Headline Tuesday

Tweet Happy Christmas Eve everyone! I'm going to roll out a gimmick I've been thinking about doing for a while, I call it "headline tuesday." Basically, every Tuesday I will log on to ESPNs main page and write some abstract thoughts about some of their main headlines. Lets do this.

Fake Headline: NBA cancels Christmas Day slate, cites pathetic match-ups. Commissoner Stern considers flexing games from March.

Man I wish they could flex some future games for those first three abominations. How about Getting Indiana-Miami, Portland-OKC, Suns-Mavs, we can leave Houston-San Antonio and Golden State-LAC as they are, come on David, you can do it! Alas, on to the actual headlines.

Headline # 1: Romo Gets Epidural

Essentially Tony Romo is getting an injection to see if he can play this week and potentially help the Cowboys make the playoffs. This story just irritates me on so many levels. This Cowboys team (despite what Jerry Jones may tell you) is not very good, I think we can all agree on that. Whether they get bounced in week 17 in a do-or-die game against the Eagles or the first wild-card game of the playoffs is the only pertinent question left here. So why then risk the long-term health of the quarterback you just signed to a seven year extension? Shut him down for the season, let him get healthy and come back stronger next year. If Kyle Orton manages to pull off some playoff magic along the way so be it, but I don't think this Cowboys team can win the Superbowl this year, simply not worth the risk in my opinion.

Headline # 2: Nets' Pierce Fined 15K for Flagrant on Hill
Alternate: Garnett Says Nets Still Lack Identity

Two for the price of one! Man, what a sad season for the Brooklyn Nets. This team was supposed to challenge Miami? At the rate they are going they wont even make the playoffs and to make matters worse, they will have no draft picks in one of the best lotteries of all time. The way this organization is being run is an absolute joke. At this point the classy thing to do would be to trade KG and Pierce to teams that actually have a chance of making the playoffs, don't let their career end like this, please Billy King, if anyone can make this team worse its you.

Half-baked trade idea: KG + Pierce + Deron Williams to the Suns for at least 2 of their picks, one of Dragic/Bledsoe and Emeka Okafor's expiring contract. Of course, there is no way in hell the Suns do this but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Headline # 3: Garret Not Coaching For His Job, Jones Says

Ugh, nobody likes you Jerry Jones!

Headline # 4: D'antoni: "Find Another Team If Discouraged"

Man has it finally sunk in to Laker fans that they probably will not make the playoffs this year? The fact that their winning percentage without Kobe Bryant is higher than the percentage of winning with him speaks volumes about how wacky this Lakers season has been. Lakers fans: Settle down, you have had an incredible amount of success and have been spoiled by having some of the best players ever play for you. The Lakers' management baffles me as well. The smartest course of action would be to shut Kobe and Nash down for the year, trade Gasol for picks + assets and luck into a franchise player (the most Lakers thing ever). After all that is done sign Westbrook and Love and boom! Instant-contenders (Don't think that this can't happen). Luckily for us, the Lakers are satisfied being a 10 seed and stupid enough to believe that they can make serious noise in the playoffs. Let's enjoy this while it lasts, it does not happen often to this franchise.

Headline # 5: Bettman Upholds Ban for Bruin's Thorton

Good job Gary! Well done! I would have suspended him for longer.

Headline # 6: 49ers foil Falcons, grab playoff berth

This game made sure that some crazy scenarios (including the Seahawks dropping to a 5-seed, the Saints not making the playoffs, and Arizona winning 11 games and not making it to the playoffs) are all in play for week 17, most of them are really unlucky and the big losers here are Cardinals fans who really may have the scariest team. A real shame that they peaked in a season where the NFC has so much quality teams.

This is a video that pinpoints exactly the moment Cardinal fans had their hearts ripped in half.

See you next Tuesday for more headlines.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

NFL Picks and an E-Mail Exchange

Tweet Daki: Luka, I just realized that once the NBA starts we may never talk about anything else on this blog. I think this is a perfect time to bust out the time tested gimmick of exchanging e-mails and talk NFL picks (for maybe the last time until playoffs). Just to drive that point home I will sprinkle in random NBA tidbits throughout the post. But first, we might as well start with one of the games of the week in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons going up against the Eagles of Philadelphia. How do you think your Eagles will do this week against the undefeated Falcons? The line has moved all the way to -3 and it seems that people are trusting Andy Reid off a bye-week vs. Andy Reid in any other game.

Atlanta (+3) At Philadelphia

I gotta say, I love the Eagles to win here, can't really explain why, but I just think that they are too talented to be so mediocre and with Andrew Bunym's knee injury, the people of Philadelphia need hope!

Luka: My favorite Eagles week this year was last week and we had it off. Everyone says the same thing when they talk about this team, that they could win by 40 or lose by 40 any given week and it's true. For this week though, I also am feeling an Eagles win. Reid is inexplicably great after bye weeks and a Falcons team that has practically clinched their division already (Let-Down game!!) adds up to a possible Philly victory that will get all their fans (myself included) praising the likes of Vick and Jackson as the second-coming of Montana and Rice. I'm personally excited to start calling a (hopefully) 4-3 team the Super-Bowl favorites next week. As for Bynum and the Sixers, I don't think any fan will tell you they were shocked when they started hearing Bynum injured stories. That comes with the territory but I do hope he gets better and we  have an NBA season where the Atlantic Division is undoubtedly the strongest (maybe the Mayans were right).

Daki: Yes, for the first time in a long time it seems that the East actually managed to get stronger across the conference. Speaking of strong conferences, how about this NFC? I am making a slightly bold prediction that 11 wins might not be enough for the playoffs and that one team from the NFC East, North, and West will legitimately feel that they could have made the playoffs in almost any other season. Which is what makes games like these:

Carolina (+7.5) At Chicago

So important. Chicago has relatively few "easy" games left and has to win them all to a) keep up with Atlanta for home-field advantage and b) fend off teams like the Giants and Packers for a first-round bye. Am I crazy or does Carolina get random respect from Vegas? Chicago by 2+ touchdowns lock it down.

Luka:I agree with your point on Vegas' unfounded respect for the Panthers and think it has to come from the Cam Newton effect. But is he even that good? I mean don't get me wrong, hes incredibly gifted physically but his team is 1-5 and it seems like every week more and more stories of Cam throwing his teammates under the bus seem to surface. I too like the Bears to cover this game. Chicago is somehow a sneaky 5-1.

Daki: Chicago is playing the old San Antonio Spurs trick of not drawing any attention as they demolish the league.

Indianapolis (+3.5) At Tennessee

Is it possible that one of these two teams could sneak into the AFC playoffs? Have they caught the guy giving Chris Johnson steroids? That has to be the logical explanation of his sudden re-emergence as a running back who can beat teams by himself. Johnson scares me enough to pick the Titans at home here

Luka: Lance Armstrong's guy had to find a new client. As for the game I feel like it'll come down to whether or not you trust Chris Johnson's ability to string consistent games together (Matt Hasselbeck is starting for the Titans. Yes, you read that correctly) and personally I feel like until I see it again, I'm not jumping back onto that ship. So give me Luck and the Colts to somehow be 4-3 after this game. Quick, let's go to the next game though before I change my mind.

Jacksonville (-14.5) At Green Bay

Daki: *sigh* The Jaguars? We have to talk about one of the least interesting franchises in North American sports? CFL teams are more interesting than these guys. At least they get to be one of the teams that the Packers slaughter on their way back to 'Superbowl team' status. Why isn't David Stern running the NFL? He would have moved the Jaguars to Toronto years ago. Even better, nobody would have cared (unlike the Seattle Sonics fans). On that note what do you think of Stern announcing his retirement (15 months early?) I will always remember him as the guy who screwed the 02' Kings out of a title and as a stubborn old man who to this day refuses to acknowledge that his league has a massive officiating problem.

