2014 Week #2

It's starting to get serious for my credibility.  I'm already six games down to Jason after Baltimore crushed Pittsburgh on Thursday night, meaning I have to root for a sweep of these six games that we differ on for Sunday just to get back to even.  I need to start searching for rosary beads or holy water or something.  Here's the rest of Week 2:

Fav

Spread

Dog

Final

Dre

Jay

	Thu. Nite
BAL (0-1)	2½	Pit (1-0)	Bal 26-6		Pit	Bal
	Sunday
BUF (1-0)	Pk	Mia (1-0)			Buf	Mia
WASH (0-1)	6	Jack (0-1)			Jack	Jack
TENN (1-0)	3½	Dal (0-1)			Dal	Dal
Ariz (1-0)	2	NYG (0-1)			NY	NY
NE (0-1)	5½	MIN (1-0)			Min	NE
NO (0-1)	6½	CLE (0-1)			NO	NO
CIN (1-0)	5½	Atl (1-0)			Cin	Atl
CAR (1-0)	2½	Det (1-0)			Det	Car
TB (0-1)	5½	StL (0-1)			TB	TB
Sea (1-0)	5½	SD (0-1)			Sea	SD
Hou (1-0)	3	OAK (0-1)			Oak	Oak
GB (0-1)	7½	NYJ (1-0)			GB	GB
DEN (1-0)	13	KC (0-1)			KC	Den
	Sun. Nite
SF (1-0)	7	Chi (0-1)			Chi	Chi
	Mon. Nite
IND (0-1)	3	Phi (1-0)			Ind	Ind

All of our thoughts and observations on these games, as well as the latest on the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson controversies, can be heard on our latest radio show:  blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail

2014 Week 1: What I Learned

In the name of brevity, I will try to break down the best and worst executions of each team for this first week of the season instead of listing everything I observed.  A few games will be missing because I didn't care enough to watch their highlights:

