2010 Week 5 Picks

So there was this post on Philly.com today about how the Eagles are so terrible, and it either means the coaches are awful or the team has no talent. 

Here's a hypothesis:  the team's average age is 15.  They're not terrible - the coaches aren't the worst since Bum Phillips - they're YOUNG.  Many of our starters are within their first couple of years in the NFL.  Yeah, no one wants to say "rebuilding" but that's what we're doing. 

Oh - and Sunday's game?  We don't do well historically in prime time or going west, and we're missing a lot of guys (Vick, Asante Samuel, Riley Cooper, in addition to the guys who are out for the season) - and LeSean McCoy is playing with a broken rib.  And we're terrible against the run - ever heard of a guy named Frank Gore?

Yes, I'm calling 49ers.  They have to win sometime

In the rest of the matchups:

Bears at Panthers:  Da Bears.  They might not be as good as they looked at 3-0, but they're not as bad as the Panthers.

Falcons at Browns:  Falcons.  That thing with the Bengals last week?  Fluke.
 
Packers at Redskins:  Packers.  Although I'd love to see McNabb smoke the team that busted our asses in the first week.  But I'm pretty sure the Packers offense is too high powered for the still-adjusting-to-the-3-4-system Redskins

Rams at Lions:  Rams.  Who have apparently improved this year.  Go Spags!

Chiefs at Colts:  Colts.  I'm still not buying the Chiefs, and the Colts are better than their 2-2 record.

Broncos at Ravens:  Ravens.  Kyle Orton tries to throw for a million yards, he's going to get picked a million times.

Buccaneers at Bengals:  Bengals.  I think.  But they could be imploding already.  Which is a little ahead of schedule, to be honest.

Jaguars at Bills:  Bills.  Jags are in for a let down after their win over the Colts.

Giants at Texans:  Texans.  Despite their win over the Bears last week, I really don't think the Giants are all that good this year.  And I do think the Texans are good, despite their loss to the bloody Cowboys.

Saints at Cardinals:  Saints.  They have to lose eventually, but I don't think it's going to be this week,
even with Drew Brees hurting.

Titans at Cowboys:  Titans.  But this one's kind of a push, because the Titans are all about the run and the Cowboys have been stout against the run so far this year.  Then again, you can't stop Chris Johnson - you can only hope to contain him. 

Chargers at Raiders:  Chargers.  I can call them if they're not blacked out at home.

Vikings at Jets:  Jets, although now that Randy Moss is back in purple, this is going to be a much more interesting game.

On bye: Patriots, Dolphins, Seahawks, Steelers

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Sunday Schedule: Sunday, October 10, 2010

This week brings our first prime-time game of the 2010 season, where we will be facing a 49ers team desperate for a win. But prior to that:

1 pm: Packers at Redskins (we'll have Giants at Texans on the computer)
4 pm: Titans at Cowboys
8 pm: Eagles at 49ers
MNF: Vikings at Jets




Menu:  we'll be Food Labbing this weekend,  doing our first ever two day lab on butter-based doughs.  Which automatically leads to:  all day brunch!  We'll be making brioche and croissants (or at least trying to), which will lead to filled croissants, brioche, brioche French toast, omelettes, fruit compote, brunchy drinks...bring something to go with.  And up your game, because we'll have 6 serious cooks in the house.

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2010 Week 4 Recap

Eagles v. Redskins, Sunday, October 3, 2010

In attendance: HUGE crowd. Chef Spouse, Shoegal, Black & Gold Raquette (newbie), Tweety Monster, Fellow Eagles Maniac, McLovin, KiKi & the fam (newbie), Wingman, Mr. Wingman, and Theater Geek, Hon (newbie). It was nice of everyone to show up and try to distract me from the horror on the field.

Menu: guacamole and chips, cheese and crackers, fruit, veg and dip, and Chef Spouse's amazing guacamole. And many, many watermelon margaritas.

Stud of the game: I can't say Donovan, can I? Then my second choice would have to be LeSean McCoy who, although he didn't get in the endzone, had 174 yards combined rushing and receiving...up until he broke his rib. DJax? Nothing. Maclin? Nothing? Celek? The TD grab, but otherwise nothing.

We were just outplayed, out coached, and out passioned. You would not believe how many player interviews there have been in DC about how much the whole team wanted to win this for McNabb. And Shanny gamed planned what we've all been screaming for AR to do for years - not place the ENTIRE success of the offense on Donny's arm.

Speaking of Big Red, is Andy Reid's main problem as a coach that he just can't make quick decisions? Case in point 1: the timeout debacle at the end of the first half. Case in point 2: the LeSean McCoy fumble that was originally not counted as a fumble, until we didn't get the next play off and Shanny had time to challenge - and win.

