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Sorry for the lack of an NFL 'big picture' post this week, but I left town to visit my sister on Thursday and had just enough time to post a pick for the Thursday night game. Luckily for me (and my pick) Eli, Tom Coughlin and the Giants came through in a game that no one expected them to win... wait! Did I say luckily? I meant totally expectedly. Bill Belichick and Brady passed that torch to Tom Coughlin and Eli a long time ago and I don't think they will be giving it up any time soon. I have to give credit where credit is due: the Giants are the current model franchise of the NFL. That Thursday night game could have easily been a write-off, yet the smart draft-choices they made (Bill Barnwell of Grantland mentioned an interesting point: since the Eli Manning trade, the Giants have always had their top four picks in each subsequent draft) came into the game and fired on all cylinders. Anyways, lets move on to the rest of the games.
Buffalo (-3) At Cleveland
Ugh. What a terrible game. The Bills got curb-stomped in their opening game, then proceeded to embarrass the Kansas City Chiefs at home. Is Buffalo just going to be good at home? This game will tell us a lot. As for the Browns and their poor fans, this could be one of the only games that they can actually win this year...yay?
The pick: Buffalo
Cincinnati (+3) At Washington
Okay, rising star RG3 took about 50 cheap-shots last week against the rams, and the incompetent replacement officials (their new name) ignored every single one of them. The commissioner will make sure to 'remind' the refs of who the league's stars are and RG3 will draw flags if a defender so much as looks at him this week. Wait a second, this is not the NBA and this is not David Stern pulling the strings. If this were the NBA, I would pick the Redskins in a heart-beat, but its not, so I am going with the Bengals.
The pick: Bengals
Detroit (-4) At Tennessee
I think that this Titans team really sucks and the artist formerly known as Chris Johnson is among the primary reasons why. I think a corpse would gain more yards than he has this season. Take the Lions and the money.
The pick: Detroit
Jacksonville (+3) At Indianapolis
Andrew Luck really showed something at the end of last weeks game against the Vikings. He set up Vinateri (he's still got it) for a game-winning kick in less than 18 seconds! Once the Colts win this game, look for a slew of: "Here come the Colts" stories. Will they really be 2-1?
The pick: Colts
Kansas City (+9) At New Orleans
Both teams are 0-2, both teams desperately need a win to avoid a nightmare-ish 0-3 start, (I can't think of many teams that overcame such starts to make the playoffs, but I am pretty sure the numbers are not good), and both teams might not even be that good. Also working against the saints is D-block reminding me that football teams with major off-the field issues never do well. Kansas might lose, but they can cover the spread.
The pick: Kansas City
New York Jets (-1) At Miami
I think that this is a pretty good Jets team that simply got overwhelmed by a much better Pittsburgh squad last week. This is their chance to prove that point (and make me look really smart).
The pick: Jets
San Francisco At Minnesota
Once again, as I am a fan of the 49ers, I will not be picking their game.
St. Louis (+7) At Chicago
Not since LaDanian Tomlinson was in his heyday with the Chargers has a player (in this case two players) eaten so much crow when talking pre-game. Cutler and Marshal submitted comically bad performances against the Packers of Green Bay in their last outing. Luckily for them, the schedule gives them the Rams this week.
The pick: Chicago
Tampa Bay (+8) At Dallas
Tampa really blew it last week. They had a chance to go 2-0 and send the Giants into a potential tailspin, but instead they are 1-1 and now face the second of their NFC East test. This line is just a little bit too high for my liking.
The pick: Tampa Bay
Atlanta (+3) At San Diego
I know, I am just as baffled as you are that the Chargers are favoured in this game.
The pick: Atlanta
Philadelphia (-3) At Arizona
Okay Arizona, you managed to upset the Patriots in one of the most poorly played last minutes of a game I have ever seen. The Patriots and Cardinals were trying to out-do each other to see who could blow the game in a worse way with the Patriots coming out on top (but not by much). Now you are coming up against a team that I have no idea what to expect from. The Eagles could win by 50 or lose by 50 and I don't think that I would bat an eyelash. Tragically, Vegas took the odds of "Andy Reid screwing up a clock-management situation" props off of the board after they almost went bankrupt last week.
