Funny how the Vikes have gone from the butt of every NFL one-liner to a team no one laughs at any more. An impressive character turnaround in a single year. It goes down in history as the greatest ever achievement by a man named Ziggy. Grade: A
Arizona Cardinals The Cardinals are what I thought they were! They are the same team we saw in pre-season! They are exactly what I thought they were! Grade: A
Philadelphia Eagles Came out of the gate strong. An OT loss to the Giants, a walk off field goal to the Saints, and that brutal 62-yarder to the Bucs were the sorts of losses people make excuses for. But the fact is, the Eagles are not anything close to their Super Bowl glory days, back when they were the sole NFC team of any quality.
Rough schedule the rest of the year; they will likely end up with eight or nine tough wins, though they will probably deserve 11. Which is the exactly what I meant when I said they were going to struggle to stay above average. Grade: B+
Chicago Bears There is little doubt left about the Bears. About the only chink in their armor has been the first half of that now mythical Monday night game against the Cards. They figured to take the Norris, but no way did I think Grossman would make that big of a difference. Grade: B-
New York Giants Like an action flick where the hero gets in a scrape, flees by jumping off a cliff only to land in river rapids, plunges over a waterfall, and desperately reaches out to grab a helicopter that was floating just within reach only to find the pilot is one of the bad guys he was trying to escape to begin with...
Eli runs hot and cold from play to play, never mind game to game. Tiki can uncharacteristically turns things into a mini-circus and draws a bit of ire. Shockey always seems on the brink of meltdown. Strahan seems to live in some parallel universe. Yet, here they are likely to take the division again.
Which is just what I called, although I will mark myself down for expecting a Tiki fall off. Grade: B+
Washington Redskins If you heard about an upcoming movie featuring a pack of mid-level, throwaway actors with some convoluted plot, you'd probably yawn or even laugh at the possibility of it having any merit. But if someone told you the script was by Charlie Kaufman and Scorsese was directing, you might think it could be something great.
Article comments
1 - Tinkerbell
I keep tellin' ya, you'd do much better if you graded them on their helmets or how well their socks compliment their uniforms or something along those lines--you know, something a bit more logical than that DVOA, schmee-voa.
-tink
2 - david mazzotta
That wouldn't work. I would have to pick against the Patriots every week just on the basis of Belichek's fashion sense.
3 - 5 and 2 BITCH
Talk all the shit you want but were 5-2 and heading to shitty ass BUC land!
4 - Tinkerbell
Can you hear that groan? That's Tom Landry from the grave, every time he sees Belichek don those sloppy sweatshirts with the elbow-cut-offs.
NFW would I ever bet based on coaching fashion sense. Completely unreliable methodology of analysis. Coaching outbursts and inappropriate comments during press conferences, maybe. But fashion as it applies to coaches? Never. (Now player fashion, that's a different story...)
Big sigh. You should probably stick to your spreadsheets-and-stats-for-those-who-get-outpicked-by-girls method.
5 - david mazzotta
Even money says '5 and 2 BITCH' is Ray Nagin.
6 - david mazzotta
Tinkerbell, you're saying the Lions should fire Millen and hire Armani?
7 - Matthew T. Sussman
"The Cardinals are what I thought they were!"
Then crown their ass, David!
8 - Tinkerbell
Nice choice. Armani is one of the best Italian designers. However, his style is too classic and understated. I'd recommend something along the lines of John Paul Gaultier, as he mixes a street feel with the club scene, although he can lean toward the artistic side of design. As long as he stays away from surrealism, he'd be a good choice for the Lions. But....given that the Lion aren't a real NFL team anyway, your question is basically unanswerable.
9 - RJ Elliott
How long before Millen goes into full-on Baghdad Bob mode and starts claiming that the Lions have clinched the division? Then how long after that until Bill Ford Jr. orders the box office to sell playoff tickets?
Time out to send a good thought to my colleague RJ who has been making picks since the beginning of the season. RJ has an odd neurosis a strict policy of picking the Lions to win no matter what. That means he starts every week with a one game handicap.
RJ is also known to have the largest collection of St. Jude paraphernalia in the known world.
Dude...I laughed so hard I wept. Thanks for that. :-)
10 - RJ Elliott
Line Picks
Ravens, $58.82 WIN
Packers, $160 LOSE
Lions, $200 WIN!!!
Chiefs, $120 WIN
Saints, $83.33 WIN
Broncos, $125 WIN
Nice week so far, my friend...
11 - RJ Elliott
Spread Picks
Packers +3 LOSE
Ravens -3 WIN
Steelers -2 LOSE
Cowboys -3 LOSE
Well...I think you're still up money...let's see how the Pats-Colts game turns out!
12 - david mazzotta
1-4 v. the spread. I am ashamed and shocked. WTF!?!? This is awful.
Line picks come through again though, with a gain of 387.15.
13 - ROBERT
Hey man, we all have our off weeks.
Of course, some people (like Chris Mortensen) have them pretty much every seven days...