6-2 so far this week. Overall we're off to a solid start to the young season as we sit at 13-7 (65%). This newsletter looks at the Monday Night game.

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View past 2005 NFL Picks.

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Don't normally like backing Mike Martz in the preseason. He's just 9-14 since his start in St. Louis including 1-1 this year and 1-3 in 2004. But, luckily here for us he's facing another coach who doesn't play to win during the preseason. Steve Mariucci is also way under .500 as he's 0-2 this year and 12-21 dating back to his years in San Francisco. So, let's call that a wash. If this weren't Mariucci's team, I'd say that Detroit, sitting at 0-2 straight-up and against the spread, would be playing to get a win. But, this is Mariucci's team. A team that really isn't a match for St. Louis talent-wise. Especially when the Rams are playing on turf. Of his expected playing time, Rams QB Marc Bulger said this week, "I'd assume three quarters." In this third game, starters will see a lot of time and the Rams are just a much better team than the Lions. In the regular season, they would be favored here and instead we get 4 generous points. While in the regular season I might be talking about the home team having an advantage due to the Monday Night lights. However, in this case I think it favors the Rams. Martz is so self-facinated with his passing game that he'll look to showcase it here and his team will look different than they normally do in the preseason. We'll back the Rams to keep it close or win it. Two stars on the Rams.