It’s been 2 months since I’ve posted anything. Sorry, I guess I’ve been busy / unmotivated to write about much. I’m working up the energy to drop some heavy religious philosophy, but that will have to wait until another day.
In about 6 hours, the 2009 NFL draft starts and that is what has captured my attention this morning. There seems to be a lot of differences of popular opinion about how the first round will pan out so this should a really interesting year. On the subject of the first pick, last night before I went to bed I think I heard that Detroit had signed Matthew Stafford already. Or maybe I dreamed that? I haven’t checked the news yet this morning so I’ll leave that for later.
The most important aspect of the draft is the 9 picks that the Steelers have. Coming off a Superbowl win and a free agency period that sees most of the team still intact, the Steelers really don’t have any burning holes to fill. In fact, popular opinion seems to be that they will even package a few of those 9 picks together and move up once or twice in the draft to nail a person they really want. I suppose that is okay by me because I really can’t see how 9 rookies are really going to make our final 53 man roster and I’m not so sure they would even make our training roster. So you might as well give a couple of them up if it gets a guy you are really hot for. Again, I say that because we don’t have a lot of holes so I don’t think we need a bunch rookies to replace any of our veterans. We need our rookies to get prepared to take over for some of the veterans some day in 2010 or beyond.
Before I talk too much about what kind of rookies we need, let’s review the people we lost and gained in free agency. While we lost some O-Lineman with Marvel Smith and I think Kendall Simmons (or did we lose him last year?), none of them were really starting anymore or basically on the roster at all. So we won’t really miss them. We also lost Byron Leftwich but that’s okay because we still have Charlie Batch who is a more than adequate back up. So the only two losses that really hurt us were Nate Washington and Bryant McFadden.
Nate was the #3 WR so while not technically a starter, he did play quite a bit. I’m okay with losing him, though, because I was tired of waiting for him to break out. Every year for the past 2 or 3 years I’ve been saying, “This will be the year Nate breaks out (and quits dropping passes)”. Well I got tired of waiting. While he had some really nice catches last year (especially some deep balls), he still dropped a lot of passes and in the end I just don’t trust him. He may go to Tennessee and have a great couple seasons, but he’s just not worth the risk for the money that he was able to get on the open market. Goodbye, Nate. I appreciate what you were to us but it’s time we part ways.
The loss of Bryant McFadden, on the other hand, hurts. We will miss him. He was a very good corner, in my opinion. I don’t fault the Steelers front office for not paying him what he eventually got but I also would have been okay if they paid him that as well. I was right on the fence with the money he was going to get. William Gay eases that pain quite a bit, thankfully. Gay stepped in for McFadden in a few games this year when Bryant was injured. And Gay did a very good job as well.
So we lost 1.5 starters but have guys that can step in and replace them (Gay for McFadden and either Sweed or Baker for Washington). The good news is we have no urgent needs to fill in the draft. We have all of our starters in place already.
What do we need? In order, I think we need to draft the following positions:
1) Offensive line. Yeah, we won the Superbowl, but Ben got hit A LOT last year and our running game was too inconsistent, especially in short yardage. We really need to upgrade our starters at some point. I guess I’m okay playing 16 games this year with the guys we have but I would LOVE for a rookie to catch fire and make it into the starting lineup. That would be a pleasant surprise.
2) Defensive line. Our defensive linemen are STUDS and as long as Aaron Smith isn’t the injured one we have very nice depth behind them. The problem is, all the starters AND backups are getting very old. I think they are all over 30. Maybe one of them is just under 30. We really need some youth injected into the mix for future years. Also, Casey Hampton’s contract comes up in 2010 and I just don’t see us re-signing him (he’ll want too much money). So we are really going to need a 3-4 Nose Tackle fairly soon. Chris Hoke could step in and replace him, but again, he is getting old too.
3) Corner back. Yes, Gay will replace McFadden and do fine. Yes, Deshea Townsend is still there and can step into the starting role if needed. Yes we just picked up our only free agent from another team (a 27 year old perennial back up corner). But we don’t have a young guy in the mix that will eventually replace Taylor or Gay. Gay was that guy and now he will start. So we still do need to get a young guy in there that can become a starter eventually.
4) Wide Receiver. I guess I’m not 100% sold on Sweed and Baker just yet. I’m sure they can be a #3 for at least a year, but can either of them be a #1 or #2? Ward might only have a few seasons left and Holmes might never get another contract with the Steelers (depends on what he’ll ask for money wise). So we need to figure out who will be our next two starting wide receivers some day.
5) Safety. Troy and Ryan are the best two safeties in football as far as I am concerned. The problem is that behind them we’re not exactly lighting it up with talent. Tyrone Carter is okay. Hell, I can’t even remember what other safeties are on the roster other than him for that matter. We need some depth here.
6) Linebacker. For the 100th time you’ll here me say I am ALWAYS okay with the Steelers drafting a linebacker. In a 3-4 defense you need to make sure you always have a stable of young linebackers available. As you can see with James Harrison, good ones cost you plenty. You can’t afford to pay 4 guys like that so you have to always have quality young guys to plug in there and fill the holes.
And that’s about it. We are plenty deep at RB, QB, and TE so there isn’t much left to talk about.
In previous years I would get very worked up with the order we drafted these positions in. This year, I’m not worried at all. I could really care less what order we draft any of these guys in because at least for this year, we probably don’t need any of them. So we have the luxury of biding our time and taking the best player. And if that means packaging two picks together to jump ahead of someone to get our guy, go for it.
This should be a stress free draft for Steelers fans. So I can sit back, drink a beer, and enjoy.
HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!
-David
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Aftermath... and the New Beginning
Wow, what a Superbowl. The Steelers obviously won taking my post season pick record to 7-4.
The game itself left me an emotional wreck. My wife and I were watching it with a bunch of Cowboys fans and general haters. So they took great fun in fucking with us every single time Arizona did anything. That said, my only option was to get really drunk and put on my full Steelers tailgating armor and fight back. Because of this, I couldn’t remember most of the game except that last drive.
So this past Sunday I finally re-watched the game and here are my observations:
In the 1st quarter, Arizona only had the ball 1 time (5 plays, 13 yards).
Ben’s rushing TD should not have been overturned.
Ben is awesome… On the first touchdown drive, on 3rd and 10, he hits Heath Miller for a 1st down after an awesome scramble.
The interception with 2:01 left in the 2nd half was not really Ben’s fault (tipped high in the air).
Very next series: James Harrison 100 yard INT for TD. The blocking was incredible, especially as he moved through the area where the Arizona offensive line was pursuing.
End of first half.
3rd quarter. This is where I predicted the game would be won or lost.
First possession, Arizona with time consuming drive ending on PIT 49, punt.
Second possession, Ben to Hines for another clutch 3rd down conversion. Ben kept the ball, scrambled like crazy, ended up getting roughed by Dansby (bullshit call but they all are). Rack it up to the scramble. Later in that drive, bullshit call against Arizona’s Adrian Wilson for running into the holder on a field goal try. Manage to get to 1st and goal but still can only walk away with a field goal.
Third possession, Arizona starts on their 20. The quarter ends on that drive.
Overall, the 3rd quarter was uneventful. The Steelers win it 3-0. My prediction comes true, I guess, though it wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it would be. For the record, Arizona would finally end this drive in the 4th quarter with a punt.
How did this game get close? 13 minutes to go in the 4th and Steelers are up 20-7 with the ball at the 50.
