Scott Norwood

Scott Norwood
Wide Right started it all.

Saturday, December 31, 2022

2022 Week #17

After all the Saturday craziness the last couple of weeks, we're back to Football Sunday, which allows me to post the picks the day after our podcast instead of immediately after the show. If that upended anyone's world, my apologies. One quick note: If you do wager the games then you already know this, but DeAndre Hopkins, the Cardinals WR, was rumored to be inactive after hurting his knee in practice yesterday, and we referenced that on the show. Today, it was made official: Nuk is out. Adjust your bets and daily fantasy accordingly. Jay and I see differently on a healthy seven picks this week, and I may need something close to a sweep if I want to take the regular season lead back. We'll see how this week in the NFL plays out. Here are the Week 17 plays, featuring a Double Lock on the one franchise maybe the most dangerous to confidently Lock, the Jets:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #17: Auld Pain Syne

Friday, December 23, 2022

2022 Week #16

I can't imagine a crazier week of football than NFL Week 15, but the weather may create some silliness out there. Most of you reading in America are in bad weather right now, and these games tomorrow are all going to be in bitter cold and wind except in San Fran and Miami and the domes. As Jay said on the podcast, no one's coming back from down a ton of TDs, but no one should be up a bunch of scores either. Jay and I are having a brawl this week. Of the fifteen games left to pick, we agree on five and disagree on everything else. Here are our picks for a frigid Week 16:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #16: Follow That, Boys

Saturday, December 17, 2022

2022 Week #15

It's a bit of a Christmas miracle that Jay and I pulled off the show this week. He was extremely ill, and I had family and job obligations that made us have to move the show to Saturday despite the presence of Saturday games. We won't have that luxury next week, when most of the games will be Saturday games on Christmas Eve. We face off on six games in NFL Week 15, not counting the two we battled on already, Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. Here are our picks:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #15: Winter Wonderland Of Broken Tables

Saturday, December 10, 2022

2022 Week #14

For those who are fans of the podcast, the month of December will be all about Friday night fun. This week's show took place on Friday as Jay and his family took off for a weekend vacay. The rest of the month will feature Friday podcasts as we get you set for Saturday NFL action now that college football is out of the way. Here are the picks for Week 14, which has Jay and I disagreeing on our usual five games:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #14: Next QB Up

Saturday, December 3, 2022

2022 Week #13

I'm very much looking forward to this season winding down. December football is here, and with it, these teams that are fraudulent will start to fall off and the strong teams will reveal themselves. I'm ready. Jason and I feel strongly about which teams are real and which are fake. We don't agree on all of them, but we're ready for the fake to step away. We're going head to head on our normal six games this week, not counting Thursday night. Here's Week 13 in the NFL:



 


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #13: Deshaun Grabs Balls In Houston...Again

Saturday, November 26, 2022

2022 Week #12

We had our turbo version of the podcast, recapping Thanksgiving and then picking Week 12 all in one hour. We used to do that every week before combining recaps and picks into one long show, which fits our lifestyles better. But we're versatile. We can gasbag for a little or a long time. Jay and I split the two games we picked different on Turkey Day. We have some wild variance on our six games that we differ on Sunday and Monday. We each have some out-there upset picks and underdogs ATS. It will be a very newsworthy week no matter which way it goes. Here they are:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #12: Rotate!

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

2022 Triple Gobble

Our old-school midweek podcast contained our Week 11 NFL recap and awards, so if you were waiting for our weekend show for that, we've already done it. You will find our full Thanksgiving preview there as well. Here are the Turkey Day picks, where Jason and I will go heads up on the last two contests:





All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

Week 11 Recap + 2022 Triple Gobble

Sunday, November 20, 2022

2022 Week #11

Getting the picks up in a hurry after our Sunday morning show, so just want to say: I don't know if I can handle much more wild football this season. I'm exhausted on Mondays after the craziness of these games. 2022 has been absolutely batshit, and I don't know if I'd be excited if these games today were as crazy or if I would just have to call in sick to work tomorrow to recover. I suppose we should appreciate it. It's not fucking boring, that's for certain. Here are our Week 11 NFL picks, where Jay and I differ on six games:



 


All of our thoughts and observations can (I think, there were plenty of technical difficulties) be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #11: Snow Place Like Home

Sunday, November 13, 2022

2022 Week #10

Week 9 in the NFL was one of the more bizarre weeks we've seen recently. Jason and I had a lot of fun recapping the madness and fitting in all of the silliness that we saw. We got back to our normal for Week 10, disagreeing on our customary five games. Hopefully we will avoid having three pushes like last week. Hey, I told you it was madness. Here's our Week 10 selections:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #10: What's The Record For Longest Held Breath?

