Weekly NFL Picks: Week 4

Marissa was last week’s winner in a controversial Monday Night Football tiebreaker. Here are how things ended up last week:

Marissa-3/ Carmen- 3/ Dara- 3/ Lebron- 3/ Renard- 3/ Yannick- 3/ Richan- 3/ Sherilyn- 2

This brings the overall standings to:

Renard- 10

Carmen- 9

Yannick- 9

Lebron- 9

Sherilyn- 8

Richan- 7

Marissa- 7

Dara- 6

Here are the games that Ris picked for us this week:

	SF v NYJ	NYG v PHI	NO v GB	CAR v ATL	CIN v JAC
Carmen	SF	PHI	GB	ATL	CIN
Marissa	SF	NYG	GB	ATL	CIN
Dara	SF	NYG	GB	ATL	CIN
Lebron	SF	NYG	GB	ATL	CIN
Renard	SF	NYG	GB	ATL	CIN
Yannick	SF	PHI	GB	ATL	CIN
Richan	SF	PHI	GB	CAR	CIN
Sherilyn	SF	NYG	GB	ATL	JAC

Happy Picking All!

Football Friday: Sick of the Irish

That annoying sound you hear on Saturday’s is Irish fans beating their chest knowing that their football team has cracked the Top 10 for the first time since 2006.  Notre Dame is 4-0, with 3 wins against the Big 10, two of which were against Top 25 teams (but we all know how I feel about the Big Ten).  How have they excelled this season?  Well their defense is awesome.  They are fifth in turnover margin in the country.  The front seven is virtually impregnable with senior leader Manti Te’o at linebacker.  Brian Kelly’s offense hasn’t missed a beat with redshirt freshman QB Everett Golson.  Touchdown Jesus looks to be shining on the Irish.

But as Lee Corso says, not so fast my friend.  Have you seen the secondary lately?  If you think the New York Jets originated the running back converted to cornerback, you haven’t been watching NBC on Saturday afternoons.  KeiVarae Russell moved from running back to cornerback for the Irish because of injuries.  Thanks to a soft schedule against teams struggling to pass, the Irish have gotten by.  But things are about to crank up next week.  First, a big game looms against Miami in Chicago, which should be a win for Notre Dame, but the Hurricanes impressed against Georgia Tech next week (I refuse to call this Catholics vs Convicts because I’ve always hated the name and Miami doesn’t play like convicts AT ALL anymore).  Then, huge tilts against Stanford and at Oklahoma threaten the Irish.  Not to mention the season finale at USC.

So while Irish haters like myself have to stay quiet for now, let us remain vigilant.  The Irish have imploded in season’s past, and pretty soon this team that is constantly overrated by the media will fall on its face again.  They left the Big 10 and all of their natural, regional rivalries for awesome competition against teams like Wake Forest, Maryland, and Virginia (at least they get to play Pitt).  So Notre Dame haters, let’s stay sick of the Irish a little while longer, it will make the humbling this season even sweeter.  Song of the week and the games of the weekend follow.

Saturday, September 29

EARLY AFTERNOON: 25 Baylor vs 9 West Virginia(12pm, FX)/NC State vs Miami (12pm, ESPNU)/Penn State vs Illinois (12pm, ESPN)

LATE AFTERNOON: 14 Ohio State vs 20 Michigan State (3:30pm, ABC)/Tennessee vs 5 Georgia (3:30pm, CBS)/ 17 Clemson vs Boston College (3:30pm, ESPN2)

NIGHT: 12 Texas vs 6 Oklahoma State (7:30pm, FOX)/Wisconsin vs 22 Nebraska (8pm, ABC)/2 Oregon vs Washington State (10:30pm, ESPN2)

Sunday, September 30

EARLY AFTERNOON: New England vs Buffalo/Minnesota vs Detroit/San Francisco vs New York Jets

LATE AFTERNOON: Oakland vs Denver/New Orleans vs Green Bay/Cincinnati vs Jacksonville

Overreaction Monday: Week 3 Edition

Look at the above picture.  Now watch the video.

Another picture, this is a touchdown for the Seahawks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We won’t write until the regular refs come back.  Actually, that’s a lie, we’ll write later this week.  That’s why the NFL will win in the end.  But until then, there is hope.

