The StatMan  

Week 7 in the NFL.  The Jets have to get back to winning games.  The Patriots deal with their newfound first-place status in a foreign land.  The Giants try to reverse their step back against the NFC's best last week.  And, the Eagles get the Monday night showcase to show why they belong among the best in the NFC.

Here are this week's picks:

Local Game Picks
Record: 16-7 straight up, 15-8 against the spread
N.Y. Jets (-6, at Oakland): NYJ win, but OAK covers
N.Y. Giants (-7, vs Arizona on Sunday night): NYG win and cover
New England (-14.5, vs Tampa Bay in London, England): NE win and cover
Philadelphia (-7, at Washington on Monday night): PHL win and cover

Big Game Picks
Record: 12-6 straight up, 8-10 against the spread
Minnesota at Pittsburgh (PIT favored by 5.5 points): PIT win, but MIN cover
Chicago at Cincinnati (CIN favored by 1 point): CHI win outright
Atlanta at Dallas (DAL favored by 4 points): ATL win outright

Knockout Pick
ROUND 1 - Weeks 1-6: New Orleans (win), Buffalo (win), Green Bay (win), Chicago (win), Philadelphia (win), N.Y. Jets (loss)
ROUND 2 - Weeks 7-?
Carolina defeating Buffalo

Fantasy Start 'Em and Sit 'Em
We pick one QB, one RB, and one receiver (WR/TE) to start and one of each to sit.  We rate the picks based on our fantasy football scoring system (yardage and touchdowns).
Season: Starts average 12.0 points per game, Sits average 7.58 ppg
Starts:
QB Ben Roethlisberger PIT: Minnesota should stop the run, and Big Ben leads the league in yardage.
RB Jonathan Stewart CAR: One thing the Jets were able to do last week was run the football.  Stewart is the #2 RB in Carolina, but the Panthers run offense is worthy of two starters.
WR Roddy White ATL: He is matching up against fellow 200-yard receiver Miles Austin and I think White and the Falcons will get the edge.

Sits:
QB Chad Henne MIA: Fresh off a bye week after a win against the Jets, Henne faces the Saints, who will try to make Henne look like a rookie.  The Saints did that against the Jets and rookie QB Mark Sanchez, and there is no reason why the Saints can't do that again.
RB Rashard Mendenhall PIT: Mendenhall is now #1 in Pittsburgh, but Minnesota and the Williams duo up the middle, should quiet Mendenhall out of the backfield.
WR Braylon Edwards NYJ: Jet QB Mark Sanchez will take fewer chances down the field, so unless Edwards breaks some tackles and gets downfield on his own, his fantasy potency will be limited.

Join us Sunday night at 10pm Eastern time (#31) at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-StatMan.  We'll discuss Week 7 in the NFL, especially the Jets and the Patriots.  We'll talk about the Giants, who will be in progress, and preview the Eagles, who play on Monday night.  The Phillies are in the World Series, but who will join them?  We'll discuss, as Game 6 will be in progress between the Yankees and Angels.  And, we'll talk NHL, especially the Devils win at the Garden on Thursday night, the Bruins impossible comeback at Ottawa, and the Islanders inability to hold a third-period lead.

Remember the ways to get involved:
Visit the show page and comment (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-StatMan).  Read the show blog and comment.  Visit the show on iTunes (search "Sports With The StatMan") and follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/gstatman).

Sports With The StatMan - No. 29 - MLB: Division Series Wrap, Championship Series Preview/Progress (including Yankees-Angels, Phillies/Rockies-Dodgers), NFL: Week 6 (including Giants-Saints, Bills-Jets, Titans-Patriots, Eagles-Raiders), Top Performers and the results of our Week 6 picks; NHL: Week 2 (including Devils, Islanders, Rangers, Bruins, Flyers, Around the League, Top Performers)

Sports With The StatMan - No. 28 - NFL: Week 5 (including Patriots-Broncos, Raiders-Giants, Bucs-Eagles, and preview of Jets-Dolphins); MLB: Division Series action (including Red Sox-Angels, Yankees-Tigers/Twins, Rockies-Phillies); NHL: Week 1 Recap

We are back detailing the weekly picks.  It is the first week of October, Week 5 in the NFL, and here are the picks:

Local Game Picks
Record: 13-2 straight up, 12-3 against the spread
N.Y. Jets (-1.5, at Miami): NYJ win and cover
N.Y. Giants (-15.5, vs Oakland): NYG win and cover
New England (-3.5, at Denver): NE win, but DEN covers
Philadelphia (-15, vs Tampa Bay): PHL win and cover

Big Game Picks
Record: 7-5 straight up, 3-9 against the spread
Atlanta at San Francisco (SFO favored by 2.5 points): ATL win outright
Jacksonville at Seattle (SEA favored by 0.5 points): SEA win and cover
Cincinnati at Baltimore (BAL favored by 8.5 points): BAL wins, but CIN covers

Knockout Pick
Weeks 1-4: New Orleans (win), Buffalo (win), Green Bay (win), Chicago (win)
Week 5: Philadelphia defeating Tampa Bay

Fantasy Start 'Em and Sit 'Em
Season: Starts average 10.5 points per game, Sits average 8.04 ppg
Starts:
QB Donovan McNabb PHL: McNabb returns from injury against a pathetic Buccaneers team.
RB Rashard Mendenhall PIT: Willie Parker is hurt and Mendenhall had a breakout game last Sunday night against San Diego.
WR Bernard Berrian MIN: Brett Favre threw him a TD pass last Monday night on an out-and-go.  Berrian and Favre might be starting to jell.
Sits:
QB Carson Palmer CIN: Baltimore defends the pass well.  Palmer may get yardage, but I doubt he'll find the end zone.
RB Kevin Smith DET: Smith is banged up, as is the quarterback Matt Stafford.  It is not the week to activate any Lions.
WR Ted Ginn, Jr. MIA: This is a Blackjack game, as the winner will have under 21 and will probably sign up for 17 right now.  Ginn has a QB able to throw downfield in Chad Henne, but Ginn will draw Kerry Rhodes deep and Darrelle Revis at the line of scrimmage.

Join us Sunday night at 10pm Eastern time (#28) at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-StatMan.  We'll talk about Week 5 in the NFL.  We'll cover the Patriots-Broncos, Giants-Raiders, Eagles-Bucs, and we'll preview the Jets-Dolphins.  We'll also look at the best and worst of Week 5 and analyze our picks.  Also, we can't forget about the Division Series in baseball and the first full week of hockey.

Sports With The StatMan - No. 27 - NFL: Week 4 (Jets-Saints, Giants-Chiefs, Ravens-Patriots, Around the League); MLB: Playoff Preview (including Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox), Around the League (Tigers-Twins, Dodgers-Rockies-Braves); NHL: Preseason Stanley Cup Predictions, Week 1 Talk