...And the dignity bowl has been turned upside down! Well, maybe not turned upside down, but it seems as though order was restored a bit, this week. For me at least.
I spent the early part of this past week walking around like a zombie...like I had been hit in the face with a frying pan. It was like my entire world had collapsed beneath my feet, and I was struggling to hold on. By Wednesday the bottle of whisky was empty, and it was time to start getting back to what I do best: Picking games!
So now I am back on top of the world! There is a spring in my step, and it feels like the first day of spring. I was the only person in our little contest to go 3-1, and actually the only one to go above .500 for a week in this crazy pick’em contest.
What makes it even better is that my mother had the worst week of anyone. She went 1-3, which vaults me into the lead with only 3 games remaining.
Good luck, Moms and Sons!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona @ New Orleans
The week started off with a bang, as Tim
Hightower took the first play from scrimmage 70 yards to put the Cardinals on top....Unfortunately, that would be the last lead the cardinals would ever have this season.
It might have been a game of a few ‘lasts’. It may have been the last time Kurt Warner took an NFL snap, and the last time he gets blown the hell up! The hit he took in the 2nd quarter was not only clean, but devastating. My props to the old man for getting back in, dusting himself off, and attempting to get the Cards back into things...but I mean really, if he DIDN’T play, it was game over as the only other option was to pull Matt Leinart out of his hot tub party to rally the troops.
So what will the Cardinals look like without Warner next seasons, assuming he does pull the chute on his career? Does the Whizzinator (no, not Onterrio Smith) really go into next season with Matt Leinart as his #1? Does he look for a QB in the draft (they have the 26th pick)? The NFC West could REALLY be up for grabs next season.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baltimore @ Indianapolis
Heading into the week, the talk about rookie QBs centered with the Jets in San Diego, but Flacco looked like the rookie out there(he did complete 22 passes, although 2 of those were to the Colts). But give the Colts credit where credit is due, they shut down that little turn, Ray Rice, holding him to just 67 yards on 13 carries (Although when you throw in the 60 receiving, he still topped 120 yards on the day).
Peyton Manning looked like, well, Peyton Manning, although he got very lucky when Ed Reed picked off a pass, and returned it half the length of the field before getting the ball punched out by Haitian Pierre Garcon. In the very next series, Manning threw another pick to Reed only to have it called back due to pass interference. Lucky lucky.....
Manning was also subject to one of the funnier plays on Saturday night. Listen closely as he takes the snap, and rolls to his right, and you can hear him yelling and Donald Brown, who missed a blocking assignment. ‘God Dammit Donald!’
Too Funny!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas @ Minnesota
This seemed to be the hardest game to call going into the weekend, after all, if was a battle between heavyweight coaches Wade Phillips and Brad Childress. Essentially, it was the battle to see which one could mess up the game more.
But like the previous 2 games, it was over before the first 15 minutes had been played. Favre played some of the best football I have ever seen a 65 year old man play, and Sidney Rice was a force! More importantly, this set up a game that I have been dreaming for since about week 5. Saints Vs. Vikings in the Superdome for all of the NFC marbles! Ooooh, this is going to be a good one!
I am interested to see the backlash in Dallas after Phillips dropped another playoff game. At some point, Jerry Jones has to realize that he is not the coach they need in Dallas, doesn’t he? My guess is that Bill Cowher’s phone was ringing early this morning, and the man on the other end has a blank cheque....and a lot of plastic surgery done to his face.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York @ San Diego
As I had mentioned in my dignity bowl picks, this was an amazing matchup for the Jets, as they featured the #1 rushing attack against the chargers lacklustre rushing defence. The cards just fell right for Rex Ryan’s squad as they gave up over 250 first half yards, and ended the half with just a 7-3 deficit.
In the 2nd half, the Jets defence collapsed on Phil Rivers, and Shonn Green once again came to life to lift the Jets past the Chargers.
I have to make 2 comments on the Chargers:
1) Similar to Wade Phillips in Dallas, don’t you have to start worrying about having Norv Turner as your coach? This team has some of the best talent in the league, yet always manages to mess it all up come Playoff time. Hell, maybe Cowher’s phone has both Leatherface from Dallas calling, along with AJ Smith. And if I was Cowher, I know where the weather (and talent) is nicer!
2) Once again, we got a front row seat for the ‘Tomlinson Look’. This view is getting so familiar that there is even a McFarlane toy to show it. You can stick a fork in LT, as his 2 yard average in a playoff game just isn’t enough to help a team win. Look for San Diego to draft an RB in the first 3 rounds of the draft this season.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So in conclusion, I think we are going to be very entertained by next week’s games....Finally. Because, other than the Cards-Packers game, it’s been a pretty underwhelming NFL playoff season.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment