Empire State of Mind

30 10 2009

Yankees fans don’t understand what it’s like to be a Mets fan. Do you know why? Because they’re Yankees fans. For as long as they’ve been around, the Mets have been the second team in a one team city. Ever since the Giants and Dodgers fled New York, the city has belonged to the Yankees. With the possible exception of 1969 and 1986, the Mets have been the adopted little brother, the black sheep of the family. Mets fans have watched helplessly as year after year, October after October, the city is transformed into a Pinstripe Purgatory. This is the root of all the contempt that fills the hearts of Mets fans whenever the topic of the Yankees is brought up. This is why true Mets fans are cheering for the Phillies in the 2009 World Series. True Mets fans who know what it’s like to sit and watch their team get dismantled by the Yankees in the World Series in 2000.

Maybe we won’t admit it at first, but we would rather watch the Phillies celebrate a second world championship in a row then watch the hated Yankees get number 27. This is because up until the last few years the Phillies have been nothing but an afterthought in the National League. For as long as I’ve been alive, the Phillies have been a joke, the team that holds the dubious distinction of having the most all-time loses of any franchise in sports history. Unless you were born in 2006, you don’t recognize the Phillies as anything more than over-achieving cellar dwellers. Of course all of that has changed now, but even so, two years of playing second fiddle in the NL East does not even begin to equal the 40 years that we’ve played second fiddle in our own city.

I haven’t even mentioned the fans yet. For most Mets fans living in New York, or its relative vicinity, Philadelphia fans are few and far between. We’re not exposed to them because they don’t usually venture up to New York City unless they’re lost or they’re visiting family. It’s the Yankees fans that we’re forced to deal with day in and day out, and Yankees fans have had decades of training to learn how to become the most obnoxious fans on the planet. There are no hate crimes going on here though, I happen to be very close with a number of Yankees fans and I love them dearly. Here, this does my job for me (this is taken from a blog post titled “Top Ten Worst Fans in Sports“; the Yankees were #4): “New York Yankees fans: Speaking of entitled, let’s talk about Yankees fans. Yes, we understand that you have the most storied and decorated team in North American sports history; you don’t have to keep rubbing it in our faces. Getting a Yankees fan to shut up about their team is like stopping a train with your bare hands.”  These are fans who will resurrect a 6-year old chant for a pitcher who has pretty much handled them for most of his career (in 32 starts against the Yankees, Pedro has a 3.20 ERA, 261 strikeouts and the Yankees have a batting average of .211 against him). 2783

These are fans who own t-shirts that say “Got rings?” and whenever you mention the fact that they haven’t won a damn thing in 9 years, they’ll thrown their 27 world titles at you like a scared skunk lifting up its tail to spray. Sports, by its nature, is a “what have you done for me lately?” kind of thing. Unfortunately, most fans only care about what their team is doing right now, not from 1998-2000. On Sunday night, I watched 78,000 fans boo the Giants for stinking up the field for 3 quarters, the same Giants that won the Super Bowl 2 years ago and went 12-4 last year. When the Yankees win their 27th title next week, it will open the door to another 6 insufferable months of the New York media making the Yankees winning the title sound like a bigger event than Jesus Christ stepping off of an American Airlines flight at LaGuardia and performing miracles at the Starbucks by Gate 92. Until then, they are just another team looking for a ring.

Phillies fans, on the other hand, still have their training wheels on. They still burn cars when their team clinches something, and they aren’t the wily veterans of braggadocio that Yankees fans are. They can still smell the stink coming off the most recent era of losing and don’t want to jinx anything just yet. For Mets fans, this World Series is a battle between two evils in our world, we are simply choosing the lesser of those two evils. Hatred for the Yankees is something that lives deep down inside of my soul. It’s ugly, I picture it looking like something along the lines of Grendel from Beowulf, and it’s a pitiful monster, but it’s been growing for years and years and every October it comes out and rears its head and there will never be a way for me to stop it.

But anyway, here are your Week 8 NFL Picks, home team in CAPS!

Denver (+3.5) over BALTIMORE

Cleveland (+13.5) over CHICAGO

Houston (-3.5) over BUFFALO

Minnesota (+3) over GREEN BAY

INDIANAPOLIS (-12.5) over San Francisco

NY JETS (-3) over Miami

DETROIT (-4) over St. Louis

DALLAS (-9.5) over Seattle

Oakland (+16.5) over SAN DIEGO

TENNESSEE (-3) over Jacksonville

ARIZONA (-10) over Carolina

PHILADELPHIA (PK) over NY Giants

Atlanta (+10.5) over NEW ORLEANS

Last Week: 8-5

Season Total: 62-41


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Giants-Cardinals Running Diary

27 10 2009

ALSO FEATURED ON THE OFFICIAL NY GIANTS BLOG AT GEAR UP FOR SPORTS

I think it’s about time for me to break out a running diary, and what would be a better occasion for it than a Sunday night game on national television against the defending NFC Champs? Just know that this live account of the game was preceded by 4 hours of tailgating and took place in the very last row of Giants Stadium on a perfectly brisk late-October night. In other words, the circumstances couldn’t be more perfect. Unfortunately, the game didn’t really follow suit. But here’s how it unfolded, for you to relive over and over again, free of charge. You’ll thank me later….10,000 words later.

4:45 p.m.: There’s always a unique atmosphere in the parking lot before night games, which is why I love coming to them. I think that having 6+ hours to drink beer and cook food, coupled with the fact that you have more than 6 hours to drink beer and eat food, is what makes it so special. Wait, did I just list the same reason twice? For the record, my buddy Dan and I are cooking chicken skewers, shrimp and bratwurst tonight. Best menu of the season so far.

5:37 p.m.: I’ve already counted 6 Cardinals jerseys here in the parking lot, which is 6 more than I saw the last time the Cards visited Giants Stadium in 2005. I guess we can chalk that up as being one of the benefits of playing in the Super Bowl; their fans are no longer afraid to leave the house without paper bags over their heads.

6:11 p.m.: Lawrence Taylor was signing autographs outside Gate C for the past hour. The line to see him was longer than the line for the port-a-john, so I had to make a judgment call. I chose to relieve myself. Chalk one up for tailgating. The score: Tailgating 1, Me 0.

7:09 p.m.: Someone is shooting off fireworks over by the racetrack and the people tailgating next to us are playing Christmas music. Oddly enough, these two separate events have me really excited for the game to start. Some things can’t be explained and other things shouldn’t have to be explained. I think this falls into both categories.

