NFL Picks Week 6

I am running late on the NFL article because this Angels-Yankees game is off the charts great. Yankee fans now cheering for ARod like he were a God. Amazing how time changes the mind of the masses. If ARod would of gotten the Game Winning hit in the 12th after the Home Run in the 11th to tie the game, I would of felt a man made 3.4 earthquake here.

I am in a bad mood, so this weeks picks will at least have a bit of flavor to them. Enjoy.

Pittsburgh Steelers 45, Cleveland Browns 0 - Yes, that is right. The Squad-doosh! Why? Because if Derek Anderson goes 2-17 off of Buffalo, what the hell is he going to do against a real defense? Oh yeah, and Troy Polamalu is back for the Steelers.
Browns get embarassed so bad, Eric Mangini fines himself $15,000 for being a horrible coach. He should be fining himself though for signing off on the Mark Sanchez for the Jet scraphead trade, and the Braylon Edwards into Federal Protection trade to the Jets.

Carolina Panthers 24, Tampa Bay Bucs 14 - Game of two teams that do not matter. Bucs will score half their points on a Jake Delhomme Pick-6. I wonder if Julius Peppers actually takes the lawnchair onto the field this week. He might as well.
One more thing about the Bucs. How do you give up on the 4th overall pick in the draft two years ago when he has not had less than 6 sacks in a season? That trade felt more like a Euro Soccer Team giving a young player on loan to another. Horrible management.

Kansas City Chiefs 23, Washington Redskins 19 - I would say this is Upset Special, but let's be serious for a second. The Redskins are trash. My friend is a die hard Redskins fan, and is about to go Waco on Jim Zorn. Memo to Daniel Snyder, you want to get rid of Jim Zorn without having to pay him, hire my friend. He would do the deed gladly.

Jacksonville Jaguars 31, St. Louis Rams 17 - Good news for the Rams. They actually score points this week. The bad news for the Rams. There is about 15 college teams that would be favored in Vegas against them. Stephen Jackson finally gets in the endzone, but Maurice Jones Drew sees it three times. Got to love that little cannonball.

Cincinnati Bengals 31, Houston Texans 20 - My faith in the Texans is offically dead. I have no idea how Gary Kubiak and Kyle Shannahan have not received one quote of flamming from the media on their goal line playcalling and personnel. That is why we have to love ESPN, they protect the people they like..... speaking of players ESPN slobbers over....

Baltimore Ravens 23, Minnesota Vikings 17 - Do you really think the Ravens are going to go into a Bye losing three straight? Ravens defense finally shows up and harasses Brett Favre all day long. After being hit to the ground, Jon Gruden and Jaws will come from off the sidelines dressed in drag, like they were immates at Oz, crying and scared for their God.

Green Bay Packers 48, Detroit Lions 10 - No Stafford, no Megatron, and I do not think Starscream is on the roster. Aaron Rodgers is foaming at the gums like one of Michael Vick's old fighting dogs looking at that Lions secondary. (Bad joke, I know, but I am in a bad mood. Comment if you have a problem.)

New York Giants 27, New Orleans Saints 17 - Take the Super Bowl 2 years ago as the litmus test for this game. High octane offense against a defense that can apply pressure with just the four lineman, and can put seven men into coverage. Drew Brees did not do much against the Bills or Jets defenses, and this defense is better than the others.
I also have to mention, Eli Manning is in Brother Peyton mode. Anyone see that deep throw he made to Steve Smith last week? Unguardable, put it in the perfect spot where only his guy can make a play. Can you name five better QB's in football right now?

Philadelphia Eagles 72, Oakland Raiders 0 - Do I really need to explain this one? Eagles score over 30 a game, plays defense, and are going after a QB that looks like he eats every meal like he was on Death Row. Tom Cable might have to punch a special teams player after this one. Do not worry Raider fans, at the deadline, Uncle Al will deal your 2012 first round pick for Shawne Merriman, minus his knee.

New York Jets 16, Buffalo Bills 3 - Suppose to be a cold, bitter, rainy day at the Meadowlands. I wonder if Rex Ryan and crew want to commit a few Murder-Death-Kills after being humiliated on Monday Night. This is the week where TO deploys his verbal nukes. He has been at Defcon 1 for two weeks now.

New England Patriots 34, Tennessee Titans 9 - I would not want to be any Titan this week. Pats are coming home after a loss. Remember when I mentioned this before the Ravens game? NEVER pick against Belichick at home after a loss. Should be NFL Dogma.