Well, it started with a sack by the Cardinals on Ben on 3rd down with that ball at 50.
Arizona receives a Steelers punt on their 13 yard line with 11:30 left. On their first full possession of 4th: Lot of passing. Lot of 1st downs. Passing into middle of field (TE, WR-Fitzgerald, JJ. Arrington, Fitzgerald again, and Fitzgerald again, quick Hightower pass and then Fitzgerald again in the end zone (fade). Damn near all these passes are into the middle of the field. Arizona figured something out and adjusted. Fitzgerald is good, really good. Taylor defended the TD play about as well as you can.. Drive took only 3:57 (lot of quick passes).
Steelers ball. Parker up middle. Sack (Dockett, number 2 on the game). Pass to Miller. Punt. 3 and out. Credit the Arizona defense.
Arizona ball. Steelers touch the punt dead. ~5:30 left in game. 20-14. Bullshit personal foul on Ike Taylor (fucking with a guy out of bounds). Breaston with a huge 26 yard catch and run up the middle (again!). Troy almost picked a ball off (a little outside). 3rd and 20. Steelers bring too much pressure for Warner to handle. Punt. ARZ downs it on the 2. James Harrison with really bullshit personal foul. He was just beating the shit out of someone. It’s football for christ’s sake. It’s his job.
Pittsburgh ball. 3:26 to go. Ball on 1 yard line. 1st down, incomplete (Hines with a rare miss he should have caught). 2nd down, Parker up middle… close to a safety. Parker did a good job to avoid the safety with a massive 2nd effort push. 3rd and 10 from the goal line. Beautiful 1st down catch by Holmes, negated by an ultra bullshit holding call. Safety. Steelers free kick (from 20). It is interesting to note that Tomlin later claimed that if they did not get this first down (I assume he meant if the pass went incomplete) that he would have taken the safety anyhow as opposed to punting the ball from the goal line. I see no reason to doubt that he would have.
A lot of bullshit penalty calls in this game against both sides. Fairly poor officiating but at least the errors were pretty balanced on both sides, I guess.
Arizona gets the ball on their 36, down by 4 points with 2:53 left. Incomplete pass on 1st. 2nd down is Fitzgerald TD. Wow. My first thought as this play happened on 2/1/09 was, “at least they left plenty of time on the clock”. Both safeties playing deep but on the outsides. Middle was wide open after Fitz got past Ike and Harrison. There was a 4 man rush on Warner. Wow. Quick score. Plenty of time on the clock. Both safeties bit on each outside receiver moving to the sidelines. Fitz cut from left right up the middle after other WRs broke. That passing into the middle of the field stuff is getting really old.
PIT gets ball on 22 with 2:30 left. Arizona up 23-20. Plenty of time.
1st down: Pass to Moore (4 yds), Hold. Ball moved back to 12.
1st down: Ben drops back to 2 yd line, scrambles to avoid multiple sacks. Pass to Santonio for about 14 yards. NOTE: This play was my favorite of the game and the reason I think Ben should have won the MVP. He should have been sacked. We should have been 2nd and long from the 2. 98 yards to go and a very bleak outlook. I think 95% of the quarterbacks in the NFL would have been sacked on that play.
2nd down: Quick play to avoid 2 min warning… deep to Washington, incomplete.
3rd down: (and 6). Ben to Santonio, he stands in the pocket amidst all the pressure. 1st down!
1st down: Washington, 1st down. In bounds. Ball on 50.
1st down: Ben, scrambles, rush up middle for 4.
2nd down: Timeout. 1:02 left, on the 46 of Arizona. Ben, plenty of time in the pocket. Stays in it. Pass deep to Holmes, run down to 7 yard line!
1st and goal: Time out . 49 sec. Why the time out?????? That was the last time out. Should have saved it for a potential field goal or not used it so all the time could be run off the clock. Pass right through the hands of Holmes on the left side. He should have caught it. Pathetic. Needless to say during the actual Superbowl I was motherfucking Santonio up and down during the instant replays.
2nd and goal: Santonio. Perfect catch. Feet in bounds. TD! Plenty of time. Threw into 3 Arizona defenders in a strange kind of fade afterthought. Perfectly thrown. Perfectly caught. Why did Ben even throw it? Into triple coverage? Chances are by the time the ball gets there Holmes will be out of bounds. Replayed a million times. But both feet down, control of the ball. TD, motherfucker! 35 seconds left. NOTE: Its worth mentioning that the ball spot strangely moved half a yard between 1st and 2nd down.
Arizona ball on their 23 with 29 seconds left. Steelers ahead, 27-23.
1st down: Fitzgerald almost 20 yarder. Timeout. 22 seconds to go.
2nd down: Arrington for about 12. All these passes are in the middle. At this point it makes sense as we were obviously protecting the sidelines. 15 seconds left. Timeout.
3rd down: Warner. Steelers Pressure. Good coverage. Woodley creates a fumble. 5 seconds left. Kiesel recovers.
1st down, Steelers. Victory formation. Polamalu in the V. Game over.
Steelers win their 6th Superbowl, the only team in NFL history to win 6 of them.
Ben should have been MVP. But maybe that’s ok… keep him hungry. If we get back again maybe that will drive him to super human levels.
As predicted, the better team wins. Arizona had a few glorious moments, but you just can’t stop Pittsburgh for 60 straight minutes. They are too good.
NOTE: I apologize ahead of time for the rough transition here. Now that we have closure on the 2008 season, it is time to focus on 2009. No rest for the wicked or the World Champions!
The Steelers have many things to address in the offseason, including re-signing both free agents (M. Starks, M. Smith, C. Kemoeatu, T. Essex, B. McFadden, N. Washington, etc.) and re-signing guys going into the last year of their contracts (J. Harrison, H. Ward, H. Miller, J. Reed, etc.)
In my opinion, here is the order that I think the Steelers should focus on when extending/offering contracts:
James Harrison (1 year left on contract)
Hines Ward (1 year left of contract)
Heath Miller (1 year left on contract)
Jeff Reed (1 year left on contract)
Bryant McFadden (Free Agent at the end of the month)
M. Starks (Free Agent at end of month, Steelers franchised him again)
Chris Kemoeatu (Free Agent at the end of the month)
Nate Washington (Free Agent at the end of the month)
Kenyaron Fox (Free Agent at the end of the month)
That said, I’d like to see them lock up McFadden before he become a free agent. The rest of the free agents I’m okay if the Steelers wait until they hit the market.
It seems like an automatic at this point that they will resign Harrison and Starks.
While I didn’t list him above, I also think we need to re-sign Charlie Batch. I didn’t list him because I think it is a given that he wants to come back so I can’t imagine it would be a great challenge to sign him.
The next priority will be the draft. I’m sure I’ll talk about that a lot later but off the cuff we need to pick up Offensive Lineman, Defensive Lineman, a Wide Receiver (especially if we don’t re-sign Washington), and maybe a Safety. A Corner if we don’t resign McFadden. Of course you’ll never hear me complain about drafting Linebackers.
Enjoy the offseason!
-David
The game itself left me an emotional wreck. My wife and I were watching it with a bunch of Cowboys fans and general haters. So they took great fun in fucking with us every single time Arizona did anything. That said, my only option was to get really drunk and put on my full Steelers tailgating armor and fight back. Because of this, I couldn’t remember most of the game except that last drive.
So this past Sunday I finally re-watched the game and here are my observations:
In the 1st quarter, Arizona only had the ball 1 time (5 plays, 13 yards).
