Rats Fleeing the Ship?

Eagles at Cowboys, Sunday, December 2, 2012

Only Jim Washburn got fired, so it's more like rats being thrown off a sinking ship. Of course, according to all the reports I'm reading, it was long overdue. Seems like Washburn was a complete asshole. Good riddance, but it's probably two years too late (yes, for those who are bad at math, that means I think he never should have been hired in the first place).

Stud of the week: Nick Foles, who had a good game. Finally. I don't know if he has what it takes to start in the NFL. Guess we'll be seeing his 2013 audition - for the Eagles or some other team - in the next month, particularly since Big Red named him the starting QB today. But he had a solid outing last night, and that's a start.

I also have to give a shout-out to my boy Jason Avant, back in the lineup after 3 weeks out with a bad hamstring, for making some typically excellent catches and even getting some YAC (not usually his strong suit). Alex Henery kicked his 4,537th field goal in a row (really 21, a team record. Damaris Johnson had a punt return TD. I think that might be the first of the 2012 season. We saw something heretofore unknown in the NFL: King Dunlap threw a few good blocks. Riley Cooper made another circus catch TD. Bryce Brown scored two TDs again and had I think 169 yards on the ground.

Actually, the entire offense played decently.
Well, other than when Bryce Brown fumbled and Morris Claiborne ran it back 50 yards for a TD.

Gotta learn how to hold onto the football, son.

And things are at such a sad pass that I didn't even yell at the TV when he did it. It was more like, "Well, I knew disaster was going to hit sooner or later." And sure enough, that was it. The Eagles, down 10 with under 4 minutes to play, never recovered, despite the Johnson return TD. 

Of course, they also scored 33 points, and it wasn't enough.

It's the D that killed us.

Well, that and Bryce Brown's fumble.

There aren't enough negative adjectives in all the languages in all the world (including the dead ones) to express how disgusted I am with the Eagles defense from last night. It's like they aren't even aware that they're playing defense in the NFL out there. I don't know what they do think they're doing, but whatever it is, it doesn't deserve to be on prime time TV. Or even cable access. At 2 am. It was a total, complete breakdown in all facets other than Brandon Graham's 1.5 sacks.

I am starting to come around to the position many of the Eagles bloggers have taken that this team lacks a culture of winning. Whether it's too many free agents who were middling to good players on bad teams, lack of locker room leadership, coaching issues, lack of focus, I don't know. But clearly, these guys don't know what to do to win. Hopefully it's something they can learn under a new regime, or it's probably fire sale time come January.

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2012 Week 13 Picks

And the agony that is the Philadelphia Eagles 2012 season continues. Who will they lose to this week? Only the Cowboys in Dallas.

Now none of us enjoys it when our team loses, but I hate losing to the Cowboys more than I hate ugly shoes and cheap booze. So a lot.

Will that matter a bit?

Nope.

At least it's our annual pre-big association technology conference football party, so I'll have lots of friends and colleagues around to distract me from Teh Suck that will go down starting around 8:21 pm Sunday night.

Even worse?

Losing divisional games is a special kind of hell, and that's exactly what the Eagles face over three of the next five weeks.

I should've known that winning all four pre-season games this year was a sign of impending doom.

In the rest of the matchups:

Saints at Falcons: Grudge match on Thursday Night Football! If you're not a Falcons or Saints fan, you might not realize, but this is a HUGE rivalry. Like Any NFC East Team Who's Not the Cowboys - Cowboys level rivalry. And both teams are hot right now. In other words, if you mostly haven't been bothering to watch Thursday Night Football, this is the week to take the plunge. Also, Falcons. Game should be close, but I gotta go with homefield here.

Jaguars at Bills: Bills. The Jags are Eagles-level bad this year.

Seahawks at Bears: The Bears hold a one game lead in the NFC North. The Seahawks are clinging to a current sixth seed. The Seahakws need the win big-time, but Cutler's back, the Bears are at home, and I just don't see it happening. Bears.

Colts at Lions: They're playing in Detroit, and the Lions have to be pissed after last week's "this time it REALLY IS entirely the fault of the head coach" loss. It's a little nuts, but I'm going with the 4-7 Lions over the 7-4 Colts as my upset pick.

Vikings at Packers: Packers. They don't lose at home in December to a dome team.

