Block That Kick!
Friday, November 19, 2004
  Week 11
bye bye byes

Overall: 66-74-4, it isn’t getting any better.
Last Week: 6-8, sigh.
Best Bets: 10-9-1, the infinitesimal moneymaker.
BB Last Week: 2-0, boom.

Prologue: Home is where the dog is.
Epilogue: Home is where the dog isn’t.

Rams (-1.5) vs. Bills: Some of us picked the Bills as a bit of an upset last week. A depleted Pats team comes into town; Bills coming off a big win; Bills defense playing well. What precisely is the sound of shit hitting a fan? Because I’m pretty sure I heard it some time Sunday night. Bledsoe had another killer game, completing all of 8 passes. Supposedly rookie J.P. Losman came in to replace Drew LoseMan late in the game, but I’ll be damned if I was watching at that point. Losman managed one completion, one sack, one fumble and one interception. Clearly he has been learning a lot from Drew in practice. Maybe they should quarantine J.P. from the rest of the QB crew. Anyhoo, I think Buffalo secured their absence from any prime time appearances next year. Bills coach Mike Mularkey lived up to his moniker in saying, "There’s still seven games left. We’re not out of it." I assume he wasn’t referring to the playoffs... The Rams gave up a monster game to J. Brown last week. Who, you ask? Yes, the kicker. The vaunted Seahawks offense couldn’t get into the endzone. On the Rams. On the league’s 29th ranked total defense. Ouch. The Rams are one of the innumerable teams at 5-4 in the NFC and are somehow atop the sorry NFC West with that record. I guess people will hem and haw over the Rams having to be off the carpet and in the chill of Buffalo. Sure, yap about the Rams on grass, but these days the Bills are playing like they’re underground.
Picksgiving: Rams

Cowboys (+8) vs. Ravens: In a stunning turn of events yesterday, the Cowboys players released a statement calling Bill Parcells a "fat, aging, asshole stupidhead, who is a big dumb idiot, and who nobody likes and has no life." Okay, they didn’t, but they should. Either that, or when they when a game, they should say that they won despite the coaching. Parcells is the kind of jerk who loves to bask in the glory of his genius and pass the buck on his failure. Hell, maybe he should run for president. Tuna, you call your players ‘stupid,’ but aren’t these the same people you brought here? Wasn’t it your decision to get the oldest possible player at every position? You built this team, so why did you center it on old, sloppy, ‘dumb’ players? Maybe they wouldn’t make so many mistakes if they were better coached. All we can hope for is that the Cowboys lose the rest of their games and Parcells quits in a hissyfit of whining. Then we’ll never see him in the NFL again. And I for one consider that a good thing… Living in the Mordor of the NY-television market, I got to see the Jets-Ravens last week. I’ll save my Jets comments for their game, but what I can say is that Kyle Boller did play surprisingly well. His game-tying touchdown pass was awesome, and he consistently moved the team when they needed it. It would be nice if he could do that more often, but whatever. He deserves the compliments and should continue the good play this week. The ‘boys are reeling. Eight seems like a lot, but the Ravens should roll.
Picksgiving: Ravens

Jets (-1) vs. Browns: Herm Edwards would be late for his own funeral. His funeral came with 55 seconds left in the game, with the Jets at the Ravens 4-yardline and with two timeouts. They kicked an overtime-forcing fieldgoal with 8 seconds left. Scholars have combed the history books, but it appears that the intervening 47 seconds have been lost, if in fact they ever existed. Black hole? Worm hole? Herm hole?… [silence]… Sorry, I need to take a minute here to clear my head of the phrase ‘Herm hole’… Anyhoo, historians have speculated that there was a useless run up the middle during those lost seconds. Pundits have speculated on the coach’s decision not to heave one quick throw into the endzone with those 8 seconds. But they assume Herm was playing for the loss, thus giving him the opportunity to act insane at the next press conference. You can blame coaching for game plans and play calls and the like, but many times those things fail through poor execution, player mistakes, and what have you. There’s frequently a gray area around failure associated with the more conceptual aspects of gameplay. But Herm’s egregious clock mismanagement was one of those few moments every season where you can visibly see a coach lose a game. And so now the Jets are on the skids, and since they’re going to have to rack up the wins for a wild-card spot, they simply have to win. Unfortunately, number of wins to the Q factor equals, uh, a negative integer. But football needs more integers, and while the Browns have been stingy at home, that doesn’t mean they can win a game. They got more notoriety for last week’s pre-game fight than for anything they did on the field. They should be home dogs by a lot more.
Picksgiving: Jets

