Week 8 NFL Projections

Last week: 8-4
Season: 63-23

Buffalo Bills 27, Washington Redskins 20

Both of these teams are coming off of losses last weekend; the Bills losing a close one to the Giants and the John Beck-led Redskins by thirteen to Cam Newton's Panthers. Buffalo has the worst defense in the NFL this year, but Washington won't have the skill to exploit it enough to outscore the Bills. John Beck simply isn't what Mike Shanahan expects him to be: a reliable NFL starting quarterback. He didn't have that in Rex Grossman, either. And everyone knows in the NFL you need a good starting quarterback...

Philadelphia Eagles 27, Dallas Cowboys 24

No, I shouldn't be picking the Eagles to win this game. I just have a feeling about this one. Andy Reid has finally realized that it is desperation time in Philadelphia, which means he will call the pass 99.9% of the time... That is really the only thing holding Philadelphia back (the linebackers are another issue). If Reid comes to his senses and uses LeSean McCoy effectively like he did in last week's win, the Birds should be able to keep their playoff aspirations alive (unless they can't stop DeMarco Murray).

New England Patriots 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 17

It's cold. It's in Pittsburgh, and it has the makings of an old-fashioned, grit and grind battle. Twenty points would tie the Patriots' lowest scoring output of the season, but it makes perfect sense as the Steel Curtain looms. This game rides in the hands of Ben Roethlisberger and whether he can exploit the porous pass D of the Pats, as Rashard Mendenhall should have another rough day. I still have Tom Brady pulling out a win, but this game is essentially a toss up, even if New England has looked like the better team thus far.

Tennessee Titans 20, Indianapolis Colts 13
New York Giants 30, Miami Dolphins 6
Baltimore Ravens 23, Arizona Cardinals 14
New Orleans Saints 41, St. Louis Rams 10
Carolina Panthers 28, Minnesota Vikings 24
Houston Texans 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 15
Detroit Lions 27, Denver Broncos 20
San Francisco 49ers 24, Cleveland Browns 17
Cincinnati Bengals 21, Seattle Seahawks 7
San Diego Chargers 24, Kansas City Chiefs 20

NBA Lockout: Both Sides Are Wrong

A NBA lockout is absurd to everyone in the country except the people involved. It's like my friend and I disputing how to split a 1,000 piece pizza, and taking so long to argue about it that it gets cold and no one has any (Great analogy, I know. But it does make sense). Allow me to explain.

Basically, what is holding everyone in the lockout back is how to split the league's ten billion dollars, or however much it really makes annually. The owners want a 50-50 split of the revenue, and the players want 52.5% of it. If they ever come to a decision, then they go to the salary cap issue... And if everything gets settled everyone can go back to choosing another diamond-studded anchor for their yachts.

Both the players and owners have a ridiculous excess of money, as you might just possibly be aware. The fact that they can't decide on how to split it up has every single working class American who has, or had an interest in the league shaking their head in disgust. Not just because of the loss of basketball (if you haven't tried it, college ball starts up real soon, and sure, the skill level isn't there, but they play a heck of a lot harder than NBA players. Tune in sometime), but because they are both so ridiculously greedy and have such a great amount of self-entitlement and, in the players case, didn't work nearly as hard in school as you did but just happen to have a natural ability that propels them to play professionally where their work is a game, that just so happens to have a salary equaling the total net worth of half the African countries in the world combined.

And you want to know stupidest thing about this whole lockout? Something so obvious staring both the players and owners in the face that they don't seem to notice? The longer this lockout goes on, the more money they lose. So they both want their 2.5% extra of the revenue, but if they miss a whole season bickering about it, they are just going to lose a ton of money in the long run anyway. Idiocy on the parts of all of them.

NBA players are even overpaid compared to the other major sports leagues. The average salary of an NBA player in 2010-11 was 5.8 million; in the NFL a season ago it was 1.9. And sure, you can say there's more NFL players, whatever, but NFL MVP candidate Arian Foster made $390,000 a year ago while NBA role player Rashard Lewis eats up 20-something million annually, or Darius Songaila, who saw the court for like a minute and a half this past season, made 4.5. There's countless other, better examples, but you get the point.