8:02 p.m.: Heading into the Stadium along with the masses. On the line waiting to get patted down by security, I hear a guy in front of me remark to his friend, “See, I told you night games are different” as four guys in Jacobs jerseys in front of them are forced to throw out the unopened beers they managed to stuff inside their jackets. Have I mentioned that I love night games?

8:26 p.m.: Tonight we are honoring the 1986 Super Bowl Championship team. Lawrence Taylor gets a standing ovation when he is introduced and I can’t help but think that this should help inspire the defense, in case they’re not already sufficiently inspired. It would be blasphemous to not play well with legends like LT, Harry Carson and Leonard Marshall watching from the sidelines.

1st Quarter

14:54 – On the first play from scrimmage, Warner hits Steve Breaston over the middle for 23 yards to the Giants 43. He’s tackled by….guess who….C.C. Brown! I’m having Vietnam flashbacks of last week and we’ve only played 6 seconds.

13:39 – I forgot to mention that in addition to honoring the ’86 team, Giants Stadium is going to be playing 80′s songs all night. We were just treated to “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins during the last TV timeout. I don’t know why this is important, but the Cardinals are now on the Giants 27 and I’m wondering if maybe I got tickets to last week’s game by accident.

13:05 – FUMBLE!!!!! Tim Hightower is stripped by Justin Tuck and recovered by Michael Johnson. The play was originally ruled down by contact, but when the replay was showed on the jumbotron it was clear that the ball was out before Hightower was down. What came next could only be described as 78,000 people yelling at Tom Coughlin to throw the challenge flag. I’ve never heard the crowd that adamant that a play should be challenged. Of course Tommy challenged it and of course it was reversed because his challenge record is impeccable. First down Giants at their own 27. I’ve changed my mind, not a bad start so far.

11:39 – Eli has come out with three straight passes to start the Giants first offensive possession, with completion to Manningham and Hixon. I can’t say I wholeheartedly agree with this, but the Cardinals are stacking 9 in the box right now and I don’t have much input on the Giants offensive gameplan anyway. Really? Nine in the box?

10:22 – Three and out. Apparently there’s a baseball game going on right now too. Judging from people around me, it’s a pretty important game. The stadium just erupted in a roar because Vladimir Guerrero got thrown out at first. Clearly, Giants fans are anxious for things to cheer about. (By the way, I’m well aware that it’s Game 6 of the ALCS, I’m just trying to go as long as I possibly can without fully acknowledging it.)

7:21 – Eli throws a deep ball over the middle and ends up trying to force it into a tight spot and, well, you can probably guess what happened. It originally looked as if Hixon came down with the pass in the end zone, but Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie won the jump ball and ripped it away from 87. Not exactly how I expected that play to end. What a tease, Eli. That was like dangling a steak in front of Artie Lange.

2nd Quarter

15:00 – I’ve sat through sociology lectures that were more exciting than that first quarter. After Eli’s interception, both teams traded punts (not even a good punt, in Feagles’ case) and now the Cardinals have the ball on their own 25 yard line. The good news is that not only is it 1-0 Angels in the 3rd inning right now, but also that we will be treated to the world’s best frisbee-catching dogs at halftime. I don’t even think that ‘ecstatic’ fully describes how I’m feeling.

14:06 – Well, our defense finally made a big play. Warner’s pass over the middle intended for Larry Fitzgerald was intercepted by Terrell Thomas. By the way, Thomas has been a ball-hawk all night so far. He has already broken up two passes and now has an interception. I feel like there are 11 of him on the field right now. That’s a good thing. Terrell Thomas is growing on me.

13:34 – Good news: Brandon Jacobs just rumbled his way down the sidelines for 25 yards to the Cardinals 4. First and goal. Bad news: The Yankees just took the lead in the bottom of the 4th. Trade-offs. I feel like I’m in Sophie’s Choice right now.

13:28 – TOUCHDOWN BRANDON JACOBS!!! Only the second touchdown of the season for the Jacobs, but it’s now 7-0 Giants and it’s enough to make me forget about the Yankees score for a second, as well as the fact that I’m losing my fantasy game to a guy that has Kurt Warner, Tim Hightower and Larry Fitzgerald on his team.

10:38 – Cardinals go three and out again. Then Eli is sacked and loses 11 yards on a 3rd and 2. Which raises the question, why are we throwing the football on a 3rd and 2? The run game has been almost non-existent tonight. I don’t know when the Cardinals bought a defense, but I certainly don’t remember them having one.

9:59 – A rare Shankopotamus just appeared. Jeff Feagles managed to boot a 28-yard gem which came off the side of his foot and wobbled out of bounds at the Arizona 44 yard line. Very uncharacteristic of Feagles.

8:18 – By the way, I just checked my fantasy team stats on my phone and found out that Vernon Davis and Miles Austin combined for 60 points today. Of course, none of that matters because both players were sitting next to each other on my make believe fantasy bench. I’m trying to remind myself why I love fantasy football so much.

7:36 - Yet another three and out for Arizona and then another three and out for the Giants. This game is getting a little out of hand. It’s going to be extremely difficult to transcribe this column with all of this constant action. And as I made that comment, Feagles punted 33 yards to our own 46 yard line. Unbelieveable. Two straight awful punts. I don’t think the Cardinals have started more than one drive from inside their own 35. It’s only a matter of time before the field position battle comes back to haunt us.

4:18 – ….And that time is up. Beanie Wells goes 13 yards off left tackle for the touchdown. The Yankees have a 3-1 lead on the Angels. I swear I didn’t just peek over the wall behind me to see how high of a jump it would be. Benefits of sitting in the last row of the stadium.

2:09 – Wow. Either the Giants just got really lucky, or they took the Broncos’ Orton-to-Stokley tipped pass and added it to the playbook. Manning’s deep pass over the middle intended for Manningham was tipped by Rodgers-Cromartie and then caught by Hakeem Nicks, perfectly in stride, who took it in for the touchdown. 14-7 Giants, 62-yard touchdown pass. Score one point for excitement.

Halftime – I missed the Cardinals final drive of the half which resulted in a 30 yard field goal, set up by a 44-yard pass from Warner to Anquan Boldin. I had to get a head-start on the line for the restroom. As it turns out, the lines were predictably long and I also missed the world’s greatest frisbee-catching dogs, which may or may not have been the second most exciting thing to happen in this game so far. 14-10 Giants at the half.

