Patriots, Raiders and week 3 notes....

Quick notes from ESPN....

I've seen both Patriots victories this season, and in both Richard Seymour (left) was the best player on the field. Before the season, Scott Pioli, New England's vice president of player personnel, said he expected Carolina's Julius Peppers to hit "rare air" this season. That phrase comes to mind when assessing Seymour's play so far in his fifth season. He is a regular visitor to the opponents' backfield. A lot of people like to call Indy's Dwight Freeney the best defensive player in the league, but I'm sorry, he's no more dominant than Seymour and definitely not against the run.


Seymour is a monster, and Tedy Bruschi made a lot of big plays, but the real heart, soul and brains of that defense the last two seasons has been safety Rodney Harrison (left). He was carted off Heinz Field early in Sunday's game after suffering a nasty-looking left leg injury. I'd venture to say the loss of Harrison is more devastating to the defense than that of Bruschi or Ted Johnson, because New England has veteran outside linebackers who could pick it up.

When the Patriots were picking up guys off the street -- or from the offense, for that matter -- to play in the secondary, the constant was Harrison. Plus, the Patriots make their defensive adjustments from the backfield forward. They survived Sunday, but it will be a lot harder going against a real passing team without Harrison.

The Patriots haven't lost consecutive games since 2002.

• Oakland is 0-3 for the first time since 1992. Yes, I picked them to win the AFC West. Time for Turner to go.

• If Chad Pennington's shoulder is in such bad shape, why on earth was he attempting a deep out in overtime? The Jags' Rasheen Mathis picked it.

• Maybe folks were a year early on Jacksonville and Seattle. The Seahawks have put together back-to-back impressive wins since dropping the opener to -- who else? -- Jacksonville, which could really be a force in the AFC with that defense and Byron Leftwich firing daggers from the pocket.

• Ben Roethlisberger lost for the first time in 16 regular-season starts, and Pittsburgh's 17-game regular-season win streak came to an end. Nice runs.

• Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison have teamed for 9,568 yards, the most ever by a quarterback and receiver. I'd still take Jerry Rice taking passes from (Any QB He Played With).

• The rookie coaches are doing a heck of a job. Romeo Crennel, Nick Saban and Mike Nolan are a combined 5-4 and all have their teams playing competitive ball.

• Jacksonville is not good enough on offense to blow anyone out. They are going to win a lot of "ugly" games this year with their defense carrying them.

• I don't know if Steven Jackson will ever reach his potential in St. Louis, because under head coach Mike Martz there is no commitment to run the ball.

• Its time to lay it down: Rookie or not, the "Cadillac" -- Carnell Williams -- is one of the best backs in the NFL. Williams has more rushing yards in his first three games (434) than any player in league history. Great running back. Head down and hits hard toward the end of his run. Love the guy.

Week 3 Pick 'em

Panthers over Dolphins
Vikings over Saints
Jets over Jaguars
Eagles over Raiders
Bills over Falcons
Bengals over Bears
Buccs over Packers
Colts over Browns
Rams over Titans
Cowboys over 49ers
Seahawks over Cardinals
Patriots over Steelers
Chargers over Giants
Broncos over Chiefs

Did a great job last week getting 12 picks right. Let's continue to pick 'em right.

Week 2 Roundout

AFC East

The AFC East features a four way tie for first place after two weeks of play. In Week 2, we saw the J E T S get back on track defeating their divisional rival Dolphins. Pennington showed some poise in that game staving off the Dolphins defense as he had a nice long drive in the fourth to ice the game. As for New England, they just ran into a team who really wanted to beat them badly because of the Superbowl. The Patriots made some mistakes, nonetheless, they still lost in impressive fashion. Do not count them out by any means, and look for Belichick to reestablish the ground game which has been none existant. Buffalo played very poorly. Unfortunately for you Bills fans, I project a similar outcome anytime they face a tough defense like that of the Buccs, but they can control and win against other mediocre teams. Miami is still a team you do not want to face. They have the potential to keep games close with their defense, but will need a better performace from Frerotte if they are going to compete for the playoffs.

AFC North

This division is already dividing. Cincinnati and Pittsburg will compete while Cleveland and Baltimore will stay in the cellar. Pittsburg played another Cowher type of game, hard nosed, running the football down your throat. Kudos to the Steelers as they have won 16 games in a row, with Roethlisberger being 15-0 as a starter. The Bengals are looking great. I like how their offense is finally clicking with Palmer leading the way. Look for Houshmanzadeh to excel with Chad Johnson absorbing most of the attention. The amazing part is Rudi has not even blown up yet, when he starts dominating the Bengals will be even better. Cleveland had an emotional win with Dilfer. That guy is really good when it comes to pulling off victories. However, they will be hard pressed for more victories. Baltimore's fate rests on Jamal Lewis' legs. With 10 carries and 9 yards last week, they will have a long season ahead of them.

