Miami 17, Cincinnati 13
I had: Cincinnati -3
Ugly game between two “Good Bad” teams.
Green Bay 27, Indianapolis 30
I had: Green Bay -7
At this point we’re obligated to talk about the fact that the Packers kind of stink this year, right? And that there isn’t really a clear explanation?
Baltimore 9, Kansas City 6
I had: Baltimore -6.5
Congratulations Kansas City fans: you are officially on my shit list. Cheering because a player is hurt is one of the single most disgusting things you can do as a fan. If it were up to me, the Chiefs wouldn’t play in Kansas City anymore starting immediately. They would just up and move out of the city without any warning. If that’s how you’re going to behave, you do not deserve an NFL franchise.
Cleveland 27, NY Giants 41
I had: NY Giants -8.5
So, Cleveland jumped out to a 14-0 lead very early in the first quarter, and I found myself thinking:
Do not trust New York at home.
Do not trust New York at home.
Do not trust New York at home.
Do not trust New York at home.
Do not trust New York at home.
Do not trust New York at home.
But then Eli Manning put on an absolute clinic to overpower the pedestrian Browns. Have you ever seen a quarterback come into his own and completely change his reputation the way Eli Manning has over the past two years?
Philadelphia 14, Pittsburgh 16
I had: Pittsburgh -3.5
Troy Polamalu’s triumphant return was over before it started as he limped off the field early in the first quarter, and outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley followed not long thereafter. I don’t really think defensive injuries are the Steelers’ biggest problem, however, as they just look absolutely uninspiring in every phase of the game.
Atlanta 24, Washington 17
I had: Atlanta -3
Given a choice between watching NFL Network’s Red Zone and Atlanta/Washington, I actually decided to watch Atlanta/Washington. It’s a testament to what these two teams have done offensively that I decided watching them go at it would actually be more entertaining than watching the most exciting parts of every game. I eventually switched to Red Zone, but two things immediately jumped out at me before the RG3 injury:
1) Atlanta’s offensive line gives Matt Ryan all day. When you combine that with the obscene number of weapons he has (Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez…) Ryan may be getting way too much credit for Atlanta’s success this year.
2) Mike Shanahan and Robert Griffin III are absolutely going to win Super Bowls together.
Seattle 16, Carolina 12
I had: Seattle +3
Neither offense looked any good, and Seattle might be having a very quiet quarterback controversy.
Chicago 41, Jacksonville 3
I had: Chicago -5.5
The saying goes, “The best defense is a good offense,” but Chicago fans have frequently witnessed the reverse to be true. Adding to the annals of this modified truism, Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs scored defense touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, a hilariously unlikely occurence that hardly fazes Bears fans. Though they sputtered in the first half, the offense also came up huge in the second half.
The narrative of this game the analysts seem to want to push is that Jacksonville played a “good” first half… in which they scored only 3 points and coughed up the ball. Alrighty then. Obviously the Bears need their offense to click for entire games going forward, but the second half really was a showcase of the sort of play we’ve expected from this unit all year.
Tennessee 7, Minnesota 30
I had: Minnesota -5.5
Ponder needs to be careful with those interceptions, but Minnesota continues to be an unexpected beast, and it’s starting to look very likely that the NFC North will again send two teams to the postseason (Chicago and Minnesota) while the two that had that honor last season (Green Bay and Detroit) watch from home.
Denver 21, New England 31
I had: Denver +6.5 (New England outright)
In their much hyped potential finale, Manning (31 of 44 for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns) actually outperformed Brady (23 of 31 for 223 yards and 1 touchdown.) The big difference was the running game as the Patriots rushed for 251 yards compared to just 70 for the Broncos.
Buffalo 3, San Francisco 45
I had: San Francisco -9.5
I cannot for the life of me figure out how the 49ers weren’t favored by double digits. This is exactly what I expected to happen.
San Diego 24, New Orleans 31
I had: San Diego +3.5
Bill Belichick of the Patriots won Coach of the Year the year of Spygate, Drew Brees just broke Johnny Unitas’s consecutive games with a touchdown record after Bountygate went public in the offseason… where’s that whole karma thing I keep hearing so much about?
Houston 23, NY Jets 17
I had: Houston -8
True story: I was sitting in the break room when an ESPN segment asked whether you would start Sanchez or Tebow next week. I asked aloud, “Who’s their third quarterback?” Everyone laughed… and agreed.
Acquiring Tebow was a transparently bad move for a fringe contender, and to this day I don’t get the move. You absolutely destroy Sanchez’s fragile psyche, essentially losing any chance of him being your guy. And you get… what, exactly? Do you really think you can win in the NFL with Tim Tebow as your starting quarterback? Obviously New York doesn’t, because they’re sticking with the sinking Sanchize ship. So where does that leave you? How did acquiring Tim Tebow make your football team remotely better?
On the flip side of things, Houston improves to 5-0 but allowed the erratic-at-best Jets to hang with them and lost Brian Cushing for the year in the process. Losing Cushing is a huge blow to this team that’s not going to get nearly as much press as losing Schaub (and, immediately, Leinart) last year. With New England’s offense suddenly going into Beast Mode and Baltimore still doing Baltimore things, it’s actually a pretty open question whether Houston is still the team to beat in the AFC. I think the answer is definitely yes for now, but it’s not as much of a no-brainer as it might seem like on the surface, especially with Cushing’s injury.
This Week: 6-7 (10-3 outright)
Season: 40-36-1 (50-28 outright)
