Man, I am no good at doing things in a timely manner.

So here we are, two weeks after I said I'd start doing my other blog topics besides football and it hasn't been done yet. To top it off, I didn't get my next week's of predictions in on Tuesday! So let's jump right in to that, and we'll figure out what to do when it comes to video games here shortly.

This last week was a turd of a week for the NFL, wasn't it? I don't think there was a single game which really caught my eye. Goodness knows all the ones on basic TV were either blowouts or just ugly, ugly football. As a result, I only got 7 of the 14 games right. Worst week yet. I feel really bad because half my picks don't even count as the St. Louis Hams, Miami Tunas and Indianapolis Clots are still winless. Yeesh.

But, this past week has made me come to a realization: The first three games of this season totally didn't matter. I mean, they will when it comes to the end of the year determining who goes to the playoffs, but none of the teams in the first three weeks are really indicative of that team. I'm blaming the short pre-season for making some bad teams look good and some good teams look bad.

My take on last week's action by game:

• Broncos 18 - Miami 15

All I have to say is Tebow has some crazy lucky breaks, man. I know the kid is getting all the credit for the ridiculous comeback, and he does deserve some because those last two drives were pretty awesome, but the biggest swing play was the recovered onside kick and Broncos fans better realize it. Tebow was awful for 57 minutes. It was great to watch him win, though. Also, Miami: You guys are so bad. Why did you go for that 2 point conversion when you were winning in a shutout? If you make it, yeah okay it makes it a 3 score game no matter what, but missing it meant the other team just needed two TDs, and only one of which (rather than both) would need to be a two point conversion. I honestly think Miami is throwing the season on purpose because the support for their head coach Sporano in the head office is nonsensical at this point.

• Chargers 21 - Jets 27

The Chargers, Ravens and Texans all have a problem like no other teams in the league: They straight up cannot finish games. They had this one, and totally blew it. I want to give the Jets credit, but I actually watched this game, and I can't. Other than Derelle Revis, no one on that team really played particularly excellent football. Well, okay, let's give Plaxico Burress some credit for finally getting his freedom legs back under him. Still, it wasn't so much great football on the part of the Jets as it was a total second half meltdown by my boy Phillip Rivers. It's bizarre how that guy has totally melted this year. He's been one of the top 5 QBs in the league since he's been a starter.

• Texans 41 - Titans 7

This game more than any other is the reason I'm thinking the first three weeks totally don't count. The Titans looked surprisingly excellent for awhile, but have turned back into the turd sandwiches I initially thought they'd be this year. I want to give credit to Houston for rebounding from losing two key players, as well. Good game, gentlement.

• Falcons 23 - Lions 16

Falcons are starting to find their stride, and the Lions injury problems are creeping back up. Remember how I said the first three weeks don't matter? Falcons are 3-1 since with their only loss in that span coming to Green Bay, while the Lions are just 2-2. If there is any franchise capable of looking like something really special and then coming crashing back to reality, it'd be Detroit. I really don't think it's going to happen and I'm sticking by my predictions they'll make the playoffs, but they need to get out of this slump soon. Chicago has started to play pretty consistent, and they are a good team. They're creeping on Detroit's heels and I'm not sure the Lions will be able to hold them off.

• Redskins 20 - Panthers 33

You know, Cam Newton is really good. He's playing elite level QB as a rookie, coming on to one of the worst teams ever in last years Panthers squad. Seriously every time a Carolina game is on, it's a treat. Kid has a rocket, he's accurate, and he can scramble. He's like a black Steve Young, but with even better legs. Also, the Redskins are starting to do what they do best and that's play mediocre football. I bet they have yet another 8-8 season.

• Bears 24 - Buccaneers 18

This game was played in London. Why? I don't rightly know. I mean, it'll be great and all if we can expland the American Football brand beyond our own country and all, but it still seems gimmicky to me. Anyway, as to the actual game, Matt Forte is an animal. I heard a stat off the television he's responsible for over 50% of the team's total offense numbers. That's seriously crazy. He had 180ish yards from scrimmage with a crazy amount of jet lag. Impressive. I also feel bad for the Bucs. They had a decent run game plan when the year began, but Blount's injury and now the season-ending injury to Graham are going to be difficult to overcome. I think Blount returns this week, but we'll see.

• Seahawks 3 - Browns 6

You know how I like to come up with derogatory names for bad teams by now, I'm sure. I'm going with Collin Cowherd by calling Seattle the Seachickens. And I was going to come up with something clever for Cleveland, but I mean they are already the Browns. You don't need to stretch far into the 5 year old child in all of us to giggle at them anyway. Sadly, this wasn't even the Game of the Week Weak because the MNF matchup was just horrible to watch. These teams can't even get a break by being the worst game to watch, how sad is that?

