We’re
down to the last four weeks… 64 games. And, basically, nothing
changed. Mike and I both turned in an even record. That earned
us some breathing room from the dogs… but not enough that a good
week or two won’t changes things.
And
in the NFL… on the field… for the games…
Well…
Matt
Cassel had surgery this week.
Brett
Favre is complaining about his shoulder, and isn’t sure how it
will respond.
And
basically we’ve got just as much confusion as ever.
In
fact… just check out game number one. It’s Indianapolis against
Tennessee. Do you think the Titans can get out of their recent
funk? Has Manning finally been presented with a situation his
skills alone can’t overcome?
The
ultimate point simply being this… sure, the Colts seem like a
good choice… but could you really, honestly, say that you see
no way the Titans could win this at home?
Welcome
to week 14.
Trying
to get onto something different for the movie quotes… decided
to go with an old favorite… Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Indianapolis
(3) at Tennessee
– “Cut! Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut!”
“What the hell was wrong with that take?” “Nothing with
you, Baby Herman. You were great. You were perfect. You were better
than perfect! It’s Roger, he keeps blowing his lines!
Roger, what is this?” “A tweeting bird.” “‘A tweeting bird.’ Roger,
read this script. Look what it says. It says, ‘Rabbit gets clunked.
Rabbit sees stars.’ Not birds. Stars!” Despite
all the funny stories and questioning about Indianapolis, the
reality is simple… fate is still effectively in their own hands.
They trail Jacksonville by one game, plus have a head-to-head
loss… but with another game against the Jaguars on the schedule
they can certainly tie things back up. On top of that… a win over
Jacksonville would bring most of the other tie-breakers… division
record, conference record… into line so that we’re going down
the chart to determine a division winner. Simple enough message…
let’s not count Indianapolis out of it just yet. Ok? But that
example shows you exactly the problem with this particular game
for the Colts. A loss here is a conference and division loss.
Not only would they fall two games behind the Jaguars, they would
also lose ground in the first of the tie-breaker scenarios. In
short… especially with the East and North looking every bit like
the homes of the wild card teams… boy, does this game matter for
them. I’d really like to give you some sort of reason to pick
Tennessee here… something that looks away from the favorite and
the severity of their situation. But honestly, the Titans haven’t
looked good in a while.
Bob: Indianapolis
Terry: Tennessee
Mike: Indianapolis
Mike Jr: Indianapolis
Molly: Tennessee
Gus: Indianapolis
Sam: Tennessee
Atlanta
(7) at Carolina
– “Nice booby trap.”
Simply can’t pick the team that doesn’t score.
Bob: Atlanta
Terry: Carolina
Mike: Atlanta
Mike Jr: Atlanta
Molly: Atlanta
Gus: Atlanta
Sam: Carolina
Tampa
Bay (2) at Washington
– “Yeah. Check the probate. Why,
my Uncle Thumper had a problem with his probate, and
he had to take these big pills and drink lots of water.”
I don’t believe in Washington. I’ve said that before. I question
Tampa Bay… and don’t think they’re going to make the playoffs.
(Simply no room for error… Atlanta and New Orleans are both likely
going from their division, and that means they need to jump past
New York or Philly. Doable… but will take some funny bounces.)
And yet… I have a funny feeling that when week 15 closes and all
the teams have played 14 games, there will still be a scenario
for Tampa to make it. That means winning here in week 14 and game
13.
Bob: Tampa Bay
Terry: Tampa Bay
Mike: Tampa Bay
Mike Jr: Washington
Molly: Washington
Gus: Washington
Sam: Washington
New
England (3) at Chicago
– “Dabbling in watercolors, Eddie?”
I definitely don’t trust Jay Cutler, and expect the speed of the
Patriot defense to start catching more and more teams by surprise
now that they seem to be coming together.
Bob: New England
Terry: Chicago
Mike: New England
Mike Jr: New England
Molly: Chicago
Gus: Chicago
Sam: Chicago
St.
Louis at New Orleans (9½)
– “Kinda jumpy, aren’t you, Mr.
Valiant? It’s just Dumbo.” “I know who it is.” “I got
him on loan from Disney. Him and half the cast of Fantasia.
The best part is, they work for peanuts.” I expect
the Saints to win… but they could be upset here by a good Rams
team that may have a rookie quarterback that understands ball
control. Quite a concept. What I don’t expect is a big win.
Bob: St. Louis
Terry: New Orleans
Mike: St. Louis
Mike Jr: St. Louis
Molly: St. Louis
Gus: St. Louis
Sam: New Orleans
Oakland
at Jacksonville (4½)
– “Oh, no. Where’s Roger?” “Roger?
He chickened out on me back at the studio.” “No he didn’t. I hit
him in the head with a frying pan and put him in the trunk. So
he wouldn’t get hurt.” “Makes perfect sense.”
The Jaguars can run the ball. It’s about all I believe they can
do… but they can run the ball. And that will be more than enough
in this game.
Bob: Jacksonville
Terry: Jacksonville
Mike: Oakland
Mike Jr: Jacksonville
Molly: Oakland
Gus: Oakland
Sam: Jacksonville
Seattle
at San Francisco (4½)
– “Anybody know you’re here?” “Nobody.
