Bleacher Report - Articles by Sean Wagman

NFL Week 12 Picks: The Holiday Edition

Sean Wagman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:48:55 -0500

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there who realizes, like me, that Thanksgiving is meant to be for three things: family, food, and football. Once again this year, we get a triple-header on which to feast—as long as you have NFL Network, or live in or around New York or Denver. Then on Sunday and Monday Night, we get our usual helping for games from around the league, topped off by the big game of the week on Monday night when the Saints play the Patriots in the Big Easy. So before you go into your tryptophan-induced comas, here are the Week 12 picks. Last week: 11-5. Season: 84-73-1 (.535)

Thanksgiving Games

Packers (-11) at Lions

The annual Turkey Day showdown between these two teams kicks off a real yawner of a holiday in terms of the matchups. There are a ton of concerns for the Lions with respect to the shoulder of Matt Stafford, and the Packers need to keep winning if they expect to win the NFC Wild Card. The Pack should win easily in Detroit.

Raiders (+14) at Cowboys

I fully expect the Cowboys to beat the Oakland Raiders, especially considering that Dallas still has a full complement of running backs—unlike the Bengals, who were stunned in the Black Hole last week. However, I think Oakland will come out playing very hard in this one, and Bruce Gradkowski is trying to earn himself a shot at an NFL job next season. It’ll be closer than you think.

Giants (-7) at Broncos

In a matchup of two teams that are in dire need of wins, the G-Men seem to have a lot more composure than the suddenly dysfunctional Broncos, who are looking to avoid a fifth-straight loss which would completely erase a 6-0 start. If the Giants' pass rush is as bad as its been in recent games, expect Brandon Marshall to have a big day, but I would still expect New York to pull this one out easily.

Sunday Games

Buccaneers (+13) at Falcons

There’s really nothing going right for the Atlanta Falcons recently. Matt Ryan has been less than stellar and Michael Turner is banged up. Tampa Bay seems to have found some hints of life with Josh Freeman under center. The Falcons win it, but Tampa stays with them the whole way.

Dolphins (-4) at Bills

Last week, I figured that the Phins were basically done with the loss of Ronnie Brown. This week, I think Ricky Williams is going to carry the load once again, especially against the porous Bills' run D. Miami is on the cusp of being in the playoff mix. They should get into the thick of the discussion after this one.

Browns at Bengals (-14)

The Browns mustered 37 points last week in their loss to Detroit. I’d be surprised to see them score 37 points in all of their remaining games combined. Plus, this week, they get to face a very angry Cincy squad that’s coming off an unacceptable loss to the Raiders. Cincy will reassert itself as the best team in the AFC North this week.

Seahawks at Rams (+3)

This game is a complete pillow fight, but I’ve liked what St. Louis has done the last couple of weeks. It’s amazing that, even though their season is effectively over, they keep playing so hard. I think they’ll be rewarded with win No. 2 on Sunday.

Panthers (+3) at Jets

Has anyone been watching the Jets the last two months? They’re playing they way a rookie coach and QB combination should be expected to play. They might not win another game for the rest of the season. Maybe Rex Ryan will cry about that, too.

Redskins (+10) at Eagles

There are two reasons to take Washington this week. The first is that they almost beat Dallas in Dallas last week and, in fact, probably should have won. The second is that this is an NFC East game, and how often are these games actually blowouts?

Colts (-4) at Texans

After their loss to the Titans on Monday Night, the Houston Texans are beginning to lose their luster with me. Houston really needs a win to hang in the playoff race. Unfortunately, the Texans face Peyton Manning & Co., who will not lose in Houston this time around. Way too hard to pick against Indy right now.

Chiefs at Chargers (-14)

San Diego is riding one heck of a high right now after routing Denver last week. I don’t expect the Chargers to do anything less than run away with the AFC West now, and it starts with a big win over the lowly Chiefs.

Jaguars (+4) at 49ers

Jacksonville suddenly finds itself in second place in an AFC South in which most expected it to finish dead last. San Francisco is quickly realizing the importance of needing a viable passing game in order to make the playoffs. Jacksonville will take this one and continue it’s unlikely playoff push behind another stellar performance by Maurice Jones-Drew.

Cardinals (+2) at Titans

I know that Vince Young has lit a spark under the Tennessee Titans, but they haven’t faced an offense like the Cardinals during the winning streak. Plus, the Cards are 5-0 on the road this year, and can basically wrap up the non-competitive NFC West with a win on Sunday.

Bears at Vikings (-11)

The Bears are basically in crisis mode at this point of the season, and the calls for Lovie Smith’s head have begun. The Vikings remain one of the hottest teams in the NFL this season and a front-runner in terms of Super Bowl contenders. The Vikes should cruise and continue on their march toward the NFC North crown and playoffs.

Steelers at Ravens (pick)

Interesting stat—Troy Polamalu has missed four games this season. In those games, Pittsburgh is 0-4. Also, remember that one hard hit could end Ben Roethlisberger’s day and force Dennis Dixon into action. Dixon has thrown five passes in his NFL career. Against the Ravens’ D? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Monday Night

Patriots (+3) at Saints

I really want to take New Orleans in this game, but it has run into one of the teams I would least want to face in this part of the season. In the last 10 years, New England is 52-10 in regular season games after Thanksgiving. This is winning time, and the Pats don’t lose very often when it's winning time. It’ll be a battle, but Brady and Belichick will find a way to outwit Brees.

NFL Week 11 Picks: Another Big Sunday…That Starts on Thursday

Sean Wagman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:35:39 -0500

I really like DeAngelo Williams, especially against Miami tonight.

I really hope that I’m not the only person out there right now who thinks that having Thursday Night games before Thanksgiving is as morally wrong as Christmas commercials on TV before Thanksgiving.

It’s just too much and it means I have to make my picks in the next 90 minutes before the Miami-Carolina game starts. So here we go with my Week 11 picks. By the way, last week, we survived an 0-5 start and managed an 8-7 record to inch the record up to 73-68-1 (.518).

Thursday Night

Dolphins at Panthers (-3): Considering the way both of these teams like to play on offense, this game might not last for its three-hour time slot. The big difference in this one? Ronnie Brown is on the IR for the Fish, which makes that Wildcat a lot more predictable. Look for Julius Peppers to make the night a long one for Ricky Williams, who makes his first start in about a year.

Sunday

Redskins (+11) at Cowboys: I know what you’re thinking right now and, trust me, I agree with you that Washington is not a good football team. However, this is an NFC East rivalry game, and it's one that the ‘Skins will get up for. They won’t win the game, but they’ll make Tony Romo and the rest of the Cowboys earn the W.

Browns (+4) at Lions: This might be the Pillow Fight of the Year between two teams that just can’t seem to do anything right. I’m taking the Browns solely because both of these teams are so inept offensively that I can’t see either team winning by more than a field goal. Either way, whoever put this game on the 2009 NFL schedule deserves to be looking for a new job.

49ers (+7) at Packers: I’m not ready to give up on the San Francisco 49ers this season yet. There is a lot of young talent on that team and I personally think that the Packers are a team moving in the wrong direction. Frank Gore should be able to have a very productive day, and if the San Fran pass rush can disrupt Aaron Rodgers the way they threw off Jay Cutler last week, the Niners should win.

Steelers (-10) at Chiefs: At first I saw this game and was intrigued by the Chiefs. Then Dwayne Bowe was suspended for PEDs and I woke up. KC remains one of the most lost franchises in the NFL. It’s just that they're hidden by the Oakland Raiders, who ironically play in the same division. If the Steelers can’t beat the Chiefs by two touchdowns, then they really don’t deserve to make the playoffs.

Seahawks at Vikings (-11): Minnesota has yet to lose at home this year and bring in a Seahawks team that is reeling from its loss to the Cardinals last week after looking pretty good early in that one. As always, Adrian Peterson will do what he does and the Vikes’ D should be able to win the battle up front to put pressure on a fragile Matt Hasselbeck.

Falcons (+7) at Giants: Atlanta is only 1-4 on the road this year, but the Giants have looked just awful in their last four games. It’s a big concern that the Falcons don’t have Michael Turner, but I think the combination of backup RBs will do okay against a Giants’ D that has been very suspect as of late. Keep an eye on how sharp Eli Manning looks, too. I suspect he’s more injured than he and the G-Men have led us to believe.

Saints (-11) at Buccaneers: Drew Brees hasn’t had a huge game since Week Two and has turned the ball over a little too much lately. Still, the Saints are 9-0. Going up against lowly Tampa Bay shouldn’t be too difficult. This is also another chance for the New Orleans D to prove itself by shutting down a weak offense as it should.

Bills at Jaguars (-9): The Bills have no run defense against one of the league’s best rushers in Maurice Jones-Drew, no offense to counter with, and just fired Dick Jauron (probably a good thing, actually). There’s no way they will compete with Jacksonville, who now sits only one game behind Houston in the AFC South.

Colts (+2) at Ravens: So how exactly are the 9-0, Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts the underdog against the Ravens this week? Sometimes, I wonder who makes these lines.

Cardinals (+9) at Rams: St. Louis showed a lot of fight last week against the Saints...but still lost. Arizona has an opportunity to extend its NFC West lead to three games this week if San Fran loses in Lambeau. Kurt Warner and Co will not let that opportunity go to waste.

Chargers (pick ‘em) at Broncos: Two words should tell you why San Diego will handle Denver and take over the AFC West on Sunday: Chris Simms. If you watched any of him during the second half of the Broncos’ loss in DC, you saw a guy who looked completely lost out there. Finally, justice has arrived for Denver, and it comes in the form of a fourth straight loss.

Bengals (-10) at Raiders: Cincy is the talk of the league after its big win over the Steelers last week. Now they basically get a bye week against the Raiders, who have decided to bench JaMarcus Russell for former Bucs QB Bruce Gradkowski...and that might be an improvement, which is really scary.

Jets at Patriots (-11): The Pats have yet to lose at home, almost never lose back-to-back games, and are still mad about what happened in Indy last week. Plus, they’re facing a team that Bill Belichick, if given the opportunity, will beat by as much as possible.

The Jets are basically floating around like a dead fish after losing at home to the Jaguars, and would need nothing short of a miracle to beat New England in Gillette on Sunday. Before you say anything, yes I’m serious, and yes, I am a Jets fan.

Eagles (-3) at Bears: The Eagles are coming off of tough back-to-back losses to Dallas and San Diego. Although Chicago isn’t exactly a gimme for the Iggles, I still think they have a lot more to play for than the Bears. That and Jay Cutler is guaranteed to throw at least a pick or two.

Monday Night

Titans (+5) at Texans: Houston couldn’t beat the bad version of the Titans by five points in Week Two, as they held on for a 34-31 win. Now the Texans have to beat the new and improved version of Tennessee, led by, of all people, Vince Young, who has looked sharp in his first three starts. This is a golden opportunity for the Titans to ruin Houston’s season, and I think there’s a decent chance they’ll do just that.

NFL Week 10 Picks: Now the Real Fun Begins

Sean Wagman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:17:48 -0500

Not sure if he's smiling or not, but I don't think he'll be smiling after Sunday Night

So we have finally crossed the midway point of the regular season in the NFL and so far, as expected, there have been some surprises and some disappointments. My ability to pick games probably falls in neither of those areas, but rather in more of an “as expected category.” After last week’s 5-8 disaster, the season record crept further downward to 65-61-1 (.516). Here’s another attempt at a turnaround in Week 10.

Thursday Night
Bears (+3) at 49ers: After seeing both of these teams play last week, the NFL probably regrets putting them in the Thursday Night game this week. The 'Mike Singletary vs. the Team He Used to Play For' storyline loses its luster when you see these two teams matchup. I’ll take the Bears, solely because I know they’ll put up some points and they’ll win if they can just stop Frank Gore. Alex Smith will throw at least two picks to bail out Chicago.

Sunday Games
Bills (+7) at Titans: I have no idea what has gotten into the Tennessee Titans the last couple of weeks but they have looked very good. However, I think part of that is because they haven’t been pressed into making Vince Young make a whole lot of big plays. I think that the Bills will load the box early and often for Chris Johnson to make this happen. Also, it sounds like Trent Edwards is going to be back from his injury, so the Bills might even have a halfway competent passing game this week.

Saints (-14) at Rams: This needs very little analysis. The Saints are 8-0 and rolling over opponents. The Rams are 1-7 and beat the Lions for their only win. New Orleans should crush them. This one will be over by halftime.

Buccaneers at Dolphins (-10): My first impression of this game was to pick Tampa Bay. Then I realized I would be taking the league’s 30th-ranked rush defense against Miami’s wildcat offense, which is prided on the run. That made my decision much easier. As long as Joey Porter shows up this week (he had an impressive ZERO tackles in New England) the Fish should be fine.

Lions at Vikings (-17): Earlier in the season, Minnesota got off to a slow start in Detroit and still managed to beat the Lions 27-13 at Ford Field. That being said, I think Minnesota has gotten stronger while Detroit is starting to pack it in again. Minnesota should be able to win by at least 17 in the Metrodome.

Jaguars (+7) at Jets: I really don’t understand how the Jets are favored by 7 points in this game. Other than the 38-0 win over Oakland, they haven’t blown anyone away, and since starting 3-0, just haven’t looked like the same team. Jacksonville is a lot tougher than people give them credit for, and a win would put them at 5-4 with the Texans and into the playoff hunt.

Bengals (+7) at Steelers: So yet again the Bengals are playing a team they beat once already and are the underdog? Did Vegas learn nothing from Cincy’s 17-7 win over Baltimore last weekend? Apparently not. I’m not sure who’s going to win this game, but you can be certain that the Bengals and Steelers will play a hard-fought and close game.

Broncos (-4) at Redskins: Denver’s been knocked back to Earth the last couple of weeks, but it was by two very tough opponents. Washington should provide the kind of bounce-back they are looking for. I expect to see Denver have much greater success running the ball against the Skins and win by at least a touchdown.

Falcons at Panthers (+2): I have really liked what I’ve seen from the Panthers the last couple of weeks. It seems like John Fox just opened his playbook to the section listed as “running plays” and it’s been looking pretty good ever since. So long as they don’t put the game in Jake Delhomme’s hands at any point, I like Carolina’s chances at home against a struggling Matt Ryan and the Falcons.

Chiefs (+2) at Raiders: I have no real explanation for picking the Chiefs to beat the Raiders other than the fact that they should have beaten them in Week 2 at home. The game will be low-scoring, unwatched, and forgotten about soon after, but Kansas City might have its last chance at winning a game this weekend.

Eagles at Chargers (-3): The Chargers seem to be getting hot again as they attempt to chase down the AFC West-leading Broncos and are coming off a big win over the Giants. The Eagles need this one just as badly after dropping their battle with the Cowboys last week to drop out of first place, but are without Brian Westbrook again it appears right now. They need him on the field to be successful against San Diego’s defense.

Seahawks at Cardinals (-9): The Seahawks and Cardinals are two teams going in very different directions right now. Since blowing out Jacksonville 41-0, Seattle has look just terrible, not even looking very convincing in its 32-20 win over Detroit last week. The Cardinals, on the other hand, scored an easy win over the Bears and Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald looked very much on the same page. That’s bad news for the Seahawks’ secondary.

Cowboys (-3) at Packers: Dallas showed up in a big way last week by beating the Eagles. Green Bay decided not to show up by losing to the Bucs. Who do you think I should pick?

Patriots (+3) at Colts: From a completely biased view, I would love to see the Colts win, even though I’m about as much a fan of Peyton Manning as I am of Tom Brady. However, I’ve seen this matchup before and Brady has gotten the better of Manning five out of seven times in the regular season. The Pats take another step towards being a Super Bowl contender by beating the Colts, 24-21.

Monday Night
Ravens (-11) at Browns: This could be -21 and I would probably still take the Ravens to shellac the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland is in complete disarray right now and just doesn’t show any signs of life. Baltimore desperately needs a win to try and catch the loser of the Pittsburgh-Cincy game if they expect to make the playoffs.