Luka: I just thought of something, how amazing would it be if the NFL adopted a relegation system with the CFL where the worst two teams in the NFL get replaced by the two best CFL teams each year? You're telling me this game wouldn't be more fun to talk about if Green Bay had to go to Saskatchewan to take on the Rough Riders instead? Goodell and CFL commissioner whose name I didn't even bother googling. Let's make this happen. Green Bay should demolish the Jags at home so i'll pick them to cover although I'm not feeling it's a lock they'll win by 2+ touchdowns. David Stern I'll always remember as this sort of grumpy old bully who despite some missteps (the microfiber ball? that was fun) has made the NBA a juggernaut of a league worldwide. All i ask from him before he retires is to move a team back to Seattle and to give the Kings the 02 title. The early 2000's Lakers were the most unlikable team in that era (Fuck Rick Fox) so who's saying no to this?

Daki: The people who are saying no to that are those moronic Laker fans who think that Kobe is the best player in the league today (sorry, he may not be top 5 anymore). I love the relegation idea, if anything it would single-handily save the CFL. Can you imagine if the Redskins had to go to Montreal (the team who they stole the Expos from) for a playoff game? Nazi Germany would receive a better welcome. If by some miracle anyone in the NFL/CFL is reading this make it happen! All we ask is for credit and royalties. Anyways, on to the next game:

Miami Dolphins (+3) At New York Jets

A perplexing line to me. I think that this Jets team is sneaky underrated and will take care of business in this key division game.

Luka: A good defense combined with a wacky offense and the dynamic duo of Sanchez and Tebow (kidding, obviously) spells trouble for the Dolphins this week. I'll take the Jets too although i wouldn't be surprised if I turn on the game in the second quarter to see a score of 24-0 for the Dolphins while the Jets fans boo Sanchez and plea for Tebow. Also, Rex Ryan has to be in the conversation for coach of the year right? I mean who's on this Jets team?

Daki: Absolutely.

New England (-7) Vs. Rams - From London England!

Perplexing that this game will be on at the same time that Chelsea takes on Man U and Liverpool plays Everton in the Merseyside derby. Just poor decision making from the NFL schedule makers here. I think that the Rams cover this week, the Patriots need to prove that they are a good team before spreads over 4 points are applied to them.

Luka: I`m taking the Patriots, Chelsea, and a draw in the Merseyside derby. I`m not sure anyone in London even cares that they get an NFL game each year. If the NFL was serious in expanding its popularity across the globe, you`d think that this game would be a bigger deal each year and yet it never is. Strange.

Daki: San Diego (-3) At Cleveland A.k.a: Free money!

Luka: It should tell you how bad the Chargers season is going that I was going to pick the Browns this week before  reading that Trent Richardson might be out. Without Richardson I think that Cleveland's offense will be more reliant on Brandon Weeden and no one should have to bet on a team "more reliant on Brandon Weeden". So give me the mediocre Chargers on the road.

Daki: Seattle (+2.5) At Detroit

At first I almost wagered all I had on this game, then I realized that the game is being played in Detroit and not in Seattle. The fact of the matter is that the Seahawks are not a very good road team and I fully expect the Lions to cement that notion.

***The James Harden Trade put everything into flux for this post, so we shelved it and decided to stop here.

A Collaborative Effort: The Week 5 NFL Picks

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This was supposed to be the year where I managed to make picks for every week of the season. The year I could accurately gauge my results and see how much I actually know about predicting the outcomes of football games with point spreads. The year where I would manage my time appropriately and not let school overwhelm me to the point where I could not do the things I liked to do (like write on this blog for example). So much for that. A test, two assignments and a presentation squeezed in-between a trip to Kingston quickly dashed any hope of a week 4 picks post. With some luck that will be the only lost week we have. To get this thing off to a fresh start, Luka and I decided to do a nice back-and-forth for the slate of games in week 5 of NFL action. I kicked things off with the most puzzling spread of the week.

Atlanta Falcons (-3) At Washington Redskins

Daki: Luka, this has to be the weirdest line of the week right? Atlanta is undefeated and coming off of a tough game, looking to prove that they are a much better team than the one that almost lost to Carolina last week. The Atlanta offense vs. the Redskins defense seems like a bigger mismatch than Ron Artest vs. Sanity. Does Vegas know something we don't!?

Luka: The only thing i can think of is Vegas must have a case of RG3 fever because based on their play this season there's no reason Atlanta shouldn't be favored by more than a touchdown. That being said, the Falcons didn't play well at all last week against Carolina and only won due to Andy Reid-like coaching from Ron Rivera and terrible plays by a poor Panthers secondary. With the Nationals making the playoffs for the first time in forever, maybe the Redskins can pull off this upset and make this a Washington weekend. I doubt it though so I'm taking Matty Ice (horrible nickname) and the Falcons.

Daki: I too am taking the Falcons.

Baltimore Ravens (-6.5) At Kansas City Chiefs

Daki: This one seems almost too easy doesn't it? One team (The Ravens) is clearly better than the other and should win this game comfortably. So why do I have an absolutely horrible feeling about taking the Ravens here?

Luka: You shouldn't. Baltimore's going to put KC in a vacant this week. Let's move on.

Cleveland Browns (+8.5) At New York Giants

Daki: Can we just rename the Ravens to be 'The Baltimore Wire'? I would like the team 15x more if this happened. As for this game (and for all six people who plan on watching it) I see the Giants winning but the Browns covering the spread. This Giants team cant play the role of favorites, had they come into this game with only 20 available players I would have taken them without hesitation.

Luka: They could even play the Clay Davis "Shieeeeeeeetttt" soundbite each time they got a penalty. Come on Baltimore, let's make this happen. As for the Giants, I'm not sure they've recovered from the beatdown (extremely close and lucky win) my Philadelphia Eagles put on them last week. In all seriousness though, I can already see what's going to happen with this game. With about 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter the scores will come up on whatever game you're watching and it'll show the Browns up by 7 with the ball. Next thing you know a Brandon Weeden pick-6 will be followed by an Eli late-game drive to give the G-men the win.

Green Bay Packers (-7) At Indianapolis Colts

Daki: And you know that when you finally see the highlights from the game there will be a combination of at least two of the following: miraculously avoided sacks by Eli, sure picks dropped by Browns defenders, A Giants fumble that gets ruled 'down by contact'or blown dead for no reason, a miraculous catch by a Giants wide-receiver. I am anticipating that we will see those highlights at some point of this Packers obliteration of the Colts. Seriously Green Bay, you have not played one complete game of football yet. Make this the week where you send out a friendly reminder to the rest of the NFL that you should be taken seriously, I think this one is over at half.

Luka: Based on talent alone this game shouldn't be close. However, Colts head Coach Steve Spagnolo was sadly diagnosed with leukemia this past week and will not be at the game as he continues to battle the disease. We've seen these types of stories before and these games usually go one of two ways. Either the team battling off-field issues is too emotionally drained to show up or they're as fired up as a team can be. I'm still taking the Packers but this game has a "DO IT FOR COACH" factor that could lead to an upset. Also I'm hoping the Packers continue to get screwed by the refs since it's become a funny subplot of this season.

Miami Dolphins (+3) At Cincinnati Bengals

Daki: Funny for everyone who is not a Packers fan that is. I legitimately feel bad for them, its a real testament to them that they're still finding ways to win. I am also terrified of the "DO IT FOR COACH" factor. As for this Dolphins-Bengals game (If you're scoring at home: that is now four out of a possible five games that will be absolutely terrible to watch on paper) who really knows? The Bengals are 3-1 and I don't think that we could name the teams they've beaten without the aid of the internet. the Dolphins almost beat Arizona last week and honestly, that is the only relevant thing I can think of with them. Is it wrong of me to not care about teams that have no shot at winning the Super Bowl? I'm taking the home-team with the better record here.

Luka: How come the Bengals get no slack for being a shitty 3-1 team and the Eagles do? At least we beat the Giants AND the Ravens! As for this game, stay away unless you have a gambling problem because literally anything could happen. If i had to pick I'd take the Dolphins only because Ace Ventura rescued their mascot and Dan Marino from Ray Finkle (What do you mean that was a movie?!?).

