NFL Preview 2011 Edition

Week 16 Predictions heads up: 7-9

Week 16 Predictions against the Spread: 5-11

Record so far: 118-89

Carolina @ Atlanta

Atlanta – 14.5

If Atlanta doesn’t win this game all the great work they’ve done this year will be pretty much lost as they’ll probably be out of the top seed in the NFC. For them to do this they’d have to lose to a Carolina team playing for a coach they know won’t be back next year and with a number of players who know they won’t be back next year on the road. I just can’t see this Falcon team doing that. The Falcons lost a game to the Saints that it seemed the Saints pretty much wanted to give away, they can’t afford that two weeks straight. Luckily for them they won’t.

Falcons 34

Panthers 13

Cincinnati @ Baltimore

Baltimore – 9.5

Its like a fantasy......only its real

The Ravens still have hopes of earning a first round bye and have at least one home game this playoffs with a win by them combined with a Steelers lose. However the reason the Ravens are in this predicament in the first place is because they lost to this very same Bengals team giving them 2 division losses compared to the Steelers 1. Last week the Bengals played another team fighting for their playoff lives in the Chargers however that game was at home against a more flawed team that hadn’t gotten a look at the Bengals before. I can see the orange cats sneaking up on the Ravens once but definitely not twice.

Ravens 24

Bengals 17

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland

Pittsburgh – 5.5

Pittsburgh has a simple formula for their first round bye, beat the Browns on the road and they get it. The Steelers were Colt McCoy’s first pro game and he played them on the road and put up respectable numbers for a rookie against that defense. He’s only gotten better with the game’s he’s played since then. While the Browns have lost 3 straight tough games I think the chance to put a damper in the hearts of a division rival combined with a solid running game and a Steelers team without Troy Polamalu will lead them to victory.

Browns 20

Steelers 17

Minnesota @ Detroit

Detroit – 3.5

Somebody break up the Lions; winners of three straight and two consecutive road games they’ve put together their best stretch of football in quite a long time. A great way to end the season would be to beat a Vikings team that’s been solid under interim head coach Leslie Frazier. To do that they’ll need to corral Joe Webb who’s had the look of a veteran in the first few starts of his young NFL career. As well as the Giants defense has played I just don’t think they have the team speed to contain Webb, Adrian Peterson, and Percy Harvin who are beginning to look the offensive trio of the future if you’re a Vikings fan.

Vikings 27

Lions 20

Oakland @ Kansas City

Kansas City – 3.5

In a game that seemed a lot more exciting 3 weeks ago the Raiders play the Chiefs in a game that could have been for the division title but instead is for absolutely nothing. The Chiefs have little reason to play any of their starters this week but I doubt they’ll rest them the entirety of the game as they’ll want to have some momentum going into wild card weekend and you never want to give a free win to a division rival. I think the Chiefs finish the year as the most surprising 11 win team this NFL season.

Chiefs 23

Raiders 20

Miami @ New England

New England – 5.5

Won't see this guy  for a while

At this point New England has everything wrapped up and if there’s any team that learned to not play any players when they have nothing to gain its New England. After watching Wes Welker go down with a season ending injury last year in a game against the Texans. I would be incredibly surprised if his players played more than a series or 2 if any at all. I think that will open the door for Tony Sporano to get his last win as the coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Dolphins 17

Patriots 14

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans

New Orleans – 7.5

New Orleans pulled off a huge win last week at home against the Saints not only securing their playoff berth but giving them a chance to snatch the division away in the final week of the season. Although the odds of it are slim since the Falcons are playing the worst team in the NFL at home no less they’ll still give themselves a chance with a win over a tough Buccaneers team.

Saints 31

Buccaneers 24

Buffalo @ NY Jets

Pick Em

The Jets while already in the playoffs are looking to create at least a sense of momentum if not any real momentum against the Bills this week. The Jets offense actually played well last week it was their defense that let them down against the Bears. The Jets defense while still ranked 4^th overall in the league has looked like a shell of itself these last few weeks ever since getting obliterated against the Patriots in week. They'll get themselves together this week however.

NY Jets 24

Bills 9

Chicago @ Green Bay

Green Bay – 9.5

In a game the Packers have to win and a game that gets the Bears absolutely nothing I don’t see how the Packers can lose this one at home. Combined with the way they’ve played on both sides of the ball recently and I think they could still win this game even if the Bears had something to play for luckily for them they don’t.

