Weekly NFL Picks: Week 13

Last week had a riveting end. There was a 4 way tie which made us began to re-evaluate our tiebreaker rules. However, with some more competitive match ups coming up that can REALLY go either way I doubt we will have to worry about tiebreakers this week. Being that there was a tiebreaker discrepancy last week Dara stepped up and picked another week of games. Here is how things panned out from last week:

Marissa 5/ Yannick 5/ Renard 5/ Dara 5/ Carmen 4/ Richan 4/ Lebron 3

Here are the overall standings:

Dara- 44

Renard- 44

Lebron- 43

Carmen- 43

Marissa- 41

Richan- 41

Yannick- 41

Here are the games that Dara picked for week 13:

	DEN v MIN	DET v NO	PHI v SEA	CAR v TB	NYJ v WAS	TEN v BUF
Carmen	DEN	NO	SEA	CAR	NYJ	TEN
Marissa	DEN	NO	SEA	CAR	NYJ	TEN
Dara	DEN	NO	SEA	TB	NYJ	TEN
Renard	DEN	NO	PHI	CAR	WAS	BUF
Lebron	DEN	NO	PHI	TB	NYJ	BUF
Yannick	DEN	NO	PHI	CAR	WAS	TEN
Richan	DEN	NO	PHI	TB	WAS	TEN

Happy Picking All

ESPN Shares Blame for Fine Allegations

By now we all know what happened at Penn State University involving allegations of former football coach, Jerry Sandusky’s sexual acts with minors.  Since people had actual knowledge of the situation of this unlawful act, high officials at Penn State were fired including that of Head Football Coach Joe Paterno and the school President.  Now, we’re learning about similiar situation starting to unfold at Syracuse University where allegations are coming forth that long-time Assistant Coach Bernie Fine has had a history of sexual acts with minors as well.  As soon as this news broke, a long-time friend of Fine and Head Coach, Jim Boeheim came to his friends defense and said that the accusations were false and believed that the motive was for money and national attention similiar to what was warranted at Penn State.

Boeheim did what any of us would have done and that was come to the aid of a friend whom he thought he knew.  The university did it’s part by sending communication to students and alumni immediately to inform them of the allegations hours prior to the press release. Nearly a week later, a turn for the worse happens when ESPN released a recorded conversation that took place between one of the accusers and Fine’s wife dating back to 2002.  In their taped conversation, the accuser and wife discussed Fine’s actions as both were aware of what he has been doing for years prior. After an unsuccessful stint in trying get the attention from local police, the accuser provided the tape to ESPN in 2003!!!!!!!!!!!   So for 8 years, ESPN has had this tape and have never made mention of it to anyone!  Not the police, not to Syracuse officials, not to Jim Boeheim…NO ONE!  Does this sound familiar with the Penn State situation? Well, here is what ESPN had to say to defend their reasoning for not releasing the tape:

Just as media outlets have pointed fingers at Penn State for how they handled the Jerry Sandusky allegations, the same fingers should be pointed at ESPN and possibly the police department who received the tape as well. Boeheim and other Unversity staff should not be at risk for their jobs as this situation differs from that at Penn State, where no one was aware of Fine’s actions.  Fine lived a secret life that no one on outside of his wife and those victims were aware of. Boeheim on the other hand was insensitive of his choice of words when this news was made public, but he has since been apologetic but one can only image how hard Boeheim is taking this considering how Fine has betrayed him as a friend and as an university staff member.  One can only hope that in time, Syracuse and Penn State can put this behind them and continue building on their rich prestige and tradition.

Saved in the Nick of Time

December 9th is scheduled to mark the end of the NBA lockout.  Teams will be able to talk to players as early as today and teams will open facilities to players and free agents on Thursday.  These are strides in the right direction for the season to start on Christmas Day and no one is more excited than me!  The season has been saved and really we didn’t lose much interest from the fans.  With an 82 game seasons, games don’t really get interesting until the new year anyway, once the football regular season starts to die down, so this NBA season was saved in the nick of time!

