What Happened To The Bowl Games? Or Thank Goodness for NFL Week 17

You knew the BCS series was going to change things and that no good would come from it.  At the cost of crowning a national champion (even when there are three 12-0 teams and one doesn’t get a fair shot to play in the big game) all other bowls are rendered moot.  Once upon a time (like even 10 years ago) you could count on waking up at and seeing the first of 8 bowls on New Year’s Day, each with a compelling matchup to coordinate your hangover/feast/leftover celebration.   The highlight was almost always the Rose Bowl.  Big Ten Champ V Pac 10 Champ: Always a huge match-up and a quality game.  Now we’re left with close to two dozen match-ups of 6-6 V 7-5 teams.  If everyone makes a Bowl appearance then no Bowl is special.  We have to wait an entire week until we see an NCAA Champ.  The Rose Bowl is on ESPN, and other than Penn State-Florida do you really care who’s playing 1/1/11?  Sure there are those who will bring up 1994 When Penn State was locked into the Rose Bowl and didn’t get the chance to play Nebraska.  Joe Pa had recruited a legendary offense that year and naturally the Nittany Lion Nation felt they should have had their fair share.  Just the same Nebraska had to beat a formidable Florida State team the win the ACC (no small feat).  While you can argue Penn State didn’t get a fair shake you can’t argue the Cornhuskers didn’t earn their crown.  It was a  gwark year when things didn’t go quite right.   So the NCAA knee jerked a solution that has made out national celebration worthy of a nap while our wives and girlfriends watch the “what no to wear” marathon.

As lon as I’m on a rant, another thing I would like that won’t happen is for the NFL rules committee to throw out a bunch of rules.  Every year someone gets nailed with a bad call and the rules committee tries to “fix” it.  There are so many rules Fox has an ex VP of officiating who manages to get the calls wrong about as much as anyone else.  It’s not his fault, there are so many rules no one knows what’s going on.  If you go to the ground with the ball you have to come up with the ball: In real time.  Slow motion changes the perspective.  A hand should be under the ball on the ground,  If the ball touches the ground it’s not a catch.  Either do replay or not, get rid of the coach’s flag.  Why replace human error with an element of chance?   Tell you what, keep the red flag, just limit challenges on touchdowns, feet in bounds calls and ball placement.  That will speed the game up, and get you a better call from the referee teams.  And hire the Refs full time.   Alright, lets look at some games

Bears (+10) Over Packers.  Conventional wisdom will tell you the Bears have nothing to play for as they’ve locked in the #2 seed thanks to Philadelphia’s lackluster play Tuesday.  When you read the quotes out of the Bears locker room you realize no one wants to play the Packers in the Playoffs.  Not even the Bears.   They’ve got a chance to knock the Packers out from jump start.  I think the Bears win outright.

Buccaneers (+9) Over Saints.  The Bucs are scrappy.  When the Saints look up and see the Falcons crushing the panthers they’ll sit the starters.  Even if the Bucs don’t win they’ll keep it close.  Arrrrg…go Bucs.

Steelers (-5) over Browns.  Remember the olden days when John Madden would through in the old school guys at the end of the season? Darryl Lamonica, George Blanda, and those guys would throw touchdowns?  This is going to look like one of those games.  Steelers.

Redskins (+4) over Giants.  Will miss those corkscrew faces Tom Coughlin makes on the sidelines next year.  The truth is he had a nice little run.  Alas, only the Panthers have looked worse ovee any 5 quarter stretch of the season.  The Giants end on a low note.

Rams (pick) over Seahawks.  Hey, if Charlie Whitehurst pulls this out for the Seahawks more power to him.   Could be a night for desperate housewives.  Rams.

That’s it.  Happy New Year

The Prognosticator

Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho! I’ve got presents to wrap so here we go!

Cowboys (-6) over Cardinals.  Plenty of wood to lay on the road.  The Pokes have problems on defense, and under achieving secondary who should have had a break out year after last year’s promise, and an inside linebacker/nose tackle combo that has problems stopping a sink, let alone a solid run game.  Meanwhile the Cardinals look nothing like the group that gave the Steelers a run for the money in the Superbowl 2 years ago.  Add the Cardinals to the Terrelle Pryor sweepstakes.  Pokes in this one.

49ers (+1) over the Rams.  C’mon.  Don’t you want to see a 7-9 team win a division just once?  Mike Singletary can win the division, get his team to the playoffs and get fired.  The ultimate season!  Of course, the way the league knee jerks about stuff they don’t like from week to week maybe not.  The Niners are 9-3 ATS their last 12 on turf, and the Rams are a horrid 5-13 ATS their last 18 in their own conference.  Niners here.

