The Michael J. Cox Lock of the Week

He's back, folks! This week, Marble Ryan has triumphantly returned to the lock-of-the-week stage in spectacular form, picking Dallas -1.5 (on the road!) over a team that they couldn't beat at home back in Week 4. That's right, Week 4, back when Tony Romo didn't have a broken finger on his throwing hand and their D wasn't banged up, suspended, just plain bad, etc.

This line opened at Cowboys +2 and moved a whopping 3.5 points over the course of the week, presumably on the news that Clinton Portis would not be playing. In my opinion, that sort of shift should be reserved for a QB going down, not a running back with a competent replacement. Plus, in light of his recent statements, can't you picture NBC zooming in on Jerry Jones on the sideline while Madden says something like, "Well you know Al, Jerry Jones guaranteed this week that the Cowboys would make the playoffs, but it sure is awful hard to make the playoffs when you don't win games..."? I sure can.

As for Marble, it's painfully obvious that he's chugging as much Tony Homo Kool-Aid as he can get his hands on in the wake of the comically terrible fantasy trade he made for him two weeks ago. But who am I to refuse his money? You're a charitable man, Marble Ryan, and I thank you for it.

Here are a few other plays I like, just in case you're not as charitable toward your bookie as Marble is to me.

- COLTS -8 over Texans
- BUCS -4 over Vikings
- Cardinals -3 over SEAHAWKS
- Eagles/Bengals to go over 41.5 points