Last Week: 9-4

Overall: 83-33 (.715 percent)

It’s been a week of craziness, one where free tickets to the Bruins ended up costing me close to $500 in the long run, but more on that later in the week.

I’ve been doing well in the NFL picks, and next week we are going to be bringing in our friend Eagle One to join the competition. He seems to think that he’s smarter than me when it comes to the NFL, and the gauntlet has been thrown. I would have had him join this week, but we just upgraded our blog software and weren’t sure if it would be ready for Sunday.

On to week 9

NY Jets at Buffalo Bills: You have to love the Bills resurgence, and the fans are going nuts up there. The Jets could easily be under .500 and I think the Bills may just be for real this year, even though I just traded away Ryan Fitzpatrick in my fantasy league. Let’s ride the home team and hope the Bills are able to outscore the Jets. Bills win a tight one.

Seattle at Dallas: The Cowboys are a headache. They should be so much better than they are. I’m going to throw in with Dallas because I just have no faith whatsoever in Tavaris and company. Dallas by a TD.

Atlanta at Indianapolis: The Falcons keep Indy off the board.

Miami at Kansas City: I said it last week, the Chiefs are better than you think. They don’t have to be to win this game, though. KC by double figures.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans: The Saints are going to be ticked off. Coming off of a putrid showing in St. Louis I think that Drew Brees and the boys are going to light up Tampa today. NO by a lot.

San Francisco at Washington: Oh the poor Redskins. They’ve lost most of their playmakers and now start John Beck at QB. San Fran is rolling, and that continues.

Cleveland at Houston: You need to score to win games, and the Browns can’t score. They are an ugly team that plays ugly games, so it might be close for a while, but the Texans pick up their 6th win here.

Cincinnati at Tennessee: This one is going to be close, but I’ve got a feeling that Chris Johnson wakes up today and the Titans get it done.

Denver at Oakland: I give up. I have no idea which Denver team shows up, so with that said I’ll go with the Raiders and just not watch.

NY Giants at New England: The David Tyree Bowl, of course Tyree was pumping gas earlier this week before ESPN and every other media outlet dragged him before the cameras to do countless retellings of the the luckiest catch in NFL history. The Pats don’t lose at home, and won’t today.

St. Louis at Arizona: Every week there’s at least one game that I’d pass on if given free tickets to go to, and airfare and accomodations, and this is the one this week. I guess the Cardinals, but they’re both so bad it could end in a tie. AZ wins 12-9.

Green Bay at San Diego: The Chargers just aren’t as good as we thought they were and the Packers are awesome. Ride the undefeated teams I always say. Green Bay keeps it going.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh: This is going to be a physical, low-scoring game. The Steelers win based on the home field, and they have the better quarterback and more playmakers. Pitt, 20-13.

Chicago at Philadelphia: The Eagles are finally playing like we thought they would. Shady McCoy is a darkhorse MVP candidate, and he’ll have another big game as the Eagles close in on .500 with a blowout win at the Linc.

Last Week: 10-3

Overall: 74-29 (.718 percent)

Okay, I almost forgot to get these up. It happens. Saturday I usually do them, but we had our Fall Ball title game (Landfall lost, ugh) and then family stuff and prepping for the nor’easter. Sunday morning I had to go cover the Marathon, and realized as I pulled into my driveway that I hadn’t posted these yet. So with no thought at all, here are my week 8 picks.

New Orleans at St. Louis: Nice to have a layup to start with. Saints win with no problems at all.

Miami at NY Giants: Hey, another lay-up. Giants in a rout.

Jacksonville at Houston: Jax is playing great defense right now, but they can’t score. Arian Foster is showing why he was just about every fantasy league’s top pick heading into the year and he’ll do enough here. Texans win.

Arizona at Baltimore: If I could pick the Cardinals to score negative points I’d think about it. Baltimore will destroy the Cards.

Minnesota at Carolina: The year of the Rookie Quarterback. Let’s roll with Cam Newton over Christian Ponder. Panthers.

Indianapolis at Tennessee: Glad I don’t have to watch this game. Titans by several scores.

Detroit at Denver: As stated earlier this week, I’m all-in with Tebow. With a banged up Stafford, no Best and Tebow doing his thing, I’m going with the upset and taking Denver.

Washington at Buffalo: Even in Toronto I think the Bills will enjoy home field and take down a hurting Redskins team. Buffalo wins.

Cincy at Seattle: Picking Cincy on the road is a hard thing to do, but I’m going to do it here. The Seahawks are just not good. Cincinnati by a field goal.

New England at Pittsburgh: Patriots have Pittsburgh’s number, home or away. I’ll stick with that trend and go Pats by a TD.

Cleveland at San Fran: Alex Smith is an MVP candidate, cover your head and stop the sky from falling on it. 49ers by a lot.

