Week 9 - The Emotional State

Last week, I used analysis of the "emotional" state of many teams to pick a lot of games and I went 10-3. Basically, this was the theory: If a team is coming off a shocking loss, they rebound and win (e.g. NO rebounding from the loss to Cleveland with a victory over the Steelers). The hardest part: if a team has won too many games and gets overconfident (or takes for granted a shitty team), they end up getting upset! (e.g. the Jets losing).

I couldn't really find any applicable games for this week though after writing that last paragraph. Oh well, on to the games.

Manwich Matchup of the Week
Indy @ Philly- Vick's first game back is a doozy. The Colts have been on a roll of late, winning 3 in a row. The Eagles are coming off a bye week and are sitting at 4-3. I have no idea what this indicates under any theory, but this seems to be the year of the Vick. Too bad Marcus can't cash in.
Pick: Philly

Upset of the Week #1
Miami @ Baltimore - Miami is 4-0 on the road and 0-3 at home. I want this to continue... so I hope they shock the Ravens!
Pick: Miami

Upset of the Week #2
Chi @ Buff- I think this is the easiest upset of the week, because the Bills have been the best 0-7 team in the history of NFL football. They lost by 5 to miami, 8 to new england, 3 to baltimore, and 3 to KC.
Pick: Buffalo

Opening Round Playoff Game #8
Teams that have been eliminated: Cleveland, St. Louis, Oakland, Detroit, Buffalo, Kansas City, San Fran, Denver
Arizona @ Minny- Its a crucial elimination matchup of two of last seasons playoff teams. Arizona has been dysfunctional at QB. Minny has been dysfunctional at QB, WR, defense, roster decisions, Friday night dinners, and inappropriate pictures of someone's alleged privates. Pick: Minny

SD @ Houston- This is the hardest game to pick I think. Both teams are inconsistent... but I think SD is more desperate.
Pick: SD
NO @ CAR- Pick: NO
TB @ Atl - I respect TB, but not enough to beat ATL in a pivotal divisional game.
Pick: ATL
Jets @ Detroit - I'm very tempted to give the Jets another loss... but based on emotional state, the Jets should bounce-back from their shutout loss last week and from being a game behind the patriots. I still think the Jets will struggle to keep up with the Lions this week.
Pick: Jets
NE @ Cleve - Pick: NE
Giants @ Seattle- Charlie Whitehurst is starting for Seattle. He has no attempts in his career. That can't be good.
Pick: Giants
KC @ Oak - KC has had problems on the road, but I'm guessing that will change this week.
Pick: KC
Dallas @ GB - The Cowboys have quit.
Pick: GB
Pitt @ Cincy- The Bungals are in some sort of hangover state.
Pick: Pitt

Last Week: 10-3 (an actual superior week!)
Season: 69-48
Manwich: 5-3 (The Saints actually did beat the Steelers the week after the Saints lost to the Browns)
Upset of the Week: 7-4 (Well, picking Washington as an "easy" upset pick was a disaster as the Lions routed them. Picking the Packers over the Jets got me one victory last week).

Random Comments: Week 2

Damn, my body is hot.  The off-season workouts and punishing the NFL rules committee has really improved my guns.  Unfortunately, the committee did not accept the paddling for 15 yards penalty but I am optimistic for the future.

I am ready for the NFL season and the dry cleaner shrunk my zebra outfit to a skin tight fit. What? Cutler fumbled?  Damn, I'm going to head lock the rules committee for the empty hand moving forward doctrine. 

NFL- The NFC East is back.  Last night's MNF game proved very little about the Cowboys. Many sports fans picked Dallas to win the NFC East but the Eagles showed a potent offense that can score points with deep threats.  I do not remember the last time the Eagles had a real deep threat.  Granted the deep threat needs to STOP celebrating before he reaches the end zone but hey... rookie mistake right?

