Should that be the Sports Page Headline in the Miami Herald this morning?...Not really, because, well, some here might think it's "the curse" but I beg to differ...Houston's not-so-unlikely last minute win over Miami was not only not simply a curse but just a bit better football for just a bit longer. I would like to have seen the face of Ronnie "slinging arrows" Brown when Matt Schaub ran that ball into the endzone--the same way the Fins D refused to let LT run it in last week!
So the Texans--as I said a few days ago who are NOT the 0-4 team their record indicates--and, as some other blogger said (who picked the Texans) that the Dolphins and Texans were like mirror images of each other--young, aggressive teams which tend to do well against the run (which, Brown's stats being noted on the game...I don't recall the Texans leading rusher...were not thast great)--won by just being a little more aggressive yesterday, 29-28...a win not unlike the other three times the Texans beat the Fins...three points or less! And because Matt Schaub, unlike Matt Cassel and Phil Rivers, exposed the weaknesses of the Dolphins defense backfield for a huge amount of yardage.
I am sad the Fins lost after such stellar efforts against Pats and Chargers...but I am also glad the Texans, a fairly decent team after all (but for the stupid play of Rosenfels--get rid of him, Texans!), are no longer winless because they shouldn't have been in the first place! Good for you all, Texans! Now go out next week and whoop it up against the hopeless Lions. Just don't get smug the way the Fins did!
THAT'S RIGHT, DOLPHINS...YOU GOT SMUG! STUPID, STUPID...YOU BEAT THE PATS AND CHARGERS, KNOWN TO BE GOOD TEAMS, AND NOW YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU'RE AHEAD LATE IN THE FOURTH QUARTER (AGAINST A QB THAT APPARENTLY TOOK YOUR PASS DEFENSE APART ALL DAY, NO LESS) YOU CAN GO OUT AND CELEBRATE AT 28-23??? AND NOW YOU HAVE PAID FOR IT! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT???
You are going to go out next Sunday and beat the Ravens at home, that's what! And you don't even need an Peyton Manning to do it. Neither the Texans, nor the Bolts nor Pats, really stopped the Wildcat, so use it, and since "everybody knows" you can't run on the Ravens, do it anyway, because they can't stop the pass. And you pass rushers (Porter had another good day in Reliant Stadium) and especially you secondary folks, Flacco is a rookie, okay? A pretty good rookie (or else he wouldn't be starting) but a rookie nevertheless who couldn't do squat against a Colts defense that IMHO is outshined by the Fins anyway. You know what you have to do.
And the Sunday after that, you are going to beat the Bills at home.
And onto my other stupid picks...
Good golly Miss Molly! the Rams beat the Redskins--in Washington! Only one or two of the bolder bloggers picked the "hapless" Rams, and they did it by doing something no one else has been able to do to the Skins--force turnovers, and they--like 4 or 5 other teams--did it in the closing seconds (in fact time had expired). HOORAY FOR THE RAMS!
Thus the Rams and Texans have won their first games this year, and good for them. Don't like to see winless teams.
Well, my pick of the Falcons paid off. Another last second win, and this one makes the NFC North bolluxed up with no one who clearly standout (except the Lions, who just might do what the Fins couldn't and wouldn't do last year, go winless!). So the Bears, who looked at one point like they would easily take this division, are now 3-3. The Vikes, who looked like they really needed more than Frerotte to win with, are now 3-3. The Packers, who have looked either good or bad with Rodgers, are also 3-3. Sorta mediocre, these three, wouldn't you say? Now, look at the NFC South: the Panthers (wha-happen?), the Bucs (thanks you, Mr. Garcia!), and the Falcons (holder of the best rookie QB out there this year) are all 4-2 and the Saints are 3-3. Statistically the NFC East is the strongest division but I'm not buying it.
Panthers! Whaa haapen? Two words: Jeff Garcia. Okay, three more words: home field advantage...the Bucs haven't lost there in a long time. And, oh yeah, you guys were buying into that "the Panthers are playoff bound this year" stuff. As with the Fins, you folks got smug and you paid the price for it. But unlike the Fins you looked bad in losing!
And the Vikes eke out the Lions. And the Saints raid the Raiders. And the Jets buck the Bungles. And Cards clip the Cowboys (and apologies to that Cards fan who walloped my Pokes pick--see comments on previous post--you were right after all about the Cards). And Eagles fly over the Niners, who are apparently sinking fast. And the Packers drown the Seahawks.
Finally, three incredible wins that will reverberate around the league for at least this week.
I had picked the Broncos (I have to keep reminding myself never to pick this height of inconsistency!) over the Jaguars because it was at Mile High. Well, at the end of the day, it was the Cutler kids who needed air. Nice going, Jags! You needed the win with the Colts winning as well as Texans, and you did it! Have a nice week off.
