Not a lot of compelling matchups this weekend, meaning no compelling analysis from me. But for what it's worth, here are my picks: Car @ Dal: Carter has had trouble moving his offense against tough defenses. The Panthers are tough enough, so I'm betting the Cowboys' return to the pack continues. Philly's going to win that division. Pick: Carolina. Det @ Minn: Mid-season slide comes to an end as Culpepper cuts down on the mistakes and the defense forces a couple turnovers (for once). The Vikings probably need 5 more wins to clinch the division. They get the first one here. Pick: Minnesota. Ind @ Buf: The Bills can't score, and they'll need to in order to beat the Colts. Henry, Moulds and Williams could all miss the game. Indy is a legit Super Bowl contender from the AFC. This is one of those tough road games that Super Bowl contenders usually win. Pick: Indy. Jax @ NYJ: A must win game if the Jets plan on getting a wild card berth. I'm tempted to pick the Jags, but I won't give up on Edwards and the Jets just yet. Their season lasts at least another week. Still don't think they'll make the playoffs, but... Pick: NYJ N.E. @ Hou: Again tempted to take the home dog here, but the Patriot defense will make things too tough on Banks if he's forced to start, which it looks like he will. That being the case, gotta go with the Pats. Pick: N.E. N.O. @ Phi: Simple. If the Saints can hang onto the ball, they've got a real shot at the upset. The Eagles are starting to make a believer out of me, but it's usually around that time that a team tanks one. Since Brooks and McAllister gave the ball away a lot last week, the conventional wisdom would be to think that the Eagles are going to force a bunch of turnovers. I'm going with the contrarian viewpoint this time. I think the Saints control the ball and win this game to keep their wild card hopes on track. The Eagles are in a sandwich situation where they just beat divisional rival NYG and have to go to Carolina next week in a battle for playoff seeding. The Saints can sneak up on 'em. Pick: N.O. Pit @ Cle: Holcomb looked real good last week, but how good are they really? I don't know yet. They look a lot like last year's team that struggled early but came on strong and finished 9-7 and made the playoffs. Pittsburgh can win this game, but they come in with zero momentum. Picking them to win would be more wishful thinking than anything else. Pick: Cle. Sea @ Bal: Just can't see the Ravens winning with Anthony Wright at QB. And they're favored by 3? What am I missing? The Seahawks struggle on the road, but they're still a pretty good team. If they can stuff Lewis with 8 in the box and force Wright into a few turnovers they can and should win this one. Until Wright shows he can win a NFL game... Pick: Sea. SF @ GB: Rattay is making things real tough on 49er management. But it's a good problem to have. I think Rattay is the QB of the future in SF, based on cap figures for the next few years. Garcia is gone unless Rattay stinks it up in the last month of the season. I think he'll play a nice game in GB, but the Niners have trouble winning games there. If it's dry, Favre should be able to hold onto the ball and put up enough points to outscore SF again. All bets are off if it rains again, however. Pick: GB. Chi @ Den: The Bears' only hope is that Jake throw five INT's. Pick: Den. St.L @ Ari: With Faulk back and healthy, and with Shipp banged up and E. Smith not healthy enough to play, Arizona won't be able to keep the Rams' offense off the field. Pick: St.L Cin @ SD: The Chargers are in total disarray. The Bengals are a legit threat to win the North and are playing with a ton of confidence right now. They have to guard against the letdown after beating KC, and they have to overcome their poor recent record on the road against west coast teams and the Chargers in particular. Flutie is starting again, and don't count on him to make the mistakes he made last week. And the Bolts still have the best RB in the league. This game will be much closer than you'd think, but the Chargers will probably find a way to lose it. Pick: Cin. Oak @ K.C.: This game has blowout written all over it. Rivalry schmivalry. The Raiders are still horrible, and the Chiefs are still a juggernaut. It will be over by halftime. Hopefully Holmes will earn me enough fantasy points to win my game before they pull him. Pick: K.C. Ten @ Atl: It won't be quite as bad as the above game in KC, but the Titans should roll here. 3rd stringer Doug Johnson is set to start. How good can he be if he was benched in favor of Kittner? Tennessee had their close call last weekend, and with the news out of Atlanta that Vick is hurt again, spirits can't be very high down there. The season is a total loss. Pick: Ten. Was @ Mia: Spurrier wants to call the plays again. This is a bad sign. It's also a bad sign that Ramsey has been playing with a broken foot or leg or whatever, for much of the season. He's facing the wrong defense at the wrong time. Meanwhile, Ricky Williams is turning it up just in time for a playoff run for the Dolphins and for Wannstedt to save his job. Pick: Mia. NYG @ T.B.: Neither team inspires much confidence right now. Both teams can still salvage their season, however. I remember the year after the Chargers went to the Super Bowl, they were in a similar situation to the Bucs'. They were in a tailspin at 4-7 and heading into a Monday night home game against the Raiders and 80-year-old Vince Williams at QB. They won that ugly game 12-6, and went on to win their next four games to finish the season 9-7 (capping their regular season with a win against the Giants in the Meadowlands in the "Snowball Game") and earn a wild card berth. With the Bucs' favorable schedule, I can see the same thing happening to them this year. Pick: T.B.