Ben’s rushing TD should not have been overturned.
Ben is awesome… On the first touchdown drive, on 3rd and 10, he hits Heath Miller for a 1st down after an awesome scramble.
The interception with 2:01 left in the 2nd half was not really Ben’s fault (tipped high in the air).
Very next series: James Harrison 100 yard INT for TD. The blocking was incredible, especially as he moved through the area where the Arizona offensive line was pursuing.
End of first half.
3rd quarter. This is where I predicted the game would be won or lost.
First possession, Arizona with time consuming drive ending on PIT 49, punt.
Second possession, Ben to Hines for another clutch 3rd down conversion. Ben kept the ball, scrambled like crazy, ended up getting roughed by Dansby (bullshit call but they all are). Rack it up to the scramble. Later in that drive, bullshit call against Arizona’s Adrian Wilson for running into the holder on a field goal try. Manage to get to 1st and goal but still can only walk away with a field goal.
Third possession, Arizona starts on their 20. The quarter ends on that drive.
Overall, the 3rd quarter was uneventful. The Steelers win it 3-0. My prediction comes true, I guess, though it wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it would be. For the record, Arizona would finally end this drive in the 4th quarter with a punt.
How did this game get close? 13 minutes to go in the 4th and Steelers are up 20-7 with the ball at the 50.
Well, it started with a sack by the Cardinals on Ben on 3rd down with that ball at 50.
Arizona receives a Steelers punt on their 13 yard line with 11:30 left. On their first full possession of 4th: Lot of passing. Lot of 1st downs. Passing into middle of field (TE, WR-Fitzgerald, JJ. Arrington, Fitzgerald again, and Fitzgerald again, quick Hightower pass and then Fitzgerald again in the end zone (fade). Damn near all these passes are into the middle of the field. Arizona figured something out and adjusted. Fitzgerald is good, really good. Taylor defended the TD play about as well as you can.. Drive took only 3:57 (lot of quick passes).
Steelers ball. Parker up middle. Sack (Dockett, number 2 on the game). Pass to Miller. Punt. 3 and out. Credit the Arizona defense.
Arizona ball. Steelers touch the punt dead. ~5:30 left in game. 20-14. Bullshit personal foul on Ike Taylor (fucking with a guy out of bounds). Breaston with a huge 26 yard catch and run up the middle (again!). Troy almost picked a ball off (a little outside). 3rd and 20. Steelers bring too much pressure for Warner to handle. Punt. ARZ downs it on the 2. James Harrison with really bullshit personal foul. He was just beating the shit out of someone. It’s football for christ’s sake. It’s his job.
Pittsburgh ball. 3:26 to go. Ball on 1 yard line. 1st down, incomplete (Hines with a rare miss he should have caught). 2nd down, Parker up middle… close to a safety. Parker did a good job to avoid the safety with a massive 2nd effort push. 3rd and 10 from the goal line. Beautiful 1st down catch by Holmes, negated by an ultra bullshit holding call. Safety. Steelers free kick (from 20). It is interesting to note that Tomlin later claimed that if they did not get this first down (I assume he meant if the pass went incomplete) that he would have taken the safety anyhow as opposed to punting the ball from the goal line. I see no reason to doubt that he would have.
A lot of bullshit penalty calls in this game against both sides. Fairly poor officiating but at least the errors were pretty balanced on both sides, I guess.
Arizona gets the ball on their 36, down by 4 points with 2:53 left. Incomplete pass on 1st. 2nd down is Fitzgerald TD. Wow. My first thought as this play happened on 2/1/09 was, “at least they left plenty of time on the clock”. Both safeties playing deep but on the outsides. Middle was wide open after Fitz got past Ike and Harrison. There was a 4 man rush on Warner. Wow. Quick score. Plenty of time on the clock. Both safeties bit on each outside receiver moving to the sidelines. Fitz cut from left right up the middle after other WRs broke. That passing into the middle of the field stuff is getting really old.
PIT gets ball on 22 with 2:30 left. Arizona up 23-20. Plenty of time.
1st down: Pass to Moore (4 yds), Hold. Ball moved back to 12.
1st down: Ben drops back to 2 yd line, scrambles to avoid multiple sacks. Pass to Santonio for about 14 yards. NOTE: This play was my favorite of the game and the reason I think Ben should have won the MVP. He should have been sacked. We should have been 2nd and long from the 2. 98 yards to go and a very bleak outlook. I think 95% of the quarterbacks in the NFL would have been sacked on that play.
2nd down: Quick play to avoid 2 min warning… deep to Washington, incomplete.
3rd down: (and 6). Ben to Santonio, he stands in the pocket amidst all the pressure. 1st down!
1st down: Washington, 1st down. In bounds. Ball on 50.
1st down: Ben, scrambles, rush up middle for 4.
2nd down: Timeout. 1:02 left, on the 46 of Arizona. Ben, plenty of time in the pocket. Stays in it. Pass deep to Holmes, run down to 7 yard line!
1st and goal: Time out . 49 sec. Why the time out?????? That was the last time out. Should have saved it for a potential field goal or not used it so all the time could be run off the clock. Pass right through the hands of Holmes on the left side. He should have caught it. Pathetic. Needless to say during the actual Superbowl I was motherfucking Santonio up and down during the instant replays.
2nd and goal: Santonio. Perfect catch. Feet in bounds. TD! Plenty of time. Threw into 3 Arizona defenders in a strange kind of fade afterthought. Perfectly thrown. Perfectly caught. Why did Ben even throw it? Into triple coverage? Chances are by the time the ball gets there Holmes will be out of bounds. Replayed a million times. But both feet down, control of the ball. TD, motherfucker! 35 seconds left. NOTE: Its worth mentioning that the ball spot strangely moved half a yard between 1st and 2nd down.
Arizona ball on their 23 with 29 seconds left. Steelers ahead, 27-23.
1st down: Fitzgerald almost 20 yarder. Timeout. 22 seconds to go.
2nd down: Arrington for about 12. All these passes are in the middle. At this point it makes sense as we were obviously protecting the sidelines. 15 seconds left. Timeout.
3rd down: Warner. Steelers Pressure. Good coverage. Woodley creates a fumble. 5 seconds left. Kiesel recovers.
1st down, Steelers. Victory formation. Polamalu in the V. Game over.
Steelers win their 6th Superbowl, the only team in NFL history to win 6 of them.
Ben should have been MVP. But maybe that’s ok… keep him hungry. If we get back again maybe that will drive him to super human levels.
As predicted, the better team wins. Arizona had a few glorious moments, but you just can’t stop Pittsburgh for 60 straight minutes. They are too good.
NOTE: I apologize ahead of time for the rough transition here. Now that we have closure on the 2008 season, it is time to focus on 2009. No rest for the wicked or the World Champions!
The Steelers have many things to address in the offseason, including re-signing both free agents (M. Starks, M. Smith, C. Kemoeatu, T. Essex, B. McFadden, N. Washington, etc.) and re-signing guys going into the last year of their contracts (J. Harrison, H. Ward, H. Miller, J. Reed, etc.)
In my opinion, here is the order that I think the Steelers should focus on when extending/offering contracts:
James Harrison (1 year left on contract)
Hines Ward (1 year left of contract)
Heath Miller (1 year left on contract)
Jeff Reed (1 year left on contract)
Bryant McFadden (Free Agent at the end of the month)
M. Starks (Free Agent at end of month, Steelers franchised him again)
Chris Kemoeatu (Free Agent at the end of the month)
Nate Washington (Free Agent at the end of the month)
Kenyaron Fox (Free Agent at the end of the month)
That said, I’d like to see them lock up McFadden before he become a free agent. The rest of the free agents I’m okay if the Steelers wait until they hit the market.
