I am finally back. I have my life in order, and all is well on the homefront. Now I have time to talk about sports again. I am going to talk about everything new in this comeback article. Lets get to it!
I am not going to talk about the O's until the offseason when Peter Angelos does nothing to help the team again. I haven't watched a game in a month because I am tired of cheering for a losing team. The wheels on the wagon fell off, way off. Football talk is what I am interested in right now. I am also going to add the Redskins to my blog. They are my first love in football, and I no longer write about them on another site.
NFC East:
The talk of the town is the match-up on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys and Indians are going out in the classic rivalry game. Both teams are 1-0 after week 1. The 'Skins still can't decide which quarterback they want to play. The QB-go-round starts again in D.C, with the players being being Ramsey, Brunell, and Campbell this year. In week two, Joe Gibbs is going to start Mark Brunell at QB to face the Dallas Cowgirls. Mark took over last week when Patrick Ramsey was clothes lined by a Chicago Bear, and Gibbs never looked back. I don't agree with this decision, but what do I know.
Pick:Redskins by 7
The Giants looked surprisingly good last week against a much improved Cardinals team. They put up 42 points on the old NFC East team. This week, the NY Giants are facing the displaced N.O. Saints in what was suppose to be a home opener for the Ain'ts. The Saints surprised the heck out of the Panthers last week, by winning with a game ending field goal. Are the Ain'ts finally going to play up to their potential? They have had the talent for 5 years now, but Saints haven't been able to be consistant. Maybe this year, but they are going to lose this one.
Pick:Giants by 3
Lastly, the Philly Eagles are up against the 49ers this weekend. This should be no contest. The Eagles lost against the Falcons last MNF game in a very low scoring game. The difference this week will be that the Niners don't have a running game to keep McNabb and company off the field. Futhermore, Philly has a great secondary led by Dawkins. There is nothing more to say.
Pick:Eagles by 21
AFC East:
The Ravens looked horrible on offense against the Colts soft defense. Kyle Boller was knocked out of the game, not that he was doing much, with a foot injury. Enter Anthony Wright. Wright couldn't miss the middle linebacker as a reciever, it is just to bad that the Colts don't play in B-More anymore. The Ravens defense kept them in the game for most of the game, until they just got too worn out. With the exeption of a couple of coverages, the new 4-6 worked out pretty good all-in-all. The new leader of the defense, Ed Reed, isn't full strength with a thigh injury. Reed's replacement, Chad Williams, muffed some cover 2 coverages. With all of this crap going on, the Titans are still no match for the Ravens. Salary cap issues got the better of the Titans this year, and they will just be a speed bump for the AFC this year. This newer rivalry doesn't have any juice to it this game.
Pick:Ravens by 10
Next on the list is the Pittsburg Steelers going against the Texans. Sorry Texas, the Steelers haven't missed a beat from last year to this year. They are just as good, even with Paxico in NY and both runningbacks hurt.
Pick:Steelers by 28
The Bengals got off on the right foot by defeating their instate rivals, the Browns, last week. The Bengals dominated on all aspects of the against the Browns, and they seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. But don't count your eggs yet. The Vikings are coming to town with a Moss-less revamped defensive team. If Culpepper can hold onto the ball, the Vikings are a huge aerial threat. With some additions to their defense, mainly Fred Smoot, they could make Carson look like a rookie all over again. The major reason I like Minnesota to win this game is because they win early in the season.
Pick:Vikings
Of course, bringing up the rear is the Browns. They got smacked like a little girl against Cincy, and they get to travel into Green Bay. Green Bay didn't look any better against the Lions. This game has the potential of being a sloppy bad game with neither team doing anything. But if I would have to pick, I would go with Bret.
Pick:Packers
The Terps:
After the battle called the Clemson Vs. Maryland game, the Terps welcome in West Virginia to Byrd Stadium. I hear a blowout coming to WV. In the famous words of Forest Gump, "Thats all I got to say 'bout that."
I need some help with my blog. I do some freelance writing for other websites and I have a lot of personal things going on right now. I could really use some help from fans that want their voice heard. If anyone is interested in writing on this blog about all or one of the local sports, please send me an email.
I am preparing for my wedding on Saturday, and I can't keep up with the news this week. All I can really say is how great the O's played in the All-Star game and congrats to Miggy for the MVP. I hope I can write more next week.
I will not be able to post until this weekend at the earliest. I am sorry for the inconvience, but my schedule is too hectic to post.
I am sorry for the way this site has been looking this week, but I was changing formats and trying to figure it out. I almost have it the way I want it, but not quite. Hopefully I haven't lost to many of you. If this site doesn't look quite right, refresh the site.
The only thing that has happened this week with our teams is that the O's have traded Matt Riley to Texas for infielder/outfielder Ramon Navar. I don't really know much about him other then he was doing really good in spring training for Texas. I think he was hitting over .300, but that is all I know. Navar and Eric Dubose have been optioned down to the minor leagues.
I am sorry for the way this site has been looking this week, but I was changing formats and trying to figure it out. I almost have it the way I want it, but not quite. Hopefully I haven't lost to many of you. If this site doesn't look quite right, refresh the site.
The only thing that has happened this week with our teams is that the O's have traded Matt Riley to Texas for infielder/outfielder Ramon Navar. I don't really know much about him other then he was doing really good in spring training for Texas. I think he was hitting over .300, but that is all I know. Navar and Eric Dubose have been optioned down to the minor leagues.