• Packers-Seahawks:  Tremendous play-calling by Darrell Bevell leads Russell Wilson and Seattle to another impressive spotlight win.  GB BEST:  Aaron Rodgers effortlessly flinging accurate 50-yard bombs running away from pressure showed why he's special.  GB WORST:  Run and pass blocking was light in the cakes, and RT Derek Sherrod was especially abused.  SEA BEST:  Russell Wilson is developing into one of the best game managers in football, which is nothing at all to be ashamed of.  SEA WORST:  I still think not using Marshawn Lynch more is a mistake, although I get trying to keep him fresh.
• Saints-Falcons:  Another pair of Matty Ice fire drills earn Atlanta points at the end of both halves, then they create a turnover to win in OT.  NO BEST:  Basically everything.  They thoroughly outplayed Atlanta in the 1st half.  Drew Brees is a master of Sean Payton's offense.  NO WORST:  Their Cover-2 defense tried to contain the Falcons' comeback attempt, but they just gave up too many big plays underneath for Matt Ryan to exploit.  ATL BEST:  Matty Ice surviving and pulling off another big come-from-behind effort.  That offense will be a headache for all 16 opponents.  ATL WORST:  They got no pass rush on Brees in the 1st half, and the blitz in the 2nd half wasn't all rainbows--Brees made some big plays and could have put the game away if not for Robert McClain's INT in the end zone.
• Jaguars-Eagles:  From down 17-0 to a 34-17 victory, Philly comes out on the ultimate rollercoaster.  JACK BEST:  Chad Henne took what the Philadelphia D gave him, including two early TDs to someone named Allen Hurns.  JACK WORST:  Major blown coverage in the 2nd half spoiled not just a Jacksonville upset win, but the spread as well.  Lucky for Jas and me.  PHI BEST:  Once the offense got on track in the 2nd half, Nick Foles was a shining star just like last season, and Darren Sproles was a fearsome X-factor.  PHI WORST:  Wait, you fell behind the Jags 17-0?  The Jags???
• Bengals-Ravens:  When crunch time arrived, Cincy went back to the Dalton-to-Green combo, and it worked yet again.  It's like an addiction, you want to kick it but you just can't do it.  CIN BEST:  They're said to have one of the best defenses in football, and they played like it for about half the game.  CIN WORST:  I had a problem with Jay Gruden's Polecat and read-option plays for Andy Dalton last year, and unfortunately, the new OC Hue Jackson had them in there as well.  Dalton's gonna get killed doing that shit.  BAL BEST:  It may be more a Bengal problem than a Raven strength, but holding Cincinnati to 5 FGs in the 1st half kept Baltimore in the game.  The defense bent frequently but didn't break, at least until the last TD.  BAL WORST:  Joe Flacco's decision making sucked before the busted-coverage TD toss to Steve Smith.  Truly some bad throws throughout the game.
• Bills-Bears:  Old defensive issues once again blocked Chicago from taking advantage of their high-powered offense and permitted Buffalo to get a rare road win.  BUF BEST:  E.J. Manuel looked like a NFL quarterback.  No major mistakes, no panic attacks, just take what the crappy Bears defense is giving you.  BUF WORST:  They let Chicago drive for a TD on the first drive of the season, and it looked so easy you thought the Bills D had missed their flight and were being replaced by scabs.  CHI BEST:  I know Jay Cutler threw two INTs, I know he had his usual bad mechanics, but he's still a franchise QB leading a very good offense, and he still had a good day overall (349 yards and two TDs).  CHI WORST:  The revamped, retooled Bears defense gave up 193 rushing yards, including two different sprints over 35 yards.  Absolutely pathetic.
• Redskins-Texans:  Houston returns to their spot as an AFC force, for one game anyway.  WASH BEST:  Robert Griffin III playing pitch-and-catch with Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson (18 combined receptions) was encouraging, although they couldn't find the end zone.  WASH WORST:  Pass blocking did the Skins in ultimately.  RG3 was sacked three times and coughed up a fumble, and if not for that, he could have found the end zone eventually and gave Washington more than six lousy points.
• Titans-Chiefs:  Kansas City is going to be in trouble all year if their offense looks this anemic and their defense keeps getting injured.  TENN BEST:  Jake Locker and new coach Ken Whisenhunt were in sync in the 2nd half, exploiting the Chiefs' defensive shortcomings.  Locker showed nice poise in putting the game away.  TENN WORST:  Still don't like the Titans in a shootout situation, which this definitely was not.  Kansas City opened up the offense a bit in the 2nd quarter, and initially, Tennessee couldn't keep up due to lack of protection for Locker.  KC BEST:  That hint of sunshine when Alex Smith made some big plays in the 2nd, until they realized they had no playmakers.  KC WORST:  As terrifying as their offense was once they were behind and needed quick points, Andy Reid's fake punt whiffed of desperation.  And it failed, on top of that.
