Earth Day Draft Thoughts

Happy Earth Day! Wait, you didn’t know it was Earth Day? It’s been around for 40 years, supposedly and it sure seems like it is officially an overblown and meaningless “holiday” like “Sweetest Day” or “Patriots’ Day” in Boston. Are you or anyone you know doing anything different today than any other day? The whole “going green” thing seems like a way for people to quiet the loudest whining environmentalists when nothing has drastically changed. I haven't seen any studies recently about the ozone layer - is that still an issue? Has the hole gotten bigger or have we solved that problem? Or was that all just a bunch of crap to make a point politically?

With the draft starting tonight, here are a handful of predictions for what I think will or will not happen tonight:

- The Redskins will draft and offensive lineman. Mike Shannahan will want to draft a quarterback with every fiber of his soul, but he has to be smart enough to know that the trade for Donovan McNabb can only be successful if he is upright more often than he isn’t. Wouldn’t it make sense to trade down to around #13 and look at a guy like Dez Bryant to give McNabb a receiving option that isn’t a midget like Santana Moss or a project like Malcolm Kelly?

- The 49ers should draft Jimmy Clausen. They have two picks at #13 and #17, so they have the ability to get a quarterback that can be the face of the franchise and make a great team with Vernon Davis and Michaeel Crabtree. Alex Smith is not the long-term answer for a team with enough talent to win the NFC West this season. They have a talented defense and a solid core of guys at the skill position except at quarterback. Wouldn’t it make sense to get a guy who can utilize those weapons?

- If the Packers do anything other than draft an offensive lineman, the fans will revolt. Ted Thompson went against everything he’s ever done last year by trading up to get Clay Matthews, and it was the best move he’s ever made. So if he needs to trade up again to get one of the top offensive linemen that Thompson loves (Maurkice Pouncey, Bryan Baluga and Anthony Davis – according to Bob McGinn), then he should absolutely make that move. The Packers have the right pieces in place other than guys to protect Aaron Rodgers which would allow him to make a run at the MVP. He’s already making MVP moves off the field, as word has it he’s dating the lead singer from Lady Antebelum.

- Ben Roethlisberger will still be a Steeler after Round 1 tonight, but there is a better chance that he gets traded tonight than any other time. Let’s say that for some reason Colt McCoy and maybe even Jimmy Clausen slide all the way out of round one. If you’re the Steelers, don’t you think they’re calling all of those teams that have picks in the low 30’s and offering Big Ben for a chance to draft Clausen or possibly McCoy? And if you’re a team like Cleveland at #38, Oakland at #39, Buffalo at #41, or especially Denver which holds #43 & #45, wouldn’t you give up that pick for a proven quarterback, even with his off the field baggage? Seems like a great deal for the Broncos to make and Roethlisberger is a tremendous upgrade over their own partying quarterback, Kyle Orton.

- Tim Tebow will still be available tonight. There has been an increase of chatter that some team will fall in love with him and either draft him late in round one or trade back into the late first round to get a shot at him. I just can’t see it. Why? The salary structure is still pretty high even for a late round pick, so you would be paying Tebow a pretty healthy salary while he learns the game and is not contributing to your team. I just don’t see it at all. I think he is a good pick sometime around the late 2nd or 3rd rounds, but not in the first round.

- Mel Kiper will take a swing at Todd McShay during the telecast. Okay, that’s unlikely to happen, but it would make for great television. I like the debates between Kiper and McShay because they actually seem to like and respect each other and understand that they will have differing opinions on players. It is unlike the pathetic skits on SportsCenter in the past when Sean Salisbury and John Clayton would debate topics and it was obvious that they truly disliked each other. They couldn’t help but make personal attacks on each other, and I was always half expecting Clayton to end all discussion by telling Salisbury he has something on his phone he wants to show him.

Weekend Hangover - Love/Hate: NCAA Championship

LOVE

- Like Audrina Patridge in a bikini, you don’t have to like her to admit she looks good. Duke played their best game of the season on Saturday night and absolutely dominated West Virginia. They were on fire from the perimeter, they dominated the boards and completely manhandled the supposedly tough Mountaineers team. The Blue Devils looked like a team that belonged in the NCAA Championship game and that’s where they will be tonight when they take on Butler. I’m done with predictions since my predictions have been worse than once Audrina opens her mouth.

- Congratulations to Ms. Jessica Mack for winning the first Sports Addict Bracket Challenge! She was the only person to pick Duke to win the title and regardless of the result tonight, she has locked up the title. She will win University of Wisconsin gear and a some Sports Addict swag.

