Bad break for Pittsburgh

You've got to feel a bit bad for Pittsburgh right now and any who started Willie Parker for their fantasy championship game only have him injured on the first play of the game against St. Louis. Losing the NFL's leading rusher is not going to help the Steelers in the playoffs two weeks from now; especially if they have to face a tough defense like Jacksonville's.

Dallas (-10.5) at CAROLINA

If I actually bet on or even picked Cowboys games, I would take the Panthers in this one. Romo's thumb injury and a line that high seems like a good combination to me. Also, apparently, the Eagles game wasn't the first that Jessica's attended this season meaning that it's just a bad idea for Tony's girlfriend du jour to attend home games against Philly.

Packers (-8.5) over BEARS

With Kyle Orton at the helm again and the Packers fighting for home-field advantage it's hard to pick against Green Bay. It may be a close game just because these two teams are bitter division rivals, but I doubt it.

Browns (-3) over BENGALS

Really? only three points for a possible division winner against a floundering 5-9 team? Would anyone not take the Browns here?

PATRIOTS (-22) over Dolphins

The Pats have had a string of close games recently but since they're playing against the nearly winless Dolphins at home in a cold-weather scenario, it's easy to think that 22 points is too low of a line.

Texans (+7) over COLTS

The Colts should be resting their starters about halfway through this one. The Texans are talented enough to keep it close against the Colts second-stringers.

LIONS (-5) over Chiefs

Two teams that have some serious off-season thinking to do. I wouldn't put money on either team but a pick has to be made. And whatever happened to the Lions team that was leading the league in interceptions a few weeks ago? What happened to that defence?

VIKINGS (-6.5) over Redskins

Interesting fantasy development of the week: I have Chester Taylor starting while my opponent has Adrian Peterson. I'm sure he has an advantage here but this makes for a very interesting carries-oriented subplot. Who gets more and who's in for goal-line TD vulture dives? Please let it be Chester.

SAINTS (-3) over Eagles

The Saints have something to play for, the Eagles don't. It's as simple as that.

BILLS (+3) over Giants

Can you actually believe that the Bills will lose with Kevin Everett in attendance? Any emotional boost like that can do wonders. Also, I'm not so sure that the Bills deserve to be the 'dog in this one; the Giants are choking and Elisha's playing on the road.

JAGUARS (-13) over Raiders

Maybe next year Oakland... Maybe next. And how about the Jags being the best five-seed in recent memory? A 12-4 wild card team is scary for some week division winners like the Browns, Chargers and beaten up Steelers.

Jets (+8.5) over TITANS

When anyone questions why Vince Young isn't performing as well as last year, why is the first and only answer not "the Madden Curse"? All this hub-bub isn't for nothing people.

Bucs (-6) over NINERS

The Niners are a sad, sad team.

CARDINALS (-10) over Falcons

Kurt Warner's playing for a 2008 contract. At least I hope he is for the sake of my beloved Coney Island Whitefish.

SEAHAWKS (-10.5) over Ravens

I will never argue against Seattle at home. These Ravens just keep on finding ways to lose as well.

Broncos (+8.5) over CHARGERS

The Broncos still have some fight left in them and shouldn't be given this many points. As for the playoffs, the Chargers might get that first-round win but they're not even coming close against Indy or New England on the road.

This week: 0-1
Last week: 5-10
This season: 100-99-9

More tough luck for Atlanta

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for the Atlanta Falcons, it did. After it was reported on Tuesday that future hall-of-fame coach Bill Parcells was going to sign on to run the lowly Falcons in a VP role, taking over all the football aspects of the organization (and then probably retiring three years in) he blew them off for the even-worse Dolphins, who just picked up their first win of the season. How this makes any sense after retiring from the Cowboys last year? Nobody except the Big Tuna can tell you. But I hope you’re looking forward to a plethora of headlines using the words Big Tuna and some combination of fish, fins, Dolphins of any other marine terms.

As for tonight’s game:

After being battered and bruised in their game against the Jaguars on Sunday, I wouldn’t be too inclined to pick the Steelers in this one except for the fact that they’re facing the lowly Rams. You also have to factor in that Pittsburgh could potentially lose their division to the Browns now and actually have to fight for a better position in the playoffs to avoid a second-round meeting in Foxboro. Then again, home underdogs have been doing well recently. It’s tough to go against a good team like Pittsburgh but they’re a little too banged up for my liking.