Panthers at Chiefs: Ugh. Worst Game of the Week. Other, of course, than Eagles at Cowboys. I've got the Chiefs by a nose because, again, homefield.

Patriots at Dolphins: Dolphins. SIKE! That was a nice win over the Seahawks last week, but come on! Pats.

Cardinals at Jets: Even records. Statistically, the Cards are a better team. But they haven't won since Kevin Kolb went down. Then again, when's the last time Ryan Lindley basically tackled himself and gave up a pick 6? I'm going Cards on the strength of their D and the Jets complete lack of a competent QB.

49ers at Rams: 49ers, and put me down as totally on the Kaepernick bandwagon!

Texans at Titans: Texans.

Buccaneers at Broncos: The Bucs are coming into this game hot, but Peyton Manning's hotter.  Well, at least his arm. Peyton himself is pretty goofy looking. Broncos.

Steelers at Ravens: If Big Ben doesn't play, the Steelers are toast, and dropping to 6-6 won't help their playoff chances any, either. If he does play, I think they take the Ravens. So my conditional pick is the Steelers (since right now, it looks like Ben will play Sunday), but I reserve the right to change my mind.

Browns at Raiders: I've got the Raiders. Both teams, of course, are terrible. But the Raiders are (say it with me, folks) at home.

Bengals at Chargers: I'm going Bengals, who are in the thick of fighting for a playoff spot, while the Chargers, like the Eagles are basically done for the year. In other news, Norv Turner will be one of the other casualties of Black Monday, mark my words.

Giants at Redskins: The Giants should win this one. But I'm an RG3 believer. Redskins. Also, much better way to end week 13 than week 12, NFL honchos.

Oh, and if you haven't been following the hilarious fake NFL Quarterback Facebook Smackdowns, what are you waiting for?

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2011 Week 13 Recap

Eagles at Seahawks, Thursday, December 1, 2011

I hate  to say "I told you so," particularly on this one, but I told you so.

Prediction: debacle

Reality: debacle

Stud of the Week: Continuing as the only bright spot in the whole damn season, LeSean McCoy. Dear Santa: could I please have a #25 ladies jersey in black this year? 

Much like the 42-0 MNF mess in 2005, I confess that I didn't watch to the end. After Vince Young threw his FOURTH pick with about four minutes left in the game, I turned to Chef Spouse and said, "That's it. I'm out."

Where do I even start in recapping the game?

DeSean Jackson. Yes, the NFL Network clearly cut the shot where Vince Young was talking to Riley Cooper (I think) to make it look like he was talking to DJax, but the proof is in the pudding. Regardless of what was really going on Thursday night, his play all season demonstrates the fundamental truth of the fact that he's quit on the team.  And a word of advice: I know you love your buds from Cali, but laughing & talking with them while a team mate is lying injured on the ground is not cool.

Jason Babin. Tons of sacks, no stopping of the run. Great for you, not so great for the team. Hm - story of the whole season, come to think of it.

Asante Samuel: F off. Really.

Colt Anderson: Another bright spot in the season. Well, up until he tears his ACL in a meaningless game. And don't give me crap about how if only the Eagles had beat the Seahawks, they'd still be right in it. The back to back losses to the Bears and the Cardinals killed this season long before the Eagles flew out to Seattle last week.

Jason Avant: I just have to keep giving much love to a smart, serious receiver who continues to play his butt off.

One of my friends sent me a great article "Requiem for the Dream Team" that identified the five major issues with the Eagles this year. You should really read the entire article because the explanations offered are fantastic, but the five points are:

1. Serious line deficiencies, both O and D
2. Soft at linebacker and safety
3. Nnamdi Asomugha, MIA
4. Decline of Vick and Jackson
5. Bad luck

Yep. That about sums it up.

It's amazing I got through writing that without a shot of bourbon. Guess where I'm headed now?

I'll be at a conference next week, so I'll try to recap the rest of the games, but I can't promise anything.

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2011 Week 13 Picks

Anyone other than me remember the last time the Eagles faced the Seahawks in prime time?  Does 42-0 on Monday night football in week 13 of 2005 ring any bells?

I was on a business trip in Florida at the time, so I was watching while texting Chef Spouse and on the phone with Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom. I remember remarking to both of them: "Did you notice how Mike McMahon looks like he's not sure where he is or how he got there, but either way, he's cognizant of the fact that there are great big men standing a few yards away who are trying to kill him, and he's NOT HAPPY?" That was not a good night.

