NFL Week 11 Quick Picks - Ravens vs. Colts and Cowboys vs. Redskins

NFL Quick Picks:  Baltimore to End Indy’s Winning Streak and Dallas versus Washington

Game-day:  11/22/2009

Kick-off:  Baltimore game at 1:00 pm EST and Dallas game at 1:00 pm EST

Peyton Manning was absolutely brilliant last Sunday night.  Make no mistake.  Even though it took a controversial Bill Belichick call on 4th and 2 for the Colts to get the ball back and win the game, it was Manning that caused Belichick to make the call.

The fear of Peyton is what made Belichick go for it on 4th down in his own territory.  That fear is what coast the Patriots the game against the Colts last Sunday.  How good is Peyton Manning?  He’s one of the Top 3 quarterbacks to ever play this game after Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas and he’s quickly moving to number one on my list.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Peyton wills the Colts past the Ravens this Sunday.  The Colts vs. Ravens makes up one of our NFL Quick Pick games.  The other game pits the ‘Skins against the rival Washington Redskins.

Let’s take a look at both games.

Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens

Kick-off: 1:00 pm EST

NFL Odds:  Indianapolis -2

Analysis:  The money has been flowing in for the Colts since the early betting where Indy was a 1 point favorite.  Now, the Colts are a 2 point favorite and by game time they might be a 2 ½ point favorite.

What does it all mean?  Not much, really.  Indianapolis has been treading between undefeated and a loss this entire month and the Ravens are a good team.  The problem that the Colts are going to have is that the Ravens’ D has really begun to step it up lately.  Since their bye, Baltimore has allowed a total of 24 points in three games while putting up 53 on their end.

The Ravens can do something that the Patriots could not last Sunday and that’s control the clock with their two superior running backs, Ray Rice and Willis McGahee.  If the Colts put an 8th man in the box, then the Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco will exploit the Colts’ secondary that’s missing a lot of starters.

Everybody knows how good Manning, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are, but the Ravens’ only need to slow Peyton down, they don’t need to stop him, and keep him off the field with good clock management.

That’s the likeliest scenario.  The Ravens should win this game outright, and that’s the way I’m going to play it.

Pick:  Baltimore Ravens on the NFL moneyline at +110

Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys

Kick-off:  1:00 pm EST

NFL Odds:  Dallas -11

Analysis:  The Washington Redskins didn’t look like they wanted to beat the Denver Broncos last week, they kept trying to give the game away, but after analyzing the game again, I realized that the ‘Skins dug deep and kept the Broncos from taking it to them.

Dallas, meanwhile, appeared lethargic and uninterested when facing the Green Bay Packers last week.  Well, the ‘Boys better be interested this week because the ‘Skins are going to be up to take down Dallas in Big D and might have enough firepower to do it.