We will now fast-forward to the 13:11 mark of the 4th quarter, because the only notes I have written down about the 3rd quarter are, “ugh”, “not again”, “wow, that’s a lot of  boo’s” and “nice pass Eli”. Just to recap the third, the Cardinals scored on their first possession of the second half on a Hightower touchdown run after another Giants three and out. An Eli Manning pass that was picked off by Eugene Wilson later in the quarter led to a 6-yard touchdown pass from Warner to Jason Wright to make it 24-14 Cardinals. At this point, I was standing on my seat and hoping that they didn’t show anymore highlights from the Yankees game on the jumbotron.

4th Quarter

13:11 – Aside from the touchdown we scored off the fluke tipped pass play and the touchdown that was set up by Terrell Thomas’s interception, the offense hasn’t done much of anything tonight. Regardless, we are now set up on the Cardinals 44 yard line with a chance to cut into this lead.

9:50 – A 17 yard pass over the middle to Steve Smith and it’s first down at the Cardinals’ 11 yard line. The Giants can get a first down without scoring a touchdown, which is definitely an advantage for us and our poor red-zone offense. Although it’s still a two-score game and we need a touchdown and field goal, it’s always easier to get the touchdown first and then only need a field goal to tie.

9:05 – Third and three on the 4-yard line. I’m thinking that if they can’t pick up the first down here that they go for it on fourth down. With 9 minutes left, there’s still plenty of time left to make a stop with Arizona pinned on their own 1.

8:14 – Of course Jacobs only picks up 2 yards on a 3rd and 3 and of course Coughlin opts to kick the field goal instead of going for it on fourth down. Especially when Jacobs already converted a fourth down earlier on this drive. I guess we’ll settle for 24-17 and see if our defense can make some plays.

4:48 – Huge, huge stop for the defense. Kiwanuka comes up with the sack on a big 3rd and 3 play. Three timeouts to go, 83 yards for the touchdown. If the offense has any signs of life tonight, I think now would be the time for it to show its face. The Yankees are up 4-2 in the 8th and I’m starting to feel the first signs of OAS (Overtime Anxiety Syndrome). Amazing.

4:03 – Manning passes over the middle to Kevin Boss who makes an incredible catch for 25 yards to the Giants 42. What’s even more incredible was that he managed to hold onto the ball after he got his bell rung by Antrel Rolle. And even more amazing than that: I can actually feel NBC put up the graphic about the number of career comebacks in the 4th quarter or overtime that Eli Manning has. I hate close games.

3:52 – Well, Boss did a nice job of holding onto the ball after that catch, but guess who couldn’t hold onto the ball? Ahmad Bradshaw. After a nice 14 yard run to the Arizona 44, he loses the football and I haven’t seen the air sucked out of a stadium that quickly since the Vet was imploded. I would probably leave now if everyone else in the stadium didn’t have the same exact idea. Now I’m actually avoiding the traffic by staying.

2:52 – Can someone explain to me why the Cardinals just threw three straight passes? A 7 point lead with under 4 minutes to play and you don’t want to run the football and force the Giants to use up their timeouts? How does this make any sense at all? Actually, I’m not complaining. Improbably, we have one more chance now, at our own 9 yard line. This is it, this is what Eli does best.

2:45 – We’re going the wrong way…..

2:19 – HUGE PLAY! 3rd and 15 from our own 4, Eli completes a 34 yard pass to Steve Smith, and the hope is still alive! My eye is twitching at hyper speed right now, it’s like I have a metronome taped to my eyelid. I love overtime games.

1:20 – Pass to Manningham for 12 yards, Jacobs runs for 9 yards and then another 2 and it’s first down on the Cardinals 39. Timeout Giants. There’s that weird, uneasy, palpable buzz in the air right now that you can feel when a game starts coming down to the wire. It’s hard to describe, but it’s one of the reasons why I love football.

1:08 – A stomach punch. Talk about sucking the air completely out of the stadium, I’ve just seen it happen twice in a five-minute span. Unbelievable. Manning is picked off by Antrel Rolle on a pass intended for Steve Smith. What a somber scene right now, which is sure to be shattered in a few moments when everyone realizes that the Yankees just clinched the pennant. I can’t get out of this stadium fast enough right now.

The Giants beat themselves tonight, plain and simple. That’s what I’m going to convince myself after seeing that disappointing ending. Two opportunities to drive down the field and tie it in the final 5 minutes, two opportunities stopped dead in their tracks by two turnovers. Two awful, completely avoidable turnovers. I’m going to convince myself that we beat ourselves tonight if only because, for the second game in a row, we couldn’t get the job done against a quality team. This week it was the offense, not the defense, that left a lot to be desired. I thought we would come out and play with a little more intensity on our home turf for a Sunday night game, but that intensity was nowhere to be found. It was the costly turnovers that hurt us the most in the end, and at 5-2 now, we still have some room for improvement and luckily some room for error also, but it has to get better when we face the Eagles next week. And I believe that it will.


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Week 7: Where Super Bowl Dreams Go To Die

23 10 2009

I was 7-7 again last week. And when I say that I barely salvaged a .500 record, I do mean barely. To say that I’ve hit a dry spell would be an understatement. Picking NFL games is like playing darts with your eyes closed, you just hope that it lands somewhere on the board and not lodged in the cornea of the person standing next to you. Last week, I would have blinded everyone at the bar.

Week 7 picks, home teams in all CAPS.

San Diego (-5) over KANSAS CITY

I warned you about the Chargers last week. Maybe in a normal, pre-Kyle Orton world the Chargers could get by with a 2-3 record after 6 weeks and not have to sweat about running down the division title with a late-season surge, but this is a new world now. It’s a world where Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback of a 6-0 team and a world where Josh McDaniels is looking like the smartest coach in the league. It’s also a world where Norv Turner still exists and as long as he’s pacing the sidelines with a play sheet and a headset on, we’re going to have to keep hearing stories about how underrated Phillip Rivers is and how the Chargers are underachievers.

Indianapolis (-13.5) over ST. LOUIS

It’s been exactly one year and four days since the Rams last won a regular season game. Since then we’ve elected a new President to office, Kurt Warner took the Cardinals to the Super Bowl, the stock market tanked, Michael Jackson died and we bombed the moon. The bad news? The Colts will most likely add another week to their suffering. Right now the state of Missouri is about as useful to the NFL as Canada.

Chicago (+1) over CINCINNATI

The Bengals tricked me into picking them last week. Their strangely soothing tiger-striped helmets lured me into picking them when I knew that Houston would rip them apart. I’ll go with the Bears this week so that the Bengals can spite me again. Also, I’m glad that I had Matt Forte on my fantasy team last year, before NFL defenses had a chance to figure him out.

