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Ladies and gentleman... wait lemme try that again...
Fellow sports fans... nope, still not right...
Ok all you internet haters and wanna-be's (that’s better) week 1 is gone and by my gorilla style math we have 16 weeks left to go. No team, not even the Browns (well realistically speaking they were done by the third set of OTA's, but hey you gotta have hope right?) are out of the race to Miami. We have plenty of action to get to this week, so without further fluffery, here is your host, Steeljake!!!
Hello everyone! Good to see all three of you here for the show, let's get rolling shall we?
It’s week 2, and while 0-1 isn't terrible, 0-2 is on the way to suck-ville. The first four weeks usually give a clue as to what the season will hold, so I will leave my early season favorite picks for then. 8 out of the 16 games this week are divisional match ups. 11 of those 16 teams are 1-0, while only 5 are 0-1. 4 of the 8 games feature teams that are both 1-0, while only one game has 0-1 teams facing off. What does all this mean? Nothing really, but aren't stats useful to fill up space sometimes?
The Panthers will hope that Delhomme starts to act less like Jay Cutler and more like Matt Ryan as they face the Falcons while the Minnesota Peterson's get a bye when they travel to Detroit. The Bungles get to lose in Green Bay, the Cards head east to Jacksonville and Oakland and K.C. get to fight the battle for who can suck less. We have the Titans welcoming the Texans for a who-is-really-the-Oilers match up and the Redskins hosting the Rams in what should be a save Zorn's job for another week if they win affair rounding out the early games.
The late games feature the Bucs at the Bills, the Seahawks at the 9ers and the Browns traveling to Denver to co-star in the race for the number one draft pick in an uncapped year reality show. Monday features a match up that only a mother can love as the Colts revisit the site of their last Super Bowl win to play the Phins while Jaws and Chucky do their best to make Tricio go into therapy. I guess anything is better than Kornhoser and Thiesman...
(Wow, I actually got a headache thinking about that...)
I left some games out you say? Well in the biz we call that a lead in, I think. What lies below can only be loved by a parent or mental health care giver, so read on at your own risk...
All the talking is over now. Rex Ryan said he wasn’t scared, and he may not be, but Sanchez may need to watch his back. The Jets had a late season melt down with the great Favre-ini and the Man-genius exiting in the aftermath and are looking to build a new image. The Pats have Brady for 1 more game than they did already last year, and well, they just want to win. New England is already 1-0 in the division and while shutting up Rex is something Bellicheat wants to do, he will settle for starting 2-0 in the AFC East.
The Patriots with Tom Brady have been christened super bowl contenders. To be fair, they did go 11-5 without him last year. However; the exodus of no less than 3 of their veteran leaders on Defense (Bruschi, Harrison and Seymour) and a key injury to a new leader with Mayo listed with a knee (though Brady and his shoulder are on Bellicheats list, so whatever...) only gave way to them allowing the not so great Bills offense to get 90 yards rushing and 186 in the air. They also managed 4 sacks and the special teams got a forced fumble to help get in position to win. You think maybe Bill knows how to coach 'em up? Brady did look tentative in the early going last week, but by the end of the game he was stepping up and drilling frozen ropes to tight end Ben Watson on high post routes. Brady is quoted as saying talk is cheap in regards to Rex's yapping, and he is correct. The last time the Pats felt called out the entire league got a taste of fifty burgers and ass, I wonder how mad Bill is this week?
A rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback won in their first week... where have I heard this story before? Maybe Sanchez will be the next Matty Ice or Joe Flacco, but before he gets crowned he will need to survive his coronation. It is no shock that Rex runs his mouth, I mean look at who his dad is. For those of you too young to know it, he is the son of Buddy Ryan, the architect of the 46 and that 1986 Bears D and coach of the Eagles and Oilers in the 80's and 90's, and he was not known for tact. He has been known instead for placing bounties on opposing players, cussing out reporters for asking stupid questions and telling people how he really feels about other teams and their coaches. Looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree. I wonder if Sanchez realizes that it is him who will pay for the transgressions of the Head Coach. The Jets looked good, not great, against the Texans last week. The o-line, which has 2 or more pro bowlers at the very least on it and 1 hall of famer, did a great job giving Sanchez time to throw it and plenty of space for Thomas Jones and Leon Washington to run. They will need to do more of the same if they hope to get to 2-0 this year.
