Combo picks post

I figure that I might as well just explain why I was wrong for last week and pick this week at the same time. Heck it’s getting hard to tell when last week was and when this week starts anymore. I mean I know that the week starts on Monday, or Sunday, but in football it usually starts on Sunday, unless its college then usually on Saturday, except when it starts on Thursday, or even Wednesday, ending on Saturday, or Monday. Except for Tuesdays. They seem to be pretty much football free zones. Problem with that, its Tuesday right now and there's a bowl game on ESPN. Am I going to get anything right this week?

I realize I didn't spend much time analyzing last weeks games before I made my picks and the results of that method will be made obvious in a moment. Now as we get closer to the playoffs, some games have different meanings than usual. Like if I'm the Lions and I can knock someone out of the playoffs, I might just try a little harder to end the season on a good note. Ok, the Lions may be a bad example, but you get the point. So what I'm getting at is that I will be putting some actual though into my picks the rest of the year. And my reasoning will hopefully make no sense at all, as I hope for.

Oh yeah, and within two weeks I will make my predictions of who I think will make the playoffs. All the great football writing minds do this, and I'm no different. Except that the others foolishly do this BEFORE the season starts. What dolts. Who could guess that early?

San Francisco at Seattle - WRONG
"They are about to kick off in Seattle. It is raining. Seattle will win the game.
But... GO NINERS!!!!! (First time I've felt it worthy to cheer for them this year) (Actually, go Frank Gore, my starting fantasy running back)."
Frankie really helped me out. He was the only one, so I lost in round one of the playoffs. The Niners surprise people, me included. Check this out, the Niners sucked gutter scum in the first year of Bill Walsh and Joe Montana (2-14), then improved a little the next year (6-10), and no one expected much the third year, but the won the damn Super Bowl. So here's Mike Nolan and Alex Smith. Year one, 4-12. Year 2, sitting on 6 wins with two to go. The pattern emerges so watch out for the Niners next year. And holy golly Alex Smith is actually starting to look like a QB for a change. Several darned impressive...outstanding even... plays and solid thoughout the game. But what is more important is the offensive line, even when a starter goes down, they continue to do the job. A big chunk of O-Line success is playing well as a unit (yeah, awesome talent helps, but only so much). This bodes VERY well for this team. I wonder if the addition of Larry Allen, though not the super stud he was in his prime, has anything to do with this. The guy knows what it takes, and surely knows how to pass on this knowledge.

Dallas at Atlanta - WRONG
"Atlanta off wins, Dallas off a loss = Atlanta wins game."
Enough about the Niners and their awesomeness already. I hear you all over there. So I'm getting giddy about my team again. So what. I hope they play the Cowboys next year. It would be so fitting to plow over the Cowboys on the way to the Super Bowl. Yes it would. Not sure what happened to Atlanta in this one.

Miami at Buffalo - CORRECT
"Miami only beats who you don't think they will, Buffalo too. Buffalo wins game."
Remember back in the 80's and it was always Miami and Buffalo going to the super bowl? How many did they win again? Buffalo is on a roll. Remind me.

Tampa at Chicago - CORRECT
"Chicago way better, wins game."
Chicago also felt they were way better. They appeared to have assumed victory and left the field well before the game was over. Thankfully for them, they returned for the overtime. This is not a good sign for the NFC come super bowl time.

Detroit at Green Bay - CORRECT
"Detroit way worse. Green Bay wins game."
No one cared. Certainly not I, beyond the fact that I got it right.

Jacksonville at Tennessee - CORRECT
"Vince Young keeps winning. Tennessee wins game."
Well, I was right about the winner, but it sure wasn't Vince Young's doing. Then again, Tennessee didn't so much win and Jacksonville gave it away. Tennessee had FIVE first downs and less than a hundred total offensive yards. Pathetic.

NY Jets at Minnesota - WRONG
"Jets came back to earth. Minnesota wins game."
Theory... Jets are boring. Opponent thusly falls asleep. As do game viewers.

