NFL Duel - Week 4

Well, the race can't get any closer. Last week Derek went a perfect 5-0 while I managed a very respectable 4-1 (Peyton Manning, you get back to being a superstar right this instant!) This ties us at 8-8 heading into this week's action.

There weren't a lot of marquee games to choose from this week, in which there's a legitimate case to be made for a close call. That being said, it's still entertaining as hell to read. Derek has moved from predicting specific plays, to predicting specific yardage on plays. I'm fine with this, as it will ultimately give me more ammunition against him. At this rate I'm going to need a bunker for all the ammo he's giving away.

Here's the picks.

Derek

Cleveland at Cincinnati
Cincinnati. One of these teams has to breakout and I’ll go with the home team. Back in these QB’s college days I used to call Palmer “Carsonception” for all his INT’s his junior year and for “Andersception” for all of DA’s INT’s he threw well… his entire college career. 24-13

Green Bay at Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay. Gruden will have the D flying to Rodgers. Rodgers throws 2 picks and 4 Green Bay fans start a plot to get Favreeeee back. 21-13

Washington at Dallas
Dallas. Romo keeps throwing to TO, and Barber keeps blugging away. No contest. 31-14

San Francisco at New Orleans
New Orleans. Brees hits Bush for a 54 yard TD pass with a few minuets left in the game to win. 20-14

Philadelphia at Chicago
Philadelphia. Chicago is not that good. McNabb takes more of the burden since Westbrook will be out. But he finds WR you’ve never heard of for 3 TD’s. 24-10

Loren

Cleveland at Cincy
Cleveland. I think Cleveland is the better team, but that's not saying much because they're both pretty bad. Last year the Browns snuck up on people and played their minds out for almost the whole year. These things never last, though, and now teams are prepared for them. Braylon Edwards hasn't shown up yet, but the entire Bengals team hasn't really shown up yet. 24-17

GB at TB
GB. I'm a big Brian Griese fan, so it's hard for me to pick against him. Griese is a cerebral QB who can do great things when he has the talent around him. TB, unfortunately, doesn't have a lot and the Pack's D is underrated. They're coming off a tough loss to Dallas and they have something to prove. GB is 100% healthy, but they have a team built to withstand. 17-10

Washington at Dallas
Dallas. Okay, new rule. We are temporarily suspending Dallas from out pool. I just can't take it any more, complimenting this team is gonna be the death of me. Unlike Derek, I think this game will be closer. It's a huge rivalry and the Skins should show up, but this game could also be the death knell of their season. If they get torched, I see changes coming. 28-23

SFO at New Orleans
New Orleans. The Niners are a good story, we all love what J.T. O'Sullivan has done so far but, come on, they don't have the personnel in place yet to hang with the stronger offenses in the league. I see the Saints picking these guys apart, running some stuff we haven't seen much (like Reggie Bush actually running the ball) and San Fran will have to play from behind. That's too much pressure for a rooking QB. 35-23

Philly at Chicago
Philly. Look, we only put this game on here because the guy helping us figure out why the hell we couldn't film our cable show asked us to. And there weren't a lot of other games to choose from. I don't think much needs to be said, except that the Bears really really really really need a QB. Seriously. Please. In order to be remotely watchable. Please, get a QB. For me? 27-9

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NFL Duel - Week 3

Howdy everyone!

We had an exciting duel between Derek and I last week for football picking supremacy. The final tally was Loren with 4 correct picks and Derek with 3. Both of us managed to get lucky with the Carolina pick over the Bears and made the fairly easy call with the Patriots over the Jets.

I'd have had a perfect week if my pride hadn't tricked me into taking the Dolphins in an effort to rub it in Derek's face, but he had the right call with the Cards. We both predicted a high scoring Monday night game, but I managed to pull that one out with a vomit inducing pick of the Cowboys while Derek was on the early Eagles bandwagon.

The best game, for this contest's purposes, was definitely the Broncos/Chargers. I went with my hometown team and, regardless what you want to say about the officiating, they pulled it out. Barely.

So we head to week three with the score, again, at 4-3. On to this week's picks.

