NFL Week Four

[RepoMan 0]

I can't believe Philly didn't challange that play on 4th and goal, from the overhead it looked liked he broke the plan. Worth a shot at least.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Hey...someone in the NFC East lost to someone not in the NFC East.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Okay, that game was excruciating to watch. There's bad football and then there's whatever that was.

[cabbageboy 0]

Let's see how I did today with the predictions:

 

1:00 Games

ATL @ CAR: I have a feeling ATL will be a decent home team but when they go on the road the youth will start showing more with Ryan. Carolina by 10. (Nailed this one pretty much. 1 for 1)

CLE @ CIN: Well, someone is going to have to win. The Bengals actually were quite good against the Giants, so I'll take them by 7. (Wasn't factoring in the Palmer injury, ah well. 1 for 2)

HOU @ JAC: Houston always plays the Jags tough and they really need the win here. That said, I can't see JAX following that Indy win by losing at home. Jags by 6. (Only by 3 in OT...where would JAX be without Scobee? 2 for 3)

DEN @ KC: You want assrape? This is one right here. Broncos by 17. (Most bizarre shock of the day. Maybe Denver's luck is running out? 2 for 4)

SF @ NO: I don't buy the Niners as being anything decent yet. Saints also need a win badly after two tough road losses. New Orleans by 12. (Saints won by 14 actually. 3 for 5)

ARI @ NYJ: This is a perplexing game. I don't really like what I'm seeing from the Jets right now, so I'll take the Cardinals to pull off a road win 24-21. (Wow, Favre had an insane day and this was just crazy. 3 for 6)

GB @ TB: The Bucs are a pretty solid team actually and I think they can hold serve at home here in a tough game. Tampa 28-24. (Ended up 30-21 with Tampa winning. 4 for 7)

MIN @ TEN: This will be an ultra physical game. Can't see either team scoring very much in it, but Tennessee has the better D so I'll take them 16-10. (Ended up a bit easier than I figured for the Titans. 5 for 8)

 

4:00 Games

SD @ OAK: Chargers look back on track and with Oakland's bizarre coaching situation I can't see this going well for the Raiders. SD by 14. (Chargers had more trouble than expected, but a solid win. 6 for 9)

BUF @ STL: The Rams may well have a shot at 0-16. Bills by 17. (Nailed this exactly. 7 for 10)

WAS @ DAL: A little surprising that the line on this one is 11 or so. I think the Redskins keep it a bit closer than that. Dallas by 7. (Wow, Redskins with an impressive road win. I knew Dallas wouldn't cover 11, but thought they would win. 7 for 11)

Night game

PHI @ CHI: Bears have lost two really tough games thus far, but with the Eagles perhaps a little banged up I'll take Chicago to win this one by 3. (Bears won by 4 actually, very exciting game. 8 for 12)

 

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

From somebody who's actually seen them play this year: Is Houston better than their 0-3 record? Wasn't this supposed to be the breakthrough year for them to pass .500 and have a winning season?

 

I'm still torn on them. They looked good against JAX today, but awful against the equally-torn-on Steelers in Week One. I'll rule out Week Three, since I think the Titans really are this good.

 

Other musings:

* As mentioned in the KKK Pick'Em, I really didn't see New York winning over Arizona, and certainly not by means of 56 points.

* Ditto for Denver-KC, but I didn't realise how much history was on Kansas' side.

* I really don't know why I was so adamant about Cleveland losing. Just a hunch, I guess.

* I'm disappointed in the Raiders loss, or perhaps moreso, the fourth quarter. I didn't see any of the second half, but it doesn't sound very comforting.

* The Bills are also this good, but need to play a little better in the first half.

* Any news on Boldwin (sic)? My remote got a hell of a workout today, so Ari-NY was off for good by the two-minute warning.

* I took my own advice (or Czech's), and picked Chicago in my bar pools. Omen, baby. What a great finish in that game. I'm going to regret staying up to watch it, having to work in....yikes, 5.5 hours, but still.

