Preseason Predictions Fall As No Clear Story Dominates the 2008 Season So Far
Last year, it was all about the Patriots getting off to such a dominant start inlight of "Spy-gate." Even this early, talk was could they run the table. The big story so far this year also involved New England with Tom Brady sustaining a season-ending injury. With New England no longer in the dominant roll, the field is wide open with teams like Buffalo and Tennessee sitting atop the world so far. The misery of the teams at the bottom has also been hard to ingnore as coaches and GM's have been fired and life is bad in Cincinnati, Kansas City and St. Louis. Not much was expected of Miami, but they're showing a little spark with Bill Parcells working to build a quality team. Atlanta was supposed to be dead last but stands 2-2 with lots of potential starting to bloom.
If the first quarter of a football game can be used as a metaphor for the the first quarter 0f the 2008 season, it's been a game with a few key injuries and has to be a bit of an upset in the works. Some mighty have fallen while others have suddenly appeared among the elite.
Chad Johnson was doing what he does best, mouthing off for the cameras. What a piss poor excuse for a human being! Mojo Stinko surely believes the whole world revolves around him and everyone else exists to fawn all over him. What this lowly little pimple on the butt of the Cincinnati Bengals still hasn't realized, nobody gives a crap about his antics. Play a good game on the field, folks will love him. Screw around and make a lot of noise and don't get results, he's yesterday's news. Ocho Cinco is cero cero in our book. He'll be facing Dallas this week. Across the field stands the grand-daddy of this breed of receiver. While no one expects all receivers to conduct themselves like Hall of Famer, Art Monk, guys like Shannon Sharpe sure were wild characters, there is a clear line of decorum that Johnson has consistently fallen way out of bounds. That we're even discussing him here is feeding what he wants, attention. The best treatment for Cero Cero is to just ignore him.
We're going to keep our eyes open for players who are going above and beyond using their celebrity to do good things for their community. We have plenty of them here in Baltimore. It is a shame the naughty boys get all the attention.
Let's look at this week's games and see who's hot this week.
Tennessee (-3 1/2) at Baltimore
The Ravens face another major test against Tennessee. They were in a position to win against a seemingly much more dominant Pittsburgh on Monday night football if it weren't for a short lapse starting with an idiotic penalty then a turnover which put Pittsburgh in the driver's seat. Still, they took the game to overtime, and it wasn't a rookie QB who lost the game for them. Tennessee is a hot team so far this year. Their defense is tough. Their offense knows how to seize the moment. If the Ravens can improve a little on their Monday night play and take advantage of the crazed Baltimore home crowd, they'll beat Tennessee. The Titans are favored by a field goal.
Washington at Philadelphia (-6)
Who would expect Washington to be one game up on Philadelphia at this point? Philadelphia is an exceptionally strong team, who have faced a tough schedule aside from opening up against St. Louis. Washington has faced New York, Arizona, New Orleans, and Dallas. Simple answer, Washington beat Dallas. Philadelphia didn't. Washington has crept in flying under the radar showing Jason Campbell as a QB on the rise. With Santana Moss and Clinton Portis, the Redskins have the nucleus of a fine offense. Still, Washington's overall stats are pretty average and their offense has only scored five more points than their defense has given up. Washington has found just enough of what it takes to win. Meanwhile, the Eagles are an explosive team, top ten in offense and defense, but lost in an offensive shootout against Dallas and then the game against Chicago was a defense dominated game where they came up four points short. Philadelphia has the numbers to beat the skins for sure.
Buffalo at Arizona (-1 1/2)
Buffalo is 4-0 and has a much wider scoring ratio than Arizona. Buffalo ranks #6 compared to #27 for Arizona's defense. They're close on offense, Bills #7, Cardinals #9. This one's Buffalo's all the way.
Kansas City at Carolina (-9 1/2)
No brainer, this one goes to the team from the city of nervous bankers and NASCAR shops, Charlotte, NC.
Indianapolis (-3) at Houston
Because of Hurricane Ike, this is Houston's home opener. The Colts have been underachievers all year. Truly, this being a division game is a big one the Colts need. They'll take care of business and win.
San Diego (-7) at Miami
The Chargers electrocute the fish. Next!
Chicago (-3.1/2) at Detroit
Chicago will be riding in a completely different Ford than the last time they took a ride in Ford Field. The fans morale will be jubilant now that the biggest boob outside of a Hollywood breast implant, Matt Millen, has been sent packing. He might be gone, but the team he slapped together is still on the field. Urlancher versus Kitna, say no more. Chicago will be riding home in style!
Atlanta at Green Bay (-5)
Sunday brings a situation Green Bay never had to consider during the Bretete Favre dynasty, Aaron Rodgers status is a game day call. His shoulder is pretty messed up. Though many would have expected Atlanta to be 0-4, remember there wins are against Detroit and Kansas City. Atlanta will have to absolutely dominate on defense to win. This looks like it's going to be a cheesy game all the way.
Seattle at New York Giants (-7)
The Giants will win easily against the Starbucks Studs.
Tampa Bay at Denver (-3)
If Denver's defense is on the mark, they'll win handily. Both teams can be unbelievably sloppy at times. Discipline and focus will determine this one. Tampa has the Denver fans to punish them.
Cincinnati at Dallas (-16 1/2)
How about this? Cincinnati ranks 19th in defense, Dallas 20th. On offense though, Dallas is 3rd, Cincinnati is 29th having only scored an average of 13 points a game. So Chad, Mr. Cinco, why does your offense stinko? Dallas is going to slaughter Cincinnati. This game's a blowout in the makings.
New England (-3) at San Francisco
This game should be a good measure of just how damaged the Patriots are without Tom Brady. They travel across the country to play a team they should be quite stronger against. New England has only a slight edge. San Francisco could step things up a notch and win decisively.
Pittsburgh at Jacksonville (-4)
Neither team has played up to its preseason expectations. With Drayton Florence and Reggie Nelson out, Jacksonville's defense is seriously weakened, but Pittsburgh has some hurt to deal with too. Willie Parker is out. Ben Roethlisberger has a sore shoulder making his status questionable. Santonio Holmes, likewise, is uncertain. A hobbled offense faces a damaged defense. Jacksonville does seem to have the touch to find the Steelers number as shown last year. Jacksonville should win.
Minnesota at New Orleans (-3 1/2)
The Vikings have been disappointing so far this year. Many expected them to lead their division this year, but they have been sloppy and inconsistent so far. New Orleans has four players out, three wide receivers including Jeremy Shockey. Minnesota has a lot of players down not out. The game has two teams far from 100% both proven to be prone to silly mistakes so far. If Minnesota can beat a team that's going to try to stuff the ball down their throats with a strong running game, they'll win. Otherwise, enjoy the cajun cooking, because they won't enjoy a win.
This will be a fun week to watch. No game really rates "Toilet Bowl" status this week, with three of the most joyless teams enjoying byes this week, the level of competition goes up while Cleveland, Oakland, and St. Louis rest up. The New York Jets also take a rest. This will give them time to let the Brett Favre offense sink in. They'll come back against Chicago then have a couple easy games to settle in against Oakland and Kansas City before facing division rival Buffalo. By then, all the pieces should be in place and we'll see if the Jets could have a future in January.
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