Colts vs. Pats = Good vs, Evil?

It's not very often that you get two games over the course of two weeks that involve unbeaten teams this far into the season, but after sullying Dallas' record two games ago, the Patriots now will face the unbeaten Colts two Sunday's from now.

For all of those Patriots fans out there, Gregg Easterbrook has written the perfect argument to explain why your team are the bad guys now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071023&sportCat=nfl&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Unlike his ESPN.com colleague Bill Simmons, Easterbrook makes much more informed and incredibly more unbiased opinions. He takes the side of someone on the outside looking in, not a die-hard fan of the franchise like Simmons is.

Easterbrook's opinions may be over-the-top at times, but the man knows football and does in depth research into the numbers behind the game to make a well informed analysis.

Anyone who is on Simmons' side about the Patriots giving a big middle finger to the league as a good thing should read TMQ and re-evaluate their thought process in cheering for a team and being fine with such unsportsmanlike displays like the ones that New England are portraying every week.

Rox-Sox series set.

Well, you could sense it after Boston won game five that their series with the Indians was going their way. Cleveland were dead men walking after their ace Sabathia lost to Beckett's wizardry. Even Daisuke didn't pitch as awfully as everyone expected him to. There wasn't even a hope that the Indians could beat Boston at Fenway.

So the table is set for a Rox-Sox World Series. So there's Team A. A team that despite a week off that was full of massive press coverage and daily stories still is unrecognizable to the masses. Then there's Team B; a team with a payroll over a hundred million dollars and one of the most annoying fan bases in sports history.

This series will come down to small market values versus big market money. A team that could afford to spent fifty million dollars to just talk to a player about a contract versus a team whose entire payroll is around that number. A team that has two of the biggest name sluggers in baseball versus a team that has an MVP candidate you've never heard of.

I sincerely hope, for the sake of all of baseball, the Rockies win the World Series; if only just to prove that you don't have to spend money and have name players to win it all. To prove that small market teams like Colorado have the ability to beat the best. And most of all, to give Ubaldo Jimenez as many World Series rings as David Ortiz.

Week Seven round-up

You have no idea how much it can hurt when looking at a line and see something like "NFL record breaking eight field goals by Rod Bironas" and then knowing he's sitting on the bench for your fantasy team. It's as close as it gets to being punched in the stomach by an imaginary team. These things happen, I'll deal with it and now I'm not so mad at Mike Cameron any more. Cameron was the previous ultra goat in my fantasy experiences after he shattered a poor hitting slump by hitting four home runs while on my bench a few years back.

The Patriots beat the Dolphins. As if nobody saw that coming. Tom Brady also re-set his personal high with six TD passes after throwing five last week. It's just the Dolphins people; let's not get ahead of ourselves too much.

Buffalo knocked off the Ravens and did it by actually holding them off in the fourth quarter, something they're usually unable to do. Good for them and good for Trent Edwards. That guy has the potential to be a good NFL QB one day.

Adrian Peterson isn't as great as everyone thinks apparently. A week after blowing up the Bears defense he could only manage 63 yards against God's team and also lost a crucial fumble. Dallas rolled to a 24-14 win despite an early deficit and a minor injury to Romo.

New Orleans kept their winning ways going but Atlanta isn't much of a challenger. The Falcons didn't have much luck with Byron Leftwich starting at QB instead of Joey Harrington either. Leftwich was forced out of the game in the fourth quarter.

In the Sunday night game, Denver showed the life I expected from them when I picked the Broncos to win the Super Bowl. And they did it with Champ Bailey and Javon Walker sitting on the sidelines. Pittsburgh did try to stage a comeback but feel short at Mile High stadium.

It was a pretty lacklustre week in terms of stories but tonight's game between the Colts and the Jaguars figures to be a good one. Even if nobody outside of Jacksonville likes the Jags. Why haven't they played the "Nobody respects us" card like the Patriots (whiny bitches) always do? It actually applies here, unlike the way Brady played it during Super Bowl seasons.

Also, somehow, I had my best week ever in picks. Maybe I should start being busier and paying less attention to the little things.

This Week: 8-3
On the Season: 38-47-8

Week Seven Picks

Well, I’ve been running a bit late and busy so these picks may not be as solid as usual but, given my record on the season, it may be what I need.

Vikings (+9.5) at COWBOYS

How about that Adrian Peterson? I liked him in college, I like him now, but I still think a lot of his success this year has to do with that outstanding line blocking for him. This is a potential trap game for Dallas, coming off the loss to New England and going into a bye week. I've got a bad feeling about this one.

BILLS (+3) over Ravens

Trent Edwards should be the new face of the Bills. If they ever go back to Losman, they're dumbasses. They should've tried to deal him before the deadline expired. But then again, who would want him?

Bucs (+2) over LIONS

Sure, these Lions can pass the hell out of the ball, but can they do anything else really? Even with the Bucs heavily depleted back field I think they can win.

Patriots (-16.5) over DOLPHINS

This Patriots team is disgustingly good and this Dolphins team is disgustingly bad. It's well known that the Pats have always had trouble in Miami, but this is a lot better of a New England team than they've ever had.

GIANTS (-9) over 49ers

Do you think the Giants are looking forward to playing in England next week? I really don't think anyone would. Anyways, the Niners are not impressing anyone like everyone predicted they would.

REDSKINS (+9) over Cardinals

Tim Rattay or Tim Hasselbeck at QB for the Cardinals? This has Ewing Theory written all over it but those guys are really bad.

TEXANS (+1) over Titans

Vince Young will be fighting through his leg problem. It doesn't bode well for the Tennessee offense.

BENGALS over (-6) Jets

I can really see the Bengals breaking out against the Jets this week. Would you actually be surprised if they dropped 35 points on them? I wouldn't. Then I also wouldn't be surprised when they fall apart against whoever they play next week.

Chiefs (+3) over RAIDERS

Even though they're on the road, I can see the Chiefs continue on their roll. It might be because of the good karma from Priest Holmes' comebacks.

SEAHAWKS (-8) over Rams

The ‘hawks at home are always a good pick in my mind, even if they look poor this season. Bulger may be back for St. Louis but don’t expect too good of a performance.

Bears (+5) over EAGLES

So the Eagles blow out the Lions a few weeks back and everyone thinks they’re still great? I know the Bears aren’t very good but I feel better taking the points in this lacklustre match up.

Steelers (-3.5) over BRONCOS

Oh how the Broncos have fallen. This line should be a bit higher but I’m not going to complain.

Colts (-3) over JAGUARS

This will be the game of the week. The Jags traditionally give the Colts trouble, especially in Jacksonville, but with Addai back in the line up and coming off a bye, the Colts should pull this one out.

Last Week: 3-6-2
This Season: 30-44-8