• Patriots-Dolphins:  New England fails the way they normally fail, with Tom Brady and his blockers and receivers not on the same page.  NE BEST:  The 1st half, where they scored all 20 of their points and took advantage of Miami's comedy of errors resulting in three straight turnovers.  NE WORST:  The 2nd half, where Brady got dumped by two different sack-strips by Cameron Wake, the defensive backs played very unsound football, and the Pats surrendered 23 unanswered points.  MIA BEST:  Ryan Tannehill stayed focused under new OC Bill Lazor's offense and led a nice comeback, and RB Knowshon Moreno for the second year in a row started the season 2nd on a depth chart and thoroughly outplayed the starter.  MIA WORST:  That offense had some kinks in it in the 1st half, to say the least.
• 49ers-Cowboys:  San Francisco outplayed Dallas from the opening whistle, and they didn't even play that well.  SF BEST:  Colin Kaepernick still plays all-or-nothing football, making big plays or making none at all.  His first throw of the game saw big Dallas pressure but no pass coverage, his second saw the same and resulted in a wide-open TD to Vernon Davis, his next possession was another Davis TD, and the rout was on.  SF WORST:  Those missing pieces on defense did result in big runs for Dallas, which would have mattered in a close game.  DAL BEST:  DeMarco Murray scampered for 118 yards and looked impressive when not fumbling.  DAL WORST:  Tony Romo made some throws that were so inaccurate he looked like he shouldn't be playing.  His track record is such that you can't tell if he was rusty, hurt, or just his normal self, but it was a tough watch, whatever his issues were.
• Colts-Broncos:  New rule:  I ain't picking against Andrew Luck ever again as an underdog of seven or more points.  Indy was no match for Denver for most of the game, but Luck still rallied them back for a backdoor cover.  IND BEST:  Luck is just amazing.  I'm stunned he made this game as close as it was.  Most guys would pack it in down 24-0 on the road, but not him.  IND WORST:  They could have scooted past Den and been up by several touchdowns had they not dropped so many passes.  DEN BEST:  As always, the maestro, Peyton Manning.  I really liked how the Broncos started the game with Emmanuel Sanders, hitting him early and often not just to break him into the lineup, but to make Indianapolis adjust.  Peyton would have thrown to Sanders on every throw if the Colts would have let him.  DEN WORST:  They had a lot of drops as well.  They started the 3rd quarter with a pair of wide open drops, and I felt that was enough to give Luck hope and allow him to lead the comeback that came up short but covered the number.  Focus, boys, focus.
• Giants-Lions:  Detroit didn't go Schwartz!  The Lions showed their stuff on a national stage and didn't cough up the lead, stifling New York from open to close.  NYG BEST:  At least the Giants left some bruises on the Lions.  Detroit took some hard licks on their catches, and a lesser team lets that affect them as the game wears on.  NYG WORST:  Eli.  Inaccurate, miscommunication, running the gamut of bad QB play.  Seriously, he was one of the worst individual players all weekend.  he was THE DRIZZLING SHITS.  DET BEST:  Very crisp execution on offense by Matthew Stafford and the Lions offense.  Oh, that Calvin Johnson guy is good too.  Those acrobatic TD catches?  Are you serious, bro?  He was THE SHIT.  DET WORST:  The defense gave the Giants some running room and let Eli get into an actual rhythm in the 2nd quarter, but that was about the only misstep for the Lions all night.
• Chargers-Cardinals:  I guess this is what San Diego does--get big leads on Monday Night Football and give them away to lose the game.  A shame too, because they played so well for most of the game.  SD BEST:  Philip Rivers did an excellent job of climbing the pocket and delivering accurate throws in the face of a ferocious Arizona D.  He held his poise until the end of the game, which is something he has trouble doing.  SD WORST:  Their back 7 on defense really dropped back too far in the 2nd half, allowing big plays underneath, facilitating the Cards comeback.  ARIZ BEST:  That defense came out all kinds of fired up.  Those replacement parts filled in very well for the most part.  The bad snap by the center for SD took them out of FG range in the 4th, and it was forced by the blitz threat.  ARIZ WORST:  Carson Palmer was a little off early, throwing a handful of potential INTs that could have put the Cards away if the Chargers could have come up with them.  But he put it together on that final drive.

