- Lemme get this right: Jason and I differed on three picks. I won one pick by a half point. Jason won one pick by a half point after I had the lead with under a minute to go. On the third pick, we pushed. Can it possibly be a closer week than that? It's been about the goofiest year of picking that I've ever seen and we're only six weeks through. Crazy.
- Phi 31, Atl 17--Atlanta's lucky streak did end, as Jason correctly predicted. I don't know if I expected quite the performance that we got from Eagles QB Kevin Kolb in Philly's blowout win, and neither did Philly's head coach, Andy Reid. Reid laughed and giggled through the postgame presser as he commented on the problem with having a healthy Michael Vick ready to play QB again, forcing Reid to choose between him and the now red-hot Kolb: "It's a positive thing, a positive, positive thing." Translation: I'm trying to talk myself into being happy that I have to make a choice that will paint me as a dumbfuck and a villain the moment we lose another game. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
- Pit 28, Cle 10--Nothing new coming out of the Cle-Pit game. The Steelers won thanks to a tough defense and a passing game reliant on big downfield strikes. QB Ben Roethlisberger only completed 16 passes, but three of them were scores and he racked up 257 yards. Most of Browns QB Colt McCoy's 281 yards came in garbage time. Steelers squoosh. Next.
- Sea 23, Chi 20--Wow, are the Chicago Bears in trouble. They insist on running an offensive scheme predicated on blocking for their QB while he takes long drops back into the pocket and waits for his idiot receivers to figure out where they're supposed to run. Meanwhile, the blocking sucks, the breakdown lets the pass rushers get to the QB, and he gets rocked. That was six more sacks for Jay Cutler Sunday, totaling 15 in his last two games. Fifteen sacks in his last two games! Fathom how that must feel for a second. The Bears have no chance at success against teams that can mount any kind of pass rush unless they make quick adjustments like they did in the Dallas win in Week 2. As for Seattle, give them credit for taking advantage of the opponent's glaring weaknesses such as the Chargers special teams and the Bears offensive line. Let's see them win games on their own merits in the future.
- NYG 28, Det 20--The Detroit Lions just will not say uncle and give up in any game. The starting QB, Shaun Hill, breaks his arm in the 2nd quarter, forcing Det to go to Drew Stanton, who I thought was still on the roster just because someone in the front office liked him from his playing days at Michigan State. But Stanton almost led the Lions to a comeback victory. Only a couple of 4th-quarter turnovers stopped potential winning or tying drives. Dare I say that the Lions are a must pick when they're large underdogs? The Giants got the big plays rushing and throwing that I said they would, but the D couldn't contain WR Calvin Johnson and the great Drew Stanton, and the cover was not to be. I hope that angers them and they take a pissed-off attitude to Dallas on Monday night to bury the Cowboys once and for all.
- NE 23, Bal 20, OT--Baltimore was smothering New England and well on their way to another win in Foxboro to complement the ass-whupping they gave the Patriots in the playoffs last year. But QB Tom Brady got the new no-name offense in gear and led an impressive comeback OT win. What was Seattle doing with WR Deion Branch that they couldn't get this kind of production in four years? He went for 98 yards and a score on nine catches, many coming in the 4th quarter and OT, when Brady got a no-huddle offense ignited to lead the comeback against the Ravens D. New England will be a tantalizing play the rest of the way because of the spark Brady and this spread offense can provide. They won't break records like they did with Randy Moss, but they will continue to be prolific.
- StL 20, SD 17--How big of a pile of steaming excrement is the San Diego Chargers squad? They didn't just lose by three to the St. Louis Rams and, grr, Sam Bradford. They were actually down 17-0 in the 2nd quarter. Bradford again looked like an NFL quarterback, which continues to puzzle me. But let me give props to the reason the Chargers couldn't complete the comeback--drives that stalled thanks to six sacks by St. Louis down linemen. Watch for them to make plays the rest of the way, especially the very talented duo of James Hall and Chris Long. They're going to make life tough for any QB down early in a game trying to lead a charge back, because Hall and Long can pin their eyes back (thanks again Desmond Howard) and rush the passer all day. SD special teams watch: K Nate Kaeding had a FG attempt blocked because he slipped. On turf. Indoors.
- Mia 23, GB 20, OT--Lack of defensive studs Clay Matthews, Nick Barnett, and DBs Atari Bigby and Al Harris, who both have been missing all year, caught up to the Green Bay Packers and contributed to their home loss to the Miami Dolphins. But the offensive line really doomed them, as Miami had their way with QB Aaron Rodgers, knocking him around all day. Cameron Wake is a man to watch on the Dolphins D-line. He's developed into a very dangerous pass-rushing threat.
