Week 8 Predictions

Miami at Cincinnati (Miami)
Jacksonville at Dallas (Dallas)
Washington at Detroit (Detroit)
Buffalo at Kansas City (Kansas City)
Green Bay at New York Jets (New York Jets)
Denver at San Francisco (Denver)
Carolina at St. Louis (St. Louis)
Tennessee at San Diego (Tennessee)
Tampa Bay at Arizona (Tampa Bay)
Minnesota at New England (New England)
Seattle at Oakland (Oakland)
Pittsburgh at New Orleans (Pittsburgh)
Houston at Indianapolis (Houston)

Bye: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, New York Giants, Philadelphia

Week 7 Predictions

Cincinnati at Atlanta (Atlanta)
Buffalo at Baltimore (Baltimore)
San Francisco at Carolina (San Francisco)
Washington at Chicago (Washington)
Jacksonville at Kansas City (Kansas City)
Pittsburgh at Miami (Pittsburgh)
Cleveland at New Orleans (New Orleans)
St. Louis at Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay)
Philadelphia at Tennessee (Tennessee)
Arizona at Seattle (Arizona)
Oakland at Denver (Denver)
New England at San Diego (New England)
Minnesota at Green Bay (Minnesota)
New York Giants at Dallas (New York Giants)

Bye: Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, New York Jets

Week 6 Predictions

Well, I thought there would be more entries this week, but some minor health issues unrelated to my cold have kept me a little preoccupied. Things are looking back up so I was able to at least make some coherent picks. There won't be any analysis as I'm rather tired, so here goes the picks:

Seattle at Chicago (Chicago)
Miami at Green Bay (Green Bay)
Kansas City at Houston (Houston)
Baltimore at New England (Baltimore)
Detroit at New York Giants (New York Giants)
Atlanta at Philadelphia (Atlanta)
Cleveland at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
San Diego at St. Louis (San Diego)
New Orleans at Tampa Bay (New Orleans)
New York Jets at Denver (New York Jets)
Oakland at San Francisco (San Francisco)
Dallas at Minnesota (Minnesota)
Indianapolis at Washington (Indianapolis)
Tennessee at Jacksonville (Tennessee)

Bye: Arizona, Buffalo, Carolina, Cincinnati

Last week wasn't too good for me as I went 6-8 on my picks. Hopefully I can pick it back up this Sunday. Here's to another good Sunday of football.

What the Hell?!?

It's one thing if a team loses a game by 1, or even 2 scores so long as they fought until the end. Unfortunately this past Sunday it didn't look like the Texans even started fighting this game until the 3rd quarter, only to be beaten back like little dogs that get a little too frisky.

All three phases of the game were problematic when the Giants came to town. The offense had a hard time protecting Matt Schaub and the running game was limited to 24 total yards. That is 24, as in 12 x 2 = 24. The passing game suffered from the lack of protection. Defensively the secondary got torched again. The Giants weren't even going to the run in the 4th quarter to wind clock - Manning just kept passing the ball to keep the clock moving. The only bright spot for the defense was in the 3rd quarter when the playcalling seemed to get a little more aggressive and the team was actually getting pressure on Manning, the problem was the Texans failed to capitalize (and at one point turned the ball over). Special teams play was just as abysmal. While the returns weren't bad, the penalties against the Texans on special teams play kept them in bad field position throughout the game.

Well, this make 2 home games in a row where the Texans were beaten and beaten badly. Losing against the Cowboys was one thing, given that on paper they have one of the most talented teams in the league, but the Giants roster has nowhere near the level of talent the Cowboys have. That's what makes this loss especially hard to take.

This is all I really have to say about the game at this point. I'll have more as I get time throught the week.

