Are the Miami Dolphins good or is it just that “wildcat” offensive package that makes them seem like it? They now have victories over New England (sans Brady) and San Diego since allowing Ronnie Brown to take snaps and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. The reason I think allows this system to work best is that they’re a) surprising the defence a bit (that novelty will fade quickly) and that since there’s no QB that has to hand off, Miami is rushing 11 vs. 11. When a quarterback hands off the ball the play is essentially 10 on 11 since he’d stay out of the play after giving up the ball; so does one extra blocker really make that scheme that much more effective? It looks like it so far.

Are the Washington Redskins the No. 2 team in the league? They’ve now trumped both the Cowboys and the Eagles on their home fields and have only fallen to the clear No. 1 team in the league. Their top receiver (Santana Moss) didn’t catch a single pass in their victory in Philly and they still managed the upset. Granted, the Titans are undefeated and that defence isn’t going to allow too many points this season but the Redskins are up in the running to be next in line at the top of the league.

Matt Ryan sure showed his stuff as did the entire Falcons squad by beating the Packers in Lambeau. I know that Aaron Rodgers was playing hurt and wasn’t even allow to take a painkiller shot, but I think it was the Pack’s defence that let them down. Linebacker A.J. Hawk, their supposed stud only had two tackles and that has to change. He’s their core guy and if he doesn’t step up, there’s no way that Green Bay can beat Chicago or Minnesota on top of the NFC North.

The Cardinals were up by 17 in the fourth quarter, had a 4th and 1 or two within easy field goal range against a J.P. Losman-led Bills and decided to go for it. They ended up scoring a TD a few plays later but a field goal would have been the right call in my mind. There was no chance that Buffalo was coming back. In related news, My Coney Island Whitefish lost their game this week by one point. Their kicker, Neil Rackers, would have pushed their point total to 34 instead of 32 with a field goal in the aforementioned situation instead of the PAT he had. I am bitter with Ken Whisenhunt.

Speaking of being bitter about fantasy results, if you’re a Jonathon Stewart owner like myself, how do you feel about DeAngelo Williams breaking out and scoring thrice against Kansas City instead of your guy? Running back committees hurt much more people than just the guys who have sit out a few plays on the sidelines. There are millions of us affected every Sunday world-wide. Please stop the madness NFL coaches. Please.

The Giants beat up the Seahawks so bad that they even let David Carr come in and have his way with them. What an insult that is. What’s funnier is that the commentators were praising Carr, the worst bust in, albeit short, Texans history, claiming he couldn’t perform because of the dearth of talent around him in Houston. Then how do you explain his stink show in Carolina last year? That’s what I thought… And what’s even sadder for Seattle is that the Giants embarrassed them without Plaxico Burress.

I think the Ravens got robbed and the Titans shouldn’t be undefeated. That penalty should not have been called on Terrell Suggs, allowing Tennessee to keep on driving down the field and eventually winning the game. Referees are getting the spotlight more than ever and this is a shockingly bad thing for the NFL. Refs should be invisible, not the centre of attention.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone single-handedly blow a game like Sage Rosenfels did on Sunday. How do you lose two fumbles in the period of four plays? It’s mind-boggling and at this rate, the Texans are getting morally crushed week-by-week with first a hurricane and now stomach-punch losses.

How bad the CFL is: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are sitting at 5-9 and if the season ended today — mercifully — they would be in the playoffs. The 4-10 Argonauts are their competition and have given up 182 more points than they have scored. Pathetic.

What a crazy game that was in the Superdome. Whenever a game includes a blocked field goal return for a TD, two punt return TDs by the same game (Reggie Bush), two 50+ yard field goals, a game-winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining and Drew Brees screaming like Ray Lewis during a pre-game psych-up, well that’s a classic in my books.

As for the coming Rays-Red Sox epic ALCS on tap, we’ll get to that one tomorrow.

This week: 6-6-1
This season: 38-30-1

No Comments »

Those poor lovable losers are at it again, this year, their hopes were raised by a great regular season before being dashed by the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers. It should have been expected though; with the way that the Dodgers were coming together at the right time and the way that Chicago’s starters faltered horribly and lacked big game experience (even though L.A.’s staff isn’t exactly battle-tested either) you could see this coming. I don’t think anyone would have called for a sweep, but a lot of people did think the Cubs were due for a loss. Then again, a lot of pundits thought they could win it all – or at least this series before blowing it.