Philadelphia Eagles (+3.5) At Pittsburgh Steelers

Daki: Speak of the devil! To answer your question in the simplest way possible: The Bengals get slack because they do not have a -17 point differential, they are not expected to do anything (the Eagles are), and frankly, no one cares about the Bengals. Its in my nature to hate the Dolphins simply for that whole 'get together and celebrate when the last unbeaten team loses' tradition that is on par with thinking that the early 2000's Lakers squad was a bunch of classy guys. But I could write 50, 000 words about those topics so I will save them for another time. Anyways, your Eagles are long overdue for an absolute Andy Reid time management cluster-fuck that costs them a game (so far he's tried, but has not succeeded in losing a game in this way). He has been getting closer though, and I think that this is the week he pulls it off. I am taking the Steelers who have had the extra week to prepare, are at home, and can't afford to go 1-3.

Luka: I can't handle this Eagles team anymore. I feel like i should be writing a 10000 page hate-filled rant about the season so far and then i look at our record and we're 3-1!! I mean has there ever been a team so talented winning games in spite of themselves? It's nerve-wracking to watch and yet I like our chances this week. Philly is kind of like the Giants in the sense that when they should win, they don't. So I love how no one is picking the Eagles this week. Also, the Andy Reid thing is really getting out of hand. Do you think he thinks he's a horrible coach or that the moronic, impossible to understand decisions he makes week after week are actually beneficial to his team? Can the NFL just make us play with no timeouts since that's 3 less ways he can fuck up the game. Just really really bad coaching. On a positive note though, our pass rush is going to make Ben feel like he made that girl feel in that bathroom (too soon?).

Chicago Bears (-5.5) At Jacksonville Jaguars

Daki: I don't think its ever too soon for Ben jokes (Also I think I just figured out why announcers affectionately call "Ben" by his first name, its a lot easier to say and type than his last name, which I wont bother with). All I know is that I am looking forward to sending you my now weekly "hey, have the Eagles ever finished a game with three time-outs?" BBM. That game will definitely be on a television in the house, a perfect tie-in with this Bears game that even Chicago-area bars might have second-thoughts about showing. I personally think this line is ridiculous and that Vegas is throwing free money at people. So naturally at some point on Sunday I will stare blankly as the ticker at the bottom flashes: Jags 15 Bears 14 (because you know it will be some odd scoreline).

Luka: "YOU DON'T GO IN TO THE HOUSE GABBERT BUILT AND GET A WIN THAT EASY" - no one ever. This line gets even weirder when you realize that the Jags lost to the Bengals last week by 17. The only thing I can think of that would make Vegas put this line so low is that they (like the rest of us) hate Jay Cutler because he's a huge douche. And that's something I can get behind. Take the Bears though, that defense could beat Jacksonville by themselves.

Seattle Seahawks (+3) At Carolina Panthers

Daki: Its like the NFL made sure that everyone would have to watch Brady and Manning by offering can't miss games like these. Seriously, I am on at least my sixth "man this is a crappy game" joke and we only have half as many Wire references? This needs to change. So I'm gonna let your boy Stringer Bell talk to us about this Panthers season so far:

This week the Panthers submit another 40-degree day.

Luka: Best Wire character (possibly greatest TV character) hands down. Also that clip became 100x times better after I pictured Pete Caroll delivering that exact same speech to his team before the game tomorrow. At least we know what we're getting from the Panthers though, a few great Cam Newton plays combined with a lot of other bad stuff. The Seahawks? They're the most confusing team in the league. Russell Wilson might be really bad and this team should be 1-3 not 2-2. If GOLDEN TATE doesn't happen, are the Seahawks even relevant anymore? In my opinion they have to show up for this game and beat the Panthers convincingly if they want to be taken seriously and in my opinion they will. I'm taking the Hawks.

Buffalo (+9.5) At San Francisco

Daki: This is only San Francisco's second home game? Other than that I don't really have much to say as I abstain from commenting or making predictions on the games that involve my favorite team. I will say this though: how is it possible that the NFC West could be the best division in football? In the same year that the Atlantic division in the NBA might be the best one, the Orioles made the playoffs and Oakland is 'money-balling' again miraculously. What's next? A Leafs Stanley Cup?

Luka: The one good thing about the NHL lockout? I can delay my Maple Leafs-induced sadness for a few months. Moving on, how many passes does Fitzpatrick complete? 4? 5? Is it possible to throw for negative yardage? Unless you're a Niners fan, don't watch because this one won't be close. So instead, watch this clip from the greatest Michael Bay movie of all time, 'The Rock' (yes that's Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage in a chase scene in the streets of San Francisco and yes, Connery is driving a Hummer. You can thank me later.)

Denver Broncos (+6) At New England Patriots

Daki: Can we get Bay and Cage in on 'Fast and Furious 6'? Is it too late? Would a movie ever be as unintentionally funny as that one? But I digress. This is easily the game of the week for the NFL. They get to trot out their two golden boys and hype the match-up beyond proportions. So on Sunday expect: Every game's announcers to mention this one. Every studio break will talk about this game. At least 12 "Isn't it great to see these two play against each other again" quotes, and some questionable officiating to keep the game close.

Luka: At this point I'd pay to see Cage in anything. I can't wait for this game even though every Manning pass thrown for more than 20 yards looks like a punt. Am I the only who thinks the Pats are going to kill the Broncos? They have better players at each position and are playing at home. Everyone's going to be watching this game though. Can't wait.

Tennessee Titans (+5.5) At Minnesota Vikings

Daki: You are not the only one, but the NFL be damned if their marquee match-up is a blow out. This next game sucks. I want the Vikings to win though, so I am gonna pick them.

Luka: This game does suck but Minnesota appears to be good (if not good at least average) which defies everything anyone said prior to the season starting. You remember how everyone was deservedly hating on Ponder last season and look at him now. He's done a decent job at a John Elway impression these past 4 weeks and has silenced (for the time being) all of the naysayers. The one thing Vikings fans should be worried about is Matt Hasselbeck starting for the Titans. What's that? It's not 2005? Okay scratch that last thing I said. Let's take the Vikings in this game and move on.

San Diego Chargers (+3.5) At New Orleans Saints

Daki: People laughed at me when I said the Saints would go 6-10, well who's laughing now! On that note, how is an 0-4 team favored in any game? I mean sure that touchdown streak is pretty cool but does anyone actually care? I personally think that if Brees was offered 4-0 and no record, that he would take that option. Also I know that the Matt Ryan MVP bandwagon is gaining steam, so is this not the game for Rivers to throw his hat into the race?

Luka: As weird as this sounds, do you know who I think is loving this Saints season more than anyone else? Sean Payton. He finally has ammunition whenever anyone says he isn't a great coach or that coaching in general isn't important. As for the game, I'm not sure I've seen one snap of Chargers football all year but no matter who they have on the offensive side they should be able to score 30+ points on this terrible Saints D. If I were the Saints defensive coordinator, I'd bring back the bounty system because what's worse? Getting embarrassed each and every week with teams scoring at will on you or the chance that somewhere down the line you get caught by the NFL and punished justly. Alright so that wasn't serious but you have to admit there's some weird logic to it. I'm taking the Chargers in a very high-scoring affair that should be fun to watch.

Monday Night Football: Houston Texans (-8.5) At New York Jets

Daki: Sean Payton must be getting more excited by each loss, because it sets up a dream scenario for him next season: the savior. Its basically a no-lose situation for him (the exact opposite of the replacement refs) If the team does well it is because of him, if they don't then it is because the team is poorly built to begin with. Finally for our last game we get to TEEEEEEBOOOOOOWWWW. Why is Rex Ryan insisting on keeping faith with the Sanchize? Did he not watch football last year? This is an ideal scenario to throw Tebow into. At the very worst he would generate excitement and intrigue about the Jets, and maybe even spark them to a few extra wins. If Tebow were starting I would take the Jets without blinking, but he is not, so I am taking the best team in football (so far) to cover.

Luka: I feel bad for Mark Sanchez, as bad as you can feel for a multi-millionaire that plays football for a living that is. How much must it suck for all of your team's fans to be clamoring for your head on a plate while at the same time begging the coach to play your backup who in every single conceivable, logical way is a much worse quarterback then you?!?! I get that Tebow has magical powers and is the second coming of Jesus but I don't think we'll be seeing him pull his shit this week. If anything, he'll come in with the Jets down 20+ points and proceed to look frisky but that's it. Houston is too good for Tebowmania to strike them. However when the Jets play the Colts next week, watch out. That'll be the first week this year where Tebow turns into TEEEEEEEEEBBOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW. For this week's game beware the backdoor cover by the Jets but nothing more. I'm taking the Texans.