Weekly NFL picks: Week 3

It’s week 3 people . Here are how things ended up week 2:

Carmen-5/ Marissa-4/ Lebron- 4/ Renard- 4/ Sherilyn- 4/ Yannick- 3/ Richan- 2/ Dara- 2

Aaaaand here are the overall standings:

Renard- 7

Carmen- 6

Yannick- 6

Lebron- 6

Sherilyn- 6

Richan- 4

Marissa- 4

Dara- 3

Here are the games I picked for week 3:

	NYG v CAR	TB v DAL	CIN v WAS	PHI v ARI	ATL v SD	NE v BAL
Carmen	CAR	DAL	WAS	PHI	ATL	BAL
Marissa	NYG	DAL	WAS	PHI	ATL	NE
Dara	NYG	DAL	WAS	PHI	ATL	NE
Lebron	CAR	DAL	CIN	PHI	ATL	NE
Renard	NYG	DAL	CIN	PHI	SD	NE
Yannick	CAR	DAL	WAS	PHI	ATL	BAL
Richan	CAR	DAL	CIN	PHI	SD	BAL
Sherilyn	CAR	DAL	CIN	PHI	SD	NE

Happy Picking All!

Football Friday: Straight Success Homie

This Sunday, Randy Moss returns to where he first began his hall-of-fame career; the Thunderdome in Minneapolis.  His career is probably one of the most enigmatic of the ones I have seen in my lifetime, a freak athlete who dominated his position, who somehow managed to play for 5 NFL teams, including 3 in one year.  He has set NFL records, helped Tom Brady to an historic year, played on an undefeated regular season team, and gave us one of the best quotes of all time.  Yet, he doesn’t get the love he deserves from most pundits.  Why is that?

Randy Moss is probably in the list of the athletes like Terrell Owens, Shaq, and Allen Iverson.  These are guys who amassed great numbers, other worldly numbers, yet instead of being honored, fans say they should have done more.  Or better yet, fans say if they were these guys, they would have done more.  I remember when I said, “if I was Shaq, I would score 40 and 20 every night and shoot 75% from the free-throw line.” No matter that Shaq is the 5th leading scorer in NBA history.  I am going to judge him on what I would have done if I had his skill.  Our best recent example is LeBron James (and also Dwight Howard but I’m still a hater to him).  Fans railed against him, saying they would never betray Cleveland to go to Miami.  Or that they would choose to make their own legacy in New York or Chicago.  But I bet you that these fans aren’t 6’8″, 250, haven’t played in the NBA, or have even been to Cleveland or Miami.  So who are these people comparing themselves to.

This behavior is labeled ‘the veil of opulence’.  It was introduced in the New York Times, and brought to the sports debate in Grantland.  Basically, the premise is people will look at issues from the perspective of who they want to be rather than who they are currently.  So politically, it’s why some poorer people will vote for lower taxes rather than better government assistance.  In sports, it’s usually what fans so when they hear about athletes who go broke after their career like they really care about the man and his money (looking at you Vince Young).  Or in the case of Randy Moss, we judge him because he seems aloof.  He doesn’t run routes hard all the time, doesn’t block, doesn’t go over the middle.  If I were Randy Moss, I would give 110% every play and catch 5 touchdowns a game is what crosses our mind.

But we aren’t Randy Moss.  And if we were, judging by our own lives at work or in pickup sports, we would be just like Moss, maybe even worse.  Because Randy Moss has been the best player on the field for the last decade.  His 75% was better than some defenses 100% and he figured that out before everyone.  He raised hand to say he was open and he was right every time.  Would you run over the middle, if your 9 route was always open like it was Madden?  Could you give 100% every play knowing there was no defensive back that was your equal?  Just remember what Moss did to Darrelle Revis a couple of years ago, and Moss was on the downside of his career.

So for guys like Moss, guys that get criticized despite gaudy numbers, it’s time to get off the soapbox and look at some stats and videotape.  He truly is one the greatest receivers of all time.  You may say he wasn’t trying most of the time.  I say that made him even more of a genius.  With a simple raise of his hand, he vaulted a Minnesota franchise to dominance, made Oakland respectable, and made the Patriots perfect.*  I don’t need any type of veil to say that’s a pretty good career, no matter what we think of him as a person.  You don’t have to get Randy Moss and his personality, just get what he has done in his career.  Word to Shotguns and Jewelry. Song of the week and games of the week after the bump.