The pick: Eagles
Houston (-1.5) At Denver
Here you go Houston, you know that attention will be paid to this game, this is your chance to send the rest of the AFC (and the league) a message that you are for real.
The pick: Houston
Sunday Night Football/Game of the Week: New England (+2) At Baltimore
The Ravens make their second straight appearance in my gimmicky "game of the week" feature, and what a game this could be! Both teams are coming off losses in games that they feel should have been wins. Both teams do not like each other, and both teams will bring it. It is hard to fathom that one of these two teams will be 1-2 after this game (unless they tie... don't bet on it). Also last week I received a rather annoying post on my Facebook wall about Ray Lewis' performance in week one, so I will return the favour here by posting his stellar week 2 stat-line: 5 whole tackles. That is all. As for the betting aspect of this game, this is one of those that you stay-the-hell away from at all costs and just enjoy what should be a spectacular duel between two AFC contenders.
The pick (since I have to): Ravens
Green Bay (-3.5) At Seattle
I do not fear Qwest Field.
The pick: Packers (and the over)
The results so far
Thursday night games: 2-0
All other games: 7-7
Overall: 9-7
Enjoy your football everyone!
Showing posts with label Broncos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broncos. Show all posts
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Playoff Predictions: Wildcard Round
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Texans 14 – BENGALS 21
4. Denver vs 5. Pittsburgh
I hate most NFL owners and NFL fans, but I especially hate the NFL media. Tim Tebow has been mediocre at best all season, yet every household with access to the internet and/or a television knows the name Tebow. It took him an entire season to complete enough passes to even QUALIFY to have his QB rating calculated, and with a score of 72.9, he sits 27th out of 33 passers...garbage. I’ve been saying for most of the season that the Steelers are headed downhill, but even with a broken Ben Roethlisberger and an aging D, Blitzburgh will bury the Broncos and hopefully shut this Tebowmania up, at least for the duration of the offseason.
Broncos 10 – STEELERS 24
NFC
3. New Orleans vs 6. Detroit
WHO DAT SAID DEY GON BEAT DEM SAINTS?!? This has been a fantastic season to be a Saints fan and an even better season if Drew Brees is your favourite player. Brees has had a once in a lifetime type season and broken many prestigious offensive records. This isn’t another Saints article, so let’s take a look at this game real quick. The Saints easily handled the Lions in their game earlier this season, but had it not been for Detroit’s 67,000 penalty yards, the game could have actually been much closer. Lion’s QB Matt Stafford is extremely inconsistent, but in the past few weeks, him and Calvin “Megatron” Johnson have been piling up the stats. Even with a very volatile offense and a tough defence (when they don’t give up 200 penalty yards), the Lions are no match for the Saints. If Detroit puts up 50 points, Drew Brees will find a way to put up 51, it’s as simple as that. This is almost guaranteed to be a high-scoring shoot out, but I don’t think there’s any real chance that the Lions can upset the Saints. One thing I predict that most people probably don’t expect is that the Saints will shut down Megatron. New Orleans’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams firmly believes that you shouldn’t let the other team’s best players beat you and always comes up with a way to take the opposition’s most dangerous weapon out of the game. If you don’t believe me, go to 0:42 of this link and you’ll see what the tactic was the last time these 2 teams faced off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX0JjyTgme0
SAINTS 42 – 35 Lions
4. New York vs 5. Atlanta
ELLIIII MANNNINGGGGGGG!!! What an absolute stud! To say that he hasn’t had a great year is simply retarded. With the game on the line in the 4th quarter, when it mattered most, only Aaron Rodgers had a better passer rating than Eli. He deserved the Pro Bowl spot and showed me that he is one of the top 5 QBs in the league. Atlanta on the other hand has coasted for much of the season and faced an extremely easy schedule all year. I personally don’t think they’re very good, but on any given Sunday, anyone can come out on top. The G-men are built very similar to the Giants team that won the superbowl in ’07, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made another deep playoff run this year. Atlanta lucked out by not having to play (re: lose) to the Saints for the 3rd time this season, but I don’t think they have enough experience against good opponents to come away with this game.
GIANTS 24 – 21 Falcons
That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll talk about my take on the Wildcard Round and put up my predictions for the Divisional Round.