It seems like an automatic at this point that they will resign Harrison and Starks.
While I didn’t list him above, I also think we need to re-sign Charlie Batch. I didn’t list him because I think it is a given that he wants to come back so I can’t imagine it would be a great challenge to sign him.
The next priority will be the draft. I’m sure I’ll talk about that a lot later but off the cuff we need to pick up Offensive Lineman, Defensive Lineman, a Wide Receiver (especially if we don’t re-sign Washington), and maybe a Safety. A Corner if we don’t resign McFadden. Of course you’ll never hear me complain about drafting Linebackers.
Enjoy the offseason!
-David
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Pittsburgh's going to the Superbowl (Here we go)
Well fuck me running up the side of a hill if lightening didn’t strike 3 times and the Cardinals once again muckered up my prognosticating. 1-1 last week brings me to a barely respectable 6-4 for the post season. But you know what? I think I can pull out the Superbowl pick and put myself over the edge here. Why?
Because Pittsburgh’s going to the Superbowl! Here we go!
Needless to say I’m ecstatic about this. We finally have the opportunity to pull in front of Dallas and San Francisco and take our rightful place atop the modern day NFL mountain. The other nice thing about this past bye week is that I’m also not a basket case like I was prior to Superbowl XL. Am I overconfident this time? Maybe. Am I just the second coming of Nostradamus as I proclaimed at the beginning of the post season? Maybe. Let’s get to the game analysis and then you can be the judge.
Pittsburgh vs Arizona? Who would have thunk it. Pittsburgh shouldn’t shock anyone as they’ve played high quality football all year long, pummeling their way through the league’s most difficult schedule at start of season. Arizona, on the other hand, started the year well, but then completely fell apart and only made the playoffs because they are in the weakest division in the NFL, the NFC West. Nonetheless, when they did get to the post season, they certainly did step up their game, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Can they pull out one more magical game and take their place in history? Another team did something similar a couple years back by squeaking into the playoffs and winning every game on the road to finally take down the Lombardi trophy in Detroit, MI. That team was the Pittsburgh Steelers and that magical run was the aforementioned Superbowl XL.
But the Arizona Cardinals are not the Pittsburgh Steelers and that, in the end, will be why Pittsburgh wins this game.
When I first started contemplating the game, I was a little nervous. Ken Whisenhunt is a good coach with a knack for knowing exactly when to throw in a trick play that can change the momentum of the game. If the Cardinals defense could at least keep the game under control for the first half, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Whis could pull out a trick play in the second half that could give the Cardinals the lead and then allow them to ride out the momentum all the way to the end.
And I think it probably will be a close game to an extent in the first half. I think you’ll see a halftime score that puts one team up by less than 10 points. I’m not even sure which team will be ahead to tell you the truth. But that is not going to matter because I think Pittsburgh will come out of the second half and play 30 minutes of pure ball control football. They’ll use the first half to soften up the Arizona defense and I think you’ll see the Willie Parker show in the second half as we proceed to keep the Arizona offense off the field. And when they get on the field (especially in the 4th quarter), you’re going to start seeing the wheels come off as the Steelers take advantage of their desperation.
I don’t think the Steelers’ will register a single sack in the first half. However in the second half I think you’ll see Warner on his ass 3 or 4 times and he’ll also turn the ball over at least 2 times. As the Steelers smell the fear they will become almost inhuman in their aggression, kind of like sharks circling a raft full of shipwrecked sailors. Feeding Frenzy. Double Frenzy.
By the time the clock ticks to zero, I think we’ll see that one team has completely and totally imposed their will on the other team.
And that will be the Steelers, 35 to 20.
Is that because Tomlin/Lebeau will win the coaching battle with Whis/Haley? Is that because Big Ben will not turn the ball over? Is that because the Steelers D will finally crack the riddle of getting to Warner? Or is that because Warner is a flaming douchebag?
No. The reason the Steelers will win this game is actually very simple. As a group of individuals that build up into a team, the Steelers are just flat out better. And the better team is going to win this game. At damn near every position on the field we are better than they are (and that includes the cornerbacks, Paul).
Yeah, Whis probably will catch us with our pants down for a trick play. But you can only hide the lack of talent on that team for so long with smoke and mirrors. The Steelers will destroy those mirrors and once again lift the Lombardi trophy above their heads.
-David
Other random thoughts on the big game:
Whoever wins the 3rd quarter will win the game.
I do wonder how Hines Ward will be in the game. They list him as probable and I do believe he’ll be in pretty good shape. If he is playing well and the knee is not bothering him I think that is just another nail in the coffin of Arizona. With Hines and Heath Miller on the field, both our clutch 3rd down weapons will be on display. Let the first downs begin!!
As far as the MVP? I would LOVE it if Hines would get it again. But I guess I’m leaning towards Big Ben taking it this time. My back up pick would be Troy Polamalu.
I read this week that the Mayor of Phoenix pretended to blow his nose on the Terrible Towel and then he threw it on the ground. BIG FUCKING MISTAKE, douchebag. No one disrespects the Terrible Towel. You’ll have to learn the hard way.
I also hear that the Steelers Nation has descended on Tampa. The vast majority of the true fans in audience tomorrow night will be Steelers fan. This is no surprise. The Cardinals and their fans aren’t going to know what to think. Our fans, like the team, are prepared for battle when they travel. Thousands of drunken yinzers will pour into the stadium in infinite waves to see the damage that will be wrought, drinking every last drop of beer the vendors have to sell in the process. The Cardinals fans are not going to know what to think of this. I expect the majority of them to shit their pants in fear of the Black and Gold mob. Hell, by the end of the game they will probably become Steelers fans. They will see that life is more fun that way.
And what’s up with the media all of a sudden starting to pick Arizona. It’s damn near becoming fashionable. Maybe they think Arizona is charmed? Maybe they are just haters? The majority of those hacks are still picking the Steelers but it disturbs me that more than a couple seem to think the Cardinals could do this. I think it must be the NFL paying them off to make people think it will be a good, close game.
As for me? Unlike Superbowl XL, I will not huddle inside my house like a crazed hermit and watch the game far away from the eyes of the my critics. I’ll be going into the belly of the beast – No – not to an Arizona Cardinals fan’s house (because there are no such things in existence). Rather I’ll be going to my buddy Dave’s Superbowl party. Dave is a Bengals fan (he has issues) but I’ll be surrounded by two of the biggest Pittsburgh Haters I know (Cowboys fans, of course) as well as your odds and ends of Redskins and Bills and etc. As far as I know, my wife and I will be the only two Steelers fans in attendance. But don’t fear, dear reader. I am true Black and Gold to the core and I will rise above all the haters and help the rest of the Steelers Nation will them on to victory.
HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!
-David
PS: Obviously this week’s entry is about the farthest thing from “objective” as you can get. But fuck it. Give me a break this one time. That part about us being the better group of players is true and is honestly why I think the Steelers will win.
PSS: Fuck Kurt Warner and his wacked out Christianity. And fuck his haggly wife. On second thought, no, we’ll leave him to fuck that nasty thing. The only thing that could be better than a Steelers win would be a Steelers win which includes us knocking that fucknut out of the game and forcing Playboy Leinart to come in and embarrass his team. Salt on the wound, baby.