- Play Ball!!!! It’s officially opening day!! People everywhere are playing hooky from work and firing up the grill at the tailgate outside the stadium. The start of the baseball season is always a poetic time – the smell of the grill, the smell of the freshly cut grass, the feel of the peanut shells crunching under your shoes, and the taste of that first or tenth flat Old Style beer……….(okay maybe my memories are more of the old County Stadium bleachers than it is the newer stadiums like Miller Park where you can get all the flavors of Lienie’s or a premium beer)

- The Lakers are struggling lately, causing concern after cruising along as the best team in the Western conference most of the year. Is the Ron Artest crazy train the reason? Is Kobe beginning to tire out? Is Lamar Odom running out of Skittles to keep his sugar high? Or did Lamar finally realize he married the ugly Kardashian sister and now that Kim is single he’s having second thoughts? Either way, the best part is that it opens up the Western Conference playoffs and it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio or Utah right up there with the Lakers.

- Coach K is NOT taking the Nets job. Yes, the Russian playboy owner of the Nets is offering a ridiculous amount of money – like $12 to $15 million per year. Yet at the end of the day, there is no upside for him going to the pros. He turned down the Lakers job in 2004 when they already had Kobe Bryant and Shaq on the roster. The Nets have Devin Harris and Robin Lopez. He will be able to coach as long as he wants at Duke and will never be fired. He has been there for 30 years. Why would he mess up his legacy with a failure with the Nets? The number of failed former college coaches includes current college coaching stars….Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Mike Montgomery. Eddie Murphy was a successful comedian and actor, but the worst decision he ever made was an attempted music career. A choice he probably regrets as much as Coach K would regret a move to the Nets.

HATE

- The Donovan McNabb trade is such an indictment of McNabb by the Eagles it is incredible. Not only did the Eagles feel McNabb is not good enough to lead them to the promised land, they also showed they don’t think he’s going to be that hard to beat by trading him within the division!! There are tremendous differences between this and the Packers trading Brett Favre, not the least of which is that Favre was a lock Hall of Famer, and Donovan is possibly in the discussion. The Packers also knew that Favre still had gas in the tank and therefore wanted no part of playing him and traded him out of the division and out of the conference to the Jets (Favre still weaseled his way back into the division a year later by faking retirement ….again) While the media is spinning it that the Eagles showed respect for McNabb by not trading him to the Raiders, I think they showed him extreme disrepect by trading him within the division. Or maybe they just noticed the decline from 54-19 (.740) as a starter from 2000-04 to 36-26-1 (.579) from 2005-2009, and 17 games missed in the most recent 4 years with only a 2-2 playoff record.

And let’s immediately put away the ridiculous thought that the Redskins may be better than the Eagles next year. It’s not even close. The Redskins have a horrid offensive line, have awful wide receivers (Santana Moss? Malcolm Kelly? Compared to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin?), a talented TE coming off an injury, and a collection of washed up running backs – Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson and Willie Parker. The Eagles still have tremendously more talent than the Redskins, but Washington definitely improved with this trade. Putting Jessica Biel into a terribly written and directed movie with a weak supporting cast does not make it a great movie.

- The first national semi final game on Saturday night between Michigan State and Butler was a hideously ugly game. It was worse than watching former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich trying to turn on a computer or send a text on the Celebrity Apprentice. (side note – has anyone seen this? The guy was a former governor and has absolutely no idea how to operate a computer or a cell phone. Who knew that his lack of tech skills would be more appalling than that awkward haircut? What the …….) As visually appealing as the Duke victory was, the first game was the exact opposite. It was a slugfest between two stout defensive and physical teams, which we knew coming in. What we didn’t know was that Michigan State was going to lose the game more than Butler was going to win the game. Michigan State missed lay ups they don’t normally miss, missed free throws, turned the ball over in uncontested situations, and had some painful looking jumpshots (sorry Draymond Green, those were some hideous bricks you threw up from the top of the key). Butler shot 30% from the field and won the game. Michigan State shot only 42%. Ugh. Michigan State had 16 turnovers, 5 of which were credited to Korie Lucious and I think the score keeper was being generous.

That being said, I don’t like whining about the officiating, but Green was fouled on his last drive to the hoop. As a coach, with 20-odd seconds remaining and down by one, you want a shot going to the basket so you either make the shot or get fouled and get to the line. Green did exactly that and got hit on the arm and didn’t get the call. It didn’t cost them the game – the turnovers and shooting 10-18 from the free throw line did that – but it was a terrible missed call at a very big moment.