Sunday, November 6, 2022

2022 Week #9

Thanks to my electricity going out, we couldn't have our podcast the Saturday before NFL Week 9, so we had our first Sunday morning show today. I enjoyed it greatly. The Saturday shows are after we both have worked all day, so we're always a little ragged, but today we were up and alert and ready to rock. The downside is fitting in the show with such a small amount of downtime before the actual games commence. Thus, I give you our picks with less than a half-hour before the games start, and what a list of picks it is. Jason and I actually disagree on more games than we agree. But you can't click on the podcast link to hear why until after the games have started. Here are the picks:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #9: Shrewd Moves, Snyder On Fire

Sunday, October 30, 2022

2022 Week #8

Every football season has its unusual occurrences that make it unique, and this is no exception. But I don't believe we've watched a man's marriage disintegrate before our eyes in the middle of an NFL season. No sooner did we read that Tom Brady's wife had given him an ultimatum of "me or football" than we read that the divorce is final. Guess he made his choice. I get that he is a grown-ass man and wants to do what he wants when he wants, but is this Bucs team worth throwing your marriage away? Not to mention, how many more seasons do you need? It's not like you're going to be left wondering how your career would have gone if you didn't walk away. You already played 93 years. Oh well. Jay and I are married to the number 5, as we are again doing battle on five picks. I believe this is my first time opposing his Lock, but I'm just taking a hunch that the Bills aren't trying to kill a blood rival, so maybe they take it easy on the Packers. But I could see them destroying Green Bay just for fun. Here are our picks for Week 8:







All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #8: Pros Before Hoes



Friday, October 21, 2022

2022 Week #7

The rare Friday night podcast for us was fitting this week because the slate of games for NFL Week 7 was unusual and rare. When you have a week "featuring" one game with two winning teams, you're talking some weird, wacky stuff as Johnny Carson would say. We also rose to the occasion with weird Locks, as I declared my respect for what Geno Smith has done by Locking the Seahawks, while Jay, coming off going against Denver and Nathaniel Hackett and saying "Fuck the Broncos" now says if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and rides with Russell Wilson and Broncos Country. The whole week deserves a big shoulder shrug, because I don't think either of us feel very strongly about our picks. But we pick them all. Always have. Here's our Week 7 ATS, which yet again have us battling on five games, not counting my crazy Thursday night Cardinals win over the Saints:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #7: McCaffrey Runs To The Bay

Sunday, October 16, 2022

2022 Week #6

Jason and I are finding a way to challenge each other on five games seemingly every week, and this week is once again at the magic number. The latest example on our podcast of us knowing each other's thoughts and tendencies for far too long was that we both wanted to highlight the same exact point about the same exact moment in the same exact game as our "WTF?!" moment of NFL Week 5. You'll have to listen to the show to find out what that was. Here are our picks for what appears to be a tough Week 6 full of evenly-matched contests:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #6: Tackle Football, But No Tackling

Saturday, October 8, 2022

2022 Week #5

Jason and I rebounded in NFL Week 4 with a couple of double-digit weeks winning vs. the spread. That's never easy to do, so we're proud of that despite there being a lot of favorites in those wins. It would be awesome to pick 9 or 10 underdogs and nail them all, but we've been picking these games for almost 40 years. We know that picking a bunch of dogs gets you beat most weeks. We're agreeing on more picks than normal this season, and we think it's because Jay not working Sundays gives him better perspective on the teams since he can actually see them. He's also dipping toes into the analytic pool. Come on in, the water's fine. Here are our picks for Week 5, where we again differ on only five games, not counting whatever that Thursday night horseshit was:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #5: Back On Track

Sunday, October 2, 2022

2022 Week #4

The NFL season is only three weeks old, but it already feels like a whirlwind. Upsets, wild rallies, guys running out of the back of the end zone, punting off dudes' asses...the entertainment value is high, even if the football is bad. And it's a good thing the entertainment is there, because if people really stopped to think of how disgusting the Tua Tagovailoa situation is, some of them would swear off football. But not us. We will continue to watch and marvel at the athletes, and just hope that we don't see an actual death on the field someday. On that cheery note, here are our picks for Week 4, which has Jay and me disagreeing on five games:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2022 Week #4: Tua Concussed His Back Again