AFC South

Looks like the Colts will run away with this division once again. I knew the Jags would play them tough, but the Colts found a way to pull it off. That is all that matters. I will predict Manning will have five or six touchdowns this week. The Browns come in to town, and they are not Baltimore or Jacksonville, so look for Manning to finally explode in Week 3. Jacksonville is the toughest team I've seen. They all have heart and they always play to win. They lost with class in Week 2, and Leftwich was amazing in the final drive, to bad they ran out of time. Darius is out for the year, hopefully that does not affect them much. Tennesse had their victory, now you can bet against them for a while before they win another one. Houston has been the biggest disappointment thus far. Wow, the big three are looking awful as they can barely put up any points.

AFC West

The Chiefs are 2-0 and Denver is 1-1. Look for these teams to falter down the stretch. The Chiefs are still not that impressive on defense and they will suffer as a result of it. They beat the Raiders in a close one, but I still see them as being weak and falling apart in the middle of the season. Denver beat San Diego at home, something they are very good at doing. They won't win too many away from home though. The Raiders are building themselves a big hole. Their offense looks very good, but they have to make some stands on defense. The Chargers had another tough loss. They still are playing good football and I could see them winning the division.

NFC East

The Giants and Redskins are 2-0. What a joke. The Giants have played two pretenders thus far and the Redskins have been in a coma except for the last couple minutes against the Cowboys. Bet against the Redskins from here on out and you will end up on the winning side. Dallas seemed primed to take this division until they fell apart against Washington. Parcells will bounce them back. Philadelphia is good at beating up weak opponents. We will have to wait to see until they play another contender before we can make further judgement.

NFC North

Do I have to say anything about this division. The Lions proved to us who they really were as the Bears defense exposed Harrington once again. Look for a quarterback change soon. Chicago is solid on defense and might make the playoffs as long as Orton has a couple more games like he did beating the Lions. Green Bay, I feel for you. No way should Cleveland be able to beat them, especially in Lambeau. Their offensive line and lack of defense will keep them playing catch up for most of the season. Minnesota, the good part of all this is you still only lost two games. See, it makes no difference if you get blown out and embarrased or lose in a tough battle. So on the bright side, they can go out with nothing to lose and might play better football.

NFC South

Tampa Bay is smoking hot right now. They are a complete package with Cadillac running like he is and the defense back to normal. Griese scares me though, because he will lose the close ones. Atlanta was just on a natural high after beating the Eagles on national television. When they finally got their act together they almost still won. Vick, just stay healthy will ya. Carolina played the most inspired football I've seen in some time. They kept bringing the Patriots back in the game with mistakes but they were not going to lose. They are looking dangerous and hard to beat even with some early injuries. I was right about the Saints, even though they are a feel good story, that will not even motivate this 'big easy' team to succeed.

NFC West

Wow, another division that is just outright horrible. With San Francisco tied for first place, they were a laughing stock against the Eagles. Make sure you play whoever you have in your fantasy team when they face the 49ers. Seattle bounced back as I thought and will look to control this division with their powerful offense. The defense just needs to make some plays to help this team out. The Rams survived the desert. Man, Warner did them a huge favor in that last drive not knowing how to manage the game clock. The Rams offense and defense needs to wake up and realize they can steal this division, but the Martz fire seems to be wearing down the team a bit. Arizona is back to being the cellar dweller. Did not take long. They have no chance winning an away game, and will end up losing half of their home games, so there you go.

Well, hope you enjoyed another eventful series. Till next time.

Minnesota Vikings fans are furious...

The Minnesota Vikings started the 2005 NFL season with high expectations. With the addition of Darren Sharper, Fred Smoot and Pat William the Vikings defense was considered now one of the best in the league. But Minnesota Fans will always remember the biggest trade in there history. The trade that sent Rand Moss to the Oakland Raiders.

The day after the Vikings traded Moss and his 90 touchdown catches in 104 games to Oakland, Mike Tice made this idiotic quote: "We will be excellent on offense. That's one thing I can stand here ... and promise you. I know offense." Now some of the fans want Mike Tice out.