NFL Midseason Review

Sean Wagman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:28:48 -0500

As we reach the end of Week 9, every team is halfway through the regular season. Some have been great surprises while others have not. And Oakland is, well, yeah. It’s at this point where I like to take a look at my preseason predictions and see which ones were good and which were not. Let’s start with the good.

The Good: AFC

1. As predicted, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are well on their way to taking yet another AFC East crown with relative ease. Since their Week 2 loss to the upstart Jets, the Pats have looked very much like the perennial playoff team we’re used to seeing. Their true test of whether they are completely back as contenders comes Sunday night against the undefeated Colts. But even if they lose that game, it’s still hard to see them lose their division. It would take a collapse much like the Jets had last year, but let’s be serious. If anyone truly believes the Golden Boy is going to let his team falter, then stand up and show yourself because I’d like to examine your brain. Yet again, Tom Brady, the bane of my existence, will guide the Pats to a deep playoff run.

2. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the T.O. in Buffalo situation doesn’t seem to be working at all, which I feared at the beginning of the year, and is why I picked them to finish dead last in the AFC East. Through eight games, Owens has been limited to 15 catches for 215 yards with one TD… wow. Yet Trent Edwards has somehow managed to avoid his primadonna wideout’s venom so far. However, if this trend continues, expect to be hearing from ESPN’s favorite disgruntled WR very soon. Get Ed Werder on the next flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Buffalo.

3. The Indianapolis Colts remain the class of the AFC South, especially after pulling out a 20-17 win over the Texans today. At 8-0, it’s only a matter of time before the Colts clinch the division and start playing Jim Sorgi and a plethora of other reserves in Week 14. It’s amazing how consistently dominant the Colts have been since Peyton Manning took the franchise reins in 1999. Staying in this division, the Houston Texans, despite the loss, seem to be in decent position to make the playoffs as a wild card. As long as they can avoid some of the baffling losses they’ve had in the past, they should be able to get to 9-10 wins and sneak into the postseason.

The Bad: AFC

1. The Cincinnati Bengals are 6-2 and leading the AFC North. I predicted said Bungles to finish 5-11 this year. It’s partly luck that they are where they are, but it’s also partly bad luck that they aren’t 7-1 given their Week 1 loss to Denver. Cedric Benson has been a massive surprise on offense, giving Carson Palmer the complement that he hasn’t had since Rudi Johnson’s sudden decline and subsequent exiling to Detroit. If the Bengals have staying power, then I look for this team to finish with 11 wins and potentially win the AFC North, meaning either Pittsburgh or Baltimore is staying home this year for the playoffs.

2. Well, I was right about the Tennessee Titans taking a step back this year. Except they have taken several hundred steps back, to 2-6, even with back-to-back wins, thanks to Chris Johnson getting going in a big way. Vince Young has replaced Kerry Collins, playoff hopes seem bleak at best, and we even had Jeff Fisher donning a Peyton Manning jersey because he “wanted to feel what it was like to be a winner.” This team’s got issues, but should manage to finish with 5-6 wins and regroup for 2010.

3. Who are these Denver Broncos, and since when do teams in complete disarray perform well on the field? (see Raiders, Oakland). At 6-1 going into their Monday Night showdown with Pittsburgh, we have to say the Broncos are for real, even if I can’t figure out how they’re winning games. I still think San Diego is going to win this division, and I really think Denver should have lost in Cincy and at home to New England, yet Kyle Orton continues to win like he’s still in Chicago. I guess it’s poetic justice in the sense that Orton has outperformed Jay Cutler, but other than that I just don’t get how this team hasn’t completely melted down yet.

The Good: NFC

1. Brett Favre is as good as advertised for the Minnesota Vikings, who at 7-1 look poised to run away with the NFC North. Jared Allen has looked completely revitalized and Adrian Peterson is making Favre look like the All Pro QB he was in his prime. I really hope that we get to see these guys play the New Orleans Saints for the NFC title. That would be one helluva game.

2. The NFC East remains the toughest division to call in all the NFL. After a 5-0 start, the New York Giants have fallen way back to Earth and are almost .500 at 5-4. Meanwhile, after looking like they were going nowhere fast, the Dallas Cowboys are leading the pack at 6-2, scoring a big win in Philadelphia earlier tonight. The Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants will certainly take advantage of playing the Redskins, so it should come down to head-to-head battles between the three teams.

3. The worst teams in the NFL still reside in the NFC. The Rams, Lions, and Buccaneers’ seasons are already over, as all three stand at 1-7. The question at this point is will these teams continue to play hard for the final eight games, or think better of it and just throw away contests to try and get the first pick? It’s never fun to have to look at it that way, but it’s a cruel reality in St. Louis, Detroit, and Tampa Bay this year.

The Bad: NFC

1. Who Dat? Apparently “Dat” is the New Orleans Saints, led by Drew Brees, a solid rushing attack, and a better than advertised defense. The Saints are 8-0, and unless they do the unthinkable and lose every game from here out, they will not finish 8-8 as I originally thought. The Saints have separated themselves from the pack and hold a three game lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. With games left against their division opponents, they should have very little trouble getting to 11 wins. How many beyond that remains to be seen, but if they get to 10 or 11-0, you know that Mercury Morris and the ‘72 Dolphins are going to be getting thirsty for their champagne.

2. The Eagles are definitely not a 12-win team this year and with the loss to the Cowboys tonight, might not even make the playoffs. The team just has too many issues on the offensive line and too many young skill position players to win big games, which showed tonight. To complicate things further, Brian Westbrook’s concussion took the main cog out of the Philly offense, which means it’ll be on LeSean McCoy and Leonard Weaver to get the job done, which they failed to do tonight.

That just about does it for the things that are either surprisingly spot-on or just way off mark for me in the first half of the season. If I missed anything or if you just want to nitpick a bit, then go right ahead. Look back for picks for Week 10 on Thursday or Friday.

NFL: Week Nine Picks

Sean Wagman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:48:47 -0500

Tony Romo might find himself in this position again if the Eagles have it their way on Sunday Night

With the baseball season finally coming to its end last night, I can now focus 100 percent on the NFL the rest of the way. This is probably coming at the best time possible, considering the issues I’ve had making picks lately.

Last week was OK, but not great, with a record of 7-6 thanks in part to that late field goal by Jason Elam, cutting the Saints’ final margin to eight.

The season record moves to 60-53-1 (.531).

Here are the picks for this week:

Redskins at Falcons (-10)

Despite the fact that they ended up losing last week in New Orleans, and all those turnovers forced by the Saints’ D on Matt Ryan (whose nickname I am temporarily taking away), the Falcons looked pretty good.

The good news for the Falcons is that they get to start playing some bad teams again, starting with the lowly Redskins on Sunday in the Georgia Dome, where Atlanta is unbeaten this year.

Cardinals at Bears (-3)

This is a really tough game to choose, simply because you can’t predict what you’re going to see from either of these teams.

Two weeks ago, Arizona looked solid in beating the Giants in New York.

Last week, they put up a Kurt Warner INT-filled fiasco against the Panthers.

Likewise, the Bears beat up on the Browns last week after getting smoked by the surprising Bengals in Cincy.

Still, I’m taking the Bears for two reasons: They haven’t lost at home yet this year, and Chicago will force Kurt Warner to make mistakes.

Ravens at Bengals (+3 )

So, let me get this straight: Cincy beat Baltimore on the road 17-14 just a few weeks ago, but the Bengals are the dog at home in the rematch?

How did this happen?

In all seriousness, though, Cincy wants this game desperately. It would put some separation between themselves, and third-place B-More, and they wouldn’t mind keeping pace with the Steelers, either.

The Ravens haven’t looked good in a few weeks, and are in serious trouble if they lose this one.

Texans (+10) at Colts

I must be out of my mind picking against Peyton Manning & Co., especially considering their 7-0 record and the fact that the Texans’ D isn’t exactly one of the league’s best.

However, I think that you’ll see why Houston is considered to have one of the most explosive offenses in the league this week, especially if Ryan Moats can get going on the ground to open it up for the Matt Schaub-Andre Johnson connection.

The Colts should win, but Houston will keep it interesting.

Dolphins at Patriots (-11)

Ever since Miami introduced the Wildcat against the Pats at the beginning of last year, New England has had that game on its mind.

Now they get the Dolphins sans a competent QB.

New England will be well prepared to handle Ronnie Brown, and his partners in crime, and the Pats will cruise to an easy victory.

Packers (-10) at Buccaneers

Have you seen the Tampa Bay Bucs play this year?

If the answer was yes, I’m sorry you had to suffer through it.

Packers by a significant margin.

Chiefs at Jaguars (-7)

Jacksonville proves almost every week that they are a competitive team, but last week’s loss to Vince Young and the Titans says otherwise.

I think that you’ll see Maurice Jones-Drew have a big day against the Chiefs’ run defense, while the Chiefs will also continue to lack any kind of offensive consistency.

Lions (+10) at Seahawks

Both of these teams don’t seem to have much to play for already this season.

It’s important to note that Matt Hasselbeck continues to play with broken ribs. One more bad hit, and it’ll be back to Seneca Wallace and a lot less scoring in the Pacific Northwest.

The Lions will find a way to keep it close, win, or lose.

Panthers at Saints (-13)

This would normally be a very easy pick, but it seems like Carolina remembered how to run the football last week with D’Angelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart, which is going to make it a lot tougher on the Saints to win big.

The Panthers seem to be controlling their possessions better, but no team has given me a good reason to pick against the Saints thus far, and I expect to see an 8-0 team in the Big Easy.

Chargers (+5) at Giants

This is a game that both squads need badly, since both are chasing good teams in their respective divisions.

In the last few weeks, though, San Diego has looked as if it's turning the corner after a slow start, especially with the reemergence of LaDainian Tomlinson.

On the other hand, the G-Men have lost three straight, and Eli Manning might be more injured than we’ve been led to believe.

He has looked just awful the last two weeks.

Titans at 49ers (-5)

The San Francisco defense should be able to contain Chris Johnson a bit better than Jacksonville did, forcing Vince Young to actually make a tough play with his arm this week. As a result, San Fran should probably win this game behind the legs of Frank Gore.

Cowboys at Eagles (-3 )

The last time that Dallas was in Philly, they were embarrassed by the Eagles, who claimed the final NFC playoff spot in Week 17 that season.

I don’t think we’ll see a repeat of that, but I think we’ll see the same Eagles team that we saw last week against the Giants as they have just started to click on all cylinders.

Not to say that Dallas isn’t playing well right now, but once again we have Tony Romo in a big game, which could be enough to give the game to the Birds.

Steelers (-3 ) at Broncos

Last week against Baltimore, Denver finally looked the way I thought they would all year.

Now they get to play an even better opponent in Pittsburgh, who might need this game to keep pace with the Bengals.

The Broncos appear to be losing some of that head of steam they opened the season with, and that could mean the beginning of a painful end to the 2009 campaign.

That’ll do it for this week.

Make sure to check back on Tuesday for my midseason recap, and self-assessment of how right or wrong I’ve been so far.

NFL Week Eight: In Need of a Bailout

Sean Wagman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:16:00 -0400

Maybe it’s the fact that I am stuck in a deathbed for football this year in Washington, or maybe I just am missing something, but the last two weeks have not gone according to plan.

After what looked like a promising start with four easy wins, the Texans forgot how to play offense and failed to cover against San Fran after nearly blowing a 21-0 halftime lead.

And Brett Favre decided to throw one of his patented late-game picks for a Pittsburgh TD.

The rest of they day went the same, pretty much, with my only win coming thanks to the Saints' second half rally past Miami. The Eagles' easy win over the ‘Skins salvaged a 6-6-1 week and moved the season record to 53-47-1 (.530).

Here’s the picks for Week Eight.

Dolphins (+4) at Jets

The Jets lost to the Dolphins three weeks ago when they were completely healthy and still had Kris Jenkins in the middle to plug up holes in the run defense.

Now he, along with RB Leon Washington and potentially WR Braylon Edwards will not be available against a Miami rushing attack that had a field day against the Jets on Monday night.

The Jets will need to limit Ronnie Brown to under 100 yards and get a good game out of a struggling Mark Sanchez to win this one. I don’t see either of those things happening.

Giants at Eagles (-1)

In the first game of what will be a wild Sunday in Philadelphia, I expect the Eagles to play a very strong and sound game and beat the New York Giants in a close one at the Link.

The G-Men haven’t gotten the production they need out of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw the last couple of games, and the Eagles defense might be the best out of the last three teams they’ve faced.

Also, the Eagles seem to have found the right offensive formula and are being driven by their youthful skill players in DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean McCoy.

Broncos (+3) at Ravens

Going into Baltimore and winning is still a very tough task, but the way things have been going for the Denver Broncos, it wouldn’t surprise me to see it happen at all.

If Elvis Dumervil can get the better of his matchup on the line, I expect it’ll be a long day for Joe Flacco. If this happens, the Broncos’ D can load up the box for Ray Rice and could make this ugly.

I also expect to see Denver spread the ball out offensively to anyone and everyone in order to buy Kyle Orton more time in the pocket and open things up for both Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter.

Texans (-4) at Bills

This is a matchup of two teams that shouldn’t be where they currently are. The Texans are better than their 4-3 record would lead you to believe and they are just starting to click into gear, which is huge considering how well they play in the second half.

The combination of Matt Schaub, Steve Slaton, and Andre Johnson should prove to be too much for a 3-4 Bills team that has really been the beneficiary of playing well against some weaker opponents so far this year.

Plus, I don’t see Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing for less than 150 yards and Buffalo beating Houston.

Browns at Bears (-14)

Normally I would see Chicago with this big of a spread and run away from them. This time, though, Da Bears are in desperate need of a win and Jay Cutler & Co. have one of the more porous defenses in the league to go up against.

I think the most interesting thing that will happen during the course of this game will be whether or not Cleveland switches between Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn yet again.

Seahawks at Cowboys (-10)

It took them six games to do it, but the Cowboys showed me something last week to make me think that they could be a serious factor in the NFC this year.

The emergence of the Tony Romo-Miles Austin connection, having Marion Barber and Felix Jones healthy, and the improvement of the pass rush has turned things around in Big D.

More than this, though, might be that the last time I saw Seattle they got shellacked by Jacksonville, 41-0. The Seahawks have some serious issues right now and are going to need some serious help to win this one.

Rams at Lions (pick ‘em)

Two reasons for picking the Detroit Lions this week:

1. They’re at home.

2. At least when they’ve lost this year they’ve managed to be somewhat competitive.
This game merits no further conversation because of these teams’ combined 1-12 record.

49ers at Colts (-13)

Indianapolis has just rolled through all of its opponents so far this year, and San Fran’s fairly suspect pass defense was exposed by the Texans last week.

Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne is certainly not going to be easy for the Niners to contain, not to mention the rest of the cast from a Colts offense that once again is amongst the best in the NFL.

Jaguars (+3) at Titans

I want to meet the individual who made this line and ask him if he’s watched the Titans this season.

I also want to ask him if he made this line before or after he heard Vince Young might get the start, or if he just thought that Jeff Fisher wearing the Peyton Manning jersey was inspiration for his team.

So long as Tennessee plays the way they have thus far, they will not win on Sunday.

Raiders (+17) at Chargers

The Raiders and Chargers met at the beginning of the year on Monday Night and Oakland actually managed to play what might have been its best game so far this year, falling on a late TD drive engineered by Philip Rivers.

The Raiders still stink, but they seem to know something about San Diego that keeps them in the game. Chargers will win, but it’ll be closer than you think.

Panthers at Cardinals (-11)

The Cardinals seem to have finally shaken off whatever was affecting them at the beginning of the year, as was obvious with their big win on Sunday Night over the Giants.