* How did Matt Bryant's son die? My God, that's awful, and I really admire him for playing today, let alone hitting 3 XP and 3 FG's.

[naiwf 0]

* Any news on Boldwin (sic)? My remote got a hell of a workout today, so Ari-NY was off for good by the two-minute warning.

 

* How did Matt Bryant's son die? My God, that's awful, and I really admire him for playing today, let alone hitting 3 XP and 3 FG's.

 

Boldin was talking to his teammates coming off the field and going into the locker room. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for precautionary reasons.

 

“He’s alert,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “He’s talking and moving all his extremities. He asked to get up and the doctors won’t let him.”

 

That's amazing because that was one of the most frightening hits I've ever seen.

 

Gruden, fighting back tears, opened his post-practice news conference by revealing that Tryson Bryant, born June 16, "just didn't wake up" Wednesday morning. Tryson was the youngest of two sons of Matt and Melissa Bryant.

 

That's got to be a horrifying feeling. The kid was 3 months old. Didn't Jurevicius' kid die while he was on the Bucs too? That's got to be hard to deal with for the organization considering there's probably a few guys on the team who went through it once already.

[Kinetic 0]

So Tampa outgained Green Bay 327-181 and held the ball for nearly 13 minutes longer. Had Brian Griese not thrown those picks (although you might as well ask the sun to stop shining, the birds to stop singing) this wouldn't have been as close as it ended up being. I'm really encouraged by the fight this team has shown the last two weeks; I don't know if we would have won either of these games last year. Galloway's injury has proven to be a blessing in disguise, as it's forced the playcalling to be more varied and the QB to spread the ball around more. The defense is playing damn near at 2002 levels: making the QB miserable, forcing turnovers, and scoring points. And Warrick Dunn! Holy shit, I didn't think he had this much left in the tank. If only we didn't have such a shitty QB situation.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah I don't understand why they pulled the trigger on benching Jeff Garcia so quickly.

[Kinetic 0]

He was being pissy about his contract and looked really jumpy behind the line in week 1. Plus, it seems like there's been a real breakdown in his relationship with Gruden due to the team pursuing Favre so heavily in the offseason. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he gets traded before the deadline, as we have a perfectly servicable backup in Josh McCown. Garcia hasn't even dressed the last two weeks. He's done here, let's get something for him.

[Guest Vitamin X]

He was dressed today, even had his little team captain patch on his jersey and everything!

 

We'd love to trade you a Matt Flynn or Brian Brohm for Jeff Garcia.

[Celtic Guardian 0]

I can't see how Linehan keeps his job another week either.

 

And he didn't. Linehan fired, Jim Haslett bumped up to interim coach.

[Guest C*Z*E*C*H]

Redskins had a great first half. Gonna be very hard to keep the Dallas offense under wraps for another entire half though. I'd have liked them to take a 2 score lead into half time but hey, allowing a FG is better then a TD.

 

This is definately NFC East football, folks.

 

Football is a game. It is a game unlike any other. It is a game of history, and it is also a game of geography. Throughout the history of our great nation, society's undesirables were pushed westward, left to colonize the vast plains and mountains for their own inadequate selves, sprawling out amidst the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the California coast. These men would become established in their own right, but only over time. But indeed, the truly established, the blessed aristocracy, never had a reason to leave. While the worst went west, the best stayed east. East. East, where it all began, and where it will continue, now and forever. East, where the defenders of the federal city meet the product of the cauldron of liberty. East, where the greatest men of the greatest metropolis meet the far-flung renegades of the Lone Star State. The stakes are high, and the intensity is even higher. The road to the pantheon of football greats is paved with the achievements of the elite tetralogy. It is where patricians in fedoras lead mere men to immortality, where enthusiasts of the race lead warriors to the REAL finish line. The gears of the machine turn every day. No man can stop the machinery. Teammates may fall, children may sell drugs, owners may meddle, but the day-to-day travails of everyday life have always been no match for the integrity of The Fight. In many ways it is God's division, and yet in many ways, it is also the division of the gods. Here, a sport is elevated, transcended beyond the limits known by mortals. This is divine sport. This is football. This is NFC East football.