We are officially the worst team in the NFL.

I'm going to continue to beat this drum all year.

Tice, Cottrell, Loney, et. al. need to be fired immediately.

Question: When you have more talent on both sides of the ball than 80% of the teams in the league and your are playing the worst football in teh league, what is the most likley cause?

Answer: Coaching.


FIRE TICE and HIS WHOLE STAFF!!!

Fans were not to happy with the performance of Danta Cullpepper either

I hope it does, that was awful yesterday. Culpepper looked like a rookie!

cullpepper is basically a rookie, going a full season without moss

It did not help when Randy Moss had two huge games with the Raiders. One fan screamed...

I'm sorry but if you think Moss not being in that game was any kind of a factor you didn't watch the same game I did!

This was one of the worst blocked games I have ever seen in proffesional football! our offensive line was OWNED! we did not open a single running lane all day long with the exception of the semi hole on the first play from scrimmage. Daunte had one of his worst days as a Viking and made poor decisions on top of being severely harrassed all day long.

Every time we made a significant play it was nullified by a penalty, Daunte scrambled out of trouble for significant gains on 4 occasions and had 3 of them brought back by penalties, some of our penalties will not show up because we had 3 or 4 off setting.

Yes the receivers dropped some passes today but our team was discombobulated from the start.

Week 2 Pick 'em

Here are my favorites for Week 2:

Ravens over Titans
Steelers over Texans
Colts over Jags
Bears over Lions
Bengals over Vikings
Eagles over 49ers
Buccs over Bills
Patriots over Panthers
Seahawks over Falcons
Rams over Cardinals
Jets over Dolphins
Packers over Browns
Broncos over Chargers
Chiefs over Raiders
Giants over Saints
Cowboys over Redskins

To recap last week, I went 9-7. I will build on that performance as the season progresses. See ya next week for some more pick' em.

Week 1 Reflections

Week 1 reminded us of how much things change in the NFL from year to year and how some things still stay the same.

Starting with the Raiders Patriots game, the Patriots proved they are still worthy contenders. Toying with the Raiders for the whole first half, they finally pulled away in the second half and came out winners once again. The Raiders proved they were game and that their offense was something to be proud about.

Washington and Chicago game showed us how some things still never change. How Washington still has a stout defense and plays to win ugly against a Chicago team who still has no offense. Chicago leads the league in most quarterback changes in the last decade and they still do not have a solid starter.

Cincinnati's win over Cleveland was not all too impressive. However, the Bengals did show they are still in sync from last year and look for that offense to be hitting on all cylinders. Meanwhile, the Browns are just miserable. They are turning into the Bengals of old, but I have confidence in Crenell to slowly start changing things around in the dog pound.

Miami proved how quickly things can change. A new coach, Ricky's back, and a whole new attitude to boot has made this team a contender again. Remember, even last year when they were pitiful the defense kept them in most of their games. As for the Broncos, ouch!!! Some people never learn. Plummer was never a winner in Arizona and has not shown it yet in Denver, do not expect him to start all of a sudden this year. They will continue to suffer with him at the helm.

Buffalo is a team I like rooting for because they survive off the defense. The quarterback is not much too celebrate about, but if the defense continues to play as they do and Willis continues to stay healthy, they can win the close games. Do not get down on Houston just yet, they just ran into a road block in Buffalo. They will bounce back and that offense will be kicking in no time. Houston's defense is what you need to worry about.

The New Orleans Carolina game proves how much division rivals can beat each other any given Sunday. The Saints will never become a powerhouse team as they have their shining moments each season sporadically. Do not be fooled by their impressive win, once again, we have a quarterback at the helm who is not a proven winner and the team will go down with him as long as their faith rests in his arms. The Panthers really were disappointing in Week 1. Look for them to bounce back strong and be contenders because their offense still has firepower. Losing Jenkins was not a good note but they are still strong enough on defense to step it up in his absence.

Kansas City did not prove a thing to me with that Week 1 domination of the Jets. That is what happens when you travel to Arrowhead stadium, you get run on, just ask the Falcons from last year. Trent Green was not impressive at all and when they play away, they will have a hard time replicating that success. As for the Jets, that loss should not damage their reputation. They are well coached and will compete for the playoffs.

Jacksonville is a team to watch out for. I said it last year and will say it again. They should build on their 9-7 record from last year and continue to win in close games. The defense is very impressive as they crushed Hasselback making him committ four turnovers and sacking him twice. Seattle does have an easy division so look for them to try and run the tables in the NFC. Their offense is high powered but will their defense help them out?