Packers 33

Bears 20

Jacksonville @ Houston

Houston – 3

The Jaguars had a terrible loss last week against the Redskins who were lead by Rex Grossman. The Jaguars are still in the playoff hunt somehow but that will probably be over soon if the Colts can handle their business against the Titans. The Jaguars will be without both Mojo and David Garrard for this game which seems to spell doom especially heading out on the road to face a Texans team that could be playing for their coaches job if he hasn’t already been fired. Despite losing back to back tough games  and being without two of their offense stars I think the Jaguars still find a way to have a reason to watch the scoreboard.

Jaguars 23

Houston 20

Tennessee @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis – 9.5

The Colts basically need to win and they’re in. Once again it seems as though Peyton and company will be in the playoffs despite the gloom and doom predictions some of which could be read on this very blog the Colts has continued his career playoff streak. The Titans might have finally pushed Jeff Fisher out the door with their dreadful performance this year. One thing is for sure the Titans will look a lot different next year and the Colts are winning this game.

Colts 27

Titans 17

Dallas @ Philadelphia

Philadelphia – 3

Normally losing a player of Michael Vicks caliber would be an absolutely devastating blow to any team luckily for the Philadelphia Eagles they have Kevin Kolb as their backup quarterback who is more than capable of beating the Cowboys in the final game of the season as another tryout for whatever team he’ll be starting for next year. The Cowboys are also turning to their backup quarterback Stephen McGee who had one game where he managed one touchdown throw in a heartbreaking loss to Arizona. I’ll just say if he couldn’t lead them to a victory over Arizona his chances are even slimmer against the Eagles.

Eagles 27

Cowboys 20

NY Giants @ Washington

NY Giants – 3.5

The Giants need to win this game and get a little help in order to make it into the playoffs. It’s pretty simple actually if the Giants win and the Packers lose the G-men are in. Both of these games start at the same time and while I’m sure all the Giant players will say there won’t be any score board watching I have a hard time believing it. Luckily for them that Packers Bears game will give them a heads up pretty soon that their playoff hopes are dashed. However their still playing a Rex Grossman lead Redskins team, and while he’s been nothing but solid these past two weeks it’s only translated into a win over a hobbled Jacksonville team in overtime.

Giants 27

Redskins 19

San Diego @ Denver

San Diego – 3.5

Better luck next year guys

For the first time in 4 years the Chargers won’t make the playoffs and for some reason their owner Dean Spanos decided to assure both Wade Phillips and A.J. Smith their jobs before the season was even over. Why; I don't know but luckily for them their jobs are safe and they'll be around next year to lead this same group of underachievers to another disappointing season for Charger Fans. It doesn't seem like their window for a super bowl is closing but who knows if its ever really been open.

Chargers 27

Broncos 13

Arizona @ San Francisco

San Francisco – 6

In one of the most bizarre firings I think I’ve ever seen in the NFL the 49’ers fired head coach Mike Singletary with one game left in the season. I don’t know if he was so embarrassing the organization couldn’t handle one more game of him but I don’t know they’ve made themselves an ever bigger embarrassment by firing a head coach a week before the season ends. I think the embarrassment continues this week with a loss to the Cardinals

Cardinals 27

49’ers 23

St. Louis @ Seattle

St. Louis – 3

I understand the fact this is the first real playoff game of the year with true win or go home implications but part of me still can’t believe that a 7-9 team could make the playoffs and the NFL decided to flex that to prime time. With all that being said I still think this game could end up being surprisingly good with two teams that are close in talent but heading in seemingly opposite directions. The young Rams with a young nucleus on both sides of the ball against an aging Seahawks team lead by an offense seemingly on its last legs at most every skill position. It seems that Matt Hasselbecks ailing back will keep him out of this game and that will keep the Seahawks out of the playoffs.

Rams 24

Seahawks 16

Saturday Night Preview: Hope you had a good Festivus.

New England @ Buffalo

New England – 7.5

After struggling against a Packers team lead by Matt Flynn I think the Pats get back to the version we saw the past 3 or 4 weeks laying the hammer down on any opponent unlucky enough to cross their paths.

Pats 33

Just look at this face. Hilarity ensues

Bills 20

NY Jets @ Chicago

Chicago – 2.5

If theres something more awesome than Rex Ryan having a foot fetish that’s going on in the NFL right now then I’d like to see it. I’ll take the New York Devotees to go on the road and get the win.

Jets 17

Bears 13

Baltimore @ Cleveland

Baltimore – 3.5

Peyton Hillis isn’t looking good which means that the Browns chances of pulling an uspet are looking even worse.

