Bolt Notes: One Last Look at Chargers / Seahawks and Week 4 NFL Picks!

I've gotta tell you, I just can't spend too much time recapping the Chargers vs Seahawks game from week 3.  As a die-hard Chargers fan, it's hard to imagine that the Bolts could play so poorly, so often in the early portion of the season.  That being said, there were enough extenuating circumstances that made the defeat less of a surprise than one might think. 

First of all, let me begin by saying that I am not trying to take anything away from the Seattle Seahawks.  They made the plays when they needed to and the Chargers didn't.  However, the Chargers did everything but gift wrap the victory with sloppy play, terrible turnovers, stupid penalties, and injuries.

In the first half of the game, the Chargers couldn't get out of their own way.  They easily got out of the way of the Seahawks Washington as he ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.  In the second half, the Chargers were much more efficient on offense and the Seattle offense was no where to be found.  Of course that doesn't mean that they couldn't score!  Leave it to Norv and the brilliant Chargers play calling to find a way to help Seattle out.  Here is how I believe it sounded on the sideline.."Okay, we tied the game up at 20 and we are finally getting our act together.  Now we need to do another kick off.  Let's see.....earlier we kicked deep and it led to a touchdown.  After that, we kicked short and it would have led to a touchdown, but Washington slipped and fell on his own.  So, what to do now?  I know....Kick it deep!  They'll never run it back again!  I don't care how many subs we have on our kick coverage team.  We couldn't possibly screw up that many times in one game.  We are professionals!"

Next thing you know, the Seahawks are kicking the ball back to the Chargers after running the kick back for a 99 yard touchdown.

On the bright side, the Chargers played like Pop Warner players for most of the game and yet they still had  a chance to tie at the end.  Unfortunately, the predictable pass only offense of the Bolts that game ended up letting them down as Philip Rivers threw a pick that ended the Chargers hope of getting out of Seattle with an ugly win.

Congrats to Seattle and I pray that the Chargers get healthy and pull their heads out of their proverbial arses.

Week 4 Picks!

Last Week 8-8

Season Total: 24-24

Winning team is in bold

Niners @ Falcons

Niners are simply playing bad football.  Falcons in a romp.

Jets @ Bills

I hear a lot of talk from the "experts" about how the Bills have the Jets number at home and how weird things happen in the divisional rivalry.  Personally, I don't care what happens, I can't imagine the Jets losing to the lowly Bills.  Then again, my record this year is pretty bad so don't feel badly Bills fans.

Bengals @ Browns

Here is another game where many are looking for the upset.  I just don't see it happening.  Unless the Browns score a couple on special teams, I don't think they can hang with the Bengals. 

Lions @ Packers

Packers need to rebound at home and play better football.  They can't hand this game to the Lions like they did last week with the Bears.  Keep the penalties down and it should be a fairly easy win for the Cheese Heads.

Broncos @ Titans

I must admit that as a Chargers fan, it's hard for me to pick the Broncos.  With that in mind, I'm picking the Titans at home.  I'm not impressed with the Broncos.  Moreno is out again, and let's face it....they lost to Jacksonville! (I know Broncos fans, the Chargers lost to the Seahawks)

Seahawks @ Rams

 Okay, this may be because I am holding a grudge about last week's Chargers/Seahawks game but I do think the Rams can win this one.  If Steven Jackson doesn't play (game time decision), I may be off on this one.  I'm not impressed with any part of the Seahawks play other than the special teams.  Then again, were they that good, or were the Chargers that bad?  I think the latter.

Panthers @ Saints

Saints are necessarily God's gift to football this year, but the Panthers are just bad.  This should be a blow out for the home team here.  Who Dat?

Ravens @ Steelers

Wow! This looks to be a great game.  I would like to see the final score of 2-4.  Defense is the name of this game.  Should be a hard hitting affair with turnovers and field position making the difference.  The Steelers seem determined to prove they can win without Big Ben and they are at home.  Slight advantage Steelers.

Colts @ Jaguars

Only good thing about this game for the Jaguars are that Kassim Osgood didn't get shot the other day in his girlfriends house and they won't have to take a long flight home after the game.  Blowout for Indy.

Texans @ Raiders

Texans will have a bad attitude this week.  They really thought they would win the battle of Texas last week with the Cowboys, but they lost.  The Raiders are better than last year, but they still find ways to lose.  Janikowski really let his team down last week by missing three field goals (two easy ones), ala Nate Kaeding for the Bolts vs the Jets last year.

Cardinals 17 @ Chargers 31

This should be a no-brainer.  The Chargers have a dominant offense and Cardinals do not.  The Chargers should win by two or three touchdowns, but then again, I thought that every week so far. Yes, the Bolts are going through another slow start.  2 - 2 would  be more respectable, but far short of the 4 - 0 that many would have predicted after week 4.  1 - 3 would be ludicrous. Yes, they have many injuries to deal with.  Yes, they have people playing out of position.  Yes, the traditionally start slowly.  But in the long run, they have to win games like this if they want to contend for any king of championship.

I expect the special teams personnel for the Charges to have more "real guys" in it this week.  I expect a fired up defense shutting down the Cardinals offense in front of a fired up San Diego crowd.  Oh yes, I also expect a lot of San Diegans to be searching the Internet for the game since it is blacked out at home for the second time this season.  On the bright side, the Chargers pounded the Jaguars in the other blacked out game this year.

Redskins @ Eagles

Another interesting, if not great, game to watch.  McNabb comes back to Philly to play against his former teammate Michael Vick.  That is great drama.  However, the Eagles have been playing better football than the Skins,  I say Eagles at home.  However, look for McNabb to throw for a lot of yards and scramble for several first downs.  He will look young again.

Bears @ Giants

I still don't believe in Da Bears.  I still don't like Jay Cutler.  However, I can't stand Eli Manning and I'm not sure the Giants are a very good football team.  This is a tough one for me to pick with my brain instead of my heart.  I'm going to say the desperation of New York and home field advantage will be enough to beat the very fortunate Bears in week 4.

Patriots @ Dolphins

I trust Brady and Moss to come up big on Monday Night Football.  Nice match-up and an advantage for the Fins to play at home.  That's not enough for the Dolphins on this night.

There you have it!  Let's see if I can break my three week long streak of 8-8 picks.

Enjoy the games!