This game can favor the Jets if the air is taken out of the ball and it turns into a slug fest on the ground. If a shootout develops the Jets will not only be outgunned by the Golden Boy and his musket toting brethren, but it will be like they brought a knife to a gun fight. Ryan knows this and if Sanchez throws more than 20 times I will be shocked. The Jets have what I would call a punchers chance, but in the end the rookie signal caller will get taken to school and the Pats will walk away 2-0.
Prediction: 45-10 Pats and no handshake after the game.
When we last saw our hero Drew 'Regular Season' Brees he was shredding the vaunted Lions secondary for 6 touch downs and 350 yards of all out air assualt. Donovan F. McNasty, who knows he could have put 50 on the Lions, got his McRib cracked and may or may not play. But regardless, the mission is to keep Brees from getting 12 td's in two weeks and seeing the heads of all the ESPN experts explode.
The Saints have not really had an issue scoring points since Drew rode into town. That side of the ball is not what people worry about. The defense, the one that gave up 27 points to the Lions last week, has been the downfall. I know all this so called work went into that unit, a new coordinator and their draft focused on D, but the Lions put up 27. What will a team that actually has an offense do? There is a reason that the Saints always score 30 plus... they have to, and this week is no different. Reggie Bush is a wide out and new addition Mike Bell is the kind of runner they were missing when Deuce went down. If they can manage a few stops on D they will have this in the bag, but that can be a big if, unless McNasty can't go...
The Eagles looked great last week, right up until those 600 pounds of Carolina's defensive linemen 'fell' on McNabb in the 3rd quarter. The D looked great despite the departure of Weapon X, though Jake Delhomme's best Jay Cutler impression sure did help. Stats are great and they can help to see trends, but the only thing to look at to see if the Green Machine will play well is who is behind center. They did sign Jeff Garcia this week and there is no doubt he knows the team and the Andy Reid sans rushing attack playbook, but the word is that Kolb will start (at this writing on Thursday) and the last time Kolb played, well to say it went badly would be like saying Mike Vick would go over well in an Alpo ad.
The key to this game is who can just slow down the other team’s offense. If McNabb plays it will be a shootout and whoever kicks field goals will be 4 points behind the next time down the field. If McNasty can't go, well... Better get Andy some Big Macs so he doesn't eat the running plays. The Saints need to get the run going early to set up Brees to get deep and writing it is much easier than doing it. It's hard to pick with Donovan's status still up in the air, but I think the Eagles can get it done.
Prediction: 35-28 Eagles and one more look at Bush's welcome to big time football...
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwiMtGsFHwA&feature=related"]YouTube - Reggie Bush jacked up[/ame]
This is the kind of game that makes your teeth hurt. Anytime these two teams play I feel like there is really no need to play an actual football game but instead just have both defense's go out in the parking lot and brawl. Last jersey standing wins. I mean when you think of the Bears and Steelers, is anyone who is not a complete moron just picturing two bruising Defense's and a good old fashion win it in the trenches slug fest? The last time these two teams met it was just that, in the snow, and the mud with the Steelers playoff hopes on the line and it basically came down to the Bus and Uralcher. One big collision and it was over, and the blood and mud was so thick on the jersey's no one could tell one team from the other save for the logo's on the helmets.
The Steelers are the defending Super Bowl champs, but that was last year and this year that means squat. Think I am kidding? Ask Head Coach Mike Tomlin and he will be sure to tell you just that. The o-line looked just plain awful last week against a good defense and there will be no rest for those bum's this week. Troy Polamalu is out for three to six weeks so the scheme may change a little, but the philosophy will not: Kill the quarter back, stuff the runner, get the ball, score if possible, rinse and repeat. On Offense, well, the theory is run the ball and then pass, but the way hat O-line is getting handled running the ball is not going to be what one would call 'easy'. Ben Roethlisberger has shown that he can win it throwing it so it is not quite as unsettling to not have a running game as it once was, but being one dimensional against a Bears team is not a recipe for success.