I just changed my template today. I want some feedback from my readers, so please leave me a comment on whether or not you like this look of my template or like the black one.
I have moved my Redskins articles to another site. If you want to read my article about the Redskins, you can go to HOG HEAVEN.
Do you want to join a free fantasy baseball league? Just follow the email address below and join up. Only two more spots to fill before we can draft. evan@mostvaluablenetwork.com
Every Monday until the regular season, I will cover what has happened at spring training.
The Redskins completed a deal with the Jets that swapped receivers. Laveraneus Coles went to the Jets for Santana Moss Saturday, with the Redskins only paying 5 million of Coles bonus money. The day before (Friday), the Redskins signed David Patten to a three year deal. The receiving corps will look totally different come this next season. Rod Gardner is still seeking a trade, so no starting receiver will return for the Redskins. The Redskins do have depth at receiver with Darnerien McCants, James Thrash, and Taylor Jacobs fighting for the 3rd receiver spot. With the addition of Moss and Patten, the Redskins will be able to stretch the field and create more opportunities. The also signed center Casey Rabach to 13.75 million/ 5 year deal with a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus, which will solidify the line and give Patrick Ramsey the time to get the ball to his new receivers. The Redskins still need to sign a cornerback.
Rod Gardner and Laveranues Coles want out of their contracts with the Redskins organization. Gardner was given permission to seek out a trade with other teams, while Coles wants to be a free agent. The Coles situation right now is more interesting, for he agreed to give back some of his signing bonus to help out with the salary cap if he is released. The Redskins are currently in talks with the Jets to trade Coles for Santana Moss. As a 'Skins fan, I think this would be a good trade if Coles pays back some of his bonus money, which may not happen. The other option the Redskins have is to keep the disgruntle employee in a Redskins uniform.
Rumors are flying around right now about what is going to happen with Laveranues Coles. Right now, it looks like Coles will be staying with the Redskins, for the Redskins will not release him. Another rumor that is going around is a possible trade with the Jets for Coles. Joe Gibbs at first denied reports of Coles not wanting to return with the Redskins. I personally feel it would be a huge mistake by the Redskins to trade or release Coles. He has been the Redskins best reciever the last 2 years and the only reciever who can catch the football on a regular bases.
Lamar Marshall re-signed with the Redskins this past week. He filled the shoes of Lavar Arrington last season after being a special teams stand out. He is a great re-signing, for Lamar may not be able to break the starting linebackers but will be a great back up in case someone goes down or needs rest. He signed a 3 year/ 2 million dollar deal. Renaldo Wynn and Jon Janson restuctured their contracts to clear cap room and go under the salary cap by around 2 million dollars.
Brian Mitchell is going to retire as a Redskin next week. He is going to sign a one day deal with the Redskins to retire where he started his career. Brian was last in a Giants uniform and played for the Eagles, he was not really an impact player with the Giants or Eagles. He is one of the greatest return men in history and as a third down running back. His biggest strength as a running back was catching the ball out of the backfield. He set nine total records that include combined kick return yards (19,013), combined kick returns (1,070), combined kick returns for a touchdown (13), kickoff return yards (14,014), kickoff returns (607), punt return yards (4,999), punt returns (463) and fair catches (231). He was the best thing to happen to the Redskins in the 90's. Brian was the bright spot for the Redskins during this time, and it is great that he will retire as one.
The last week I missed a lot of news and I will do a quick recap. The Terps suck again, Sosa became a Oriole, and the Superbowl was horrible. After the Terps won 2 games against ranked teams (Duke and GT), the Terps get ranked again and then lose to two of the worse teams in the ACC. No one could shot the ball and the whole team made stupid mistakes in both Clemson and Miami games. Miami was the worse of the 2 teams because they were playing a freaking zone defense. How can you not score on a zone defense, I will never know. The Terps team this year is worse then last years team with the same players. Next game is against VT on Tuesday and I am still trying to decide whether or not to watch it. Sosa became an Oriole and added another big bat to the lineup. Yes, Sammy Sosa has deminishing skills, but he can still hit better then most of the free agents out there. Adding Sammy this year makes this offseason half way successful because they didn't break the bank to add a mediocre player, which the offseason was riddled with. The Superbowl went as predicted and still sucked. It was a boring game for the most part, and towards the end of the game, the Eagles looked like they didn't even want to play any more. On top of that, the Patriots kept on doing the Owens Bird dance which got really annoying because the players say they don't do that stuff. LIARS! The best part of the Superbowl was the MC Hammer commercial when he got his house forclosed.
I am sorry for no new posts this week. I haven't had the time to update this page, and I will try and write some articles Monday.
According to an article I read on sportsline.com, the Redskins are allowing Rod Garner to search for a trade. All I got to say is, thank god. He had stone hands all season long when he wasn't in the endzone. He seemed not go play with much effort and never amounted to a reciever picked in the first round. In the same article, Joe Gibbs denied interest in aquiring Randy Moss.