Seattle Seahawks 31, Arizona Cardinals 20 - Seattle at home when healthy is awesome. The Cards are lucky to be 2-2 after Kubiak threw them a bone on that god awful playcalling. Hasselback carves up the Cards.

Atlana Falcons 28, Chicago Bears 23 - Wow! I did not know the Falcons had Eff-You mode. They showed it last week, when they went to San Fran, and basically ripped the 49ers hearts out and showed it to them like the bad guy from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Best game of the week, imo. Both NBC and ESPN have been getting some goodies early in the season. It will not end the way it did last season though. Ryan and posse will win this one outright.


Last Week: 8-6

Season: 49-26

NFL Preview and Predictions-AFC

AFC East

New England Patriots 13-3
Miami Dolphins 8-8
New York Jets 7-9
Buffalo Bills 5-11


The Pats run away with this divison by Week 6, although trading DL Richard Seymour really does hurt their Super Bowl chances this season. Tom Brady airs it out all over the place and Randy Moss and Wes Welker both have Pro Bowl seasons. If the Pats get any sort of running game, expect them to put up 500 points this season and they will look like a video game on offense.

The Dolphins had a very nice run last season, and they are well-coached. Only problem is, the schedule gets tougher this year and you can not expect career years again from Chad Pennington and Joey Porter. OT Jake Long, last years #1 overall pick is a stud, and will be taking his annual trip to Hawaii.

The Jets are the team of the future in this divison. New Head Coach Rex Ryan brings an attitude to this team that was much needed. They will field a top defense this season, but rookie QB Mark Sanchez will have his growing pains. Expecting Matt Ryan in this situation is asking for too much. This team in 2010 though, especially in a potential uncapped season, watch out.

How do I say this without hurting anyones feelings? The Bills are a mess. They have one of the worst Head Coaches in football in Dick Jauron, their best player, RB Marshawn Lynch is suspended for the first 3 games, and they decide to bring in the 2nd biggest soap opera in the NFL next to Brett "Days of Our" Favre, in Terrell Owens. And to top it off, their recently fired Off. Coordinator told the media that Jauron basically wanted a Pop Warner Football offense. Expect a long, cold season up north.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens 12-4
Pittsburgh Steelers 11-5
Cincinnati Bengals 7-9
Cleveland Browns 3-13

The Ravens lost some players on defense, especially LB Bart Scott, S Jim Leonhard, and of course, Def. Coordinator Rex Ryan to the Jets this offseason, but with LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed out on the field, they basically already have two coaches out on the field. The offense will be much improved with QB Joe Flacco getting more exerience and the emergence of RB Ray Rice, who looked great in the preseason.

The defending champs are still going to be a mjor threat. The Steelers bring back one of the staunchest defenses the league has ever seen, led by OLB James Harrison and S Troy Polamalu. I am just worried that the running game is not entirely there, and Big Ben is due for a lengthy 3-5 game absence from all the hits he take in the pocket for keeping the ball in his hands too long.

This is a big season for Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis. This team has underachieved for several seasons, and may be on the hot seat for his job. He does get back QB Carson Palmer, who was hurt most of last season. The only person even more happy to have Palmer back then Lewis, is WR Chad "Twitter" Ocho Cinco, who should have a solid bounce back season. They are at least fun to watch on HBO though.

This year in Cleveland, we get to see Round two of Man-Genius. New Head Coach Eric Mangini comes over from New York to attempt to clean up this mess. Only one thing, he has probably already this mess even worse by getting maybe 65 cents on the dollar for the 5th overall pick that wound up being Mark Sanchez, questionable drafting, and not even announcing a starting QB until the last second. Brady Quinn should win the job, but we will have to deal with Braylon Edwards with the dropzees, and RB Jamal Lewis hitting the hole slower than a stoner thinks.

AFC South

Indianpolis Colts 11-5
Houston Texans 10-6
Tennessee Titans 9-7
Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11

QB Peyton Manning and the Colts have their hands full this season. This is by far the toughest divison in the AFC, and Manning has to go this season for the first time without Canton-bound WR Marvin Harrison. He still does have WR Reggie Wayne and TE Dallas Clark to toss the pigskin to. Rookie RB Donald Brown takes Joseph Addai's starting spot by Week 5 and shines.

The Texans are the "it" team to finally take that rise up to playoff status. They have a ton of firepower on offense with QB Matt Schaub, RB Steve Slaton, and All-World WR Andre Johnson. The keys for this team is simple. Can DE Mario Williams and Co. keep teams to 20 points a game? Can Schaub stay healthy? If both answers are yes, they could take the divison. If both answers are no, then probaly another 8-8 season.