• Steelers 32 - Cardinals 20

Remember preseason when people were all like "Kevin Kolb is a good quarterback!"? I do. At least Cowherd's had the integrity to call himself out on having thought that. I never bought it, personally, because he was a backup for Donovan "I can't complete a pass" McNabb for years. If this guy was really any decent, he'd have started for Philadelphia before Vick came along. I'd also like to point out that Groepslithsberger has put together 2 and a half weeks of really good football. (His second half against the Jags was pretty bad but Jack Del Rio must have something about my division figured out considering the red-assed beatdown they put on the Ravens on MNF.) Just saying, Steelers are still a serious threat to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Mike Wallace is also just about the fastest dude in the NFL.

• Chiefs 28 - Raiders 0

A lot of people in Oakland are mad for the move to bring in Carson Palmer because he had a bad game, but it's not his fault. He was barely getting reps at practice, hasn't played in a game since the end of last year, and hasn't been with the organization even an entire week before being asked to bail out who was supposed to be your backup QB. Kyle Boller was amazingly bad. At least Palmer has an excuse. Notice how I'm only talking about poor QB play and not anything about the Chiefs? It's because I'm still not sold on them. Okay, they pitched a shutout. I'll give them that. But, they only scored 28 points? They had 6 damn turnovers, two of which were already returned for TDs. Those pick sixes were half of their offense? You mean they only managed two touchdowns off the other 4 turnovers, and 0 points on all their other possessions? Sad. Just sad.

• Packers 33 - Vikings 27

I love how people are still saying the Packers will go undefeated even though two rookie QBs have totally demolished their secondary this year. Yeah, they have the most efficient offense in the league. I absolutely don't want to take away from the Packers greatness, as I still am never picking against them all season. I just know they'll lose a game. Your defense can't give up that many points every week because eventually someone will actually make a stop to Aaron Rodgers. I also think the Vikings completely made the right decision to start Christian Ponder. Kid played really well in his first start, and against 17 of the other teams in the league, they'd have won this Sunday. It's just difficult to outscore Rodgers.

• Rams 7 - Cowboys 33

Rams are so bad. I love how people are saying "Oh gee golly, the Cowboys have done figur'd out durr problems 'n are gunna get back to winnin' footsball." It's the Rams. Sort of like what I said last week with the Jets, beating a bad team convincingly just means that other team is really bad.

• Colts 7 - Saints 62

Guys, I think I'm gonna move to Indiana and work out for the Colts. I mean, I've never done anything remotely athletic in my lifetime but even I've gotta be better than some of the players on this team. They are so bad. They are so, so bad. The Saints managed to get two more touchdowns in the 4th quarter when they weren't even trying anymore. And it still cracks me up just how much their QB looks like Sean Penn from Fast Times At Ridgemont High. 

Look at this:

And finally, the Monday Night Game:

• Ravens 7 - Jaguars 12

The Jaguars are one of the worst teams in the league this year, and yet they held the Ravens, one of the best teams so far, to ZERO first downs the entire first half. Yeah, they couldn't get in the endzone themselves, but they've got Scobee who hit 3 50+ yard field goals. Pretty impressive boot if you ask me. This was the most entertaining bad game ever. I saw "highlights" if you can even call them that put to the Benny Hill theme song. If you don't know what that is, it's called Yakety Sax and I guarantee you've heard it. They could have had this playing the entire actual game and it'd have fit. Whoops, fumble. Whoops overthrown pass. Whoops, dropped pass. Whoops 20 yard sack. Whoops 4th and 46 (yes that seriously happened.) I hope we have another inept offense to mock next week because this was fun.

Here comes the fun part.

PREDICTIONS WEEK 8

Baltimore over Arizona - No way Baltimore lays two turds in a row. Unlike Jacksonville, Arizona doesn't at least have a defense. They'll bounce back and win big. Maybe.

Minnesota over Carolina - I know Carolina had an impressive win last week but they still aren't a complete team. Minnesota has underperformed all year, and I think Ponder gets his first win.

Houston over Jacksonville - Maurice Jones-Drew hasn't played well, and Blaine Gabbert just doesn't strike me as a legit NFL starting quarterback. Houston is supposed to get Andre Johnson back soon, too, so if he plays that's pretty much the game.

