It's time for a new segment called "Here and Gone" which will review the results from the slate of NFL games from the weekend. My picks for the Week are in bold. You'll understand pretty quick what the objective of this theme is...
Week 4
Atlanta 32, Arizona 10- Here: The NFC South's most dominant team. Gone: The 2006/2007 playoff hopes of the Cardinals (and possibly with it, Dennis Green's tenure as head coach).
Dallas 45, Tennessee 14 Here: Drew Bledsoe as Cowboy's QB. Gone: The Romo bandwagon.
Indianapolis 31, N.Y. Jets 28- Here: Peyton with 2 minutes left. Gone: Mangini magic versus the Colts. Note: as DC of New England, he was the victim of a beatdown in Foxboro by the Colts last year too.
Houston 17, Miami 15- Here: The 1st win of the Texans season. Gone: The warm fuzzies Miami fans had from the Culpepper signing.
Buffalo 17, Minnesota 12- Here: The Bills as playoffs contenders 1/4th of the way through the season. Gone: The Vikings as NFC North title challenger to the Bears.
Carolina 21, New Orleans 18- Here: The Panthers 2-game win streak. Gone: The goodwill from the Superdome last Monday night.
Baltimore 16, San Diego 13 Here: Baltimore as legitimate SB hopeful. Gone: Any notion the Chargers are as good as people thought pre-Bye Week.
Kansas City 41, San Francisco 0- Here: Damon Huard. Gone: Trent Green.
St. Louis 41, Detroit 34- Here: The simplified offensive terminology for Marc Bulger & Co. (instituted for this week). Gone: The anemic offense the Rams had under the previous terminolgy.
Cleveland 24, Oakland 21 Here: The Raiders moniker as the "worst team in the league". Gone: The Browns moniker as the "worst team in the league".
Washington 36, Jacksonville 30 (OT) Here: Washington's 700-page offensive playbook, now good for 2 straight weeks. Gone: The confidence that the Jags' youngsters will breakthrough this year. These road losses are cause for concern because you know they are going to be on the road (in the WC round) to open this season's playoffs.
New England 38, Cincinnati 13 Here: A sigh of relief from Patriots Nation. Gone: Cincy's claim to best in the AFC.
Chicago 37, Seattle 6 Here: Chicago's offense... to stay. Gone: Seattle's ground game- on the gurny with Alexander.
So far this week 9-4. A win by Philly tonight, and I'll have back-to-back 10-4 weeks. I'll take double digit correct picks each week.
10.02.2006
9.28.2006
NFL Week 4 Picks
Well, after last week's retro picks, I was tempted to go back to the well that netted me a respectable 10-4 record, but I could not bring myself to stoop so low again. So I ponied up and put my money on the table ahead of time. My picks are in bold.
Arizona at Atlanta - So, when do we see the playoff-caliber Cardinals? Not this week anyway. Dennis Green may wrestle away my top spot for "first coach to be fired " from Tom Coughlin.
Dallas at Tennessee- T.O. or no T.O., he doesn't have a hold of this locker room and Parcells will keep the 'Boys focused. Tennessee is the early frontrunner for 2007 #1 Overall Draft Pick.
Indianapolis at N.Y. Jets- Something tells me Mangini may bring some ol' New England v. Indy magic with him, but I don't think his team has enough talent to stop Peyton & Co.
Miami at Houston- Houston has to get a win sometime, and what would be better than Miami starting 1-3 in what was promised to be a "sleeper" playoff team.
Minnesota at Buffalo- The sting of last week's home loss is still fresh and the Bills won't do it again. Losman is coming into his own.
New Orleans at Carolina- There simply HAS to be a hangover from Monday night in New Orleans. This is like one of those college games for a team who just played spoiler on national TV against a Top 10 team one week and then lays an egg the next week against mediocre competition.
San Diego at Baltimore- Baltimore will witness 1st hand how far it's offense needs to go to catch up to its defense. San Diego is Baltimore from 2000 with an All-Pro offense to boot.
San Francisco at Kansas City- The Niners have played pretty well and the Chiefs have, well... the Chiefs at least attend the game. Who picked Week 4 as the start of the "Fire Herm" campaign?