Part of the reason the players are so overpaid in the first place is because of the lousy, reckless spending on the owners part.

Brian Cardinal was never more than a big man who wasn't very good. Yet for the 2005 season, the Grizzlies decided to sign him to a six year, 34.6 million dollar deal. In the four years he played with Memphis, he averaged less than six points a game. An even more costly decision was the contract Rashard Lewis signed, that he even had to clarify himself, where he basically said, hey, talk to the owner about why I'm getting paid so much.

Whenever the NBA resumes, all of its fans will return, whether they say they will or won't now, and everything will be back to normal. But if things keep going the way they are going, there will be a ton of lost revenue that no deal can make up for (hence there being no pizza left, brilliant, I'm aware). What the guys in suits and players alike need to realize is that they are just digging their own graves right now, and would be much better off just taking a pay cut.

The owners have the upper hand; if there continues to be no progression and games until Christmas are canceled, they will just draw a hard line at a 50-50 split. The players will be forced to accept it, and will have lost out on all the money they could have made up until then. Meanwhile the fans at home just say suck it up.

Week 7 NFL Projections

Game face.

Last week: 9-4
Season: 55-19

New York Jets 20, San Diego Chargers 17

Minnesota, Kansas City, Miami, and Denver. These are the teams San Diego has beaten en route to a sparkling 4-1 start. And none of them have been convincing.  Oh, by the way, these four teams have a combined 4-17 record. Either they are all shooting for Andrew Luck or should be playing in the Backyard Barbecue League. And San Diego has barely beaten these teams led by your uncle's brother-in law: a field goal win at home against Kansas City, a five point victory against the hapless Broncos. The Jets may have a pretty boy Peewee Leaguer at quarterback, but they are at least a legit NFL team, and the last time the Chargers played one (New England), they lost by two touchdowns.

Detroit Lions 27, Atlanta Falcons 24

Just because they lost last week doesn't mean Detroit is going to start to fall apart a la the 2011 Red Sox. The Falcons have not lived up to expectations and the only aspects of their game they have excelled at thus far is rush defense and losing winnable football games. While Jahvid Best might have a tough time going north-south tomorrow, Matt Stafford should have a field day against this 27th-ranked pass D. With a loss, the Falcons would fall below .500 after such high hopes to start the year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23, Chicago Bears 17

The Bears' offensive lineman probably wear paper bags over their heads when they walk around the city. Yes, they've been that bad. Jay Cutler looks like he's been into a bar fight after his first series every Sunday, and came out on the wrong end of it. Lovie Smith also isn't helped by the fact that his intimidating defenses of three years ago, or last year even, have reduced themselves to a pile of rubble. Freeman isn't the prodigy we all made him out to be after last year, but if he isn't capable of putting up points on the Bears he too should cover his face in shame.

Normally I write about four games every weekend, but the NFL decided to give us a college schedule for tomorrow and only have a few good games on the slate. Well, if the Colts were more than just Peyton Manning, the Sunday night game against the Saints would be highly anticipated. Instead, the only people watching will be from New Orleans (definitely not Indy).

Denver Broncos 17 (Tebow: 2-12, 6 yards, 2 INT; 15 rush, 137 yards, 2 TD), Miami Dolphins -12
Houston Texans 24, Tennessee Titans 20
Oakland Raiders 10, Kansas City Chiefs 3 (The Chiefs DO have a chance though!)
Washington Redskins 17, Carolina Panthers 14
Pittsburgh Steelers 28, Arizona Cardinals 13
Dallas Cowboys 24, St. Louis Rams 9 (Dez Bryant breakout game, especially because he is going up against clay figurines in Rams jerseys)
Cleveland Browns 13, Seattle Seahawks 7
Green Bay Packers 41, Minnesota Vikings 3
Baltimore Ravens 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 0

A Bit of a Surprise: Carson Palmer Dealt for Early-Round Picks

No, it's not the player traded that caught football fans off guard, but rather what the other team got in return.

