Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday Briefs: Week 8 Picks

I went 4-1 last week, narrowly missing out on the Miami upset. My current record is 25-11 for the year. In my Yahoo picks, I'm 69-34 (irrelevant but hey it's my blog.) Maybe this week I go 5-0.

Houston over Buffalo
Indianapolis over San Francisco
Dallas over Seattle
Chicago over Cleveland
UPSET PICK: St. Louis over Detroit (The Rams have to win at some point)

Have a great Halloween Weekend! If you go out, drive safely. I'll see you on Monday

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hump Day: Week 7 Loser Rankings


1. St. Louis Rams- So I have no idea when the Rams will win a game again. Maybe they can win against Detroit this week.

2. Tennessee Titans- Well the Titans didn't lose this week...but they didn't win either.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- They couldn't strike it big in England. The good news for Tampa is that they won't be playing this weekend. This gives Tampa time to get Josh Freeman ready to start against Green Bay.

4. Cleveland Browns- Things are just flat out awful in Cleveland. Can things get any worse?

5. Washington Redskins- The picture says it all. Monday's game was just ugly. The turnovers were uglier. Let's face it, there is no alibi for this team.

See you guys on Friday.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Tuesdays with Romo: Meh

Philadelphia Eagles 27 - Washington Redskins 17- This game was just not that good. It was a bit exciting in the first half, but even that didn't last long. Both teams didn't play great. Last night was one of those games that couldn't end fast enough. I felt myself losing my mind in the second half. Jason Campbell passed for 246 yards in the loss.

There's not much that can really be said about the game. I think everyone has just checked out mentally in regards to this game. Even the ESPN guys are tired. See you guys on Wednesday.

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Mondays: I like leading with Favre losing


Pittsburgh Steelers 27 - Minnesota Vikings 17- This was probably the only good day for me. The Steelers defense came through big with two turnover touchdowns. Keyaron Fox scored the touchdown to put the Vikings away for good. Like I said, only happy part of day for yours truly.

Cincinnati Bengals 45 - Chicago Bears 10- This was such a painful day for me. Cedric Benson got his revenge. So now the Bears are at 3-3. The Bengals are 5-2. Such a crazy world. That said, I think it's time to get rid of Ron Turner.

Indianapolis Colts 42 - St. Louis Rams 6- The Colts are undefeated, the Rams haven't won a game.

New England Patriots 35 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7- Really New England? Only 35 points? I was expecting 60 out of you guys.

New Orleans Saints 46 - Miami Dolphins 34- My pick went right for the first three quarters. Sure enough, everything would fall apart. A 22-point fourth quarter got New Orleans to 6-0. The Saints proved that they can be a true contender in the NFC.

Dallas Cowboys 37 - Atlanta Falcons 21- ROMO ALERT: The namesake completed 21-of-29 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns.

SUNDAY NIGHT RECAP: Arizona Cardinals 24 - New York Giants 17- Cheer up Giants fans, at least the Yankees are in the World Series.

MONDAY NIGHT PREDICTION: Philly over Washington D.C.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Friday Briefs: All about the picks

Last week, I went 3-2, nailing one of my upsets. I'm now 21-10 for the season. Here's some more picks.

Pittsburgh over Minnesota
San Diego over Kansas City
Houston over San Francisco
New England over Tampa
UPSET PICK: Miami over New Orleans


See you guys on Monday.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Hump Day: October 21 Loser Rankings

1. St. Louis Rams- I pick you guys for an upsetter and you win! Got it! So now the Rams have lost 16 straight. Could it get any worse?

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- They'll be putting in Josh Freeman at some point. Maybe this week?

3. Tennessee Titans- So the Titans could easily be #1 on this list if only because of the 59-0 loss to the Patriots.

4. Cleveland Browns- What can we say about the Browns that hasn't already been said?

5. Washington Redskins- When you lose to an "0-for" team, you end up on the list. When you lose to Kansas City, they get off the list for a week and you get on the list for the week. It's science people!

Still working on getting a proper points system set up. I'll put it this way though, the Rams are running away with the lead. They should be ready by week 8.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tuesdays with Romo: Floating doesn't get Chargers the win

Denver Broncos 34 - San Diego Chargers 23- This game was close until the end. The questionable Stokely touchdown catch in the fourth quarter did prove to be the difference.

