Week 1 NFL, College Football Wrap Up.

Wow! What a day of football.


Starting from noon Eastern Standard Time, until way past midnight, you have had nail-biters in College Football tonight.


I was suppose to have this post put up a long time ago. The NFL picks should have been up sometime this afternoon,  but the games sucked me in today, especially Notre Dame-Michigan and USC-Ohio St. Just a great product put out there today all around. Even the fact that my dumbass prediction of Oklahoma St. in the title game got stomped on like Edward Norton in American History X, not even that could put a damper on my excitement with the games today. (They still have an outside shot at the Title Game. Beat Texas, run the Big 12 table, etc. I also have an outside shot of finding diamonds in my backyard, but I will not hold my breath.)


Few things about these games today.


First off, Charlie Weis should be fired just based on his playcalling with less than 3 minutes to play. The Irish are up 3, they have the ball, and are THROWING!!!! Two incomplete passes later, the clock stopped twice, Michigan didn't have to burn timeouts, and the Wolverines got the ball back with 2:20 to play. That fantastic strategy Hungry Hungry Hippo.


Jimmy Clausen is going to be a good NFL Pro Quarterback. He convinced me.

Georgia and South Carolina could not score to save their lives last week. This week? They were running up and down the field like there was two opened trucks filled with electronics in each end zone. Damn!


USC grinded out a tough, tough win at the Horseshoe against Ohio St. Mark it on your calendar when USC and Cal hook up. It may just be to play in the National Title Game.


Florida St. is an embarrassment right now. Did you really almost lose to Jacksonville St.?? Down late in the 4th quarter? At home? (Shaking my head.) Oklahoma St. getting spanked by Houston at home, like the way Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder describes how to spank an actor when they behave badly is almost as embarrassing.

Now, onto Week 1..... the.....

N...F...L is here!

Atlanta Falcons 23, Miami Dolphins 16 - Lofty expectations in Atlanta this season. Tricky, tough first game, but the Falcons just have too much firepower to be stopped all day long. Atlanta has to keep Matt Ryan on his feet though, as Miami will blitz and pressure him all day.


Baltimore Ravens 38, Kansas City Chiefs 9- This game is just not fair. Remember the movie Necessary Roughness from the 90's? Texas State's opening game, when the Coach benched Scott Bakula, and the backup QB was in screaming to the refs to blow the whistle? Well, that esstentially sums up this game. And to top it off, Matt Cassel might not even start. Big game by RB Ray Rice.


Philadelphia Eagles 27, Carolina 23 - This might be the game of the week. Two evenly matched teams, both with explosive offenses and physical defenses. I just think the Eagles are a little more explosive on the offensive side, because of Donovan Mcnabb.


Cincinnati Bengals 20, Denver Broncos 16 - People forget because they were an offensive laughing stock of Pop Warner Pee Wee Football levels last year, the Bengals defense was staunch in the 2nd half of last season. They also open up against the NFL's verison of Lindsay Lohan right now as well. The Broncos are a mess. Brandon Marshall will play after Daddy lightly tapped his ass and pretended that it was an actually smack after the crap he pulled in practice, but it will not be enough.


Minnesota Vikings 24, Cleveland Browns 6 - Speaking of messes, the Browns offense had less life than a corpse last year. And to top it off, The Mangenius kept everyone up in the air about who will play QB. Usually not a good omen to a season. Adrian Peterson will run wild, and I hope Brett Favre shatters his torso in the process.


Houston Texans 27, New York Jets 16 - I really do love the Texans offense if they can stay healthy this season. The Jets have a very formidable defense, but I think that it will take a few games to adjust and get use to the new players, and starting DE Shaun Ellis is suspended for this game. QB Mark Sanchez's debut will be a down one. Check out the matchup of WR Andre Johnson against CB Darrelle Revis. It does not get better than that.


Indianapolis Colts 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 17 - The Jags usually give Peyton Manning and crew a hard time, but this is a bit of a rebuilding year down in Florida. Manning starts his campaign to keep his MVP.


