Chi Town @ Minnesota (-3.5)
Good ole fashioned SMASH mouth NORRIS football baby! I really fucking hate Chris Berman. Oh well. Dude, I don't understand how half of the Minnesota Vikes are still playing. Their entire DT tandem should be suspended now for Merriman'ing but Goondell continues to be selective with the ole rules. Oh right, i forgot, he's only in bed with Robert Kraft. My bad.
Anyway, the Vikes are poised to go on a roll not seen since DCULP was riding shotgun with his roll on. It's about time. The Vikes were the ones supposed to come out of the division with relative ease right? but they haven't yet. Here comes the Kyle Orton Experience to battle it out but alas, poor Kyle doesn't have the goods to keep this going. Sure it was a feel good hit of the Fall but this is winter now bitches and Adrian Peterson will run amuck like he did last year.
Will I watch some of this game? Probably but dude DEXTER is kicking ass in season 3 and will likely occupy most of my time.
Minnesota - 27
Chicago - 17
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texas (-3)
WHOA WHAT A GREAT MONDAY NIGHT GAME. JEEZ I might as well just TIVO this insta-classic and relive this monumental contest for the foreseeable future. For god's sake can we get some flex scheduling on this too? I'd rather see Giants vs. Skins or Jets/Broncos or Steelers/Pats but nooo. We get HOUSTON!
YIPPY! Jacksonville has more or less packed it in this season. They got crushed by Tennessee and than smacked upside the head by Minnesota at home. Houston meanwhile has crawled back from the dead and march toward respectability after some stunning wins over... Cleveland.
Oh jeez. Even Kordell Garrard can't screw this one up.
Jags - 27
Houston - 21
Say hello to the only thing that Jeff Garcia will ever have over Elisha Manning.
And for the record Devo, this Jet fan has no beef with the Giants....currently. I even have an "18-1" t-shirt, which is probably the closest thing to a Giants jersey I'll ever own. I'll usually root for the Giants if the Jets season is pretty much done (which it has been many of times). I think the dream of beating the Giants in the Superbowl is every Jet fan's dream. I'm sure it works the same for Giant fans as well (stop me if I'm wrong).
Execution
The Jets clearly dominated this game from the start and never looked back. During this current 6 game winning streak they have successfully scored everytime on their initial possession. I've been a Jet fan probably since the early to mid 90's and I can't recall ever witnessing such a delicacy. Coming into the game both defenses were in the top 5 against the run. Jets stood up to the task and held the Titans to 45 yards on the ground. Tennessee's front 7 however were overpowered by a Jets offensive line that gets better and better each week, yielding 192 yds to Washington and Jones. Jets lead the Titans in some important key categories:
Time of Possession: 40:30 19:30
3rd Down Comp: 7 / 13, 4 / 11
First Downs: 28, 16
Favre was great at spreading the field and using the short passing lanes and finding his open targets. With that and the running game the Jets just wore the Titans defense down. Albert Haynesworth still showed why he's probably the best defensive player in the NFL but Mangold and company did a great job on containing him for a good portion of the game.
Kris Jenkins and company did a great job at getting their hands in Collins' face and applying pressure. This forced Kerry to rush some of his passes, throw behind some of his receivers and leave him uncomfortable in the pocket all game. It also didn't help that in the first half alone his receiving corp had 6 dropped passes. And the Jets are only going to get better. David Harris has been out the last 4 games with a leg injury and he's due to return when the Jets host Denver. This will move Bowens back to DE where he's a much better pass rusher than inside linebacker.
Moving On
Do I think it's a statement to the rest of the NFL that the Jets are a team to reckon with? I sure hope so. But the Oakland game is still a burdon in my memory. Jets have a favorable schedule for the rest of the season with 2 games against the Seahawks and 49ers who combined are 4-19. Something in my gut is telling me that one of these teams can hurt the Jets. All I'm saying is that I really hope their success doesn't go to their heads and they get too overly confident for the rest of the season. When it comes to the Jets, there's a lot for which to be thankful (Kris Jenkins, Leon Washington , Dustin Keller etc.). Happy Thanksgiving SUS and to all my 1 readers out there
I’M A JET FAN
- I, like the rest of Jet nation, cheered when Pennington got hurt in the 2007 season opener against
I grew up a Yankee fan. I know I know, being a Yankee fan in general should automatically necessitate that I’m a douchebag but as a kid, I didn’t know better. Steve Sax, Pat Kelly, Danny Tartabull, Don Mattingly, Mike Stanley, Jim Abbott, Paul O’Neill etc. were some of my favs. After the 1994 baseball strike I simply just lost interest in the sport all together, but I did develop a strong hatred towards the Yankees. Maybe it was because I hated Joe Torre and Derek Jeter. (Editor's note: Do you also hate newborns and little puppies?) Or maybe it was because my brother was a fan and all of a sudden everyone around me became fair-weather Yankee fans (f’in freeloaders). Everywhere I went I was surrounded by pinstripes and NY ballcaps. So why am I a douchebag? Well, I currently don’t have a favorite baseball team. I pretty much just root against the Yankees and all these other overspending teams that can’t win. So I sometimes get the “that’s not fair” comments because they can’t brag about their 26 championships to my teams far less championships. That’s fine by me. Eat me!