Chiefs (-5) over Titans.  No Vince Young, and Randy Moss is a bust. Ever since the League went to a 4 division conference every year three teams in last place the previous year win their division.  The Chiefs will be one of those three teams this year.  Chiefs in a walk

Packers (-3) over Giants.  Last weeks melt down was the kind fo thing that can haunt a team for years.  While Tom Coughlin was out choking his punter he overlooked the other ten guys on the field who failed to keep inside their lanes and let the winning score go by.  Think about it, over the last 8:13 if the Giant offense made one play, just one, or the Defense kept the Eagles from making one play less, the game is a Giant win.  The Packers get Aaron Rodgers back.  The Giants are 2-8 ATS their last 10 on grass., and 4-11 ATS against teams with winning records.   The Packers have covered 7 of their last 10 at home.  It’s not going to end pretty in New York this year.  Packers are the pick.

Ravens (-3) over Browns.  Really? Only three? Santa comes but once a year, When he delivers take the gift.  Ravens

Eagles (-15) over Vikings.  Brett Favre still doesn’t remember his name and Adrian Peterson is hurting.  NBC flexed this game because of Michael Vick.  Eagles Cowboys two weekjs ago was the highest rated Sunday night game ever.  Look for the Eagles to deliver points.   E-A-G-L-E-S-EAGLES!

That’s how I see ‘em.   Merry Christmas!

Your prognosticator

It’s Bizzaro World or NFL Week 15

So far we’ve played 14 games to eliminate 11 teams from the playoffs.  It’s almost like hockey.  There some huge matchups with high stakes this weekend.   Let’s take a look:

Eagles (+3) over the Giants.  Loser of this game plays for a wild card that may not come their way.  The Eagles are 9-0 in games when they’ve had at least one play of 40 yards (they’re 0-4  games without the big play).  Want another stat? The underdog is 10-2 ATS the last 12 meetings.  Also Philadelphia has beaten the Giants 5 of the last 6, and Eli likes to throw picks against a defense that leads the league in INTs.  Fly Eagles Fly

Jacksonville (+5) Over the Colts.  Loser in this game is most likely playing golf in January.  It’s the kind of game Payton usually wins, right?  Not this week.  Too many question marks at Wide out, and an under performing running game.  They had the cowboys dead to rights, but managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory thanks to Payton’s 4 picks.  Big cats in this one.

Pittsburgh (-7) over Jets.  Fireman Ed may not be happy with me, but this is a must win game the Jets need.  Don’t worry, they won’t get it.  Rex Ryan was openly talking about benching his quarterback.  Not the stuff of champions.  Right now your AFC championship game looks like the Patriots and Steelers.  The Jets on the other hand need to get it together, San Diego is closing fast.  To bad this is not the Jets’ week.  I.C.’s all around.

Saints (+1) over Ravens.  Both teams are second in their division.  Both teams need to win.  Both teams could still blow it and find them selves out in three weeks.  Those implosions usually start with games like this.  Ray Lewis can only will victory so many times.  Pull out the parasols.  The Saints are marchin’.

Chiefs (pick) over Rams. All the trends point to the Rams.  This is purely a gut pick.  Every year since the 8 division format 3 teams that finished in last place the previous year finish first.  This year the Chiefs are one of those teams.

Make something warm for Sunday and relax.  The snow will wait

The prognosticator

Well you don’t need me to tell you the NFL season is winding down. So I thought it time to reflect on an earlier blog of mine concerning the Cleveland Browns. As things stand today they have won the same number of games as they did last year, five. With some luck and a 7-9 is possible and who knows if the Ravens don’t need that last game and rest some players we could even reach .500.

Ask any conductor how hard it is to stop a train heading down the wrong track. Well the same applies to a football team. You don’t stop on a dime and turn it around it takes steps and a couple of years. I think the Browns are heading in the right direction, they have a solid line, Peyton Hillis is a gift from Denver that just keeps on giving and last year’s draft gave the team a big lift in the secondary and their future QB in the 3rd round.

Somethings will need to be addressed….WR for one, more help on the line and what to do with the some of the coaches. I for one things Eric Mangini deserves to stay…they are a better team than when he arrived and are improving again this year.

If you had told me back in September that the Browns would beat the Saints and the Pats, btw they, the Pats, haven’t lost a game since then….I would have had you try to walk a straight line while counting down from 100 by 3’s. Remember this is a train they are trying to get back on track.

PS: the image is an old Browns logo thought the elf fits the holiday season.

Make it or Break it time, or NFL Week 14

Some big games on the schedule as the pretenders will finally be separated.  Some playoff births will begin to form this week as teams that win will have a clear drive to the postseason while losers will need some help.  In other words, now is when the games get really, really good.

Take the NFC East.  Both the Eagles and Giants are 8-4.  If the Eagles win Sunday over Dallas, the cowboys will most likely have the motors running and the cars packed for the season finale rematch.  An eagle win could mean two.  The Giants on the other hand host the Vikings with Brett Dirtyboy Favre.  If both the eagles and Giants win Sunday the division could come down to the week 15 rematch between the clubs.

