2010 Week #4

Here are the picks for Week 4, which can't be worse than Week 3.  Can it??

Fav

Spread

Dog

Dre

Jay

NYJ (2-1)	6	BUF (0-3)			NY	NY
PIT (3-0)	2 1/2	Bal (2-1)			Pit	Pit
Sea (2-1)	1 1/2	STL (1-2)			Sea	StL
ATL (2-1)	6 1/2	SF (0-3)			SF	Atl
Cin (2-1)	3	CLE (0-3)			Cle	Cin
TENN(2-1)	6 1/2	Den (1-2)			Den	Den
NO (2-1)	13	Car (0-3)			Car	NO
GB (2-1)	14	Det (0-3)			GB	GB
Hou (2-1)	3	OAK (1-2)			Hou	Hou
Ind (2-1)	7	JACK (1-2)			Ind	Ind
PHI (2-1)	5 1/2	Wash (1-2)			Phi	Phi
SD (1-2)	9 1/2	Ariz (2-1)			SD	SD
	Sun. Nite
NYG (1-2)	3 1/2	Chi (3-0)			Chi	Chi
	Mon. Nite
NE (2-1)	1	MIA (2-1)			NE	Mia

Some of our thoughts and observations included:

• We were thrilled that our picks aren't exactly the same right down the line, because we saw last week how that worked out.  We are also anticipating the Monday night affair, which will mark the first night game this season in which we have different picks.  It's stunning that it took until Week 4 for that to happen.
• Buffalo is so bad at football that we have to swallow our pride and ride with Marky Mark Sanchez and the loudmouth Jets against the Bills.  All signs point to jumping out on a limb and going with a Buffalo upset--Jets letdown after the two big division wins, no Darrelle Revis again, and Marky Mark can't have three straight good games, can he?--yet we're still sticking with Gang Green because the Bills just plain suck.
• The Ben Roethlisberger Benching Campaign has already begun.  I've heard several reporters offer their opinions either hinting or outright saying that maybe Big Ben shouldn't automagically be the starter when he returns from the penalty box in a couple of weeks, seeing that the Steelers have been perfect without him.  It's tempting, but not realistic.  Unless Ben turns in two steaming piles of dung in his first couple of games, there shouldn't be any more outcry to keep him benched.  Charlie Batch hasn't been quite that impressive that Pittsburgh needs his services even after Rapelisberger comes back.  But we'll take ol' Charlie to make it 4-0 for Pitt against a struggling Ravens squad who couldn't cover 10 1/2 on the Browns last week.
• Speaking of struggling, that's what Jason did trying to pick Seahawks-Rams, which features two teams that he really doesn't like, kinda like Jets-Bills.  He wound up going with boy wonder Sam Bradford and the Rams at home.  Meanwhile, I had to take to the statistical page to help me with some of my picks because I sucked so bad last week that I needed extra guidance.  And the stats say that the boy wonder is still only averaging 5.6 yards per pass attempt, which is horrible.  Combine that with a possible missing running back (Steven Jackson may not play), and I'll take my chances with Seattle.
• Atlanta could really do some damage on Coach Psycho and the San Fran 49ers, and Jason is all over it, but here's why I'll pick the Niners to cover:  They can't do any worse on offense now that they got rid of the old senile guy who couldn't get plays in on time.  Plus, they should simplify things on offense with a new guy as coordinator, and that should mean more RB Frank Gore, and that could be huge for SF because the Falcons have given up an average of 5.1 yards per carry this season, which is horrible.  I think Frank can keep it close.
• Now I done just lost my damn mind--I'm taking Cleveland to win a game!  Jason couldn't pull the trigger even though they're playing the Bengals, who have not been impressive at all this year.  QB Carson Palmer and the offense looks dreadful so far, even in a 20-7 victory last week.  I will roll with the great Peyton Hillis over Cincy.  If he can steamroll the Ravens D, imagine what he can do to the Bengals.
• And I'll take Denver to win as well.  Jason is with me on covering the spread against the Titans, but I think they can go in to Nashville and get the win.  Kyle Orton is putting together a monster year at QB, including outgaining Peyton Manning last week by a wide margin, and I have a hunch that he will pull out a late win on Tennessee, who I don't believe have the explosive offense to put up a large amount of points and fend off a late Orton rally. They can't rely on the Giants to melt down every game.
• And I'll take Carolina to win too.  Wait, what?  Hey, what the hell.  The Saints can go up and down the field eating up yards at will, but they found a way to lose last week.  Why not this week as well?  I would think Carolina will take the opportunity in rookie QB Jimmy Clausen's 2nd start to take pressure off of him by relying on their big running attack and getting RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart going, and New Orleans is a nice defense to get your running game going against.  Or I may just be fucking insane.  This is what a 3-13 week does to you, folks.
• Okay, back to big favorites--Green Bay squoosh over the hapless Lions.  Jason loves New Orleans and Green Bay for the same reason--disappointing division loss last week, bounce back and crush the opposition this week.  I'll side with him on the Packers.  The Lions just stink.
• So do the Raiders.  It's a great time for Houston's vaunted offense to get back on track, especially RB Arian Foster, who has fallen back to the pack since that season opener against the Colts.  Foster can rip this D as easily as he ripped Indy.
• We can't take Jacksonville to cover seven points at home against the aforementioned Colts because that's how bad the Jaguars have been.  And boy, does Maurice Jones-Drew look done.  Now, I've prematurely called someone's career and pronounced it over many times before.  Jason can tell you all about how hard I argued to him back in 2003 or so that Carlos Delgado was DONE as a baseball slugger and that he shouldn't keep Delgado on his fantasy baseball team.  The next year, Delgado hit something like 39 HRs and had a humongous season.  So I'm real good at wrongly saying a player's best days are way behind him.  But Jones-Drew isn't running the same at all right now.  Whether it's because of injury or because he really has nothing left, it's hard to tell.  But my opinion is that he's not good at football anymore, and that offense is putrid without him leading the way.
• The Game Of The Week has Donovan McNabb returning to Philly with his new team, the Redskins.  I think he's going to get booed very loudly because he was very good but not a champion, and that makes all the difference.  I think he would receive a mixture of cheers and boos had he led the Eagles to a title, but 5 conference finals and a Super Bowl appearance aren't enough to make Philly fans not hate you after your departure.  I think he'll have a decent game, but Jason and I will take the Eagles to soar.  How can you go against what Michael Vick has done since taking over?
• Despite keeping a close eye on LaRod Stephens-Howling, the Arizona kick returner, and acknowledging that the San Diego Chargers are likely to give up another special teams TD, we'll still take the Bolts to cover because the Cards are really bad.  Back to my stats page:  The Cardinals are averaging the exact same amount of yardage per pass attempt and per rush attempt.  Jason's response to that little nugget:  "That sucks, unless it's 10."  It's not.  It's 5.8.
• Now this pick is really scary.  Jason and I both have the Giants to beat the Bears on Sunday night, but only by 3 points, which means we'll take the Bears to cover that 3 1/2-point spread.  When we try to be this precise with our pick, it almost never works out.  You've been warned.
• For Monday night, Jason really drove home the point that in a close division contest like this, with a spread of one point, which is basically a pick-em, you have to just go with the better team.  And Jason believes, even after last Sunday, that the better team overall is the Dolphins.  It's hard to argue how bad New England is defensively, but I can't buy them being so bad that they make Chad Henne and the Miami offense measure up to Tom Brady and the Pats O.  Miami let Marky Mark and Braylon Edwards hook up for yardage in the air last Sunday.  What's going to happen when Brady and the Straight Cash Homiez invade South Beach?  And my secret weapon in this game is BenJarvus Green-Ellis running for big yards against Miami's front line, making the secondary start to play the run and opening up the field for Brady.  Then the better of the two teams will definitively be revealed.