Then the Eagles faced the Seahawks again in 2007, after McNabb had gone down just before that, with an ankle injury, so AJ Feeley was under center, and the Eagles lost again, 28-24.

The Eagles did manage a road victory against the Seahawks in 2008. Remember 2008? The last time the Eagles got within sniffing distance of the Super Bowl? Sigh. Good times.

Why am I bringing all this up?

Vick, Maclin and DRC are definitely out.  Asomugha and Shady are "questionable." Trevor Laws is delusional. The coaches are fighting on the sidelines. And the Eagles are playing the Seahawks in Seattle in prime time.

Prediction? Debacle. Also, Seahawks.

In the rest of the matchups

Jets at Redskins: Jets

Chiefs at Bears: Both teams are out of QBs, so Chef Spouse said to go with Brian Urlacher. The Chiefs' D is actually ranked higher than the Bears, but Chef Spouse seemed certain, so...Bears.

Titans at Bills: The Bills, after showing such early season promise, are entering a death spiral, losing 4 of their last 5. In the meantime, with the Texans also out of QBs, the Jags in turmoil (see below), and the Colts WAY out in front in the "Suck for Luck" race, the Titans have a shot at the division. I think they'll keep their eyes on the prize and that Chris Johnson will have a big day against a run defense that's not exactly stifling. Titans.

Raiders at Dolphins: Tony Sparano managed to pull his team together to win enough games to likely knock them out of the Luck race, but the Raiders are like the horse who smells the stable, running for home and their first real shot at the divisional title in, well, a long time (9 years, to be precise).

Bengals at Steelers: Steelers. The Bengals are looking good and could be a wildcard contender this year, but the Steelers are getting on their annual end of season roll, which is damn hard to stop. Just ask, well, the Bengals.

Falcons at Texans: Speaking of teams that are out of QBs, TJ Yates is a 24 year old rookie who's thrown 15 passes and completed 8 in his ENTIRE career. Yeah, Falcons.

Broncos at Vikings: Broncos. Don't question The Tebow.

Panthers at Buccaneers: Panthers. Love me some Cam.

Colts at Patriots: OH THE HUMANITY. Can we invoke the mercy rule so this game doesn't even have to be played? Think Tom Brady will be watching from the owner's box? It's not like they're going to need him on the field to beat the sad sack Colts. Patriots.

Ravens at Browns: Ravens, even though they've had a tendency - like pretty much the entire rest of the league aside from the Packers come to think of it - to drop games they really should win.

Rams at 49ers: 49ers. Move along. Nothing else to see/say here.

Cowboys at Cardinals: It looks like the Cardinals actually did find their QB of the future. No, not Kevin Kolb - John Skelton. But I doubt it will be enough to get past the Cowboys. Well, this year anyway. Cowboys.

Packers at Giants: Packers. Annual Giants end of season slump. How many of those does Tom Coughlin get before he gets fired?

Lions at Saints: Saints. Who are pretty much unbeatable at home.

Chargers at Jaguars: Jack Del Rio got fired this week. Things have to be pretty damn bad for a head coach to get fired mid-season. Hell, Jim Caldwell still has a job. That's how bad things are in Jacksonville. The Chargers will pull out of their six game losing streak. Not that it will help them, since I'm pretty sure they can't leapfrog the Broncos AND the Raiders, and at the rate things are going, both AFC wildcard teams will come from the North. Chargers.

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2010 Week 13 Recap

Eagles v. Texans, Thursday, December 2, 2010

In attendance: not even me! I had dance practice Thursday and had to record the game and watch it Friday night. Of course, I knew how it turned out before I watched it. My media blackout attempts were summarily killed by the Washington Post, which had the score on the front page of the Sports section Friday. Given how the game went down, this was probably a good thing, and no doubt saved me several heart attacks and much screaming and yelling.

Stud of the week: Michael Vick. Not only was his defense not able to hold a 14 point lead, going down by four at one point, and needing him to rally the team to a win, but he did it after getting repeatedly knocked on his ass. Much like a weeble, he kept popping back up. Thank God. Shady had a good game, too, going for 130 combined yards. Anyone else notice how much he's starting to run like BWest? Must be all those screens! Gotta give a shout out to Chef Spouse's boy David Akers, too, who set the franchise record for starts at 184 on Thursday, passing Wolverine, whose starts, let's be honest, were qualitatively different (no disrespect meant to Akers).