Dallas at Philly: The game of the week. Can’t wait for this one. I think Shady has a big, big night and the Eagles comeback continues.

San Diego at Kansas City: Another upset pick for me. I think the Chiefs might be better than we give them credit for and the Chargers haven’t excited me at all. Let’s go Chiefs in a Monday night classic.

Tebowmania is sweeping the nation, and I’ll admit it, I’m all in.

I understand the naysayers, I really do. There are plenty that don’t dig his uber-clean persona and aww shucks attitude. Others love to tear apart his unorthodox throwing style and poor statistics, but admit it, there’s a lot more to Timmy T than just numbers on the page.

Going back to his days at Florida all this kid has done is find ways to win football games, period. It may not always be pretty — heck, sometimes its downright ugly — and with the style that he plays its rarely going to be by the book, but he gets the job done.

Down 15-0 in the fourth quarter against Miami the chances that the Broncos win that game are so small that it’d be hard to set a line for. Vegas bookmakers would have gladly given you 100-to-1 without blinking. But he found a way to lead the team back, its just what Tebow does.

As the fantasy stat line crawled by around 3 PM that afternoon I saw that he was something like 4-for-9 for 28 yards. That tells me right there that his coach was afraid to put the game in his hands and was trying to just let Tebow manage rather than quarterback like Tim Tebow.

When you’ve got this guy at quarterback you cannot run an offense similar to the Green Bay Packers, it won’t work. Tim Tebow isn’t about finding his fourth read, or looking off the safety to beat the Tampa Two. He’s not a classically trained pianist, he’s more of a jazz man, a improvisational genius.

He throws the ball strangely, and he’s going to make mistakes. You have to know that you’re going to get some bad with the good, and he doesn’t always pull off the miracles — remember that 2010 title game? — but the good far outweighs the bad with No. 15.

In 13 career appearances, most of which have been spot duty here and there, his completion percentage is still under 50-percent (58-for-119, 48 percent, 894 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT). Those numbers aren’t great, but they’re not that bad either. Yes, he needs to hit on more of his passes, but he has yet to be allowed to really find his groove as a passer. I think he will eventually become at least an average thrower of the football, and his running skills are what take him to the next level.

With his feet he makes things happen. He’s averaged about 5.5 carries per game, and has turned that into an average of 5.5 yards per carry. He’s found the end zone 7 times, which means that out of every 8 or so times he tucked and rushed he’s found pay dirt. Not bad, huh.

As he becomes a more competent thrower, he should become more dangerous as a thrower. Defenses will have to respect his arm more, which will open things up for the running game.

And then there’s the intangibles, the things you can’t take to Footballoutsiders.com and run through a computer. His teammates seem to believe in him. He’s got leadership skills that are off the charts. If you jumped in Doc Brown’s Deloreon and traveled to 2050 and came back to tell me that the United States is flourishing under President Tebow I would not be surprised whatsoever. He’s not only the guy you want in the fox hole with you, but he’s the one you want barking out the orders.

Putting football aside, he’s also the type of guy that you want to root for. He seems very genuine, and as a Christian I enjoy the fact that there is a role model I can point my kids to and show them that he’s there. Heck, there’s only one football jersey that I’d buy for my son Rye that didn’t have the flying Elvis or Pat Patriot on the sleeve and it comes in those ugly midnight blue and orange colors with a 15 on the front.

Tebow is good for the National Football League. He’s polarizing. You love him or hate him, but you have to watch him and he demands that you have an opinion on him. My opinion is that he’s a good thing, and worth rooting for.

Last Week: 9-4

Overall: 64-26 (.711 percent)

So it’s Saturday night, and I realized that I haven’t posted my picks yet, so I had to get on it. This week could be ugly for me. I’m fighting off sleep, and losing the battle.

We used free tickets today to visit King Richard’s Faire in Carver, and followed that up with my nephew’s 2nd birthday party. That’s a long Saturday if there ever was one.

I enjoyed my first visit to King Richard’s, for the most part. The thing is, I’m one of those people that starts to do the math on how much money they’re clearing and it’s just mind-boggling.

My math is probably off, but let’s figure this out quickly. They’re open 8 weekends, two of which are holiday weekends. That’s 18 days of business. They’ve got to average, at least 1,000 patrons per day. That’s at least 18,000 visitors, and I know I’m being conservative. At $27 per adult visitor, that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $486,000 on attendance alone. Now when we figure in all of the memorabilia and the food — which is about the same as Fenway Park — we’re talking big, big dollars. Not bad work for just 2 months out of the year.

The shows were pretty good. The costumes were fun, although there are certainly people that didn’t seem to get the whole Renaissance thing. I mean, Captain Jack Sparrow? Why not just dress up as a Stormtrooper while we’re at it? I will say I did enjoy seeing the St. Pauli’s Girl at nearly every turn, and there were a few visual wardrobe malfunctions here and there.

