Editors' note: Every week, these two idiots will play a Pick 'Em NFL game. The object is for each editor to pick four seemingly even NFL matchups from the upcoming weekend, challenging the other pick to the winners. A running record will be tallied. Feel free to play along at home. Leave comments with your own picks if you want to go on the record. Standings (Last week in parenthesis).
Standings (Week 8 in parenthesis)
Ian 18-10 (2-2)
Saj 11-17 (1-3)
To our loyal readers (and by that I mean Ian and myself) I would like to apologize for not posting a "Football Friday" for Week 9. Ian was busy volunteering with autistic children and I had to go on a business trip (being a bikini inspector is fun and all, but when beach season in Rio starts it can be very tiring).
As a consequence, Ian couldn't use Week 9, and all the havoc-wreaking games that happened, as a means to increase his 7 game lead over me. Let's see if he can capitalize on my NFL retardation this week:
San Francisco at Detroit (Sunday, 1:00)
San Diego at Cincinnati (Sunday, 1:00)
St. Louis at Seattle (Sunday, 4:15)
Chicago at NY Giants (Sunday, 8:15)
Never fear, Saj. If you go 3-1 for three straight weeks, you're back to .500 for the season. But you need to dedicate more time to the NFL! I still don't understand why you don't quit your bikini expecting job so we can get more blogging done.
Here are your four games for Week 10:
Kansas City at Miami (Sunday, 1:00). Your precious Dolphins at home against a bad road team.
Green Bay at Minnesota (Sunday, 1:00). The NFC Central. Love it or leave it. Welp, see ya later.
Baltimore at Tennessee (Sunday, 1:00). *Ian rubs his hands together.* Inside your head.
New Orleans at Pittsburgh (Sunday, 4:15). The feel good vs. the feel bad stories of the year.
Before I get to my picks, ESPN.com's Buster Olney just reported that Boston Red Sox may have the top bid for the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. What does this mean? Probably nothing since this is all speculation.
I am wary of the scouts who say Matsuzaka is a top of the rotation kind of guy but given how he pitched in the WBC and how people temper their expectations of Japanese players after Irabu, Nomo, and (Kaz) Matsui, I'm inclined to believe them. Plus he is the only living man who can throw a GYROBALL. Positively exciting!
From a competitive balance standpoint: some team was going to overpay for Matsuzaka, why not the Red Sox (in part to keep him out of the Bronx)? And if Matsuzaka proves to be what he promises to be, you have a super marketable Asian player that will increase your team's international profile dramatically. Just as Ichiro did for the Mariners (not suggesting Matsuzaka is as good as Ichiro, he may not even be as good as Barry Zito). In the end, this is probably just a convoluted ploy to keep Matsuzaka from ever making it to any major league club this season. God bless this ridiculous posting system.
On to the picks:
MIAMI over Kansas City
I've gone too far into this season without picking against the Dolphins. Why start now? This cowboy is not changing horses midstream, that's for sure. Plus I'm still bitter that the one week the Chiefs get blown out is the same week in which I pick them to win. They had Ben Roethlisberger IN ARROWHEAD and he tore them to shreads? I am convinced the Chiefs lost to spite me. Will the Chiefs win this week? Probably.
MINNESOTA over Green Bay
The Packers lost to Buffalo last week. The Vikings beat Buffalo in Week 4. By the transitive property of equality, the Vikings will beat the Packers. Click here to see why my logic is unsound. I just don't see Chester Taylor not running for lots of yards on the Packers defense. I don't not see it.
BALTIMORE over Tennessee
Does anyone think that Steve McNair, who has something to prove in this game, is going to break down in tears screaming "Why don't you love me?!" to Jeff Fischer after the game? Me neither. He'll be a stonecold killer this game. Stonecold. Aside from losing out on all the money the Titans were set to pay him this year, he has to be happy with his situation in Baltimore. They essentially run the "Steve, Don't F*** Up" offense, relying on their defense to do most of their scoring. So listen closely Steve: don't f*** up.
