Early Observations

• Owners are getting more conservative as the season progresses.  Favored teams are being picked almost exclusively. But Cousin Wayne has shown a willingness to take some gambles. He picked the Vikes, the Skins, the Bills, the Lions and the Cowboys this week. He also picked the Bears to beat the Patriots, but he will get a pass on that. The by-laws clearly state that owners can pick against the Pats without recriminations if that owner lives in the state of the opposing team. He will of course lose a point when the Bears are crushed.
• Only Marcus picked against the Jets this week, mainly because he can’t bring himself to pick the Jets. But he may be onto something. The Jets might have been exposed a bit and if they react the Sunday’s game with bravado substituting for intensity, they might get caught in a trap game. Then they face Pittsburg and Chicago in away games. They could easily be 0-3 in that stretch.
• Consensus winners—the Colts, The Falcons, the Steelers, the Saints, and the Ravens—means that it will be difficult for owners to make much headway against each other until the playoffs.
• There are only three really controversial games and they are Bucs vs. Redskins, Browns vs. Bills, and 49ers vs. Seahawks, mostly because one or both of the teams involved have been inconsistent.
• If the Vikes, Redskins, Bills, Lions, 49ers, Bears and Cowboys win, Cousin Wayne will make up a lot of points this week.  He would gain 5 points on Kevin, 6 on Sean, 6 on Brandy and Ryan, and 7 on Jo.