Photo by BrokenSphere

The St. Louis Rams went 1-15, locked up the 1st selection in this year’s draft, and cut Marc Bulger. It would seem that they are ready to take Sam Bradford #1 overall. It would also seem that they have painted themselves into a corner.

There’s no reason in the world why the Rams wouldn’t take Bradford, but they’ve played their hand.  Everyone on earth seems to know what Billy Devaney –St. Louis’ GM– is going to do.

This is reminiscent of the 2007 NBA Draft. Greg Oden was the consensus #1 and Kevin Pritchard –Portland’s GM– spent months trying to convince the world he hadn’t decided between Oden and Kevin Durant. No one believed Pritchard then, and no one would take a trade from Devaney now.

It’s pretty easy to say what I think the Rams should do, but that’s my job. The Rams don’t need Bradford — they want him. If the Rams had decided to hold onto Marc Bulger, their options would look something like this.

Don’t Take A Quarterback In the 1st Round

Photo by GMO66

I know that holding onto Marc Bulger sounds crazy, but he had no roster bonus coming to him. This makes his release that much more baffling.

If you aren’t going to owe the dude anything, then you need to keep him around long enough to ensure that you have “the right guy” coming to you in the draft.

Instead of cutting Bulger, perhaps you do some shuffling on your depth chart and snag somebody in the 2nd or 3rd round. Chad Henne went to the Dolphins in the 2nd round, and Tom Brady was a 7th rounder to New England.

You don’t have to leverage #1 overall on a quarterback. It’s true that the Ravens, Falcons and Jets have all had great success in recent years doing just that. However, the reality is that you are not the Raven, Falcons or Jets.

The Rams are a disaster. Let’s say the Rams wait until the opening of the 2nd round where Colt McCoy is liable to be.

You ever notice how “draft experts” always have the “I think they’ll pick this person” chart and the “best player on the board” chart? Well, the best player on the board is Ndamukong Suh.

Draft Suh and your defense gets instantly better. I’m not saying that the Rams defense will become a “House of Spears,” but it will dramatically improve. You’ve now bought yourself two or three wins.

You take McCoy and sit him behind Bulger or Boller for as long as you can stand it.  Then, when the team is semi-cohesive–you put him out there.

McCoy spends half a season getting his “hard knocks,” and now you get the quarterback and defenseman of the future in the same draft.

Take a Quarterback–but Not Bradford

This year’s draft holds much depth at the quarterback position. However, there are guys out there who haven’t spent a year on the shelf. Bradford came back to Oklahoma for his junior year only to get hurt really early.

Does that mean that he is injury prone? As hard as it is to say — I would have to pass on the kid because of that question alone.

If you don’t take Bradford, then who do you take? You have to take a quarterback who seems gritty. You have to take a quarterback who is a natural-born leader.

What about Jimmy Clausen? He went to Notre Dame and stood out above all of his teammates for a tumultuous four years in South Bend. He looks tough. He played tough, and he’s had great workouts.

Isn’t Clausen just Bradford without a Heisman Trophy or concurrently successful program behind him? I think he is.

You can get an uninjured version of Bradford without the nagging question, “Is this kid injury prone?”

What if you sit on it and take someone like Jevon Snead even later in the draft?  Remember, they didn’t owe Marc Bulger a signing bonus and could easily sit Snead or Zach Robinson or Tony Pike on the bench for half a season.

There would have been no harm in simply waiting for the quarterback of the future to fall in your lap later in the draft.

Either way, the Rams can do better than Sam Bradford. They should know by now that Heisman Trophy winners don’t translate to the pro-game anymore.

The Hardest Thing to Do:  Trade the Pick

This is the hardest thing to do, but not because it’s a hard choice. The Rams made things hard on themselves with poor pre-draft decision making.

Cutting Marc Bulger said two things to the NFL:

1.  We have no idea what we’re doing.

2.  We couldn’t draft our way out of a paper bag.

If the Rams wanted to trade the 1st pick effectively, they shouldn’t have tipped their hand. They released Marc Bulger and put a sign on their backs that said, “Take advantage of us when we want to trade this pick.”

Just think about what the Rams could get in return for a savvy trade:

The Rams own the #1 and #33 picks. That’s the first pick of the first and second rounds. They could easily trade #1 overall to the Bills — who need a quarterback  — and get #9 and #41 overall in return.

The Rams could then wait for Clausen, Tebow or McCoy. They could easily take Jimmy Clausen because the Bills would select Sam Bradford out of pure necessity.

After that, they could take two defensive bruisers at #33 and #41 to make up for the loss of Suh. Now you have your quarterback of the future and two strong defensive players all by the 41st pick.

Would Anybody Else Take the Pick?

Photo by John Silks

A trade with Seattle wouldn’t be out of the question either.  Perhaps you could trade #1 to Seattle for #6 and #60 — the end of the 2nd round?  Now you could take Derrick Morgan at defensive end. After that you snatch up Colt McCoy with #33 and get a partner-in-crime for Morgan at #60.

In three selections you took:  the second best defensive player on the board, a QB for the future, and a running-mate for Morgan.

There’s only one problem with all of these scenarios:

The Rams could still trade the first pick, but they’ll get less in return because they’ll be desperate. Any team willing to deal with them won’t give up a pick in the second round.

That means all of my scenarios go right down the toilet. I know you hear the flushing sound–whooshhhh.

The Rams’ best option now is to pray that Sam Bradford is your guy. You can justify taking him if that is the case. Taking someone else would be lunacy.

My only question is this:  Why would you take “your guy” when he might be injury prone and you can get a sturdier version of him just five picks later?

Only time will tell. April 22 at 7:30 p.m. to be exact.

More on GenXXL

• The General’s “How to Draft a Game-Changer”
  
• The General’s Top 5 Mock Draft
  

Photo from: ESPN

My routine on the internet includes a look at all the major league sites:  NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.  Well, that usually produces a funny look from me and a minor story idea.  However, some days the story ideas are pretty major.  Today is one of those days.

Here’s the headline amongst the other headlines on NFL.com:

Cardinals agree to terms with Feely; Rackers out as Kicker.

I know that if you’re a casual sports fan you might not find the signing of a kicker very interesting.  I know who Jay Feely is and I know who Neil Rackers is.  I also know that every time there’s “kicker movement” some NFL gets itself into trouble.

I know that the Cardinals should be much more concerned with the retirement of Kurt Warner and the Anquan Boldin trade.  I know that they should be worried about shoring up their weak defense.  I know they have issues.

But the release of Neil Rackers and the signing of Jay Feely will likely serve as a cautionary tale for other teams.  I know who these two guys are and the Cardinals are about to be in trouble.

What Did Neil Rackers Ever Do To You?

Neil never did anything to the Cards. Photo from: Zimbio

Neil Rackers wasn’t the greatest kicker in the history of the league, but he’s very good.  For his career he’s made 78% of his Field Goal attempts.  That’s not bad considering some of those are surely blocks–not his fault–and he spent 8 seasons playing for crappy Bengals and Cardinals teams.

Rackers never sank his team and he never “lost” a game.  Yes, it would have been nice of him to make the Field Goal at the end of regulation in the Wild Card Game this year.  Oh well.  The Cards won the game anyways on a fluke play.

Just this season he hit 94% of his Field Goals and only missed one extra-point.  Surely his performance this season was not a deciding factor in his release.  So, what is it?

It’s that “The Grass Is Greener” syndrome that I talked about last week.  Teams think that a guy’s getting old and they need someone new.  Familiarity breeds contempt and the team wants to move on.

I can almost understand that.  If a dude–like Rackers–is 33 and you want some “young blood” I can handle that.  Rackers will land on his feet and the team gets what it wants.

What I can’t handle is the “syndrome”.  It makes teams do things they’ll regret later.  The Cardinals did just that.

They signed Jay Feely.

Jay Feely Is Not Who You Think He Is

Jay Feely isn't special. Photo from: Jeffircink

Jay Feely landed with the Falcons in 2001 to have the privilege of playing on crappy teams just like Rackers.  Feely, however, had the privilege of going to the NFC Title Game in 2004 with the Falcons.  Then he kicked for wretched 2007 Dolphins.  Then some good Giants teams.

This past season he was with the Jets–one of the best teams in the league.  Yes, he’s hit 81.6% of his Field Goals, but last season he only hit 83.3%.  Oh, and he’s 33.

So, he’s the same age as Rackers, he has less NFL experience, and he had a worse season last year.  But the Cards are letting Rackers go to get him.

Do we see how this is bothersome?  The Cards are assuming–stupidly–that because Feely was with the Jets last year that he’ll somehow bring that “winningness” to Arizona.

Kickers don’t work that way.  They come out and kick the ball and go sit back on the bench.  Continuity is more important in this case.  The Jets shouldn’t have let Feely go, and the Cards shouldn’t have signed him.

Both of those teams need continuity and now they will both get into trouble by changing around their kickers.  Both teams are fixing something that ain’t broken.

How Does That Equal Trouble?

That's the look of defeat. Photo from: Beloblog

I remember quite distinctly two kicking moves of the past decade.

1.  Mike Vanderjagt to the Cowboys from Indy.

2.  Adam Vinatieri to the Colts from the Patriots.

The Cowboys took on Vanderjagt because everyone was playing up his athleticism.  He played Quarterback in High School and College and that made him the “sexy” kicker in the NFL.

Vinatieri only won 3 Super Bowls for the Patriots.  He could have been elected Governor of Massachusetts after the 2004 Super Bowl.  He was a Northeastern hero.

The Patriots let Vinatieri go because they aren’t loyal to anybody. They haven’t won a championship since.  Kickers don’t equal titles, but Adam Vinatieri equalled confidence.

The Patriots still don’t have it.  They took a 4th and 2 against Indy this past season and botched it–because their confidence left with Vinatieri.

The Cowboys continued their streak of losing playoff games and they cut Vanderjagt loose after one season.

That is trouble.  Big trouble.

Will the Cards and Jets end up in trouble?  Most likely, yes.  I like the Jets to go to the Super Bowl next year, but you saw what happened when New England and Dallas screwed around at Kicker.

This does not inspire any confidence in me.

Jake Delhomme: Photo by: Streeter Lecka

Finally, I’ve seen the face of reason.  Jake Delhomme has been cut by the Carolina Panthers to allow Matt Moore to become their new starter.

I was beginning to think that Jake Delhomme was going haunt me well into my 40’s with his horrific play on a fat contract.  Alas, the Panthers finally got smart!

In the opposite spirit, the Detroit Lions signed Nate Burleson to a 5-year deal to draw him away from Seattle.  Personally, I’m not sure what the Lions plan on doing with Burleson, but I’ve got some ideas.

Oh, and the Chargers were dumb enough to trade Antonio Cromartie to the Jets for a 3rd Rounder.  It almost seems unfair to let Cromartie play in the same defensive backfield as Darelle Revis, doesn’t it?

Let’s have some fun with this and play “Pretender or Contender” with the teams who are making early moves in free agency.

Delhomme Cut

The Panthers parted ways with an underperforming Jake Delhomme.  However, they damaged their franchise in the process–they lost $12 million.

Not once did they think of the implications of giving him a HUGE extension even though he didn’t deserve it.  They made the team think he was there to stay.  Now he’s gone.

The offense MAY improve with Matt Moore at the helm, but some guys in that locker room are pissed.  Can’t you imagine?

Now John Fox is going to have to work double-time to soothe bruised emotions.  This is why the NFC South is so “up and down”.  These teams can’t be consistently smart.

The Falcons always buy into players too late and the Bucs fired a Super Bowl-winner.  The hurt feelings for the Panthers—combined with Julius Peppers jumping ship—will make this team a relative non-factor next season.

However, the offense will improve without Delhomme so there might be some hope.  Maybe.

Contender…barely

Burleson to Lions

Calvin Johnson: Photo from: The Red Zone Report

Why do you sign a receiver to a 5-year deal when Calvin Johnson is on your roster?  I don’t know.  Is Burleson supposed to be their new slot receiver?  Would you give a slot receiver such a lengthy contract?

Is a possession receiver worth ANY guaranteed money?  Nope.  Does Jim Schwartz think he can do something with this?  Yes.  Is that stupid?  Yes.

This is a desperate team looking to make a splash.  They splashed on offense when their QB easily gets injured and isn’t quite ready yet.

By the way, they already have Calvin Johnson.  Did I mention that?

Pretender making the wrong moves…

Cromartie to Jets

Antonio Cromartie One-Handed INT: Photo from: mkrob.com

This IS totally unfair.  Remember in school when you played Volleyball and you could call a “hinder” and do the play over?  I bet the AFC East wants to call a “hinder”.

Hopefully Chargers fans are smart enough to want a “hinder” as well.  Do we see why I’ve been riding A.J. Smith’s ass for months now?

He traded the emotional leader of their defense to the VERY team that booted them out of the playoffs.  As my Dad says, “How stupid can you be?”.

Combine Cromartie’s exit with LDT leaving and you’ve got some seriously hurt feelings in San Diego.  The two best players on that team—in my opinion—are gone and you gave a kick-returner—Darren Sproles—cash.

I don’t get it.  In fact, I hope the Chargers learn their lesson by losing to the Jets in the playoffs again next season…if they can even get there!

P.S.—The Jets are going to the Super Bowl and will set every defensive record you can think of next season.

Jets–Super Bowl Lock

Chargers—Pretender in the middle of a serious mindf***

Colts re-sign Brackett

Photo from: Chip Bruce's WordPress

Bringing Gary Brackett back to the Colts looks nice on paper.  The Colts need defense, but they ALREADY had Brackett.

This is a smokescreen designed to lull us into thinking they are improving their defense.  They didn’t improve—they stayed the same!  Freeney’s hurt and they’re trying to deflect attention.

I get it, but the offense has GOT to be pissed.  How long can Peyton Manning—the ultimate “company-line guy”—say, “We’ll win games while you suck on defense.”?

How long before this entire offense is over it?  I see a mutiny coming on.  Someone on this team is going to explode with anger because they know the team isn’t improving.

Some of these guys know Peyton will eventually retire.  Then what?

Desperate Contender (but only because of Peyton and the offense)

Eagles Re-sign Weaver at Fullback

Why do you sign a fullback to a record contract after you just cut Brian Westbrook?  I don’t know.  Did I mention that the Eagles are thinking of moving Donovan McNabb?  Does THAT make sense?  Nope.

Philly is about to go “Atlanta Falcons” when they had to purge the team of the “Run and Shoot”.  This won’t be pretty, and will probably result in the “Night Court” being reinstated under the stadium.

Pretender in need of some brains

Saints Cut Grant

Charles Grant: Photo from: The Insider

The Saints cut Charles Grant and saved $4 million.  Good for them.  They’ll say it’s to make room for a big-time free agent.  That’s just stupid.

Why would you save $4 million in cutting Charles Grant and keep Reggie Bush for $8 million?  *Hold your hands up and make the “scales” with me*

A kick-returner who had ONE good game OR a D Lineman who helped resurrect your pathetic franchise?

The Saints chose wrong.

Guys on that defense are probably not too happy either.  The Saints may have made the right football decision, but they made the wrong emotional decision.

Contender (but this move is ill-advised from a morale perspective)

So…

Photo from: tvgasm.com

Some of these teams think they can just sign and cut people all “willy-nilly” and that simply is not the case.  Some greater thought needs to go into these moves.

Actually, I’d use the term “soul-searching”.  I know the NFL is a business, but you can’t just mess with people’s emotions and expect fans to NOT react.

Also, you can’t expect players to stand silent.  Sometimes teams create turmoil in their offseason locker rooms without the first thought.

A.J. Smith shipped Cromartie—to Smith, a malcontent—to the Jets for nothing.  You don’t think the guys on the Chargers might be a little pissed?

Didn’t you think some of these guys had strong emotional connections to Cromartie?  You couldn’t work things out with him?  Even the Panthers were stupid to cut Jake Delhomme for this very reason.

I know I wanted Delhomme gone, but they made this team think he was sticking around when they threw all that money at him.  Now he’s gone.  I can’t say it enough.  That’s a hard pill to swallow.

Football players may be rich.  Some of them may even be over-privileged jerks, but they do have feelings.  Teams start messing with those feelings and we’ve got issues people.

It stings.  It just really stings sometimes…

Don’t you just hate it when the NFL announces it’s going to start tinkering with playoff overtime rules and they call it “OT”?  Then you’re trying to figure you out what rules there are for offensive tackles?

They’re big dudes who take up space: What possible trouble could they get into, right?

Anyways, we’ve got a pretty intense “Big 3” this week.  In this first installment we MUST discuss the proposed changes to the overtime rules in playoff games.  We have got to figure out why the Ravens want a piece of T.O., and certainly we can figure out how any scout would dare show up to a private workout for Pacman Jones.

We’ll play “Contender or Pretender” with the Ravens + T.O.—just for fun—and we’ll tell some nightmare tales that could come out of these new overtime rules.

This should be fun!

What does a “legitimate interest” in T.O. mean?

We won't cry for you Turrull...hang it up

John Harbaugh says that interest from the Ravens in T.O. is “legitimate”.  So, what is legitimate interest anyways?

I don’t rightly understand what benefit the Ravens can get from signing a 36-year old receiver whose better days happened in Philly—last decade!  Don’t they already have Derrick Mason?

I know that John Harbaugh has got a great “offensive mind” and that he can work wonders, but putting Joe Flacco in the position of dealing with T.O. makes no sense.

Even if you think Flacco can handle him why would you bother?  That’s like saying that I think I can eat one of those tiny hot peppers without dying.

True, I may not die, but my tongue might fall off.  Is it really worth Joe Flacco’s tongue?  Is Turrull REALLY worth that much to you?  Didn’t this team make the playoffs twice in a row?

It would have made more sense for the Ravens to pass and let someone like the Chiefs or Raiders take a shot at him.  Yes, T.O. has reached the “ridiculously stupid signing” phase of his career.

Anyone who takes him on does so at GREAT risk because he probably doesn’t have anything left.  For all that is holy:  Stay away from this guy Baltimore.  Please!

Would YOU Go To Pacman’s Private Workout?

The mugshot seems appropriate

Pacman Jones has arranged for a private workout with NFL scouts in an attempt to comeback to the NFL.  Would you go?

He’s going to workout on March 19^th right after Tulane’s pro-day.  Honestly, would you be at Tulane’s pro-day to begin with and if you were would you stay just to watch Pacman Jones?

Pacman has had a hard time of it in the last few years, but I don’t know that anyone will want to deal with him.  Compare Pacman with Dez Bryant:

Dez Bryant is the receiver from Okie State that no one will touch with a 10-foot pole.  They say he’s lazy and arrogant.  One scout even said:

“I wouldn’t draft that kid unless I had someone to wake him up in the morning to get to meetings, someone to wake him up for practice and someone to wake him up for games.”

Wow!  Dez Bryant is the “hot/new” receiving talent on the block and he can’t get a sniff.  Why would we think that Pacman is even worth a second-look after all the trouble he’s been in?

At some point we have to let certain players go.  I’m afraid this might be Pacman’s time to “let go”.  Let the dream die.  You were a very good player, but now it’s time to go.  The Titans certainly don’t need you anymore.  Nor do the Cowboys.

You could try to extend your career through the “ridiculously stupid signing” department.  However, you’d only tarnish your less-than-stellar image even more.

You were the ultimate talent…and you gave it up baby.

Happy trails.

Who In The Hell Decided This Was a Good Playoff Rule?

The proposed new overtime rules seem a little strange.  If you don’t pay attention then you’ll think they are just like college, but they aren’t.

The proposal stipulates the following:

-           Each team gets the ball in overtime.

-          Unless the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown

No, that’s it.  I know, you’re wondering what the hell is up with that.  Basically, the idea is to stop teams from getting the ball in overtime and running down to kick a field goal.

Here’s the problem: If you get the ball first and all you can do is kick a field goal then you’re screwed.  The other team gets the ball and has a chance to score a touchdown OR kick a field goal and tie the game to give you the ball back.

How do you strategize for that?  If you get the ball then you don’t want to “go for it” because you’re afraid of the “home run” interception or fumble.

If you run down and kick a field goal you had better be really confident in your defense.  There’s no definitive plan for this.

Imagine if the Packers/Cardinals wildcard game had gone down to this.  The Cardinals give up the ball to the Packers and the Packers trust their defense—and just saw Rackers miss a field goal—so they play it safe and don’t have Rodgers rolling back to take the big shot—which is what was happening when he lost the ball and Arizona won the game.

The Cardinals get the ball and give it to Kurt Warner—if they stop Green Bay—and Warner is gunning it because Rackers just missed one.  That game could have turned out EXACTLY opposite of how it did.

What if this “lack of ability to plan” results in lots of conservative play?  Will all of these games end in ties?  Do we know the last time a game ended in a tie?  Atlanta and Pittsburgh in 2002.  The Falcons went to the NFC Title Game that season.

Do you feel weird when football games end in ties?  I do, and if there isn’t a provision for ties this might happen.

Yes, I know they are only proposing to change the rules in overtime.  I would be BITCHING like crazy to get the rules applied to regular season games.  Why?

Because players ALREADY don’t know the rules.  How bad is it going to be if the rules change come playoff time?

Just imagine Donovan McNabb explaining his ignorance after a PLAYOFF loss.  How fast would he get the boot out of Philly?

I say he’d be gone in 10 minutes, but the NFL doesn’t move that fast.  Let’s set the over/under at 48 hours.

Any takers?

Header photo from:  hssn.net

Terrell Owens photo from:  wpix.com

Pacman Jones photo from:  Equaleye

Donovan McNabb photo from:  Black Christian News

The NFL Draft is a couple months away, but after the Super Bowl everyone gets into “Draft Mode”.  This “Draft Mode” leads teams to cut players, open up cap space, and start making their “needs” known.

I could sit here and do a complete “Mock Draft”, but some teams require little discussion, and others “just plain suck”.  However, there are 5 MAJOR needs that I think should be addressed.  Those needs are to follow.

True, all 32 teams will be mentioned, but only 5 things MUST get done in April for the “uncapped” 2010 season to be any fun.

Things are already getting fun because the Dolphins cut Joey Porter, but had to put him back on the roster.  The Falcons re-signed Brian Finneran.  Brett Favre is still in limbo, and the Bengals auditioned Pacman Jones.

Can we say “stupid, stupid, and stupider”?  I hope we see a little “bitchassness” from some teams, but too much might be a little overwhelming.

Let’s do this in draft order as if it were April 22^nd.

With the first selection in the 2010 NFL Draft the:

1.  St. Louis Rams select:

A New Quarterback.  The Rams seem to have given up on the Marc Bulger experiment and I say, “FINALLY”!  I don’t really care if they take Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, or Tim Tebow—they just NEED a QB.

Personally, they could select me and that would make the season more fun.  Why, because I’d be starting from “Day #1”.  When the Rams put a rookie QB on the field behind an offensive line filled with high draft choices it’s gonna get ugly.

Whichever QB they take will be dead by the end of the season, and in 4 years will be David Carr 2.0.  I can’t wait for the fallout!

Detroit Lions select:  Who cares?  They’re the Lions and they’ll blow it.  Can we rename them “The Clippers” and get it over with?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers select:  It doesn’t matter.  They suckered us with that phony Super Bowl win against the joke-worthy Raiders.  Crawl back into your hole already.

2.  Washington Redskins select:

An offensive lineman who can anchor Mike Shanahan’s new offense.  No more “Cracker Jack” crap.  He should take a 10-12-year lineman that he can build a zone-blocking line around.  He does that and Bill Clinton could run for 1000 yards.

Kansas City Chiefs select:  Who cares?  They royally suck.

Seattle Seahawks select:  I used to think this should be Tim Tebow, but he clearly can’t take a snap from center or pass.  So, they could do anything and it won’t matter.  If Pete Carroll has total control he’ll have to wait a whole year to use it.

Cleveland Browns select:  They need a new Quarterback but they won’t admit it.  This franchise is so pathetic.

Oakland Raiders select:  Someone they don’t need, who can’t play, and isn’t proven.  He’ll also make too much money and suck the life out of the “Raider Nation”.

Buffalo Bills select:  Some guy Chan Gailey will be overly loyal to until said player gets Chan fired.

3.  Jacksonville Jaguars select:

Everyone wants them to take Tim Tebow, but if they take Tebow he’d better be NOT a Quarterback.  If the Jags select Tebow and sell tickets I’m fine with that.

However, if they select him and try to replace David Garrard with Tebow I’ll be laughing because we’ve already seen that Tebow can’t throw and can’t take a snap.

You can say that Drew Brees doesn’t take many snaps under Center, but he can throw.  Everyone keeps forgetting that!

Denver Broncos select:  It doesn’t matter.  They’ll make it work.  Joshie had a good first season and only good things can come in the future.

Miami Dolphins select:  Hopefully a Linebacker to replace Joey Porter after they figure out how to get rid of him.

San Francisco 49ers select:  Somebody to keep Alex Smith upright?

Seattle Seahawks select:  I suppose they could take Tebow here and play it off like, “Oh, well that was our OTHER 1^st rounder.  We can screw that one up and it’s ok.”

New York Giants select:  Someone to keep Eli Manning upright…please!

Tennessee Titans select:  A new running-mate for Kyle Vanden Bosch.  For all that is holy; that poor man is lonely up front!

San Francisco 49ers select:  A bruising safety would be nice: Perhaps Major Wright for his sheer “ballhogness”.

4. The Smart Kids

Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Houston, Cincinnati, New England, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Arizona, Dallas, New York Jets, Indianapolis, and New Orleans select:  Somebody who will pay dividends.