Kurt Warner is finding Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin again, and the defense is making stops when it needs to. This is very bad news for the Carolina Panthers, who desperately need to re-commit themselves to their running game as long as Jake Delhomme is under center.

Vikings (+3) at Packers

If Favre vs. Green Bay goes anything like Round One did, then the Vikings will definitely win this game.

Jared Allen and the Vikes’ D is going to be gunning for Aaron Rodgers early and often in this one, and I expect Adrian Peterson to have a bounce back week after being pretty quiet in Pittsburgh.

The Vikings might be the class of the NFC this year and will continue to make their case on Sunday night.

Falcons at Saints (-10)

I said it last week and I’ll say it again this week. Until some team gives me a reason to not pick New Orleans, I am taking the Saints every week for the rest of the season.

Drew Brees should be able to cut down on his mistakes and take advantage of playing against an Atlanta defense that seems to have some growing issues in the secondary.

Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense just don’t have the firepower to keep up with the Saints in a high-scoring game.

NFL Week 7 Picks: Looking for a Few Good Teams

Sean Wagman — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:50:43 -0400

"Matty Ice" has led the Falcons to a 4-1 start, but no one seems to be noticing. Maybe this week will help.

I’m not going to preface this with anything other than oops. Last week was just atrocious and hopefully no one that reads this bet using my picks after going 5-9. If you did, and if I wasn’t a poor college student, I would pay you your losses, but alas I can’t. Last week dropped the overall record to 47-41 (.534) for the season. This is a big week for yours truly, so let’s take a look at the Week 7 picks.

49ers at Texans (-3): San Fran gets Frank Gore back, which is definitely good news for a team that was crippled offensively without him. However, we shouldn’t forget what the Falcons passing offense did to these guys two weeks ago and the Texans are even better at throwing the ball around. Houston seems like they’re on the verge of turning the corner after their typical slow start, and grabbing their first home win of the year this week would go a long way in helping them get into a muddled playoff picture.

Packers (-7) at Browns: One of the easiest picks of the week, considering the state of about half of the Cleveland players, who will be unavailable with the flu. That, and Cleveland stunk with all of their regular players as it was. The Pack in a yawner.

Chargers (-6) at Chiefs: After the loss to Denver at home on Monday Night, San Diego is at a crossroads in its season. A loss to Kansas City might be a deadly blow to a team that has underachieved so far this year, especially defensively where Shawne Merriman has only 13 tackles in five games. A win gets them back to 3-3 and keeps them in the playoff conversation in a congested AFC.

Colts (-14) at Rams: Unless Peyton Manning suffers a catastrophic injury during the course of this game, there is absolutely no way that the Colts are not going to blow the Rams away. The Colts have beaten several good teams by convincing margins. I wonder if Peyton will try and outscore Tom Brady and the Patriots from last week?

Vikings (+5) at Steelers: I think that everyone is kind of overstating how the Vikings’ D looked at the end of their game last week. It was a complete blowout, and the D just packed it in early, nothing else. Also, Pittsburgh almost never covers the spread and likes playing in ugly, close games. This game will come down to a late field goal, and that will be the final margin.

Patriots (-16) vs. Buccaneers (in London, England): I don’t see how a game this lopsided is going to make the Brits like our version of football. They send teams like Manchester United and Chelsea to the U.S. every summer. We’re sending them the Tampa Bay Bucs. The only thing that will even be entertaining about this game is to see how much New England can win by this week.

Jets at Raiders (+7): The Jets are beginning to play like the Jets again, which means that they’re due to throw up another stinker this week in Oakland. Not to mention, the Jets’ run defense just took a big hit with the loss of Kris Jenkins, and Mark Sanchez will have to beat a tough Raiders secondary, which might be the only part of Oakland’s team that’s competent this year. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Oakland pull the upset.

Bills at Panthers (-7): This game is definitely more of a pillow fight than a football game, but I think the Panthers are going to come out with a fire under their feet and play a very good game to get back to .500 for the year, if only by the grace of God, himself. I expect to see two very good things from the Carolina offense. First, they’re starting to run the ball again, which is absolutely necessary for them to do considering the quarterback play of Jake Delhomme. Second, the disgruntled Steve Smith will be a factor as a result of the success on the ground. That’s bad news for the Bills.

Bears (+1) at Bengals: The Bears are far more battle-tested than Cincy is and Jay Cutler is playing pretty well right now. The Bengals defense is a complete mess with injuries and they looked very vulnerable last week at home against Houston. In a game that’s basically a pick ‘em, I think the Bears will take it 27-24.

Falcons (+4) at Cowboys: I don’t know if anyone’s been paying attention to this team, but Atlanta is pretty good this year. Matt Ryan is showing that last year wasn’t a fluke and the Falcons could, very quietly, join the conversation for NFC’s best team if they go into Dallas and knock off the Cowboys, who it’s impossible to tell what you’ll get from them.

Saints (-7) at Dolphins: Until a team actually gives me a reason to not have 100 percent confidence in taking the Saints, I am picking them for the rest of the season. The Dolphins and the wildcat can’t keep up with Drew Brees & Co. on offense.

Cardinals at Giants (-7): The G-Men are coming into this one after being humbled a week ago in New Orleans, and they are not happy about that loss. The Cardinals have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL so far this year, and after a couple of good games in a row, head into New York, where they were beaten 56-35 by the Jets last year in a sequence of three blowout losses in the Northeast. I struggle to see ‘Zona play well in New York this time around, either.

Eagles (-7) at Redskins: Washington is a complete mess right now and couldn’t score on bad defenses before the most recent events surrounding Jim Zorn. The Eagles are embarrassed after losing in Oakland and I fully expect them to show up in a big way for this one. Philly should (note: SHOULD) win by a solid margin.

NFL Week Six: Looking to Breakout

Sean Wagman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:56:49 -0400

The Saints will be tested again by a team from New York on Sunday. Can they handle the Giants the same way they did the Jets?

The last couple of weeks have been somewhat unpredictable in the NFL and has left me with some spectacularly mediocre numbers. An 8-6 record in Week Five pushes the season record to 44-32 (.579). Let’s take a look at the Week Six matchups (Picks in Bold, Home Team listed second):

Texans at Bengals (-5): This is a game between two teams that have gotten off to very different campaigns in 2009. The Bengals might be one of the biggest surprises in the AFC this year, leading the North Division with a 4-1, which really should be a 5-0, overall record. The Texans continue to be a first half disappointment, coming off of last week’s loss in Arizona, where they failed to punch it in from a yard out late in the fourth quarter.

Lions (+14) at Packers: Since when are the Packers one of the better teams in the league this year? The Steelers couldn’t cover an 11-point spread last week against Detroit and I think that Pittsburgh is better than Green Bay. I also don’t think the Lions are THAT bad anymore. This is a divisional game. Much like against the Vikings, the Lions will compete. Alas, they will probably lose.

Ravens at Vikings (-3): I think it’s time we all realized that Baltimore’s defense is not the class of the NFL anymore. This, combined with the struggles of the Ravens’ offense and the way the Vikes have played in their first five games, means this one might not be as close as some people think.

Giants (+3) at Saints: The Saints’ offense was somewhat exposed by the Jets’ defense two weeks ago. I think the G-Men will have similar success containing New Orleans and that Eli Manning won’t make the same mistakes as Mark Sanchez, allowing New York to win this battle of the unbeatens by a touchdown margin. I think it’ll be 24-17 Giants.

Browns at Steelers (-15): I’m starting to buy back into Pittsburgh after they looked shaky when Troy Polamalu went down with his injury. The offense seems to finally be clicking and they have a great young RB in Rashard Mendenhall, who holds onto the ball much better than Willie Parker, making it far less likely that the Browns’ very pedestrian offense will get the ball in scoring position more than a couple of times.

Panthers (-3) at Buccaneers: Carolina shouldn’t have much trouble with Tampa Bay, if only because no one else has really had an issue playing against Tampa Bay. Neither of these teams are good at all, and it might come down to which starting QB, either Jake Delhomme or Josh Johnson, makes less mistakes to determine the winner. There might also be more defensive TDs than offensive in this game.

Chiefs (+7) at Redskins: Giving the Washington Redskins 7 points is an absolute crime considering they just lost to Carolina and Detroit earlier this year and look like they can’t put 7 points on the board most of the time. I actually don’t think it’s unrealistic to say Kansas City will pick up their first win this season over the ‘Skins, plummeting Daniel Snyder’s group of over-payed and under-talented football players into further disarray.

Rams at Jaguars (-10): Jacksonville seems to be like two teams in one. Either they will play you very tough and look very competitive, or they will throw up a complete goose egg like they did last week against the Seahawks. The Jags will come out looking to put that game behind them, and shouldn’t have much trouble doing that against the lowly Rams, who might be the worst of the winless teams in the league.

Cardinals at Seahawks (-3): It’s amazing how much different Seattle looks when Matt Hasselbeck is under center. Their performance against the Jaguars last week was nothing short of dominant, and they now look to make another big statement by beating one of the favorites in the NFC West in ‘Zona. The Cards survived at home against Houston last week, but still look like they might be experiencing some of that Superbowl hangover from last year. This might be a rude awakening for Kurt Warner and Co.

Eagles (-15) at Raiders: After last week’s 44-7 loss to the Giants, New York LB Antonio Pierce noted that playing the Raiders felt like “a scrimmage.” The Eagles should win this game by at least three-four TDs if the Raiders are as bad as Mr. Pierce is suggesting. Plus, Philly needs to keep winning as long as the G-Men are unbeaten.

Titans at Patriots (-10): Have you seen the Tennessee Titans lately? They are a complete and utter disaster. Going up against a New England team that doesn’t lose back-to-back games ever, I highly doubt that Tennessee will prove to be much of a road block. Expect to see Vince Young make an early appearance in this game. Should be a blowout.

Bills at Jets (-10): The Jets have gone from 3-0 and Superbowl contenders to 3-2 and really needing to win this one at home against a Bills team that just cannot do anything offensively, being held to just three points by the Cleveland Browns last week. I expect the Jets to get back on track this week by taking care of business before heading out to play Oakland. As for Buffalo, maybe they’ll actually get Terrell Owens involved in the offense, but he’ll be up against Darrelle Revis, so it won’t be easy.

Bears at Falcons (-3): I really have no idea who to pick in this game. Two pretty good teams in a game that they could both use to keep up with the undefeated team that are ahead of them in their respective divisions, and both coming off of solid victories. When all else fails, take the home team and hope for the best, plus Matt Ryan is my fantasy QB so I would like it if the Falcons won a high-scoring game.

Broncos (+3) at Chargers: After five weeks of mocking them, I can deny it no more. The Broncos have a good football team, as unjust as it may be, they are good, and probably the best team in the AFC West, especially with the Chargers struggling so far this season. Here’s the chance for the Broncos to separate themselves from the rest of the division. Now that I’ve stopped saying they aren’t that good, they’ll probably get killed, but that’s football, right?

MLB: NLCS Positional Breakdown and Prediction

Sean Wagman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:39:53 -0400

Cliff Lee has been one of the best pitchers in the NL since he was traded from Cleveland. Can he do it in the NLCS?

The National League Championship Series is set to kick off tonight in Los Angeles as the Dodgers and Phillies meet in a rematch of last year’s playoff series. Last year, the Phillies took care of business en route to their first World Series title in 28 years. Will it be any different this year?

Catcher

At the outset of these playoffs, it was not a case of which of these two, Russell Martin or Carlos Ruiz, was better. It was more a question of how much better Martin was than Ruiz. However, in the NLDS, it was Ruiz who showed up for his team in a way that he usually doesn’t, coming up with key hits in the Phils’ 3-1 victory.

So, the gap has certainly narrowed. Still, Martin has shown a more consistent pattern of success, and there was never enough concern about him to make the Dodgers go out and get Paul Bako.

Advantage: Dodgers

First Baseman

Much like in the American League, this is a very big mismatch. The Dodgers have a serviceable 1B in James Loney, who disappointed by not really having the breakout season that many were predicting, but still had a very respectable year.

The Phillies counter with the Big Man, Ryan Howard, who continues to rack up stunning power numbers, benefiting greatly from having a powerful lineup around him. He also got his batting average up to a respectable level this year, making him even more dangerous to pitch to.

Advantage: Phillies

Second Baseman

Chase Utley is hands-down the best second baseman in the Majors today. Not one other 2B gets it done batting and fielding quite like he does. On top of that, he is the Phillies’ quiet team leader and a hero in the City of Brotherly Love.

The Dodgers have yet another solid presence at 2B in Ronnie Belliard, whom I personally think is one of the more underrated second basemen in the Majors, but he’s not nearly in the same category as Utley.

Advantage: Phillies

Third Baseman

Moving to the left side of the infield makes it a lot tougher to determine who’s superior between these two teams. The Phillies have Pedro Feliz at the hot corner, who is always solid, but far from spectacular, and isn’t the player you expect to get hurt by if you’re a Dodger fan.

Casey Blake has had a bit of a resurgence since leaving Cleveland for LA, but still is far from a superstar. That being said, it’s hard to imagine either of these two having a major impact in this series.

Advantage: Push

Shortstop

Another slot in the infield that it’s truly unclear as to who has the advantage, but the difference is that both Jimmy Rollins and Rafael Furcal could have a major impact on this series.

Rollins has the ability to give the Phils a quick start, with his unusual power hitting from the leadoff spot, as well as good speed on the basepaths, and very good defensive skills. Furcal has been one of the more clutch players for LA down the stretch, along with Andre Ethier, and isn’t a slouch out in the field, either.

Advantage: Push

Outfield

The Dodgers’ outfielders have certainly drawn the most attention this postseason, and that’s not a surprise when you have Manny Ramirez in left field. The real surprises have been his supporting cast of Ethier and Matt Kemp, who have come up with numerous timely hits and home runs for LA down the stretch, and who both played very well in the sweep of the Cardinals.

The Phillies have a pretty good outfield, though, too, with Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, and Raul Ibanez, all of whom could have been All-Stars this year in the NL. The play of these groups in the field, as opposed to at the plate, might be a key to this series.

Advantage: Push

Starting Pitching

This is the separating point between these two teams. I feel it would be a dis-service to take the time and explain this, so I’ll just list the starting rotations for both teams. For the Dodgers, it’ll be Clayton Kershaw, followed by Phillie outcasts Vincente Padilla and Randy Wolf, and finally either Hiroki Kuroda or Chad Billingsley.

These five have a combined season record of 51-39, and an ERA close to 4.00. The Phils counter with Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez, and maybe Joe Blanton. Lee should automatically give them two wins, Pedro has been a huge surprise and has always pitched well in the playoffs, and Hamels and Blanton have been here before and excelled.

Advantage: Phillies

Relief Pitching

Almost the complete opposite of starting pitching, with the Phillies having some major bullpen issues as they sit on the ledge whenever they need to call on Brad Lidge to close out a game.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, might have the best overall group of relievers in the playoffs, which is a huge advantage for the Dodgers if they get into a high-scoring game or an extra innings game with the Phils. Not to mention, Johnathan Broxton has been lights out all year for Los Angeles.

Advantage: Dodgers

Taking all of these things into account, as well as a few other factors, including the Phillies success on the road and its similar success against left-handed pitchers. This is why I am taking the Phillies in six.

MLB: ALCS Positional Breakdown and Prediction

Sean Wagman — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:43:08 -0400

The American League championship is a battle between East and West as the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are set to do battle starting on Friday night in the Bronx. Before that, though, let’s take a look at both of these teams head-to-head.

Catcher

The Angels seem to have finally found their long-term solution behind the plate in Mike Napoli, who has really begun to play well on a consistent basis. He also has a great relationship with an Angels pitching staff that might have the most depth of all the remaining teams in the playoffs.

The Yankees, on the other hand, caused some waves by electing to use backup catcher Jose Molina in Game Two of the ALDS to catch A.J. Burnett. Although, with Jorge Posada's series-clinching home run in Game Three, it’s hardly a debate in New York as to who the true starting catcher is. In the end, it’s always a comfort to have someone who is young behind the plate and can deal with all the pitchers in his battery.