Green Bay (-8.5) over CLEVELAND

I thought it was clever how the Browns used an outbreak of the swine flu to disguise the fact that they’ve really just quit on Mangini and don’t even want to show up for practice anymore. I think that in addition to catching on as an epidemic, the swine flu will also catch on as a convenient excuse to say “I’d rather not show up on Sunday and embarrass myself in front of 70,000 fans with paper bags over their heads”.

Minnesota (+5.5) over PITTSBURGH

Brett Favre, also better known as “ESPN”s Wet Dream” looks a lot different than he did last season. I would know, after all I watched him week in and week out with the Jets, cashing in his leftover supply of Brett Favre Dumb Luck cards in between heaving interceptions and forcing balls into triple coverage. I don’t see the same Brett this season as I saw last year with New York. He’s only thrown two picks so far over 6 games and looks a hell of a lot more confident in the Vikings offense. I wouldn’t bet against him at this point because he honestly looks like Liam Neeson in Taken right now. Like he has a score to settle and he’s going to demolish everything in his path. Or else I’m most likely wrong and the Vikings will end up 9-7. Beats me.

New England (-15) over Tampa Bay (London)

I know that the NFL didn’t know just how bad the Bucs would be this season when they scheduled this game, but they should at least send a letter of apology to the entire country of Great Britain for dumping this huge pile of garbage on Wembley Stadium. After this game Goodell will probably get an email from the British prime minister saying “Sorry, we’re all booked for next year, so thanks anyway. You can keep your football over there for now, I’ll give you a call if anything opens up in the next 20 years. I’m going to go watch the Manchester United game now and down a bottle of Scotch. P.S. Thanks for ruining The Office.“

San Francisco (+3) over HOUSTON

Since this league is completely unpredictable, I’m going to stick with the only thing I know, which is that the Texans will usually always follow up a good game with an equally bad one. So here’s to you, Houston, for providing some sense of stability in this world of chaos.

NY Jets (-6) over OAKLAND

Richard Seymour: “You can mark it down, the Raiders will be in the playoffs in 2009.” Ummmm……you know, if he didn’t specifically mention the Raiders I would be convinced that he wasn’t even aware that he was traded. But he did, and now I’m mad at myself for actually weighing the possibility of Oakland making the playoffs.

Buffalo (+7) over CAROLINA

CAROLINA (-7) over Buffalo

I changed my pick when I realized that Ryan Fitzpatrick, from the football powerhouse of Harvard University, will likely be making the start. A more interesting side-story surrounding the Bills this season is the disappearing act of Terrell Owens. I had a feeling that this Buffalo stint wasn’t going to work out for him, but I didn’t realize how much he would be phased out. It’s not that the Bills don’t want to get him the ball, it’s that they just can’t. I’ll give it three weeks before he starts doing interviews in the third person, changes his number to 00 and stops running routes.

New Orleans (-6.5) over MIAMI

I know the Saints fans are excited about what they saw against the Giants last week, but I’ve been directed by my agent and publicist not to make any more comments about that game, so all I’ll say is this: no comment.

Atlanta (+4) over DALLAS

The Cowboys have a lot to prove this week, but so do half the teams in this league. I hate when guys on ESPN or some other NFL show say that about a team because they have nothing else good to say about them. “They have a lot to prove.” Having something to prove doesn’t make you special or unique. It certainly doesn’t make you good. It’s all about execution and whether or not Tony Romo will look like a deer in the headlights in the fourth quarter.

NY GIANTS (-7) over Arizona

I would say 7 points is a bit much until you take into consideration that this is a Sunday night game, at home and the Cardinals don’t do east coast games very well. I want to say that last week’s game was this season’s version of the Cleveland game from last year for the Giants and that they will rebound this week. Plus, THEY HAVE A LOT TO PROVE.

Philadelphia (-7) over WASHINGTON

I’ll give the Eagles one more shot this week, on the road in Washington, even though I’m aware that the Eagles are about 0-53 in Monday night games against the Redskins. But back to back losses to the Raiders and Redskins will bring about something that every Philly fan knew would come but is secretly fearing deep down: chants for Michael Vick at the next home game. You know it will happen if they lose on Monday night. YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF PHILADELPHIA, YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

Last Week: 7-7

Season Total: 54-36



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Self-Promotion Is Only Wrong If You Get Caught

23 10 2009

Dear readers,
If you need to get your fix of Giants football please check out the other blog I write for, giants.gearupforsports.com. I write a weekly column there with a (usually biased) recap of each game along with other random NFL-related thoughts that don’t stray too far from what you see here (meaning that I have no problem taking unprovoked shots at JaMarcus Russell and wondering why Derek Anderson still gets paychecks).

Also, follow me on Twitter if you’d like. It’s like an HBO version of my columns, only in real time and broken down 140 characters at a time.

I will be making my long-awaited and mostly awkward first television appearance sometime in November in a Giants Stadium tribute special on FOX. I tried not to cry during the interview, which I think I accomplished. I only wish I could have gotten another 25 minutes to talk about the place and all the memories that come with it, but I don’t even like listening to myself talk for more than 30 seconds, so it’s probably for the best.

Week 7 picks will hopefully be up in a few hours, although I wouldn’t hold my breath, I’m 21-21 in the last three weeks.


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Attention All Giants Fans

20 10 2009

Now that my blog has apparently caught the attention of mainstream media outlets such as My9 news (that’s Channel 9 for all you non-New York area readers), I have an announcement to make.

Any Giants fans (or Jets fans I guess) who have attended games at Giants Stadium over the years, from the Joe Pisarcik Era all the way through Super Bowl XLII, and who want to be on TV on Friday, here’s your chance. The lovely Brenda Flanagan of my9 is doing a story on the history of Giants Stadium and is looking for people to interview to obtain a fan’s perspective for her story. The interviews will likely be done at around noon this Friday at Giants Stadium, and anyone who is interested should contact Brenda at brenda.flanagan@foxtv.com.

I’ll be there on Friday afternoon, and it should also give me a great opportunity to get a two-day head start on my tailgating for Sunday night’s game against the Cards.


