- Two weeks in a row since Jay and I laughed at the pathetic record of the editor of a blog on Yahoo! Sports that the blogger has beaten me in picks ATS. Grrr. He won seven this week, although one was Arizona giving 2½ in their 3-point win over Houston, which would be an extra win for me with that line. But no matter. If I can't start winning weeks over a schlub thirty games under .500 on the year, then there's truly no chance in hell of catching Jason.
- Games in no detail: Raiders-Giants (just two horrible teams with two horrible QBs making horrible mistakes and turnovers), Jaguars-Titans (inspired effort by Jags off the bye assisted by Ryan Fitzpatrick fumbling at the very worst time), Bills-Steelers (if Pittsburgh is going to use six offensive linemen in protection and injure the best playmaker on the other team every game, bet their unders the rest of the year).
- When two crappy defenses get together on Thursday night, the results can be predictable, and I did yell "Take the over!" when picking the Vikings to knock off the Redskins. But how it happened was very weird: Washington played classic Shannyball, gashing Minnesota on the ground relentlessly, and then stopped doing so late in the game and let the Vikes rush the passer and secure the win. Both RBs--Alfred Morris and Adrian Peterson--gave clinics on how to hit the hole. But in the 2nd half it was Christian Ponder who outplayed RG3, making quick decisions on throws and scrambles. As I Tweeted, it figured that Ponder's two smart decisions with his feet got his arm crunched, and he had to leave the game. But he still led the Vikings to a win. Griffin had fun going downfield through the air on Minnesota, but he was still getting punished high and low on those read-options. It's getting to where the Shanahan Boyz are going to have to consider taking that concept out of the playbook entirely. Griffin still isn't fast enough to make the defense pay when he does keep it, so what's the point?
- Jason in his recap was incorrect in having Cincinnati go 3-and-out in overtime to give Baltimore the chance to drive and win. I wish. Cincy stubbornly went on 4th-and-short for the 5th time in that game, and it didn't work. I'm not sure what got into Marvin Lewis, but he was adamant that his Bengals could convert any short-yardage situation against the Ravens front seven, and it did work three of the five times, but the two failures were very costly. That OT decision was to go or kick a 50-yard FG into some wind with Mike Nugent, and call me an idiot, but I'd go for the three. I know Giovani Bernard had success running around the Ravens, but he's not a hammer in short-yardage. The Bengals and OC Jay Gruden tried to get cute by swinging the pass out to Bernard, who then (cue the Benny Hill theme) ran backwards trying to outrun the defenders to no avail. Of all the options, even punting would have been better than that. As for the rest of the game, Cincy fell behind because Andy Dalton was again very off, and I don't have a clue why he's been off lately. Baltimore couldn't put them away because they still can't run vertically. Their best run was an 18-yard end-around. I still don't think Baltimore is a better team than Cincinnati.
- Congrats to Jay Cutler for finding his way into the Cowboy Club, and that's the club where guys get full of imaginary testosterone and try to play through some injury that they need to rest, like Robert Griffin III in the playoffs last season. Cutler now has found himself on both sides of the coin, after being called a pussy for not playing through a knee injury in the playoffs a few years ago that turned out to be torn ligaments. The guy can't win, I suppose, but he deserves some blame for trying to turn torn groin muscles into a one-week absence. His coach Marc Trestman also deserves some blame for letting Cutler try to play hero. Trust in Trest for on-the-field decisions, not off. And any fan or player who criticized Cutler in that playoff loss to Green Bay also deserves blame, because I'm sure the pressure of that returning hot air made him decide to press his timeline. The Lions-Bears game Sunday was close in the 1st half, then the team with more healthy athletes took over, meaning the team with Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Reggie Bush. You know who else looked healthy out there? Josh McCown. Wonder how the outcome may have changed if he played the whole way.