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I know everyone in baseball is patting themselves on the back for being able to come up with a real steroid program. Let me be one of the first to say, too late MLB. Records are tainted now, players already have their blown up contracts (Giambi & Bonds), and any big player will be accused of steroids. To me, Roger Maris is still the single season homerun record holder. Bonds not knowing he was taking steroids from his good friend is a bunch of crap. If you look at pictures of 5 years ago of Bonds, you can see the spike of mass he gained in a short period of time. It was just a really good work out right. Heck, I would include Mark McGwire as being a steroid addict. I mean come on, he lasted two more years after he broke the record because of injuries. His body was breaking down from years of steroids. This record is now just a joke. Now clubs like the Yankees have to play Giambi this year because they can't get rid of him. I hate the Yankees as much as anyone else, but this is just unfair to baseball as a whole. He should not be able to play at all. How much is he going to make in the next couple of years, I think around 84 mil. In the next 4 years. What about Barry Bonds you say, he made 18 mil. Last year, and will be around that this year. He sucks as an outfielder, and wears all that body armor so he can lean over the plate, and is on steroids. He is on track to break career all time records and should be put out of the game to prove a point. All these players have now tainted all big time players in MLB. If someone were to hit 60 homeruns this year, what do you think the first question is going to be. I am also a dedicated baseball fan, but I know a lot of fans that are no more because of this suspicion of steroids in the game. Can MLB get these fans back after alienating them already. I think it will take many years to do such a thing. Good job MLB union. The reason I didn't mention Slammin' Sammy Sosa is because everyone knows how he got in the record books. He is a corky.
The new steroid rule for the MLB will be announced Thursday January 13th. It is suppose to be stiffer penalties and more testing.
The Redskins released a list of free agents for the upcoming offseason. Link: The Redskins Official Site
The Washington Redskins hired Bill Musgrave to be the team's offensive assistant-quarterbacks coach according to the Redskins Official Website. He was the QB coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Here is the link to the article: Redskins Official Site
Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.
St. Louis @ Seattle: The Rams swept the Seahawks this season but will not do it a 3rd time. Pick: Seattle NY Jets @ San Diego: This game will be close but the home team will have the advantage here. Pick: San Diego Denver @ Indianapolis: The Broncos have no idea what they got themselves into. Don't look for a repeat of week 17 Pick: Indianapolis Minnesota @ Green Bay: I hate Green Bay, but they are playing the bad Vikings who just lost to the Skins. HaHaHa! Pick: Green Bay 1st round Byes: New England, Pittsburgh, Philladelphia, Atlanta
MLB and the Players Association pedges 1 million dollars to Tsunami help.
The Redskins will have the #9 pick in the NFL draft. I think they have two choices to draft. They should either draft a reciever that can play now to replace Rod Gardner or and offensive lineman who can play now.
The Redskins finished the season on a good note by beating the Vikings in the final week of the season. The win for the Redskins showed they have heart and a positive attitude for next year. It was a disappointing year for the Redskins, but they showed hope for the next season. The score of the game was misleading for the actual game. The Redskins controlled the ball on both sides of the game, and the game wasn't close until 2 seconds at the end with a Viking hail-mary. Betts ran well in place of Portis, and Ramsey played well enough not to lose the game. The defense was great again and didn't allow Culpepper to go off. The Redskins were helped out by dropped balls from the Viking receivers as well. The Redskins finished off the season winning one more game than last year. However, the feeling around the Redskins was a positive one unlike years past. The season had its ups and downs. Here is a look at the Skins by position. Quarterback: The Redskins signed Mark Brunell in the offseason from Jacksonville and traded a draft pick. Mark Brunell was a huge disappointment for the Redskins. He could not throw the ball with any accuracy or power. He was constantly overthrowing or underthrowing the receivers. Brunell was benched after 9 weeks for Patrick Ramsey. Ramsey made his mistakes deep down field and across the middle of the field. He looked strong in some games and bad in others. Ramsey looked the worse against good defenses and great against bad defenses. Patrick Ramsey had 1665 yards, 62.1 completion %, 10 TDs, 11 INTs, and a 74 rating. Joe Gibbs has said that Patrick Ramsey will be the QB for 2005. Running Back: Clinton Portis was traded from the Broncos for Chump Baily in the offseason. He has been great for the Redskins this season falling just short of rushing for 1500 yards for another year. Gibbs and Portis did have a learning process to go though. Portis is a middle back because he has great speed but is tough enough to go up the middle. The best play to run with him is a zone run which Gibbs found out later in the season. Gibbs likes pulling linemen during runs and Portis wasn't patient enough for them. The Redskins also found out that Ladell Betts is a descent backup for Portis, for Portis went down against the Dallas Cowboys. Betts ran for 118 yards and a TD against the Vikings. receiver: The receivers were one of the most disappointing parts of the Redskins. They all had problems catching the ball and dropping balls constantly. The worse receiver is Rod Gardner, for the only time he wanted to catch the ball was when he was in the endzone. He has never amounted to the receiver worth picking up in the first round in the draft. Coles was the most dependable receiver for the Skins with 950 yards. Rod Gardner is going to become a free agent this coming offseason and the front office should let him go. I have backed up Gardner for a few years now, but I have just gotten fed up. The brightest spot for the Redskins was Chris Cooley. He is a rookie picked up in the late rounds of the draft. Cooley caught 37 receptions for 314 yards and 6 TDs. What a great find. Offensive Line: The offensive line needs the most work during the up coming offseason for the Redskins. It took a major hit in the first preseason game when Jon Jansen got injured for the season with an Achilles tear. That injury set the tone for the whole season. Jansen was suppose to be the anchor of the line and he was gone. Samuels didn't live up to his contract this year, but he will get his money from the front office because the Redskins can't take a chance of not having someone average at left tackle. Right tackle was just a big rotation that