NFL 2010 - Week 10 picks.....

Finally, the last of the "bye" weeks is this weekend, but at the same time the NFL now starts those terrible Thursday night games where teams must handle those short turnarounds. As for the teams, we will see if the Cowboys have learned anything this week after they got Wade Phillips fired, while in Washington the Donovan McNabb / Mike Shanahan show gets back on the field after a very strange bye week.

As for the picks, let's just say they were not good.

Below the point spread games are the win/lose picks of Mike, myself and our guest picker and podcast listener, Greg.

NFL Week 10 picks (Home Team in Caps)
Bye Week: Chargers, Packers, Raiders, Saints

Ravens (+1) over FALCONS - After last week's game, the Ravens finally looked like the offense we expected at the start of the season and that is because Ray Rice got the ball running and catching. While Atlanta is considered one of the top teams in the NFC and Matt Ryan is 13-1 at home as a starter, Baltimore will step up to this challenge and get a tough road victory.
Lions (+3) over BILLS - Detroit lost a tough one last week and also Matthew Stafford at the same time. This would seem to set up for the Bills to get their first victory, but Buffalo fans get teased again as the Lion defense steps up and help backup Shaun Hill lead Detroit to the win.
Jets (-1) over BROWNS -The "Ryan" battle has been the storyline, but the Jets can't overlook that the Browns have been playing well each week with rookie Colt McCoy as their starter and the running game led by Peyton Hillis. This should be a low scoring game, and I think the more talented Jets and older brother Rex (by 5 minutes) get the win.
Vikings (-1) over BEARS - Can this soap opera in Minnesota get any crazier? We'll see as the veterans seem to be taking control of this team and could make a run at the playoffs, but that only starts if they can beat the Bears in Chicago. The Viking defense bothers Jay Cutler and causes him into turnovers that helps Minnesota to the win.
BUCCANEERS (-7) over Panthers - Tampa Bay a touchdown favorite? Yes, and Raheem Morris has this team believing, even after a tough loss in Atlanta last week. Carolina is back with Jimmy Clausen as their starter after Matt Moore was lost for the remainder of the season and are also hurting at running back. This looks like a very long remainder of the season for the Panthers.
Texans (+3) over JAGUARS - After the first two weeks of the season, Houston looked like they had matured, but 2-4 since then raises many questions. The Texans need to get it going and should do so against their division foe, Jacksonville. Arian Foster has been the bright spot for the Texans and I think he has a big roll in the victory.
Bengals (+8) over COLTS - Another soap opera destination could be Cincinnati as the Bengals are floundering at 2-6, despite all their talent. On the other side, the Colts are so beat up Peyton Manning must introduce himself to his teammates, but he keeps the Indy machine moving. The Colts win, but the Bengals keep it close and suffer another dissappointment.
DOLPHINS (+1) over Titans - Randy Moss gets to play with his third team of the season, while for Miami Chad Pennington gets the start at quarterback. Miami needs to get its run game going and that will be tough against the Tennessee defense. The difference in Miami winning will be Pennington not turning the ball over and getting the Dolphins into the end zone as opposed to the field goals they have been settling for this season.
Chiefs (-2 1/2) over Broncos - A tough loss for Kansas City last week in Oakland and now they travel to Denver. The Chief defense was not good in the second half of that game, but they get back into form against the Broncos. Denver has had its problems the last few weeks and are hoping they fixed them over the bye week, but that quick KC defense will make it difficult.
Cowboys (+13 1/2) over GIANTS - New York got past their "west coast letdown" last week in beating up on Seattle and now get the lowly Cowboys with new head coach, Jason Garrett. Seems to cry blowout, but I will give the Cowboys one more chance to show they can play like professionals as they keep this game close and give the Giants a scare.
CARDINALS (-3) over Seahawks - Fully admit that I have no confidence in this game on one side or the other. The Cardinals blow the 14 point lead last week against Minnesota, while Seattle got beat up and down the field at home last week aginst the Giants. Cardinals playing at home is the only reason I can see in giving them the edge in this matchup against their divisional foes.
Rams (+5) over 49ERS - San Francisco sits after eight games at 2-6, but only two games out of the divisional lead. St. Louis sits ahead of them and has suceeded expectations so far this season. The Rams will keep this close, but in the end the 49ers,behind their horse in Frank Gore, will get the win and really put this division into a four team royal rumble for the second half of the year.
Patriots (+4 1/2) over STEELERS - Pittsburgh loses another offensive lineman for the year when Max Starks was lost last week to a neck injury. Meanwhile the Patriots took it on the chin with Cleveland running all over them last Sunday. A battle of two of the top AFC teams and while I think the Steelers will sneak out the victory, it will be a close game that gets won late in the 4th quarter.
Eagles (-3) over REDSKINS - Another NFL soap opera with the Donovan McNabb / Mike Shanahan storyline of the past two weeks. That will not be the reason why Philadelphia gets this Monday Night road win. It will be the improved quarterback play of Michael Vick, who makes this Eagle team an "X factor" as we look for the top team in the NFC. The Eagles get revenge for the early season loss in that took place in Philadelphia.