I had picked the Colts, but figured it'll go either way anyway. WRONG! Peyton is back. The Colts D appears to be back. That momentum they built up against Texans in the last quarter last week carried through...what happened to the Ravens, another team that looked promising at the beginning of the year, have lost three straight now and have not looked too bad doing it (looked okay vs. Steelers and didn't look too bad vs. Titans, but what happened to that highly ranked defense??). Seems the Colts have rediscovered they are a good team after all.
And now we come to Chargers-Patriots, with the Bolts belting Bellichick's crew in a 30-10 win that took some of the sting off the Texans win over my aqua-orange boys. This puts the Chargers only one game behind the feckless horses...and they go to Buffalo next week (good luck...or will the Bills be looking ahead to Fins?) while Pats have the Broncs. Meanwhile, the Jets (who seem to have the easiest schedule in the NFL...why is it they always seem to have teams they can beat...Brett Favre, maybe?) and Pats are both at 3-2! the Bills are 4-1 and the Fins are 2-3, which means this now "not least" division is still up for grabs as only two games separate top from bottom. That is not something that happens too often. And kuddos to the Bolts, who clearly got the revenge they wanted...but what's gonna happen if they meet the Pats in the playoffs?
Remember bakc to the 70s and the Steelers-Raiders? This matchup seems similar.
Let me "gloat" about picking the Dolphins, one of the few here who did...and also, the Cards over Bills and the Pats over the Niners. My be the AFC East Effect on me...since 1970 something, I think I have had a pretty good feeling about how teams in the division work. Now, if someone could enlighten me on the AFC and NFC Souths...Falcons over Packers?And why is it the Vikings always seem to impress when they win and look so bad when they lose? As for the Saints, yep, business, it seems, as usual: despite some good years in there, historically the Saints have been losers and despite all best efforts, they can't seem to shake the losing habit consistently. I am 9-5 this week, but I shouldn't have picked the Lions over the Bears. I will NOT pick the Lions again for the rest of the season! They play without hope. As for the Chiefs (I had the Panthers), they played like their whole seaon was in the Denver win last week and they forgot to show up this week.
The Bucs and the Broncs...see, this is why (as I've claimed in other posts and comments) I do not like the Broncos! You pick them to win and they lose, and you pick them to lose and they win! I think I have said in a post a couple of years ago that the Broncos are the Bengals (ooops! Bungles) of the NFC West (while the Seahawks are the Bungles of the NFC West). Folks, I do not like inconsistent, flaky teams. Thus I do not like the Bungles, Seahawks, Broncos, Browns, and Falcons, and, too a lesser extent, the Jets (in fact the reasons I have rooted for the Fins all these years is that, in 1970, when the Jets and the AFL entered the NFL and their only competetion in the AFC East was supposed to be the Colts, the Jets fell flat-footed with/without Namath with his knee injuries, and Shula's new Fins team took the Jets' place in that division...so I became a Fins fan. And now you know the rest of the story!)...but the Jets' flakiness appears to be mostly front-office generated. Didn't they have Parcells at one time?
It appears I was right about the Patriots. The rest of you can count them out if you want to, but I won't because, as I said, I know how AFC East teams work. The Pats will not simply go away so that the uppity Bills (or Fins) can blow their "dynasty" away that easily. The Bills? Yep, and until I know how bad Edwards' injury is, the Bills are still in the thick of it. You all can say what you want about the Fins as well. Ruggedest is right, however--this Miami team, which is NOT last year's team!--may not have all the "right" stuff on paper, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: football games are not played on paper!!! Now if they only don't get overconfident against the Texans!
If ever a team should have won in week 5, Houston is it! Sage Rosenfels must think he is still on that mediocre 2006 Fins team! Way to go Sage! YOU BLEW IT!
And way to go Saints! Just how long are you going to screw around your loyal--super loyal, in fact--fans who stood by you all even when Katrina took your home away? Do you guys think you can win one for my hubby's folks next week?
So far this year (with weeks 4 and 5 in): 15 - 12
Just caught SRMgenius's blog about censorship on Fox sports blogs. I support you in this, but still if you do leave Fox Sports blogs I'll miss you, from one Fins fan to another.
Just read BoltBacker's post "Snorky Knows Best" and not only am I happy that what with the arguing about this game, him saying the Chargers would win...and since he's a Charger fan I can't blame him...me saying the Fins would win based on tradition (of Miami beating SD in Miami, since that awesome 1981 playoff game won by the Bolts in OT) and based on the fact that one could not go by their 1-15 last year record...but I am happy he gave me the recognition of saying I was right. In fact that is just as good a feeling as actually being right! Right now the Chargers are 2-3 but (even with that Denver win) I still say they will win the AFC West and, who knows? They might be able to get revenge against the Fins in the playoffs!
which leads me to my praise of Ruggedest, who--defying all "logic" and peer pressure (in cluding from me, as a Fins fan for many years, yet not believing that "The Sparanos" under Bill Parcells could so completely turn it around and make the playoffs this year (I said they make the playoffs next year).