- I watched a little bit of the opening night game between the Yankees and Red Sox last night, and nothing was more annoying than the ESPN feed being blacked out, forcing me to watch the game on the YES network. Michael Kay is among the worst announcers I have ever heard in my life and he ruined the opening night experience for me. He barely pays attention to the game and instead spends the entire broadcast name dropping to show off that he’s buddies with the players, and babbling on about random topics that don’t pertain to the game in front of him. It’s like he’s the annoying guy at the bar that keeps rambling on about the time he met a celebrity when you’re just trying to watch the game. We get it Michael, you have an enormous ego and you know a bunch of athletes that you sometimes have dinner with. He’s like the rest of the Jersey Chasers that used to go to the KK in Madison to try and work the football players in the back corner of the bar. Instead of the majestic call from John Miller and Joe Morgan, I was forced to listen to this idiot. I couldn’t stand more than a couple innings before I switched it off and never returned.

- The Milwaukee Bucks were playing the best basketball they had played since 2001. They were hot and have developed a chemistry between coach Scott Skiles and their team combining young talent like Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings with veterans Jerry Stackhouse and John Salmons. They were poised to put a major scare into either Boston or Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs. And now that has all gone up in flames when Andrew Bogut shattered his elbow in an injury that brought back memories for me of Larry Krystowiak blowing out his knee in Game 3 of the playoffs against the Pistons in 1989. Krystowiak worked hard to rehab the knee, including not cutting his hair in the back until he got back into a game the following season. So maybe Bogut could grow a mullet for next season?

McNabb Fits With Raiders

Time to take a quick break from the NCAA tournament to talk about football. We could spend the time breakind down Chad Ochocinco’s performance on Dancing With the Stars, but let’s not kid ourselves. If we’re going to talk about Dancing, we’re going to put our focus on Erin Andrews who has held her own very well through the first couple weeks. Then again, I could not tell the difference between a foxtrot, a waltz, the cabbage patch or the soulja boy.

Anyway, the Eagles are going to trade Donovan McNabb before training camp, the worse-kept secret since Ricky Martin being gay (not that there’s anything wrong with that). The toothpaste is completely out of the tube, and there is no way to push it back in and bring Donovan to camp. They have their heir apparent in Kevin Kolb and they have their multi-faceted back-up in Michael Vick. They’ve ridden the McNabb train for a long time and it’s taken them to good seasons with no chance of winning it all because he chokes in every big game. Now that they’ve made it known that they are allowing teams to shop for him, the leading contender to get him: The Oakland Raiders. And it is a GREAT fit for both teams and for Donovan himself.

FOR THE EAGLES:

The Eagles are hoping for an Aaron Rodgers situation with Kevin Kolb. They believe they have their next quarterback for the next decade. They have a young nucleus of talent at the skill positions with LeSean McCoy at running back, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin at wide receiver, and Brent Celek at tight end. This will give them a young quarterback to hopefully set them up at the skill positions for a long time to grow together. In addition, they get compensation that is too high for a quarterback that is on the downside of his career and that has a history of not being able to come up big in the biggest moments. Yet the Raiders are desperate to change the direction of their franchise and will pay more than anyone else for a famous name. If you have a show that has been on the air for 10 years starring Courtney Cox, you know she still has talent but she was never good enough to win awards. Now someone offers you a healthy ransom for Cox and you have Leighton Meester sitting on the bench, it really is a no brainer decision.

FOR THE RAIDERS

The Raiders franchise has been a huge mess since they lost Jon Gruden. They have blown draft picks like JaMarcus Russell, and they have made awful free agent signings like DeAngelo Hall. They have had continual problems with their coaching staff and they are run by a crazy old man. So what better way to lend some legitimacy to a messed up organization than to bring in a solid name to be the face of the franchise. McNabb is a solid, yet moody, professional and would lend some respect to the franchise and bring a leader into the Raider locker room. The Raiders also have some talented players and their biggest problem the past few years was a quarterback who couldn’t throw, and when he did he threw it to the other team. Having McNabb would finally put an end to the Fat Albert experience at quarterback in Oakland.