The regular season has finally come to an end, which means that the REAL season starts this weekend. I know I haven’t posted in quite some time, but I’m finally back and ready to share my thoughts/observations on this year’s NFL playoffs. Luka and I were discussing some potential playoff scenarios and here are my predictions for this weekend’s Wildcard Round.
AFC
3. Houston vs 6. Cincinnati
If I turned the clocks back to the preseason and told you that this would be a playoff matchup, I guarantee everyone would have laughed at me, but here we are. The beauty of the NFL is that you can never know for sure which teams will be good and which teams will be bad (I’m talking to you Philly). Earlier in the season I said that the Texans were playing some of the best football in the AFC, but then Matt Schaub got injured and everything has been going downhill since. Though the Texans have an excellent D and great run game, I’m going to be putting my money on the rookie Andy Dalton to “upset” T.J. Yates and the Houston Texans. However, if Matt Schaub decides to pull a superman and play, I’m picking the Texans to win the super-mediocre AFC championship.
AFC
3. Houston vs 6. Cincinnati
If I turned the clocks back to the preseason and told you that this would be a playoff matchup, I guarantee everyone would have laughed at me, but here we are. The beauty of the NFL is that you can never know for sure which teams will be good and which teams will be bad (I’m talking to you Philly). Earlier in the season I said that the Texans were playing some of the best football in the AFC, but then Matt Schaub got injured and everything has been going downhill since. Though the Texans have an excellent D and great run game, I’m going to be putting my money on the rookie Andy Dalton to “upset” T.J. Yates and the Houston Texans. However, if Matt Schaub decides to pull a superman and play, I’m picking the Texans to win the super-mediocre AFC championship.
Texans 14 – BENGALS 21
4. Denver vs 5. Pittsburgh
I hate most NFL owners and NFL fans, but I especially hate the NFL media. Tim Tebow has been mediocre at best all season, yet every household with access to the internet and/or a television knows the name Tebow. It took him an entire season to complete enough passes to even QUALIFY to have his QB rating calculated, and with a score of 72.9, he sits 27th out of 33 passers...garbage. I’ve been saying for most of the season that the Steelers are headed downhill, but even with a broken Ben Roethlisberger and an aging D, Blitzburgh will bury the Broncos and hopefully shut this Tebowmania up, at least for the duration of the offseason.
Broncos 10 – STEELERS 24
NFC
3. New Orleans vs 6. Detroit
WHO DAT SAID DEY GON BEAT DEM SAINTS?!? This has been a fantastic season to be a Saints fan and an even better season if Drew Brees is your favourite player. Brees has had a once in a lifetime type season and broken many prestigious offensive records. This isn’t another Saints article, so let’s take a look at this game real quick. The Saints easily handled the Lions in their game earlier this season, but had it not been for Detroit’s 67,000 penalty yards, the game could have actually been much closer. Lion’s QB Matt Stafford is extremely inconsistent, but in the past few weeks, him and Calvin “Megatron” Johnson have been piling up the stats. Even with a very volatile offense and a tough defence (when they don’t give up 200 penalty yards), the Lions are no match for the Saints. If Detroit puts up 50 points, Drew Brees will find a way to put up 51, it’s as simple as that. This is almost guaranteed to be a high-scoring shoot out, but I don’t think there’s any real chance that the Lions can upset the Saints. One thing I predict that most people probably don’t expect is that the Saints will shut down Megatron. New Orleans’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams firmly believes that you shouldn’t let the other team’s best players beat you and always comes up with a way to take the opposition’s most dangerous weapon out of the game. If you don’t believe me, go to 0:42 of this link and you’ll see what the tactic was the last time these 2 teams faced off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX0JjyTgme0
SAINTS 42 – 35 Lions
4. New York vs 5. Atlanta
ELLIIII MANNNINGGGGGGG!!! What an absolute stud! To say that he hasn’t had a great year is simply retarded. With the game on the line in the 4th quarter, when it mattered most, only Aaron Rodgers had a better passer rating than Eli. He deserved the Pro Bowl spot and showed me that he is one of the top 5 QBs in the league. Atlanta on the other hand has coasted for much of the season and faced an extremely easy schedule all year. I personally don’t think they’re very good, but on any given Sunday, anyone can come out on top. The G-men are built very similar to the Giants team that won the superbowl in ’07, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made another deep playoff run this year. Atlanta lucked out by not having to play (re: lose) to the Saints for the 3rd time this season, but I don’t think they have enough experience against good opponents to come away with this game.