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NFL Week 6 Picks

17 10 2009

I made what I believe will be a key acquisition for my fantasy team this past week. You see, I was browsing the free agent market when I noticed that a certain Michael Crabtree had not yet been claimed. As you may or may not be aware of, Crabtree finally joined the land of Active NFL Players last week and will make his NFL debut in Week 7 when the 49ers return from their bye week. N0w this decision will either make me a genius or it will just be something I don’t mention ever again. There is a solid chance that Crabtree will acclimate himself with the 49ers offensive scheme rather quickly and become an immediate factor and a favorite target for Shaun Hill. Remember, the Niners don’t really have any big-play wide receivers right now. Or……or it can go the other way and I could possibly be referring to him as The Ghost of Michael Crabtree by Week 16. There will be no in between. It will either be a great pick-up or a huge bust. But either way, I can’t lose. I already have 3 solid receivers in Andre Johnson, Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. So if Crabtree doesn’t pan out, no sweat. But if he does, then I look even better. So thank you Michael Crabtree, for potentially making me look smart.

Week 6 picks, home teams in CAPS.

Kansas City (+6.5) over WASHINGTON

For the 6th week in a row, the Redskins will face a team with 0 wins. You would think this is a good thing for the ‘Skins, however they’re 2-3, and frankly, just a few plays away from being 0-5 themselves. Basically what I’m trying to say is that playing Washington is the perfect cure for losing and they’re going to be administering a pretty hefty dose to the Chiefs on Sunday. THE CHIEFS ARE HUNGRY.

CINCINNATI (-5.5) over Houston

I honestly don’t have a clue how to pick this game because the Texans look like a different team every week. They’re shape-shifters. I don’t know which Houston team is going to show up in Cincinnati on Sunday, and to be honest, I don’t think they do either. The Bengals seem to have it down though, and they look like the feel-good-comeback-nobody-believed-in-us story of the season so far. Which means that they’ll probably lose by 30. You can’t figure this league out, so it’s not worth trying.

Cleveland (+14) over PITTSBURGH

An NFC North game. Heinz Field, which after a few days of rain looks like a kiddie pool filled with mud. Sloppy football. This game will be decided late by a Derek Anderson interception. I’m thinking of something along the lines of a 20-10 finish. Maybe even 23-10. Still not covering though.

MINNESOTA (-3) over Baltimore

For some reason, there’s something in my brain that’s not letting me register the Vikings as a “really good team” yet. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because Brett Favre did this same song and dance with the Jets last year where they started 8-3 and ended up missing the playoffs. Maybe it’s because I can’t trust his 40-year old arm to stay healthy for 16 games. Either way, I think it might be time for me to concede that the Vikings are probably a “really good team”, but I’m not going to put that in stone yet because any team that considers two of its main components to be Brett Favre and Brad Childress has to have a question mark next to it.

JACKSONVILLE (-9.5) over St. Louis

I have absolutely nothing to say about this game. Please stick around for next week’s installment of “I Hope I Don’t Have to Watch This Game”

NY Giants (+3) over NEW ORLEANS

I’m not saying the Giants are going to be beat the Saints, I wouldn’t say that. I’m just saying that the Saints won’t cover. I wouldn’t jinx the Giants like that.

TAMPA BAY (+3) over Carolina

There are only two home teams that aren’t favorites this week. One of them is Tampa Bay. I’ll give you a few seconds to guess who the second team is………ready? The Oakland Raiders. Now that wasn’t a very big surprise, was it? Bottom line: these two teams are awful. The kind of awful that makes you choose pumpkin picking with your wife and kids over watching the game if you’re a fan of either one of these teams.

Detroit (+13.5) over GREEN BAY

GREEN BAY (-13.5) over Detroit

The Packers are coming off of a bye week after a really, really, really bad loss to the Minnesota Favres in front of the whole world and I like the Packers when they’re angry. Also, I like the Packers when they’re playing the Lions. At home. I guess I don’t have to mention that though. And I know the Lions are supposed to be better than their 1-4 record because people love saying that, but they really aren’t.

Philadelphia (-14) over OAKLAND

Here’s the second home-team underdog of the week. Honestly, the Eagles could be laying 31 points and I would still pick them without thinking twice. Actually, how about this:

JaMarcus Russell’s Age (-9.5) over His QB Rating on Sunday

I like this one better. By the way, he’s 24 years old.

Arizona (+3) over SEATTLE

Why do I get the impression that the Cardinals don’t really care right now? I’m aware that even the NFC West gets bored of being in the NFC West every so often, but that doesn’t mean the Cardinals can sit easy and hope to back into a division title again like they did last year, not with the frisky 49ers hanging around. This division (as always) is wide open again this season and has “9-7 Division Champion” written all over it. I mean, ALL OVER IT.

NY JETS (-9.5) over Buffalo

Now that all the raging hype surrounding the Jets has been extinguished by back-to-back losses and less than stellar performances by Sanchez, we can finally go back to concentrating on more important issues. Like for example, why Rex Ryan refused to use his last two timeouts on Monday night as Miami was driving for the winning touchdown. Was he trying to save them for a postgame snack? He knows that you can’t literally eat timeouts right?

NEW ENGLAND (-9) over Tennessee

I said not to count out the Patriots yet and that they weren’t dead and don’t bet against Tom Brady and all of the stuff that was relevant two years ago but apparently not anymore, and then they made me look stupid by losing to the Broncos. Now I’m officially done with the Patriots. They have completely convinced me that The Patriots are dead and gone and now all that remains is the New England Patriots who will look great one week and then fail to reach the end zone the next week. And if that’s the case, this is the week they look really good. Also, they’re playing the Titans.

ATLANTA (-3) over Chicago

The Falcons looked pretty impressive in their methodical dismantling of San Francisco last week. Michael Turner scored THREE touchdowns last week, which means we can pencil him in for a solid 55 yards rushing and 0 touchdowns this week. Combine that with the fact that the Steelers will probably pull Mendenhall at halftime for Slow Willie Parker who’ll run for 11 yards on 13 carries and that makes for an exciting week for my fantasy team. But that’s not what I came here to talk about. I want to talk about the Falcons and the Bears. Actually, no I don’t.

Denver (+3.5) over SAN DIEGO

No! I saw you about to pick the Chargers! Don’t tell me you weren’t, I saw you. Don’t do it. Don’t pick the Chargers. Norv Turner is the demon from Paranormal Activity. He doesn’t go away, he will haunt you forever. Just don’t do it. The Broncos will have the AFC West wrapped up by Thanksgiving. Thank me later.

Last Week: 7-7

Season Total: 47-29



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NFL Week 5 Picks: Still Unharmed by Braylon Edwards’ Posse

9 10 2009

It’s very possible that I jinxed myself going into last week’s picks. Then again, this is the NFL, one league where anything is possible, including the possibility that I may be wrong from time to time. I was wrong exactly 50% of the time last week. A lot of things happened this week in the wild and crazy world of the National Football League and I will let you know that if my fantasy team loses again this week I’m either retiring from the game altogether, or applying for a job in the Mets front office.