RAMS (+7.5) over Steelers

Last week: 5-10
This season: 100-98-9

Popularity Bowl rosters

It's that time of the year when the NFL announces the AFC and NFC rosters for their all-star game, the Pro Bowl. Now, in most sports, fan voting does not account for 100% of the selections for the all star games. In the NBA, MLB and even NHL, only the starting lineup is picked by the fans — often leading to players making the team by name and fan loyalty only. But not in the NFL, where the entire team is picked via fan voting. Sure a few reserves are picked by the league based on performance, but everyone else is there because the fans want them.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? There will be snubs no matter how the team is assembled and fans usually do a reasonably well job, especially this year. Snub columns are dreadfully short and can only really argue for the likes of David Garrard, Fred Taylor and Derek Anderson. But those three are at positions that are nearly impossible to win at considering their opposition. How could Garrard and Anderson ever beat out Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. They were also defeated by Big Ben but he's more deserving than them. Taylor's having a great season and might be the best running back to never make the Pro Bowl. He was beaten out my LDT, Joseph Addai and Willie Parker. I would pick any of those three over Taylor in a heartbeat.

Will the NFC play with ten players on defence for the first snap? The slain Sean Taylor was voted to the NFC team to start at free safety. One can only wonder when he received the majority of his votes. He was a really good player so far this season, but would fans click on his name more after learning the tragic details of his murder? Either way, I think it was a nice touch for the league not to have taken him off the ballot completely — which I'm sure there would've been debate over.

God's Team, the Cowboys led all teams with 11 players named to the squad including seven starters and four backups not to mention a few reserves including Roy Williams, who will most likely get a call to take Sean Taylor's place. It's no surprise to see that many Dallas players on the team considering how well they've played this season, as well as the relatively weak competition of the NFC.

In the AFC, I'm actually surprised to see eight Chargers on the team which ties New England for the most selections from an AFC. The Chargers haven't been living up to their quoted potential this season and I suspect that this may be due to fans voting for names they know instead of selecting the top performers.

Playing drunk

So it’s come out that former NBA player Keon Clark had never played a game sober. In fact he reportedly drank from a half pint to a pint of gin a day. He would also drink during halftime of games.

Now I understand that coaches aren’t in the locker room at halftime but how could this sort of thing go unnoticed? The fact that your centre smells like gin didn’t come up anywhere? Why didn’t anybody try to stage an intervention or get him help?

This does bring up the interesting fact that Keon Clark was better than a lot of players who played the game sober. How bad would you feel about getting schooled by a drunk?

Also, how much could his career numbers - 8.2 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and a very respectable 1.6 blocks per game – improved if he had been playing sober? Nobody will ever know but you could also argue that he only functioned and played that well because he was intoxicated.

All in all, it’s good that this news has come out and he’s getting help for his problem.

Fins win!

Who would've ever thought a guy named Greg Camarillo would save the Dolphins from achieving the most shameful mark in sports? Dolphins fans and the entire city of Miami must be overjoyed after their team finally notched their first win of the season. And how bad must everyone who routes for Baltimore feel right now? This loss is their eighth in a row and was one the should've and could've won. Now, will the Dolphins win another game this season? There's no hope in New England next week but a win in week 17 against Cincinnati isn't out of the question.

Speaking of the New England Cheaters, they failed horribly in their attempt to embarrass the Jets yesterday. After pointing out that the Pats were cheating in their week two game this season, Belichick has been on a rampage trying to say "F*** you" to the league and every the team they play. Only winning by ten against an inferior opponent that you allegedly hate with a passion doesn't look to good on you. Now that this is done with, how much could the Miami at New England line be next week? My money's on NE giving 30.

I'm blaming the Cowboys' loss not on Tony Romo but on Jessica Simpson. Apparently, when Tony Romo was dating Carrie Underwood last year, she attended a game in Dallas against Philadelphia and Romo had his worst game of his career. Well, until yesterday when he posted a 22.2 QB rating. Do not bring your girlfriend to a game ever again Tony. Please.

How about the conditions in Cleveland for their game against Buffalo? That was the worst snow during an NFL game I can remember since the "Tuck Rule" game in New England for the AFC championship in 2002. I'm not even that surprised that final score was in single-digits. If I had the option (and didn't sleep in) I would've bet the farm on the under for that game.

The elements had a hand in the Pittsburgh-Jacksonville game as well. But you would think that would favour the tough-as-nails Steelers right? Not when Big Ben is playing banged up at least. It's actually possible the Steelers may not even win their division after being touted as one of the top-5 teams in the league earlier this year. And would anyone want to face the Jags in the playoffs? They're scary good.

Brett Favre is now the greatest QB in NFL history. How much can you argue after he passed Dan Marino for the career record in passing yards. He already holds the record for passing touchdowns and has won the Super Bowl, what else is left for Brett? Well, since the Packers clinched a first-round bye with their win over St. Louis, an NFC title game appearance isn't unreasonable at all.


This week: 4-10 (With Minnesota -9 tonight)
This season: 99-98-9