Down the Dark Path: Sports Video Games

I grew up in the age of Atari and Nintendo (back when the NES Classic Console was just called Nintendo), so video gaming has been a large part of my life. Games serve as a substitute for real ability, so when I take the Cubs to the World Series or the Texans to multiple Super Bowls (with Marshall Faulk as my running back), there is a sense of pride and accomplishment. Dre takes that to the Nth degree, playing games on the real MLB, NFL, and NBA schedules. We even have home-made heroes in the players that the game literally makes up out of thin air.

But in the past few years, with ultra-realism becoming the standard of sports gaming franchises, something seems to missing. The players in the sandbox of the sports league they occupy inhabit a utopian society with no ills, hardships, or stupidity. Here's a few things that can be added to these games to make them the ultimate sports gaming experience:

• Crime & Punishment - Key Attribute: Character - You hear about it every year, the can't miss prospect with the checkered past. He slips down a draft board even though his skill set is unmatched at his position. Let's introduce the Character attribute. Low character makes it more likely that your player will be involved in some sort of conduct detrimental to the league he's in. The randomness of games allows for a multitude of crazy scenarios. But imagine your star quarterback is accused of rape in the offseason, or your star safety solicits a prostitute the night before Super Bowl....oh crap, those things really happened. Let's say your player is involved in high stakes moose fighting, or runs down hookers in his H3, or shoots his limo driver...crap that last one happened too. See, the realism and the randomness of the act makes the stakes of your fictional franchise that much higher. Better get all the production out of these digital avatars while you can, cuz one of them might snap!

• The Juice - Key Attribute: Integrity - Forget traning camp or batting practice to bolster your stats, let your player go after the high risk/high reward thrill of being juiced. Sure there is a risk of being caught, but imagine taking a lowly .240 hitting third baseman who never hit more than 16 homers for your franchise and turning him into a 50+ homer superstar (while still maintaining the .240 average). Every day, you run the risk of being caught. Maybe your star player will get called before congress, which would be a separate mini-game. Your choices could be: 1) Lie outright 2) Bill Clinton fingerwag denial 3) Forget how to speak English 4) Not talk about the past 5) Read a prepared statement 6) Admit that you cheated, but only to rebound from injury 7) Claim you thought it was Flaxseed oil......the possibilities are endless.

• Ridiculous Injuries - Key Attribute: Clumsiness - Want your best pitcher to miss games because he got carpal tunnel from emailing too much, or maybe your punter misses time because he chopped into his leg with an axe in the locker room, or your star QB gets into a freak motorcycle accident....sure you don't WANT that happen. But imagine right before the game you get this message : YOUR STARTING RB WAS GORED RUNNING WITH THE BULLS THIS OFFSEASON, HE WILL MISS 8-12 WEEKS RECOVERING. You'd be all like WTF!! but then you'd be like "wow, this game is pretty cool."

