1) Scott Linehan might have actually been the problem in St. Louis
2) Marvin Lewis still has a job mainly because he coached the lone bright spot in the past 20 years of Bengals football
3) The Colts are currently on the outside looking in on the AFC playoff race
4) Tennessee can absolutely compete for a title with their defense and running game (Note: James does NOT approve this message)
5) The NFC South is surprisingly giving the NFC East a run for its money for toughest division in football.
6) Both the NFC and AFC West divisions still suck.
7) Nothing. No seriously, forget everything I just told you. The one thing I actually know about this season is that we know nothing. And I love it.
On to the games...
Jets @ Bills
James: During the offseason, there was talk about these two teams “having a chance” at playing in January. Guess what? That chance is still very real for both teams, and this week's matchup is going to be a crucial divisional game. Right now, Buffalo is tied with New England for tops of the AFC East, so a win means that at the very least, a tie for first place for another week. Broadway Brett Favre and the Jets have been wavering between looking like a playoff contender and a playoff spectator much in the same fashion Oprah Winfrey has wavered between fat and more fat (Just kidding Oprah. You go girl!). Missing for Buffalo are Josh Reed, Aaron Schoebel, and Brad Butler. Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssqa 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 I'd like to thank this cute little kitten my girlfriend rescued off the side of the road the other day for providing the Jets injury report. We've already named it and already grown attached, now it just needs a home. Back to this football stuff. The Jets and Bills both have defenses that have improved a great deal last season, and there's a ton of pressure on both sides to win. Expect to see an epic battle where Buffalo will pound the ball with Lynch and Jackson, and New York will take score any way they can figure out how.
James' Pick: Buffalo wins, 20-17
Adam's Pick: Buffalo wins, 28-14
Fantasy Love: Trent Edwards
Fantasy Hate: Tom Jones
Lions @ Bears
Adam: I've got two words for you: ORTON EXPRESS! Seriously, I don't think anybody saw this coming. This is a guy that I've always thought would carry the torch as "The Next Trent Dilfer", but he's done more than just play safe and keep mistakes to a minimum, he's pushed the offense to another, balanced level and complemented Matt Forte very well. Did you know the Bears have scored the 5th most points in the NFL this season? No, I bet you didn't. Mr. Neck Beard has a lot to do with that fact. The Lions meanwhile are one of the two winless teams in the NFL. They have lost their starting QB for the season. They have traded away their most accomplished WR. They are starting the 2008 model of Rudi Johnson at running back. Oh, and they're giving up 30 points per game. Awesome. At least they're still keeping it light with hilarious Halloween costumes.
Adam's Pick: Chicago wins, 31-10
James' Pick: Lions over Da Bears, 17-10
Fantasy Love: Kyle Orton, Matt Forte
Fantasy Hate: The Lions
Jaguars @ Bengals
James: What's tougher, a jaguar or a bengal? Well, initially, you might say a bengal. However because Cincy never specified what kind of bengal they are, I'm inclined to believe they named themselves after bengal cats and not bengal tigers based on their performance this year. Bengal cats are adorable and well known for their antics, much like Chad Javon Ocho Cinco Johnson and Chris Henry and the rest of those guys.
Jacksonville's sitting at 3-4, and Cincinnati is just trying to beat the Lions to the first win of the season. Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown some promise at some points, but the way they were absolutely spanked by Houston last week makes me feel like they just want to get the season over with. Jacksonville, on the other hand, is one of those teams who are fighting through injuries, and they seem like they just might click and come together at any minute. This would be a good starting point James' Pick: Jaguars trample the Kittens, 34-10
Adam's Pick: Jaguars win, 24-21. But I would not be shocked by an upset.
Fantasy Love: Maurice Jones-Drew
Fantasy Hate: Chris Perry
Ravens @ Browns
Adam: This is one of those games that's really tough to call. Four weeks ago, you'd take the Ravens to beat the Browns in a landslide. But Cleveland's woken up finally and are starting to turn it on offensively. The Ravens were looking pretty bad with that loss to the Colts, but have rolled off a couple wins a row. I think the Browns still make a run at a playoff spot this year, but it'll be after losing this one today. The Ravens D is just too keyed-in.