On to week 7′s games.

Seattle at Cleveland: I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think the Seahawks might not be that bad after all. I’ve got a feeling, and I’m taking Seattle.

Atlanta at Detroit: Tough one to pick here. No Jahvid Best is bad news for Detroit, but they still throw it all over the place. Atlanta hasn’t been good on the road, so I’ll take the Lions to rebound (and because I saw a Liger today at the Faire).

Houston at Tennessee: Man, tough games to judge this week. Houston is finding ways, and the defense has been solid. I guess I’ll take the Texans.

Denver at Miami: Two teams that are really, really bad. I’m all-in on Tebow right now, so give me the Broncos, especially with the extra week to prepare.

San Diego at NY Jets: New York really, really needs to win this game. San Diego is a west coast team coming east for a 1 PM game, things are stacked up well for New York, so I begrudgingly will ride them.

Chicago at Tampa Bay: Like I said, tough week to pick. Tampa’s at home and looked pretty good last week. Let’s go with the Bucs.

Washington at Carolina: Two quarterbacks with a lot to prove. I can’t get behind John Beck yet, so let’s go with SuperCam and the Panthers.

KC at Oakland: The Chiefs have an experienced quarterback, the Raiders had to go out and trade for Carson Palmer now that Campbell’s hurt. Too much unsettled for the Raiders, so we’ll go with the Chiefs.

Pittsburgh at Arizona: The Steelers look like they’re getting it figured out, the Cards are pretty bad. Steelers win.

St. Louis at Dallas: It looks so easy to take Dallas here, and I will. My inner Han Solo keeps saying I’ve got a bad feeling about this, but whatever, Romo and the Boys.

Green Bay at Minnesota: Ride the undefeated team. Green Bay wins again.

Indy at New Orleans: Think maybe NBC is wishing they could flex games already? New Orleans in a rout.

Baltimore at Jacksonville: Well, at least Ando doesn’t have to waste his Sunday worrying about his awful Jags. Instead it’s Monday night this week, and the Ravens put the smack down on Jacksonville. Ravens in a blow out.

Last Week: 7-6

Overall: 55-22 (.714 percent)

First of all, where is my card, or my present, or well wishes? Seriously is that how you treat your friends on their birthday?

Everyone says that they feel old on their birthday. Me, not so much, it’s just weird to say the number. Part of me thinks that 38 seems really freakin’ old, and then another part of me thinks its pretty young.

Obviously it doesn’t matter. I know I was born, I know that I’ll die, the in between is mine. And the way that I’ll be spending, roughly, the 13, 535th day of my life will be doing one of my favorite things — watching the Patriots.

Last week I rallied to pull out a winning week. I went just 2-6 over the first 8 games and finished at 7-6. That’s 5 straight winning weeks to start the season and I’m still above .700 for the season. Let’s hope that this week’s slate of games plays out a little prettier than last.

Panthers at Falcons: Yes, I love the Cam Newton experience. He’s one of the greatest Red Zone Channel players ever, he makes things happen. I’d love to get on board with the Panthers this week, but the Falcons are really solid at home. During the Matt Ryan era the only road teams to win at the dome are New Orleans and Green Bay. Give me a Falcons victory.

Colts at Bengals: Give the Colts credit, for a winlesss team they give a solid effort every week and they’re not mailing it in. Cincy is sneaky good and wins another one.

49ers at Lions: Two years ago this game would have been the type you’d go to Bed, Bath and Beyond to rather than stay home and watch. Now, it’s one of the best games of the weekend. That’s how quickly things can change in the NFL. I’m all-in with the Lions and have them here.

Rams at Packers: Doesn’t it figure the dude that I’m playing in fantasy football has Aaron Rodgers, and I’m playing him this week. Green Bay was favored by 17 the last time I looked, so …. yeah … I like the Pack.

Bills at Giants: Buffalo is red hot, the Giants not so much. I’m going against the grain here. I think the Giants rebound at home and win a shootout.

Jaguars at Steelers: I cannot think of one quasi reason to even consider the Jags. Steelers in a rout.

Eagles at Redskins: Would the real Eagles please stand up. Last year Mike Vick had the game of his life in Washington. This could be the week that Philly gets it right, but the Skins have had an extra week to prep. Give me Washington in a game that scares me greatly.

Browns at Raiders: Cleveland is perhaps the most boring team in America. I love the Oakland running game, and I’m riding Darren McFadden to a win.

Texans at Ravens: Two premier defense battle it out, and I’m picking Baltimore. The Ravens are the better defensive team, and know how to win ugly. The Texans are without Andre Johnson and Arian Foster is banged up some. Ravens take it, 15-9.

Cowboys at Patriots: My birthday present is getting to chill and watch this one from start to finish with little interruption. Tom Brady wins a QB duel with Tony Romo.

Saints at Buccaneers: Tampa is without its top running back, Josh Freeman is struggling and the defense got lit up for 48 last week. New Orleans puts up points, and they will again. New Orleans makes Tampa hate life, and takes it by double-digits.

Vikings at Bears: Yikes, this is the Sunday Night game. D’oh. Minnesota lets AP haul the mail to a win.

Dolphins at Jets: Really, Monday night sucks too? The Jets win the Who Cares Bowl.

Last Week: 13-3

Overall: 48-16 (.750 percent)

And here come the bye weeks, which are great for the teams that have the time off, but not so great for those of us that have fantasy football teams and didn’t realize until about Tuesday that ‘oh no, one third of my team has the weekend off.’ It’s okay, though, we will find a way to get through it, and I’ll probably lose anyways. Last week my team was favored to score the most points in our league, so of course the Stumblin’ Irish laid an egg and got defeated, by Eagle One no less. Life is not fair.

On the bright side, I’ve done better than expected picking winners this season. The sample size is still pretty small, but to get at 75-percent after four weeks is strong. If only I had put $20 on the money line for all of those games. I’d be doing nicely.

And, on to this week’s games ….

Eagles at Bills: It seems inconceivable that the Eagles could fall to 1-4, but if they lose this weekend they will. I’m expecting a game similar to the one that saw the Bills beat the Patriots a few weeks back, but this time the Eagles will take it down. One of these days Andy Reid will realize that he has a pretty darned good running back in Shady McCoy, and that they don’t have to sling it all game long. Still, I’m going to go with the Eagles, even though they continue to bite me often.

Chiefs at Colts: I’m hoping to get back to my power poll next week, and I’ve had the Colts really low the last few weeks. The last two games they’ve shown me that they still have pride, and of course Curtis Painter has flowing blonde locks. The Chiefs picked up their first win of the year last week, and I think that the Colts will find a way this week.  Either way, this isn’t really a game that I’d want to invest much time watching. Colts win.

Cardinals at Vikings: It really is strange that Minnesota has yet to win a game. They’ve been very, very competitive, yet seem to suck in the second half and find ways to lose. I don’t believe that any team is going to go winless this year, and this seems like a game that Minny can find a way to win.

Seahawks at NY Giants: Finally a game for me that seems easy to pick. The Giants will enjoy beating up the Tavaris Jacksons and dominate.

Titans at Steelers: The hardest thing for most people to come to grips with is that teams that are historically good do not remain so indefinitely. I believe that this is the year that the Steelers regress, and a big reason is that the O-line is very beat up, which Ben Roethlisberger’s foot can attest to. Tennessee is better than you might think, and as long as Hasselbeck stays healthy they’re in good shape. Give me the Titans in a close one.

Saints at Panthers: Talk about a game that should be fun to watch. Cam Newton and company are competitive, and aren’t afraid to go for broke. They’re just not nearly good enough yet to upset the Saints, who are the NFC version of the Patriots (great on offense, pretty bad on defense). Saints win in a track meet.

Bengals at Jaguars: Andy Dalton against Blaine Gabbard might be a great match-up in about 5 years. Right now, it’s the type of game that reminds you that its okay to spend time with your family on Sunday afternoons. The Bengals are feisty, they’ll win.

Raiders at Texans: Don’t look now but the Houston Texans are becoming a legitimate force in the NFL and might earn their first playoff spot. Everyone knows about Team Hamstring, Andre Johnson and Arian Foster, but what Houston really has going for it is a rock solid defense. They’ll be challenged by the Raiders running game, but I still think that Houston wins.

Buccaneers at 49ers: Two up-and-coming teams with a lot to play for. The home field advantage is worth a little something here, but in the end I’m picking the team with the quarterback that I trust more. Give me the Bucs.

Chargers at Broncos: Bill Simmons raised a great point on his podcast this week. Why the heck don’t the Broncos break out special Tebow packages? He may not be the prototype NFL passer, but what a weapon he could be to bring in for a series here and there, and the occasional third down play. Denver stinks, and the Chargers are pretty good. Chargers.

Jets at Patriots: Would someone tell Rex Ryan to shut up already. The Patriots are great at home, and with the weather expected to be perfect I think that they are going to light it up. New York is reeling and it won’t stop Sunday. Pats win, and go over 30 again.

Packers at Falcons: Until Green Bay loses I will not pick against them. Green Bay.

Bears at Lions: Until Detroit loses I will not pick against them. Detroit.

Well, with the Sox imploding I didn’t get around to finishing the weekly power poll. I will certainly do a week 5 one, that’s for sure. By then I’ll be over the departure of the greatest Red Sox manager of all time, and maybe be sleeping better.

So far so good picking winners. I really feel like I have a good feeling for the league right now, which is a veyr top-heavy league if you ask me.