Detroit at St. Louis- Mike Martz sees what he's lost... and weeps.
Cleveland at Oakland- Somebody has to win. Of course, it could go into an OT tie, but I'll play the odds.
Jacksonville at Washington- Bitter? No. Angry? Maybe. Motivated? Definitely. Jacksonville knows they let one slip through their fingers in Indy, but Del Rio has a quickly maturing (and improving team) who have confidence that they can win on the road against good competition.
New England at Cincinnati- New England's secondary is fast becoming a M.A.S.H. unit again. And with that, they'll become fodder for conference opponents outside their division.
Seattle at Chicago- I don't like it when 2 elite teams play each other and 1 team is not at 100%. The Seahawks without Alexander are not the defending NFC champs. That doesn't mean the Bears will take pity on them.
Green Bay at Philadelphia - I don't know which will be worse: a) the beating McNabb lays down on a porous Packers defense, or b) the nationally televised horror that shows everyone what Brett Favre has become against good teams.
Arizona at Atlanta - So, when do we see the playoff-caliber Cardinals? Not this week anyway. Dennis Green may wrestle away my top spot for "first coach to be fired " from Tom Coughlin.
Dallas at Tennessee- T.O. or no T.O., he doesn't have a hold of this locker room and Parcells will keep the 'Boys focused. Tennessee is the early frontrunner for 2007 #1 Overall Draft Pick.
Indianapolis at N.Y. Jets- Something tells me Mangini may bring some ol' New England v. Indy magic with him, but I don't think his team has enough talent to stop Peyton & Co.
Miami at Houston- Houston has to get a win sometime, and what would be better than Miami starting 1-3 in what was promised to be a "sleeper" playoff team.
Minnesota at Buffalo- The sting of last week's home loss is still fresh and the Bills won't do it again. Losman is coming into his own.
New Orleans at Carolina- There simply HAS to be a hangover from Monday night in New Orleans. This is like one of those college games for a team who just played spoiler on national TV against a Top 10 team one week and then lays an egg the next week against mediocre competition.
San Diego at Baltimore- Baltimore will witness 1st hand how far it's offense needs to go to catch up to its defense. San Diego is Baltimore from 2000 with an All-Pro offense to boot.
San Francisco at Kansas City- The Niners have played pretty well and the Chiefs have, well... the Chiefs at least attend the game. Who picked Week 4 as the start of the "Fire Herm" campaign?
Detroit at St. Louis- Mike Martz sees what he's lost... and weeps.
Cleveland at Oakland- Somebody has to win. Of course, it could go into an OT tie, but I'll play the odds.
Jacksonville at Washington- Bitter? No. Angry? Maybe. Motivated? Definitely. Jacksonville knows they let one slip through their fingers in Indy, but Del Rio has a quickly maturing (and improving team) who have confidence that they can win on the road against good competition.
New England at Cincinnati- New England's secondary is fast becoming a M.A.S.H. unit again. And with that, they'll become fodder for conference opponents outside their division.
Seattle at Chicago- I don't like it when 2 elite teams play each other and 1 team is not at 100%. The Seahawks without Alexander are not the defending NFC champs. That doesn't mean the Bears will take pity on them.
Green Bay at Philadelphia - I don't know which will be worse: a) the beating McNabb lays down on a porous Packers defense, or b) the nationally televised horror that shows everyone what Brett Favre has become against good teams.
9.27.2006
The Matrix- Welcome, to the Real World.
Call it the true Matrix Redux. It's that black hole between reality and subconscious/fantasy that more and more athletes are finding themselves. Unfortunately, unlike the original film "The Matrix" this stuff is not made up AND it's typically constituted of the sports celeb's own volition. And it is, more often than not, self destructive.
Terrell Owens alleged suicide attempt- nay, publicity stunt- is the latest (and to date greatest) testament to what the rest of us outside of a professional football field, baseball diamond, basketball court, soccer pitch, and hockey rink already know. You need to be responsible. Period. End of story. Personal responsibility for your self being, your deeds, and your world (both individually and communally).