Week 9 picks: 5-7-1
2010 season: 63-58-9


Win / Lose picks:
Guest picker for week 10: podcast listener, Greg

Week 9 results: Mike (11-2) / Sal (7-6) / Guest (10-3)
2010 season: Mike (82-48) / Sal (78-52) / Guest (67-63)

Week 10 picks:
Sal / Greg --- Ravens at Falcons --- Mike
Sal --- Lions at Bills --- Mike / Greg
Sal / Mike / Greg --- Vikings at Bears ---
Sal / Greg --- Jets at Browns --- Mike
--- Panthers at Buccaneers --- Sal / Mike / Greg
Sal / Mike / Greg --- Texans at Jaguars ---
--- Bengals at Colts --- Sal / Mike / Greg
Mike / Greg --- Titans at Dolphins --- Sal
Sal / Greg --- Chiefs at Broncos --- Mike
--- Cowboys at Giants --- Sal / Mike / Greg
--- Seahawks at Cardinals --- Sal / Mike / Greg
--- Rams at 49ers --- Sal / Mike / Greg
--- Patriots at Steelers --- Sal / Mike / Greg
Sal / Mike / Greg --- Eagles at Redskins ---

NFL Week 9 review - The SFB Podcast (11/9/2010).....

The hammer finally fell of Wade Phillips and after that atrocious effort on Sunday night, he just had to go as Jerry Jones could not fire all the players mid-season. In the same division we might have the two best NFC teams with the Eagles and Giants, while the Falcons just keep on winning. In the AFC there are many good teams and it looks like a fun second half of the season as these teams play each other and work out their "slots" in the hierarchy. I'll take a look back at week 9 and look forward to the week 10 schedule. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: November 9, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

NFL Week 2 review - The SFB Podcast (9/21/2010).....

Yes, I was completely wrong in thinking Mark Sanchez and the Jets would not bounce back against the Patriots. As with almost every NFL week, there are just as many questions as answers after the games have been played. I'll take a look at each of the sixteen games from the weekend and give my thoughts about what went on in the games and what we might be able to take from the results. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: September 21, 2010 (right click to "save as target)

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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

This & That (Friday 1/22/2010).....

--- Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers checked himself into a rehab clinic for alcoholics. It was on an outpatient basis and Cabrera underwent three months of treatment. After his strange behavior during the last week of the season, when the Central Division was still on the line, most people assumed something was wrong, and it seems Cabrera himself knew there was something wrong.
Good for Cabrera to see there was a problem and to seek help to overcome it. Hopefully he is able to defeat this demon, because he has the abilities to be a very big offensive star if he gets his personal life together.

Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners avoided arbitration and instead got together to on a new contract for 5 more years and $78 million. The deal keeps Hernandez in Seattle until 2014, when at the age of 28 and in his prime, he will be able to test the free agent market and collect on a second large payday.

Hernandez and the newly acquired Cliff Lee will lead the Mariners’ staff this year and look to bring the team back into the playoffs, which they have missed since their last appearance in 2001.

Lee’s old team, the Philadelphia Phillies, who said they had to trade Lee because of their bloated payroll avoided arbitration with pitcher Joe Blanton when they agreed to a new three year, $24 million contract. While I thought it was short sighted to trade Lee after acquiring Roy Halladay, you could understand what the Phillies were saying when talking about the high payroll they were trying to avoid, but this new deal just makes you wonder if the Phillies just didn’t want Lee around. While Blanton is a nice starter, for only a little more money this year they could have had Halladay and Lee at the top of that rotation.

Add in the club extended Jimmy Rollins through 2011 before the 2010 season even started, and from the outside it has been a head scratching off season for Philadelphia.

--- To correct and then comment something discussed in the last podcast, the Cowboys only extended Coach Wade Phillips’ contract through 2011. It was first reported that Phillips was given a three year extension, but the correct story is only a one year extension. While I thought the three year extension was strange, it told me Jerry Jones had confidence in Phillips. Now by just adding a year to the contract, the same questions will start being asked of Phillips throughout the year about his contract status. Of course Phillips and the Cowboys can squash all questions by playing up to the team’s potential, but isn’t that the reason we have the questions in the first place?