Advantage: Angels

First Baseman

This is much more clear cut than catcher was. Mark Teixeira had an unbelievable regular season and stands to possibly win the MVP award this year.

Kendry Morales, while he played very well this year, is not the man he is attempting to replace who is, ironically enough, Mark Teixeira.

Advantage: Yankees

Second Baseman

Again, this position is simply a case of having a consistent and solid player against having a platoon system of two sometimes good players. Robinson Cano had a bounce-back year this season, putting himself back in the upper echelon of second basemen in the American League.

Meanwhile, after holding the second base slot for most of the year, Howie Kendrick lost the spot to Maicer Izturis, neither of whom bring the productivity or the talent to their team that Cano does.

Advantage: Yankees

Third Baseman

This is actually a tougher call than I initially thought it would be. On the one hand, the Yankees have Alex Rodriguez, who, in spite of missing a month of baseball and being under the steroid cloud, still hit 30 home runs and had 100 RBI.

On the other hand, the Angels have Chone Figgins, who is a do-it-all kind of player and is usually the key to their offense’s overall success. At the outset of the playoffs, I would have definitely taken Figgins based off of A-Rod’s lack of postseason success. However, it looks like he’s shaking those demons and will be a key factor in the ALCS.

Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop

Erick Aybar has been quite a revelation for the Angels this year, and that continued into the playoffs with his .364 average against the Boston Red Sox, which is unreal production from the No. 9 spot in any team’s lineup.

The Yankees counter with their captain, Derek Jeter, who has proven time and again that he just knows how to win. He may not always light up the scoreboard, but Jeter finds ways to have an impact that most players don’t.

Advantage: Yankees

Outfield

The Angels have an outfield that is very experienced and very dangerous. They have Torii Hunter, who is playing hungrier than any other player in the postseason right now, Bobby Abreu, who would love nothing more than to beat his former team and get to the World Series they promised him, and Juan Rivera, who since leaving New York for Los Angeles, has been a thorn in the side of Yankee pitching.

The Yankees have an outfield of Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, and Nick Swisher, the three of which combined for four hits in the ALDS and will face even better pitching and will probably be challenged defensively much more in this series.

Advantage: Angels at all three positions.

Starting Pitching

This is where the series will be won and lost. There is no denying the strength of the front of the Yankee rotation with C.C. Sabathia and Burnett.

There is also no denying that the Angels are very deep with John Lackey, Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, and Scott Kazmir. It’s almost impossible to determine which is going to win out. Either way, expect some pitching duels in the series.

Advantage: Push

Bullpen

The Yankees have continuously touted the new-found strength of their middle relief this season, but it was less than convincing against the Minnesota Twins.

The Angels’ bullpen isn’t heard from all that much, and that’s because their fairly mediocre. The tipping point is that the Yankees have the greatest closer in postseason history backing their bullpen, while the Angels have Brian Fuentes, who is basically untested in the playoffs in his career.

Advantage: Yankees, just slightly

Prediction

The positional breakdown is fairly even between these two teams as far as I am concerned, and it’s hard to determine because the teams play much different styles of baseball.

That’s why it’s going to be those so-called “intangibles” that will win this series. Can the Yankees overcome their lack of postseason success against Los Angeles, or will the Angels work their way past them yet again? I'm guessing the Angels and Yankees are the same teams they were the last time they faced each other, another time the Yankees were favored against them. Los Angeles might even be better than they were in 2002 when they won it all, and that’s why I’m taking the Angels in Six.

NFL: Monday Night Recap: Dolphins Run “Wild” On Jets, Win 31-27

Sean Wagman — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:22:12 -0400

Dolphins ran all over the Jets last night, winning 31-27 in Miami." width="510">

Ronnie Brown and the Dolphins ran all over the Jets last night, winning 31-27 in Miami.

In a week of NFL action that was very unpredictable and had a few surprising results, it’s only fitting that we would get more of the same on Monday Night. The Chad Henne-led, wildcat running Miami Dolphins defeated the favored New York Jets in South Florida 31-27. Not only did they beat the Jets, but they dominated the Jets in the trenches, allowing Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Henne, and just about every key Dolphins player to get big yardage off of a now humbled Jets D.

Around this time last year the Patriots, with a backup QB of their own in Matt Cassel, went into New Jersey and beat the Jets. A year later, it’s the same story as Henne, in his second career start and fourth career game played, looked like the second-coming of Dan Marino on the field, going a shocking 20 of 26 for 241 yards and two TD’s, including a key 53-yard strike to Ted Ginn Jr. to make it 24-20 Miami with about 10 minutes to play in the 4th quarter.

What really made it possible for Henne to have that level of success, though, was the ability of the Miami offense to establish and execute the Wildcat offense throughout the course of the game. Ronnie Brown proved to be the star of the show, with 110 total yards and 2 TD’s and Ricky Williams continues to have a breakout start to the season, adding 138 total yards of offense.

The theme for the Wildcat this year has been unpredictability, and it continued last night as the Dolphins had two players in the passing category in Henne and Brown, five different players running the ball (Brown, Williams, Pat White, Lousaka Polite, and Patrick Cobbs), and nine different players with receptions (Williams, Ginn, Anthony Fasano, Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, Joey Haynos, Brown, Brian Hartline, and Cobbs).

For the Jets, two major things can be pointed out in the loss. The first is to look at the major defensive categories. The Jets failed to force a turnover, get a sack, or even touch Chad Henne in the pocket last night. They had only four tackles for loss, and allowed the Dolphins to control possession for almost 34 minutes. The other issue that the Jets need to look at is their lack of success running the football.

Thomas Jones and Leon Washington combined for only 86 yards on the ground, with Jones adding two short rushing TD’s of one yard and three yards in the fourth quarter. In order for the Jets and Mark Sanchez to be successful this year, they must establish the run early in games to open things up for their weaker passing offense, regardless of who is on the field catching the ball.

That being said, one of the bright spots for the Jets was the performance of Braylon Edwards, who had five catches for 64 yards and a TD. However, with last night’s loss, the Jets fall back into a tie for first with New England at 3-2, while Miami jumps back into the picture at 2-3.

New York will look to bounce back next week as they host the 1-4 Bills, while the Dolphins look to get back to .500 after an 0-3 start when they take on the red hot 4-0 Saints at home.

L.A. Teams Eyeing “Freeway Series” as MLB Playoffs Enter Round Two

Sean Wagman — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:27:54 -0400

For the Angels, the path is a certain and familiar one as they take on the New York Yankees, who broke out the brooms last night with their 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.

For the Dodgers, it could be just the same, as they watch the Philadelphia Phillies try to wrap up their series with the Rockies tonight.

The Angels went 5-5 against the Yankees this season in a series of games that neither team was ever really out of, with the exception of the three-game sweep by LA at home just before the All-Star Break. This has certainly been a trend for the Angels, who own the Yankees when they meet in Anaheim.

This will be a matchup between two teams that are as different in style in terms of play on the field as Hollywood and the South Bronx are in terms of glamour. The Angels will look to get it done the same way they always have against Yankee pitching by finding ways to get on base and then running wild.

The Yankees know this, but with a defensive liability in at catcher in Jorge Posada, it’s hard to see them slowing down the Angels’ game plan.

The Yankees, on the other hand, will be looking for more of the same from Alex Rodriguez, who powered the Bronx Bombers past Minnesota, shedding his “Can’t get it done in October” moniker for the time being.

This should be a much more heated and contested series than these two teams had in the ALDS, and I fully expect it to go six or seven games.

Assuming that Cliff Lee will pitch the way he did in Game One against Colorado, then we can safely say that the Phillies will advance to the NLCS to take on the Dodgers. Of course, the last time I made this kind of assumption, I said the Twins were done and not making the playoffs, and look what happened there, but this time I’m confident that the champs will prevail and advance to play Game One in Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers desperately need to avoid getting into a high-scoring affair with the Phillies’ offense, because this plays right into what Philadelphia wants, as it makes it a battle to see which team’s pitching staff blinks first.

The Phillies should have a decided advantage in power and starting pitching and have to feel like they have the best team remaining in the NL right now with the Cardinals being eliminated. I struggle to see the Dodgers getting past Philly, but then again, I didn’t see them getting past St. Louis, either.

California Dreamin': L.A. Dodgers Sweep St. Louis Cardinals

Sean Wagman — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:17:40 -0400

This was supposed to be a quick exit for Los Angeles. They weren’t supposed to be able to get to the St. Louis Cardinals’ vaunted pitching staff. This was supposed to be Albert Pujols' and Matt Holliday’s playoff coming out party. Apparently Joe Torre, Manny Ramirez, and the rest of the LA Dodgers didn’t get the message.

A decisive 5-1 victory in an abnormally quiet Busch Stadium, backed by seven shutout innings from the somewhat unlikely Vincente Padilla, left no doubt about the NL West Champions. All of a sudden, these Dodgers look rejuvenated and as good as they did back in April and May, when they first were called World Series contenders.

Even though the Cardinals’ bats were held in check to the tune of just six runs in three games, it’s hard to ignore the timely hitting from the Dodgers as a key factor in the sweep. No player on the field had a bigger impact on the series than Andre Ethier, continuing his late-season tear into October, hitting .500 in the series with two home runs and three RBI. That includes the two-run home run in tonight’s game to make it 3-0 Dodgers in the game, and eventually 3-0 in the series for L.A.

Now the Dodgers get to sit and watch the Phillies and Rockies battle it out for the next two games of their series in wintry Denver, and potentially play an all-or-nothing game back in Philadelphia. Either way, the winner of that series has to go out to Chavez Ravine, where a well-rested, well-managed, and a—maybe most importantly—hungry Dodgers team will be lined up and primed for the NLCS. Both teams bring up some big motivators for the Dodgers, as well.

If it’s the Rockies, the motivation is explicit. A battle to end all battles of an NLCS against their closest rivals from the NL West. A team they beat 14 times in 18 games, and yet, it seemed down the stretch that a lot more people were watching Colorado than Los Angeles. It’s a great chance for the Dodgers to reclaim their supremacy on the West Coast, especially if they are to possibly meet the Angels in the World Series.

If it’s the Phillies, you better believe that closer Johnathan Broxton will be fired up. In last year’s NLCS, it was Broxton who gave up the key home run to pinch-hitter Matt Stairs that permanently shifted the series in favor of the defending World Champions. Most of the members of that 2008 Dodgers team are still around and remember the feeling of getting beaten by the Phillies and will have that to feed off of if they come into Dodger Stadium for the second consecutive year for the NLCS.

Regardless of the result of the other NLDS series, the only thing that is certain at this point is that the Dodgers are not going to go silently—if not by their play, then simply by their surroundings. Only time will tell if it’ll be a Hollywood ending in Mannywood.

MLB: Divisional Series Preview

Sean Wagman — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:11:29 -0400

One hundred sixty-two games was enough for seven of the eight playoff teams this year. However, we won’t know the winner of the one-game playoff between Detroit and Minnesota until tomorrow night. For now, though, we’ll take a look at playoff scenarios for both teams against the Yankees, in addition to the Red Sox-Angels, Phillies-Rockies, and Cardinals-Dodgers series that start on Wednesday or Thursday.

Red Sox-Angels

In a rematch of last year’s ALDS, which the Sox took 3-1 from the AL West Champion Angels, one of the most important things to look at is that not much has changed between either of these two teams. Both teams still have the same core groups of players, with the exception of Mark Teixeira no longer being in LA of A. The pitching matchups are essentially the same as last year’s series as well. I think it can also be said that Boston has upgraded its offense slightly more from last year with the addition of Victor Martinez, while the Angels have lost the aforementioned Teixeira and also have had limited contributions from Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter. All of this adds up to a return trip to the ALCS for The Nation.

Prediction: Boston in Four

This series is also a rematch from the 2007 NLDS, in which the surging Rockies stunned the NL East champion Phils en route to the World Series. The Rockies are hot going into the playoffs once again, but this year the Phillies have the combination of offense and good starting pitching to stop Colorado quickly. Philadelphia looks like they’ll have the advantage in the pitching matchups in every game of this series. Factor in the Rockies’ struggles to hit away from Coors Field, and I’d be stunned to see a team with the rotation of Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton or J.A. Happ lose in the opening round. Part of me wants the Rockies to go all the way this year because it would be the crowning achievement in Todd Helton’s career, but I just don’t see it happening.

Phillies-Rockies

Prediction: Phillies sweep Rocktober, 3-0

It seems like April and May are years ago and the LA Dodgers are no longer the most dominant team in the National League, but the St. Louis Cardinals have been the NL team of the second half of the season, turning a divisional race into a runaway after the All-Star Break. The Cardinals might have the top two pitchers in the Senior circuit right now in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, as well as a very good No. 3 guy in Joel Piniero. Offensively, I’d be happy to take an offense anchored by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday over most other teams in the league. The Dodgers will put up a tough fight, and Manny will be Manny in the playoffs, which is very dangerous for the Cards, but I think St. Louis will pull this series out based on the strength of its pitching.

Cardinals-Dodgers

Prediction: Cards in Five

I’m slightly annoyed that I have to write about three teams instead of two in this series, if only because I have to eat my words with respect to the Minnesota Twins, who have done the improbable and come back from three back with four to play to force a one-game playoff with the Tigers in the Metrodome. I won’t lie, I am now rooting for the Homer Hankie waving faithful of Minnesota for two reasons: because it’s the only way to legitimate a one-game playoff when the Twins won the season series 11-7 and also because I would much rather play the Twins than the Tigers because the Twinkies have had no success against the Yankees in the last few years. Yes, I am letting my bias show right now and no, I do not care. That being said, it would be disastrous for New York if the Yankees failed to beat either of these teams after going a combined 11-1 against them both during the season and after winning 103 games this year.

Yankees-Twins/Tigers

NFL Week Four: Just Win, Baby

Sean Wagman — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:31:16 -0400

The big one is the game on Monday Night, with Brett Favre going up against his old mates from Green Bay.

Week Four of the NFL Season is just about 36 hours away now and I almost forgot to make my pick for this week…oops. Last week was another solid one, going 10-6 to push the overall record for the year to 29-19 through the first three weeks. Let’s see if I can give all of those 10 games over .500 back in one week.

(Picks in Bold, Home Team listed second):

Ravens (+2) at Patriots: It’s not very often I pick against the Pats at home, but I really think that this Ravens team is the best in the AFC right now. Their offense is drastically improved from a year ago, Joe Flacco is a star in the making, and their defense is still formidable enough to allow the Ravens to win close games. Baltimore wins it, 31-28.

Bucs at Redskins (+8): Two of the worst teams in the league are battling at FedEx Field, with most ‘Skins fans preferring to see an encore presentation of U2 instead. The ‘Skins offense should be able to take advantage of a non-existent Tampa secondary and shouldn’t give up more than 10 points against Josh Johnson and the worst offense in the NFL. Expect Santana Moss to have a big day in this one.

Titans (-3) at Jaguars: Tennessee can’t possibly start the year 0-4, can they? This is a competitive football team that’s run into some tough opponents to start the year, and Jacksonville might just be the break they need. If Chris Johnson can get going and the Titans neutralize Maurice Jones-Drew, then Tennessee should pick up their first win in '09.

Raiders at Texans (-9): In a game that both teams need to win to prove something to their fans, Houston will finally find a way to win at home, mainly because of the erratic play of Oakland QB JaMarcus Russell, who is looking more and more like a big, 275-pound bust. The Texans should have very little trouble moving the ball against Oakland’s front seven, too, which could make this one more lopsided than Oakland’s 23-3 loss last week to Denver.

Lions (+10) at Bears: After Detroit’s hex-breaking victory last week (that I said would happen, by the way) over Washington, I expect the Lions to play a bit above their expectations for a little while. Although I am confident the Bears will win this game, Chicago’s offense haven’t done much to make me believe that they could win by more than a touchdown.