• Death - Key Attribute: There is no stat for when the reaper comes calling - We see it every season or so, a player in some sports league just ups and dies. It happens. They eat bullets, get lost at sea, fly their planes into buildings, get killed by drunks. It's a sad reminder that even jacked and juiced up millionaires are mortal. Let their digital representatives suffer the same fate. The death could either inspire the team, or destroy it. Imagine all your NFL guys wearing the decal of the dead player, so for the whole season you are reminded of your fictional loss. Would you play harder for the fallen teammate? You bet your ass you would.

• Sex - Key Attribute: Integrity (again) and Marital Status - Maybe the juice isn't your weakness, maybe it's the ladies. Maybe your players are Derek Jeter, unmarried and free to woo the ladies. Maybe they are Tiger Woods.....

• Locker Room Cancers - Key Attribute: Douchebaggery - What better way to splinter your franchise than to have a seemingly productive player become a cancer on the team. Maybe your star pitcher just turns into a diva, or your star wideout, or your center. Their actions destroy the valuable Chemistry attribute and suddenly team performance is affected. What to do with the cancer? Placate them or bench them, maybe even cut them. Watch the teams chemistry ebb and flow over a long season due to your handling of the locker room.

There's just some suggestions. Sure, no sports union would ever allow the seedier side of life to enter the digital realm, but it sure would be fun.

The Poll Police: Top 5 Teams So Far

Three weeks in the bag and a lot lessons learned. Here's the five best teams through five weeks, in my opinion, and in much less detail...

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0) - Quick, name me another NFL team that could be undefeated with its second string quarterback? OK, how about its third string QB? Better yet, how bout its 4th string QB? The Steelers start, for me, demonstrates the overratedness (new word!) of Ben Rapelisberger, and how this is a team that wins with defense first and offense second.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) - Who is the Eagles MVP so far this season? Mike Vick you say? Nope. It's Clay Matthews! If he hadn't given Kevin Kolb the face first slip-n-slide treatment, then the resurgence of the once and now again dynamic Vick could not have happened. This is a different team with Vick at the helm, and they appear ready to run this out until Vick either implodes, or gets hurt behind a hideous offensive line. Does anyone see the corrolation between McNabb's decline and his morphing into more of a pocket passer? Maybe the Eagles will want to draft some O-lineman next year.

3. Indianapolis Colts (2-1) - Yeah, the Texans snuck up on them in week 1 and the Broncos self destructed at home in week 3. But this is a regular season ranking, and the Colts are usually the cream of the crop in regular season play. Peyton Manning is just getting started.

4. Atlanta Falcons (2-1) - Since an opening loss on the road at Pittsburgh, Atlanta has played inspired football. Their defense isn't giving up many points (2nd in the NFC), and Matt Ryan looks to have shaken out of last seasons sophomore slump. Tony Gonzalez looks like he could play until he's 50, and Michael Turner is running with new purpose. This is a group buying into a swarmimg, team style defensive scheme, as there really isn't a standout at any position, yet they are holding teams to less than 16 points a game.

5. Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) - I debated long over which team to give the last spot. There are many quality teams out there right now, but the Chiefs have to be the surprise of the NFL season so far. This is the second best scoring defense in the league (only 5 more points allowed than the Steelers) and the Chiefs look to have regained that Arrowhead home field advantage. They get to remain undefeated at least one more week facing a bye (even though the Lions are usually three point dogs in their bye week) and staring a date at the Colts in week 5. We'll see how real the Chefs are then. Since this is a week 3 poll, enjoy the spot for now KC.

On the outside looking in:

Packers - Clean up the act or prepare for another wild-card round exit.

Bears - The best undefeated 2-1 team in history.

Ravens - Most maddening team in the league.

Texans - Had a chance to silence all doubters, instead threw gasoline on the critics fire.

Jets - Starting to live up to their own hype. Sadly, they talk so much they can never reach that bar.