Saturday, September 22

EARLY AFTERNOON: Maryland vs 8 WVU (12pm, FX)/Virginia vs 17 TCU (12pm, ESPN)/UAB vs 16 Ohio State (12pm,BTN)

LATE AFTERNOON: Oregon State vs 19 UCLA (3:30pm, ABC/ESPN2)/Missouri vs 7 South Carolina (3:30, CBS)/Temple vs Penn State (3:30pm, ABC/ESPN2)

NIGHT: 10 Clemson vs 4 Florida State (8pm, ABC)/22 Arizona vs 3 Oregon (10:30, ESPN)/15 Kansas State vs 6 Oklahoma (7:30pm, FOX)

Sunday, September 23

EARLY AFTERNOON: Tampa Bay vs Dallas/St. Louis vs Chicago/Cincinnati vs Washington

LATE AFTERNOON: Philadelphia vs Arizona/Houston vs Denver/Atlanta vs San Diego

Overreaction Monday: Week 2 Edition

All hail the NFC West! While it may be an overreaction to say this is the best division in football, this bunch of former doormats went 4-0, and it was a convincing 4-0.  Arizona held the Patriots to 4 field goals and potentially have the best pound-for-pound player in the league in Patrick Peterson.  Seattle just mollywhopped the Cowboys and that game should not have been that close.  St. Louis showed a new attitude in taking down the Redskins, and San Francisco just kept on doing San Francisco things.  The best team in the league lives in this division and the other 3 teams are tough outs.  Can’t make fun of this division anymore, because they will punch you in the mouth and make you draw a 15-yard penalty on yourself.  Yes, I am still salty about that.  Here are two other thoughts from a crazy week 2.

2. Philly Feeling Lucky – The Mancave is usually the home of unabated Eagles hate, especially after the season last year.  So now that they are 2-0, despite how janky both wins were, we have to begruddgingly give them props.  9 turnovers, 8 quarters, 2 wins, that is the new recipe for success in today’s NFL.  The Eagles have been a resilient bunch these first two weeks.  They overcame Michael Vick’s unselfishness in Cleveland, then they fought back against a really good Ravens team this week.  The Eagles aren’t a fluke either; they rank #1 in offense, and Juan Castillo has learned the defense to make them 4th in the league.  Of course, this is still an Andy Reid coached team so the imminent disaster will take place, but for right now, even though I don’t know how, the Eagles are flying high.

3. Alarm in the AFC – I was just thinking about this the other day.  Even though it is early, can you think of 6 playoff teams in the AFC right now?  There is the Patriots, Ravens, Texans, Steelers, and — a whole bunch of substitue teachers.  The Broncos don’t look as good as they did against the Steelers last week.  The Chargers are still coached by the Norv Turner so you can’t count on them.  Let me put it this way; if the Arizona Cardinals moved to the AFC West, would they win that division?  If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved to the AFC South, could they compete with the Texans for the division.  If the Redskins moved to the AFC East, could they compete for a Wild Card?  The AFC doesn’t have much depth at all this year and it is readily apparent early on this season.

Football Friday: The Big 10 Piece Nuggets

Not the Best Year for Penn State to Put Names on the Jersey

It’s not been a good start for the Big 10 this season.  Obviously Penn State overshadows more than football this year.  But their best team isn’t bowl eligible.  And powerhouses are looking soft as baby poo.  Check out what happened in their terrible Week 2.  The conference went 6-6.  The conference as a whole faced two top 25 teams.  Here are a couple of the games:

– Wisconsin went on the road to unranked Oregon State.  They only scored 7 points and it took them nearly 58 minutes to do that.  The loss ended the Badgers 33-game nonconference winning streak.

– Nebraska went to 22-ranked UCLA.  Maybe the cheerleaders distracted them but a redshirt freshman ripped the veteran Cornhuskers.  They lost 36-30.

– Illinois got ripped by Arizona State 45-15.  Is the Big 10 worse than the Pac-12?  My how times have changed.

– And Michigan, coming off a mollywhopping vs Alabama, almost lost to Air Force, AT HOME!

The Big 10 gets to hide a little bit this week.  The only big game is the Notre-Dame/Michigan State game.  But this conference is undergoing big transitions.  We have coaching changes (Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois, etc), legal problems and sanctions, and the simple fact that if I am a star athlete, would I want to play in front of Georgia co-eds and California songbirds, or play near the Great Lakes where it gets cold in the middle of September.  I’m not saying the Big 10 is in trouble, but if they were a stock, they would look a lot like Facebook right now.  Now for your games of the weekend after the song of the weekend.

