From last week’s mythical picks, I got a few gold stars and a few embarrassing moments. Here is how they stacked up:
1. I liked the Cardinals plus 7 points against the Saints. They did not even come close to covering. Embarrassing Moment!
2. I liked the Saints/Cards game to go Over 56. It did. Gold Star!
3. I was tempted by the Cards on the money line at +270. You have to learn to resist temptation…
4. I liked the Ravens/Colts game to Under 44.5. It did so comfortably. Gold Star!
5. I liked the Vikes/Cowboys game to go Over 45. The Vikes did their part but the Cowboys’ offense took the day off. Embarrassing Moment!
6. On a hunch, I liked the Cowboys plus 3 points. The Cowboys would not have covered at plus 23 points. Embarrassing Moment!
7. I liked the Jets + 7 points against the Chargers. The Jets won outright. Gold Star!
8. I was tempted by the Jets on the money line at +270. Sometimes you just have to give in to temptation to see how good it feels…
Obviously, the picks above are no better than coin flipping or asking your Magic 8-Ball what you should do. So, clearly no one should think that any further information here would be even marginally useful in selecting which side to take in an NFL wager this weekend involving real money. If you think anything here springs from a font of wisdom, I would have to say that all men sprang from apes – - but you didn’t spring quite far enough.
Comments:
Here is Meaningless Factoid #1 for the week: Brad Childress and Sean Payton are both alums of Eastern Illinois University. So is Mike Shanahan. So is Tony Romo. That is a whole passel of Panthers…
Given the way Tony Romo played last weekend, I started to wonder how long it would be until the cameras located Jessica Simpson in the stands. That must have happened when I was visiting the “facilities”.
Have you ever wondered why Jerry Glanville never made it back to the NFL as a coach after he took some time off from coaching when the Falcons let him go in the mid-90s. [He is now the head coach at Portland State.] Maybe NFL owners and GMs have taken note of the fact that he was the head coach in Atlanta when the Falcons drafted Brett Favre. Glanville was less than enamored with the selection and said something to the effect that it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into an actual game. The Falcons traded Favre to Green Bay a year later and since then …
Speaking of “aged” quarterbacks, the story is that Kurt Warner is taking time to ponder whether or not he should retire or come back to play with the Cardinals again next season. Here is a piece of advice for Messr. Warner:
Get a real commitment from the team that they will shore up that defensive unit. If the defense continues to give up 40+ points every time it goes up against a top-shelf offense… You get the idea here.
Here is Meaningless Factoid #2 for the week: The last time the Minnesota Vikings played in the NFC Championship Game, it was 2001 and they lost to the NY Giants by a score of 41-0.
The reason the Cowboys have a “designated kicker-offer” and a regular place kicker on the squad is that the “designated kicker-offer” is not considered sufficiently accurate to be trusted with the placekicking duties. Excuse me, but Nick Folk was sufficiently inaccurate that he got his ass cut in mid-season and Shaun Suisham was less than accurate in the game against the Vikes last weekend. So, here is the question for the geniuses who run the Cowboys and the Cowboys’ special teams:
Are you sure you can’t teach David Buehler to be accurate?
If the answer to that question is in the negative then how about this follow-up question:
What do special teams coaches in Dallas do for a living?
I believe that the jury is back from its deliberations now regarding the trade that the Cowboys made with the Lions last season to acquire Roy Williams. The Cowboys gave up three draft picks – - including a first round pick – - and then lavished a large contract on Williams. Last week, Roy Williams did a very good imitation of Claude Rains with regard to pass-catching and run blocking.
Mr. Foreman, will you please read the verdict …
Reggie Bush had his best game of the year against the Cardinals last weekend. Was it due to the Cards mediocrity on defense or was it – - as a friend suggested to me last Monday – - that Bush was warming up to get out of the Superdome quickly after the game because there was someone there from the NCAA with a summons…
The Chargers’ fans cannot be thrilled by the outcome of last weekend’s game. However, those that want to see how the AFC season plays out can tune into the Jets/Colts game this weekend and those Chargers’ fans will notice that there is one aspect of this weekend’s game that is identical to last weekend’s Chargers/Jets game. Nate Kaeding will not make any field goals this week either.
