Week 2 Recap
Let me begin this edition of the quick thoughts by linking to a comment I made over on Sparty & Friends immediately following the end of the Chargers/Broncos game. I’m still too pissed off to retype the whole thing, but you’ll get the idea.
God I can’t believe how badly the refs blew the end of that game. Not to mention the blown fumble call earlier in the game, when the replay machine conveniently wasn’t working to overturn the call. I can’t even begin to describe how much I hate the Chargers (actually, I’ve done that before), but I have always hated the Broncos more. This just adds to it.
Other thoughts:
n Wow Seattle is bad. The Cardinals are the team to beat in that division. And they haven’t even played the Rams yet – there’s two more wins guaranteed.
n There’s a chance, albeit slight, that the Titans are the best team in the AFC South. With Kerry Collins as their quarterback. It actually seems weirder to see those words in print than it did to type them.
n Tarvaris Jackson. JaMarcus Russel. Kyle Orton. Chad Pennington. Jason Campbell. David Garrard. Tyler Thigpen (who the hell is Tyler Thigpen?!?). Brian Griese. Matt Ryan. JT O’Sullivan. Just thought I’d list all the NFL quarterbacks that took at least half of their teams’ snaps in Week 2, and that I currently trust less to lead an offense than Matt Cassel. Yes, I know four of them won their games this week. Doesn’t mean I trust them.
n The Jacksonville bandwagon might have gotten a little overfilled and slowed itself to a halt this week. But next week, when two-thirds of them jump off and hop on the Buffalo train, the Jags should start right back up.
n Actually, scratch that. Buffalo is starting the season at least 4-0, maybe 5-0 before they hit the bye week. They’ve got Oakland, St. Louis and Arizona coming up. Yikes. Jacksonville gets to follow up their horrible start with Indy, Pittsburgh & Denver (plus a bye week). Good God.
n Is it possible that Eli is the better Manning at QB right now? I’m just sayin… The Giants have had two pretty solid wins, while the Colts have a loss to the Bears (not looking too terrible) and a bad come-from-behind win against a very bad Minnesota team.
n The Packers are really, really good. Aaron Rodgers stepped in and hasn’t missed a beat. If they don’t win 12-13, I’ll be very surprised.
n Looks like the Pats aren’t going to face a real challenge until Week Six at San Diego. Of course, that begins an eight week stretch of games versus SD, Denver, Indy, Buffalo, the Jets and Pittsburgh. At least the October 26th game against the Rams provides a virtual bye week. The game in Miami on 11/23 ain’t too bad either.
Alright, I’m out of steam here. And still pissed at Ed Hoculi. I’m going to bed.
Lata.
Labels: 2008, Gambling, NFL, quick thoughts, Recap, Week 2
Week 1 Recap - So... about that Week One?
Not good times here in New England. The Patriots season appears to be over after eight minutes of Game One. At least the Red Sox are making a push to take back the AL East.
Here’s a handful of quick thoughts about the opening week of the NFL Season:
n Did I really say the Raiders’ offense wasn’t going to be as inept as in 2007? Really? That seemed like a good idea to put it in writing for all time? Hmmm… I should probably lay off the AM beers on post days.
n The Steelers look good. Like… really, really good. Like, might be the AFC favorites with a certain New England QB shelved for the next 12-18 months. Crap. Although, it was only the Texans that they beat up on.
n I’m astonished at just how bad the Rams are. On both sides of the ball. Donovan McNabb carved up their defense with his top two receivers out for the game. I’m starting to think the 2-4 record I predicted for St. Louis might have been generous.
n Might have been a bit premature to crown Jacksonville the best team in the AFC South. Although, at least they lost to a playoff team - Indy got their lunch handed to them by the Bears. That’s just inexcusable.
n Stupid Saints (-4.5) line costing me a 12-win week to open the season… damnit-all. The worst part - I set the line myself since it wasn't posted anywhere as of post time, and I still got it wrong! I suppose 11-5 isn’t all that bad. Of course, I don’t bet on weeks 1 and 17, so this was just a big waste for me. Hope you got something out of it.
n For the record, this year’s “Money Line system” went 10-6 in Week 1. Though I don’t think anyone would have chosen the Browns, Niners or Dolphins to win outright. Personally, I was 13-3 with no spread this week. I like those kinds of numbers.
n I’m not saying anything else about the Brady injury until the weekly picks on Friday after I say this – the instant it happened, I turned to my buddy Jay who I was watching the game with and said: “There goes the season. That’s at least an ACL, and maybe an MCL too.” As someone who’s had his share of knee injuries, seeing the type of hit and the way Brady’s leg bent inwards and then exploded out, there was never a doubt in my mind. Here’s hoping for a full recovery by training camp ’09 (though ACL’s usually take at least 18 months to get back the full strength – just ask Daunte Culpepper).
n Actually, 1 last thing. Damn my stupidity for not immediately jumping on Bodog to get a bet in on the Patriots’ “under” for season wins – it was still at ±12.5. I’m an idiot (like you didn’t already know that).
That’s it. Picks on www.spartyandfriends.com Friday afternoon.
Lata.
Labels: 2008, Gambling, NFL, quick thoughts, Recap, Week 1
