2011-2012 Week 17 Picks NFL

So we have ended up doing pretty well considering all of the set backs that we have faced here.  I have a feeling we are going to have another good week.  I think picking games at the end of the season can tend to be an easier job than those at the beginning of it.  For one, you have seen all the teams play the entire season so one would think that it would be pretty easy to pick the winners at this point.  The second reason I like picking them now is that a lot of teams have already solidified their spots in the playoffs and therefore will probably only play their starters for a quarter, or maybe even just a series.  Its the final week of the season and everyone is scrambling to make the playoffs.  Probably the key game of the entire weekend is going to be the Cowboys/Giants game which will come down to who has the better offense.  I have a feeling that the Giants are going to be able to pull it out in the end.  The Cowboys have done pretty much everything in their power this season to try to stay out of the playoff hunt and I really do not see anything changing today.  So here are our Week 17 Picks:

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers – Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers @ St. Louis Rams – San Francisco 49ers
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints – New Orleans Saints (High Scoring Game)
Tennessee Titants @ Houston Texans – Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs @ Denver Broncos – Denver Broncos
Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants – Dallas Cowboys

Worst week in SidelineBlog History!

That’s right, this past weekend was the worst possible weekend for picks.  If Baltimore had not come back in the end of their game, we would have gone with a big old Easter Egg in the wins column.  So far we are 1.6 for the weekend with just one game left tonight and hopefully San Diego can pull off a miracle (which they won’t)  because it is starting to see like we might be some sort of bad luck for NFL squads that we pick.   The Detroit Lions looked unstoppable against the Denver Broncos proving once and for all Tim Tebow’s fate in the NFL.  He fumbled three times and threw a pick to lose 45-10.  Buffalo managed the shut the Washington Redskins out completely which just goes to show you that they have not changed much and they are still the same old Redskins.  I am pretty sure the football gods are working against me at this point after last nights game.  San Diego put up a pretty decent effort until the 4th quarter.  The point is that we have had our worst week in the sites history.  We apologize to those who have decided follow our picks religiously.  You should always follow your gut feeling.

What is Going on with the Cowboys?

The Cowboys came out tonight a little sluggish once again with a decent drive to start the game out with, ending with a missed field goal.  The Cowboys tried to make a game of it but the 49ers have dominated most of the game.  Tony Romo got blind sided just before halftime and Jon Kitna came out at the start of the second half. While he did throw a pretty sweet touchdown, it came at the price of two interceptions.  Needless to say, Tony Romo came back into the game despite his injured/broken/whatever rib and ended up playing very well towards the end. Bailey was able to make up for his first quarter mishap with the 21 yard field goal by hitting a 48 yard field goal to send the game into overtime.  After losing the toss, the Cowboys force a punt and within minutes Tony Romo throws a 77 yard bomb to a rookie receiver then boom! 19 yard field goal and the Cowboys are 1-1.  In the end, Dallas ended up with the win 27-24 in OT.

The Packers Smash the Saints in the Mouth 42-34

A rematch of the NFC Championship game last season was actually pretty good. The Saints fought hard till the bitter end on Thursday night. Drew Brees had over 400 yards passing and 3 touchdowns with over 65% pass completion.  This was also the first regular season game for the NFL and it ended up very similar to the TCU vs. Baylor game.  It really makes you wonder if you have seen the best game of the season in the first weekend of football.  Aaron Rogers was his same old self with 77% pass completion with over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns. While the team rushed for a total over 100 yards, there was not a single player over 60 yards much less 100 of them. You know the Saints are not going to lose every game so they will probably get right back up on top of the horse they came in on when they play the Bears later today at Noon on FOX.