Bengals (-6) at Browns: It’s not easy to pick a team that hasn’t scored a touchdown in the last two games, so I didn’t. The Browns might be the worst team in the NFL this year and part of the problem is that the offense can determine who its leader is, because of Eric Mangini’s nonsensical act of keeping the starting QB decision under wraps until the last minute. Either way, neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Anderson have played well this year. Going up against a surprisingly good Cincy squad doesn’t bode well for them.

Seahawks at Colts (-11): After seeing what the Colts did to the Cardinals in Arizona last Sunday night, I’d be a fool to pick them to go down against the Seneca Wallace-led Seattle Seahawks. If the Colts play the way they should, then this one should be in the bag by halftime.

Giants (-9) at Chiefs: After seeing Kevin Kolb light up the Chiefs last weekend, it’s hard to imagine Eli Manning doing anything less than that. Even worse for the Chiefs, the Giants have a more proficient power running game and might have a slightly better defense than the Eagles, too. I expect another blowout in this one for the G-Men.

Jets at Saints (-7): At the beginning of this week when I saw this one, I was inclined to pick the Jets to, at the very least, cover. However, with the injuries to both Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland, it’s hard to imagine the Jets’ secondary holding Drew Brees in check for the whole game. I also think we’ll see Mark Sanchez, under the pressure to come up big yet again, finally struggle a bit in the Superdome. I think it’ll be something like 27-13 in favor of the ‘Aints.

Bills at Dolphins (+1): I really don’t know what to make of either of these teams right now. The Bills lost about half to their defense, with injuries to Donte Whitner, Leodis McKelvin, and Paul Posluszny while the ‘Phins lost Chad Pennington for the year with yet another injury to his throwing shoulder (which I said might happen in my season preview.) However, I think the Wildcat will prevail in this battle of struggling teams. Miami in a low-scoring and ugly one, 17-13.

Cowboys (-3) at Broncos: It’s about time that the Denver Broncos had to play some decent teams, after winning over Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Oakland. Dallas comes into this one coming off a tough win at home over the Panthers and desperately needs a statement win to show that they are going to compete in the NFC East this year. For Denver, this is the start of a rough three game stretch. After Dallas, it’s home to the Patriots and then to San Diego.

Rams at 49ers (-10): The Niners are without Frank Gore, which is very bad news for my fantasy team. The Rams are without Marc Bulger, which is very bad for their real team. St. Louis’ offense was awful with Bulger at the helm, so God only knows how much worse they could get with Ravens reject Kyle Boller. The SF defense is going to be fired up, as well, after last week’s crushing last-second loss in Minnesota.

Chargers (+7) at Steelers: Neither of these two teams has looked overly impressive in their first three games. The difference is that San Diego are healthy and have a much more effective offense than the Steelers. I don’t know how the Chargers are being given seven in this game, but I’ll gladly take it to the bank.

Packers at Vikings (-4): Brett Favre says it’s not about revenge, but at least part of it might be. He has the best weapon of vengeance that any NFL QB could possibly want too, with Adrian Peterson carrying the football behind him. Aaron Rodgers hasn’t really been tested too much, yet, and he didn’t look great in the loss to the Bengals in Week Two, either. I expect the Vikes to win by a touchdown, 28-21.

MLB Playoffs Positional Power Rankings: Second Base

Sean Wagman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:56:16 -0400

Now that the playoff picture has pretty much all but taken its final shape, I have taken the liberty of removing any and all Twins or Braves from the remaining lists, so don’t be confused that the list stops at No. 8 as opposed to No. 10.

That being said, today we’re looking at the group of second basemen headed into the Divisional Series next week.

This is a group that is a good bit different from the first basemen in that some of these guys are really good, but you’ve never heard of them.

However, there is definitely more of a separation between the second basemen than their first base compadres.

1. Chase Utley, Phillies

I really had to look closely at both him and defending AL MVP Dustin Pedroia to determine which one is actually No. 1, but in the end it’s hard not to pick Utley because of what he means to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Utley has had another great offensive year as far as second basemen go, hitting .285 with 31 homers and 90 RBI.

He was named the starting 2B for the NL in the All-Star Game and is looking like he will win his fourth consecutive Silver Slugger Award.

He solidifies the middle of the Phils’ lineup with Ryan Howard and is probably the most popular man in the City of Brotherly Love.

He also plays a solid defensive game, committing 12 errors in 153 games this season.

2. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox

I’m probably going to receive several complaints about Pedroia not being No. 1 on this list, but there are two reasons for that.

First, Pedroia, unlike Utley, is a top of the batting order guy, along with teammate Jacoby Ellsbury. And to put a guy who isn’t the focal point of the team ahead of Utley would be just wrong.

Second, his numbers aren’t as good as last year, as he’s hitting .298 with 13 homers and 68 RBI, all of which are down from a year ago.

However, the number that stands out with Pedroia is 45 strikeouts in 615 at bats this season. There’s a reason he’s known as a pest by opposing pitchers, and that’s exactly why.

There might not be a player in the league who will fight off more pitches in a two strike count than Pedroia, which makes him extremely valuable in a situation where Boston needs to advance a runner or get a runner in.

He’s also one of the best defensive second basemen in the league. The 2008 Gold Glove Award winner, Pedroia has committed only six errors in 150 games for the Sox this year.

3. Robinson Cano, Yankees

After a down year in 2008, Cano has had a pretty big comeback year. He is among the AL leaders in batting average, hitting .322, and also has 202 hits on the year, including a career-high 25 home runs.

Cano has been a frustrating player for Yankees fans, at times, however, as he has a tendency to get a little to flashy with the glove, which has caused him to make 12 errors in 158 games this year.

Cano also has the luxury of hitting in a lineup behind guys like A-Rod and Mark Teixeira, which is a solid explanation for the jump in his numbers in ‘09.

4. Placido Polanco, Tigers

Polanco is one of the most underrated second basemen in the MLB every year. Much like Dustin Pedroia, Polanco is extremely difficult to strike out. He has only whiffed 43 times in 599 at bats this season, making him the leader in the very widely recognized stat category of at bats per strikeout for the third consecutive year in the AL.

Polanco is also looking like the favorite to win his second career Gold Glove, as he has been stellar defensively all year, committing only two errors in 147 games for the Tigers.

5. Orlando Hudson, Dodgers

Hudson left the Arizona Diamondbacks after the 2008 season and was a player that was on a lot of teams’ wish list. He didn’t sign until late in the free agent signing period with the L.A. Dodgers, but it hasn’t caused him to miss a beat in 2009.

The ‘09 All-Star selection is having his best offensive season since ‘06, which was his first year in Arizona. He's hitting .285, and is also just short of career highs in just about every major stat category.

The O-Dog also continues to play the position about as well as anyone in the Majors, committing only eight errors in 146 games, which puts him in position to be a candidate for his fourth career Gold Glove.

6. Howie Kendrick/Maicer Izturis, Angels

These two have spent the year splitting time at second base for the Halos, and their numbers are almost exactly the same.

Both are hitting right around .300, lack power, but get on base a lot, which fits in nicely with Mike Scioscia’s overall strategy at the plate.

They have only committed six errors combined at 2B this year, as well, which would place them second in the AL behind Polanco if this were one player instead of two.

7. Skip Schumaker, Cardinals

Schumaker originally came up and looked like a super utility player for the Cards to hold onto. However, Skip showed that he can hit in ‘08 and has continued that through this season, hitting .303.

This is important considering there are times when he bats in front of the pitcher, which explains his total lack of run production for the year with only 35 RBI.

The permanency of him at second took a little while for him to adjust to defensively, as well, which explains his nine errors in just 130 games at the position this year.

8. Clint Barmes, Rockies

Barmes looked like he was going to be the Next Big Thing after a great campaign in 2005. However, after a disappointing ‘06 and then a freak accident in the beginning of 2007, Barmes fell way off of everybody’s radar.

Now he’s working his way back at second base, rather than shortstop, and has improved his power numbers—the norm for anyone on the Rockies—with career highs in home runs (23) and RBI (76).

However, he is still only hitting .246 on the year for a team that could use a few more contact hitters in its lineup.

He’s also committed 12 errors in 136 games at the position, making him one of the weaker second basemen going into the playoffs.

NFL Week Four: Washington Redskins Need Change, But No Hope?

Sean Wagman — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:56:43 -0400

Disappointment. A feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized. The Washington Redskins are definitely disappointed with the way they have played in the first three games this season including losing to the Detroit Lions, a team that had not won since December 23 of 2007.

I’ll get to the Detroit loss in a second, but can we talk about how the Redskins only managed to put up nine points in Week Two against the St. Louis Rams! It was an embarrassing game for the Skins and their hometown fans.

After the game, the locker room was apparently silent and looked as if the team had just lost. The fans (with reason) let their team know how they felt.

“I understand that they want us to beat the Rams by 40,” said Chris Cooley, who led the Redskins with seven catches for 83 yards. “But we still won, and if we continue to win games, that’s great. The booing was unnecessary.”

Players never like to be booed by their home fans but Washington’s offense accumulated just three field goals, all less than 28 yards. I mean come on...they couldn’t score a touchdown. Just a week before against the New York Giants, the team had to execute a fake field goal run for a touchdown. That play there showed the real desperation that Coach Jim Zorn is feeling standing on the sidelines watching his offense play.

The offense really should be much better than it is. Clinton Portis is a big time playmaker at the running back position and Jason Campbell has weapons in Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle-El, and Chris Cooley. Yet, the Redskins offense has been disappointingly bad and has destroyed anyone’s fantasy team with a Skin on it (luckily not mine!).

So after the nine-point embarrassment against the Rams, most figured the offense would turn things around against the Detroit Lions. Guess again. The Skins offense struggled to score once more and the run game stunk.

Clinton Portis and the Washington running attack rushed for just 65 yards. The Skins came out strong, but Coach Zorn elected to go for it on a fourth and goal from the one and Portis was stopped. The Skins never really recovered after that play.

Which brings us to the next issue. Should Zorn be fired? Skins owner Dan Snyder wants more than anything to win now. The recent signing of Albert Haynesworth to his enormous contract is evidence of that. So it is expected by Snyder and Skins fans for the team to compete to win the NFC East.

But I’m sorry, if you score just nine points against the Rams and lose to the Detroit Lions, you have no chance in hell to compete against the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys.

If Zorn wants to save his job, he has to prevent the team from self-destructing and blaming one another for their problems.

“You either want it or you don’t. A lot of these guys don’t want it,” Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. “They want the other stuff.”

If Skins players continue to say things like that and ‘oh yeah, call their fans “dimwits,”‘ then it is going to be a LONG, disastrous year.

Now, it’s only Week Three. The NFL seems to have wanted the Redskins to be a playoff team by the way their schedule was created. The teams the Skins play in the next three weeks have a combined record of 0-9 (Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Carolina)!

If the Redskins don’t win all three of these games, I believe Jim Zorn should be fired and will be. Dan Snyder will have to set a flame underneath his team and let them know he is not messing around. I think that the loss of Zorn would also be advantageous to the team because it would eliminate a distraction that will undoubtedly be in Washington the next couple of weeks.

-Tom “Terrific” Anderson

MLB Playoff Positional Power Rankings: First Base

Sean Wagman — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:46:04 -0400

After having a fairly easy time ranking the catchers on the teams contending for playoff spots yesterday, I had to spend a lot more time on the first basemen that are potentially playoff-bound.

The thing that makes it so difficult is that none of these teams has a particularly weak 1B. They all have shown that they can lead their respective teams, and all are proficient on offense and defense. This is the list that I came up with. I expect at least a few objections.

1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals
OK, I don’t expect any objections on this one, though. Pujols is simply the best player in the Majors right now, hands down. From an offensive standpoint, he looks like the next candidate to be the player who will break all the major records.

He’s no slouch defensively, though, either. This season, Pujols has only committed 12 errors this year and did win a Gold Glove in ‘06. The Cardinals success, or lack thereof, in the playoffs this year lies heavily on The Machine.

2. Mark Teixeira, Yankees
Up to this point in the 2009 season, the $180 million dollar man has paid off with dividends for the New York Yankees, leading the AL in both home runs and RBIs. The All-Star has also continued to live up to his reputation of being a very good defensive first baseman by committing only three errors on the year, putting him in line to potentially win his second career Gold Glove.

3. Ryan Howard, Phillies
If not for Albert Pujols, Howard would be the NL first baseman everyone is talking about for the MVP this year. His power numbers are fantastic, as always, and his average at .275 is a significant improvement from last season.

He is the heart and soul of the Phillies’ powerful offense along with Chase Utley and is one of the most dangerous men to have to face in a big spot in the league. His defense is a bit suspect at times, committing 14 errors this year after 19 the previous year, but it’s a necessary risk for Philadelphia to take because it’s not like they can use him at DH in the NL.

4. Kevin Youkilis/Victor Martinez, Red Sox
Initially “Youk’s” position at the beginning of the year along with David Ortiz, Youkilis now splits time at first with Victor Martinez, usually replacing Mike Lowell at third. Either one of them is a great option to have in the position, though, as they have combined to commit only one error in 99 games at first this season. Also striking is the fact that they both are hitting over .300 this year and both have hit over 20 HRs and have over 90 RBIs.

5. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
In his first full season as solely a first baseman, Miguel Cabrera has excelled for the battling Detroit Tigers, hitting .329 with 33 home runs and 101 RBI, while only committing seven errors in the field. Unfortunately for Cabrera, he’s no longer a third baseman, which means that this year he is not in the MVP candidate talks in spite of his numbers.

6. Todd Helton, Rockies
Ol’ Reliable for the Colorado Rockies, all Helton wants is another chance to win a World Series like he had back in 2007. His power numbers are significantly decreased from his prime, but he’s still hitting .323 for the year and hasn’t committed more than five errors in a season since he committed 11 in 2003. He is the face of the Rockies’ organization and there might not be a guy in the league who wants to win more than Helton.

7. Adam LaRoche, Braves
Getting out of Pittsburgh might have been the best thing to ever happen to Adam LaRoche’s career.

At first, he was sent to Boston, where he lasted a whole six games before being sent to Atlanta for Casey Kotchman, where he has gone onto hit .344 in 52 games with the Braves and become the protection in the lineup that they have needed for Chipper Jones. He’s also amongst the best defensive first basemen in the game, with a fielding percentage of .999 this year.

8. Kendry Morales, Angels
Another beneficiary of change, Morales finally got his chance to play full-time this year with the departures of Casey Kotchman and Mark Teixeira, and has solidified himself at the position for the LA Angels of Anaheim. The 26-year-old has been a catalyst for the Halos’ offense at times, hitting .303 with 33 home runs and 105 RBIs.

His defense has been passable, as well, committing eight errors on the year. However, it remains to be seen how Morales will react to his first time in the playoff spotlight. If he struggles, the Angels might be in trouble against the Red Sox.

9. James Loney, Dodgers
Loney was a guy that a lot of people predicted to have a breakout year with the Dodgers, but hasn’t really lived up to those expectations, hitting almost identically to his numbers from last year. In 2008, Loney hit .289, with 13 home runs and 90 RBIs. This year, Loney is hitting .285, with 13 home runs and 90 RBIs. No, that is not a typo. He is the exact same player he was last season.

He has improved defensively from ‘08 though, cutting his errors down from 13 in ‘08 to seven in ‘09. Loney just doesn’t match up with the rest of the guys on this list, and isn’t necessarily the guy Joe Torre’s Dodgers are counting on to drive their offense in the playoffs.

10. Michael Cuddyer, Twins
It’s not even that I think Cuddyer isn’t good, because he is pretty darn good and he’s having a career year in ‘09, with highs in hits, home runs, and slugging percentage, but he’s not a first baseman by trade. Cuddyer is a player who can play just about any position on the field, but was forced to stick to first after Justin Morneau went down with his season-ending back injury.