The Bears knew that Orton and Grossman would never get it done so when the Broncos angered their sub .500 gun slinging cannon armed quarterback they jumped at the chance to get him. What they forgot to do was get him someone to throw it to. Hester is still a glorified special teamer and isn’t Johnny Knox that guy from Jackass? Still, even with a good receiving corps all Cutler could ever manage was 8-8, but hey this is Chi-town baby and they think he is a real QB!!! The Bears D on the other hand was doing work against the Packers and continuing to prove that defense rules the Midway. Brian Urlacher is out for the season and Hunter Hillenmeyer will step in at middle line backer and while the scheme may change, the philosophy will not: Kill the quarter back, stuff the runner, get the ball, score if possible, rinse and repeat. (Sound familiar?) The real question for the Bears lies in Cutler's performance; will he throw 6 picks or 7 td's? Matt Forte will have some trouble finding running lanes, but with Troy missing a little play action may work, hey it worked for the Pats when 43 went out so who knows...
This game should be even, but when the rushing attacks get bogged down and it turns into a shoot out the Bears will be out of ammo. The last thing you want if you are the Bears is for jay Cutler to have to throw 50 times to those wide out’s against the Steelers secondary. Until Chicago gets some people who can actually play receiver this is the way a game like this will end.
Prediction: you pick the score.
While the Ravens unveiled a down field passing attack to the tune of 300 passing yards for 2nd year signal caller Joe Flacco, the Chargers played a divisional rival on the road and just barely came away with the win. Neither of these teams so called great defense's played a perfect game, but both teams are 1-0 and in the NFL the record is all that matters.
Baltimore played host to the rebuild Chiefs last week and while their unusually high offensive numbers seem to tell the story, what the bright lights are hiding is that that normally stout defense gave up 24 points to team with it's back up QB in and their best offensive player playing for another team. I would imagine that the Chargers offense might be just a bit deeper as far as talent goes. The good news for the running game though is that the Raiders were able to run the ball, and the Ravens will actually stay with what works instead of trying to be the 80's air it out team, Oakland’s longs to be. Joe Flacco has shown he can get the ball to his people if need be so far, but that was against the Chiefs' db's, not Jammer and friends. The best attack for Baltimore is to bruise it out on the ground until they have to throw it.
The Bolts had a scare in the black hole last week but thanks to questionable officiating and the magic of the powder blue throw backs, the win has been recorded. The bad news is the running game looked pedestrian, LT got hurt, and the rush defense was sub par to say the least. If it takes a late game touch down to beat a team like the Raiders what does that say about your team? Many people, not including me, have penciled in this team to rep the AFC in Miami in February, but strug-a-ling against bad teams won't get that done.
This game can be fought on land or in the air and I feel like the edge in either case is tough to decide. The Chargers have a more experienced quarterback, but sometimes being nieve can make you fearless and not know you're supposed to loose. This is the kind of game that is a coin flip, so pick 'em at your own risk.
Prediction: 21-21 and Rivers did know it could end that way.
***Disclaimer
I hate Dallas, and not just in the ‘I don't like that team’ way either. I really hate Dallas, I hate the team, the fans, the star, the stadium, the owner, the coaches, all the players, the city, the state of Texas for even allowing them to stay there, the radio announcers, the ex-players who can't speak properly, and the ex-players that can and do well on TV. To me there isn't one redeeming quality about Dallas or the Cowboys and if the team and the city was wiped off the map tomorrow I wouldn't shed a tear.
End Disclaimer***
Week 2 and already we get one of the best rivalries in the NFL? The only bad thing that the Cowboys always play so well this early in the year only to fall apart in December and then lose to their bitter rival’s in the playoffs, well that happened once, but hey I can dream. The Giants have high expectations and just like their opponent they have lost a key piece of their offense and need to find a way to fill that void.