Last Week: 11-5
Overall: 35-13 (.729 percent)

This Week’s Games

Panthers at Bears: I like the way that the Panthers are playing, but this is a must-win game for the Bears, and they’re at home. I’m taking Chicago, but I don’t love it.

Bills at Bengals: Buffalo is rolling, and the Bengals are the Bengals. I’m taking the Bills, but I expect this game might be closer than you think.

Titans at Browns: This is one of the most interesting games on the schedule. The winner goes to 3-1 and gets a huge confidence boost. We all keep waiting for Chris Johnson to have his big game, I’m going to prognosticate that he has it this weekend and the Titans win.

Lions at Cowboys: America’s Team against America’s other team. Detroit showed me a lot with their comeback last week, and the Cowboys are on a short week after MNF. Give me Detroit.

Vikings at Chiefs: Man, both of these teams are in trouble and the loser will be 0-4. Since I’m not in the business of picking ties, I’m going with Minnesota, because they could have 2 or 3 wins if the Head Coach had a clue.

Redskins at Rams: The Skins are on a short week, but they’re just way better than St. Louis. Redskins win.

49ers at Eagles: Wow, San Fran comes in with a better record than Philly here. No way you would have guessed that in the preseason. Philly must win it, and Vick says he’s playing, so give me the Eagles.

Saints at Jaguars: Saints see how high the scoreboard in Jax can go. Saints.

Steelers at Texans: Houston is in better shape, and is playing better football than Pittsburgh. Houston in a good one.

NY Giants at Cardinals: If the Cards couldn’t be Seattle last weekend, I can’t take them to beat the Giants. New York.

Falcons at Seahawks: One team we knew would stink hosts another that we didn’t think would stink, but kinda does. Atlanta has the better personnel, so let’s figure that Matt Ryan figures it out.

Broncos at Packers: Green Bay is the best team in the league right now, and moves to 4-0 with another win.

Patriots at Raiders: I’m a homer, and can’t see Brady having two straight bad games. Somehow the Pats defense figures out a way to keep Oakland under 30 and the Pats win.

Dolphins at Chargers: Miami is just a bad football team. San Diego is pretty good, and September’s over, so they can start to play better now. Chargers in a blowout.

Jets at Ravens: Both of these teams make their living on defense. Ravens are at home, and I think they’ll protect their house. Ravens win it, 9-6.

Colts at Buccaneers: Tampa in a blowout. Indy is horrible.

I’ve been staring at a blank screen for the last 10 minutes trying to figure out how to start this entry. I’m still not quite sure, but here we go.

I’m ticked. You are too.

Was there any doubt that the Sox were going to find a way to blow this? As the lead got slimmer and slimmer, it seemed inevitable, and the Rays just kept coming and coming.

I almost exhaled when New York went up 7-0 and the Sox had a 3-2 lead going to the rain delay. Worst case they’d be playing a play-in game on Thursday.

At a little past midnight I got a text from Eagle One. “You up?”

I called him. He said “I turned it off when the Orioles tied it up, I just knew.”

I can’t remember exactly what he said next, but it was inferred that Tampa was still playing. “Wait, you don’t know?” I asked.

I then went on to describe how Evan Longoria hit a 317-foot line drive, that was five feet high down the 315-foot left field line with the four foot wall. One of my Little Leaguers hit a ball farther than that on Monday night.

And with that little line drive to left, the Rays pulled off a remarkable in-game comeback and a final month rally, both for the ages. If it weren’t at the Red Sox expense I’d probably be applauding.

In fact, good for the Rays. They deserved it. They played like they wanted it, and they went and took it. You have to respect that. They had heart bursting at the seams.

The Sox, not so much. I will never question the efforts of either Pedroia or Ellsbury in September. They got after it, and played like it mattered. We can throw Aceves into the mix there too, because that guy was awesome.

As for the rest of them, I’m not so sure. They blew it. They took the lead for granted when they had it, and rather than finish the job, they left the door open and the Rays busted it down.

If this had happened before 2004 I’d probably be catatonic right now. Instead I’m just angry and bitter.

I’m sure Dan Shaughnessy is licking his lips at his keyboard right now thanking his ginger god that this was served up for him to have months of columns write themselves. Bambino this, return of the curse that, blah blah blah. I wish someone would shave his ugly head.

There are no silver linings, except maybe that we won’t ever have to see JD Drew in a Red Sox uniform again. And hopefully John Lackey will be sent packing as well, and while we’re at it can someone please force Tim Wakefield to retire already. And, to be honest, I was done with the Varitek experience 3 years ago. Yes he’s he captain, and he helped the team win 2 titles, but he swings the bat like it weighs 76 ounces and has holes cut in it like a block of swiss cheese. Oh, and Daisuke can just stay put wherever the heck he is.