So, comments on the game. It's four days after, so the recaps have already hit everywhere but, um, here.

The big stories were:

Michael Vick is one tough mo-fo. Yes, he is. See above. Also, loved the whole "not in OUR house" 4th quarter come-back.

Andy Reid calls out the officials. Glad to see I'm not the only one who notices that some QBs (whose last name may be "Manning") draw 15 yard penalties if your arm glances off their helmet, while some QBs get blatantly face masked (see above, Vick, Michael) or their NOSES get BROKEN (Big Ben and the whole "my nose is now perpendicular to my face" thing on SNF) and...nothing.

Brent Celek and Jason Avant BOTH drop the same TD pass.  C'mon man!

The Vick throw in the 4th quarter when we needed to keep the clock moving. I don't think that was actually a planned throw. Watching it again, the flags were already in by the time Vick threw it away. Andy is not the master of clock management, but I don't think that was him.

And the big one: the defense. OK, the third quarter was not great. But the thing is, the Texans can totes score points. I'm not thrilled that the gave up 2 TDs, but I'm not that surprised, either. It's clear that the Eagles D misses Asante Samuel big time, not least of which because no coach in his right mind wants to throw near him, which allows the rest of the defense to cheat the coverage on his side, leaving them only having to deal with about 2/3 of the field. When they have to cover the WHOLE field, things aren't so good. But again, giving up 24 points to the Texans is not beyond the pale.

4 games left, resurgent Cowboys twice, resurgent Vikings once, and the Giants in their house. The Eagles can't ever do anything the easy way, can they? Go get 'em, boys. (Doing something to reduce penalties might help.)

Around the rest of the NFL...

Saints over Bengals. How do the Bengals go up on the Saints? How, after they've pulled off that feat, do they fall for the oldest trick in the book and jump offsides on the hard count on 4th and 2 at the end of the game? Oh Bungles, it sucks to be you.

Bears over Lions. Have you noticed that the Lions have been in every game this season? If they can just keep Matthew Stafford healthy, they're this close to being good.

Packers over 49ers. Well, yes. And how many tackles did Donald Driver break to put the Pack ahead for good? 4? 5? 137?

Chiefs over Broncos. With the Chargers surprising loss to the Raiders (more on that below), the Chiefs have probably pretty much wrapped up the West. Raise your hand if you saw THAT coming. Also, Josh McDaniels is out. Three head coaches out of 32 are already out. As Chef Spouse observed while cooking dinner tonight, the beheadings don't usually start until January, so they're really ahead of schedule this year.

Browns over Dolphins. Apparently, this was the most boring game since the Steelers beat the Dolphins 3-0 on MNF a few years back (the infamous "the ball actually got stuck in the field" game).

Vikings over Bills.  See, I told you the Vikes should give Tavaris Jackson a shot.

Giants over Redskins. Apparently, the Redskins dragon-style "we suck" suckitude-fu was stronger than DMac's tiger-style "Dear Giants: I own your asses" awesomeness-fu. Also, Fat Albert was apparently having a bad hair day and didn't feel like playing. Also, it would've been REALLY helpful if the Redskins could've pulled off the upset win. Also, perhaps they should fire EVERYONE (including the owner), burn FedEx field to the ground, salt the earth, and start over. Just a suggestion.

Jaguars over Titans. Did I mention that things are going all the way wrong in Tennessee? Because they are.

Raider over Chargers. Have you ever noticed that the second the commentators start making a big deal about something, whether it be "Mike Vick hasn't thrown a single pick all season" or "The Chargers haven't lost in December in FIVE YEARS," it immediately happens?

Rams over Cardinals. Whatever. Apparently, Ditka is also on record as agreeing with me that, if no team in a division finishes above .500, they should automatically lose their playoff spot. Preach, Ditka!

Cowboys over Colts. Well, that was unexpected. Two thoughts: number one, with almost no players left, Peyton Manning is clearly trying to do too much. Number two, maybe changing head coaches mid-season isn't such a bad move after all. At least then no one knows what to expect until they get some film on you. For the Eagles' sake, I hope 4 weeks worth of film on Jason Garrett will be enough.