Here’s the Week 5 picks, home teams in ALL CAPS

Minnesota (-10) over ST. LOUIS

I’m not a Packers fan, nor will I ever be, but I can only imagine that watching Brett Favre completely destroy their team on Monday night was the football equivalent of watching your father divorce your mother and then start hooking up with your ex-girlfriend that you absolutely hate. Seeing him celebrate after throwing that first touchdown pass was the dagger through the heart…kind of like if you accidentally walked in on your father getting it on with your ex-girlfriend that you absolutely hate. I want to let the entire state of Wisconsin know that I am sorry and I feel for you.

Dallas (-8) over KANSAS CITY

The Cowboys are having some difficulty scoring points lately, which wouldn’t really be too big of a problem if they had a good defense, but they don’t. Luckily, it doesn’t take a lot of points to beat Kansas City. It actually doesn’t take a lot of anything to beat them.

CAROLINA (-3.5) over Washington

Listen to this fact nugget: So far this season the Washington Redskins have yet to face a team with a win. How is that possible in Week 5, you might ask. Well, the only teams the Redskins have played so far that are not still winless are the Giants and the Lions. Washington played the Giants in Week 1 and the Lions in Week 3. Both teams picked up their first win of the season against Washington. That streak will continue this week as the Redskins face the winless Panthers, and if the Cowboys beat the Chiefs on Sunday, that streak will extend all the way into Week 6, which should be some kind of NFL record. Needless to say, the Redskins have an awfully easy first half of the season, and this is probably why they’re 2-2. After their bye week, it gets daunting with the Falcons, Broncos, Cowboys, Eagles and Saints all in a row. Say goodnight to your season, Redskins fans!

PHILADELPHIA (-15) over Tampa Bay

This is officially the biggest line of the week, edging out the Giants-Raiders line by a half point. With that said, I’m pretty sure the Eagles have played the Bucs already this season. Whether or not Philly is trying to pull a fast one on the league, let’s just say that McNabb is back from his McRib injury and the Eagles will slap the Bucs all over the field.

NY GIANTS (-14.5) over Oakland

I asked my Magic 8 Ball if Eli was going to play on Sunday, and although it answered “All Signs Point to Yes”, I can’t really believe it until I see him out there on the field. However, if he’s to miss any games this year, I’d rather it be against the Raiders. I mean, even David Carr can beat Oakland. Just look at his stat line for that game! WOW! I really, really hate taking the Giants when they’re giving this many points, but consider this a testament to just how awful the Raiders are. I’m actually surprised that Vegas hasn’t rolled out a prop bet to gamble on the amount of passing yards that JaMarcus Russell has each week yet. I’m going to set the over/under at 80 yards this week. Anyone?

Cleveland (+6) over BUFFALO

How far away are we from our first T.O. meltdown? Two weeks? Two days? I’m completely in the dark here. How long before he’s camped out in the bushes by Trent Edwards’ house with a paintball gun and a Scream mask?

BALTIMORE (-8.5) over Cincinnati

This game will be the turning point in deciding how I bet on the Ravens and Bengals for the rest of the year. Is 8.5 points giving them more credit than they deserve against a possibly frisky Bengals team? Or is the uncomfortably close game against Cleveland last week a sign that Cincy isn’t quite ready yet? I don’t know about this one. Let’s just give Baltimore the benefit of the doubt.

Pittsburgh (-10.5) over DETROIT

Steelers Nation needs to hold its horses right now. Last week’s win over San Diego wasn’t exactly the resurrection of a sleeping giant. The Steelers showed all of the problems towards the tail end of that game that they’ve been exhibiting all season: they go limp in the fourth quarter. I don’t care if they still ended up winning by 10 and covering the spread. The Bolts scored 21 points in the 4th. That’s not good football. In the past three games, the Steelers have allowed 45 points in the fourth quarter alone. They lost two of them. They could very well have lost last week too, if the Chargers had even some semblance of a defense. And what is with Rashard Mendenhall? Willie Parker couldn’t rush for 100 yards if the other team took their defense off the field and he comes in and runs for 165 yards? Actually, I don’t even want to talk about it.

Atlanta (+2.5) over SAN FRANCISCO

This should be a very interesting game, to say the least. Apparently the Niners have impressed enough people so far this season to earn being 2.5 point favorites over the Falcons. Either that or the Falcons have just looked plain underwhelming. I think it’s a little bit of both, to be honest. Also, the 49ers are officially ushering in the start of the Michael Crabtree Era in San Fran and Michael Turner is disappearing faster than Jamal Anderson right now. This is not good. Is it safe to say that if the 49ers win this, they pretty much have the NFC West locked up? Too early?

New England (-3) over DENVER

Somehow, the Denver Broncos are 4-0. Their defense looked stellar last week against Dallas….but was it their defense that was so good, or the Cowboys offense that’s so bad? Yet another prime example of the “It’s Still Too Early to Tell Which One” Game. Either way, the Patriots are slowly rejuvenating. It’s like watching your best friend get back into the dating world after a divorce. It’s going to take some time to acclimate and get up to speed again, but soon he’ll be back at full strength. So I guess Brady’s injury would be the divorce….? Yeah, let’s go with that.

Houston (+5.5) over ARIZONA

I REFUSE TO GIVE UP ON THIS TEXANS SEASON! It’s still too early. You can’t make me take the Cardinals giving 5.5 points. Andre Johnson vs. Larry Fitzgerald. My fantasy team might never recover if Johnson has a bad game on Sunday. In no way does my fantasy team affect how I make my picks. Not at all….

Jacksonville (PK) over SEATTLE

This game is so unappealing that Vegas couldn’t even decide on a line. They didn’t want to spend more than 30 seconds thinking about either team. You think the NFL might intentionally black out this game so nobody has to see it? Except for the poor Seahawks fans that had to pay for tickets.

Indianapolis (-3.5) over TENNESSEE

I might say that the Colts are the best team in the AFC right now, and I may be right. Still, I haven’t seen enough of them yet to really put any conviction behind that statement. So I’ll be watching on Sunday night. By the way, is it just me, or have the Colts played on either Sunday night or Monday night every week so far? It feels like it. Also, I’m not picking the Colts because I signed Pierre Garcon and the Indy D off of waivers this week. I’m serious, it doesn’t affect my decision at all.