- NO 31, TB 6--Yeah, about that Tampa Bay upset pick over the New Orleans Saints. That was a royal fuck-up by both me and Jason, although he actually didn't have the Buccaneers to win. Not much to break down here. The Saints were pissed off coming off the bad loss to Arizona, and they got off on the Bucs. Is the offense finally back to their bad selves from last season?
- Hou 35, KC 31--What an impressive display of flag football tackling in the Chiefs-Texans game. Any time a ball carrier got close to a defender, no actual tackle was attempted. Instead, the defender ran next to the ball carrier for a couple of strides, seemingly mimicking the actions of ripping a flag from the side of the runner, then peeled off and let the runner continue down the field. Nothing really to break down here, either. Both teams scored at will, the Texans scored several times in a row late to come back from down double digits, and the last team to score won, which happened to be the Texans. It's pure luck that I won the pick once the dust cleared. But expect their run defense to be even worse the rest of the year, because their monster LB DeMeco Ryans, always good for 100 tackles a year as he stops RBs after they break through the defensive line, tore his Achilles in this game.
- NYJ 24, Den 20--And karma immediately came back to bite me in the ass. I lost this pick only because QB Mark Sanchez, flushed from the pocket with about a minute left in the game and his Jets down 3 to the Broncos, flung a Hail Mary on 4th down and allowed his WR to be interfered with, setting up a 1st-and-goal at the 2, which resulted in a rushing TD and extra point. It was the luckiest play I've seen in a long time. The ball was underthrown, but the receiver wasn't allowed to come back to the ball and try to make a play because the defender reached back and grabbed his facemask before the ball got there. Legit call, but complete luck that the defender decided to do something that stupid. The Denver running attack was total garbage coming into the game, so credit coach Josh McDaniels and the coordinators with committing to the run all game long. Seven, yes, seven different men carried the ball for the Broncos, including Jesus himself, Tim Tebow, who scored a rushing TD. Den ran for over 100 yards as a team and provided some balance for Air Orton and the passing game. But that last pass interference play ruined the day for Den, and more importantly, ruined my pick.
- SF 17, Oak 9--Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to make San Francisco a 7-point favorite over the Oakland Raiders? Come on! As I totally predicted, the Raiders and QB Jason Campbell outplayed and outhustled the 49ers, taking advantage of a road crowd rooting for them and proving the Vegas handicappers wrong. I had this one all the way! Huh? Oh. Campbell sucked donkey balls and Niners QB Alex Smith was horrible until the 2nd half when it mattered? And SF covered by a fucking point? I see. *Starts weeping*
- Min 24, Dal 21--Once again, the Dallas Cowboys played like little boys. Undisciplined, unfocused, and inventing new ways to incur penalties. Seriously, another TD celebration penalty after you got one last week? Really?? And you lost both games? Eleven penalties for 91 yards in this game helped sink the Boys. And I didn't get what they were trying to do at all on offense. QB Tony Romo dumped off passes all day to running backs on swing passes and screens, seemingly scared as hell to take shots down the field. That was 15 catches for Dal RBs on the day for those counting. Didn't make any sense. May have worked against a team that couldn't come back late, but that's all Brett Favre has done his whole career. Min outscored Dal 17-7 in the 2nd half.
- Ind 27, Wash 24--This was a fun game to watch. The surgeon Peyton Manning slices and dices the Washington defense, running an offensive game plan that didn't allow the Redskins to substitute defenders because Peyton had the Colts at the line of scrimmage ready to execute the next play right after the previous play was done. They were able to run the ball a little as well, keeping the Skins D off balance, and the 27 points at the end was enough for an Indy win. But Donovan McNabb didn't let Peyton have the spotlight all to himself, rallying Wash to within a FG with some impressive QB work of his own. The last Wash drive resulted in what Jason will recognize as the patented McNabb Garbage Time Touchdown (TM), making the point spread a push and salvaging the week as a push instead of me losing ground. An aspect of the game worth noting was the Wash running success with Ryan Torain, which didn't come immediately. His punishing style wore down Indy late, and it showed what can happen to the undersized Colts D-line when a beastly RB pounds on them throughout the contest.
- Tenn 30, Jack 3--Props to anyone who watched this dreadful game all the way through. The only thing I thought was interesting was how Tennessee kept slamming their diminutive RB Chris Johnson into the Jaguars D late in the 4th quarter when the backup RBs should have been getting the rock and putting the game away. Yes, Johnson eventually broke a long TD run to go over 100 yards for the game, but that made the score 30-3. Totally unnecessary. When Johnson is banged up late in the season and missing key games for the Titans as they compete for a playoff spot, remember games like this, when he took unneeded shot after unneeded shot in pursuit of meaningless yards and TDs.
YTD Records--Dre & Jay 43-46-1, .483
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