2010 Week 3: What I Learned

• Listen to Jason when he suggests the day before the games that we flip all of our picks over and just take the opposite of what we like.  And don't ever take that many fucking favorites in the parity-laden NFL again.
• Coach Psycho is in trouble.  Mike Singletary can't seem to get his 49ers going in the right direction no matter how bug-eyed and crazy he gets.  He rushes to the defense of his horrible offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye after last week's reports of plays not being called in a timely fashion and mass confusion in the offensive huddle.  He gets the TV reporter who dared question his coordinator's effectiveness fired, er, "reassigned," and the next week, he fires the same coordinator.  Wow.  Singletary appears from the outside to be totally in over his head trying to coach an NFL team purely on emotion and fire and passion.  If San Francisco fails to make the playoffs, ol' Bug Eyes will be out, I believe.
• Cincinnati will win games this season despite QB Carson Palmer, not because of him.  His arm seems to be gone.  His accuracy is nonexistent.  His beard is weird, and his stache is trash.  He needs either retirement or Just For Men hair gel, I'm not sure which.
• The major upset of the week wasn't a game result, it was a white RB stepping all over the Baltimore Ravens defense.  Peyton Hillis was the sole reason the Browns stayed close enough to cover in Baltimore, rendering Anquan Boldin's breakout performance (3 TD) great for the purposes of a team win, but useless for those who bet the Ravens to win by two TDs.
• Brett Favre continues to look off kilter for the Vikings, but they won and covered using a very simple formula:  Dominate by running with Adrian Peterson, then play-action and hit wide open receivers for big plays.  It would seem that the teams that can handle Peterson can handle the Vikings, until Captain Wrangler works out the kinks and is able to win games through the air again.
• Congrats to the New York Giants, who may have played the most undisciplined team game I've ever seen.  You got Eli Manning throwing a desperation ball into the end zone with his left hand, resulting in an interception.  You got 5 personal fouls on the Giants during their game with the Titans.  You got veterans David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie committing such blatant personal fouls that coach Tom Coughlin said the hell with it and pulled them out of the game.  You got the Giants staying right there within a score of the Titans due to outgaining them in yardage by 200 yards!  But they let it slip away in the end, and now Coughlin may have his seat start to get warm on him again after surviving a few years ago when New York won the Super Bowl and earned him a new contract.  This time, he won't be so lucky.
• Gotta love old QBs who throw TD passes to guys who are double covered, including one that went right off the fingertips of a defender and into the receiver's hands.  Pittsburgh's Charlie Batch had one more start to make in his NFL career, and he made it count.  WRs covered downfield?  He didn't give a fuck.  And as a result, Mike Wallace has two more TD catches then he deserves.
• The Falcons-Saints game was especially painful to lose because it played out with no surprises--two offenses making their way up and down the field, and the Saints wound up with the game in their hands.  They should have taken a victory in overtime and given Jason and me a push, but Saints kicker Garrett Hartley hooked a 29-yard FG wide left, and Atlanta went on to victory.  Hope your resume is up to date, Mr. Hartley.  And by the way, for those who hate the timeout that freezes the kicker right before the kick, it backfired in this one.  Falcons K Matt Bryant had his 46-yard FG initially blocked, but because Saints coach Sean Payton got the timeout in right before the kick, Bryant got another shot, and he nailed it for the win.  I really don't know why some people scream so loud for the rule to be changed so that you can't call a FG freezeout TO, but they surely can't say it's because it always gives an unfair advantage to the team calling it.  In this case, it may have cost that team a victory.
• New England scored 38 freaking points and couldn't cover over Buffalo.  Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick showed some arm, RB C.J. Spiller showed some speed, and the Pats showed why their defense will cost them dearly when it's crunch time.
• Welcome the Dallas Cowboys to the 2010 season, which apparently started while they were still on summer vacation.  They showed what happens when DeMarcus Ware and the Dallas D come to play, along with forgotten WR Roy Williams and the running game, which went over 100 yards as a team.  The question is, how many games will all of those phases shine for the Cowboys at the same time?
• You know, when I gather all of the books chronicling our picks over the years, I'll have to investigate the old Philadelphia Eagles and how I did picking their games.  My memory tells me that I was never any good picking their game because Donovan McNabb was so maddeningly inconsistent.  And there he was Sunday in a Redskins jersey finding a way to lose to a rookie QB and the woeful St. Louis Rams a week after holding a 17-point lead against the vastly superior Houston Texans.  Washington had the Rams down in this game in the 4th quarter and couldn't finish either.  And now they go to Philly next week for the return of McNabb to the City of Brotherly Love.  The Eagles are undefeated with Michael Vick as starter, aren't they?  Should be a squoosh for Vick and the Birds, right?  Right??
• Speaking of which, this just in:  Michael Vick likes freedom and enjoys scoring touchdowns for an NFL team and not the Folsom City Prison Shankmasters.
• Man, Philip Rivers tried like hell to beat the Seattle Seahawks by himself, throwing for 455 yards while still missing his best receiver, holdout Vincent Jackson.  But he can't overcome something that's going to haunt the San Diego Chargers all year--their special teams.  A punt return for a TD against the Chefs in the Monday night opener, and a 7-point loss.  Two kickoff TDs for Leon Washington Sunday against Seattle, and a 7-point loss.  They got more issues than Pastor Eddie Long.  They may want to bring Jackson back ASAP, not to catch balls, but to be an outside gunner on punts.
• Another lost pick that hurts was the Broncos actually outgaining the vaunted Colts offense and not only losing the game but not covering the spread due to some nauseating play near the goal line.  A bad Kyle Orton INT reminiscent of the Eli Manning left-arm toss and a goal-line stand where new Denver RB Laurence Maroney was stopped from scoring on 4th down by a fingernail helped torpedo the Broncos' chances.  For those counting, that was 5 trips to the red zone for Denver and zero TDs.
• Nobody deserved to win the Raiders-Cardinals game, so it was fitting that the Raiders got close enough for K Sebastian Janikowski to hit a chip-shot game-winning FG and then watched him choke like a John Holmes co-star.  We should have picked the Raiders to cover 4 1/2 points because neither team is that much better or worse than the other.
• Jets QB Mark Sanchez still has a rag arm, but maybe the team has some heart after all.  Marky Mark flipped some more garbage throws up in the air, and the Miami Dolphins tripped all over themselves trying to defend them.  WR Braylon Edwards put down the Patron long enough to score a TD on a 12-yard catch that he turned and took 67 yards because his defender fell flat on his ass.  Sanchez "gunned" one of his TDs to TE Dustin Keller, but if the covering linebacker had been looking for the ball, he would have reached up and easily taken it for himself, or at least knocked it down.  And it looks like RB LaDainian Tomlinson is saving New York's bacon for the time being, because they couldn't have extended their lead and held on to survive Sunday night without his inspired running.  Shonn Greene was supposed to be the lead back for New York after they jettisoned Thomas Jones in the offseason, but he's been atrocious.  The Jets may have better odds for success than many of us thought they would, if the old LT can keep this up.
• Lots of Bears love going around for their 3-0 start.  Let's clear a couple of things up about that lucky win Monday over Green Bay: 1, they were yet another winner that was outgained in yardage during the game, and 2, his one TD pass to Greg Olson was thrown between about 47 defenders, which is NOT a good thing.  And the Bears should be very worried about Cutler making it through the whole season, as he got destroyed on a couple of hits standing in the pocket.  That offensive line still can't block for shit.  The Pack should be worried as well.  They didn't impress in their first 2 wins of the season, and now lose a big game they should have won.  Looks like they will have to wait to print up those "Division champs" t-shirts until they can get back on track.