I’m not going to throw Tito or Theo under the bus just yet. I’m putting this on the players. They’re the ones that choked, and a lot of them need to be gone. It’s inexcusable.

I guess this is what we get for having to root for the Yankees. It pained me to say “Come on New York” the last few days, and leave up to them to truly get my ire running at a high.

That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll have more vitriol in the near future for you.

I realized in the middle of the night that I hadn’t posted my picks, and I had to amend that. Now I’m running late for church, so I’ll skip a lot of the analysis and just get to it.

Last week: 14-2
Overall: 24-8

NE at BUF: New England, they’re too good

SF at CIN: I hate taking Cincy, but I am

MIA at CLE: Hate this game, I take Cleveland. They’re at home.

DEN at TEN: Titans could be okay, we’ll find out today if they can beat a bad team. Tennessee.

DET at MIN: Lions, America’s Team.

HOU at NO: Saints, too much firepower.

NYG at PHI: Iggles are better.

JAC at CAR: The first win for Cam Newton, Carolina.

NYJ at OAK: Oakland, but it’s tough. Kinda picking with the heart there.

BAL at STL: Ravens are too tough for banged up STL. Baltimore wins.

KC at SD: Chargers by a lot.

GB at CHI: Packers, but it’ll be close. These two always play ugly games.

ARI at SEA: Cardinals, because they can at least score points.

ATL at TB: Josh Freeman wins games, so I’m taking the Bucs in a huge game for both sides.

PIT at IND: lay-up, Steelers.

WSH at DAL: Washington is healthier, and a sleeper. Skins win in an upset.

Week 3 is here, and we’re starting to figure out a little bit about the league. No. 1, if you have a key player go down, it’s start to think about the 2012 season — hello KC, Indy. If you can’t score points, don’t bother showing up — yes you Minny. Our top 2 remain the same, but there is plenty of movement everywhere else, well except for the very bottom, I think Indy may not move out of that spot.

32. Indianapolis (32): I believe that the team that wins the Super Bowl will be the one that was lucky enough not to have any of its most important players miss significant time due to injuries. This seems to me to be shaping up as the year that the big boo boo makes all the difference. Is that because of the lockout? It very well could be. By the way, Peyton Manning apparently went to Europe to investigate stem cell therapy this week. I hope he gets healthy, I also hope he’s smart enough to target Sept. 2012 as his return date because this boat is sinking fast.

31. Kansas City (23): Was I just talking about injuries? The Chiefs have now been blown out by a combined score of 89-10 in two games, and have lost Jamal Charles for the season. Great googly-moogly indeed.

30. Seattle (30): If the Seahawks were the 90s grunge movement, they’d be Hovecraft. No one liked their music, they never had a hit and they were just a footnote because they had ties to Pearl Jam. Oregon is clearly the best football team in the great northwest, and might be favored against the Seahawks.

29. Minnesota Vikings (31): For 2 quarters on Sunday it looked like the Vikings may have found their mojo. Adrian Peterson was running roughshod over the Bucs and Donovan McNabb didn’t look like a castoff from a Division III JV team. What a difference another half can make. Tampa saved their season and ruined Minnesota’s in one fell swoop.

28. Miami Dolphins ( 26): At least in the opener against New England they were able to put some points on the board, but Henne and company turned it over and just did stupid things with the ball against Houston. Starting 0-2, after two home games, does not bode well for the future.

27. Jacksonville Jaguars (22): An on to quarterback No. 3, already. Blaine Gabbert could very well be the future of the NFL, and rookie QBs have done pretty well this season. But, the Jags’ offense has produced just 19 points in 2 games and throwing a rookie to the wolves hardly seems like a recipe for initial success. The Jaguars are in for a long season, but we knew that already.

26. Cincinnati Bengals (24): You have to hand it to the Bengals, they’ve been in both of their games to date. It’s nice to see that things aren’t really changing in The Queen City, though. This week 2 Bengals players were found to have had a big shipment of weed sent to their town home. Hey guys, you’re professional athletes, learn from your ilk. Just ask Robert Parrish about using the mail for drugs. If you’re going to lose, might as well go down with the munchies.

25. Cleveland Browns (29): There’s nothing like a game against the Colts to make you feel like a Super Bowl contender. The Browns teased Indy for 3 quarters before Peyton Hillis put the game away for them in the fourth. With games against Miami and Tennessee the next two weeks, both at home, the Brownies have a chance to move up the rankings pretty quickly (the Bengals are drooling after the Brownies reference, I meant the football team guys).

