Jason and I go head-to-head on six games this week, and thanks to Bashaud Breeland and the rest of the terrible defensive backs on the Redskins Thursday night, I am up one game already. Now the rest of NFL Week 3:
Fav
Spread
Dog
Final
Dre
Jay
Thu. Nite
NYG (0-2)
4
Wash (1-1)
NY 32-21
NY
Wash
Sunday
Atl (2-0)
1
DAL (2-0)
Atl
Dal
Ind (0-2)
3
TENN (1-1)
Ind
Ind
CLE (1-1)
3½
Oak (1-1)
Oak
Oak
BAL (0-2)
2½
Cin (2-0)
Cin
Cin
NE (2-0)
13½
Jack (1-1)
NE
NE
CAR (2-0)
8
NO (0-2)
Car
NO
NYJ (2-0)
2
Phi (0-2)
NY
NY
HOU (0-2)
6½
TB (1-1)
Hou
TB
MIN (1-1)
2½
SD (1-1)
Min
Min
STL (1-1)
1
Pit (1-1)
Pit
Pit
ARIZ (2-0)
6½
SF (1-1)
SF
Ariz
MIA (1-1)
2½
Buf (1-1)
Mia
Mia
SEA (0-2)
14½
Chi (0-2)
Sea
Sea
Sun. Nite
Den (2-0)
3
DET (0-2)
Det
Det
Mon. Nite
GB (2-0)
7
KC (1-1)
KC
GB
All of our thoughts and observations, and my aftershow breakdown of the madness that is a college football game in 2015, can be heard here:
Jay and I go heads up on seven games, and the way we disagree on a few of them vehemently, it makes for an extremely compelling Sunday of football to see which one of us is seeing things the right way early in the season. At least we have the exact same Lock of the Week, which of course means we're going to get boned. Here's Week 2:
Fav
Spread
Dog
Final
Dre
Jay
Thu. Nite
KC (1-0)
3
Den (1-0)
Den 31-24
KC
KC
Sunday
CAR (1-0)
3
Hou (0-1)
Hou
Car
PIT (0-1)
6½
SF (1-0)
Pit
Pit
NO (0-1)
10
TB (0-1)
TB
TB
MIN (0-1)
2
Det (0-1)
Det
Det
Ariz (1-0)
2
CHI (0-1)
Chi
Chi
NE (1-0)
1
BUF (1-0)
NE
NE
CIN (1-0)
3½
SD (1-0)
SD
Cin
Tenn (1-0)
1½
CLE (0-1)
Tenn
Tenn
NYG (0-1)
2½
Atl (1-0)
Atl
NY
StL (1-0)
3
WASH (0-1)
StL
Wash
Mia (1-0)
5½
JACK (0-1)
Mia
Mia
Bal (0-1)
6½
OAK (0-1)
Oak
Oak
PHI (0-1)
5
Dal (1-0)
Phi
Dal
Sun. Nite
GB (1-0)
3½
Sea (0-1)
Sea
GB
Mon. Nite
IND (0-1)
7
NYJ (1-0)
NY
Ind
All of our observations, including a potpourri of items on the aftershow, can be heard here:
So now that the new season has started with a resounding PUSH, let's get to the rest of NFL Opening Weekend. A little wrinkle to our picks this year: You will see one game underlined for Jay and myself each week. Those are our Locks of the Week. At the end of the regular season, the man with the most correct locks earns an extra point in our playoff scoring system. Simple! Now, our Week 1 picks:
Fav
Spread
Dog
Final
Dre
Jay
Week 1
Thu. Nite
NE
7
Pit
NE 28-21
Pit
Pit
Sunday
GB
6½
CHI
GB
GB
HOU
1
KC
KC
KC
NYJ
3½
Cle
NY
NY
Ind
2½
BUF
Ind
Ind
Mia
3½
WASH
Mia
Mia
Car
3
JACK
Car
Jack
Sea
4
STL
Sea
StL
ARIZ
2½
NO
Ariz
Ariz
SD
3
Det
Det
SD
TB
3
Tenn
TB
TB
Cin
3½
OAK
Cin
Cin
DEN
4
Bal
Den
Bal
Sun. Nite
DAL
6
NYG
Dal
NY
Mon. Nite
Phi
3
ATL
Phi
Phi
Min
2½
SF
SF
SF
All of our thoughts and observations (at least what we could hear from Jay, who was locked out of the show for the 1st 15 minutes due to technical difficulties) can be heard here:
Real football is finally back! As Jay and I discussed on our season preview podcast, we're both taking the points to open the season. Teflon Tom Brady and the World champion New England Patriots open the season tonight hosting Ben Rapelisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will be missing a key part of their impressive offense as RB Le'Veon Bell will serve a suspension. Despite that, Jay and I will both take Pit +7 to start the season off, mostly because Brady struggles at the beginning of every season, even seasons where he may be supremely motivated to stick it up the NFL's ass for how they treated him this offseason.