Derek

St. Louis at Seattle
Seattle. Sure Seattle has looked terrible so far, but I have to think that they can turn it around against St. Louis. Seattle should be able to hold the Rams to two scores or less and I₼m thinking the crowd will win this won. 24-10

New Orleans at Denver
Denver. New Orleans needs to step it up big time. They are playing well below their ability but they have been doing this for over a year now, so there is no reason to think they will change. That and the game is in Denver should be more than enough to get Denver to 3-0. 27-20

Jacksonville at Indianapolis
Jacksonville. This has been a close game for the past 2 or 3 years. I think this year we will start to see separation by Jacksonville. Indy is getting to the point where their reign is over. Jacksonville run for over 200 yards. 23-14

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia
Philadelphia. I could go back and forth on this game all day. Pittsburgh has looked very good so far. But I have a feeling that Fast Willie Parker is going down, while being booed by the Eagle fans. McNabb is too much for the Steelers blitzers. 28-20

Dallas at Green Bay
Dallas. Aaron Rogers faces a hard hitting D and throws 2 picks one returned for a TD. Romo and TO continue their high scoring pace. 38-21

Loren

St. Louis at Seattle
Seattle. The 'Hawks will be playing with the urgency of know that if they go 0-3, Holmgren's last year will likely be down the drain. They've not yet put together a consistent game, but neither has St. Louis. The Rams want to feature Jackson more, the Seahawks just wants someone to catch a ball. The offenses will sputter, so it comes down to D, and the Rams are bad while Seattle can/should be good. 21-17

New Orleans at Denver
Denver. Some folks are calling this a let down game for the Broncos after a crazy win over division rivals Sandy Ego. Normally, I'd be with them on this, but I have a feeling that the Broncos aren't satisfied with the magic act they pulled in the second half last week and they want to show the world it wasn't a fluke. They'll come out strong and the defense will be more consistent in the second half. Bush will have a huge game, but it won't be enough. 35-20 in the mile high air.

Jacksonville at Indianapolis
Indy. Whew, I'm having a little trouble with this pick knowing that Jacksonville's D is as good or better than Minny's and Chicago's, Indy's first two victims this year. Losing Bob Sanders is a major blow for the Colts, too. But they are nothing if not resilient, and they have that one guy...oh yeah, Superstar (and most complete QB in the league) Peyton Manning. I see the Colts taking another one on a last gasp drive. 23-20

Pittsburgh at Philly
Eagles. They're likely getting Reggie Brown, arguably their best receiver, on the field for the first time this season. They're playing at home. They have consistent play makers at the three key offensive positions. The Steelers are good, but they sometimes get by on grit. That won't cut it this week. 31-24.

Dallas at Green Bay
Dallas. Good lord, I've had to take Dallas two weeks in a rown. Any more of this and I'll be able to call myself bulimic for all the vomting I've done. Just like last week, heart is with Green Bay, head is with Dallas. But this is one game I wouldn't mind picking wrong. I actually agree with Derek that The Aaron Rodgers Balloon loses a little air with one or two costly interceptions (though I won't go so far as to try to prediction individual plays?!?! On a screen to the week side, Ryan Grant gets hit early, the ball pops up in the air, two Dallas defenders converge on the ball, and CB Mike Jenkins takes it, reverses field, and runs 63 yards for the TD). Anyway, 27-17 for Dallas.

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Derek and I Duke it Out Through Football

In the spirit of competittion, and so that one of us will have something to lord over the other, Derek and I have decided to pick the winners of 5 NFL games each week. At the end of the season, the loser has to wear paraphrenalia of the winners choice on an episode of our show.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Derek in an Elway jersey.

Anyhow, here's this week's picks. BTW, this is getting posted after the games start, but the picks were made in advance.

Games: Chicago at Carolina, New England at New York (Jets), San Diego at Denver, Miami at Arizona, Philidelphia at Dallas.

Derek's Picks

Chicago at Carolina
Carolina. Home team with a D that can easily shut down Chicago. The question is the Panthers O versus the Bears D. I think the Panthers have enough young talent that will come through. 17-13.

New England at New York (Jets)
New England. Sure the Pats lost one of the best offensive players in the league, but that team won 18 games last year and you don’t do that just because of your QB. The Jets could barley score on a bad Miami team the Pats will hold them out of the end zone all day. 17-6

San Diego at Denver
Sand Diego. Even with Denver’s impressive win against Oakland last week I’ll stick with the Chargers. They have the running game and now an entire off season with Rivers and Chambers to get the deep threat going. 24-14

Miami at Arizona
Arizona. Miami is just too young to go on the road and win a game against a decent team. They will make too many mistakes and be flagged to many times. Arizona will be able to throw all over them. 31-13

Philadelphia at Dallas
Philadelphia. This game will be the game of the week. You will see great plays on both sides of the ball from both teams. But Andy Reid is much better than Wade Phillips, and he will make the half time adjustments to keep Dallas to one score in the second half. 27-24

Loren's Picks

Chicago at Carolina
Carolina. The Panthers have a decent offense and Delhomme looks more comfortable than we've seen him since the Super Bowl run. The Bears were surprising against the Colts but, come on, we're talking about an Ortman/Grossman led team! They can't keep it up and the Panthers D is better than people think. 24-10