Holdout veteran quarterback Carson Palmer was traded by the Cincinnati Bengals today to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for, get this, a 2012 first round pick and a 2013 second rounder (which would become another first round pick if Oakland reaches the playoffs this year).

The surprise 4-2 Raiders were in desperate need of a quarterback following Jason Campbell's broken collarbone he suffered this past Sunday. The only other QBs on the roster were the recently reinstated Terrelle Pryor, who isn't even close to being ready to be an NFL QB, and Kyle Boller, a guy with a career QB rating of 70. Neither of these two guys are who you want trying to lead a team to a playoff berth.

So the Raiders took action. They were willing to give up a lot; potentially two first round picks. It seems as if they vastly overvalued Palmer, a guy who threw twenty picks last year. He probably hasn't been working hard during his holdout and has likely lost respect from those around the league. While he is certainly an upgrade from the two guys that were riding their bench, and maybe even starter Jason Campbell, two first rounders is a pretty hefty price.

Cincinnati was steadfast on not trading Palmer; owner Mike Brown said he didn't want to reward him for holding out by granting his request. But when the Raiders put their offer on the table, he had no choice but to jump at it. The encouraging play of rookie Andy Dalton made dealing Palmer easier to do.

"We also find ourselves rather suddenly in position of being able to receive real value for Carson that can measurably improve our team, which is performing well and is showing real promise for this year and years to come," Brown said in a statement. "When this opportunity arose, we felt we could not let it pass and needed to take a step forward with the football team if we could."

Maybe the fact that Palmer would probably have retired instead of playing for the Bengals also contributed.

Before they made the Palmer offer, the Raiders had pursued free agent QB David Garrard, but he informed them he was getting surgery and would be unavailable to play for a significant amount of time. A comparable quarterback to Palmer, he would have come to Oakland at a much lesser price.

Week 6 NFL Projections

Last week: 10-3
Season: 46-15

Detroit Lions 27, San Francisco 49ers 24

The 49ers may have surprised some people more than the Lions have to start this season. Everyone was aware of the talent Matthew Stafford possessed, but Alex Smith? He's looked like a legitimate NFL quarterback so far, albeit a very reliable one. He's only thrown one pick in his team's first five games. Nonetheless, the Lions are playing with a purpose right now; their entire team is on a roll. Look for them to stay undefeated, and Stafford to connect with Megatron for the receiver to reach double-digits in touchdowns this early in the season.

Buffalo Bills 30, New York Giants 27

This is a very good week to pick against the Bills. They haven't been able to cover teams' number three receiver at all this season, as demonstrated by Jason Avant's 160 yards last week. And the Giants have one looking to continue a breakout season in Victor Cruz, who is primed to have a huge day. However, the Giants defense wasn't what it once was, and should be susceptible to the Bills high-powered attack. The Bills have had success both running the ball with Fred Jackson and through the air, and the Giants D is barely average against both this year. Look for the surprise Bills to get to 5-1 after this high scoring affair.

Baltimore Ravens 24, Houston Texans 17

The Ravens had a bye last weekend, a huge advantage for their aging defense. And while Arian Foster is healthy, they are without another offensive cornerstone in Andre Johnson, obviously Matt Schaub's favorite target. The Texans brought in Derrick Mason for a little bit of help, but he and Schaub won't have any chemistry so soon. Behind Johnson, Houston doesn't have anyone worthy of filling in as a number one. This could keep them from a win, no matter how much they have cleaned up their defense.

New Orleans Saints 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20

The Bucs got smacked around last week against San Francisco, and it certainly doesn't look any better for them facing the high-powered Saints. Certainly they will put up more than the field goal they managed last weekend, but the way their offense has played lately they don't have a shot at putting up points to stay even with the Saints. Josh Freeman hasn't played like the guy he was last year, and if he wants a win today at home he'll need a career game.