Colts are nothing without Peyton Manning

Houston saw the problems the Colts were having, came to the game prepared (possibly they had home field advantage), and conquered the competition (Indianapolis Colts). The game was over by the end of the first quarter when the Texans managed to score 17 points in a matter of three minutes and some change. It was a pretty spectacular sight to see and it just got worse for the Colts before half time. The Houston Texans scored 34 unanswered points and if it hadn’t been for a fourth quarter 6 yard pass from Kerry Collins to Reggie Wayne it would have been a complete shut out. Kerry Collins put the ball on the ground three of them and lost two. I would say the Colts should possibly reach out to Brett Favre to see what old dudes up to because I really do not think this old dude is going to get it done.  The Cleveland Browns are actually heavily favored in this Sunday’s game against the Colts.  You know its sad when the Browns are picked to beat you at your house.  You can check it out for yourself Sunday at noon on CBS. With no Peyton Manning, the Colts will hope that Kerry Collins can get them better results than the 34-7 loss they took to their division rival last weekend.

Vick and the Eagles destroy the Rams 31-13

In a much anticipated first game of the season Michael Vick was eager to take the field. He would not disappoint on this night with nearly 100 yards rushing and almost 200 yards passing. This is vintage Vick if you ask me because he has always been known for his ability to take off if rushed in the pocket. The question that remains here, is will he be able to handle taking some of the hits that he took all season long. I think that’s a big if at this point because he is still just a little guy in grand scheme of things. Stephen Jackson was a big disappointment except for one 47 yard rushing touchdown.

I know Michael Vick is looking forward to this weekend as he gets to go home to Atlanta to play the Falcons already in Week Two.  Going home is going to be a challenge not just for Michael Vick but also for the Atlanta fan base.   Do they cheer for Michael Vick even though he is the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles now?   How many red and black #7 Vick jerseys do you think we can expect to see at the game?  My guess is they cheer for him pregame and cheer for him with any huge plays that he comes out with.  Who will get the win if this happens?  I would say that Michael Vick can almost highhandedly win the game himself.  I think its unfortunate that his old fans are going to have to see that, but they need to be getting behind Rex Grossman this season.  Michael Vick is no longer and will never be the Quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons.  Its just not possible at this point. You have to begin to ask yourselves some questions.  Is it the same fans as when Michael Vick was playing there?  Did you know that when Michael Vick was the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, they had the largest black season ticket holder population out of any team in the league.  Nowadays you are not going to see the same faces as you did back in the day, but its still the event to go to in Atlanta on a Sunday.  You will still see people dressed to the nines.  They will be disappointed though as “Hotlanta” is not longer there, its just plain old falcons for now. 

St. Louis has a long road ahead of them as Stephen Jackson has still yet to prove himself to his team and fantasy owners.  On top of that it looks like Sam Bradford can’t make into the end zone if his life depended on it.  This is going to be a problem when they start playing teams that rely on their red-zone defense to bail them out of bad situations.  I would expect them to play better for their Monday Night Game against the New York Giants.  It is a much bigger stage and its a chance for Stephen Jackson to let everyone know what he is all about.  Should be two great games though.  In the end, St. Louis just could not handle Michael Vick.  Vick was able to burn them for almost 100 yards rushing and almost 200 yards passing.  That just does not happen in the NFL anymore.  Lets hope he can keep it up.

Detroit Lions Start the Season 1-0

The leagues worst team for the past few seasons has finally decided to step up their game by taking out one of the top NFC teams in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Matt Stafford threw for over 300 yards (305 yards) and 3 touchdowns which is pretty sick if you ask me. I think he is coming into his own in this league and will probably grow to be one of the greats. He was picked to do well in the NFL (being the #1 pick in the NFL will do that for you) but I don’t think anyone thought that he would be this ready, this quickly for everything that has been thrown at him. Having watched the game, I could not tell if the Lions were playing that well of if it was just that the Buccaneers we overrated coming into the regular season. This game was as exciting as it was close and I would honestly have to say that neither quarterback really disappointed their team.  Both of them threw picks which really wasn’t all that bad.  While Freeman may have only had one touchdown, Stafford had 3 so that’s an average ratio.  Tampa Bay’s running game just wasn’t sticking with just 56 yards rushing and only one first down via rushing.  I guess that would be reasonable had Josh Freeman not had half the rushing yards including the first down run of 15 yards.  LaGarrette Blount needs to step it up if he expects to be taken seriously in this league.    Sunday, the Lions play the Chiefs and look for the Lions to possibly start their season off 2-0 for the first time since 1997 when they got that overtime victory against the Vikings.  Remember, that’s the same game that Tavaris Jackson threw for zero touchdowns and four interceptions.  2-0, I think, would give Detroit fans some closure as to all the previous disappointing seasons.  Getting to the playoffs would definitely help also.