Not very brief, huh?

Week 1 Results--Dre 4-11-1, .267; Jay, 9-6-1, .600

Don't Forget The IMLD Podcast

NFL 2014 Week #1 09/05 by In Much Less Detail The Podcast | Football Podcasts


Year 2 is underway. Here's the Week 1 pick show. Relive Dre's misery! Join us tonight at 10pm CST. Yeah, back to our regular time so Dre can go bowling. I'm sure he's imagining the pins are the Kansas City Chefs.



In Much Less Detail: The Podcast - Link to tonights recap show.



For the full show, which features the VIP Lounge portion of the show (usually an extra 15-30 minutes of content), follow us on iTunes. Just look for In Much Less Detail: The Podcast.

Week 1 ATS Recap: Back In the Saddle Again

It seems that I should just pick games week 1 every year, especially against Dre. We have disagreed on 18 games the last two NFL week 1s and I'm now 15-1-2 in those games. Something tells me this year wont be as easy as last because, at some point, Dre is going to get sick of being behind me in the picks and just GO OFF! For now, I'll enjoy the fact that he hasn't been ahead of me in the overall standings since he won the pick for the Ravens/Niners Super Bowl. That's a LONG time ago, folks.

Picks We Both Won (3)

• Falcons (+3) 37, Saints 34 (OT) - Atlanta shredded the Saints newly "improved" defense to the tune of 568 yards of total offense. Matt Ryan set the Falcons single game passing record, completing balls to NINE different receivers in the contest. Yet it took some late game Ryan heroics and two long Matt Bryant field goals to seal this one for the Falcons. Because, really, that Falcon defense still stinks. Can't rush the passer, can't stop the run, can't much stop the pass, either. Look for a lot of Falcon games to go like this. The Saints should be fine. Atlanta just had an all-time game. I was impressed with the Falcon running backs though, which I plan on hitting on tomorrow night on our recap show.
• Eagles (-10) 34, Jaguars 17 - There was a theme in many of the games this last week. That theme was teams getting killed in the first half, and completely turning it around in the second. This was a case of Philly majorly underestimating their opponent, allowing the Jags to get out to a 17 point lead at the half. The Eagles then remembered they were playing the Jacksonville Fucking Jaguars and scored 34 unanswered in the second half. The only people worried about this game were degenerate gamblers and survivor pool players.
• Cardinals 18, Chargers (+3) 17 - The second half of the Monday Night opening doubleheader is always a snoozefest. Literally. I fell asleep. Maybe it was the crazy sleep schedule of having a newborn, but I don't think I've ever made it through the nightcap game in Week 1 since the NFL went to this format. Arizona made a nice comeback, but we still got the cover. It made up for the cheap Indy cover on Sunday night.

Picks We Both Lost (5)

• Seahawks (-6) 36, Packers 16 - Seattle set the bar high for the rest of the league Thursday night with the throttling of a sloppily coached Packer squad. Green Bay made some out of character decisions, especially on special teams, and the Seahawks opportunistic offense responded with touchdown drive after touchdown drive. Aaron Rodgers never got going, and if that happens, the Packers don't have a chance.
• Vikings (+3½) 34, Rams 6 - We severely overestimated the Rams chances with Shaun Hill at quarterback. We also neglected to anticipate that Cordarrelle Patterson would turn into Percy Harvin-lite and abuse the Rams defense and special teams to a combined 176 yards. 67 of those yards came on a dazzling play-of-the-year type play, where he made almost the entire Viking D miss him en route to the end zone.
• Bills (+7) 23, Bears 20 (OT) - Wow, I just can't wait to hear Dre's take on this game on the Wednesday recap show. The Bears showed you how maddeningly frustrating they can be, and how supremely talented the offense is, but could never put it all together. Jay Cutler threw two hideous picks and Fred Jackson went full on Beast Mode on Poor Chris Conte on his very own play-of-the-year style play, setting up the Bills at the Bear 1 in overtime. A quick Dan Carpenter boot later, and the Bills stunned the Bears in Chicago. Is E.J. Manuel one of those players that's just better in games and horrible when it doesn't count? After a disastrous preseason, Manuel acquitted himself well in a hostile environment. Maybe he's not so awful afterall?
• Titans (+3) 26, Chiefs 10 - Dre picked the Chiefs. Sunk them and took me right down with him. A lot of people were down on the Chiefs after so much went their way in 2013. A lot of people look smart right now.
• Broncos 31, Colts (+7½) 24 - Ugh, I warned Dre on the show that this was the pick that would come back to bite us in the ass. Sure as shit, Andrew Luck pulled off a Sunday Night comeback, just like he did last year in Houston, to get a cheap-ass cover. Sure, the Colts didn't win this time, but if they had shown up at all in the first half, they very well could have.

Smellin Pushy (1)

• Jets (-5) 19, Raiders 14 - It took a James Jones circus catch to earn Dre the push on this one, or this week could have been even worse for him. He better be sending James Jones a thank you note or following him on twitter, or whatever people do these days to show their appreciation in a non-stalkerish way.

Picks Dre Won Head To Head (1) - Hey that's 1 more than week 1 last season. Just sayin'.

• Texans (-3) 17, Redskins 6 - This game was seriously ugly. Neither team seemed to want to score, as both teams decided to trade off red zone turnovers for most of the game. The Redskins D decided not to cover DeAndre Hopkins on a 76 yard bomb that ended up being a backbreaker. It may have only made the score 7-6 at the time, but as inept as the Redskins were in the red zone, it felt like game over. Maybe the Skins should stop and the 21 and just kick field goals? Jay Gruden, call me!