- I rode in the back of Devo’s convertible celebrating the Devils 2000 Stanley cup victory. No one in our hometown really cared, nor were they awake. The most logical thing we should have done was try to score some booze and drink in my backyard. Instead, I think we cruised around 7-11 like 10 times and once stopped for Slurpees….faaags.
- I take part in about 5 fantasy football leagues every season (since 2002). People call me crazy. My overall winning percentage is 70% with 17 total football trophies (12 of them in 1st place). I’ve ignored a lady the next morning to steadily watch my stat tracker during the 1:00 games. (Editor's note: For not caring about baseball, you end up in 4 or 5 fantasy baseball leagues each year.)
- I hate losing in video games. I think I've retired after losing in NFL Blitz at least a dozen times. Don’t get me started with my Madden franchises. The TV in my parent’s basement has taken quite a lot of beatings over the years, including once when my Dad got angry at me and my brothers and threw the system out the window. Even with my superb drafting skills, free agency pickups, and completion of all training camp fundamentals I still cannot stop the Patriots from winning the AFC East. I don’t even think HBO would air some of the words and insults that come out of my mouth when I lose.
- If you want to know what SHMUCK really stands for, shoot me an email by sending it to straightupsports@gmail and I’ll tell you.
-SHMUCK
Sorry to those of you Tale of Two Cities fanatics out there. There is no “Worst of times” for the 2008 calendar year Giants. This group is 14-1 and is by far the league’s best team. Every possible area it can be assessed in is a strength when compared to the average unit of its kind in the league. For example, even the secondary, which most experts consider the Giant’s weakest unit, is still better than at least half of the secondaries in the league. You know things are going good when Madison Hedgecock catches a pass! I wonder if Kurt Warner thanked G-d after the game for giving him the strength and courage to commit two turnovers and lose to his former team? To be clear, I have no problem with someone being a deeply religious person, but when someone asks you to assess your on field performance, this interviewer is not asking you about your religious beliefs, rather this person is asking you to discuss how your football skills helped you succeed during a given game. With this little Kurt Warner rant aside, I now will grade the Giant’s performance on a unit by unit basis.
Offense= A: This was as flawless and as dominant a performance by an offense as can possibly be had. New York put up 37 points and did so without the services of its two best offensive players. Eli played one of his finest games ever achieving an impressive 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while amassing 240 yards through the air. The running game, although not its usual 190 yard plus attack, was effective when it had to be on clock killing drives at the end of the game. Gilbride even joined the solid coaching party with a great call on third and 1 having Eli roll out off a play action fake and hitting Boss over the middle for a big gain.
Defense= B: This was not the most impressive defensive performance this season. Spagnuolo’s boys gave up over 300 yards through the air and 29 points overall. However, it did force “Jesus Statue” into turning the ball over twice including a beautiful pass to a wide open Tyrell Thomas. The defense did just enough to win.
Special Teams= B: The Special teams played a big role in this game. Dominick Hixon had two returns into field goal range and the Cardinals seemed to start half of its possessions inside the Giant’s 50. The difference, The Giants took advantage of these opportunities and the Cardinals did not.
Coaching= A: Coughlin and Gilbride both had phenomenal days. Coughlin showed his savvy by having Arizona re-kick just prior to Hixon’s kick return to the 13 of Arizona. Gilbride intelligently relied more on his passing game with Jacobs not in. Spagnuolo succeeded in his goal of limiting the Cardinals to a minimal YAC and in his ultimate goal of doing enough to win. The Giant’s bend but don’t break philosophy proved effective against the greatest show on grass.
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