Sunday, October 30, 2005

 
NFL Picks

New York Giants vs. Washington:
New York Giants

Cincinnati vs. Green Bay:
Cincinnati

Dallas vs. Arizona:
Dallas

Carolina vs. Minnesota:
Carolina

Houston vs. Cleveland:
Cleveland

Detroit vs. Chicago:
Detroit

Oakland vs. Tennessee:
Tennessee

Jacksonville vs. St. Louis:
Jacksonville

San Diego vs. Kansas City:
Kansas City

New Orleans vs. Miami:
Miami

Tampa Bay vs. San Francisco:
Tampa Bay

Denver vs. Philadelphia:
Denver

New England vs. Buffalo:
New England

Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore:
Pittsburgh

Karma.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

 
Okay, here are the other picks for this week:

New Orleans over St. Louis

When the two worst scoring defenses in the NFL meet, fireworks would normally be expected. Unfortunately for the Rams, they are without their offensive guru of a head coach and their underrated stud QB in Marc Bulger. Jamie Martin inspires no confidence in me and New Orleans looked very good in a loss last week. Plus, the Rams are without both of their best wide receivers. If they win this game, color me impressed.

Green Bay over Minnesota

The Vikings have an opportunity to prove a lot of critics wrong this week. I just don't think they can do it.

Philadelphia over San Diego

I believe the Chargers are the better team but with most of their offensive line banged up, I have concerns. Also, Andy Reid might be the best coach in football at making bye week adjustments. He's an astonishing 6-0 the game after a bye.

Washington over San Francisco

I am not on the Redskins bandwagon just yet, but I am excited by the thought that Joe Gibbs might not be over the hill after all. With regards to the 49ers, if they win two more games this year, they should call 2005 a success. Suicide leaguers who have already used Indianapolis, engage.

Pittsburgh over Cincinnati

Big Ben remains undefeated against any team not named the New England Patriots. It's hard to pick against such a streak. In addition, the Steelers rightfully would have won last week's game if not for the horrific QB play they had in the 4th quarter and overtime.


Indianapolis over Houston

I don't think the Colts would be undefeated right now had Marc Bulger not gotten bowled over after a pass interception. Having said that, I was impressed not just with the comeback on Monday night but also how focused and dominant it was. This is a great football team matched up against the worst team in the league...and it's the Texans that have injury problems. Suicide leaguers who have not used the Colts, go nuts.

Detroit over Cleveland

Jeff Garcia probably should not be playing in this game. Joey Harrington probably should not be playing in this league. Neither decision is satisfactory for Steve Mariucci, but he's made the right one.

Seattle over Dallas

It's time to start allowing for the possibility that the Seahawks are the best team in the NFC. Option 1A would be Dallas, but the absence of Patrick Crayton concerns me. Whenever I've watched the Cowboys play this year, he's been the guy getting it done on third down. Until Peerless Price convinces me he's back, there is a black hole on that team at crunch time.

Buffalo over Oakland

Randy Moss is out, meaning that the Raiders will attempt to bowl over the Bills using Lamont Jordan as a battering ram. This pick says it all about what I think of that strategy.

New York Giants over Denver

This is my toss-up coin flip of the week. In the end, I like the Giants for the simple reason that Denver is due for a let-up and the Giants are at home, a place where they play much better.

Arizona over Tennessee

Billy Volek tore it up last year but without the security blanket of Drew Bennett, I am not certain he can get it done. By the way, this pick is flat out wrong if Kurt Warner starts. For whatever reason, Josh McCown makes the Cardinals go. They look like a real football team when he starts.

Baltimore over Chicago

This is a rugged matchup in that the teams are mirror images. Both want to play smash mouth football and neither one can make plays in the passing game despite acquiring an all-pro wide receiver in the off-season. I like Chicago more than I had expected and think they could sneak the NFC North title, but I refuse to quit on the Ravens this early in the season.

Atlanta over New York Jets

I don't think any casual football fan ever appreciates the importance of a Pro Bowl center until that player is injured. We have seen it with the Vikings and I expect to see it with the Jets now that Kevin Mawae is lost for the season. The Falcons need to lock down their run defense, though. Their play last week was pathetic.

Karma.

Friday, October 21, 2005

 
I was 11-3 on the week as was Kim. We both would like to state for the record that Tommy Maddox is the only thing that stopped us from 12-2. What a horrific 4th quarter and overtime he had. Anyway, there will be more picks for tomorrow but since the NFL has thrown in a Friday night game, we quickly state that we both pick Kansas City.

Karma.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

 
Quickly, I want to apologize for the lack of an update last weekend. I have a good excuse albeit a hard-to-imagine one. My ISP was knocked out when an antique plane (!) crashed through some power lines, taking out our phone and internet connections in the process. Ain't modern living grand?

Here are this week's picks:

Pittsburgh over Jacksonville
Chicago over the Minnesota Love Machine
Miami over Tampa Bay
Dallas over New York Giants
Baltimore over Cleveland (if this goes wrong, I am officially off the Ravens bandwagon for good)
Carolina over Detroit
Cincinnati over Tennessee
Kansas City over Washington
Atlanta over New Orleans
New York Jets over Buffalo
Denver over New England
San Diego over Oakland
Seattle over Houston (Suicide leaguers, engage!)
Indianapolis over St. Louis

Blog updates should start coming much more regularly in the coming days now that my health situation is cleaning up thanks to the wizards at Park West Medical.

