Scott Norwood

Scott Norwood
Wide Right started it all.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

2013 Honors and Dishonors Media

The full unveiling of all of the 2013 IMLD Honors and Dishonors will be tonight (1/25/14) at 10pm Central Time LIVE at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail/2014/01/26/2013s-imld-honors-dishonors

Three of the categories are of the audio/visual variety, so here are the winners with accompanying videos. Forgive the Youtube hackjob quality of some of these. They weren't all that easy to find.

Play of the Year: Giovani Bernard Touchdown Run vs. Dolphins

Worst Play of the Year: Tampa Bay Kickoff End Around Attempt vs. 49ers, Which of Course Ends Disastrously for the Buckos. This is probably the play that cemented the end the Greg Schiano era. Poor quality video to match the poor quality of play.

Quote of the Year: As bad as I wanted to quote Dre again with "Fuck You Chiefs!!!!", it was too similar to previous winner "Fuck You Faggot Ravens!!!!" So naturally the winner needs to be the Richard Sherman interview with Erin Andrews just this last week. It is a sublime 25 seconds of TRUTH!

The rest of the winners will be announced at 10pm Central Time. Be there!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

NFL Conf. Finals '14: What I Learned


  • In Denver, the QB exhibition turned out to be a dud.  It was one-sided and deflating and as anticlimactic as a naked woman with genital warts.  Graphic, yes, but I can't describe how disappointed I was in this game.  One guy was as good as it gets, and the other kept responding with nothing.  Peyton Manning was THE SHIT, as impressive a single-game playoff performance as he's ever delivered.  Tom Brady was THE DRIZZLING SHITS, failing to advance the ball drive after drive, finally looking as helpless as we thought he would all season with those underwhelming weapons on offense.  I guess what I learned is, don't let the razzle-dazzle fool you, when weather's not a factor and it's all on the line, go with the better QB and better weapons, both belonging to the Broncos.  Home field didn't hurt, either.  What left an impression on me was how Denver took the pass rush off the table for New England by playing Peyton Manning in shotgun formation for almost every snap.  The one time he slipped under center was in the third quarter at the 3-yard line, so you'd think he'd snap it quick and hand it off, but he ran a play-action slant pass to DeMaryius Thomas for a TD that put the Broncos up 20-3, and that was basically ballgame.  Manning was on target on almost every throw, even the wobblers that hung in the air forever that never seem to get deflected or intercepted.  Brady's first long attempt was for a special teams bum named Matthew Slater.  Incomplete.  He had Julian Edelman wide open on play-action and overthrew him by five yards.  Incomplete.  And when Brady was able to lead nice drives, his interior pass blocking failed him and he got sacked.  Jay Tweeted that Peyton picked on the Pats secondary once Aqib Talib got eliminated from the game on a Wes Welker pick (which was not dirty, BTW), and he was right.  Logan Ryan, who amassed 5 INTs during the season as a nickel or dime, displayed why he's not a starting CB.  He provided nothing but holding penalties and terrible coverage.  And when NE's front seven adjusted and leaned back anticipating having to help Ryan, Peyton audibled to runs, and Knowshon Moreno got off.  That huge comeback win by the Patriots over Denver during the regular season, they had Rob Gronkowski.  This time, they had a whole lot of nothing.  A perfect game by Denver.  Hats off.
  • In Seattle, a game thought to be physical, violent, emotional, and must-see TV actually exceeded the hype.  San Francisco's defense waited through the noise and the Ann Wilson national anthem and the anticipation to send a message on the first damn play, as Aldon Smith stripped Russell Wilson and recovered the fumble.  Then Seattle's defense sent a message back by stonewalling the 49ers and holding them to a FG.  Much brawling and hitting and trash-talking followed, and I learned that the two QBs are right where I thought they were in their development.  Wilson is still much more dangerous throwing while moving in or out of the pocket; his 51-yard bomb to Doug Baldwin was classic Wilson.  Colin Kaepernick has a Scottie Pippen-like first step and is the most dangerous QB running in the open field since prime Vick, and his throws in the pocket have great heat but no touch.  And Kaep's lack of touch is why the 4th quarter played out the way it did, and why Seattle not just won but covered the spread.  Seattle down 4 goes for it on 4th-and-7 and throws a 35-yard TD on a ballsy call by coach Pete Carroll, then Cliff Avril gets off like a bullet and strips Kaepernick to give the Seahawks the rock in FG position.  But SF's NaVorro Bowman stripped WR Jermaine Kearse at the 1, except the refs blew the play dead with Seattle retaining the ball, plus Bowman gruesomely blew out his knee on the play.  So karma stepped in, and Wilson fumbled the ball on 4th down, so instead of Seattle taking the FG and getting a free 3 points they didn't deserve, the Niners got the ball still down 3.  And then, oops, Kaepernick threw an INT to Kam Chancellor that was one of the worst picks I've ever seen.  Chancellor was standing right there in front of the intended receiver playing zone, and Kaep completely missed him, and I Tweeted out that no QB who throws that pick in a title game should win it.  So Seattle got the FG they could have taken on the last possession to go up 6, which means that Kaep has to get a TD on the last drive instead of a game-tying FG, and that's why he threw the INT that was tipped by Richard Sherman and set up the postgame entertainment.  That's on Kaep.  Not the throw to Sherman necessarily, although I wonder if a better QB with touch gets that ball over Sherman, but the INT to Chancellor is totally on Kaep.  He's not ready yet, just as I thought when I started picking against him in the Wild Card round.  Took a minute, but eventually he proved me right.  And it sets up the #1 offense vs. the #1 defense, and the ad world darling Peyton Manning vs. Public Enemy #1 apparently, Richard Sherman.  Doesn't get much better than that.