Daki: I really do hope Tebow starts defying the odds again so we can watch fun arguments between analysts and former pro's about whether or not Tebow is actually good. Is it so wrong to cheer for a hard-working athlete who nobody believes in? If Rex eventually gives in and starts playing Tebow and the Jets start winning, it will be another classic 'overcame the odds' story and I don't think that there is a person on the planet who does not enjoy those. In any case, this exchange was actually a lot of fun and we should do it more often.

Week 3 NFL Picks

Tweet 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!

Thursday Night NFL Pick

Tweet I am keeping this very brief for reasons that I will explain in the next picks post (coming either Saturday or early Sunday). Tonight's game puts the New York Giants, comeback kings, versus the Carolina Panthers who are led by the dynamic Cam Newton. Eli and Cam could not be more different in terms of athletic ability, one guy looks like an athlete and the other looks like a middle school math teacher (think 'presbo' from the Wire). Anyways, all signs point to a Carolina win tonight: at home, less injured,  much better than people gave them credit for over the first two weeks and so on. For this reason I am picking the Giants (-3). Eli and co. have pulled this trick on us before, I am not falling for it again.

Last Thursday's prediction: victory.

Enjoy your football everyone!

Week 2 NFL Picks

Tweet I initially planned to do these sometime on Saturday, but that plan fell through and I am making the picks for week 2 of the NFL season on Sunday morning. On Thursday, my last-second pick of the Packers over the Bears turned out to be golden. Hopefully that carries over.

Arizona (+14) At New England

The Patriots open their season at home against a team with a weak secondary, a mediocre QB, and not much talent. Expect Tom Brady to put up huge numbers in this one in a blow out.

The pick: Patriots

Game of the week: Baltimore (+3) At Philadelphia

It might be a really bad sign for the Eagles that every person in North America is taking the Ravens in this game (with confidence). To be honest, I have no idea how they came up with this line. The Ravens routed a descent team, while the Eagles barely beat the Browns... the Browns! Perhaps Vegas thinks that the Eagles will actually run the ball more today and be effective doing it, or they are afraid of Vick having one of those games where he just beats a team by himself. Regardless, this week the Ravens send a message to the rest of the NFL.

The pick: Ravens

Cleveland (+7) At Cincinnati

The two teams that lost to the Eagles and Ravens last week! We get a chance to see if Cleveland is actually better than we think, and the Bengals worse. Don't count on it though.

The pick: Cincy

Houston (-6.5) At Jacksonville

AFC contender vs. AFC doormat. Houston has been making noise the past few seasons, and if they want people to take them seriously as contenders they need to brush teams like the Jaguars away convincingly. I think they are contenders and I think they show it by beating up on a much weaker team.

The pick: Houston

Kansas City (+3) At Buffalo

Neither team wants to start 0-2 (well, I don't think anyone actually wants to start off without a win in their first two games) but both teams will look at this as an opportunity to get a W.

The pick: Kansas City

Minnesota (-2.5) At Indianapolis

Andrew Luck should fare much better against a defense that isn't the Bears, but Adrian Peterson should run this Colts team ragged.

The pick: Vikings

Upset Special: New Orleans (-3) At Carolina

This game reminds us of how important coaching is in the NFL and we are treated to a variety of "Whats wrong with the Saints" stories all of next week. Cam Newton wins a fantasy football match-up by himself

The pick: Panthers

Oakland (-1.5) At Miami

A West-coast team travelling East to play a 1pm game in the blistering Miami conditions after having a shorter week to prepare? And Carson Palmer is involved? Take the Dolphins and the money.

The pick: Dolphins

Tampa Bay (+7.5) At New York Giants

Before the season started, I jumped on 16-1 odds on Tampa to win the division. Those odds are now down to 8-1 and I am picking Tampa to win outright today! Of course this means that Eli will tear them apart and make me regret ever typing this.

The pick: Tampa

Dallas (-3.5) At Seattle

Am I the only one who thought the Cowboys defense was really impressive in their season opening win over the Giants? This team might be a sleeper and we just don't see it yet. The Seattle home-field advantage is offset by virtue of the Cowboys getting an extra 3 days to prepare, having played their week 1 game on a Wednesday night.

The pick: Dallas

Washington (-3.5) At St. Louis

The RG3 Band-wagon really takes off after this game once everyone realizes that the Redskins are somehow 2-0.

The pick: Redskins

New York Jets (+4.5) At Pittsburgh Steelers

The team Tebow beat in the playoffs! But that will be about the only good thing going for the Jets this game. Expect a tough, defensive battle, with Pittsburgh shaking off the stink Peyton Manning put on them last week.

The pick: Steelers

Tennessee (+6.5) At San Diego

When you are not sure, take the points.

The pick: Titans

Detroit At San Francisco

Being a 49ers fan, I will abstain from picking their games as I will clearly be biased.

Monday Night Football: Denver (+3) At Atlanta

Peyton Manning gets to play in a dome. Conditions that he has dominated over the course of his career. The Broncos come up against a Falcons team that absolutely trashed the Chiefs in week 1 (on the road no less) and will be looking to establish a lead in their division. Personally, I am torn. I don't think that this Falcons team is legit, but I also have not seen Manning take a big hit yet. But then again, its a Monday night game on prime-time television, and we know Manning will deliver.

The pick: Broncos

Thursday night: 1-0

Overall Record: 1-0*

*Picks feature started in Week 2

Enjoy your football everyone!

NFL: The Big Picture: Season Preview Edition

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I don't think its a coincidence that one of the worst days of the year (the end of summer) is followed by one of the best (the kickoff to the NFL season). Needless to say, we at Millennium are extremely excited about having the NFL back in our lives and will be sharing our opinions on it with you. For our season preview I decided to send five 'big picture' questions (from the whole league) to Luka and Cabrock and have them offer their takes on them. In addition to the 'big' five, I also posed three questions about our regular season opener between bitter rivals the Dallas Cowboys and the defending Superbowl champions; the New York Giants. We begin our discussion with one of the biggest stories of last year: Tebowmania.

What are your thoughts on Tim Tebow and his new team, the New York Jets? Will Tebow thrive in the specialty role that Rex Ryan plans to use him in (short, goal-line situations)? Will the media circus make this team implode? Is the Sanchize even a good quarterback?

Luka:

First let me just say one thing, FOOTBALL!!!. These last few weeks after The Olympics have been rough but with the season set to kickoff tonight I can hardly wait. However being an Eagles fan I would have probably been more excited with any other two teams (except the Browns and Dolphins) kicking the season off. I can't stand the Giants or the Cowboys so I'm interested to see who I end up rooting for tonight.

I'm a Tebow guy. Ever since I lost money betting against him in his first miracle win of the season last year I've grown to like him and his goofy style of play that leads to Disney-style endings week after week. That being said I don't think there's a worse pairing than Tebow and the Jets. The Jets anemic offense mixed with the New York media combined with the lack of faith Jets fans have in Mark Sanchez can only lead to one of the more distracting, side-show filled professional sports teams of recent memory. Because of this I either see the Jets being bad (more likely even though their defense is still solid) or riding a sports-movie inspired script to the playoffs. Think about it, the tough takes no shit coach, the defense that doubles as the heart of the team, a talented but lacking in confidence starting QB, and a heavily religious back-up QB that carries the team to the promised land on and off the field. I can already hear someone, somewhere writing up the script. In all seriousness though, I hope Jets fans are happy with 6-10 this year.

Daki:

Have to say that I am very disappointed that I forgot the obligatory FOOTBALL!!! in all caps and with exclamation points, not a good start for me. I too am a Tebow guy and I honestly think that he will take over the starting role from Sanchez around week 6. The Jets are too good defensively and play in a division that is too weak (other than the ever present Patriots), for them to be that bad. I can see them being a very respectable 8-8 this year, with lots of trash-talk from Rex Ryan and a lot of team prayer sessions following the game. Gotta say I love the movie pitch, but you forgot to include the rival team (the Giants?) embarrassing our protagonists (leading the tough-takes-no-shit-coach to finally start the religious QB) and then losing to them at the end with guys saying things like: "You guys are alright!"Actually, can this happen in real life?