Big props to Denver's Eddie Royal though! He returned a punt and kick return for a touchdown, last night. Darren Sproles for the Chargers returned a punt return for a touchdown. The two punt returns and one kick return was a first for the NFL.

Philip Rivers had 270 float yards with a float touchdown pass in the game.

So now the Broncos are 6-0. I totally biffed on this prediction. I had the Broncos going 4-12, just like Rick Reilly. I was once again wrong.

As for the Chargers, it's not too late to discount them. They've definitely shown that they're more of a second half team. We still have a long season ahead.

See you guys on Wednesday.

Monday, October 19, 2009

The Mondays: 59 points? Impressive!


New England Patriots 59 - Tennessee Titans 0- 59 points in an NFL game is tough to score. It's especially tougher when there's snow falling in October. Somehow, the Patriots like to score when the snow falls. Tom Brady threw six touchdown passes and they took him out of the game early. The Patriots had 32 first downs, as opposed to nine for the Titans. So when does Vince Young get his shot?

New Orleans Saints 48 - New York Giants 27- This was a statement game for the Saints. They needed to win on Sunday to prove that they're for real in the NFC. As the season progresses, that win could make the difference for home field in the NFC. We'll have to wait and see though.

Kansas City Chiefs 14 - Washington Redskins 6- So the Jim Zorn train is about ready to leave the station in Washington. It's no longer if, but when. Zorn can no longer call plays on offense now, according to Pro Football Talk.

Carolina Panthers 28 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21- The Panthers get Buffalo at home next. They could be 3-3 going to Arizona.

Oakland Raiders 14 - Philadelphia Eagles 9- Huh? Sorry, I was reading about the Phillies beating the Dodgers in game 3.

Buffalo Bills 16 - New York Jets 13- The Jets have lost three straight games. Is it time to start freaking out? Personally, I think it's funny.

SUNDAY NIGHT RECAP: Atlanta Falcons 21 - Chicago Bears 14- I admit, I cursed loudly on the fourth down play at the end of the game. For some backwards reason, the Falcons like beating the Bears. How about playing one in Soldier Field, eh Matty Ice? At 4-1, the Falcons are starting to prove that they are the real deal. It was a good win for them. Their next two games are road games against Dallas and New Orleans though. If they win against both teams, then they're a legit contender in the NFC.

MONDAY NIGHT PREDICTION: Denver over San Diego

See you guys on Tuesday.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Friday, October 16, 2009

Friday Briefs: How about some picks

So last week was a so-so week in terms of picks. I almost nailed three upset picks. Last week, I went 4-2. For the season, I'm now 18-8. This week, we'll stick with five picks.

Cincinnati over Houston
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Carolina over Tampa Bay
UPSET 1: St. Louis over Jacksonville
UPSET 2: Kansas City over Washington

That's right, I'm predicting a big weekend for the Missouri teams. Hopefully they won't let me down. See you guys on Monday.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Hump Day: The Loser Rankings- October 14


Here we are at another week.

1. St. Louis Rams- Well they're still quite bad. Who knows what will be of this Limbaugh talk?

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- So how did Josh Johnson work out last Sunday?

3. Tennessee Titans- I had faith in this team when they started 0-3. That faith is pretty much gone. Two questions remain: how worse can this season get for the Titans? And how long before Kerry Collins is out as starting quarterback?

4. Kansas City Chiefs- If it wasn't for Miles Austin and his 250 yard receiving day, the Chiefs would have a win already.

5. Buffalo Bills- When you lose 6-3 to the Browns you belong on the list for the week.

No UFL blog is planned (to my knowledge). See you guys on Friday.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tuesdays with Romo: Wildcat=Success?

Yes, I made a crude looking design to describe the Dolphins offense for this season.

Miami Dolphins 31 - New York Jets 27- It was a wildcat kind of night for the Dolphins. The game winning touchdown by Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown was in fact via the wildcat.

It was a great game for Chad Henne, as he completed 20-of-26 for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

Brown and Ricky Williams did a great job running the football on Monday night.

On the other side, it was a so-so game for Mark Sanchez. However, we saw Braylon Edwards make a fairly good debut for the Jets. He did catch a touchdown pass and almost got a second one, but after a challenge by Miami, the officials ruled him down at the 1-yard line.

This division just got a bit more interesting after Monday night. The Jets and Patriots aren't running away with the division and Miami took a huge step Monday night to send the message to the AFC East that they aren't going away too soon.