And penalties! Why do we ALWAYS have so many PENALTIES? How can the guys - both coaches and players - not understand how that just DESTROYS drives? And at home! We don't even have the hostile crowd noise excuse.

Our special teams continues to be the kind of special that involves the short bus.

And the thing that really worried me was that after Vick went down and K2 went in with a chance to win the game and earn the starting job back, he mostly just looked lost.

At the end, we were left hoping DMac would throw a pick. And considering that he'd already thrown one, which is rare enough, it would've been more likely for Sasquatch and Nessie to show up at my front door toting seven layer dip. That is not a game plan.

And now Vick is injured and it was on a play when he didn't get into the endzone in the first place AND the whole play got called back because of a (say it with me, kids) PENALTY.

I quote DJax: “We’ve just got to find different ways of getting open and sitting in the holes, we’re not always going to be able to be running down the field and scoring these long touchdowns.”

Except that's pretty much been the sum total of the offense for the past 11 years. "O-line, you stay in to block. Everyone else, go long. Donovan, bomb it on down there." And it mostly worked, most of the time.

Sigh.

On the up side, I hear Jeff Garcia's available.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Jets over Bills: Raise your hand if this surprises you. (cue the tumbleweeds and coyotes)

Browns over Bengals: Of course, TO got a TD, so as far as he's concerned, HE won. In other news, I think Carson Palmer may be pretty much done. And the Browns actually won a game! I'm guessing they should continue to sit Jake Delhomme indefinitely.

Ravens over Steelers: Helluva game. Black & Gold Raquette about had a heart attack. Every time I start thinking Joe Flacco's not that special, he pulls off a game winning drive in about 35 seconds. And this was his first win in the Burgh.

Broncos over Titans: Do the Broncos even have any running backs on the roster at this point? You wouldn't know it from the way they're playing. And who knew Kyle Orton had those kind of throws in him?

Packers over Lions: But just barely. The Lions do seem to be improving. Now if they could just improve enough to, you know, actually WIN some games. Still, good effort!

Falcons over 49ers: Also just barely. We were watching Ravens/Steelers on the TV with Panthers/Saints on the computer, but it looked like the 49ers were going to walk away with this one...at least in the first quarter. I like Singletary, and he's fun to watch, but this team has got to pull it together and fast.

Saints over Panthers: Barely, and it didn't look like the Saints were going to pull it off. I guess every team needs a good scare now and again.

Rams over Seahawks: Hm. Are the Rams better, or are the Seahawks who we thought they were (prior to those 2 wins)? At least the Rams didn't let them off the hook.

Jaguars over Colts: 59 yard field goal at the buzzer! Oh man, we've been there...

Texans over Raiders: Notice who's atop the AFC South so far? Told you so!

Chargers over Cardinals: Whatever. I'm still picking against the Chargers at home every time they're blacked out. Punk-ass fans.  This is FOOTBALL, bitches!

Giants over Bears: The Bears STUNK IT UP. Cutler got sacked 9 times. Oh man, we're been there, too. I guess this Halloween you should show up at Jay Cutler's house dressed as Osi Umenyiora. It's amazing he still knows his name and where he lives.

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2010 Week 4 Picks

This game is huge. HUGE! DMac comes back to the Linc for the first time as a Redskin. You KNOW he has a huge chip on his shoulder, starting with the infamous draft day booing and going all the way up to this past Easter weekend:

Ring...ring...

"McNabb residence, this is Donovan speaking."

"Don."

"Happy Easter, Coach Reid!  Mormons do celebrate Easter, right?"

"Yes, Don.  Listen, I've got some bad news for you."

"You re-signed TO?"

"No - we traded you to the Redskins 5 minutes ago.  Your stuff is in a box outside the NovaCare complex.  You can pick it up whenever you like.  We changed the locks.  And gave your parking space to Kevin Kolb."

"Well, at least I don't have to play with that self-centered douchebag Terrell Owens again."

Although I was concerned that I'd be conflicted about this game, I find that I'm not.  I definitely want the Eagles to win.  I'm just not sure we can.

I know - we're atop the division (for all that means in week 4) and the Skins have been abysmal the past two weeks. But McNabb knows everything about our O and D inside out.  You better believe he's shared that ALL with the Skins coaches in the scouting sessions.

Of course, the Eagles have the offensive player of the month in Michael Vick and the defensive rookie of the month in Nate Allen.   Towards whom Big5 will be throwing.  To two wideouts who are, collectively, older than the rapidly-melting glaciers.

