Well another week has come and gone and people are still talking about the Most Interesting Man In The World and what he has been doing up in the land of the Norske. Well enough about that, let’s talk football.
National Favre League: This is a horrid week for NFL matchups; none of them are great and most are downright lame. The best to my eyes is Marcy’s newfound love, Mike Singleterry and the Niners hosting HotLnata’s Dirty Birds. This actually has the makings of a very good game. The Niners are solid and need to be taken seriously. Their defense is tough and disciplined, and offense has been sufficient, if somewhat underwhelming, so far this season. Atlanta plays well on both sides of the ball too, and young Matt Ryan is just learning what he has got with Tony Gonzales. Frank Gore is out for Frisco though, so give the edge to the Falcons. The other game that has a little bit of sex appeal is the Pats visiting the comfy confines of Mile High in Denver. Now, you have to take the Pats here, but never underestimate the Broncos at home and Denver’s defense has been fantastic so far. Brady should end the Donko’s fantasy start of the season though.
I will take the Jets to rebound and beat the Fish in Miami and the Cards to play with more passion than they have so far this year and take care of business at home against the Texans. Again, though, never underestimate the ability of the Cardinals to suck. Baltimore puts a crimp in the joy of Ochocinco and the Bengals in Baltimore and Buffalo continues the Brownie’s suck in Buffalo. Pittsburgh has too much for Detroit, but Detroit will continue to improve and will at least make it a game. The indianapolis Peytons contue the woeful start of the Titans. I have no idea what kind of bad mojo has consumed Tennessee this year, but they won’t quit sniffing that glue this week. Jeff Fisher must be beside himself; his team has been sloppy and that is just not characteristic of his teams.
Jags/Squawks and Skins/Panthers are both toss-ups. Look for the Vikings to go back to Adrian Peterson heavy against the woeful Rams and rest the arm on the old guy. Heck, they may only play Favre for a half; that is what I would do. Donovan McNabb returns in time to clean out the rust on the Bucs in Philly. The Giants will obliterate the Raiders in Joisey and the ‘Boys do the same to the Chiefs.
College Ball: The discussion this week starts and ends with the Gators and LSU. But the game is in the bayou, not the Swamp so don’t count the Tigers out. It looks like Tebow will play but, quite frankly, his backup looks like one hell of a pure passer and the Gators would be just fine with him too. I expect a good game, but Florida is too much for the Tigers. Oregon at UCLA and Michigan at Iowa look like excellent conference matchups. I’ll go with the Ducks and Hawks, but should both be great games. If you have other games of interest, chat us up with them in comments.
The Boys of Fall: Due to popular demand, we will channel Chico Esquela and talk baseball. The Cardinals are done; they had a good chance against the Dodgers – until they blew game two. Now, not so much. The Rockies are headed back to Coors Field with a chance to close out the Phillies at home. Pedro Martinez is going for Philly tomorrow, that ought to be real interesting in the thin air of Denver. Pedro has been fantastic since his return, but with his reduced velocity and the effect of the thin air on movement, you have to wonder how he will fare. J.A. Happ on Sunday is a better bet for the Phillies and if they get the series back to Philly for a deciding fifth game, watch out because they will have Cliff Lee going again.
The Twinkies put up a game effort tonight against the Evil Empire, but ran out of gas. That puts Minnesota down 2-0 and even though they are going home, you have to figure they are done. It is a shame, the schedule, what with the play in game on Monday was a killer. The Halos won game one and game two is tied up at one run each in the fifth as I write. Great pitching matchup with Weaver and Josh Beckett for the Sawx. The Halos are going to need the Angels in their outfield to beat Beckett, and he has a low pitch count going so he can go late into the game; but if they do they look good, even going back to Fenway for the next two games.