I think it’s clear that each of these teams have good management and will make a smart choice.  If someone in this group made a bad choice I think I might cry.

5.  I only left out two teams

The San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings select:  The future.  These two teams select the future or they burn.  It’s that simple.

LDT is finished in San Diego and Darren Sproles does more special teams than he should.  They find a new Running Back or they perish even more painfully than they did this season.

The Vikings need to decide who their future at Quarterback is.  Forget Brett Favre for a minute.  Are Sage Rosenfels and Tavarus Jackson really your future?  Really?

Honestly, look at QB’s that fall this low and take someone whom you can mold into “the future”.  You might lose a year of productivity, but you’ll gain 10 years of success on the backend.

It only takes one false move for either one of these teams to find themselves on the “outside looking in”, and fast.

In The End

Someone will walk away a winner, but everyone will say they got what they wanted.  That’s the funniest thing in sports.  Watching guys act happy when you know they’re disappointed.

For my money the “pick of the day” is the Jags at #10.  If they take Tebow they set their franchise back AT LEAST 5 years.  Tim Tebow seems like a nice kid, but we all know he can’t hack it.

If those broadcasters in Jacksonville think David Garrard sucks, just wait until they get a whiff of someone who can’t take a snap.

I was taken and I shouldn't have been

I sat down to watch the Super Bowl last night in pieces.  We started at a restaurant for my birthday, and then again in the comfort of our home.  I didn’t make it to the final whistle because the game was over before then.  I didn’t care for the Saints and I don’t now, but I am very upset with Peyton Manning AND myself.

I should have known better than to praise someone who had lost so many big games.  I should have known to look past the Colts’ Super Bowl win over the Bears in 2006.

But…

I stupidly joined the “rat race” of people heaping praise on Peyton Manning and he stabbed my in the chest.  Peyton Manning is more Fran Tarkenton than Tom Brady.  It pains me to say it but it’s true.

The “IT” Factor

Peyton Manning doesn’t have “it”.  I knew he didn’t have “it” when I picked the Colts to lose the AFC Title Game.  Then I figured I was right in picking the Colts to win the Super Bowl.  Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

The fact remains that Peyton Manning will finish his career one day as the greatest statistical Quarterback of all time, but he won’t have a magical moment.  At the end of the Super Bowl with game on the line he couldn’t do something that his brother, Eli, HAS done:  Force his team to win.

Eli Manning was part of the greatest play in Super Bowl history when he had Patriots defenders grabbing his jersey only to get away and make the miracle pass to David Tyree.

Peyton Manning made me change the station when he threw a Brett Favre-like interception that went back for a touchdown and effectively ended the game.

Peyton doesn’t have “IT”.  He couldn’t pull his team together when it really counted.  He’s lost “big game” after “big game” and we forgave him all that.

Look at Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady or even Steve Young.  What happened in their 12 collective Super Bowl wins?  They MADE their teams win.

Joe Montana to John Taylor against the Bengals STILL makes “Top 10 Super Bowl Plays” lists.  Steve Young painted a masterpiece in scoring 49 points on a good Chargers team in the Super Bowl.

Terry Bradshaw was NEVER questioned in his greatness as the Steelers won 4 Super Bowls in 6 seasons.  Tom Brady drove the Patriots to all 3 of their Super Bowl wins.

Nobody was surprised when the Colts lost, because that’s what Peyton does.  He loses “the big one”.

What This Means For New Orleans

As much as this hurts me:  Congratulations to the Saints.  You earned it, but what does this mean for your city?

Can you repeat this glory over and over?  Have you ignited a fan-base that will now have unreasonable expectations of you?

Let me list some things I believe:

1. Sean Payton has that job for LIFE (and he should).
2. ALL fan-bases should have their expectations up because their team is playing well.
3. Drew Brees gets thrown into Peyton Manning’s class immediately.  He TRULY won a “big one”.
4. I’m surprised that New Orleans isn’t burning to the ground from the explosion of joy that occurred when the Saints won the game.

In their division the Saints are going to break the prevailing wisdom that says, “Last year’s loser is this year’s winner”.  The Saints made a much larger statement than the Bucs did in 2002, or the Panthers in 2003.

As of right now, the Falcons look pathetic in comparison to every other team in the NFC South.  Since the Falcons lucked into the Super Bowl in 1999 2 teams in their division have won it and the other has played in it.  WOW!

That ONE title doesn't stick anymore

The Saints turned Atlanta back into “Loserville” faster than you can say “Steve Bartowski”.  New Orleans just became a much cooler place to play than Atlanta.

Arthur Blank used to take players to Bones (a VERY nice steakhouse in Buckhead) and tell them they’re signing with the Falcons.  That won’t work anymore.

Who the hell would come to Atlanta when you can play in New Orleans:  Especially after what they just did to the Colts in the Super Bowl?

This also means that the Saints have brought expectations to the Hornets.  Now that the Saints have won the Super Bowl how long do you think it will be before everyone in New Orleans is losing their mind that the Hornets are in 10^th place in the West?  About 4 seconds.

If the Saints keep this up we might have a baseball team threatening to move to New Orleans.  They’ve got a nice new shine, and their fans care.

What This Means For Future Seasons

I don't go for the "silent type"

From now on I’m taking everything Peyton does with a grain of salt.  I have to or I’ll get burned again.   From now on I’m assuming that, even though I dislike him, that Sean Payton can do this with any Quarterback, and…From now on I’m thinking twice before I put my faith in the coach that is supposed to “hold the team together”.

Look at the coaches who are actively designing for their teams:  Nick Saban, Sean Payton, you get the idea.  Those guys win.  Dudes who are supposed to “be a calming influence” can never be so.

If you’re not REALLY doing anything your team is going to get nervous because they need you to be “ON FIRE”.  I think any competitive person would much rather play for a hot-blooded dude who creates results than a “calm” dude who “manages” the team.

Who’s the last “calm” guy that did nothing?  Bobby Bowden.  Case closed.

What Am I Supposed To Say?

I know, I know.  I was wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong!  I admit it.  I was SO wrong about the Saints.  However, you can see that I have made some rules for myself that will prevent this embarrassment in the future.

I’m not a betting man, but I would have bet the house that the Colts would have won.  THANK GOODNESS I don’t handicap!

I don’t think this will turn into a “stink” that gets on every pick I ever make.  Some columnists like to joke about how they “jinx” teams, etc.  I LOVE being right and I will continue to be in the future.

This NFL season I was .  Tell me that don’t count for something!

So, as I said, I was wrong, and it won’t happen again.  It’s time to turn me lose on the NBA and I will use my new-found “street smarts’ to perform better during the second half of the NBA season.

Tune in tomorrow for some NBA picks.  It’s time to get it on!

Yes, I said it, the Saints are NOT “Worst to First”.  The Saints were a good team before this season and will be after this season.  We need to stop fawning over the Saints like they just rebuilt New Orleans all by themselves.

The New Orleans Saints have been playing good football for a couple years now and Drew Brees is not a new acquisition.  Perhaps the good folks of the sports world just wanted an underdog to pull for.

Personally, I’m not buying what the Saints are selling and I have my reasons.

The Mastermind

The “evil mastermind” behind the Saints’ attack is Sean Payton, and he’s not famous for just coaching the Saints.

Sean Payton was also at the center of Bill Parcells’ “No offense to the Orientals” comment when he was with the Cowboys.  Parcells called Payton by name and said “we” come up with these “Jap plays”.

I know that everyone has said or will say something inappropriate, but Sean Payton was involved in a firestorm that indirectly implicated him in making racially defaming remarks to the Cowboys coaching staff.

Who do you think was drawing up those “Jap plays”?  Oh yeah, Sean Payton was.

Now Sean Payton is in New Orleans drawing up an entire offense and looking like a fiend at the same time.  Take a look at this dude and tell me he seems even remotely likable.

My wife took one look at him and said, “That guy scares me”.  I rest my case.

The Reality

Hurricane Katrina was bad.  I remember watching the coverage of the landfall and the aftermath.  However, it didn’t happen yesterday.

The Saints team didn’t rebuild the city by themselves.  In fact, the Saints went 3-13 in 2005.  That’s nothing short of a “not-feelgood” story.  If the Saints were going to “save the city” that would have happened in ’05.

Today we can say that they are “bringing to city together” or “making everyone believe”.  But…

…let’s please STOP acting like the Saints Offensive Line stood guard in front of the city to beat up Katrina.

Flip their 2005 record around and you have their 2009 record:  13-3.  The Saints are a great story and have a very good team, but they are not the saviors of the city.

As much as I hate the Patriots–and find them to be a classless organization– they won the Super Bowl after 9/11…and they are called THE PATRIOTS!  Now THAT is a defining moment.

The Patriots brought an entire country together.  They did “save the nation’s psyche” in a sense.

That’s the reality of the situation.  The Saints are nice, but this isn’t a defining moment.

What Does “Worst to First” Look Like?

When the Braves went to the World Series in 1991 they were truly a “Worst to First” team.  They were the doormat of the league and hadn’t played well in FOREVER.

No one gave a rat’s ass about the Braves because there was no reason too.  The Braves had to wait to see the results of a Dodgers game on the last day of the season to get into the playoffs.

They beat the Pirates in dramatic fashion, and came within one Kent Hrbek “pull of Ron Gant off first base” of winning the World Series.

The Braves were the story of the season.  The Twins won the World Series, but the Braves were still a bigger deal.

The Braves went 65-97 in 1990 to finish last in the old NL West.  In 1991 they finished 94-68 to win the old NL West.

True, the Saints were in last place in the NFC South in 2008, but they were NOT the doormats of the league.  They hadn’t been since they “unsaved the city” in 2005.

The Owner

This is my final rant on this topic.  Tom Benson has threatened to move this team a thousand times, and I’m sick of it.

Now that the Saints are in the Super Bowl Tom Benson is milking this for everything that it’s worth.

We’re forgetting what a jackass he was in dealing with the city in negotiating to keep the team in New Orleans.

Basically he hijacked the city of New Orleans in making waves to keep the team there.  If he had moved the team to Los Angeles or San Antonio we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Now, Tom Benson is going to get rich (again) off a team that he wanted to move from its home.

Nothing is more disgusting than his smug grin.  It’s as if he believes HE saved the city.

The Comparison

The Atlanta Falcons went to the Super Bowl in 1998 after beating the Vikings on a field goal.  Sound familiar?

Then all hell broke loose.  Eugene Robinson got pinched while trying to pick up a hooker in Miami, and the entire team spent the night with him instead of sleeping…before the Super Bowl.

The Falcons got trounced by a superior team and a superior Quarterback.  Do we see the similarities?

The Super Bowl is in Miami.  New Orleans is a “party city” and that “partyness” is going to Miami.  I’m not saying that anyone from the Saints will get arrested, but they’re too hyped up.

The night before the Super Bowl the Saints will be loving it.  The Colts will be sleeping.

Check in next Friday and we’ll see if the “superior” Quarterback–Peyton Manning–can repeat the previous Miami Super Bowl triumph of an AFC team over the NFC South Champion.

You see where I’m going with this, but I still need time to think.

The AFC and NFC championship games have become nearly as big as the Super Bowl.  I’ll bet that’s why I am SO torn over who to pick in these games.

My boss told me to “Go with the stronger team”, and threw a little emoticon on the end of that one because everyone knows this is tough.  The Colts, Jets, Saints and Vikings ALL have major strengths and weaknesses.  It’s my job to decide which ones will “leave a mark” on Sunday.

I’m going to make the picks one at a time and need everyone to bear with me as I talk myself into a pick.  I’m pretty sure I know what I “think” will happen, but as I write this I’m still “riding the fence” if you will.

Here goes nothing…

The AFC Championship — Jets @ Colts

The Colts have one of the most potent offenses in football, and the Jets have the #1 defense in the NFL.  I’d say that makes for some indecision!

Peyton Manning is the ultimate “defensive nightmare”.  He calls his own game and he’s the “Mike Shanahan” of QB’s who can make any receiver into a 1000-yarder.  Plus, he rarely hits the turf.  How do you defend him?

Darelle Revis.  Darelle Revis is going to hanging all over Reggie Wayne on Sunday.  Why does that matter when Peyton can make anybody into a 1000-yard Receiver?

Peyton kills people when he can go to Reggie Wayne for the “dagger in the heart”.  He can dink and dunk to Dallas Clark, me, anybody during the course of the game, but he needs a “big play”.  Do we think Darelle Revis is going to allow Reggie Wayne to make that catch?  Nope.

I know, I know that Pierre Garcon is coming into his own and he might be the “big threat”.  We can say that, but we’d also be saying that Lito Sheppard is a slouch.  I don’t think so.

Lito Sheppard can keep Garcon locked down enough to probably hold him under 35 yards receiving as well as Revis will hold Reggie Wayne under 35.

Am I discounting Colts’ offensive line?  No, because I just saw Jeff Saturday say in a press conference that their team is not built to run the ball 35 times a game.  Since I think I’m right then that means the Colts will have to win the game throwing to Dallas Clark all day long.

The Jets’ Offense Does Have To Score…

I hadn’t forgotten the Jets Offense or the Colts Defense.  Let’s start with the Colts Defense.

The Colts defense features an older and more beat-up Dwight Freeney, rookie Cornerback Jerraud Powers, and NO Bob Sanders.  It’s true that Powers and Freeney are both going to play, but injuries take their toll.

In Freeney’s case the Jets’ running attack will be running right down the throat of the Colts defense time and time again.  The Jets weren’t the #1 running team in the league this season for nothing.

You could say that Freeney will only play on 3rd Downs to keep him fresh, but who’s to say that he’ll get to Mark Sanchez on the small number of 3rd Downs that happen in ANY game?

You could say that the Colts haven’t had Bob Sanders for months and they’ve done just fine.  I say that Bob Sanders was the “heart and soul” of their 2006 Super Bowl winning team, and eventually they’ll miss him.  Other guys can hit hard, but who will lead them on the field?

The lack of on-the-field-leadership is going to leave an injured Jerraud Powers alone with Braylon Edwards on Sunday.  Just to refresh your memory:  Braylon Edwards is 6’3″ while Jerraud Powers is 5’10″.  I think that says it all.

What Am I Missing?

Some might say that I’m forgetting about Bart Scott, Shaun Ellis, and David Harris being injured and limited in practice.  I would ask those people this question:

Do you really think that those guys are going to feel a thing on Sunday?  Experience is great and it may help the Colts, but it leaves them less “jazzed” for this game than the Jets.  Bart Scott is the one I would watch in this game.  He had this same chance with Rex Ryan last season in Baltimore.

There is no way in the world two insane/ego-maniacal/defensive monsters like Ryan and Scott are losing the AFC Championship Game AGAIN.  I don’t care if they’re with Baltimore, New York, or Pango Pango.  The Jets are driven by the pain of Rex Ryan and Bart Scott losing to Pittsburgh last season.

I never said I didn’t like the Colts.  In fact, it’s very hard for me to say they’ll lose, but I can’t ignore the obvious.  I picked against the Jets and they smashed the Bengals.  Next I rode them to a victory over [my] hated Chargers, and now they’ll run to the Super Bowl.  You can’t delay the inevitable, and the Jets are inevitably going to the Super Bowl.  Now.

NYJ – 27   IND – 21

The NFC Championship — Vikings @ Saints

I said to someone yesterday that this game was easier to pick.  I was wrong.  This game is incredibly hard to pick for so many reasons.  I could just take the sexy pick and say “Oh the Saints are rolling the Vikings”, but that would be stupid of me.

I could just make the “unpopular” pick and say the Vikings are going to stun the Saints and let that be that:  This is another stupid choice.  I’ve got to look at each team and make an honest assessment of whether they can win in the Superdome.  Yes, even the hometown Saints.

Here’s the problem with the “Superdome advantage” that everyone is so crazy about.  If the Vikings have a hard time communicating won’t the Saints ALSO have a hard time communicating?

“But the Saints are used to it!”

So what?  Brett Favre has a daughter in college.  Don’t you think he’s more worried about some sloppy-drunk loser getting all over his daughter than some loud Saints fans?  Plus, wouldn’t it be a GROSS underestimation of Brett Favre to assume that he would be flustered by loud crowds?

Am I mistaken or is Brett Favre 14-1 in dome stadiums in the past 3 seasons?  This dude is 40 years old and he’s playing the best football of his LIFE.  I was wrong when I said he would throw the “wrong interception at the wrong time”.  I admit it.  I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Favre has never played better.  Basically, he’s Warren Moon only WAY better.

But Percy’s Hurt

I know that Percy Harvin is hurt and may not be able to play in this game, but I think Brett Favre already has a solution for that.

Sidney Rice showed everyone who’s the #1 in Minnesota last weekend.  Does anybody realize that this dude swept a lineman’s legs, got up immediately, and caught a TD pass as he feel backwards towards the endzone in last week’s game?

Sidney Rice will get open this Sunday because that’s what Sidney Rice does.  You can say that Darren Sharper will get him and that may be true…after Rice already has the ball!

The Saints’ pass rush is VERY strong, but there’s something that tells me Brett doesn’t care.  A 40-year old guy with nothing to lose who has better things to worry about will stand in the pocket forever if that means someone will get open.  Granted, he may get sacked a couple times, but that is not daunting.  The pressure isn’t on the Vikings.

They can run Adrian Peterson as much as they want and sit back to wait for something to open up.  It seems that it has almost all season.  Not having Percy Harvin reduces their arsenal, but it only redirects the firepower.

Did we forget about Bernard Berrian?  He’ll catch more than his fair share of balls on Sunday, and that will keep the Saints backfield honest.  There’s too many ways for the Vikings to score for me to say “They can’t do it”.

The Saints Have An Offense Too!

Drew Brees has played “lights out” all season, and I cannot deny that.  However, I don’t see how sandbagging the final 3 games of the season only to get a good game from Reggie Bush last week makes this team the winner.

I admit that the Saints winning the way they did last weekend made them the “Vegas favorite”, but that doesn’t mean they’ll win.  The Saints have to hang their hopes on a couple things.

First, the Saints have to hope that Marques Colston has a great game.  Second, they have to hope Jeremy Shockey has a great game. Shockey’s still hurt and that doesn’t bode well for the Saints.  He’s just not a very tough guy in my opinion.

Next, the Saints have the pray really hard for another monster game from Reggie Bush.  I know I said that I saw Reggie Bush figure out how to run in the NFL, but that was against a horrid defense.  The Vikings have a defense that’s built more like a brick wall than Swiss cheese.

The Saints just aren’t going to pound the football enough to make a difference.  All of the “bounce-outs” that Bush had against the Cardinals won’t be there against Minnesota.  The Vikings tackle way too well for that.

There’s something nagging at me that says “Drew Brees can sling passes all day long, but there won’t be much after the catch”.  I don’t think that means Brees has a bad game, but his passes won’t “go the distance” like they did against Arizona last week.

It’s Time To Make Up My Mind

Here’s the part I’ve been hinting at, but altogether avoiding.  I think Brett Favre takes the Vikings to the Super Bowl.  There, I said it!

As soon as I realized that Brett Favre is 40, playing better than he’s ever played, and he’s more concerned about drunk college boys than crowd noise… I knew I had made my pick.

The Vikings have a STRONG defense that will keep the Saints in check.  Basically, they’ll play Brees the way NBA teams play Kobe and LeBron:  Let them play, but stop everyone else.  Reggie Bush isn’t running very far on Sunday.  None of the Saints’ receivers will go very far “after the catch”, and the Vikings defense WILL get to Brees a couple times.

You could say the same about the Vikings offense, but they have Adrian Peterson and a fearless Brett Favre.  Brett Favre has nothing to lose.  Drew Brees and the Saints have EVERYTHING to lose.  Who knows if they can repeat this season again?

The NFC South is a very fluid division.  The Falcons are going to fix themselves.  The Panthers finally gave up on Jake Delhomme and we think the Saints can just “rinse and repeat”?  I don’t think so.

The Saints are afraid of screwing this thing up, and that’s just enough pressure to make them do just that.  I can’t deny the obvious.

MIN – 38   NO – 30 (that’s going to be a ROUGH 30 points for the Saints)

Don’t I Have Any Shame?

I am not picking the Jets and the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl because they aren’t the favorites.  I’m picking these teams because they have proved things to me over the course of the season that I can’t deny.

The Jets believe.  The Vikings know better than to bet against this “new” Brett Favre.  Rex Ryan is TOTALLY undaunted by the situation.  Sean Payton is on edge.

I truly believe was can have the “Revis v. Favre” Super Bowl that no one saw coming.  I can’t wait to see Darelle Revis FORCE Brett Favre to use his 2nd and 3rd option to win a title.  Nothing would be more entertaining than watching a 40-year old man play his best game in the Super Bowl.

You know you want to see it, too.  Don’t lie.

Lane Kiffin and DeAngelo Hall have two things in common.  They have a tendency to piss off the wrong people and they are highly adept at getting people to give them large sums of money for no reason.

Now that Lane Kiffin has been named the Head Football Coach at USC I have to ask myself how two people who seem to be polar opposites could be so similar.  Lane Kiffin and DeAngelo Hall were definitely separated at birth!

The Anger

Lane Kiffin started his reign of terror in Head Coaching with the Oakland Raiders, but I believe the anger started much earlier.

It Started Early

When Kiffin was Co-Offensive Coordinator at USC with Steve Sarkisian these two guys were the biggest “rising stars” in football.  At some point I think Kiffin got tired of being the “boy” and not the “man”.

After the loss that USC took to Texas for the BCS National Championship Kiffin bolted for the worst coaching gig in the NFL:  the Oakland Raiders.  I truly believe this is where it all started.  Lane may have been a smart ass prior to 2006, but this was where it all came out.

Kiffin went to Oakland looking to be the “man” and turn around a horrid franchise.  When he ran into Al Davis senility and general lack of common sense Kiffin exploded.  He decided to piss off the craziest owner in all of professional sports.  Not only did he do stupid things (like sending Sebastian Janikowski out to attempt a 76-yard field goal), but he defended it stupidly too!

When Al Davis fired Kiffin “for cause” everyone on earth assumed that the old man had lost his marbles because Kiffin SHOULD have been a good coach.  Now we realize that Al Davis was right to fire an insubordinate punk like Kiffin.

Kiffin ran off to Tennessee and began accusing Urban Meyer of NCAA rules violations while committing his own.  He ran his mouth all season and it is even reported that he showed his players tapes of USC.  He told his players that they would make Tennessee the “USC of the South”.

Is it any surprise that he’s left Tennessee on bad terms?  Tennessee’s Athletic Director said he was disappointed (which is code for pissed off).  Moreover, Tennessee will probably get pinched for some serious rules violations and Kiffin won’t be around to feel the heat.

Lane Kiffin has a history of screwing with the wrong people, running his mouth, and leaving people holding the bag.

The Money

DeAngelo Hall also has a history of messing with the wrong people.  When he got to Atlanta he acted as if he was the reincarnation

DeAngelo Loves Money

of Deion Sanders.  He ticked off Arthur Blank and got himself traded to Oakland.  He took his rookie contract and signing bonus with him to Oakland where he was rewarded with a $70 million contract that had $24 million guaranteed.

After the Raiders cut him loose he took his rookie bonus, the $24 million from Oakland ran over to the Redskins.  What did the Redskins do?

They gave him a $55 million contract!  This dude has piled up over $120 million dollars in total contracts.  Granted, he hasn’t seen all of that money, but each contract has guarantees.

The Uncanny Similarity

Here’s where these stories converge.  Lane Kiffin has a tendency to run his mouth.  He also has a tendency to want power.  Plus, he

It's Only Fitting That They Both Landed In Oakland

gets paid alot of money everywhere he goes.

DeAngelo Hall has a thirst for fame and recognition.  He also has a tendency to run his mouth.  Plus, he’s been paid again and again by stupid NFL GM’s.

These two gentlemen crossed paths in Oakland where Kiffin was Hall’s coach in 2008.  Isn’t that strange?

I can’t help but admit that the first thing I thought when Lane Kiffin left for USC was “He’s DeAngelo Hall in coach form!”.  I hope you see it too.  The “uncanny similarity” was too much to pass up.

Was the “Tim Tebow Era” what ushered in the “Urban Meyer Era”?

Let’s think about this for just a moment.  Tim Tebow comes to Florida in Meyer’s 2nd season and plays backup Quarterback to (then the starter) Chris Leak and the Gators triumphed over Ohio State (after being the dramatic underdogs) to win the BCS National Championship.  Not only did they win that game against the Buckeyes, but they won that game resoundingly.  However, for every good play that was made by Chris Leak there was this CONSTANT discussion going on about this Tebow kid.  At that point he was just a prized recruit who was getting ready to take Leak’s place after Leak’s graduation.  He was also the prized recruit who was waiting to take Leak’s place who was taking snaps in key situations in an effort to confuse opposing defenses.  His freshman year Tim Tebow was the “unknown X factor” that everyone feared and had to prepare for even though he never started a game.  His pure athletic ability alone was the kind of thing that made people think he was going to be a white Michael Vick who, when he came into the game, was going to run designed QB draws and running plays to confuse the opposing defense.

Not only was he running, but he was throwing a little and he was playing what I would consider to be an early version of the “wildcat” offense we see today in the NFL.  The big athletic guy who wasn’t the QB was going to get the ball on a direct snap and make you think that at any minute he was going to take it to the house.