New Orleans Saints 41, Detroit Lions 31 - If RB Pierre Thomas were playing in this game, I would of said the Saints break 50. In the dome, the Saints will go marching all over the Lions defense. The Lions are improved, and yes, they will score on the Saints, its not hard to score when you could tell a rookie QB in Matthew Stafford to throw the ball as high and far as he could, and have the human freak, WR Calvin Johnson just outjumped everyone.


Dallas Cowboys 16, Tampa Bay Bucs 3- Low scoring affair, as it was last season. I just cannot see how the Bucs, with new offensive players all over the place, to keep the stingy Cowboys D off guard. OLB Demarcus Ware should have a field day. Watch out for RB Felix Jones.


San Francisco 49ers 31, Arizona Cardinals 24- UPSET ALERT! I remember watching the last time these two teams played last year on Monday Night Football in a bar, with a young kid that just placed a complete Bride-Jumping bet on the 49ers. (Too much money to say, on the 49ers Money Line +350.)
The 49ers lead most of the way, but lost at the end. I came out of that experience thinking two things. One, Mike Singletary will make the 49ers a tough team, and lastly, never bet an amount of money and be in public that when you lose the insane bet you made, it makes the rain fall down from your eyes.


New York Giants 17, Washington Redskins 10 - Two tough hombres going at it in the trenches. Expect this game to be a slightly lesser verison of Tennessee-Pittsburgh from Thursday night. We may see a QB on a stretcher this game, perhaps even lose a limb. The NFL is back! Got to love it!


Seattle Seahawks 38, St. Louis Rams 14 - The Seahawks are my Super Bowl pick. Did you really think I was going to pick against them? Not a snowballs chance in hell. Matty Hasselback is healthy, and is ready to roll through. Let's just hope the Rams RB Stephen Jackson does not get a rug burn on the carpet, and goes on IR for 5 games.


Green Bay Packers 31, Chicago Bears 23 - I know I picked the Bears to win the divison, but do not expect them to beat the Packers opening night in the hostile envoirment of Green Bay. I do not know how the Packers defense will adjust to the 3-4, but I do know that both teams have QB's that could hit a 747 out of the air with a throw if they wanted to. Expect long deep bombs.


I will pick the two Monday Night games tomorrow night, along with some highlights of what I saw while being pegged to my couch, watching the Direct TV's NFL Package all day long. I am telling you, Direct TV's NFL Package is in the top 10 greatest inventions of all time, inbetween the wheel and duct tape.

Titans-Steelers game, College Football Picks, and more

The NFL is finally here! They had the perfect game to start the new season off with as well. The Pittsburgh Steelers, the defending Super Bowl champs, at home against the Tennessee Titans, who actually manhandled the Steelers in a big regular season game last year 31-13.

In that game, the Steelers took offense of some of the Titans players, including Lendale "Fats" White, stepping on the yellow Steeler towels that their fans wave at the stadium. They also took offense to, and most All-Universe S Troy Polamalu, when RB Chris Johnson waved the ball right at his grill last year scoring a touchdown. This game was going to be more physical than a San Francisco bathhouse (oops).

The anticipation did not disappoint. There was not much scoring in the game, but the battle in the trenches, and the hard hitting kept this game at a very high level of excitement for the casual person to keep watching. We all know the diehard junkie fans will always watch a game like this that is basically the equivalence of a pitcher's duel in baseball, but the intense hitting and physicality of the game was enough to keep the common putz at the bar to watch. The game went to overtime, where the Steelers prevailed 13-10.



Now, lets review some of the parts of the game.

- Pittsburgh is in trouble. They cannot run the ball, and it seemed that Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall were almost afraid to hit the hole at full speed. They better fixed this because if Big Ben takes another beating like this, he will have Hawkeye and Pierce from M.A.S.H looking over him at a hospital bed.

- As good and dominant as the Titans defensive line was early, do you think they missed Albert Haynesworth late in that game? They got tired, and when it mattered most, they could not get in the same zip code of Big Ben.

- Polamalu is great, and if he is hurt for a long period of time, the Steelers need to weather that storm, but man did he take quite a few bad penalties in that first half. Fantasic interception though, one handed.

- Not a bad debut for Titans 1st Round draft pick, WR Kenny Britt. He had that huge catch before halftime that set up Tennessee's only TD.