With a 66 game schedule over the course of the next few months, we can expect teams to want to get out to an early and fast start.  A slow 20 game start in a 66-game season can hurt a teams playoff hopes early on.  There is also speculation that teams will play in at least 1 set of back-to-back-to-back games, so the key is for players to report to camp in the best shape and hope to remain healthy throughout the shortened season.

So prepare yourself for December 9th folks.  We will have a period very similiar to what we saw when the NFL lockout end with Free Agency and Training Camps starting on exact day for NBA teams. Veteran teams with minimal roster moves will help teams get off to a fast start!

Studs & Scrubs Week 12 – QB Edition

Well the season is winding down, and now either you are in the playoff hunt or you are in the sweepstakes. If you are in the playoff hunt you need your best players to show up every game. As a fan, mental relapses as seen by the Giants defense on Monday Night Football is not what you want to see from your team. Anyway week 12 Studs & Scrubs leggggoooo!

Studs!

Its it the cleats!?

1. Speaking of the Giants, the number one performance of this past week is undoubtedly Drew “Look at my Sanaa Lathan Scar” Brees. Drew Brees demonstrated why he was a former Superbowl MVP. The Giants defense was obsolete against his perfectly executed offense. Going 24/38 for 363 yards and 4TD is near perfection. Although, he has been overshadowed by “Discount Double Check” Rodgers, Brees answered questions that he may be the only one who can score just as many points as Aaron Rodgers. He even displayed some nice moves on the run, which I have never seen before from this traditional pocket QB. It’s like Brees took a mobility class during the bye week. Congratulations to Drew Brees on leading the Saints to where they are now, he is a NFL STUD!

2. No matter what defense you throw at them, the best quarterbacks will always make adjustments, and soon embarass you. Mr. Discount Double Check added to his resume of NFL MVP this season after dismantling the Lions in the 3rd quarter on Thanksgiving Day. Yes, the Lions defense shut Rodgers out in the first half minus a penalty that gave him the ball inside the 5 allowing the Packers to score before the half. However, halftime was all he needed to expose the Lions D further. He ran off 17 straight points in the 3rd quarter sending a wake up call to the Lions.

 I struggle to find a flaw in this guy’s game, he always finds a way to make opposing defense look elementary. I said this last year and was slandered for it, but I will say it again NFL stud Aaron Rodgers after a few more years could become unargualbly the best QB to ever play the game.

3. I know my fellow mancave dontbeskerritt, was esctatic watching the Pats torch the Eagles on Sunday. Eagles fans realized what they don’t have, which is a QB. Tom Brady stat line was 24/34 for 361 and 3 TD. What distinguishes Brady from the other two QB’s on this list is that he puts up numbers regardless of who is on the receving end of his passes. He doesn’t has the best receivers or the best running game, yet he still cannot be stopped. Brady was deathly accurate on Sunday shredding the Eagles D, as if he were on the field by himself. Despite having an irrelevant OchoCinco and the worse defense in the NFL, Tom Brady has his Patriots ready to make a run in the AFC playoffs. To no surprise Tom Brady you are an NFL Stud!

Scrubs!

Am I suppose to play?

1. In back to back weeks, Tyler Palko of the Kansas City Chiefs has offended me with is play. I am thoroughly pissed he says “Tyler Palko… Pitt” on Sunday night. With other Pitt NFL alums such as Larry Fitz, Shady McKoy, Stephens-Howling, Revis, Baldwin, and Dion Lewis it makes you wonder how did the University of Pittsburgh decide to make this guy quarterback. Or better yet how does the guy who signed him keep his job? Fellas if you ever try teach  your lady the game of football, please I beg of you do not start with a Kansas City Chiefs game. It will only make her regret the CBA with you. Palko has a career QBR of 50.1 do I need to even go any further? Every aspect of his game his absymal. I am actually shocked he even completed a pass. Watching Tyler Palko is more comical than Kevin Hart’s Laugh At My Pain. If you didn’t know before YOU GOING LEARN TODAY! *Kevin Hart Voice* that Palko is an NFL Scrub.