MIAMI (+2) over NY Jets

Welcome to the Chad Henne Era! Let’s do this! The Wildcat will account for about 78% of the Dolphins offense on Monday night. The Jets will stop it every time. I’m still picking against Sanchez on the road in his first night game though, even with the addition of Braylon “Dropsy” Edwards.

Last Week: 7-7

Season Total: 40-22


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Categories : Sports

Wednesday Ramblings

7 10 2009

Wednesday is classified as Hump Day for most people, but I like to think of Wednesday as the day where most of my random thoughts about last weekend’s NFL games finally solidify and where my thoughts about the upcoming weekend’s games also begin to come together. So I would say that it’s sort of a collision of thoughts, which sounds a lot messier than it really is. Usually, I try to arrange these thoughts into some form of a coherent and legible order, which I’ll do here. I’ll start with the Giants, because after all, you’re reading a Giants blog.

  • I was on Twitter yesterday, where I follow the one and only Mr. Pat Hanlon, the director of public relations for the New York Giants. By the way, he’s an excellent person to follow to get breaking news about the Giants before any major sports news outlet even hears about it (even before giants.com). Anyway, I heard about Michael Boley’s arthroscopic surgery through his Twitter yesterday morning, which was surprising considering he played every single play of the game on Sunday. Apparently, according to Hanlon, Boley’s knee tightened up on the plane ride home and it turns out he has a torn meniscus in his right knee. So he will miss four weeks now, which is unfortunate because he had such a good game on Sunday. If that wasn’t bad enough, a few hours later, Hanlon writes that, and this is a direct quote, “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re taking advantage of the 2 for 1 sale at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan…” and then tells us that yet another linebacker, Bryan Kehl (recovered the fumble on the opening kickoff on Sunday that led to the Giants first TD), had surgery yesterday for a fractured left index finger. And I’ll be honest, I chuckled at that tweet, until of course I realized that our linebackers are dropping like flies. Coming from a fan of a team (the Mets) that was decimated by injuries for the past 5 months, I’ll tell you that it’s not funny or cute. It’s actually getting a little ridiculous. I mean, the Mets lineup for most of this season was in a hospital more often than the cast of Grey’s Anatomy. Now the Giants too? I don’t know if it’s something in the water in the New York area, but I don’t even think Mr. Glass from Unbreakable was hurt this often. All I ask is that you leave us Eli. Don’t take him from us. Is that too much?
  • The Giants have now started the season 4-0 for the second year in a row. I would feel a whole lot better about this statistic if we didn’t completely evaporate in the playoffs last year. Anyone who watched that game against the Eagles knows that whether we start 4-0, 5-0 or 11-1, it’s how we play in January that matters. With all that said though, this team already looks like it’s light years removed from the team that showed up for that playoff game. Without Burress we looked like a team that lacked an identity, and that doesn’t seem like an issue anymore this season. As it turns out, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham are making Life After Plaxico (or LAP, as I call it) very manageable.
  • I don’t know if this is something that everyone has noticed, but there seems to be an inordinate amount of really awful teams this season. So far, through 4 weeks, there is a total of six teams that have yet to win a game. The Chiefs, Titans, Browns, Rams and Bucs are all 0-4, while the Panthers are 0-3. Carolina, a thoughtful and considerate organization, decided to take the week off on Sunday and spare their fans a 4th loss. Or else they’re just delaying the agony, one or the other. Let’s not forget the Lions, Seahawks, Dolphins, Bills or Raiders though. They are each 1-3, and have perhaps gotten the chance to pick up a win by playing one of the 0-4 teams above. I don’t know what the deal is this season, but I do know that 12 really bad teams does not make good football (Yes, I counted the Redskins too, probably the worst 2-2 team in NFL history). It certainly isn’t balanced out by just as many really good teams like it has in past years, because at this point in the season I can think of maybe 5 teams that I can honestly picture playing in the Super Bowl: the Giants, Colts, Saints, Vikings and Ravens, and it would even be stretching it to consider the Broncos, Patriots or Jets as they all have considerable flaws.
  • Braylon Edwards was traded to the New York Jets this morning for Chansi Stuckey, Jason Trusnik and two draft picks. Here’s what I think about the trade: First of all, upon hearing about it, and preparing some material for this column, the very first thing I did was check out his ESPN.com profile to see if they actually list how many dropped passes he’s had in his career. Unfortunately, they don’t. Do you think this is a good sign for Jets fans, that this is the first thing I thought of? But it only gets better. Apparently, I’m not the only one who notices that Braylon Edwards tends to drop almost as many passes as he catches. According to this website, last season during Week 3 Las Vegas opened a prop bet based on how many passes Edwards would drop that week. Here it is. Now I wish I was making this up, but I’m not. He drops so many passes that Vegas turned it into a prop bet. Do you think Canton will put that on his Hall of Fame plaque? I think Topps has already copyrighted that sentence to put on the back of all of their 2010 Braylon Edwards cards. I decided to have fun with this, so I made a list of all things Braylon Edwards might drop if they were thrown to him. I came up with 1) footballs, 2) kittens being tossed out of a burning building, 3) a life preserver (if he was drowning), 4) the Lombardi Trophy (provided he ever wins a Super Bowl), and 5) Earth. Hopefully him being in New York now won’t keep LeBron away from the Knicks in 2o1o out of fear that Edwards will punch more of his friends in the face. Have fun, Jets!
  • My last thought of the day focuses on Michael Crabtree finally inking a deal with the 49ers. This is definitely big for the Niners because, as SportsCenter reported this morning (via Twitter, of course), “Despite being 3-1, Niners are 1 of 11 teams without a 100-yd receiver this season. SF has just 2 pass plays of 30+ yds, T-7th fewest in NFL.” This essentially means that the Niners, already off to a solid start, are only going to get better with the addition of Crabtree at wide receiver. It’s also good to see that the number 10 overall pick finally decided to cave and agree to a deal, although it took him almost two months to realize that in order to receive a paycheck in the NFL, you have to actually be a member of an NFL team.

Read more: http://giants.gearupforsports.com/blog/#ixzz0TGo2WMOi


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NFL Week 4 Picks: A Season on the Brink

2 10 2009

I’d like to start by saying that I know it’s only Week 4, but this has the makings of one of the wackiest, most bizarro football seasons I’ve ever seen. For example, look at the Week 4 power rankings, courtesy of ESPN:

1. Ravens

2. Colts

3. Giants

4. Saints

5. Vikings   (Getting there….)

6. Jets   (Almost….)

7. Patriots   

8. Falcons

9. Eagles

10. Packers   (Wait for it….)

11. Bengals   (WHAAAAAT?)

.