FOR DONOVAN

As for Donovan himself, at first blush he is going to throw a fit about going from a perrenial playoff team to a dumpster fire in Oakland. However, if he were to stay in Philly, the pressure would be turned up even more than it already is. Philly fans are the most ridiculous fans in terms of their expectations and beliefs about their teams – they really believe they are the favorites in every sport at the beginning of every season and can’t be convinced otherwise. Then when the teams fail to meet those ridiculous expectations, the fans turn on their hometown heroes and act like complete jag-offs. (You didn’t really think I was going to have a post about a Philly team/player without taking at least one shot at the idiots in Philly, did you?) In addition, McNabb’s biggest weakness, other than his intestinal fortitude, has been his accuracy. In the Raider offense which will be run by Hue Jackson, it is not the west coast dink and dunk that relies more on quick slants and short accurate passes where McNabb has not excelled. Jackson will utilize the deep pass (like he had with Joe Flacco) which McNabb has had success with (look at the number of deep touchdowns he threw to DeSean Jackson last season). He could be very successful with Louis Murphy, possibly Darius Heyward-Bey and Darren McFadden playing the role of Brian Westbrook.

Donovan has taken the Eagles as far as he possibly could and he needs to understand his ceiling. He is a solid quarterback that can keep a team in contention but cannot carry them to the ultimate prize. When he had the all-pro WR and RB around him (T.O & Westbrook), he threw up under the pressure – literally. So going to Oakland, he has the potential to turn around a franchise and just bringing the Raiders to the playoffs again would be seen as a huge success. He would become a legend in Raider Nation just by bringing them to respectability – he doesn’t need to win a title. Can McNabb get his head around this concept? Probably not, so he would want to get out when his contract expires after the season.

Wildcard Hangover - Love/Hate

I’m still in shock…..so we’re going to start with the hates this week. While I was typing that, Aaron Rodgers just got hit in the helmet again (and it didn’t get called) and WRs and TEs were streaking wide open all over Glendale, Arizona.

Hate

- That was an unreal game in Arizona. I don’t even know where to begin. As much as it hurt to lose as a Packer fan, it was an incredible game to watch. Green Bay got off to the worst start I’ve ever imagined, then fought all the way back including a great on-side kick call by Mike McCarthy, and lost in OT on a fumble recovery where there was a blatant “contact with the helmet” and “facemask” penalties that were not called. I’m not blaming the game on the officials….but I need to rant a little. It was one of the worst officiated games I’ve seen in a long time – Rodgers was contacted in the helmet at least 3 or 4 times that I can recall and never received the flag. Whether they were hard hits is irrelevant in today’s “protect the QB at all costs” NFL – it’s an automatic penalty…..unless the officials that called Sunday’s game are there. Add to that the offensive pass interference and the blatant holding of Cullen Jenkins (who was called for brushing Warner’s helmet) on Larry Fitzgerald’s second touchdown, and it was a very poorly called game on many levels. Yet in the end, if the Packers highly rated defense could have figured out a way to cover someone over the middle of the field, they would have ran away with the game. The officials didn’t cost anyone the game – the lack of defense was abhorrent.

Aaron Rodgers proved that he can step up for a big game and delivered while rallying his team with his calm and collected demeanor. And Kurt Warner was also out of this world, with more touchdowns than incomplete passes. It was the most amazing offensive football game I’ve ever seen.

- When I said I would go 11-0 in the playoffs…….maybe I actually meant 0-11. I went 0-4 this weekend. Ouch. The only real shocker game was the Ravens putting the beat down on the Patriots. Time to double down in the divisional games next week………….

- Paging Randy Moss…………Mr. Moss? The doctors are ready for your heart transplant. Obviously the heart that you used for your first years in New England has expired. Not sure what to think of the Patriots future coming off this game. Their aura under Belichick and Brady took a major hit by losing at home, and not just losing, but getting crushed. The team didn’t rally after getting punched in the mouth early by the Ravens. That was the biggest difference between the Pats and the Packers on Sunday. Both teams started the games horribly, yet the Packers were able to fight their way back.

- Can someone please explain to me what happened to Carson Palmer? I thought he was a strong-armed gunslinger who was always under control when he entered the league out of USC. He then took over the strong aerial attack of the Bengals, zipping the ball all over the field during their strong 2005 season. He then blew out his knee on the second snap of his first playoff game against Pittsburgh. And now he’s an immobile, inaccurate, noodle-armed game manager? I haven’t seen a strange transformation like this since it was discovered that former Playmate of the Year Victoria Silvstedt was a hooker.