Seahawks over Panthers. Yawn.

Falcons over Bucs. OK, everyone's now on the whole "Matty Ice is DREAMY" train. I have to point out that the 7-5 Bucs haven't beat any teams with winning records AND the NFC South features the truly awful Panthers. There's 10-2, and then there's 10-2.

Steelers over Ravens. Talk about a slug fest! I mean literally - Ben Roethlisberger's nose got broken. The Ravens dominated the game...up until the very end, when Troy Polamalu forced a Joe Flacco fumble that was recovered by LaMarr Woodley with about 3 minutes left, leading to the Steelers only TD of the evening.

On to Pats/Jets!

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2010 Week 13 Picks

The Texans are, even as I write this, at The Linc, no doubt thinking, "Damn, it's COLD here!"

This has been a relatively high drama week for our beloved Eagles - Andy Reid went all Bill Parcells on the team after the loss to the Bears. Asante's still gimpy. Big Red called out DJax. Rumors have surfaced that his mind is on his contract and not on field. Andre Johnson, the Texans' top receiver, threw down with the Titans' Courtland Finnegan but oddly wasn't suspended, even though helmets came off, punches were thrown, and they were both ejected from the game.

Drama, drama, drama.

But to me, this whole game comes down to one fact: the Texans are 31st in the league against the pass and have given up the most 40+ yard plays of any team. The Eagles offense is 8th in passing yards, and in the top 5 teams in plays of 40+ yards. Don't get me wrong - the Texans have a hot offense, too, #7 overall, and there's a very good chance this turns into a shoot out. But I just don't see them keeping up with us over 60 minutes.

Eagles. And they better win, because I think NFC teams who aren't in the West are going to have to go at least 11-5 to get into the playoffs this year.

In the rest of the matchups:

Broncos at Chiefs - Cheaters never win. Unless they're Bill Belichick. Chiefs.

Bears at Lions - One of these seasons, it's going to be the Lions' year. Looks like this one isn't it, though. Bears.

Redskins at Giants - The Skins are going to get killed. Remember a few years ago, when Osi Umenyiora sacked DMac, like, 300 times? That's going to be mild compared to what's going to go down Sunday. I hope the Redskins still *have* a QB by 4 pm. Giants

Jags at Titans - Things are falling apart fast in Tennessee. Jags.

49ers at Packers - Even with BWest active in the backfield, I gotta go with the Packers.

Bills at Vikings - Vikings. Dear God, if they win a few more games, does that mean we STILL won't be rid of Brett Favre?

Saints at Bengals - Bengals. SIKE! Saints. Of course.

Browns at Dolphins - Dolphins. Although, to be fair, the Browns are looking much improved.

Falcons at Buccaneers - Falcons. Damn, the NFC South is tough this year. Well, other than the Panthers.

Raiders at Chargers - Chargers. It's December.

Cowboys at Colts - Colts. Even if they are starting guys they picked up off the street.

Panthers at Seahawks - Panthers. Think anyone will watch this game?

Rams at Cardinals - Rams. Yuck.

Steelers at Ravens - Ravens. I think this one's going to be a low-scoring nail-biter, but I'm going with the home team. Also, what a great game for SNF!

Jets at Patriots - And speaking of great prime time games, TWO divisional leads on the line two nights in a row. Boo-yah! Also, Jets. I think the Pats' day has passed.

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Sunday Schedule: Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Eagles play on Thursday night this week, which means that I'll be nice and relaxed on Sunday.

1 pm: Redskins at Giants.

4 pm: Cowboys at Colts

SNF: Steelers at Ravens! AWESOME!

MFN: Jets at Patriots! Also AWESOME! Good job with the scheduling this week, NFL!

Menu: Not sure. Chef Spouse won't be home until about mid-way through the Sunday night game, so I'll be cooking again. Maybe four cheese pasta? Thoughts?

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2009 Week 13 Recap

Eagles at Falcons, Sunday, December 6, 2009

In attendance: small crowd - just Shoegal, Chef Spouse and me

Menu: four cheese pasta - yum!

Stud of the week: Mike Vick, who was personally responsible for 14 points. And that was a SWEET swing pass to Brent Celek, by the way. And a nice, if slightly underthrown, long pass to Reggie Brown (no, he's not in the witness protection program).

