Week 10 Picks

Down 17 games and feeling the pressure to put the Latin community on his shoulders and carry them back to respectability to salvage 2011 for Puerto Ricans everywhere, Gabe thundered back with arguably his best week of the season and narrowing the deficit to 13 games with 8 weeks to play.

This week, however, doesn't just represent a possible turnaround for Lil Pun but it is also the birthday week for the sports blog's version of Eric B. and Rakim. Gabe's big day comes today(Wednesday, in case Gabe is too busy drowning in Guiness to post this early) while "The Big Calzone" gets his well wishes tomorrow. In commemorence for all our hard work, the NFL decided to unveil its first Thursday night game of the season on our happy born week and treated us to an epic showdown between washed-up Carson Palmer's Raiders and slowly-washing-up Phillip Rivers' Chargers.

Here's our take on Thursday's shenanigans:

LAST WEEK:

Gabe: 9-4-1

Dave: 5-8-1

SEASON:

Dave: 65-57-8

Gabe: 52-70-8

Oakland (+7) at San Diego

Dave: Oakland - This may be the first time in NFL history that a team acquires a Pro Bowl quarterback midseason and, as a result, submarines its once-promising playoff hopes. The first game and a half of the Carson Palmer Raiders Era could be chalked up to the former Bengal shaking off months worth of rust and Palmer did show some flashes late in the Denver loss of regaining his old form(by that, I mean, he managed to find former teammate and new over-the-hill weapon T.J. Houshmanzadeh on a pass or two). Palmer also has shown flashes of someone wanting to wrestle the interception lead away from this week's opposing QB, Phillip Rivers. Rivers has 14 picks in 8 games. Palmer has 5 in a game and a half. My prediction for their showdown Thursday will be two picks a piece with the better running game, which belongs to Oakland, prevailing at the end in a game that I won't be watching because I'll be feasting on whatever's in front of me during my first birthday dinner in Jersey in nearly a decade. Raiders by 4.

Gabe: Oakland - First of all, my poison of choice for my birthday was Maker's Mark, not Guinness, although I do love Guinness. Ummm, so about this suckfest I am most likely not going to watch....to me it comes down to the spread. Seven points is WAY to much. I think San Diego is going to turn it around tonight and Carson Palmer is going to continue to play like shit for the Raiders, but I can't trust the Chargers to win by more than a touchdown. I say the Chargers overcome a Philip Rivers INT, and win by 3.