PITTSBURGH over New Orleans
I see what you're doing here, I do. The Steelers are too good to be playing this poorly and the Saints are too bad to be playing this well. When in doubt make a whimsical pick and stick by it. As John Clayton says on ESPN.com. "The question facing him [Saints coach Sean Payton] is whether he's catchin the beleaguered Steelers at the right time or the wrong time." Thanks, John, way to go out on a limb here.
Thems my picks and I'm sticking to them.
I'll go on the record right now: Matsuzaka's career will pattern Hideo Nomo's. Watch for a solid rookie year, followed by a continual declination in success. I wish we could remember this prediciton five years from now. The question remains: Do I want the Sox to sign him? Only if A) The Yanks would get him otherwise AND B) It's for less than 10 million dollars a year.
Picks, to hold or expand my lead over the hapless Saj's:
Game 1: San Francisco @ Detroit: I feel like every week you give me some sort of crap matchup involving two crap teams playing like crap. Luckily for me, the crappy Lions have three things going for them: They're the better team, they're playing better football, and they're playing at home. I owe my success to never outhinking myself like Coach Belichick last Sunday. Pick: Detroit.
Game 2: San Diego @ Cincinnati: Do you remember in the first three weeks of the season when I called Cincinatti the best team in football to that point? And then I picked them to lose at home against the Patriots in Week 4. Clearly, I hold way too much power over the universe. I've received two emails from Cincinatti urging me to pick the Bengals to turn their season around, but I'd kind of like to see Chad Johnson flip out so they trade him to New England in the offseason. The Chargers are a very good team, though I worry about their longterm potential this season until Rivers learns how to throw to Antonio Gates (on both my fantasy teams). Handing off to LT is easy against the bottom two-thirds of the league...hell it's easy against anyone, I suppose. But it may not work as well against the Broncos, Ravens, and Patriots of the world. Against Cincinatti? It will work just fine. Pick: San Diego.
Game 3: St. Louis at Seattle: As far as I read it, still no Alexander, still no Mr. Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Result: Rams get a lead then Stephen Jackson finishes at +175 AYP. Pick: St. Louis.
Game 4: Chicago at NY Giants: Very tough game. VERY tough. Time to break it down, who has the advantage in these areas:
Offense: Giants
Defense: Bears
Special teams: Even
Coaching: Even
Damnit. That didn't help. It's not that tough to see Chicago losing back to back games. They clearly have issues, despite their 7-0 start. The Giants just took a hit with Toomer out for the year and Burress ailing. It's going to be a cold night game, and both teams can handle that. Since this all still leaves us even, and since they both have reasons to lose, I go to the tiebreaker that is never tied, unless it's the Superbowl. Homefield. Pick: New York
Friday, November 10, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
NFL: Pats vs. Colts fallout
Things have been hectic here in blog-land, so let's catch up with a recap of what's been going on in sports lately:
The Patriots defeated common sense playcalling and lost to the Colts, Tiger Woods started his own golf course design firm, Larry Brown settled with the Knicks on a $18.5 million pay day, and Terrell Owens proved that he's not only a narcoleptic, but that he's also a loudmouth a****** who can't catch the football.
That is certainly a very link heavy paragraph, I will give you time to sort through it before I publicly thank Ian for drafting my NBA fantasy team for me. Aside from a few missteps (READ: Nick Collison) he did a pretty good job building a fantasy team with no three point shooters or true point guards.
Yes, things certainly have been hectic, what with me covering the election and Saj pretending to have a social life. Let's wrap up loose ends before returning to Football Friday tomorrow.
I'm trying to figure out Belichick last weekend. I know there was some sort of reason for the crap he pulled. Like last year, when the Pats lost to Miami on the last week of the season. He had Flutie experiment with that drop kick, and on the last play I'm fairly certain he told Matt Cassel to not complete a pass. Cassel seemed to be "acting" disappointed when he didn't tie the game going for 2. Anyway, the purpose of this was clear. If the Pats won, they had to host the hot and physical Steelers in the first round. (That's right, I said hot and physical.) If they lost, they got to host Jacksonville in cooooold Foxboro. Which would you rather do? I would even go as far to say Belichick knew Pitt would upend Cincinatti, thereby going to Indianapolis the following week and either defeating top seeded Indy or at least beating them up before the AFC championship.