Ravens 23

Browns 17

Washington @ Jacksonville

Jacksonville – 7

I just have a feeling that last week was the best effort will see from Rex Grossman in a Redskins uniform.

Jaguars 23

Redskins 9

San Francisco @ St. Louis

St. Louis – 2.5

The Sam Bradford NFL rookie of the year tour continues with another win in the division as the Rams creep closer to a division championship.

Rams 16

This picture is in every Florida Alums Bible

49’ers 10

Houston @ Denver

Houston – 3

I think this is the game that Gary Kubiak will get fired for. The Denver Broncos haven’t been able to keep it close with anyone these past few weeks but Tim “Jesus” Tebow will lead them to victory over the perennial 8-8 Texans.

Broncos 24

Texans 20

Indianapolis @ Oakland

Indianapolis – 3

The Raiders have finally given me a legit reason to hope this year. They’ve even managed to remain in the playoff picture all the way up to week 16. However that picture will be thrown in the trash this week by Peyton Manning.

Colts 27

Raiders 23

San Diego @ Cincinnati

San Diego – 7.5

San Diego needs to win their last two games and for the Chiefs to lose one. I don’t know if the Chiefs will lose but I can’t imagine the Chargers not winning these last two games.

Chargers 34

Bengals 20

Seattle @ Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay – 6.5

Tampa Bay lost an absolute must win last week against the Lions which would have put them at 9-5 and still in the hunt for a wild card birth and while their playoff hopes are still alive I think the door just shut on their 2010 season. With all that being said I think they’re still much better than the Seahawks

Bucs 20

Seahawks 16

Tennessee @ Kansas City

Kansas City -5

Kansas City can’t close the door on a division championship and a playoff berth in this game but by winning it they’ll officially close the door on the Raiders playoff hopes, consider that door shut.

Chiefs 20

Titans 9

NY Giants @ Green Bay

Green Bay - 3

After watching the game Green Bay played last week against the Patriots on the road without Aaron Rodgers I can’t pick against them at home against a Giants team that just suffered one of the all time worst sports gut punches in quite a while.

Packers 34

Giants 31

Minnesota @ Philadelphia

Philadelphia – 14.5

If you didn’t read the Tuesday wrap up check it out for my feelings on this Eagles team. Even if Brett Favre plays the Vikings don’t have a chance, and I honestly don’t know whether the score will be closer with or without him.

Eagles 27

Vikings 17

New Orleans @ Atlanta

Atlanta – 2.5

Atlanta shuts the door on a division championship and a 1^st place seed in the playoffs all in one fell swoop.

Falcons 24

Saints 21

Weekend Preview: Sorry I actually had a life for once edition.

Sorry I got back from an ugly sweater party at 3:30 so this is going to be pretty short. I wouldn't have felt right not doing a weekend picks article even if you don’t read it until the games are over.

New Orleans @ Baltimore

Baltimore – 2.5

After watching Matt Schaub rip apart a tired Baltimore defense in the second half of that Ravens Texans game I think New Orleans keep their streak of 30+ point games going and beat the Ravens.

Saints 33

Ravens 27

Arizona @ Carolina

Carolina –2.5

Arizona has had such weird hot and cold games this year but at this point I think the Panthers are playing for the first overall pick. Arizona goes on the road and gets a win.

Cardinals 17

You almost made it through the Year T.O. how could you

Panthers 10

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

Cincinnati – 1

What’s that you say? Terrell Owens lambasting is coaches and the owner? What a surprise.

Browns 23

Bengals 17

Washington @ Dallas

Dallas- 7

Everyone I’d like to reintroduce you to Rex Grossman. If theres one thing Mike Shanahan can’t resist it’s a white quarterback with a strong arm with a propensity to throw ridiculous interceptions. He fixed John Elway and he thinks he can fix everyone else. Someone please talk those Redskin fans off the ledge.

Cowboys 37

Redskins 10

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis – 5

Sorry. As much as I want to after their gusty performance against my Raiders last week I can’t pick against the Peyton with the division on the line.

Colts 27

Jaguars 24

Buffalo @ Miami

Miami – 4.5

Miami wins this game and nobody outside of Miami cares.

Dolphins 17

One word

Bills 13

Philadelphia @ NY Giants

NY Giants – 3

The Giants rushing attack has been stupendous lately with the two headed monster of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw but Philadelphia has even better two headed monster in Michael Vick and Desean Jackson.

