Week 14 Results (9-6) – Overall (124-67-1)
Another 9-6 week where I win the games I should and lose the
ones I’m not completely sold on. The
Bucs collapse to pitiful Philly was a head shaker, especially considering they
were honoring the ’02 champs in that one, and Baltimore ’s
flop at Washington
creates more questions about a team no one was sold on anyways. How real are the Colts? Are the Packers really coming on? Can the Texans rebound from that MNF
whooping? Can I put together a strong
card for the first time since week 12?
We shall see. On to the next one…
Giants @ Falcons
Packers @ Bears
Redskins @ Browns
RGIII will not be playing in this one. The red hot Redskins are coming off three
straight wins, but they’ve all been physically and emotionally draining
contests. They now head to Cleveland to take on a
Browns team that’s riding a three game good streak of their own. I leaned Cleveland even with RGIII playing, so I’m
definitely on the dog pound with him out.
Vikings @ Rams
Will Adrian Peterson reach his goal of eclipsing Eric
Dickerson’s single season rushing record?
He currently sits at 1,600 yards and needs another 506 over the next
three weeks to break the record. The
Vikings are barely mathematically still in it, so they’re going to ride their
horse all the way to the finish line. I
think they’ll be up for this game more than the Rams, considering the effort St. Louis has had to put
forth over the last two weeks to win two three point games. Peterson rushes for 163 yards and scores
twice.
Jaguars @ Dolphins
Bucs @ Saints
After looking like a team that was going to make a surprise
playoff push, the Bucs have dropped three straight, including a deflating
defeat on the last play of the game to Nick Foles and the Eagles last
Sunday. The Saints have dropped three
straight themselves, including a 25 point loss at the Giants last week. Bountygate is nearly settled, but I don’t
think this week’s events will have any impact on what’s turned out to be a lost
season for the Saints. The Bucs have
beaten the Saints at least once a year since 2007, and I believe Tampa has more
give-a-shit in them at this point. The
streak continues.
Broncos @ Ravens
This one looks similar to the GB-CHI matchup to me. The road team is playing good football, and
the home team is fading down the stretch.
Throw in the fact that Baltimore is going
to be without quite a few defensive starters, and I think this one tips even
more in Denver ’s
favor. Knowshon Moreno has been a huge
late season boost and is coming off a 167 total yard performance against the
Raiders. Having played last Thursday, I
think the longer layoff will work in Denver ’s
favor as well.
Colts @ Texans
I love what the Colts have done this year, but I get the
same feeling about this one that I did when Indy played the Patriots. I smelled a blowout and got one. The Texans have to be fuming after getting
smoked on national television and want to prove without a shadow of a doubt who
is the best team in the AFC South. When they
got rolled by the Packers on Sunday Night Football in week 6 they came back the
next Sunday and routed the Ravens 43-13.
Similar result here.
Seahawks @ Bills
Lions @ Cardinals
This one is a matchup of 4-9 teams in freefall. Detroit is an
undisciplined mess on a five game slide, while Arizona has laughably dropped nine in a row
after winning their first four games of the season. The Cardinals’ QB situation is a well
documented disaster, and they’re coming off an embarrassing 58-0 drubbing by
the Seahawks. They’ve scored just two TDs
in their last three games. Still, I
really wanted to take the Cardinals. The
Lions have given up and are losing pass catchers on a weekly basis. My taking Detroit is based on trusting Matt Stafford
and Calvin Johnson to outproduce the garbage on Zona’s offense.
Panthers @ Chargers
In a matchup of poor teams I look to see who’s playing
better ball right now. The Chargers are
coming a off a huge upset of the Steelers, but aside from that victory and
their two against the Chiefs, the NFL’s doormat, the Chargers haven’t won since
week 2 against the Titans. Carolina on the other
hand has been in nearly every game they’ve played this year. They too are coming off a huge upset and did
recently lose to those doormat Chiefs, but I like how Carolina has shown on the road. The Panthers win by 7.
Steelers @ Cowboys
Really Pittsburgh ? After the huge upset at Baltimore with Charlie Batch under center,
everyone had the Steelers pegged for a big win against the Chargers with Ben
Roethlisberger returning from his injuries.
How’d that turn out? Dallas made a statement with a comeback win at Cincinnati last week and
can still make the playoffs. How much of
a factor will Dez Bryant be with that busted finger? He’ll need to be more than a decoy if Dallas is going to beat
the NFL’s top passing defense. Pittsburgh wins the
turnover battle and sets up a huge home game against the Bengals next
week.
Chiefs @ Raiders
Not wasting much time on this one. KC was dominated last week at Cleveland , and Oakland
nearly beat the Browns a couple of weeks ago.
Flawless logic says the Raiders get their fourth and final win of the
year.
49ers @ Patriots
If there was a team that could hope to slow down the
Patriots right now, it’s the 49ers. I’d
be shocked if New England was able to drop
another 42 this week, but I don’t see the Niners shutting them down
either. Tom Brady is showing why he’s
still the best in the business, and I simply don’t think San Fran will put up
enough points to win it. The Patriots
are solid against the run and are improving against the pass. I love Colin Kaepernick, but this looks like
a matchup he’ll struggle with. It should
be a fabulous matchup and potential Super Bowl preview, but I expect Brady and
Belichick to prevail.
Jets @ Titans
Think the schedule makers would like to shift this one to a
Sunday 1:00 start? “Jets” and “playoffs”
have no business being mentioned in the same sentence, so as long as the
football gods aren’t asleep at the wheel, I look for the Titans to win an ugly
one and mercifully end any hopes the Jets had of reaching the postseason.
I had originally thought to write my comments in the form of Icelandic skalds, but, alas, the busy holiday season precludes such. Maybe Hrynhenda’s though next time!