- And speaking of athletes not being healthy and influencing games, Green Bay started the day with an experienced QB on the sideline and ended with two as Seneca Wallace checked out after the first series, leaving the Pack Attack to someone named Scott Tolzien. That turned out as expected. It was funny because both the Packers and the Eagles came out running their offenses with great pace, but one team's been doing that since the beginning of the season, and it showed. That GB possession was disastrous. Not only did Wallace get hurt, but Mason Crosby doinked the FG attempt off the upright giving Philadelphia great field position, then two plays later, Nick Foles flung a ball into double coverage that got tipped by both defenders into DeSean Jackson's hands for a TD, and the game was over. Shady McCoy kept running laterally around B.J. Raji and Johnny Jolly to move the sticks, and Tolzien kept throwing with almost no accuracy. RODGERS!! DISCOUNT DOUBLE-CHECK YO ASS BACK SOON!!
- Indianapolis came home to continue their momentum from the miraculous win in Houston, and instead played host to The Tavon Austin Show. Tavon was THE SHIT, sprinting to and fro on punt returns and long bombs that made Kellen Clemens look like a competent QB. It was the outburst that people had been waiting for from Austin and his world-class speed. In picking the Colts to win by 10, I and many others forgot how dreadful the Indy defense can sometimes be. And in hoping that Andrew Luck would lead another comeback, we also overlooked the loss of Reggie Wayne and the lack of Colts weapons. That Houston win was on the back of T.Y. Hilton, and whatever you think of him, he can't do that shit every week. And Darrius Heyward-Bey isn't consistent either. Indy will lose games against teams with offensive outbursts like what Tavon Austin did because the Luck miracles of last year had the consummate pro Wayne in common. The Rams can be dangerous with Austin and that defensive line.
- I hate to use the term THE DRIZZLING SHITS on what the Atlanta Falcons did against Seattle, because it was so much worse than that. They gave up points in the 2nd quarter on a FG and then a flea-flicker from their 43 when they know Russell Wilson throws into the end zone whenever he gets across midfield. And they fucking quit right there. Matt Ryan had little help from his beat-up receivers, he welcomed Roddy White back with one throw for 20 yards, and the defense lost interest after the flea-flicker. So sad to watch. I've seen teams quit before, and I'll warn you, eventually they get a 2nd wind and start playing better in the last few games of the year because of personal pride and maybe fear of losing jobs in the offseason. But until you see a glimmer of heart, do not touch the Atlanta Falcons with a ten-foot pole. And Seattle was the same plodding, deliberate offense in the 1st quarter that they have been on the road all year before Atlanta quit, so be careful about putting a lot of love on the Seahawks.
- And be careful about believing in the Carolina Panthers, too. San Francisco led 9-0 before the radio silence on offense commenced, and yeah, Carolina gets credit for that, but look critically at that 49ers offense. They came into the game dead last in passing yards per game, and then their best receiver, TE Vernon Davis, got concussed and missed the 2nd half. Something's happened to the magic created last year when Coach Insane, Jim Harbaugh, got his hands on Colin Kaepernick. And for that duo to not rediscover it during the bye week scares me greatly. I thought they would have all kinds of wrinkles and fakes and reverses ready for this important game. Maybe they underestimated the Panthers, just as Jason and I did. On defense, the Niners got sliced by Cam Newton on passes when rushing four, but got hits and sacks when blitzing, which is how they held Carolina to 10. The only big Panther plays all day were the DeAngelo Williams TD run and the Ted Ginn punt return which set up the game-winning FG. Other than that, Carolina got excellent punts to place San Francisco in terrible field position, and they never overcame. That's got to improve if SF wants to be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender. Do they need Michael Crabtree back that badly?