Eagles 31

Giants 24

Kansas City @ St. Louis

St. Louis - 3

Matt Cassel’s a game time decision if he plays reverse the scores, because I have absolutely no faith in the Brodie Croyle Express.

Rams 23

Chiefs 10

Detroit @ Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay – 4

I'm sorry I'd like to pick against the almighty power of Josh Freeman and the other Mike Williams and a guy who's last name is blount........what a second no I don't.

Bucs 23

Lions 17

Houston @ Tennessee

Tennessee – 1

Tennessee had one of the most pointless late touchdowns in the NFL last week. A team that poorly coached will lose to a Texans team that’s only coached at a mediocre level.

Texans 24

Titans 21

Atlanta @ Seattle

Atlanta – 6.5

Atlanta goes on the road and has their 3^rd loss of the year at qwest field scaring every NFC team that could possibly play there in the first round.

Seahawks 24

Falcons 20

Denver @ Oakland

Bring on Friar Tuck

Oakland – 7.5

Tim Tebows first start is in the Black hole with a Raiders front four that leads the league in sacks?? This could get ugly

Raiders 31

Broncos 23

NY Jets @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh – 4.5

I don’t know how or why, but Rex Ryan will right the ship this week. Oh wait I know why, no Troy Polamalu.

Jets 16

Steelers 13

Green Bay @ New England

New England – 14

Patriots vs. the Packers with no Aaron Rodgers? Hide thine eyes.

Patriots 41

Packers 13

Chicago @ Minnesota

Chicago –7.5

It seems as though the career that wouldn’t die finally died. Brett Favres reign of terror is over. Good work America.

Bears 24

Vikings 10

Thursday Morning preview of Thursday Night football.

Week 13 Predictions heads up: 12-4

Week 13 Predictions against the Spread: 7-9

Record so far: 92-67



Sorry for the lack of Tuesday morning/night recap things have been crazy lately with my other work projects ramping up quite a bit. However there will still be a weekend preview up this Friday no worries.



Indianapolis @ Tennessee


Indianopolis - 4

This face= interception for touchdown

As far as a Thursday preview goes this Colts Titans game could end up being the season for either team. Right now the Jaguars are ahead of both of these teams with a tie breaker on both of them. They’re one game ahead of the Colts and 2 ahead of the Titans. If the Titans lose this game I think they’re mathematically eliminated and if not they’re realistically eliminated. As far the Colts go they can afford to lose this game a bit more than the Titans can because they still have a home game against the Jags. However the Colts have already lost 3 straight they don’t want to make it 4 and possibly drop two games behind the Jags. I don’t know where Chris Johnson or the Titans offense has been these past few weeks but they had better show up because as bad as Peyton Manning has been playing; and he’s played terribly mind you, he’ll still blow out the Titans team that’s taken the field the past few weeks. The hope for the Titans is that the porous Colts run defense will allow them to finally get a ground game going with Johnson and set up Kerry Collins for the play action pass. Collins was absolutely exposed last week without a running game and it was hard to tell how they improved with him over Rusty Smith. The Colts pretty much just have one key to victory: Peyton Manning needs to stop throwing touchdown passes to the other team. Its honestly that simple when you give up 2 defensive touchdowns a game you’re going to lose. I’ve picked the Colts for the past two weeks and I have to do it again. As bad as Peyton's been the Titans have been worse. Colts in an ugly one to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. 


Colts 27


Titans 10

Saturday Night Week 13 Preview

New Orleans @ Cincinnati

New Orleans – 7

Early in the year I wasn’t a believer in the Saints, I saw the way their offense looked and I saw the points they put up and they didn’t have any resemblance to the Super Bowl champs of last year. However the Saints have put up 30 points or more in their past 3 games during a 4 game winning streak. The Bengals on the other hand extended their losing steak to 8 games with a loss to the Jets. They always seem to be competitive in games before things eventually fall apart for them. I think they fall apart again as the Saints continue their streak of 30+ point games. 

Saints 34

Bengals 24

Chicago @ Detroit

Chicago – 5

I told you last week that I was a believer in Chicago so I’m going with them in this game over the Lions. Detroit has nothing to play for except spoiler while the Bears are coming off probably their biggest win of the season beating a tough Eagles team at home.  Wait a second…….who does Chicago play next week? Oh will you look at that they play the Patriots next week, this has the classic makings of a trap game, so I’ll just say this Chicago will probably win this game but they’ll have to play all 60 minutes to do so.