In 28 games at first, Cuddyer has committed four errors, which, when looking at the rest of these guys’ defensive stats, is not very good. I just worry about a player who is placed into an unusual situation in important games and what could potentially happen.

MLB Playoff Positional Power Rankings: Catchers

Sean Wagman — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:31:19 -0400

With the MLB playoff picture beginning to take its final shape, it’s time to start looking at each of the teams still in the race and see how they stack up against each other.

For the next week, I’ll be breaking down all the teams on a position-by-position basis. Today, we look at the guys calling the games, which really is a case of the haves and have-nots.

1. Joe Mauer, Twins
This guy might not only be the best catcher in the playoffs this year, but he might be the best player in the AL.

Mauer has had an unbelievable season for the Twinkies, and has kept it up even after the injury to Justin Morneau. If Minnesota is going to make the playoffs, they need Mauer to rise to the occasion in the next three days and lead them past the Tigers.

2. Brian McCann, Braves
It’s ironic that the teams with the two best players at this position are currently the two teams that are on the outside looking in.

McCann is the heart and soul of the red hot Atlanta Braves, and exactly what you look for in a catcher. Very sound defensively, some power in his bat, and widely recognized in the Braves' clubhouse as a team leader.

The Bravos seem to go as McCann does, and lately he’s been hot. With games left against the Marlins and Nationals, there’s a chance we’ll get to see McCann in the national spotlight during the playoffs.

3. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
One of the Molina catching trio, but certainly the best of that group and one of the best in the Majors.

Molina enjoys quite a few comforts in the lineup, batting behind Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. But even before Holliday came to St. Louis, he was one of the better offensive catchers in the game.

Defensively, he is often regarded as one of the best, and catching for guys like Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright hasn’t hurt him too much, either.

4. Jason Varitek/Victor Martinez, Red Sox
Had the Boston Red Sox not made the deal for Victor Martinez at the trade deadline, it’s hard to say where exactly they would have ended up.

V-Mart has increased the stability of the catcher position in Boston, and Varitek has responded with improved play in the second half. Having both of them in the lineup is also a plus, as Martinez has really taken advantage of hitting in Fenway Park.

They are both very good game managers, as well, which is going to be important when they take on the Angels in the Divisional Series (barring a complete and utter collapse and the Rangers winning out.)

5. Russell Martin, Dodgers
Martin hasn’t had the offensive impact for the Dodgers that many were expecting him to have, but he remains an important piece of the puzzle for Los Angeles behind the plate.

He has a .994 fielding percentage this year and has thrown out 31 percent of all base runners this season, which is important against teams that seem to always get more aggressive in the playoffs.

6. Jorge Posada, Yankees
Posada has the most playoff experience out of all of the catchers on this list and he would be much higher on here, but recent injuries have got to be a major concern for the Yankees and their aging catcher.

If New York deems that Posada can only DH for them, that means that they have to plug in Jose Molina or Francisco Cervelli into the lineup for every game during the playoffs and possibly bench someone like Hideki Matsui, which is a big blow to the vaunted Yankee offense.

7. Mike Napoli, Angels
It’s not that I don’t think highly of Mike Napoli, it’s just that the overall impact that he has on his team isn’t nearly as big as the players ahead of him on this list.

He is more than a serviceable player behind the plate, and has come up with some big hits for Los Angeles of Anaheim of California, et cetera, this season, but he just isn’t a huge part of the Angels’ master plan to win their first World Series since ‘02.

8. Gerald Laird, Tigers
Most people don’t even realize that Gerald Laird is the Tigers’ starting catcher—especially since Brandon Inge is still widely listed as a catcher—and that’s because Laird hasn’t really had to do much this season, working with one of the better pitching staffs in the Majors, while being nicely protected in the bottom third of Detroit’s lineup.

Much like Napoli, he isn’t really a huge part of the Tigers as a team.

9. Chris Iannetta/Yorvit Torrealba, Rockies
I really don’t know what to make of these guys, or most of the Rockies, for that matter.

I don’t think that they're really all that good on offense or defense, but they do what they can for Colorado. They benefit from playing in Coors Field, but that’s just about all you can say about them.

10. Paul Bako/Carlos Ruiz, Phillies
It’s not good when you have Carlos Ruiz as your Opening Day catcher. It’s worse when you have to platoon him with journeyman Paul Bako because of the fact that they are both liabilities on the field for the defending champion Phillies.

This is a position where the Phils are going to have to make a decision during the offseason. They have some decent talent in the minors, but they might want to go out and look at a short-term fix, such as Paul Lo Duca or Johnny Estrada to buy themselves more time.

NFL: Wrapping Up the Rest of Week Three

Sean Wagman — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:40:14 -0400

Week Three in the NFL is officially in the books, with Indianapolis and Dallas winning their primetime battles with Arizona and Carolina, respectively. There’s a lot that can be said about all four of these teams so far this year, so let’s get right to it.

On Sunday night, the hotly anticipated matchup between two of the league’s most proficient passing offenses turned into a one-sided affair, as the Colts handled the Cardinals, 31-10.

After the Cards failed to score and extend an early 7-0 lead, it seems like the wheels just completely came off on both sides of the ball. They gave up multiple big plays to Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, and even rookie RB Donald Brown.

The big issue that the 1-2 Cards seem to have right now is that their offense has no balance, with the running game being amongst the worst in the NFL.

Tim Hightower was limited to nine carries for 22 yards in the game, forcing Kurt Warner to throw 52 times in the game. Warner was often under a ton of pressure from Dwight Freeney and the rest of the Indy D-Line, which dominated in the trenches throughout the game, accumulating four sacks in the win.

The Cards are going to need to shore up their running game if they really expect to make it back to the playoffs this season. They get a bye this week before hosting another disappointing team so far in the Houston Texans.

The Colts have to feel good about themselves right now, moving to 3-0 and already holding a two game lead in the AFC South.

Peyton Manning is proving that he can win games with just about any combination of receivers on the field, as the unlikely Pierre Garcon once again looked very good in place of the injured Anthony Gonzalez. And Donald Brown looks like a very smart first round pick.

The Colts now head home to take on a banged up Seahawks team before going into Tennessee to take on the 0-3 Titans.

Moving into the Monday Night game, it was another matchup of offenses that never really came into being, as Dallas grinded out a 21-7 victory over the still winless Panthers.

The big story in Big D was just that. Their defense finally showed up the way most people expected them to, pressuring Jake Delhomme, sacking him three times, and getting three turnovers from the struggling starter for Carolina.

There is some concern as Felix Jones left the game with a knee injury, but Tashard Choice carried the ball 18 times for 82 yards and a TD for Dallas’ lone offensive score.

Dallas now looks to move to 3-1 as they head to Mile High Stadium to take on the 3-0 Denver Broncos next week.

As for the Panthers, it might be serious time for them to consider their options at QB. For the second time in three weeks, Jake Delhomme was terrible, looking lost on the field and not being able to protect the football.

They also need to get back to running the football, which is what their team is built on with DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart on the roster. It’s now critical for Carolina to get a win after the bye week, and they get a decent shot, hosting the Redskins in Week Five.

NFL Week 3: Early Game Recaps

Sean Wagman — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:43:46 -0400

Another great afternoon of NFL games.

Some were thrilling down to the last play, some were just blowouts, and maybe biggest of all, the Detroit Lions have won a football game.

Lions 19, Redskins 14

In one of the more interesting games of the year, the Detroit Lions ended one of the most well-noted losing streaks in NFL history by beating Washington at home.

The two keys to this one had to be the sound play of rookie Matt Stafford, who was a respectable 21/36 for 241 yards and a TD, and the ability of the Lions’ D to stop the ‘Skins running game, holding Washington to just 65 yards on the ground.

For the Lions, this is a victory that the players are very relieved and thankful to have.

However, for the Redskins, they drop to 1-2 and the calls for Jim Zorn’s head have grown a lot louder.

Packers 36, Rams 17

Aaron Rodgers got the job done against a soft Rams defense, guiding his team into the endzone on three occassions, as the Packers bounced back from last week and the Rams lost more than just the game.

Rodgers was only 13/23 but threw for 269 yards and two TDs and also added a rushing TD.

Rams QB Marc Bulger was sacked by Aaron Kampman and had to leave the game with a shoulder injury. Former Raven first-round pick Kyle Boller replaced him and was 17/36 for 164 yards, two TDs, and a pick.

Vikings 27, 49ers 24

Brett Favre made his first big impression on Minnesota fans by finding Greg Lewis on a 32-yard TD pass with 2 seconds left to lift the Vikes to a 27-24 victory over San Francisco, who lost Frank Gore after only one carry with a sprained ankle.

Favre was 24/46 for 301 yards and 2 TDs, but was matched almost the whole game by surprising Shaun Hill, who was 15/25 for 195 yards and two TD passes to Vernon Davis.

At the end of the day though, Favre came through for Minnesota in a big way for the first time this season and the Vikings are now 3-0.

Patriots 26, Falcons 10

The Patriots recovered nicley from last week’s loss to the Jets by handling the Atlanta Falcons.

The Pats offense looked the way we thought it might, racking up 445 yards of offense, while New England’s defense limited the Falcons to just 257 yards and kept Matt Ryan & Co. out of the endzone, except for a short run by Michael Turner, who was otherwise ineffective again, with only 56 yards.

Jets 24, Titans 17

In a back-and-forth battle, it was Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets moving to an unlikely 3-0 with a close win over the now 0-3 Tennessee Titans.

Turnovers were the key to this one, as the Jets were able to force three turnovers, including a crucial fourth quarter Kerry Collins pick by LB David Harris.

Sanchez was a big factor in this one, scoring three TDs, one of which was a rushing TD, to guide the Jets who opened the game up 14-0, then fell behind 17-14 in the third quarter, and then rallied to win it.

Eagles 34, Chiefs 14

Kevin Kolb put last week’s game behind him, throwing 24/34 for 326 yards and two TDs, as the Eagles made it look easy against the winless Chiefs.

The Philly defense also stepped up in this one, holding KC to just 196 yards on offense, including only 90 yards passing by Matt Cassel.

The silver lining for Cassel was that he was also 14/18 with two TDs.

Giants 24, Buccaneers 0

New York left absolutely no doubt in this one, shutting out the struggling Bucs.

This was complete domination from start to finish with Eli Manning throwing for two TDs, Brandon Jacobs running for one TD, and holding Tampa’s anemic offense without a first down until late in the third quarter.

The G-Men also held the ball for over 43 minutes in the blowout.

Ravens 34, Browns 3

Joe Flacco threw for 342 yards, Willis McGahee ran for two TDs, and the Ravens defense had four interceptions as the Ravens embarrassed the team they used to be in the Cleveland Browns.

Other than Baltimore’s dominance, the most interesting storyline might have been Brady Quinn getting pulled from the game for Derek Anderson, who was 11/19 with three picks in the second half.

No wonder the Browns had a QB controversy. They both can’t win or even throw a TD pass. The Browns have now gone two games since scoring a touchdown, and have only scored 9 points in the last two games.

Jaguars 31, Texans 24

Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 119 yards and three TDs and the Jaguars grabbed their first win of the season in Houston.

You can’t blame Matt Schaub for this loss, who threw for 300 yards and three TDs in a losing effort for the Texans, who are off to a disappointing 1-2 start.

This one was basically as even as it could be, with the Jaguars outgaining the Texans 398-397.

Bears 25, Seahawks 19

Jay Cutler found a streaking Devin Hester for a 36-yard game winning TD pass as the Bears escaped Qwest Field with the win.

Cutler was 21/27 for 247 yards and three TDs, but also had two turnovers that nearly cost Chicago the game.

Seneca Wallace played well in his first start of the year, going 26/44 for 261 yards, one TD, and one pick.

Saints 27, Bills 7

In a game where Drew Brees didn’t throw for a TD pass, it was Pierre Thomas and the Saints’ much maligned defense that guided New Orleans to another easy win in Buffalo.

Thomas ran for 126 yards and two TDs in his first game back from injury, and the Bills' lone points came on a fake FG pass by punter Brian Moorman.

Trent Edwards threw for 156 yards and a pick and, even more notably, failed to find Terrell Owens once in the game.

Bengals 23, Steelers 20

Carson Palmer found Andre Caldwell for his first career TD reception with 14 seconds left in the game to rally Cincinnati to a big win over the Steelers at home.

After falling behind 13-0 early in the game, the Bengals seemed to just wake up on both sides of the ball, executing exactly the way they needed to to snag the victory, their first in three years over Pittsburgh.

Cedric Benson totaled 84 yards and scored one TD.

Most importantly, Cincy managed to not turnover the ball in the game against a Pittsburgh defense that looks like it is missing its leader Troy Polamalu quite a bit right now.

Broncos 23, Raiders 3

Denver continued its unlikely start with a convincing victory in the Black Hole over Oakland. Kyle Orton threw for 157 yards and a TD pass to Brandon Marshall, and Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno combined for 198 yards and a score on the ground.

JaMarcus Russell looked pretty bad once again, going 12/21 for 61 yards and two INTs as the Raiders’ offense was held to 137 yards of offense. Denver joins six other teams at 3-0 to start the season.

Chargers 23, Dolphins 13

San Diego’s defense was more than up to the task, shutting down Miami and its Wildcat offense in Qualcomm Stadium.

This one was ugly, with neither team scoring a touchdown until Philip Rivers ran for a 5-yard TD in the third quarter to give the Chargers a 10-6 lead which they would never relenquish.

Eric Weddle put the exclamation point on the win with a pick six off backup QB Chad Henne, who was pressed into action after Chad Pennington left the game with a shoulder injury that made ‘Phins fans hold their collective breath.

NCAAF: Several Top Teams Fall Flat

Sean Wagman — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:28:19 -0400

Jeremiah Masoli had plenty to smile about today as his Oregon Ducks smashed No. 6 Cal, 42-3.

Every week of the college football season there tends to be some attrition within the ranks of the unbeaten. This weekend proved to be no different, as it seemed like there were an unusually high amount of teams getting handed their first loss.

Most notable of these teams are Ole Miss, Cal, and Miami (Fla.), who will all be coming out of the Top 10 on Monday morning.

Let’s start with the Ole Miss Runnin’ Rebels, who proved to be a good bit overrated, especially on the offensive side of the ball, in their 16-10 letdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia on Thursday night.

The Ol' Ball Coach looked like he was on top of his game in the Gamecocks triumph over Ole Miss

Heisman darkhorse Jevan Snead looked like anything but that as he was a miserable 7-of-21 for 107 yards and one long TD pass that brought the slimmest amount of credibility to his lackluster performance.

Tailback Dexter McCluster wasn’t much better, as he was limited to 15 carries for 85 yards, in part due to the good pressure put on the Rebs’ O-Line by a strong South Carolina rush.

The surprise of the game would definitely have to be the strong play of Gamecocks QB Stephen Garcia, who wasn’t spectacular, but did what he had to do in order to give his team only its second win in 34 tries against Top 5 opponents, and the program’s first in 27 years.

Steve Spurrier desperately needed this win to prove that he has improved South Carolina football since taking the reins and to show that they have the potential to wreak some havoc in an always competitive SEC.

Moving into today’s games, it’s very hard to say that the Cal Golden Bears weren’t looking past Oregon because they basically stayed in Berkeley for this one, as the Ducks derailed the sixth-ranked team in the country, 42-3.

Jeremiah Masoli was spectacular, going 21-of-25 for 253 yards and 3 TDs (all to his favorite target in Ed Dickson).

Major kudos to the Oregon defense in this one, though, as Jahvid Best was almost a complete non-factor, as he was limited to 55 yards on the ground by a team that now has a couple of wins under its belt to help forget their season-opening losses to Boise State, and yes, I meant losses, lest we forget LeGarrette Blount.