[Kinetic 0]

He was dressed today, even had his little team captain patch on his jersey and everything!

 

We'd love to trade you a Matt Flynn or Brian Brohm for Jeff Garcia.

 

Well, he was inactive, anyway. And we're already carrying four QBs, so I doubt that we'd do a trade like that. Although with this coach...

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Well, Chicago tried everything they could to throw that game away, but the defense actually stepped up and won that game for them. Alex Brown wrapped that guy up like a fuckin' octopus on that big goal line stand.

[cabbageboy 0]

Tampa is a puzzling team. They are winning but it almost seems in spite of Griese. The benching of Garcia is puzzling to me since I had no idea his starting job was in jeopardy going in. Then they lose a tough game at New Orleans by 4 and he's benched just like that and demoted to 3rd string?

 

That game with Green Bay shouldn't have even been close yesterday, but Griese nearly handed the Packers the game. It was an entertaining game too, certainly better than the alternative in this area (the Bengals/Browns anti classic).

[Matt Young 0]

So, are the Redskins for real? They looked absolutely terrible in week 1 against the Giants, but have won their last 3 and beat the Cowboys. They also hold victories over the Saints and Cardinals who, while not great teams by any means, are competent.

 

I haven't seen any of their games since week 1- I watched San Diego-Oakland instead yesterday- but I'm wondering if they are legit competitors in the loaded NFC East.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I think they are. It's reasonable to say that both wild cards are going to be from the East, so that's three teams fighting for two spots, with a half-dozen interdivision games. I can honestly see every team in the NFC East going 12-4 or 11-5.

 

Washington looked great yesterday. They didn't slaughter Dallas, but they did beat, with some comfort, the best team in football.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Also, for those keeping track, the NFC East is NOT the only division in football where all the teams have a record of .500 or better.

 

The NFC South: Tampa Bay (3-1), Carolina (3-1), Atlanta (2-2), New Orleans (2-2).

[naiwf 0]

Eric Smith was suspended for a game and fined $50,000 for attempting to kill Anquan Boldin yesterday.

[fazzle 0]

Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier, shot while sitting in a car outside an apartment complex earlier this month, is paralyzed below the waist and his left leg was amputated, his doctor said Monday.

 

Goddamn.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3616696

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Steelers busting out their ugly uniforms for the Ugly game to come.

 

 

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

If you would have told me that Joe fn Flacco could be the first QB to start 3-0 his rookie season in 40 years, Id have called you crazier than I am.

 

 

[naiwf 0]

I hope the Steelers blow out the Ravens tonight and then lose every other game this season except the rematch.

[Matt Young 0]

Why is Roethlisberger smiling? he just threw one of the shittiest picks I've ever seen.

[CanadianChris 0]

Why is Roethlisberger smiling? he just threw one of the shittiest picks I've ever seen.

He's just having fun out there.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Really good half of Football if you're a Ravens fan.

 

 

 

 

[CanadianChris 0]

AFC North games should come with a viewer advisory for excessive boredom.

[CanadianChris 0]

I'm impressed with what I've seen from Flacco so far this season. He's going to be a keeper.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I'm impressed with what I've seen from Flacco so far this season. He's going to be a keeper.

the more he gets to play, the better he will be. He was the 3rd string QB all the way up until the 3rd week of August after Boller got hurt (in the game I went to) and Troy Smith had his tonsil problems. He had hardly any playing time with the first stringers on offense until the last week of the preseason.

 

I honestly did not expect him to fare well at all because of that, and the fact that hes 30 minutes away from 3-0 is absolutely crazy. Most of the credit goes to the defense but he's hardly played like a rookie QB at all.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Marvin, what the hell is with LeRon McClain getting more touches than Ray Rice? The guy's talented.