by Gerald Udowiczenko

Well as some of you may know, Bruce Henderson has a website for NFLAB and after much badgering I've sent him all the newsletters for the current season (2003). I will also be sending him the newsletters as I do them from now on, so hello to anyone that is reading this via Bruces website, but more of that somewhere in this weeks issue.

Well I hope you all enjoyed the Superbowl? Not as exciting as pervious ones, as defence dominated Superbowl XXXV, one offensive TD wasn't? Which bodes well for my Patriots (AB), as we seem to have a defence this season but no offence. With a bit of luck that may change against this weeks opponents the Falcons, but I doubt it, as Paul has probably got some sleep & hence done a gameplan. But here's hoping that that old adage of defence winning Championships will hold true.

Thanks to Graham, Jon & Dave Jones for their contribution this week.

SR (11-0) @ MD (3-8)
Gerald : The Fish have a good 'D' but will they be able to slow down the Rams offence? Tough one to call, but I think the Rams have Diddled it too many times this season and will come unstuck. Fish by 3.
Graham : No comment.
Jon : Miami have struggled too much to upset the Rams. SR by 7.
Dave : Rams.

BB (11-0) @ SF (7-3-1)
Gerald : The last 2 games for the 49ers are ones they'd rather forget. Unfortunately I think this week will make it 3, unless they can Diddley it, but that will mean out scoring the Bills, which is not an easy task. Bills by 10.
Graham : Niners are on a bit of a slump, which is a baaad time to meet the Bills. BB 10.
Jon : The last two games have been a bit of a nightmare for Steve & Buffalo are not the team you want to meet when things are going wrong. BB by 10.
Dave : Bills.

NS (4-7) @ NJ (2-9)
Gerald : The jets have been poor this season and I can't see it changing much this week against a Saints team who seem to have found their way. Saints by 3.
Graham : Saints D should edge them past the grounded Jets. NS 6.
Jon : Saints roll continues. NO by 3.
Dave : Jets.

NE (8-2-1) @ AF (4-7)
Gerald : No comment other than 'Will the offence please turn up'
Graham : Pats have one foot in the playoffs, and will probably scarp to another crucial win. NE 7.
Jon : Can the Pats 'O' manage to get a TD? This will be close if they fail again. AF by 1.
Dave : Pats.

WR (10-1) @ CI (2-9)
Gerald : I think the Skins are going to have a field day against a Bungles team that have lost their way. Skins by 21.
Graham : I fear this is probably no contest right now. If Bengals can't handle Miami's D. WR 17.
Jon : Oh dear. WR by 14.
Dave : Skins.

PS (7-3-1) @ PE (11-0)
Gerald : The Steelers have improved in leaps & bounds since last season. This week will be a real test against an Eagles team that has everything. The Steelers do leak points and even though they've a winning record, they have a negative points spread, which will probably play into the Eagles hands. Eagles by 17.
Graham : Steelers are somehow 7-3-1 with a minus points difference, but the Battle of Pennsylvania will surely go to Philly. PE 14.
Jon : First of a tough series of games for me.
Dave : Eagles.

DC (3-8) @ TN (4-6-1)
Gerald : The Titans seem to have lost their way, but I think they should just edge it over the Boys, especially at home and they are an AFC after all. Titans by 3.
Graham : Neither in the best of form. Homefield may see a welcome Titans victory, if a close one. TN 1.
Jon : The Cowboys have done well without winning over the last two games. Time that changed. DC by 3.
Dave : Cowboys.

CL(6-4-1) @ AC (1-10)
Gerald : The Browns keep up the pressure for a wildcard place with a convincing win over the Cards, well that should be the case. Unless the Cards play to their potential? Which they have done in the past, especially in Inter-Conference games. Even so, I think we can chalk up another win for the AFC. Browns by 10.
Graham : On-fire Browns could top division after dealing the Cards another loss. CL 17.
Jon : Browns move one step closer to a wildcard. CL by 9.
Dave : Browns.

MV (6-5) @ DB (8-3)
Gerald : Tough call as both teams on their day are very hard to beat. After last week's results, I'm tempted to go with the Broncos, as the Vikes 'O' was shut down very effectively by the Skins. If the Broncos can follow suit then it will be a long hard day for the Vikes. Broncos by 3.
Graham : Vikings leaving it later than usual to catch fire. Broncos strength all round could tell. DB 7.
Jon : The Vikes are certainly better than their record but are they better than the Broncos? Tough call. DB by 1.
Dave : Broncos.

