Isn’t it fascinating how after just one week, the sports pundits attempt to create stark visions of how many teams seasons are at stake this early in the season? Come on now, this isn’t like college football where one loss can destroy a school’s quest for the BCS championship.
Do some teams have some legitimate concerns?
Absolutely. How can fans from Chicago not be very concerned losing the anchor of their defense, Brian Urlacher, for the season? Meanwhile, the preseason hype was that the team had its first legitimate quarterback in decades with Jay Cutler who was a total bust in their defeat to division rival, Green Bay.
Factor number two is division losses amount to two strikes in the big scheme as it translates into an immediate deficit in the divisional standings. With that, Washington losing to the New York Giants, Arizona falling to San Francisco, St. Louis getting thumped by Seattle, Jacksonville’s loss to Indianapolis, Buffalo losing to New England, and Oakland’s fall to San Diego, all these teams now have at least one team to overcome for a division title. Given how tight wild card competition is, this does mean a little something already. Sure some of these teams are nonfactors not expected to win anything, but in some of the mediocre parity divisions, these games help define a season.
Buffalo’s first loss also finds Terrell Owens mouthing off making excuses things would have been better if he had been thrown the ball more often. Wow, did anybody see that coming.
In Baltimore, we’re incensed that Keyshawn Johnson bad mouthed our offense in a conference call to reporters with fellow ESPN sidekick, Chris Carter agreeing. Johnson’s comment, “You want a bum, you pay a bum.” ignited a firestorm in the Ravens’ locker room provoking a particularly angry reaction from Ravens’ veteran receiver, Derek Mason who pointed out Johnson’s lack of accomplishments. Naturally, that feeds the longstanding Baltimore hysteria that the national media doesn’t respect Baltimore. BOO-HOO-HOO!!!! Plenty of other commentators speak quite highly of the Ravens.
One constant year-to-year is Chris Berman still anchors ESPN’s major NFL coverage. He’s the biggest blowhard in the industry. His routines, catch phrases and routines grew tiresome about twenty years ago. Their big Sunday morning show always attracts one or two ex-players or coaches who perpetuate the “dumb jock” stereotype. Keyshawn Johnson is the new “mouth.”
Let’s look at our picks for week two. It’s a much better slate than for Division One College ball for sure!!!
St Louis @ Washington (-10)
Skins win! Skins win!
Carolina @ Atlanta (-6 ½)
Jake the Mistake can’t beat the Dirty Birds. Atlanta wins.
Houston @ Tennessee (-7)
Hot division rival that will have the “what if’s” going wild after the game. Tennessee should be strong enough to win at home.
New Orleans @ Philadelphia (no odds)
Can Philadelphia’s defense top Drew Breese? What will be the QB situation for the Eagles? New Orleans defense is the weakest unit on the field and will cost the Saints the game.
New England (-4) @ New York
Rex Ryan will have his new cast of characters worked up in a frenzy and with a supportive home crowd will upset New England.
Oakland @ Kansas City (-3)
Here’s this week’s “Toilet Bowl,” two miserable teams where on team will win. Since both teams have lots of weaknesses we can’t make this prediction based on which team has the stronger defensive of offensive matchups. The team making the most mistakes loses. That will probably be Kansas City. Oakland wins.
Arizona @ Jacksonville (-3)
The word’s out there already. Arizona must deal with the Super Bowl loser’s curse. Jacksonville will hang on to win, but you’ll have to drive over 75 miles from Jacksonville to find out as this is a certain black out game.
Cincinnati @ Green Bay (-9)
Green Bay wins. No contest.
Minnesota (-10) @ Detroit
Detroit fans would be well-advised to watch the Tigers. They’re in a pennant race and play Minnesota in Minnesota. If Detroit beats Minnesota, it will be the Tigers not the Lions doing the deed.
Tampa Bay @ Buffalo (-4 ½)
Everybody in Buffalo including T.O. will be happy with the results of this game.
Seattle @ San Francisco (-1.5)
New coach Jim Mora Jr. will attempt to lead the Seahawks to beat San Francisco proving they are not last year’s team of miserable under achievers. Meanwhile, the 49er’s still contend with distractions like Michael Crabtree’s refusal to sign. Seattle has the slight edge in this divisional contest.
Baltimore @ San Diego (-3)
Here’s a possible January matchup. The Ravens defense will make Rivers quiver while Flacco will drive the San Diego defense whacko. Ravens win.
Pittsburgh (-3) @ Chicago
Does anybody think the Steelers wouldn’t kick a team when it’s down? It’s going to hurt to be in Chicago on Sunday. This game has the makings of a blowout. Pity the Bears.
Cleveland @ Denver (-3)
Did the Browns ever get that quarterback situation decided? Denver is not as bad as feared and Cleveland is every bit as bad with “Man Genius” calling the shots.
New York Giants @ Dallas (-3)
How about them Cowboys in their fancy new stadium? First, how many punts will bounce off the scoreboard? Will Jerry Jones’ palace of excess find enough fans to be a sell-out? Given the new Cowboys crib has 100,000 seats, even in football crazy Dallas, with PSL’s, a bad economy, and high ticket prices, the prospects the Dallas could be a black out city on Sunday night nationally televised football would sure seem an embarrassment.
Besides that, there will be a divisional game where the Giants will prevail over the Cowboys. If Dallas falters early, this game could be a stinging loss like the final game at the old house when the Ravens shut the door and turned out the lights.