Brian Urlacher’s Mom died unexpectedly. Not sure when he will return.

ESPN is reporting that Brian Urlacher is not sure when he will return to the Bears because he is going to be concentrating on being with his family for right now. He had originally left the Bears today for personal reasons regarding her Mother. Later ESPN found out that his Mother had died unexpectedly in her home in Mount Pleasant, Texas. I can imagine how that phone call went considering I have dealt with a similar issue in my past. The family at SidelineBlog are all hoping and praying that he and his family stay safe and make it through unscathed through the battle of recovery. With Urlacher gone, this leaves lots of questions as to who will step up to take his place in the absence. I think there is more than ever a question of depth with the Chicago Bears.  You all know that we arent the biggest fans of the Chicago Bears but I feel as if this story hits me personally in a way and would like to express my condolences to the Urlacher family.  Brian Urlacher release a statement saying, “My first priority right now is to be with my family as we mourn her loss and make the arrangements to lay her to rest,” Urlacher said. “This is a very difficult and emotional time for us and I sincerely ask that you respect our privacy.” I am not exactly sure what this means as far as him playing in the game against the Saints this Sunday, but it does not sound good.  If he is going to play it could really go one of two ways.  He is either going to have a rough time trying to get into the game, or I am going to feel sorry for opponents who go up against him because he might be taking all of his frustrations out on them on the field.  What does this mean for the Bears?  This means a huge blow if they cannot get him playing this weekend, but what can they really do?  He had 10 tackles, an interception, and a fumble return for a touchdown in their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons so you can see how important he must be to their defense.  By the way, they ended up winning that game.  Jay Cutler is just going to have pull some tricks out of that old bag of his if they want to get another win.  The Saint are not exactly happy coming off a loss to the Green Bay Packers (a team who stuffed them last season to go to the Super Bowl…its like double ouch for the Saints).

I think I speak for everyone though when I tell you that I hope Mr. Urlacher can come to grips with what is going on in his life, he should celebrate his moms life and maybe think about her when he is playing on the field and know that life is so precious that in an instant it can be gone.  Life changes and you have to roll with the pucnhes (and life will throw you some knock out style punches along the way).  Time will tell if this is a good or bad thing (was a great thing for Brett Favre). 

Cowboys Pulled a Romo

The Dallas Cowboys are the only team that I know of that can give up a 14 point lead in the last quarter of a football game.  That is exactly what they did tonight.  Not only did they blow a 14 point lead in the fourth quarter but they ultimately ended up losing the game to the Kicker they let go during the off-season (Nick Folk).  Slowly but surely the Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets came back into the game.  They managed to do it with a 26 yard pass from Mark Sanchez to Plaxico Burress early in the fourth and then with five minutes left, Joe McKnight blocked a punt that Isaiah Trufant returned 41 yards into the end zone.  This was all capped off by a Tony Romo interception with just a minute left in the game and then a mishandled snap by Romo at the end of the game to pretty much seal the loss in writing.  I think this game shows the inadequacy of the Dallas Cowboys at this point and does not really bode well for the rest of their season. 

 

Here are some videos of Tony Romo messing up games in the past:

 

Cowboys looking good through 3 quarters against Jets

So far so good for the Dallas Cowboys. They are winning a hard fought defensive match against the New York Jets right now.  They may only be up by one touchdown (24-17) but that’s still way better than Vegas was giving them credit for. There is only 12 minutes left in the game and Dallas will have the ball with the momentum with the Jets right now.  Hopefully the Boys can’t get er done in tne last parts of this game.

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