Cabrock:

Guess who’s back? It feels good to finally be writing about football again :’)
For some reason, today has been one of the more busy days of the summer so I wont be writing an overly long article, but hopefully there’s some insightful tidbits in here. Anyways, lets get to the questions:

We all know I hate Tim Tebow; that’s not even a discussion. However, this is probably the one role I can see him thriving in. In college, Tebow was Superman and shit on most of the NCAA. However, in my opinion, the best Florida team during the Tebow years was the season that Chris Leak was the starter and Tebow contributed as the “change of pace” QB. People give Rex Ryan too much credit. He got his job by excelling as the D-coordinator of the ferocious Ravens defence. When you really think about it, my little sister could have walked in on Sunday and said “everyone stand in front of the guy in front of you” and the Ravens wouldn’t have allowed more than 20 points per game. Rex talks way too much shit and consistently fails to back it up. I wouldn’t say the Sanchize is a franchise QB, but I feel like he could be a solid starter that could run a simple offense if given the opportunity. Basically, I don’t have much hope for the Jets. I think they go 7-9 this season and a lot of people lose their jobs in the offseason.

Sticking to the AFC, a lot of people feel that the Houston Texans would have made the Superbowl last season had it not been for injuries. This notion is heavily supported by the fact that the Texans came close to beating the Ravens with a third-string QB. So guys, are the Texans for real? Or was their success last year smoke and mirrors?

The Lions' Return to the Playoffs: A Running Diary of Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints

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This was the first year I've watching football actively (I used to only watch the Superbowl) so naturally I had to choose a team to follow. I asked my friends which team is young and has a lot of potential, kind of like the "OKC Thunder" of football. One of the teams they mentioned was the Detroit Lions. After watching their first game I instantly fell in love with Calvin Johnson’s game. He’s probably one of the most complete athletes in all of sports and it shows through his dominance at the wide receiver position. With their dominant offense (when Stafford plays well) and tough defense this team is great on paper. The problem with them, and this made me lose a few years of my life, is their astounding ability at making the most bone-headed penalties. Hopefully today they will be disciplined and focused on trying to stop Brees and his receivers while minimizing penalties, as well as executing on offense. If they manage to bother Brees and Stafford pulls off a great performance I could see the Lions winning, otherwise the Saints could destroy them.

Quarter 1

15:00 Kickoff!!!!

13:05 A typical Detroit penalty, c’mon Schwartz control your team.

12:26 Nice find by Stafford. Titus Young has been great this year as a rookie. Watch for him to be one of the better receivers in the future.

10:58 Touchdown by Hanson! (who is this guy?). What a great way to start the game.

10:54 Alright defense, it’s time to do your end of the job

10:47 Brees is one of the most precise passers I’ve watched. What a great throw.

8:16 Fumble!!!!!! Huge defensive stop by the Lions, great job by Durant forcing that fumble.

7:27 Burleson spins to the 1^st down line. Keep it going Lions!

5:35 Stafford and Pettigrew with a nice 22 yard connection. The Lion’s O-line is doing a great job so far.

4:20 Good defense the Saints, that would have been a huge play if Johnson managed to catch it. The defense has to keep applying pressure to Brees since I can’t see them winning any other way.

0:00 That was an entertaining 1^st quarter. I’m expecting more of the same high powered offense in the next 3 quarters.

Quarter 2

14:01 Good effort by the Lions but it wasn’t enough this time. Good running play by the Saints.

13:54 I was about to say how great of a run that was by Logan…but of course the Lions get a penalty call. No more, I just ask for no more stupid penalties.

10:47 Stafford is on point today. Good pass to Scheffler to keep the drive alive. I always get nervous with Stafford on 3^rd downs.

9:11 TOUCHDOWNNN!!! Johnson completes the catch from Stafford using his leaping ability. I love how the offense is playing today.

6:45 A nice floating pass by Brees. The Lions defense is letting the Saints get anything they want on this drive. And on cue, they force a fumble by sacking Brees.

5:11 Stafford gifts the ball back to the Saints with some poor decision making. I hate how he takes random drives off and decides to just throw the ball away.

1:43 Big blitz by the Lions. This is the pressure I wanted Suh to put on Brees. Unfortunately, the Saints easily run to a 1^st down on the next play.

0:48 Lovely, an offside penalty. They cannot allow the Saints to score a TD right now, the advantage after half is very important for their confidence.

0:16 And there’s the touchdown by the Saints. I don’t think the Lions can respond positively to this in the 2^nd half. The play is under review and the TD overturned. Lions need to play great defense for 16 seconds now.

0:00 Great defense to finish the half by the Lions, forcing the Saints to go for a field goal. It’s great that the Lions are up heading into half time since this will give them extra confidence to finish the game off strong. On a side note, Brees is amazing at avoiding getting sacked.

Quarter 3

13:09 Excellent throw by Brees for a touchdown, really not too much the Lions could have done there. It’s time to focus back on offense.

10:45 Another great example of how the Lions’ penalties have killed them. Instead of being 3^rd and 1, they were 2^nd and 19 and obviously didn’t manage to get the 1^st down. The Lions’ defense needs to stop the Saints from scoring on this play since a TD would be very hard to overcome right now.

6:32 4^th and inches can will they get it? They do, great play by Brees. The Lions defense is doing great during this Saints drive but Brees manages to come up with a huge play when they need it.

4:22 Huge throw and catch by Holston, leading to a TD by Graham. Lions need to get a TD on this next drive otherwise this game is as good as done.

2:32 What a huge catch by Johnson. He pulled off 3 great catches on this drive, saving the Lions.

1:44 Stafford needs to make smarter decisions than throwing it into traffic. Now they are at 3^rd and goal and need to get a TD.

1:08 Stafford fakes and runs in for a TD but it might end up being overruled since it looks like he was down before he hit the pylon. Ruling is confirmed, Stafford gets the TD!!

Quarter 4

11:46 Lions coming up with some big stops but the Saints get the 1^st down on 4^th and 2.

9:53 Sproles waltzes through the Lions D and scores a TD. He’s been having an great game so far.

9:43 Stafford makes a poor decision by throwing a hail mary…resulting in a turnover. I don’t understand why this was necessary since there is still plenty of time left to come back in the game.

7:40 Brees just raped the entire Lions defense and threw to Meachem for another TD.

6:14 Johnson with a nice catch and stiff arm gaining the first down. He has been the Lions’ best player by far tonight.

4:45 Johnson with his 2^nd touchdown of the night from a great play call that led to him being isolated.

4:39 Onside kick is unsuccessful. This play is always really risky and it puts Brees in a good position to throw a TD.

3:45 Brees throws another beautiful pass to the Detroit 1.

3:36 Touchdown by Thomas. This game is finished, unless they could make a trade for Tebow.

Summary: Good first half by the Lions where they were attacking offensively and were good on defense. The second half was the complete opposite. Offensively, Stafford made some poor plays and their defense was picked apart by Brees. Congrats to the Saints for a good win and a great job by their coach with crucial half time adjustments. I’m happy that the Lions made the playoffs and am excited to watch them as a more mature team next year. The rest of the playoffs should be fun to watch, especially tomorrow’s playoff debut for Tim Tebow.

Playoff Predictions: Wildcard Round

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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.

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 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.

A Cabrock Rant

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The way this season is playing out, I’m not going to have any incentive to write any more articles. Obviously the Saints won another game by a convincing margin and Drew Brees played excellent. If I’m beginning to bore you with my repetitiveness, I apologize, but there really isn’t much else to talk about.

The Saints offence is a well oiled machine and there isn’t a single defence in the league that can shut them down. Brees continues his pace to break some of the leagues prolific passing records and doesn’t even seem phased that the MVP trophy has almost certainly been given to Aaron Rodgers already. The only thing that Brees and the Saints want to win is the Lombardi trophy after taking Superbowl 46. The only part of last week’s game that I want to talk about is how retarded Detroit is.