Saturday, September 15

EARLY AFTERNOON: California vs 12 Ohio State (12pm, ABC)/13 Virginia Tech vs Pittsburgh (12pm, ESPNU)/Wake Forest vs 5 Florida State (12pm, ESPN)

LATE AFTERNOON: 1 Alabama vs Arkansas (3:30, CBS)/North Carolina vs 19 Louisville (3:30pm, ABC/ESPN2)/Virginia vs Georgia Tech (3:30pm, ESPNU)

NIGHT: 18 Florida vs 23 Tennessee (6pm, ESPN)/2 USC vs 21 Stanford (7:30pm, FOX)/20 Notre Dame vs 10 Michigan State (8pm, ABC)

Sunday, September 16

EARLY: Baltimore vs Philadelphia/Tampa Bay vs New York Giants/New Orleans vs Carolina

LATE: New York Jets vs Pittsburgh/Tennessee vs San Diego/Dallas vs Seattle

 

Weekly NFL Picks: Week 2

Week 2 is here! Yannick was the victor of week one after a tiebreaker with Renard on Monday Night! Here are the standings after week 1:

Yannick- 3

Renard- 3

Lebron- 2

Sherilyn- 2

Richan- 2

Marissa- 1

Dara- 1

Carmen- 1

So here are Yannick’s picks for week 2!

	CHI v GB	MIN v IND	BAL v PHI	NYJ v PIT	TEN v SD	DET v SF
Carmen	GB	IND	BAL	PIT	SD	SF
Marissa	GB	MIN	BAL	PIT	SD	SF
Dara	CHI	MIN	BAL	PIT	TEN	SF
Lebron	CHI	IND	BAL	PIT	SD	SF
Renard	GB	MIN	BAL	PIT	SD	SF
Yannick	CHI	IND	BAL	PIT	TEN	SF
Richan	CHI	MIN	BAL	PIT	TEN	SF
Sherilyn	GB	MIN	BAL	PIT	SD	SF

Week one was rough for some of us ladies but don’t worry we are coming back! Happy Picking All!

Studs and Scrubs Week 1

Well folks it is no longer a myth, a figment of your imagination; football is back, and with that TheManCave06 will entertain you throughout this season. Like any self-respecting man I was thrilled to see football on Sunday. I was awaiting stellar performances, but with every stellar performance there is an equal opportunity for a pathetic one. So “Studs & Scrubs” is back giving you the amazing performances of week 1, and those that were abysmal excuse me, SUCKED!

Studs!

1. Starting off this list is young phenom Julio Jones. The last time we saw the Falcons, they put up an unbelievable amount of points in their playoff game. The grand total of 2 was only a few points shy of a playoff victory. This season the Falcons are looking for that one player to show up big when it counts. History shows us Matt Ryan (he must earn his nickname back) is not that guy. The combination of Julio Jones size and speed doesn’t come along too often in the NFL. This kid has the potential to be great. With 6 catches for 108 yards and 2 TD. Without a doubt Julio has what it takes to be the best in the league. Julio Jones you are an NFL Week 1 Stud!

2. I am going to shoot myself next week for doing this. Clearly I have not learned my lesson yet, but I was impressed with Joe Flacco Monday night. Typically, I would expect Ray Rice to do this thing, and for all of the work by him and that Ravens defense to be ruined by Wacko. Monday night I wrong. Flacco commanded his offense, was poised under pressure, and made some excellent throws. He actually looked like (dare I day this) an NFL QB *clap clap bravo*. Completing 72% of his passes for 299 yards and 2 TD lands Wacko Flacco on Week 1 NFL Studs!

3. “I did not experience any soreness or swelling in my knee” – Adrian Peterson. 2 touchdowns and 84 yards on 17 carries. By far not the numbers we have grown to expect from AP, but after completely tearing your MCL and ACL what should we expect? He is an NFL Stud on the simple fact respect I have for his determination to get back on the field and perform. Of course he is not the first to do this, but much respect given to anyone who goes through a tough injury and fights back to get on the field; starting opening day. Welcome back AP!

Scrubs!

1. Michael “I need to get my weight up” Vick. This was the worse game on my 9 screen ManCave set up in my basement. 4 interceptions from the QB of the team that is picked to win the NFC East? I hope you did not see this game, but I will give you the game summary quickly. Vick gets hit, Vick cries, Vick yells, Vick throws interception (repeat 4 times). What you should take away from this is that football is a man’s game and the Eagles will not win with a punk as their QB. Vick yo are the first NFL Scrub this year. Man up and get your weight up cuh!

“The replacement refs don’t call penalties either!!!???” – Michael Vick

2. Ryan Ftizpatrick and all things that are the Buffalo Bills. Fitzpatrick why don’t you just go be a lawyer, invent Facebook 2, cure world peace. Do something we expect from a Harvard graduate. Throwing 3 interceptions, making bad reads, and giving an awful performance in week 1 does not cut it. Ryan does not possess what it takes to be a QB in this league. After Sunday it is clear Fitzpatrick does not have the mechanics, or QB skills needed to succeed long term in this league. Buffalo I recommend you begin your search for a franchise QB. 66.5 QB rating won’t cut it.