2. The Chicago Bears really needed Kyle Orton. Even with their stout defense, if Caleb Hanie is their QB their wildcard spot is in jeopardy. On Sunday Hanie could not complete a pass even if his target was the size of the Pacific ocean. His three interceptions is indicitive of the obstacles the Bears have ahead of them. The Bears D played well only allowing 1 TD, but Caleb Hanie discredited a good performance by his defense with his awful production. Thanks to NFL Scrub Caleb Hanie, the best chance the Bears have to score is none other than special teams phenom Devin Hester.

3. On the verge of a 4 game losing streak the Giants defense better wake up quick or they will be out of the playoffs. They are now one game behind the Cowboys in the NFC East, and facing the undefeated Packers next. The Giants look defeated as they have been facing the most difficult part of their schedule. Eli has been playing well of late, but when your defense is going to give up 49 points what can you as an offense really do? Usually the Giants are able to mount a late charge by way of thier defense, but right now their pass rush is about as effective as a blackberry. I am calling you out NY Giants as scrubs to let you know, wake up quickly or prepare your TV snacks because you could will watching the playoffs this year.

Overreaction Monday: Week 12 Edition

Well its safe to say that NFL football is now just a cheap imitation of what it used to be.

An entire position on the field has now been rendered useless.  The safety, once the quarterback of the defense, is now its biggest liability because they cannot do the job they used to get paid money to do; dislodge the ball from the offense.  Whether by intimidation, or by vicious hits that result in intimidation, the safeties are now just neutered dogs, that are looking to not get a personal foul penalty and a fine.

I watched the Giants-Saints smack down and saw at least three unnecessary roughness calls that had as much roughness as the co-ed two hand touch league I played in last year.  Receivers are running free down the seam, safeties are coming and trying to making a play to stop a completion, and they are literally holding up to let the receiver make the catch.  Roman Harper last night put his arms up when he saw that he was going to crash into a Giants wide receiver, to show the ref that I am definitely not trying to hit this guy purposefully; Harper grazes the receiver, 15 yard penalty.  NFL regresses for 15 years.

Could Ronnie Lott Play in this Era?

I don’t blame the referees for their flags; they are reacting to bang-bang plays that must be called if it looks close.  These old men can’t distinguish between a helmet-to-helmet hit and a shoulder-to-body hit.  These penalties are preventing defenses from doing what they have done since 1920.  And in a league which promotes aerial attacks already, this straw breaks the camel’s back.  Here are three other effects of this terrible defenseless receiver/unnecessary roughness rules:

1. The Rise of the Tight Ends: There really hasn’t been many great tight ends before Kellen Winslow Sr, the guy that revolutionized the receiving tight end.  Maybe that’s because safeties were murderers back then, ripping off heads of anyone who dared come over the middle.  Now that safeties have been neutralized, the tight end has risen to prominence.  The New England duo, Jermichael Finley, Jermaine Gersham and the rest of these guys have made QBs look amazing (more on this later) and defenses look like they wear cement shoes.

2. The Death of the Steel Curtain: I usually don’t have a kind word to say for the Steelers, but I feel this must be said.  Defenses like the Steelers are run on intimidation, much less their scheme.  Do you want to run over middle with Ryan Clark, Brandon Meriweather, and LaRon Landry lurking in the grass?  Hell yes if you are a receiver in 2011, because you have an invisible bubble placed on you by the NFL.  It seems like defenses now need to let you catch the ball, then try to dislodge it from you.  Heaven forbid that they actually play defenses.  Remember when you would heap praise on a receiver who would go over the middle and sacrifice his body (Terrell Owens).  Now I see DeSean Jackson running free on in routes, something is wrong with the world.

3. So Long Dan Marino’s Record: So now that defenses have turned into mush, Dan Marino’s 5,084 pass yards in a season is going with it.  Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are right in the hunt to break it this year.  What a coincidence that these guys have great tight ends to through to in the seam.  Actually they can throw it to anybody on the without fear of killing their receiver.  Marino should be pissed; how many more yards would he have thrown if he could pass in this type of era.