Dre--102.4 + 4 = 106.4 pts; Jay--117.2 + 4 = 121.2 pts

Saturday, January 18, 2014

NFL Conf. Finals '14

Here they are, the picks for this weekend's awesome conference title games which should set up an awesome Super Bowl.  Since I didn't have to wait for Jason's picks and pick against him just to catch him in our picks competition, we got to break down and choose our favorites independently, and we came up with the same teams:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
DEN (14-3) NE (13-4) NE NE
SEA (14-3) SF (14-4) Sea Sea


All of our thoughts and observations are available on the podcast by subscribing to In Much Less Detail:  The Podcast via iTunes, or by visiting our archive page at:  blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Divisional Round '14 ATS Recap: The Dagger

It's been many years here at IMLD since our picks title has been determined before the Super Bowl. The point system Dre concocted many years ago made sure of that by compressing our point totals via win percentages and heightening the importance of the playoffs. Going in to the playoffs with a nice cushion helped, as my slightly better than mediocre 4-3-1 playoff record thus far is nothing special. The two points Dre coughed up in Wild Card weekend, thanks in no small measure to the Chiefs meltdown, made his comeback effort all the more daunting. So this week the mission was simple: give nothing back. All I needed to do was break even to take the title early and make sure our Championship Sunday and Super Bowl picks were for nothing more than shits n giggles.

That's exactly what happened.

