I’ve just had brutal insomnia the last two nights. I hope that goes away. I did finish The Kite Runner as a result, though. I also read up on all the pre-season NFL stuff. I hadn’t looked at any of that stuff due to the political reading I do. Here’s my picks:
NFC East: NY Giants
NFC South: Carolina
NFC North: Chicago
NFC West: Seattle
Wildcard: Arizona
Wildcard: Atlanta
AFC East: New England
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC North: Pittsburgh
AFC West: Denver
Wildcard: Cincinnati
Wildcard: San Diego
My sleepers are Baltimore and Washington.
What’s on your mind?
I have a book to keep your insomnia going:
Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
I suppose you think the Bills will win it all?
Good God no. I’m a Broncos fan.
They won’t win it all this year either, but they’ll come a lot closer than the Bills will.
i forgot you were a Broncos fan. Now their back up QB is a little more promising than Minnesota’s. At least, on paper.
Out of curiousity, who got more fantasy points, Ronnie Brown who got like 30 yards but scored twice, or Willie Parker, who ran for over 100 yards but didn’t score?
Brown. TD’s win out over yards in most games, unless you play a strictly yardage league.
Or if you do bonuses for 100 yard rushing games.
I have a friend who plays in a league where they get something like +5 points for 100 yards rushing or receiving, or 300 yards passing performance. I call it ‘Republican Rules’ because the rich just get richer…a 100 or 300 yard game should be enough reward in and of itself!
BTW, I was serious about that book rec. One of the greatest American novels of all time. And a quick read. Much shorter than Moby Dick or Huck Finn.
The Bears have 1/2 an offense.
It’s a weak division.
The Vikings have a decent team.
Don’t know much about the Cardinals’ chances.
Predicting the Vikes for a wildcard slot.
I live in MN.
Nobody ever knows shit about the NFL until a month into the regular season.
If Minnesota does well it will be because of a potent looking defense. I know, good Viking defense? What is this, the 1970’s?
But it looks frightening.
Their offense?
QB Brad Johnson Tarvaris Jackson
RB Chester Taylor Ciatrick Fason
HB Jermaine Wiggins
WR1 Koren Robinson Nate Burleson
WR2 Travis Taylor Marcus Robinson
TE Troy Williamson Marcus Robinson
RT Marcus Johnson Ryan Cook
Their offensive line looks very good. Their skill positions? Pathetic. And if Brad Johnson gets hurt, they have a rookie at number two.
Koren Robinson has been waived by the team. I thing Green Bay is considering pickingb him up. He has an alcohol/drug problem.
You’re going to be surprised by Chester Taylor. Baltimore should have kept him and let Jamal Lewis go.
Their offense is totally different than it used to be. No more deep chucking. Brad Johnson is very good at efficient, boring football. That combined with their defense and rushing will win them some games. I’m not counting them out from winning the division, but it’s mostly because there is no clear favorite.
I had favored Pittsburgh over Miami, so I’m off to a good start. Here’s who I think will win, but I don’t predict scores (I’m not that much of a fan):
New Orleans over Cleveland
Seattle over Detroit
NY Jets over Tennessee
Cincinnati over Kansas City
Denver over St. Louis
New England over Buffalo
Tampa Bay over Baltimore
Carolina over Atlanta
Philadelphia over Houston
Green Bay over Chicago
Arizona over San Francisco
Dallas over Jacksonville
NY Giants over Indianapolis (upset pick)
Monday night:
Washington over Minnesota
San Diego over Oakland
I don’t think Eli will outclass Peyton, but I think the Giants D will step up big time and stop the Colts’ offense.
Packers beating the Bears eh? Interesting.
In Brett we trust! 😛
I mostly agree with you, but I think Washington only beats Minnesota if Portis plays, and that the NY Football Giants will fall to the Colts (though this may be the only time in my life I’ll actually be rooting for a New York team).
Most of your picks are ok, but the picks for the NFC East and the two NFC Wildcard spots prove, once and for all, that you are deranged beyond all reason.
Okay you want NFC East analysis Chris?
Dallas has chemistry problems and headcases at wide receiver. They have an iffy offensive line, and their quarterback is old and immobile. Their defense is their strength, but it has some holes in it. Their running game is suspect.