The NFL Competition Committee needs to look at what is happening to the game.  The secondary on each defense is being rendered impotent because they cannot do their job.  The health of players is important but these guys did not sign up for a pillow fight, they signed up to play professional football.  They knew what effect it would have on them and their bodies.  The NFL is losing its legacy because they may have overreached on their health initiatives.

I wrote this earlier that most of the legacy and lore of the NFL is based on defense; Steel Curtain, Doomsday D, Purple People Eaters, etc.  Defense literally won a championship in 2008 for the Giants.  Now the NFL has entered in a cheat code for QB’s and offenses that really don’t need any help right now.  All that results in plays on the field that make your eyes go like this o_O.

Anger Management for Ndamukong Su

The NFL has announced a 2 game suspension for Ndamukong Suh for his action on Thanksgiving Day against the Packers when he stomped on the arm of a Packers lineman while laying on the ground. This incident happened after Suh appeared to drive the lineman’s head to the ground a couple of times as well.

Ndamukong Suh in just his 2nd season in the league is just as frequent to the league office as Lindsey Lohan is to rehab. That’s why I call for Suh to report to Anger Management classes. As aggressive as the game of football is, it seems like Suh mentally seeks to destroy any and everyone who stands in his way.  Often times, his actions go beyond what is deemed practical in the game and we’re not talking about these helmet-to-helmet penalties that are being drawn 3 times a game!  We’re talking about if he could, I’m sure he would have a Mortal Kombat finishing move (← ← ↓ →) as his way of getting a sack.  Honestly, in many ways this is good for the new image of the Detroit Lions, but it also creates the James Harrison effect on the young player where the league has their eye on Suh all the time!

In just 2 season, Suh has been fined by the league office 3 times within the past 15 months due to on field penalties and avoided another 2 fines within that timeframe that were also borderline. As one would hope, Suh remains agressive but only within the realms of the game and not tactics that can lead to player injuries. The league just hopes that the suspension and $164K worth of game checks that are being lost will finally get the point across to Suh, who has even gone as far as meeting with league commissioner Roger Goddell during his bye week to discuss his on-field play.

Suh is adding to his reputation as being one of the dirtiest players in the league, but in the meantime the NFL players participated in a SI.com poll for the league’s Meanest Players where Suh ranked in at #3.

Urban Meyer Cured of Teboculosis

After leading Florida to 2 SEC Championships (2006, 2008) and 2 National Championships (2006, 2008), Urban Meyers failed to win back-to-back conference titles in 2009 by losing in rare fashion (32-13) to eventual National Champions, Alabama. The loss to Alabama prompted Meyer to take a leave of absence from the team citing health problems, but quickly returned in time to coach Florida to a 51-24 win over Cincinnati. Following the game, there was much speculation whether Meyer would return to coach Florida in 2010 especially with the loss of elite QB Tim Tebow and a recruiting class that many of which can be seen playing on Sunday’s.

After much speculation of his retirement, Meyer returned to coach the Gators during the 2010 season. With a depleted team, Meyer was able to lead the Gators to a 8-4 record and 4-4 in conference. Following the season, Meyer again cited the health concerns and decided leave Florida and take up an analyst job at ESPN.

Perhaps it wasn’t a case of bad health and high stress load, but it was the fact that Meyer couldn’t win with a young recruiting class to build the program up all over again and especially without Tebow. Now Meyer brings his gimic spread offense to the Big 10 and plans to lead Ohio State back to the glory days of the Big 10. Florida was a great job, but playing in the SEC is work and classes must be strong every year to win. At least in the Big 10, one would expect Meyer and Ohio State to be at the top of the polls year in and year out by playing in a week Big 10 division in comparison to the opponents he faced weekly in the SEC.

