NFLFan's Journal: NFL Week 12

The Fan's Six Pack:
1.) So NFL players seem to have voted Shaun Alexander the most overrated player in the league to go along with the whispers or belief that he is soft. This makes no sense. Alexander might not be the toughest running back in the league but the guy is a touchdown machine who always gets his yards. Compare Alexander to the "tough all-man" running back Jamal Lewis, they are both in the last year of their contract but the "soft" guy is having a career year while the other guy has even admitted to looking out for himself first when playing.

For those interested, my list of the top three overrated players are Jamal Lewis, Todd Heap, and Donovan McNabb with honorable mention to Jonathan Ogden. Jamal Lewis is seemingly washed up now. Lewis was showing signs of slipping last year as well but no one would of guessed that he would fall this far. While you do not hear it much now, some people call Heap the best tight end in football-- I cannot put him in front of Gonzalez, Gates, Crumpler, or a bunch of lesser known tight ends. As for McNabb, he is not bad but he is not as good as people think he is. Without T.O., Philly lacks the receivers to make McNabb great, McNabb is lessing than willing to take off and run because he pays too much attention to the black running quarterback non-sense, and he has hurt the Eagles this year by trying to play through his sports hernia injury because he has never had surgery and is afraid! By signing that contract you are inviting the knife and it is just something one has to accept. Baltimore people seem to think Ogden is slipping mentally because he is disgruntled about the Ravens cutting Ogden brother but he also played poorly last year although it should be noted that he was injured for the majority of last year. Wow, no wonder the Ravens are a bad team.

2.) My list of top three overrated coaches are Bill Belichick, Dick Vermeil, and Brian Billick. I know, you probably think that I am crazy for saying that Bill Belichick is the most overrated coach. Belichick is a good coach and a smart guy but he is not as good as the hype would suggest. Even before the injuries, the Patriots looked like a different team this year without Weis and Crennel and they probably deserved a lot more credit for the Patriots past success than they ever got. Belichick more or less by himself right now is not much better than than his days in Cleveland with the exception of having a better quarterback. Dick Vermeil used to be a borderline great coach but with the Chiefs he has softened too much and looked for the quick fix instead of the right fix. I do not care if Brian Billick has a Super Bowl ring, so do a lot of other people. The guy is the village idiot. Love how he always tries to spin things to make him look smart, talking about how he looks at his Super Bowl ring to remind himself, and everybody else, that he supposedly knows what he is doing and talking about Bill Cowher's failures as misdirection.

3.) So the Eagles won the right to suspend T.O. ass and deactivate him after-wards. If he still wants be part of the Eagles I would bring him back though. I would overly scrutinize him practice and games. I would only let him run patterns taking him over the middle during games. I might make up some trick plays that just have T.O. flapping his arms and balking like a chicken. The minute him complains, I would fine or suspend him.

4.) I cannot figure out who is the cream of the NFC. I think it is between the Seahawks and Giants both teams are flawed more than I like. Chicago is the wildcard.

5.) I think it would be rather difficult for the Bears to win the Super Bowl this year but I think Chicago's defense is better than Baltimore's ever was.

6.) Looking ahead to the draft, the top pick should either be Matt Leinart of Reggie Bush. Leinart is a polished quarterback with a questionable arm. Bush is a jitterbug running back who might be good for a 2000+ combined yard season but not likely a good and consistent between the tackles guy. If I was the GM with a top 2 pick, I think I would trade down. It is a good way to save money and get at least 1 extra draft pick.

The Picks:
Last week I went 9-7. Overall, I am 100-62 (.6173). Too bad I did not have the guts to go against the numbers and pick to pick the Cardinals, Ravens, and Bears.

Thursday, Nov. 24
Atlanta at Detroit 12:30 p.m.
I like the Falcons. This is probably a mistake because the Falcons are up and down like a yo-yo and the Lions have a really good record on Thanksgiving.