Urban Meyer’s first season in Gainesville resulted in a 9-3 record and a bowl victory but nobody thought that Florida football was going to have the renaissance that it did.  No one was standing up to be counted amongst those who thought Meyer would win two national titles in 3 seasons and have a QB who would win the Heisman trophy as a sophomore, go to the ceremony the next year and be so revered the year after that that even though he didn’t deserve to go to the ceremony they let him come anyways.  The only people who even dreamt of this scenario were Florida fans and Meyer himself, but this entire scenario came about because of one player…Tim Tebow.

In his sophomore season Tebow won the Heisman trophy because he compiled the following stats:

234-350 passing for 3286 yards

210 rushes for 895 yards

55 total TD’s

He WAS “The One” (if you like “The Matrix” then you know what I mean) and he won the Heisman in a landslide, but the whole time he was propping up Urban Meyer’s team.  In 2008 when Florida lost to Ole Miss he gave the speech to end all speeches and his Gator team went on a roll that ended in their 2nd national championship in 3 seasons.  The transcript of that speech is immortalized on a wall outside the entrance to the University of Florida’s new football facility at Florida Field.  There is nothing so venerated that came from Urban Meyer’s mouth.  Nothing.  He’s the guy who gets all the credit for coaching the players, but Tim Tebow rallied the entire Gator Nation in about 15 seconds of airtime at what would normally have been a relatively worthless press conference.

Take the 2009 season as an even more extreme example.  Florida was favored all year to win the SEC and make it to the BCS National Championship Game.  Every pundit on Earth said before Florida’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Title Game “If you stop Tim Tebow you stop Florida.”  The Tide stopped Tebow and they won the right to play for the National Championship.  A team game where there are at least 85 players on each team was boiled down to one guy and when that one guy didn’t have a good game his team lost.

Tim Tebow defines the Urban Meyer era currently because he will most likely be the best player Urban Meyer ever coaches.  Urban Meyer said himself that Tim Tebow changed his life.  What more can I say about how the Tim Tebow Era managed to usher in the Urban Meyer Era?

Urban Meyer stored up a treasure for Tim Tebow, and that treasure was his “audition” for the NFL that Meyer orchestrated against the Cincinnati Bearcats.  As I said earlier this game was about more than Florida winning 51-24 because it was also about proving that Tebow can play in the NFL.  Meyer constructed a game plan that allowed Tebow to make every throw possible that was a “NFL-style throw” and for him to amass as much offense with his arm as he could.  We all know that most people in the NFL would draft this guy and make him into a “wildcat” back or some kind of slotback, but this was Meyer’s attempt to show the NFL that Tebow has significant draft value and could be the same kind of QB (a savior, really) that all the pundits expect Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy to be for some lowly NFL teams.

Tebow threw for 482 yards (a BCS record) and 3 TD’s along with running for 51 yards.  He accounted for 533 total offensive yards and 90.4315% of that offense came with the help of his arm.  He even through an 80 yard TD pass of which 55 or so yards were in the air.  He NEVER did that before the Sugar Bowl.  To be sure, he threw passes, but he didn’t throw passes like that!  It was quite an impressive show for someone who won the Heisman Trophy (I think) because of the 895 yards he ran for from the QB position his sophomore year.  For all the “wildcat” talk and all the talk about how his throwing mechanics will have to be changed once he gets to the NFL shouldn’t we be asking ourselves two basic questions?

1.  Don’t you think he could change his throwing mechanics at the drop of a hat?

2.  Wouldn’t you want him leading YOUR team?

Let’s keep it real for a second.  The San Francisco 49ers sank a lot of time and draft value into Alex Smith, but if they were over Alex Smith and Tebow dropped low enough in the draft I would be SHOUTING at the T.V. for the 49ers to draft him and dump Alex Smith.  Why?  Because Tim Tebow is a leader and more and more NFL teams need leaders under Center.  Look at the way Matt Ryan calls plays in Atlanta.  He gets on one knee and every eye in the huddle is on him.  Look at Peyton Manning run the offense in Indy.  They don’t take their eyes off of him, but when they leave that huddle they leave that huddle with a swagger that says “Chief’s got this one and there isn’t anything you can do about it!” That’s how the Gators played for the last 3 years and you saw how successful they were.

I don’t think there’s any question that Tim Tebow could “general” any NFL team to victory given the time it takes to make him NFL-ready (not very long in my opinion.)

Tim Tebow needs to go early on draft day because if he doesn’t someone is going to be regretting it like Portland regrets taking Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan.  Let’s just go through the teams that actually need a Quarterback or could draft him and sit him for a season while their older QB is on the way out.

1.  St. Louis Rams – I’ve been harping for months about the need for the Rams to scrap Marc Bulger and move on.  He simply is NOT productive anymore and now that he seems to be injury-prone it’s even more likely that they need to go in a new direction.  The obvious argument against the Rams drafting Tebow is that they have other problems and they could greatly benefit from drafting a lineman.  However, this team is going to be 1-15 and I don’t see how they could pass up true leadership.  We know that their coach (Steve Spanuolo) is a good coach since he coached the amazing Giant defense that toppled the 18-0 Patriots in the Super Bowl and we know they can run the ball with Steven Jackson.  They have James Laurinaitis and Chris Long on defense.  They have pieces, but imagine if you took those pieces and put them with a leader like Tim Tebow.  The possibilities for success are endless.

2.-6. -  The Lions, Chiefs, Bucs, Redskins, and Browns are all out of the Tebow market because they either are or should be “all in” on the Quarterbacks they have.  This includes Joshes Freeman and Johnson down in Tampa.  They won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson so I don’t think they’re going all the way on any Quarterback.

7. & 8. -  The Seahawks and the Bills have QB issues.  Buffalo really doesn’t have a standout Quarterback and they could just as easily take Tebow and throw him into the fire in an attempt to remake their offense.  Tebow might be the only person in the world who could play QB with T.O. and not be bothered by T.O. (because I don’t think Tebow is bothered by anything.  Really, I think you could tell him he’s going to grow another penis and he would take it in stride) but Buffalo isn’t a GREAT fit.

Seattle, to me, is a great fit because they have Matt Hasselbeck (who is a pretty good QB who’s been to the Super Bowl and who is on his last legs) to teach Tebow and let Tebow see how you do it in the NFL.  This TOTALLY makes sense because they could slowly mold their offense into Tebow’s image and he would have Walter Jones protecting him his whole career (which is more than enough considering Tebow’s athletic ability.)  Tebow would be in a weak division and they could spend a ton of money for a top-flite OC and all would be well.

9.-11. -  Oakland, Denver and San Francisco are all pretty much “all in” on their QB’s as well.  (I’ll be rooting for the 49ers to take Tebow, but it won’t happen.)  Even though Jamarcus Russell is a bust the Raiders can’t afford to draft another QB in the 1st Round again so soon (although it would be REALLY funny!)

12.-32. -  Everybody from #12 onward is either not in need of a QB or their Seattle’s other 1st Round pick.  If Seattle thinks they could wait for Tebow until #21 then that would work too.  San Francisco also has another pick in here and I’ll be pulling for him to get picked again (even though it won’t happen.)

Everyone else in this group would be drafting him because they want to make him into a slotback or a “wildcat” back.  For those purposes a good fit would be Miami at #15.  Whilst I’m writing this column I’m watching the Dolphins and Steelers duke it out and I’ve already seen Pat White take a VIOLENT hit that left him temporarily motionless.  If we want to talk about performance Pat White still has not completed a pass in the NFL.  Don’t you think that Tim Tebow could A)  complete a pass in the NFL and/or B) challenge Chad Henne for the starting job?  I do!

I’d be stupid not to tie this thing up with a nice little bow. Tim Tebow can provide leadership AND running and passing ability to one of a few NFL teams that could really use it.  He’s got the complete package and we all know it.  I know I sound like a Tebow-jocksniffer but I’ve been critical of him when it was warranted.  He went to the 2009 Heisman ceremony without deserving it and I still don’t think he’s the “Best College Football Player Ever”.  (And I didn’t pick Florida in the SEC Title Game.)  However, he’s proved me wrong enough times to make me say UNCLE!

Lesson learned Timmy.  Lesson learned…

In throwing this idea out to one of my superiors here at genxxl.com I said “And I’ve got this great idea for a column on players playing within themselves” and his response was simply “LMAO”.  Honestly, I didn’t really that sounded as bad as it did when it wasn’t being said by a professional athlete so I just want to ask you to hold your laughter as I honestly (and seriously) try to delve into my explanation for this oft used phrase.  {I’m hoping that we don’t run into a situation like in “The Usual Suspects” where all 5 men are in the police line-up and they can’t stop laughing at each other.  You see, originally, that wasn’t in the script.  During the filming they just couldn’t stop laughing and Brian Singer can be found in the extra interviews for the DVD version of the movie talking about how he was fuming off-camera and thinking “These guys are f***ing up my damn movie!”  Please don’t eff up my damn column by laughing before you’re done reading…I promise I have a good point.

You can hear this one in halftime interviews and postgame press conferences.  The reporter always says something like “What does your team need to do to improve on (fill in the blank)?” and the player ALWAYS says something like “Well, (fill in he reporter’s name), we just need to keep working hard, play within ourselves, and stick to the plan.”  You know, they’re giving the Phil-Jackson-non-answer-answer every time and we just accept it without even thinking about those 3 little words right in the middle of the “non-answer-answer”.

Play within ourselves.

(Suspend your laughter please…I know it sounds bad when you can’t watch it in an interview.)

Pro athletes throw this one out there all the time and we just dismiss it because we either:

a)  Don’t know exactly what they mean and don’t care
b)  Think we know what they mean and just assume it means “We need to stop sucking”
or
c)  Don’t’ pay attention to what the athletes and coaches are saying because we assume they’re giving us the “non-answer-answer” and automatically write it off

I’ve done all of these things in all the years I’ve closely followed sports and I think I’ve finally figured out what this one means.  When athletes and coaches say they need to “play within themselves what they really mean is this:

Sports are just games and we all too often reminded that they are just games by tragedy (like the recent passing of Chris Henry) and then we get right back into the “Winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing” mode that Vince Lombardi is so famous for espousing.  Well, games are supposed to be fun, and these players honestly want to have fun (well, except for someone like Stephon Marbury, but that’s different.)  So, “playing within yourself” means:  We’re going to have fun, not look ahead and live in the moment all game long.

Some franchises have had great success doing just that (granted this is easier when you’re winning) but just look at some good examples of teams playing within themselves.

The 1981-88 San Francisco 49ers:  This team won 4 Super Bowls in very short order and played in the NFC Title Game more times than that.  They routinely plowed over the competition and scored insane amounts of points at will.  They beat up teams like there was no tomorrow, but there was something they started doing in Bill Walsh’s new “West Coast Offense” that started a trend that still lives on today.  They scripted their first 15 plays of every game regardless of the situation.  They ran those 15 plays in order no matter what happened.  Now that’s playing within yourself if you asked me.  If you’re running 15 plays in order no matter what happens you better be determined to have fun and not look ahead because if you don’t your mind will go immediately to all the bad things that can happen to you if even one play doesn’t work.  There’s no looking ahead, there’s no “What happens if this defense does “so and so”, and definitely no “Oh no, how is this going to work?”  You just do it.  They did it and won 4 Super Bowls (and took that same premise to a 5th title with Steve Young under Center and it made both him and Joe Montana (along with Jerry Rice and a whole bunch of linemen) into Hall of Famers.

The 1996-2000 Yankees:  As much as I dislike the Yankees I have to give credit where credit is due.  This team played their brand of baseball with total disregard for their opponents on their way to 4 titles in 5 years.  They cultivated a style of play that took them to the playoffs over and over and supplied Yankees like Derek Jeter with early success that can’t be matched.  How can you say the Yankees were doing anything BUT having fun?  It has to be fun to know you’ve got it in the bag because everyone’s afraid of you and you’re just going out and playing your game everyday.  Very good team those were.

The 1999 St. Louis Rams:  This one is obvious.  Kurt Warner slung the ball all over the field all season and they really didn’t care what defense they were up against because they had already decided that they wanted to just outscore their opponents.  You don’t call yourself “The Greatest Show on Turf” unless you’re having FUN and not caring about anything but living in the moment.

Showtime:  The Lakers of the 1980’s won 5 Championships under Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Green and Cooper and (much like the aforementioned ’99 Rams) you don’t call yourself “Showtime” unless you’re having the time of your life.  In the 80s they went to The Finals 8 time.  Yes, I said EIGHT TIMES!  (And we thought the Pistons were cool when they went to the East Finals 5 times in a row.  Yeah, not really.  If you’re having fun, playing your game no matter what your opponent shows you, and living in the moment you go the NBA Finals 8 times in one decade…that’s just what happens.

So, you see “playing within yourself” isn’t just about the “philosophy” of playing within yourself but it’s a higher calling of success.  Think about it now.  When you hear someone from the Raiders or the Browns or the Chiefs or the Clippers or the Warriors say they need to play “within themselves” they’re talking about something they can’t achieve.  Is a championship in the remote future of any of those teams?  Nope.  However, that is what “playing within yourself” brings.  Now, teams that are contenders can play within themselves all day long because on some level they are capable of that or they wouldn’t be contenders in the first place.

Look at the Tennessee Titans.  They started the season playing outside themselves and went a nasty 0-6.  Right after that they went on a tear and were very close to making the playoffs until a hurtful loss against the Chargers on Christmas Day.  Somewhere in there when Chris Johnson said they could go 10-6 and make the playoffs they put Vince Young back in as their starting QB and they starting playing their game without regard for the other team.  They started to “play within themselves” but they just couldn’t sustain it.  They knew their calling but they couldn’t keep it up.

You could say that the Saints and Colts have been playing “within themselves” all season because they’ve done their “we’ll outscore you no matter what” game all season long.  Then the Colts started resting starters and gave up a game to the Jets because that’s their game (I still can’t believe I bought into the undefeated hype.)  The Colts rest people late in the season.  The Saints score thousands of points every game…that’s just what they do.  Nobody’s going to stop them from doing that.

This brings up an interesting question:  Who has the advantage then?  A team that just plays their game or the team that copies the “blueprint” to beat each one of their opponents every week?

I say the team that “plays their game…within themselves” has the advantage.  Look at the teams I mentioned above.  15 Championships between them.  We could add the Bulls of the 90’s to this list, the Lakers of the 2000’s and the Spurs of the 2000’s and you’ve got (just in the NBA) 14 Championships belonging to 3 teams in an 18 year period.  Yeah…playing within yourself works.

Well, let’s see if some teams can play within themselves long enough to get into the playoffs….the picks right after the jump.

Indy @ Buffalo:

It’ll be cold in Buffalo but the Bills have nothing to play for and the Colts are clearly resting for the playoffs.  This is our last chance this season to see if Turrull will get angry enough to blow his top before his season ends.  He’s already got a thousand catches and that’s probably enough for him.  Even with 2nd teamers in the game I just don’t see how the Colts could lose because the Bills are just so bad right now (really they’re in disarray which is making them bad and it’s a shame because I like it when the Bills are good.)

IND – 20   BUF – 3

Jacksonville @ Cleveland:

Because of the resurgence (that I still think impacts Eric Mangini’s job security negatively) that the Browns are having and the fact that the Jags are basically out of the playoff picture I’m going to take the Browns here.  Jack Del Rio had a good thing going, but losing their last game and pushing themselves to 7-8 showed me why the Jacksonville media doesn’t trust David Garrard.  They’ve leaned on him too much and they need to re-orient their offense in a way that features Maurice Jones-Drew more heavily and tasks David Garrard with managing the game and not winning it.

Jerome Harrison is writing himself a nice check right now and I don’t think he’ll stop.  It doesn’t matter who signs him because he’s going to be very productive in this league (and hopefully the Browns get better or he goes to a better team.)

The Jags could make the playoffs if I were picking them to win this game, but the shot is pretty long.  They would have to win and then 3 of these (Baltimore, Jets, Houston and Denver) would all have to lose.  That’s pretty thin (Then again, in “Lethal Weapon” they thought Dixie being involved in Amanda Huntsecker’s murder was thin and then Dixie’s house blew up, but I don’t foresee any exploding houses this Sunday.)

CLE – 27   JAC – 13

Chicago @ Detroit:

Here’s two teams that have little to nothing going for them.  Detroit is sans Matthew Stafford and Chicago is still playing Jay Cutler and hoping he’ll stop losing games for them by throwing 500 interceptions a game.  The good news for Detroit is they are looking up from their “defeated” season of 2008 and they definitely have all the tools on offense if they can just get Stafford some protection bolster their defense.

Chicago’s defense is slowly dying and we can see it in the decreased productivity and injury-prone nature of guys like Tommie Harris and Brian Urlacher.  At one time this was the most feared defense in the NFL and quite reminiscent of the Bears defenses of the 80’s but they’ve become a shell of themselves and when they took Jay Cutler they basically said they were trying to make a shift from defense-focus to offense-focus and that change in focus doesn’t work for this franchise.  (We’re seeing it kind of work for the Steelers, but I don’t think it can last forever) and the same can be said here.  The Bears need to run the ball and stop the run.  Right now they can do neither and that’s just a shame.

DET – 13   CHI – 6

San Francisco @ St. Louis:

St. Louis, with one win, is well on their way to doing what I’ve been hoping they would do all season (something I TOTALLY got right) and that is rebuilding their team by first moving Marc Bulger out and drafting a stud to fix their offense.  In much the same way that the Bears and Steelers run and stop the run the Rams are a team that slings the ball around and they need a Colt McCoy for that.  I know no one wants to throw a game, but they won’t have to because they 49ers are going to play for pride.

Mike Singletary is not messing around with this 49ers team and he’s going to squeeze every last ounce of play out of this team until the very last second of the season in preparation for next season.  It’s really quite amazing that they’ve had as many ups and downs as they’ve had with a coach like Singletary, but I suppose that is to be expected.  They’re still learning how to deal with such a hard ass when Singletary himself has said that many of his players were pretty lazy.  Add to that the reformation of Alex Smith and you’ve got some really big potential for 2010.  I’m excited (though I wish we were going to the playoffs) I am excited for the future and perhaps the future can start this Sunday.

SF – 27   STL – 3

Pittsburgh @ Miami:

The Steelers can make the playoffs if they beat the Dolphins and 2 of these (Baltimore, Jets, and Houston) lose this coming Sunday.  The Dolphins make the playoffs if they beat the Steelers and the Ravens, Jets, Texans, Jags all lose.

Personally, I think the Steelers’ transformation into a passing team will last long enough for them to win this game.  The Dolphins took a loss they shouldn’t have last week and I just don’t think they have the gas to finish this season off right.  They have lot of the right stuff down in South Beach, but it’s just not ready.  Ricky Williams looks like he could run until he’s 40, Chad Henne could be the answer at Quarterback, Ted Ginn Jr. can catch and return kicks like a monster, and their defense is learning.  I just don’t see it happening right now.

A 4000 yard passer, 1000 yard rusher and two 1000 yard receivers is enough (combined with James Harrison and the Steeler defense) is enough for a Steeler win.  Both the Steelers and the Dolphins are playing for next season at the same time, but that makes this game all the more interesting.

PIT – 34   MIA – 27

Giants @ Minnesota:

The Giants are out of it after closing the season in disappointing fashion.  The Vikings can be #1 or #2 in the NFC.  If they win against the Giants AND New Orleans loses to Carolina then they’re the #1 seed.  If that doesn’t work out then they’ll be the #2 in the NFC.  Here’s the question:  Are the Giants playing for pride or are they just done AND is Brett Favre over his little tiff with Brad Childress where Brad Childress conceded control of the franchise to Favre.  (Didn’t you see that an undisclosed former Vikings player said that Favre runs that organization anyways?)

The Vikings just have more to play for and I don’t think Favre is fading as much as his ego is getting in the way, but even his gigantic ego is going to mess this one up.  Right now all the Giants have is Eli Manning to Mario Manningham followed by Brandon Jacobs running up the middle.  Their secondary is like Swiss cheese and you can bet that Brett Favre will take advantage of it.

MIN – 35   NYG – 13

Atlanta @ Tampa:

The Bucs stunned the Saints this past Sunday in a way that I still cannot fully describe.  Because I was visiting my wife’s side of the family I wasn’t near an NFL package and the local game in Ohio was the Bengals then I only saw that they Saints lost to the Bucs.  Upon telling both my brothers-in-law and my Father-in-law they all responded the same way “Huh?”  It was as if I was playing a joke because the Saints lost to a pretty good Cowboys team and that was ok but there was no way in the world that they would lose to the Bucs so “You’re kidding, right?”  Nope.  Not kidding.

Now, Atlanta actually needs this win MORE than the Saints needed their win from last Sunday.  If the Falcons can finish 9-7 then they will have wrapped up the stat that only I care about…their first set of back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history.  They MUST have this because everyone thought this was a foregone conclusion at the beginning of the season when everyone thought the only offense in the league that would be better than the Falcons was the Saints.  With dreams of the playoffs gone the Falcons need SOMETHING and this is their something to build next season on.  Plus, if the fans in Atlanta have to wait another two seasons to get back-to-back winning season there might be riots in the streets down here because this will be a bigger letdown to the fans than any of the Braves’ failing…I can guarantee you that.

ATL – 27   TB – 17

New England @ Houston:

Here’s another in a long line of games that has playoff implications.  The Patriots might jostle back and forth with the Bengals between the 3rd and 4th seed in the AFC, but they essentially have everything wrapped up and I don’t think that this team is going to bring all their guns blazing.  I still think they’re stinging from the 2007 Super Bowl and they don’t want to go into the playoffs cold, but they don’t want to be too hot either.  They’ll play it safe.

Houston HAS to win if they want the rest of their playoff scenario to play out for them.  They have to beat the Patriots and 2 of the following teams has to lose (Baltimore, Jets and Denver.)

With Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson and a pretty nice defense they can make this thing happen.  I know Randy Moss had a couple good games to come back from his “quit game” after he got sent home from practice, but I think he was putting on a show because he can just turn the switch on and off at will.  He’s waiting for the playoffs because he is still “sans ring” and I know that drives him nuts.  Once again, he’s still stinging from the 2007 Super Bowl and a guy like Randy Moss will never REALLY get over that loss.  He’s packing it up for the playoffs and that will make him a little easier to defend.

HOU – 35   NE – 28 (A lot of those points will come from the heavy use of Wes Welker who is a shorter, whiter, faster, smarter, better teammate version of Moss.)

Philly @ Dallas:

These two teams are playing for the NFC East, and that’s Door #1…the winner of this game wins the NFC East.  Now, if Philly wins they also clinch the #3 seed in the NFC.  If Dallas wins AND Arizona loses then Dallas is the #3 seed in the NFC.

Let’s look at what’s going on here.  I watched the end of the Redskins “quitfest” against Dallas and Dallas looked pretty nice (even though the Redskins are really bad) and I’m thinking that we might be over the whole “The Cowboys suck in December thing”.  Tony Romo looked good, Wade Phillips didn’t look like a deer in the headlights, and the Cowboys defense made some sick plays (I mean, it was like they weren’t even being blocked…well they might not have been, but you get the idea.)

Philly is coming into this game hot as well.  They’ve got everything to play for and they are the team that “came out of nowhere” and lots of people (including me) are wondering where they came from and if I can get the number of the truck they just ran me over with.

Well, if you take two hot teams with hot defenses, hot QB’s and put them in a steel cage and let them fight it out for the toughest division in the NFL what does the game come down to?

Brian Westbrook.  He’s been cleared to play but not a world-beater anymore and he’s just so beat up that if I gave you the choice between Marion Barber and Brian Westbrook I think most of us would take Marion Barber.

I’m leaving this game up to the legs of Marion Barber to slowly wear down the Eagles defense and win the Cowboys the NFC East.  I’ve already said he was a beast and I’m not taking that one back.

DAL – 24   PHI – 14

Kansas City @ Denver:

KC needs some serious rethought around their entire organization and that starts at the top with Scott Pioli.  I posited earlier this season that just about every coach in Bill Belichick’s coaching tree is an embarrassment to him and Pioli isn’t making things any easier.  He took Matt Cassel off the Patriots’ hands and now Cassel isn’t producing for the Chefs.  Todd Haley just had too much of a job to do this season to even consider the fact that his defense is pretty bad too.  I’m not sure at what point the Chefs begin to fix their team but I AM willing to concede that an offense can be fashioned for Matt Cassel that will work as long as he has protection.  I say the draft a lineman high (Defensive or Offensive, it doesn’t matter.)  I bet they could take just about everything they have on offense and do something with it.  Dwayne Bowe to catch the ball (he could easily be a 1000 yard receiver), they take a late 1st day running back, let Tim Castille block for him/run in short scores, and they’re set.  Losing Tony Gonzalez was NOT the end of the world for the Chiefs, but they acted like it was and their offense hasn’t performed all year.  If they get out of the mindset that they need him to survive then they will play much better next year.

With this game upcoming I don’t see any way that the Chefs defense can stop Kyle Orton from picking them apart and throwing the ball in Brandon Marshall’s direction at least 15 times, and who’s going to stop him from catching it?  Donald Washington, Mike Richardson, Ricky Price, Maurice Leggett, Brandon Flowers or Brandon Carr?  No way.  Denver’s going to pick this KC defense apart.

Denver’s road to playoff glory is a little more complicated than most teams because they were already in and then they lost last week and made the whole thing more complicated by not sewing up a playoff spot in Week 16.  If the Broncos beat the Chefs and 2 of 3 lose (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and the Jets) lose then they’re in OR they beat the Chefs, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Houston win OR they lose to the Chefs and Pittsburgh loses and 3 of 4 lose (Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, and Jets) OR they lose to the Chefs and Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, the Jets ALL lose.  (Yeah, that’s a lot.  Thank goodness I didn’t have to figure it out.  Thank the folks at FanHouse Newwire for this information…I know I do.)