Looking ahead, the Eagles have the 2-0 Steelers in town next week.  Last night, the Eagles line gave McNabb time and his health is the key for the continued Eagles resurgence.   The Steelers blitz packages will provide another early season test for the line.  Pick: Eagles

Interesting Week 3 Match-ups

• 1-1 Oakland at surprising 2-0 Bills: Nobody circles the wagons like the Bills.  Pick BILLS
• 2-0 Jesus powered Cardinals vs. Washington:  Pick WAS
• 0-2 STL vs. 0-2 Seattle: The battle of the cellar dwellers!  Pick Seattle
• 1-1 New Orleans at Denver: If Denver has the power to eliminate Ed Hochuli from Super Bowl contention, what else can they do? DEN
• 0-2 JAX at Indy: 0-3 JAX? Yup.  Pick Indy
• 0-2 Steamers at 1-1 Cobra Commander: Brian Billick no longer coaches the evil cobra empire... the legacy lives.  Pick COBRA
• 2-0 Dallas at 2-0 Green Bay: Gutsy, this should be the manwich.  Pick GB
• 1-1 Jets at 0-2 Whale's Vagina: I am curious to see how San Diego responds to the blown call last week.  Pick SD

NCAA Football: No joy, electricity, or ability to hold the football in the Big Ten this weekend. The Wolverines currently have the longest streak of winning seasons (40, 1968-present) and bowl games (33, 1975-present) and both streaks are in jeopardy.  Last week the Maze and Blue turned the ball over 6 times vs. ND.  Ugly.  Granted the team is young but the rain impacts both teams and ND did NOT turn the ball over 6 times.

Last year, I beat up OSU QB Todd Boeckman on this blog prior to the clash of Michigan and Ohio State but the staunch OSU defense anchored by the arms of Gholston and the running attack managed to hide this problem.  We saw the problem at USC.  

Editors Note: Watch out for Oklahoma.  Their schedule is far easier (minus Red River classic versus Texas) than Georgia in the fight for the #2 position behind USC.

That is sufficient rambling for one morning.  I'll be back with asinine analysis, douchebaggery, and taunting later this week.

Even My Grandma Does Not Like Favre

The following is a completely true account of a telephone conversation with my Grandma, as she and my Grandpa had the TV on and were watching the Cleveland Browns-NY Jets game, which Brett Favre was watching since he is now a member of the NY Jets.

Grandma: Who is this Favre (pronounced Favor) guy?
Gutsy: What?!?
Grandma: Brett Favre (pronounced Favor). Who is this guy?
Gutsy: Oh, you mean Brett Favre. He was Green Bay's QB for about SIXTEEN YEARS, won a Super Bowl once, finally retired last season, but now he wanted to come back. But his starting spot was gone, so he then demanded a trade.
Grandma: SIXTEEN YEARS??? How old is this guy?
Gutsy: I think he's 39.
Grandma: 39! Who would want him to be their QB? That's too old!

The moral of the story: even my Grandma is skeptical of Brett Favor! And she didn't even know who he was until today!

Green Bay, Favre Reach New Levels Of Insanity

Despite the giant middle finger directly below that beckons us to not talk about a certain former drug-addicted quarterback who is now high on the stench of his own narcissism, this most recent development – if true – is patently absurd.

Why would the Green Bay Packers want to pay someone $20M to stay home? It’s not money that counts against the salary cap so if the owner wants to be reckless with an amount I can’t even dream of, then that’s his business. That being said, this situation is getting out of hand. As much as Brett Favre’s indecisiveness is both infuriating and selfish, I don’t quite understand why the Packers are being so obstinate in their refusal to take him back. And if you don’t want him on your team, why not just make a trade to send him to the Jets, Falcons, Panthers, or some other non-NFC North team that desperately needs a QB? The Packers certainly need Brett Favre more than he needs them. Keeping him out of camp out of spite seems outrageous to me, especially if the Packers are committed to winning football games in 2008.

Paying him to stay home is preposterous. Either let him come back and play for the Packers or trade him to another city. A bribe is beyond all levels of comprehension. Frankly, I wish both parties nothing but the worst. I hope the Packers go 1-15 and I hope Favre goes to another team and sucks beyond words. They both deserve the misery.

Dear Favre and Packers,

Since ESPN can't help but overexpose the story please do what you can to end this story. It was funny for a bit but now its just annoying. Any additional questions about my feelings on the topic can be directed to the picture below.
sincerely,
Mighty Mike

GroundHog's Day

Favre: Hey Aaron, Its me Brett. Yeah same routine as last year. See you at Camp!
Rogers: No! No! Its happening again. I told my therapist this would happen. WHY?!?!?
Favre: Yeah it'll be great. We can do this every year. FOREVER
Rogers (Hangs Up Phone And Sobs in Corner)