New York Giants over Miami - I wonder if there's anyone who doesn't have this pick? I'd take St. Louis or Indianapolis over Miami right now.

New Orleans over St. Louis - Who does the NFL scheduling? New Orleans gets to crush two winless teams back to back. I love it.

Tennessee over Indianapolis - Titans has under-performed the last two weeks in a major way, but the Clots have done it all season. I'm going with the team with the veteran QB, but I wouldn't be surprised if Indy squeeks out their first win this year and lose out on drafting that Stanford kid.

Buffalo over Washington - Washington's QB situation turned messy. I think benching Grossman was a mistake. Yeah he had one really bad game, but to throw him under the bus like that to a guy who's just as inconsistent sends the wrong message to your team. Buffalo is also coming off a bye week and the team is legit enough this year I think that extra preparation time helps them here.

Detroit over Denver - Tebow's magic surely can't affect Detroit... can it? I think Suh and Avril are out for blood, so Tebow's arms are going to have to win it for their team and I just don't see that happening.

Pittsburgh over New England - Man this is a tough game to pick, probably the most difficult one this week. The New England Bradys have owned the Steelers in Heinz Field classically. Thing is, Big Ben is playing his best football right now, Mike Wallace gets better every week, and New England's secondary is really bad. This is going to be a shootout, and I always take the team with the better overall D in a shootout. Turnovers win this matchup, period.

Cincinnati over Seattle - The Seachickens are a mess, and Cincinnati is quiety having a really good year. It's weird they got rid of just about their entire offense and are clicking this well. I'm rooting for Dalton to have a game.

San Francisco over Cleveland - This whole Peyton Hillis thing is destroying the Browns. That contract dispute is single-handedly ruining what was supposed to be a much improved season for a historically bad team. San Francisco is playing legit, too. Frank Gore has a huge game, mark my words.

Philadelphia over Dallas - Eagles need this to save their season. Sadly, if they win they are actually up on Dallas in the standings for that division. With the slide of the Redskins, it means they have a shot at getting to the number two spot in just another week should they streak harder and win again.

San Diego over Kansas City - How fitting the MNF game lands on Halloween and features two of the most inconsistent teams in the league. I hope this ends up being a real Jekyll-Hyde match up with a bajillion turnovers. Still, end of the day I think San Diego wins because they can score points without relying on luck or exceptionally bad play by the other team.

NFL Week 6 in review + Rant on why Skip Bayless sucks

Well damn it, I missed a week. We had midterms and as a result, Wednesday was the last day any of the faculties on campus were open. I was planning on getting my weekly blog post in but could not, which is quite unfortunate. That means this is a long one because not only do I have to talk about week 5, I have to tell you whom I predicted, and then talk about week 6. Let's get to it.

Week 5: I went 10/13 picking this week. How awesome is that? I was also relatively close with my Denver over San Diego pick, too, although that's mostly because of TIMMAY! I've been saying for awhile that Tebow is going to be a legit player in the NFL. Why? Because he's got physical abilities and EVERYBODY doubts him. Talk about a guy with a chip on his shoulder. The thing is, the talking heads at ESPN and every other sports news program keep doubting because he's a nice guy and the opinion in the football world is you can't be a nice guy and play like you've got something to prove. I'm calling bullsnot on that notion right now. Just because the kid is a proud Christian and wears it on his sleeve? The rest of the world needs to remember that Christianity is an aggrieved religion, same as all the others. It's become rather domininant in terms of numbers of followers world-wide, so folks forget about the dark ages. They forget about the stories of what actually happened to the followers of Christ during his actual time on earth. Keep doubting Tebow, people. Please. It's just fuel for that kid to come out and put on a show. I can't wait for week 7 to see him obliterate Miami. Can. Not. Wait.

I'm also glad to say Roethlisberger finally showed up. Watching him carve up Tennessee made me so happy. Screw my predictions, I just want to see my team win and win they did. And the other game I got wrong was just because Indy's defense quit. They're offense actually looks fairly competent with Painter under center. Now it's the undersized defense letting them down in crunch time. It's a dysfunctional team and I'm starting to think they'll be lucky to win more than a game or two.

Other note to point out: Remember what I said about the Giants being inconsistent? Seattle proved it. It's like I know something.

Instead of talking directly who I think was going to win in week 6, I'll just comment on in as I give a recap of each game so you'll actually believe me rather than think I retroactively picked teams just because we all now know who won them all.