Big time honorable mention goes to Leonard Weaver, who had another big game for us (including that totally impressive one-handed grab, and too bad he's not as fast as Peanut, or he would've had two TDs, too) and to DMac, who was the picture of class - as always - about Vick's success. Sheldon Brown also gets a mention for picking off Chris Redman, going 83 yards, and taking it to the house on a bum hamstring. Maclin had a good day, too. I nominate Leonard Weaver for the role of Dorsey Levins and/or Duce Staley - the guy who can get 3 yards with half the other team hanging off him. Actually, Leonard can be Duce, and Brent Celek can be Dorsey.

Actually, lots of guys stepped up. Akers, who is leading the league in points, tied his career high 17 field goals in a row. He then missed one (aw, damn!) before making another. LOVED the goal line stand at the end of the half. YOU SHALL NOT PASS! And Asante Samuel must be reading this blog, because he actually STARTED TACKLING. It was impressive.

The zebras were doing their best to keep to keep the Falcons' drives alive - OK, I *guess* Sean Jones did hit Chris Redman in the head with his forearm, although it was clear he was pulling up, but seriously, Quintin Demps 15 yards for tackling a guy who wasn't even down yet? Really? What is this - flag football?

It wasn't perfect - Brent Celek, you MUST block better, we didn't pressure Redman as much as I'd have liked, and we had some dropped potential picks - but we DEMOLISHED the Falcons, so I can't gripe too much. Particularly not with AR likely to get an extension this week (and do follow the link - it actually made me laugh out loud, and not just the lame texting abbreviation thereof).

Around the rest of the NFL...it was bizarro week.

You know how there's one week where you literally get EVERY SINGLE pick wrong? Well, that was pretty much this week for me - I got 7 right, which for those who are good at math, means I've gotten 8 wrong - so far.

Jets over Bills. Well, OK, that wasn't terribly bizarre. But they did lose Mark Sanchez. Which given the way he's been playing recently may not be a bad thing. Who's their #2? Oh right - Kellen Clemens. Yikes.

Panthers over Bucs. I was sure the Bucs were going to snatch one. Wrong.

Bears over Rams. Whatever. What's sorry is that is was 17-9. Because the Rams are awful.

Bengals over Lions. Again, yawn. Even OchoCinco's celebration was kind of dull. OK, I get the Fiesta Bowl link, but a sombrero? That was worth a fine?

Colts over Titans. Damn. I was sure the Titans would continue their win streak. Sigh.

Jaguars over Texans. When you're featured on the Monday Night Countdown "C'mon Man!" segment, it is not a good sign.

Broncos over Chiefs. Even if the Broncos are having a late-season swoon, the win over the Chiefs was still a gimme. Matt Cassel sure was worth all that coin, wasn't he?

Dolphins over Pats. OH MY GOD! Go Dolphins! Also, did you like how Rocks threw his team under the bus after HIS interception killed their final chance to win? Um, the rest of the team may have had problems throughout the game - and the defense is certainly struggling - but YOU threw the pick all on your own, donkey.

Raiders over Steelers. I know I just said this, but OH MY GOD!!!! I don't feel so bad about losing to the Raiders now. Who knew that Bruce Gradkowski was the answer? Wait - what was the question? Also, their head coach is still an ass. Just FYI.

Saints over Redskins. You know how it's better to be lucky than good? It's best to be both - and NOT have Shaun Suisham as your kicker.

Chargers over Browns. The only thing that was surprising about this game was that the Chargers only won by 7.

Giants over Cowboys. BWAHAHAHAHA! Tony Romo actually played reasonably well. It's just the rest of the team that sucked. 31-24 doesn't really reflect how dominant the Giants were over the Cowboys. Also, Flozell Adams is an ass. PS: I love December!

Seahakws over 49ers. Who cares? Really - who cares? Do the fans even care? NFC West is so sorry. Well, except for....

Cardinals over Vikings. Wilbon mentioned in the Sunday WaPo that the Vikings have been feasting on a bad schedule. I think it may be time for famine. Also, did you see how many picks Vicodin Boy threw? LOVE! Guess who else tends to have trouble in December... And, while players are getting pantsed and all, could someone swing that on Larry Fitz? I'd love to see a little more of the Best Butt in Football.