DEN – 31   KC – 10

Baltimore @ Oakland:

Baltimore and Oakland are both in interesting positions.  Baltimore’s in if they beat the Raiders so they are the other pivotal game in this weekend’s set because if they lose they could set into motion a host of other things that will allow the playoff picture to go down to the wire.  If they win then things get less interesting.

Here’s the problem…the Raiders have played in spurts this season and that includes against good teams so I have to ask myself if I think the Raiders will have a spurt during the Baltimore game.  Here’s the thing:  I bet on the Ravens in the AFC Title Game last year and they lost, and I decided last weekend to not allow myself to get sucked in by them again and it worked because they lost and I was right.  I know Oakland is depleted but there’s something going on in Oakland.  I don’t know if Tom Cable has rallied the troops, or if they rallied themselves or what but they seem to have a purpose.  Look at it this way…Okaland’s 5-10.  Did anybody think they’d have 5 wins going into the final weekend of the season?  Especially after the whole “Tom Cable alledgedly tried to kill on his assistants and broke him jaw” incident?  I didn’t.  Heck, I almost thought about branding them the next “defeated” Lions before the Rams came in and sucked all the suck right out of the league and kept it for themselves.  Jamarcus Russell may be an expensive backup but he isn’t playing horribly and maybe the Raiders can sneak up on the Ravens.

I just have a hard time trusting the Ravens enough to think that they can win a game that they MUST have.

OAK – 21   BAL – 20

Green Bay @ Arizona:

This could be a shootout because when Aaron Rodgers is on he’s on and Kurt Warner is slowly building a hefty Hall of Fame resume.  For me this one comes down to defense and I don’t see any reason why the Green Bay defense won’t prevail.  I’ve listed all their names before:  Hawk, Raji, Kampman, Woodson, etc.  They are just too much and it’s not that the Cards won’t score, it’s just that they won’t score enough.  I know they’re “hot” and everything but if you want to see hot you should look it up in the dictionary and see the picture of a Packers helmet next to the definition.  Aaron Rodgers still has a steady target in Donald Driver and Ryan Grant is a monster out there.  That’s more than enough convincing for me.

GB – 34  ARI – 27

Washington @ San Diego:

Ok, I have no desire to actually believe in the Chargers (so I won’t) but they’re playing the Redskins and after witnessing their quitfest (which spurned the first entry in the General’s Sports Dictionary I would think that they are totally done.  I’m not even sure they’ll make it onto the field for this one…plus the Chargers want to go into the playoffs with a bang.

SD – 28 (because they’ll take their foot off the gas after the first half)   WAS – 0 (because they are pitiful)

Tennessee @ Seattle:

The Titans are out of the playoff hunt after that tough loss they took to the Chargers, but I think they’re playing for pride this time around.  They want to make sure that this season was all about turning things around and for them that means finishing 8-8.  If they finish at .500 after starting 0-6 that is a momentous acheivement and one that is noteworthy.

The Seahwaks are in disarray and I don’t know that Jim Mora is the problem but the early word is that the Seahawks may be looking to make a change and I don’t really that’s very fair to Mora.  A good comparison would be when Mike Vick broke his leg and Dan Reeves got fired because he was missing the best player on the team.  In Mora’s case the best player on the team is Matt Hasselbeck and he’s a timebomb waiting to retire because he’s too beat up to continue.

If I had to choose someone here it would be the Titans for both team’s own good.  The Titans need the
“pick me up” and the Seahawks need a higher draft pick to pick a lineman on either side of the ball (and I know Walter Jones plays for Seattle but Hasselbeck needs more protection than that.)

TEN – 31   SEA – 14
Cincinnati @ Jets:

Here’s the final part of the scenario.  If the Jets win they’re in.  If the Bengals win AND the Patriots lose then the Bengals take the #3 seed in the AFC.  If the Jets lose then they could also contribute to the endless number of possibilities in the AFC playoff situation.

The Jets have Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan.  The Bengals are fired up over Chris Henry’s death, they are coached by Marvin Lewis who said something to the effect of “Enjoy this win and clinching the AFC North, but get over it because now we have another championship on our minds…the AFC.”  Well, if that isn’t dogged determination I don’t know what is.  I think this might play right into my hands here.  The Bengals are going to play their game and to hell with the Jets.

The Jets will play it tight but I don’t think they can beat such an inspired team as the Bengals.  Have you seen the kind of player Chad Johnson has been since Chris Henry’s death.  He’s a man on a mission.  He’s making catches that we all knew he could make but I think he was just too lazy or ego-ridden to care before.  NOW he’s on top of it.  If this game comes down to the wire Chad Johnson will catch the game-winner…let it be written (oh, it just was )

CIN – 28   NYJ – 27

According to my picks I have the Steelers, Texans and Broncos in.  Now, we must apply tiebreakers:

In case you didn’t know them, when all three teams are in different divisions you check:

Head to Head:  The Steelers beat the Broncos in the Regular Season.  Neither one played Houston so there’s no head to head sweep.

The Broncos are 6-5 in conference so they’re in because the Texans and Steelers are both 5-6 in conference.

If you take the common game thread and flesh that one out the Steelers have a better record in common games and they would make the playoffs (a miracle if you asked me!)

That means the AFC (for me) is:

Indy

New England

Cincinnati

San Diego

Denver

and

Pittsburgh

(I could be totally wrong, but we’ll see.)

As always…love me or hate me at genxxlgeneral@gmail.com or by commenting right here on genxxl.com

Tune in next time for a look at more college bowls and how the national championship chase should shake out.

The NFL provides us with enough ups and downs that we can call it the “ultimate reality television” but I don’t think for a second that I could have been so up on one thing, hen down on it, and right back “up” on it again in the span of a few weeks.  For example:  the idea of the Ravens, Steelers and Bengals all making the playoffs from the AFC North was a reasonable (yet crazy) idea a few weeks ago.  After I made such a bold statement the Steelers continued a long losing streak (in losing to the Browns) and I thought my theory was done for.  Now two weeks later those same Steelers (whose coach’s 8-year old thought he made a bad move) have beaten the Packers with a miracle final drive and had a solid win against the Ravens this Sunday.  I can’t say that I understand the tiebreakers and I know that the Steelers have to pray for lots of losses from teams like the Jets, Texans and Ravens in order to get into the playoffs.  The mere notion of the Steelers making the playoffs after they starting hemorrhaging W’s a few weeks ago is almost surreal because they had seemingly thrown away their season and so many pundits were wondering if Mike Tomlin had lost this team that won the Super Bowl a season ago.

All in all that’s a pretty funny way to describe a team that has a 4000 yard passer, two 1000 yard receivers and a 1000 yard rusher in the same season for the first time in its rich history.

I can hear the catcalls already “What about ‘joy’ Mr. Man?  Huh?  What about the ‘joy’ that was going to take the Colts to 16-0.  Where’s that joy now that they’ve dropped a game to the Jets and the best they can do is 15-1?  Huh!?”  All I can say to that is:  If you though the Colts were going to lose and you didn’t give in to the hype then you were right…I was wrong.  I bought in (even after I said they were smart enough to drop a game so they wouldn’t do it in the playoffs)  and was prepared to ride them to the 19-0 season that would have left me laughing at the Patriots if 2007.  (However, I can take solace in the fact that these Colts could go 18-1.  Yes, the same 18-1 that the Patriots did in 2007, but this 18-1 would result in a championship that those Patriots could not close the deal on.)

Oh, the joy thing.  Well, where’s the joy?  Just watch their press conferences today.  They’re still upbeat:  no grunting, heavy sighs or groan and moans.  They’re disappointed (don’t get me wrong) but they aren’t going to take that out on us during their press time.  They aren’t playing for the camera.  If you wanted a good comparison I think we could make one to the 2004 Red Sox who said they were just a bunch of idiots on the way to a World Series title.  These Colts know that the Patriots are pretty cold and that has won them 3 Super Bowls, but these Colts might just be dumb enough to grin in the face of trouble and power through.  (Although I feel sort of silly calling a team led by a guy who audibles every time he comes to the line [sometimes more than once] an idiot, but what can I do?  The comparison works.)  This joy won’t take them to 19-0, but I still believe it can win them a ring.

Denver and Philly tangled in a game where the Eagles had a chance to get a stranglehold on the NFC East and perhaps inch a little closer to catching the Vikings or the Saints and stealing away with a 1st round bye in the playoffs.  I know it sounds crazy because just a couple weeks ago we were all wishing for an “undefeated Super Bowl” between the Saints and the Colts.  Even so, when the Saints lost last week to the Cowboys that was a solid win for the Boys and I assumed (as did most) that the Saints probably wouldn’t lose again since the Vikings were nipping at their heels(until the Vikings lost to the Bears in OT on MNF.)  (I really didn’t think the Saints would lose to the Bucs, but here we are.)   The Saints have shown how vulnerable they are and they have answered my own question “Did the Cowboys draw us a blueprint?” I think they did my dears.  Now, with the Saints 13-2 they could only tie the Vikings for the best record in the NFC and then it would go to tiebreakers, but if the lose and go to 11-4 (the same record as the Eagles) then we have a fight on for that other 1st round bye where the Eagles could potentially come out of nowhere and snatch it away from the Vikings.  Would you have guessed that a couple weeks ago?  I know I wouldn’t have!)

In a note that probably only interest me because I live in Atlanta the Falcons beat the tar out of the Bills 31-3 on Sunday and pushed themselves to 8-7.  One more win next week and they have their first set of consecutive winning seasons in franchise history.  (That stat still gets me every time!)

Cleveland beat Oakland in an effort to prove that Eric Mangini (I don’t know, I’m no feeling Doofgini right now) was completely derelict in his duties up until last weekend when he unleashed Jerome Harrison on the NFL and Mr. Harrison ran for 286 yards in one game.  If there was ever a way to seal your own fate by winning that would be it.  Sit the wrong skill-position player for most of the season, start him due to an injury, he breaks a team record held by Jim Brown, then you go out and kill the next week too.  That has “I was stupid the majority of the season” written all over it.  Sorry, Eric.  This is the NFL and they don’t call it the No Fun League for nothing.

Miami lost by a touchdown to Houston in what I would call a watershed game for the Texans.  Now the Texans are 8-7 with the Jets, Ravens and Broncos and they’re all vying for two playoff spots.  {The part that makes this most interesting is the current wildcard teams losing (Baltimore and Denver.)  Because both the Broncos and the Ravens lost they allowed ALL of the teams at 7-8 to still have a remote chance because losses by certain teams could cause an 8-8 team to make the playoffs.}  However, the “Straight No Chaser” of it is:  Jets win and they’re in and the Ravens win and they’re in.

I’m particularly proud of the Texans because I’ve been hard on them this season since they’ve been on an upward trend but they’ve never been able to finish the deal and make the playoffs.  Then with the talk of Gary Kubiak being on the “hot seat” and Mike Shanahan’s name being bandied about for Kubiak’s job I thought surely they’d fold up their tents again.  Alas!  The Houston Texans are in playoff contention with very good teams like the Dolphins (who they just beat), Ravens, Broncos and Steelers.  What’s more impressive is that the Texans held a 27-0 lead, were outscored 20-0 in the last 20 or so minutes of the game and held on for the win.  Texans teams of the past would have given up the final two scores to surrender a loss…but not today.  This might be a new day in Houston football.

This is one of those times I wish I could convey tone on a blog (maybe they’ll start letting me do podcasts?  That would be cool!)  Anyways, the Arizona Cardinals pounded the Rams today and I have to say “The Cards are getting hot at the right time!”  They’ve a near-lock Hall of Famer under Center, two Hall of Fame-caliber receivers and just enough of a run game to make the defense honest.  What more can you ask for (plus, Ken Whisenhunt’s danced this routine before.)  Would I be shocked if the Cards rolled through the NFC in the playoffs?  No.  Am I betting on it?  No.  The NFC’s a tough nut to crack this year.

As the strokes of the pen (or the keyboard) are made on this column the Cowboys are well on their way to beating the Redskins and clinching the final playoff spot in the NFC.  This would make “Les Six” in the NFC:  New Orleans, Minnesota, Arizona, Philly, Dallas, and Green Bay.  We have literally no idea what order they’ll be in, but we do know that pretty much ANY order is going to yield some very compelling football.  (On a side note:  Marion Barber is a beast.  He runs like a wrecking ball.  Those dreds, the long gate he has, the angry style in which he runs…it makes him a true “power back”.)

I’m note going to start kvetching (as Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth were just saying) about playoff matchups just yet, but I will say that I REALLY want to see Aaron Rodgers rematch Brett Favre in the playoffs.  Man that would be a good game!

{The Cowboys/Redskins game isn’t quite over yet and the Redskins are down 17-0.  They miss a 3rd down conversion and with about 6 minutes left they’re down 3 scores and you figure they need to go for it on 4th down, right?  Nope.  They punted the ball away.  I know they have little chance of winning the game, but you have to at least TRY.  They could have run down, scored, recovered and onside kick, scored again, rinsed and repeated and tied the game.  I know that sounds INSANE, but anything is possible.  Instead of dreaming they punted.  This has just brought to mind a new feature here on the column:  The General’s Sports Dictionary.} The first entry in the General’s Sports Dictionary is:

Coach-quit:  verb;  1.  Bobby Petrino leaves the Falcons after Week 13 and is singing “ooh Pig suey” that same night in Fayetteville.  2.  Jim Zorn, down 17-0 with 6 minutes left in the game punts on 4th down when he really had no choice but to go for it.

Check me after the jump for some New Year’s Day Bowl picks…

Capital One Bowl – Penn State and LSU pony up for a battle of two teams who had good season, but were standing behind better teams in their conferences.  LSU had Florida and Alabama’s shadow to stand in whilst the Nittany Lions were hard up to get past a depleted Ohio State squad.  Even though this isn’t the bowl Penn State was looking for you have to feel good for Joe Pa for getting his team to yet another New Year’s Day bowl and playing strong after the controversy that swirled around him a few years ago as his age came into question.

LSU’s Les Miles is one of the oddest coaches in college football because we’re always left to wonder if they win because of the coaching or in spite of the coaching.  Both teams have pretty nice offenses and strong defenses, but the game is only left up to a couple factors:

1.  Daryll Clark has a good game and Penn State is hard to beat.
2.  If LSU’s defense can produce turnovers like they did in 2008 they are nearly unstoppable.
3.  If Les Miles doesn’t make any stupid decisions that Tigers are always dangerous.

I’ll take the Nittany Lions because I don’t think Les Miles can help himself…

The Rose Bowl – Ohio State and Oregon tangle in my favorite bowl game every year…the Rose Bowl.  I love the Rose Bowl because it conjures images of players holding roses in their teeth after leading their teams to glory.  Vince Young played one of the best games in the history of college football and won Texas a national title in that very stadium.  The Rose Bowl signifies tradition, glory, elegance, all that is right and good in college football.

Ohio State is a sentimental favorite for me because my wife is from Ohio (so I’ve got an entire side of the family that is Buckeye-faithful) and Oregon is a fun pick because Chip Kelly is a great coach and he drug them from the abyss (the LeGarrette Blount punch game against Boise State) to a near loss at Oregon State for a chance to play in this very game.

The problem is that as much as I like the Buckeyes they are carrying an underperforming Quarterback who has yet to live up to even a fraction of his own hype.  Let’s not forget that Terrelle Pryor brought this on himself by having his own little press conference to announce where he was going to school like it was newsworthy.  (In essence, he’s getting every bit of criticism he deserves.  I know he’s a kid, but he’s a kid who’s going to school for free {who doesn’t want that for their kid} who wanted the spotlight and now that he’s got it he isn’t performing.)

There’s something about the scrappy nature of the Ducks that makes me want to pick them.  I’ve ridden the Buckeyes to shame in the past (especially that humiliating loss to Florida in 2006 when EVERYONE thought they were going to win their 2nd national title since 2002) and I just can’t bring myself to ignore their recent failings in bowl games.  You combine that with the intensity and “scrappiness” of Oregon under Chip Kelly and you’ve got the makings of an Oregon blowout.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl – Two lame duck teams in Florida and Cincinnati take the field in disappointment on both sides.  The Gators have a coach who’s going on indefinite leave and Cincinnati’s former coach Brian Kelly already ticked off every player on the team when he sprung the “I’m bouncing for Notre Dame” speech on them.  This is Tim Tebow’s final college game and it will be under Urban Meyer whose life Tebow has clearly changed.  (Meyer cried when describing Tebow’s impact on his life for Pete’s sake!)  Tim Tebow will be emotional, ready to end with a bang, and ready to prove to the NFL that he’s worthy.)

The Cincinnati players are ready to back up the talk they gave to the media after Brian Kelly broke them down with the Notre Dame news.  Mardy Gilyard was the most vocal when he basically told the press that the players made the plays and they were going to show Brian Kelly that they don’t need him.

Here you have a clash of the titans with a team ready to usher out one of their greatest players with a win and a team angry and ready to spit nails.  I still don’t think Tebow was “all there” during the SEC Title Game and I have no idea if he’ll be “there” on New Year’s Day, but I DO know that he has a lot to prove and he’s a fighter.  Disgruntled players (like the ones at Cincinnati) play well in spurts, but I don’t know if they can overcome such a good player as Tebow when they are playing purely on emotion (emotions they’ve had bottled up for about a month.)  I don’t think it’s wise to try to beat a team as good as Florida like that so I’ll have to take Florida because the spurts of emotion you get form Cincinnati will not be enough for a very good/well-seasoned/veteran team like the Gators.

Tim Tebow is a life-changer and though he did not deserve to be in New York for the Heisman ceremony he is STILL a great player and over-looking him is a bad deal.  Remember, the Crimson Tide had to stop HIM in order to win the SEC.  Nobody else, just Tebow.  That says a lot. and I’m not tangling with a dude like that, are you?

Tune in Thursday for the picks for the final week of the NFL Regular Season, a look at how the playoff races will shake out (yes, I figured out all the tiebreakers by myself) and what that means for the race to the Super Bowl…as always, love me or hate me at genxxlgeneral@gmail.com

Well, the NFL flew in and out like a lark and we’re left with a ton of clinched playoff spots, some confusion, and this weird feeling about the 14-0 Colts. Let’s start with the obvious…

The Colts are now 14-0 after outlasting the Jags on Thursday night. Unfortunately, most of the country didn’t see this game because it was on NFL Network and hardly anyone gets NFL Network as a part of their cable package so really this game is more like an enigma. (And though I think it’s nice to hear Rich Eisen reminisce about starting the NFL Network he basically works for Stalin so I’m not sure how positive you can be when you work for a dictator.) Since I’m lucky enough to get the NFL Network I’ll recap for you. Colts play bad, Jags jump out in front, Colts comeback again. Pretty simple stuff… However, it does raise for me one VERY big question.

Is it possible for the Colts to be “consistent” when they are playing consistently badly in the first 3 quarters of games? I mean, we talk about consistency all the time in Football and coaches are constantly harping on it in sideline interviews between halves, but the Colts are really consistent except that they are consistently winning, but not with consistent play. They know they can go to Peyton at the end of the game and get a late score to clinch a win, but they aren’t doing a whole lot else that is “consistent”.

So, can they make it to 16-0? Well, they close with the Jets and the Bills. The Jets were starting to look “sort of ok” until they decided they didn’t really want to win their game against the Falcons and they gave the game back to Falcons by allowing a late TD. Mark Sanchez IS a good player, but I don’t know if now is his time. Can he mount a comeback if he needs to against the Colts? Nope.

What about the Bills? I know it’s cold but I don’t think hell’s going to freeze over anytime soon so I’m not sure how the Bills would expect to beat the Colts either. Plus, Jim Caldwell has made it pretty clear that he’s going for it. Since he’s not EXACTLY like Tony Dungy then we have to assume that he means it. Well, if he means it and Peyton is leading this team then we can only assume that they will make their way back to the Super Bowl.

Since the AFC is kinda down this year we can also assume that that road to the Super Bowl will be relatively easy. But that brings me to another bone of contention…

The Chargers went and screwed up my picks by ONCE AGAIN not proving my point and just laying down for the Bengals like I thought they would. It’s quite annoying to know you’re right about a coach (Norv Turner) and have to keep waiting and waiting for your predictions on that coach to come true. I mean, when I got in the car after dinner with my parents and turned on the radio (we can get the Cincy sports station down here) to hear that the Bengals had narrowly lost I was HOT! Seriously, how long do I have to wait for the Chargers to crumble? Are we going to have to wait until the second week of the playoffs to see the “Norv Turner Thing” come true? I suppose that would prove my point more than anything because they have fought hard to get that first-round bye and then to throw it away with a bad loss to a wildcard round team would be pretty telling, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait until the AFC Title Game to get that kind of satisfaction and I don’t think it’ll be that satisfying because everyone on earth will be picking the Colts to nail the Chargers to the wall (and rightfully so.) So, what do I do?

Well, I’ve only got one more option before the playoffs. Next week the Chargers get the Titans. I think we’ve all learned not to pick against the Titans by now and I think it’s safe to say that the Chargers want nothing to do with them. (And by nothing I mean NOTHING!) So, can the Titans beat the Chargers and prove my point? I don’t see why not. Vince Young is just as good as Phillip Rivers and Chris Johnson is gunning for Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. You don’t think that’s motivation enough for the Titans to put a wallop on the Chargers? I do.

Speaking of Chris Johnson, how quietly has he put together this REALLY good season? He’s got 301 rushes and 1730 yards already this season. I mean, how could this season get any better for him? He’s two more games to gain a TON of yards, but it is possible. Why?

The Titans close with the Chargers and Seahawks. The Chargers would allow the run if the Titans forced it down their throats and told them “You’re GOING to give Chris Johnson yardage today!” That’s something the Chargers can’t stop. Plus, the Chargers CAN be put on their heels with the kind of “out of nowhere” passing that Vince Young does. He always looks like he’s flicking the ball (which has got to be deceiving to opposing defenses) and you’re never sure what he’s going to do next. Basically, he’s Michael Vick but more accurate and more accomplished.

Then they get the Seahawks and if Johnson is even remotely close to Dickerson’s record you can bet the Titans will chew the clock with his running. Now, he’s got like 400 yards to go before he’s in Dickerson’s neighborhood, but we just saw Jerome Harrison run for 285 for the Browns of all teams, so it’s anything is possible. For my money, he get close, but not all the way (but the Titans will be damned if they don’t TRY to get him the record.)

What next?

Well, with the Titans winning again and getting to .500 they have joined a group of 6 teams that sit at 7-7 behind the Broncos and Ravens who are 8-6. Because the Broncos gave away a game to the Raiders you have to believe that every team who sits at 7-7 is “in it”. Now, HOW in it is a whole other story. Given their schedule I’d say the Titans can finish 9-7 and be in contention (especially since they get the Chargers and the Chargers KNOW they are #2 right now.)

The Steelers are in a skid and I don’t think they can be trusted right now. I mean, I trusted them to beat the Browns and they lost…then I assumed (rightfully so) that they would lose to a superior Packers club and they ended up winning. That does not = playoff success.

The Jags and Texans are the Jags and Texans. If the local crew in Jacksonville doesn’t trust the Jags then why should I? The Texans are nice, but they aren’t there yet (and Gary Kubiak is on the hot-seat.) That doesn’t = playoff success either.

The Jets get Indy and Cincy to finish the season. Now, I know I trusted to Bengals to beat the Chargers, but I think we’re all in agreement that the Chargers are a better team than the Jets. (Let’s face it, the Jets GAVE a game to the Falcons (who just aren’t that dangerous.)) Plus, they are going to have to play Indy when Indy is going for 15-0. Do you really think that the Colts are going to let Mark Sanchez and the “46” defense get in their way? (Let’s face it again…the “46” defense looked better when Buddy Ryan was running it…not Rex Ryan.)

The Dolphins get Houston and Pittsburgh to close. I know I can’t trust the Steelers, so that final game of the season might determine who gets in the playoffs and Houston is nice, but they aren’t as good (or as well-coached) as the Dolphins. I’m thinking that we’ll get down to the final weekend and the Titans and Dolphins will be fighting for that last spot with either the Ravens of the Broncos.

Why? Well, the Ravens and the Broncos have to play games too. It is conceivable that they could drop another game and we’ll be relying on tiebreakers and last-minute finishes in 2 weeks to determine who makes the playoffs in the AFC. I wasn’t thinking it would be this exciting when the Broncos, Colts, Ravens and Steelers got off to such good starts, but now we can see that the AFC has become the bastion of unpredictability that we always thought the NFC would be.

The NFC is altogether different…

Join me after the jump to find out why…

The NFC has 4 clinched teams already (Eagles, Saints, Vikings, Cardinals) and 3 teams with playoff hopes. The Cowboys and Packers are in the driver’s seat for the two wildcard slots in the NFC, but the Falcons somehow stole that game from the Jets yesterday and now they’re 9-7. If by some miracle the Cowboys and Packers drop their final 2 games and the Falcons win out then all 3 of those teams would be 9-7 and we’d be relying on tiebreakers (which will give the networks PLENTY to talk about, and even though the Falcons would still be OUT of the playoffs it gives us time to talk about all the “what-ifs” in their season.) I could sit here and pretend like I know what I’m talking about when it comes to the tiebreakers, but I’m not going there until it looks like that scenario might happen. Right now…it’s just a wild hare that might catch on.

They Played Some Basketball Too!

Now, I’m going to get into Basketball in-depth later on, but I wanted to include this one tidbit here because I couldn’t save it. (If you follow my twitter account, genxxlgeneral, then you know what I’m talking about.)