Adam's Pick: Ravens win, 28-13
James' Pick: Lions over Da Bears, 17-10
Fantasy Love: Willis McGahee
Fantasy Hate: Jamal Lewis
Packers @ Titans
Adam: So, James can talk all he wants, but I'm convinced with these Titans. They have a complete defense, with pass rushers, run-stuffers, and shutdown corners. They have a fast, exciting running back and a fat guy who gets into the end zone. And they have Kerry Collins. Hm. Well nevermind that, I still think they're good. The Packers are in a tough spot. After coming out on fire to start the season, they had a few rough weeks in a row. They've righted the ship since then, but run into the "it" team of 2008 here. I see this being a close game, but one ultimately won by timely defensive plays by the Titans.
Adam's Pick: Tennessee over GB, 24-21
James' Pick: Packers over Titans, 37-21
Fantasy Love: Chris Johnson
Fantasy Hate: Donald Driver
Buccaneers @ Cheifs
James: This is my “so obvious who's going to win you might as well not even play game”. I think my record on those games this season is worse than Kansas City's. The Chiefs are missing Larry Johnson once again because he seems to have a spitting problem, while the Bucs are looking to redeem themselves after losing to Dallas. This goes to show you how crazy this season is, when you're shocked that Dallas pulled off that win. If the Chiefs can get any offense going against the Bucs tough defense...well then they'll have to actually stop Jeff Garcia, Earnest Graham, and Warrick Dunn. While the chances of that are slim to none, it still wouldn't surprise me one bit. Herm Edwards has to be embarrassed that his defense is the one teams get excited to go up against, and he might have a trick or two up his sleeve (like suiting up and filling in at cornerback). Tampa's looking to improve in the very tough NFC South (I still can't believe I'm calling the NFC South “tough”), and needs to play 60 minutes of solid football in order to win Kansas City. I can guarantee you if there's one coach in the NFL who isn't taking a game against the Chiefs as an easy win, it's Jon Gruden.
Adam's Pick: Tampa Bay wins, 28-18
James' Pick: Bucs take it, 24-10
Fantasy Love: Earnest Graham
Fantasy Hate: Kolby Smith
Cardinals @ Rams
Adam: The battle for St. Louis, past vs. present! The Cardinals are going for it, that's for sure. Now that Anquan Boldin isn't out with a face anymore (dumbest injury description ever), and they're moving to Tim Hightower instead of Creaky-Knees James, they should make a serious run at being the highest scoring team this year. If only they could get that young D to perform. The Rams, meanwhile, are rejuvenated since the Linehan firing. Watching the game last week, at no point did you feel like you were playing a JV team, and that's new to the past 2 years of Rams teams. Stephen Jackson is coming back this week, Donnie Avery is finding his rhythm with Bulger, and Atogwe is quickly playing himself towards the top of the CB list. I say they continue their good vibe at home this week, and New St. Louis beats Old St. Louis.
Adam's Pick: New St. Louis wins, 27-24
James' Pick: New St. Louis, 24-9
Fantasy Love: Donnie Avery
Fantasy Hate: Tim Hightower
Texans @ Vikings
James: I'm excited about this game. These are two very talented, very good teams who make a lot of mistakes and end up screwing themselves. Both are 3-4, meaning both still have a shot at making the playoffs. Houston has yet to win a game on the road, so improving to .500 after a disastrous start would put them on par to be the 2008 Feel Good Team Of The Year. Steve Slaton will be seeing his toughest run defense since, and has a good chance to legitimatize himself as the next great premier back. Minnesota can, with losses from Green Bay and Chicago, tie for first place in the NFC North with a win today. If they can keep their Achilles heel in check (Brad Childress. You know, that guy that stands on the sidelines at Vikings games who looks like your 8th grade English teacher, and every time he opens his mouth something bad happens. That guy.), the Vikings will certainly have a good shot.
Adam's Pick: I'll take Houston, 34-24
James' Pick: Houston wins, 37-14
Fantasy Love: Andre Johnson
Fantasy Hate: Gus Bus
Dolphins @ Broncos
Adam: Nobody thought this was possible before the season, but if the Dolphins can pull out a win here in week 9, no team in the AFC East will have a losing record. You've got to give it to Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano, they've changed the way Miami does things in a big way. Aside from the highly effective gimmick plays, the Dophins are playing much more physical than they had in the past, and it's keeping them in games right down to the very end. The Broncos, coming off their bye week, have plenty of motivation. They seemed to be exposed as the biggest frauds in the NFL in their last game, a Monday Night blowout by the Patriots. With the Pats winning again last week to get to 5-2, that could end being a turning point game for the two teams, where the Pats stopped feeling sorry for themselves and the Broncos started paying for their poor defense. They have the power to stop all that today, and with the bye week to prepare for everything the Dolphins can throw at them, my money's on Mike Shannahan doing exactly that.