ReplyDeleteGiants @ Falcons “Look for Eli and the passing game to make several big plays against the Falcons secondary that should be without Williams Moore.”
This was the worst game I’ve seen the Eli Manning era Giants play. It was a really bad matchup for them. They’ve had trouble all year with their corners covering guys simply running up the field, and as I’ve noted before, the Falcons have two guys that would both be #1 options on other teams.
Packers @ Bears “Oh, and Clay Matthews is back.”
I thought the return of Thor (I had to get a Norse reference in there somehow) paid big returns. Like all great players (rumors of pharmaceutical enhancement aside)…and he IS a great player…he completely changes the opponents game plan.
Redskins @ Browns “I leaned Cleveland even with RGIII playing, so I’m definitely on the dog pound with him out.”
I would have picked Washington with RGIII but not without him. That Cousins kid looked really good. Somebody is going to make him their Matt Schaub, and in the right circumstances, he’s going to prove himself very, very capable of being a playoff level quarterback.
Vikings @ Rams “I think they’ll be up for this game more than the Rams, considering the effort St. Louis has had to put forth over the last two weeks to win two three point games. Peterson rushes for 163 yards and scores twice.”
Nice call. The Rams are in a really tough spot. With a healthy Bradford they’re probably good enough to hit 7-9 or 8-8 every year, putting them in the middle of the draft pack. They are solid at a lot of positions, but they are really in need of somebody that can make defenses shade coverage and those guys are generally gone by pick 15 (Dez Bryant being a very notable exception).
Jaguars @ Dolphin “As long as they keep Cecil Shorts in check, Miami should win this one rather easily. “
And so it came to pass. For some perverse reason, I decided to watch a lot of this game. I began to see that your take on Tanneyhill viz a viz A. Rodgers is not without merit. He really can deliver the ball on the move from a lot of different angles. Let me add something parenthetically about Aaron Rodgers though; I swear he throws a different ball than anyone else in the NFL. The damn thing looks smaller and faster than even when compared to other Strong Armed QBs, and it seems to go from a very high speed to zero relative velocity with respect to the receiver at the instant of reception.
Bucs @ Saints “The streak continues.”
It did not. What do you make of the disturbing reports that Schiano is wearing thin on Buc veterans? I think it nonsense to say that a 40 point drubbing by a team that you’ve been able to play head to head in the past can be blamed on bad morale, but it does give one pause.
Broncos @ Ravens “This one looks similar to the GB-CHI matchup to me.”
Until a 14 point swing caused by a horrific Flacco interception, it was playing out much like the Packers-Bears. Right now, the Ravens are the worst 9-5 teams in NFL history, and it’s because they are not fielding (mostly due to injury as I understand it) an NFL quality offensive line.
Colts @ Texans “When they got rolled by the Packers on Sunday Night Football in week 6 they came back the next Sunday and routed the Ravens 43-13. Similar result here.”
ReplyDeleteI thought the final score was about indicative of the game. Something got figured out by the league’s offensive coordinators around the time of the Jacksonville game. I couldn’t tell you what it is, but the Texans are most definitely not the same team they fielded in week 3 (is Brian Cushing really that good? Maybe).
Seahawks @ Bills “Seattle is making a strong playoff push and can still win the division. “
Seattle, as much as any team in the last decade, shows that while outside pass rushers get the glory, it’s the push up the middle that disrupts the passing game. Just think about how good they could have been if Aaron Curry had decided he actually had a passion for football rather than just being something he could make a living doing.
Lions @ Cardinals “The Lions have given up and are losing pass catchers on a weekly basis.”
Given the free fall of which you noted, that was one of those unforgivable losses that make owners clean house. It is very, very difficult to understand how a team with the level of talent that has Detroit can lose to a team without an NFL quarterback on its roster.
Panthers @ Chargers “Carolina on the other hand has been in nearly every game they’ve played this year. They too are coming off a huge upset and did recently lose to those doormat Chiefs, but I like how Carolina has shown on the road. The Panthers win by 7.”
That’s the maddening thing about them. They’re about ½ an interception a game from at least being .500. They had the Bucs, Falcons and a couple of other teams beat this year and let those games slide into the abyss.
Steelers @ Cowboys “Pittsburgh wins the turnover battle and sets up a huge home game against the Bengals next week.”
They lost the turnover battle in overtime and that was that. Rothleisberger, who almost certainly committed repeated acts of sexual assault against women, is still not sharp, and the Steelers have now lost 4 of 5. That means look out; the law of averages is now on their side, and if they can avoid another misstep and get into the round of 6, they might be going from mediocre to hot at the right time.
Chiefs @ Raiders “Not wasting much time on this one. “
Fair enough.
49ers @ Patriots "If there was a team that could hope to slow down the Patriots right now, it’s the 49ers. I’d be shocked if New England was able to drop another 42 this week, but I don’t see the Niners shutting them down either."
The key thing for the 49ers is to get first downs, not even so much to score, but for their defense to get their wind. In the first half that’s what they did. In the 2nd half, all it took was a couple of 3 and outs for the Patriots to roll. You could also see why Brady likes that weather; any disadvantages in having to throw a wet ball are far compensated by the d-lineman finding the fields a rocky place where their feet could find no purchase (and my Raising Arizona references have now reached their quota of one per season).
Mr. Talbuc sir, I, the representative of the Cuban-Sicilian UN contingent that reads this blog, my spouse, the Norwegian delegate, and my daughters, naturalized U.S. citizens through birth representing the great nation of China, all wish you and yours a very, very merry Christmas, and if you know anyone that is a humbugger, you tell them… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF5QUyVDya0 !!
TPE