Are You Prepared For Some Football?

Tis’ the season to be jolly, excited, frustrated, buzzed, and screaming for your favorite team. We are currently 2 weeks into the 2010-2011 Football season and I’ve already found myself experiencing 45 different types of emotions just from watching football. One of my favorite things about watching football is talking to people about the matchups and player performances, hence my fascination with Fantasy Football.

For the rest of the season, I’ve decided to throw my opinion out there for everyone to read, mock, and disagree with. I will be making picks every week on the weekend’s games, with either full page explanations or two/three words.

Back in college, my roommate and I use to host a radio show Sunday mornings right before kickoff. Picking the games matchups was probably the most fun we had on the show. We laughed, argued, and made fun of each other every week based on each other’s picks. I’ve decided to bring back the fun for your amusement, and to obviously boost my football knowledge ego. Enjoy.

SF @ KC – 49ners win. Even though KC is coming 2 wins to start the season and SF is 0-2, SF is showing a lot of potential, especially with their almost win over the Defending Super Bowl Champions (Saints). Frank Gore and Vernon Davis put up great stats last week against a New Orleans Defense that’s pretty similar stat-wise to KC. Close game, but I’m taking the 49ners.   

BUF @ NE – NE wins. Why I even need an explanation, I have no idea. Still, BUF has scored 17 points in two games. NE covered that in their first half of the season. Nuff Said.

ATL @ NO – ATL wins. I wouldn’t even call this a stretch to say ATL can pull this off. Everyone is healthy despite scares of Michael Turner getting injured last week, and ATL threw up 41 points and is considered a top 10 offensive team. I know they faced Arizona but NO didn’t look all too good against SF. Now they’re facing a Very good Falcon team. Matty Heisman is bring home the W on the this one.

PIT @ TB – PIT wins. The Steelers are really stretching for this win. They’re bringing Charlie Batch down from the attic, dusting of the arm, and putting him at the top of the Christmas Tree. Pittsburgh didn’t win their first two games on the backs of the offense; they won it because of the Perfect Perming Polamalu leading defense. Expect more of the same this week.

TEN @ NYG – NYG wins. It’s okay Eli, this week is all about revenge. While big brother’s winning big in Denver this week (see below), you can have your own fun in Tennessee. I don’t really care if the Titans are first in Defense. They faced Oakland and Pittsburgh, two teams that have their punters on the field more than their quarterbacks. And on the offensive side of the ball, the Titans benched their starting quarterback. You think Vince Young is going to bounce back. Last time I checked, Young wasn’t a bumble.

DET @ MIN – MIN wins. The Vikings will not go 0-3 to start the year, especially with their third opponent being the Detroit Lions. The Lions have 2 wins out of the last 34 games. This is the kind of matchup the Vikings need. If only Dallas were so lucky.

CLE @ BAL – BAL wins. That’s about all I got. The Browns are slowly becoming the next 2008 Lions.

CIN @ CAR – CIN wins. After being beat up by NE and scraping by with a win over BAL, it’s time to let the Bengals out of the bag, especially with the Panthers switching gears at the quarterback position. The Bengals will put up at least 4 TDs so you’re looking to have rookie Irishman Jimmy Clausen, put up record numbers in his first career start. Say it with me now, Ana-gonna-happen!

DAL @ HOU – HOU wins. Unlike the Vikings, the Cowboys will go 0-3 to start the season. Houston is on fire and Dallas is smoldering. Houston might have something with Arian Foster. Expect him to have a good game especially with the “hidden” bad defense of the Cowboys. Right now they’re ranked 6^th in run defense but they’ve faced the 28^th and 32^nd ranked offensive rushing teams. Also don’t forget that Houston is throwing team. This should be a fun game to watch. But don’t worry. No matter what, a team in Texas will win…  or tie.

WAS @ STL – WAS wins. The Rams have lost their first two games to Oakland and Arizona, now they’re going to face a team that is considered at least a wild card contender. Don’t expect to see too many high lights from this game on SportsCenter Monday morning. Lame Game but the Skins will win.

PHI @ JAC – PHI wins. Michael Vick is about to be let loose of the collar. Too soon?