Indianapolis (-3) @ Miami
The Colts should win with little difficulty. For Dolphins fans, this will be a cold reminder that will show repeating last year’s joy will be almost impossible to accomplish.
Do some teams have some legitimate concerns?
Absolutely. How can fans from Chicago not be very concerned losing the anchor of their defense, Brian Urlacher, for the season? Meanwhile, the preseason hype was that the team had its first legitimate quarterback in decades with Jay Cutler who was a total bust in their defeat to division rival, Green Bay.
Factor number two is division losses amount to two strikes in the big scheme as it translates into an immediate deficit in the divisional standings. With that, Washington losing to the New York Giants, Arizona falling to San Francisco, St. Louis getting thumped by Seattle, Jacksonville’s loss to Indianapolis, Buffalo losing to New England, and Oakland’s fall to San Diego, all these teams now have at least one team to overcome for a division title. Given how tight wild card competition is, this does mean a little something already. Sure some of these teams are nonfactors not expected to win anything, but in some of the mediocre parity divisions, these games help define a season.
Buffalo’s first loss also finds Terrell Owens mouthing off making excuses things would have been better if he had been thrown the ball more often. Wow, did anybody see that coming.
In Baltimore, we’re incensed that Keyshawn Johnson bad mouthed our offense in a conference call to reporters with fellow ESPN sidekick, Chris Carter agreeing. Johnson’s comment, “You want a bum, you pay a bum.” ignited a firestorm in the Ravens’ locker room provoking a particularly angry reaction from Ravens’ veteran receiver, Derek Mason who pointed out Johnson’s lack of accomplishments. Naturally, that feeds the longstanding Baltimore hysteria that the national media doesn’t respect Baltimore. BOO-HOO-HOO!!!! Plenty of other commentators speak quite highly of the Ravens.
One constant year-to-year is Chris Berman still anchors ESPN’s major NFL coverage. He’s the biggest blowhard in the industry. His routines, catch phrases and routines grew tiresome about twenty years ago. Their big Sunday morning show always attracts one or two ex-players or coaches who perpetuate the “dumb jock” stereotype. Keyshawn Johnson is the new “mouth.”
Let’s look at our picks for week two. It’s a much better slate than for Division One College ball for sure!!!
St Louis @ Washington (-10)
Skins win! Skins win!
Carolina @ Atlanta (-6 ½)
Jake the Mistake can’t beat the Dirty Birds. Atlanta wins.
Houston @ Tennessee (-7)
Hot division rival that will have the “what if’s” going wild after the game. Tennessee should be strong enough to win at home.
New Orleans @ Philadelphia (no odds)
Can Philadelphia’s defense top Drew Breese? What will be the QB situation for the Eagles? New Orleans defense is the weakest unit on the field and will cost the Saints the game.
New England (-4) @ New York
Rex Ryan will have his new cast of characters worked up in a frenzy and with a supportive home crowd will upset New England.
Oakland @ Kansas City (-3)
Here’s this week’s “Toilet Bowl,” two miserable teams where on team will win. Since both teams have lots of weaknesses we can’t make this prediction based on which team has the stronger defensive of offensive matchups. The team making the most mistakes loses. That will probably be Kansas City. Oakland wins.
Arizona @ Jacksonville (-3)
The word’s out there already. Arizona must deal with the Super Bowl loser’s curse. Jacksonville will hang on to win, but you’ll have to drive over 75 miles from Jacksonville to find out as this is a certain black out game.
Cincinnati @ Green Bay (-9)
Green Bay wins. No contest.
Minnesota (-10) @ Detroit
Detroit fans would be well-advised to watch the Tigers. They’re in a pennant race and play Minnesota in Minnesota. If Detroit beats Minnesota, it will be the Tigers not the Lions doing the deed.
Tampa Bay @ Buffalo (-4 ½)
Everybody in Buffalo including T.O. will be happy with the results of this game.
Seattle @ San Francisco (-1.5)
New coach Jim Mora Jr. will attempt to lead the Seahawks to beat San Francisco proving they are not last year’s team of miserable under achievers. Meanwhile, the 49er’s still contend with distractions like Michael Crabtree’s refusal to sign. Seattle has the slight edge in this divisional contest.
Baltimore @ San Diego (-3)
Here’s a possible January matchup. The Ravens defense will make Rivers quiver while Flacco will drive the San Diego defense whacko. Ravens win.
Pittsburgh (-3) @ Chicago
Does anybody think the Steelers wouldn’t kick a team when it’s down? It’s going to hurt to be in Chicago on Sunday. This game has the makings of a blowout. Pity the Bears.
Cleveland @ Denver (-3)
Did the Browns ever get that quarterback situation decided? Denver is not as bad as feared and Cleveland is every bit as bad with “Man Genius” calling the shots.
New York Giants @ Dallas (-3)
How about them Cowboys in their fancy new stadium? First, how many punts will bounce off the scoreboard? Will Jerry Jones’ palace of excess find enough fans to be a sell-out? Given the new Cowboys crib has 100,000 seats, even in football crazy Dallas, with PSL’s, a bad economy, and high ticket prices, the prospects the Dallas could be a black out city on Sunday night nationally televised football would sure seem an embarrassment.
Besides that, there will be a divisional game where the Giants will prevail over the Cowboys. If Dallas falters early, this game could be a stinging loss like the final game at the old house when the Ravens shut the door and turned out the lights.
Indianapolis (-3) @ Miami
The Colts should win with little difficulty. For Dolphins fans, this will be a cold reminder that will show repeating last year’s joy will be almost impossible to accomplish.
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