Picks We Both Won (1)
  • Broncos 24, Chargers (+10) 17 - Neither one of us had any faith in Peyton Manning covering a huge playoff number, but in reality he did. Manning did everything possible to put the Broncos up 24-7 midway through the 4th quarter. The Chargers then proceeded to go on two long scoring drives thanks an onside kick recovery, and instead of taking another onside attempt with just over three minutes left, the Bolts decided to kick it deep. It ended up being a mistake, as Manning converted two clutch long third down attempts to Julius Thomas and ensured the Broncos a spot in the AFC Championship game. The Chargers snapped out of their offensive coma in the 4th quarter, hurrying up the offense and getting the league worst Bronco D back on its heels. Sure Denver won, but Tom Brady wont take 3½ quarters to warm up like Philip Rivers did.
Smellin' Pushy (1)
  • Seahawks (-8) 23, Saints 15 - Right there in the score is all you need to know about this game. The vaunted Saints offense put up a paltry fifteen points. 15?!?! The Seattle defense bent but didn't break until the Saints finally found the end zone to start the final quarter, but by then the mountain was too steep to climb. Marshawn Lynch ran all over the Saints D, with the capper being the clinching 31 yard TD run that all but put the game out of reach. The Saints, much like San Diego, went on a mad dash to come back, even also recovering an onside kick, but again falling behind big was costly.
Picks Dre Won Head to Head (1)
  • Patriots (-7) 43, Colts 22 - This was one of the two games that Dre decided to let me pick so he could take the opposite. It was a good move as I totally misread the way THIS one would go. Dre picked his X-Factor to be New England RB Stevan Ridley, knowing that the Pats would need to run to glory in the windy conditions of Foxboro. He was oh-so-close as it turned out that it was stable mate LaGarrette "Punchy" Blount that went insane in the running game, tallying 166 yards and a ridiculous 4 touchdowns. In fact, the Pats ran it in 6 times, keeping the Colts off the field and Indy never got in rhythm. The Patriot running game was so solid that Tom Brady only needed to complete 13 passes on the day, which is scary considering that this is a team that usually needs Brady to dink and dunk them to victory.
Picks I Won Head To Head (1)
  • 49ers (PICK) 23, Panthers 10 - This was the victory lap for me. The second and last of games Dre let me pick for the title, and only needing a split on the two to take the title, this was the one on the podcast I thought felt like a gift. I LOVED the Niners in this matchup all week. Not that Carolina was without merit, but a playoff tested team like San Francisco handled the moment much better than the newcomer Panthers. Carolina looked more like petulant children all game long, more interested in smack talking and intimidating San Francisco than, you know, actually trying to win the game. Once the Niners went into halftime leading, after Carolina's defense laid the lumber all over the Niner offense for 30 minutes, I knew it was over. Indeed, Carolina didn't even score in the second half, and the Niners did what any team with a solid defense and a lead does late in games: they pressured the shit out of Cam Newton, sacking him in bunches and picking him off late.
Now I just need Wayne Larrivee to give me a completely ridiculous, over-the-top "There is your In Much Less Detail 2013 Picks Championship DAGGER!!!!!"

Even though our picks competition is over, that doesn't mean we're going anywhere. Live show tonight at 10pm at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail

Subscribe to our show on iTunes for the full version. Live listeners miss out on the 15-minute VIP After Show. Minor milestone tonight: it's our 40th show! I know, how'd we make it this far?

