It's football Thursday, and the Giants are on a timely bye after back-to-back losses. I want to call out the sports media for doing a terrible job of pinpointing what's gone wrong for big blue lately, as I've seen reasons given like Eli having a "dead arm," the fact that Hakeem Nicks is hobbled, that Victor Cruz has been off-track, and similar things. These theories all ignore the old rule about football games being won and lost in the trenches, and it shouldn't take Vince Lombardi to see that the team has suffered breakdowns in pass protection on offense and has not generated sufficient pass rush on defense. Those are things the team has shown it can do, so there's reason to hope they get back on track.

As for last week's results, I am proud to have picked the Saints, though over a third of our experts picked that upset. On the other hand, I'm kicking myself for changing my pick from the Vikings after listening to pundits talking about how poorly Ponder was playing. Batman repeated his one-and-done picking, and Cutter can almost take credit for predicting the season's only tie by failing to choose a team in the 49ers/Rams game (weird, right?). Here are the results for last week, where many of us took different roads to arrive at the same destination: Darks 11-2-1; Blue, Creston, Jivaro, and mag 10-3-1; Verno 8-5-1; Cutter 7-6; and Batman 0-1.

This week I guarantee the Giants will not lose. Here are my other picks: Miami, Packers, Falcons, Buccaneers, Cowboys, Redskins, Rams, Bengals, Texans, Saints, Broncos, Patriots, Steelers, and 49ers.

Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	Nightflies.
Stories:	See an NBA game for $0.10 … seriously 10 cents. James Wan To Helm "MacGyver" Reboot. Dickey caps unforgettable year with Cy Young. My favorite current Met honored.
Media:	Belgian Player Misses 4 Shots at His Own Basket. Are their rules different? James Bond Theme A Cappella. Best Cosplay of All Time. Epic Halloween Costume- The Rollercoaster.
Follow-up:	'Star Wars,' the once and future franchise. Thanks nin via Kotaku. Exposure to light at night lowers cognitive function: study. John McAfee says he didn't kill neighbor. Thanks WalterEgo. Still on the Lam, John McAfee Says He's Now In Disguise. Thanks j.c.f.