never got solidified. Randy Thomas at right guard did his job and will be back next year, for his name wasn't mentioned much which is a good thing for linemen. Center and left guard needs to be upgraded badly. Cory Raymer is just not doing a good enough job their at center, and Derrick Dockery is not talented enough to handle Gibbs responsibility. Defensive line: The line was suppose to be the weakness of the Redskins going into the season and became a solid foundation for the defense. Cornelius Griffin was the star of the line with 6 sacks and a tackling machine. The other members were a bunch of no names that got the job done. The Skins should not touch the line at all. Linebackers: The linebackers were the most amazing part of the defense this year. Gregg Williams could have put anyone in their and they would be stars. Antonio Pierce was the surprise of the defense being so versatile. He learned every linebacker position, so when Williams asked him to be the QB of the defense at MLB. He exceeded everyone's expectations by leading the team in tackles at 112 tackles. Michael Barrow was brought in to be MLB and is now a liability with his huge contract on the bench. Marcus Washington was the other free agent pick up and a good one. He was second on the team with 107 tackles at strong linebacker. Weakside linebacker was a rotation door when Lavar Arrington went down with a bad knee in week 4. It wasn't a stand out position but was solid. Secondary: During the offseason the Skins traded away Chump Bailey, so the pressure was on Fred Smoot to be the shut down corner. He rose to the challenge and became the corner the Skins thought he would be. On the other side, the Redskins brought in Shawn Springs who was know for always being injured. Well, he wasn't this year. Springs has 6 sacks and 5 INTs. He was great at run support and a physical corner in the secondary. He was a great addition during the offseason. Sean Taylor was drafted last year and blossomed in a good hard hitting free safety as a rookie. At times, Taylor was a caught out of position, but that is expected from a rookie. At strong safety, Matt Bowen started off the year at this position. He got injured and put on injure reserve early in the season. Andre Lott was then put at strong safety and he too was injured and on reserve. Finally Ryan Clark was placed and finished at strong safety. All three did a great job at this position. This will be a great rotation or trade bait for next year. All of these guys did a great job this year. The Redskins needs to bring back everyone from the defense and tweak the offense this offseason. If the Redskins can stay away from the overrated players and make some solid additions, they could be a real contending team.
This was the hardest week to make picks since the opening weeks of the season. Players were sitting out of games, hot teams turned cold, and somehow a team went 15-1 with backups. The teams that sat players were almost all that were guarenteed playoff spots. The list includes Indy, SD, Philly, NE for the last quarter, and Atl. San Deigo some how stopped KC and won. Indy, Philly and Atl. just took their losses, and NE pounded the 49ers by starting everyone including Brady until late in the 3rd quarter. The worse thing this week was the hot teams or heavily favored teams just choked. The Vikings were suppose to stomp the Redskins and came up very short compared to what the score says. Buffalo lost to the Steelers' backups in what was a meaningless game for Pitt. Carolina lost to N.O. which is a huge upset to me, for Carolina came into the game just dominating teams and let the Ain'ts to beat them at home. The most amazing game this week was the Steelers @ Buffalo game. Buffalo came into the game extremely hot, had a good defense, and ran the crap out to McGahee. They were upset to find out that the Steelers have a lot of good backups that could beat most teams. To me, the Steelers have an attitude that they will win every game, and they do. Big Ben, Bettis, Ward, Burress, and most of the defense sat out of the game. Bledsoe played like he did when a Pat., and the Buffalo Defense just didn't come up with enough big plays. What a week.
Week 17 predictions are going to be tough with all the playoff teams sitting down key players. Here is what I think will happen this week... Cincinnati @ Philadephia: Key players will not play for more than a half for Philly. Pick: Cincinnati Detroit @ Tennessee: This is a toss up. Pick: Tennessee Miami @ Baltimore: Two good defenses and two mediocre offenses. Don't expect points Pick: Baltimore New Orleans @ Carolina: A fight for a wild card spot in the playoffs. Pick: Carolina Pittsburgh @ Buffalo: No Big Ben, no win for Pitt. Pick: Buffalo Cleveland @ Houston: Butch Davis is gone. Pick: Houston Green Bay @ Chicago: Who is going to QB the Bears this week? Pick: Green Bay Minnesota @ Washington: Minnesota always loses to a good defense. Pick: Washington NY Jets @ St. Louis: The Rams are wishing they had Warner now. Pick: NY Jets San Francisco @ New England: It doesn't matter who sits for the Pats, they are all good. Pick: New England Atlanta @ Seattle: Vick-less Dirty Birds will not stand a chance. Pick: Seattle Indianapolis @ Denver: No Manning, Broncos are in the playoffs. Pick: Denver Kansas City @ San Diego: Chargers will end on a good note for the season. Pick: San Diego Tampa Bay @ Arizona: The only team Arizona can beat is San Fran, and this ain't the 49ers. Pick: Tampa Bay Jacksonville @ Oakland: Jacksonville will win and not get into the playoffs. Pick: Jacksonville Dallas @ NY Giants: Who Knows? Pick: NY Giants
I know I missed the preview of the Redskins last week because I thought it would jinks them. This week the Skins go against the Vikings The Redskins were so close to beating the Cowboys this weekend only to blow it in the last 30 seconds on a long pass to a nobody. I am starting to feel like the Redskins are becoming the Red Sox by being cursed. Is this ever going to stop for us. This kind of think the Redskins are becoming the Yankees of 04. Spending the money, and getting nothing in return. Why go to a prevent defense late in the game? I hate being a Redskins fan. We hear all the hipe in the offseason, only to be let down with a terrible season and can't even beat an over the hill Cowboys. I don't want the best players in the league playing for the Redskins, I only want the best team in the league to be the Redskins. The Redskins should find a way to let go Michael Barrow this offseason, and spend money on quality offensive line. Pierce can play MLB very well and should be the starter next year. The good news is that Patrick Ramsey has been named the QB for next year. This weekend is the last game for the Redskins, I hope they can end on a high note. The Vikings should have lost last week and just got lucky. They struggle badly against a good defense. This should benifit the Skins very much if they don't give up the big play. The offense is starting to look like they could be better and brings hope for next year. My prediction is a win by 3 points.