Car @ Dal: Parcells is good at exposing weaknesses and using his strengths. Even though the Panthers only real defensive weakness is its secondary, I still see Hambrick picking up 120 yards and the Cowboys winning by 3. COWBOYS Det @ Minn: Oh how I'd LOVE the Lions to win this, but I just don't see it happening. I don't think Harrington will amount to much and I see Rogers leavign in a few years. This is a team comdemned to obscurity and Daunte gets over 400 yard through the air! Vikings by 17+. VIKINGS Ind @ Buf: The bills can't score (why did you trade Price for an injured RB when you have Henry? Price was worth the cap hit!). The Colts can score! I see the Colts winning by 14. COLTS Jax @ NYJ: The Jets have just seemed flat this year, nothing has really stood out about them. The Jags have been a bad team, but are gainign some momentum (beating the Colts and being the only team to hold the Titans to under 11 points since week 2). I see the Jags squeezing this one out. JAGUARS N.E. @ Hou: Houston are good, especially for a 2nd year team, but need to improve. New England have been pulling things off even without a huge number of starters. It's gotta be the Pats. PATRIOTS N.O. @ Phi: The Eagles are on their way back, and the Saints always havbe a great offense. I'd expect a big shootout here (good form e since it's one of the matches I get this week). I'll go with the upset here, and give it to the Saitns SAINTS Pit @ Cle: STELLERS SUCK! Browns are inconsistent, and largely unimpressive, but they should still win this one. BROWNS Sea @ Bal: No Boller? No Redman? Just Wright? Soirry ravens, I love you guys, but... SEAHAWKS SF @ GB: Rattay has been impressive and should cause our secondary problems (why are we starting Antuan Edwards over Marquez Anderson?). Still, with Favre leading the team (injured or not) and the Green/Davenport/Fisher trio runnign wild (Green for 100+ yards, Davewnport & Fisher for another 100+ combined) behind the best O-line in the league (take THAT Chiefs!), I just can't see Green Bay losing this one. PACKERS Chi @ Den: Chicago are one horrible team. Despite all the chances Bulger gave them last week, they failed to get the W. Jake the Snaek & Clinton Portis aren't gonna give them the same amount of chances, and with the Bronco's run D, the A-Train won't be anble to get it doen alone, so it'll be up to either Chandler or Stewart to throw the ball about, which never leads to good things. BRONCOS St.L @ Ari: St. Louis are horrible away, anbd have lost some momentum. Arizona are just horrible, and without Shipp or Smith. I see the Rams winning this, but not running away with it. Excuse the pun. RAMS Cin @ SD: The Bengals are coming off an historic victory, and areo n their way to the best Cinncinnati season in 12-15 years. The chargers thought they had something goign with Flutie, but they got proven wrong last week. I see the Bengals taking it by 10 BENGALS Oak @ K.C: The Raiders are just plain aweful. The chiefs are simply magnificent. This one's at Arrowhead. The rivalry is a non-factor today. BLOW and OUT. This is the second match we get on this side of the pond this week. CHIEFS Ten @ Atl: Again, a horrible team play a great one. The Titans seem to have overlooked the Jags last week and thus struggled. If they do that again this week, I doubt it will matter. The Titans will take this one easily. When is Vick back? TITANS Was @ Mia: Will the Fish continue to slide? Will the Skins stop-start season actually go anywhere? This isn't a match I'd want to be watching. Ugh, I'll give it to the Fish... what happened to Ricky? DOLPHINS NYG @ T.B: The Giants have also been very imconsistent. And os have the Bucs! What's gogn on here!? I See the Bucs skimming out a victory, but their collapse continues. Who will be made inactive this week? . Brad Johnson, Simeon Rice, John Lynch & Derrick Brooks seem to be the only people really performing this season, imho. BUCCANEERS
Wow... did Wright ever prove me wrong? 4 TDs and no INTs, as well as very impressive efficiency. A one game wonder or one for other teams to take a risk on in the offseason. Go Green Bay, it's your birthday! I was saying if GB won this one, our easy schedule for the next few weeks would be made easier (momentum). Green was fantastic, over 150 yards in under 30 carries, Davenport smashed away, too. Fisher has also proved to be one of the finer young backups in the league, and although his carries today were limited, he did well with them. What's better, we get the Thanksgiving games over here so I can see the Lions go down on Thursday!