Chicago 24

Detroit 23

San Francisco @ Green Bay

Green Bay – 9.5

Green Bay seems to be a one man team at this point with their only reliable source of any offense being Aaron Rodgers. Luckily for them that one man is good enough to beat the 49’ers while they’re at home. They had better use this game to find some other people to get Rodgers some help on offense or they might not make it into the playoffs.

Packers 27

49’ers 20

Denver @ Kansas City

Kansas City – 10

Kansas City showed they were legit by going on the road in one of the toughest environments in the NFL and absolutely handing it to the Seahawks. The Broncos showed who they were by losing at home to St. Louis in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would have you believe. Chiefs in a big way.

Chiefs 31

Broncos 17

Cleveland @ Miami

Miami – 5

Note enough money on earth for me to block this guy

Miami was finally able to run the football for one last week as they ran over the Raiders to the tune of almost 200 total rushing yards with their combo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. The question is whether that was a one week aberration or a sign of things to come as they close out the season. Cleveland's rush defense is ranked 20th in the league so they're nothing to write home about however I think a guy like Shaun Rogers can make all the difference to a team that isn't a equipped to handle him and the Dolphins lack the size up front to handle him. Combine that with another installment of the Peyton Hillis show and I think the Browns go into Miami and pretty much end the Dolphins season.

Browns 19

Dolphins 17

Buffalo @ Minnesota

Minnesota – 5

With Adrian Peterson being a game time decision this game comes to down to whether you trust Brett Favre with possibly no Adrian Peterson or Percy Harvin to be able to beat the Bills at home. My answer: Just barely.

Vikings 27

Bills 24

Washington @ N.Y. Giants

New York – 7.5

New York beat a tough Jags team at home in a thriller last week now they play one of those games they can’t afford to lose if they want to make it into the playoffs. The Redskins are a team who has beaten a few listless opponents and not much else but division games can bring out the best in NFC east teams.  However I doubt it'll bring out enough to beat a Giants team fighting for their playoff lives.

Giant 17

Redskins 9

Jacksonville @ Tennessee

Tennessee – 3.5

Farewell Rusty Smith we hardly knew ye

Sadly it seems as though the Rusty Smith era has come to an end in Tennessee after a 20-0 drubbing at the hands of the Texans. The Titans couldn’t have played much worse than they did last week however Jacksonville is trying to hold off both them and the Colts for the lead in the AFC South. The Jags will be without Mike Sims Walker however the Titans will be without both Randy Moss and Kenny Britt. Oh what’s that you say?? Randy Moss has been active the past few weeks. Ouch. Jacksonville extends their division lead

Jaguars 17

Titans 13

Oakland @ San Diego

San Diego – 13.5

Oakland headed into the bye week with all the hope and go fortune they could have asked for and since then things have been pretty much all downhill. The Chargers like usual are performing their normal November December undefeated streak. The Raiders were barely able to beat the Chargers at home when they were spotted a 12 point lead by the Chargers dreadful special teams and then needed a questionable fumble call to snatch victory from the clutches of defeat. I don’t see any miracle around the corner for the Raiders this week.

Chargers 31

Raiders 17

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay

Atlanta – 3

The Bucs almost put a kink into my declaration of them as a team that can only beat the teams they’re supposed to beat and no one else, but this week I’m going to do it myself. The Bucs are going to beat the Falcons this Sunday and I’ll tell you why. The Falcons are a mediocre road team at best and all of their home wins against good teams have had a very questionable tinge to them. On top of that you look at how closely the Bucs played them last time and they were literally a goal line stand away from beating the Falcons at home where they seem to be unbeatable. Well the Falcons aren’t unbeatable on the road and the Bucs will show it this week.

Bucs 23

Falcons 20

St. Louis @ Arizona

St. Louis – 3.5

The Rams got their first road win in over a year last week in Denver and they’re looking to follow it up with another road win this week except this time against a divisional opponent. Sam Bradford and crew are currently tied for first place in the division and will need all the division wins they can get in order to hold off the Seahawks. Arizona on the other hand just got blasted by the Chiefs and had their greatest press conference debacle since the Denny Green tirade so that leads me to pick the Rams in this one.