Because Pittsburgh’s going to the Superbowl! Here we go!
Needless to say I’m ecstatic about this. We finally have the opportunity to pull in front of Dallas and San Francisco and take our rightful place atop the modern day NFL mountain. The other nice thing about this past bye week is that I’m also not a basket case like I was prior to Superbowl XL. Am I overconfident this time? Maybe. Am I just the second coming of Nostradamus as I proclaimed at the beginning of the post season? Maybe. Let’s get to the game analysis and then you can be the judge.
Pittsburgh vs Arizona? Who would have thunk it. Pittsburgh shouldn’t shock anyone as they’ve played high quality football all year long, pummeling their way through the league’s most difficult schedule at start of season. Arizona, on the other hand, started the year well, but then completely fell apart and only made the playoffs because they are in the weakest division in the NFL, the NFC West. Nonetheless, when they did get to the post season, they certainly did step up their game, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Can they pull out one more magical game and take their place in history? Another team did something similar a couple years back by squeaking into the playoffs and winning every game on the road to finally take down the Lombardi trophy in Detroit, MI. That team was the Pittsburgh Steelers and that magical run was the aforementioned Superbowl XL.
But the Arizona Cardinals are not the Pittsburgh Steelers and that, in the end, will be why Pittsburgh wins this game.
When I first started contemplating the game, I was a little nervous. Ken Whisenhunt is a good coach with a knack for knowing exactly when to throw in a trick play that can change the momentum of the game. If the Cardinals defense could at least keep the game under control for the first half, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Whis could pull out a trick play in the second half that could give the Cardinals the lead and then allow them to ride out the momentum all the way to the end.
And I think it probably will be a close game to an extent in the first half. I think you’ll see a halftime score that puts one team up by less than 10 points. I’m not even sure which team will be ahead to tell you the truth. But that is not going to matter because I think Pittsburgh will come out of the second half and play 30 minutes of pure ball control football. They’ll use the first half to soften up the Arizona defense and I think you’ll see the Willie Parker show in the second half as we proceed to keep the Arizona offense off the field. And when they get on the field (especially in the 4th quarter), you’re going to start seeing the wheels come off as the Steelers take advantage of their desperation.
I don’t think the Steelers’ will register a single sack in the first half. However in the second half I think you’ll see Warner on his ass 3 or 4 times and he’ll also turn the ball over at least 2 times. As the Steelers smell the fear they will become almost inhuman in their aggression, kind of like sharks circling a raft full of shipwrecked sailors. Feeding Frenzy. Double Frenzy.
By the time the clock ticks to zero, I think we’ll see that one team has completely and totally imposed their will on the other team.
And that will be the Steelers, 35 to 20.
Is that because Tomlin/Lebeau will win the coaching battle with Whis/Haley? Is that because Big Ben will not turn the ball over? Is that because the Steelers D will finally crack the riddle of getting to Warner? Or is that because Warner is a flaming douchebag?
No. The reason the Steelers will win this game is actually very simple. As a group of individuals that build up into a team, the Steelers are just flat out better. And the better team is going to win this game. At damn near every position on the field we are better than they are (and that includes the cornerbacks, Paul).
Yeah, Whis probably will catch us with our pants down for a trick play. But you can only hide the lack of talent on that team for so long with smoke and mirrors. The Steelers will destroy those mirrors and once again lift the Lombardi trophy above their heads.
-David
Other random thoughts on the big game:
Whoever wins the 3rd quarter will win the game.
I do wonder how Hines Ward will be in the game. They list him as probable and I do believe he’ll be in pretty good shape. If he is playing well and the knee is not bothering him I think that is just another nail in the coffin of Arizona. With Hines and Heath Miller on the field, both our clutch 3rd down weapons will be on display. Let the first downs begin!!
As far as the MVP? I would LOVE it if Hines would get it again. But I guess I’m leaning towards Big Ben taking it this time. My back up pick would be Troy Polamalu.
I read this week that the Mayor of Phoenix pretended to blow his nose on the Terrible Towel and then he threw it on the ground. BIG FUCKING MISTAKE, douchebag. No one disrespects the Terrible Towel. You’ll have to learn the hard way.
I also hear that the Steelers Nation has descended on Tampa. The vast majority of the true fans in audience tomorrow night will be Steelers fan. This is no surprise. The Cardinals and their fans aren’t going to know what to think. Our fans, like the team, are prepared for battle when they travel. Thousands of drunken yinzers will pour into the stadium in infinite waves to see the damage that will be wrought, drinking every last drop of beer the vendors have to sell in the process. The Cardinals fans are not going to know what to think of this. I expect the majority of them to shit their pants in fear of the Black and Gold mob. Hell, by the end of the game they will probably become Steelers fans. They will see that life is more fun that way.
And what’s up with the media all of a sudden starting to pick Arizona. It’s damn near becoming fashionable. Maybe they think Arizona is charmed? Maybe they are just haters? The majority of those hacks are still picking the Steelers but it disturbs me that more than a couple seem to think the Cardinals could do this. I think it must be the NFL paying them off to make people think it will be a good, close game.
As for me? Unlike Superbowl XL, I will not huddle inside my house like a crazed hermit and watch the game far away from the eyes of the my critics. I’ll be going into the belly of the beast – No – not to an Arizona Cardinals fan’s house (because there are no such things in existence). Rather I’ll be going to my buddy Dave’s Superbowl party. Dave is a Bengals fan (he has issues) but I’ll be surrounded by two of the biggest Pittsburgh Haters I know (Cowboys fans, of course) as well as your odds and ends of Redskins and Bills and etc. As far as I know, my wife and I will be the only two Steelers fans in attendance. But don’t fear, dear reader. I am true Black and Gold to the core and I will rise above all the haters and help the rest of the Steelers Nation will them on to victory.
HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!
-David
PS: Obviously this week’s entry is about the farthest thing from “objective” as you can get. But fuck it. Give me a break this one time. That part about us being the better group of players is true and is honestly why I think the Steelers will win.
PSS: Fuck Kurt Warner and his wacked out Christianity. And fuck his haggly wife. On second thought, no, we’ll leave him to fuck that nasty thing. The only thing that could be better than a Steelers win would be a Steelers win which includes us knocking that fucknut out of the game and forcing Playboy Leinart to come in and embarrass his team. Salt on the wound, baby.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Conference Championships, baby!
Now that’s more like it. I went 3-1 last weekend which brings my post season picks to 5-3.
Before we get to the meat of this weekend’s picks, let’s just get the bane of my post season predictions out of the way… what’s up with the Cardinals? Did they really win that game or did Jake Delhomme and the Carolina secondary just flat out lose it in a cataclysmic fashion?
This weekend’s NFC Championship game between the Cardinals and the Eagles is going to come down to one thing: mistakes. I’m not even going to be obvious and say turnovers. I’m going to say any kind of mistake (turnovers, blown coverage, missed protection pick up on the line, etc.). What I mean by that is that apparently Arizona CAN beat a real team if they play a perfect game. But I just don’t think they can afford to make a single mistake. One mistake and they are probably done. Philadelphia, on the other hand, can probably afford to make a few mistakes and still win because, let’s face it, they are better than Arizona. This especially holds true when the Cardinals D faces the Philly offense. Philly’s offense has a tendency to sputter (especially in the last couple games) while Arizona’s defense has been playing on FIRE. If those two trends keep up… The Arizona Cardinals in the Superbowl? Could it be?
All that said, I’m taking Philly. I don’t see lightening striking 3 times in a row.