Ruggedest, I am ready to believe! You might be right after all, and I concede that you are the true genius for picking them for AFC wildcard! thanks for believing in them when even I couldn't!
And thanks for the win, Dolphins! You beat a darned good team, you stopped Phil Rivers and you stopped LT at the goalline after stopping Chambers (who I figured would be a thorn as he was sent packing from Miami last year). Now, DON"T LET DOWN AGAINST TEXANS NEXT WEEK!
This is an experiment. But since I figure most games are played by two fairly evenly matched teams, there must be a third or fourth or fifth ingredient that causes one team to win and one to lose. The first one is MOMENTUM, easily understood (but not necessarily useful this early in the season). The second is SCHEDULE: some teams (I've notices over the past 40 some odd years of watching or listening to NFL football) "must win" over what they consider a "lesser" team because the next few weeks see them playing "contending" teams which presumably also need to win. Also, some teams have such a "weak" schedule that all pressure is off and sometimes, just sometimes, one of those "weak" teams pick up on this and pull an upset (this won't explain the Pats upset last week...rather than consider the Dolphins "lowly" or "weak", I would say "successfully rebuilding" or "rebounding" might be more like it. 2008 is a brand new season and you must never make the mistake of judging a team by what they did in 2007. Now, the Rams, Chiefs, and Lions--these guys are definitely weak or lowly!). Third, QB vs. QB or QB vs. pass defense or secondary: one of my picks is based on performances by both QBs against the same pass defense...I picked the team who was more successful against the same pass defense. Fourth is DIVISION RIVALRY. Who is in a better position and who "needs it more"? Again, I could give a rat's behind about how any team did last year, whether they were #### poor (Fins) or contender or almost contender (the Browns, for instance). Of course, in the case of clear mismatches, it is precipitous to pick the clear winner...not that an upset couldn't happen... Week Four predictions (note: I have no dog in any of these, as the Fins have a "bye-week"...) Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Common sense says the Steelers because clearly they had their momentum broken up last week, while the Ravens got #### out of Houston by Ike and thus lose their "bye week" altogether. But, being possessed of "uncommon sense", this pick is based on who needs it more. RAVENS Philly @ Chicago: the Eagles are questionable due to all those injuries to key players. Besides, McNab, if he plays, wants to impress the Bears (there is a rumor out there that he might want to go to chicago since that's where he's from). Nothing against the Bears, however....EAGLES San Fran @ NO: Everyone loves the way the Niners are coming and all that JT O'Sullivan biz...but the Saints really really need this one! SAINTS Houston @ Jacksonville: My heart goes for the Texans, who are really better than their record indicates...but the Jags are coming off Colts win and, now that they know they can beat a good team and must win to be competitive with the Titans, I say JAGUARS Cleveland @ Cincinnati: Whenever I think of flaky teams the Bengals immediately come to mind, and the only dege they have over the Browns is the home field advantage and their passing game. BENGALS Atlanta @ Carolina: these two teams are mirror images of each other, but the Panthers have beaten better teams than the Falcons; therefore, PANTHERS Arizona @ NYJ: Logics says the Cards, but this is not a "logical" pick, but one based on the record of Warner and Favre vs. the same defense: the Fins. While both QBs beat the Dolphins, Warner really clobbered their pass defense and secondary, exposing this weakness that (I hope) "the Sparanos" can get worked out by the end of the season. CARDINALS Minnesota @ Tennessee: These two are so similar it comes down to the fact that I trust Frerotte (who I liked playing with the Fins in 2006, leading them to 6 straight wins) over another journeyman QB I know nothing about. And, the Vikes need it more. VIKINGS Denver @ KC: A clear mismatch. BRONCOS GB @ TB: The son of Bob Griese won't pull a second-straight huge come-back, and the Packers are better than the Bears. PACKERS SD @ Oakland: The Raiders are DEFINITELY better than their record indicates, and could easily pull and upset. But the Chargers MUST get this get this win, as they face, in succession: Miami, New England, Buffalo, and New Orleans in London. Everyone is saying they will beat the Fins, but the fact is the 2008 Fins are NOT the 2007 Fins, and, further, the Fins will have had that bye-week off so their pass defense can learn and practice how to keep Rivers from going long as well as how to manhandle LT the way they did the Pats RBs. I'd rather the Raiders won, but...CHARGERS Buffalo @ St. Louis: Another mismatch. BILLS Washington @ Dallas: This being the last time the Skins get to beat the Cowboys in Texas Stadium...REDSKINS
I've never been gladder that my prediction that the Brady Bunch would will the Supe was DEAD WRONG! (But I STILL don't think Peyton Manning ranks with Tom Brady).
