NFL Week 2 - Clash of the Titans - Young vs. Fisher

I've been side tracked all week so a major delay in my weekly NFL blog.

First game that comes to mind is the Titans vs. Steelers game. With Fat Ben out for four games, many thought a 2-2 record was a major accomplishment. It is if you've seen the numbers the QBs put up this week you'd probably chalk this game up as a loss. Donna Dixon and C-Batch managed a grand total of 21 passing yards. This game was all Steeler defense and Vince Young/Carry Collins turnover suckage.

Vince Collins and Kerry Young accounted for five turnovers (3 Int and 2 fumbles lost).

I think at this point it is safe to assume that Troy Polamalu is more valuable to the Steelers win column that Fat Ben. A healthy Polamalu means a nasty defense. When he was out last year, the defense was suspect at best but on top with him. The offense is no where as strong without Fat Ben but the team is still winning. The Steelers aren't going to be able to out defend for 14 more games this year so getting Fatso back is important. It's just worth noting how much better the Steelers are with The Hair than without.

To me it's pretty evident that Jeff Fisher doesn't like Vince Young. Young was never Fisher's choice in the 2006 draft. That selection was purely Bud Adams doing. In the 2008 season opener, Vince Young was benched and later refused to return to the game. Collins helped topple the Colts from the AFC South top. Fisher kept Collins as the start through a miserable start of the 2009 campaign. Again, it was only after Bud Adams intervene did Young return as the starter after the open week. Against Pittsburgh last week, Fisher didn't hesitate to yank Young after three turnovers. Fisher did say Young will remain the starter. It's not like Fisher has any other options or Adams will let him start Collins.

The big question becomes who wins the Clash of the Titans? Fisher? Young? How about Bud Adams? He wins as the owner. Ultimately who will Adams choose? The moody inconsistent quarterback or the longest tenured coach in the NFL? I'm not sure I can make a strong argument for either side. If I'm the owner I go with the man who won most recently for me. Fisher took a Collins led team to the playoffs in 2008 while Young sulked on the bench. I think this is the make or break year for one or both. Adams could decide to jettison both and start from scratch. Not only have the Colts returned to the top but Houston passed up Tennessee along the way as top challenger.

NFL Line of the Week
Matt Schaub - QB Houston Texans
38-52 passing, 497 yards, 3 TDs, 1 Int
Seriously, I'm not a Texans homer. After all I did give this weekly award to Payton Manning. I can't help it though. 400+ yards in a game will get you Line of the Week and Texans quarterback Matt Schaub turned in the line of the week.

NFL Player of the Week
Mark Sanchez - QB NY Jets
Last week's JaMarcus Russell Player of the Week is this week's Player of the Week. Sanchez bounced back from last week's loss and criticism of the Jets to defeat AFC East division favorite New England Patriots. Sanchez threw 3 TDs in a 28-14 victory.

JaMarcus Russell Player of the Week
Joe Flacco - QB Baltimore Ravens
In a 10-15 defeat by the Bengals, Flacco threw a Jake Delhomme like 4 interceptions. In two games, despite one win, the supposedly improved Ravens offense has only mustered up 20 points.

Joe Pisarcik Players of the Week
New York Giants
Yes I picked the whole team. Eli was out played by Payton. Tom Coughlin was outcoached by Jim Caldwell. Joseph Addai and Donald Brown out rushed Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. It was just a nasty beat down of a supposed power team by a finesse team. Jacobs probably could have won this award on his own.

Houston Cougars Game Day 4 vs. Tulane

VS.

Houston vs. Tulane
Sept. 25, 2010
2:30 p.m.
Robertson Stadium
University of Houston Campus
TV: CBS-College Sports
Radio: 790 AM

Last Meeting
Houston 44 Tulane 16
in New Orleans, LA

The Cougars try to bounce back from season ending injuries to starter Case Keenum and back up Cotton Turner during a 31-13 drubbing at the hands of the UCLA Bruins. The loss knocked the Cougars out of the Top 25 polls. Starting in place of Keenum and Turner is true freshman Terrance Broadway.

Houston Cougar Notes
Game 4 Notes
Coach Sumlin's Weekly Press Conference
Loss of Keenum Deals Blow To Cougars
Evil Longhorn Steve Campbell's UH Blog

Terrance Broadway
QB Broadway Will Start vs. Tulane
Broadway UH Profile
Broadway Takes Center Stage at UH

NFL Week 1 Players of the Week

I usually include this with my weekly NFL thoughts. Since I wrote it before the two Monday night games were played I wanted to wait the games out.