Atlanta Falcons 23, Carolina Panthers 20
Washington Redskins 31, Philadelphia Eagles 28
Cincinnati Bengals 26, Indianapolis Colts 20
Green Bay Packers 41, St. Louis Rams 13
Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 19
Oakland Raiders 26, Cleveland Browns 13
New England Patriots 27, Dallas Cowboys 20
Chicago Bears 20, Minnesota Vikings 14
New York Jets 26, Miami Dolphins 6

Week 5 NFL Projections

Last week: 13-3
Season: 36-12

Buffalo Bills 34, Philadelphia Eagles 31

The Eagles have only played Nnamdi Asomugha in man coverage on around 40% of plays this year, rather than the 95% of man he played in Oakland. The results haven't been pretty: Asomugha has showed his lack of tacking ability. As a result of Nnamdi, Asante Samuel, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie playing so much zone, opposing receivers haven't been shut down nearly as much as they should be. And the lack of solid linebacking has turned the Birds into one of the league's worst run defenses, despite the all-star defensive line. Expect Buffalo to carve up this once intimidating-looking defense.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, San Francisco 49ers 20

Both of these teams are 3-1, but neither has many believers yet. The pressure is on Josh Freeman, as the 49ers have stymied the run the far, but are susceptible to the pass. San Francisco also possesses a below average offense, and if Freeman can lead his team to a few scores, a 4-1 start should be in store for Tampa Bay.

Oakland Raiders 23, Houston Texans 22

The Raiders might come out with a little more fight following a loss to New England and the passing of legendary owner Al Davis. Houston has cleaned up their pass defense a bit this year, but their rush defense is just average, and Run DMC should have another field day. He'll need to carry this Oakland offense, as Jason Campbell has pretty much just played the role of manager thus far.

New England Patriots 31, New York Jets 21

The rivalry will be renewed tomorrow, at the expense of the Jets. Rex Ryan won't like the look of a 2-3 record once after the Patriots are through with them. New England's pass D is dead last in the league, so Mark Sanchez will certainly outdo last week's abysmal performance, but it won't matter.

Kansas City Chiefs 20, Indianapolis Colts 17
Arizona Cardinals 24, Minnesota Vikings 13
New York Giants 31, Seattle Seahawks 12
Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Tennessee Titans 14
New Orleans Saints 34, Carolina Panthers 27
Cincinnati Bengals 17, Jacksonville Jaguars 13
San Diego Chargers 30, Denver Broncos 10
Green Bay Packers 28, Atlanta Falcons 24
Detroit Lions 27, Chicago Bears 17

Against the Odds, Burnett Comes Through

I have to start off by gloating that somehow I saw this coming. Six innings pitched and two runs was what I projected for A.J. Burnett last night. I just had a gut feeling for some reason. Maybe it was partially because of his final regular season start against Boston; I do not know.

While it wasn't always pretty last night, A.J. pitched even better than my projection. He ended up surrendering only one run in five and two thirds innings en route to earning the win and keeping the Yankees' season alive. Sure, he needed Curtis Granderson to bail him out when he walked the bases loaded in the first. But what's wrong with a break going your way? When he left the game to the bullpen, his team had more runs than the opponent. He did what he needed to do.

Perhaps all he needed was confidence. Burnett constantly told reporters all season he believed he had what it took to be successful. Did he mean it? Only he knows. His self-confidence was probably wavering at best through his regular season struggles, in which he posted a miserable 5.15 ERA. Nonetheless, manager Joe Girardi kept putting him out there, much to the displeasure of the Yankee faithful.

And last night, well, his own teammates probably questioned whether their season was over before the game started. While everyone knows Burnett has the stuff to be successful, he just can't locate it. Extensive work with pitching coach Larry Rothschild helped fix his release and it proved successful, at least for yesterday's ballgame.

The only reason Burnett was on the hill for the Yanks was because of the Game 1 rain delay. He was expected to work out of the pen for the series in middle inning work. The rotation was supposed to be Sabathia, Nova, Garcia, Sabathia, Nova for the five-game series. Thanks to Mother Nature, A.J. Burnett got his chance, and he made the most of it.

What does this mean? Should the Yankees advance into the ALCS, we will see him on the hill, probably as the Game 2 starter. He is in the Yankees good graces after his performance last night, and he is as important as anyone for the Bombers if they want to make a championship run.