Rams 24

Cardinals 20

Dallas @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis – 5.5

I wrote last week about whether this is the end of the Colts as we know them. They’ve had a run that probably won’t ever be equaled in the salary cap era of football; they’ve been in the playoffs for 10 of the 13 years they’ve had Peyton Manning at QB including this year. So it could end up being 11 for 13 at the end of this year. However this game is pretty much  a must win for the Colts, they’re tied with the Jaguars for the division lead and with the top two teams in both the AFC North and East having better records than the Colts they’ll only make it in as a division winner. I don’t know whether they’ll do that but I think they’ll beat a rejuvenated Cowboys team who won’t be catching a team by surprise on the road like they did the Giants in their first week with Jason Garrett.

Colts 31

Cowboys 24

Carolina @ Seattle

Seattle –4.5

In a battle that nobody outside of Seattle and Panther fans care about the Seahawks will keep their post season hopes alive by beating the worst team in the league at home.

Seahawks 23

Panthers 13

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Baltimore – 3

My real reason for picking the Ravens

In what should hopefully be a Sunday night epic the Steelers go on the road to face a team they’ve already lost to at home this season.  However that Steelers team the Ravens faced in week 4 was without Ben Roethlisberger but the Ravens were without Ed Reed and while these aren’t equal they’re both incredibly important changes to both teams. Both of these players are banged up coming into this game but both will undoubtedly play as the games between these two teams always seem to come down to the wire either late in the 4^th quarter or overtime. I think Baltimore makes it 2-0 and makes their claim to a top seed in the AFC playoff bracket.

Ravens 20

Steelers 17

NY Jets @ New England

New England – 3.5

In the game of the week the Pats and Jets face off for the crown of best team in the AFC East and the AFC as a whole. Rex Ryan added a little fire to the flames with some jabs at Tom Brady in his press conference this week and we all know how much the Pats love to take that bulletin board material and make examples out of people. Rex Ryan is 2-1 in his short Jets head coaching career against the Patriots but the Jets lost a key piece to their defense in practice this week in Jim Leonhard who was one of their starting safety and more importantly the signal caller for their back 7. They will replace Leonhard with Eric Smith who is a solid player but lacks the range of Leonhard and also the ability to return punts where he was solid and somewhat explosive with 4 returns for over 20 yards. Tom Brady hasn’t thrown an interception in 6 weeks and last week against the Lions he put up 341 yards and 4 touchdowns. The best possible news he could get is that the signal caller of the Jets defense will be out of this game and the rest of the year.

Patriots 27

Jets 20

Tuesday Night Week 12 Recap.

Week 12 Predictions heads up: 10-6

Week 12 Predictions against the Spread: 9-7

Record so far: 80-63

Just when you thought Peyton Manning couldn't throw any more interception he proves us all wrong. I think for the most part we all saw the Chargers catching up to everyone in the AFC west and looking to overtake them in the final weeks of the season. The luck of the interim head coach continued as the Vikings eked out an ugly one over the Redskins and the Bears have finally earned my beleaguered kudos in this week’s recap.

The Beasts of the East

Fun Fact: Brian Urlacher ate Donald Duck after this photo

After Watching the Falcons win a great game against the Packers I was ready to declare them the best team in the NFC. Then I saw the Bears beat the Eagles in a 31-26 game that wasn’t actually that close and I have to say the Bears are legit. I’ve been railing against the Bears and their early win’s against nobody for a while but after beating the team I thought was the best in the NFC handily I have to give them their due.  Jay Cutler was absolutely phenomenal throwing a more or less perfect game, 247 yards 4 touchdowns no interceptions. Their defense did an outstanding job shutting down the big plays that fuel the eagles and keeping everything in front of them with their cover 2 defense. They also did a great job of not over pursuing and creating running lanes for Michael Vick they kept him more or less in check for the entire game as far as running the football goes.  He got 44 yards but it came on 9 carries so he was held under 5 yards a carry and I’m sure most teams would take that. Michael Vick still played a pretty outstanding game, outside of one red zone interception he was patient moving down the field and taking what the Bears gave him and he made one of the best passes of the year on his 30 yard touchdown to Brent Celek however it wasn’t enough. Vick’s performance reminded me of Aaron Rodgers performance earlier in the day where he pretty much was all of the Green Bay Packers offense on the road and almost single handedly lead them to victory over a very tough Falcons team, but the Packers special teams undid what should have been an overtime forcing drive. The Green Bay Packers had 418 total yards and Rodgers was responsible for 395 of them. This game confirmed that both of these teams are among the top 3 or 4 of the NFC and if they meet again it could easily be 20-17 the other way around.