In the meantime, we need to decorate the Christmas tree (which finally stopped dripping all over the floor, after getting it in the snow - IN THE SNOW - on Saturday), and the Ravens need to go lose to the Packers. I would point out that it would help us if the Ravens could pull out the surprise win, except we're going to win NFC East, so it won't matter!

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Sunday Schedule: December 6, 2009

We're down to the wire! Which means the Annual Cowboys Collapse is due, oh, about now. YAY! Sunday's games:

1 pm: Eagles/Falcons
4 pm: Cowboys/Giants
8 pm: Vikings/Cardinals

MNF: Ravens/Packers

Menu? Chef Spouse has been mum so far. So apparently, it's Mystery Menu week. Call Sunday morning if you need more deets.

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2009 Week 13 Picks

It's go time! December, final quarter of the season, the run the playoffs. It's on, baby!

Up next for the boys in midnight green: the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles are hurting. Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and I were chatting this afternoon, are we surmised that Westy is out for the season, UNLESS (until) we get in the playoffs. They're still "keeping an eye on" Peanut. We're banged up in almost all areas of our team, and we still have major linebacker issues. The only two who seem fully healthy (knock wood) are DMac and Akers (who was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November. Congratulations, David!).

On the other side of the ball, Matt Ryan is definitely out for Sunday, and Michael Turner is unlikely. Which is good news for us. I'd feel even better if someone could lock Tony Gonzalez in a closet somewhere. The Falcons are desperate, battling to stay in the wildcard race. And they're playing at home. And they're 5-0 at home this season.

But it's December. It's our time now. Look for the Eagles to keeping rolling and keep up the pressure on the Cowboys, with a key win in Atlanta.

Jets/Bills. The most interesting part of this game is the fact that it's being played in Toronto. Why can't the NFL Network get decent games? You'd think they would have an in. Jets.

Bucs/Panthers. Bucs. Upset pick. They almost sneaked past the Falcons last week, and I think they will pull off the win this week. Not that it really matters for either of these teams. If you're not at least at .500 at this point, it ain't gonna happen, homes.

Rams/Bears. Bears. Because when you're playing the Rams, it doesn't matter how bad your QB is, he's still the best QB on the field.

Lions/Bengals. Bengals. Who are going to the playoffs. Where I think they're going to get creamed. But that's later.

Titans/Colts. I keep picking against the Colts, and I'm almost always wrong. But I don't think I will be this week. Titans.

Texans/Jaguars. OK, the Texans really *should* win this game, and I'm not even joking this time. Texans.

Broncos/Chiefs. The Broncos have definitely not been delivering on their 6-0 promise in the past few weeks, but they'll win this one, just in time to give their fans a little 2-game-winning-streak hope, just before they yank the rug out again. Next week. Broncos.

Patriots/Dolphins. The Saints have just shown us the way to beat the Pats - and get Belichick to bench Rocks Brady in the process (I still can't believe they GAVE UP with 5+ minutes left!) - be unstoppable on offense. Sadly, that is not a feat the Dolphins can duplicate. Pats.

Raiders/Steelers. The Steelers are struggling mightily - and mostly unsuccessfully - this season. But they'll be successful this week. Steelers.

Saints/Redskins. The Redskins have been playing better. And the Saints may not go undefeated this season. But they will this week. Saints.

Chargers/Browns. Chargers. Also, ouch.

Cowboys/Giants. I think the Cowboys are f-ed. It's December, Tony Romo is still taking the snaps, and they finish the season Giants, Chargers, Saints, Redskins, and us. I see them going 1-4 over the final 5 games. But *this* week is the game they'll win. Cowboys.

49ers/Seahawks. Man, is the NFC West bad. Just like last year. Only one team about .500 (Cardinals), and they're 7-4. Then again, they did the same last year, and they went to the Super Bowl. Which just goes to show that you never know. Except I know that the 49ers will win. Speaking of the Cards...

Vikings/Cardinals. Vikings. Not that it really matters, because if they can get to 8-8, the Cards will probably win their division. Did I mention that the NFC West is really, really bad?

Ravens/Packers. Much as a Ravens win would help us in the wildcard race (although I hope it won't matter because we'll win the division), I don't think they'll pull it off. Packers.

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