Carolina @ Atlanta: Man, I am so mad at the Panthers. I totally had them winning this one, and cam Newton let me down. People are still defending him but I'm sorry, he had a bad game. 3 INTs, no passing touchdowns, and roughly 250 passing yards is all? Any other QB, we'd be torching the guy but because it's been the wonderboy story of the season so far, the media is giving him a pass. I'm not. Cam, I doubt you read some no name kid out of Nevada's blog, but if you're reading this: Decision Making. That's your goal this week. Don't throw the game away.

Indianapolis @ Cincinnati: My friend Craig has dubbed Andy Dalton the "Red Rocket." Kid is baller. Seriously, I'm rooting for that kid (and Kellen Moore when he gets drafted this upcoming year) more than any other player outside of the ones directly on my team for the simple reason everyone doubted him coming out of college because he didn't play for a BCS team. SCREW COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Every time someone gives me some run down on why the SEC is the only college football conference worth following, I want to pop them in the mouth. College football's system is inherently flawed because opinion decides the ultimate victor. It's total crap, and everyone who really likes it only really likes it because the talking heads in the industry happen to really like that school too. It seriously makes me rage. Oh, and btw, I would have had Cinci in this game just because Indy dropped the ball so badly last week. They did so again. Poor Clots fans.

San Francisco @ Detroit: What a game. I'm a Lions fan and all (they are my second favorite team and have been for a long time. I'm not bandwagoning, I swear!) but even in a loss, it was fun to watch. The Lions stadium is quickly becoming the new 12th Man. And I have to give credit to the Niners. If you'd have told me they'd have a bajillionty penalties like they had and yet would still win the game (and off of a beautiful perfect pass by Alex Smith to boot), I'd have laughed at you. Yet, that's exactly what happened. Niners are legit. Detroit is also legit, but needs to figure out some way to be more consistent on offense rather than rely on the big play all the time. Also, you heard it here first: This is going to be a Wildcard Weekend match up in the playoffs, except at Candlestick Park as the Niners are going to win that division hands-down and therefore get at least that first home field game.

St. Louis @ Green Bay: You guys believe me when I say I had Green Bay, right? Because who didn't. The Rams are trash tier. It's really, really sad watching that team regress from last season. But, on the bright side for them, they acquired Brandon Lloyd from Denver this week so that should help their passing game out a bit.

Buffalo @ New York Giants: This game made me >:( face several times. BUFFALO, HOW COULD YOU? I swear, the Giants are such an enigma. When they play good football, they look like the team who surprised the world by beating the invincible Patriots back in '07. When they don't, they look like they are in the same tier as Carolina (close games, but too many turnovers and they lose.)

Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh: And yet again, a week I've got my team winning, they barely squeak by. First half, it looked like we were still playing as we did against Tennessee the week before, which is to say Super Bowl caliber football. Then the mysterious Super Bowl Hangover afflicted us again. And to top it off, Palomalu suffered a concussion so who knows how that'll affect our team. This season reminds me so much of the year directly after we beat the Cardinals in the SB. We're just inconsistent in a dangerous way so we'll be lucky to make the playoffs.

Philadelphia @ Washington: I was all ready to crown the Redskins as come-back kings of the year, too, and they had to go lose to Sillydelphia. I guess it doesn't shock me THAT much because there is still way too much talent on the Eagles for their record to be as it currently is. They'd been putting up a lot of offense against everyone but just couldn't find ways to win games. I'm not ready to say they've righted the ship, but it's a start for them. We'll see if it carries over.

Houston @ Baltimore: I knew the Ravens had this one as soon as I heard last week that the Texans best defensive player in the history of that franchise, Mario Williams, was out for the season. Houston has been on the fence since they entered the league, but the one thing you could rely on was the very few star players they had. Now, two of the big three players for them are injured now with Williams and Andre Johnson. It might not be Houston's year after all, everyone. If you asked me who I thought would win right at this moment on a neutral field between them and Tennessee, I'd bet money on the Titans. And to talk about Baltimore for a second, this was another game where they looked excellent. Ray Rice is a cannonball and that offense is explosive enough now that team can actually come from behind. Considering how good that defense is and how good their run game is, that's pretty scary because they are designed to hold on to leads.

