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Gut Feeling: Week 11

By Kevin Mullendore
Special to sfl-football.com

Week 10 of the 2006 SFL season is in the books! Week 8 was the last week with a Gut Feeling and it was a successful 10-4, bringing the total for the season to 71-43 (.623). Some of the games I had predicted very close to actual:

Gut feeling: Saints 32 Ravens 19 - Actual: Saints 38 Ravens 19
Gut feeling: Browns 34 Jets 15 - Actual: Browns 47 Jets 17
Gut feeling: Rams 31 Chargers 27 - Actual: Rams 39 Chargers 29
Gut feeling: Seahawks 28 Chiefs 24 - Actual: Seahawks 27 Chiefs 20
Gut feeling: Bengals 30 Falcons 25 - Actual: Bengals 27 Falcons 21

So, based off my gut feeling this evening, here is how I see week eleven playing out (full schedule of games this week):

Atlanta Falcons 33 @

Baltimore Ravens 24
The Falcons take the #1 ranked offense into Baltimore to face the 31st ranked defense of the Ravens, and should win this one. Neither team is very good at taking care of the ball so on any given Sunday....

St. Louis Rams 30 @

Carolina Panthers 27
Five weeks ago this had the look of a route, but the Panthers have won four straight since QB Brunell returned from suspension. Still, three of the wins came against teams ranked outside the top-25. Carolina also on a short week after Monday Night blowout win against Tampa Bay. The Rams have a one-game lead over the Seahawks in the standings but have already been swept by Seattle. They can't afford to lose this one but are starting to get healthy at the right time.

Pittsburgh Steelers 15 @

Cleveland Browns 34
The Browns looked to be rolling before running into the buzz saw in Atlanta. But if the season ended today Cleveland would be the #5 seed in the AFC, so as long as they get back on track this week they should be fine. Fortunately, they play two games in the next four weeks against the raw Vince Young instead of Kurt Warner - then finish the season with three games against teams ranked bottom-5. Steelers are looking forward to 2007 at this point.