Jesse: BEST WORST PICK OF LAST WEEK:“Seattle is not as good away as they are at home…Miami continues to under perform after their surprising start. I think the slide continues. Sorry, Fleed.” – Tom (Dolphins 24, Seahawks 21)
As the regular season starts to wind down, the MVP debate is starting to pick up, but I think there’s no debate whatsoever. Peyton Manning is clearly the Most Valuable Player in the league. Once thought to be done as a quarterback, Peyton’s comeback season has been marked by the superior play we’ve come to expect from The Peyt One. With 5 games to go, he currently has 3,260 yards, 26 TDs and only 8 interceptions, and he seems to be getting better by the week. Playing in the NFL’s worst division hasn’t hurt, but what Peyton is doing after what was once thought to be a series of career-ending neck surgeries is nothing short of remarkable. In a career filled with broken records, Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl ring, what Peyton Manning is doing this year may be his finest achievement, and the Broncos simply wouldn’t be the same team without him. He is the MVP, without question. (Although if you want to question it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.)
Hitpoints
- Ndamukong Suh fined $30,000 for kicking Matt Schaub in the junk. (National Football Post)
- A look at Jim Schwartz’s dumb reaction to a dumb rule. (National Football Post)
- Former NFL player Jerramy Stevens arrested for the second time in two weeks. Not the biggest story, but I never miss a chance to remind everyone that this guy’s a jerk. (Seattle Times)
- An interesting look at Brandon Marshall and the work he’s put in to overcome his Borderline Personality Disorder. (Yahoo!)
- During another interview, Marshall says that some players use Viagra during games to gain an edge. Wut? (Sulia.com)
Thursday November 29, 2012
New Orleans Saints(5-6) vs. Atlanta Falcons(10-1)
Tom: Here we are, back again—the Falcons 10-1 and still seemingly struggling but winning. The Saints, who thought they were right back in it, discovered last week what a great defense can do to a team with a great offense. This time we’re in Atlanta and the Dome, where the Falcons don’t (usually) lose. Even though they lost in New Orleans, they were in it until almost literally the last play of the game. Maybe they learned from that game and from what San Fran did to New Orleans last week. I continue my nose-thumbing at Clint and go with:
Falcons
Clint: I am just asking to give it up like a two dollar whore. I don’t know why I keep giving more credit than is due to the Saints. They fold faster than a Blockbuster retail store and their defense is actually just hoping that all the screaming near the endzone will cause the other team to be too scared to go there. I’m going to do it though.
Saints
Sunday December 2, 2012
Jacksonville Jaguars(2-9) vs. Buffalo Bills(4-7)
Clint: The Jaguars are screwing themselves. They should roll over and attempt to lose more games than KC. They need it. Get that better draft pick. There are about 100 reasons why I should not make this dumb move after my week last week, but who cares, I’m picking them.
Jaguars
Tom: Chad Henne continues to produce, and the Bills defense is feh on many levels. I shudder at the level of mediocrity we could see here, but this also could turn into a barn burner if neither defense can stop the other. Justin Blackmon is becoming the WR the Jags wanted—if they can get a QB (not Henne) to go along with him and get MJD back…they might just have something going here.
Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks(6-5) vs. Chicago Bears(8-3)
Tom: So, the NFC has now become the division of defense. Here we have two solid defensive teams whose offenses have come up short a few times in getting the team to the W. However, Seattle is not at home, they are 1-5 on the road and lost to the floating at the top of the bowl Dolphins last week after allowing Ryan Tannehill to move right down the field and put them in range for the game winning FG. All that being said with Jay Cutler back, the Bears will continue to lead the NFC North.
Bears
Clint: This is a defensive matchup. It should be low scoring also. Forte is out, but in all reality I place a lot more faith in Pissy Pants Cutler than I do in Wilson.