Picks I Won Head To Head (6)

• Steelers 30, Browns (+7) 27 - Once again it was A Tale of Two Halves as the Steelers looked to have the Brown Fever routed until Brian Hoyer and the Cleveland D decided it was time to get their shit together. Without many offensive weapons, Hoyer was efficient enough to put down the Johnny Manziel talk at least for one more week. This game left me wondering about the Steelers. Which team are they? The team that looked unstoppable in the first half, or the team that looked old, slow, and done (like I think they are) in the second half? They get a Raven squad dealing with the Ray Rice fallout on a short week, so if they wanted a juicy opponent, here it is!
• Bengals (Pick 'Em) 23, Ravens 16 - The Bengals seemed ready to shit the bed after dominating the Ravens, albeit with field goals, for nearly three full quarters. After Steve Smith Senior Citizen got loose for a Joe Flacco miracle bomb straight out of Denver, it looked like the Ravens would escape with a win. That is until Andy Dalton decided to one up Flacco by throwing a Tecmo Bowl Blake to Pickens bomb of his own to A.J. Green, who danced around a befuddled Ravens secondary to recapture the lead, and the Bengals get out of Baltimore with a hard fought win. They will need wins like this come January.
• Dolphins (+3½) 33, Patriots 20 - Why do I not remember Knowshon Moreno being such a tough runner? The Pats had no answers for the Miami run O at all. Miami took a 23-20 lead into the 4th quarter and proceeded to go on a tough, manhandling drive that featured Moreno running the same play over and over again. New England couldn't stop it, and the Fins showed they might be over their 2013 drama filled debacle.
• Panthers (+2½) 20, Buccaneers 14 - OK, first off, what is up with those hideous new Tampa uniforms. My alarm clock wants it numbers back. Second, I hope this game and the next several shut up all the Luke Cade Josh McClown lovers out there. He's abysmal. Deal. Lovie Smith may someday improve this Tampa team, but it wont be this year. This team allowed Derek "Steaming Pile of Horse Manure" Anderson (quoting Dre) to throw for 230 yards. two TDs, and no picks. Good luck in Tampa, Lovie!
• Niners (-4) 28, Cowboys 17 - The entirety of the second half was garbage time for Dallas, who dug themselves a 28-3 halftime hole and then played against a loose Niner D for most of the rest of the way. DeMarco Murray got stripped on his way to the turf for a 49er fumble return TD and then Tony Romo went all Tony Romo all over the place, throwing three of the ugliest picks west of Eli Manning. There needs to be a serious discussion in Dallas about their ability to win with Romo. It's doubtful it will happen, as the apologists all lined up to say he was doing too much to compensate for a shitty defense. Hey Tony, look what Matt Ryan did. Do THAT!
• Lions (-6) 35, Giants 14 - Sure, the Lions did their usual Lion stuff by allowing the Giants their first TD on a penalty strewn drive, but this time it all looked different. These didn't look like the Stupidest Team In Football Lions I have gotten used to. Looking for more proof, I got it late in the game after the Giants went on a long march to close the gap to 27-14 and you started to wonder if the Lions would implode. Nope. Detroit went on a bruising, time chewing, 12-play, 80-yard TD drive that heavily featured Joique Bell toughing his way through the Giants D line and Matt Stafford converting third down after third down. It didn't look like the Lions, it looked like......a real, actual, GOOD football team. The NFC North is in trouble.

Jason 9-6-1 (.600)

Dre 4-11-1 (.267)

2014 Week #1

Ah yes, the season has finally started!  Jason and I started last year taking the road team and the points and getting skunked, and we did it again.  On to the rest of Week 1:

Fav

Spread

Dog

Final

Dre

Jay

	Thu. Nite
SEA	6	GB	Sea 36-16		GB	GB
	Sunday
NO	3	ATL			Atl	Atl
STL	3½	Min			StL	StL
PIT	7	Cle			Pit	Cle
PHI	10	Jack			Phi	Phi
NYJ	5	Oak			Oak	NY
BAL	Pk	Cin			Bal	Cin
CHI	7	Buf			Chi	Chi
HOU	3	Wash			Hou	Wash
KC	3	Tenn			KC	KC
NE	3½	MIA			NE	Mia
TB	2½	Car			Car?	Car
SF	4	DAL			Dal	SF
	Sun. Nite
DEN	7½	Ind			Den	Den
	Mon. Nite
DET	6	NYG			NY	Det
ARIZ	3	SD			SD	SD