I’m watching the Cavs plays the Bucks and Shaq dishes out a hard foul where he basically just swiped at the Brandon Jennings’ head instead of the ball and Jennings landed right on his back. The funny part is that right after that they showed a stat for Ilgauskas and Shaq. When Shaq is on the floor the scoring differential is in the negative. When Ilgauskas is on the floor the differential is positive. It’s pretty simple if you asked me. Shaq has deteriorated to the point that a lanky-white-European who shoots too many 3′s is a better option than the great Shaquille O’Neal. WOW!

What does that mean for the Cavs? They have to go to their best option. Shaq has become an enforcer and not a scorer. He’s a back-up and not a first option. He’s a side-show and not the main-show. He’s a freak who side-swipes rookies (like Brandon Jennings) who are pwning him and not an inside threat that you just hand the ball to so he can work it out for 30-35 points a night. It’s a shame really, but all of that talk and all of the bravado is going for not in Cleveland. And how over it do you think LeBron is? VERY! The Hawks and the Magic have better winning percentages than the Cavs right now. Do you think for one second that an egomaniac like LeBron can even remotely handle that? Yeah, I don’t either. Only one of two things can come of this. Mike Brown figures out that Shaq is a bad option and he plays about 5 minutes a night or LeBron gets so pissed that Shaq is playing more than that that he can’t focus on his game and the Hawks and/or Magic overtake the Cavs in the East. Listen, a team comprised of old, old, and old (the Celtics) is already much better than the Cavs. What does that say about the (trying not to gag) “Great Shaquisition”? It says it doesn’t work. Trade him to a stupid team and put Ilgauskas back out there 35 minutes a night. Yes, to say I’m over Shaq is an understatement. He needs to hang it up before he embarrasses himself.

Next up..a complete shakedown on the NBA sans the Shaq-talk.

I know that’s a lot to ask for, but with 3 games left on everyone’s schedule we have a lot to talk about and I’ve definitely learned some lessons this season (and before the season is over…man I’m a fast learner!) I had a pretty bad week last week and I am in serious need of some redemption.  (Although I’m still 133-71.)

Plus, I’ve made a decision. Come playoff time I’m going to start picking games AND picking the spread. Why in the playoffs you ask? Well, in the playoffs, it’s do or die. There’s no moral victories, there’s no running up the score. As soon as you think you have the game in hand you shut down and get ready for next week. Period. No coach in his right mind is going to keep Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Drew Brees on the field so they can win a playoff game 52-0 when they were already going to win it 38-0. There’s no chance. That also means that the spread is KEY in the direction that many of those games go in. If you’ve got a team that is a 6 point underdog… in the playoffs…they take that as an insult. “How in the hell can you give them 6 points over us when we both GOT HERE?” (Since that IS the whole point of the regular season anyways. [Unless you’re the Browns, Lions Bucs or Rams…in which case the whole point of the regular season is getting the highest draft pick possible.]) If the line comes out for a playoff game featuring the Saints or the Colts and they DON’T cover…then you know something’s going on. Picking the spread between two good teams is easy…and it’s probably pretty true. So keep your eyes open when we hit playoff time because I can’t wait to get into all the speculation the spread brings to a game preview.

Ok…since there’s so much to get to…let’s do this!

Indy @ Jacksonville: Thursday Night

Ok, this one’s crucial in terms of the Colts unbeaten status and the Jags desired playoff status. They’re at 7-6 and tied with Baltimore, Miami, and the Jets for the 2nd wildcard spot in the conference. I’m not going to get into the specifics of the tiebreakers because I think most coaches in the NFL don’t understand all of the rules, but suffice it to say that Jacksonville NEEDS this win desperately. Why? Jacksonville gets to finish with Cleveland. That’s good for them because they have the Patriots the week before that and the Colts right now. If they can somehow break the Colts’ streak and then catch the Patriots off-guard all they have to do is wait for the Ravens, Jets, and Dolphins to stumble. Will that be difficult? Yes, because the Jags have the hardest closing schedule of any of the aforementioned playoff contenders.

On to the Colts… Do I think they can keep this up? Yes. Am I rooting for an undefeated Super Bowl between the Saints and Colts? Yes. Do I think this is a “trap” game for the Colts? Yes. If they have Jacksonville (in Jacksonville) and Jacksonville NEEDS a win and the Colts are very close to resting people because they have home field throughout the playoffs locked up then yeah, you might get some “looking ahead” coming from the Colts. No matter how good a leader Peyton Manning is there’s no accounting for letdowns on the team. Receivers drop balls all the time, people miss blocking assignments, people miss tackles, and return guys get tackled behind the 10 yard line and Peyton can’t fix all of that.

So that brings up the question: How influential IS Peyton Manning on this franchise? Well, I think that in the end he will go down as the greatest Colt of all time (yes, better than Johnny Unitas) and when he’s done this franchise will hit a MAJOR slump while they search for a suitable replacement (not Jim Sorgi, although I do like him.) Sooooo, since I’m saying that Peyton Manning will go down in lore as the greatest Colt then it stands to reason that he can have an affect on the whole team, right? Yes. In short, Peyton can go to anyone on this team and say “Get it together or die!” and the response from that player will be “You got it, man!” or “Yes Sir!” Do you really think Jim Caldwell is in control of this team? Nope, Peyton Manning is. Jim Caldwell is enjoying something I’d like to call the “George Seifert Effect”. George Seifert inherited one of the greatest teams of all time from Bill Walsh and won a Super Bowl with that team. Then he hit a dry patch until Steve Young became the Hall of Famer that he is. Jim Caldwell will do the same thing. He’ll win a title (at some point) with Peyton, hit a dry patch, replace Peyton with another Hall of Famer and win another title. You just wait and see. The “Seifert Effect” is… in effect!

IND – 42 JAC – 20

Dallas @ New Orleans: Saturday Night

Dallas took a bad loss to the Chargers and let the Eagles jump out in front of them in the NFC East. I could say that I’m surprised, but like I’ve said for a few weeks now, I’m just waiting for the Cowboys to stab me in the back. Well, since I didn’t get too close to Dallas to begin with they couldn’t actually reach ME to stab me in the back, but they’re taking pretty big swipes at their fans right now. A couple weeks ago everyone on the planet had written off the rest of the NFC East and crowned the Cowboys a contender. Now, they look like they’ll have to take a wildcard berth and play someone they don’t want in the first round of the playoffs (like the Cardinals.) This game with New Orleans doesn’t help because, unlike the Colts, the Saints HAVE to keep winning or they lose home field in the playoffs because the Vikings keep winning. As long as the Vikes keep winning the fire is squarely under the Saints’ rear end…if you know what I mean.

The Saints haven’t looked stellar in the past couple weeks and I have to wonder out loud if the season is starting to get to them. It’s hard to go undefeated and it’s even harder to be the new kids on the block AND have the hottest offense in the league AND be in the harder conference. I said a few weeks ago that Drew Brees looked like Kenny Stabler from “way back when”. Now, he’s starting to look a little worn down. I don’t know if he’s or he just gets that way at the end of the season (like, he gets more serious so the “happy go lucky” look fades away.) I’m not sure, but I know that if he plans on continuing to win he needs to pep it up a little bit. The good news is that they close with Tampa and Carolina. If they can’t win those games I don’t know what to say to that. If they can’t beat the Cowboys I don’t know what to say either. Demarcus Ware is hurt, the Cowboys are in a slide and Wade Phillips is their coach. Do I need to say more? (Oh, and Tony Romo’s December QB rating is something like 12.)

NO – 45 DAL – 21

Cleveland @ Kansas City: Sunday

Alright, I wrote off the Browns last week and they beat the Steelers. I wrote off the Chiefs and they lost. (I guess I learned my lesson.) This game is still crap vs. crap, but I have to be honest in my assessment of how bad these teams are.

Todd Haley in KC is a good coach and he has players on his team. Granted, Matt Cassel won’t be the world-beater they were looking for, but he IS serviceable and that should be enough if they get good pieces around him. They cut Larry Johnson loose because he had character issues and that was a good move because it kept him from infecting their locker room more and it made the fans happy. The Chefs have a couple wins this season and each one was earned rightfully.

Cleveland is looking for a “Football Czar” because their franchise is a total wreck. I could go back over my column from yesterday, but I don’t think it’s worth it. They have 3 players and a bunch of garbage. In essence, they need to start all over. There are TONS of players who would work in Cleveland if they would just return to their AFC Central roots and build a team that looks like the teams of old.

Now, the reason I missed on the Pittsburgh/Cleveland pick last week was because I didn’t realize that the Steelers’ malaise was THAT bad. I also didn’t realize that 3 good players on a team would constitute a win against the defending Super Bowl Champs. However, that doesn’t mean that they can just on winning games ad nauseum. The Chefs are a better team at their core and that means that the Browns already had their 1-time out of 10. Now it’s time for the other 9 times to catch up with them.

KC – 17 CLE – 9 (Phil Dawson rocks!)

Atlanta @ Jets

The Falcons have already GRAVELY endangered their shot at a 2 winning season in a row (something they’ve never had…it’s one of the weirdest stats in sports.) They’re 6-7 with 3 games to go and the only way they can have a winning season is to win out (too bad they aren’t the Titans, right?)

Matt Ryan has turf toe (which ended Jack Lambert’s career, and we KNOW how tough he was), Michael Turner has too many miles on him, Brian Finneran’s career is over, and the defense is a sieve. It’s bad down here in Atlanta.

The Jets, conversely, are in the playoff hunt in the AFC at 7-6. They are in that gigantic traffic jam of teams at 7-6, but they end here with the Falcons, Bengals and Colts. They DESPERATELY need this win if they want to get into the playoffs. Honestly, how many of us think they can beat the Bengals or the Colts? Anyone? Nobody? Just what I thought. So, they need this game MORE than the Falcons because the Falcons are out of the playoffs, snakebitten and not ready for that second consecutive winning season. The Jets have had consecutive winning seasons, won a Super bowl, have a healthier team (not healthy, just healthier) and a stronger coach. (Oh, and Braylon Edwards roaming around in the Falcons’ gosh-awful Secondary.) Need I say more?

Sorry Atlantans, but you’re going to have to wait til 2011 to see if the Falcons can put back-to-back winning seasons together.

NYJ – 24 ATL – 10

Miami @ Tennessee

Miami is in the traffic jam at 7-6 with the Jets and they also desperately need this win to stay in it. Since that traffic jam is all fighting for one playoff spot (since I think the Broncos can hold on to the other wildcard berth) then the Dolphins are playing for their lives every week. Tennessee is right behind the pack at 6-7. Now, I know I counted out the Falcons at 6-7 in the NFC, but the NFC is much stronger then the AFC so it stands to reason that some teams in the “traffic jam” could falter and if the Titans keep winning they could somehow sneak into the playoffs.

The Titans get to close with Miami, San Diego (a.k.a. – the team I don’t trust) and the Seahawks. Are you telling me they can’t win all of those games and some of these other teams won’t slip up? I’ll bet you anything that the Titans are going 9-7 and that somehow they can squeak into the playoffs. In order for them to do that they need to refer to the beginning of my column where they will need to pray and get a miracle, but they can do it.

I see no reason why the Titans would stop winning now. Granted, the Dolphins are good, Tony Sparano is good and Chad Henne is coming on strong, but would you bet against the Titans right now? I wouldn’t. In much the same way that I stopped picking the Skins I will NOT pick against the Titans until I can’t pick them anymore. It would be foolhardy to assume that they will lose when they’ve been playing as well as they have AND they have a shot at the playoffs. This one should be called the “Vince Young Factor”. If a team puts in a prized QB halfway through the season and starts winning the “Vince Young Factor” comes into play and you have no business picking against that team or that Quarterback. Period.

TEN – 30 MIA – 24

Houston @ St. Louis

In accordance with my plan for the Rams to fix their franchise I need to make clear that I will NOT waiver. They need to keep losing and get the 1st pick in April locked up so they can find the right QB and replace Mark Bulger. They already have a prized Lineman and now they need new blood getting the ball every offensive snap. Houston is a good little team that cannot make the playoffs, but they will certainly die trying. Just because they rely too much on Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson it doesn’t mean they suck…it only means they’re 1-dimensional. I can live with that. I think they know they can’t make the playoffs like this, but maybe, just maybe, if they tweak their offense a little they might have something going into next year. Plus, losing right now doesn’t segue very well INTO next year. Teams like this need momentum to take into next season where they can say “Look how strong we finished…let’s pick up where we left off.” The Rams have no need for momentum because they’re about to have to pull a Cleveland and blow the stadium and start from scratch. Good luck Rams….Good luck…

HOU – 35 STL – 3

Arizona @ Detroit

I know Arizona laid a MAJOR egg against the 49ers (and I spent a lot of time talking about it) but they have GOT to get it together against the Lions. First, it’s undignified to lose to Detroit as it is…even if you’re Cleveland, but it’s another thing to lose to Detroit when you have a good thing going, you just appeared in the Super Bowl, and other teams should be afraid of you. As always, I have the Gunther Cunningham Rule which does not allow me to pick the Lions, but I wouldn’t anyways. The Cardinals have Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald…that should be enough to get through this one. However, they close with St. Louis (a probable blowout) and Green Bay. That Green Bay game is going to be for playoff positioning because the Packers and Cards are both looking for SOMETHING to hold on to. Now, the Cards will win their division and get a home game out of that, but the Packers will be PRAYING that they can get a better seed out of a win against them, so the Cards need to be on their A-Game every week until the end of the season. The best way to do that is to get the kinks out against a really bad Detroit team. Somehow, I think they can manage…

ARI – 48 DET – 3

San Francisco @ Philly

Folks can tell me all day long how they think the 49ers are coming on strong, but I’m REALLY hesitant to brand them “up and comers” after the ups and down they’ve had this season. I’ve heard people say that Alex Smith looks 10,000 times better than he did earlier in his career, but I’m not buying it yet. I have expectations, but I’m not buying that all of the juice in the Bay Area should come from the offense. Frank Gore isn’t 100% and Michael Crabtree signed yesterday…how can I TRULY trust the offense? I can’t.

The defense, however, is VERY good and capable of big things. If they prep right for Michael Vick and keep Donovan CONTAINED then they won’t have a problem with the Eagles. If the 49ers give up one big play I think they’re just not mentally ready to recover from that. It’s a shame, but it’s true. Just let me enjoy the fact that we have the slimmest of chances, but I don’t see how this can work out well. I know I screwed up and picked against them with Arizona, but how will they pull off a miracle like that twice in a row? Yeah, I don’t know either.

PHI – 21 SF – 14

New England @ Buffalo

Here’s the deal…I don’t think the Bills can really DO anything with the Patriots, but let’s just talk a minute about how fractured the Patriots are.

Did anybody see all the drops Randy Moss had this past weekend? Let me give you a little background. Randy was late to a meeting this week and he got sent home along with 3 other guys. This was the beginning of the end for Randy. He saw an opportunity to shut down and he did. He started doing his “whiny pouting” thing again and it transferred into his performance on Sunday. He dropped balls that I could have caught (granted, I’m pretty quick and have good hands, but I’m not Randy Moss either.) He wasn’t even trying. Watch the film and tell me he even “cared” to try to catch any of those balls. (Oh, and when I say I could have caught those passes I DO mean that I could have run that route, gotten in front of the defender AND caught the ball…something Randy didn’t do.) He quit. Period. Will everyone stop trying to defend him already? He quit on the Vikings and they shipped him to Oakland and then he quit on the Raiders and that’s why the Patriots even have him to begin with…because he’s a quitter. If he wasn’t a quitter he’d probably still be in Minnesota, but he isn’t because he’s (you guessed it) a quitter.

How long will this last? I say until the end of the season. We’ve already got Tom Brady throwing the F-bomb at Bill Belichick and Adaleus Thomas running his mouth about being sent home so it isn’t much of a stretch to assume that Randy will continue to quit until the end of the season…is it? How wrong would I be to say that Randy gets traded this offseason because he’s quitting right now? I don’t think that’s a stretch either. You can’t tell me that this team is crumbling…because it is. Fortunately for them, they’re the Patriots, Bill Belichick is still their coach and they still have gobs and gobs of talent. That’s enough to beat the Bills, but beware Bostonites…this ship is about to run aground…and soon.

NE – 24 BUF – 14

Chicago @ Baltimore

Chicago has such a hard road to hoe just to GET THROUGH the rest of the season, and they’re just going to get pummeled in the NFC North by the Packers and Vikings. Jay Cutler is looking like “The Biggest Loser” (not the good kind) and he’s only got a “Coach on the hot seat” and a young receiver (Johnny Knox” to show for his year in Chicago.

He was a good “get” when the Bears traded Kyle Orton (a busted Heisman finalist) to the Broncos in a trade that looked like the Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown trade. I mean, Kyle Orton was the flaming pile of crap and Jay Cutler was the Knight in Shining Armor. Yeah, we got that one wrong! How do you get a flaming pile of crap that looks like a white knight on a white horse in shining silver armor? (I mean, how do you not smell it? How did I not smell it? I don’t get it…I said Cutler was a baby and all that, but I was content to hang on to the fact that he’s a Pro-Bowler. *slapping my forehead* Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!)

Baltimore NEEDS this game to get away from the Steelers and get out of the “jam” in the AFC for the final wildcard slot. I don’t see how the Bears can win this one and I can’t see how the Ravens will lose this one. It’s a double-whammy for Lovie Smith (who is close to getting fired anyways.)

BAL – 31 CHI – 10

Join me after the jump and I’ll pick the rest of this weekend’s games…

Oakland @ Denver

Another thing I learned is to not write-off the Raiders without first seeing who’s starting at Quarterback. When Bruce Gradkowski is in this team has a chance. (I didn’t say they’ll win (so don’t get it twisted) but I did say they have a chance.) BruGrad has made Jamarcus Russell into the most expensive backup in history (and we thought Billy Volek wanted a lot of money a few years ago) and now he’s showing that the way to go in the Raider Nation is with a Quarterback that you wouldn’t pick first to play on your team. Anybody remember Rich Gannon from their Super Bowl run? When my Dad told me Rich Gannon was starting for the Raiders I was like “Rich Gannon? You mean the career backup?” Yep, that guy. Well, BruGrad was unwanted in Tampa of all places so he ended up in Oakland and look at him now…pretty good eats for a dude with no pedigree who got cut by a pathetic team.  (This week BruGrad is out, but he proves my point.  Even with Charlie Frye in there the Raiders have a better chance to win than with Russell.)

Denver is sitting pretty in the 1st wildcard spot in the AFC and I don’t think they’ll mess it up. Even though they’re only one game ahead of the “jam” for the second wildcard spot they’ve shown that they can play well enough to lock up a playoff spot. They have a good QB, a pretty good running game and a very nice defense. Are they stellar? No. Are they going to win a playoff game? Probably not. But will they make it look interesting? Yes. The Raiders just can’t hang. As much as I want them to be better now is not the time. If they take their wins from this season and use that momentum to start next season they might have something, but something isn’t here yet.

DEN – 24 OAK – 17

Cincinnati @ San Diego

Ok, this is a battle of two teams that I want to like. A battle of two teams who SHOULD do well but I’m afraid to pick. I don’t trust the Chargers at all (I know, the Norv Turner thing) and I’m afraid that any minute the Bengals will become, well, the Bengals.

At the end of the day they’re about the same team and I can’t sit here and argue with my distrust of Norv Turner. Let’s call it a day and say that I have the “Norv Turner Rule” where I don’t pick teams coached by Norv Turner unless the team Norv is facing is pathetic. I’ll just leave it at that.

CIN – 31    SD – 30 (The one point spread accounts for bad decisions made by Norv Turner…not by the Bengals.)

Tampa @ Seattle

Ok, here’s another one that I find easy but I won’t just mail it in because I’ve learned my lesson. Tampa has Josh Freeman at QB and he’s currently the only rookie QB starting this year from the highly touted draft class we just had. He could be a nice and serviceable QB in Tampa (that’s what Brad Johnson was when they won the Super Bowl you know) and he could last a really long time…if he doesn’t die first.

Matt Hasselbeck is on his last leg, but he does have some weapons and Walter Jones on the O-Line. Let’s say Freeman puts in a good show and Hasselbeck is off (or gets breathed on the wrong way by a Tampa defender) then the Bucs MIGHT have a shot. However, I don’t think the Bucs defense can get to Hasselbeck because they’re still trying to live on the “Tampa 2” and all of that stuff that left with Monte Kiffin when he left for Knoxville. Because of their refusal to change defenses like they should have I have to pick against Tampa even though I think the better QB for the game might end up being Josh Freeman.

SEA – 17 TB – 14

Green Bay @ Pittsburgh

The Packers are fighting for playoff positioning and the Steelers threw their season away with a horrible loss to the Browns. Troy Polamalu is out. Big Ben is banged up. The running game is stodgy at best. Hines Ward has a beef with Big Ben that we can’t define. The Steelers are having a classic “bad year for a good team” and will no doubt rebound next year. Right now…they just aren’t that good. I put so much stock in them going to the playoffs with the Bengals and the Ravens that I totally looked past the fact that they were on a skid that they couldn’t stop. I had no idea they would keep losing and losing and losing for no apparent reason other than they are having a “bad year for a good team”. That’s all the explanation I’ve got.

Aaron Rodgers can look so good when he wants to and he’s brought this team to the playoffs on his back. Ryan Grant blowing through holes in opposing D-Lines is becoming a norm on highlight packages all over the place and Donald Driver is 57 and STILL a dynamic receiver in the NFL. (Did I mention they have this nasty/old-school defense that looks like it came out of 1966?) That defense alone is enough to stop a very down and slow Steeler offense. When Pittsburgh can’t run the ball they can’t do anything. It’s a shame, but everyone has a bad year and I guess this is Pittsburgh’s until they have another one in about 2018.

GB – 27 PIT – 9

Minnesota @ Carolina

Here’s the deal. Minnesota is a REALLY good team that features monsters all over the place (Brett Favre, Percy Harvin, AP, #17, and Jared Allen) and they have no place to go but on the opponent’s side to kill them. It’s like the Vikings are compressed air just waiting to explode all over someone. Every week we think they’ll just lie dormant and then they throttle someone with a burst of energy that we can hardly fathom.

Carolina has 1 good player…Julius Peppers. There are other nice ones like DeAngelo Williams and Steve Smith (not Jake Delhomme), but there is only 1 GOOD player and that is a Defensive Lineman. With no offense and the Vikings defense opposing them how do the Panthers expect to score? I have no idea either.

Besides, Minnesota has to keep winning to make sure they keep the heat on the Saints. Do you think that’s motivation enough? I do. (And for all the people who think Brett Favre is going to start doing “Brett Favre stuff” think again. He hasn’t really done anything this year. The best player on the field is AP and Brett Favre is kicking back and sipping a cocktail…he’ll be fine.)

MIN – 38 CAR – 12

Giants @ Washington

Alright, once again we’ve run into a game where I cannot justify picking the weaker team. However, I’ve learned to not just write people off without first giving them their due. Washington has a really rich D-Lineman (Haynesworth) with no partner, a young QB who’s changed offenses and coordinators more than I change socks, and a “cracker jack” offense as I have heard many former players call it. Plus, I said I wasn’t picking the Redskins under any circumstances and I can’t rightfully change my mind. How nuts would I be to pick a team with the traits I just described against a team fighting for a playoff spot with a Super Bowl Champion Quarterback and good pieces all over the field? I would basically have no right to pick against the Giants and I won’t. I said I wouldn’t pick the Skins and they have given me no reason to. Getting further in-depth will only put you to sleep (or make you hungry for Cracker Jacks.)

NYG – 27 WAS – 6

Enjoy your week of Football and hit me up at genxxlgeneral@gmail.com (I welcome comments, opinions, anything you’ve got to say…I’m all ears!  I totally need feedback!)

We’re all set with the BCS bowl line-up and now all we have to do is wait to see how these games will shake out (and if Brian Kelly is going to Notre Dame.)

Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Ohio State: Well, Ohio State’s in the BCS for the 5th time in a row and it’s about time they played a good game in the BCS.  Oregon is probably really happy to be here after they almost threw away their chance at the Rose Bowl against Oregon State.  Even though it’s the Pac-10 and the Big 10 I think this game can be really exciting.  Besides the fact that Oregon has like 60 different uniform combinations I think they can really get after Ohio State and sling the ball around and show the boys from Ohio how it’s done.

Hooooowever, Terrell Pryor has yet another chance to show everyone why they wasted their time watching his “I’m a High School Kid and I Should Just Pick a School” press conference.  This kid spurned Michigan to go to Ohio State and he hasn’t produced the way everyone thought he would.  He was supposed to be a college-aged Mike Vick crossed with Joe Montana with the swagger of Broadway Joe and all the Buckeyes have to show for it right now is a (relatively) disappointing season and questions upon question about whether this kid should be getting anymore hype.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s ever going to be anything special.  This isn’t one of those cases where a kid doesn’t play in college, but he’s got a “pro” arm and he takes off in the NFL.  If Terrell Pryor is supposed to be able to move like crazy AND have a great arm then Ohio State should be blowing out everyone they play…period.  there’s no other way to put it.  I can’t imagine a situation in which Pryor comes on and puts up 350 yards and runs for another 75 or 100.  He’s past that stage by now.  He needs to be solid and portray himself as solid so that we will at least think he’s pretty good, because right now I think everybody (including me) is jumping on the “let’s dump Terrell Pryor” bandwagon.