Cleveland @ Oakland: I had Oakland in this one, and the only reason it even really got close is because Campbell suffered a broken collar bone. I was scared for the Raiders when I heard that news, but then today, they made a massive trade for Carson Palmer. It's reportedly a first round pick in 2012 and another in 2013 if they win a playoff game (or a second round pick if they don't). I know a lot of people gave up on Palmer, but he actually had a pretty decent season last year. 61.8% pass completions, 3,970 yards and 26 touchdowns. Interceptions were a problem with 20, but still it was a pretty good season. (Tom Brady, the league's MVP, was only about 4% better in completions and actually had 70 fewer total passing yards. He had 10 more TDs and 16 fewer interceptions, though, which is why the guy totally deserved the MVP. I'm only comparing him to the best here so you guys can say Palmer had a decent year.) If this works out, the Raiders, who were already pretty scary, have the potential to go the distance. It doesn't make them the best team in the AFC, but it does make them good enough to win any given Sunday and that's all you can really ask for.

Dallas @ New England: I had the Patriots winning this one because you don't beat Tom Brady at home. The Patriots haven't lost in Foxborough during the regular season since 2008, the year Brady was out with the knee injury, and before that I think you have to go all the way back to 2006. Something like 33? 34? regular season home victories in a row. That said, Dallas did what only the Texans do better and that's lose a game they should have won. You have to play to win. Don't get conservative and play the field position game against a Tom Brady team, especially when the crowd is behind them. It's just stupid. That's just stupid, stupid football.

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay: No way I thought Tampa was going to win this one the way the Niners obliterated them last week, but they did it. The QB Freeman is a baller and has ice in his veins for sure. It helps New Orleans lost a head coach during the game to injury (seriously, how often do you hear that? What a freaky thing). The Saints still win that division, though. I don't think the Bucs make the playoffs.

Minnesota @ Chicago: Can we agree that Jay Cutler is a tough son of a bitch? Because he is. Dude takes more hits than any other QB and yet still plays really well. If he's not the toughest football player, he's the toughest QB, and if he's not the toughest QB, he's goddamn the toughest diabetic you've ever known. Meanwhile, McNabb should just go retire now because he's done. His days are a player are over. Ponder played pretty decently and did what McNabb hasn't been able to do all season which is throw a ball with a tight spiral.

Miami @ New York Jets: Obviously I had New York winning this one. Weirdly, I think this one is a loss for the Jets because they should have won this game much more emphatically. The Miami Tunas have quit. They've just straight given up. I've never seen a team with less heart. Even the 0-16 Lions played with more passion. The thing that did it for me was going into half time, Miami still had a time out and could have easily got within field goal range as they had like :36 left on the clock. They just walked off the field. I was sickened by that amount of quit. I was angrier at the Dolphins, who I don't even really care about, than I was during week 1 when the Steelers got shellacked by the Ravens. It's obvious the team has thrown in the towel (especially with Tim Tebow day planned for when they play against the Broncos next week) and are just hoping to do bad enough they can draft Andrew Luck out of Stanford. It's disgusting behavior and I hope Sporano gets canned right now.

So what's that make me for week 6? 8 for 13? Ew. Worst week yet. Let's see if I can rebound.

Predictions week 7:
San Diego over New York Jets - Chargers are winning ugly but they are winning, and the Jets look... soft? Can it be said? They just don't look like a quality team.
Tennessee over Houston - If the Titans want to prove they aren't just pretending this year, this is the game. Probably the most important game for either team all season up to this point.
Denver over Miami - Timmy Tebow! It's going to be a home game for the Broncos because Miami, in one of the weirdest PR moves of all time, are celebrating the 2009 Florida Gator national champion team, quarterbacked by none other than the new starting QB for the visiting team. This better be on TV because I want to watch this more than any other game next week.
Chicago over Tampa Bay - I'm still not buying the Buccaneers. Chicago seems to look better every week, too, and Cutler is getting sharper as time goes by.
Detroit over Atlanta: The Falcons are pretenders. Detroit will find the endzone as Atlanta won't be able to stop the Big Play. Expect Megatron to get back to form.
Cleveland over Seattle - I still don't think Tavaris Jackson is going to be able to play well with that pectoral injury he had, even though he had the bye week to rest. The Browns SHOULD be able to pull off a much needed win here.
Washington over Carolina - Grossman was awful last week and all, but it's hard to be awful against Carolina's secondary. Washington in a bounce back win, and yet again, Carolina will keep it close but no cigar.
Pittsburgh over Arizona - My friend Craig and I are calling Arizona the "Pigeons" now because the only thing they are good for this year is laying turds. As inconsistent as the Steelers should win, this is a game even a bad team can have a field day against.
Oakland over Kansas City - Even if they had Terrelle Pryor start, I'd have Oakland over Kansas City. The Chiefs can't stop the run, and McFadden can run all day. Key stat of this game is time of possession. Watch Oakland have the ball for like 40 minutes of the game.
Green Bay over Minnesota - The Purple People Eaters look more like the Eaten Purple People at this point. Like I said before, I'm not picking against Green Bay all season even though I am pretty sure they'll lose a game.
Dallas over St. Louis: They can't drop another one to a such a crappy team, can they? No way Dallas blows it... right? ...Right?!
New Orleans over Indianapolis: Saints don't lose against teams who turn the ball over. Indy stands no chance here.
Baltimore over Jacksonville: I thought Gabbert was a bad choice to begin with. If they still had Garrard, I'd have given Jacksonville a puncher's chance but Baltimore is playing too hot right now to lose to a rookie QB.