The Lions are without a doubt the most undisciplined team in sports and look more like a bunch of hoodrats in pads than football players. They claim to be playing with intensity and ferocity, but that team as a unit is an embarrassment to professional athletics. As a pro football player, you’re not only supposed to be competing to win games, but to set an example for the millions of kids that watch the sport and look up to the NFL and it’s players. Suh, Titus Young, Coach Schwartz, and the rest of that sad bunch of human beings all disgust me. One of the first articles ever written for this blog, by Luka, was about how fans shouldn’t be cheering for one team to lose, but rather rooting for their team to win. I would agree with that assessment in most cases, but there are cases where that’s just wrong, and this year’s Detroit Lions are one of those cases. The Detroit Lions don’t deserve to have any fans and I hope they lose every single game they have left this season. Stomping on players, throwing punches, taunting the opposing team, and racking up about 44,000 personal foul penalties in less than a season is an embarrassment, but for Jim Schwartz to not step in and try and straighten out the thugs that play for his team is just sad. The Lions deserve to fall back to their 0-16 ways because they have no respect for their city, the fans, or the game that is paying for their delinquent lifestyles.

Barring a surprisingly close New Orleans game or another huge event in the NFL that I feel I have to rant about, my next few articles will probably focus primarily on college football and the awesome (re: useless) BCS bowl games.

Saints Report Week 12

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Another week, another win! Like Daki, I’m going to keep this week’s article short and sweet.

The New York Giants visited the New Orleans Saints at the newly named Mercedes-Benz Superdome and came heavily unprepared. The Giants were on a 2 game losing streak and things weren’t looking good. Many fans and analysts will probably talk about this season and say that the Giants were all hype and that they weren’t ever a true playoff contender but the truth is that the Giants might be the most injury-plagued team in the entire NFL. Before this season, there wasn’t a chance you could name ¾ of the players that are currently starting, which is never a good sign for any team. The Giants will likely miss the playoffs this season, but Eli Manning has proven that he is an elite QB and that, if the Giants could stay healthy and play with some passion, they could be a serious threat.

That being said, Drew Brees did his thing throwing for 363 yards and 4TDs and also rushing for another TD. The Saints offense simply outmatched the banged up Giants defence and made it look like they were playing against a Division III college. Jimmy Graham and Lance Moore had huge games, each recording 2 TDs. New week, same story: Brees and the passing attack light shit up and look fantastic doing it. There’s no point in me writing about this aerial show anymore cause I’m starting to sound like a broken record. Instead, I’m going to talk about an interesting article I read on NFL.com today.

I tried to find the link to the article but NFL.com changes every 4 seconds so it’s pretty much long gone at this point. Basically, the point of the article was that the Saints have the power to defeat Green Bay and win their 2nd title in 3 years. The Saints offense is pretty much unstoppable and can throw 30 points on the board whenever. The question will be whether the defence can step it up. Some people (re: mainly Daki) believe that the 49ers are pretty much guaranteed a spot in the NFC championship and that GB is the only team that can stop them from reaching the superbowl. I feel silly even discussing these shenanigans, because the 49ers wouldn’t even be able to challenge the Saints. The Niners have an excellent defence, i’ll give them that, but matched up against the Saints offense, they won’t be able to hold them to less than 25+. That means Alex Smith, the perennial loser, would have to lead his team to outscore New Orleans AND keep the ball out of the hands of Brees and Peyton’s offense....yea right. So what then is the real question? At this point in time, I would not be able to honestly say that the Saints are a better football team than the Packers. It has been years since a team has existed in the NFL with this much talent in every aspect of the game. Their offense is methodical, their defence is ferocious, their special teams can strike at any given moment, and their coaching staff has done an amazing job with their ball club this season. However, the argument isn’t whether New Orleans is the better team; the argument is whether the Saints would beat the Packers, and the answer is yes. Opening game of the season saw the Saints lose to the Packers on a failed goal line rush from the 2 yard line. The ICU at Sick Kids Hospital could have fielded a better defence than the Saints did in the first half of the game and they were absolutely TORCHED by Rodgers and the Pack-attack. However, in the second half of the game, Rodgers didn’t even throw for 100 yards and the defence managed to slow down an offense that has looked unstoppable this year. Since then, the Saints defence has become extremely opportunistic and has shown glimpses of the swagger that they had in 2009 when they won the Superbowl. The Saints still have a long way to go, but if they keep improving and getting better when the playoffs come around, I can promise you that the Saints will redeem their season-opening loss to the Packers and go on to win Superbowl 46.

New Orleans faces a very inconsistent Detroit Lions team this week, but with the Lions needing this win to make a push for the playoffs, hopefully I’ll have a more exciting article to write about.

Philadelphia Eagles: Week 11 Recap/Week 12 Preview

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Fuck this team. They somehow have me caring again. Just two weeks ago I wrote a very critical post about the Eagles and their frustrating loss against the Bears. I also said that we couldn't possibly lose to the Cardinals and we somehow did (To fucking John Skelton. I feel as if this should be the tiebreaker for the playoffs. You lose to Skelton, you don't make it). After last week's loss I somewhat gave up on this season. I mean what's the point of cheering for a bunch of under-achievers who don't really seem to care that we're losing (other than Vick) and a coaching staff led by a guy to whom the words time and management have no correlation whatsoever. On Sunday night I had no expectations. How could we win against a Giants team at home who was not likely to lose two in a row? Especially with Vick and Maclin out and Vince Young in at center, it wasn't looking too good. I even tweeted about it (shameless plug @Luka_M91). Despite all of this I turned the game on just in time for the opening kickoff. I don't know if it's because I felt obligated to watch or because I had a psych paper due that I didn't feel like starting. Whatever it might have been, I began to watch.

NFL Grab Bag

Tweet This week the New Orleans Saints were on their bye week getting some much deserved rest, so I have nothing to report on the Saints this week. Hopefully Sean Payton and Gregg Williams took this extra week to tighten up the defence and figure out all of the tiny little things that were plaguing the Saints. I’m extremely excited for this week’s Monday night game against the Giants, but this article will be geared towards a few other interesting developments around the league.

Playoff-bound Blunders: As the season has passed the halfway point, the playoff picture has become a little clearer. Many teams are essentially eliminated already and a few looked to be playoff locks. However, 2 teams that looked destined to make the playoffs have taken hits that might be insurmountable: Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. Both teams were coming together really nicely and both looked like playoff-calibre teams, but fate was not on their side. The worst thing that can happen to a franchise happened to both the Bears and the Texans: they lost their franchise QBs to a serious injury. The Texans are still hopeful that Matt Schaub might return in time for the playoffs, but if Matt Leinart is at the helm, Schaub might not get a chance to return this season. Some people are excited to see what Leinart can do with this opportunity, but those people have clearly forgotten the many years he shit away with Arizona. The Bears on the other hand don’t even have a ray of hope for Jay Cutler. Their star QB is planning to undergo surgery on his throwing hand, so he will be out for the season, without a doubt. I was certain that both the Bears and the Texans were going to make the playoffs this season, but the future is looking extremely grim. However, the NFL is a wacky league and you never know how things will play out, so there is always hope for Chicago and especially Houston, who plays in the awful AFC South.

Superbowl/Toiletbowl Ravens: There are currently 4 teams tied for the top spot in the AFC, which would lead some people to believe that the conference is extremely competitive. I would argue that 4 teams tied for first in a conference simply means that there is no clear favourite because no team has pulled away from the pack and proven themselves to be the best. However, if you watched the Ravens play on a good day, you would think for sure that they were the best team in the AFC and potentially the second best team in the league. The problem is, if you’ve followed Baltimore’s season, you’d know that they’ve lost to Tennessee, Jacksonville, and barely pulled away with a victory against Arizona (all teams that will be watching the playoffs from home this season). Whenever I watch Baltimore beat a team like the Steelers or the Bengals, I’m certain that they’re the most dominant team in the NFL and that this is the year Ray Lewis and the Ravens return to the Superbowl. However, then they play a lowly team like the Jaguars and can’t even put up double digit points. The Ravens have 6 more games to prove to the NFL what kind of team they are, and they better figure it out before the playoffs come around. If they continue with this inconsistent play, their football season is going to be done by mid-January.