SD @ SEA – SD wins. Don’t let that first week loss fool you. SD is for real. They proved that with an easy in against the Jaguars. Now they’ve even resting their starting running back because they know how easy this win will be. It’s pretty ballsy, but understandable.

OAK @ ARI – OAK wins. I don’t even consider this game an actual competition. This will be about who lasts the longest. Both offensives are horrible and both defenses are even worse. As much as I’d like to see them lose so that the Patriots have a higher pick next year, I’m going to go with Oakland on this one. They’ve put up a decent amount of points, but they are starting a new quarterback this week. His stat history is impressive, especially for an Oakland Raider.

IND @ DEN – IND wins. The locker room in Denver is going to be horrific. If I had a team mate pass away, I know my head wouldn’t be fully into the game. This is proven in sports everywhere. Many teams fail to perform after  a team mate or coach passes. It also doesn’t help that the Colts are coming off a HUGE win against the Giants.  Assume more of the same in Denver.

NYJ @ MIA – NYJ wins. Obviously it hurts me to type that, but I’m not going to lose out on a W because of my dislike for another team. Miami has beaten the Bills and sagging Vikings. They basically haven’t faced a true offensive team and the Jets will be their first challenge. The Jets offense will be just fine without Braylon Edwards for at least a half. The Sanchise has a lot more options, especially in the back field. I’m going with a spread of 1.5… I’m sure Edwards can help cover it.

GB @ CHI – GB wins. This is going to be a FUN Monday Night Football match up. You’ve got two teams that have productive offenses and a Green Bay Defense that’s worth the price of admission. This will be a huge challenge for the Bears, as they haven’t seen a true defense so far this season. However I am picking the Packers to go to the SuperBowl this year so, I’m going to stand by my team and be a cheese head Monday night.   

So there you have it. Week 1’s picks are done and accounted for. I’ll make sure to keep a running tally throughout the year. 

Also if you have any comments, questions, or opinions, please feel free to add below or you can email me at paulsnyderemail@gmail.com.

Love Thy Neighbor, Hate Thy Favre

Well it’s finally that time of year again. The long summer days are winding down, the leaves are weeks away from sporting their colorful coats, apples are plumping up on the orchards, and of course… Brett Favre is playing football.

It’s basically a tale as old as time, simply because Favre could be mistaken for Father Time. Man plays ball, man has great career, man retires, man come out of retirement,  plays again for another team, retires again, comes back one more time and plays with former longtime rival, retires AGAIN, comes back for that “one more year.” 

For some, The Brett Favre Ping Pong stirs up their emotions, both good and bad. For me personally, I love the fact that Favre is coming back… again… again. The fact is, I LOVE… to HATE him.

I’ve never liked Brett Favre and for the last few years, my dislike for him has only grown. 

I’ll give him the first retirement with the crying, weeping, and drawn out speech. I love when a player holds a conference regarding their retirement because it actually shows their real personality and human emotions. However, I do not like it when an athlete does it THREE TIMES!!!

Enough is enough already. If you looked at the percentage of SportsCenter coverage in the last year, 54 percent of it involved Favre in some way or another, 32 percent covered The Decision by King James, and the remaining 14 percent was normal coverage. But then again 67.3 percent of all statistics are made up so who knows if those facts are accurate. 

I digress… these last 3 years have been Favring Annoying. Ahhhh… you see! He’s taking over in my blog now too.

While I am a Patriots fan, some would think that I have plenty to keep me occupied this year. With all the Rex Ryan talk and Patriots being the underdog this season, you’d think Favre wouldn’t bother me at all. WRONG!

Like I said, I love to hate this guy. I loved watching him cry again at the NFC Championship Game against New Orleans, and I’ll love watching him lose again during Week 1 against the Saints. I love watching a sideway number four on the ground after being hit by a ravenous linebacker. 

I also have to mention, that I love how stupid he looks trying to act in There’s Something About Mary.

And sorry Wrangler but I can never buy a pair of pants from you again. 

I can’t wait to sit on my c-o-rrrrrr-you going to the mall today… sit on my couch on Halloween and watch the old man cripple his way onto the field, take the snap from center and play once again, against my beloved Patriots.

Who am I kidding, I’ll be on the edge of my seat, nails down to the bone, wetting my pants as he drives down the field for a game winning touchdown. 

God Damn, I love to hate this guy!