Rex Ryan handed out a game ball after beating the San Diego Chargers in last week’s Divisional Playoffs. While there usually is nothing special about a game ball, this one was a little different because of who it was issued to, Marty Schottenheimer. Marty, the father of Jets’ offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, was fired by the Chargers following the 2006 season after leading them to a 14-2, but losing as the #1 seed in the divisional playoffs to the New England Patriots. I’m sure Charger AJ Smith didn’t laugh out loud when hearing the news.

--- Hopefully you got a chance to watch hockey and basketball’s best go head to head on Thursday night. It doesn’t happen often (During the regular season, Bryant and James meet twice a year and Crosby and Ovechkin four times), and even rarer that it would be happening on the same day.

In Cleveland, LeBron James and the Cavaliers were hosting Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. While in Pittsburgh, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby welcomed Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

Kobe scored his 25,000th point and became the youngest player to do so (it helps that he started playing at 18, and oh yea, LeBron will eventually top this mark), but it was James leading the Cavaliers in the 4th quarter to a 93-87 victory.

On the ice in Pittsburgh, the Capitals broke open a 3-3 tie game with two goals in the first three plus minutes of the third period on way to a 6-3 win. Ovechkin had 2 goals (giving him 32) and an assist, while Crosby scored his 33rd goal of the year.

Both basketball and hockey league offices and many fans (if it can’t be their favorite team) hope for these match ups in the spring when the playoffs roll around, but for now we’ll take the regular season collisions and just enjoy the show.

Coachable Moments.....

I don’t profess to be able to walk in and be the head coach on a NFL team, but after watching football for this long, I have enough knowledge to be an educated critic of some coaching decisions. Many times those questions are answered or echoed by the analyst doing the game or later during a review show recapping the game so I feel pretty good about my “mind coaching”. I have my peeves about how certain things are handled during a game, but nothing gets under my skin and causes me to pull my hair like the lack of adjustments some coaches ignore during a game. Poor play calling and schemes also bother me, but when adjustments are not made or at least tried, yelling at the TV is a common occurrence. The playoffs are only 2 weeks and eight games old and I have seen my fill of questionable coaching moves, or lack there of, and I feel one set on non-adjustments cost a team their chance to win the game.

My first question for Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles is how after being shut out in Week 17 can you make it seem like no adjustments were made in facing the Dallas defense in the Wildcard round? While the Eagles had made their living off the big play in 2009, in the two games against Dallas the big plays were not there and Philadelphia had a total of sixteen points against their defense. When the Wildcard game was being played out, there seemed to be no changes in philosophy made, and while I understand the Eagle offensive line was banged up which is even more of a reason to changes things up, and the Cowboy defense again shut down the Eagles. Now sometimes match-ups just are the way they are and one team is just better then the other and that might have been the case here, but to at least not try different things with the talent you have seemed like a wasted opportunity and poor way for Philly to end its season.

The same Saturday, but this time in the earlier game, Bengals’ coach Marvin Lewis was the one getting my notes about “why play it like that?” While facing the tough Jet defense and with his Carson Palmer looking nervous and out of sorts early in the game, Lewis and the Bengals were at least able to execute a descent running game in the early going. Then on a 3rd and 2 while deep in their territory, Lewis pulled his star running back, Cedric Benson and went shotgun formation. Now the Jet defense, which was getting run on by Benson, was able to worry about the wide receivers and less about a run picking up the first down, and just like clockwork, Palmer tried to connect with Laveranues Coles, but he was well covered and the pass was broken up.

Even if Lewis didn’t want to run the ball in that situation, and I don’t know why because they were having success running against the Jets’ defense, keeping Benson in the backfield would give the Jets the thought about a run, which would make the linebackers and defensive backs lean forward just a little to cheat against a Benson run, and make separation for the receiver on a short route just a little easier. Instead Lewis went with his “package” for that formation / situation and that meant Benson was off the field. Lewis is not the only coach that does this, but in that situation, at home and in a playoff game, I want my best players out there for my opponent to think about, even if they are only a decoy on that particular play.

Now this week in the Divisional games there was more head scratchers from the coaching sidelines with, in my opinion, one coach’s decisions costing his team a chance to win their game, while another called a successful play, but it may not have been the smartest idea.