Lord Rodgers and the Pack Attack: If you’ve been following my articles from the start, or know anything about me, you know that I’m not a Tom Brady fan. There is no doubting that he’s had a Hall of Fame career and has led his team to greatness, but I personally feel that he receives too much credit for the success that the Patriots have had. He’s always had an excellent coach, a good line, receivers that work well in the New England offense, and an opportunistic defence that has given Tom good field position and the opportunity to go out and win games. If you looked at Aaron Rodgers’ season stats, you would think he was the NFL version of Jesus Christ. His 31 touchdowns - 4 interceptions ratio and 128.8 QB rating on the season is unheard of and he’s on pace to break all of the records that Brady and Manning set in their most stellar seasons. However, Rodgers has a great coach, the best receiving core in the game, a huge offensive line to protect him, extremely effective special teams play, and a defence that gives the ball more times a game than a QB could ever wish for. There is no arguing that Aaron is the best QB in the league at the moment, but due to the elite team that he has around him, his stats should be considered inflated. I would argue that almost any starting quarterback in the NFL could step into Rodgers’ role and maybe not be 10-0, but certainly have a winning record and make a strong push for the playoffs.

Rookies of the Year: The NFL hands out a set of awards every year to celebrate the brightest talents of that season. From MVP, to coach of the year, to comeback player of the year, it’s usually very obvious and pretty much everyone who claims to be an NFL fan can tell you who the winner is going to be. However, one award (actually handed out as 2 separate awards) that most people guess wrong every year is the Rookie of the Year award. The problem is that the media will hype up the most exciting rookies or highlight the achievements of the most popular rookies, but these are almost never the players that truly performed for their teams and deserve the award. This year all of the hype is around Cam Newton for the offensive award, and no one really seems to care about the defensive rookie of the year. Sure Cam has had some HUGE highlights and is one of the most exciting players in the NFL, but his poor TD-INT ratio and losing team record almost guarantee that he wont win the award. The true offensive ROY is Andy Dalton. The Bengal’s QB is nowhere near as exciting to watch as Newton and he hasn’t had as many spectacular performances, but Dalton has played steady all season and led the surprising Cincinnati Bengals, a team that everyone thought was going to be crap this season, to an impressive 6-4 record and the chance to battle for a spot in the AFC playoffs. The defensive ROY is a clear choice, but not a player that many people have gotten a chance to watch, or even know about. It’s tough to get credit when you play on a bad team, and to say that the Arizona Cardinals are a bad team would almost be a compliment, but Patrick Peterson is the real deal. LSU’s Pat Peterson was rated the best overall player on almost every draft expert’s scorecard and he’s shown why in his first season as a pro. Peterson has become a shutdown corner on an otherwise shoddy defence and is absolutely spectacular in the return game. He’s tied with Devin Hester for most returns on the season and even returned a punt 99 yards to win a game in overtime this season. Dalton and Peterson are my picks for this year’s offensive and defensive rookies of the year.

New Orleans Report: Controversy in Atlanta

Tweet Week 10 was by no means the most exciting week of football this season. Last Sunday saw blowout after blowout, but not all of the games last week sucked. Cincy vs Blitzburgh was close the whole way and San Fran vs NYG was a lot of fun, but hands down, the best game of the week was the Saints vs the Falcons. I briefly talked about the big matchup in last week’s article, highlighting that the winner would take the lead in the NFC South. Just as we all suspected, the game was extremely close throughout and for the 4th time in a row, the winner of this division matchup was decided by a field goal.

Drew Brees and Matt Ryan are 2 of the best QBs in the league, and both showcased their skill sets last weekend. They combined for almost 700 yards, 4 TDs and only 1 INT. The Saints offence was efficient as always, but the Atlanta D refused to allow the game to turn into a blowout. New Orleans put up 23 points in 60 minutes, which for their high caliber offence is actually pretty pedestrian. Brees spread the ball to 9 different players including 3 running backs and 1 random fullback named Jed Collins. Drew Brees continued both of his streaks of consecutive games with 20+ completions and 1 TD: SWAG. As good as Brees played, Atlanta’s “Matty Ice” had a great game of his own. Ryan threw the only INT of the game, but refused to lose. Matt Ryan never gave up on his team and led a very impressive comeback to tie the game in the final minutes and force a very controversial overtime.

People have been talking about the NO-ATL game all week, but for the wrong reason. In OT, Atlanta’s coach decided to go for broke on 4th and inches from his own 30 yard line. This is one thing I don’t like about NFL “Experts” and the media: if the Falcons convert on 4th down and go on to win the game, Mike Smith gets nominated for coach of the year and everyone talks about how gigantic his balls are, but if they don’t make it, he looks like an idiot and gets crucified for not having any faith in his team. On 4th and inches, Atlanta lined up in their “Big” formation and everyone knew it was going to be a power run up the middle. Many people have a problem with the obvious play call and I would usually agree that you can’t pick such an obvious play, but in this situation, I agreed with Mike Smith and his call. The Falcons running back, Michael Turner, went to the Pro Bowl last year and has been having a good year so far. He weighs 245 lbs and has thighs larger than my torso. WHY WOULD YOU NOT RUN UP THE MIDDLE WITH HIM!?!?!? If the Saints tried to jam it up the gut with 180 lb Darren Sproles, that would be a terrible play call, but to try and get 3 or 4 inches by pounding it up the middle with a small truck is the right decision. The Saints D really stepped it up and managed to stuff the play in the backfield, effectively winning the game. Mike Smith has been blamed all week for making a “bonehead” decision, but 80% of coaches would have made the exact same call.

The 2 main things that people are upset about are the play call and the decision to go for it. First off, any coach who doesn’t believe his 5-3 team can get 3 or 4 inches doesn’t deserve to coach in the NFL and should consider a career in synchronized swimming or some other soft shit. Why would you punt the ball to one of the elite QBs in the league and let him embarrass your team in OT? Smith made the right decision to go for it on 4th down, no doubt. The better argument people have been making is that the play call set the offense up for failure before they even snapped the ball. I’m not even going to waste time explaining why throwing the ball or trying a misdirection play wouldn’t have worked in this situation, so lets talk about the only option that was better than Michael Turner up the middle: Matty Ice calling his own number and QB sneaking. Had Ryan ran the sneak, there’s probably an 80% chance he gets the first down, so why wouldn’t coach Mike Smith call that play? Think about the procedure of a QB sneak: the QB has to dive over the linemen head first against guys who HEAVILY outweigh him looking to knock his head off. Like I said, the chances that Ryan converts on 4th and inches is probably 80%, but the chance that he suffers a concussion (or worse) on a play where the entire D is crashing the middle trying to clog those gaps is far too high for the play to pay off. For anyone who’s thinking, “No, that’s stupid. This is the NFL, no one’s that much of a bitch,” think about this: the QB has the right to audible any call he wants. If Ryan thought that sneaking was going to get them the first down and wasn’t aware of the dangers of the play, why didn’t he audible to call his own number and dive for the first?

The point of my rant is that Mike Smith made the right decision. If you can’t get 3 or 4 inches on 4th down, you really don’t even deserve to win the game. Also, the decision to pound it up the middle with Turner was the right call, because it carried the least amount of risk of a horrible play or injury to your franchise player.

Next week the Saints have a bye, so I won’t be writing about New Orleans. However, I’ve been thinking about next week’s article and I must say, it’s gonna be a good one. Some things to look forward to: Texans’ bad luck, WTF Ravens, Aaron Rodgers and his inflated stats, and the Rookies of the Year.