SS (5-6) @ TB (1-10)
Gerald : The Seahawks need this win to stay in the hunt for a wildcard place, the Buccs season is over and they're probably looking to the draft. But I still think the Buccs will want to win some of their remaining games, just to prove they can win. Which could spell disaster for some teams, but the Hawks should be experienced. Hawks by 3.
Graham : Hawks need it badly to get back in the playoff hunt, and should be too experienced. SS 7.
Jon : Hawks need this badly. SS by 3.
Dave : Buccs.

CB (5-5-1) @ KC (4-7)
Gerald : The Bears are within half a game of division leaders, the Vikes and need every win from now on if they're qualify for post-season action, as divisional winner. As they are probably too far behind, to have a shot at a wildcard place, but who knows? The Chiefs don't really have a chance, except mathematically, but saying that they now seem to have found a wining formula and they're at home, so it's going to be close, and you never know with a little luck they could be there come week 16. Chiefs by 3.
Graham : Could be another tough day at the office for Bear D given Chiefs' current form. KC 10.
Jon : Kansas are finally getting points to go with the yards but the Bears are no pushovers. Close, but KC by 3.
Dave : Bears.

OR (3-8) @ DL (1-10)
Gerald : Should be a good game, if only for the fact that it's Brother vs Brother. Can't see either team scoring that many points and the Lions should be on a high after last weeks win, but the Raiders do have a 'D' which could win it for them. So I'll go with the AFC & the Raiders by 6.
Graham : After last week's miracle who'd bet against Bruce this week? Bound to be close, of course! DL 6.
Jon : Battle of the brothers. DL by 3, as long as the luck holds out.
Dave : Lions.

by Graham Canwell (Week 11)

Graham to Gerald : Could be . . . Drew ought to be able to reach a Trent Dilfer level of performance (doesn't take much!). Ravens didn't have to play Richard's Bills though!

Gerald to Graham : Very true, but in week two, we almost beat them. Probably the closest they've come to losing all season.

Graham to Jon : You've probably noticed that I don't actually have the Bills this year for once. I still can't get used to it either . . . Still a horrendous run-in though.

Graham to All : Watching Kerry Collins & his "offensive" buddies in the Superbowl I couldn't help wondering what the Vikings' defence must have been thinking. Wouldn't be surprised if a few needed talking down off tall buildings . . . .

Dave Jones to All : I seem to have the Buccs setting up camp in their own half and afraid to advance very far in to enemy territory. I took over the Buccs team because it's the team I support in the NFL (much like the rest of you I guess), but I'd didn't think it would take so long to build a winning team.

Jon to Bruce : Congratulations on getting the Diddley (I assume) instead of the two usual suspects.

Jon to All : I did enjoy that Superbowl. Despite the score, good 'D' by both teams. Less than 50% completion by both QBs! Mind you, Collins should probably have thrown 8 interceptions rather than 4 (now that would have been a hard record to break). Also, seeing back-to-back KO returns for TDs was quite something.

Jon to Gerald : You must love your 'D' at the moment!

Gerald to AFC : Come on lads, in week 6 we lost it 5-7. Lets do a lot better this week.

Gerald to All : I've gone though my records & I can't find the League report for Week 9, can anyone help?

Just a final plug for Bruce's website, http://brucey.net/nflab He's put a lot of work into it and it looks very good. It has a lot of history on NFLAB (though not complete) and has a wealth of information on who's played whom and won and various other things. Don't take my word for it, have a look yourself and in all honestly I don't have the time (or space) to tell you all of its features.

Bruce is in the process of adding the newsletter to his site with an archive feature, for the last 3-4 years (depending on how many I've still got). So you'll be able to read the newsletter in print (with the weekly results) and on-line.

Now it's question time - I'll be sending Bruce a copy of the newsletter on the Monday (before the deadline), the same day I post it. Do you, the loyal readers want to have access to the newsletter before you receive your orders, say on the Wednesday (or whenever Bruce gets it done)? Or wait until you've got you results by post, before the newsletter goes live on the WWW? As this newsletter is primarily for the coaches in the league, its your choice. Though with a little luck, having the newsletter on-line may get some more contributors? I've done a voting slip on page 4 of the newsletter, so please don't forget to vote.