The Titans come into this season losing their best player in DT Albert Haynesworth to Washington, when he signed a contract that will pay him enough to eat cheeseburgers for the rest of his days. They have a tough schedule to boot, having to play both teams from last years Super Bowl, in Pittsburgh and Arizona, plus New England, Seattle, and San Diego the final week of the season. The Titans will have to grind out wins this season, but they are use to that.

I do not think Jags Head Coach Jack Del Rio survives this season. The Jags have alot of question marks on both sides of the ball, and they are really putting all the weight on the shoulders of RB Maurice Jones Drew. The offensive line is going to be kind of green as well, with the Jags taking OL in the draft, including 1st round pick, Eugene Monroe.

AFC West

San Diego Chargers 13-3
Oakland Raiders 7-9
Kansas City Chiefs 5-11
Denver Broncos 4-12

This divison is all Chargers. If they do not go at least 5-1 within this divison, there should be a firing line on the coaching staff. The offense is just loaded, with QB Phillip Rivers, RB LaDainian Tomlinson, TE Antonio Gates, and WR Vincent Jackson. The defense should be much improved with having a full training camp under Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera and getting back OLB Shawne Merriman back from injury. They may lose him by Week 5 to a new strain of herpes though after encountering Tila Tequila though.

After the Chargers, it is like getting second place by default. We will go with the Raiders. Yes, I know they are a joke of an organization, but lets look at the positives for a change. They can run the ball effectively. They do have the best CB in football in Nnamdi Asomugha, and they just traded for DL Richard Seymour, who will help the DLine emmensely, both on and off the field.

Kansas City is going in the right direction, but it will take some time. They got their QB in Matt Cassel, and they are rebuilding that defense the right way, but that OLine is young and pretty awful. Actually, losing TE Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta via trade hurts Cassel the most, as he would've had a safety net.

Now, the Broncos are a team that is not going in the right direction. New Head Coach Josh "Mini-Belichick" Mcdaniels has flipped this franchise upside down in a few months. He handled the Jay Cutler situation poorly, and now, he may be doing an even worse job with WR, and crybaby Brandon Marshall. The defense is going into the 3-4 this season, and Mcdaniels does not have the personnel yet for that scheme to be successful. It is going to be a long season in Denver, at least they will get a potential Top 5 pick right? Oops, did Mcdaniels screw that one up as well? That pick is Seattle's.

Playoffs:

Wild Card Round: Indianpolis Colts over Pittsburgh Steelers
                       
                            Baltimore Ravens over Houston Texans

Divisonal Round: San Diego Chargers over Indianpolis Colts

                           Baltimore Ravens over New England Patriots

AFC Conf. Champ.: Baltimore Ravens over San Diego Chargers

LeGarrette Blount, Shawne Merriman, other Tidbits

I am going to quote Richard Dryfuess from the move "Let It Ride".

"God likes me! He really, really likes me!"

I just start a blog a week ago, and I get Oregon RB Legarrette Blount tossing the best right cross punch since Kermit Washington. Not only does he do that, he then attempts to fight a teammate, and then finally, tries to go postal on the Boise crowd.




And just when I was about to put my post out for that, I see this bit of news:


"NFL's Merriman arrested, accused of choking Tila Tequila"
God must really, really like me.

Lets start with Blount. First off, let me just say this. Blount is not playing with a full deck. The guy has been suspended for his behavior in the past. He was the main Oregon Duck that did the trash talking weeks before this game even started. He may be a nutjob, but he is a talented nutjob. At 6'1" 240 pounds with good speed, he sounds like Giants RB Brandon Jacobs.

 Blount goes into this national game with a potential darkhorse Heisman run in him, and a live audition for the NFL Scouts to elevate his draft stock, and overall, make more money. Boise St. basically crippled his slim Heisman hopes and cost him a good chunk of change in the Draft by holding him to less than nothing in the game. Blount ran his mouth by how Oregon "owes them an ass-whooping", and he could not cash that check. In his eyes, that is rather embarrassing.

We all saw what happened after the end of the game. I am not condoning what Blount did. He got suspended for the year, and his NFL dreams are more slim than Nicole Ritchie's waistline. That punishment was harsh, but the right one to give out.

 It is obvious that Blount's temper has a shorter fuse than an Oompa Loompa, considering that  he wanted to jump into a crowd of thousands and take them on like he were Rambo. There is one thing I will give Blount.

Boise State's Bryon Hout deserved what he got.

See, here is where the the general public goes, "WTF?", and the silent majoity says, "Hell yes!"