Week 5 in Photos

All photos are courtesy of Reuters.







Monday, October 12, 2009

The Mondays: The Browns and Panthers finally win a game

Cleveland Browns 6 - Buffalo Bills 3- Who would have thought that Billy Cundiff and Rian Lindell would have been the leading scorers today...Then again, who would have thought that Derek Anderson could have a 2-for-17 passing day? Sadly the truth is, there are no winners.

Carolina Panthers 20 - Washington Redskins 17- The Redskins might be the biggest headscratcher in the NFL. They lost to the Lions and now the Panthers. This post from DC Sports Bog should say it all about Jim Zorn and how he's viewed in the media right now.

Cincinnati Bengals 17 - Baltimore Ravens 14- So the Bengals are in first place in the AFC North. I said they'd go 5-11. They're now 4-1 and they get Houston at home this upcoming week. Guess who's eating his words...? In case you didn't figure out, yeah I mean me. The Bengals have played terrific football this season. There's no reason why the Bengals can't make a statement and get to the playoffs.

Seattle Seahawks 41 - Jacksonville Jaguars 0- Great day for Matt Hasselbeck as he threw four touchdown passes.

Dallas Cowboys 26 - Kansas City (Dallas Texans) Chiefs 20- ROMO ALERT: Our namesake threw for 351 yards and two touchdowns. Oh and 250 of those yards belong to Miles Austin. He scored two touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime.

Denver Broncos 20 - New England Patriots 17- Looks like Josh McDaniels isn't getting a Christmas card from Bill Belichick anytime soon. More importantly, the Broncos, led by Kyle Orton, are 5-0. Not since the '98 season have the Broncos started 5-0.

SUNDAY NIGHT RECAP: Indianapolis Colts 31 - Tennessee Titans 9- So, umm, the Titans don't look very good. They're 0-5 and face New England this week. Oh and you don't want to face Bill Belichick after a loss. The Titans could go 0-6 heading into the bye week. The odds just aren't good in Tennessee.

MONDAY NIGHT PREDICTION: Miami over New York Jets

Enjoy your Monday!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday Briefs: Week 5 NFL Picks


So here we are at the fifth week in the NFL. I had a good week, last week. I went 4-1, just barely missing out on the upset pick. For the season, I am now 14-6 for the season.

Philly over Tampa
Minnesota over St. Louis
San Francisco over Atlanta
Cleveland over Buffalo (Technically an upset pick, but both teams stink this year. Does it really matter?)
UPSET PICK 1: Kansas City over Dallas
UPSET PICK 2: Denver over New England

See you guys on Monday.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

My UFL Review


Well, I'd say I've seen enough of the first United Football League game. If you've seen my Twitter posts, that sums up a lot of what I have to say, but not all of it. (Please note: I missed The Office and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to watch this game.)

I would like nothing more than to see another professional football league succeed in this country. Unfortunately, the UFL doesn't look like it will be that league.

It's not because of the flashy design of the uniforms, which are terrible. It was such a pain how California and Las Vegas had similar jersey designs. It's not because refs are dressed like they work at a fast food restaurant. It's not even because it's a four team league. Well okay, a lot of it is because of those three reasons.

The UFL won't work out because it's not bringing anything new to the table. If you're going to compete with the NFL, you need to bring something that people haven't seen before. That's how it works in life. You can't just blow everybody away with a carbon copy of the NFL. You might get some of the people, but you won't get all of them. It's not a sustainable model.

The AFL was able to compete with the NFL in the 1960s because of the passing game. Sid Gillman and Joe Namath made the passing game sexy and that helped the AFL. The AFL had swagger. They had some goofy uniforms, but still brought something to the table.

The USFL had stars like Jim Kelly, Reggie White and Herschel Walker. They also played in the spring. That helped them out a lot. ESPN also got the USFL. Sure they folded, but they gave the NFL a run for it's money.

Hell, even the XFL went bold with their initiatives. People might not have liked the league, but at least they tried. The three things people will remember about the XFL are "He Hate Me," Tommy Maddox and the Opening Scramble.

It's interesting seeing the access on the field and at halftime, but it's not enough. If you're going to show us a locker room at halftime, you have to show more. The move seemed staged. The players all sat at their lockers like a high school team, while an assistant coach talked about the plans for the second half. It was a close game at halftime. Where's the emotion? Why no yelling from Denny Green?

