throws. Dallas was able to hold Moss somewhat in check last week, but both Welker (38 receptions, 3 TD) and the speedy Donte Stallworth (19 receptions, 2 TD) came through with huge games to compensate. Stallworth caught seven balls for 136 yards against the Cowboys and teamed with Brady for a back-breaking 69-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Brady won have one of his favorite red-zone receivers available on Sunday, however, as tight end Benjamin Watson (18 receptions, 5 TD) will miss the contest after spraining an ankle last week.

New England has been quite effective running the ball as well, despite being without top back Laurence Maroney (252 rushing yards) for its last three games due to a groin strain. The second-year standout appears ready to return to action this week, which is good news considering that the Patriots won have Sammy Morris (384 rushing yards, 3 TD) available. The valued backup suffered a badly-bruised sternum in the Dallas win and could miss up to a month of time. Look for Maroney to share carries with versatile veteran Kevin Faulk (97 rushing yards, 14 receptions) in the NFLs seventh-rated ground attack (141.7 ypg).

Miamis offense underwent a different look with last weeks insertion of Lemon (407 passing yards, 2 TD, 3 INT), a younger and more athletic quarterback than Green, into the role of field general. The little-known triggerman was able to move the ball on Clevelands hole-filled defense, but also threw a pair of costly interceptions. Chambers departure will create more opportunities for rookie receiver Ted Ginn Jr. (3 receptions), Miamis top selection in the 2007 draft, and fellow youngster Derek Hagan (6 receptions), but leaves the steady Marty Booker (20 receptions, 1 TD) as the Dolphins only proven wideout. For the year, Miami ranks 16th in the NFL in passing offense (220.5 ypg) and 21st in total yards (325.0 ypg).

The Dolphins only offensive star is running back Ronnie Brown (526 rushing yards, 5 total TD), who posted his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game in last weeks loss and leads the NFL with 882 yards from scrimmage. The former first-round pick is a dangerous receiving threat out of the backfield, as evidenced by the 356 yards Brown has compiled on a team-high 34 catches.

The Final Word

You may be surprised to learn that New England has lost five of seven games at Dolphin Stadium under Belichick. Beyond that, everything else is bad for the fish. No one has stopped New England all season long as they are historically good this year. That won’t change today. Expect to see a thorough beating.

Here are the rest of the picks.

Favorite / Spread / Underdog / My Picks
HOUSTON / 3 / Tennessee / HOUSTON
DETROIT / 2 / Tampa Bay / DETROIT
New England / 16.5 / MIAMI / New England
NEW ORLEANS / 9 / Atlanta / NEW ORLEANS
NEW YORK (NYG) / 9.5 / San Francisco / NEW YORK (NYG)
Baltimore / 3 / BUFFALO / Baltimore
WASHINGTON / 8 / Arizona / WASHINGTON
OAKLAND / 3 / Kansas City / Kansas City
CINCINNATI / 6 / New York (NYJ) / CINCINNATI
PHILADELPHIA / 5 / Chicago / PHILADELPHIA
SEATTLE / 9 / St. Louis / SEATTLE
DALLAS / 9.5 / Minnesota / Minnesota
Pittsburgh / 3.5 / DENVER / Pittsburgh
Indianapolis / 3 / JACKSONVILLE / JACKSONVILLE

Good luck with your action tonight!


by Johnson