Denver at Dallas 4:15 p.m.
I like the Broncos. This could be a really good game. Mike Shanahan needs an animal name. So far we have turkey and tuna what goes with that stuff? I don't know. Maybe I should consult a plumber.

Sunday, Nov. 27
Baltimore at Cincinnati 1:00 p.m.
I like the Bengals. If the Ravens play like they did against the Steelers then they could win but the Ravens have yet to show that they can play two consecutive good games. The Bengals rebound from a tough lost against the Colts. Should be fun watching Billick screw up some more.

Carolina at Buffalo 1:00 p.m.
I like the Panthers. This just in, everybody who said that the Panthers are the best team in the NFC are wrong. I was wrong. I do not know who is best. I do not know much.

Chicago at Tampa Bay 1:00 p.m.
I like the Bears. Well, a few weeks ago I pretty much wrote-off the Bucs. Now the Bucs are back. Yeah, the Bucs are back this week. Oh well, at worse I just continue being wrong.

Cleveland at Minnesota 1:00 p.m.
I like the Vikings. I have tried to write-off the Vikings the past two weeks saying it has been too little too late. I do remember saying that Brad Johnson would be an improvement over Culpepper; I got that right. Watch the Browns beat up on the Vikings because I picked the Vikings.

New England at Kansas City 1:00 p.m.
I like the Chiefs. The Chiefs have a run offense good enough to run over and through the Patriots and everybody can through on the Patriots now. I do not think the Chiefs can consistently stop the Patriots on offense but the Chiefs can stop the Patriots more often than the Patriots can stop the Chiefs.

San Diego at Washington 1:00 p.m.
I like the Chargers. The Redskins are starting to sink. The Chargers seem to be getting their act together. Watch the Chargers forget to show up and the Redskins blow out the Chargers.

San Francisco at Tennessee 1:00 p.m.
I like the Titans. The 49ers are not playing as well as their record, which stinks! Why did Steve McNair come back again? Oh yeah, to further ruin his quality of life after football.

St. Louis at Houston 1:00 p.m.
I like the Rams. This is probably going to be a game that the Texans blowout the Rams. Bad things happen when I pick the Rams. To make this game interesting I think they should set off fireworks during the whole game, especially right before each snap.

Jacksonville at Arizona 4:05 p.m.
I like the Jaguars. It pains me to keep picking the Jags but they have to play someone good for me to pick against them. Sigh. Barring injury, the Jags will not beat the Colts.

Miami at Oakland 4:05 p.m.
I like the Raiders. Nick Saban getting snippy with the media, what a surprise. I want to be like Bill Belichick in every-way except I want to where ugly leather-ware instead. The guy is just a slippery snake oil salesman. (What?)

Green Bay at Philadelphia 4:15 p.m.
I like the Packers. One of my decisions for picking games with bad teams is to favor the home team but I am stupid and never really factor it in. So the Eagles should win but I am at a place where the Packers are favored. It does not make sense to me either.

N.Y. Giants at Seattle 4:15 p.m.
I like the Giants. I want to pick the Seahawks but I am stupid. I like that Seahawk offense but that defense is another matter. I do not know what the Giants have anymore.

New Orleans at N.Y. Jets 8:30 p.m.
I like the Saints. I could justify picking the Jets all the same. Two bad teams.

Monday, Nov. 28
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis 9:00 p.m.
I like the Colts. I know a lot of people have pegged this game as the one the Colts will lose and while I think it could happen I do not think it is likely. Whoever the Steelers put at quarterback I do not like this weekend-- Roethlisberger is coming off knee surgery and this is not an ideal comeback start, Maddox has seemingly lost it, and Randle El might be intriguing but he is also the Steelers' best deep threat. The Colts offense is finally clicking like everyone expected it to, which is good because their defense is starting to slip, and the Colts are at home, the past few years home field advantage did not mean much but the home teams are winning at a good clip once again.