The Giants go back to what they do best last week; making opposing quarterbacks look like the back up to Scott Bakula in Necessary Roughness and running the ball down people's throats. Eli got his money, but he still has no one to throw the ball to, so he will just have to use that 100 million dollar arm to make perfect hand off's to Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw and let Osi, Mathius, Justo, Pierce and the rest of that blood thirsty, down hill running, quarterback crushing, run stuffing bruiser of a defense do it's work.
Yes, Dallas did pull out a win after a slow start last week, but much like the Ravens win the mirage of victory is covering something much more sinister. 276 yards passing by Byron Leftwich and a combined 159 yards rushing from Williams and Ward is not what you want to see. Though they won't face an offensive juggernaut this week, if they let up just under 100 yards to a Cadillac, what kind of ground can an 18 wheel Mack truck cover? Romo is in year 4 so this is when he either turns the corner or goes down the drain. T.O. is gone and the team is his, now he must put up the numbers that all his so called fans think he is capable of.
The sad truth is over the past 4 years the Cowboys have owned the Giants as of late winning 4 of the last 5 meetings in the regular season. This game will be more about the Dallas D trying to slow down the Giants rushing attack and the Dallas o-line attempting to slow down that monstrous pass rush than anything else. I hate to be captain obvious, but whoever makes the least costly mistake will win.
Prediction: 24-20 Giants, 6 is the over/under on the amount of times the ball is kicked into the big screens, and 346 is the minimum amount times Chris Collinsworth will say the words 'Pump Fake' and it will still be hundred's of times less than he did last Thursday.
OK folks, that’s all we have for Week 2, be sure to be on the look out for the GBU next week. The rest of my picks are below, enjoy the game and always remember, if it has the Dallas star on it, it either sucks, chokes, or stinks, or any combination of the three. Please send all questions, comments, death threats, hate mail and marriage proposals here. See ya next week!
HOU @ TEN
ARI @ JAC
OAK @ KC
CIN @ GB
MIN @ DET
STL @ WAS
CAR @ ATL
TB @ BUF
SEA @ SF
CLE @ DEN
IND @ MIA
Fellow sports fans... nope, still not right...
Ok all you internet haters and wanna-be's (that’s better) week 1 is gone and by my gorilla style math we have
Hello everyone! Good to see all three of you here for the show, let's get rolling shall we?
It’s week 2, and while 0-1 isn't terrible, 0-2 is on the way to suck-ville. The first four weeks usually give a clue as to what the season will hold, so I will leave my early season favorite picks for then. 8 out of the 16 games this week are divisional match ups. 11 of those 16 teams are 1-0, while only 5 are 0-1. 4 of the 8 games feature teams that are both 1-0, while only one game has 0-1 teams facing off. What does all this mean? Nothing really, but aren't stats useful to fill up space sometimes?
The Panthers will hope that Delhomme starts to act less like Jay Cutler and more like Matt Ryan as they face the Falcons while the Minnesota Peterson's get a bye when they travel to Detroit. The Bungles get to lose in Green Bay, the Cards head east to Jacksonville and Oakland and K.C. get to fight the battle for who can suck less. We have the Titans welcoming the Texans for a who-is-really-the-Oilers match up and the Redskins hosting the Rams in what should be a save Zorn's job for another week if they win affair rounding out the early games.
The late games feature the Bucs at the Bills, the Seahawks at the 9ers and the Browns traveling to Denver to co-star in the race for the number one draft pick in an uncapped year reality show. Monday features a match up that only a mother can love as the Colts revisit the site of their last Super Bowl win to play the Phins while Jaws and Chucky do their best to make Tricio go into therapy. I guess anything is better than Kornhoser and Thiesman...
(Wow, I actually got a headache thinking about that...)
I left some games out you say? Well in the biz we call that a lead in, I think. What lies below can only be loved by a parent or mental health care giver, so read on at your own risk...
The New England Patriots (1-0) @ The New York Jets (1-0)
All the talking is over now. Rex Ryan said he wasn’t scared, and he may not be, but Sanchez may need to watch his back. The Jets had a late season melt down with the great Favre-ini and the Man-genius exiting in the aftermath and are looking to build a new image. The Pats have Brady for 1 more game than they did already last year, and well, they just want to win. New England is already 1-0 in the division and while shutting up Rex is something Bellicheat wants to do, he will settle for starting 2-0 in the AFC East.