Steelers (-4) vs. Bengals: All the sudden it’s the Steelers that have the ‘plug-in-a-back’ rushing game. I wouldn’t suggest tying a rope to the back of The Bus, because he’ll probably get injured, but 252 yards on 62 attempts the last two games is darn impressive, considering that in the first 7 games, he had 252 yards on 252 rushing attempts with 275 touchdowns. The Steelers are now 8-1 (the Steelers!) and have just about run away with the AFC North. This division was a stinkfest last year, with the Bengals’ 8-8 record threatening to take the cake. The striped cats have allowed only 13 points in their last two games, but the Steelers have scored 52 in their last two and that’s against the Eagles and Browns, respectable defenses both. The Steelers won the first meeting by 11. That’s about all we need to know.
Picksgiving: Steelers

Colts (-7.5) vs. Bears: What if this were Colt 45 vs. the Labatt’s Bear (Colt 45 being represented, for the sake of smoothness, by Billy Dee Williams). Let’s look at the stats:

Labatt Bear: Likes Honey
Billy Dee: Likes the honies

Billy Dee: best known for heavy petting
Labatt Bear: best know for heavy mauling

Labatt Bear: played by man in bear suit
Billy Dee: played by Billy Dee Williams

Labatt Bear: shiny, full coat of hair
Billy Dee: shiny, slick full head of jehri curl

Labatt Bear: poorly executed advertising concept
Billy Dee: poorly executed entertainment concept

Billy Dee: studied with Sidney Poitier
Labatt Bear: studied with Smokey

Billy Dee: Lando Calrissian
Labatt Bear: Chewbacca

Labatt Bear:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/08/18/bear.beer.reut/index.html

Billy Dee Williams:
(scroll down)

http://endabuse.org/celebritywatch/index.php?Fame=N

Billy Dee: starred in the football movie ‘Brian’s Song"
Labatt’s Bear: shared a Vegas toilet stall with Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher

Labatt bear: ladies!

http://www.97rock.com/jills/html/labatt_bear_3.html

Billy Dee: ladies!

http://www.thx1138.jp/goingtowar/tk1022.013.jpg

Wait a minute!

Labatt bear: scandal

http://www.marininstitute.org/alcohol_industry/ad_alerts/tecate.htm

Billy Dee: scandal

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765345072/qid=1100813487/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-9988505-6131903?v=glance&s=books

Picksgiving: Colts

Lions (+7.5) vs. Vikes: Lions and Vikings and Bears, oh please have a bye! Amazingly, if the Lions win this game, they will be tied with the Vikings. So much for Culpepper’s monster season. It isn’t like Joey Harrington is taking a shot at the record books or anything. I’m a little tired of hearing how the Vikes three straight losses are all because of the absence of Randy Moss. Hell, Culpepper’s numbers haven’t fallen off that much. The more glaring aspect of their 5-1 start and three straight losses is that the Vikes beat crappy teams (Cowboys, Bears, Texans, Titans) and lose to good teams (Eagles, Colts, Pack). With only three winning teams in their last seven games, once again the Vikes playoff destiny will be in their hands. Meaning, don’t expect to see them there. The Lions have also slowed after a decent start and are looking to end a three-game slide. Last week it took two punt-return TDs in the 4th quarter to force Jax into OT. Previous to that, there were two punt-return TDs all year. These are the kind of stats that you pay me for.
Picksgiving: Lions

Cards (+2.5) vs. Panthers: Two words: Rodney Peete.
Picksgiving: Cards

Titans (+3) vs. Jaguars: It’s Billy Volek vs. David Garrard. What is this, local school board elections? It just goes to show the enduring anonymity of back-up QBs who aren’t named Manning. Remember the Titans? They used to be good last year. Hell, they even had a MVP. Early this season they looked to remain strong with Chris Brown posting some big number. Remember the Chris Brown? Haven’t heard much from him lately, have we. Maybe he’s convalescing with McNair somewhere. Sure, the Jags needed OT to beat the Lions and keep proving themselves utterly incapable of winning a game before the last seconds, but the failing Titans are easy bait.
Picksgiving: Jags

49ers (+8.5) vs. Bucs: I’ll be napping. Wake me up when it’s over.
Picksgiving: Bucs.