Pats at Jets
Pats. The Patriots are still the team to beat until someone proves otherwise. They have a physical (if old) defense and they still have great skill on the O line and at receiver. Even if Cassel isn't terrific, his receivers are good enough to bail him out if necessary. 28-17

San Diego at Denver
Broncos. Believe me, this isn't just a homer pick. They're playing in Denver which is always trouble for sea-level teams. The Chargers didn't look sharp last week, while the Broncos did, and Denver will be getting back their greatest offensive threat not named Cutler. If this game were being played in San Diego I might not be able to see Denver taking this one. Good thing it's not. 27-17

Miami at Arizona
Miami. Here's the thing. I'm just taking Miami so that I can say to Derek, "Dude, I won with your team!" I'm not sure if Miami can pull this one out, but I don't think they'll go winless this year, so they have to win some time, and Arizona is as good a chance as any. If the Dolphins can keep Brown and Ricky Williams fresh by interchanging them, they may be able to punch it in late in the game. 16-14

Philly at Dallas
Dallas. My heart is with Philly, but my head is with Dallas, mostly because they are playing in Dallas. Screw defense, I'm hoping, and predicting, that this will be an offensive explosion. Dallas in a barn-burner. 38-31

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Time to play catch-up

Well...

It's been a while since I updated on here, so props to D for keeping the dream alive while I've been just daydreaming.

A couple thoughts for you. First of all:

GO BRONCOS!

That was a pretty sweet ass-kicking they put on the Raiders last night. Now, I know it's the Raiders, but still the Broncos looked really sharp and, more importantly, Jay Cutler was totally on his game even though the team was missing Brandon Marshall. And I can't even express how impressed I was with Edidie Royal. He's a rookie WR and last night he was asked to shoulder a huge portion workload. Not only did he respond, but he went above anyone's expectations. The most impressive thing about him, though, was his complete composure. He never retaliated when DeAngelo Hall hit him for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and he wisely threw the ball away on a play where he was QB and all the receivers were covered.

I have to say, the defense still needs some work. They're supposed to have a great secondary and they didn't play like that consistently last night. We know their run defense is suspect, but it should be better this year than last (it can't really be worse, 30 out of 32 teams last year). All in all, I've got goosebumps about this team.

Moving on. Derek needs to stop eating potato chips for dinner. Soccer starts tomorrow and I will stab a bitch if he vomits on me. Seriously.

How about a few predictions?
Blazer wins - 49.
Post-season series won - 1.
Number of players Greg Oden kills - 14.
Number he kills simply by staring at them - 2.
2009-10 season expectations - unchartable.

Derek, Philipp and I are going to be playing in the 2008 Roofball games on September 27th, in the metropolis of Beaverton. Get more info at www.roofball.org and watch for updates on the show. Speaking of shows, if you want us to discuss a topic on the show we're filming this Friday, drop us a line (or comment, like you do).

Alright, that's it for now. Go Blazers, go Broncos, go Chad Pennington...ahahahahaha. Sorry, D, couldn't resist.

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Follow up

Just a quick follow up on the Pac-10 vs. SEC. Here is a link to an ESPN article today regarding how teams schedule. The SEC has five teams on this list and the Pac-10 has one.

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Pac 10 vs. SEC

The Pac 10 versus the SEC is an ongoing debate, at least on the West coast. I’m pretty sure that it does not get much attention on the East side of the Country. I’m not going to get into the “Who’s better than who” conversation I just wanted to take a look at who schedules tougher competition. ESPN says Georgia has the toughest schedule in college football, so one point for the SEC but then ESPN says the second, third and fourth toughest schedules go to Washington, UCLA and Oregon State. Alabama does get a nod at #9. So I thought lets take a look at how the teams in each conference scheduled their first game. Please note I took at all the teams that played conference games because this would sway the numbers. Oregon vs. Washington and Stanford vs. Oregon State.

Pac 10
Arizona State/Northern Arizona II
Arizona/Idaho I
California/Michigan State BCS
UCLA/ Tennessee BCS
USC/ Virginia BCS
Washington State/Oklahoma St. BCS

BCS 66%
I 83%
II 17%

SEC
Florida/ Hawaii I
Georgia/Georgia Southern II
Kentucky/Louisville BCS
Vanderbilt/ Miami (Ohio) I
South Carolina/ North Carolina State BCS
Tennessee/ UCLA BCS
Auburn/ Louisiana Monroe I
Arkansas/ Western Illinois II
LSU/ Appalachian State II
Mississippi/ Memphis I
Alabama/ Clemson BCS
Mississippi St./ Louisiana Tech I

BCS 33%
I 75%
II 25%

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