However, next weekend Kaeding will be kicking in the Pro Bowl so he will probably get to try at least one field goal with nothing important riding on the outcome.
Here is Meaningless Factoid #3 for the week: Norv Turner is the only coach ever in the NFL to have won 90 or more games and still have a losing record overall.
As the NFL season draws to a conclusion, I want to bring something to the attention of the honchos at ESPN. Have you noticed how FOX, CBS and NBC manage to have their top announcing crews limited to a two-man booth? Have you noticed that ESPN’s three-man booth is significantly worse than any of the lead teams on the other networks with two men in the booth?
Memo to the “World Wide Leader”: Any chance you might find a way to fix that?
By the way, just thinking about the superiority of all those two-man booths made me realize that NBC created a three-man booth to do its doubleheader duty on wildcard weekend. Tom Hammond, Joe Theismann and Joe Gibbs represented a Marconi Migraine; they gave listeners a giant headache. The only thing that kept that crew from hitting Level 10 on the Suck – O – Meter was that it lacked Eric Dickerson reporting from the sidelines.
Jim Armstrong has this assessment of the Denver Broncos season in 2009:
“Not that the Broncos were, like, totally average this season, but their final record read like this: 8-8 overall, 3-3 in the AFC West, 6-6 vs. the AFC and 2-2 vs. the NFC. Before you go thinking they scored the exact same number of points as their opponents, they didn’t. They outscored them 326-324.”
The Games:
(Sun 3:00 PM EST) Jets at Colts – 8 (40): Shop this line. You can find it as low as 7.5 and as high as 9 at one Internet sportsbook. The most prevalent spread in 8 points at the moment. I think it is a mistake to say that because the Colts’ defense throttled the Ravens’ running game last week it will similarly throttle the Jets’ running game this week. The fact is that the Jets are a better running team than the Ravens are and so the Jets will likely be able to run more effectively than did the Ravens. I think the real question for the Jets is which QB will take the field on Sunday – - “The Sanchise” or “Broadway Schmoe”? I think the Colts feel a bit more certainty as to which QB will take the field for them on Sunday. The Over/Under line opened at 40.5 and has dropped to 40 in many places and to 39.5 in some places. Unless there is a special teams TD and a Pick-6 in this game, I do not see it hitting 40 points. If one team scores a winning TD in the final minutes to win 16-13, that will not shock and amaze me. I like the game Under 40. I like the Jets with the points. I also think a flyer on the Jets on the money line at +300 is worth a shot.
(Sun 6:40 PM EST) Vikings at Saints – 3.5 (52.5): Right at the outset, let me say that I like this game Over; I think it has the potential to go into the 70s. I also want to say that Sidney Rice may be the most underrated WR in the NFL at the present time. Having disposed of that, let me say that I have a lot more confidence in the Vikings’ defense to play with solid resistance than I do the Saints’ defense, which gives up yardage in bundles and hopes to create a big turnover. I say that knowing full well that the Vikings pass defense was in the bottom half of the NFL rankings this season; but if the Vikes can generate pressure rushing only 4 or 5 men – - as they did routinely last week – -, they should prevent the Saints from getting their signature big plays on Sunday. If the Saints can get a couple of gifts from Favre in the passing game or from Adrian Peterson fumbles, they will win here; if not … I’m going with “not”. I’ll take the Vikings with the points here because I think they have a legit shot to win outright.
Finally, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle has given us something to look for in terms of assessing the chances that the Raiders will return to a position of prominence in the NFL shortly:
“Prediction: If JaMarcus Russell is the Raiders’ quarterback for Game 1 of 2010, Al Davis has officially kissed the Super Bowl goodbye for his lifetime.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…