Lastly, there's a couple "big things" those in the Football world are talking about right now. I watch a lot of sports analysis shows, and some of the things that get talked about drive me up the friggin' wall.

Firstly, the debate over who's better between Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady is the most pointless, asinine, stupid argument in the world. You're trying to tell me either team would rather have the other guy? Hell no. Patriots fans are 115% behind Tom Brady and Green Bay fans are 115% behind Aaron Rodgers. If you're asking me which guy I'd rather have behind center in Pittsburgh? Doesn't FREAKING matter, for the love of all that's good and holy. This is why we have fantasy football, Media types. The rest of us who actually care about the teams we cheer for don't have the luxury of spending our afternoons pointlessly debating things that aren't going to happen and that don't matter. Tom Brady is a first ballot hall of famer. Aaron Rodgers is looking like he's bound for Canton as well. Drop the stupid debate. It's so pointless. It's just an excuse for Skip Bayless to make himself look like more of an asshole than he already is.

Second, can we just decide "Handshakegate" is a non-issue? For those who don't know, there was a verbal altercation between the head coaches of San Francisco and Detroit after the game was over because the 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, super jazzed and mega pumped for the big victory as he should have been, was too aggressive in the way he shook the hands of the losing coach, to which Jim Schwartz took offense. He chased the other down the field a ways and they were separated by a PR guy or two. Just shut up about it, media. It's such a minor thing and a total non-issue. How about we talk about the game? It was the most exciting game this weekend. There's plenty of headlines we could take from it. How about how Alex Smith is finally showing he warranted being drafted, or how the previously unstoppable Ndamakong Suh got shut out by the offensive line for the Niners, or how about it's the first game of the season Calvin Johnson has been held without a touchdown catch? I mean, seriously. We're an entire society talking about how some guys after an emotional game got a little hot-headed. Pardon my french, but BIG FUCKING WHOOPTY GODDAMN WALLY.

Lastly, people are talking about Green Bay running the table, or which team between the currently winless is going to finish without a win. Neither of those are going to happen, people. Folks are just in a tizzy thinking it's going to happen again simply because a 16-0 and an 0-16 team have both happened within recent memory.

Let's go look at schedules for every team involved. Green Bay has one of the toughest remaining schedules of any team in pro football. They play the Chargers at San Diego, play the Lions twice (one of which being the Thanksgiving game and you better believe that crowd is going to go nuts over that one), play the Giants at MetLife Stadium, have to take on Oakland and Chicago late in the year, two teams likely to be attemtping to make playoff runs. Every one of those is a legit threat, people. If you disagree, you're wrong. Even Tom Brady last year with his nearly perfect passer rating managed to lose a few games. Aaron Rodgers is totally playing out of his mind right now, but it's a long-ass season and he'll inevitably have one game that's just mediocre if not bad. There's absolutely 0% chance they win them all.

As for the winless teams, the only one I feel is just completely hopeless is Miami. The Rams have a good QB but are just banged up as a whole team so injuries are really what's destroyed their season. More or less the same reason is why Indianapolis is in the gutter. Curtis Painter has played better every week, so they'll sneak in a win there somewhere. Indy gets Jacksonville twice still, gets a game against Atlanta and Carolina, and play the Texans late in the season. By that time, the Texans could potentially have the division shored up so they rest their players as the team is currently banged up with injuries. All of those, winnable games. The Rams can potentially win as early as next week playing against the highly inconsistent Dallas Cowboys, and they still have two games against Arizona and Seattle to play, as well as a game against Cleveland. They'll win one of those. The Dolphins get Denver next week (I think they lose it big but if they manage to win, it won't shock me because Denver is one of the 5 worst teams in the league in my estimation), get to play against Kansas City, Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia and final game of the season against the Jets. Every one of those is a game they can win. No way any of them go completely winless. 1 win only, quite possibly, but no way they go winless.