Weekly NFL Picks: Week 12

It’s Thanksgiving week! Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday because it includes two of my favorite things. Food and Football! YES! Congrats to Dara for coming away with the week 11 win! Here are how things shaped up for week 11:

Dara 6/ Richan 5/ Yannick 4/ Marissa 4/ Carmen 4/ Renard 3/ Lebron 3

Aaaaand the overall rankings:

Lebron- 40

Dara- 39

Renard- 39

Carmen- 39

Richan- 37

Yannick- 36

Marissa- 36

We have to pick relatively quickly this week due to the Thursday games so here are Dara’s games for Week 12:

	GB v DET	MIA v DAL	SF v BAL	BUF v NYJ	CHI v OAK	MIN v ATL
Carmen	GB	MIA	SF	NYJ	OAK	ATL
Marissa	DET	DAL	BAL	NYJ	OAK	ATL
Dara	GB	DAL	BAL	NYJ	CHI	ATL
Renard	GB	DAL	SF	NYJ	OAK	ATL
Lebron	GB	DAL	SF	BUF	CHI	ATL
Yannick	GB	MIA	BAL	NYJ	OAK	ATL
Richan	GB	MIA	BAL	NYJ	CHI	ATL

Happy Picking All….

Football Friday: Get Your Tryptophan On

Thanksgiving, the Independence Day of the Mancave world.  There is no other holiday which celebrates the greatness of Mancaves like Thanksgiving.  You are allowed to eat as much as you want, sleep on the couch by 6pm, and watch football without interruption.  And this goes on ALL WEEKEND.  Then on Friday (now Monday if you are really savvy), you get permission to enhance the quality of your mancave at frugal prices.  Praise Mancave Jesus and Tim Tebow for this weekend.  Oh yeah, you also get to spend time with your loved ones and all that good stuff.

So for a special edition of Football Friday, here is your Mancave setup for Friday until Sunday.  As always, bold is the big TV that stays on throughout the dinner so you avoid conversations with your mom about why you aren’t married yet, italics is for the TV you wheel around to your side of table so you avoid eye contact with your crazy aunt, and regular is for the TV you have one because you really have to evaluate your priorities this weekend.  I think you already know what your gonna be doing on Thursday; helping your boo cook a delicious Thanksgiving meal.  Or watching probably the best slate of games on Thanksgiving in a decade.  Have a good weekend and be safe.

Friday, November 25

12-3pm:  Houston vs Tulsa (CSN), Iowa vs Nebraska (ABC), Detroit vs Boston (NHL on NBC – 1pm)

3:30-7pm: Arkansas vs LSU (2:30pm CBS), Boston College vs Miami (ABC), Colorado vs Utah (Comcast Network)

8pm: Pittsburgh vs West Virginia (7:00pm ESPN), California vs Arizona State (10:15 ESPN), UTEP vs Central Florida (CBS College Sports)

Saturday, November 26

12-3pm: Georgia vs Georgia Tech (ESPN), Ohio State vs Michigan (ABC), Iowa State vs Oklahoma (FX)

3:30-7pm: Alabama vs Auburn (CBS), Virginia Tech vs Virginia (ABC or ESPN2), Penn State vs Wisconsin (ESPN)

8pm: Notre Dame vs Stanford (ABC), Clemson vs South Carolina (7:45pm ESPN), Florida State vs Florida (7pm ESPN2)

Sunday, November 27

1-4pm: Buffalo vs New York Jets, Tampa Bay vs Tennessee, Minnesota vs Atlanta

4-7pm: New England vs Philadelphia, Denver vs San Diego, Chicago vs Oakland

Overreaction Monday: Week 11 Edition

Well, my Skins did exactly what they were suppose to do for the sanity of their fans on Sunday.  They played a highly competitive and entertaining football game, taking the Cowboys to OT before finally succumbing to the inevitable, 27-24.  They didn’t embarrass themselves, they found a scapegoat to take frustration out on (Gano, D. Hall), and best of all, THEY LOST.  This enhanced our chances of getting a coveted Top 5 draft pick in a draft that has all the makings of a QB goldmine.

This post is dedicated to a college football weekend unlike any we have seen in a while.  5 Top-10 BCS teams went down in defeat.  A couple of the QBs featured in those games are set to be the guys picked after Andrew Luck, so it’s a great time to look at what these other QBs bring to the table and which could fit for a team like my Skins.  So this is the Suck for [insert name after Luck] Sweepstakes.  The remixed names of the Sweepstakes were acquired from the @czabe Twitter page so shout out to Steve Czaben of ESPN980.