Sunday ATS Recap: Now With More Monday

This was the week we expected week 2 to be. Wow, was it ugly. We only differed on two games and agreed on a ton of big favorites. I had suggested taking all the picks and just flipping them. That would have been a GREAT idea.

On to the recap, in much less detail:

• Chiefs 31, Niners 10 - Jason winner, Dre loser. The theme of the week was "Desperation." Heck, the NFL could have branded their own fragrance line of the same name with three preseason darlings all facing 0-3 starts. I had figured the Niners shot their wad against the Saints at home, and still came up short. A tough road game at Kansas City felt like more than the Niners could handle. Thankfully, Andre disagreed.

• Bengals 20, Panthers 7 - Both winners. Cincy played a pretty awful game, but luck served them up Jimmy Clausen. Carson Palmer looks lost so far this year, but Cedric "The Phoenix" Benson keeps rising from the ashes.

• Ravens 24, Browns 17 - Both losers. What a tough pick to even make. The Ravens have proven they can't cover a big number, while the Browns have failed to even look like a pro team. Ray of light for the Browns (or not): they've had a lead in the 4th quarter of all three games this season. A lead they've blown, anyway.

• Vikings 24, Lions 10 - Both losers. Ah, Detroit. Most of the game was closer than the score indicated as the Lions continue to play with tremendous heart. Just when things were going their way early, the Lions muffed a punt deep in their own territory and Brett Fav-ray found a WIIIDE open Percy Harvin in the endzone on the next play. It was all downhill after that for Detroit. Sorry Lion-o's, heart doesn't cover spreads.

• Titans 29, Giants 10 - Both losers. If you read the box score for the game and ignore all the columns except points, you'd have thought the Giants won. Manning (the other one) moved the ball at will up and down the field againt Tennessee, but failed to convert long drives into points. On the other side, it's amazing how all the Vince Young being benched drama goes away when all he has to do is turn around and hand it to 28 (the other one).

• Steelers 38, Bucs 13 - Both winners. At this point, I think I could play quarterback for the Steelers. If Charlie Batch goes down, look for Bubby Brister to get the call this week against Baltimore and throw 4 TD's. I was actually hoping for a more game effort from Tampa, but this game sealed it for me: Pittsburgh is the best team in the NFL right now.

• Falcons 27, Saints 24 (OT baby) - Both losers. Easily the best game of the week. I still needed to see more from Atlanta after their dismantling of the Cards, and they went on the road to face the NFL champs and took it to 'em. This game cements even more my comments about the Steelers being the NFL's best team. Since a tough road loss, Atlanta has played great ball, while the Saints still haven't shown much this year.

• Patriots 38, Bills 30 - Both losers. The Pats are a tough team to read. This game had 52-10 written all over, but the Pats defense seems like it will be their undoing this year. Alert: there was a C.J. Spiller sighting in this game!

• Cowboys 27, Texans 13 - Both losers. "Desperation: Part III." Houston had a chance to put their foot on the Cowboys throats this week, but there is sometimes no counter to a team playing for its life in week 3. Dallas finally looked like the team they were supposed to be all season long. What better way to stop a rally, for a team that looks like it could be getting back on track, than the bye week.

• Rams 30, Redskins 16 - Both losers. WTF!

• Eagles 28, Jaguars 3 - Both winners. Been a while since a winning pick. Micheal Vick looks to have learned some new moves. My guess: he learned them in the prison shower evading gang rape. Using these new found quarterback skills, Vick looks mature, confident in his throws, and not going through a progression of first read then run like hell. The Eagles could be a very dangerous team this year, until Vick gets hurt.

• Seahawks 27, Chargers 20 - Jason winner, Dre loser. San Diego played great, except for that little kicking-to-Leon Washington-thing. Other than that, bang up job Bolts!

• Colts 27, Broncos 13 - Both losers. Pretty much the result one would expect from an aerial duel between a Hall of Famer and Kyle Orton. How do you throw for 476 yards and ONE touchdown. That's what I call some empty stats Orton.

• Cardinals 24, Raiders 23 - Both losers. I'm just staring at the blinking cursor on the monitor. Hey, how bout that Falcons-Saints game? THAT was some good football.

• Jets 31, Dolphins 24 - Both losers. A surprisingly offensive game, and I don't mean the malodorous "offensive." Both teams moved the ball against allegedly stingy defenses in what was easily the second best game of the week. The Jets are slowly turning my opinion of them around. Key word there is "slowly," my opinion of them is still that they are overrated, moving up towards "average."