Now, to the important game this weekend: Pittsburgh vs Baltimore. Let’s face it, neither of those NFC teams could beat either of these AFC North powerhouses. So when you watch the AFC Championship this weekend, you are finding out who will be the Superbowl champ.
Both teams are bruising juggernauts on both offense and defense. Thankfully, I think this one boils down to injuries, which favors the Steelers who only have Troy Polamalu and Justin Hartwig with ailments. Now, I need to be careful when I say “only” Polamalu because he is just that big of a difference maker. In addition, while Justin Hartwig is not even close to being the best center in the league, he is the guy who snapped balls to Big Ben all year. So I hope whoever our back up center is (Darnel Stapleton?) he is getting a lot of practice snaps this week. There is nothing worse than a botched snap exchange that leads to a lost fumble. And while Hartwig may be ready to go at the beginning of the game, what if he gets re-injured during the war? Let’s be ready just in case.
On the other hand, the Ravens have a ton of walking wounded. And unlike the Steelers, their injuries are serious enough that guys might not even play. The most notable are Terrell Suggs, Samari Rolle, and Le’Ron McLain. Remember what happened last year to the Steelers when Aaron Smith and Ryan Clark went down and on top of that Troy should have gone down (but he is just too damn tough for that). Our defense essentially fell apart. If both Suggs and Rolle don’t play combined with some of the other guys on D who are banged up… I just don’t see how Baltimore can win this game. The Steelers offense, while anemic most of the year, should be able to take advantage of that. Especially the passing game as Suggs is critical to their pass rush and Rolle is a key to defending the pass.
On offense, McClain is one of the only running backs this year who gave the Steelers D some problems. We ended up containing him pretty well in both games, but he is a big, bruising son of a bitch. If he is out of there and all we have to do is contain Willis McGahee… well let’s just say I think it is going to be a long game or Joe Flacco as we won’t have to respect the run so much. If Ray Rice wasn’t injured a while back I would be concerned about him as well as he is their rookie change of pace back. In fact if all 3 RBs were healthy I would be fairly nervous. But it looks like only McGahee will be healthy enough to make an impact which heavily favors the Steelers. McClain will probably play, but I expect him to re-injure his ankle and spend most of the game on the sidelines.
After the injuries, the next biggest key to this game is the quarterbacks. Everyone knows that these defenses are the two best in the league, so how will these quarterbacks attack? I think this key boils down to which QB throws the better deep balls. The Pittsburgh D had a few uncharacteristic issues with the deep ball last week against the Chargers. I’m sure Baltimore noticed that and will attack that aggressively with Flacco’s big time arm. He can really wail one down the field and Coach Harbaugh seems to have no problem getting those kinds of plays dialed up for him.
On the flip side, Big Ben can also throw a ball out the back of the stadium parking lot. The difference here is probably Ed Reed. He is biggest ball hawk in the league. This whole story line probably boils down to who wins the mental game of Big Ben vs Ed Reed. Can Ed disguise his deep coverage enough to force Ben to throw into an area he is watching? Can Ben get a bead on Reed and make sure to keep the ball away from his range of coverage? To be honest, I don’t know who will win this battle. What I do know is that Bruce Arians can help this situation GREATLY by always giving Ben two options on the deep ball plays. I’d like to see him call plays where if there is a deep route, there are two. For example, send Washington on a deep post down the right sideline and Holmes down the left. Or send one of them and Hines Ward down the same sideline and then about 25 yards out have Hines cut his route back to the middle of the field. This way, you are probably forcing Reed to bite on one of the two routes. If he does, then Ben can just toss the ball to the other route who most likely now has single man coverage.
If Ben can keep the ball away from Ed Reed, the Steelers can and will win this game.
This game will be a battle of the ages. It will be one of those games, like the Immaculate Reception where the Superbowl isn’t the most remembered game of that post season. Thirty years from now, when people think back on Superbowl XLIII, they are going to have a vague memory in the back of their mind that Baltimore and Pittsburgh were playing for the Lombardi trophy. This game will be burned so deeply into their memories that they’ll completely forget it was just the AFC Championship game, not the Superbowl.
I can’t wait.
For the record, I’m picking Pittsburgh.
HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!
-David
PS: And also for the record, in the Superbowl I’m picking the AFC team, regardless of what happens in either game this weekend.
Before we get to the meat of this weekend’s picks, let’s just get the bane of my post season predictions out of the way… what’s up with the Cardinals? Did they really win that game or did Jake Delhomme and the Carolina secondary just flat out lose it in a cataclysmic fashion?
This weekend’s NFC Championship game between the Cardinals and the Eagles is going to come down to one thing: mistakes. I’m not even going to be obvious and say turnovers. I’m going to say any kind of mistake (turnovers, blown coverage, missed protection pick up on the line, etc.). What I mean by that is that apparently Arizona CAN beat a real team if they play a perfect game. But I just don’t think they can afford to make a single mistake. One mistake and they are probably done. Philadelphia, on the other hand, can probably afford to make a few mistakes and still win because, let’s face it, they are better than Arizona. This especially holds true when the Cardinals D faces the Philly offense. Philly’s offense has a tendency to sputter (especially in the last couple games) while Arizona’s defense has been playing on FIRE. If those two trends keep up… The Arizona Cardinals in the Superbowl? Could it be?
All that said, I’m taking Philly. I don’t see lightening striking 3 times in a row.
Now, to the important game this weekend: Pittsburgh vs Baltimore. Let’s face it, neither of those NFC teams could beat either of these AFC North powerhouses. So when you watch the AFC Championship this weekend, you are finding out who will be the Superbowl champ.
Both teams are bruising juggernauts on both offense and defense. Thankfully, I think this one boils down to injuries, which favors the Steelers who only have Troy Polamalu and Justin Hartwig with ailments. Now, I need to be careful when I say “only” Polamalu because he is just that big of a difference maker. In addition, while Justin Hartwig is not even close to being the best center in the league, he is the guy who snapped balls to Big Ben all year. So I hope whoever our back up center is (Darnel Stapleton?) he is getting a lot of practice snaps this week. There is nothing worse than a botched snap exchange that leads to a lost fumble. And while Hartwig may be ready to go at the beginning of the game, what if he gets re-injured during the war? Let’s be ready just in case.
On the other hand, the Ravens have a ton of walking wounded. And unlike the Steelers, their injuries are serious enough that guys might not even play. The most notable are Terrell Suggs, Samari Rolle, and Le’Ron McLain. Remember what happened last year to the Steelers when Aaron Smith and Ryan Clark went down and on top of that Troy should have gone down (but he is just too damn tough for that). Our defense essentially fell apart. If both Suggs and Rolle don’t play combined with some of the other guys on D who are banged up… I just don’t see how Baltimore can win this game. The Steelers offense, while anemic most of the year, should be able to take advantage of that. Especially the passing game as Suggs is critical to their pass rush and Rolle is a key to defending the pass.
On offense, McClain is one of the only running backs this year who gave the Steelers D some problems. We ended up containing him pretty well in both games, but he is a big, bruising son of a bitch. If he is out of there and all we have to do is contain Willis McGahee… well let’s just say I think it is going to be a long game or Joe Flacco as we won’t have to respect the run so much. If Ray Rice wasn’t injured a while back I would be concerned about him as well as he is their rookie change of pace back. In fact if all 3 RBs were healthy I would be fairly nervous. But it looks like only McGahee will be healthy enough to make an impact which heavily favors the Steelers. McClain will probably play, but I expect him to re-injure his ankle and spend most of the game on the sidelines.