Fiesta Bowl – Boise State vs. TCU: This is the game everyone didn’t want to see.  No one wants to see two teams from non-BCS conferences play each other in a BCS bowl.  We want to see them play big-time programs to see how they would fair.  Heck, Boise State pulled the “Statue of Liberty” on Oklahoma a couple years ago (and I thought that play only worked in cartoons!) and since then all the big-wigs (who were pounding their stogies over whether Nebraska was going to beat Texas) have decided that it’s easier to make these two teams sit at the kid’s table at Thanksgiving dinner when they CLEARLY deserve to be at the grown-up table.  I smell fear.

To the game itself…I really hope that this is a Holiday Bowl in the making…where each team kind of forgets how to play defense and they just shoot it out.  I’d much rather see a 52-51 game than a 10-9 defensive stand-off.  Plus, if they light it up and the ratings are through the roof then perhaps this MIGHT pave the way for other teams from non-BCS conferences to squeak into the BCS in future…we can only hope.

Sugar Bowl – Cincinnati vs. Florida: The real question here is whether Brian Kelly will be the coach at Notre Dame by the time this game happens.  It’s the biggest letdown in history.  Florida was going for all-time status and Cincinnati was trying to crack the BCS code without success.  If Brian Kelly goes to ND then the Bearcats have no chance.  If he stays in Cincinnati then they can easily beat Florida and really put their stamp on College Football going into next season.

Orange Bowl – Iowa vs. Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech gets another chance to cap off a very good season…this time in Miami against the Hawkeyes.  Both of these teams run the ball like crazy and it will be a power game, but I don’t think for one second that Paul Johnson’s club is going to fall victim to the letdown they had last year in getting hammered by LSU in their bowl game.  If a blowout happens it’s going to be GT blowing out Iowa.  They’ll hold the ball for a year and Iowa will be wondering what happened at the end of the game.  To think anything else would be foolish when you see how angry Paul Johnson can get…I’m just saying…

Join me after the jump for my NFL picks….YAY!

I’m 121-67 and NOT happy about it.  Between Green Bay deciding to be other-worldly against Baltimore, the Falcons laying down against the Eagles, and the Steelers losing to the Raiders I had a bad weekend…let’s just leave it at that.

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland: Ok, on Thursday night I’m hoping that I can trust the Steelers enough to beat the Browns.  Is that asking too much?

PIT – 13   CLE – 3

New Orleans @ Atlanta: It doesn’t matter that this game is in Atlanta because the Falcons are in a tailspin.  I tweeted right after they lost on Sunday that they could kiss consecutive winning seasons goodbye and a chance at the playoffs too.  Now, they get the juggernaut of all juggernauts in the Saints at home.  With Matt Ryan iffy and Michael Turner not in his 2008 form how am I to expect that this team can score against the Saints defense (which is VERY good) when they couldn’t put anything up on the Iggles?

The Saints, on the other hand, have to keep winning or they lose homefield in the playoffs.  With that in mind what do you think Sean Payton is going to say to his team?  Something like “Get out there and kill them!”?  Yeah, you’re right…the Falcons are dead.

NO – 45   ATL – 6

Seattle @ Houston: These are two confusing teams.  The Seahawks took my beloved 49ers out of the playoff hunt on Sunday and the Texans were looking good earlier this season and now they just look listless.  How does one explain the demise of the Texans and the sudden rise of the Seahawks?  Coaching?  QB play?  I think it’s both.  Matt Hasselbeck was the reason Seattle wasn’t winning (because he wasn’t playing) but when he plays well it seems everyone in Seattle plays well (even the Janitor) whereas it seems in Houston like everyone expects Matt Schaub to pass to Andre Johnson 500 times a game and that’ll be that.  As we’ve seen that is not enough to beat teams like the Colts and the Titans.  With the Titans coming on strong and Vince Young looking like a leader we have to expect that Matt Schaub step up and get his WHOLE TEAM to play better.

Seattle needs to keep pushing because they only have so much time left before they are going to have to do this thing without Hasselbeck (because one man can only last so long) and then what do they do?  If he’s the driving force in Seattle (and I think he is) then what are they going to do after he HAS to retire…because it will come down to that eventually.  Then what?  Suck for a year and then draft a QB in the top 3 the next year like St. Louis is going to need to do?  Man I hope not.  It kinda feels wrong when the Seahawks aren’t any good…you know?  They can’t catch the Cardinals…but they can at least make it look like they can.

SEA – 27   HOU – 24

Buffalo @ KC: This is one of those that I usually hate because it’s bad against bad, but now that Buffalo has a new coach it seems like things are looking up in the “Land of no Sunlight”.  {Did you know about SAD?  Seasonal Affective Disorder?  Where people get…sad…depressed because they don’t get enough sunlight?  And we thought it was because of the 4 Super Bowl losses in a row.}

Buffalo is actually getting something done now.  I remember when Dick Jauron fired his Offensive Coordinator right before the season started and that Coordinator came out and said Jauron was an idiot.  Anybody else remember that?  Well, it appears that the OC was right because as soon as they got Jauron out of there the Bills starting playing like they belonged in the NFL.  We haven’t heard from T.O. at all this season because the Bills haven’t really done anything so maybe now that they are looking up a little we can get some entertainment from Turrull.

Kansas City is just pathetic.  I’m not sure if Todd Haley is just hoping for this season to be over so they can fix this thing for next year, but they have issues all over the place and it seems like they will never get out of their own way.  They’re 3-9 and rank 24th or lower in all the major offensive statistical categories.  Yikes!  (And I thought the Raiders sucked.)  They’ve got Matt Cassel out there (who was a bad pick-up to begin with) and he is hurt.  Do I know exactly what’s wrong with him?  No, I have no idea, but I do know that he has something wrong with him that is making him play even worse than he normally would be considering the situation.  How in the world can I justify picking the Chefs when they just seem like they can’t do anything.  (Frankly, I’m surprised they’ve won 3 games!) {You know what’s worse?  They rank 27th or lower in all the major defensive categories…yeah…that’s the Chefs.)

BUF – 28   KC – 10

Green Bay @ Chicago: This is one of those gritty NFC Central matchups from the good old days where they play in freezing weather, snow, and sleet and never complain.  Well, that was back when both teams were good at the same time (which was all the time.)  Nowadays it seems that one team or another is in a funk.  Chicago’s 5-7 after everyone thought they got the “Steal of the Century” when they picked up Jay Cutler from the Broncos for Kyle Orton.  Everyone on Earth said they got the good end of the deal, but now the Broncos are in playoff contention and the Bears are sucking with a better QB than they had. Rex Grossman took this team to the Super Bowl a couple years ago.  REX GROSSMAN!  You know, “eye-liner boy”?  Now they’ve upgraded and they’re getting trounced by the Packers and the Vikings in their own division.  It’s pathetic really.

The Packers decided on Monday Night that it was time to play well against the Ravens.  Right after I had posited that 3 teams from the AFC North could make the playoffs the Steelers lose to the Raiders and the Ravens lose to the Packers.  I’m not shocked that the Packers won, but the way in which they won was so indicative of why I had them in the middle of my “Hourglass Theory” to begin with.  You never know what you’re going to get with this team.  Aaron Rodgers looks like Joe Montana one week and Tony Eason the next.  He just needs to make up his mind.  If he decides that he wants to be good on a more permanent basis than he could easily become a Superstar in this league.  That’s the kind of potential he has…but sometimes he doesn’t show it.  With the Packers in the playoff hunt maybe Aaron can get in the playoffs and show what he’s made of.

GB – 31   CHI – 10

Jets @ Tampa Bay: The Jets disappointed me so greatly when they started losing for no reason and then I didn’t know what to think of them, well now I know.  They’re 6-6 and they’re under a rookie head coach and a rookie QB…of course they were going to be inconsistent!!!  (Stupid, stupid, stupid!)  I fell all in love with them and I was like “Mark Sanchez is the man!” and I totally forgot that at some point we’d see all the “rookieness” (because the seasons that Joe Flacco/John Harbaugh and Matt Ryan/Mike Smith had last year ARE complete anomalies.)  Well, the “rookieness” came out and the Jets sit at 6-6 in a very winnable division.  They’re tied with Miami and the Patriots are only 7-5 (the Mitchells are having a bad Thanksgiving dinner) so who’s to say that they can’t pick it up and get it together?  I’m not gonna say they can’t…not yet.

Tampa is just bad.  I’d feel bad for Raheem Morris, but he fired his Offensive Coordinator right before the season started so he pretty much brought this on himself.  He’s probably wishing he had Bruce Gradkowski right now because at least Gradkowski is doing something right in Oakland.  We could sit here all day and go over every single little problem that Tampa has, but at the end of the day they just flat stink and I have no inclination to pick them anytime soon.

NYJ – 17   TB – 0

Miami @ Jacksonville: Now this is a good one.  Miami is trying to stick with the Jets and Patriots in the AFC East and the Jags are trying to hold their “stiff arm” out to keep the Titans behind them so each team has alot to play for.

I talked last week about hearing the Jacksonville broadcast of their games and how the broadcast team was all over them about EVERYTHING.  Well, they need to stay on them because Miami is coming to town with a newly-confident Chad Henne.  They haven’t abandoned the “wildcat” but when Chad Henne throws the ball 52 times in one game you know that the “wildcat” got put on the back-burner.  Add that to Ricky Williams running the ball like he did when he won a Heisman at Texas and you HAVE to believe that the Dolphins are really dangerous.

The question then comes down to Jacksonville’s defense.  Here’s my problem:  Jack Del Rio is a Defensive guy.  His team bailed on him last season.  We’re getting late in this season.  If something goes it will be the defense first because he has his hands in that more than anything else.  How long before the Jacksonville defense checks out?  With only 4 games left to play they need to get on that or Jack might actually keep his team together (but I don’t buy it…there are leadership issues there and I think that’s what the broadcasters in Jacksonville are REALLY complaining about.)

MIA – 30   JAC – 14

Cincinnati @ Minnesota: Mwa hahahahahaha.  I love this one.  This time last year this would have been the “sigh game” to end all of them.  This year it’s the leader of the North divisions in both conferences.  How cool is that!?  Minnesota has to keep winning so they can keep the Saints on edge knowing that they will also have to keep winning.  Cincinnati cannot show any blood at all or the Steelers and Ravens will smell it from a mile away.  So what are we to do?

The way I see it the Vikes have playoff “positioning” issues and they also have to keep winning whereas the Bengals can afford a loss here or there because the chances of them getting caught by the Ravens and/or Steelers is pretty small.  I like the Cinderella story that is the Bengals, but I’m torn because I know how badly the Vikings need every game and how focused Brett Favre is right now.  Both defenses are good, both offenses are good, but the Vikings NEED it more…so I have to go with want.  When it gets this late in the season in a game as violent as football you have to go with animal instincts at the end of the day.

MIN – 45   CIN – 35

Detroit @ Baltimore: Baltimore just took a bad loss to the Packers when they really needed to pounce on the Steelers’ loss from Sunday to the Raiders and they crapped out.  Detroit just isn’t any good.  This is one of those where the Ravens get lucky because of the schedule and get the right team at the right time.  What can I say (I know what the Steelers are saying…”Those lucky bastards!”)

BAL – 28   DET – 7

Carolina @ New England: This one’s hard because the Panthers are coming on strong late in the season and the Patriots are having (by their standards) a pretty crappy year.  Carolina’s 5-7 and New England is 7-5.  From where I’m standing it doesn’t seem like there’s much difference between the two records.  The two teams are massively different though.  The Panthers CAN run the ball when they are “with it” whereas the Patriots have troubles running the ball (which is bad with Julius Peppers and all the other beastly threats on the Panthers defense.)  The Patriots can pass the ball, but more to Wes Welker in possession situations than to Randy Moss.  (This is the part where I say that we have seen the best of Randy Moss and it is all downhill from here.  For one thing he just isn’t the same.  Second, he’s still the lazy guy who walked off the field in Minnesota before the end of a game, and third he’s playing with Wes Welker who is the best possession receiver in football and if he keeps it up he’s going to the Hall as such.)

With Carolina becoming united and the Patriots looking divided (that’s why I like the comparison to the Mitchells) then I have no choice but to pick the more united team.  (Like I said, animal instincts mean alot this time of the season.)

CAR – 31   NE – 21

Denver @ Indy: I know I said the Colts would drop a game, but then they beat the Titans (who really needed that win) and now I’m starting to reconsider.  Jim Caldwell is a Tony Dungy disciple, but I think he’s a little different.  I saw Mike Ditka on the 4-letter network say that if someone isn’t trying all the way to the end of the season to be undefeated then “shame on them”.  You know what?  I think that resonates with someone like Jim Caldwell.  I think he’s a little harder-nosed than Tony Dungy and I’m starting to think they’re going for it.

Denver is coasting at this point in the season with a shot at the playoffs.  They’re 8-4 and if the season ended today then they’d be a wildcard.  Honestly, I’m interested to see whether they can catch the Chargers (who I still don’t buy…yeah, it’s the Norv Turner thing) and I bet they can do it.  Now the question is…will they help their cause by ending Indy’s undefeated run?

No.  In short, Josh McDaniels is firey and not entirely like his mentor Bill Belichick, but I think he’s smart and he’s trying to hit a home run at this point in the season when there’s still 4 games to go and he has a 2-game cushion on anyone who would jump up and challenge for a wildcard berth.  Because he’s sitting back a little and waiting for the game to come to him I think the Colts will just take and it’ll never get that far.  Now it’s a coaching decision.  (Kind of like betting on pre-season football…you bet on the teams whose coaches you KNOW want to win even if it’s a preseason game.)  Here, I KNOW (at least I think I do) that Jim Caldwell is going for it and Josh McDaniels is not.

IND – 38   DEN – 27

Washington @ Oakland: Oakland may have had some business beating the Steelers last week, but the Redskins had no business being in overtime against the Saints.  I think it speaks more to the nature of the game than any goodness the Redskins exhibited.   Oakland is coming on strong and what better way for them to keep it up than to play the Skins…yep…those lucky bastards!

OAK – 24   WAS – 9

St. Louis @ Tennessee: The Rams suck…the end.

Tennessee needs to keep winning so they can go 9-7 and try to jump into the playoffs.  It would basically kill this run they’re on if they lost to the pathetic Rams (who need to keep losing so they can rebuild anyways.)  Come on Vince…you can do this!

TEN – 31   STL – 3

San Diego @ Dallas: Two teams I don’t buy at all.  Mathis (the Cowboys) started to show his colors by losing to the Giants in a game he should have won.  (I’m just waiting for the Chargers to collapse by the way.)  So, I’m not sure who to go with.  Do I pick the team that I’m afraid to get killed by or the team that I just dislike?

I’ll take dislike thank you very much…(and LDT.  He was never the problem for me to begin with…just the Norv Turner thing.)

SD – 35   DAL – 28

Philly @ Giants: The Giants snuck up and beat the cowboys last weel, but can they honestly sneak up on teams in their own division two weeks in a row?  I don’t think so.  The Giants are ok, but they’ve figured out what to do with Mike Vick and that makes them dangerous.  The Giants have a traditional look in Eli Manning to Mario Manningham…that may not be enough.

PHI – 31   NYG – 21

Arizona @ San Francisco: Well, since my 49ers are out of the playoffs and the Cardinals have been in the playoffs (for me anyways) for quite a while then it makes sense to pick the Cards.  Kurt Warner’s the man…not Alex Smith (I’m sorry to say.)

ARI – 27   SF – 13

Tune in Friday (maybe Saturday..with the Christmas season heating up who knows…) for my thoughts on the week in sports as we grow closer to the end of the NFL season and into the heart of the NBA season…

Reflecting on the weekend that was in sports I’d have to say that I learned a few lessons about sports and I’m going to share them with you today…not because I think you don’t know them, but just in case you don’t know them (or at the very least so you can laugh at me for not knowing this sooner. Come on, I’ve got to be entertaining here!) The lessons were hard, sometimes painful, amusing, horrifying, and sobering all at the same time. It’s not every weekend in sports that you have everything blow up in your face all at once AND learn why you have the allegiances you have…I learned a lot about myself this weekend. Let me share:

The SEC Title Game was COMPLETELY outside the realm of “we’ve got this pinned down” like everyone thought they did and I LOVED it. I picked Bama because I thought that all the pundits who said “take Tebow out of the game and Bama wins” were right. However, I only picked on the possibility that they MIGHT be able to slow him down or something. I spent a lot of time this weekend talking about how 3 teams from the AFC North could make the playoffs…not because I am 100%-bet-my-life sure about it, but I am certain that the possibility exists.

So, the possibility of Tim Tebow being human was intriguing and I thought if anyone could make him look human it was Nick Saban. Let’s face it…Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are the two best coaches in college football: Followed closely by Chris Petersen, Gary Patterson and Brian Kelly. No one earth can argue that. There are other good coaches, but these are the best. Well, when you call Nick Saban the best you also have to realize that he is a Defensive guy and that means he can do just about anything with his defense to stop someone. Honestly, I thought maybe they’d just slow down Tebow and outright stop him, but stop him they did.

I learned, in no uncertain terms, that defense DOES win championships. That was the epitome of a defense stepping up and saying “If we stop this guy their offense stops and we win.” The Tide knew that with Deonte Thompson and Percy Harvin that Tebow wouldn’t have all the outs he used to have and that would give him problems all day. They were ready for the dive plays that Florida had to start running after Tebow’s concussion. They were ready for the quick outs and they adjusted at halftime to all the passes that Tebow was able to get off to Hernandez. In essence, they shut Florida down after they figured out what Florida was doing…that’s why all 13 points the Gators scored were scored in the 1^st half of that game.

I have to say that I was a little shocked by the 32-13 final score because I thought Florida had something left in the tank to make a comeback, but when Tebow threw that interception in the endzone I knew they were done. Mark Ingram had already broken a 66 yard run (prancing down the sideline to stay inbounds) and now this for the Gators? They just fell apart at the worst time. They had the “2007 Patriots we’ve won too many games in a row” thing hanging over their heads and the “Tim Tebow is a demi-god but will the Tide care?” thing hanging over their heads and it proved to be too much. The Bama saved the day by keeping the Bama offense on the field long enough to score 32 points. It’s that simple.

Another thing that I hope this game did was solidify that Tim Tebow will NOT win the Heisman this year. I’m still thinking he probably should’ve won it last year, because he was just that good last year, but this year he just hasn’t been the same. CBS got a good shot of him standing up after a tackle and he looked right into the camera and at that moment I tweeted “Look into Tebow’s eyes and tell me he’s 100% there.” He just didn’t look like he was all there which is a complete shame but he’s one of the best (but not the best) and not this year. If we’re looking for the best player in college football then we need to look to Toby Gerhart out at Stanford who probably won his team 3 or 4 games and Mark Ingram at Alabama. Ingram broke the run that sealed this SEC Title and he’s been solid all year. Gerhart won a few games for Stanford. If I had to pick one I’d go with Ingram because he was solid all year and now his club is on the cusp of a National Title (and he was better than Colt McCoy and Gerhart and Tebow.)

Speaking of being on the cusp of a National Title… the Longhorns almost lost to Nebraska (and I honestly think Colt McCoy let the clock run out and the NCAA gave Texas that one second as a gift. Did you see how upset Bo Pellini was? He should’ve been.

At any rate, Texas barely beat Nebraska (who Pellini has on the map, but not THAT on the map yet) and Bama just ran all over Florida. Do you mean to tell me that Texas can even put up a fight against Alabama? Honestly, if the Tide can come up with a way to stop a totally unpredictable QB like Tebow how in the world is a totally predictable QB like McCoy going to fair? Not very well I’m afraid. Unless there’s a catastrophic injury or arrest I’m picking it now. Bama – 30 UT – 13

You know what else I learned this weekend? Paul Johnson is a master coach. He’s got a bunch of kids who don’t really fit into his system that well and he’s running this insane triple-option and winning. Tech barely beat C.J. Spiller (I’d say Clemson, but the only thing they had was Spiller on Saturday) for the ACC Title and a berth in the Orange Bowl. At times I thought the Tech players were still a little agog about what to do in Johnson’s offense (and that’s because he doesn’t have a full group of “his guys”) and that leads to some problems. Plus, his defense doesn’t get the best looks during the week because they run such a weird offense. Imagine if he had ALL his own people in there and the defense learns how to adapt to the “not getting enough good looks” thing. How good is Tech going to be next year? WOW. I’ll tell you this…they got destroyed by LSU last year in their bowl game, but Iowa better look out because I think ole Paul’s got somethin’ special waitin’ for ‘em.

In the NFL I learned a few really annoying things and one eye-opener.

First, I learned that my Dad (a Falcons fan) doesn’t watch the Falcons. Wanna know why? He told me “Son, I don’t watch the Falcons anymore because when you were little I used to get so upset watching them that I’d literally be sick.” Now, I know a lot of you out there can understand that sentiment and since I’m 31 that also says how long the Falcons have been annoying my Dad. A LONG F****** TIME! With that said I learned something about the Falcons.

They aren’t lazy like I said they were a few weeks ago. No, they’re just snake-bitten. They’re on their way to a second winning season in a row (something they’ve never done) and Matt Ryan goes down and Chris Redman comes in and shines…then the next week they lose to the Eagles 34-7. That’s snake-bitten if you asked me. You get just close enough and them “BAM!” back to the mat you go. I can pick the Falcons to win games and playoff games all I want but I will NEVER pick them to win the Super Bowl unless they are the only team left in the league.

- I learned that the Saints are just about as invincible as you can get and we’re getting really close to an “undefeated Super Bowl” between the Colts and the Saints. (I don’t think Jim Caldwell’s going to let up like I predicted.)

- I learned that Pittsburgh wants to make my “3 teams from one division making the playoffs” scenario hard to do. Why in the hell did they lose to the Raiders? Was it Gradkowski? Blast! I praise him once and he screws a perfectly-well-thought-out theory.

- I learned that the Patriots have more chinks in their armor than I thought. (They really are the Mitchells!)

- I learned that the Titans aren’t perfect, Chris Johnson won’t be right about their record, but they still have an outside shot of making the playoffs.

- I learned that my 49ers are NOT going to the playoffs this year. I can’t say I’m surprised, but my expectations have risen significantly.

- I learned that I was right not to trust the Cowboys after they just handed a win to the Giants

- And we all learned that Brett Favre is not invincible and that Kurt Warner still has it too. The question is: Who cracks first of old age?

What Else Did The General Learn This Weekend?

Well, I learned some things about Soccer. (Keep in mind that I’m a Soccer-lover, always have been.) They drew for the World Cup and the U.S. got a “favorable draw”, but the U.S. hasn’t done anything in the World Cup since they beat England in 1966. Yeah…1996. As a reference point, my parents got married in 1964…that’s how old that news is. The best part about that “pivotal win” in ’66 is that they didn’t beat England for the Cup…they just beat England. I might’ve been able to do that myself…have you seen their Armada lately?

So, the U.S. has to get by England, Algeria and Slovenia. I turn on the 4-letter network and see Alexi Lalas flapping his yap about this. Apparently, a retired English “footballer” as they call them over there said that it wasn’t a worry because they were just “playin’ the Yanks” and Alexi Lalas took offense to that. Listen up Lexi. First, you never did anything on the U.S. team…Except have red hair. The only reason you play in Italy was because you were a spectacle, AND you know no one feared you back then. Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and all those guys are way better than you could ever DREAM of being…so shut up! PLEASE…shut up…

Overall, the French got screwed because they screwed the Irish to get into the Tournament and Argentina got a nice draw as well. The only team we’re not talking about is Brazil because they’re probably going to win the whole thing anyways. There you go…Brazil wins on aggregate 52-2 ;o)

You know, they played Basketball this weekend too…

The Lakers cruised to their 9^th straight win and maintained the best record in the league. The “best record” would seem to be short-lived because they’ve played a couple less games than some other teams and there are teams with really good records (Denver, Cleveland, Boston, Phoenix, Dallas, Orlando, Atlanta, etc.) At some point there will be some separation amongst the true contenders and the teams that “could only hang for a minute”.

I imagine the teams that won’t be able to hang forever are Phoenix (I like Alvin Gentry, but I just don’t see it), Dallas (they’re STILL reeling from losing the ’06 Finals after being up 2-0), and Boston (they’re old…that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!) That leaves Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, and Denver and my Lakers.

Personally, I have no problem with seeing Denver and L.A. in the West Finals again and I’d LOVE to see Cleveland and Orlando do it again in the East Finals (find out if LeBron learned anything last year.)

I don’t hate LeBron, but I do think he’s the Buffalo Bills/Atlanta Braves of basketball. He’s going to get 1 title or none. He’s a great regular-season player and he could conceivably win the MVP from no until the cows come home, but that doesn’t make him a champ (it didn’t make Steve Nash or Kobe champs.) When Kobe gave the offense (for the most part) then the Lakers cruised to a championship. If Danny Ferry ever finds someone for LeBron to give the offense up to then I’ll believe. Right now…I just don’t see that happening. Danny Ferry looks like he’s Pete Babcock right now…never going to get fired and nobody knows why he’s still there. They need to pay off his contract (or move him higher in the front office), pat him on the back, tell him “good job” and find someone who will fill this team with GOOD role-players. If Danny Ferry has to be Tony Dungy (like, Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay setting things up for Jon Gruden) then fine…but they need to do SOMETHING, because Shaq (refuse his cute little nicknames) isn’t working. He’s slow, fat and out of shape…and he has a bad hip. (Did I mention he’s 37? “Warren Moon played at 40”…I know, but Warren Moon took fewer hits than Shaq, is shorter than Shaq, and never had a bad hip.) I rest my case.

