Monday, November 8, 2010

11/8: NFL Wrap, and more!

Aloha... First to the NFL...
  • Falcons 27, Bucs 21 - Despite some egregious special teams play, the Falcons are 6-2... and the "Best Team in the NFC" takes another loss... I don't have near the same vitriol for Raheem Morris as most of my Falcons fans counterparts seem to, but I do hate the Bucs, and that's a nice win... Michael Turner getting on track to the tune of 24 for 107 and 2 TDs is encouraging, and Matt Ryan is still undefeated at home in his career against the NFC... but most of all, big-ups to my man Michael Palmer, the falcons rookie TE and Parkview High School/Clemson Alum, on his first NFL touchdown... yessir...
  • Bears 22, Bills 19 - So close for the Bills... In a game where both teams scored 3 TDs, neither kicked a FG, or had a safety... Buffalo loses... by 3?... Yikes... Anyway, Fitzpatrick was once again productive, but they couldn't get anything done on the ground, and Cutler made enough plays... I'm still convinced Buffalo beats somebody soon though...
  • Browns 34, Patriots 14 - The "huh!?!?" result of the weekend... Colt McCoy outplayed Tom Brady, Peyton Hillis went nuts (184 yards, 2 TDs) and is the best white running back in 20 years, and the Pats laid a collective egg... Not sure what to gleam from this one other than an aberration (we think) from the Pats, and a little fight from Cleveland...
  • Jets 23, Lions 20 (OT) - Another heartbreaker for the Lions... gotta be encouraged by how Stafford played (for the most part), but they can't seem to close a game... Sanchez looked more competent for the Jets than last week, and they eeked another one out, but there's something about him that gives me pause when taking the Jets to go deep into the playoffs... I don't see it working...
  • Vikings 27, Cardinals 24 - Lots of coverage for a meaningless game... "Favre saves Childress Job" and "Harvin and Childress scuffle!"... does anyone care?... Arizona is wretched... and I guess the Vikings have a glimmer of hope in a bad NFC, but this stuff shouldn't be a lead story...
  • Saints 34, Panthers 3 - Good team trounces awful team... but it's a good thing for Saints fans that they put together 2 games in a row... I'm on record that I'd pick the Saints over anyone in the NFC on a neutral field... more out of default than anything else, but that's about as ringing of an endorsement as I can give...
  • Ravens 26, Dolphins 10 -Baltimore looked very good here... Shutting down the Dolphin offense at every turn, and Flacco and Rice (170+ total yards) getting right... that's a scary team when they have it going... Miami is now in some trouble at 4-4 in the gauntlet AFC and behind the Jets and Pats in the division... with Pittsburgh/Baltimore in the same division, they'll need to get ahead of the Jets or Pats IMO to make the playoffs...
  • Chargers 29, Texans 23 - Weird game here... Someone named "Ajirotutu" had 111 yards and 2 TDs for San Diego (what?), they couldn't run the ball at all (again) and won a road game without the best TE alive, without their best 2 receivers, and this game featured Andre Johnson basically handing an INT to SD late... yes, that Andre Johnson... One thing being lost here is Arian Foster making the leap... that guy is very, very good... 126 and 2 TDs on the ground, another TD through the air... but I'm not sure that makes up for the giant step back that Matt Schaub/Kevin Walter/Jacoby Jones/Owen Daniels have made this year...
  • Giants 41, Seahawks 7 - Welcome to the NFL Charlie Whitehurst!.... I may have been wrong on the Giants... sure it helps the Seattle was missing their QB, both D-Tackles, and are banged up everywhere... but 41-7?... at Qwest Field?... Eli looked great, Hakeem Nicks is making the jump to top-10 receiver status, and even Brandon Jacobs showed a pulse... I'm not going to murder Seattle here... but those DT injuries are troublesome, and they need a healthy Hasselbeck... fortunately for them, the NFC West still isn't good...
  • Raiders 23, Chiefs 20 (OT) - Missed here too... Oakland keeps winning... Jason Campbell looks competent (at worst) and along with McFadden they've been able to score points... KC kind of gave this one away in allowing the KO return TD to Jacoby Ford (and 148 receiving yards! Jacoby Ford!), but Oakland is finding a way, and the AFC west is still wide-open with SD (4-5), KC (5-3) and Oakland (5-4) all right there...
  • Eagles 26, Colts 24 - Mike Vick, son... He was sharp, ran for 74 yards, threw 0 INTs and outdueled Peyton... Indy couldn't run the ball at all (3 ypc), and outside of an explosion from Jacob Tamme, they looked out of sorts (at least for them) offensively... Big win for Philly and the "Andy Reid wins after bye week" stat is alive...
  • Packers 45, Cowboys 7 - Had to save this for last... as tired as I am of the Cowboy coverage (hey ESPN/NBC, Dallas is done... done... done... we know they're a big story, but use that time to talk about real, live football teams), this was fun to see... Aaron Rodgers carved them up all night, Clay Matthews is a bad, bad man, and the Cowboy offense was jarringly bad... especially the run game (14 for 39 total, yikes)... It's getting comical for Dallas, but this was encouraging for people (cough, me) that picked GB to make the Super Bowl... good teams dominate bad teams....

THE PICKS! (23-26-1 entering)

  • Baltimore -4.5... Win!
  • GB -8... Win!
  • New Orleans -6.5... Win!

3-0!... 26-26-1... and we're back to level, folks...

Elsewhere...

  • The Hawks drop a game... It's about time, really... but Phoenix is a terrible matchup (already) for the Hawks because they can't keep Nash out of the lane, but compounding it with Marvin Williams and Mo Evans being out, and the seeming insistence to play Jason Collins did them in... Encouraged by the 2nd half comeback though....
  • Pau Gasol put up a triple-double in a rout of Portland... LA looks like a juggernaut honestly, and they did this one without much from Kobe... Get out of their way...
  • OKC falls to 3-3... panic time? eh... I don't think so... but losing home games isn't a positive...
  • The Rockets are on the board!... They beat the hapless T-Wolves by 26... Minnesota is awful... and I feel legitimately bad for Kevin Love (16 and 16 in 30 minutes)... but one story that has fallen through the cracks? How bout Houston apparently NOT signing Erick Dampier now...? Damp is out there?... Am I missing something? That guy is a top 20-ish center in the league, and while that doesn't say much, he should be employed and playing big minutes somewhere....
  • Oregon, Auburn, TCU, Boise are 1-2-3-4 in the BCS... still.... no surprises here... but the big news? Nebraska isn't getting a whole lot of love from the BCS, and with Wisconsin (ranked 5 currently) not having any more "big" games to win on the schedule... there's a legit chance that TCU or Boise could play for the title... that's the first time I've felt that way...

What to watch for...

  • MNF - Pittsburgh @ Cincy - 8:30 ESPN - Full write-up on the NFL preview post... but in short, I like Pittsburgh...
  • Hawks @ Magic - 7:00 SportSouth - This could get ugly for Atlanta... Orlando owns them, its on the road, and the Hawks are undermanned... cover your eyes...
  • Warriors @ Raptors - 7:00 NBA TV - I have no idea why this game is on NBA-TV instead of Hawks/Magic... but hey, it's a benefit to people that live in Atlanta... they get both games...

Thanks for your patronage...

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