NFL Line of the Week
Payton Manning QB Indianapolis Colts
40 completions on 57 passes for 433 yards and 3 TDs. A new record for attempts and surpassed 400 yards for the fourth time in his career. What made this the Line of the Week is that the Colts still lost. Which brings me to the next category.

NFL Player of the Week
Arian Foster RB Houston Texans
Foster carried 33 times for 231 of the Texans 256 yards enabling them to finally get the Colt monkey off the team's back. It is only the first game but if nothing else it gave the Colts and the league something to think about.

JaMarcus Russell Player of the Week
Mark Sanchez QB NY Jets
The Jets went on Hard Knocks, built up the defense, settled the contract hold out of Darelle Revis and talked a big game. They forgot one thing in the process. NFL teams still need to move the ball and at the very least make teams respect the pass game. The Jets didn't really try to get down field with the Ravens. Sanchez posted a JaMarcus Russell like line of 10 completions on 21 attempt for 74 yards and no TDs.

Joe Pisarcik Player of the Week
Alex Barron OL Dallas Cowboys
A holding call on the play with the game winning touchdown ended the game for the Cowboys. Barron committed the infraction and there was no question that it was the right call. In a mistake filled game for the Cowboys, Barron merely finished off a lackluster night all around for Dallas.

NFL Week 1 vs. the Line, Week Two Picks

Week one is over and it's time to assess the damage.

This was a very strange week in that there were three pushes: Vikings vs Saints (-5), Cardinals (-4) @ Rams, Bucs(-3) vs. Browns.

For the remainder of the games my record was 7-6 against the spread.

The Highlights
One line upset I called were the Texans (+2) hosting the Colts. Texans took care of business and beat the Colts straight up.

The second upset I picked was the Redskins(+3.5) over the Cowboys. A last second hold to end the game saved bettors that picked the 'skins in this one.

Ravens(+3.5) also upset the Jets. I went Ravens more as a counter pick against the over hyped Jets. That isn't really a good way to pick teams.

The Lowlights
Two teams laid eggs and it hurt the bottom line.

First off the Bengals didn't even bother to show up against the Pats. It was no contest.

The Chargers also left a stinker on the field with the Chiefs pulling off the upset.

Week 2 Picks
Not really much to analyze from last week's picks so I'll just move on to week two picks. Picks are in bold.

The point of making picks is to make money not pick every game. For the last two years, I've picked every game and kept count. After week one, three pushes and other factors, I've decided to a rule change. I can take passes on games if I so choose. I imagine this will be a rarely invoked rule though.

Chiefs (+2) at Browns - pass. Two teams in disarray. No need to waste time or money on this game.

Eagles (-7) at Lions - Lions are improving but both teams starting quarterbacks are hurt. Eagles have a much better back up in Michael Vick. Take the Eagles as the road favorite.

Dolphins (+5.5) at Vikings - Neither team was impressive during the opening week. I'm thinking the spread might be a little to wide. Dolphins lose but take the points.

Cardinals (+6.5) at Falcons - Cardinals defense is better than you might think but Falcons running back is usually a beast at home. Falcons

Ravens (-3) at Bengals - Point spread ranges from Ravens -1.5 to -3 depending where you looked. Doesn't really matter though. The Ravens defense looked solid and the Bengals offense looked like garbage in week one. Ray Lewis looks like an ageless wonder. Ravens

Bears (+7) at Cowboys - Cowboys offense struggled in preseason and carried over into week one. Seven points is a wide spread for a struggling offense. The Bears might lose but they cover.

Bills (+13) at Packers - First double digit spread of the year and usually I warn that it's a sucker bit. The Bills are possibly the worst team in the league so throw your lot with the Packers.

Steelers (+5) at Titans - This is going to be a fist fight. Neither Vince Young or Donald Dixon inspires much confidence to break the game open. Look for Chris Johnson and Rashard Mendanhall to get plenty of runs. I think the the line should be more at Pittsburgh (+3). Take the Steelers and the points.

Buccaneers (+3) at Panthers - I thought about taking a pass on this game. However, I think Panthers will take care of the Bucs at home with the run game. Panthers

Seahawks (+3.5) at Broncos - The Seahawks need to prove last week was a fluke before I start picking them against a team not named the Raiders. Broncos

Rams (+3.5) at Raiders - Same old Raiders, at least Rams have a new quarter back. Rams

Patriots (-3) at Jets - Like the oddsmakers, I give the edge to the Patriots due to the fact that they can stretch the field.