What is the deal with the Cowboys? Is The Tuna the greatest coach in NFL history? I mean who the hell expected these guys to be 8 and 3?
It takes a hell of a defense to beat them. Every week I think they're going to start their decline and they sack up and get a tough win. Carolina's defense gave Carter some trouble today, but Dallas' defense is right up there, too, and did the same to Delhomme as Dallas won the turnover battle. In the end it came down to who would make a play, and Carter did when given a second chance at 3rd and 9 late in the fourth. Parcells has got them believing that if they can stay in the game, they can make a play late to win it and that's what they've been doing... They've got another tough assignment against a staunch D this Thursday, this time it's the Dolphins. Dallas still can't run the ball, so I'm expecting another tough game for them and will probably pick Miami... but Parcells and the Cowboys keep proving me wrong.
Wright surprised the heck out of me, too. In fact, his bringing the Ravens back may have cost me my company football pool. I had already marked my Seattle pick correct when I left the lounge at Qualcomm to go out to my seat to watch the Chargers lose another predictably nauseating game. Speaking of the game, I had my first chance to see a couple Bengals live. Chad Johnson is the real deal. And after seeing Corey Dillon in person, I don't see how Lewis can keep him out of the starting lineup any longer as long as he behaves himself. People (like me) forget how good this guy is... Gotta like GB in the Central now after watching Minnesota struggle with the Lions. The Vikes just don't look like they did a month ago. If Favre's thumb heals and the Pack can get any defense at all, they've got such as easy schedule that it's hard to imagine Minnesota holding them off. They'll need to beat St. Louis in St. Louis next week or KC at home in week 16 and I'm not sure they can do either at this point...
I am just glad the Pats survived to go 9-2. Hottest team in the NFL. Do you think teams really want to travel there in January?!?!?
The Patriots seem to find a way to win........but so do my Colts. We will see who the better team is next week.
Yea Green Bay didn't play spectacular today but a wins a win. It's good to know that along with Favre, we have 3 solid running backs who just wear defenses out. I like their chances a lot to win the division. I can't see Minnesota beating St. Louis, Kansas City,or Seattle. GB has an easy enough schedule to win this div. Right now I'm watching the WAS - MIA game, and Ramsey got hurt.....their backup Tim Hasselbeck has only played 2 plays in the NFL, he's tearing it up right now.
I live by the Meadowlands. I went to the game sporting Black and Teal. At the end of the game, I felt like somebody has repeatedly taken shots at me in the groin. WHY THE HELL CAN'T THE JAGS CLOSE OUT A GAME? I mean, last time I checked Armando Benitez wasn't on the friggin' roster. This blows. The stupid Chargers or Falcons couldn't win either so its not like we made any progress to secure first pick. Usually, I'd use alot of profanity, but I'm to lazy to code it in.
It's going to be quite a battle for that first pick. The Jags beat the Chargers in week 5, and they get to play Atlanta in week 17. The Chargers can win two more games (@Det, Oak), tops. Can see the Jags winning two more (Hou, @Atl). The Falcons have the toughest remaining schedule, and it's quite possible that they don't win another game if Vick never comes back. Detroit can only win 1 more game (SD) realistically, and Arizona probably can get one or two more. The two most important games with respect to the draft are SD @ Det in two weeks, and Jax @ Atl in week 17. The losers of both games will probably be 1-2 in next April's draft. However, the only team that really needs a QB (E. Manning) is Arizona, so you might see them trade up for that first pick no matter what.
Imagine if Atlanta gets the number one pick with a healthy Vick next year? As for the Pats, it will be a tough one with the Colts, and big for the Pats in the race for home field advantage.
The NFC is going to have some incredible head-to-head games involving the top six teams over the next couple of weeks. Week 13: Philly @ Carolina, St. Louis @ Minnesota Week 14: Dallas @ Philly, Seattle @ Minnesota Week 15: Seattle @ St. Louis After Week 13 the Panthers play the NFL equivalent of a bread line: Atlanta, Arizona, Detroit, and the Giants. So even if they lose on Sunday they have to be considered the odds-on favorite to get the #1 seed. And Green Bay at 6-5 only plays one team with a winning record for the rest of the season (home against Denver, season finale).
