Oakland Raiders @ Minnesota Vikings

Raiders +4.5
Everyone loves Adrian Peterson and for many good reasons, but we all saw what happens when he is not in the game last week in Green Bay. Peterson is not in this week and the Vikings offense will struggle. The Raiders are not on anyone’s radar but when you look closely at the Raiders this year you will notice a lot of close games and today should be no different. Without Peterson the Vikings go from not very good but dangerous, to just not very good. We encouraged you to take this game earlier in the week when the line was at 5.5, hopefully you did. But even at 4.5, the Raiders are a 5-star play.

San Diego Chargers @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Jaguars -3
Don’t believe the hype is the best way to sum up the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers win over the Colts is swaying the public to think there is a resurgence in San Diego. There isn’t. Philip Rivers is showing what he is all about and of course we all know what Norv Turner is all about. Now the Bolts fly across the country to face a tough nosed team that will make Rivers’ flaws more noticeable than a hairy-mole on a hot chick. The Dean and ALL his Scouts are salivating over this game, so it easily makes the grade as a 5-star play.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ New York Jets

Steelers -9.5
The only thing the Jets have going for them this weekend in terms of betting is that they are a huge Home Dog. Not even that can sway The Scouts and I away from backing the Steelers, and in a big way. The Steelers offense will have no trouble putting up points on the Jets inept defense. The one question that remains is will Clemens be able to put up some points the way Derrick Anderson and the Browns did last week? We say not. The crowd will have a strong Black and Gold feel to it, and the Jets just can’t compete with the Steelers. We are going big here as well, laying 5-stars on the Steelers.

Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens

Browns -2.5
The Ravens are overrated, but the Browns are scary. Scary to the good and sometimes scary to the bad. Cleveland as a road favorite is downright scary. I am doing my best to forget how inept this organization has been and focus on how they have played this year, which has been pretty good. The Ravens and their supporters are living in the past, thinking their defense is the best thing going. It isn’t. Put a horrible offense with an overrated defense and you can understand why the Scouts and I are backing Cleveland. With that, we are going to tread somewhat lightly and go 3-stars.

Notes and Such

There was debate on the show about the Bears and the Seahawks, with an almost even split. It is difficult to back the Bears with their offensive troubles, and making it even more troubling is the Rex Grossman has been named the starter. The Dean swayed some of his scouts with a story told by Ron Jaworski about being benched and then regaining your job. Jaws pointed out how liberated he felt when he regained his starting job, and expected Rex to play with less tension. Take that for what ever you feel it is worth. What I was focused on was that I don’t believe the Seahawks are very good at all, and the Bears will eventually get some of their defensive swagger back. What came to light yesterday was that Shawn Alexander is not going to play. Expect this line to drop before kickoff, and the Bears are a good value at +5.5 with the Alexander out . . . The Dallas Cowboys are home to the Washington Redskins and there is strong feeling toward the Cowboys. What works in the ‘Skins favor is that the Cowboys defense is vulnerable so perhaps Jason Campbell and the rest of the Redskins can put up some points. The question is, can they put up enough? The majority of the Scouts are in favor of Dallas outscoring the Redskins by plenty and covering the 11 points . . . . Miami visits Philadelphia today with the Dolphins looking to get their first win of the year. Not many believe the Dolphins are capable of winning this game, but from our vantage point winning comes second to covering! 10 points is a lot for the Eagles to cover. The Eagles offense has been erratic so for us at The Dean it is tough to give full support to them. What I and the Scouts want to point out is that the Dolphins have played a lot of close this year. Could be an interesting play.