NFL Conf. Semis '14: What I Learned


  • Besides learning that catching Jason this year was never in the cards for me, I learned that Seattle wasn't going to be stopped in the Divisional Round with Beast Mode having a week of rest, but otherwise, they appear to still be vulnerable in the ways I thought before.  Russell Wilson still didn't impress me with his throws when standing still in a clean pocket; his longest pass of the day was 25 yards to Jermaine Kearse after avoiding the pass rush.  Now, the weather has to be cited as a factor because someone we know can throw with accuracy, Drew Brees, also saw his balls take off in weird directions.  And if you can't throw in the wind and rain and you're facing Beast Mode, the game's basically over, so props I guess to the Saints for even forcing a push on the spread.  They should have been destroyed by all rights.  New Orleans smartly played the Seahawks and the elements, using quick snaps to counter the 12th man noise and grinding it out with the run game.  Then Brees got into a throwing rhythm to start the 2nd half, only to get sacked to end the drive.  Every time Brees started to perform and bring the Saints back, he got sacked or pressured, and his big bomb, 52 yards to Robert Meachem, should have been picked off by two guys.  It was a very rough assignment for New Orleans, and they should feel no shame in losing.  Seattle tried to use Percy Harvin the right way, as a flea stretching the field horizontally to open up things for Marshawn Lynch up the middle, but Harvin's getting to be a China Doll, coming up hurt after a couple of different plays before being shut down for the day with a concussion.  If Seattle doesn't have him for the conference title game, they will need more plays from Wilson and Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin to make the defense loosen up.  Lynch is a marauder, but he can only do so much.
  • The lack of offensive identity finally bit Indianapolis in the ass versus New England.  On their first drive, Trent Richardson, the bruising tailback the Colts needed so bad, checked in on 3rd-and-2, but since he can't be trusted, Andrew Luck threw and got picked off by Pats CB Alfonzo Dennard.  For shame.  As they've done all year, though, the Colts hung around after trailing by a lot early.  They could have tied New England late in the 3rd quarter if not for Jamie Collins, an unknown Patriots linebacker who seemed to sack Luck or pick him off every time Indy got close.  Collins was everywhere.  I may have never heard of him, but he was THE SHIT.  The Colts know they have a dangerous combination in Luck-to-Hilton, as in big-play WR T.Y. Hilton, so now they need to stabilize the run game and the playcalling.  Hilton was blanketed by Aqib Talib for the most part, but he still shook free for some big catches.  And Luck made some throws to Hilton and LaVon Brazill that made me say "Holy Luck!" a few times.  But the night belonged to the Patriots running backs, who absolutely ground the Colts into fine powder.  Don't let New England get in a goal-line situation, because they're going to run it in and you can't stop them.  I don't know how much I want to trust LeGarrette Blount to be that reliable in the future, but he was unstoppable on this night.  Add on Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley, and you have a RB corps that basically held up Tom Brady.  His big throws all came on play-action after the run game had been established.  It allowed Brady to conserve his energy for those handful of throws, some of which were gunned through the air in a manner we don't see from Peyton Manning.  Brady's arm strength isn't being questioned.  I think Brady may have one more title run in him if he draws an opponent that will stifle the run game, which should come in Denver.  His receivers aren't All-Pros, but they might be good enough.
  • San Francisco continued their assault on the NFC, beating down Carolina and talking shit to them the whole way.  (That ref crew handled all the chatter terribly, randomly penalizing guys for headbutts and not penalizing others, and there was a total bullshit roughing-the-passer penalty late.  Those zebras almost ruined one of the most intense games I've ever seen.  They were THE DRIZLING SHITS.)  The first play of the game was Carolina DE Charles Johnson drilling the hell out of Niners RB Frank Gore, and the tone was set.  The Panthers looked like they were going to rise up to that level and beat the 49ers at their own game, but man, you gotta play a perfect game in order to do that, and they were far from perfect.  Cam Newton was sharp on his throws in the 1st half save for an interception that was a bit behind his receiver.  There were a couple of goal-line stands by SF that kept the Panthers from polishing off nice drives with TDs, and that may have affected Newton's confidence and his game in the 2nd half, but that's what happens with inexperienced players.  The first stand, where "Riverboat" Ron Rivera went for it down 6-0 on 4th-and-goal at the 1 and failed, wasn't a bad call I don't think because you make the Niners start a drive at the 1 if you don't get it and you blow the roof off if you do.  It didn't hurt them because they forced a punt, got a nice return by Ted Ginn, then threw a TD pass to Ginn.  The second stand came later in the 2nd quarter, when a penalty (beautiful flying bodypress by Ahmad Brooks) put the ball at the half-yard line and Carolina got stuffed and had to take a FG.  That one, Newton should have snuck it being so close to the goal line.  SF took advantage of defensive breakdowns and put up points to build pressure on the Panthers, and they weren't able to respond.  A long drive by the Panthers down 20-10 was shoved back by two sacks, forcing a punt and basically ending the game.  Jason Tweeted that he didn't know how SF was winning at halftime because Carolina was outplaying them.  I think it was a matter of experience.  The Niners stayed calm and executed when opportunities presented, and the Panthers stayed with them for a half, which isn't enough in the playoffs.  Seattle will stay with them for a whole game.  Count on that.
  • That San Diego late comeback to lose by only seven was a complete backdoor cover that they didn't deserve.  I totally admit that, but Jay and I picked it, so we'll take the credit.  But Denver was much the better team.  The Chargers had been relying on a running game renaissance during their five-game win streak, but the lead back, Ryan Mathews, only lasted 5 carries before succumbing to a sore ankle.  The other big failure for the Bolts was RG Johnnie Troutman, who was a revolving door in the 1st half.  He alone stopped QB Philip Rivers from developing any kind of rhythm.  The Broncos didn't miss injured pass rusher Von Miller in this one, but they will miss him when they play a team that can block.  It was yet another careful run-heavy game plan, which was en vogue this weekend.  Denver didn't have Peyton Manning throwing much besides screens and short passes; one drive saw only two throws by Manning, but one was the TD throw.  But Peyton wasn't perfect--the first Broncos series should have ended with a terrible INT, but SD DB Shareece Wright has no hands, and the drive ended with a Denver TD.  Peyton only threw long a couple of times after that.  His best contribution was getting the city of Omaha trending on Twitter.  It drew the Bolts offsides five different times!  I noticed that every time he called the Omaha snap and drew San Diego offsides because they didn't actually snap it, the play clock had more than ten seconds on it.  I'm sure Bill Belichick noticed that if I did.  San Diego covered because they finally stopped the run down 17-0, forcing a missed Denver FG, and they pass protected for Rivers, allowing him to get yardage to his targets, mostly the awesome Keenan Allen.  An onsides kick factored in as well.  But it was Denver's day.  Peyton wins in the playoffs, and he wasn't bad, but he wasn't spectacular either.  Will that be enough against New England?