The Patriots Report: Week 10

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Do not let the score fool you, this Jets-Patriots game was a lot closer then the final result indicates.  The Jets dropped 3 potential picks, choked on a 20-yard field goal in their opening drive, and somehow muffed a punt that allowed New England to put points on the board.  Mark Sanchez also left Tom Brady too much time at the end of the first half allowing Brady and the Patriots to score a much needed touchdown.  Coach Ryan was so mad at this decision that he called what Sanchez did "the stupidest play of all time" I think he needs to settle down a bit on that one.  Up to this point, I did not write a single thing the Patriots did well, the Jets basically handed them the game with all of the mistakes I just mentioned.  I am not trying to take anything away from New England, they seized control of the AFC East (they have basically a 2-game lead because they swept the Jets) and showed flashes of what made them so great in the past.  What I am trying to do is caution people that this win means nothing in the grand scheme of things, the Patriots are average at best right now and are no where near contender status.  One thing that may or may not benefit them is their schedule.  They have by far the easiest schedule of anyone in their last seven games and could easily polish off the season at 13-3.

The Eagles: Week 9

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I've decided to mirror my write-ups about this team to the team's actual on field performance. So expect weeks where I research the match-up, do several rough drafts and post only the best finalized copy that I can possibly come up with. Other weeks I'll start off strong and then simply trail o.... And finally some weeks I simply won't show up. I'm tired of making excuses for this team. It's week 9. We have the Chicago Bears at home in what is essentially a must-win game for the Eagles and what happens? The same stupid shit that's been happening all year. Careless penalties, ridiculous turnovers (Hey DeSean if you can't get any yards by going forwards, how the fuck will you accomplish anything by going backwards? And if you're stupid enough to try something 10 year olds try in Madden on one of the best special teams units in the league, hold on to the fucking ball.) and to put it simply, an inability to get the job done.

The thing that's so frustrating about watching (and especially being a fan of) this team is all of the pieces are there and yet nothing has been happening with them. I felt that the defense for the most part did their job tonight. Other than the opening drive where the Bears DA BEARS marched down the field and scored, Philly's D was decent. We stripped Matt Forte twice (something which hasn't happened since week 1 of last season) returning one of them for a touchdown and even crucially held Chicago to a field goal on their last meaningful drive in the game which gave the offense a chance to win the game with 4 minutes remaining. To the offense, protect Michael Vick. We've seen how this team looks without him (as ugly as a female Jersey Shore contestant without makeup) and yet time and time again opposing players get free shots at Vick (Btw, referees, how do you call an insanely soft roughing the passer call on Cutler and let Vick get repeatedly hit after the whistle? What he did outside of the game should play no part in the way the game is officiated but no other QB in the league gets less respect. I mean I'm not even black and I kind of want to play the race card. Just terrible.).

To the receivers, you guys are way too talented to be dropping passes and falling down without any contact (if Maclin doesn't fall on that fourth down and gets to the marker maybe I'm writing a much more cheerful recap without as much cursing.. Fuck). They call you playmakers for a reason, make plays and help the team win. To LaSean McCoy, nothing but the best. Why you only got 23 carries this week is mind-boggling especially since the last two weeks (both wins) you had at least 30 carries. This is solely on Andy Reid and the rest of the coaching staff. Also, why did we only have one timeout for that last drive? I can't believe how bad this guy is at managing time and things in general (He probably causes 3 mile buildups in the McDonald's drive-thrus he frequently visits).

We are now 3-5 on the season looking like the best 3-5 team ever (This is me trying to be positive). We have the Arizona Cardinals next week. I don't even know who plays QB for them but if he's backing up Kevin Kolb he can't be any good. Needless to say this is a must win game for a team that's looking less and less like the Miami Heat as the season wears on because at least the Heat made the playoffs.

Until Next Week (maybe).

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Heartbreak in New Orleans

Tweet I really don’t know what to say about the game of “football” that the Saints played last Sunday. The Saints were coming into the game having defeating the Colts 62-7 in a nationally televised pummelling. They became the third team in NFL history to put up 60 points in a game and their offense looked unstoppable. The Rams came into the game having been absolutely wrecked 34-7 by the average-at-best Cowboys. It looked like the Saints were going to embarrass St. Louis, Brees was going to become the MVP favourite, and Head Coach Sean Payton was going to run for president in the next American election. Needless to say, things did not play out this way.

The Saints started off bad and things just kept getting worse. The Rams didn’t even play with Sam Bradford, their franchise QB and had to settle for their 2nd stringer. Feeley, the perennial NFL back-up, was given the start due to Bradford’s injury and looked like a veteran out there. The Ram’s best player, Steven Jackson, returned from injury and ran all over the Saints defence. Watching the Saints defenders try to tackle Jackson was actually upsetting, as SJ39 finished the game with 159 rushing yards.

I’ve been saying all year that the Saints defence is mediocre, so the Rams putting up 31 against New Orleans seemed fathomable, though unlikely. What was truly surprising was the way that the Saints offense performed (re: underperformed). Brees threw for 2 picks and had less than 200 yards for almost the entirety of the game. Defensive End Chris Long had 3 sacks alone, the Saints got a punt blocked, and the entire coaching staff seemed like they didn’t really care much. The Saints were down 24-0 at one point in the third quarter and it was clear that New Orleans had no chance. That was easily the worst showing I’ve seen from the Saints in recent memory.

However, as the Saints are my team, and Drew Brees is my quarterback, I am happy to point out one positive moment in last week’s game. With only minutes left in the game, it looked like Brees’ rare streak was going to finally be snapped. Brees has the 3rd longest streak of consecutive games with a TD pass, but it seemed as though that impressive feat would finally come to an end (and to the lowly Rams). However, in the final minutes of the game, Brees orchestrated a methodical 15 play, 80 yard drive that ended in a touchdown pass from Drew to Lance Moore. Ladies and Gentlemen, the streak is still alive and Brees will continue to throw his way into the history books.

It's my small silver lining in an otherwise embarrassing performance by New Orleans.



Thoughts on the NFL:

It’s always a great feeling when you predict something and it comes true. I may have been very wrong about the outcome of the Saints-Rams affair, but I was spot on with my Tim Tebow prediction. Tebow probably had the worst outing by a QB this year (and that includes Grossman’s dismal game against the Eagles earlier this season), and made Broncos fans beg for Kyle Orton to start next game. The Lions shit on the Broncos 45-10, which had the Detroit players openly insulting Tebow. The Lions used his own celebration against him, twice, and when asked about #15, they called him a joke of a quarterback. One columnist for a Denver newspaper said that Tebow is the worst starting QB in the league and that the Broncos are lucky Orton is still in Denver. Looks like Tim Tebow is Superman no more.

The Chargers actually make me mad. How do you have so much talent on one team and choke so often? San Diego’s 2 starting receivers, Malcolm Floyd and Vincent Jackson, are both 6’5”, Antonio Gates is arguably one of the top 3 tight ends in NFL history, and the running back Matthews is a versatile weapon that can be a factor in the passing game. It would seem that my little sister could come into the starting line-up and put up 300 passing yards a game, but apparently Phillip Rivers is finding a way to make things not work. The Chargers started off the season 4-1 but have managed to drop to 4-3 and with this week’s loss, have fallen to second place in their division (trailing KC, who started the season 0-3). Last year the Chargers finished the season 1st in overall offense, 1st in overall defence, and managed to miss the playoffs....how does that even happen!?!?! Head Coach Norv Turner better figure this out before Oakland passes them as well.

The AFC North is looking absolutely beastly this season. Last week I pointed out a stat to Daki that I didn’t think would ever be possible. The top 4 NFL teams in terms of total defence (total yards allowed) were the Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, and Browns. The amazing thing is that those 4 teams make up the AFC North division. That stat has since changed, but it goes to show why the AFC North is the best division in football: Defence baby! The Ravens and Steelers are 2 of the top 5 teams in the league at the moment and the surprising 5-2 Bengals aren’t far behind them. Some people might say that the Browns are bad, but they have lost a few very close contests and gave the 6-1 SF 49er’s a run for their money last weekend. I have always argued that the 2 best divisions in the NFL are the AFC North and the NFC South. The NFC South has started off a little bit slow, but is picking up momentum coming into the halfway point of the season, but the AFC North is without a doubt the toughest division in football at the moment. If the season ended today, the Ravens, Steelers, and Bengals would all be in the playoff. That’s a true testament to smashmouth football right there.

That’s all I got for this week folks. I’ll be back to talk FOOTBALLLLL soon!