I want to wish everyone a happy holiday. Please be safe this season, cause I need you few to read my blog(kidding).
Guess what... I am the bomb for 2 weeks in a row. Were am I coming up with this stuff? I was 11-5 this week, one less then last week. Lets take a look at my losses. Carolina @ Atlanta- I picked Caronlina who should have won this game and Vick was down dammit. What were the Refs looking at? Denver @ KC- I know that KC can score points, but how was Denver held to only 17 points against that bad of a defense. And Chump Bailey was suppose to make this defense better, Washington got the better end of the deal buddy. NO @ TB- Luck St. Louis at Arizona- Arizona gets beat by the 49ers then win against the Rams. WTF? NE @ Miami- Of course I picked the Pats and they let down a lot of people including me.
The Redskins went into San Francisco clear favorites and didn't upset their fans. The Redskins should have emailed San Fran. "We are not Arizona, Look out." The Redskins offense just stomped all over the 49ers. This just points out how bad the 49ers defense really are. Ramsey threw over 200 yards and one touchdown, Gardner finally held onto the ball for 6 catches and over 100 yards, and Portis ran for 110 yards. The Redskins also got some help on offense by Pierce catching a interception and running it back for 78 yards. Is the Redskins a top notch offense? No, but at least they showed life for one of very few games this past game. The Skins need help on offensive line and recievers. But they are finding out who they have for next year. The Redskins defense stopped a injured riddled offense. They did give up some points, but they again didn't allow 100 yards on the ground. They had their first touchdown in a few years. I don't know how these guys are doing this with all the injuries. My biggest fear for next year is that Gregg Williams will not be the defensive coach next year. This game was also Lavar Arrington's first game back since getting injured. Most of the time he was coming off the edge of the D-line. He looked good, with speed and fearlessness. That is a good sign for next year. The defense is the biggest bright spot this year and are ranked #2 in the NFL.
The Redskins go on the road this week, and the Ravens host Indy. Both games are important to these teams. The Redskins go on the road this week to San Francisco. This should be an easy win for the Redskins because the 49ers defense is non-existant and the only reciever the Niners have is a TE. The Skins should just go out and have fun for this contest. On another note, the last three games the Skins play is San Fran, Dallas, and Minn. All of these games are winnable, if the Skins won out they would end the season 7-9 and on a positive note. Plus, the record would be an improvement from last season's 5-11. Gotta look at the positive. Prediction is a 13 point win. The Ravens are still fighting for a playoff spot playing the Colts. They will have their hands full with Manning going after the record. This game is winnable for the Ravens if they play their game and don't get into a shootout with Manning. What do the Ravens need to do to win this game? Run Jamal Lewis and Chester Taylor often to keep the Colts offense off the field, shutdown Edge, and don't let Boller make a stupid mistake. If the Ravens do all those things for 4 quarters, they could win. My prediction is a lost by 7 points.
I am coming off a great week of picks, lets see if I can make it two in a row. Pittsburgh@NY Giants: Eli might be as good as Ben, but Ben is on a winning team. Pick: Pittsburgh Washington@San Francisco: Not many teams are as bad as the Redskins, 49ers are. Pick: Washington Carolin@Atlanta: Carolina is on a mission, and Vick sucks. Pick: Carolina Buffalo@Cincinnatti: McGahee is proving why he should be a #1 pick 2yrs ago. Pick: Buffalo Dallas@Philadelphia: I don't need to say anything. Pick: Philadelphia Denver@Kansas City: Does KC have a defense,no Pick: Denver Houston@Chicago: Who is the QB for the Bears this week? Pick: Houston Minnesota@Detroit: Heads. Pick: Minnesota San Diego@Cleveland: No more Garcia. Pick: San Diego Seattle@NY Jets: Dallas beat them. Pick: Jets New Orleans@Tampa Bay: Which Ain'ts team is going to show up? Pick: Tampa Bay St. Louis@Arizona: The 49ers beat Arizona. Pick: St. Louis Jacksonville@Green Bay: I hate Green Bay. Pick: Jacksonville Tennessee@Oakland: Did anyone see what happen to the Titans on Monday Night? Pick: Oakland Baltimore@Indianapolis: Dan Marino watch out. Pick: Indianapolis New England@Miami: Who is Miami's coach this week? Pick: New England
I was thinking about adding a message board to this site. Anyone interested?
I had an excellent week going 13-3 in my picks. I did pick the Redskins to win, and they should of, other then that things went my way. Oh yeah, San Fran. beat Arizona for some reason. Anyway, I can toot my own horn for some struggling weeks. I am not going to keep track of my records because I missed a couple of weeks when I was moving.