GIANTS 24 – 21 Falcons
That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll talk about my take on the Wildcard Round and put up my predictions for the Divisional Round.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Gospel of Tebow: A Running Diary of The Bears-Broncos 4th Quarter and OT
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The Philadelphia Eagles won today making their record a fantastically mediocre 5-8. Not bad for a team that spent a small country's budget on free agent signings this past summer. Since Eagles games are no longer of any competitive importance, I thought I'd watch Tim Tebow and the Broncos attempt to continue their improbable winning ways. What follows are my thoughts while watching the 4th quarter between the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears (I had an NBA post I was going to write but David Stern vetoed that).
14:55 - It's 10-0 for the Bears at the start of the fourth quarter, Tebow is 3/16 for 46 yards and a pick. So it's basically playing out like every other Broncos game this season.
13:30 - Broncos offense can't do anything against the Bears D. 4th straight 3 and out. Devin Hester awaiting the punt, I know it's been said but why kick to him? They do, it's a good punt though and Hester is forced to call for a fair catch.
12:41 - Jay Cutler isn't playing this game. Official story is that he's injured but I think we all know what's going on here. Fake an injury or play Tebow on the Lord's day? Not really a tough decision.. (Completely joking btw)
11:29 - Bears go 3 and out and punt due to a horrible pass by Caleb Hanie. He missed a wide open Marion Barber by 10 yards. Just terrible.
11:03 - Tebow takes a hit from the weakside but stays in there and completes a pass. First completion since the first quarter. Talk about playing dead! What a strategy.
9:58 - Three straight completions for Tebow! The Broncos are driving! I can't stop typing exclamation marks!
9:22 - Tebow takes a sack off a strange play call by John Fox.
8:53 - Oh and Tebow gets sacked and he fumbles the ball. Da Bears recover. Faith in Tebow will be tested this game. I don't see Denver scoring twice on this Bears defense but still plenty of time to go.
8:53 - One thing I don't understand about this whole Tebow thing is why so many people hate him. Is it because he doesn't play the position the way it "should be played"? This makes no sense and is simply an excuse given by those who do hate him. If this was the way athletes should be judged then Shawn Marion would be the most hated NBA player of all time.
7:40 - Big 3rd down and 7 for the Bears right here. They hand the ball off to Barber who gets nothing so Chicago will punt to the Broncos. Strangely conservative play-calling by Lovie Smith there. I'm not saying go for the endzone but if everyone in the stadium and watching at home know that you're going to run the ball then by all likelihood so does the opposing team's defense.
The Philadelphia Eagles won today making their record a fantastically mediocre 5-8. Not bad for a team that spent a small country's budget on free agent signings this past summer. Since Eagles games are no longer of any competitive importance, I thought I'd watch Tim Tebow and the Broncos attempt to continue their improbable winning ways. What follows are my thoughts while watching the 4th quarter between the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears (I had an NBA post I was going to write but David Stern vetoed that).
14:55 - It's 10-0 for the Bears at the start of the fourth quarter, Tebow is 3/16 for 46 yards and a pick. So it's basically playing out like every other Broncos game this season.
13:30 - Broncos offense can't do anything against the Bears D. 4th straight 3 and out. Devin Hester awaiting the punt, I know it's been said but why kick to him? They do, it's a good punt though and Hester is forced to call for a fair catch.
12:41 - Jay Cutler isn't playing this game. Official story is that he's injured but I think we all know what's going on here. Fake an injury or play Tebow on the Lord's day? Not really a tough decision.. (Completely joking btw)
11:29 - Bears go 3 and out and punt due to a horrible pass by Caleb Hanie. He missed a wide open Marion Barber by 10 yards. Just terrible.
11:03 - Tebow takes a hit from the weakside but stays in there and completes a pass. First completion since the first quarter. Talk about playing dead! What a strategy.
9:58 - Three straight completions for Tebow! The Broncos are driving! I can't stop typing exclamation marks!
9:22 - Tebow takes a sack off a strange play call by John Fox.