Now let's see...can Manning overtake Bears defense? Can Rex Grossman overcome the fact that he's merely a Bobby Douglass (remember him?) on steriods (well, okay, I don't think he takes steriods!)?
And TWO BLACK HEAD COACHES! Way Cool! Now who will the racist fans root for! And anyway, it is about time. Half the teams in the NFL started black quarterbacks at some time during the past season. Now all we need are two black head coaches and two black quarterbacks. Let's drive the white supremists nuts! (okay, okay, they already are!)
Today on CNN sports with Will Selva or somebody it was announced that "who isn't rooting for the Pats?" as if they are the reincarnation of "America's Team"...well, as a Fins fan (even if they don't deserve it!) I will NOT be rooting for Belicheck and company, but I have to be realistic and say the pats will win the Supe, and the reason is two words: Tom Brady. He has made me a believer. In fact, all he has to do is show up it seems. Can't believe the Chargers blew it! Yet, with the score 14-10 Bolts at the tail end of the 3rd Q I KNEW Brady would pull that one out, as he has so often in the recent past.
Besides, Peyton Manning, "Mr. Choke," has a history of not performing well in the games that count the most (sorta like a quarterback I used to root for, Dandy Dan "Nutrisystem" Marino...now which one is more of a jerk? That would make an interesting poll.)
Further, I can't see Grossman holding his own against the Pats' experience (even if Brady has an of####ay), but the Bears'll probably beat Saints, if only because it's in Chi-town.
As for new Fins coach...anybody but Shula! Just because he has the name doesn't mean he has the mind, heart, and soul of "The Don"!
I mean, there go the "t-sips" with their 34 or so yards-against the run per game average claiming they will wallop the AGGIES, but what happens? The AGS got close to 200 yards rushing! So much for their championship hopes! Go Sooners!
And DMitch87, who are you calling no class? Or did you NOT see it when all the Aggies got on one knee after Colt McCoy was hurt and put on the stretcher? Certainly you would not have posted your post "Aggies...have no class" had the Longhorns won. But what can be expected from a "t-sip"?
My son is an an Aggies and I am an Aggie Mom (now you all know snorky is female! As if you didn't know before!). But I don't make bones about the 'Horns because my son is an Aggie ("Farmers Fight!")...it is because of the way your saint Darrel Royal coaches his youngsters (like Woody Hayes on steroids) and vowed never to root for tu after reading "Meat on the Hoof". Yeah I know the sob is no longer around, but still...
GO AGGIES!
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Good Golly Miss Molly, the Dolphins actually found a quarterback midway through the season, but, at 5-6 on a four game winning streak, they still won't be able to catch those bleeping Patriots!
In my last post many months ago, I questioned whether Miami's 2005 8-8 record improvement over 2004's 4-12 was for real. Then having studied other blogs and learned that:
1. The Fins almost fired Don Shula, one of the greatest coaches in any sport of all times,
2. Dan Marino was a jerk who always blamed the rest of the team for losses and particularly in the playoffs,
3. For the last 5 or so years, and maybe the last 8 or 9, the Fins have consistently drafted poorly,
4. The Dolphins' front office is like the ones the Jets and Giants had in the 70s--incompetent, and maybe worse, grossly incompetent,
5. The Fins front office had Joe Robbie Stadium--which the Dolphins founder built with his own money!--changed to another name,
6. Nick Saban, who I thought was going to lift the Fins back into powerhouse status--or at least AFC East winner--brought in Mike Mularkey as offensive coach. The same Mularkey that was one of the worst offensive coaches in Buffalo! Mularkey is right!
7. In perhaps the weakest AFC division, Miami's incompetence is making the Patriots (I make no bones about despising the Pats, okay?) look like Super Bowl contenders, which they aren't...I mean, how good do you have to be to win the AFC EAst what with the Fins playing like Sponges? (And no offense to porifera here!)
8. Duante Culpepper obviously can't play well without Moss. I kinda knew that last year...why didn't Saban and Co. know that?
9. It took this long for a city that is at least 25% black to get a black quaterback? Are the Fins racist or what?
10. Well, isn't it obvious the Dolphins...who I used to live and die with back in the 70s...not only suck but DESERVE TO SUCK?!
Go Bears! You know I have always wanted to root for the MOnsters of the Midway, and now I will! Go Bears!
Go Aggies! My son goes to Texas A & M's marine sciences school in Galveston: Texas A & M Galveston. Saw them lost to Texas Tech...his first ever football game as a spectator and his first ever trip to a big stadium! He was awed by it! Well, they are NOW RANKED 23! Go Aggies!