FINAL RANT ALERT:
So basically, get serious sports media. Quit making stories out of nothing. Quit blowing things out of proportion. Quit ruining the integrity of the game. Get back to reporting stories and trying to make people feel good about sports again. THAT is your job.

And to all media, I'd just like to leave you with this one final thought: Your job is not to create stories. I know that's what every professor you had in a Journalism major told you your job was, is to report stories. But that is not what it is. It is so much more. Your job is be better than everyone. It's to ignore what is a non-issue. You are the driving force behind the topics discussed as a nation, and when you micro focus on shit that doesn't matter, you're ruining the country and making it a worse place. You're the reason everyone feels oppressed. You're the reason people get run out of jobs for making one tiny mistake and showing the flaw of being Human. You're the reason so many otherwise wealthy people are desperately unhappy with their lives simply because everything they do is under the microscope of bullshit bottom feeding crappy people. I loathe you. And I loathe the people who sign your checks. Skip Bayless does not deserve to make money, because he's the most negative piece of shit on television.

And it's our own damn faults, America. Too often we tune in to television because we can't turn our eyes away from people too far out in Crazyville. The media is so full of themselves, they think they don't have to behave the way the rest of society does, that they can just go out to "get a story." Well, to be a good person you should strive to make other people happy. I don't care what industry you're in. If your goal is not to attempt to bring some joy into the lives of others, you're doing it wrong.

NFL Week 4

I feel like I'm totally missing the mark on this season, which is a great thing! It feels a lot like last season. Just when you think you know what to expect, the opposite happens. It's a great thing as a fan because you're always on your toes. Did anyone expect the Lions, Bills and 49ers would be where they were a month into football? Absolutely not. All three have been turd sandwiches for the better part of a decade so to see them get going so strongly is awesome as a fan of the perennial underdogs.

My predictions went 10/15 (the MNF game hasn't been decided at the time of me posting. It's tied 17 all with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter, so worst that can happen is I repeat 10/16 like I did last week). Not all together that bad, and other than one egregious wishful thinking on my part, nobody really predicted the games I didn't get right.

(Edit: Looks like Tampa is going to win, up 7 with the ball and just 2 minutes left to go. We'll go ahead and say 11/16.)

I don't know what I was thinking picking the Raiders of the Pats because the Patriots never lose back-to-back games. I thought the Raiders were going to keep up that epic running game, but as all the ESPN talking heads point out daily, the Patriots are okay with allowing you to play offense against them. It just isn't going to be the offense your team is used to playing, because they take away your best weapon. Oakland can't rely on their passing game. I'll give Campbell some credit for showing he can still be a legit starter in the league. He's playing much better for the Raiders than he ever did for the Redskins. Still, he's not a 300 yard a game type of guy and never will be.

I'm utterly shocked Cincinnati won a game against upstart Buffalo. How can you circle the wagons against New England and lose to the Bungles?! Just unacceptable. Buffalo couldn't get any offensive production out of anyone, and it was eerie. Cincinnati defense is bad. I'm not surprised the Bengals scored 23 points; I'm surprised they limited the Bills (who've been playing great thus far) to just 20.

Minnesota is bizarre. I've never seen a team so completely different in each half of the game. Another game off to a good start, another game lost in the second half. Except this time to the Chiefs, formerly the 32nd ranked team in the league in pretty much every single possible category. It's a headscratcher. You have arguably the best running back in the league. You've got amazing talented wide recievers. You've got some of the best pass rushers in the league between the Williams brothers and Jared Allen. And you lose. Every game. They are totally done for the season now because the two BEST teams in the league are in their division, and Chicago is pretty decent themselves. It's a hole they can't dig themselves out of. I feel bad McNabb's otherwise great career is dead, because he's never getting another job again. David Garrard will find a backup position even if he doesn't play this season faster than McNabb will after he gets released from his contract at the end of this season.

How about them Eagles, eh? I remember when they had all those big signings. I was excited to see them play. And it's just a wreck in that town. Unlike the other losses here, it wasn't necessarily their game to win because San Fran is playing really, really well. Those Harbaugh boys really know how to coach a team and it's kind of cool having brothers head coach two different teams in the NFL. (How great would it be if the Manning brothers were the QBs on each respective team? Total pipedream but I'd love it.) Still, the Eagles are garbage on defense. People are laying the blame on Vick and that's unacceptable. He played out of his mind this Sunday, and all the games up to this point, his team was up until he got hurt every time. That defense is just bad. I lay the blame on the D-Coordinator, because seriously it's ugly. You have the second best cover corner in the league, another star corner in Rodgers-Cromartie, and yet your passing defense is atrocious. Makes no sense. Figure it out, Philly.