Karma.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

 
Okay, last weekend went pretty well from a football perspective. I was 10-4 while Kim was 9-5. On the season, I am 30-16 (0.652) while Kim is 27-19 (0.587). Yes, she is being taunted mercilessly and this will continue until such a time as she blows past me and never looks back. The over/under on this is 7 PM tonight. Here are this week’s picks:

Tampa Bay

The caveat here is that I have picked the Bucs to lose three times on the year, so they are this season’s answer to the Chargers. In 2004, I picked against them pretty much the first half of the season. The results were *ahem* unsatisfactory. I am trying to learn from my past mistakes. Tampa Bay can run the ball and they can stop the run, at least they have so far. Detroit is coming off a bye week, so this is not a slam dunk by any stretch. If the Bucs win, though, 5-0 is a distinct possibility. They get fed the Bollinger/Testaverde Jets on the heels of Team Harrington.

Seattle

I hate the NFC. Almost all of the teams are in the middle of the bell curve. Should Washington be favored for getting killed by Dallas for 56 minutes before making two sensational plays to win the game? They are also coming off a bye so that helps. I think this team is a bottom feeder, though, so it’s hard to get excited about them. The good news for Skins fans is that the team they play, Seattle, has won two in a row. This is exactly the type of situation where they have historically choked. For some reason, though, the way that Shaun Alexander played last week is sticking in my head. And that’s not even factoring in the Brunell situation. Just imagine how Skins fans will react the first time he screws up. Away games are safer for him.

Cincinnati

This is the biggest mismatch of the week on paper by far. The team with the best point differential in the NFL (+60) has a home game against the team with the worst point differential in the AFC (-35, and in only two games).  Suicide leaguers, you know what to do. This is at least in theory the safest bet of the season to date.

Jacksonville

This is one of the toughest calls of the week. Both teams are playing very well, but the short week for Denver is problematic. They are going to have a tough time coming down from the emotional high of destroying Kansas City. Avoiding a letdown against a tough Jaguars team will be a challenge, one I don’t think they can overcome.

Indianapolis

If you haven’t got the option of using the Bengals in your suicide league, this is a wonderful plan B. Personally, I’m saving them for next week when they play the 49ers, though. As for the Titans, all I have to say is that a UT fan, I am sorely disappointed in Travis Henry. It would be nice if at least one of our former running backs could lay off the whizzinator.

New England

Why do I ever pick against the Patriots? It never ends well. Of course, this week they have a tough match-up and are missing their best offensive lineman and leader in the secondary. So, I’m tempted to…no, not going to fall for it again.

New Orleans

I expressed concerns about JP Losman heading into the season. Having watched him play twice now, nothing has happened to alleviate those fears. In addition, New Orleans finally gets a semi-home game. The emotional lift given by the fine folks at San Antonio should go a long way in carrying the day for the suffering Saints.

Baltimore

Is there a more brutal first game opponent for a starting quarterback than Baltimore? I doubt it. The Jets are officially in the Matt Leinart sweepstakes through no fault of their own. Having two quarterbacks get the same injury on similar plays is a brutal beat.

Atlanta

The Falcons are 11-1 in their last dozen home games. The Vikings are in a world of hurt with regards to healthy players. The wonderfully named Kenechi Udeze needs knee surgery. Fellow DE Lance Johnstone has said he can’t play this week. Nate Burleson is out. Brian Williams and Darren Sharper are unlikely to man the secondary. This is the worst set of injuries since…well, the Falcons won at Buffalo without four of their guys. So, nothing is impossible here, especially considering that the last time Marcus Robinson faced the Falcons, he was the apocalypse walking. He was the star of a game Kim, Reagen and myself attended which also featured the NFL debut of some guy named Vick. As for that guy, the last time he saw the Minnesota Vikings, records were shattered and a highlight play for the ages was made. Just imagine him scrambling through a secondary of back-ups and scrubs.

St. Louis

This is to my mind the toss-up of the week. Mike Martz was hospitalized for a sinus infection and has not had time to implement a full game-plan. Since the offense is dependent on a combination of his genius and the play of stud wideouts Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce and Bruce is out, they’re in trouble. At least they would be in trouble had NY not had their confidence destroyed by Ladanian Tomlinson, who looked like Bugs Bunny against them last Sunday night. The good news for the Giants is that they are back home where they are 2-0 and the better news is that Eli Manning is starting to dominate. I just don’t see them having a quick recovery from such a demoralizing loss, though. Steven Jackson and Marshall Faulk should be licking their lips at the thought of this defense.

Dallas

You’ve seen Oakland play, right? There you go.

Carolina

He would never admit it but Brett Favre wishes he retired after last season. They can’t run and they can’t stop anybody. The only optimism I may offer is that they were 1-4 and 1-2 the previous year yet wound up 10-6 both times. They just don’t have the defense to pull off such a run in 2005, though.

Arizona

One team has to win and I am not ready to write the Cardinals off just yet. This team seems to play much better when Josh McCown starts anyway. At least Mexico City should be a fun environment. Next time, we might even send them a couple of NFL teams. Don’t mind me. I’m just bitter because I picked the Cardinals to win the NFC West. I think I would have better luck picking the Atlanta Hawks to win the NBA Southeast. Or at least the same luck.

Kansas City

You know what a person with a sports hernia should do? He should play a position which requires him to get repeatedly hit in the midsection and slammed to the ground. The Chiefs got torched at Denver, but they are always a different team in the friendly confines of Arrowhead Stadium. This should be a fun game to watch no matter the result. Both teams are innovative on offense with the Chiefs offering the best RB tandem in the game while the Eagles completely eschew the run. I’m a smash mouth guy, so I’m taking the running team.



Karma.

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