Benster and D Pick Your Games--Bye Week Edition

Old dude, both the Badgers and the Gophers are on byes this week, meaning that we have to find some other games to focus our attention on.

I sense a Prairie Fire sighting is imminent.

Is it that predictable?

We've been doing this for a long time, so I know your approach. But at least you're not phoning it in, like a certain Cowboys running back who shall remain nameless.

I agree, and I am going to put more effort in this post than Zeke did last weekend on that pick. That was not a good look for him, and maybe he needs to get a dose of HYYYYYYYYYPPPPPPEEE!

I thought he was going to remain nameless. Oh well, he deserved that shot.

Yes. Yes he did. I guess it is time to get down to bidness, and it is time for the world to watch me work!

Ripon College Red Hawks (NL) vs. Knox College Prairie Fire. Ripon is 0-2 this year, and are going to be paying a visit to my guys here at Knox. Knox did win against Beloit, which is a good win even if some other family members would disagree with me. I am a homer, and Knox has looked better, and the football team has good guys that are hard workers, so I think we should win a very tough, low scoring football game. Prairie Fire 19, Red Hawks 9.

Assuming the weather doesn't change, it's likely to be about 100 degrees in that Knosher Bowl. If you haven't seen Knox's football stadium, it's essentially a pit, and I don't mean that as an insult. See for yourself:

Down there

Ripon doesn't come calling very often, so they might not find it to their liking. Knox 24, Ripon 21.

Penn State Nittany Lions (-12) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes. This line is awfully high, and quite frankly is based on a couple of misunderstandings. The first is that Iowa is a team that always going to be well coached and will make you earn every single yard. The second misunderstanding is that Iowa City is a very difficult away trip, which you can ask Michigan about after their shocking upset a year ago. Penn State is the defending conference champion, and considering that they got screwed over by the powers that be, despite being a name program, after winning a surprise conference title, the Nittany Lions know that they need to win every game in order to get the benefit of the doubt that a school in Ohio gets. However, Iowa is going to throw a monkey wrench into James Franklin's charges, and will hopefully showcase the depth of the league. Hawkeyes 22, We Are 8.

Iowa is always a tough out, but Penn State is good. Real good. Penn State 35, Iowa 21.

English Premier League: West Ham United (NL) vs. Tottenham Hotspur. Because of the bye weeks for the Gophers and Badgers, and because high school football is going on as I write this, we have to turn to soccer once again. Tottenham have had a mixed start to their season, with a good win against Dortmund in the Champions League, but have been dropping points, most notably to Swansea City last weekend at Wembley. West Ham are a team that is midtable, and are most well known in the United States for being mentioned in Harry Potter and for playing their home matches in the Olympic Stadium. I expect Spurs to win, since they should beat West Ham. Spurs 2, West Ham 0.

Actually, that sounds about right. Spurs need to win this game and I think they will. Spurs 3, West Ham 1.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NL) vs. Minnesota Vikings. This game has no line because it was unknown if Sam Bradford would be able to go, but we now know that Bradford will be out again. I have heard online that some Vikings fans want to sign Mr. Kaepernick, but that is for the front office to determine. The Vikings did not look good last week, but I think that was more playing a good Steelers team away from home in a tricky game. Tampa Bay is a team that I regard as capable of being a factor later on, but this is a home game and you would expect the Vikings to win. However, if the Vikings lose this game there will be a lot more questions asked about whether the front office and coaching staff are the right people to have in place. Vikings 35, Bucs 13.

I expect the Vikings to play better this week, but Case Keenum is not the guy you want to go to war with. The Vikings will try to take Mike Evans away. They may not be able to do so. Tampa Bay 24, Minnesota 17.

Cincinnati Bungles (+9) vs. Glorious Green Bay Packers. It looks like the Packers are going to be short handed because of all the injuries, which is concerning to me. However, Green Bay did show flashes and hung in there down in Atlanta next week. This game is a bit of a trap game, because the Packers have a short week going into the Bears game, and the Bengals are no slouches -- they have beaten the Packers a couple of times in the past. I think the Packers should win this game since it is at home, and should have better pass protection with Bryan Bulaga back on the field. Watch for Kevin King to make a play or two covering A.J Green sometime during the game. Packers 28. Bengals 9.

The Bengals are a mess right now. The Packers have a lot of work to do, but even short handed they shouldn't have too much difficulty with this one. Davante Adams picks up the slack and scores at least one touchdown, maybe two. Packers 35, Bengals 13.

Pittsburgh Steelers (-7.5) vs. Bear Down Chicago Da Bearz. The Bears are quite frankly a bit of a dumpster fire. I am sure that Gino probably wants to see John Fox gone. There is no way they beat the Steelers, even though this game is in Chicago and the Bears are going to be game. You almost wonder if Papa Bear Halas is shaking his head in heaven, and you have to feel bad that a historic team of this league has been such a nonfactor since 2010. Maybe they should bring back Lovie and Jay to save them, or kick it back a notch further to 2006 and bring out the glory of Sexy Rexy. Steelers 175. Da Bearz Still Suck -15.

The Bears simply don't have enough talent to win right now. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but they have just a dismal set of receivers. Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen have talent, but the Steelers will have 8-9 guys in the box and Mike Glennon won't be able to make them pay. Steelers 35, Bears 14.


That is all from us today. Enjoy the football this weekend, and donate to help all those in need because of natural disasters. Ben out!