Ok fine. I admit it. The Bears are for real

I’ve been trying for weeks and weeks to write off the Bears as a fluky team lead by a defense that isn’t as good as people think and an offense that doesn’t have anyone a single reliable player but that’s simply not true. The Bears area a team lead by a damn good defense and an offense that doesn’t have a single reliable player. The Bears defense is based more around the turnover than it is completely shutting their opponents down. While their pass defense is ranked a mediocre 16^th in the league they have 16 interceptions which ties them for second in the league. The cover two style they play forces quarterbacks to be patient with their throws or force something and possibly end up with an interception and clearly a lot of quarterbacks lack patience which is what the Bears defense capitalize on.  This defense has been lead by the resurgence of Brian Urlacher into the all-pro form he had a few years ago, he’s roaming sideline to sideline playing that 3^rd safety role that the middle linebacker in a cover two has to do so well. Offensively this team won’t particularly wow you with anything they’re 22^nd in points scored and 28^th in total yardage. However as bad as Jay Cutler has looked at times this season and he has looked really really bad, if you told Bears fans Jay Cutler would have 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 90 QB rating they would have taken it.  Part of what makes up for their mediocre offense has been the return of stellar special teams play to the Bears sidelines, Devin Hester is almost back to his old self with two punt returns for touchdown this year the first he’s had since 2008. You combine all 3 things and this bears team has the classic composition of a Chicago football team, a team that’s lead by its defense has a competent but honestly not that good offense and relies on a special teams to generate field position.

Is this the beginning of the end for the Colts?

Seen this a lot more than usual

Part of me wanted to write an article about the Chargers here, but I think I’ve reference the comeback of the Chargers in this blog enough to where you all see where I would go with that. A much more unexpected storyline coming out of that Sunday Night game is that the Colts got absolutely blasted. They lost by 22 points and it should have been 35. I know that by and large the Chargers own the Colts and that Peyton always has bad games against them but the Colts are 6-5 at week 13. When was the last time we were this far into the season and the Colts were a game above .500? The closest I can come up with is the 2008 Colts and they were 7-4 in week 13 before ending the season on a 10 game winning streak. Hey maybe this Colts team will close the season on a 5 game winning streak and end up at 11-5 and we’ll forget that we ever had this conversation but I just can’t shake the fact this Colts team looks incredibly flawed. Normally the Colts can’t run the football, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it this bad. Peyton Manning is on pace to break the all time passes attempted in a season record which is no good for anyone who likes the blue horseshoes. He’s averaging around 45 passing attempts a game and is over 30 attempts ahead of the next closest player.  He’s thrown 7 interceptions in the past two games and it seems as though he’s regressing to his old interception happy days. Many many years ago my brother and I used to call Peyton Manning “intercepto”, we thought of him as a super hero who’s only power was the ability to throw interceptions.  In his rookie season Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions which is still quite staggering, he followed that up two years later a 23 interception gem. Just to clear up any confusion no I don’t think he’s going back to the days of his early years where he every pass he threw had you worried, but part of me wonders if the days of me thinking Peyton Manning could do no wrong have finally come to an end. 

Tuesday Morning Week 2 Recap

Week 2 Predictions Head up   8-7

Week 2 Predictions against the spread 7-7 (1 Push)

Record so far this year: 8-7

Every Tuesday morning I’ll try to have a quick hits section about 4 or 5 things that stuck out to me from this weekend’s slate of action. We’ll start off with my record for the previous week then get into some of the bigger surprises/disappointments of the action.

2-0 surprises

If somebody would have told me before the season that the Chiefs, Bears, and Bucs would be 2-0 to start the season I would have asked them why they were giving me weird NFL predictions, then I would have said they were ridiculous. But apparently coordinators matter in the NFL as Mike Martz has invigorated the passing attack in Chicago, while Scott Pioli is trying to relive the glory years of the Patriots with Romeo Crenell and Charlie Weiss in KC. However it’s not just coordinators it’s also a youth movement going on in both KC and Tampa Bay, the Bucs seem to be reinvigorated by an influx of both offensive and defensive playmakers while the Chiefs seem to be doing the same with the added draw of an explosive special teams.  The chiefs only have two real contributors on their defense over 30 in Mike Vrabel and Jon McGraw, their average age of a starter on their defense is 26.The Bucs are lead by the veteran presence of Ronde Barber one of the few players left from the Bucs super bowl championship of 2002, their defense is even younger coming in at an average age a shade over 25. While the Bears are surprising as well they have a good deal of talent and recognizable names: Jay Cutler, Greg Olsen, Matt Forte, Brian Urlacher, Devin Hester, and Tommie Harris. This Bears team was more a question of using the talent properly and executing. Not many of us thought Jay Cutler could, but through two games he’s been up to the challenge with 5 touchdowns, only 1 interception and a quarterback rating of 121.2. The question remains if any of these teams have it in them to continue to succeed during the long haul of the season or will they whither under the pressure of raised expectations like the Denver Broncos of last year. Only time will tell.