The last game that really impacts the early-season look at the rankings was the biggest game of the weekend. Apparently, Virginia Tech forgot that this game was supposed to be the statement win for the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC and their entry into serious consideration for the BCS because the Hokies dominated from start to finish in an impressive 31-7 beatdown of the ‘Canes.

Va. Tech won it exactly the way a Frank Beamer coached team usually wins games with a suffocating defense that held the ‘Canes to 209 total yards of offense, combined with a physical and grinding rushing attack that tallied 272 total yards of offense and 2 TD’s.

After it looked like the loss to Alabama ended hopes of a national title run and as much as they struggled against Nebraska last week, the Hokies proved once again to be the class of the ACC this year, leaving no doubt in this one, especially with the losses for Florida State and North Carolina today.

Embarrassment Alert: At the time of this post, the Greg Paulus-led Syracuse Orange are trailing the Maine Black Bears 17-13.

If this one falls in favor of Maine, then I think we can finally agree to say that the grand experiment of bringing in a guy who hasn’t played football since his senior year of high school is a complete failure.

Also, keep an eye out west, where Cal Poly leads San Jose State, but we’ll cut the Spartans some slack because they are the sacrificial lambs for the USC’s and Cal’s of the world, so they don’t know how to play to win games.

NFL Week 3: Building Momentum in the Early Season

Sean Wagman — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:50:18 -0400

After last week’s 11-5 triumph for yours truly, I realize that I am bound to follow it up with something slightly less spectacular. It’s the law of averages, really. After two decent to above average weeks in a row, I have to come back to Earth…or do I?

Maybe I’ve finally found the right formula in picking games. OK, probably not, but I’ve been lucky so far and avoided disaster, so let’s see if I can keep it going in Week Three. (Picks in Bold, Home Team listed second):

Redskins at Lions (+6): A week after finally realizing the error of my ways by picking Detroit, I am going right back to the one team that fails me the most. Honestly, I have been so uninspired by the ‘Skins in their first two games that it wouldn’t shock me to see the Lions find their way to a stunning victory, which would be their first since December 2007. Look for Calvin Johnson to come up big against this Washington secondary.

Note: I've picked the Lions 11 times in the past two seasons. I'm 0-11 picking them. So naturally, I picked them again this week.

Packers (-7) at Rams: Green Bay is going to come out firing on all cylinders after last week’s embarrassment against the Bengals in Lambeau. This is bad news for a Rams team that has managed to score a grand total of seven points in its first two games of the 2009 campaign.

49ers (+7) at Vikings: I like the Vikings to win this game, although it wouldn’t shock me to see either team win it, which is why I struggle to see this one be a victory of seven points or more. This is a game that will be won on the ground and in the trenches by Frank Gore or Adrian Peterson. That adds up to a low-scoring affair in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Falcons at Patriots (-5): Bad news for Matt Ryan & Co. The Patriots haven’t lost back-to-back games in almost three full seasons. Worse for Atlanta, New England are still mad about losing to the Jets last week and they are looking to take it out on someone. I think the Pats will dominate a pretty good Falcons team at Gillette Stadium.

Titans (+3) at Jets: Good news for Kerry Collins & Co. The Jets haven’t stopped talking about last week’s win over the Patriots, clearly a sign of a team that is not prepared to take the field against a desperate 0-2 Tennessee side. The Titans, behind Chris Johnson, are going to take it to the overconfident and unaware New York defense all game in this one.

Chiefs at Eagles (-9): Donovan McNabb might not be playing in this one, but if the Chiefs show up and play the way they did last week at home against the Raiders, then Kevin Kolb might look like Joe Montana out there on Sunday. The Eagles’ D will also be thankful to be facing a much more pedestrian offense after getting torched by the Saints last week.

Giants (-7) at Buccaneers: The Giants are looking really good after going in and grabbing the W in Dallas last weekend. The Bucs have looked awful in their first two games of the season, losing to Dallas and Buffalo. I expect the G-Men to go into Raymond James Stadium and win this one much easier than last week’s game.

Browns at Ravens (-14): Under normal circumstances, I would always take the points here. However, after seeing Baltimore’s offense put up big numbers against a solid San Diego defense and seeing the Browns get smacked 27-6 by a Broncos team that I really don’t think is that good, it’s hard to see the Ravens not annihilate them in Baltimore.

Jaguars at Texans (-4): Last week we saw both of these teams play the way I expected them to in Week One. The Texans’ offense was nothing short of explosive against the Titans in Nashville, while the Jaguars looked like a team that would struggle to fill its stadium because everyone knows they’re not good enough to compete this year. The Texans will build on last week’s momentum and crush Jacksonville to make up for losing their home opener.

Bears (-3) at Seahawks: At first I almost picked Seattle. Then I had flashbacks to last season when Seneca Wallace had to step in for the oft-injured Matt Hasselbeck…it wasn’t a pretty sight. The Bears will get the job done, and the misery will begin for the Seahawks and their fans.

Saints (-7) at Bills: It’s very hard not to expect New Orleans to explode for 40+ points, especially against a defense that isn’t even close to as good as the unit they faced last week. Drew Brees has made this entire offense better than anyone ever thought it could be, and he will continue his great start in Ralph Wilson Stadium against a Bills team that should be 2-0 going into this game.

Steelers (-4) at Bengals: Pittsburgh owns Cincinnati on the road much like the Patriots owned the Jets on the road. However, this does not mean that the Bungles will get the same result as the Jets this year. I think that Chad Ochocinco will have a big game against a depleted Steelers’ secondary, but at the end of the day, Big Ben will push his team to a seven point victory, 24-17 is my guess.

Broncos (+2) at Raiders: I have absolutely no clue how or why the Raiders are a favorite in any game. I understand that they won last week in their pillow fight with the Chiefs, but have you seen their offense? If the Broncos can score 17 points, they’ll win this game and I will continue to give them no respect for their quick start purely based upon beating the Bungles, Browns, and Raiders. I wish that my Jets had this schedule to open the season.

Dolphins (+6) at Chargers: The Dolphins’ offense is basically designed to keep games close by milking the clock as much as humanly possible, kind of like what they did against the Colts on Monday Night. If they can accomplish that feat again, they’ll lose in a very similar way, which means they won’t get blown out.

Colts at Cardinals (-3): In what will most likely be one of the highest-scoring games in Sunday Night Football history, I like Arizona to manage to outlast a depleted Indy team in a game that fits exactly into Kurt Warner’s style: Arena Football (Note: I was trying for about 20 minutes to think of a way to make a joke about bagging groceries, but I failed. If you can think of a way to fit it into this, send it to me and I will give you all the credit. If it doesn’t make sense, I will post the comment and mock you publicly for the dozens of readers on this blog to see.)

Monday Night

Panthers (+9) at Cowboys: Dallas should be able to control this game fairly easily, but their secondary should be having nightmares about Steve Smith right now. Smith has been limited in his first two games, but it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out of his shell. Against Dallas’ mediocre secondary, expect Smith to go for a couple of big plays, to at least keep it close.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning: A 'Brees' Is Blowing Towards You

Sean Wagman — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:21:52 -0400

Two seasons ago, New England Patriots star Tom Brady and Indianapolis Colts phenom Peyton Manning were in a league of their own.

Peyton Manning was coming off of a Super Bowl victory and Tom Brady was introduced to a new, valuable friend in Randy Moss. Brady and Manning were the cream of the crop. They were 1 and 1A.

Well, it is time for people to give a new man props and that’s Drew Brees. Don’t get me wrong, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are still phenomenal quarterbacks and I’d take them on my team any day, but look at what Drew Brees has done on the New Orleans Saints the past three seasons.

In each of his three seasons with the Saints, Brees has thrown for over 4,000 yards and averaged at least 29 TDs. Last season, Brees came up just 16 yards short of breaking Dan Marino’s single season record for passing yards. Brees finished with a fat 5,069 yards…the second greatest total in NFL History.

So how has Brees followed up his near historic season? He has thrown for nine touchdowns in his first two games and is on pace for 72 this season. To put that in perspective, Tom Brady holds the record with 50 TDs in one season where the Patriots went 16-0.

Drew Brees needs to win and play well in the playoffs. I get that. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have won Super Bowls…I hear ya. But that doesn’t mean the media and public can’t give this man some love for his personal achievements.

Do you think Entourage regrets not having Brees instead of Brady come on the show? I hear Brees is a big hitter on the golf course…

-Tommy T

New Jersey NYets: With a Russian Owner Likely Coming In, Will the Nets Move Out?

Sean Wagman — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:37:40 -0400

The NBA. Where amazing happens, huh? David Stern has globalized the game of basketball to a level no one ever thought possible. I mean look back at last season. Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and New Jersey Nets power forward Yi Jianlian provided the world with the most televised regular season game of all-time! I mean…the channel CCTV-5 in China is available in 210 million households!

One of the biggest names in the NBA Draft came from a country where people run away from bulls for fun, and that’s Ricky Rubio. Dirk Nowitszki, all the way from Germany, is one of the biggest household names in the NBA. Tony Parker, one of the best point guards in the league, comes from France.

Not many people know this, but four-time NBA champion and arguably the greatest basketball player in the world today, KB24 Kobe Bryant, spent most of his life growing up in Italy.

Now, this season it looks very likely that the NBA will have its first ever non-North American owner in Mikhail Prokhorov. Prokhorov is a 44-year-old Russian billionaire who is a former amateur basketball player.

Prokhorov was ruled as the richest man in Russia by Forbes and has an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion. With Prokhorov’s "dough," the New Jersey Nets will be able to move forward with their plans to move the team to Brooklyn.

The franchise started with the ABA in 1967 as the Americans. They later became what we know them today as the Nets, where they bounced around to different arenas in New Jersey and New York before settling in the swamps of East Rutherford in 1981-82.

So a team that was once called the Americans may have a Russian man hangin out courtside with Jay-Z and Beyonce calling the shots and watching Yi Jianlian and the Nets. There is only one Russian player in the NBA, Andrei Kirilenko and David Stern is thrilled to possibly have another Russian presence in the league.

“Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis, and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov’s commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia,” Stern said in a statement.

Oh yeah, then there’s 2010. There’s that guy LeBron James who will become a free agent. The Nets have spent the last three seasons dumping cap space in order to sign Mr. James. Bron Bron said in an interview in New York City last summer that Brooklyn was his favorite borough. Ok….Oh yeah, and Jay-Z’s got his new album out, “The Blueprint 3″ and in his latest video, LeBron James can be found shooting around with HOV rapping.

Reporters have asked LBJ basically every question there is regarding his decision coming up in one season, but they haven’t asked one and if you see him, make sure to ask: "LeBron, how do you feel about caviar?"

-Tommy T

Tigers or Twins: Who Will Win Baseball's AL Central?

Sean Wagman — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:26:01 -0400

After 150 games, there is only one race in Major League Baseball that has a major storyline down the stretch.

Three weeks ago it looked like the Detroit Tigers had the AL Central all but wrapped up after dismissing the slumping Chicago White Sox.

The Minnesota Twins were floating around in third place, right around .500, and not looking very dangerous.

Entering today, however, the Twins stand only two-and-a-half games back of a Detroit team that has come back to Earth at a bad time to do that.

Starting Monday, these two teams will get a chance to determine the final outcome of their race in a four-game set in Comerica Park.

However, the other seven or eight games on the schedule could have just as big of an impact. Let’s take a look at how each team finishes up:

Minnesota (11 Games Remaining)

Tonight at White Sox; three games at Royals; four games at Tigers; three games vs. Royals.

Detroit (12 Games Remaining)

Tonight and Friday at Indians; three games at White Sox; four games vs. Twins; three games vs. White Sox.

Assuming the Tigers win against the Indians tomorrow and pick up the half game, that leaves them three games up with 10 to go for both teams. The weekend series against Kansas City and Chicago, respectively, should be interesting.

Both are on the road, so that isn’t an issue, and both are playing teams that are out of the race. To make it even more fair, both teams are 7-5 against their respective opponents, and both finish the season with three-game homestands against these same teams. So much for analyzing the remaining schedule.

That leaves it up to the four-game series in Detroit. So far this year, the Twinkies have taken nine of 14 meetings from the Tigers, but they are an even 4-4 in games at Comerica Park.

The pitching matchups could very well determine the outcome of the series, with the Tigers holding a big advantage in the first two games, sending out rookie Rick Porcello and flamethrower Justin Verlander against Chase Blackburn and Brian Duensing.

It’s hard to say that it gets any better for Minnesota, with Carl Pavano taking the ball in the next game before their best pitcher in the second half in Scott Baker gets the ball in the series finale. However, Detroit looks like they will have Nate Robertson and inexperienced Eddie Bonine for the next two games.

From an offensive standpoint, it’s hard to argue against the fact that the Twins have been far more productive recently, outscoring the Tigers 54-36 over the last 10 games.

It’s also hard to argue against a lineup that’s anchored by Joe Mauer, who’s hitting .372 with 28 homers and 89 RBI heading into tonight, and doesn’t appear to have been all that affected by the injury to his partner-in-crime, Justin Morneau.

Outside of measuring the tangibles of this race, it’s hugely important not to underestimate the power of momentum.

Right now, the Twins have a lot of mo’ going into the final stretch, while the Tigers are playing just to hang on. The Tigers have struggled in September and there always seems to be a team that gets hot just in time to make the postseason.

Will this be enough for Minnesota, or will Detroit keep it together long enough to grab the AL Central crown?

I think the Twins have come too far to fall short now and are poised to go into Detroit and take three-of-four to complete their comeback. If not, the Tigers are going to have to hope that they’re this year’s version of the ‘06 Cardinals, who backed into the playoffs and ended up winning the World Series—ironically enough, over the Tigers.

Monday Night Wrapup: What To Make of Colts-Dolphins?

Sean Wagman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:50:51 -0400

Pierre Garcon had the game-winning catch for the Colts in Miami last night.

Peyton Manning and the Colts made the most of their limited time on the field last night, coming up with big plays and quick scores in a 27-23 Indy victory that you couldn’t tell from the final stats.

Miami held the ball for just over 45 minutes in the game, using a grinding, hard-nosed offense to maintain possession and run the clock down.

However, at the end of the day, the Wildcat was caged just enough by a Colts’ defense that proved, once again, not to be able to handle a solid rushing attack effectively.

Looking back at the game, there are two things we can take away very quickly, and they point directly to the result of the game, that is, for as efficient as the Colts’ offense can be, the Dolphins can be equally as inefficient.

The other problem for Miami is that most of their long, protracted drives only resulted in field goals, which is never going to be enough against one of the most prolific offenses in the league.

The scariest part for Dolphins’ fans and for the rest of the league is that I don’t think Miami could have played much better and they still lost.

For the Colts, they have become the Cardiac Kids, winning their first two games of the year over the Jaguars and ‘Phins by a total of six points, with both of their opponents having opportunities to win the game late in the fourth quarter.

They were completely exposed by the Miami rushing attack, as evidenced by Ronnie Brown’s big day on the ground.

It’s fine to play close games with lesser opponents as long as you win, but as the season progresses, these kinds of games will take their toll on a mediocre Indy defense, which means that the close wins could become close losses, and with a fairly tough schedule, that’s a habit the Colts will want to get out of quickly.

Tony Romo Struggles in Cowboys' Big Game...Again

Sean Wagman — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:32:44 -0400

In a game where the New York Giants were thoroughly dominated by the Dallas Cowboys, it was once again QB Tony Romo’s inability to avoid making mistakes that cost Dallas a win in the opening game at the magnificent Cowboys Stadium.

A record 105,121 fans got to be first-hand witnesses to Romo’s three interception performance, which allowed a New York team, that was far from spectacular, to hang around just long enough to be able to strike late with a game-winning Lawrence Tynes' field goal, after a great two-minute drill was engineered by Eli Manning and Co.

Obviously, this leads us to ask the question once again about Romo’s ability to win when it counts most. He’s in a tough place to be a good-but-not-great QB, especially when you consider the Cowboys’ storied history and the fact that two of the best QB's of all-time in Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman played there before him.