Conversely look at the NFC west where the Rams and Seahawks are tied for the lead at 6-6 and the 49ers are still in it at 4-8.  It isn’t every year that a 4-8 team has something to play for.  Hey don’t laugh.  With the Seahawks this week and the Rams week 16, along with games against the fading chargers and the listless cardinals, the 49ers could realistically do it.  The Seahawks have Atlanta, Tampa Bay and the Rams, while the Rams have the Seahawks, Saints and Kansas City.  Those 49ers don’t look so bad now, do they (yes, the look bad, but the others look worse).

Every division is still mathematically too close to call.  Exactly what Pete Rozell wanted all those years ago.  Maybe parity really is fun?

Okay let’s look at some games.  Remember any losses incurred by relying on the following information is not the responsibility of me, The Mountain, Entercom Northeast, Entercom Communications, it’s properties or its subsidiaries.

Eagles (-3) over Cowboys.  Those pokes have played better since ol’ Wade Phillips was given the heave ho.  Jason Garret responded by making the ‘boys put the pads on and hit during practice.  The running games is strong and with Wade gone Garret is calling a much different game offensively.  The running game protects the Dallas Defense which last year looked like it was on the verge of dominance.  The Dallas secondary is porous.  Look for a high flying Eagles score.

Rams (+9) Over Saints.  The Saints may be the best team to rarely cover in years, going 6-14 ATS over their last 20 when playing NFC teams.  The Saints win, just not by a bushel basket of points.

Oakland (+4) over Jacksonville.  Honestly I don’t know how either team is doing it.  But when the Raiders win these days they win big by jumping out to a big lead and pounding teams.  And they said Al Davis was lost in the past.  Jacksonville has a history of swooning in December.  When the weather cools in NE Florida, so do the Jags.  Just win Baby….Raiders.

Steelers (-8.5) over Bengals.  Isn’t it time I start writing “Bungles?”   The doctor said Rothlisberger’s nose looked like corn flakes.  The Bungles better eat their wheaties.  All they have to play for is the ratings on TO and OchoCinco’s shows,and giving away free money won’t help those ratings.  It takes a lot for Snooky to look good.  Can she play Linebacker?   Steelers

Packers (-7) over Lions.  The Packers cover on the road.  The Lions are still the Lions.  Go Pack Go

Enjoy the games

The prognosticator

Yes, it’s ghetto. I’m not an engineer.

It’s a hot box.  Supposedly I will be able to plant spinach, broccoli, and other cold weather vegetables and grow ‘em even when the rest of the ground is frozen.

I trash picked both windows.  The wood is that pressed stuff, I have no idea how long it’s going to last.  A while, I hope, since this took me a whole day to build.  I had also never used a circular saw…that turned out to be the easiest part!  The hardest part?  Digging the holes to put the wood in.

I only posted it up here because I realized it is the first thing I have ever built entirely by myself.

Impressed?  You should be.  You’ll be even more impressed when I’m eating spinach I grew myself in FEBRUARY!!!

When the league moved the umpire from the middle of the field it created a void of sanity.  How many missed penalties have you seen this year?  I mean really obvious facemasks, pass interference calls, Helmet to Helmet hits that were really shoulder to shoulder…enough is enough!  I know the league wants to protect players, and I’m all for it! But players run a greater risk of catastrophic injuries when they are indecisive.  Let them play! And move the umpire back to the middle of the field where he belongs.

Let’s pick some games:

Redskins (+7) Over Giants.  The Giants have to not swoon in December for me to believe it.  Also the Redskins cover on the road, 6-2-1 ATS their last 9.  Hail to the Redskins…Hail victory! Onward we triumph! Fight for old DC!

Bengals (+7) Over Saints.  No, I’m not drunk.  I understand the Bengals (soon to be again known as bungles) are an underperforming mess.  But I also know the Saints are notorious for playing down to the competition, covering just once in their last 8 against teams with losing records.  It’s cold and the Saints are on the road.  So let’s Bungle in the Jungle…..

Jaguars (+3 ½) over Titans.  After snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against the Giants last week, the Jaguars roar into Tennessee.  If only the Titans had Davey Crocket.  The Titans have covered only 3 of their last 13 against teams with winning records, while the Jaguars hace covered 11 of their last 12 in week thirteen.  That’s crack research.  Spells a win for the big cats.

Colts (-5) over Cowboys.  Van you see a playoff without Payton Manning?  Really? I can’t.  Jerry Jones ahs already shredded the roster for next year.  Someone forgot to tell them they are still playing for jobs.  Colts here.

Ravens (-3) over Steelers.  A December game we all wait for.  It’s the kind of game the Steelers usually find a way to win.  I just don’t like Big Ben’s Broken foot.  The Money line favors the Ravens.  So do I.

There’s your five.

Enjoy with Egg Nog

The Prognosticator..

like Elvis impersonators playing violins!

Merry Christmas from Coldplay…