Week 9 picks

Predictions for the slate of games for week 9. Picks in bold

Sunday:

N.Y. Jets at Buffalo: After his six-touchdown effort against Arizona, Brett Favre has looked a little shaky. Coming off a loss to Miami, Buffalo bounces back in front of a frenzied crowd.

Detroit at Chicago: Anyone picking Detroit would be doing so out of sympathy. Kyle Orton has revitalized the Bears' offense, suddenly dangerous through the air, and the Lions are just awful.

Jacksonville at Cincinnati: As bad as the Lions are, they continue to play hard. The Bengals don't. The Jags come out and punish Cincy, and begin a streak of well-played games that should carry them to the playoffs.

Baltimore at Cleveland: The Browns' offense is in disarray, and it won't get easier against a still-vaunted Baltimore D. Pick the visiting Ravens.

Green Bay at Tennessee: Aaron Rodgers is finally healthy, and out to prove he deserves his new extension. Tennessee is the best team in football, but they're not the Patriots from last year. Undefeated isn't happening, and the Packers end the chase.

Tampa Bay at Kansas City: The Buccaneers fell to a desperate opponent in Dallas last week. The Chiefs shouldn't be a problem.

Arizona at St. Louis: I feel bad for the Rams. They wasted an entire fourth of their schedule with an incompetent coach, and though they look like a solid team in that division, they're simply too far back. The Cardinals are the class of the division now, and Kurt Warner (shown) and Co. will prove it.

Houston at Minnesota: The Met is a tough place for any team to play in, but the Texans have been on a roll, and are better than their record shows.

Miami at Denver: I don't know why NFL defensive coordinators can't figure this "Wildcat" thing out, but the point is, they can't. Maybe it just means the Dolphins are onto something truly ingenious.

Atlanta at Oakland: Turner and Ryan have turned the Falcons into one of the NFC's most explosive teams. The Raiders, however, appear fully content being a doormat.

Dallas at N.Y. Giants: This looks like a perfect storm in favor of Dallas. The Giants only lose when everyone believes in them (as they do now), the Cowboys owned New York in the regular season last year, and they still have a chip on their shoulder to prove wrong all the naysayers taking them apart now that were picking them for the Super Bowl at the start of the season. Follow the signs, take Dallas.

Philadelphia at Seattle: The Seahawks are a mess. The Eagles have Brian Westbrook back healthy, as last week showed, and are on a roll. The winning continues in Philly.

New England at Indianapolis (Sunday night): The Patriots have been better than expected since Week 6, but the fact remains that they haven't faced a challenge like Peyton Manning and the Colts will bring. Plus, they have Joseph Addai and Bob Sanders coming back. Indy wins, but in a closer game than would have been imagined weeks earlier.

Monday:

Pittsburgh at Washington (Monday night): I like the Redskins a lot, but with no Santana Moss, against a Steeler team that is getting Willie Parker back and that is angry after last week's loss to the Giants, I can't pick them. The Steelers get a big road victory.

Morris injury shrouded in mystery

So Sammy Morris's knee injury is not season-ending. As is often the case with medical updates from the Patriots, there are few conclusions to accurately draw from that.

The update is good news/bad news. The good is obvious. Sammy Morris will at some point be back, and the running game that looked so good against the anemic Denver Broncos will, at some point, have its main cog back. At some point, the Patriots won't be relying on undrafted players to shoulder the running load.

The bad news? See all the "at some points"? That's the bad news.

Immediately after the Denver game, Morris was seen walking without a limp. But his status quickly worsened. Throughout the week, he didn't practice. On Sunday, he didn't play.

What appeared to be a little ding-up moments after the game ended last Monday night has turned into the source of endless wonder for Patriots fans. Is "at some point" Week 17? Week 12? Next week? Against the archrival Indianapolis Colts, that would be nice.

As we have seen, whatever the case, Bill will figure out a solution. Will that solution involve Sammy Morris? Until Sunday, we're left to wait and see.

Moss proving doubters wrong...again

For being one of six active players with 800 career catches, Randy Moss always seems to have something to prove.

Last year, he was called the volatile teammate, who wasn't happy unless he was scoring, dancing and winning, and who couldn't go a season without complaining. Wrong. Thanks in large part to Randy, the Patriots won 18 straight, and he scored and daced more than any player in NFL history.

This year, the naysayers were out again, calling for Randy to explain his lack of production and apparent lack of interest after New England suffered key injuries and a pair of tough losses.

Moss has passed that challenge too. Just as convincingly.

In the past two games, Moss has been every bit the weapon a quarterback like Matt Cassel needs to survive in the NFL. The most impressive part is how he's become it.

Moss, designated a captain before the year, has changed his game entirely, a huge reason the once-inept Patriot offense has posted 64 points the past two games. A deep threat whose job was to run in a straight line down the field for much of last year, Moss has seamlessly switched to doing the dirty work. Against Denver, No. 81 caught screens (one for a touchdown) and passes over the middle, and scored his other touchdown on a jump ball when New England made it down to the goal line.

Against St. Louis, Moss again did everything it took to win. He was out blocking for Wes Welker on several passes, and took shots on slants over the middle in order to catch the 10-yard passes for first downs that he never would have tried last year. The same 10-yard passes that allows a quarterback like Cassel, essentially a rookie despite four years in the league, to feel he can lead an NFL offense.

Consider the naysayers silenced. When the times were roughest, Moss transitioned into a weapon the struggling Cassel could use. Just like a captain should.