Bears
Indianapolis Colts(7-4) vs. Detroit Lions(4-7)
Clint: The Lions lost on their biggest game of the year. That means it’s all downhill from here. Kind of like Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who signals winter will last 6 more weeks if he sees his shadow. Once they see their suck, it doesn’t end for another 5 weeks.
Colts
Tom: Geez, Suh is a complete ass—has he been in a season yet where he hasn’t purposely tried to hurt another player? He needs to have his feet registered as lethal weapons apparently. Indy’s head coach is the completely opposite of Jim Schwartz. They may be away, but they’re still in a dome. I believe Detroit will get their points, but I think the heart of the Colts will get them the win.
Colts
Minnesota Vikings(6-5) vs. Green Bay Packers(7-4)
Tom: I’ll recycle my pick from last week of Vikings/Bears: Good news Green Bay—Christian Ponder is here to make your defense look better.
Packers
Clint: That’s not fair. You shouldn’t be allowed to recycle picks. At least ramble on about something or other that has nothing to do with the topic and then choose who you were going to choose (case in point, see the Atlanta Saints game above)
Packers
Houston Texans(10-1) vs. Tennessee Titans(4-7)
Clint: What a no brainer. Except is it really? These are division rivals where one is riding high on their glorious record and the other is coming off an embarrassing performance. I call upset. I have no credibility after some of my bad choices last week, but this is my true upset call. The NFL has proven this is the year of the unpredictable, so I am siding with the underdog.
Titans
Tom: Once again with the Texans, I refuse to list this as a blowout. Plus, they are in Tennessee, and we saw what happened with Pittsburgh there. Houston’s defense has reverted back to the years prior to Wade Phillips, so they better get that ship righted…the Titans might just be the team to do that with.
Texans
Carolina Panthers(3-8) vs. Kansas City Chiefs(1-10)
Tom: Carolina. Next.
Panthers
Clint: I guess Tom must have watched ESPN. They have Cam Newton on about as much as Tebow, and it is all asskissing. When they play the Chiefs I understand why.
Panthers
San Francisco 49ers (8-2-1) vs. St. Louis Rams(4-6-1)
Clint: Both these teams are living high on great wins last week. I think the 49ers are playing like they were expected to play and the Rams are playing above their expectations. Look for the backup rookie to get more winning experience before their run into the playoffs.
49ers
Tom: It’s the fifth quarter after these two teams tied a few weeks back. The 49ers have found themselves a new QB and they seemed to have learned that running the ball about 100x a game helps a lot.
49ers
New England Patriots(8-3) vs. Miami Dolphins(5-6)
Tom: The Patriots offensive juggernaut continues to move forward and they made the Jets look (even more) ridiculous last week. I think a great incentive for New York would have been Rex Ryan offering to dress up like a baked turkey, complete with garnish, if they won. The Dolphins cleared their blowhole on the Seahawks last week, but still aren’t great offensively. Reggie Bush had a bit of a comeback, but from past games, Philbin has shown he won’t hesitate to bench him again should he turn the ball over. Even though this is in Miami and the Pats defense is as porous as Spongebob Squarepants, Tom Brady still has great hair that even the humidity in Miami can’t affect.
Patriots
Clint: The Pats are becoming more and more like the Saints. No defense and putting up huge amounts of points to make up for it. This normally doesn’t sit well in the generally defense heavy AFC. The Fins look like their QB has been seen enough that defenses know what to do to hurt him. Look for Spygate Bellicheck to have additional information the other coaches don’t.
Patriots
Arizona Cardinals(4-7) vs. New York Jets(4-7)
Clint: Just what the Jets need, a battered and bruised Cardinal team looking for any type of mercy. They really need to find a QB that knows how to read a defense. I vote to let Fitz throw to himself. It would confuse the D and surely give him better numbers. This guy would be a future hall of famer that may get kneecapped by his colleagues. Such a pitiful shame. Even so, they still seem better suited than Tebow and company.