Texans (-3) at Redskins - The gut is telling me to go with the Redskins. Coming off against a win against one Texas team at home, the Redskins welcome the "other" Texas team. These aren't the Cowboys though. Texans

Jaguars (+7) at Chargers - This is one of those iffy spreads. I think it's borderline to wide. Chargers are at home and there is no rain as of kickoff. Charger

Giants (+5) at Colts - Manning vs. Manning is the story line. The mangled Colts run defense is the story. Do the Giants run amok like Houston did last week? Giants

Saints (-6) at 49ers - Last week was a debacle for the niners and the Saints handled the Minnesota Brett Favres. Saints

Houston Cougar Game Day 3 - UCLA Bruins

@

#23 Houston @ UCLA
Sept. 18, 2010 9:35 P.M. CDT
Rose Bowl
Los Angeles, CA
TV: FoxSports
Radio: 790 AM KMBE

Last Meeting
UCLA 42 Houston 24
Sept. 19, 1998
Robertson Stadium
UH Campus

Game 3 Notes
NCAA Football Polls - Cougars Debut at #23
Evil Longhorn Steve Campbell's UH vs. UCLA Preview

Houston Cougar Notes
Bryce Beall C-USA Player of the Week
Coach Kevin Sumlin's Weekly Press Conference

Case Keenum Injury Watch
Update #1
UH's Mum on Keenum
Update #2
Keenum Day to Day
Update #3
Cotton Turner May Get Start At UCLA
Update #4
Keenum Game Day Decision

Last Year's Game 3 vs. Texas Tech Finish Part 1

Texas Tech Finish Part 2

2010 First Road Game vs #5 Okie St. Cowboys

NFL Week One - It's Almost in the Books

I'm still pumped up about my hometown Houston Texans manhandling of the Indianapolis Colts defense and pounding Payton Manning into the ground. That's another blog post though.

With two games to go, I decided to get a jump on the weekly NFL blog.

Comedy Central
I'm starting with the Dallas Cowboys 7 Washington Redskins 13. All I can say is what a joke it was for both teams. Jerry Jones self anointed the Cowboys Super Bowl Champs before the season. He wants them to be the first to win on home turf. Somebody for got to tell his team and the Redskins that.

The common saying is preseason doesn't mean anything. For the most part that is true but some things stand out so bad that they do count and should be cause for concern. In case of the Cowboys, failure to run or pass into the endzone continues as well as a subpar offensive line. The trend carried into the regular season with only one TD. The run game was decent with 103 yards. My issue with the run game was the near equal distribution of hand offs to Marion Barber (8), Felix Jones (8) and Tashard Choice (5). Why? Establish a lead back and let him get into a flow. I understand getting playmakers on the field but find a top back and use the others in he is ineffective or gets tired.

The Redskins receivers just cannot catch the ball. Donovan McNabb wasn't on target on a host of throws but the receivers dropped their fair share of catchable balls.

In the end it was the Cowboys lack of discipline and leadership that cost the game. Coach Wade Phillips never should have called a play to go down field to end the first half. Tony Romo never should have to get the ball out to Choice. Choice never should have tried to make a play. They did and Washington took a 10-0 lead into the half.

One last thing I've noticed about the Cowboys. They really don't have a player team leader. No one to step up and kick the team in the ass and tell them to focus. It appears the players go through the motions and play with no sense of urgency.

For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, the start of the season only continued to raise more questions that started in the off season.

The Other Dullards
I didn't get to watch the game but by all indications it was snorefest like the Cowboys vs. Redskins game. I might be wrong and it might have been the defensive battle I adore. Whatever the case, the Steelers survived Fat Ben's suspension for one game on Rashard Mendenhall. With the game in overtime tied at 9, Mendenhall ran over right tackle for game winning 50 yard game winning TD.

The defense held the game in check. The Falcons also have playoff aspirations. RB Michael Turner was held to 42 and quarterback Matt Ryan tossed one INT, no TDs and 252 yards.

ATL needed the game to try and take care of an opponent with a suspended key player. They failed. They also need the game because they believe they can take the divisional crown from New Orleans. Not a good start.

The Trendy Obvious Pick...uh maybe
Kurt Warner left, Matt Leinhart cut and Derek Anderson starts. St. Louis is so devoid of talent that many top picks, including rookie QB Sam Bradford. Seattle is in rebuild mode with a new coaching staff. Seattle his been a constant decline since their 2006 Super Bowl appearance. That all adds up for the 49ers as an obvious choice rather than a trendy pick.