Dre--96.4 + 6 = 102.4 pts; Jay--111.2 + 6 = 117.2 pts

Friday, January 10, 2014

NFL Conf. Semis '14

I'm up against the wall in my battle to catch Jason in picks, so I had to wait for him to make a couple of selections before I made my own.  As a result, if I can't win those games over him, the season is over and the picks title goes to Jason.  Here's our picks for the "divisional round":

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Saturday
SEA (13-3) 8    NO (12-5) Sea Sea
Sat. Nite
NE (12-4) 7    Ind (12-5) NE Ind
Sunday
CAR (12-4) Pk SF (13-4) Car SF
DEN (13-3) 10    SD (10-7) SD SD


All of our thoughts and observations are available on our podcast, available at iTunes under In Much Less Detail:  The Podcast, or in the archives at: blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

NFL Wild Card '14: What I Learned


  • We learned that Andrew Luck has arrived as the ultimate in comeback QB.  Never, ever count him out, no matter who his receivers are.  I wasn't able to watch the comeback live, as my wife needed to be taken to a medical facility, but Jason texted me when the comeback was complete, and I wasn't the least bit surprised.  Not just because of Luck, but because I picked the Chiefs, and this would serve as the final insult, one last middle finger to me for picking Kansas City just to eliminate them from the playoffs.  They left, but not before leading 38-10 and trying to make me think they were going to come through for me.  I wasn't fooled, not for a second.  I knew they would choke.  I didn't learn anything new about the Chiefs.  Their short passes and using the width of the field allowed them to matriculate up and down, just as they had done all season.  We saw what backup RB Knile Davis had to offer thanks to his outing last week against San Diego, so when he was pressed into duty after Jamaal Charles got concussed, it wasn't a shock that he could play.  But Andy Reid and the Chiefs will have to ponder if Charles would have put the ball in the end zone either of the two times Davis got stuffed by Kavell Conner or Cory Redding.  That resulted in a 19-yd. FG in a game they lost by one.  Besides how awesome Luck is, that's what I learned about the Colts:  They really have tried to add some ass to their defense so that they don't get ran over as easily as they used to.  Redding had a nice game containing Davis when he tried to run up the middle.  The 3rd-string RB for KC, Cyrus Gray, was wide open on a flanker go route to start the 4th quarter, and QB Alex Smith treated him like an experienced WR and tried to lead him down the sideline with his throw instead of just gunning it to him and letting him make a move or two to get free.  The throw was too long.  That was a huge miss.  There was a lot of luck (the Donald Brown fumble that bounced off lineman Samson Satele's head into Luck's hands for a TD), there was a lot of skill (Da'Rick Rogers made some plays, and T.Y. Hilton was hellacious, dare I say, THE SHIT), but there were some plays Kansas City left in RCA Dome, never to be recovered, and they have to live with that all offseason.  To which I say, with all due respect:  Fuck The Chiefs.
  • The anatomy of how the veteran Saints went into the house of the new jack Eagles and earned their first road playoff win in franchise history is different from how I thought it would be.  New Orleans didn't really go bombs away with Drew Brees in the cold; he only had 250 yards passing and one TD.  They actually hammered Philadelphia on the ground with Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles, and Khiry Robinson.  Yeah, those guys.  Brees appeared to get a glimpse of how tough it would be to throw long in that cold because his first deep attempt to Sproles just died ten yards short, and a bomb attempt to Kenny Stills was picked off.  So he and coach Sean Payton switched gears and set about gashing the Eagles with the run game.  New Orleans denied LeSean McCoy big yardage rushing, making the Eagles rely more on Nick Foles in his first playoff game, and he wasn't bad, but he wasn't sharp.  The big mistake by Philly was actually a Riley Cooper drop down 13-7 in the 3rd; he may have scored, he was so wide open.  From there, Brees mixed in key passes when he had to, toasting Phi DBs Roc Carmichael and Patrick Chung repeatedly.  Foles took advantage of an injury to Saints CB Keenan Lewis, toasting Rod Sweeting and getting Philly back in the game.  It was Foles with the nice drive in the 4th to give the Eagles the lead, but Sproles came up with a big kickoff return (and tack on a horse collar penalty), and Brees and the running game sucked up the rest of the clock while setting up the game-winning FG.  It was impressive in that Brees didn't need to light it up for the Saints to grind out a win.  I still feel like the running game was better off missing Pierre Thomas because Sproles was perfect in his role as the fast little bastard and Ingram was perfect as the bruiser getting the tough yards.  They get overshadowed sometimes when Thomas is in.  I'd be afraid of New Orleans if they've figured out how to win games on the road.