- What a greedy bonehead Hines Ward was there. Less than 90 seconds left in the game, and you catch a pass around the 15 yard line in a tie game, JUST TAKE A KNEE! You are in Field Goal range to win the game. What did this scholar do? Tries to juke and run into the endzone and be a hero. Egg all over your face Ward.
I do not want to hear another clown tell me how Hines Ward is such a gritty, great player and leader for a long time. If that happened in the Super Bowl, it would be on the same level as Chris Webber trying to call a phantom timeout in the NCAA Finals.

- Big Ben Roethlisberger takes a beating, but he makes some serious plays as well. That pump-fake he has is almost as good as new Memphis Grizzles Foward Sam Young's pump fake on his jumpshot. Ben rang off how many straight completions late in the game? 11? 12?

Now, for the college football picks, lets recap my record from last week first. We went 4-7. OUCH! It was the first week, combined with the fact that I could not buy ice in the winter last weekend in picks.

Here are this weeks picks:

Penn St. 41, Syracuse 7- Come on. Can I have just one gimmie pick? The Orange played solid last week, but reality hits them in the face this week, with QB Daryl Clark and crew smacking them around.

North Carolina 20, UConn 13- This game will be closer than the Tar Heels would like it to be, but they just have too many athletes to contend with compared to the young Huskie program. UConn is also 1-13 against ranked opponents.

Oklahoma St. 48, Houston 27- The Cowboys were slowed down by Georgia's defense last week, but Houston does not bring in the same SEC level athletes. Okie St. should run and pass the pigskin up and down the field all day.

TCU 31, Virginia 0- Yes, that is right. I think The Horned Frogs put up a frosted donut on UVA. Virginia lost to William and Mary last week. No, that was not me joking as well. This game has bloodbath written all over it.

West Virginia 27, East Carolina 24- Revenge game from last year, as the Moutaineers will seek it after being upsetted at ECU. No Pat White this time around, and East Carolina is considered a sleeper non-BCS team, but I think RB Noel Devine will have a big game.

Notre Dame 28, Michigan 17- I gotta admit, this game is now intriguing me. Both came out like gangbusters last week, even against weak competition, and played like it was 1991 again. I hate to say it, but , Jimmy Claussen for Heismann? There is a big school-big name QB vacancy now with the other 2 standing Amigos.

Tennessee 23, UCLA 16- Lane Kiffin's debut could not have been any better. This was an Ugly Betty game last year, I expect some of the same, but with both programs needing to grind out a big non-conference win. I feel Vols DB Eric Berry taking one to the house.

Gerogia 13, South Carolina 9- This game was a low scoring game last year, and that was with both teams have inferior defenses to this season, and 2 of the top 12 NFL picks playing for the Bulldogs. Both have inept offense, very good defenses. Alot of punting in this game.

Purdue 42, Oregon 38- I just cannot justify taking the Ducks after last weeks national horror show. Even without future MMA star LeGarrette Blount, the Ducks will score on Purdue. This is my upset pick.

USC 24, Ohio St. 9- I really thought the Buckeyes had a shot at this game at home. That was until I saw Navy shread the OSU defense. I was literally laughing at my TV set watching that game. Even with QB Terrelle Pryor, I just cannot see the Buckeyes being able to deal with the speed of the Trojans, on both sides of the ball. Expect USC to stuff the running game right down Ohio St.'s gullet.


Last, a few other things going on in sports...

- Stop your crying Richard Seymour, and report to the Raiders. You are a professional athlete, that makes millions of dollars a year (4 million to season). Play your one season in hell, then hit the potentially uncapped 2010 offseason, and strike gold. You are acting on the same level as Michael Crabtree right now.

-Let me get this straight, you are a Hotel Manager at Marriot in Manhattan, and you have basically the toast of the town staying at your hotel for the time that she is playing in the US Open, and you kick her out of the hotel after her reservation was up? How was this good public relations for Marriot to make Melanie Oudin and her family leave the hotel after the reservation was up? Seriously, that scholar should get a clue, and be looking for a new job.

- It really does look like the World Series will have Albert Pujols in Yankee Stadium huh? I cannot wait for that potential series.