8:53 - Oh and Tebow gets sacked and he fumbles the ball. Da Bears recover. Faith in Tebow will be tested this game. I don't see Denver scoring twice on this Bears defense but still plenty of time to go.
8:53 - One thing I don't understand about this whole Tebow thing is why so many people hate him. Is it because he doesn't play the position the way it "should be played"? This makes no sense and is simply an excuse given by those who do hate him. If this was the way athletes should be judged then Shawn Marion would be the most hated NBA player of all time.
7:40 - Big 3rd down and 7 for the Bears right here. They hand the ball off to Barber who gets nothing so Chicago will punt to the Broncos. Strangely conservative play-calling by Lovie Smith there. I'm not saying go for the endzone but if everyone in the stadium and watching at home know that you're going to run the ball then by all likelihood so does the opposing team's defense.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Eagles: Week 7
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I'm back. After a midterm/assignment week that was about as much fun as a shower at Shawshank, I am back and ready to talk some Philadelphia Eagles football!! (the exclamation marks are there because when are you not excited to say FOOTBALL!!) So what exactly have the Eagles done in my 3 week writing absence? They've gone 1-2 in that time while playing some insanely sloppy (think Deena and Snooki) football in their two losses while in their one win, which happened last weekend, Philly managed to make Rex Grossman look like... well Rex Grossman. This ushered in the John Beck era in Washington (have fun with that Redskins fans) and left me strangely optimistic (we beat the divisional champs at home, I don't care that their starting QB was so bad that fans started chanting for his backup who hadn't played a game since 2007. I can be excited, the season's been tough so far.). The Eagles of course had a bye weekend this week so on the one Sunday in the past 3 weeks that I had to relax and enjoy the NFL, my favourite team wasn't on the field (further proving I have angered the scheduling gods in some way).
If you're an Eagles fan i think you have to be cautiously excited for the rest of the season. Even with our record being a terrible 2-4, we are a couple of bounces here and there from winning at least 2 more of those games. In just the last 2 losses, the first being against the Niners (This loss makes way more sense 3 weeks later. San Francisco is very good, they have a great defense, great special teams, a sneaky good offense and a coach who prides himself in giving overzealous somewhat douchey but always entertaining post-game handshakes), Philadelphia could have won if rookie kicker Alex Henery had made one of his two very make-able fourth quarter field goals. The second loss against the Bills showed how unlucky Philly has been in the early part of the season. I'm pretty sure one of Vick's interceptions in that game hit every single person in Ralph Wilson stadium before falling into the hands of a Buffalo Bills player (just about).
I'm back. After a midterm/assignment week that was about as much fun as a shower at Shawshank, I am back and ready to talk some Philadelphia Eagles football!! (the exclamation marks are there because when are you not excited to say FOOTBALL!!) So what exactly have the Eagles done in my 3 week writing absence? They've gone 1-2 in that time while playing some insanely sloppy (think Deena and Snooki) football in their two losses while in their one win, which happened last weekend, Philly managed to make Rex Grossman look like... well Rex Grossman. This ushered in the John Beck era in Washington (have fun with that Redskins fans) and left me strangely optimistic (we beat the divisional champs at home, I don't care that their starting QB was so bad that fans started chanting for his backup who hadn't played a game since 2007. I can be excited, the season's been tough so far.). The Eagles of course had a bye weekend this week so on the one Sunday in the past 3 weeks that I had to relax and enjoy the NFL, my favourite team wasn't on the field (further proving I have angered the scheduling gods in some way).
If you're an Eagles fan i think you have to be cautiously excited for the rest of the season. Even with our record being a terrible 2-4, we are a couple of bounces here and there from winning at least 2 more of those games. In just the last 2 losses, the first being against the Niners (This loss makes way more sense 3 weeks later. San Francisco is very good, they have a great defense, great special teams, a sneaky good offense and a coach who prides himself in giving overzealous somewhat douchey but always entertaining post-game handshakes), Philadelphia could have won if rookie kicker Alex Henery had made one of his two very make-able fourth quarter field goals. The second loss against the Bills showed how unlucky Philly has been in the early part of the season. I'm pretty sure one of Vick's interceptions in that game hit every single person in Ralph Wilson stadium before falling into the hands of a Buffalo Bills player (just about).
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