- That announcing crew that did the Jets-Bengals game on Saturday was among the worst I’ve ever heard, and I grew up listening to Jim Paschke and John McGlockton stumble through Milwaukee Bucks games. NBC gave us a team of Tom Hammonds, Joe Theismann and Joe Gibbs that had never worked a booth together and they sounded like it. Gibbs had no idea when he should or shouldn’t talk, Theismann talks too much, and Hammonds is better on Notre Dame games, where no one cares. At one point after Mark Sanchez rolled out and threw a long TD pass, Hammonds incorrectly called it out of the wildcat format and Theismann went on a rant about how Brad Smith was a prolific passer at Iowa and that the Bengals should have been ready for him. While his comment was factually accurate, it was extremely inappropriate because Smith was not on the field!!! It was not a wildcat play and Sanchez had thrown the TD pass. Yet Theismann was so eager to hear himself talk about the one fact he researched that he didn’t take the time to see what was actually happening on the field. I spent most of the game praying Lawrence Taylor would make a surprise appearance in the booth.

LOVE

- Wisconsin fans are going to have to deal with the sting of the Packer loss, but the silver lining from the weekend was the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team knocking off unbeaten and #4 ranked Purdue at the Kohl Center. Bo Ryan continues to amaze me with his ability to put together an extremely competitive team every year no matter how many players graduate. He also has built a dominant home court advantage – going 130-10 in his career at the Kohl Center. Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer are the sophomore foundation of a team that has tournament potential. Senior guards in Travon Williams and Jason Bohannon along with the scoring sophomore duo and stingy defense are a good recipe for post season success. I think Bo might be more underrated

- Mark Sanchez and Tony Romo were impressive in playoff wins. Both guys have been on serious roller coasters with the media, and both seem like pretty normal guys. Both QBs were in complete control during the games on Sunday and led their teams to much needed victories. It seems like both quarterbacks have the world by the tail right now. Or is it that they have the tail in the world? Either way, the bottom line is the Cowboys are always under the microscope and right now they look incredible as they head to Minnesota to try and knock off Romo’s childhood hero Brett Favre. Sanchez plays in the biggest fishbowl in the world in NY and faces an unbelievable amount of pressure. He’s the toast of the town – this week – but needs to follow it up with a strong game in San Diego to keep that praise.

- Time for the annual “Should we trade Donovan McNabb?” Circus to kick off. He’s a good quarterback as proven by his regular season success, but it is also extremely apparent that he does not have the ability to win the biggest games. He is not mentally tough (have I said that before?!?!) and is not a strong leader. If the Eagles truly want to make a Super Bowl run, they will need to get a dynamic quarterback to pair up with DeSean Jackson, McCoy, Maclin, and Celek. I don’t think they have that guy on their roster currently – sorry Kevin Kolb.

- The sound you heard late Saturday night was not your neighbor trying to haul a fat girl home for some action……..well, it might have been that. But the other sound you heard? The coaching carousel screeching to a halt after the Cowboys victory. If Dallas loses to Philly, Wade Phillips get canned, perhaps Jeff Fisher or Bill Cowher would take the job and the carousel would pick up some steam. Instead, Phillips secured his job, and Fisher’s only potential move would be to go to USC to take over after Pete Carroll heads to Seattle.

- Speaking of Turtleneck Pete………….do you think he saw the gas and matches next to his USC program that has become dry wood and ran for the hills as fast as possible? Facing potential probation or loss of scholarships due to the Joe McNight situation and the Reggie Bush problems still not fully settled, Pete decided to get out of town while his star still has light left. You can’t blame him, but you have to wonder about the Seahawks. Can we run down the list of college coaches that went to the pros and had success? Jimmy Johnson……..that’s it. The list of failures? Dennis Erickson (twice – once by the same Seahawks), Butch Davis, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino & Steve Spurier. And we’re not even bringing up the fact that Carroll was a failure in his first NFL run with the Patriots and Jets. Something tells me Pete is taking this job as a highly paid sabbatical before returning to run another college program……much like Nick Saban did with great success leveraging his brief poor run with the Dolphins into a huge pay day in Alabama.

Degenerate Friday!! Week 11 - 1999 NFL QBs

Well last week produced a solid 10-5 mark, putting the season total at 75-68-2. This week does not have very many compelling games, and it shows with the spreads. Eight of the 16 games have spreads of 9 or greater and only three games have a spread of 3 or less. One of the more intriguing matchups took place on Thursday night, and it involved two 4-5 teams. It also marked Ricky Williams return to a feature back role after Ronnie Brown was put on injured reserve. Ricky entered the league in 1999, when the Saints traded all of their draft picks to the Redskins in order to secure Williams with the pick. So in honor of Ricky Williams still going strong, the games are broken down by the 1999 drafted quarterbacks. Similar to this week’s games, there is really only one hit, a couple of flashes, and some ultimate busts. And I’m not wasting my time mentioning the guys picked after the second round (with one exception) because it’s worthless to bring up Brock Huard, Joe Jermaine, Kevin Daft, Michael Bishop, Chris Greisen and Scott Covington.

