Week 9 Recap
Quick thoughts while sitting in my office for the 7th day out of eight,
with no end in sight…
n Who in the hell is Brooks Bollinger, and why did he have to come into the Jets/Chargers game yesterday? Seriously – doesn’t this kid know that the Jets are trying to tank the season for a shot at Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush/Vince Young? C’mon kid – there’s no way your team was going to win that game; why couldn’t you just mail it in, make some of those patented tosses ten yards from the nearest receiver (and preferably to a defensive back) and let San Diego preserve their (-7) cover? Just one more reason for me to hate the Jets…
n Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch much football yesterday. I was forced to work until 3PM, meaning I got home just in time to see Drew Brees cough the ball up and allow the Jets a sliver of hope about a possible comeback. As for afternoon games, the local cable provider decided to grace me with the Steelers & Packers, so I chose to spend my time more wisely by taking a shower and a nap before eating dinner and hosting my weekly poker night. Luckily, I did catch some highlights, as well as most of the Washington/Philly game, so I can speak with some insight about what went on this week… Ha, insight. Even I can’t keep a straight face on that one…
n I was impressed with what I saw from:
o Pittsburgh. I guess we really know how important Big Ben is to the success of that team, huh? Charlie Batch throws for like 65 yards, and the Steelers still hold on. Just imagine if they’d had a functional QB and no injury to Willie Parker…
o Carolina. This is why I picked them to make the NFC title game, and since I doubt Minnesota will be giving them any competition in that game, let’s say they’ll advance to the Super Bowl over Seattle. Plus, they clearly have the best cheerleading squad in the NFL…
o New York Giants. Folks, this is a much better team than I gave them credit for. Sure, they still have defensive weaknesses, and they had to play one of the two worst teams in the NFL to get the first road in of Eli Manning’s career (I’m not counting the “road” win in the Meadowlands against New Orleans earlier this year). But they are still a solid team, and they look to be all set to take home the NFC East crown.
o Seattle. Alright, so maybe they get the benefit of having 37.5% of their games against such stellar defenses as St. Louis, Arizona and San Francisco – three teams that look legitimately poised to have a combined 14-34 record by the end of the year – but the Seahawks still have 10 other games against some quality teams, and they’re still winning. Indy and ?Chicago? are the only other teams to be 3-0 in their division so far, with Atlanta, New England, Pittsburgh & Denver all at either 1-0 or 2-0. Let’s see how far Seattle can take this…
o Cincinnati. 7-2? Are you kidding? The Bengals are 7-2? Wow. And strangely, I still don’t see them beating Pittsburgh when it’s all said and done…
n I was appalled by:
o The Chargers. Guys, you’ve got to learn how to close out games. I put much of the blame here in Marty Schottenheimer’s hands for getting way too conservative with a big lead, but the team just seems to pack it in if they’re up by more than 10 late in a game. It’s been done before people – teams can make amazing comebacks! Just look at Philly and the blocked FG – turned – game winning TD…
o Terrell Owens. I don’t think I even need to explain this one. Gee, I wonder who’ll take a shot with him next year. Anyone else think that Minnesota misses their brooding, petulant star wide receiver? Or maybe Oakland could use another one. Maybe Baltimore will get back into the T.O. sweepstakes – I mean, he was a Raven for about a day and a half two years ago…
o The Jaguars. Yes, losing Fred Taylor (again) slowed down their day a bit. But like I said last week – they’ve got to stop playing down to the level of their opponent. Houston shouldn’t have posed that much of a problem for you guys.
o The Buccaneers. So… I guess Chris Simms isn’t the answer after all? And whatever happened to Cadillac Williams?
o The Packers. Ugh. If they didn’t already have Aaron Rogers waiting in the wings, I’d say they were primed for Matt Leinart (besides – how great of a training camp subplot would that be?) But with Rogers in tow, they need to shift their focus to, well, just about every other position on their team if they hope to compete next year.
o Virginia Tech. Enjoy the Outback Bowl boys, or whatever second-tier bowl game you get assigned to this year…
n 5-7-1 so far this week, meaning I have no shot at a 3-week streak of plus.500 picks. Once again, I’m blindly sticking with my Monday Night Football pick from my last post, Colts (-3) over New England. I want to believe that the Pats can pull this off. And believe me, I’ll be thrilled if they do (even more so if they win by no more than two points). But I just can’t imagine how that’s going to happen.
And I suppose that’s the best part about upsets – no one ever sees them coming.
Lata.
posted by Big D @ 12:50 PM
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