The Patriots with Tom Brady have been christened super bowl contenders. To be fair, they did go 11-5 without him last year. However; the exodus of no less than 3 of their veteran leaders on Defense (Bruschi, Harrison and Seymour) and a key injury to a new leader with Mayo listed with a knee (though Brady and his shoulder are on Bellicheats list, so whatever...) only gave way to them allowing the not so great Bills offense to get 90 yards rushing and 186 in the air. They also managed 4 sacks and the special teams got a forced fumble to help get in position to win. You think maybe Bill knows how to coach 'em up? Brady did look tentative in the early going last week, but by the end of the game he was stepping up and drilling frozen ropes to tight end Ben Watson on high post routes. Brady is quoted as saying talk is cheap in regards to Rex's yapping, and he is correct. The last time the Pats felt called out the entire league got a taste of fifty burgers and ass, I wonder how mad Bill is this week?
A rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback won in their first week... where have I heard this story before? Maybe Sanchez will be the next Matty Ice or Joe Flacco, but before he gets crowned he will need to survive his coronation. It is no shock that Rex runs his mouth, I mean look at who his dad is. For those of you too young to know it, he is the son of Buddy Ryan, the architect of the 46 and that 1986 Bears D and coach of the Eagles and Oilers in the 80's and 90's, and he was not known for tact. He has been known instead for placing bounties on opposing players, cussing out reporters for asking stupid questions and telling people how he really feels about other teams and their coaches. Looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree. I wonder if Sanchez realizes that it is him who will pay for the transgressions of the Head Coach. The Jets looked good, not great, against the Texans last week. The o-line, which has 2 or more pro bowlers at the very least on it and 1 hall of famer, did a great job giving Sanchez time to throw it and plenty of space for Thomas Jones and Leon Washington to run. They will need to do more of the same if they hope to get to 2-0 this year.
This game can favor the Jets if the air is taken out of the ball and it turns into a slug fest on the ground. If a shootout develops the Jets will not only be outgunned by the Golden Boy and his musket toting brethren, but it will be like they brought a knife to a gun fight. Ryan knows this and if Sanchez throws more than 20 times I will be shocked. The Jets have what I would call a punchers chance, but in the end the rookie signal caller will get taken to school and the Pats will walk away 2-0.
Prediction: 45-10 Pats and no handshake after the game.
The New Orleans Saints (1-0) @ The Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)
When we last saw our hero Drew 'Regular Season' Brees he was shredding the vaunted Lions secondary for 6 touch downs and 350 yards of all out air assualt. Donovan F. McNasty, who knows he could have put 50 on the Lions, got his McRib cracked and may or may not play. But regardless, the mission is to keep Brees from getting 12 td's in two weeks and seeing the heads of all the ESPN experts explode.
The Saints have not really had an issue scoring points since Drew rode into town. That side of the ball is not what people worry about. The defense, the one that gave up 27 points to the Lions last week, has been the downfall. I know all this so called work went into that unit, a new coordinator and their draft focused on D, but the Lions put up 27. What will a team that actually has an offense do? There is a reason that the Saints always score 30 plus... they have to, and this week is no different. Reggie Bush is a wide out and new addition Mike Bell is the kind of runner they were missing when Deuce went down. If they can manage a few stops on D they will have this in the bag, but that can be a big if, unless McNasty can't go...
The Eagles looked great last week, right up until those 600 pounds of Carolina's defensive linemen 'fell' on McNabb in the 3rd quarter. The D looked great despite the departure of Weapon X, though Jake Delhomme's best Jay Cutler impression sure did help. Stats are great and they can help to see trends, but the only thing to look at to see if the Green Machine will play well is who is behind center. They did sign Jeff Garcia this week and there is no doubt he knows the team and the Andy Reid sans rushing attack playbook, but the word is that Kolb will start (at this writing on Thursday) and the last time Kolb played, well to say it went badly would be like saying Mike Vick would go over well in an Alpo ad.