Not a soul, except, uh...” “Who?” “Well, you see, I didn’t know
where your office was. So I asked the newsboy. He didn’t know.
So I asked the fireman… the green grocer… the butcher… the baker…
they didn’t know! But the liquor store guy... he knew.”
It’s probably fair to make the 49ers the favorite in this game…
but I like the Seahawks. Not tremendously… but enough to take
them here. I just think the missing Frank Gore is going to catch
up to San Francisco.
Bob: Seattle
Terry: San Francisco
Mike: San Francisco
Mike Jr: Seattle
Molly: Seattle
Gus: San Francisco
Sam: San Francisco
Cleveland
at Buffalo (1½)
– “Boy, did you see that? Nobody
takes a wallop like Goofy. What timing! What finesse! What a genius!”
Not a yawn of a game, but pretty darn close. Should be better
than other recent battles between these two clubs.
Bob: Cleveland
Terry: Buffalo
Mike: Buffalo
Mike Jr: Buffalo
Molly: Buffalo
Gus: Buffalo
Sam: Buffalo
Miami
at New York (Jets) (5½) – “You
mean you could’ve taken your hand out of that cuff at any time?”
“No, not at any time, only when it was funny.”
Let’s see… Miami on the road (a big winner this year) against
a Jets team that got punched in the nose last week and is still
dazed. To me there is no thought involved.
Bob: Miami
Terry: Miami
Mike: New York
Mike Jr: New York
Molly: Miami
Gus: Miami
Sam: Miami
New
York (Giants) (2) at Minnesota
– “A few weeks ago I had the good
providence to stumble upon a plan of the city council. A construction
plan of epic proportions. We’re calling it a freeway.” “Freeway?
What the hell’s a freeway?” “Eight lanes of shimmering cement
running from here to Pasadena. Smooth, safe, fast. Traffic jams
will be a thing of the past.” Love the Giants
in this game. Love them.
Bob: New York
Terry: Minnesota
Mike: New York
Mike Jr: Minnesota
Molly: New York
Gus: New York
Sam: Minnesota
Denver
(3) at Arizona
– “Whatta you know, you dumb broad?
You got the IQ of a rattle.” This game could be
the yawner. And the Cardinals just stink.
Bob: Denver
Terry: Arizona
Mike: Denver
Mike Jr: Denver
Molly: Denver
Gus: Denver
Sam: Denver
Kansas
City at San Diego (7)
– “Got the password?” “Walt sent
me.” Cassel is likely out… which ticks me off.
But I’m still going to go with my original pick.
Bob: Kansas City
Terry: Kansas City
Mike: San Diego
Mike Jr: San Diego
Molly: Kansas City
Gus: Kansas City
Sam: San Diego
Green
Bay (6½) at Detroit
– “No! Not my Jessica! Not pattycake!
It can’t be! It just can’t be! Jessica’s my wife! It’s absolutely
impossible! Jessica’s the love of my life. The apple of my eye.
The cream in my coffee.” The Packers have a chance
here with the Patriots facing the Bears… unfortunately the Packers
are next in line to visit New England. Good this week. Bad next
week.
Bob: Green Bay
Terry: Detroit
Mike: Green Bay
Mike Jr: Green Bay
Molly: Green Bay
Gus: Green Bay
Sam: Detroit
Cincinnati
at Pittsburgh (9)
– “Oh, Roger. You were magnificent.”
“Was I really?” “Better than Goofy.” As much as
I dislike the Bengals, I haven’t seen dominance from the Steelers
this year and Cincy did score last week. I think they could keep
this divisional game close, and maybe even steal it.
Bob: Cincinnati
Terry: Cincinnati
Mike: Cincinnati
Mike Jr: Pittsburgh
Molly: Cincinnati
Gus: Pittsburgh
Sam: Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
(3) at Dallas
– “A ladies’ man, eh?” “The problem
is I got a fifty-year old lust and a three year old dinky. Look,
Valiant, the rabbit didn’t kill Acme. He’s not a murderer. I should
know, he’s a dear friend of mine. I tell ya Valiant, the whole
thing stinks like yesterday’s diapers. Look at this. The papers
said Acme left no will. That’s a load of succotash. Any toon knows
Acme had a will. He promised to leave Toontown to us toons. That
will is the real reason he got bumped off.” Philly
is overrated. You heard it here.
Bob: Dallas
Terry: Dallas
Mike: Dallas
Mike Jr: Philadelphia
Molly: Philadelphia
Gus: Dallas
Sam: Dallas
Baltimore
(3) at Houston
– “You don’t know how hard it is
being a woman looking the way I do.” “You don’t know how hard
it is being a man looking at a woman looking the way you do.”
“I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.” The Texans
are just brutal. They could screw up a picture of Jessica Rabbit.
Bob: Baltimore
Terry: Baltimore
Mike: Baltimore
Mike Jr: Baltimore
Molly: Baltimore
Gus: Baltimore
Sam: Baltimore
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Mike:
Last week 8-8, currently 98-84-9
Bob: Last week 8-8, currently 95-88-9
Gus: Last week 6-10, currently 89-94-9
Molly: Last week 6-10, currently 88-95-9
Terry: Last week 8-8, currently 86-97-9
Mike Jr: Last week 9-7, currently 81-88-9
Sam: Last week 9-7, currently 73-110-9