Philadelphia fans finally have a team to cheer about with the Eagles surprisingly under .500. With the Phillies closing out a tired looking Brewers team, they now have a really good shot at their first World Series appearance since losing to the Blue Jays in 1993. It’s about time Philly had some to cheer about other than It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (the best sitcom on television). The Eagles always let the city down, the Flyers haven’t been relevant since the strike that killed hockey and the 76ers have only started to gain traction on their slippery slope that started after dealing Allen Iverson to Denver.

Either way, both of the two remaining contenders for the NL crown are worthy of making an appearance in the Fall Classic. Right now, I’d think that Philly has an advantage if the middle of their potent lineup starts hitting like they should but if not, Manny will lead his new team to the biggest stage.

No Comments »

Has it really already been a quarter of a season? When time flies like that, you can almost want to justify adding games, but we all know how ridiculous that would be. I will maintain that adding games would increase injuries and if a team played long enough into the season, their calibre or play would go down to almost CFL-like levels and nobody wants to watch CFL ball.

Indianapolis (-3) over HOUSTON
If Indy wasn’t coming off of a bye week, I’d go against them here. Houston is definitely due for their first win of the season but it’s always hard to take down a well-rested team, let alone a well-rested Peyton Manning. I’m also interested to see how much heat the crowd can generate. This is the first home game for the Texans and the stadium is missing it’s roof, we’ll see how that plays.

Tennessee (-3) over BALTIMORE
If Joe Flacco and his Ravens can’t beat the Steelers banged up team, how will they ever beat the red-hot Titans? With Willis McGahee hurt (ribs and eye) will the Ravens be able to establish a running game with Rice and McClain?

San Diego (-6) over MIAMI
A week off isn’t going to help the ‘fins against the Chargers. Personally, I’m glad they busted out the direct snap offence against New England. Had they done it versus a younger, faster team like San Diego, Ronnie Brown would’ve never scored 4 TDs.

CAROLINA (-9.5) over Kansas City
The Chiefs win against the Broncos will be their only win of the season. Mark my words. At home Carolina should score at will against this young Chiefs team. Also, Larry Johnson is still over-rated.

Washington (+6) over PHILADELPHIA
With Brian Westbrook still banged up, can we really trust the Eagles to cover this line? The Redskins could get caught playing a bit over-confident after their huge win in Dallas but I think they’ll play with just the right amount of swagger.

Chicago (-3.5) over DETROIT
Against the Bears, the post-Millen era isn’t going to get out to a great start. This defence will baffle Jon Kitna into throwing three picks at least.

Atlanta at GREEN BAY (no line)
I’ve never seen a “no-line” notation this late in the week but even if Aaron Rodgers plays, how effective can he be with a bum shoulder? Being limited to hand-offs in practice is never a good thing. I think that if the line doesn’t get too high (-7), I’d take the Packers to win. This is, after all an offensive unit that’s more of system than it is of players.

NEW YORK GIANTS (-7) over Seattle
If the well-rested Giants don’t pummel Matt Hasselbeck into submission, I will be surprised. It will be interesting to see how Hasselbeck plays with a decent receiver back in the lineup.

Tampa Bay (+3) over DENVER
Defence usually trumps offence and Denver’s defence is god-awful.

SAN FRANCISCO (+3) over New England
I’m not ready to back Matt Cassel on the road, even if that means I’m putting faith in J.T. O’Sullivan. I can see Frank Gore having a great Sunday too.

Buffalo (Pick) over ARIZONA
Talk about no respect, the Bills are undefeated going into this game and will come out with that still intact. Losing Anquan Boldin will really hurt the Cardinals passing game since defences can now double up on Larry Fitzgerald.

Cincinnati (+17) at DALLAS
Giving 17 points is never an easy thing to do. That said, even with Chris Henry back in the fold until his next suspension and Chad Johnson saying how he wants to “kiss the star,” I would gladly give the Bengals the points and sit back and laugh while the Cowboys destroy them.

JACKSONVILLE (-4) over Pittsburgh
The Steelers are way too banged up to handle this Jaguars team that spent their draft picks bolstering their pass rush. I feel bad for Big Ben with this line in front of him. The guy is going to get beat up all night long.

NEW ORLEANS (-3) over Minnesota
The Vikings have Bryan McKinnie back at left tackle so now we can really expect Adrian Peterson to get going. I won’t be surprised when he runs for at least 200 yards and scores four TDs against this woeful Saints D.

Last week: 10-2
This season: 32-24

No Comments »