The key to this game is who can just slow down the other team’s offense. If McNabb plays it will be a shootout and whoever kicks field goals will be 4 points behind the next time down the field. If McNasty can't go, well... Better get Andy some Big Macs so he doesn't eat the running plays. The Saints need to get the run going early to set up Brees to get deep and writing it is much easier than doing it. It's hard to pick with Donovan's status still up in the air, but I think the Eagles can get it done.
Prediction: 35-28 Eagles and one more look at Bush's welcome to big time football...
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwiMtGsFHwA&feature=related"]YouTube - Reggie Bush jacked up[/ame]
The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) @ The Chicago Bears (0-1)
This is the kind of game that makes your teeth hurt. Anytime these two teams play I feel like there is really no need to play an actual football game but instead just have both defense's go out in the parking lot and brawl. Last jersey standing wins. I mean when you think of the Bears and Steelers, is anyone who is not a complete moron just picturing two bruising Defense's and a good old fashion win it in the trenches slug fest? The last time these two teams met it was just that, in the snow, and the mud with the Steelers playoff hopes on the line and it basically came down to the Bus and Uralcher. One big collision and it was over, and the blood and mud was so thick on the jersey's no one could tell one team from the other save for the logo's on the helmets.
The Steelers are the defending Super Bowl champs, but that was last year and this year that means squat. Think I am kidding? Ask Head Coach Mike Tomlin and he will be sure to tell you just that. The o-line looked just plain awful last week against a good defense and there will be no rest for those bum's this week. Troy Polamalu is out for three to six weeks so the scheme may change a little, but the philosophy will not: Kill the quarter back, stuff the runner, get the ball, score if possible, rinse and repeat. On Offense, well, the theory is run the ball and then pass, but the way hat O-line is getting handled running the ball is not going to be what one would call 'easy'. Ben Roethlisberger has shown that he can win it throwing it so it is not quite as unsettling to not have a running game as it once was, but being one dimensional against a Bears team is not a recipe for success.
The Bears knew that Orton and Grossman would never get it done so when the Broncos angered their sub .500 gun slinging cannon armed quarterback they jumped at the chance to get him. What they forgot to do was get him someone to throw it to. Hester is still a glorified special teamer and isn’t Johnny Knox that guy from Jackass? Still, even with a good receiving corps all Cutler could ever manage was 8-8, but hey this is Chi-town baby and they think he is a real QB!!! The Bears D on the other hand was doing work against the Packers and continuing to prove that defense rules the Midway. Brian Urlacher is out for the season and Hunter Hillenmeyer will step in at middle line backer and while the scheme may change, the philosophy will not: Kill the quarter back, stuff the runner, get the ball, score if possible, rinse and repeat. (Sound familiar?) The real question for the Bears lies in Cutler's performance; will he throw 6 picks or 7 td's? Matt Forte will have some trouble finding running lanes, but with Troy missing a little play action may work, hey it worked for the Pats when 43 went out so who knows...
This game should be even, but when the rushing attacks get bogged down and it turns into a shoot out the Bears will be out of ammo. The last thing you want if you are the Bears is for jay Cutler to have to throw 50 times to those wide out’s against the Steelers secondary. Until Chicago gets some people who can actually play receiver this is the way a game like this will end.
Prediction: you pick the score.
The Baltimore Ravens (1-0) @ The San Diego Super Chargers(1-0)
While the Ravens unveiled a down field passing attack to the tune of 300 passing yards for 2nd year signal caller Joe Flacco, the Chargers played a divisional rival on the road and just barely came away with the win. Neither of these teams so called great defense's played a perfect game, but both teams are 1-0 and in the NFL the record is all that matters.