  • In Cincinnati, Andy Dalton was THE DRIZZLING SHITS, completely losing his composure as the day wore on and the pressure tightened around his neck until the Chargers had suffocated the Bengals.  Marvin Lewis isn't getting creamed for this loss, but fuck, he hasn't won a single playoff game in ten years coaching.  This needs to change now.  I had it changing this year as Cincy made it to the Super Bowl, but the big bad San Diego Chargers got in the way.  Dalton was bad but not horrible in the 1st half.  The problem was Cincy's defenders.  Our co-X factors in the middle of the Bengal D-line were getting pushed around like 2nd graders, and much to my dismay, San Diego did indeed continue their run of solid rushing by Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead, and even Ronnie Brown got into the act.  Dalton was running some more read options, which I hate him doing because he's not athletic enough, but he pulled out a 49-yd. bomb to Marvin Jones in the 2-minute drill, then watched Gio Bernard get stripped and cough up all the momentum.  In the 2nd half, Melvin Ingram and friends dialed up the blitz on Dalton and completely rattled him.  He looked scared to throw, he was running for his life, and finally he fumbled on a scramble without being touched, then threw up a terrible INT on the next drive that basically put the game away.  He has to make quicker decisions when pressured.  If he doesn't, he'll be on the road to being a former starting NFL quarterback.  The Chargers had a very good gameplan on offense, using the running game mercilessly, which set up a play-action long ball of Philip Rivers to Eddie Royal in the 3rd, which set up a TD.  They never put Rivers in a position where he had to throw all around the yard.  It was a comfortable win for him.  It shouldn't have been, but once again, Cincinnati came up limp in the big moment.
  • The story in Green Bay, yet again, was how much better of an athlete Colin Kaepernick was than everyone else on the field.  I am a fan.  That guy might be an idiot for wearing no sleeves on an evening where it was 0° and then bitching about the cold after the game, but he's the real deal between the whistles.  The 227 yards passing by Kaep through that cold was nothing to sneeze at, but the 98 yards rushing, almost all on coverage situations where he just took off and dared someone to catch him, was next-level.  He's still so far from as good as he could be, too.  His lack of touch on certain passes still is glaring.  Coach Insane came right out on San Francisco's first drive, going for it on 4th-and-6 and mentally taking control with the conversion and subsequent FG.  Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers knew they were in for a day because after running the first four plays, they finally run play-action and get ready to throw, and no one's open, and Rodgers goes down on a coverage sack.  The Pack had to slowly inch the ball down the field with RBs Eddie Lacy and James Starks because the 49ers weren't letting big plays happen through the air.  The poor Packers had to watch Kaepernick make big plays with his legs anytime he wanted, and that's why the game looked to be controlled by SF the whole way, even when it was tied in the 4th quarter.  Shout out to my bowling ball X-factor, Mike Daniels, who did make some stops in the run game and even sacked Kaep.  And Kaep did make the throw that should have cost the Niners a game they controlled, but DB Micah Hyde dropped an easy INT during the final SF drive.  Kaep shook off the mistake and led the drive all the way down the field, converting one 3rd down through the air and another on a scramble, setting up the game-winning FG with no time left.  San Francisco is an intriguing combination of athleticism and strategy, and they won't be easily knocked out of the playoffs, already installed as a road fav again for the next game in Charlotte.  Green Bay will have to keep reigning as the class of their division, but they can't get over the hump and compete for something better until they shore up their injured defense.


Dre--94.4 + 2 = 96.4 pts; Jay--107.2 + 4 = 111.2 pts

Wild Card '14 ATS Recap: Blaze of Glory

Dre may have supplied a Quote of the Year in text form a few weeks back with three simple words:

Fuck the Chiefs
 
After the podcast on Friday night, we investigated Dres record this season in just the games that involved the Chiefs. His record was 4-12. Fuck the Chiefs indeed. Almost half his season in games under the .500 mark was supplied just by misreading one team. Which of course leads up to the picks.
 