Another week, more good matchups. The playoffs are shaping up for some teams, others are playing for pride, and some seem to lose on purpose to get high draft picks. The AFC is pretty much decided, yet the NFC is wide open. Well lets get to it folks, I know I haven't done this for awhile, lets see if I can knock the rust off. Chicago at Jacksonville: Jax has to good of a defense to lose and this isn't the Vikings Pick: Jacksonville Cleveland at Buffalo: With McGahee running the ball, the Bills look unstoppable and will continue to win. Pick: Buffalo New Orleans at Dallas: The Ain'ts should win this game with the amount of talent, they have to just stop Julius Jones. Pick: New Orleans Oakland at Atlanta: The Dirty Birds will treat Oakland like redheaded step children Pick: Atlanta Cincinnati at New England: Carson might have looked good against the Ravens, but it won't last. Pick: New England Indianapolis at Houston: Houston is up and coming but the Colts have to much offense for them. Pick: Indianapolis New York Giants at Baltimore: Don't get any hope that Eli can do what Carson did to the Ravens. Pick: Baltimore Seattle at Minnesota: The only place the Vikings can play is in a dome which they have at home. Pick: Minnesota Miami at Denver: Are you kidding me? Pick: Denver Detroit at Green Bay: I feel sorry for the Lions because Favre is pissed. Pick: Green Bay St. Louis at Carolina: Were does Carolina find these running backs? Pick: Carolina New York Jets at Pittsburgh: Big Ben will lose before the end of the season, but not this week. Pick: Pittsburgh San Francisco at Arizona: I am looking for a coin to flip, ahh screw it. Pick: Arizona Tampa Bay at San Diego: The Chargers will Brees thru this game. Pick: San Diego Philadelphia at Washington: The Skins are finally working together, maybe. Pick: Washington (upset of the week) Kansas City at Tennessee: There is just to many weapons for the Titans to handle. Pick: Kansas City
I am finally back from messing with my house. I am moved in, settled, ready to talk some sports. I know I haven't wrote anything in a couple of weeks, and I am not going to go back and talk about them. The past is the past and everyone knows what has happen. This is week 13 in the NFL, the home teams both played well, just one fell short. Lets get this show on the road... As always, the losers of the week is first. The Ravens played the Bengals and all I heard about was how good Carson Palmer was all day Monday. The fact is that the Ravens' defense seemed to quit in the 4th quarter. The defense looked like they didn't believe that Carson could beat them, so they just walked around like they didn't care. The defense finally tried to make a play to late in the game when they had lost the momentum. Kyle Boller didn't make any big mistakes and Chester Taylor ran for 139 yards which should have been enough to beat the Bengals. Sure Palmer passed for 200 yards in the 4th quarter which is really good against the Ravens, however, this stat is telling because teams don't do this against the Ravens. This just proves the fact that the Ravens didn't believe it could happen, and they realized it could happen to late. This lost goes right to the defense, and their lackluster play in the 4th quarter. Now to the surprising winner this week, the Redskins finally win by beating the injury riddled Giants. The Giants were led by Eli Manning who came out way to early as a rookie, and a defensive line that couldn't stop even Eddie George. This doesn't mean I am taking away anything from the Redskins who finally seemed to come together as a team on offense. Rod Garner finally learned how to catch the ball, and Joe Gibbs ran the crap out of Clinton Portis. Portis passed the 1000 yard mark for the season and could still match his 1500 yard out put while with Denver. Of course the Skins' defense played great against the rookie Manning, and the Giants receivers looked like they got the virus of the dropsies. Ramsey also played an important role in this win, Gibbs didn't allow him to force the ball down the field and kept it simple and short. Patrick did seem to force the ball into double coverage a couple of times but the Redskins' receivers actually went after the ball instead of waiting for it. The biggest reason the offense won though was the offensive line. They were finally able to protect the QB, the line really misses Jon Jansen. All in all, the offense just clicked all game. The Final Thought: The defense of the Ravens failed badly against a bad team and needs to get back on track. The Redskins need to take this momentum on offense to another level if they want to compete with the Eagles next week.
I am sorry to inform you loyal readers of this blog, but I will not be able to keep up this blog for the next week. I am in the process of moving to a newly bought house. This is my first house, yeah me. On top of that, the house was covered with wall paper that had to go, and need a new paint job. I will try to get back to this asap.