It started Saturday night in Indianapolis where the Baltimore Ravens were tangling with the Colts. As the first half was ending the Colts put together a nice drive, including converting a 4th and 4, to take a 10-3 lead. Besides taking the lead, the score brought the home crowd back into the game. With two minutes to go and getting the ball back to start the second half, depending on where the kickoff return started the drive I expected the Ravens to run the ball and if they get some descent yardage, then get into the two minute offense to try and score before heading to halftime. If nothing else, running would force the Colts to use up their timeouts before possibly getting the ball back in Peyton Manning’s hands, plus it would give your defense more of a chance to catch its breath.

Instead, Baltimore started on their 18 yard line and ran Ray Rice on the first play for four yards and forced Indy to use their first timeout. To me four yards was not enough to start the two minute offense, but for John Harbaugh he thought differently and the Ravens’ offense went into shotgun formation and took a shot down the field to Derrick Mason which fell incomplete. Then after taking that shot and missing, you would think another run would be in order to run clock, but again Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco was in shotgun formation and again the pass attempt fell incomplete.

After the punt and return, that left 86 seconds and two timeouts to Manning and the Colts to try and score before the end of the half. Eight plays later and with only three seconds left on the clock, Manning and the Colts scored that “dagger” touchdown to jump ahead 17-3, and in all essence it was “game over”, as the Baltimore offense is not built to make a two touchdown comeback.

Why give a quarterback like Manning that much time and two of his timeouts with the chance to put the game away? Nobody seemed to question Harbaugh’s decision to pass the ball in that situation, but I think it is a valid question and should have been addressed more by the television announcers and the media.

Then in Sunday’s first game it was the Dallas Cowboy offense, specifically Jason Garrett’s play calling, that had me shaking my head. The Cowboys were able to run the ball against the Viking defense, but on the first two 3rd and short situations Dallas ran an end around to Miles Austin and passed out of shotgun formation. Now while those plays worked, I could not understand why the Cowboys were not using their strength of running the ball to wear down the Viking defense. On the second drive with Dallas again moving the ball, the drive was stalled and Dallas was faced with a 4th and one. Instead of pounding the ball with Marion Barber or Felix Jones, Wade Phillips sent out Steve Suisham to attempt a 48 yard field goal. The kick was missed and four plays later Brett Favre connected with Sidney Rice for a 49 yard touchdown pass and Minnesota grabbed the game’s momentum.

The other curious part of that game was how Dallas handled their draw play. That play has been the Cowboys’ bread and butter running play for a better part of the season, but Minnesota was stopping it most of the time. How that was happening was that the plays were being run away from defensive end Jared Allen, and he was able to slow down the play by using his speed from the backside. Why those runs were not going to the area Allen was vacating to take advantage of his backside pursuit, while it probably would not have changed the outcome, is confusing to me.

Oh, and let’s not forget the Vikings’ last touchdown pass. While I am all for the “we are professionals” mantra and that Dallas should have stopped them from scoring, I will question why Brett Favre and the #1 offense were still in the game at that time. One Favre or Rice twisted knee and the Viking chances to making the Super Bowl go right out the window. A 27-3 lead with two minutes to play is equivalent to being 13-2 and having your playoff spot wrapped up going into the final game of the season. If you wouldn’t play your starters in that regular season game, then there was no reason for them to be finishing this playoff game.

Finally, in the San Diego I feel the lack of adjustments by Norv Turner and the Charger offense against the Jets’ blitzing defense is what eventually cost them the game. This was a game of adjustments and was started by Jet head coach, Rex Ryan, who changed his coverage schemes to negate the early success the Chargers were having by motioning either Antonio Gates or the running back (either Sproles or Tomlinson) wide to get Vincent Jackson away from Darrelle Revis.

Then as the Jets blitzes were starting to get pressure on Philip Rivers, the Chargers remained stagnant and continued to try and force their offense against the New York defense. San Diego’s offense is known for it long pass routes which are slower to develop, but the Jet blitzes when penetrating the blocking protection don’t allow for slow developing to happen, and the New York blitzes were making an impact on Rivers. The two River’s interceptions were directly related to him being rushed to throw and in the case of the first one, while moving backwards so he got no power into his throw. Why the Charger receivers were not running more slant routes, especially effective with the big receivers the Chargers employ, and drag routes to allow quicker passes to slow down the Jet blitzes is a question that was never addressed by the media and certainly not Norv Turner.

Add in the onside kick attempt and the wasting of seven seconds by not calling their timeout before the 2 minute warning, and overall I don’t feel it was not a good day for Norv Turner and his coaching staff.

Guess though the San Diego management thinks differently as Turner was given a three year extension, while I’m still calling plays from my couch.