24. Denver Broncos (25): I don’t know how the Broncos defeated the Bengals last week, other than the fact that they were playing the Bengals. Denver is so beat up that they had Tim Tebow play wide out in the game. They have problems at WR and Knowshon Moreno is also hurt. I can’t help but wonder if having Tebow on the field is like having just 10 players, and here’s why. By now Kyle Orton has to just hate TT, with the fans chanting for his insertion behind center after every incomplete pass. Will Orton even throw the ball to the guy? He should, though. If Tebow shows that he can play that spot, maybe they’ll use him there full time, or make him an H back. This gives us all reason to at least pay attention to Denver, which I hear is also a city that the Bengals receivers would enjoy.

23. Carolina Panthers (28): The Panthers very well could finish with one of the worst records in the league this year, but they’re going to do it in an enjoyable manner. The Panthers are the most fun bad team to watch. Cam Newton has played like he should wear a cape so far, but it hasn’t resulted in any wins. Still, they’re competitive and fun, which is a lot more than you could say about any of the other recent entries from Carolina.

22. Tennessee Titans (27): My fantasy football league is a keeper league, and we’re allowed to keep one guy from the previous season, but not in successive seasons. I had to decide between Chris Johnson and LeSean McCoy, and I went back-and-forth and back-and-forth and finally decided on Shady McCoy over CJ2K. I’m pretty happy about that decision. Johnson has been nonexistent for the Titans so far, and until he starts doing his thing the Titans are going to be mediocre at best. Another fantasy note, Rob Bironas had a big week for TT last week, hitting 4-of-5 field goals. He missed a chippy in the first quarter. If he’d had made it, I would have gotten another 3 points. He missed, I got -1 for that kick. I lost by 2 points. That is all.

21. St. Louis Rams (15): We had such high hopes for the Rams. They play in a bad division, and they have up-and-coming talent. This looked like the leap year for St. Louis. But they’re one of the most beat up teams in the league, and they looked pretty horrible against the Giants on Monday Night Football. The next 5 games for STL are all tough. The team that ranks last in rushing defense gets Baltimore this weekend, then Washington. After that its games against Green Bay, Dallas and New Orleans. Ouch. The fans are going to start pulling out the paper bags.

20. San Francisco 49ers (20): When you allow a quarterback with broken ribs and a partially punctured lung to dice your defense in the second half you kind of deserve to lose.

19. Arizona Cardinals (19): If things go the way they should, and the Cards win at Seattle this weekend, Arizona will somehow be 2-1. Well, someone has to win that awful division.

18. New York Giants (21): The next time you think you’re having a bad day, just pause and think about Domenik Hixon. I know he’s made more money the last two years than you and I will probably make this decade, but I have a feeling that 20 years from now we’ll be walking with less of a limp. The Giants could also be without their No. 2 receiver, Mario Manningham, who is concussed, and Hakeem Nicks always seems to have some kind of nick that is keeping him on the injury report. Eli Manning is clearly not as good as he was in the recent past, but let’s keep in mind that his receivers look like they’ve played a real life version of Gears of War and he no longer has a good tight end to throw to.

17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (14): Talk about saving your season. They were down 3 scores at halftime to Minny, and looked dead in the water, but Josh Freeman rallied the troops and the Bucs found a way to win. They’ve got a huge test this weekend against Atlanta, which has big time divisional implications.

16. Dallas Cowboys (13): Yes they pulled off a comeback despite having Romo and Felix Jones and Dez Bryant and Miles Austin banged up. They won the battle, but it’s not looking good for the war right now with all of those injuries.

15. Oakland Raiders (11): I still believe when it’s all said and done that the Raiders could win the west. They nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback, only to lose in catastrophic fashion. That grab that Denarius Moore made, with 2 DBs on his back, was one of the plays of the season. Coach Hue Jackson said that he intends on building a “bully of the west” team with Raiders. Unfortunately bullies tend to commit stupid penalties.

14. Chicago Bears (9): Da Bears have a tough road to hoe. They’re not necessarily a bad team, despite what happened against New Orleans last weekend. The problem is, even if they’re a top 14 team in the NFL, they by no means have a guaranteed spot in the playoffs because they have to play 2 games each with two of the best teams in the NFL, the Lions and Packers. After Week 1 I thought maybe that defense was pretty good, but now I wonder because the Saints made them look silly. Of course, the Saints make most defenses look silly. But, the Saints don’t play a lot of D themselves, and the Bears did nothing against them.

13. Buffalo Bills (17): So this week we really find out just how good the Bills might be. I have no doubts that they will score points against the Patriots, but can they stop the Pats enough to win (no one shuts NE down, but they can be slowed). When you look at the list of undefeated teams in the NFL, this is the one that jumps out at you. The Bills haven’t been good in a long, long time. This is their chance to show the world just how far they’ve come. It’s going to be a really fun game to watch. All I know is that locals are so fired up right now about this team that they have forgotten where they live, which is a good thing.