And, of course, divisional games are always wacky.  As I explained to someone recently, "any given Sunday" is quadrupley true when it's an in division game.  

On the other hand, is the "new" Mike Vick permanent?  We've beat two pretty bad teams (the Lions and the Jags), and although he played well in the second half against the Packers, he couldn't bring us back.  In other words, he's looking brilliant against scrubs.  On the other hand, he's been great in the red zone.  And many would argue that the Skins are scrubs this year, of course, but again, "any given Sunday."

Of course, the Redskins have been terrible in the red zone. The fact that they've almost universally chosen run plays (and they have NO ground game this year) hasn't stopped the Philly sportswriters from blaming it on McNabb.

And now we're back to that whole "chip on the shoulder" thing - last season's two end games against the Cowboys aside, McNabb generally plays better when he's playing with a chip on his shoulder.  Seems to help him focus.  But that lack of a ground game means our D will pretty much be safe blitzing (which we love to do) and blanketing the wideouts and jumping routes to come up with picks.

Verdict:  I'm a mess about this game, I can't wait until Sunday, and I hope the Eagles can pull off a win, which I don't think is nearly the sure thing lots of people seem to think it is.

For the other games:

Jets at Bills:  J-E-T-S- JETS JETS JETS!  The Bills, while better than last year, are still not that great.  And after a shaky start, Sanchez is looking more comfortable and confident the last two weeks.  I'd feel pretty good, too, if I managed to spank the Patriots.

Bengals at Browns:  What is wrong with Carson Palmer?  Batman and Robin are unrelenting trouble, but they're also really, really talented. And they've barely smelled the endzone this year.  That can't last - either they'll start hitting, Palmer will be replaced, or one or both of their heads will explode.  Bengals.

Ravens at Steelers:  The Steelers are 3-0, but they've beat the Falcons, the Titans, and the Bucs.  Who actually, now that I look at it, are all 2-1.  Hm.  I did call the Ravens to win the division, so I think that means I have to go with the Purple Menace.  But I'm far from convinced.

Broncos at Titans:  Hm - Broncos are 6th against the run in the AFC, and the Titans bread and butter is RB Chris Johnson.  I'm going out on a limb and calling Broncos.

Lions at Packers:  The Lions are better this year, but not that much better.  Packers.

49ers at Falcons:  The 49ers better f-ing pull it together this week, or it's game over.  Literally. I think this is the week.  49ers.

Panthers at Saints:  Watch the Saints bounce back big against the hapless Panthers.  Is it too early to talk about John Fox losing his job?

Seahawks at Rams:  The Seahawks are surprising in a big way this year, and the Rams win last week was a fluke.  Seahawks.

Colts at Jaguars:  Colts.  The Jags suck.  You heard it here first.

Texans at Raiders:  Hogs Haven, the Redskins SB Nation blog, had a really funny feature about a week ago:  Graph Jam style joke pictures.  One was a pie chart of what Redskins fans thought of Jason Campbell in 2009 versus 2010.  2009?  Divided between things like:  too many system changes, bad coaching, no wideouts, nice guy, etc. 2010?  100% "He stinks."  Of course, Bruce Gradkowski is now under center, and he does seem to be an upgrade.  But he's like upgrading from a Yugo to Taurus.  And you need a BMW to beat the Texans these days.

Cardinals at Chargers:  Can you believe the Chargers game is going to be blacked out AGAIN?  Based on that alone, they HAVE to lose.  Cardinals.

Bears at Giants:  Bears.  Who are looking way, way better this year.  And the Giants are WAY worse.  Maybe bad enough that they should have their NFC East membership cards yanked.  And (and I know you'll be SHOCKED to hear this) the players don't like Tom Coughlin very much.  Because he seems
like such a sweetheart, you know?

Patriots at Dolphins:  Dolphins.  Go Fins!

On bye:  Cowboys, Chiefs Vikings, Buccaneers.

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Sunday Schedule: Sunday, October 3, 2010

BIG week. DMac returns to the Linc for the first time as a Redskin.  Get your popcorn - and probably your asbestos underwear.

Game schedule:

1 pm: With the bye weeks starting, there's no NFC East game in the 1 pm spot. I'm inclined to go with Ravens at Steelers.
4 pm: Redskins at Eagles. CAN. NOT. WAIT.
8 pm: Bears at Giants.  Not that this won't at least potentially be a good game, but do you think the NFL suits are kicking themselves about not putting the Eagles/Skins game in the Sunday prime time spot?  I do.
MNF: Patriots at Dolphins

Menu:  Tweety Monster will be joining us and has requested shrimp etouffee (which fits in nicely with my need to start using some of the many bags of shrimp I've recently picked up at the grocery store due to good sales that are now filling my party overflow freezer and stealing valuable space from extra ice).  Bring something (New Orleans themed?) to go with.