• Bears 20, Packers 17 - Both losers. Of course. What a fitting end to a week of suck. The Packers played one of the sloppiest games I've seen out of a team in a long time. Here is another example of a team being touted as the cream of the crop before a down was played this season. So far the Pack have barely beaten Philly, cruised past Buffalo, and now lost a tough divisional matchup to their arch rival. The Bears now stand alone in first place in the North, and are the only undefeated team in the NFC. We all laughed that the Calvin Johnson TD that wasn't wouldn't matter because the Bears wont amount to anything this season.........(insert dramatic music cue and lightning flashes). Now the Packers get to chew on this one until 2011. Yeah, they don't play the Bears again until January 2.

So, week 3 of picking and recapping is over. We should have called it Weak 3.

Jason 5-11

Dre 3-13

Nothing to see here. Move along.

2010 Week #3

Here are the very similar picks for Week 3.

Fav

Spread

Dog

Dre

Jay

SF (0-2)	3	KC (2-0)			SF	KC
Cin (1-1)	3	CAR (0-2)			Cin	Cin
BAL (1-1)	10 1/2	Cle (0-2)			Bal	Bal
MIN (0-2)	11 1/2	Det (0-2)			Det	Det
NYG (1-1)	3	Tenn (1-1)			NY	NY
Pit (2-0)	2 1/2	TB (2-0)			Pit	Pit
NO (2-0)	3	Atl (1-1)			NO	NO
NE (1-1)	14 1/2	Buf (0-2)			NE	NE
HOU (2-0)	2 1/2	Dal (0-2)			Hou	Hou
Wash(1-1)	4	STL (0-2)			Wash	Wash
Phi (2-0)	2 1/2	JACK (1-1)			Phi	Phi
SD (1-1)	4 1/2	SEA (1-1)			SD	Sea
Ind (1-1)	5 1/2	DEN (1-1)			Den	Den
ARIZ(1-1)	4 1/2	Oak (1-1)			Ariz	Ariz
		Sun. Nite
MIA (2-0)	1	NYJ (1-1)			Mia	Mia
		Mon. Nite
GB (2-0)	3	CHI (2-0)			GB	GB

Some of our thoughts and observations included:

• We absolutely cannot remember having this many common picks in a single week.  We only differ on two picks!  And not only that, but we're incredibly heavy on chalk.  Of our 14 common picks, only two are underdogs.  So we basically think that we know the NFL and that almost all of the Vegas favorites will shine through.  Lord, we better hope so.
• Jason will saddle up with Matt Cassel and the Kansas City Chiefs over Coach Psycho and the 49ers.  He likes the Chiefs' D to show against the weak San Fran offense at home.  I'll lean on Frank Gore to run SF to victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
• Neither of us are big believers in the Jimmy Clausen Experience, so we'll take the Bengals over the Panthers even though Carolina is at home.  That's a bad spot to make your first NFL start, against a defense that ranked 6th against the pass in the league last year.
• We know Jason's 3-word motto about Cleveland ("Fuck the Browns"), so it will apply here too, against an angry Ravens team bitter about bad ref calls that cost them dearly against the Bengals last week.  We're trusting that Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and the rest of the Baltimore offense can get it in gear well enough to score more than 10 points, which is necessary to cover the 10 1/2 point spread.
• Ah, the Vikings.  The Brett Favre Rule has done me well these first two weeks.  And Jason couldn't resist joining me this time in taking the points against the old man.  Eleven and a half is a lot of points, and the Lions have been competitive in each of their first two contests.
• Even though Giants minus 3 against the Titans smells like a push, we'll take the Giants to cover anyway.  Tennessee is a hot mess right now.  It's hard to imagine Vince Young being relaxed enough to play an effective QB versus the Giants defense knowing that his coach is itching to yank him out of the game if he doesn't perform flawlessly.  And I like Eli Manning for a big game coming off of a butt whooping by big brother Peyton.
• We are once again spitting in the wind and going against Jason's man crush Josh Freeman and the Buccaneers.  I was all ready to jump on the bandwagon, until I saw the opponent:  The Pittsburgh Steelers look to have the best defense in football.  They may be playing at an elite level because they have to thanks to their starting QB being MIA for the first 4 games of the season.  But whatever the reason, they have supported Dennis Dixon in two wins, and now will try to carry Charlie Batch to victory.  We say they get it done.