Excluding the miscues, as hard as that might be to do, Romo’s numbers are usually respectable, but last night he was a miserable 13-of-29 for 127 yards, and only found the end zone once, on a one-yard TD pass to Jason Witten.

You can’t really blame Dallas’ rushing attack of Marion Barber and Felix Jones, who combined to tear up the G-Men’s vaunted defense to the tune of 220 yards with two TD's on only 25 carries.

Give a little bit of credit to the Giants, though. Eli Manning had another solid game against the 'Boys, as we’ve seen so often these last few years, going 25-of-38 for 330 yards and two TD's, which made up for the lack of effective running by Brandon Jacobs, who was held to just 58 yards.

Also, so much for the Giants missing Plaxico Burress, as both Steve Smith and the very surprising Mario Manningham each had 10 catches in the game, combining for 284 yards and two TD's. The Giants scored 24 of their 33 points coming off of Dallas turnovers in the game.

The other story to come out of this game was Justin Tuck’s apparent shoulder injury, suffered in the 3rd quarter, that forced him out for the remainder of the game. Tuck went for X-Rays that came back negative, but is still scheduled for an MRI this morning.

NFL Early Game Recaps

Sean Wagman — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:39:36 -0400

A wild weekend so far in the NFL, with several surprising results making things very interesting in the early season. So let’s jump right into things so I can finish this and maybe even take a break before the end of the Sunday Night game.

Falcons 28, Panthers 20
The Panthers looked far better than they did last week against the Eagles, but Atlanta and Matt Ryan proved to be just too much for Carolina. Ryan was very efficient throwing the ball yet again going 21/27 for 220 yards and 3 TDs in the winning effort.

On the other side, Jake Delhomme looked a bit more like an NFL quarterback this week, going 25/41 for 308 yards, with a TD and an INT. Much better than last week’s embarrassment, but still not enough for the Panthers, who now must attempt to climb out of an 0-2 hole to start the season.

Next Up: Falcons at Patriots (Sun. 1 p.m.), Panthers at Cowboys (Mon. 8:30 p.m.)

Vikings 27, Lions 13
After a first half where it looked like Detroit might finally exorcise its demons, the Lions remembered who they were and Matthew Stafford looked very much like a rookie QB who isn’t ready to play as the Vikings outscored them 17-3 in the second half to take it by two TDs. Stafford struggled again, going 18/30 for 152 yards a TD and 2 INTs.

Brett Favre faced pressure most of the game from the Lions’ D, but still had very good numbers at 23/27 for 155 yards and 2 TDs. Adrian Peterson came back to Earth after last week as well, only managing 116 total yards and a TD. Alas, the frustration and embarrassment continues for the hapless Lions.

Next Up: Redskins at Lions (Sun. 1 p.m.), 49ers at Vikings (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Bengals 31, Packers 24
Cedric Benson ran for 141 yards, and Chad Ochocinco got his wish, doing a Lambeau Leap after catching a TD pass in Cincinnati’s surprising 31-24 triumph over Green Bay. The Packers defense was exposed by a Bengals’ offense that was coming off getting shutdown by the Broncos last week, as Cincy was able to move the ball at will for the majority of the game, as evidenced by Benson’s big day.

For the Packers, a last ditch drive to tie the game up after recovering an onside kick came up short as the Packers ran out of time at the Bengals’ 11-yard line.

Next Up: Steelers at Bengals (Sun. 4:15 p.m.), Packers at Rams (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Texans 34, Titans 31
After last week’s debacle at home against the Jets, Houston responded in a big way, stealing one from the Titans in Nashville, behind a great bounce-back performance from Matt Schaub, who went 25/39 for 357 yards and 4 TDs, two of which went to his favorite target in Andre Johnson, who had 10 catches for 141 yards.

The Titans wasted a brilliant individual effort from RB Chris Johnson, who had 284 total yards and 3 TDs in a losing effort for a Tennessee team that has surprisingly started 0-2. The Titans had a chance to tie or win the game late in the fourth quarter, but a Kerry Collins fumble handed the game to the Texans.

Next Up: Jaguars at Texans (Sun. 1 p.m.), Titans at Jets (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Raiders 13, Chiefs 10
Oakland was outgained 409-166, but they managed to pull out a victory in Arrowhead Stadium on a Darren McFadden five-yard TD run with 1:07 remaining in the game.

Matt Cassel’s Chiefs debut was spoiled as he had a mediocre day going 24/39 for 241 yards, a TD, and 2 picks, but he far outshined JaMarcus Russell, who was a pathetic 7/24 for 109 yards, the majority of which came on the Raiders’ final drive. Nevertheless, Oakland improves to 1-1 on the year.

Next Up: Broncos at Raiders (Sun. 4:15 p.m.), Chiefs at Eagles (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Jets 16, Patriots 9
In a game that was marred by penalties and missed opportunities on both sides, the Jets managed to back up their trash talk during the week and get the win over New England. This was a tale of two halves, with New England controlling play in the first half, but a well-adjusted Jets team dominating second half play.

Trailing 9-3 at halftime, New York struck quickly on their opening drive of the second half, added two Jay Feely field goals, and rode a defense that has still not given up a TD this season. Tom Brady was limited in his effectiveness, going 23/47 for 216 yards and a pick, as he was under pressure often from a blitz-happy Jets D, although the Jets recorded no sacks in the effort.

Rookie QB Mark Sanchez looked like two different players in this game. After going 3/5 for 15 yards with a fumble in the first half, he recovered nicely to finish 14/22 for 163 yards and a TD.

Next Up: Falcons at Patriots (Sun. 1 p.m.), Titans at Jets (Sun. 4:15 p.m.)

Saints 48, Eagles 22
Drew Brees’ and the Saints’ offense continued where they left off last week against the Lions, running up the score on the Donovan McNabb-less Eagles, who turned the ball over four times, including three picks from backup QB Kevin Kolb.

Brees was 25/34 for 311 yards and 3 TDs, throwing two to Marques Colston, who had 8 catches for 98 yards. Darren Sharper put an exclamation point on the blowout win for New Orleans with his 97-yard interception return for a TD late in the fourth quarter.

Kolb was 31/51 for 391 with 2 TDs, but his three picks all led to Saints’s scores and left fans calling for Jeff Garcia and Michael Vick, who is active for next week’s game.

Next Up: Chiefs at Eagles (Sun. 1 p.m.), Saints at Bills (Sun. 4:05 p.m.)

Redskins 9, Rams 7
Three Shaun Suisham field goals proved to be just enough for Washington to sneak past St. Louis, who saw a golden opportunity to win the game slip through its fingers on WR Donnie Avery’s lost fumble midway through the fourth quarter. I

n a game that neither team will really want to remember come tomorrow, Marc Bulger and Jason Campbell both looked very average, neither really taking many chances downfield and counting on their running backs to give them field position. Bulger finished 15/28 for 125 yards and a TD, while Campbell was 23/35 for 242 yards.

Next Up: Packers at Rams (Sun. 1 p.m.), Redskins at Lions (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Cardinals 31, Jaguars 17
Kurt Warner responded to the criticism following the Cards’ loss last week to the 49ers with the most efficient performance by an NFL quarterback ever as Arizona dominated Jacksonville. Warner completed 24 of 26 passes for 243 yards and 2 TDs and left the game in the third quarter up 31-3 with a sore shoulder.

Maurice Jones-Drew was limited to 66 yards on 13 carries and the Jaguars offense turned the ball over three times. Antrel Rolle added a 87-yard return off of a blocked FG attempt for Arizona.

Next Up: Colts at Cardinals (Sun. 8:20 p.m.), Jaguars at Texans (Sun. 1 p.m.)

49ers 23, Seahawks 10
Two big TD runs from Frank Gore and another solid defensive performance gives San Francisco sole possession of the NFC West lead. Gore broke runs of 79 and 80 for scores in a day where he totaled 246 total yards. The other big storyline in the game was that Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck left the game after taking a hard hit in the back, forcing Seneca Wallace into action.

It’ll be interesting to see the extent of the oft-injured Hasselbeck’s injuries and how the Seahawks will respond to having Wallace under center.

Next Up: Bears at Seahawks (Sun. 4:05 p.m.), 49ers at Vikings (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Bills 33, Buccaneers 20
Buffalo jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead, T.O. made his first TD catch as a member of the Bills, and Buffalo bounced back from last week’s disappointing loss in New England by handling Tampa Bay. The Bucs were limited to 57 yards rushing for the day and Byron Leftwich threw two picks, one of which was returned 76 yards by Donte Whitner for a Bills touchdown.

Trent Edwards looked solid again this week, going 21/31 for 230 yards, with 2 TDs and 1 INT. The big story might have been the performance of Fred Jackson, who has shined in place of the suspended Marshawn Lynch, as he carried the ball 28 times for 163 yards.

Next Up: Saints at Bills (Sun. 4:05 p.m.), Giants at Bucs (Sun. 1 p.m.)

Bears 17, Steelers 14
A defensive struggle that lived up to its billing, the Bears rallied behind Jay Cutler to comeback from down 14-7 to win 17-14 at home. Cutler was a drastically improved 27/38 for 236 yards and 2 TDs, including a game-tying strike to Johnny Knox with 6:21 to play.

After Jeff Reed missed a go-ahead field goal with 3:20 remaining, the Bears marched down the field and Robbie Gould hit the eventual game-winner from 44 yards to improve to 1-1. Ben Roethlisberger was 23/35 for 221 yards, with 1 TD and 1 pick in a game where neither team had success on the ground.

Next Up: Steelers at Bengals (Sun. 4:15 p.m.), Bears at Seahawks (Sun. 4:05 p.m.)

Ravens 31, Chargers 26
Baltimore gave up 474 yards of offense, but it was their own offense that led them to a big victory in San Diego. Joe Flacco continues to look solid in his second year, going 17/26 for 190 yards and 2 TDs. Philip Rivers was also very good, throwing for 436 yards, but made 2 big mistakes that the Ravens picked off and got points off of.

Willis McGahee continues to play an unexpectedly large role in the Ravens’ offense, as he had 15 carries for 79 yards and 2 TDs to lead all running backs. Darren Sproles was limited in his effectiveness on the ground, as he was held to 26 yards on 10 carries, but made his impact felt receiving 7 catches for 126 yards and a TD.

Next Up: Browns at Ravens (Sun. 1 p.m.), Dolphins at Chargers (Sun. 4:15 p.m.)

Broncos 27, Browns 6
Denver outgained Cleveland 449-200 and made it look easy at home against the Browns, who never really got on track offensively. Brady Quinn struggled again, turning the ball over twice and failing to lead a single touchdown drive against a Broncos’ D that might just be better than advertised.

Kyle Orton was solid yet again, going 19/37 for 263 yards and a TD, and Correll Buckhalter had 9 carries for 76 yards and a score for Denver, who moves to an unlikely 2-0 and has a great opportunity to move to 3-0 against the Raiders next week. Cleveland was limited to 54 yards on 21 carries on the ground and lost two fumbles as they dropped to 0-2.

Next Up: Browns at Ravens (Sun. 1 p.m.), Broncos at Raiders (Sun. 4:15 p.m.)

NCAA Football: Washington Stuns USC…and Those Other Games, Too

Sean Wagman — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:05:19 -0400

Eric Folk's FG lifted Washington to a shocking 16-13 win over #3 USC.

Today we got a good look at why Pete Carroll is using Matt Barkley as his starting QB as the Aaron Corp-led USC Trojans were wiped out in Seattle by an overachieving Washington Huskies team. UW was coached by none other than former Carroll assistant Steve Sarkisian, who engineered the right defense to stop USC’s offensive juggernaut.

UW is a year removed from one of the ugliest seasons in school history, an 0-12 campaign. Now, all of that has become nothing more than a painful memory as they join the list of unlikely Pac-10 schools to trip up USC, joining Oregon State from last year, and Stanford from two years ago.

For USC, this might not necessarily mean the end of their national title hopes, but it’s certainly an unexpected and devastating blow for a team that was coming off yet another big victory in Columbus over Ohio State.

They are almost forced to bring Barkley back as soon as possible and bring some confidence to an offense that was simply outplayed by the Washington defense, making three bad turnovers that allowed the Huskies to hang around and pull the upset.

Looking back eastward, it may not have been the predicted beatdown that was expected, but it can’t be argued the the top-ranked Florida Gators handled Tennessee with relative ease.

In a game that was a lot more a case of grit than glits and glamour, it was the Florida defense that played the biggest role, showing the limited ability of the Tennessee receivers to get open downfield and making very difficult on Vols QB Johnathan Crompton all day, who finished an almost unnoticable 11/19 for 93 yards and two INTs.

The big story that came out of this one though might be Tim Tebow’s final numbers, or rather the lack thereof. The Heisman hopeful looked rather pedestrian and even a little confused by the defensive schemes shown by Tennessee. Add in the two turnovers that he had—which led to 10 of Tennessee’s 13 points—and Tebow’s Heisman chances just declined a little bit.

Speaking of Heisman, Jahvid Best is giving his best effort to get himself into the conversation with an unbelievable five-TD performance at Minnesota to stop the Golden Gohpers 35-21. From what I saw from Cal and USC today, I would be circling Oct. 3rd on the calendar as their head-to-head matchup might determine the Pac-10 champion this year.

Also of note would have to be the death of several non-BCS conference teams’ hopes of an undefeated season this year. Utah suffered a 31-24 loss in The Autzen Zoo to the Oregon Ducks, who look like they’ve finally gotten it back together after the Boise State debacle.

With BYU getting waxed by the Florida State Seminoles 44-21 in Provo, it looks like it’s going to be up to Boise State once again to carry the torch for the unlikelies to reach a BCS bowl this year. Considering the Broncos' remaining schedule, though, it really wouldn’t surprise me to see them undefeated and going into another big bowl game, and this time you’ll be certain not to underestimate them.

In another thrilling finish, the Virginia Tech Hokies escaped losing twice at home in a ranked foe, scraping past Nebraska 16-15, in a game that will be mostly remembered for its offensive ineptitude than anything else. Nebraska once again failed to get into the end zone in a big game, limited to five field goals despite controlling most of possession throughout this battle.

On the other side, Va. Tech took an eternity to get their offense going yet again, with Tyrod Taylor looking both uncomfortable in the pocket as well as afraid to throw a bad pass, at times. This led to the Hokies having a laughable offensive output of 278 yards, 91 of which came on the game-winning drive and 80 of which came on one play in the final drive.

Yet, as they’ve been asked to do time and again, the Tech defense went above and beyond expectations in keeping the Nebraska offense at bay. They did get a good bit of help in the fourth quarter, when a Nebraska drive got down to the Va. Tech six-yard line, only to have the Cornhuskers commit 30 yards worth of penalties to force an unlikely punt. At the end of the day though, it sets up another battle for the Hokies, who now prepare to take on a resurgent Miami team next Saturday in a battle for ACC supremacy.

Cupcakes of the Week: Once again, the Capital region gets the dubious honor of having two of the biggest underachieving programs in the nation in Maryland and Virginia. Both teams ended up on the wrong side of games put on the schedule that were supposed to be easy wins.

The Terps proved to be as soft as the Pillsbury Doughboy when they folded 32-31 at home against Middle Tennessee State, while the Cavaliers lost 37-34 at home to Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are usually one of Conference USA’s better teams—but that’s just it, they’re in Conference USA, which might be the second weakest conference ahead of the Sun Belt.

I give out one more dubious honor to the Washington State Cougars, who almost found a way to lose, this time just barely winning in overtime against SMU. Southern Methodist hasn’t been good since the late ’80s, when they were the top of the Southwest Conference, only to have the program receive the death penalty from the NCAA due to serious violations.

Somewhere out there tonight, Drew Bledsoe is watching the highlights of his alma mater and thinking “Man, I played better than this when I was with the Bills!”