I feel your pain, but look on the bright side, your defense looks great and so far a healthy Fred Taylor (knock on wood). As long as Leftwich progresses like they say, the future looks bright in Jacksonville.
This reminds me of when David Robinson went down for the Spurs for that whole season. The team got the 1st pick and they were able to get Tim Duncan. What a blessing in disguise.
What, no comments on the Miami Orange jerseys? I thought they should be more neon bright. And they should wear the green pants with them. Great comeback and if I could spell his name, Jay Fiedler, he should start over Gresie, who btw I can't spell his name either.
I'm not sure Atlanta will use the #1 overall pick if they end up earning it. I doubt they'd want to be forced to pay another huge signing bonus when they've already got their franchise QB. They could trade down to wherever Arizona (or Oakland) is, save a few million bucks in bonus money, and still get their guy: either a defensive or offensive lineman...
I think if they get the #1 pick, they should either get the #1 DB (if a Woodson or Bailey equivalent comes about) or else trade down for somethign like the #8 & #12 picks (basically, two high first roudners) and go for a top DB and D-lineman. Some decent O-linemen tend to come available that can hodl them over for a year or two. that said I know nothing about college football and can only say that Eli Manning is the biggest name in this seasons draft.
Knowing the Jaguars, they'll probably draft a hot dog vendor. We are going to end up with somebody we don't need. I hope we get Larry Fitzgerald. I know we have Kevin Johnson now, a 4 year pro, catches everything that goes his way, but man, we need to inject life in this team. This might be the guy to do it. But I think the front office will probably draft a corner, a safety or a linebacker. Which is equally important. Who do you guys think is the best corner or linebacker that will be in the draft?
These are Mel Kiper's overall rankings not mine. 5. D.J. Williams, OLB, Miami 6. Jonathan Vilma, LB, Miami 7. Karlos Dansby, OLB, Auburn (6-4, 225) 12. Dunta Robinson, CB, South Carolina (5-11, 188) 15. Will Poole, CB, USC (5-11, 190) 18. Derrick Strait, CB, Oklahoma (5-11, 193) Those are the top three rated on his top 25 board.
Re: A Favor As long as you don't give me a yellow card for posting restriced material This is his Big Board Standings as of 21 November 1. Eli Manning, QB, Ole Miss (6-4, 210) 2. Roy Williams, WR, Texas (6-4, 213) 3. Robert Gallery, OT, Iowa (6-7, 318) 4. Will Smith, DE, Ohio State (6-3½, 255) 5. D.J. Williams, OLB, Miami (6-2, 240) 6. Jonathan Vilma, LB, Miami (6-2, 230) 7. Karlos Dansby, OLB, Auburn (6-4, 225) 8. Ben Troupe, TE, Florida (6-4¼, 260) 9. Marcus Tubbs, DT, Texas (6-4¼, 325) 10. J.P. Losman, QB, Tulane (6-2½, 220) curiously Kellen Winslow Jr. isn't on his list and he doesn't count Larry Fitzgerald yet.
An officiating blunder Sunday gave Baltimore critical extra time in its fourth-quarter comeback victory over Seattle, the NFL said Monday. Finally this gets noticed. Too bad no one heard me screaming at my TV. Was I really the only one that calculated how much time the Seahawks could run off the clock with 3 running plays, given that the Ravens had 2 time outs? The refs will get lots of grief for this, and deservedly so. But why the hell wasn’t Holmgren and his staff screaming their heads off at the officials to get their attention?! Did it really go unnoticed that the Ravens did not call time out, that the flag had been waved off, AND YET THE CLOCK WAS NOT MOVING?! I know the national media, who by and large know nothing of the Seahawks, love nothing more than to gush over Holmgren’s “genius” but the fact is his stupidity and incompetence have cost the Seahawks over and over again since his arrival.
I didn't see it live, but I saw the highlights. It looked to me like he didn't realize that the Baltimore timeout had been nullified. So when he didn't see the clock running after the flag wave-off, he probably just assumed that it was because of the Ravens' T.O. I did see him go crazy on the sidelines after that third running play when Baltimore used their actual third timeout, and I'm sure the refs told him what had happened and that there was nothing they could do. Again, I didn't see the whole game so I can't be sure. But from what I can gather this one was all on the refs. Equivalent to the 5th down for Colorado v. Missouri in the early 90's...
Re: Re: A Favor Maybe its because of that postgame interview he gave a couple of weeks back. That idiot.