After the injuries, the next biggest key to this game is the quarterbacks. Everyone knows that these defenses are the two best in the league, so how will these quarterbacks attack? I think this key boils down to which QB throws the better deep balls. The Pittsburgh D had a few uncharacteristic issues with the deep ball last week against the Chargers. I’m sure Baltimore noticed that and will attack that aggressively with Flacco’s big time arm. He can really wail one down the field and Coach Harbaugh seems to have no problem getting those kinds of plays dialed up for him.
On the flip side, Big Ben can also throw a ball out the back of the stadium parking lot. The difference here is probably Ed Reed. He is biggest ball hawk in the league. This whole story line probably boils down to who wins the mental game of Big Ben vs Ed Reed. Can Ed disguise his deep coverage enough to force Ben to throw into an area he is watching? Can Ben get a bead on Reed and make sure to keep the ball away from his range of coverage? To be honest, I don’t know who will win this battle. What I do know is that Bruce Arians can help this situation GREATLY by always giving Ben two options on the deep ball plays. I’d like to see him call plays where if there is a deep route, there are two. For example, send Washington on a deep post down the right sideline and Holmes down the left. Or send one of them and Hines Ward down the same sideline and then about 25 yards out have Hines cut his route back to the middle of the field. This way, you are probably forcing Reed to bite on one of the two routes. If he does, then Ben can just toss the ball to the other route who most likely now has single man coverage.
If Ben can keep the ball away from Ed Reed, the Steelers can and will win this game.
This game will be a battle of the ages. It will be one of those games, like the Immaculate Reception where the Superbowl isn’t the most remembered game of that post season. Thirty years from now, when people think back on Superbowl XLIII, they are going to have a vague memory in the back of their mind that Baltimore and Pittsburgh were playing for the Lombardi trophy. This game will be burned so deeply into their memories that they’ll completely forget it was just the AFC Championship game, not the Superbowl.
I can’t wait.
For the record, I’m picking Pittsburgh.
HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!
-David
PS: And also for the record, in the Superbowl I’m picking the AFC team, regardless of what happens in either game this weekend.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Predictions, Divisional Round style
Well, maybe I’m not the second coming of Nostradamus quite yet. With only a .500 record from last week’s games I’m not exactly tearing up the post season. Shit, a coin flip can get 0.500 accuracy picking football games.
But I’ll make it up this week. Since it’s Saturday morning already and the Baltimore/Tennessee game is only 6 hours away, I’ll get straight to the point:
Baltimore/Tennessee: This has a good chance of being the best football game of the week and I’m very excited for this one. I can really see either team winning it but I’m going with Baltimore. They seem to be on fire and come on… Kerry Collins?
Carolina/Arizona: This will likely be the worst game of the week as Carolina just completely destroys the Cardinals. Next.
New York Giants/Philadelphia: This also will likely be a great game. I’m going with Philly as I think they are on fire and, as you know, I really think the Giants are always one game away from self destruction. Consider this implosion week.
Pittsburgh/San Diego: This will hopefully not be the best game this week. By that I mean I hope the Steelers just beat the holy shit out of San Diego, which is quite possible. What is more likely to happen is the offense, led by Big Ben, turning the ball over 3 times and the Steelers just barely squeaking out the victory. If they turn it over 4+ times, San Diego wins. That said, I’m taking Pittsburgh.
That’s the picks for this week. Enjoy the games,
-David
But I’ll make it up this week. Since it’s Saturday morning already and the Baltimore/Tennessee game is only 6 hours away, I’ll get straight to the point:
Baltimore/Tennessee: This has a good chance of being the best football game of the week and I’m very excited for this one. I can really see either team winning it but I’m going with Baltimore. They seem to be on fire and come on… Kerry Collins?
Carolina/Arizona: This will likely be the worst game of the week as Carolina just completely destroys the Cardinals. Next.
New York Giants/Philadelphia: This also will likely be a great game. I’m going with Philly as I think they are on fire and, as you know, I really think the Giants are always one game away from self destruction. Consider this implosion week.
Pittsburgh/San Diego: This will hopefully not be the best game this week. By that I mean I hope the Steelers just beat the holy shit out of San Diego, which is quite possible. What is more likely to happen is the offense, led by Big Ben, turning the ball over 3 times and the Steelers just barely squeaking out the victory. If they turn it over 4+ times, San Diego wins. That said, I’m taking Pittsburgh.
That’s the picks for this week. Enjoy the games,
-David
Friday, January 2, 2009
I am Nostradamus
This past summer, Judas Priest released a double CD concept album about the life and times of Nostradamus. It is called “Nostradamus” and it rocks very fucking hard.
As I look back through some of my 2008 NFL predictions from the beginning of the season, I can’t help but to think that I am very much like Nostradamus.
NOTE: As I’m writing this I’m listening to “Nostradamus”, in particular the song “Prophecy” which was the song they opened up their concert with this summer. Let me just say that Judas Priest FUCKING ROCKS!!!! And Rob Halford is a FUCKING BEAST!!!!!!
Anyway, here is what I was thinking back in early September:
1) The defending Superbowl Champion New York Giants will finish no better than 3rd in the NFC East (and miss the playoffs).
Well, I got this one pretty wrong and I’m pissed about that. I hate the Giants and I hate that they won the NFC East. I still think they will unravel, though, so I would like to re-visit this one more time before the Superbowl. My new post season prediction is that they lose their first playoff game. They are a bunch of dumb, punk ass twats.
2) Brett Favre will help the Jets and get them to respectability this year (not quite to the playoffs, but close).
I’m going to call this one a success. I know people are all on the hate bandwagon for Eric Man-gina and Favre for supposedly sinking the Jet’s playoffs hopes, but let’s just say it takes 53 men and a whole coaching staff to lose games so don’t just heap it all on those two. Keep in mind this team was PATHETIC last season so I’d call 9-7 and just missing the playoffs respectable year over year.
3) The Jacksonville Jaguars will win the AFC South.
Damn. I knew Indy wouldn’t win the AFC South (I could smell the tide changing) but I thought it would be Jacksonville. Who would have predicted their collapse this season? Nostradamus? Not me. As much as I want to call this one a push I guess I have to call it a bad prediction.
4) The Pittsburgh Steelers will go 11-5 and win the AFC North.
Nailed this one. They technically went 12-4 but I’m taking this as a win.
5) The Cincinnati Bengals will go 2-14 and Marvin Lewis will still not be fired.
I’m calling this one a win also. I think they ended up something like 4-11-1. What a bunch of flaming douchebags the Bungles are. I know the coaching hatchets have not all fallen yet, but trust me, Lewis will keep his job and those pictures of Mike Brown blowing the dead corpse of his father, Paul, will remain safely in the vault.
6) 7-9 will win the NFC West (the Cardinals or Rams, if anyone cares).
You know, I’m going to call this one a win. Technically I think the Cardinals were 9-7, but you have to agree that the NFC West is still the weakest division in football. And the Seahawks are a bunch of Shit-hawks which always makes me happy.
7) Santonio Holmes will statistically be the best WR in the NFL.
I pretty much go this one 100% wrong. Wow, Santonio performed well below my expectations. Let’s hope he either snaps out of his funk next year or Limas Sweed catches on. If not, our WR corps is going to look a little anemic next year after Hines Ward and Heath Miller.
8) Satan will come to claim the soul of Bill Belifuck and his bitch, Tom Brady.