Saturday, September 24, 2022

2022 Week #3

If you have been waiting for us to do a picks show where we aren't fitting in the last pick as the show is ending, you're in luck. It was only about 30 seconds to spare, but we did manage to get in all of our picks this week without squooshing in the final one. Only took us ten years. Jay and I had a lot of thoughts and observations about the crazy comebacks last week. We couldn't totally explain away our bad picks, but all we can do is dust ourselves off and try again, Aaliyah-style. I have a contingency this week: The Justin Herbert uncertainty will make me declare that I will take him and the Clippers -3 over the Jaguars if he starts the game, but I'll take Jacksonville if Chase Daniel gets the start in Los Angeles. We only disagree on three games tomorrow, not counting that contingency or Jason's win over me on Thursday. Here are our NFL Week 4 picks:





All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #3: No Lead Is Safe, Officially

Saturday, September 17, 2022

2022 Week #2

I'm no stranger to tooting my own horn. Hey, someone has to do it. So I'm proud of posting a 10-6 record ATS in Week 1, considering how wild and crazy the NFL action was. Jay went 8-8, which is still much better than a lot of the "experts." And he's looking up stats and coming up with things he's researched, so we're making our picks with a little more knowledge every week. We're going head to head on six games in Overreaction Week 2, so we'll see who has the edge. On to our picks:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #2: Double-Play Monday

Saturday, September 10, 2022

2022 Week #1

The first football Sunday of 2022 is here, free of COVID outbreaks and drama. Jay and I talked all about it, three hours worth, so I have nothing more to add. Oh, except the new way in which I am posting the picks. From this point forward, home team always in CAPS, road and neutral site teams always in small letters. No more bold. Simple. Let's get it on! Here are our picks, separated by four games in which we disagree:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2022 Week #1: Royal Pains

Thursday, August 4, 2022

2022 NFL Hall of Infamy Inductions

Welcome to my extra dank and dark inductions. There are so many stories that show the dark side of the NFL, and Vice can't cover them all. So that's where I step in. Enjoy my five criminal, violent, just plain nasty entries into our Hall of Infamy. These ain't for the faint of heart.
  • Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson - Murder victims. Infamous for: Being knifed to death by an NFL Hall of Famer, allegedly. On June 12, 1994, the juice really was loose when O.J. Simpson, an all-time great Bills RB and C-list actor, is thought to have stabbed his ex-wife Nicole and a waiter, Ron Goldman, who was returning Nicole's mother's lost sunglasses to Nicole at her condo. O.J. is historically judged to have had a jealous streak and snapped in a rage of fury. He didn't pay for his actions at criminal trial, where he was found not guilty in what was called the Trial of the Century. However, Goldman's father Fred won a civil suit against O.J. for $33 million. The family also won the rights to the Simpson book If I Did It, where he pretended to map out the murders as if he wasn't involved in them. There is simply no more infamous incident in NFL history. Simpson was a beloved public figure at the time of the murders. He had spent several years as a sideline reporter with NBC after concluding one of the most productive careers ever. The Heisman winner and #1 overall pick out of Southern Cal, he was the 1973 league MVP when he gobbled up 2,003 rushing yards in 14 games. He racked up a number of acting roles during and after his playing days, including famous turns in the Naked Gun series of movies and as a Hertz car rental spokesman. O.J. had the world on a string. But his jealousy consumed him and caused him to, allegedly, slice the bodies of his ex and a man he assumed was nailing his ex. The slow-motion Ford Bronco car chase, the spectacle of a trial, the bloody glove--it's all part of a sordid story that lit up the country in the mid-90s. Everyone talked about it, and everyone stopped what they were doing when the verdict was read midday on Oct. 3, 1995. It was the late Johnnie Cochran who declared "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!" But for Goldman and Nicole, the saying should have went, "You will die in a haze 'cause O.J. was in a craze!" or something. The pair will live on in infamy, as they probably have in the Juice's dreams every night since.


