Anyway, yeah, this seems fairly unentertaining unless you follow one of these teams. Still, I'm excited. Mostly excited for the Detroit/Tennessee game. Let me explain.
Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions
This is a game the Lions can win. I swear to God I'm not crazy. Detroit came out strong last week against Tampa Bay, and if football games were 15 minutes long, it would have been a blowout. They've got to win one game this season, they've GOT to. I think this is their best matchup. Culpepper has shown flashes of his old self since coming back, and if the Lions can build an early lead on the Titans, Tennessee's waning offense might not come back. Yes, Detroit has the second worst defense in the league, but Kerry Collins is finally becoming a liability (although you won't hear the media admit that, they'll still gush all day about how great he is at 'game management'), and the whole Smash and Dash combination isn't smashing or dashing like they were a few weeks ago.
This game will be decided in the first 10 minutes. If Tennessee comes out and plays like they did to win their first 10 games, they'll dominate. If they can get ahead of Detroit, the Lions stand almost no chance of winning the game.
This is the Lions' day. Thanksgiving is reserved for them and the Cowboys. If the Lions are going to win any day this season, it's today. They can play with teams, they just haven't for 60 minutes. Even if they go 1-15 this season, the damage will be much worse if than one win came against the Titans. If this weren't Thanksgiving, and this were a 1:00 game on a Sunday, I'd say it'd be a blowout for the Titans. This is a special football day though, and special things could happen.
Adam: I was really excited to predict for all of you the 0-12 DEE-TROIT
James' pick: If you couldn't tell already, I'm picking the Lions to win for the second week in a row. 24-21.
Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys
This game comes across to me as far less special and exciting as the Lions/Titans game. Dallas finally found its groove and has played better football than the Titans these last couple weeks. Let's face it, the Seahawks are awful. Their two wins this season? Pre-Haslett St. Louis, and San Francisco. If the Lions played the Seahawks, I'd take the Lions in a heartbeat. Seattle stinks.
Let's face it. if the Cowboys lose this game, Tony Romo will be burned in effigy all around Dallas. This is a must-win game for the Cowboys. They NEED to be 8-4 going into next week. After today, they have arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL for any playoff contender. They go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Football Giants, Baltimore Ravens, and Philadelpia Eagles. They'll need to go at least 3-1 to have a shot at the Wild Card, so any hiccups in their most winnable game will be detrimental to their chances at seeing January. Most coaches want their teams to look at this week and only this week, but Wade Phillips has to be stressing the importance of winning this game.
Seattle has to be dying to get through this week and be one game closer to finishing this season. Mike Holmgren has to be dying to be one game closer to having a nice long vacation (as if he'll stay away from football for very long). Julius Jones ought to be getting tons of carries for the Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck ought to be throwing lots of incompletions. Their defense ought to be giving up lots of points. When you've been through the kind of season that Seattle's had, you can't blame them for not having any heart left. While 31 teams are looking forward to next week, Seattle's looking forward to next season.
Side note. I just got Rick Roll'd by the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Now my entire family thinks I'm crazy because they don't get the phenomenon. Not to mention RICK FREAKING ASTLEY performed it live. I think Rick Astley wins the award for the greatest Rick Roll of all time. I also think I just witnessed the death of Rick Rolling. You can't top it, you just can't. Alright 4Chan people, let's get on finding a new internet prank phenomenon.
Anyway, I don't care about talking about this game anymore.
Adam: Dallas/Seattle: I want to pick Seattle, I really do. I want that lovely city to have something to cheer about. I want local boy Matt Hasselbeck to make good and give the Hawks hope that next year, when they're not forced to use backup QBs as wideouts, things can be better. I want to, but I just can't Not in Dallas. Not on Thanksgiving. Not this year. Dallas wins, 34-13.
James' pick: Cowboys win 37-17
Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles
Did anyone think at the beginning of the season that Kurt Warner and Ken Whisenhunt would be a heavy favorite over Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid at this point in the season? In fact, did anyone think that four weeks into the season? Four weeks ago even? Well they are, and even though the Cardinals are only being given 3 points, I think people are expecting a much bigger win from Arizona than that.
Let's face it Eagles, this is the NFL, and even a team as talented as yours can lose hold of their season in a matter of seconds. I actually think the Eagles are a far better team than the Cardinals, but their morale is so broken at this point that I don't know what to expect. Are they going to have a resurgence and make their record at the end of the season more reflective of the team they should have been? Maybe.
Another parade side note. What's with all of these cheesy tween boy/girl groups? I mean, seriously, this is terrible. Miley Cyrus is expected, but they're throwing out groups such as the Clique Girlz and the Varsity Fanclub and I don't know who else, but it's so awful. I'd rather listen to new age renditions of Christmas music the entire parade than another one of these douchebag groups.
Back to the game. The Cardinals' magic number is 1. No pressure to win this game, which could hurt them. Do I think Whisenhunt is telling his team "Don't worry about playing well fellas, if we don't get them this game, we'll get em next time"? No, but the Cardinals aren't going to kill themselves to win this game. Maybe the Eagles' desire to end this season with a little bit more respect will fuel them to outplay Arizona, or maybe they'll come out tonight and play the exact same way they've played these past couple weeks.
Last side note. The View episode with Rachael Ray and Elizabeth Hasselbeck looking smoking hot side by side is on, so I think it's time to say goodbye to the parade and hello to fwap fwap fwap time.
Well, time to load up on food prior to watching football, drinking beer, and loading up on more food.
Adam: Last week's gut check against the Giants will do the Cards a lot of good. When it comes down to it, they didn't get blown out of the joint. They didn't roll over and die. They played hard, they put up some points on a good defense, and they made a late game onside kick mean something. Meanwhile the Eagles are doing their best to cash in on all the good spirit of the Phillies' win, and finally tanking like they've always wanted. I see a sizeable win for Arizona (38-20), and a lot of these kids of looks on the Philly bench:
James' pick: Rachael Ray looks BANGIN. Oh, and the Cardinals win 31-24
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
1 comment:
I am a dummy, and the records would have been 11-0 and 0-11. Also, so much for that upset.
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