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard on our hourlong podcast: blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail

2014 IMLD Hall of Fame/Hall of Infamy Inductions

Nothing signals the beginning of football season like the annual Hall of Fame ceremonies, where greats of their time are inducted next to regular Joes from the 1950s and '60s just because there's a dumbass mandatory minimum inductee rule.  And for the last four years, nothing has signaled the start of football preparation here at IMLD HQ than our Hall of Fame/Hall of Infamy inductions, where we honor the men/women/ghosts/inanimate objects that made an impression on us throughout our years of NFL enjoyment.  It is my privilege to select the five inductees this year, and I hope as always I can live up to the high standards Jason sets.  And now, the Hall of Infamy, Class of 2014!  In no particular order:

• Rae Carruth - Wide Receiver - Carolina Panthers.  Famous for:  Inventing a new way to try to kill off an unborn child.  Here's a timely start to our inductions:  Since Ray Rice is in the news everywhere for the light punishment he received from the NFL after knocking his fiancee out in a casino elevator, let's take a look at the biggest rat bastard domestic violator in league history.  At least when Jovan Belcher murdered his woman, he had the decency to off himself.  Carruth did no such thing.  Carruth was a mediocre WR for the Panthers in 1999 when he got the word that girlfriend Cherica Adams was preggers, and after reportedly asking her to abort the child and getting denied, he decided that the child would automatically be aborted if the mother was gunned down.  So he drove ahead of Cherica on what she thought was a normal trip, but Carruth then slowed down in front of Cherica, leaving her vulnerable for a gun-for-hire drive-by shooting, which did kill her, but did not kill the child, who still lives today, albeit with cerebral palsy.  As cowardly as this act was, Carruth polished it off with a promise to police to turn himself in that he reneged on.  Cops found him hiding in the trunk of a car in another state.  He's still serving time, but I'm disappointed that he hasn't been shanked yet for his revolting actions.  Oh, and Jason's classy fantasy team name that year?  Rae Carruth's Shotgun Formation.
• Mark Chmura - Tight End - Green Bay Packers.  Famous for:  Giving an extra tip, just the tip, to his kid's babysitter.  Chmura's name is forever tied to this sordid 1999 incident, even though a jury found him innocent of rape.  He had a reputation of being "That guy," you know, the scuzzy horndog football player that likes 'em young even though he's married with kids of his own, so this charge by his children's babysitter that he drunkenly raped her in a bathroom at a prom after-party wasn't shocking.  But it was still appalling enough to get him kicked out of the league and post his name in very low renown until the time of his death, whenever that may occur.  His wife has stood by him the whole time as well, proving that, just like in the Ray Rice case, sometimes the wife decides to stick around even though the man is obviously a piece of shit.
• Doug Williams - Quarterback - Washington Redskins, notably.  Famous for:  Being a black quarterback all his life and stepping up in the biggest moment.  It shows how rare the black QB was at the time that Doug Williams on Media Day at Super Bowl XXII actually had to field the question, "How long have you been a black quarterback?"  So Williams had some pressure as he stepped onto the field against the Denver Broncos in January 1988.  It's not a stretch to think that if Williams had not played well in that Super Bowl, the concept of allowing African-Americans to play the cerebral position of QB would have been shunned continually by the bigoted coaches and front-office men running football back then.  But Washington coach Joe Gibbs looked at Williams and incumbent QB Jay Schroeder and decided that Williams simply gave him the better chance to win despite the darker skin.  When the game ended, the score was Skins 42, Broncos 20, Williams had thrown for 340 yards and four TDs, and he didn't just play well, he won the damn Super Bowl MVP.  For any black sports fan back then, it was a day of immense pride and self-respect, and players like Randall Cunningham, Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb, and Daunte Culpepper all owe Williams a huge debt of gratitude.