Picks We Both Won:
  • There weren't any. Great!
Picks We Both Lost (1)
  • Chargers (+7) 27, Bengals 10 - So all of the press post game has been about the failings of Andy Dalton in the postseason. His resume now consists of three one-and-done January appearances. I could forgive the two previous ones against a very stout Houston defense, but this one had even me believing some of the naysayers. I'm not one to overreact to a bad game, but Dalton played scared for a large portion of the game. You don't want the label as a good "Regular Season" quarterback. Some guys, like Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers eventually shed that label, but unfortunately for Dalton, winning is the only way to do it and now he gets to wait another year. The Bengals better be careful, we saw how quickly things can go wrong for a tough defensive team with QB issues. Ask the Texans about that. San Diego capitalized on the Bengals misery, and did just enough to get the win, but there is no denying that they are a hot team at the moment.
Picks Dre Won Head to Head (1) - 2 points
  • Saints (+2½) 26, Eagles 24 - Dre nailed this one. Mark Ingram won the runningback battle between himself and LeSean McCoy and helped the Saints to a 10 minute time of possession edge. Playing keep away from the Eagles was effective and the weather never really ended up being a factor.
Picks I Won Head to Head (2) - 4 points
  • Colts (PICK) 45, Chiefs 44 - This was the gut punch. Not for me, I could hardly contain my enthiasm watching the Colts mad rally from 38-10 down minutes into the third quarter. No, this one fell apart on Dre. If his mission was to end the Chiefs, he sure did it in the most fantastical way possible. After the podcast on Friday, I poked fun at Dre for going back to the Chiefs, telling him that not only would the Colts win by 1, but they would do it in the most soul crushing way possible. Even I could not have envisioned what transpired. Missing Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis late, the Chiefs could not sustain ANY offense to drain the clock, and the great performance of Alex Smith will only be remembered as a great day by a QB in a losing effort, who couldn't get the critical 3rd down when needed, or whose pass to Dwayne Bowe that would have put KC in field goal range was ever so slightly off enough to carry Bowe six inches out of bounds. An instant classic, this game will be mention in similar breaths as the Bills Frank Reich-led "The Comeback." So if Dre wanted to go down in a blaze of glory with the Chiefs, he got his wish! Cue up the Bon Jovi.
  • 49ers (-2½) 23, Packers 20 - Another gut punch, but nowhere near as severe. Dre managed to lose 2 points to me on the week by 1½ points TOTAL. After the one point loss to start Wild Card Weekened, Sunday ended up with Dre getting hooked at a moment when he was poised to still gain ground and cut my lead to 10.8. Instead, the Niners bucked up in the staggering cold and made the plays when needed, going on a long game winning drive and kicking the GW field goal with zero time remaining, ensuring that Aaron Rodgers wouldn't get another chance to win it. Both teams leaned heavy on the run games, and while Eddie Lacy and Frank Gore cancelled each others efforts out, it was the running of San Fran QB Colin Kaepernick that kept drives alive and gashed the Packers at seemingly ever opportune moment.
 
Dre 1-3 for 2 points
Jason 2-2 for 4 points and a 14.8 point lead with 25 Playoff points remaining. It may be panic time for Dre.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

NFL Wild Card '14

First, let's set up our playoff format once again.  Simply take our season percentages, multiply by 200, and there's what we start the playoffs with.  From there, it's 2 points for each Wild Card win, 3 points in the Conference Semis, 4 points in the Conf. Finals, and a big 5 points for picking the Super Bowl correctly.  Jay has a massive uuper hand to start the playoffs this year:
                    Dre          Jay
Season 118-132-6 134-116-6
0.472 0.536
x200 x200
=94.4 =107.2

Here they are, our picks for the first round of the playoffs!  Read 'em and weep.