Week 5 Predictions

Sorry for the lack of commentary regarding last weeks games and this week's post. It's just been a little crazy. Here are my predictions for Week 5:

Denver at Baltimore (Baltimore)
Jacksonville at Buffalo (Buffalo)
Chicago at Carolina (Chicago)
Tampa Bay at Cincinnati (Cincinnati)
Atlanta at Cleveland (Atlanta)
St. Louis at Detroit (Detroit)
New York Giants at Houston (Houston)
Kansas City at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Green Bay at Washington (Green Bay)
New Orleans at Arizona (New Orleans)
Tennessee at Dallas (Dallas)
San Diego at Oakland (San Diego)
Philadelphia at San Francisco (San Francisco)
Minnesota at New York Jets (New York Jets)

Bye: New England, Miami, Seattle, Pittsburgh

There you have it. It's time to get ready to head to the stadium. Have fun everyone!

Fallout from Week 3

As my 2 or 3 readers probably know, there was some fallout from last week's Houston/Dallas game. There were A LOT of Dallas Cowboy fans in attendance at the game and in the parking lot tailgating. The combination of alcohol, Texas heat, and the stomping of the Texans by the Cowboys fired up more than a few negative emotions among the fans in attendance that day.

One source I read (note: I did not confirm this, but I have no reason to doubt this information) noted there were 57 arrests and 1 injured Houston Police Officer in the parking lot following the game. Although I'm sure there have been incidents in the parking lot during and after games in the past, I had never heard of anything widespread like this. As such, this prompted a reaction from the Texans.

Effective immediately, only those who have tickets to the game will be allowed in the Reliant Stadium parking lots for tailgating. Season ticket holders (of which I am one) will be able to purchase tailgating permits, but only limited numbers will be available for each game.

So if tailgating permits are going to be required to tailgate and are only available to season ticket holders, what happens to those on mini-plans or who have purchased only single game tickets with parking passes who also happen to tailgate? Are those groups no longer allowed to tailgate? From what I understand, some of the bigger setups bring in volunteers to watch their areas while they are inside the stadium. What about those fans who may not have access to the game but still would like to enjoy the gameday fun at the tailgating gatherings? I've walked by many of these setups on the way into the stadium and those who participate seem to have a lot of fun (and some of these setups get very elaborate) and I've noticed more than a few participants at some of these stands who never entered the stadium. The one last question I (and many others) relates to the logistics of the new policy. Are Reliant Park employees now going to check the ticket status of everyone entering the parking areas?

If Reliant Park is going check the ticket status of everyone entering the grounds, this is going to create a traffic nightmare in and around Reliant Stadium. I have only parked on the stadium grounds 1 time in the past (I decided not to park on the stadium lots ever again after it literally took over an hour to exit the complex). The normal routine for me is to park in the Park-and-Ride area and then take the light rail to the stadium. It takes just as much time to park and exit that way, but at least I'm getting some exercise on the walk to the stadium from the rail platform (as opposed to sitting in my car for an hour with an idling engine wasting gas). Are they going to check the ticket status of everyone at that entry point as well?

I've heard some say that this seems to be an opportunistic cash grab from the season ticket holders by the team, and while I'm skeptical of that motivation, it's hard to disagree. I can understand the need to balance the gameday experience with security for the fans, but this new policy seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to an isolated outbreak of violence from drunk emotional fans touched by the Houston sun in the middle of the afternoon (it was around 90 degrees ambient that day, on the concrete it could have easily topped 100 degrees).

I would have hoped that there would have been a more well thought out plan to balance security and fan enjoyment, but this is what we have for now. Hopefully by the time the 2011 season rolls around we can have something a little more fan friendly that addresses the security concerns of the Houston Texans organization. I guess when I head to the Giants game next week I'm going to have to leave a little early as at this point I have no idea what to expect.

Week 4 Predictions (Finally!)

Week 3 definitely saw some surprises for my predictions. Who knew that Houston would crumble the way they did against the visiting Dallas team? I really thought the New York Giants would get their act together after the thumping they received at Indianapolis. Instead they got thumped a 2nd week in a row by an angry Tennessee. I still don't know what to make of Washington and Seattle. The Monday Night game was certainly a good one with Jay Cutler showing the maturity needed to overcome the mental pressure and pull out a win against a very good Green Bay offense. When all was said and done, I went 10-6 in Week 3, which brings my total to 31-17.