One of us even thinks Brady and the Pats will be motivated enough to repeat as Super Bowl champions! To find out our Super Bowl picks and full division-by-division breakdowns, listen to our 2015 season preview podcast here:
And listen live tonight during the season opener, where we will watch the first real game of this campaign while picking all of the Week 1 contests. We go live at 10P Eastern/9P Central:
Well, here I am, finally getting around to putting this years inductees in to our Halls of Fame/Infamy in written form. Seems like a good time to do it too, since tomorrow night is our 2015 AFC/NFC Preview show. I'd look pretty asinine if I didn't get the post up before that!
So this year I went with a theme. A new "wing" to the Hall. This new wing is all about words and their impact. In a twist on our Hall rules, I have opened up some all-time GREAT players a chance to get in to our Hall by the use of language. Words so impactful, stupid, or just plain silly, that they transcend the player and become a part of our culture.
This wings namesake is none other than Jim Mora Sr, known most for his "playoffs??? PLAYOFFSSSS!!!!" rant in November of 2001. For those of you who live under a fucking rock, here it is:
Keep in mind that the lesser known but just as awesome "I don't care WHO you play" quote is embedded in the SAME legendary press conference. Much as with one of our later entrants, we get a two-fer.
So here they are. The 2015 Jim Mora Wing entrants in to the IMLD Halls of Fame/Halls of Infamy:
1) "Guarantee" as uttered by Joe Namath. We go wayyyyyy back to January 1969 for this one. The heavy underdog Jets were about to get trounced in the Super Bowl by the Baltimore Colts. But someone forgot to tell Broadway Joe. TOld constantly about how bad they were going to lose to the Colts, Namath had had enough:
So "The Guarantee" gets in on two fronts. For the original Namath legendary version, and the sad shell it has become since then. Now, any player with a mic in their face can make a "guarantee" ant get their 30 seconds of fame on the countless pre-game shows and fluff pieces. So yeah, just leave it the pros guys. Like Namath.
2) "Striaght Cash Homey" as uttered by Randy Moss. Flash forward 36 years as we catch up with the Vikings Randy Moss outside the team facility on his way to his car when he is approached by a lone cameraman:
Moss had just been fined $10K for giving Joe Buck and aneurysym:
I love the description of the video. Anyhow, Moss in his southern drawl probably did walk in to the Commish's office and make it rain. Either way, it got Moss and his quote in to the Urban Dictionary, right along with Truffle Butter!
3) "For Who? For What" as uttered by Ricky Watters. Oh Ricky, what WERE you thinking?
I could not find video of the presser, but it happened, and cemented Rickys "legacy" with his new Eagles squad. Forget the fact that Watters was a REALLY good player, THIS is what we remember. Hell, it's even the title of his autobiography. So, at least now, he GETS it!
4) "Can't Wait!!!!!" as uttered by Bart Scott. Ah, one of the absolute best sports interviews EVAH! Instead of Erin Andrews scared of the Angry Black Man interview with Richard Sherman, we get consummate pro Sal Paolantonio handling the mic with Angry Black Man Bart Scott:
Sure, Scott used the overused "disrespect" angle, but to perfection! He called out the media, the Patriots "can't stop a nosebleed!" defense and all the "non-believers," and Paolantonio just smiled and fed the fire. Raw postgame emotion has never been so much fun, and the ending....sublime. Dre and I have been mining from this quote for years, and loving every minute of it.
5) "Boy Howdy!" as uttered by Ronnie Lott. OK, it's the best quote in one of the straight up funniest commercials of all time. I'll leave you with this, as there are no words that multiple viewings of this can replace, and see you all for my next round of Hall of Fame/Hall of Infamy entrants in 2017.
For the full podcast version of this show, check out the IMLD Podcast:
