Now for the picks (there’s no system, no computer model, no clairvoyance, just good old fashioned guessing):

I like Carolina receiving 6.5 points against the Giants.  Carolina is my pick to win the NFC South.  I love their attitude, I love their personnel, and while I think the Giants will rebound this season, I can easily see Carolina winning in NY.

Loser pick:  There were 9 turnovers in the game, which practically makes it unpredicatable.  This is why you don’t bet on the NFL.

The second game I like are the Jets giving up 2.5 to the Ravens.  It’s not a secret that I do not like the Jets for the 2010 season as a Super Bowl contender.  So this won’t come as a surprise that I have them outright losing to the Ravens.  Take the money line, don’t take the money line.  Put a lock on it, don’t put a lock on it.  Either way.

Winner pick:  The big question is whether the Jets offense will be more productive against a weaker defense. Probably, because they couldn’t be much worse than they were against the Ravens.

This seems too good to be true.  Cincinnati getting 5.5 points against New England.  New England who has a variety of young players filling in due to injury.  A team that notoriously hides injuries has a list of 11 players either probable or questionable.  I like New England over the course of the season to win, but logic says to play Cincy.  That’s why I say avoid the game.  If it’s too good to be true, it is.  Other games that sound too good to be true are Dallas giving up only 3.5 to Washington, and San Diego giving up only 4.5 to the Chiefs.

I’ll keep tabs of my picks throughout the season and if I can be 10% better than a buffalo nickel, I’d be pretty satisfied.

This is a break even week, though I will be happy to mention that I told people not to throw good money after bad picks.  I’m 3-0 in my keep your money in your wallet picks!  Whoo!  Nothing ventured, nothing lost.

While with the Dallas Cowboys, he was highly productive as a wide receiver and as a headliner. The problem with that is he was too willing to speak when “no comment” would suffice. Recently Owens has blamed the media and ESPN for his difficulties in finding a new team. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Cowboys fans. Dislike Roy Williams with all your heart, but he accepts personal responsibility for his difficulties on the field. Owens is either oblivious to his short comings or he simply refuses to acknowledge that he is a veteran wide receiver who has lost a step. I believe he is oblivious. He cannot connect the erosion of his physical skills to a lack of production. In 2009 with Buffalo, he had 55 receptions for 829 yards. The statistics on their own are not overly impressive; however, in the context of the dearth of talent at quarterback, it is nearly astonishing.

How many Buffalo games were worth watching in 2009? The Bills won six games, but they wins were against bottom feeder teams like Carolina and Tampa Bay (with two wins against solid divisional opponents and one against the Colts while they were resting their players). The games I did watch, Owens was a non-factor. I’d like to definitively say that Owens isn’t signed because his receptions in 2009 could have been made by any wide receiver on the Bills team, but the fact of the matter is I do not know because I did not care to watch.

Those who do care enough to watch are NFL personnel guys. These talent evaluators have every decision analyzed by the media and the public. Their livelihood is at stake every year. If they are fired, they may find a new home, but most professional people will tell you that relocating your family and saying goodbye to friends, schools, churches, and even grocery stores is a situation they wish to involve themselves. They don’t listen to ESPN or TMZ. They don’t listen to gossip or rumors. They look at film. If Owens appears to be competent on film, they continue their due diligence and contact the former teams.

As previously indicated, I’m ignorant about 2009, but I am fully aware of what I saw in 2008. Owens was a wide receiver who was no longer able to separate from mid-level corners, he no longer commanded double teams, he had difficulty getting off press-coverage, he had difficulty focusing on catching the ball which translated into drops, he demanded the ball despite not having the commensurate production, and he simply did not know how to say no comment.

I agreed with Owens that the wide receivers were not being utilized in the Cowboys 2008 offense. Reports suggest that Roy Williams ran the same 15 yard comeback every play, Crayton had limited plays of consequence, and the balls being forced to Owens generally sailed over his head as he was well covered. According to Bill Parcells, you do not want your best offensive threat to be a tight end as it allows for the defense to congest running lanes while still allowing a defense to focus on tight end coverage. It’s not that Owens was wrong, but he certainly did not accept that the difficulties were not with play calling, but rather his own doing.

Will Owens find a home in 2010. Certainly. Some team will make a desperate effort to fill a team with names in an effort to fill seats with fans. Owens may be more productive in 2010 than he was in 2009, but it does not mean that Sam Hurd (or any other mid-level WR in the league) in that same role would not have been equally productive.

Cleveland has never really been a quarterback’s town. It ain’t San Francisco, and it sure as hell ain’t Dallas.

Things aren’t looking up for Cleveland sports fans, either, as the Browns could be preparing to host the worst quarterback competitions the NFL has ever seen.

The Browns have already parted ways with Derek Anderson, a former Pro-Bowler. He got off a good shot off at the Dawg Pound before he left town:

“The fans are ruthless and don’t deserve a winner,” Anderson wrote Tuesday in a terse e-mail when asked for a reaction to being released. “I will never forget getting cheered when I was injured.

“I know at times I wasn’t great. I hope and pray I’m playing when my team comes to town and (we) roll them.”

Anderson’s release came hot on the heels of news that the Browns had traded an undisclosed 2011 draft pick to the Seahawks in exchange for backup quarterback Seneca Wallace.

Wallace isn’t bad, but he’s far from a franchise quarterback, too. In the long run, the team might have been better off with Anderson, who was tall and had a big, strong arm. He’d had the best year of any Browns quarterback in recent memory when he threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2007.

The aforementioned injury to Anderson, a torn knee ligament thanks to Colts defender Robert Mathis, brought his 2008 to a close. This season, coming back from injury and juggling starts with Brady Quinn, Anderson threw 10 interceptions in eight games. According to team president Mike Holmgren, Anderson threw too many interceptions.

So who are the Browns considering bringing in to fill Anderson’s shoes?

According to rumors, the Browns are courting Jake Delhomme, who threw many more interceptions than Anderson in 2009.

You can’t make this stuff up, people.

The other “Jake the Snake” threw five interceptions in a 2008 playoffs loss to the Cardinals and followed that up with 18 picks in 11 starts last season. That almost makes Anderson’s 10 picks in 8 starts look good. Or at least better.

So, Browns fans, what will it be? Which quarterback do you want to lead your team against the Bengals, Steelers and Ravens twice a year? A perennial backup in Seneca Wallace, turnover machine Jake Delhomme or current bum-in-charge Brady Quinn.

Apparently, Quinn is also on the trading block (quick, Cowboys fans-who would you rather have on your team? Quinn or Felix Jones?). But what do you get for him? It’ll probably be a late-round choice in a future draft, but who will be interested? He’ll probably be cut before he’s traded.

So, imagine with me, if you will, this quarterback competition: Quinn vs. Delhomme vs. Wallace.

There are still plenty of ways for this competition to go depending on who exactly the Browns sign, trade or release.  Still, those three names should never be fighting over a starting job, except in the CFL.

The Browns won’t have a shot at improving, either. Their first-round pick, seventh overall, will probably come after Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen are off the board. So, if the Browns go for a quarterback, who do they go for?

There are more questions than answers for the Browns today. Are they banking that Jake Delhomme isn’t done and can find a way to stop throwing interceptions? Is Brady Quinn really a bust? Has Seneca Wallace done anything to show that he can handle a full season as a starter against dominant defenses? Are there any other free agents worth a look? How about someone in the draft?

If I were a Browns fan, Derek Anderson wouldn’t sound too bad right about now.