Ram tough

Players keep dropping for the New England Patriots, but Bill Belichick and company keep finding ways to meet the challenges.

A true team effort, led by yet another improved outing from Matt Cassel, got the Patriots their second straight victory, a 23-16 decision over the St. Louis Rams.

The stats don't show it, but Cassel played his best game of the season on Sunday. While the fourth-year player seemed to benefit from playing a simply inept Denver team on Monday, Cassel was forced by the Rams to make plays himself. He responded by showing Brady-esque pocket presence, sliding around and away from would-be tacklers to find playmaking receivers Randy Moss (seven catches, 102 yards) and Wes Welker (seven catches, 79 yards) downfield.

What does this mean? Belichick tempered a growing storm by insisting that Cassel gave the Patriots the best chance to win. On Sunday, Cassel proved his coach was right.

And while Cassel continues to prove why he belongs in the NFL, Belichick continues to prove why he is the best head coach in the league. After his injury-depleted squad defeated Denver, it was struck by the injury bug again when leading rushers Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan were inactive against the Rams, and starting cornerback Deltha O'Neal was hurt in game.

No running back, no problem. Belichick guided his team to a smooth, penalty-free and mistake-free effort. Now, the Patriots are thinking as a team, playing as a team, and have a 5-2 record and first place in the AFC East to show for it.

"Like I told the team after the game, this is a good example of having to play 60 minutes like we always have to do in this league," Belichick said. "Those guys really stepped up and made some big plays in the fourth quarter. I am really proud of them."

As Patriots fans, so are we.

Video blogging

Steve Garfield's presentation on Wednesday was certainly an impressive one. As prospective journalists, we are bombarded consistently by the progress journalism is making in video on the internet, on TV, or other mediums. While Garfield's subject wasn't revolutionary, the developments he showed us were very interesting, most notably the Qik site. I've known videos are becoming easier and easier to make and quicker and quicker to produce, but it was alarming to see how quick it can be. As the video is being shot, it can be online for people to see. I'm familiar with and watch live streaming video, but to see it happening in front of me was different.

1. I liked his video clips, and the technique he used in filming them. Taking the Jamaica Pond one as an example, he interviews John Tobin extensively, but does not keep the camera on him. Rather, he shows Tobin as he's introducing him to the segment, then shows the pond and the children running excitedly to it. By doing that, Garfield is using the advantages of video. He's not showing Tobin talk about something, he's allowing Tobin to be heard while showing the viewer what the City Councilor is referring to. In class, Garfield mentioned another way he does this, by placing b-roll photos in the shot while the subject is talking, to let the viewer understand what the subject is talking about.

2. I also caught Steve's streaming from the New Media expo. The people he interviewed seemed to be excited with the concept of live streaming, and you can see why. It's a "fresher" look at a news event, and it allows the subjects of the video to be caught in their natural moods and behavior. Sure, they took the opportunity to sell their websites or companies (aka "Women of Warcraft"), but it still allows the viewer to get a better sense of what these people are like.

3. I liked the point Steve made with the "Steve and Carol Show". He showed in his presentation how complex video and live streaming can be, but also used the show to demonstrate how the demand for video is so great, that something far simpler can easily suffice. Garfield is obviously well-rehearsed in the different forms of video media and blogging, yet one of the sources of his success was, as he put it, as simple as filming himself and Carol talking about the debate in their room. The show, especially juxtaposed with his Qik demonstration, showed a wide spectrum of results that can come out of experimenting with video journalism and blogging.

Belichick: Nothing, so far

In the wake of the Rodney Harrison injury, plenty of names have been thrown around as free agent replacements, most notably safety John Lynch and cornerback - and former Patriot - Ty Law.

According to Bill Belichick, those rumors have no substance to them. For now.

In his press conference on Wednesday, the head coach was his normal, obscure self when asked the chances of bringing in John Lynch, either now or down the road:

Our roster is full. We announced those move so right now our roster is full...Well anybody would be an option that is not with another team. But that would mean we would have to make room on our roster to accommodate someone else. So potentially everyone is an option but we would have to do something.

The essence of Bill's answer: Our roster is full, and to add a player, we would need to release a player. Genius.

Belichick has never been a fountain of information with the press, but going by the words alone, it appears the Patriots have not brought in a player yet, but haven't closed the door to the idea. The trade window has been slammed shut by the deadline, but free agency is still a viable option. Time will tell if New England makes the move.

Johnny on the spot?

The bad news: The Patriots lost a veteran, Super Bowl-winning, hard-hitting, emotional leader of a safety when Rodney Harrison tore his right quad Monday night.

The good news: New England could be getting one back.

According to "Fanhouse" via AOL Sports, rumors abound that veteran safety John Lynch could be returning to Foxboro, where he spent the preseason.

Lynch's presence would be as seamless an adjustment to the Harrison loss that a team could find. Lynch is a smart player that leads by example and punishes ballcarriers with sure tackles and bone-rattling hits. The downside is that Lynch has lost a step or two in the speed department, but so has the man he'd be replacing. In fact, the Patriots were beginning to show a successful safety combination of Harrison, the smart run- and intermediate-pass stopper, and Brandon Meriweather, the young, speedy, ball-hawking back that is far better at stopping the deep pass. If Lynch were signed, he would likely fit into the first mold.

Rumors, obviously, are rumors, but in looking for a replacement to a future Hall of Famer, a nine-time Pro Bowler isn't a bad place to start.