That said, here are my predictions for Week 4:

San Francisco at Atlanta (Atlanta)
New York Jets at Buffalo (New York Jets)
Cincinnati at Cleveland (Cincinnati)
Detroit at Green Bay (Green Bay)
Carolina at New Orleans (New Orleans)
Baltimore at Pittsburgh (Baltimore)
Seattle at St. Louis (St. Louis)
Denver at Tennessee (Tennessee)
Indianapolis at Jacksonville (Jacksonville)
Houston at Oakland (Houston)
Washington at Philadelphia (Philadelphia)
Arizona at San Diego (San Diego)
Chicago at New York Giants (Chicago)
New England at Miami (Miami)

Bye Week: Dallas, Kansas City, Minnesota, Tampa Bay

Houston is coming off a disappointing home loss to Dallas. Every issue Houston has (and every team has their issues) was put on display in that game. This week they look to bounce back when they visit Oakland. Oakland is coming off a disappointing loss in Arizona where they dominated in passing and rushing. It looks as if the insertion of Gradkowski as the starting Quarterback is paying dividends. Right now Andre Johnson is a game time decision. If he does not go on Sunday, Kevin Walter will be the #1 receiver going up against Nnamdi Asomugha, who is arguably one of the best Cornerbacks in the NFL. I look for whoever lines up on the opposite side of the field to have a big game. Houston should also try to run the ball more (Oakland did give up 119 yards on the ground in Arizona). On the defensive side it's all about pressure. Oakland gave up 3 sacks against Arizona. The defensive line needs to keep pressure on Gradkowski, which in turn will go a long way toward helping the secondary. When it comes right down to it, Houston needs to pull it back together after the disappointing loss against Dallas.

Pittsburgh has been one of the surprises this season. The defense has played superbly thus far and Charlie Batch did an excellent job against Tampa Bay last week. I look for this game to be a defensive struggle all the way as I don't see Batch repeating last week's success. In the end it will be a big play from Joe Flacco that propels Baltimore over Pittsburgh.

Another tough game to call is the Cincinnati/Cleveland game. Seneca Wallace has provided a nice lift to Cleveland and Cincinnati's offense has been disappointing thus far. Cleveland, though, seems to have a way of giving struggling teams a means to pull together. I know this isn't any quantifiable analysis here, but this is the one intangible I can't seem to overlook.

The matchup of the week will be Washington visiting Philadelphia for Don McNabb's homecoming. Washington showed a spark against Houston, but has failed to ignite thus far. Emotion, however, does play a big role in this league and McNabb will be looking to show Philadelphia why they were wrong to trade him. Unfortunately for McNabb, Michael Vick has the Philadelphia offense clicking this season. Whatever shortcomings Vick may possess as a quarterback, his leadership has proven most effective thus far into the season. Washington's defense won't have an answer for Vick, which will be why Philadelphia wins on Sunday.

I'm definitely coming around to seeing Miami as a contender this year. While Miami has not wowed anyone around the league, they have played very solid football on both sides of the ball. It was a very tough loss against the Jets, but they showed the heart that few teams possess. New England's defense continues to be a question mark and while the offense has been productive, it has stumbled against a more capable defense (see Week 2 against the Jets). Miami's ability to disrupt a team's offense will be the key to their victory of New England.

As for the rest of the schedule: Seattle has been inconsistent thus far and if their road loss at Denver is any indication, they will lose on the road in St. Louis. If anything, Tennessee is always a tough place to play and that tough defense will keep Kyle Orton from having a big game. Arizona's offense is too inconsistent to offer any hope of beating the number 1 passing attack in the NFL in San Diego. Chicago may be setting up for a letdown, but the Giants are in disarray (especially with an unhappy running back). Matthew Stafford has been ruled out for Sunday's match in Green Bay. Without Stafford's leadership Detroit is still a team in limbo. The Jets are going to Buffalo, which still can't seem to pull it together. While San Francisco may have had a fire lit under them with a new Offensive Coordinator, Atlanta still has homefield advantage (along with a more talented offense). Rookie QB Jimmy Clausen still has a ways to go in his development, and facing a defense that knows how to force turnovers will not make things any easier for him. Look for New Orleans to handle Carolina this week.

This week should be exciting again. Let's see what it has in store.