Cardinals
Tom: My Blech game of the week. The main draw to this game is to see what kind of ridiculous turnovers are generated here. I’ll counter Clint’s forehand with a Tebow backhand.
J-E-T-S
Tampa Bay Buccaneers(6-5) vs. Denver Broncos(8-3)
Tom: We saw last week with the Falcons that a good passer is enough to counter the Bucs great run defense. This just in—Peyton Manning is a pretty good QB. Oh, and imagine that last sentence in Chris Berman’s voice.
Broncos
Clint: The Bucs are playing and praying for the post season. The NFC is so middle heavy that most of the teams realize any loss can be their last. I still don’t buy the Denver Defense as being everything they were advertised to be, but even though they may struggle to hold the Bucs down, Peyton won’t struggle to score on them.
Broncos
Cincinnati Bengals(6-5) vs. San Diego Chargers(4-7)
Clint: Another week of Bengals vs. Chargers vs. Norv. How does this team get rolled over and dry stuck every week? “Cry me a Phillip Rivers” can’t lead a girl scout troop let alone a NFL football team. This game is lost in the locker room.
Bengals
Tom: All you need to know here is that one of the Bengals OL got tossed in last week’s game because of retaliating against a Raider that took a cheap shot on Andy Dalton. You think the Chargers OL gives a shit about Rivers? They can’t even protect him during a play, let alone after the play is over.
Bengals
Cleveland Browns(3-8) vs. Oakland Raiders(3-8)
Tom: Dear lord—the Browns beat my Steelers last wee…wait, I’m being handed a note…Mendenhall just fumbled the phone he was talking on. Anyway, with a game like this, you have to pull out the essence of the two teams. I’ve said it before—good defense trumps good offense. For all the Raiders faults, they have a pretty strong offense (even though the Bengals shut them down a bit last week), but the Browns have a darn good defense. I hate to do it, but…
Browns
Clint: I don’t even give the Raiders offense credit. Though I will agree with Tom and say they have lots of faults. Therefore.
Browns
Pittsburgh Steelers(6-5) vs. Baltimore Ravens(9-2)
Clint: Going with the gut, but I feel confident that this game will be decided on whether or not we risk our QB. Ben will singlehandedly rape each and every Raven. Ray Rice played with the terrible towel curse last week, disrepecting one of the greatest charity items ever used in any sport (all official Terrible Towel proceeds go to a Pittsburgh school that treats mental disorders) and invoking the wrath of the great Myron Cope. Ooomh Hah!!! I hope the Ravens fans aren’t superstitious.
Steelers
Tom: So, my ritual of picking the opposite team hasn’t worked so well the past few weeks…therefore I’m changing it up this week and going with the Steelers. Even with the 1st horrible backup QB, they almost pulled off the upset a few weeks back, with the sole TD being a “I see it but I don’t believe it” 31 yard TD run by Leftwich.
Steelers
Philadelphia Eagles(3-8) vs. Dallas Cowboys(5-6)
Tom: Vick is out, Desean Jackson is out, McCoy is out. Yet I still feel that the Cowboys could somehow screw this up and lose, mainly because of Romo. But I’ll go with the team that hasn’t most of their offense to injury.
Cowboys
Clint: Somehow last week I accidentally picked the Cowboys and right after I blasted Romo for having a mediocre career. This week I see mediocre as the victor because the Eagles have successfully gone from dream team to Elm Street Nightmare.
Cowboys
Monday December 3, 2012
New York Giants(7-4) vs. Washington Redskins(5-6)
Clint: This is a good Monday night game for once. A heated rivalry that finds these teams battling it out for the top of their division. Almost. The Giants have been steadily falling while the Skins are picking back up again. It should make for a very interesting game, but one that I will side with New York on.
Giants
Tom: We’re not in November anymore, as the Giants showed the Packers last week. RGIII kept them in this game in NY last time, but the Giants have learned and you don’t fool this defense more than once…right, New England?
Giants
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