• It's hard to go against the Falcons after the pain they inflicted on Arizona last week, but we're believers in the Saints.  Two wins, and their best football still to come.  Should be a high-scoring shootout, and how can you go against Drew Brees in a high-scoring shootout?
• Trent Edwards out, Ryan Fitzpatrick in at QB for the Buffalo Bills.  We don't think it matters at all.  We talked a lot about the 59-0 pasting New England put on Tennessee last year, which shows what kind of game we think this will be.
• We'll go with the Texans over the Cowboys even though Dallas has "desperation" on its side as it tries to avoid being an 0-3 team.  It's really difficult to take the Boys until they show some cohesiveness in their offense.  Tony Romo isn't nearly good enough to take the team on his back and carry them without a running game.  Houston will be rocking for this one, and the playoff atmosphere can't work for the Boys because they've won one playoff game since the Clinton administration, and that was last year.  I'm usually the one who crushes a team's bandwagon when I jump on it, and I'm all in on the Texans, so if they get pounded in the ass by Dallas, I'll have to claim responsibility for that.
• The Redskins look good on offense even though their best receiver may be the H-back Chris Cooley.  Donovan McNabb is used to gaining yards through the air with crappy WRs, so this isn't an adjustment for him.
• McNabb's old team the Eagles can't get their QBs straightened out.  Coach Andy Reid insisted after last Sunday's win over the Lions that Kevin Kolb would take back his starting gig for the next game even though Michael Vick had played stellar football since replacing Kolb during the first game of the season.  Then a couple of days later with no explanation, Reid announced that Vick would start the next game.  Theories abound as to why Reid made such an abrupt about-face.  But it kinda doesn't matter.  Vick's a go, Kolb isn't, and that's the way it is until Vick's first loss or injury.  A lot of folks seem to have a problem with that.  I don't.
• In our second disagreement of the week, Jason will take Pete Carroll and the Seahawks to pull off another home upset, while I will go with the Chargers after witnessing last week against the Jags what happens when QB Philip Rivers is backed into a corner.
• We will take Denver and a somewhat large amount of points over the Colts, even after the offense clicked on all cylinders for Indy last week.  Denver is a tough venue for visitors, and QB Kyle Orton is hooking up with more people than Lindsay Lohan in jail.  He's spraying to all receivers in a wide open offense and looking like he may justify the money the Broncos gave him.  I'm going a step further and taking the Broncos to win.  I think the passing games will play evenly, leaving the Denver running game with Laurence Maroney and Correll Buckhalter to control the clock and keep Peyton Manning off the field.
• We can't get on the Bruce Gradkowski game plan.  Arizona is no great team, but at least they're not the Raiders.  And I'm becoming a fan of Cardinals RB Tim Hightower.  He may only have one big play per game, but that's one more than fellow RB Beanie Wells.
• We like the Dolphins to continue their excellent defensive play against that bewildering Jets offense, which posted way more points and yards last week than anyone thought possible.  A Sunday night affair in Miami, where they will be hyped for a rare prime time appearance against a hated rival?  And the Jets won't play their drunk, homeless-looking WR as much as they normally would?  Seems like bad news for Rex Ryan and the J-E-T-S.
• Jason has a theory on the Packers-Bears Monday night matchup:  He believes that the Packers would be ripe for the picking by the Bears if Chicago didn't have a 2-0 start to the season.  He thinks that Green Bay will be alert and ready for action because they can't sleep on the Bears, considering how Chicago played last week at Dallas.  I have to agree because I was going to pick the Bears to win until I realized that Green Bay would fall out of first place in the division if they lost.  I also trust the Pack's secondary to make a play in a shootout before the Bears can make a big defensive play.  It will be an electric atmosphere and fun to watch no matter who wins.