Houston at New England - CORRECT
"Hope for snow, New England wins game."
Four INT's for David Carr. And he fumbled once (got it back). Rumor is David Carr brew up a Patriot fan.

Washington at New Orleans - WRONG
"New Orleans too good. New Orleans wins game."
WTF? New Orleans lays an egg. Just like I said about Chicago, this does not bode well for the NFC. The top teams simply have to beat the also-rans. One other note... Drew Brees is my fantasy QB. His turd-like performance just might have cost me the playoff win.

Pittsburgh at Carolina - WRONG
"Carolina shaky, Pittsburgh ugly. Carolina wins game."
Carolina shaky, ugly, rancid, and DONE.

Cleveland at Baltimore - CORRECT
"Baltimore way better. Baltimore wins."
Yeah. Easy pick. No brag.

Denver at Arizona - WRONG
"Denver going wrong, Arizona going right. Arizona wins game."
Yeah. Lousy pick. What was I thinking? Arizona?

St. Louis at Oakland - CORRECT
"Its the Dysfunctional Bowl. Oakland champs at dysfunction, St. Louis wins game."
I watched the California State Championship Football games last weekend. First time in a long time the state has pitted northern Cali against Southern Cali winners for a state title. Three good, well played games... You know where I'm going with this don't you? Of course you do. And yes, you gotta admit, any one of the six could have. You gotta admit it.

Philadelphia at NY Giants CORRECT
"Philly on a roll, NYG wacky dudes lately. Philly wins."
Maybe, just maybe, my most astute pick of the week. My only astute pick of the week.

Kansas City at San Diego - CORRECT
"San Diego just the best team in the league right now. They win."
Nice little game overall. But lets just concentrate on my Fantasy team, shall we. I would have hoped for even little bit from Antonio Gates. Or Larry Johnson, or anyone else on the KC offense, seeing how my opponent racked up some points with the San Diego defense.

Cincy at Indy - WRONG
"Abbreviation bowl. Scoring will not be abbreviated. Cincy has a longer abbrev., Cincy to win."
Indy did their part.

For the week: 9 right, 7 wrong. I'm now 59 and 49 on the "career" picking games straight up. Not too good. A little look inside the numbers this week makes me look worse. I get six of my nine correct picks this way, by picking Chicago, New England, and San Diego to win, and by picking Detroit, Cleveland, and Oakland to lose. This is not so hard to do. My other three correct picks were Buffalo, Tennessee, and Philly, and all three are on major hot streaks, all I did was notice that. Again, not really all that impressive. Throw out the really obvious winners, and then pick opposite me, take those picks to Vegas and you're rich, baby.

Just for fun, I'm gonna note the games this week that fall under the three categories: Obviously superior winner (OSW), obviously inferior loser (OIL), team on a "major hot streak" (MHS). I'll avoid a team on a "major losing streak" because they are probably already an OIL. And soccer in the U.S. is hurting enough (and if you get the joke, let me know). Besides, losing is so easy to do, you don't have to be on a streak to do it.

So without any further raving about the Niners immediate future.... on with the picks (and for the record, I will rave about the Niners some more):

Minnesota at Green Bay
Not to start off with the excuses already, but I usually type all the game headers and then go back for the "analysis" and the pick. As I typed in the headers this week, I was shocked at all the games that will be hard to pick. Lots of Good vs. good, and crap vs. crap games. This is one of them. The second kind. Favre either throws for 400 yards and 5 TD's, or he throws 6 picks. Either way, Green Bay should win.

Kansas City at Oakland
This game is OIL. KC to win.

Carolina at Atlanta
Carolina needs something to get back on the winning track. I think it's next years training camp. Atlanta to win.

Tennessee at Buffalo
MHS vs. MHS in this one. My edge? Well it goes to Buffalo. they are really a TEAM on a hot streak, whereas Tennessee has been a player on a hot streak, and last week got plain lucky with defensive scores. Buffalo to win.