That Miami over San Diego pick looked solid until Henne got hurt. I swear to god watching a Chargers game sets me on edge as I consider myself a fan of the team. They just do not look sharp at all. It's amazing to me they've actually won 3 of the first 4 games of the year for the first time since Norv Turner took over. Proof that scheduling helps a ton.

Notes on other games:
Steelers, where has the O-Line gone? Big Ben is one of the best QBs in the league for getting out of trouble once a play breaks down but he can't do it literally every single down. I'm surprised this game was even as close as it was. It's painful to watch my team, and that makes me sad.

Dallas = choke artists, and I couldn't love it more.

Matt Hasslebeck defies age. I've always liked him as a QB and watching his resurgence in Tennessee is kind of neat.

Carolina had another close game. They feel very Lions-esque from a few years ago. Couldn't win a game but everyone recognized there was a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball and the young stars are due to break out soon.

The Denver/Green Bay game wasn't as lopsided as the final score indicated. Two key turnovers early is what catapulted the lead, plus a super tricky onside kick call made the lead insurmountable early, but Denver hung in there and still put up numbers. Green Bay has the same problem as the other "best teams in the league" and that's a suspect defense. I actually think New England is the better team, and both are extremely similar. We can throw New Orleans in that mix as well, because they are all opportunistic defenses who can afford to give up points because the guy under center can cover just about any deficit your team can incur. If Aaron Rodgers was the slightest bit human Sunday, Denver could have actually pulled that one out and I really believe that.

That Baltimore/New York game was just ugly. What gives, Flacco? At least the Jets have the excuse of missing their pro-bowl center for all the offensive line breakdowns they've had. What about you? Missed a ton of easy passes, overthrew a zillion guys, and just played terrible. Inexcusable. And San-chise, stop buying into the hype around yourself. You're a USC Quarterback. The last bajillion of them have all been NFL busts. Rex Ryan needs to stop coddling you and go ahead and shock your confidence level for a week. I'm not saying he needs to be thrown under a bus but other guys on the team need to specifically say "Sanchez needs to step it up or we're not going to win many games." Because it's the truth. They will only go as far as he can take them, and right now that looks like it'll be a 6-10 season.

Predictions for week 5:

New Orleans over Carolina: Another close game for the Panthers, but you're not going to beat Drew Brees with the shoddy defense you've got. Sorry, mates.
Indianapolis over Kansas City: If there's ever a team for Indy to finally beat and get out of the winless column, this is it.
Buffalo over Philadelphia: Buffalo can't afford to drop two in a row. Philly can't stop the passing game if the Buffalo offensive coordinator can come up with a decent game plan.
Seattle over New York Giants: The Giants are still playing inconsistent football. By all rights they deserved to lose this week. I just think the sloppy play catches up to them finally against a team desperate to not lose another close game.
Cincinnati over Jacksonville: This should be an interesting game. I hope it's on TV so I can watch it, but either way its another battle of rookie QBs. Dalton is the better of the two so I think they're safe.
Tennessee over Pittsburgh: Could it be I picked against my own team two weeks in a row? Seems that way. Pittsburgh's time in the spotlight is over. They need a change at QB and younger guys on defense.
Oakland over Houston: Oakland is still playing solid football, and Houston's best offensive weapon is likely out with a hamstring injury. Oakland's D-line is big and physical and can stop the run.
Minnesota over Arizona: I am just selling my Cardinals stock is all. Minny can't really go 0-5, can they?
San Francisco over Tampa Bay: Comes down to which team I think is streaking versus which team I think is shrinking.
New England over New York Jets: Jets were abysmal in a way you can't fix in a week and they are about to meet the Cyborg. Expect the Brady Machine to roll.
Denver over San Diego: Denver's offense looked as good as it has since Jay Cutler left against Green Bay. If they can keep it up and play minimal mistake football, San Diego's inability to play consistent football is going to catch up to them.
Green Bay over Atlanta: I'm not picking against Green Bay until they meet a team with a legitimate defense. Falcons look terrible this year, too. Aaron Rodgers is playing other-level football right now and so I'm buying them over anyone until they show a sign of weakness.
Detroit over Chicago: Part of me wants to pick Chicago just because it feels like it's time and it's the only legit threat Detroit will face until Thanksgiving against Green Bay. I think it's the first game in a few weeks Detroit doesn't fall behind epic bad early and doesn't have to play heroics to catch up, though. Jay Cutler will be breathing through a straw when Suh rips up that weak O-Line, too.