NFLFan's Journal: NFL Divisional Weekend

The Fan's Six Pack:

1. Here are my thoughts from last weeks games:
   • Wow, did you see that "gadget" play the Steelers pulled off? That was perhaps the best trick play I have ever seen.
   • Carolina stopped Tiki Barber. I wrote here last week that Barber was the only guy Carolina should be concerned with stopping.
   • What happened to Plaxico Burress? I think we have seen this movie before.
   • Why did Carolina keep DeShaun Foster in there so long? I have to think that toe is worse than before the game. Not good.
   • I don't know if Sean Taylor spit at Pittman or not but his departure almost cost the Redskins the game. Hope Taylor never puts himself in the position to be ejected ever again.
   • When it mattered most, I remembered not to trust Jon Gruden and that Simms kid.
   • It is a shame that Carson Palmer went down with an injury. Now the Bengals and everybody else are whining that the better team did not win. By the way, even if that hit was late, I can see it going either way, it was clean.
   • What was up with Marvin Lewis calling Roethlisberger a cry baby after the game? Sour grapes. I just lost some respect for Marvin Lewis. These teams meet at least twice a year, not smart Marvin.
   • I read some stupid little AFC scouting report on sportsillustrated.com and it said that Jacksonville was a team with no real weakness and I just thought what about their anemic offense. Sadly, the Jaguars did nothing to prove me wrong.
   • Tom Brady sure looked bad in the first half. Too bad the Jags proved unable to keep their defense going for the whole game.
   • Please shut up Tom Brady. I do not care if you think you are even with the best teams in the league right now.
   • What is up with Corey Dillon only going for 40 yards on 17 carries? I do not know if it is age, injury, or a combination of the two. What I do know is that when such running backs have a career year, they usually never approach it again.
   • I thought Tedy Bruschi was expected to play; shame on you Bill Belichick.
   • I keep hearing how the Steelers won by running the ball, after taking out Palmer of course, and they did have a 144 yards rushing but I cannot say that is how or why they won. Those rushing yards came late when the game was essentially over.
2. Stuff on the head coach front:
   • There seems to be a lot of mixed feelings surrounding the Chiefs hiring Herm Edwards. People seem to think it creates a bad precedent and that either the Jets got stiffed or gave him away.

     I really don't see the precedent thing but I don't understand this whole trading for a coach thing. The NFL should disallow all of this trading for coaches non-sense.

     As for why the Jets only got a 4th rounder, I don't think the Jets really wanted Edwards. They knew it would be difficult to fire him so they didn't but when someone showed interest in him they said have him.

     I like Herm Edwards. Is the guy the greatest coach out there? No, he certainly has his weaknesses but the Chiefs could certainly do a lot worse. I do not think the guy ever really got a fair shake in New York-- he is a decent guy who just has no idea how to handle that New York media.

   • I do not like the Vikings hiring Brad Childress. I think it is just because I do not know a lot about the guy.
   • I am hearing the Giants defensive coordinator, Tim Lewis, being mentioned a lot. I do not think that guy has what it takes to be a head coach.
   • Seems a lot of people believe that the early favorite for the Jets head coaching job is defensive coordinator Eric Mangini. I think that is a good idea and it has nothing to do with Bill Belichick but rather the fact that Mangini is a defensive coach and is young.
3. In news that could be far more reaching than just the NFL, James Andrew had a heart attack Sunday night. Carson Palmer had to find a different doctor because of this.
4. I am a guy who loves the draft but it is too early to be talking about it!
5. Could it be that the best available quarterbacks are Chris Simms and Jon Kitna? Scary, I do not like either one of them. Look for Miami to try and grab them.
6. Why is the New Orleans City Council suggesting personnel moves to Saints?

The Picks:
Last week I went 4-0! So having picked 3 out of 4 road teams last week, I am celebrating by only picking the home teams this week!

Saturday, Jan. 14
Washington at Seattle 4:30 p.m.
I like the Seahawks. The injuries finally catch up to the Redskins, don't like the idea of Portis having stingers/burners in both arms.

New England at Denver 8:00 p.m.
I like the Broncos. I actually cannot think of too many reasons why I should pick the Broncos but you only live once.

Sunday, Jan. 15
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis 1:00 p.m.
I like the Colts. This is going to be the game where the Colts are at their most vulnerable but I still cannot pick the Steelers. If the Colts win this game, they go all the way. Everybody seems to be giving this game to the Colts; I almost picked the Steelers because of that. There is no such thing as a sure thing.

Carolina at Chicago 4:30 p.m.
I like the Bears. The less I write here the better. Should be a dog fight.

Harrumph to you sir! Harrumph!

[Em Emalb]

Carolina at Chicago 4:30 p.m.
I like the Bears. The less I write here the better. Should be a dog fight.

The more you write about this game the better.

I know who I'm rooting for. Just don't know if they are ready to take the next step. We'll see.

GO BEARS!

Re:Harrumph to you sir! Harrumph!

[FortKnox]

Carolina shouldn't be the problem. The Seahawks are who you have to worry about.

Tim Lewis, I agree with. He is a moderate DC, but I don't think he's HC material. I think Childress will be a great asset to the Viking's offense... dunno about the D, though.
NO can talk about the Saints personnel, because the Saints have to play nice with them if they want the new stadium they are begging them for...

Re:Harrumph to you sir! Harrumph!

[NFLFan]

Seattle is probably a lot softer than what people think. Seattle's defense is sort of soft-- especially their pass defense. The Seahawks had the easiest schedule in the league this year and they got lucky against the Giants and caught the Colts at just the right time. They do seem to play better at home but I would pick any AFC team over the Seahawks so why not the Bears?

Real short term I think Tim Lewis would be an okay head coach, Bill Callahan was able to take the Raiders to a Super Bowl after all, bu

Re:Harrumph to you sir! Harrumph!

[NFLFan]

The thing about the Panthers at Bears game is that I just do not have a real good feel for it. Everything I wrote about it I found myself questioning. So I tried to just take the Bears and not explain it.

Herm Lewis?

[Shadow Wrought]

I think you meant Herm Edwards;-)

I read the St. Louis Papers and I'm pretty happy about a lot of the guys that they have been interviewing. I'd like them to get a defensive minded disciplanarian in there, but they have a long and storied history of making me cry, so I'm not getting my hopes up (too much;-).

I think the home teams sweep it, too, and I think Indy plays Seattle in the Super Bowl.

Re:Herm Lewis?

[NFLFan]

Yeah, I meant Herm Edwards. I don't know what I was thinking.

I haven't heard too much about the St. Louis job but I remember hearing that they were looking for a defensive coach-- I like that a lot.