Clemson Tigers: Surprise Team of 2011

The Clemson Tigers are looking more and more like the class of the ACC this football season. Today, the 11th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies were their latest victim, who managed to put up just a measly field goal on their home turf.

The 23-3 Virginia Tech win capped off a streak of three straight ranked wins for the Tigers. Auburn and Florida State also fell to Clemson, who was unranked to start the year.

The Auburn win was the one that put the Tigers on the national radar. Then they managed to knock off Florida State with a five point win. And today, they pulled off upset number three, this time with a more convincing win on the road at rowdy Lane Stadium.

So now, Clemson finds themselves unbeaten, at 5-0. An undefeated season? It's early, but not out of the question. They only have two more ranked opponents remaining in their schedule: at Georgia Tech, and probably their toughest game of the season, at 10th-ranked South Carolina. Even if they fall to the Gamecocks, and BCS Bowl Game could be well in Clemson's sight.

Earlier today, ESPN's KC Joyner wrote a piece saying how with a win over Clemson,Virginia Tech would be the surest bet to play in the BCS title game. Now that Clemson knocked off the Hokies, does this apply to them as well? We'll have to wait and see.

But one thing we do know is quarterback Tajh Boyd has emerged out of nowhere to become an early season Heisman candidate. The stats say it all: 90-136 for 1255 yards, 13 touchdowns, and just one pick heading into the Va. Tech game. Scary thing is, he's only a sophomore and a first-year starter. He could lead this program into national powerhouse status over the next few years. With the way Clemson has played so far, you could argue they have already reached that stage.

Week 4 NFL Projections

Last Week: 10-6
Season: 23-9

Detroit Lions 24, Dallas Cowboys 20

A win in Jerry Jones' Palace would put Matt Stafford and the mighty Lions at 4-0. Stafford has looked like he's been quarterbacking for years in the Lions' first three wins. And his team's defensive line is more than capable of taking Tony Romo right out of the game. That and the fact that Dallas is missing Miles Austin and is playing with a hurt Dez Bryant equals a Detroit win.

Baltimore Ravens 17, New York Jets 14

A part of me wants to pick the Jets in this game, simply because they are coming off of a loss and there is no way Rex Ryan would let them go back-to-back. But the Jets aren't quite the same team they had a year ago. Their run defense is tanking, allowing 136.7 yards per game, 31st in the league. And their own rushing hasn't fared much better: just 82.5 yards per game, good for 25th in the league. This ballgame looks to be played mostly on the ground, which favors Ray Rice and the Ravens.

New England Patriots 27, Oakland Raiders 20

I was on the verge of picking the Bills to upset New England last week but couldn't get myself to do it. This week, there is a similar situation. Again, I'll go with the Pats, and maybe regret it later. But Tom Brady tanking two weeks in a row? Gimme a break. Last week's four INTs were a fluke, and when he is back to his normal self tomorrow, he'll grind this one out for a W.

New York Giants 24, Arizona Cardinals 21

Arizona's defense has been nonexistent in the first few weeks of the season. They can still hang around with many teams though, losing their last two games by a combined four points. Zona also possesses a solid passing attack: Kevin Kolb and Larry Fitzgerald, who could catch 70 passes with a cardboard bag throwing to him, have developed chemistry. Despite this, Kolb is turnover prone, and expect the Giants to force a few, while Eli Manning dissects this porous Arizona defense.

Carolina Panthers 20, Chicago Bears 17
Buffalo Bills 30, Cincinnati Bengals 21
Tennessee Titans 21, Cleveland Browns 17
Minnesota Vikings 23, Kansas City Chiefs 10
Philadelphia Eagles 31, San Francisco 49ers 24
Washington Redskins 20, St. Louis Rams 10
New Orleans Saints 38, Jacksonville Jaguars 13
Houston Texans 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 20
Atlanta Falcons 26, Seattle Seahawks 17
Green Bay Packers 31, Denver Broncos 7
San Diego Chargers 34, Miami Dolphins 13
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Indianapolis Colts 9