It is no secret that Blount is basically a ticking timebomb. Your defense and team just smoked, and I do mean smoked Oregon for the ESPN-minions to see all over the country, so instead of celebrating with your teammates, with half the state of Idaho jumping on the field in a Varisty Blues kind of way, Hout decides that the best thing to do was to taunt Blount, after the fact that his team already administered a beatdown.

That is what most people call a goating scumbag.

Yes, I apologize for my language, but can we be blunt for a second? (No pun intended there).Blount lost alot that night, even before the entire riot. Awards, draft status, potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars could've been lost by Blount in that one game. Boise St. made their point, threw Blount's own trash-talking right back in his grill. Bryon Hout did not think that was enough, so he tried to pour it on, not only by taunting Blount after the game, but putting his hands on him as well.

Well, bad mistake.

Blount's response to that was a missle of a right cross that landed flushed on Tout's jaw and dropped the scumbag. If Blount's football career is potentially over, I bet Dana White of MMA, Don King, and Oscar De La Hoya are potentially interested in a 240 pound guy that can toss a punch like that. Do not tell me that underneath your breath, you were watching the replays and were not thinking in your head, "That moron got what he deserved."

The best analogy to describe this would be a guy at a bar bragging to his friends that he was going to leave the bar that night with a woman, then the woman coming up to all of them tells him he has a better chance at seeing Jesus, verbally smacks him around a bit, and leaves by tossing a drink in his face. After all of this, some bystander at the bar turns around at the guy and laughs at him. What usually happens to that guy?

Blount then went onto try to fight a teammate, which was strike two on the night. Lastly, and I do not entirely blame Blount for this one, attempted to jump into the crowd at a bunch of volitaile Boise St. fans that were obviously tossing some seriously colorful quotes at Blount. (I do want to know if the Boise Stadium replayed the punch to encite the crowd into a boarderline riot. If anyone knows this for a fact, please email me or leave a comment.) People, just because you paid for the ticket, does not mean you have the right to say or do anything you want. I wouldve liked to seen if that clown in the stands wouldve said anything if there was not a boarder between him and Blount.

I also do not think Bryon Hout should be suspended for the taunt. He will be known as the rest of his life as the guy that got knocked out on national television for opening his big mouth. For the next five years, his face will be getting three million hits on YouTube. He probaly will not be able to go into a Burger King, without someone recognizing him and laughing at Hout. That alone, is enough punishment.

Next is Shawne Merriman.

This is just flat out embarrassing. Merriman gets arrested a week before the season starts over a skank like Tila Tequila? First off, you are a star in the NFL. You can get any woman you want, and you settle for a below average looking woman, who basically whored herself out to MTV for two years? Seriously, if I were in the same zip code as Tila Tequila, I would catch some sort of floating STD.

That is not the most embarrassing part though. Tila Tequila is how tall? Weighs how much? I would be doing her justice if I said she was 5'4" and 100 pounds. Ok, now how big is Shawne Merriman? Lets look that one up shall we.


Shawne Merriman is listed as 6'4" and 265 pounds.

For Merriman's sake, I hope that this was just blown out of proportion. A misunderstanding in a heated argument with Tequila, and she did what she knows best, and that is women. Ok, bad joke, what I really meant was, grabbing attention.

Because if this is not the case, and Merriman wrapped his mitts around a woman's neck that he outweighs by at least 150 pounds, he is then a coward. Why doesn't Merriman at least try to pick a fight with someone that is around 5'7" instead? Oh, that is right, Merriman still has nightmares about Maurice Jones-Drew laying him out on his back.

But if Merriman really has steroid.... oh, I am sorry, rage issues, I know a guy that close to your size that would fight you.

Legarrette Blount.

Few more tidbits about this weekend. I mean, not everything in sports was about violence.

- Sam Bradford just lost (In my best Dr. Evil voice) millllllllllllionssss of dollars with getting injured. The lesson, when you are going to be a top 5 pick in the NFL, just go into the Draft.

- There was been some horrible refereeing this weekend, but nothing takes the cake over what happened in the 4th quarter of that Georgia-Oklahoma St. game. In a close 17-10 game, Georgia S Reshead Jones flat out jacked up Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon cleanly over the middle. The outcome was a 15-yard personal foul penalty for a head to head hit. Jones didnt hit Blackmon's head, nor did he lead with his own head.
Three plays later, a Okie St. Touchdown to ice the game. Good job refs.

- If anyone is watching the US Open this weekend, 17 year old, and new American sweetheart Melanie Oudin upsetted Maria Shapapova in the 3rd round. During the match, all eyes and cameras were on Oudin. When was the last time Sharapova was anywhere and none of the cameras were flashing at her?