  • Leonard Little - Defensive End - Rams. Infamous for: Unlike O.J., actually being convicted of killing somebody. The Leonard Little story fits into one of my hard truths from our podcast earlier this summer, namely: When somebody shows you who they are, believe them the first time. The reason Little will never hear his name in Canton (and thus finds himself enshrined here) is because his brilliant career is bracketed by two drunk driving arrests. During his rookie year in St. Louis in 1998, Little demolished a woman who was on her way to pick up her son. He blew a 0.19 on the Breathalyzer. He was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service and suspended eight games by the NFL. Little was nonetheless an impactful rotation player, and he was on the field for a Hall of Infamy moment when Kevin Dyson was tackled by Mike Jones one yard short of glory as the Rams beat the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. Little put together ten very productive years for the Rams starting in his third season, including a Pro Bowl and two seasons leading the league in forced fumbles. It would be foolish to suggest that St. Louis should have shown him the door after his manslaughter conviction. It wouldn't be foolish to say that the organization should have watched out for him better knowing his alcohol issues. Little got arrested again in 2004 for DWI. Despite smelling of booze and failing three sobriety tests and admitting he was drinking, somehow Little was acquitted of DWI but convicted of speeding. He also had charges pressed by a girlfriend for stalking and harassment. It just goes to show that no matter how many people know you're a drunk and a bad guy, you can keep getting chance after chance so long as you're productive. Little was able to put together a fine career, but he won't be the star of any autograph sessions any time soon.


  • Jeremy Green - Former ESPN podcaster. Infamous for: Criminally cringe to the nth power. Speaking of someone showing who they are, Jeremy Green had made a career out of hiding certain tendencies, until sunlight shone on him and disinfected his whole world. Green, surely with some guidance from pop, started his football life as a scout for several organizations, was named director of pro personnel for the Browns in the early 2000s, and then when coach Butch Davis bounced, Green and other front office folks were dumped as well. Jeremy found himself writing for ESPN and became known to me as he hosted the early version of their first football podcast. He seemed knowledgeable and sharp, and I liked his passion for football. He had other passions, it turned out. The podcast started being guest hosted by the producer and other random people in the summer of 2010, and if you didn't search out the details, you may not have known why, because they sure weren't saying a thing on the show. In fact, his name was never mentioned again after the sordid details became known. Green despite being married with two children decided to chat up a woman who he thought would bring her own children up to Bristol to have intimate relations. According to an arrest warrant, he shared pictures and videos of other children with the woman, not knowing that the woman was actually an undercover detective. This led to his arrest at a motel, where police found him, a woman who wasn't his wife, a computer with loads of kiddie porn, an ESPN company computer, and oh yeah, why the hell not, some cocaine. Green was dumped by ESPN, eventually pleaded guilty to the child porn, and served 3½ years of a five-year sentence. His father will forever be associated with "They are who we thought they were!" But no one could have thought his son would be a Michael Jackson wannabe. Sometimes, you just never know what you thought they were.


  • "I Wanna Kiss You" - Drunk Broadway Joe. Infamous for: Hitting on an interviewer live in front of God and the world without a hint of shame. 

A hearty congratulations go to another NFL Hall of Famer, Joe Namath, for becoming the first person with two entries in the Jim Mora Wing of Quotes. On one side of the spectrum, he surely is very proud of his New York Jets Super Bowl guarantee. This is waaaay over on the other side of the spectrum. On Monday night Dec. 20, 2003, the Patriots visited the Jets, and ESPN sent sideline reporter Suzy Kolber to interview Namath live during play. Joe was apparently about three bottles into the evening, and after slurring through some thoughts on QB Chad Pennington and the underwhelming Jets, he decided: that was enough foreplay, let's get down to business. He propositioned Kolber with the infamous two-line proclamation: "I wanna kiss you. I couldn't care less about the team strugg-a-ling." My favorite broadcast crew put the icing on the ick cake when Joe Theismann and Mike Patrick tried to chalk up Namath's come-on to him being just a happy guy. Paul Maguire deadpanned: "Oh boy is he happy." This is how ubiquitous Namath's quote is: My wife doesn't watch football, doesn't know much about it, but when Namath pops on our TV as part of that Medicare coverage ad campaign we've all seen, she responds: "Isn't he the drunk guy who was strugg-a-ling?" This is the Crying Jordan of the NFL. It's the moment a man who was at the top of the sports world generations ago gets discovered and memed by the Tiktok and Youtube generation who doesn't know anything about his playing days. Namath never imagined that he could top the fame from his Guarantee. But on this fateful evening, he was no match for the unmistakable beauty of, uh, Suzy Kolber.