Broncos (-4) vs. Saints: The Saints defense is last against the pass, last against the run and last overall. Impressive numbers. Surprisingly, they’re not last in the league; but every week is a struggle for them to run the table and be plain last in every single statistical category. And since the Saints won last week, it’s safe to assume they’ll lose this week. That’s just how they roll, yo.
Picksgiving: Broncos

Seahawks (-10) vs. Dolphins: Water-bird and water-mammal battle it out for control of the scummy puddle of desperation. Why would you ever give 10 points to the Seahawks?
Picksgiving: Dolphins.

Chargers (-4) vs. Raiders: SoCal vs. NoCal, dude. Jesus, I knew Brees was up in the top of the QB ratings, but I didn’t know he has 18 TDs and only 3 INTs. That’s just ridiculous. Also, L.T. hasn’t rushed for more than 71 yards since Week 4. And the Chargers are 2nd in the league in points/game. And the Bolts just keep on winning! I’m sold.
Picksgiving: Chargers

Falcons (-3) vs. Giants: I will be attending this game, therefore insulting it would be insulting my stupid fucking self.
Picksgiving: Falcons.

Redskins (+10.5) vs. Eagles: Man, there wouldn’t be all this hubbub if it had been Joe Gibbs dropping the towel and jumping into T.O.’s arms.
Picksgiving: Eagles.

Packers (-3) vs. Texans: The Texans got demolished by the Colts last week and have suffered two straight blowouts. The Packers, on the other hand, are trying to feign that Superbowl glow once again. Really Packers, it is the fluorescent lighting that makes your makeup so attractive. In the harsh light of day, everyone can tell you lost to the Titans, Bears, and Giants. And soon enough, the Texans.
Picksgiving: Texans (I’ve got to take a couple home dogs).

Patriots (-3) vs. Chiefs: This is a classic trap game for the Pats. Arrowhead will be a’rocking when the Pats come a’knocking. Really, I have no insight as to why this will be an upset. Not that I have much insight into anything these days. You can’t have a losing record for four straight weeks and claim a lot of knowledge of the game. Or the spreads. Or the picks. Or how to make guacamole. Yes the Pats are good and the streak is over and all that, but they just can’t be 9-1. It’ll be too much. Boston has had its fun. They got the Sox and all that. Sure, the Kerry thing hurt maybe, but they don’t like him much there anyway. So I think all the Bostonians should just get back to doing whatever the hell they do and let me get a damn upset pick. I’ve never even been to stupid Boston. I am, however, planning my next romantic getaway to Kansas City. KC is for lovers and all that. Of course I’m single, but whatever. What the hell am I talking about here? Anyway, hopefully the Pats’ injuries on defense will allow the Chiefs to score at will, which is about the only way they’ll stay in the game since their defense is, as they say, ‘porous.’ Really, I’m just being a big, lovable contrarian here. There are just too many consensus picks of the Pats. It’s everybody’s best bet. I’d love to get more points, and I’m sure the line will be up to 4 by Sunday, but whatever. Sometime you have to live on the edge before you fall off the cliff.
Picksgiving: Chiefs

Best Bet (2 per week): Falcons, Chargers.

Choose your own Errata:

Jets atrocious clock mismanagement.

Giants QB controversy, uh, over.

Viagra is forced to pull its ‘Wild Thing’ advertisement for promising to restore sex drive. Or in FDA-ese "The TV ads claim that Viagra will provide a return to a previous level of sexual desire and activity. The FDA is not aware of substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience demonstrating this benefit for patients who take Viagra." Yes, I said Viagra is forced to pull its wild thing.

Rupert Murdoch tried to buy rights for every NFL game beginning in 2006. He also wanted the league renamed to the NFOXL.

This Sunday, T.O. and McNabb will be bringing marionettes to the game and performing a little puppet theater piece on the sideline, amusing only themselves.

The Bears scored only the second overtime safety in the history of the league.

"If every pass an NFL quarterback throws simply clangs to the ground incomplete, the passer rating is 40. Drew Bledsoe finished the New England game with a 14.3 passer rating."

I found this little bit of gossip on the web. And I swear I did not make this up: "[Panthers Punter] Todd Sauerbrun has had a long-running public feud with the Gramatica brothers…’

"I need all fans to bring a dollar to the gate. Don't forget. There will be a bucket. Bring a dollar to the gate this week. Next week, I need everybody to bring a bottle of Pepto."
-- Chad Johnson

This blog bores me.

Hey, thanks for reading, though!
 
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