Baltimore played host to the rebuild Chiefs last week and while their unusually high offensive numbers seem to tell the story, what the bright lights are hiding is that that normally stout defense gave up 24 points to team with it's back up QB in and their best offensive player playing for another team. I would imagine that the Chargers offense might be just a bit deeper as far as talent goes. The good news for the running game though is that the Raiders were able to run the ball, and the Ravens will actually stay with what works instead of trying to be the 80's air it out team, Oakland’s longs to be. Joe Flacco has shown he can get the ball to his people if need be so far, but that was against the Chiefs' db's, not Jammer and friends. The best attack for Baltimore is to bruise it out on the ground until they have to throw it.
The Bolts had a scare in the black hole last week but thanks to questionable officiating and the magic of the powder blue throw backs, the win has been recorded. The bad news is the running game looked pedestrian, LT got hurt, and the rush defense was sub par to say the least. If it takes a late game touch down to beat a team like the Raiders what does that say about your team? Many people, not including me, have penciled in this team to rep the AFC in Miami in February, but strug-a-ling against bad teams won't get that done.
This game can be fought on land or in the air and I feel like the edge in either case is tough to decide. The Chargers have a more experienced quarterback, but sometimes being nieve can make you fearless and not know you're supposed to loose. This is the kind of game that is a coin flip, so pick 'em at your own risk.
Prediction: 21-21 and Rivers did know it could end that way.
The New York Football Giants (1-0) @ The Dallas Cowboys(1-0)
***Disclaimer
I hate Dallas, and not just in the ‘I don't like that team’ way either. I really hate Dallas, I hate the team, the fans, the star, the stadium, the owner, the coaches, all the players, the city, the state of Texas for even allowing them to stay there, the radio announcers, the ex-players who can't speak properly, and the ex-players that can and do well on TV. To me there isn't one redeeming quality about Dallas or the Cowboys and if the team and the city was wiped off the map tomorrow I wouldn't shed a tear.
End Disclaimer***
Week 2 and already we get one of the best rivalries in the NFL? The only bad thing that the Cowboys always play so well this early in the year only to fall apart in December and then lose to their bitter rival’s in the playoffs, well that happened once, but hey I can dream. The Giants have high expectations and just like their opponent they have lost a key piece of their offense and need to find a way to fill that void.
The Giants go back to what they do best last week; making opposing quarterbacks look like the back up to Scott Bakula in Necessary Roughness and running the ball down people's throats. Eli got his money, but he still has no one to throw the ball to, so he will just have to use that 100 million dollar arm to make perfect hand off's to Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw and let Osi, Mathius, Justo, Pierce and the rest of that blood thirsty, down hill running, quarterback crushing, run stuffing bruiser of a defense do it's work.
Yes, Dallas did pull out a win after a slow start last week, but much like the Ravens win the mirage of victory is covering something much more sinister. 276 yards passing by Byron Leftwich and a combined 159 yards rushing from Williams and Ward is not what you want to see. Though they won't face an offensive juggernaut this week, if they let up just under 100 yards to a Cadillac, what kind of ground can an 18 wheel Mack truck cover? Romo is in year 4 so this is when he either turns the corner or goes down the drain. T.O. is gone and the team is his, now he must put up the numbers that all his so called fans think he is capable of.
The sad truth is over the past 4 years the Cowboys have owned the Giants as of late winning 4 of the last 5 meetings in the regular season. This game will be more about the Dallas D trying to slow down the Giants rushing attack and the Dallas o-line attempting to slow down that monstrous pass rush than anything else. I hate to be captain obvious, but whoever makes the least costly mistake will win.
Prediction: 24-20 Giants, 6 is the over/under on the amount of times the ball is kicked into the big screens, and 346 is the minimum amount times Chris Collinsworth will say the words 'Pump Fake' and it will still be hundred's of times less than he did last Thursday.
OK folks, that’s all we have for Week 2, be sure to be on the look out for the GBU next week. The rest of my picks are below, enjoy the game and always remember, if it has the Dallas star on it, it either sucks, chokes, or stinks, or any combination of the three. Please send all questions, comments, death threats, hate mail and marriage proposals here. See ya next week!
HOU @ TEN
ARI @ JAC
OAK @ KC
CIN @ GB
MIN @ DET
STL @ WAS
CAR @ ATL
TB @ BUF
SEA @ SF
CLE @ DEN
IND @ MIA
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