EDITORS NOTE: I started this on Thursday night before Ricky Williams powered the Dolphins past the Panthers with his 3 TD performance. And I still picked the Panthers to win, which was stupid. And why the random picture of Rebecca Gayheart? She was Maxim’s Hottest Woman in 1999……which just seems strange.

All the standard disclaimers……..recreational use, home teams in CAPS, spreads from the Post, etc.

The Akili Smith Category
The third overall pick in the draft, out of Oregon, Cincinnati thought they had finally found their franchise quarterback to replace Boomer Esiason and erase the memory of David Klinger in 1992. Unfortunately, Smith was horribly unprepared for the pro game, and basically had the intelligence of Carrie Prejean. Smith went 3-14 as a starter, had a QB rating of under 53 and threw 5 TDs versus 13 interceptions in his career. He was out of the league in 4 years. He actually shares quite a bit in common with the recently benched JaMarcus Russell, a sizeable, gifted athlete without the intellect or desire to be a pro quarterback.

LIONS (-3.5) over Browns (Craptastic Game of the Season)
Ladies and gentleman, the “Battle for the 1st Pick in the 2010 Draft” Bowl!! This is an absolutely awful game. Lions already blew one game against pathetic competition (the Rams), but should be able to hold off the offensively-challenged Browns. Cleveland has been shut out twice this year already, and may need to resort the Redskin method of using their punter or kicker as an offensive weapon.

The Cade McNown Category
The 12th pick in the draft by the Chicago Bears, McNown was just another in the long line of poor Chicago quarterbacks…..which has continued today with the acquisition of Jay Cutler. McNown had an illustrious college career at UCLA that included a loss to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and punishment for using a handicap placard to get better parking around campus. He was 3-12 as a starter in Chicago, throwing 16 TDs and 19 interceptions.

VIKINGS (-10.5) over Seahawks
The Vikings have not been as dominant lately, but their offensive weapons will be more than the Seahawks can handle, especially in the Metrodome. Jared Allen and the Williams Wall should have a game almost as easy as when they played Green Bay against the depleted Seahawks offensive line.

Bengals (-9.5) over RAIDERS
This is a dangerous game with major let-down potential after the Bengals just handled their tough divisional test by beating the Ravens and Steelers. And after benching their pathetic quarterback in JaMarcus Russell, the Raiders will potentially be ready to rally behind Bruce Gradkowski. However, whether the throws are on target or not, Darius Heyward-Bey has shown he couldn’t catch a cold. But at least he is fast.

The Tim Couch Category
Couch was the first pick in the draft, and the first pick for the reinvented Cleveland Browns after the original Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. The Browns were seriously lacking in talent around Couch, so the University of Kentucky product was fighting with one hand tied behind his back. He managed to win 22 games as a starter, but he lost 37, and had a 64-67 touchdown-interception total in his career. His only real highlight was his relationship with 1999 Playboy Playmate of the Year Heather Kozar – although rumor has it she left him for another 1999 quarterback, the previously mentioned Cade McNown. More large spread games that are not all that appealing in this category.

JAGUARS (-9) over Bills
The Bills have dumped their coach and switched back to ivy-leaguer Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. Unfortunately for the Bills, the players actually liked Dick Jauron, and those players still include an over-the-hill Terrell Owens, a terrible offensive line, a terrible defensive line, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. That is not an equation capable of slowing down Maurice Jones-Drew and the surging Jags.

Steelers (-10) over CHIEFS
Ticked off Big Ben and the Steelers defense will take it out on the undermanned Chiefs. The Chiefs and Jamaal Charles will find it more difficult to gain yardage against Pittsburgh than they did in their win over the Raiders last week. Look for Big Ben to treat the KC secondary like an employee at Harrah’s – lots of scoring – and this may be just as consensual.

The Aaron Brooks Category
Brooks is the only quarterback drafted outside the first or second round that had an impact in the league, being drafted by the Packers in the fourth round. He had 6 very uneven years in New Orleans before 1 disastrous season in Oakland. He was 38-52 as a starter and had 123 passing TDs and 13 rushing TDs in his career compared to 92 interceptions and an unbelievable 64 fumbles. More games that have a large spread and look likely to produce a couple of big plays, but also a couple of plays that make you want to cover your eyes – which is the way Saints fans felt every time Brooks dropped back to pass.