AI comes back tonight as a starter for the Sixers against the Nuggets (a.k.a. – the team that didn’t use him effectively) and after he cried at his press conference I’m really starting to think this can only go one of two ways:

You know how when they show the freak on American Idol that is all like “If I can’t express myself through music or I’ll die” the whole time you’re thinking “This is either going to suck beyond sucking or be some of the best singing I’ve ever heard”? You know? Yeah, that’s AI for me right now. He’s going in the Hall on the first ballot either way, but after “sobgate” he’s either going to come out with automatic weapons in each hand and take out everybody in one spray or he’s going to be awful and they’ll do a retrospective on the 4-letter network about the “AI that was”. (You know the ones they do like he just died even though he’s healthy and in his 30’s?)

I’m hoping for an AI breakout party today, but I can’t expect anything because he’s on a bad Sixers team and he’s playing Nuggets and you never know what you’ll get from them.

What can I say…I’m a little out of sorts. Check out The Smorgasbord Part 2 and see if I can get myself back on track with my picks.

Peace.

Who WOULD win in a fight between the Saints and Colts? I don’t mean to discount other teams that are playing very well (namely the Bengals and the Vikings) but all indications would point to a New Orleans/Indy Super Bowl that will be played outside in sunny South Florida (on my birthday no less.) Just imagine the scene with Peyton Manning and Drew Brees taking turns slinging the ball all over the place. Each team running because it looks good to have balance but only running so they can just throw the ball more. Each team’s defense standing back in awe saying “How in the hell do we defend against this madness?” Each team’s coach stalking the sideline in stoic grandeur as his team racks up points and then their opponent racks up points and they just take turns until the 60 minutes are up and one team doesn’t have enough time to make one more drive to score yet again.

If I had to pick who’s going to the Super Bowl right now I’d have to pick the Saints and the Colts because I think that they can be there (and pretty easily) but then I got into a debate yesterday with a friend over who would win the game and why. We were actually in violent agreement…I mean, we were talking about the same thing (and we had a teenager there who agreed with us too) but we were all taking different perspectives of the same argument…the Colts would win.

My buddy’s take was that Peyton can just control the game. He can come to the line of scrimmage EVERY DOWN and audible something somewhere to somebody and confuse the hell out of the Saints defense.

The teenager’s take was that Drew Brees is great but he has no experience running through the playoffs like we all think he’ll be doing this year. Yeah, it sounds great to say he would just sweep into the Super Bowl and take it home, but he has no experience DOING that and that will be his Achilles heel.

My take is simple…when Peyton Manning throws the ball it looks like he’s throwing downhill. Literally downhill. It’s as if he’s 20 feet tall and he’s pitching the ball down to the little ants on the field. You see, when Drew Brees slings the ball all over the field it doesn’t take very long, but when Peyton does the exact same thing it can take forever. My buddy’s right. Peyton can control the tempo of a game in a way that no other Quarterback since Joe Montana can. I know both teams would score a lot of points and it would be a bloody match, but in the end I just don’t think that the Saints would have enough time to score enough points to keep up with the Colts.

Now, you could take my words and turn them around on me and say “Well, if the Saints don’t take that long to score then they’ll just zip down the field and score a lot, get one stop on defense and the game is over because the Colts will take too long to score.” Well, that’s a really good argument and you’ve just totally blown up my theory…except for this one thing:

If Peyton Manning can control the tempo of the game that means he can go faster if he needs to. He can take 8 minutes to go 88 yards on a scoring drive or he can take 45 seconds. Therein lies the difference. Drew Brees only knows how to do it one way. Peyton Manning can do it all ways and all at once if necessary. Right now…I’m taking the Colts on tempo alone…but the score would be something like:

IND – 56 NO – 48

There’s a Real Fight Around the Corner Too!

You know, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has agreed to fight Manny Pacquiao and I’m jazzed for this one. (Oh, I guess I should give you some background since I’ve never talking about Boxing here before.) I remember the old Tuesday Night Fights that featured smaller fighters (like Pacquiao and Mayweather) and this was on EVERY week. I remember when the Heavyweights were great and all, but everyone wanted to see Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns, and “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler more than they wanted to see the new breed of Heavyweights. I mean, even when Mike Tyson ascended to glory when he was but a wee tot the smaller weight classes didn’t suffer. Sugar Ray Leonard came out of retirement to fight Hagler and Hearns fought long past his prime, but everybody loved these guys and watched them constantly.

I have lamented to my Dad on NUMEROUS occasions the lack of good Boxing in the 90’s and 2000’s (the oughts…whatever) and everytime he says “Son, little fighters don’t sell anymore.” Now, you can argue for Ricky Hatton and Oscar de la Hoya and guys like that, but they weren’t transcendent. Not like Pacquiao.

I’ve heard some people talk about Roy Jones Jr. as one of the greatest pound for pound and I would agree, but he didn’t capture our attention. I mean, he also has a huge collection of Jordans, plays basketball, medaled at the Olympics, and fought in larger weight classes. He never captured our attention the way that guys like Leonard, Hearns and Hagler did. I wish he had, but he just didn’t. I can’t explain…I just know that’s the way it is.

Then comes along this Pacquiao guy. I remember thinking that Ricky Hatton (a salty Brit who is ALL “bruiser”. I mean, this guy walks around with scars from bar fights on him everyday, right?) was going to DESTROY a skinny little dude like Pacquiao. I mean, kill him like Drago did to Apollo Creed in “Rocky 4”. I mean, look at Manny Pacquiao and tell me that he looks like he’s a fighter anyways. He looks like Mark Anthony (only Filipino) and he SINGS TOO. THIS GUY CANNOT BE A PRIZE-FIGHTER! So, I went around all week before the Hatton/Pacquiao fight saying “This is Ricky Hatton’s day and Manny Pacquiao is going to die.” Then…

I watched the fight. Pacquiao looks like he’s jumping when he punches. No really, it’s like a video game. Remember “Double Dragon”? Remember how on that game all the kicks and punches shot your character forward on the screen and if you kept doing that you could push the bad guys off the screen? Yeah, that’s what Pacquiao does. He jumps forward when he punches and pushes you back to the ropes. I had no idea he was THAT powerful. Anyways, he beat the ever-loving mess out of Hatton and I was proven wrong. Then he fought Miguel Cotto and beat the hell out of him too. Now, we have this Mayweather/Pacquiao fight in the works and I love this conversation we have to have.

People all over the place are going to say that Mayweather is one of the best to ever do it and I would tend to agree, but how can you pick Mayweather to win a fight like this at 147 lbs. where Pacquiao is playing a video game and Mayweather is playing real life. This kind of disbelief in the power of Pacquiao has been proven to be unwise so many times that I don’t know how in the world you can say he will lose.

Listen, Mayweather’s going to flap his yap and he’s going to work like a dog to get ready for this thing, but at the end of the day he’s going to be sitting on the ropes right where Pacquiao put him with his “jump-punching” or jupunching if you like. I know they haven’t even really agreed on it yet, and Jerry Jones is trying to get the fight in Dallas, but this one need to go down at Caesar’s in Vegas like a fight of this magnitude should.

I even heard that each fighter might make $40 million of this thing. This could be the fight of the decade if it goes right…man I hope it does.

There’s Not Enough Fighting in the NFL…

Who would win in a fight between the Ravens and the Steelers? Both teams are 6-5, both teams are in kind of a funk (although Baltimore went a long way in getting out of theirs by coming back on the Steelers last week) but the Steelers were looking ok until they gave that game away against the Ravens. They’re going to have to do this all over again on Dec. 27^th and that may be the game that decides who gets a wildcard spot and who doesn’t. Yes, they’re still in contention with Jacksonville and Denver for the 2 wildcard slots in the AFC, but I really think that will be the deciding game in the AFC for one of the wildcard berths.

Who wins the fight? You want me to tell you? Well, given that the Steelers are having issues with Big Ben (he gets hurt a lot and now Dennis Dixon is filling in for him) and the Ravens have their team fairly well intact then I would have to pick the Ravens. Now, I did this last year for the AFC Title Game and the Ravens lost that one, but if I HAD to do it right now I’d take the Ravens just based on momentum and the current makeup of their team. (They’re using Haloti Ngata on power running sets on offense. For all that is holy!!! Tell me this isn’t true because if it is and the Ravens get in the playoffs and they meet the Colts this might be an issue for my whole Colts/Saints Super Bowl argument.)

I know I said earlier in the season that I thought it might be remotely possible for 3 teams from the same division (the AFC North) to make the playoffs and I guess it’s possible, but:

The Broncos are going to have to stall because they are currently at 7-4 and the Ravens and Steelers are currently at 6-5. I don’t know how that would all work since Denver gets to play K.C. and Oakland 3 out of their last 5 games (I mean, don’t those all sound like guaranteed wins?) Then again, the Ravens get to play Detroit, Chicago, and Oakland in 3 of their last 5 games and the Steelers get Oakland, Cleveland and Miami in 3 of their last 5. Don’t the Broncos sound like they have the easiest road to mess up my “3 teams from one division can make the playoffs” scenario? Yeah, they do. We also thought they were going 14-2 after they started so strong this season. Once again, that’s why I don’t bet on sports…

In the NFC it’s the Giants, Philly, Atlanta, Green Bay and San Francisco all doing a “Royal Cage Match” to decide who’s getting the two coveted wildcard spots. For me, it gets down to this. If the Falcons lose to the Eagles this weekend (which I don’t foresee, but I have been wrong…every now and then ;o) then the Falcons are done.

If the 49ers go on a tear and everyone else starts to falter they might have a chance (their chance would begin with the Falcons losing this Sunday to the Eagles.) Philly gets to play the 49ers and the Giants in their last 5 games so guess what Iggles fans? If you can win those two games you’re probably in…why? Because you’ll have the tiebreaker on the Giants PLUS the Packers have to play the Steelers AND the Ravens in their last 5 games. The Steelers and Ravens know there is a slim chance of both of them getting into the playoffs with Cincy ahead of them so they’re going to claw someone’s (the Packers) eyeballs out to get there. So, that means Green Bay is done…stick a fork in ‘em.

Who did that leave? My 49ers: Who I think can go on a tear and put themselves in the playoffs. They get Seattle, Detroit, St. Louis and a safe Iggles team in 4 of their last 5. Who’s the 5^th game? Against the Cardinals who they aren’t going to catch anyways…

So, there you have it. The General says:

The Steelers and Ravens take the wildcards in the AFC

And

The Iggles and 49ers take the wildcards in the NFC

Whew!!

Just one more thing…

You know Columbo would be asking himself “What if the Bama beats Florida and Texas loses to Nebraska on Saturday?”

You know what’s going to happen? Everything is going to be jacked to Jesus. Imagine the implications of a Texas loss and a Bama win. That means Cincinnati HAS to beat Pitt and then they have to pray like they’ve never prayed that the computers put them ahead of TCU in the final BCS standings. Both TCU and Cincinnati will have a case for why they should be in the Title Game. Those who like the current format will argue that the team with the tougher schedule should get in because they “played better competition” and those who hate this system will start screaming for a playoff so we can settle this thing.

Let’s say Cincinnati (on that day that would for SURE live in infamy) lost (like idiots) to Pitt. Then you have TCU (undefeated) and Bama (undefeated) playing in the National Title game.

Why have I not brought up the prospect of Florida winning the SEC Title Game? Well, it’s quite simple. If Florida wins the SEC Title all of this stuff would play out with Florida in Bama’s place. But…

If Bama wins and all of this other stuff happens who’s to say that the BCS wouldn’t just put Florida and Bama in the BCS Title Game and let them play ANOTHER rematch? Would you put that past the BCS? I wouldn’t. Not in a million years.

What’s more likely to happen? Texas wins and the winner of the SEC Title plays them in the BCS Title Game, but oh how I want this to get cosmically screwed up so badly. The image of sweaty college presidents pounding pack after pack of cigs trying to figure out where they went wrong is just too alluring for me to pass up.

With the Defense getting a complete overhaul this puts Georgia in a much better position than I thought they were a couple days ago.  (No one ever wants someone to get fired) but you can see how this helps Georgia in the long-term and it totally separates Mark Richt from the Bobby Bowden coaching tree…how?

Because Bowden-disciples tend to hold on too long to people, players, ideas, all of that stuff because that’s what Bobby did (I almost said does, but he’s out in Tallahassee) and that “holding on” tends to be their ultimate foil.  Not here.

Mark Richt decided he wasn’t going to be the deer in the headlights that needs to be told by his bosses to get rid of people (or his bosses at UGA move faster than T.K. Wetherell and the gang at FSU.)  Either way, Mark Richt just fixed this team for next season and now Georgia Tech is still going to have a fight on its hands.

Tech has been cutting (deeply) into Georgia’s recruiting here in the south [and especially in Georgia] and now Georgia will likely have a much nicer recruiting class than they would have before this move.  My only question is…where are they going to get a DC from?

Wherever they go they can’t possibly replicate what Brian Van Gorder did in Athens and all the good ones are taken.  This is why I was an advocate of shuffling the staff (and the whole I don’t like seeing people get fired thing), and I’m standing fast in that position because I know their team got better but how much better remains to be seen.

Clearly, Georgia can run the ball and they have talent all over the place so they SHOULD be fine, but right now are going to have to hold onto this “DC question” until it gets answered.  I can guarantee you that the Bulldog Nation will be all aflitter until it gets answered and then they’ll talk about it all offseason until we actually see the new defense play.  (Oh, and they’ll rag on Tech fans for the next 360 days.)

Bobby Takes a Bow…

Since we’re here we’ll talk more about Bobby Bowden and his exit from Tallahassee.  We all knew it was coming on Monday when I alluded to it in my column. I could go on and on about how I called this one early in the season, but I’m not that petty (close, but not quite) and I could go on and on about how people like Dick Vitale think it’s bad for an employer to have control rather than the employee, but now we’re getting into territory that is just driving me bananas.

Bowden wants play his last game in Florida (understandable) but in order to do that he’d have to play the Gator Bowl.  Well, the Gator Bowl is willing to take FSU, but they have get their choice approve by the ACC because other teams have a better record than the Noles.

What if you’re another team who’s done better than them and you get screwed out of a better bowl game?  How is that going to sit with a college president who’s only thought all day is about money…and you’re losing money on this whole “FSU gets a nicer bowl than you thing”?  I don’t think there’s going to be any niceties about this and if there are I’ll be SHOCKED.  Honestly, lawyers will probably be involved and ole Bobby will just take up more of our airspace doing more crazy mess.

Listen Bobby, I like your teams, I like you, but you don’t get to hold us all hostage.  If the only bowl that wants you is the Humanitarian Bowl then schlepp your old behind up to Boise, play on a blue field and be happy about it because hijacking another team’s bowl bid just because you want to play up the street from your house (that you bought with your ungodly salary) doesn’t mean you should just automatically get it because you “deserve” it or “earned” it.  Heck, the NCAA already decided you didn’t “earn” some wins because you were playing ineligible players and there was rampant cheating going on in FSU athletics (which basically means football.)  So, don’t give me this tired “pour Bobby act” because I for one…am over it.

I wrote that T.K. Wetherell was half a second from jumping across a table and choking you out.  I was only half-joking because I can’t imagine how pissed he’s been all season and how pissed he was when you said you were going to retire and then changed your mind the next day.  That wishy-washy mess only works in the NFL and it only works for Brett Favre and right now he’s the better looking of you two old men.  Got it?

Ok, I’m better now…  Join me after the jump for the college and NFL picks and thoughts

I don’t think it’s any shock that I’m picking the Championship and pseudo-championship games for this weekend, but I thought I should mention that only so many games mean anything this time of year…let’s start with one that isn’t a championship game in name, but it is in meaning.

The Defacto Pac-10 Championship Game Sponsored by Poor Planning

Oregon State @ Oregon: Because they’re doing this one is Eugene it’s just going to be that much more interesting because Oregon is the favorite and they’re at home so maybe they’ll have the “home-field advantage” but they’ll also have the “home-field pressure”.  Someone’s going to the Rose Bowl off of this game and someone is going to be monumentally disappointed (I mean, when in the future do either of these teams expect USC to screw up two different games like they did this year?)

With that said I’m not picking against the Ducks.  I’m not stupid.  I know they knew they had a chance at the BCS Title Game and they screwed it up, but still, they have the fight to get this done.  I just don’t see how this will go any other way…if you can make an argument against the Ducks I’d like to hear it.  The Ducks seriously Quack the Beavers…

The Defacto Big East Championship Game Sponsored by “We’re Not a “Big” Conference Anymore and We Know It”

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh: This is in Pittsburgh, but did you see Brian Kelly talking about the rumors that he’s at the top of Notre Dame’s coaching carousel wishlist?  He said it was irrelevant and that they’ve been working ONLY for a Championship and that the media can totally kiss his ass and screw around on their computers.  I LOVE IT!  Because he didn’t actually tell us (the media) to kiss his ass, but he said it in a way…you know?  A guy like that can do anything…I mean, anything.  I kinda like Dave Wannstedt at Pitt and I kinda want him to succeed (not be Norv Turner) but I don’t see it happening.  The Bearcats get their Cattitude all over the Panthers…

The Real SEC Title Game

Florida and Alabama: Florida has Tim Tebow…Bama has everybody else.  I don’t see how in the world the Gators are going to put one over on the Tide again.  I just don’t.  They’ve got a million NFL prospects playing defense at Bama and a Defensive Head Coach.  What else do you want from me?  An actual breakdown?  It’s not coming…

Listen, if Bama stops Tim Tebow then Florida is dead meat, period, end of story.

Bama has Ingram and McElroy and they can do this.  Florida hasn’t been the same as last year, but everybody is pretending that they are the same team from last season and they just aren’t.  Stop lying to yourselves…Florida’s going down…down down down.

The Real Big 12 Title Game

Texas and Nebraska: Come on, do we really think Nebraska can ruin this for Texas?  I like Bo Pellini and he’s clearly doing something right, but if Texas didn’t lose to A&M there’s no way they’re losing to Nebraska.  (And don’t give em all that fluff about how Nebraska is better than A&M.  A&M matches up better with Texas than the Huskers do.)   The Horns Hook ‘Em

The Real ACC Title Game:

Clemson and Georgia Tech: How pissed do you think Georgia Te….scratch that.  How pissed do you think Paul Johnson is that his Jackets lost to UGA?  Do you think they’re burying bodies out behind Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field?  You do?  Then you know what’s going to happen.   Tech annihilates Clemson…

La Liga del NF

I’m 114-58 for those who are counting (like me)

Jets @ Buffalo: I trust the Bills about as far as I can throw them.  However, right now I’m trusting the Jets as far as I can throw Rex Ryan.  You know who weighs more…

BUF – 17   NYJ – 10

Philly @ Atlanta: The Falcons need this WAY more than the Eagles do.  However, the Falcons are minus Matt Ryan and the Eagles are minus Bryan Westbrook so where does that leave us?  One guy delivers the ball and the other is the focal point of the other’s offense.  When there’s no Westbrook in the game the Eagles have shown that they have major issues on offense.  When Matt Ryan is out Chris Redman is, apparently, a nice backup.  (I was surprised but very pleased with his performance against Tampa.)  With a week to prepare I think Redman can do this thing… (Plus, the Falcons cut Jason Elam and got a kicker (Matt Bryant, the guy who’s kid died and then he kicked the game-winning field goal the very next week.  Gotta love a dude like that) that isn’t broke down and a long snapper that doesn’t put them out low EVERY time.)

ATL – 24   PHI – 21

Tampa @ Carolina: The Panthers have put something together (but I’m not taking back anything I said about Jake Delhomme) and Bucs are still awful.  How would I pick this game any other way?

CAR – 28   TB – 3

New England @ Miami: New England lost a hard one to New Orleans and Randy Moss doesn’t look the same.  The Dolphins are kind of getting away from the Wildcat and I can see how this confluence of events can result in another New England loss.

You see, when I compared to Patriots to the Mitchells on Dexter last week I wasn’t kidding.  What the hell do you think is going on behind closed doors?  I mean, did you see this week’s episode where Arthur tells his daughter that he has a family to take care of (you know, while he’s keeping a boy in the basement of an empty house preparing to bury him in cement?)  Yeah, how jacked up do you think the Patriots are right now?  Where has the cool and collected Belichick gone?  I think he’s smudging his sister’s ashes at crime scenes and calling his Secretary Vera…I’m just saying…

MIA – 27   NE – 24

St. Louis @ Chicago: “Gag me @ gag me” is what I want to call this one.  It’s another one of the “heavy sigh” games where I just don’t even have the strength to think about two teams that are this irrelevant.  YUCK!

With that aside, St. Louis might be realizing that they need to part ways with Mark Bulger and draft someone like Tim Tebow next year…I think they might be getting smart.  This is a garbage win for the Bears, but a win nonetheless…

CHI – 13   STL – 3

Detroit @ Cincinnati: Cincinnati swept the AFC North and Detroit can barely win a game.  This is the one where the Bengals show us how much they’ve grown…I mean GROWN.  (While the Lions are groaning as they get their ass handed to them on a silver platter.)

CIN – 52   DET – 6

Tennessee @ Indy: Here’s where my “Casino Royale Theory” collides with my “Chris Johnson Might Be Right Theory”.  If this game could end in a  tie that would really help me out, but I know that’s not going to happen.

I think we’ve all got the Saints and Indy atop everything so it’s no surprise that I would lean towards the Colts, but I have remember a cautionary tale called “The 2007 Patriots”.  They spent all that time going undefeated and lost the Super Bowl.  Had they just gotten it out of their system earlier they probably could have beat the hell out of the Giants, but the pressure they were under made them play in such a way that Eli was in the game until the very end…and won it.

The Saints are just dumb enough to try this…the Colts are not.  People are going to start resting and they’ll cruise to home-field advantage so they’re not REALLY going to try again until their first playoff game.  The Titans NEED this and I think they’ll get it…they’re going 10-6 (until they lose and prove me wrong.)

TEN – 35   IND – 28

Houston @ Jacksonville: Houston needs to do something or they’re going to be the “Coulda Shoulda Woulda” Texans again.  Matt Schaub needs to decide if he’s going to be Steve DeBerg (and kinda be good, but not legendary) or is he going to be Steve Young (good and legendary.)

The Jags need to stop staying the course.  I heard most of their game with San Francisco last week and I’ll tell you that the announcers in Jacksonville were just killing them.  They hate the offense, they hate the way Garrard plays, they hate the fact that he has potential and doesn’t use all of it, they compared him to Alex Smith, they don’t know what to call Maurice Jones-Drew (I mean, in his own town Jones-Drew confuses broadcasters.  Half the time they were calling him Drew and the other half they were calling him Jones-Drew…it’s was pretty funny), they don’t know what’s up with the defense, at one point I thought they were going to ask the Falcons for Mike Peterson back, and the Jags basically played right into their hands by sucking it up against the 49ers.  I don’t see a reason for this to stop now.

HOU – 35   JAC – 17

Denver @ Kansas City: If Denver can’t squeak one out here I don’t know when they will…the Chefs are terrible and the Broncos are all potential.  A loss here would seriously jeopardize the rest of Denver’s season.  A loss here for KC gets them one step closer to the 1st overall pick.

DEN – 21   KC – 0

Oakland @ Pittsburgh: I also heard most of the Steelers/Ravens game on the radio and I think the Steelers are a little hot about giving that game to Baltimore.  They need this one and Oakland needs to sit down and suck so they can fix every other problem on their team now that they’ve figured out the QB thing.

PIT – 30   OAK – 12

New Orleans @ Washington: Even if I thought the Saints were smart enough to drop at least one game before the end of the regular season I wouldn’t recommend it here…how embarrassing would that be?

NO – 49   WAS – 6

San Diego @ Cleveland: I don’t buy the Chargers, but the Browns suck eggs.  Enough said.

SD – 28   CLE – 3

Dallas @ Giants: I’m not going to “trust” the Cowboys because I know Mathis is going to stab me in the back anytime, but for now I will accept that he can get some things done.  The Giants are missing something.  I don’t know what it is.  I can’t quantify it, but they just don’t have it.  If we want to be real we know that after the Patriots won their first Super Bowl they missed the playoffs (they probably weren’t cheating that season, but that’s another column.)  Either way, the Giants are out of it I think and it’s sad because I like Eli Manning and Mario Manningham, but I just don’t see it happening.

DAL – 24   NYG – 14

49ers @ Seattle: Matt Hasselback hasn’t been killed yet, but that doesn’t mean the Seahawks are any good.  I really like Jim Mora…I do, but this isn’t his year.  It just isn’t.

The 49ers put one on the Jags and now I think they want to keep doing that so they can get back in the hunt.  Probably their only chance is to win their division and if they don’t want to disappoint me they need to pick up where they left off last week when they were beating down Jacksonville.

SF – 28   SEA – 6

Minnesota @ Arizona: These teams will probably combine for 8 or 900 yards of total offense, but the Cards won’t be able to score.  I bet the Vikes will just play with them and give them field goals all day.  Brett Favre will stay on a roll and just wait to meet the Saints in the NFC Title Game.