Washington has problems with Clinton Portis’s health. Brunell is aging. Their defense is solid but not outstanding. They are the strongest team other than the Giants.
The Giants have the best running back in the divison, the best tight end in the division, and the best receiving corp in the division. Their quarterback is entering his third year and has more talent to throw to than any QB in the league. His offensive line is the same one that last year opened up 1,800 yards for Tiki, and it has more depth. Their defense includes four menacing defensive ends, including the two best in the league, plus an awesome linebacking corp, and a revamped secondary. Opponents will have no time to throw.
The Eagles have an injury prone running back, no back up, no commitment to the running game, and dink and dunk West Coast offense with no wide receivers. Their defense has degraded and gotten older. They are destined for last place.
I’ll wait and see if Eli has improved all that much. I wasn’t very impressed last year, and I got the impression he wasn’t very good at hitting his second or third reads and was fixated on throwing to Plaxico.
true, and Plaxico caught all kinds of bad throws.
Eli is the wildcard, but I think his brother could throw for 5,000 yards with this offense.
Burress, Toomer, Carter, Moss, Tyree, Shockey, Shiancoe, Barber, and Finn? How can you possibly cover them?
And Brandon Jacobs is looking good, too.
He is always going to have an open receiver and their running game should be among the best.
I think if Eli ever becomes even an average NFL quarterback he’ll have overacheived.
I can’t get into this at work, but I mostly agree with what Simmons wrote about the NFC East:
I’d pick it in the order: 1)Eagles 2)Jersey 3)The Fucking Cowboys 4)Redskins.
Eli Manning 75.9 24 TD’s 17 INT
Donovan McNabb 85.0 16 TD’s 9 INT
Mark Brunell 85.0 23 TD’s 10 INT
Drew Bledsoe 83.7 23 TD’s 17 INT
If you ask me, that is pretty much as a wash. Obviously, McNabb missed some games.
Eli is the only quarterback we should expect to play better, in his second full year. That brings him up to at least parity.
But that doesn’t tell the story. Here’s the story.
Rushing Yards
Dallas 1861
NY Giants 2209
Philly 1432
Washington 2183
Add to this:
Santana Moss was 2nd in yards receiving in the league. Buress was ninth. Terry Glenn was ninth. Donte Stallworth was 24th.
Finally, the Eagles have a very good, but old, defense. But so do the Giants.
The receiving numbers are lovely, but they don’t tell the whole picture. If they did, the Eagles wouldn’t have gone to 3 consecutive NFC championship games with James Trash and Todd Pinkston as their primary receiving threats. Just let that sink in for a second. James Trash! The Eagles don’t run the ball. Under Reid, they’ve never run the ball. Everybody complains about it and stresses about it, but they’ve won a lot of games not running the ball. When McNabb is healthy and starting games, they’ve never won fewer than 10 games. And where is the old thing coming from? The oldest Eagle on defense, Brian Dawkins, is two years younger than the oldest Giant, Strahan. Their defensive tackles are all young. Other than Dawkins, their secondary is young.
There’s only one way to settle this – Money. Since you wouldn’t bite on the drinking competition, you should make it up to me with some very heavy and irresponsible betting on the football season.
how do I get access to my fantasy football team?
BTW, Cowboys and Titans.
I am a Texan and a Texas-Ex, what can I say. Vince Young will be representing all the way, unlike a certain former Longhorn up in Canada.
My picks:
NFC East: Philadelphia
NFC South: Carolina
NFC North: Chicago
NFC West: Seattle
Wildcard: Dallas
Wildcard: NY Giants
NFC Champion: Philadelphia
AFC East: New England
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC North: Baltimore
AFC West: Denver
Wildcard: Cincinnati
Wildcard: Pittsburgh
AFC Champion is the Colts and they win the Super Bowl.
Sorry DD. There’s going to be a whole lot more of both of these this year.
Oh, and GO BLUE!! 🙂
NFC East: NY Giants
NFC North: Chicago
NFC South: Atlanta
NFC West: Seattle
Wild cards: Philadelphia and Carolina
AFC East: New England
AFC North: Cincinnati
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC West: Denver
Wild cards: San Diego and Baltimore
Super Bowl: New England defeats the NY Giants.