• Jeff Blake and Carl Pickens - QB/WR Tag Team - Cincinnati Bengals.  Famous for:  Always providing entertainment and excitement, regardless of how crappy their team was.  Speaking of giving black QBs a chance, guys like Blake and Rodney Peete got a shot to prove that they could steal a paycheck just as well as all the other middling white QBs.  Jason and I remember fondly watching Blake and Pickens hooking up for long bombs even when the Bengals were one of the worst squads in the league, and for that "We don't give two fucks, we're going deep anyway" attitude, I'm happy to immortalize them here.  Jay christened Blake's long throws to Pickens the Tecmo Bowl Bomb, because the ball left the top of the TV screen just like in the video game.  Blake and Pickens were a tandem for the Bengals between 1994 and 1999, and in that time, Blake threw for 15,134 yards and 93 TDs, and Pickens had 56 TD catches (not all from Blake, but almost).  The Bengals records during that time?  Oh, it's ugly:  '94, 3-13; '95, 7-9; '96, 8-8; '97, 7-9; '98, 3-13; '99, 4-12.  One of our proudest picks off all time came in 1998, when the 2-12 Bengals went to Pittsburgh and knocked off the 7-7 Steelers to eliminate their hated rivals from playoff contention.  Jason and I both picked Cincy ATS even though they had nothing to play for, because we knew they had Blake-to-Pickens going for them, and it worked, although Darnay Scott was the receiver who lit up Pittsburgh in that one.  In fact, of the three wins Cincy had that season, two were over the Steelers!  Good times.
• The 2004 San Diego Chargers - ATS Monsters.  Famous for:  Running off a streak against the spread that I refused to believe in...until it was too late.  This is the ultimate in Jason riding a bandwagon until I jump on and smash it into bits and pieces.  Whenever we refer him riding a hot team and jumping off right when I finally start to buy in, this team is the genesis.  The '04 Chargers will have two NFL Hall of Famers one day in QB Drew Brees and RB LaDainian Tomlinson, and maybe TE Antonio Gates will make it too, but they will never be inducted as a team, so I am adhering to the rule of our Hall of Infamy to never induct an individual NFL Hall of Famer.  But they were coming off a bad season, and coach Marty Schottenheimer was feeling the heat as always.  But after a 1-2 start, something magical clicked, and the Bolts ripped off an 11-2 run to finish with a 12-4 record and an improbable AFC West title.  But it was the point spread streak that gave Jason the edge over me in picking games that season.  He was all over SD from the moment the streak began, but I wasn't buying it.  And win after win kept coming, including a loss to Atlanta where the Chargers still covered the number, and I kept picking against them, thinking it had to end sometime.  Nope.  From Game 4 to Game 15, eleven straight ATS wins, Jason had the Chargers and I had their opponent.  And Jason won every pick.  And then the last game of the season happened, and the Bolts were 7½-point favs at home against Kansas City, and Jason thought it was about time to jump off the bandwagon, and I decided it was time to believe!  San Diego won.  By seven points.  Oh hell naw.  After all that, NOW they decide not to cover the number?  But it was okay, because I could pick them in a week as they opened their playoff run at home against a sad little New York Jets squad led by rag-armed QB Chad Pennington.  Jay went with the Jets, and I couldn't have been happier to jump on the Chargers as they started a long playoff push to the Super Bowl!  Final: NYJ 20, SD 17, in OT.  Fuck me up the ass.

And there you have the 4th annual IMLD Hall of Infamy inductions.  I will reveal these inductions to Jason live on our podcast at the very same time this post goes live, 10P Central Sunday night, August 3, on blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail as always.  Jason and I are getting geared up for football, and our preseason picks and prognostications show will be forthcoming probably the week after the 3rd preseason games are played.  And if Blog Talk Radio is still doing a free one-month trial for show hosts, I guarantee that we'll be able to do our preview in one hour, not split over two half-hour shows, and we'll do it at a better time of the day than 10 at night.  Something to look forward to!

It's Coming...

That's right, the 2014 IMLD Hall of Fame/Hall of Infamy Inductions are on their way!  Join us live Sunday night, August 3 at 10P Central time for the official induction ceremony.  With the podcast flying high, we will be able to release the inductions here on the blog at the same time as revealing them on the show.  So don't forget the magic moment:  Sunday night, August 3, at 10P Central.  And we're doing a lead-up by chatting about our past inductees tonight at 10P Central on our podcast.  Where can you find this podcast, you wonder?  Oh, the same place it's been for the past year now: blogtalkradio.com/inmuchlessdetail.  Just go there to listen live tonight at 10P and Sunday night at 10P for all the action!