12. Washington Redskins (18): Just like Buffalo, we’re left wondering if the Redskins are for real. Monday night the Skins have a chance to make a real statement against the beat up Cowboys. Washington can run the ball, and with Tim Hightower and Roy Helu sharing the load, they can throw fresh legs at Dallas over and over. I think they’ll win, and somehow the world we live in will have an undefeated Washington team in it.

11. Houston Texans (16): Quick, which team has allowed the second fewest points in the NFL after 2 weeks. Yup, Houston. They’re climbing the rankings, and whupping up on teams that they should whup up on. I’m fired up for Houston, because I love the Ben Tate story. Last year Tate was set to be the Texans’ No. 1 running back and then he got hurt, and it looked like he would be Wally Pipp‘d by Arian Foster. Now Foster’s been slowed by an injury and Tate is doing the Wally Pipp-ing.

10. Atlanta Falcons (12): Something’s just not right about this team. Yes, they beat the Eagles at home last Sunday night and avoided an 0-2 start. Still, I didn’t feel like they played all that well. Do they win that game if Mike Vick doesn’t get hurt? Probably not. They’ve got a very big divisional game with Tampa Bay this weekend, which means that one way or another it will be close in the 4th quarter, because 12-percent of the games that Josh Freeman has ever been a part of has not been close. Last weekend the Falcons got the job done late, can the dirty  birds do it again?

9. San Diego Chargers (10): You know if Vincent Jackson hadn’t sat out most of last season with a contract dispute that Chargers team very well may have represented the AFC in the Super Bowl. Yes the Chargers are accident prone, like the two Phil Rivers picks, or Mike Tolbert’s oops I ran the wrong way and now I’m coughing it up fumble, but they have a ton of offensive talent and are better on defense than they looked against New England. This team is dangerous, and they wear my favorite uniform in the league. I actually own a Rivers’ powder blue jersey that I got on Ebay ridiculously cheap. I wore it to Wal-Mart last weekend and had 3 different people ask me why I was wearing an SD jersey. It was weird.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (8): When you’re down, and feeling like your football team might not be all that good, just invite the Seattle Seahawks to town and it’s sure to make you feel better about yourself. Just ask Pittsburgh, which tore through Seattle last weekend. All I know is it’s gotta be tough to host home games when Batman’s nemesis is wreaking terror on the field.

7. Baltimore Ravens (6): We’ll give the Ravens a bit of a mulligan. They dominated Pittsburgh in week 1, in a rivalry game, so they were likely to come out a bit flat in week 2. Baltimore’s biggest problem is they just don’t know which Joe Flacco is going to show up from week to week. In the end, that is going to be their Achilles Heel.

6. New York Jets (7): Defensively the wreak mayhem at every turn. Offensively, though, they’ve got issues. They are always in the game because the defense is just that good, and Sanchez does make plays, but the league right now centers on putting up the most points. I don’t know that they can.

5. Philadelphia Eagles (3): They’ve dropped from the top spot in the preseason, to 3 last week, to 5 now. Mike Vick is going to play despite his concussion, which will probably be helpful this weekend, but in the long run is kind of a dumb decision, very shortsighted. Head injuries aren’t to be messed with. Speaking of injuries, I think the team that wins it all in the end is the team that stays healthiest on the list from 12 down. Players are dropping like flies in 2011.

4. New Orleans Saints (4): It certainly was nice to see the Saints bounce back and destroy the Bears. Every game they play is like watching a track meet, and I really like the 3-headed monster at running back. Darren Sproles is a weapon that is being truly unleashed by Sean Payton, Mark Ingram is a punishing runner and Pierre Thomas is a solid all-around player.

3. Detroit Lions (6): Ahh, America’s Team. Holy moly did they put a hurting on Kansas City. I was expecting to see Matt Cassell wave the white flag on the sideline in the 3rd quarter. They’ve scored the most points in the league, and allowed the fewest. Say it with me ‘the Lions are for real.’ You feel better now, don’t you.

2. New England (2): Offensively this team is about as close to perfect as you’re going to find. They will cross the 1,000-yards passing mark in the first half against Buffalo, probably in the first quarter. When they have to run, they run. Tom Brady is not just a surgeon, he’s Dr. James Andrews with a football. New England needs to improve its passing defense, though. They’ve given up a ton of yards through the air, and Buffalo will probably move the ball well against them too. It’s just proof positive that there are no perfect football teams, but man the Pats sure look good.

1. Green Bay (1): There was a great video I saw over the weekend of the Packers lining up before the first game against New Orleans and Aaron Rodgers basically telling his team that they’re the defending champs and everyone’s gunning for them, but they’re the best, so they’re going to set the tone. Obviously that isn’t verbatim. What’s important is that they understand that every team is gonna give them their best shot, and that is exactly what the feisty Panthers did, and the Pack got the job done on the road. It was impressive, and even though the Pats are nipping at their heels, the champs stick at No. 1 until they prove otherwise.