To the Bills defense you have up 40+ points to a former USC QB, and a team that did not score 1 offensive touchdown in the entire reason.

3. Wait a minute…. Brandon Weeden really only completed 12 passes the entire game? Weeden isn’t a scrub he is who we thought he was. A random old guy in a football uniform. 12 for 35 really son? The Browns Overreacted thinking that it was a good idea to draft this kid. With a QB rating of 5.1 you guy are an NFL Week 1 Scrub!

See yall tomorrow Thursday Night Football!!!!

Overreaction Monday: Week 1 Edition

Don’t Lose Your Head…It’s Only Week One

What a week 1 that turned out to be!  Lots of studs, equal amount of duds, and people losing a lot of money on bets (I wouldn’t know anything about that).  Of course I should learn not to take away too much from week 1.  Even though 69% of teams that win this week make the playoffs, I’m sure the Giants want to say something about stats.  Week 1 should serve more as film on all of the teams so we know which was is as good as we thought or better/worse.  Don’t be like the Cowboys and Redskins fans that are already planning Super Bowl parades.  So without further ado, let’s look at 3 things I noticed.

So You Might Need A Coach to Win Games:In order to not jinx the soon-to-be-overhyped-by-ESPN quarterback that plays for the Washington Professional Football team, I’m going to talk about their opponent the Saints.  That squad looked lifeless.  They were outclassed, outplayed, and overmatched by a team that should not have scored 40 in the dome on them.   On a punt in the 3rd quarter, the Saints had 12 men on the field because one player decided to jog off.  The offense was out of sync a majority of the game.  The defense played like it needed an extra

Tweedle-Dee and Dum

incentive to stop the Skins…wait.  This needs to be handled by the coach.  Unfortunately for the Saints, they are on their interim-interim coach right now.  Hopefully he can make so adjustments until the interim coach can take over.

Speaking of coaching abominations, that Eagles-Browns games could have been coached better on Madden Connected Careers.  Andy Reid had his usual diabolical playcalling (LeSean McCoy will NOT send Reid a Christmas card).  Pat Shurmur, who just went up 15-10 on a touchdown in the 4th, decided instead of a 17-10 lead by going for 2, his squad would go up by an insurmountable 16-10 lead.  Unfortunately, it was only insurmountable in his head.  These decisions should not happen in the age of Madden.

Back to the Future: It was good to see the grizzled vets, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady doing work.  Manning looked masterful against a Pittsburgh team that played very well.  But you knew when they went no-huddle that Manning was not going to lose that game.  The Broncos have not seen true quarterbacking in a couple of years.  Let’s see if they can get use to it.  Brady made an awesome performance in Tennessee so boring, I really have nothing to say about it.

Let’s turn our attention to the rookie QBs.  Some looked just like rookies, others looked decent, one was awesome, and Brandon Weeden looked like he belonged out of the league.  Ryan Tannehill was very rookie like versus the Texans.  But after watching Blaine Gabbertsling it around against the Vikings (the bomb to Cecil Shorts), I think the Dolphins can coach him up.  Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson played well but each struggled in their own ways.  Luck had some turnovers and bad throws but that’s easy to explain with

I…must…keep…calm…no getting…hyped

Julius Peppers on your back.  Wilson was not as dynamic as some would believe but he had a chance to win the game and his receivers let him down.  As for RG158.3?  I mean Bob Griffin the Third?  His best attribute from Week 1 is that he looks like he’s been there, done that.

San Francisco Treat: The 49ers are the best team in the NFC hands down.  Alex Smith is not a game manager anymore.  They run over defenses with their ground game.  The Niners defense is a glove and will smack you in the face at the same time.  David Akers makes 63-yard kicks!  They are the most complete team in all facets of the game.  And they went into Lambeau field and dominated the Packers from kickoff to the end of the game.  It’s going to be tough for anyone to take down this Niners squad, even in the juggernaut that is the NFC.

Other than the 49ers, I am buying the Ravens no-huddle, Falcons, Peyton’s Neck, Cutler-Marshall connection, Chargers, AP, and Cardinals.  I’m selling the Saints, Michael Vick, Bills, Browns talent acquisition, Bengals, Carson Palmer, and Giants Week 1 performances.  I’m going to hold out on the Redskins, Cowboys, Mark Sanchez, Packers, Bucs’ defense, Cam Newton, Jeff Fisher, and the replacement refs.

So until Thursday, stay thirsty for football my friends (It feels great to say Thursday by the way).