COWBOYS (-11) over Redskins
This is a lot of points to lay in a divisional game from a team that only scored 7 points last week to a team that won last week. However, the Redskins offense is awful, using trick plays to score most of the year. The Cowboys defense actually played well against Green Bay, holding them to 3 points in the first half, and one TD after Clay Matthews recovered a fumble inside the 10 yard line. Romo is reminded that the best time for a trip to an exotic island is after your team wins the championship – a lesson Derek Jeter demonstrated with Minka Kelly in St. Bart’s this week.

Cardinals (-9) over RAMS
Rams were surprisingly feisty last week against the potent Saints attack, but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do it two weeks in a row. Steven Jackson has had an amazingly strong season playing for a 1 win team, proving that when healthy, he is as good as any back in the league. However, the Cardinals aerial assault is cruising and it continues again this week.

The Shaun King Category
King was a second round pick by Tampa Bay, and had a surprisingly successful, if short, career. He was 14-10 as a starter, one of only two quarterbacks from the class with a winning record, including a 10-6 season in his second year, 2000. He’s currently a college football analyst on ESPN – what a surprise that a former football player was immediately given a seat at the big four-letter. We’re finally getting to some games that might be more competitive and could impact the playoff picture.

PACKERS (-6.5) over 49ers
The Niners had no business beating the Bears last week, only scoring 10 points even with the aid of 5 Cutler interceptions. The Packers defense put a hurting on the Cowboys, and should have a field day riddling Alex Smith. In the battle of first round quarterbacks from 2005, Rodgers proves that he shouldn’t have slid all the way to Green Bay at #24. Singletary gets closer to having a Mr. Furious-like breakdown on his team.

Titans (+4.5) over TEXANS
It’s tough to go against the Texans coming off a bye at home on a Monday night. But the Texans defense cannot slow Chris Johnson, which allows the Titans to play keep away from Matt Schaub and the high-powered Houston offense. And although it doesn’t make any sense because he’s not actually doing that much, Vince Young somehow wins games – he’s 20-11 as a starter.

The Daunte Culpepper Category
Culpepper was among the better statistical quarterback’s in the league for a stretch from 2000-2004. In 2004, he threw for over 4700 yards and 39 interceptions, for a QB rating of over 110. Yet despite the gaudy numbers, he only produced one season where he was over .500 as a starter (2000), and has a career record of 41-54 including his time with the Vikings, Dolphins, Raiders and Lions. These games have the potential to be impressive, but may explode like Daunte’s knee did in 2005, ending his stretch as a reliable NFL starter.

RAVENS (+1) over Colts
The Colts are not going to go undefeated this season, and this looks like one of the more likely places they could lose. The Ravens will be without Terrell Suggs after the Brady Quinn cheap shot, but the Colts were lucky to beat the Patriots last week. Look for Ray Lewis to rally his troops to slow down Manning on his march to perfection.

Falcons (+6.5) over GIANTS
Both teams have been sliding lately, the Giants are coming off their bye week at home, and the Falcons have suffered all of their losses on the road. Yet, even with Michael Turner banged up, Matt Ryan should be able to put up enough points with Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White to keep this one close and cover the number.

Eagles (-3) over BEARS
Jay Cutler has thrown 12 of his 18 interceptions in night games this season, so this Sunday night affair does not bode well for the gunslinger. Eagles only have to fly halfway across the country to get to Chicago, after poor performances at Oakland and at San Diego. McNabb, the Chicago native, and 1999 quarterback, will be ready to light up the poor Chicago secondary. Speaking of the oft-injured choke artist McNabb………..

The Donovan McNabb Category
While I am no fan of Donovan McNabb, I mean, he’s from Philly (strike one), he is not mentally tough – throwing up on the field (strike two), and he is not a good leader – whiny whenever someone else gets the spotlight or benches him (strike three). Oh, and I’m not even bringing up that he’s stupid and didn’t know a game could end in a tie. All that said, he has had tremendous regular season success, and is far and away the best quarterback from the 1999 draft. He is 82-45-1 as a starter and 9-6 in the playoffs and has thrown 206 touchdowns versus 94 interceptions. These are the most compelling games of the week, and much like Donovan, are only relevant in the regular season.

PATRIOTS (-10.5) over Jets
Patriots haven’t lost consecutive games in a bazillion years, and have the extra motivation of the week 2 loss to the Jets. Rex Ryan may not be crying passionate tears after this game, as they may be tears of legit pain from having Belichick and Brady’s legs knee-deep in his oversized rear end. The Jets offense will not be able to exploit the Pats defense the way the Colts did and Brady will dink and dunk with Welker until the deep ball for Moss opens up.