  • Orchids of Asia Day Spa - Permanently closed massage parlor. Infamous for: Giving an NFL owner the happy ending Deshaun Watson prays for. The saga of Patriots owner Robert Kraft's "rub-and-tug" is infamous and embarrassing for the same reason Watson's tale is--because men with the financial means to buy women should focus on buying those who want to be bought and who provide the utmost in discretion. Kraft is worth more than eight billion dollars according to Forbes, so the thought of him showing up at a $59 day spa in Palm Beach County, FL on Jan. 19, 2019, is baffling. The spa had a rep for happy endings, but law enforcement caught on and set up a surveillance sting, and ol' Bob got caught getting a hand job during one visit and a blow job during another. Kraft had chosen the wrong joint to go slummin'. Lucky for him, he's filthy rich, so like O.J., he enlisted a murderer's row of attorneys who had no other objective but to get their client off. The women and their madams were caught in the prison system as they battled their charges. They mostly didn't have the means to post bail. Kraft avoided the perp walk, pled not guilty to solicitation, his lawyers got the video evidence thrown out on technicalities, and in Sep. 2020, the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. All the videos were ordered to be destroyed last year. No harm, no foul. Except we will immortalize and remember Robert Kraft for managing to get wrapped up in a sex scandal that could have easily been avoided had he used some of those billions for outcall.
Join Jay and me for my live presentation of this year's class on Thu. Aug. 4 at 10P/9 Central on our podcast:

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Super Duper Bowl LVI

I would love to gloat over beating Jay for my eighth straight handicapping title, but the fact is, I am on a losing streak that would have Jason in position to beat me if he didn't catch COVID and forget to change his picks on Divisional Round Sunday. So I'll just say, I'm glad the stress of having to make the right pick wasn't there so we could just chat about the game as we see it. We're both excited about the matchup. Here is our last pick of the last game of the longest season in history:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Conf. Finals '22

I wasn't aware of Jay's health problems when the two Sunday games ended with me taking Ls. I wondered why Jay had not changed his picks like he did Saturday, going with Green Bay in an effort to catch me in our handicapping contest, but it turned out that he had good reason to neglect to change picks: He had the goop, and so did his family. It's not the way I wanted to clinch the contest; in fact I was nauseous upon finding out. But that's how it went down. We were free to make our picks for Championship Sunday without having to worry about how many points separated us. We came up with the same picks, but neither of us would be totally shocked if SF or Cin pulled the upset. Surprised, but not shocked. Here are our Conference Finals picks for the record:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

Friday, January 21, 2022

Conf. Semis '22

Once again I went too long in my analysis of these games and left my partner Jason almost no time at the end of the show. I'm lucky that he's patient and also used to me sucking all the oxygen. We're both very excited for the slate of Divisional Round games. There are no spreads that are touchdowns or larger, so the oddsmakers think the matchups are rather even, and so do we, for the most part. Jay does fear that the Titans will smash the Bengals, but that just plays into Cincy's hands. "No one gave us a chance! NO ONE!!" I can hear them now. Here are our picks, and since that Cin-Tenn game is our only battle, if I win, the points chase is all over:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL Conf. Semis 2022: Buffalo Levels Up

Friday, January 14, 2022

Wild Card '22

I was a little too fired up for playoff football, and I got way too deep into statistics getting ready for our podcast. So we got all our picks in, but most of my analysis was lost because it would have pushed the show into marathon territory, even more than it already is. I'll curtail my research for the next show. Jay and I see two Wild Card games differently, which would bring him within shouting distance in our playoff scoring system. It would really put me in the driver's seat if I can take those games from him. Here are our predictions for the NFL's super mega playoff wknd, yay sports:



All (or most) of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL Wild Card 2022: Big Ben's Bon Voyage (Unless...)