The point? Like me on the chess board, Belichick is usually four steps ahead of everyone else. So why didn't he do something as simple as run the ball against a run-defense more porous than Spongebob Squarepants? I began to consider reasons why he'd want to lose, like the Miami game next year. I wondered if it was better that we didn't show the Colts too much in the regular season. I wondered if Belichick and Brady wanted to get the reveivers' confidence up. I wondered if Belichick decided to drop acid while watching the Sunday afternoon games. But in the end, I decided there could be no reason that outweighs what a win would have accomplished.
Defeating the Colts would have put New England in the driver's seat for homefield advantage in the AFC. The Pats would be tied with the Colts but have the tiebreaker, as well as remain a game up on the Broncos. Now? The Pats are third behind those two squads, with teams like the Chargers and Ravens right there with two losses. It's a shame. Does anyone doubt New England would have had success running the ball? Travis Henry looked like the second coming of Emmit Smith, imagine what what Dillon and Maroney would have looked like.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Belichick got outcoached. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
How about them Bears? If given the option of Bears, Giants, and Panthers or the field for the NFC Championship, which side do you take?
(One more thing...you fantasy team will be just fine. Just stay patient. And hold onto Collison for a while.)
Just dropped Nick Collison for Luke Walton. He's averaging more fouls per game than points. And you're right Belicheck was outcoached last Sunday. BY HIMSELF. The Colts did what they supposed to do (THEY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE), they scored points. By not sending Maroney or Dillon up the gut on every first down play the Patriots were not exploiting their weakness.
Out of the NFC I'm going to take the field, I really am. You still have St. Louis, Atlanta, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle floating around out there. If you asked me which single team has the best chance to win the conference, I'd say the Giants.
Tony Romo: discuss.
I find Tony Romo as one of the more overrated players in the NFL. Leaving my partisan ship towards Drew Bledsoe out of this, let's take a look at Romo. He has three games worth of NFL experience. He has one NFL win under his belt. He threw three interceptions in his first half of football. He lost to a Washington Redskins team that his team handily defeated earlier in the year with the quarterback he replaced. And people are talking savior? To me, until he proves otherwise, he's just like JP Losman or Andrew Walter. I can't even say he's as good as Tampa Bay's Grostowksiskwksoiwki, because that kid is winning with a LOT less talent around him. Romo has Owens, Glenn, Witten, Jones, Parcells, and a top defense and couldn't beat Washington. That worries me.
So why is Tony Romo hailed a savior who is so loved by Cowboys fans? I've said this before. His name is Tony Romo. It's a great name.
Now I can tie in both of your points: Giants and Romo. I was eating dinner with some friends last night; one of them was a Giants fan and knowledgeable football fan. (But he wasn't the dreaded Giants-Yankees combo). He told me the exact moment he knew they were making the playoffs and, depending on Philly, winning the NFC East. It was when Parcells succumbed to the pressure and put in Romo, probably for the year. Until that point, he said, he was afraid of a dangerous Cowboys team, mostly because it was Parcells in his 3rd year. He said when they brought in the kid with no experience, it had him jumping for joy. (He also claimed to have predicted Romo getting picked off in his first throw.) This Giants fan said, and I'm paraphrasing: "Right there, I knew we would win that game, meaning we're in first place in the division over the Cowboys, and we would pull away because they just benched a 10+ year veteran for a kid with no experience outside of preseason and practice."
Okay, we should save the rest of football for Football Friday tomorrow.
The Patriots defeated common sense playcalling and lost to the Colts, Tiger Woods started his own golf course design firm, Larry Brown settled with the Knicks on a $18.5 million pay day, and Terrell Owens proved that he's not only a narcoleptic, but that he's also a loudmouth a****** who can't catch the football.
That is certainly a very link heavy paragraph, I will give you time to sort through it before I publicly thank Ian for drafting my NBA fantasy team for me. Aside from a few missteps (READ: Nick Collison) he did a pretty good job building a fantasy team with no three point shooters or true point guards.
Yes, things certainly have been hectic, what with me covering the election and Saj pretending to have a social life. Let's wrap up loose ends before returning to Football Friday tomorrow.
I'm trying to figure out Belichick last weekend. I know there was some sort of reason for the crap he pulled. Like last year, when the Pats lost to Miami on the last week of the season. He had Flutie experiment with that drop kick, and on the last play I'm fairly certain he told Matt Cassel to not complete a pass. Cassel seemed to be "acting" disappointed when he didn't tie the game going for 2. Anyway, the purpose of this was clear. If the Pats won, they had to host the hot and physical Steelers in the first round. (That's right, I said hot and physical.) If they lost, they got to host Jacksonville in cooooold Foxboro. Which would you rather do? I would even go as far to say Belichick knew Pitt would upend Cincinatti, thereby going to Indianapolis the following week and either defeating top seeded Indy or at least beating them up before the AFC championship.
The point? Like me on the chess board, Belichick is usually four steps ahead of everyone else. So why didn't he do something as simple as run the ball against a run-defense more porous than Spongebob Squarepants? I began to consider reasons why he'd want to lose, like the Miami game next year. I wondered if it was better that we didn't show the Colts too much in the regular season. I wondered if Belichick and Brady wanted to get the reveivers' confidence up. I wondered if Belichick decided to drop acid while watching the Sunday afternoon games. But in the end, I decided there could be no reason that outweighs what a win would have accomplished.
Defeating the Colts would have put New England in the driver's seat for homefield advantage in the AFC. The Pats would be tied with the Colts but have the tiebreaker, as well as remain a game up on the Broncos. Now? The Pats are third behind those two squads, with teams like the Chargers and Ravens right there with two losses. It's a shame. Does anyone doubt New England would have had success running the ball? Travis Henry looked like the second coming of Emmit Smith, imagine what what Dillon and Maroney would have looked like.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Belichick got outcoached. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
How about them Bears? If given the option of Bears, Giants, and Panthers or the field for the NFC Championship, which side do you take?
(One more thing...you fantasy team will be just fine. Just stay patient. And hold onto Collison for a while.)
Just dropped Nick Collison for Luke Walton. He's averaging more fouls per game than points. And you're right Belicheck was outcoached last Sunday. BY HIMSELF. The Colts did what they supposed to do (THEY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE), they scored points. By not sending Maroney or Dillon up the gut on every first down play the Patriots were not exploiting their weakness.
Out of the NFC I'm going to take the field, I really am. You still have St. Louis, Atlanta, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle floating around out there. If you asked me which single team has the best chance to win the conference, I'd say the Giants.
Tony Romo: discuss.
I find Tony Romo as one of the more overrated players in the NFL. Leaving my partisan ship towards Drew Bledsoe out of this, let's take a look at Romo. He has three games worth of NFL experience. He has one NFL win under his belt. He threw three interceptions in his first half of football. He lost to a Washington Redskins team that his team handily defeated earlier in the year with the quarterback he replaced. And people are talking savior? To me, until he proves otherwise, he's just like JP Losman or Andrew Walter. I can't even say he's as good as Tampa Bay's Grostowksiskwksoiwki, because that kid is winning with a LOT less talent around him. Romo has Owens, Glenn, Witten, Jones, Parcells, and a top defense and couldn't beat Washington. That worries me.
So why is Tony Romo hailed a savior who is so loved by Cowboys fans? I've said this before. His name is Tony Romo. It's a great name.
Now I can tie in both of your points: Giants and Romo. I was eating dinner with some friends last night; one of them was a Giants fan and knowledgeable football fan. (But he wasn't the dreaded Giants-Yankees combo). He told me the exact moment he knew they were making the playoffs and, depending on Philly, winning the NFC East. It was when Parcells succumbed to the pressure and put in Romo, probably for the year. Until that point, he said, he was afraid of a dangerous Cowboys team, mostly because it was Parcells in his 3rd year. He said when they brought in the kid with no experience, it had him jumping for joy. (He also claimed to have predicted Romo getting picked off in his first throw.) This Giants fan said, and I'm paraphrasing: "Right there, I knew we would win that game, meaning we're in first place in the division over the Cowboys, and we would pull away because they just benched a 10+ year veteran for a kid with no experience outside of preseason and practice."
Okay, we should save the rest of football for Football Friday tomorrow.
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