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Saturday
IND (11-5) Pk KC (11-5) KC Ind
Sat. Nite
PHI (10-6) NO (11-5) NO Phi
Sunday
CIN (11-5) 7    SD (9-7) Cin Cin
SF (12-4) GB (8-7-1) GB SF


All of our thoughts and observations on these games can be heard if you subscribe to our podcast at iTunes (just search for In Much Less Detail:  The Podcast) or listen on our archive page at blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail

Thursday, January 2, 2014

2013-14 What I Learned About Each Team In One Sentence

Cowboys--This trend of faltering in December is real, and whether it's on Romo, Garrett, or Jerry Jones, someone better fix it posthaste.
Eagles--Chip Kelly's offense got revved up halfway through the season and carried Philly to a division title, putting pressure on them to at least reach that goal again next year.
Giants--Eli Manning was so awful that I fear if he's lost it for good, which would put the G-Men at Square 1 of a rebuild.
Redskins--Real Housewives of DC made a mockery of the franchise, but they may not stop being a laughingstock with just a new head coach.
Bears--Head-spinning turnaround of a moribund offense under a QB guru coincided with head-spinning collapse of an old, undisciplined defense.
Lions--Love the Megatron, like the RB and QB, hated the meathead coach.
Packers--In case they didn't know how valuable Aaron Rodgers was, they found out when they had to pin their hopes on Seneca Wallace and Matt Flynn.
Vikings--Leslie Frazier wasn't the answer, but they always fought hard even though their secondary was atrocious.
Falcons--Watch for them next year when their two dynamic WRs are healthy again.
Panthers--Passed test after test and saved coach Ron Rivera's gig, but I'm still skeptical of their readiness as a top-tier contender.
Saints--Their inability to consistently perform on offense outside the Superdome was difficult to watch.
Buccaneers--Not a good team, not good leadership from the dickhead coach, and not a good choice at QB whether Freeman or Glennon.
Cardinals--One of my favorite teams to watch because the defense was ferocious at times, but let's see if they want to get a QB that won't throw the ball to the opponent 20 times a year.
Rams--Their weakness is still clearly the QB spot, and their strength continues to be a sometimes deadly defensive line.
49ers--Coach Insane appeared to ease back with the crazy plans on offense for QB Kaepernick, and Kaep looked to regress, but I fear they're just now gearing up for a strong playoff push.
Seahawks--It looked like the two ways to beat QB Russell Wilson and the Seahawks were to NOT pass rush Wilson so he doesn't escape and kill you on the run and to defend the deep ball when Wilson's near midfield.
Bills--They could be dangerous if the QB play was consistent because they've got the run attack and the defense was adequate.
Dolphins--Weird locker room culture masked mediocre QB, terrible pass protection and desperate need for playmakers at RB and WR.
Patriots--That 6.9 yards per pass attempt was very low for Tom Brady, and while it is an improvement from where it was the first month of the season, I don't think they have a chance of winning the title.
Jets--Rex Ryan will never find long-term success with the Jets until he hires competent offensive minds to work with that side of the football.
Ravens--Does anyone think Joe Flacco (Baltimore:  6.3 yards per pass attempt) is better than average just because he won the Super Bowl last year??
Bengals--They actually followed my vision for Cincinnati making a Super Bowl run, struggling a little midway through the season and QB Andy Dalton seemingly breaking through just as the playoffs begin.
Browns--Rob Chudzinski got a raw deal getting canned after one year because the two biggest issues--Brandon Weeden and the running backs--were personnel fuck-ups.
Steelers--They're going to get Mike Tomlin run out of town if they don't get some young blood in the secondary and on the defensive line.
Texans--Way too much talent on this team for them to go three months without a win again next year, although RB Arian Foster might be at the end.
Colts--Maddeningly inconsistent, relying on Andrew Luck to dig them out of trouble much more than they should, and still have the light and fast defensive model that gets them steamrolled in the run game.
Jaguars--Not an NFL franchise at the moment, but hey, they won a few games on moxie and chewing gum.
Titans--Gutsy and gritty under coach Mike Munchak, they're a team that makes you feel it after you play them but might need a QB and WR upgrade to be more than that.
Broncos--In awe watching Peyton Manning every game, but still burned from the Ravens playoff game to believe in them to win the Super Bowl, plus the defense can be awful.
Chiefs--Andy Reid and Alex Smith set a steady if boring course for them all season, and Reid is enough of an offensive mastermind that some surprises in the playoffs may give them a surprise win or two.
Raiders--They still go for the jugular in run blocking, but running with no passing is not going to make them contenders in that division.
Chargers--The New New England Patriots had an offensive renaissance under Mike McCoy, and if their defense was even a little good, they would be formidable.