- Allow me to bitch and moan about a play that cost me a pick, which I'm good at doing. Arizona led Houston by 10 points in the 4th quarter when the Texans' Case Keenum underthrew a corner end zone pass for Andre Johnson that Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson had in his sights, to the extent that Peterson put two hands on the pass while positioned in front of Johnson. The hand of God or something flicked the ball out of Peterson's grasp, and Johnson corralled it for a TD catch. That's some bullshit, period. Now that that's established, I'll admit that Houston's effort was very good and they looked like a team at least equal to Arizona, if not better. No slick, athletic RBs (Arian Foster's having back surgery, ending his season) means more straightforward hammering between the tackles with Ben Tate when ahead and more creative chance-taking with Keenum when behind, and it almost worked out. They fell behind on a Keenum fumble recovered for a TD, which is the same basic result as when Matt Schaub tosses a TD to the other team, so the Texans could have thrown up their hands and quit, but they didn't. And I liked Arizona's effort too, especially the creativity with RB Andre Ellington, who didn't just catch swing passes in the Darren Sproles role but also played Wildcat QB and provided a spark in general. Rashard Mendenhall responded to the competition by fumbling at his own 5-yard line in the 4th, setting up that bullshit Andre Johnson TD. Nice job, dillhole.
- The Denver-San Diego game followed a linear line: Both teams got much better pressure on the QBs than I expected, but Peyton Manning adjusted better and got rid of the damn ball quicker, and that's why the Broncos scored more than the Chargers. They happened to score eight more and not seven, so that worked for my only winning pick of the week over Jas, but they weren't necessarily that much better. The Chargers seemed to be in some kind of soft zone for all of those 2nd-quarter TD throws by Peyton, and once they cut that out in the 2nd half, Peyton was much less successful. Huge sequence to end the 1st half: Denver's up 14-6 and Philip Rivers and SD piece together a five-minute drive into the red zone only to watch Nick Novak flub a 37-yard FG, leaving Peyton Manning 1:38 to drive back and throw another TD to make it 21-6. That's how you take advantage of an opponent's fuck-up. Kansas City was taking notes, I'm sure. They also noticed how sensitive Peyton's ankles seemed to be, as he hobbled around all day after every hit. Think the refs will be on alert to watch Tamba Hali diving low this coming Sunday night?
- Boy, it was hard to watch Dallas get snowed under by New Orleans as someone who picked Dallas to stay close. It started with the Cowboys not taking advantage of the muffed punt by Darren Sproles, only tacking on 3 points. It continued with the baffling lack of offensive balance, following the shunning of running last week with the shunning of throwing to the best player this week. Dez Bryant had one catch on two targets. Unacceptable. I don't care what defense Rob Ryan shaded towards Bryant, you have to take a chance and let him make a play, especially losing. What the hell do you have to lose? And the theme throughout, of course, was the Dallas defenders dropping. Not just Sean Lee but fellow LB Justin Durant had to depart, not to mention DeMarcus Ware limping all around the field. And as soon as Lee checked out, Drew Brees started using the middle of the field for throws, and you're screwed when Brees gets more area where he can operate. Two other issues that doomed Dallas: You can't give Brees that kind of time, and you can't miss tackles. Between Brees and the running attack, there was no opportunity for the Cowboys to create momentum. Just one of those nights. Dallas will have more nights like that if the defense doesn't get healthy over the bye.
- So much fun to watch Miami get shit down their throat on Monday night, even if it meant the college coach Greg Schiano got his first win. You could plainly see why Tampa Bay U. is so bad throughout that game, but they got the W. The Bucs had school spirit from the start, helped by the Dolphins trying to pass block terribly on purpose as a new way to show love to Richie Incognito, or so it seemed. Miami looked totally disinterested in all phases for the entire 1st half. Distracted? I think, but who really knows. Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill started throwing quicker in the 2nd half, focusing on slot receiver Rishard Matthews, and lo and behold, Miami took a lead thanks to great field position and many Bucs penalties. Then someone named Bobby Rainey had to come in at RB for Tampa, and his speed burst gave the Bucs the lead back, allowing the pass rush to charge one more time and bury Tannehill for good, fittingly. Just a perfect O-line collapse by Miami to end the festivities. It will be the season highlight for TBU, and that whole Miami organization deserves all the nausea this loss creates.
Week 10 Records--Dre 5-8-1, .385; Jay 7-6-1, .538
YTD Records--Dre 68-76-3, .472; Jay 75-69-3, .521
No comments:
Post a Comment