0-2 Disappointments

Even John Madden doesn't think he's having fun out there now

I’m looking at you Cowboys and Vikings. There were supposed to be 4 elite teams in the NFC: The Saints, Vikings, Packers, and Cowboys. Apparently only 2 of them got the message while the Packers and Saints reside in the land of the undefeated the boys and Vikings are simply defeated. What’s the problem?? Well in the land of Lakes it seems to be pretty simple: 1. Brett Favre isn’t nearly as committed to this team as he was to the team in 2009 2. He misses Sydney Rice a lot more than any of us thought he would or 3. He got a lot older really really fast.  I don’t have the answer but I do know the Vikings need to figure it out because the odds for 0-2 team’s making the playoffs reside at 13% and it doesn’t get any easier from here on out as they play a pretty tough Lions team in week 3 also looking for their first win. The Cowboys on the other hand have a bit more blame to go around. The defense was torn apart by Jay Cutler last week to the tune of 21/29, 277 yards, and 3 touchdowns, that comes out to a quarterback rating of 136.7 ouch. However while Tony Romo may be chucking it up and down the field with almost 700 yards in two games but he only has 2 touchdowns to go along with his 2 interceptions. The cowboys have a grand total of 139 rushing yards in their two games, so they can’t run the football and they’re not turning all those passing yards into touchdowns, while they can’t stop the pass. There are a lot of problems in Big D….oh wait did I say they can’t stop the pass? Who’s that coming up on the schedule next week? Could it be Matt Schaub of the 497 passing yards and 3 touchdowns? It looks both of these teams could be 0-3 before we know it.

Defense Wins Championships

Your starting quarterback can not have a Mullet

Are there two defensive players playing any better right now than Troy Polamalu and Clay Matthews? Matthews has an ungodly 6 sacks after two games and doesn’t appear to realize that the other people are trying to block him and he should play along sometimes. While Polamalu is reminding everyone that he is probably more important to the Steelers super bowl chances than Ben Roethlisberger.  I mean just based on hair alone I would value Troy over Big Ben. A ridiculous sideline interception and leaping goal line stop are just the highlights; it’s his consistent ability to be everywhere for the Steelers defense that pushes them from good/great into the truly elite. Speaking of elite defenses who thought the Colts would come into Sunday night and absolutely put the hammer to a giants O that never had a chance, Eli Manning looked like he wanted to stop playing after the 3^rd quarter. 4 Sacks and 3 forced fumbles combined for Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney, not to mention how many pressures and hits they got on Eli, a game like that would invoke the mercy rule in Madden. When Mathis and Freeney are given a lead on that track in Indy it seems like its lights out for any quarterback. This makes it all the more perplexing that the Giants didn’t try to establish the running game early.  Well I guess they couldn’t really get that two headed running game going when one of the heads couldn’t find his helmet because it was in the stands.

Hey!!!! Remember Michael Vick???

With a performance that would make any coach re evaluate his depth chart Mike Vick reminded us all that he was once the most exciting player in football and probably in all professional sports. Count me as one of the people who didn’t think a 30 year old Mike Vick would still have the speed or the arm strength to do the things he used to. Not only does he still have the arm strength and speed he seems to have added a bit of accuracy and calm within the pocket that you need from your quarterback if you want to have an elite passing game. If the Eagles hadn’t absolutely tied their wagons to Kevin Kolb Vick would be the starter week 3. This is one of the problems with the NFL, people don’t like to admit they’ve made mistakes, and they definitely don’t like to admit they’ve made mistakes with the most important position in the franchise. The Eagles sent Mcnabb packing for Kevin Kolb and all they’ve gotten from Kevin Kolb is an absolutely dreadful preseason and a concussion to show for it.  Too bad the Eagles gave Kolb a 12 million dollar contract extension based on…a 48-22 loss to the saints, a masterful 4 interceptions zero touchdown 2008 year, and a beat down he put on the Kansas City Chiefs. So 12 million bucks for one good game and one game with a lot of yardage and 3 picks. Hmmm I’m gonna say that wasn’t a smart move.