Edited to add:  Upon reflection, we're NOT doing the etouffee this week because, looking in the fridge this morning I realized/remembered that we also have a bunch of okra we need to use up.  So we are sticking with the NOLA theme, but we're doing gumbo instead.

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2010 Week 3 Recap

Eagles at Jaguars, Sunday, September 26, 2010
In attendance:  EVERYONE turned out for You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad's birthday celebration:  Chef Spouse, Shoegal, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom, Ex-Navycheese Head, Tall Drink of Water Cousin (and his wife and new baby),  Fellow Eagles Maniac, and the Queen Bee.  Full house!

Menu:  Ribs, mac and cheese, crudities, sweet potatoes, various dips (including the legendary guacamole), cookies, apple pie.  URP!

Stud of the week:  Trevor Laws, who recorded 6 tackles, a sack, and 2 deflected passes on a day when our D only allowed 3 points.

We DOMINATED.  We TOTALLY DOMINATED.  OK, it was a bad team, but still - good day for You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad's birthday fete.  The offense was quite good, putting up 28 points, but the D played hard for the entire game.  After almost giving up a huge lead over the Lions last week (and watching what happened with the Redskins), that's huge.

Do you think the "QB controversy" talk will die down this week?  With McNabb coming home Sunday, probably not.  But the Vick decision looked pretty good this week.  He missed some open guys, and there were some really off passes, but he went 17/31 for almost 300 yards, 3 TD, and no picks (and a win), so I'm not gonna gripe too hard.  Other than the fact that he hangs onto the ball too long and takes sacks he doesn't need to.  Not only is getting sacked a bad thing in the whole "we need to get 10 yards for a first down" sense, it's also bad to subject your body to that kind of pounding.

Is Jeremy Maclin a TD machine?  Time will tell, but so far this season, yes.

I would like to see Brent Celek more involved - he is Mr. Earning Hard YAC - and Jason Avant - Mr. Sure Hands - too, and DeSean, I know you're amazing, but could you please pay attention to where the down markers are, donkey?  But seriously, not too much to complain about.   Also, maybe you and Celek should compare notes so you don't run the same route into each other.  Because he's way bigger than you, and running into him full speed will, sooner or later, not be a good thing.

Finally, how different is our D with and without Stewart Bradley?  No more concussions, young man.  We need you.

On to REDSKINS week and the return of DMac.

Around the rest of the NFL....

Man, I did BAD with my picks this week.  In my defense, there were a lot of upsets, but still, I did B-A-D this week.

Titans over Giants:  Who are a mess, by the way.  Apparently, some of the new players they've signed don't like Tom Coughlin much.  There's a shocker.  Yes, I thought it was funny when Brandon Jacobs threw his helmet into the stands last week (particularly when the guy who caught it wouldn't give it back), but things are not right in NY these days.

Bengals over Panthers:  Man, the AFC North is looking tough this year.  Poor Browns.  Also, poor Jimmy Clausen, who's going to get his ass kicked again next week against the Saints, too.

Steelers over Bucs:  Guys?  If you can win without Roethlisberger, which you clearly can (and which supports my theory that he's an average QB riding a stout defense), maybe you might want to think about making that permanent.  Not least of which because, as I've mentioned before, he's a misogynistic date rapist.  Just sayin'.

Pats over Bills:  Not only did Trent Edwards get benched BEFORE the game, he got cut today.  In other news, the continuing quality QB drought is reaching epic proportions.

Ravens over Browns:  Well, yes, but they may have lost Ray Rice in the process, which is bad.  What wasn't bad was Joe Flacco.  Then again, he was facing the Browns' secondary, which is going to make, well, Trent Edwards look like Dan Marino.

 Chiefs over 49ers:  I'm starting to think I was wrong about BOTH of these teams.
 
 Cowboys over Texans:  GODDAMNIT!

Vikings over Lions:  So maybe I was wrong about that whole "trap game" thing.  Looks like the Vikings remembered they have this guy?  You might have heard of him?  Adrian Peterson?  On the team?  I still think there's a very good chance Favre retires - again - after this year and McNabb becomes the Vikings' starting QB.

Falcons over Saints:  OMG!  In other news, the Saints are auditioning new kickers.  Also in other news, I would be SO happy if coaches would dump the punk move of "icing" kickers with a last second time out.  Which totally bit the Saints this week. Everyone? You're on notice!

Rams over Redskins:  OMG OMG OMG!  Donovan usually puts in at least one inexplicable clunker each year.   The Redskins always put in at least one inexplicable clunker each year.  This was bound to happen.  Still, definitely not confidence boosting as they look to coming to Philly next week.

Colts over Broncos:  Well, yes.  Kyle Orton versus Peyton Manning?  That truly is no contest.

Cardinals over Raiders:  Whatever. Now that the Raiders have decided to sit Jason Campbell - which, by the way, is clearly the right decision - I've really lost interest.  There was a really funny post at Hogs Haven, the Redskins Sports Blog Nation blog a few days ago.  It was a bunch of made up graphics on Redskins fan attitudes, 2009 versus 2010.  The first one was a pie chart of what people thought about Campbell in 2009, and there were slices for nice guy, too many systems to learn too fast, bad O-line, bad playcalling, bad receivers, etc.  The second graphic?  What people think of him now.  100% "he stinks."  Yeah, maybe.

Seahawks over Chargers:  What is going on with the Chargers this year?  I do not know, but they better pull it together or the Chiefs might just sneak off with the division.

Jets over Dolphins:  That was one hell of a game.  Too busy with Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men to catch it?  Keep an eye on NFL Replay - I am SURE it will be one of this week's choices.  

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2010 Week 3 Picks

Seriously, people, hold on to your hats. Jamal Jackson and Leonard Weaver are out for the season. Mike McGlynn's the center. The O-line is in turmoil. Stewart Bradley's recovering from a concussion.

Never fear! Mike Vick to the rescue - or Kevin Kolb - no, no Mike Vick. Definitely Mike Vick.  At least for the next 10 minutes.

One thing that's marked the Andy Reid era in Philly is certainty.  Agree with him or not, he always seems to know what he's doing.  Actually, he doesn't care whether or not you agree with him.  He prefers that you DON'T agree with him.

Well, the pundits have fallen in line and pretty much everyone's praising Reid's brilliance in promoting Vick to starter and benching K2. Brilliance, or recognition that we have serious problems on the O-line? Tomayto, tomahto.

All I know is that if Vick wants to keep his starting job, the team better win this week.

And I can't believe we're hanging the hopes of the franchise on someone who seems kind of unstable.  Oh DMac, I miss you so.

Pick?  Eagles - I was planning to spend this season laughing at our mis-steps while we tried to rebuild the team.  Guess that will have to wait until next year, because at least through the first two weeks, the NFC East looks like it's someone's for the taking.  Why not us?

Titans at Giants:  Titans.  Just a hunch, but I suspect Chris Johnson will have a big day.

Bengals at Panthers:  Bengals.  On the Always Pick the AFC rule alone.  But Ochocinco needs to get his ass in gear.  Less reality TV drama, more focus dude.

Steelers at Bucs:  The Bucs have had a (brief) Cinderella ride to get to 2-0.  It ends here.  Steelers.  Even with Charlie Batch under center.

Bills at Patriots:  Everyone's saying that Trent Edwards needs to play better or risk getting benched.  You know what's going to happen Monday?  Trent Edwards is going to get benched.  Patriots.

Browns at Ravens:  Eventually, the Browns might face a team they could conceivably beat.  But not this week.

49ers at Chiefs:  The Chiefs Cinderella start ends this week, too.  The 49ers are ripe to right their ship.  OK, I guess that Always Pick the AFC rule isn't in effect 100% of the time.

Cowboys at Texans:  The Cowboys totally need to win this game to keep their locker room - and fan base - from descending into absolute chaos.  Next stop?  Absolute chaos.  Texans.

Lions at Vikings:  The Vikings are, according to Favre, "desperate." Their answer?  Hank Baskett.  Wrong answer.   This has "trap game" written all over it.  Lions.

Falcons at Saints:  Matt Ryan's another QB who needs to pick it up, but I don't see the Saints losing to divisional rival The Dirty Birds at home.  Saints.

Redskins at Rams:  Skins.  Not only are they the new Team of Destiny, they're pretty good this year.  And the Rams aren't.  At all.

Colts at Broncos:  Colts.  Jeff Saturday's back, the O-line is working right again, Peyton's not getting hurried, and all is right in Indianapolis.

Raiders at Cardinals:  Worst Game of the Week.  What a mess.  Raiders, with new QB Bruce Gradkowski.

Chargers at Seahawks:  The Seahawks shocked the 49ers week one.  Think they can do it again?  Me neither.  Chargers.

Jets at Dolphins:  Game of the Week.  Get your popcorn!  Dolphins, but this is going to be a Battle Royale.

Packers at Bears:  There's 2-0, and then there's 2-0.  Packers

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