Adam's Pick: Broncos top the Fins, 31-27
James' Pick: Miami over Denver, 28-20
Fantasy Love: Brandon Marshall
Fantasy Hate: Anthony Fasano
Falcons @ Raiders
James: The Falcons are inches away from being taken seriously, and they should be very happy with the way they've played this season. If the team can hold on to Roddy White for a while, imagine what he and Matt Ryan will be doing a few seasons from now. I'm excited, are you? Both teams need a win to stay in the playoff hunt. Yeah, Oakland is actually still in the playoff hunt, which goes to show you how bad the AFC West is. Hopefully, this is the game where commentators stop giving JaMarcus Russell excuses, saying “He's only in his Xth game, he's still developing” and realize “Holy crap, Matt Ryan is miles better than this guy and he's a true rookie”. If McFadden can step up and the Raiders can win ball control, this game could very well be their's for the taking. The Falcons seems to live or die by whether they can establish a running game, so if Michael Turner hasn't gotten at least 20 or 30 yards by the end of the first quarter, this will be a very tough battle for Atlanta. Matt Ryan's good, but he's still not quite there in being able to win road games when he's getting no rushing support.
Adam's Pick: Atlanta wins, 24-13
James' Pick: Oakland wins, 22-14
Fantasy Love: Roddy White
Fantasy Hate: Jamarcus Russell
Cowboys @ Giants
James: If anything, this week of football won't be short on exciting divisional matchups with playoff ramifications. The Cowboys, missing Romo and most likely Witten, will be in New York Jersey to see if they can gain some ground on the Super Bowl Champs. One of the biggest surprises this season might have been the role reversal the Giants and Cowboys took. Feeling a bit like Rodney Dangerfield, Eli, the three headed running beast of Branderrahmad Jawardshaw, and the best (yes, BEST) defense in the NFL have taken it upon themselves to earn some respect this season. If they can win today, Dallas drops to 5-4 and 1-2 in the division. Last week, I predicted Dallas would be dead in the water against Tampa, but their defense stepped up to the challenge and was able to pull off a win. It'll take that and then some to win this week, but coming out with a win isn't out of the question
Adam's Pick: Giants win it, 38-30
James' Pick: New York Football Giants take control of the NFC East and win 27- 13 23 (After all, this is the Giants and Cowboys we're talking about, I should expect the Cowboys to bring their best)
Fantasy Love: Charlie
Fantasy Hate: Dennis
Eagles @ Seahawks
James: I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and no matter how bad my teams do, I will never have a worse season than Seattle fans. Their basketball team was stolen from them at gun point, their baseball team was beyond bad, and even the backups' backups on the Seahawks can't stay healthy. When you're putting your teams' chances in the hands of Seneca Wallace and Julius Jones and your defense hasn't done half as well as was expected, you're in for a tough time. The Eagles probably watched the World Series parade and how excited Philadelphia fans were, and right now they're drooling uncontrollably. Rumor has it that McNabb has been given orders by Andy Reid to wear a bib for this very reason. Rumor also has it that Reid and Mike Holmgren will be switching clothes this game to see if anyone notices, just like that episode of Sister, Sister where Tia and Tamara take each others tests (but sadly end up getting caught out). Philly's an undeserved dead last in the NFC East at 4-3, and this game is a must-win in order to stay on track for the playoffs. Also, Seattle is an undeserved 2nd place in the NFC West at 2-5. Just keep that in mind.
Adam's Pick: Eagles win, 25-18 (yeah, that's right, wacky numbers. I'm CRAZY like that)
James' Pick: Seattle, under the wing of Andy Reid, pull off an upset 31-17
Fantasy Love: Kevin Curtis reminds me why I stashed him on my bench for 8 weeks
Fantasy Hate: Julius Jones
Stay tuned for our totally impartial Patriots/Colts debate! Plus, the Monday Night Preview.
No comments:
Post a Comment