If you want to light a fire, provide a spark. Do something bold! Don't be afraid to take risks and seek out innovative steps to improve the game of football.

If this is what we should expect from the UFL, I'll be surprised to see the league go for a second season. The league is just not that good and it's a shame. We'll see how the rest of the season goes, but I don't like the way it looks. The NFL has no reason to sweat over the UFL.

Live Tweeting the first UFL Game...

Follow me here. I have a live tweet of the first UFL game. I am risking missing the Office and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia over this...So you better tune in!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Hump Day: The Loser Rankings- October 7, 2009


So here we are at another week of the Loser's Rankings. And good news for Lions fans, they're not on the list. Can't say the same about the teams on this list now.

1. St. Louis Rams- You know you got it bad when Rush Limbaugh wants to buy your team.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- The Bucs did release Mike Nugent on Tuesday...Maybe things will look up for them?

3. Cleveland Browns- They could easily be #1, but there's still a long season ahead. It could be much longer for Braylon Edwards though.

4. Tennessee Titans- They lost three close games. However, the Titans lost by 20 points to Jacksonville. I think you can understand why they're on this list now...right?

5. Kansas City Chiefs- Probably should be at #4 or higher, but they're not.

We'll have a full points update by week 6.

See you guys on Friday.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tuesdays with Romo: NO MORE FAVRE!

Minnesota Vikings 30 - Green Bay Packers 23- So Favre threw three touchdown passes. The Vikings won again and apparently all of Minnesota is happy...blah blah blah! Aaron Rodgers did almost throw for 400 yards on Monday Night. BUT DID ANYBODY CARE TO HEAR ABOUT THAT!? ESPN didn't care too much. They do love Favre after all!

See you guys on Wednesday.

Monday, October 5, 2009

The Mondays: My Birthday Post

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Okay, now that I got that out of the way. Here's what happened on Sunday:

Chicago Bears 48 - Detroit Lions 24- What better birthday gift could there be than a Bears victory? (For me at least)

Denver Broncos 17 - Dallas Cowboys 10- ROMO ALERT: Our namesake got sacked five times in yesterday's game. It's surprising to see the Broncos at 4-0 on the season. Can they finish the job though?

Cincinnati Bengals 23 - Cleveland Browns 20- This game was seconds away from being a tie.

Jacksonville Jaguars 37 - Tennessee Titans 17- Panic in the streets for Nashville? Not since 1983 have the Titans/Oilers started a season 0-4. And that was when they had Earl Campbell (granted near the end of his career). The Oilers that season went 2-14. I think the Titans will win more than two games, but 5-11 is starting to sound like a real possibility.

Miami Dolphins 38 - Buffalo Bills 10- I think I should have put the Bills in the Aztec Tomb...Chad Henne had an uneventful game. Instead, the props go to Ronnie Brown, who ran for two touchdowns.

New Orleans 24 - New York Jets 10- Are the Saints for real? At 4-0 it sounds like a real possibility. Anytime defense can score for you, it's always a good sign that you're a legit team on both sides of the ball. As for the Jets, well...you knew they had to lose at some point.

SUNDAY NIGHT RECAP: Pittsburgh Steelers 38 - San Diego Chargers 28- So the Steelers led 28-7 at the end of the third quarter. They should have this in the bag, right? Well, they didn't. A Jacob Hester returned a fumble for a touchdown, then Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes to get the Chargers within seven points of the Steelers. Jeff Reed came through when needed though and put the Steelers ahead by 10 late.

Are the Steelers in trouble? They did get the win. They get Detroit next week. We'll see what happens. As for San Diego, they got close, but not close enough. Still, can we expect the Broncos to really hold on to that lead in the AFC West? The Chargers have a bye this week, but they get their first crack at Denver the week after.

MONDAY NIGHT PREDICTION: Honestly, I'm hoping for a 0-0 tie, but I know that will never happen. So, Packers 24- Vikings 23.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Friday Briefs: Week 3 Picks

Last week, I went 3-2 (a few seconds away from nailing the upset pick too). I'm now 10-5 on the year.

Cincy over Cleveland
San Francisco over St. Louis
Houston over Oakland
New Orleans over New York Jets
UPSET PICK: Baltimore over New England

See you guys on Monday.