College Football Picks of the Week

This is a great time of year for a sports junkie. Baseball is coming down the stretch with the pennant races, and the postseason is right around the corner. We are currently in the process of getting ready for the college football season, starting tonight, along with the NFL a week from today. We also have the NFL and basketball right in the rearview mirror.

Here is a look at some of the more interesting matchups this weekend in College Football (No, I will waste my time and yours on how Florida, Texas, USC, etc will win by a combined score of 34,498-9):


South Carolina 16, North Carolina St. 27

When was Steve Spurrier suppose to re-take the SEC again? He has been slightly better here than he was with the Washington Redskins. NC St. comes in with a very solid QB in Russell Wilson, who will hurt the Gamecocks in more ways than one way, and make less mistakes than his counterpart.

Oregon 45, Boise St 38

I find it amusing that basically Boise St.'s season is based on their opening game. Bottom line, if they beat the Ducks, they will probaly go undefeated. The only thing is, they will not win. Too much firepower from the Ducks, and this is a revenge game after last season. Boise St. cries on their blue grass after the game (See more on this game in The Degenerates Corner).

Navy 13, Ohio State 31

Navy will score early, as the Buckeyes takes a few series to adapt to the option attack, but Terrelle Pryor makes the crowd cream in their pants by looking like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl back in the Nintendo days.

BYU 27, Oklahoma 55

Just before I did this article, I saw that Oklahoma will miss All-Universe Tight End Jermaine Gresham this week. Now, that is the only reason why I have Oklahoma only scoring 55 in this game. BYU will score, but I have a hard time seeing Oklahoma even attempting a punt in this game. Big game for Heisman Winner QB Sam Bradford.

Nevada 28, Notre Dame 24

Here is my Upset Spay-Shal of the Week! The only thing I have to explain this upset for me on paper is, Nevada really does have one of the Top 10-12 Quarterbacks in the country in Colin Kaepernick.
I just want to see how Lou Holtz has to explain on National TV that his expert opinion on who wins the National Championship is dusted in Week 1 of the season by Nevada. I am telling you, someone at Bristol HQ should put Holtz on suicide watch sometime this season if the Irish are 4-3.

Maryland 23, California 42

I remember watching this game last year. It was in Maryland, on ESPN, at Noon Est time. Cal in the first half looked like they just got into Maryland two hours before gametime. They were like zombies in the first half, and they could not overcome the scoring margin in the 2nd half. This game is on the left coast, this game is payback time, and Cal has RB Javhid Best that will headstomp on the Terps.

Missouri 34, Illnois 45

Was there any other team more disappointing last season than Illinois? They are loaded with athletes and talent all over the place and they just disappeared like an Italian mobster after talking to the Feds. I am jumping back on the bandwagon early this season, but with caution. Just too many weapons to ignore, led by QB Juice Williams and WR Arreilous Benn.

Georgia 27, Oklahoma St. 41

After the Cowboys lost two starters this week to injury and quitting, I am a little queasy on this pick. I mean, afterall, I do have them in the BCS Title game. I think this game being at home is huge for them, and any team that plays Okie St. right now, they just have to prove to me that they can stop WR Dez Bryant.

Virginia Tech 10, Alabama 23

This is what it comes down to. The SEC pays fo..... errrrr... I mean recruits better and more polished athletes than the ACC. Just take a look at Bama's talent, even with a new QB under Center. This might be the best defense in the nation, and the fact that the Hokies lost their starting RB, Darren Evans for the season, this should be a long night for Va. Tech.

Cincinnati 20, Rutgers 21

Think the Bearcats are pissed that this game was moved up the schedule to opening night? They are right to feel that way. They took it in the gaspipe by the schedule makers.
This really does not matter, since the Big East is absolutely putrid this season. It just sounds like that Greg Schiano's recruiting is finally going to pay off, and Rutgers will have a solid defense this season. Player to watch in this game is Bearcat WR Marty Gilyard. He is the most underrated WR in the nation, and does not get enough ink.

Miami 19, Florida St. 24

The rivalry continues. Both teams are desperate to start off hot, especially Miami. I just think Seminole QB Christian Ponder makes all the difference in a Monday Night televised game on ESPN.

This is the Wayne Root game of the week. Want to know what that is? Go check out The Degenerates Corner.