Chargers (-1) over BRONCOS
Broncos continue their slide back to the team that everyone expected them to be, especially if Kyle Orton isn’t able to go. Chargers have rebounded from their slow start, like they do every year, and will be able to take back control of the division. San Diego’s fourth-in-the-AFC passing game will put constant pressure on the Broncos secondary and force the Broncos to play a higher scoring game than they would like.

Week 6 Hangover - Love/Hate

Couple quick airline stories from the weekend before the Love/Hate…….

7:00 am flight out of LaGuardia, boarding up around 6:45, and then become plane #31 in line to take off, so there’s some time to kill on the run way. Girl in the center seat wearing sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up decides she’s hungry. Rustles in her bag and pulls out a full size bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Really? Who brings a full-size bag of Doritos on a plane? For a 7:00 AM flight!?! So it’s now just after 7 in the morning, with the smell of cool ranch Doritos dominating the plane. And she doesn’t have any napkins and since you don’t want to waste any of that great cool ranch flavor, the natural thing to do is lick your fingers and hands to make sure you get all that goodness. Ugh. As the plane finally takes off and the flight attendants come by for beverages, what does she request? A Mountain Dew, of course. And no diet for this one – go for the Mountain Dew heavy. Amazingly, the attendant didn’t have any.

On the flight back Sunday night, Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr of Gossip Girl were sitting two rows behind us. Yeah, I watch Gossip Girl. Yes, I have a wife. Yes, it’s an excuse to watch Blake Lively and Leighton Meester. (note: Squirrel, get used to giving up the remote dude. You only have 2 weeks left.) In reality, Westwick is really short, and Szohr looked homeless.

LOVE

- The winner of the Florida-Alabama game will play Texas for the national title. No one wants to see Boise State or Iowa in the title game. No one.

- That Notre Dame-USC game had the 2 best QBs in the country. Barkley is a stud for a true freshman, and Claussen might be the most pro-ready prospect out there. USC is having their typical season, beat Ohio State early, lose the following week against a middle of the pack Pac-10 team, then round into form and be the best team in the country right before the bowl season.

- The Patriots are not dead and looked an awful lot like the 2007 Patriots – running up the score and squashing inferior opponents. Oh, and that Brady guy goes for 5 TDs in the second quarter. Titans were embarrassing to watch. The fall out? Jeff Fisher might get the axe in Nashville because that team showed they quit. Maybe it’s time for a change, and Fisher will immediately become the leading candidate for the soon-to-be-open Cowboys job.

- The Badger Snuggie was everywhere at the game this week. Also everywhere at the game were many Iowa farmers/fans. I was concerned that there was going to be a corn shortage since all those farmers were at the game and not tending their farms. Then again, they might as well travel to watch Iowa play, what the heck else are you going to do if you stay in Iowa?

- Modern Family is the best new show on television. Al Bundy is having a career resurgence.

HATE

- Mark Sanchez had never played in a game when the temperature was below 55 degrees in his life. Grew up in Cali, went to USC and now with the Jets. And in his first game in that weather? A game almost as bad as Jake Delhomme’s season opener. The Jets had a 210 yard rusher and a 99 yard rusher and lost in OT. Hopefully he figures it out, because the Meadowlands has a slightly different climate than southern California.

- The Angels look nothing like the disciplined and talented team that they were most of the season and they are in serious trouble. Down 2 games and facing Pettite is a tough task.

- The 2-3-2 format for the playoffs is ridiculous and asinine. If the Angels win just their home games, they will have 2 shots to close out the Yankees in games 6 and 7. If you don’t have home field advantage, you should never be leading the series just by winning your home games. I get the travel and cost constraints, but the schedule is stupid. And don’t get me started on the number of off days.

- You cannot be a Super Bowl contender and lose to the Raiders. There are no excuses for McNabb or Andy Reid. Because Reid is a jovial fat guy, everyone will give him a pass and say it was a one week slip up and they’ll learn from it. If it were the Cowboys that lost to the Raiders? Or the Giants? But that is the sign of team that is not mentally tough. McNabb has never been mentally tough and continues to prove it.

- Nice game Ohio State. Terrell Pryor is a joke. He’s not even as good as Kordell Stewart ever was.

- Have to feel bad for Sam Bradford. The guy would have been among the top picks in the draft last year, and went back to school to fight for a national championship and be a college kid for one more year. Now he’s injured his shoulder twice and his draft stock is going down faster than Paris Hilton in front of a video camera.