Tampa Bay at Cleveland
OIL vs. OIL. This game will implode. Not even the NFL office will pay attention to this one. Except to check for uniform compliance. Tampa...as much as it pains me to say it...well, their uniforms look better. Tampa (coming after a HUGE near win) should win this one.

Chicago at Detroit
OSW vs. OIL game. I hate wasting two easy to pick teams in one game. Cuts into my record. Chicago will win this game, or they should have to forfeit their first playoff game as punishment.

Washington at St Louis
St Louis shutting out Oakland should mean nothing. They are still borderline OIL themselves. Washington, who should not take too much pride in beating a Saints team that failed to show up, is not much better, but they have been more "okay" than the Rambs (spelling intentional, one step away from being the Lambs again). I will not be watching Washington win the game.

New Orleans at NY Giants
WAKE UP New Orleans. Ahh, the Giants. That should do the trick. Warm up the voice all you wanna be announcers out there. Prepare for the game... repeat after me... "Eli back to pass, throws it off his back foot, INTERCEPTED!"

Baltimore at Pittsburgh
OSW game. Baltimore needs to keep up with the Joneses. Make that the Mannings and Bradys and Riverses. Who is Baltimore's QB this week? Like it matters. It might in the playoffs, but not this week. Baltimore wins.

New England at Jacksonville
New England may be a part time OSW, but not against Jax. This is simply the kind of game that Jacksonville wins. Jax's problem is the losses to Houston, and Tennessee, and Washington and Buffalo. These keep their record down, not allowing them to get home field in the playoffs, and their home is where they beat teams like New England. As they will do this week. Jax to win.

Indy at Houston
OSW vs. OIL. 2nd one this week. This schedule is killing me. Indy to win.

Arizona at San Francisco
Check my theory out with this one. If I am right about the Niners, this is exactly the type of game they will win. At this stage in their development they might not kick ass, but its the type of opponent that last year, and in fact earlier this year, they lost to. (Next week at Denver will be the more telling game, frankly) If the Niners are true to form, they will win this game.

Cincinnati at Denver
Here's hoping that Cincy, win or lose, takes a lot out of the Broncos, weakening them for next weeks game against the Niners. Now if Denver wins this one, they can clinch a playoff spot, otherwise, their playoff hopes may depend on that game against the Niners. I'm totally rooting for a situation where the Niners go into Denver, and knock Denver out of the playoffs. I so want that. Anyway, I think Cincy will win this one, based on true analysis...they just better right now.

San Diego at Seattle
Very OSW! If I were predicting playoff teams, I would likely pick San Diego as a team with a chance to get in the playoffs. AND I'M GUESSING THAT WITH TWO WEEKS TO GO!!!! Astounding. Seattle is likely going to make the playoffs. Oh the power of the NFC!!! San Diego wins this game.

Philly at Dallas
Bonus Monday game! How many damn times is Dallas on in a prime game slot (Either Sunday night or Saturday, Monday, or Thursday games)? Frickin' A, NFL, not everyone is Gald Darn Cowboy fan. You morons. Oh sure, we may like to watch them lose horribly, but you give us Philly? Or the Giants? Come on, how about letting us see them get crushed by Baltimore. Or run over by the Colts? Or kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered by the Bengals? Every shred of fiber in my being wishes to see the Cowboys lose. Its Christmas for Santa's sake. Stuff a Cowboy loss in my stocking, please. I've been a very good boy. Dear Santa, Philly to win.

NY Jets at Miami
I will be a bit potty from all the nog by the time this game rolls around, so I will need something to help me stay up for it. If you recall, I think the Jets are boring, too. Hopefully there will be Christmas pudding with brandy butter, and mince pies. These things always get me jacked up. This reminds me, I better get off my butt and get my shopping done. Oh tannenbaum. Jets wear green, so Jets will win.

And to all a good night!