MIN – 35   ARI – 19

Baltimore @ Green Bay: Both of these teams are pretty good, but neither one is great.  Both have good wins and bad losses.  Both are very confusing.  If we do the math we get:

Aaron Rodgers + Donald Driver/Joe Flacco + Ray Rice + Willis McGahee + Derrick Mason + Ray Lewis + Ed Reed + Haloti Ngata

That equals death for the Packers…

BAL – 31   GB – 13

Enjoy your football.  Check in on Friday so we can talk ALL about the playoff implications of this weekend and what I think my college picks do to the BCS…

Charlie Weis has an $18 million buyout and now he’s set so I don’t feel bad for him at all even though getting fired sucks any way you look at it.  The problem for Charlie Weis is he wanted to be surly like Bill Belichick and forthright like an Urban Meyer or Nick Saban and I don’t think he realized that those two things don’t go together.  You can’t come and say “6-5 isn’t good enough” and then be stuck with 6-5 and already be on the hot seat.  That’s like wearing a sign that says “use my own words against me please!”

So, with this in mind I have some advice for Charlie Weis:

1) Shut the hell up.  Shut your mouth.  Shut up your stupid mouth.  Your cakehole.  Do you your buddy Dan a favor and shut your stupid cakehole.  Seriously.  Shut up.  You’re not good at being forthright.  Instead of saying that 6-5 wasn’t good enough you have easily said “6-5 is not what we’re looking for around here and we are going to do our damndest to improve.”  But did you say that?  Nope, you opened your stupid trap and signed your own pink slip.  (It also doesn’t help that you can’t coach from the front, but that’s another story.)

2)  Smile every now and then, but do it with sincerity.  We can tell that when you’re pretending to be jovial it’s totally fake and completely contrived and you look like Glenn Close in “Air Force One” when she says “Damn it how the hell did they get Air Force One!?”  (Some of the worst acting in the history of movies.  The only worse acting is from Kristina Wayborn in the immortal Bond flick “Octopussy” when she says “I collect…memories…” only she says it like the sentence isn’t over and it’s clear she’s a terrible actor.  Yeah, Charlie Weis, you’re almost as bad a cute blonde who can’t act…move to Hollywood and join a club!

3)  Run, no sprint, back to the NFL and become an Offensive coordinator again.  Honestly, I think you could do it anywhere except the really bad spots like Oakland, KC, and Detroit.  Anywhere else you’d be welcomed with open arms, you would most likely prosper and if you’re smart you’ll go stay there (unlike Norv Turner) and go down in history as a Hall of Fame Assistant.  But guess what, you’ll be in the hall of fame you big tub of goo!!!  How can you beat that.  Look at Leo Mazzone…he never took a Manager’s job because he knew he could be an all-timer as a pitching coach.  Look at Tex Winter…he stood by Phil Jackson all the way and guess how many rings he has?  9…yeah, he’s a Hall of Fame assistant.  So, I ask you Charlie Weis, do you want to be a loser Head Coach who can’t get it done or do you want to be a Hall of Famer as an Assistant?  Just shut up…stop acting…and be a lifetime assistant like you were meant to be.

So, where do they go from here?  How on earth are they going to attract anyone to a Notre Dame program that has all the talent in the world but can’t win games?  Do you find someone who’s crazy enough to take the challenge?  Do you hire from within and hope someone else can take the current talent and do something with it?  Do you beg Brian Kelly to leave Cincinnati?  Do you throw $6 million a year at Urban Meyer and hope it sticks?  Do you do what I suggested and go after George O’Leary and beg him to fix it?  Do you plead with someone like Jim Harbaugh to bring his “anti-suckinator” from Stanford to South Bend?  Now that I think of it…

Jim Harbaugh is a good choice.  I know I said they should hire George O’Leary but he, unfortunately, is not a long term option because he’s an older dude.  However, Jim Harbaugh comes from a football family.  He was a good NFL Quarterback.  He’s in the Colts Ring of Honor.  He took them to the AFC Title Game in 1995.  He’s gone to Stanford and made that program into a dream-killer(which is more than you could ever ask of Stanford than ever before…I mean since John Elway was there {Did you know John Elway’s last college game was the “The Band is on the field” game against Cal?}  Anyways, he’s Indiana royalty.  The only way it could get better from an Indiana perspective is if they hired Reggie Miller or Peyton Manning or Bobby Knight to coach ND football.

Honestly, I have no idea and right now I don’t care.  I mean, how can I even begin to speculate what they will actually do?  Clearly the “sound-judgment meter” is on empty in the Notre Dame football department.  (We could call it the Athletic Department, but we all know that they could give two rat’s asses about anything besides football.)  Where will they move…let’s wait and see.  After the jump my look at the weekend’s football action…

Now, I wasn’t in front of the TV all weekend, but I did see a good deal of the Georgia/Georgia Tech game and I saw the ending of the Florida and FSU game.  I guess there’s two things that you really come away with from these games.

1)  An era just ended in Gainesville and if the Gators bring home another title no one will ever be able to measure up to Tim Tebow in UF.  The Swamp will never be the same.  Basically, nobody wins.  Tebow won’t make it in the NFL (though I’d like to see…I just don’t see it, you know?)  Urban Meyer will spend a couple years trying to replace Tebow (and that is reason enough to imagine him running to ND for a “new challenge”)  Florida football will most likely end up in a malaise just like Florida Basketball.  I can hear all the detractors saying “I Urban Meyer will just reload and Florida will give a go again next year” but you don’t reload players this great.

You see, I told you I’d involve my Dad in this “Is Tim Tebow the best college football player ever” conversation and his immediate-without-a-thought-no-doubt answer was “no”.  I said “who’s better?” and he said (without hesitation again) “Hershel Walker”.  He went on the explain that you can’t really compare because the eras were so different, but if there was a way to measure this (since they are both offensive players who run the ball alot) then he would do this:

Put them both in front of a big, mean Defensive Line and give them the ball and tell them to get “across the road” as it were.  In my Dad’s estimation (and I believe him when he says this) “Hershel could run over anybody…maybe even today’s D Linemen.  Tebow would have to go around.”  That said enough for me.  He also figures that Hershel maybe should have won the Heisman in 1980 instead of George Rogers, but they probably would never give it to a freshman anyways so that’s a moot point but if I had been old enough to care I’d know what he meant.

As for the entirety of the argument he says that Tebow is ONE of the best, but not THE best and that should be good enough.  It is for me.

2)  Georgia/Georgia Tech only served two purposes…to screw up GT’s ranking and allow UGA to keep the coaches they have in place.  By winning against Tech Mark Richt bought Willie Martinez and Mike Bobo some time to not their jobs effectively.  Georgia Tech probably never would have in the National Title conversation anyways (but it was nice to speculate) and they can still beat Clemson in the ACC Title game and make it their first BCS bowl.  So, basically, Georgia Tech can learn from it’s mistakes, still make alot of money for their school, appear in the BCS, and reload for next year (because they’re starting to kill Georgia in the southeast as far as recruiting goes) and UGA gets to keep their coaches in their current roles, not reevaluate and run the risk of doing this season again next season.  Yikes!

Basically, nobody won.  Georgia Tech had a dreamy run interrupted and UGA is going to allow itself to be in a lull that may last a little too long for their taste.

3)  Vince Young marched the Titans down the field and won another game in come-from-behind fashion and now I must completely eat all of my crow right now.

I thought Vince was done in Tennessee and he needed a change of scenery because I thought Jeff Fisher was also over it.  I was wrong.  I guess having a breakdown and sitting for a full season was what he needed to learn to be an effective Quarterback in the long-term in the NFL.  I think this says something about his attitude that we were missing before.  We all thought he was just soft and he couldn’t handle it when everyone was booing him and his mama was telling the press that her baby was “hurting”.  I think what we were missing was the intention of the message…what it really meant was “I cannot stand being booed when I’ve done so much and I’m still learning!  I’m not perfect, but I’m trying dammit and why can’t people freaking understand that?  Yeah, that would have been a much better interpretation of what was going on, but we all missed on it…including me.  Sorry Vince, you’re rocking it and you are about to make Chris Johnson look very smart.

4.  There is such a big difference between Orlando and Jacksonville sports.  Everyone in Orlando is a total homer who has no perspective on their team at all.  It’s really quite pathetic.  I was down there during the East Finals and I remember the Magic broadcast team being total oblivious to how badly they were going to die against the Lakers after they had taken down a clearly overmatched Cleveland team.  It was pathetic to listen to.

Get on the highway and start listening to Jacksonville radio broadcasts and you hear a completely different tale.  These guys where asking why the Jags couldn’t hold a lead, why they couldn’t protect David Garrard, why he wasn’t being that productive, why he was throwing bad passes, why the defense wasn’t tackling well…they were just killing them.  It’s such an interesting dichotomy for two cities that aren’t really that far apart.  Folks in Jacksonville freaking expect something from their team and they are willing to be honest about it.  Folks in Orlando have no interest in being honest with themselves about their teams and it doesn’t help the team at all.  The team improves when the fans are asking questions and keeping the club on their toes.  It’s just like democracy…only more fun.

I can’t imagine what they say about UCF football down in Orlando.  “I know George O’Leary is a cranky, old curmudgeon, but that’s ok as long as he doesn’t kill any kids.”  I mean, what should I expect from them based on their assessments of the Magic?

5)  I love Westwood One’s broadcasts of football games.  They could have Bozo the Clown (RIP) in the booth to do a game it would be good.  I don’t know what it is, but they do such a good job.  If you’re not catching Westwood One on the radio you should give them a try.  The dude calling the Steelers/Ravens game Sunday night was just incredible.  He was painting a picture that I could totally imagine as I zipped down 75 back to Atlanta.  (I’ll tell you, it’s better than listening to Larry Munson call a Georgia game…UGH…he was the worst announcer EVER!)

6)  For as much as Vince Young sat down and learned from Kerry Collins (who isn’t even a Hall of Famer or even close) Matt Leinart has sat around longer and learned less from Kurt Warner (who’s looking more like a Hall of Famer every week.)  How in the world can you lose to Vince Young in the ’06 BCS Title Game and not learn anything from getting schooled by the guy who had an argument for winning the Heisman over Reggie Bush (and who would have won it if they voted for it after all the games have been played like they should) and not learn anything from that?  Seriously, what happened here?  Wasn’t Matt Leinart supposed to be better than Carson Palmer?  I remember when Carson Palmer was “just the beginning” at USC and now he’s pretty much the only skill position player to come out of there and really make waves.  Wow, how the mighty have fallen.

7)  What about the Falcons losing Matt Ryan and Michael Turner and coming back on the Bucs with Chris Redman?  Oh yeah, AND having Jason Elam starting sucking for no reason.  (Did you know they held an open audition for kickers and they didn’t offer anybody a contract?  Thats’ bad….I’m sorry, but that’s bad.  Thomas Dimitroff can prove how good he is by finding a better kicker on a scrap heap somewhere.

8.  Finally, the Colts and Vikings are just rolling along like it’s no big deal and the Saints are going to show us how they handle pressure tonight when they take on the Patriots in the Superdome.  I’m going to sit back and watch, but I’m not seeing it right now…that’s why I cast the Saints as the baffled “M” in my Bond flick.  I think I might take down some notes for that one…

This is the part when I come up some witty close, but I have a serious question to ask:

Based on everything we’ve just talked about let’s take a poll.

Who’s the best College Football Player in your mind?

Is Kurt Warner  a Hall of Famer?

Is Vince Young fluking us again?

Just wondering…tune in on Wednesday for more from the General.

Ahhhh, it’s Rivalry Weekend and we can finally get to spoiling and making seasons with games that we all want to call before they’ve begun and yet they never turn out the way we thought.  They just never do.  I suppose you could say that Rivalry Weekend is a form

of a playoff because many of these teams play their natural rival and one team always has the other’s “number” and that is always a horrible place to trip up.  Even the team in the rivalry that sucks has a lot to gain by playing well because they are not only playing for bragging rights, but they are also playing to ruin the other team’s season.  The hate factor is so high in some of these rivalries that you can taste it long before the game is even played.  One game that isn’t on Rivalry Weekend this year is Ohio State/Michigan.

Have you ever asked someone from either state how they feel about the other?  My wife’s from Ohio, could care less about football, and isn’t that interested in the game itself, but she has an in-born mistrust of Michigan that everyone from Ohio has.  Everyone from Michigan is the same way.  I mean, imagine how funny it is to watch the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry from afar.  If Ohio State lost in a math tournament everyone in Michigan would throw a party!!!  No joke.  They don’t care what the hate is over…they just hate…each other.

Auburn/Alabama?  Yeah, they don’t get along.  Living in the South makes you acutely aware of how intense the distaste is between these Southern schools.  Pittsburgh/West Virginia?  They don’t call it the Backyard Brawl for nothing.  Pitt ruined RichRod’s last season at WVU and that justified their entire season.  Why do you think Dave Wannstedt still has a job and had an opportunity to get into the Top 15?  That win against West Virginia bought him many, many more years in Pittsburgh.  MANY.
Clemson/South Carolina?  They fight on the field every single year.  You know why?  Because in South Carolina you’re either a Clemson dude or an SC dude.  That’s just the way it is.  Clemson = wine and cheese and USC(the other one) = lunch pail.
Florida and Florida State?  They’ve decided a National Title against one another.  I don’t think there is a more intense sess pool of hate than a Rivalry loss in a title game.

Arkansas and LSU?  Arkansas has ruined LSU’s season before.  2002, 2007, and 2008.  That’s a lot of ruining for a school that is famous for a disgruntled National Champion Basketball Coach and an overhyped NFL running back who plays for the Raiders.

USC and UCLA?  USC and UCLA have a very intense rivalry but the unfortunate reality is that no one who isn’t on the West Coast really cares.  It’s unfortunate but true.   (Sorry Pac-10ers.)

With all of that said and done you know what bothers me the most?  What really gets in craw…

We have all these cool rivalries that don’t happen this weekend.

Georgia/Florida, Texas/Oklahoma, Army/Navy…How come we don’t have a full rivalry weekend with EVERY game all at once?  Is it all based on money and the fact that the schools and conferences can’t make as much as they could if they spread them all out?  Is it because College AD’s are just bad at scheduling?  What’s the deal?

Wait a minute…Maybe some of these rivalries aren’t really rivalries but they’re just games that are really interesting because both teams usually have something to play for?  Maybe?

Think about it.  Isn’t a rivalry an in-state/proximity thing?  Like, when you were in High School your rival school was right up the street.  In some cases you could walk from one school to the other.  Can you really have a rivalry between Ann Arbor, MI and Columbus, OH?  It’s about 200 miles between those two cities (hardly walking distance if you asked me) and I know that I said Ohioans and Michiganers hate each other, but maybe that’s more like a McCoy and Hatfield feud kind of thing.

I mean, in a rivalry, the two teams beat up on each other but then have to live right up the street from one another so they can’t be too hateful, but if you’re the Hatfields and McCoys you don’t care.  If you’re France and Germany there’s a lot of area to cover and kinda don’t care if another country hates you.  Hate and a Rivalry are different.  You can combine them if need be, but they’re still different things.

So, with this “rivalry theory” in place let’s get a grip on what is hate and what is a good-natured rivalry:

Texas and Oklahoma? That’s just plain hate.  First off, Texas used to be it’s own country so it automatically fits into my “France and Germany” mold.  Second, you can’t really ruin one team’s season in this game because of when it’s played, so you just get bragging rights which aren’t that hot since this game runs in streaks and we never get any real “back and forth”.  Third, if you’ve ever watched “Saving Grace” on TNT then you’ll notice that the ribbing is incessant when the one Longhorns fan who works in the Oklahoma City PD comes to work wearing a Longhorns belt buckle.  I mean, if you’re gonna take time out of working to catch lunatics, degenerates, maniacs, rapists, and killers to play practical jokes on your colleague because he went to UT you’ve got to REALLY hate Texas.  I mean…HATE IT!  (Two Cops on that show vandalized a bridge in the name of this rivalry and had sex in public while they’re were drunk off their asses.)  Verdict: If that’s not HATE I don’t know what is

Auburn and Alabama? This one fits perfectly into the “in-state” category.  You probably could walk from Auburn to Tuscaloosa in decent time and this game always makes waves.  For example, Auburn could ruin Bama’s season if they win(and make me very happy.)  Verdict: RIVALRY

Clemson and South Carolina? Well, these teams hate each other (they fight every year and people in South Carolina through beer bottles at Marching Band competitions [well, they used to.])  You get the idea.  Plus, they are fairly close together.  You could get from Clemson to Columbia in a little over an hour.  Verdict: RIVALRY with some HATE on top

Florida and Florida State: These two teams decided a National Title once and you can get from Gainesville to Tallahassee in about an hour or so.  Yeah, the Noles are still pissed over 1996.  I know kids who go to FSU now who talk about losing to Florida in 96 and they were barely old enough to care.  Verdict: RIVALRY with some ANGST on the side

Georgia/Florida: This game is played on a neutral field like Texas/Oklahoma and it never really decides anything because the rivalry is so streaky.  If Florida could’ve won in the 80’s that would’ve helped.  If Georgia could win now that would help.  Honestly, this one is actually the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” and everyone knows it.  Mark Richt put too many eggs into this game’s basket and he’s lost his team since the “celebration game”.  Verdict: PARTY/WASTE OF TIME

Pitt/WVU? Oddly enough, these schools are pretty close together (even though they are not in the same state) and they do not play on a neutral field.  They call the game a BRAWL.  You know, the thing you get kicked of the game for doing?  They named the game after that!  Plus, Pitt ruined WVU’s season a couple years ago and WVU could easily ruin Pitt’s season this year while Pitt’s chasing a BCS Bowl.  Verdict: TIDE-CHANGING RIVALRY

Army/Navy? There’s no hate here since the Armed Forces are all about respect.  Really, the only thing they do nowadays is play a bad football game and play a lot of practical jokes on each other.  (Oh, and they do push-ups!) Verdict: FOOTBALL GAME TURNED FRAT PARTY TURNED BOOT CAMP

Arkansas/LSU? These two schools are sort of close together, but not really.  Arkansas has ruined LSU’s season a couple times, but I think the people in this rivalry don’t really hate each other…they just sort of get jacked up for the game and come down as fast as they got up.  Verdict: IT’S A GAME THAT TURNS OUT TO BE GOOD SOMETIMES

USC/UCLA? These two teams occupy the same city!  Now that has rivalry written all over it.  I don’t think they hate each other because USC is too busy buying Reggie Bush’s family a house and UCLA is too busy wishing Troy Aikman was still in school.  Verdict: RIVALRY WITH A NICE TAN

There’s one I left out of the original list because I wanted to save it for the end.  Please realize a couple things.  1)  I’m NOT a homer and I call it like I see it.  2)  I’m not an alum of either of these schools.  3)  I really believe what I’m about to say.  I ain’t “playing radio”.

Georgia/Georgia Tech: This one is interesting.  The schools are barely an hour apart.  They are both in proximity to Atlanta so you could say that they both occupy the same town, but the disparities between the two schools are pretty intense.  People from UGA call Georgia Tech the “North Avenue Trade School” and people from Tech tell the same joke about an SEC education:

“How do you get a degree from UGA?  Drive by and they throw a diploma in your window.” They’ve since changed it to say “Hey, since academic standards got tougher how do you get a degree from UGA?  Do you still roll through Athens with your window down?” the answer is great “No, you have to stop now.”

I mean, you really have to hate another school to call their academic integrity into question or to refer to a Top 10 research institution as a “trade school” when the “trade school” is joking that you can get a degree by simply driving through town with your window down.  I mean, that’s cold.  Downright cold.

Georgia Tech and Georgia can easily decide things because one team or the other is good.  With Georgia on their run that has obviously ended GT had plenty of chances to screw things up for the Dawgs.  This season UGA can ruin Tech’s run behind the undefeateds by beating them and tanking their ranking, throwing them out of the BCS and into some crap bowl like the “Poulan Weed Eater Bowl”.  That’s serious.  Players in this rivalry never get over it no matter how long it’s been since they played.  People in Georgia mark their calendars for this game.  My cousin calls my uncle to brag every time Tech wins.  I mean brag…like it’s disrespectful (thank goodness my uncle has a good sense of humor.)  Did I mention that we have 4 pro sports teams in Atlanta and this game manages to cut through all that crap (and it will even though the Hawks are the hottest team in the NBA and the Thrashers are playing well and the Falcons need to get it together this weekend.)  That’s a lot to get through, but it makes it through every year.  (On a personal note my High School Band was at a random Georgia Tech game once and our uniforms were sort of UGA colored and at some point during the 2nd Quarter someone threw beer on us from the upper deck and shouted “Georgia sucks”.)

(Click the pic, you know you want to…)  That’s how hot this rivalry is. Verdict: RIVALRY WITH A DOUBLE ORDER OF HATE AND IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Check out my picks for Rivalry Weekend after the jump.  You’ll be shocked…a little.

Clemson @ South Carolina: Like I said, I expect a fight before the game, during the game and after the game,  From a practical Football perspective you have to pick Clemson…not because I think they’re world-beaters or anything, but they have C.J. Spiller.  He’s had 7 consecutive games with a 50 yard TD run, 310 all-purpose yards in a game, 19 50-yard TD’s, 9 80-yard TD’s, and 8 career games with 200 all-purpose yards.  Yeah he’s pretty good, and  I think that equals death for the Gamecocks…how about you?   Tigers claw the Gamecocks.

Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma: Who in a million years would have guessed that Oklahoma State would be ranked #12 for this game and the Sooners would be unranked?  Not I said the fly.  I can’t say that even with the loss of Dez Bryant that I distrust the Cowboys because I like Mike Gundy and I think he’s pretty cool (I especially liked the “I’m a man” thing.   Cowboys Rope the Sooners.

Now, these games happen on Friday and I want to make clear that I may not be able to get this column up by Friday at 2 when most of these games start, but it is important that I put my thoughts down on virtual paper.  (For the record it is Wednesday night about 8:30 EST and I’m watching the Backyardigans with my kids if you must know ;o)

Alabama @ Auburn: It’s at Auburn, Auburn is semi-resurgent this season under Gene Chizik (golf clap for Gene Chizik) and Nick Saban is under the weight of every Herringbone-hat-wearing Bama fan to get this thing done so they can settle this thing with Florida in the SEC Title game.  they’ve had some injury issues and I think this might be the time that Ingram and McElroy slip.  I don’t know why but I have a funny feeling about this game.  I can’t explain it, but I have this image of Bo Jackson running down the sideline in his old Auburn jersey.  That’s all I’ve got.  The Tigers War Eagle the Tide.

Pitt @ West Virginia: If Pitt loses (and I don’t think they will) and Dave Wannstedt gets fired I won’t be surprised.  There is basically no excuse for Pitt to lose this game.  Bill Stewart at WVU is a nice guy, but they jumped at him way too fast after their bowl win and now Michigan AND West Virginia have lost their luster.  That’s what you get when you go for the “sure thing” instead of doing your homework.  It’s not Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett, but Pitt rolls.

Illinois @ Cincinnati: By now means is this a rivalry of any kind.  Have you ever driven from Cincinnati to Urbana?  I have…there’s nothing there!!!!  You might as well pick a cornfield and just start a new life for yourself out there.  I don’t even get why this game is on the schedule.  Did Illinois already play Illinois State?  Does Xavier need to get a football program?  Do they have one?  Something other than this game is called for.  With that said, Cincy rolls. (and Tony Pike has the perfect Heisman-winning national champion Quarterback name.)

USC @ UCLA: USC’s gonna lose.  Whatever mojo they had is gone for this season.  The only way they can make this worse is to sit Matt Barkley because he’ll probably spend all of next season looking over his shoulder if they do that.  Bruins roll unexpectedly.

FSU @ Florida: This is one that most people will write off, but I think that Florida is scamming us a little bit because they’re as good as everyone says they are.  Not that they’re bad, but not THAT good.  Tim Tebow is great, but let’s not have a “is he the best ever conversation” until he’s actually done and we can only have this conversation with at least one guy over 60 participating.  (I nominate my Dad…he’s 66 and shoots straight.  I’ll get back to you on that one.)  {Also, I was kind of touched at how emotional Urban Meyer got over Tim Tebow.  I kinda like Urban now.} FSU is probably not real happy.  Usually, this would mean a sort of lagging and lethargic effort from the lesser team, but I bet Florida State can put some of that angst to work and really get after the Gators.  FSU will lose, but not without a fight.   Gators escape.

Georgia @ Georgia Tech: Before I make the prediction you’ve already anticipated I want to say one thing.  Mark Richt doesn’t need to be fired.  None of his Assistants need to be fired.  They ALL need to be shuffled around so they can be effective in something they’re good at.  If he looked for 5 seconds Richt would find a better D coordinator that Willie Martinez and if he respected himself he’d start calling ALL the plays like yesterday.

Paul Johnson isn’t messing around and he knows that he’s within a few untimely losses by other teams of the BCS title game.  Lots of things would have to happen for that to happen, but I know he isn’t messing around.  I’ll predict stats since you have probably gathered that I’m picking Tech.

Tech runs for 300 yards and passes for 200.  UGA has over 100 yards in penalties.  Tech holds the ball for over 40 minutes.  UGA struggles to score at all.  MAJOR blowout, but a controlled blowout where UGA leaves the field and wonders where all of Tech’s points came from.

The way I have this setup I think Georgia Tech would jump to #6 and then all that has to happen is Bama gets its revenge against Florida in the SEC title game and Texas loses and we have ourselves a situation.  It’s all possible (highly unlikely) but possible.  Ask yourself this…if Texas loses, Bama loses is GT in the conversation for the title game because the BCS is so screwed up?  Honestly, ALL of the undefeateds but one have to lose for Tech to mathematically correctly get into the game, but in college football we don’t do proper math… so would Tech be in the conversation because Cincy is in the Big East and TCU the Mountain West?  Just a thought.  If you catch a wild hare and figure this thing out please let me know!

Tech rolls and the BCS gets jacked up this weekend…

Tune in Monday for a weekend wrap from The General