Tampa Bay has changed their offensive tune with the sound of Cadillac. This kid has potential, however, he had only put up average numbers until that last play on fourth down where the Vikes crowded the line that allowed him to scamper for 70 plus a touchdown. I like the new additions none the less, including Smith the tight end. Defense is still awesome. As for the Vikings, how sad was that. The crowd was booing incessantly as the game wore on and Daunte's inferno kept turning it over. Randy put a big hole in their offense. The defense did show tenacity and will win games for them down the road.

Pittsburg has not changed a bit. Cower power is in full effect. Run the opponent over and keep them honest with some Roethlisberger. They looked good on both ends of the Heinz field, just hope that Staley and Bettis continue to recover slow cause this Parker guy speeds up their offense a bit. Remember, it still was only the Titans they beat so do not bet your mortgage on them just yet. The Titans will just be a team filling a spot in the NFL's schedule this year, don't mind them they are just suffering from big losses on both sides of the field.

Could the New York Football Giants be for real? Did not see the game, but one thing I do know is they beat up on the Cards in the Meadowlands, which does not account for much. The offense will be tested heavily against the likes of tougher opponents. Arizona can not be taken seriously if they do not show up for games outside the desert. Warner will have a couple good games with the young receivers. Ultimately, he is not going to get the job done. So much for that defense, better luck next game. Just shows us how Arizona continues to struggle to be a contender.

Dallas did a superb job in Week 1. If they can play like that each week, I will tip my hat to them. Bledsoe and the passing game was on, liking that new kid Crayton because he opens it up for the older Johnson and Glenn. Julius is marvelous and gives them an added strength to keep people from sacking Bledsoe. San Diego is still a tough opponent. They usually have a couple let downs a season so consider this one of them. They have to mix LT in more often if they want to win. The defense will have their better days and is still a very strong unit with many good tacklers.

Detroit won in a remarkable way. I was expecting this game to be in the twenties on both sides. I do not know whether to give credit to a whole new Lions team or just discredit the Packers for playing the worst offense game of Favre's career since 1992. The Lions have amazing young talent at receiver but a joke at quarterback. How long will this last, probably till kickoff for Week 2. I can not even comment on the Pack, that was despicable. The offense will be even worse without Walker and the defense is nothing special.

San Francisco showed what a new coach can do for a team, actually make them feel they can win. They did just that, won a game against a hated rival. Unfortunately for you niner fans, you know there will not be much more to celebrate. The offense is not all that, they just played the open door policy Rams defense. The Rams should hide until next week in which a win could wipe away the disgrace of game 1. Rams continue to try and come back the last minute of the game and continue to find out the hard way it does not always work. The offense can put up points fast but the defense is abysmal.

Indianapolis showed how much the preseason is worth. They came out cold in the first half and renewed in the second. More impressive than Mannings regrouping at halftime to pick apart the Ravens in the second half was how great their defense played the entire game. They will once again compete for the AFC crown. The Ravens just do not get it, that Boller can not move any offense unless it is by ground. The minute he gets injured, the Ravens are actually moving the football downfield. Mason and Wright should put up some good numbers and help get points on the board while Boller recovers and keep this team competing. The defense just got worn down, but look for them to be aggressive each and every week.

Atlanta played a great game against the Eagles. I expect that the rest of the way from the dirty birds. Vick always has a chance to move the sticks with his legs. Is he really just that much faster than everyone else? Their ground game is still the strong spot with a splash of Duckett and Dunn to go with some Vick. The best receiver is Crumpler cause no one else seems to get open. Falcons D was also good, but they slack off on the road. The Eagles got a good spanking to start off the season. They will still win the majority of their games but I do not like them representing the NFC. The passing game was better, but McNabb made some costly mistakes and looked off on some passes. The Eagles D will be better with Trotter in the middle, as long as he keeps the scuffles during the game.

Well, if you are still reading this, I hope you enjoyed my commentary. Until next time.

Week 1 Pick Em

The first week of great football is upon us once again. Here are the scheduled picks for Sunday's games:

Redskins over Bears
Bengals over Browns
Broncos over Dolphins
Texans over Bills
Panthers over Saints
Jets over Chiefs
Jaguars over Seahawks
Buccs over Vikings
Steelers over Titans
Giants over Cardinals
Chargers over Cowboys
Packers over Lions
Rams over 49ers
Colts over Ravens
Falcons over Eagles

Hope you can make some money off these picks, until next time.