.

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16. Steelers   (Defending Super Bowl Champs)

17. Cowboys  (Huge stadium?)

18. Titans   (Last season’s best regular season record in NFL)

19. Cardinals   (Defending NFC Champs)

Just look at that.  What is wrong with this picture? EVERYTHING. I can’t wait to see how this season plays out. So here’s the Week 4 picks, home teams in ALL CAPS as usual. Just know that I am on fire this season so far.

HOUSTON (-9) over Oakland

JaMarcus Russell is to the quarterback position what Keanu Reeves is to acting. Actually, now that I think about it, Keanu Reeves played a better quarterback in The Replacements than Russell is in real life.

JACKSONVILLE (+3) over Tennessee

Just remember what I said at the beginning of the season about the Kerry Collins Rule. One good season per team. His tank is empty in Tennessee, time for him to move on. You know it’s not your year when you lose to the Jets because Ryan Mouton fumbles a kick return and a punt return in the same game.

Baltimore (+2) over NEW ENGLAND

I know everyone is wary about the Patriots right now, but I see this game possibly being a preview for the AFC Championship game in January. I would like to see that. However, the Patriots look about as shaky and uncertain as Jose Reyes’ hamstring.

Cincinnati (-6) over CLEVELAND

Just to prove to you that I know what I’m talking about, and that I have predicted yet another event of this young football season, I will repeat something I wrote in my Week 1 picks column about the Browns: At least Eric Man-genious has finally decided on a quarterback. I expect that decision to last all of 4 games. I actually gave Brady Quinn a little too much credit, turns out that the decision only lasted 3 games, but still I totally called that. Derek Anderson will make the start for the Browns this week, which I guess makes a difference to Cleveland fans. I don’t see it though.

NY Giants (-8.5) over KANSAS CITY

Do you think it’s too late for the Chiefs to take back the $4 bazillion dollars they spent on Matt Cassel and use it for something a little more useful? Like for example, a lifetime supply of McDonald’s Happy Meals, or I don’t know, A WHOLE NEW TEAM.

Detroit (+10) over CHICAGO

It’s only Week 4 and already Lions fans can call this season a vast improvement over last year. It must be comforting, that anything after this point is just a bonus now, including when the Lions roar into Chicago on Sunday and upset the Bears.

Tampa Bay (+7.5) over WASHINGTON

Watching this game is going to be like watching two eighth-graders awkwardly fumble around with each other in the bathroom at a school dance. This is a Redskins team that scored 9 points in a win over the Rams two weeks ago and then redeemed themselves last week by losing to a team that hadn’t won in 19 straight regular season games, playing against a Bucs team that was shut out by the Giants last week, didn’t manage a single first down until the 5-minute mark in the 3rd quarter and whose starting quarterback is Josh Johnson. Basically, the fact that they think Johnson will be that much of an improvement over Byron Leftwich is grasping at straws to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Redskins will still win this game because they seem like the least inept team of the two, but they won’t cover because I don’t see the final score being any higher than 9-6.

INDIANAPOLIS (-10) over Seattle

It looks like the Colts are back. It smells like the Colts are back. It feels like the Colts are back. So are the Colts back?  Actually, did they ever really go anywhere?  I say no. As for the Seahawks, this is about the time that Matt Hasselbeck gets hurt and Seneca Wallace comes in and does his thing for 3-10 weeks. Wait, what was that? Seneca Wallace already started last week? Hasselbeck is hurt? Oh good, I’m a week late.

NY Jets (+7) over NEW ORLEANS

Forget for a second that I’m picking the Jets and listen to what I have to say because I’ve been right a lot this season. Ready? One of these teams will not make the playoffs. I don’t know which one yet, because you know, it’s only Week 4, but I know that one of these teams will miss the playoffs this season. Mark my words. MARK THEM.

Buffalo (-1) over MIAMI

T.O. was shutout of last week’s game and finished without a catch for the first time in however many games and tried to act like he wasn’t phased when in reality his soul was crying and then the media tried to goad him into saying something about Trent Edwards but T.O. (surprisingly) wouldn’t cave and now he’s the victim all of a sudden…? Excellent media savvy by Mr. Owens. On an unrelated note, Pennington is done for the season, and his injury has now ushered in the Chad Henne Era in Miami. Not only have the Dolphins broken the unofficial record for “Most Chad’s Playing One Position On An NFL Team” but they now also have a former Michigan quarterback replacing their injured starter. The last time that happened….Tom Brady…..

SAN FRANCISCO (-9.5) over St. Louis

The Niners should be 3-0. If Brett Favre stays retired, the 49ers are 3-0 right now, because there’s no way in the world Tarvaris Jackson makes that game-winning touchdown pass last week. That was a throw only Brett Favre can make, as much I hate to admit that. So the Rams should be a good punching bag for the Niners to take their frustration out on. Plus, they won’t have to worry about Kyle Boller beating them, because the last time Kyle Boller beat anyone he had a Playstation controller in his hands.

DENVER (+3) over Dallas

The Broncos are 3-0, but it’s a deceiving 3-0. They’ve beaten the Bengals, Browns and Raiders. And now that we know the Bengals might be pretty good, that miracle Hail Mary to Stokely looks more like a miracle for the Broncos and less like a shame that they almost lost to the Bengals. Beating the Browns and Raiders is like playing your dog in chess, you know you’re going to win, but what are you proving? Since we’re on the topic, the Cowboys have beaten the Bucs and the Panthers, so they don’t have much to brag about either.

San Diego (+6.5) over PITTSBURGH

The Steelers haven’t looked super at all this season. For starters, they needed overtime to beat the now 0-3 Titans at home, they blew a 4th quarter lead in Chicago and then another, even bigger 4th quarter lead, last week in Cincinnati. The first time the Bengals had beaten the Steelers at home in 9 years. One of the Steelers biggest problems is their lack of a run game. Willie Parker is still in the Witness Protection Program, and that means that until he decides to rejoin society or the NFL, the Steelers are going to have problems on the offensive side of the ball. Luckily for the Chargers, they only have Norv Turner working against them.

Green Bay (+3.5) over MINNESOTA

For anyone who watched the season premiere of The Ruins on MTV the other night: the entire Packers Nation is Wes right now, and Brett Favre is Kenny. So this game should be entertaining, like a practice run for when Favre visits Lambeau later this season.

Last Week: 12-4

Season Total: 33-15


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