2010 Week 2: What I Learned

• Quit making fun of Jason's fantasy draft picks because they always have career games against me.
• Perhaps the Bengals' D should get more respect.  One of their strengths coming into the season was the talented secondary, and 4 interceptions of Ravens QB Joe Flacco later, Cincy is able to overcome zero touchdowns to beat Baltimore.  Hold off on the Chad Johnson-Terrell Owens tweets about the ineffectiveness of Carson Palmer.  Everything is sunshine and balloons after a win.
• Who's ready to buy the 2010 Vikings season highlights DVD?  I've already got the title:  "Missed Connections."  QB Brett Favre has no chemistry with seemingly any of his receivers save for TE Visanthe Shiancoe.  Every bomb he throws is incomplete, every short throw seems to be in danger of being intercepted, and the Vikings couldn't overcome RB Adrian Peterson trying to carry the team on his back.  In short, Minnesota looks fucked with a capital dick.  Again, credit is due to a young and talented secondary for Sunday's win, this one being the Miami Dolphins.  Keep one eye on them when checking out the Fins, and another on LT Jake Long, who may be the best tackle in the league judging from the way he shut down Minny sackmaster Jared Allen.
• What an outstanding job of adjusting to the situation in front of their faces by the Chicago Bears offense and its coordinator Mike Martz.  QB Jay Cutler was being mauled by DeMarcus Ware and a Dallas pass rush hungry and mad from their opening loss to Washington.  So the 3rd quarter featured much quick slants and timing patterns by the Bears, utilizing any receiver close to the line of scrimmage as an outlet to get rid of the damn ball before Cutler could get annihilated again.  And when the Cowboys tried to counter and play closer to the line, Cutler launched big bombs down the field to set up scores in the 4th quarter and put the game away.  I can't wait for the rest of the season to unfold so I can find out if the Bears are really that smart or if the Cowboys are really that dumb.
• I was right about the Detroit Lions running game having some room to operate, although RB Jahvid Best did most of his damage catching balls out of the backfield.  I wish I was wrong about it because Best was Jason's 3rd round fantasy pick, and he bent me over Sunday like I was his prison bitch.  Yet the Eagles had the winning ground game with LeSean McCoy going off, and that's thanks to QB Michael Vick and his big arm.  It's easy to forget that Vick can throw the pill really far because he's such a threat with his feet, and once he started slinging it around in the air--including a long TD to DeSean Jackson--Detroit had to respect the passing game, allowing McCoy to rack up the rushing yards (120) and the TDs (3).
• The Cardinals simply had no answer for Atlanta's running game, giving up chunks of yardage to Michael Turner in the 1st half, and after he got hurt, to his backup Jason Snelling in the 2nd half.  Arizona had a legendarily bad road record the last few years before Kurt Warner led them to a 6-2 mark last year.  Kurt Warner ain't walking through that door.
• 3 sacks for one man in the first 2 games of the season.  This just in:  Clay Matthews is a beast.
• Get That Dang Negro QB Out of the Game Even Though It's Only Week 2, Part I:  Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher witnesses Vince Young--who only saved Fisher's job last year by stepping in and almost leading the Titans to the playoffs after an atrocious start--struggling against arguably the best defense in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and something crawls into his head to make him think that 72-year-old Kerry Collins could fare better.  Dead-ass wrong, Jeffy.  Kerry Collins??  Versus that Steelers D??  That was going to lead you to victory??  Really?!
• It's going to be a long season for Carolina if they're going to tackle like that.  Lots of guys slipping through defenders' hands contributed to the embarrassing home loss to the great Josh Freeman and a 2-0 Tampa Bay squad.  The Panthers, apparently just now figuring out that Matt Moore sucks, will give Notre Dame "star" Jimmy Clausen a go at QB.  Let's hope for his sake that Clausen doesn't show up for Sunday's game in a limo.
• Get That Dang Negro QB Out of the Game Even Though It's Only Week 2, Part II:  Okay, this is ridiculous.  The Raiders just acquired Jason Campbell this past offseason as a panacea to their QB woes.  So coach Tom Cable takes a minute after beating up another woman to decide that Campbell needed to benched in the 2nd half for Bruce Gradkowski.  Really??  Now, Bruce Almighty did throw what turned out to be the game-winning TD.  But I must point out two things that make this move absurd in addition to the fact that, hello, it's only Week 2:  1, Bruce pulled off the win against the St. Louis Rams, which is nothing to brag about. 2, Campbell's stats at the time of his benching:  8-15-87 yds, INT.  He's only thrown one pick and his completion rate is over 50%.  This constitutes the need for a benching now?  Really??  Hey, Tom, was it worth it to place doubt in the QB who you just picked up a few months ago?  You're a dope.
• Nice showing by the Denver Broncos, taking the obviously less talented Seahawks to the woodshed.  An injured Denver WR decided to invent a strange new victory celebration--insert gun into mouth and pull.  (I know, waaaay too soon.)
• Maybe Jason's premature sighting in Houston of a new set of Triplets is for reals?  The Redskins don't allow Arian Foster to run roughshod over them, so Matt Schaub remembers that he can throw to these awesome WRs, and 38 completions and 497 yards later, the Texans overcame a 17-point deficit and beat Washington in OT.  Oh, and a great freezing timeout by Houston coach Gary Kubiak, nullifying a game-winning FG by the Skins kicker from 53 yards away.  He missed the re-try, and the Texans won on the ensuing possession.  Some people scream that there should be a change to the rules to stop coaches from calling timeout a split second before a kick.  I don't have a problem with the timeouts at all.  I don't see why coaches should be allowed to call timeout right before any play is run except a FG try, and I don't see why special teams coaches can't counter the freeze move if they want by changing the tempo of a kick sequence.  They don't have to have the kicker take his steps back, then two to the left, then several seconds making sure everyone is set before the snap.  They can make it tighter and shorten the number of seconds in order to get the kick off before the coach calls timeout.  But I'm solidly against changing the rule.  Besides, sometimes the kicker misses the first and makes the second, so it doesn't always work out anyway.
• Get That Dang Negro QB Out of the Game Even Though It's Only Week 2, Part III:  Jacksonville's David Garrard is told to take a seat in the middle of their blowout at the hands of the Chargers, who apparently needed a bad loss to KC to get their shit together.  Yeah, Luke McCown was going to bring the Jaguars back to steal this victory.  Luke McCown??  Really??  In other news, it was Black QB Lynching Day in the NFL.  Curiously, no press releases were sent out in honor of this glorious day.
• Randy Moss pissed all over Revis Island in one of the great fake-outs and catches you will ever see.  But the Jets managed to beat the Patriots anyway because the New England secondary is atrocious.  Seriously, multiple pass interference calls, fluttering balls thrown by Mark Sanchez that floated in the air for about four and a half minutes before coming down in his receiver's hands...the Pats should be ashamed that they allowed a come-from-behind win to that crappy offense.
• That Colts pass rush was unstoppable Sunday night.  Eli Manning surely saw Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis in his nightmares after the game.  Among the chaos, however, the Giants running game was defined for anyone wondering:  Ahmad Bradshaw is the every down back, and Brandon Jacobs will no longer be a Giant very, very soon.
• Mike Singletary: still psycho.  The San Fran coach almost ate a referee's head after screaming to get his attention to call a 4th quarter timeout.  But he had his team playing hard against the world champion Saints, and the Niners pulled off a late drive and 2-point conversion to tie the game and thrill the home crowd.  So, SF played inspired.  New Orleans?  They played like champions, with QB Drew Brees calmly leading the Saints down the field to set up the game-winning FG.  That's the difference between champs and wannabes.  No one in their right minds believed that San Fran was going to win that game, even after they tied it.  The Saints offense with time on the clock was a lock to get the job done.