No one says it is easy. But what have so many of the rest of us learned that athletes have not? Sure the argument can be made that 20-something year-olds and millions of dollars are a recipe for disaster. (I won't even address that absolute absurd notion of teenage millionaires. That's just a given level of tradegy not needed to be addressed here.) But really, why should we let that be their excuse. I know when I was 20 years old, sure, I may have done some stupid things, but I was a fun-loving college kid who was enjoying a wonderful college experience. And the reason I could do so was because I had been brought up with scruples by my family to love and respect myself and those around me. And more importantly I was taught that I alone was responsible for my actions.
T.O. is 32 years old. Yes, he was the 20-year old millionaire once upon a decade ago. But has he learned nothing since his youth? With all the B.S. he has experienced (most by his own hand) in San Fran, Philly, and even now Dallas, does he not stop to think about his self-destructive behavior? OK, so maybe he is clinically depressed, and yes, that requires legitimate medical attention. Fair enough. Get help, so we can talk about the demons.
But what about Chris Henry (and half the Bengals), Odell Thurman (suspended 1 yr for substance abuse), Terrence Kiel (shipping Rxs), Sam Brandon (bond and restraining order violations) Fred Smoot (ahoy Cap'n), et al.? The disturbing trend of substance abuse and extreme off-field behavior in the NFL is getting a bit over the top (good luck Mr. Goodell). T.O.'s situation is downright bizarre, and actually does NOT really reflect the irresponsible behavior of his contemporaries as much as it just adds to the drama that T.O. needs in his life to be thrust into the spotlight.
When you enter the NFL, you enter "The Matrix". That place between all life's desires naively fulfilled and being (gasp) normal- at least having the freedom to struggle for normalcy. And maybe, these guys are spending a little too much effort trying to escape their illusionary prison and public expectations. The pressure to perform is great. The pressure to be a mature individual should be greater.
Terrell Owens alleged suicide attempt- nay, publicity stunt- is the latest (and to date greatest) testament to what the rest of us outside of a professional football field, baseball diamond, basketball court, soccer pitch, and hockey rink already know. You need to be responsible. Period. End of story. Personal responsibility for your self being, your deeds, and your world (both individually and communally).
No one says it is easy. But what have so many of the rest of us learned that athletes have not? Sure the argument can be made that 20-something year-olds and millions of dollars are a recipe for disaster. (I won't even address that absolute absurd notion of teenage millionaires. That's just a given level of tradegy not needed to be addressed here.) But really, why should we let that be their excuse. I know when I was 20 years old, sure, I may have done some stupid things, but I was a fun-loving college kid who was enjoying a wonderful college experience. And the reason I could do so was because I had been brought up with scruples by my family to love and respect myself and those around me. And more importantly I was taught that I alone was responsible for my actions.
T.O. is 32 years old. Yes, he was the 20-year old millionaire once upon a decade ago. But has he learned nothing since his youth? With all the B.S. he has experienced (most by his own hand) in San Fran, Philly, and even now Dallas, does he not stop to think about his self-destructive behavior? OK, so maybe he is clinically depressed, and yes, that requires legitimate medical attention. Fair enough. Get help, so we can talk about the demons.
But what about Chris Henry (and half the Bengals), Odell Thurman (suspended 1 yr for substance abuse), Terrence Kiel (shipping Rxs), Sam Brandon (bond and restraining order violations) Fred Smoot (ahoy Cap'n), et al.? The disturbing trend of substance abuse and extreme off-field behavior in the NFL is getting a bit over the top (good luck Mr. Goodell). T.O.'s situation is downright bizarre, and actually does NOT really reflect the irresponsible behavior of his contemporaries as much as it just adds to the drama that T.O. needs in his life to be thrust into the spotlight.
When you enter the NFL, you enter "The Matrix". That place between all life's desires naively fulfilled and being (gasp) normal- at least having the freedom to struggle for normalcy. And maybe, these guys are spending a little too much effort trying to escape their illusionary prison and public expectations. The pressure to perform is great. The pressure to be a mature individual should be greater.
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