Monday, January 10, 2022

2021 What I Learned About Each Team In One Sentence

Cowboys--Dan Quinn's gambling D is a perfect complement for Mike McCarthy's exciting but flawed coaching.
Giants--Some of the worst offensive concepts imaginable highlight how awful the franchise is.
Eagles--They can be a pain when the top-ranked running attack is humming and not so much when Jalen Hurts is forced to throw.
Skins--The organizational culture continues to be an abortion, which is easier to see when the defense isn't leading them to on-field glory.
Bears--Justin Fields has a chance with new management and coaching and added weapons, and that's a long list of "with"s.
Lions--There's no denying that they fought and played hard for Dan Campbell, but they're still a joke.
Packers--The steady consistency and greatness is impressive, and with home field in the playoffs, they can beat anybody.
Vikings--Always seemed like they were missing something that could propel them to serious contention, which may be coaching, quarterback, defense, or all of it.
Falcons--The slow demise of franchise QB Matt Ryan should signal a drafting of new blood.
Panthers--They had three seasons in one, starting hot, falling off, bowing up on D and falling back, and the ups and downs may be a sign of lack of leadership.
Saints--There's a solid foundation in place that allowed them to weather many QB calamities and still almost make the postseason.
Buccaneers--Will try to make another great playoff run behind the ageless Tom Brady, but one too many injuries to their core will doom them.
Cardinals--A fierce offensive fuselage for most of the year, they are capable of outshooting anyone anytime, though they will sorely miss Nuk Hopkins in the postseason.
Rams--Kudos for making the Matt Stafford trade and going for it, though his mistakes sure seem like they will torpedo the squad ultimately.
49ers--A risky proposition trying to cater to their starting QB while grooming his heir, San Fran and Kyle Shanahan navigated and finessed things deftly.
Seahawks--Run, run, Russbomb was Pete Carroll's mantra yet again, and it wasn't enough yet again.
Bills--Odd schedule full of cupcakes resulted in Buffalo struggling to stay hungry and consistent which sets them up for more playoff disappointment.
Dolphins--Not nearly enough signs from Tua that he's the explosive franchise athlete that he was drafted to be, they only heated up when the sked let up.
Patriots--Predictably, their D benefited from returning vets and their rookie QB got better with experience, and they won't be beaten easily in the postseason.
Jets--Robert Saleh's defense was light and laughable, Zach Wilson was at times terrible, and he didn't have a lot of weapons to help him.
Ravens--Lamar Jackson found downfield big-play ability for a month but lost it, and combined with catastrophic defensive injuries, it was a lost season for Baltimore.
Bengals--The scariest offense in the playoffs, they were uber-impressive in building off the electric Burrow-Chase tag team and creating a well-rounded crew.
Browns--Another season of trying to win with a deeply flawed signal caller, they may have ruined their chances by sticking with Baker Mayfield after he got hurt.
Steelers--Their QB looked old and washed most of the year, but TJ Watt led a furious pass rush that kept Pittsburgh in every game.
Texans--They looked as bad as they should digging out from the personnel mess left by the previous regime, but they may have found a nugget in QB Davis Mills.
Colts--Jonathan Taylor's breakout at RB will get lost in the dizzy play of Carson Wentz which ultimately cost them the playoffs.
Jaguars--The Khlowns of the NFL, they proved that character issues can kill a team when it comes from the supposed leader, the head coach.
Titans--No team loves being doubted more than Tennessee, and they didn't let Derrick Henry's injury derail their strategy or energy.
Broncos--It has to be tiring as a Denver fan to keep getting good defensive efforts and mid QBs.
Chiefs--It shows how high their expectations are that they kept looking like they were turning in troubling offensive outputs and still finished 4th in scoring.
Raiders--A season that will have books written about it, they weathered more drama than a midday soap and came out (barely) with a playoff slot.
Chargers--The developing Justin Herbert was fun to watch, and so was the ultimate let-it-ride coach Brandon Staley, whose gambling might have cost them everything.

Sunday, January 9, 2022

2021 Week #18

I feel like we all won a marathon in making it to Week 18 in the NFL. They kept drilling home that it was the longest season ever, and it felt like it. Jay said that it has felt more like work this year to stay prepared and make informed picks than ever before. He's right, and I should thank him for doing the show every week (except one) and juggling this silliness with his family and job. We do it for the love of football, and because it's fun. But it tests the love of all fans when it seems like work keeping up with your sport. I guess they know what they're doing, but there's been rumors of expanding the season for years and I've always looked forward to it, and now that it's here, I'm...not as excited as I thought I would be. I'm tired. Hell, I'm rambling now because I'm tired. Here's our Week 18 picks, where Jason and I differ on six games (plus the Cowboys-Eagles game), joined by the coin flip for the Sunday games, since the last week is always a coin flip anyway:


 



All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2021 Week #18: And If You Don't Like The Extra Week, You Can Strip And Leave

Saturday, January 1, 2022

2021 Week #17

Jay and I differ on seven games this week, which is a lot less than I thought because we started off against each other on the first three picks. But we got in lock step for the most part from there. I just hope we can keep up our Lock streak, since I'm ahead of him by one. I had to change my Chiefs pick from Week 16 though. I said on the podcast that I would take the Steelers over the Chiefs if either Tyreek Hill or Travis Kelce were to miss the game. But then I forgot that I said that when I wrote my contingency on the blog, and I wrote that I would only take the Steelers if both Kelce and Hill were ruled out. I left it to Jay to decide what should happen to the pick, and he said because I broadcast that I got Pittsburgh while making our picks, that should stand. So it will. Here are our Week 17 picks, free of contingencies:




All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:


NFL 2021 Week #17: New Year, Old Pandemic