Yeah, let’s call this a win. For sure, Brady had to finally punch his ticket. Let’s hope all those infections he had during his recovery will end his career. Fuck him. And since Belifuck missed the playoffs I’m guessing Mr. D also tapped him on the shoulder and told him it’s time. Expect the Patriots to go 2-14 next year. YEAH!
9) The Cleveland Browns will take the leagues best offseason and still manage to fuck it up and lose.
This one was almost too easy. How could you not see this coming? I feel bad even taking credit for this one. See you later, Romeo… was nice knowing you. Maybe some other NFL team is hiring big, fat cheerleaders with blank looks on their faces because that is all you were.
10) Rashard Mendenhall will score more yards from the line of scrimmage than Felix Jones (this does not include special teams).
I’m also pissed about losing this one because I actually made a bet with my buddy Jack on this item. I’m not sure what the totals finally were, but I’m 99% sure Felix did edge out Rashard. I’ll make this same prediction next year, though, what the hell.
11) DeSean Jackson is the rookie sensation WR of the year.
I’m not sure about this one. I’ll call it a push. DeSean did a lot for the Eagles this year but you also have to give a lot of props to Eddie Royal. And that said, I’m not sure either of them were truly sensations.
Not bad, eh? If I tally that up I was 6-4-1. I’m thinking anything over 50% success rate in the prediction arena constitutes a win right?
What about the post season? I thought somewhere in a previous post this year I picked the Superbowl as a Dallas vs San Diego affair but I can’t seem to find that post. I also remember thinking, after the first week of the season when the Steelers trounced the Texans that I would reserve the right to sub in Pittsburgh instead of the Chargers. But I think I was too lazy to post that addendum so we’ll not count that now. But for sure, Dallas vs anyone obviously won’t happen as Dallas choked a huge dong and missed the playoffs (boo hoo). As I sit here today I’m going to go with Carolina vs Pittsburgh in the Superbowl. My dark horses would be Philadelphia in the NFC and Indianapolis in the AFC.
As far as Wild Card Weekend, I’m going with:
Atlanta over Arizona
Indy over San Diego
Baltimore over Miami
Philadelphia over Minnesota
Yep, I’m picking all four road teams this week. On any given Sunday (or Saturday in this case)…
So get your beer’s chilled and your hot fries ready to go. The NFL post season is at hand!
Enjoy,
-David
As I look back through some of my 2008 NFL predictions from the beginning of the season, I can’t help but to think that I am very much like Nostradamus.
NOTE: As I’m writing this I’m listening to “Nostradamus”, in particular the song “Prophecy” which was the song they opened up their concert with this summer. Let me just say that Judas Priest FUCKING ROCKS!!!! And Rob Halford is a FUCKING BEAST!!!!!!
Anyway, here is what I was thinking back in early September:
1) The defending Superbowl Champion New York Giants will finish no better than 3rd in the NFC East (and miss the playoffs).
Well, I got this one pretty wrong and I’m pissed about that. I hate the Giants and I hate that they won the NFC East. I still think they will unravel, though, so I would like to re-visit this one more time before the Superbowl. My new post season prediction is that they lose their first playoff game. They are a bunch of dumb, punk ass twats.
2) Brett Favre will help the Jets and get them to respectability this year (not quite to the playoffs, but close).
I’m going to call this one a success. I know people are all on the hate bandwagon for Eric Man-gina and Favre for supposedly sinking the Jet’s playoffs hopes, but let’s just say it takes 53 men and a whole coaching staff to lose games so don’t just heap it all on those two. Keep in mind this team was PATHETIC last season so I’d call 9-7 and just missing the playoffs respectable year over year.
3) The Jacksonville Jaguars will win the AFC South.
Damn. I knew Indy wouldn’t win the AFC South (I could smell the tide changing) but I thought it would be Jacksonville. Who would have predicted their collapse this season? Nostradamus? Not me. As much as I want to call this one a push I guess I have to call it a bad prediction.
4) The Pittsburgh Steelers will go 11-5 and win the AFC North.
Nailed this one. They technically went 12-4 but I’m taking this as a win.
5) The Cincinnati Bengals will go 2-14 and Marvin Lewis will still not be fired.
I’m calling this one a win also. I think they ended up something like 4-11-1. What a bunch of flaming douchebags the Bungles are. I know the coaching hatchets have not all fallen yet, but trust me, Lewis will keep his job and those pictures of Mike Brown blowing the dead corpse of his father, Paul, will remain safely in the vault.
6) 7-9 will win the NFC West (the Cardinals or Rams, if anyone cares).
You know, I’m going to call this one a win. Technically I think the Cardinals were 9-7, but you have to agree that the NFC West is still the weakest division in football. And the Seahawks are a bunch of Shit-hawks which always makes me happy.
7) Santonio Holmes will statistically be the best WR in the NFL.
I pretty much go this one 100% wrong. Wow, Santonio performed well below my expectations. Let’s hope he either snaps out of his funk next year or Limas Sweed catches on. If not, our WR corps is going to look a little anemic next year after Hines Ward and Heath Miller.
8) Satan will come to claim the soul of Bill Belifuck and his bitch, Tom Brady.
Yeah, let’s call this a win. For sure, Brady had to finally punch his ticket. Let’s hope all those infections he had during his recovery will end his career. Fuck him. And since Belifuck missed the playoffs I’m guessing Mr. D also tapped him on the shoulder and told him it’s time. Expect the Patriots to go 2-14 next year. YEAH!
9) The Cleveland Browns will take the leagues best offseason and still manage to fuck it up and lose.
This one was almost too easy. How could you not see this coming? I feel bad even taking credit for this one. See you later, Romeo… was nice knowing you. Maybe some other NFL team is hiring big, fat cheerleaders with blank looks on their faces because that is all you were.
10) Rashard Mendenhall will score more yards from the line of scrimmage than Felix Jones (this does not include special teams).
I’m also pissed about losing this one because I actually made a bet with my buddy Jack on this item. I’m not sure what the totals finally were, but I’m 99% sure Felix did edge out Rashard. I’ll make this same prediction next year, though, what the hell.
11) DeSean Jackson is the rookie sensation WR of the year.
I’m not sure about this one. I’ll call it a push. DeSean did a lot for the Eagles this year but you also have to give a lot of props to Eddie Royal. And that said, I’m not sure either of them were truly sensations.
Not bad, eh? If I tally that up I was 6-4-1. I’m thinking anything over 50% success rate in the prediction arena constitutes a win right?
What about the post season? I thought somewhere in a previous post this year I picked the Superbowl as a Dallas vs San Diego affair but I can’t seem to find that post. I also remember thinking, after the first week of the season when the Steelers trounced the Texans that I would reserve the right to sub in Pittsburgh instead of the Chargers. But I think I was too lazy to post that addendum so we’ll not count that now. But for sure, Dallas vs anyone obviously won’t happen as Dallas choked a huge dong and missed the playoffs (boo hoo). As I sit here today I’m going to go with Carolina vs Pittsburgh in the Superbowl. My dark horses would be Philadelphia in the NFC and Indianapolis in the AFC.
As far as Wild Card Weekend, I’m going with:
Atlanta over Arizona
Indy over San Diego
Baltimore over Miami
Philadelphia over Minnesota
Yep, I’m picking all four road teams this week. On any given Sunday (or Saturday in this case)…
So get your beer’s chilled and your hot fries ready to go. The NFL post season is at hand!
Enjoy,
-David
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