Arizona at Carolina: Carolina doesn't have a team this year and will get the #1 draft pick Pick: Arizona Denver at New Orleans: The underachieving Ain'ts will lose another game to a good team. Pick: Denver Indianapois at Chicago: The Bears have been surpising in some games, they won't be in this game. Pick: Indianapolis Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: Pittsburgh is just unstoppable at this point and against this team. Pick: Pittsburgh St. Louis at Buffalo: St. Louis can't play in the Northeast, and the Bills have a good defense. Pick: Buffalo-upset of the week Dallas at Baltimore: The Cowboy Retirees will not be able to contend with the Ravens. Pick: Baltimore Detroit at Minnesota: Detroit has to bad of a defense to stop the Minnesota even with out Moss Pick: Minnesota N.Y. Jets at Cleveland: Crackhead Carter will be qbing for the Jets, bad thing for the Jets Pick: Cleveland San Francisco at Tampa Bay: Coin Flip, Heads for the 49ers and tails for the Bucs, I got heads. Pick: San Francisco Tennessee at Jacksonville: Jacksonville just finds ways to win in the end Pick: Jacksonville Miami at Seattle: I don't know how Miami could win this game with all of their bad luck Pick: Seattle San Diego at Oakland: The Chargers are playing like they have a charge up their butts. Pick: San Diego Atlanta at N.Y. Giants: Both teams suck, but the Giants lost all of their luck and are on their way down Pick: Atlanta Washington At Philadelphia: Ramsey is fianlly playing, it is just to bad he loses his first start. Pick: Philadelphia Green Bay at Houston: Houston had a terrible game last week and will make up for it this week Pick: Houston New England at Kansas City: The Pats are a well oiled machine and will roll over K.C. Pick: New England- Monday Night
This week is going to be a easy game for one team and a very big underdog for the other. Losers first: The Redskins are going up against the Eagles this week. I don't even believe they could win this one. Yes, finally Patrick Ramsey is starting, but it won't be enough against the Eagles. Patrick will make some mistakes and they will be costly, so expect that from him. But don't lose faith for him yet because he has the ability to win games, even if it ain't this one. The #2 defense in the league will give the Eagles a run for their money, but they can move the ball so well, and the Redskins can't. That is the difference between the teams. I see the Skins losing by a pair of touchdowns. Last Week Winners: The Ravens will win three straight with this game. The Cowboys have just fallen apart this year. They bought too many over the hill veterans, and they should be easy picking for the Ravens defense. Kyle Boller displayed that he could finally throw the ball, hopefully that was his coming out party and he can continue the trend. Another problem that the Ravens should be able to exploit on the Cowboys defense is the running game. The Cowboys haven't been able to stop much in the past weeks. I see the Ravens winning by at least a touchdown Depending on what team you route for this could be a good week or another losing week. Hopefully I am wrong on the first game, and right on the second.
Well good news people, I was in the win column this week. I picked decently this week although my upset didn't pan out. I was amazed the Houston Texans gave up that many points to the Colts. I thought they would have been a little bit more competitive than they were. Oh well, that put me in the losing side of upset results. I was also disappointed in the Redskins loss, yet I did get my wish of Patrick Ramsey starting at quarterback. Seattle was a bust yet again this week, and the Giants keep losing to bad teams. Week 10 Results: 8-6 Overall Results: 67-58 circa website Upset Result: 3-4
Maryland split this week in football. One team keeps finding ways to win, and other finds new ways to lose. Change is in the air for one team, and the other refuses to change. Both teams have great defenses, but only one has a winning record. Losers first in this review. The Redskins lost again to a bad team, the Bengals, in the game on late Sunday afternoon. They find ways to lose every game, the three won by the Redskins was luck, or set themselves up to fail. The defense allowed 17 points earlier in the game, yet they didn't let the Bengals to score again. Brunell started off terrible again after the first play of the game from the Bengals was an Carson Palmer interception, and the Skins couldn't score. Brunell stats by the middle of the 2nd quarter was: 1-8 completions, 1 interception, 6 yards. Finally, Gibbs pulled the over the hill QB for Patrick Ramsey. This was a great move, I have liked Ramsey since he has come to Washington, because he has a great arm, zip on the ball, and he can hit the recievers in the hands or numbers. All of the things Brunell lacks. The best thing about Ramsey in my mind though is that he will either win or lose a game for the team, but Brunell won't do either. The only time the Redskins have won this year is on Clinton Portis's legs. I, like you should be, am not expecting Ramsey to be the Godsend of the Redskins, for he is going to throw interceptions at costly times, the recievers need to learn how to catch the damn ball, and Gibbs needs to run the crap out of the Portis. Which brings up another disappointment about Sunday, Joe Gibbs only ran Portis 17 times against the worse run defense in the leaque. I understand getting away from the run when down late in the game, but the Redskins got away from the run in the beginning of the 2nd quarter. I totally didn't get this move. I have blamed Brunell for alot in my columns, and Brunell was at fault for alot. I also blame the reciever for dropping to many passes, Gibbs for not controlling the game well, the line for not blocking well, and the Refs for having it out for the Redskins this year. Once the coaching staff fixes some of these other problems, the Redskins might have a chance to even out for the year. The Redskins schedule just gets harder from here. Baltimore on the other hand is the winning football team in Maryland, and Kyle Boller finally did something to help his team. This was a great win for the Ravens over the Jets, for if the Ravens are in a tie going into the playoffs with the Jets, the Ravens would win the tie breaker because of this game. The Ravens did have some luck on their side, for the Jets were without Chad Pennington. Quincy Carter had to start for the Jets who started the game off strong and fizzled in the end. The Ravens were also on the benefitting end of bad clock management in the final seconds of the game when Carter couldn't get his team in position to win the game. They had to settle for a field goal to send it to overtime. After 3 three and outs the Ravens finally got in position to win with a Stover field goal. Jamal Lewis didn't get over 100 yards in the game, and Kyle Boller threw 2 touchdown. This is the exact opposite of how they been winning. Kyle Boller finally looked descent this game, yet everyone jumped on the bandwagon of Boller after the game. I am not sold yet. He did win the game for the Ravens, true, but he needs to do it in more then one game in a season. Do it again Boller and I will believe. All in all this was good game for the Ravens, they got behind early and came back to win against a good team. Final Thought: Thank you Gibbs for finally giving Ramsey a chance to play, and I hope he give the Skins the spark they have been waiting for. For the Ravens, I said it already, I am not sold on Boller yet, but he did do better then he has been for the season, just show me you can do it again.
