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.
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