How Would You Like to Stay in Red and Gold, Mr Barkley?

Matt Barkley – Blow for Barkley: Easily the most polished guy out of the 5 that I will highlight here.  This guy is a gamer.  He decided to stay at USC despite not having the opportunity to play in a bowl game, hell not even the PAC-12 Championship game.  But he, and the Trojans, have played great in big games.  The Stanford game and especially the Oregon game Saturday, highlighted what this future 1st rounder could bring to a team.  He plays in a pro-style offense, not this spread, here is your one read attack. I hope the Redskins are in his sweepstakes but you can see Seattle making a strong push for him.  Only problem is that he can pull a Luck and decide to stay for his senior year at USC, like another Trojan QB should have done.  CBS Sports, which ranks him 2nd after Luck says this about him “Barkley is shorter than preferred and doesn’t possess an elite arm. He does, however, have enough of an arm to make every NFL throw, good accuracy on the move and in the pocket and the intangibles that every NFL team is hoping for in a franchise quarterback.”

Robert Griffin III – Drop a Turd for Griffin the Third – Another junior QB, he probably is the best weapon out of all of these guys.  RG3 is probably the guy that can do the most without having a complete team around him.  However, the question with a guy like this is whether his production is due to the system, or is this guy truly is as good as those numbers says he is.  He is mobile and accurate downfield (see that pass against Oklahoma to win the game), but most of all he is consistent.  There was a point deep in the year that he had more touchdowns than incompletions.  His career TD-INT ratio is 41-11. But do you think NFL GM’s will make this guy the second QB picked after Luck?  CBS Sports ranks him the 5th best QB.

Landry Jones – Lose for Landry You can smell overrated emanating from Mr. Jones when he plays, can’t you.  Yes, he puts up big numbers, but it helps when you are throwing to one of the nation’s best receiver in Ryan Broyles.  But I see 2 throw-up games, the Texas Tech game (at home!) and this past Oregon game where you have to wonder what this guy would bring to your team.  He came into the year the number 3 QB on some draft boards.  Will he even be picked in the 1st round?  CBS Sports ranks him 3rd and here is what they said; “Though Jones has done an excellent job taking over the reins of the Oklahoma offense from Bradford, comparisons between the two are folly. Jones has good size and a strong enough arm to make all of the throws, but does not have the superior accuracy of the Rams’ current starting quarterback and must improve making throws when pressured.”

Kellen Moore – Mail it in for Moore I admit I don’t watch much Boise State games.  But I was sold on this guy after watching last year and the Georgia game this year.  I am not like other guys that look at size and physical gifts; if you can ball, you can ball, and he was leading Boise to some great wins.  But then I watched the TCU game two Saturdays ago.  I saw when they were driving to win.  He was overthrowing cats out there man.  And I can’t blame the blue field.  It didn’t look like a Sunday performance So if Moore won’t pass the eyeball test and he didn’t pass on the field in the biggest game of the year, it looks like his stock is dropping faster than Netflix.  He is ranked 15th QB on CBS Sports.

Case Keenum – Crap the bed for Keenum In Philadelphia they call him the Kevin Kolb of the draft.  I prefer Colt Brennan.  But this is truly a system QB.  Don’t get me wrong he can chuck it all around the field.  You can’t be terrible putting up numbers like he does.  But don’t expect him to help rebuild your dynasty.  He may need the 1993 Cowboys built around him in order to just be average in the NFL.  You can see a team like the Saints, Eagles, maybe Steelers picking a kid like this and then stashing him away in the back pocket.  He is ranked 11th.

We’ve reached that time of year in college and pros where it’s time to start scouting for your future franchise player.  As the Skins deftly position themselves in the draft for the rebuilding of their franchise…again…I hope you keep a close eye on these guys and more as the [franchise player your team needs] Sweepstakes begin for 20 teams in a little over a month.