This looks to be a good weekend for the Maryland teams this week. One good thing already happened, the Terps don't play this week so they can't lose. The Redskins host the Bengals this week. These two teams are struggling with their offense although the Redskins have a defense and the Bengals don't. This game should be a win for the Redskins if the offense doesn't turn the ball over. Hopefully the special teams or trick play doesn't decide the game for the Redskins this week and they can get some production out of the offense. Just maybe, Mark Brunell will get hurt and Patrick Ramsey will be put in. Please Joe, give Patrick a chance. I see the Redskins winning by a touchdown. The Ravens play the Jets in New York and are a very lucky team. Chad Pennington is out of action for a couple of weeks, and Quincy (Captian Crackhead) Carter. Carter should be easy pickings for the Ravens Secondary, and the Jets have proven they can be run on this season which is good news for the Ravens offense. Since the Ravens have no passing attack, they always have to rely on Jamal Lewis to win this game. I am going with the Ravens by a field goal. This may turn out to be a good weekend all the way around for Maryland. Happy hunting boys.
I went even last week, lets see if I can do a little better this week. Baltimore @ N.Y. Jets: Jets are without Pennington for a couple of weeks, Carter will make to many mistakes against the Ravens. Pick: BaltimoreChicago @ Tennessee: McNair is still questionable for this week, and Chicago can run the ball. Pick: Chicago Detroit @ Jacksonville: The Lions couldn't do anything against Washington's defense. The same will be held true against Jacksonville's defense Pick: Jacksonville Houston @ Indianapolis: Houston has a defense and Indy does not. This is my upset of the week. Pick: Houston Kansas City @ New Orleans: KC will rebound from Tampa Bay game and win against the Ain'ts Pick: Kansas City Pittsburgh @ Cleveland: Pittsburgh is playing to well to be beatin right now Pick: Cleveland Seattle @ St. Louis: Seattle actually has been good this year away from home. The Rams just suck. Pick: Seattle Tampa Bay @ Atlanta: I want to pick against Atlanta so bad, but Tampa Bay got luck last week. Pick: AtlantaCincinnati @ Washington: Dallas has been playing aweful defense and Washington isn't. Carson Look out Pick: Washington Carolina @ San Francisco: Two bad teams, but San Fran has more talent on theirs Pick: San Francisco Minnesota @ Green Bay: The Moss-less Vikings won't stand a chance against the redhot Packers Pick: Green Bay N.Y. Giants @ Arizona: Arizona can't get lucky two weeks in a row. Pick: Giants Buffalo @ New England: Teams can run against the Patriots, but it won't be enough for the Bills Pick: New England Philadelphia @ Dallas: Hey Parcells, your whole team is over the hill. That's the problem! Pick: Philadelphia
Again this past weekend had its ups and downs. I can't wait for all three football teams to win in the same weekend. What is so ironic is that all three teams have the same problems and the good fortune. None of the teams have an offense other then the running game, and all three teams have a good defense. What is also funny is that all three coaches are suppose to be offensive genuises. Anyway, lets get the ball rolling. Maryland had an awful game against Virginia. Joel Statham threw for a whole 115 yards and had 2 picks and was replaced by a rookie. Josh Allen ran for a whole 39 yards on 10 attempts. Now it might only be me, but why would you only run Allen 10 times a game when he ran for 257 yards a year ago. The defense played great, only giving up 16 points to a #13 ranked team in the country. I just do understand what Ralph Freidgen is doing this season. He has a young learning qb in Statham, who should be handing the ball off very often in the game. Don't get me wrong, I love Freidgen for what he has done for Maryland. I wish someone would tell me the reason for this. On the other hand, the Redskins finally got a break and had a game go their way. The best player in the game was James Thrash, he downed the ball within the 2 yard line 3 times during the game. I also have to give it to Clinton Portis, he ran for over 150 yards and threw a touchdown to Coles. He is not a product of the Denver system, he has run over 800 yards in 8 games. If my math is right, Portis would have over 1600 yards by the end of the year. That doesn't sound so bad to me. On the other side of the ball, the defense played a good game and only game up a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Now onto the quarterback situation, I almost became a believer against the Packers. Of course everyone knows who I am talking about, Mark Brunell. Come on Joe, he threw for 58 yards against the one of worse defense in the league. There is no excuse for this in my opinion. At least give Ramsey a chance to play a couple of series with the offense in a game. The team has the offensive weapons to be contenders in the league. If the coaches can't stop being stubborn about this, then this is a wasted season. The Ravens are still suprising people in the league except for their fans. After getting their butts handed to them from Cleveland in week 1, the Ravens got their vengence last weekend. The game was close until late in the game when Jamal Lewis ran in for a touchdown and the nail was driven in the coffin when Ed Reed returned an interception for 106 yards. Though it looks like Baltimore won this game big, the only reason they stayed in the game is Matt Stover's leg. He hit 4 field goals of over 30 yards. He kept them in the game until it was broken open with the Lewis touchdown. Heath Shuler(Kyle Boller) didn't do to bad this weekend. Of course he didn't win a game for the team, he didn't lose it either. I guess that is progress, I still think he should be benched. Last Thought: The players of both NFL teams is special team players. Matt Stover for keeping the Ravens in the game with 4 field goals against the Browns, and James Trash of the Redskins for being everywhere on special team unit. He downed 3 punts inside the 2 yard line, had 1 big kick off return and made a bunch of key tackles on returners. For the Terps, their player of the week is the defense for holding Virginia to only 2 touchdowns and keeping them in the game the whole time, even if they lost.