And the 49ers laid an egg in the opener. Seattle blasted the 49ers 31-6. A very auspicious start the season for team that could almost win its division by default. I love the fire and hard nose Mike Singletary brings to the sidelines but something apparently didn't get through in the first week. Maybe he needs to drop his pants or put his foot in someone's ass like he did Vern Davis. Players will eventually tune him out if they don't results on the field.

Dumb and Dumbest
In the past I've never held my disdain for Jack Del Rio. I anointed him with the Herm Edward Lifetime UnAchievement Award. It's the title that goes to the reigning worst coach in the NFL. The criteria is pretty low. Basically you must look clueless on the side line, make questionable personnel and game day mistakes and coach a team with decent talent and still utterly fail. The award is named after the constant recipient of it. On the other sideline facing Del Rio is second year Denver coach Josh McClown. He really is a clown. Nothing he had done on the field warrants the title. McClown earns his status based on three issues: ran off a whiny egotistical quarterback (who bares as much fault), traded away a pouting productive receiver (who learned how to act from the quarterback and teams reaction) and traded a draft bounty to draft Tim Teabow. Add to the fact that McClown started the Broncos off fast and then lead them right of playoff contention.

Add all the Del Rio/McClown ingredients together in a football game and you have a battle between the reigning Herm Edwards Coach and the top contender. After a season of discontent, running off players and a midseason melt down, we only needed to see a game between the idiots. Del Rio's players tried to defend the coach but the Broncos were up to the task and lost the game 24-17 and usurping the Crown of Worst Coach in the NFL for Josh McClown....congrats you idiot.

With two games to go, I won't name my offensive, defensive and lines of the week until tomorrow.

Houston 54 UTEP 24

54

24

The Houston Cougars avenged last year's 58-41 upset at the hands of the UTEP Miners. The Coogs defeated the Miners 54-24 with the out come never really in doubt.

For the second consecutive game, the Cougar faithful sold out a game. For many outsiders that may not seem a big deal but given Cougar attendance history it is a big deal.

The Miners used the opening drive to take their only lead of the game 7-0.

From there on it was the Houston Cougar ground show. Yes, that's right, the Cougars ground the Miners into the turf with a rushing attack. In addition to the usual 300 plus passing yards, the Cougars added 308 yards running the ball. Bryce "Brick" Beall lead the way with 195 yards and 3 TDs rushing. JUCO transfer Michael Hayes added 77 yards on 17 carries and matched Beall's 3 TDs.

For the first time in 31 games, Cougar quarterback and Heisman hopeful Case Keenum failed to pass for a touchdown. Keenum also failed to reach the 300 yard mark in passing yards. More important remains the status of Keenum's health. Keenum left the game in the 3rd quarter after trying to make a play after he threw an interception.

At the end of the game, all that matters is a Cougar victory. Pass records, Heisman trophies, streaks and attendance records don't mean anything if the Coogs lose when the clock reads 00:00.

Houston Chronicle Recap
Houston vs. UTEP Stats
El Paso Times Recap

Case Keenum Injury Watch
UH Mum on Keenum Status

Game Day Pictures
Houston Chronicle Pictures
Stephen Pinchback Game Day Photos
My Game Day Photos

Houston Cougars vs. UTEP - Game Day 2010

vs.
9:15 p.m.
Sept. 10, 2010
John O'quinn Field at Robertson Stadium

University of Houston

2009 Result
#12 Houston 41
UTEP 58

ESPN.com Recap

2010 Preview Houston vs. UTEP

Official Houston Cougar Game 2 Release

Houston Chronicle Steve Campbell's Cougar-Miner Preview

2009 Houston vs. UTEP Lowlights

Unkle Monkee vs. the NFL Spread Week 1

Here goes the first week. I don't think I was able to do weekly numbers last year. The times and years that I've tried I haven't been very good. So first of all, this is for my pleasure and not gambling purposed. If you decide to use my selections, God help you and reread the last sentence. If you go ahead, I bare no liability or responsibility for you mistakes.

My grounds for the game:

1. I use FoxSports.com's odds. Mainly because it was only odds I could get at work where I used to write this column. They've since blocked my access but I kept the tradition going.
2. Which brings up other rules. Since they list four books odds, I go with majority wins for my spread.
3. No choice is made if there is no line.
4. If for whatever reason all four books are different, I have to look for fifth source.

Without further ado, my selections with brief commentary for this week. Picks are in bold

Minnesota at New Orleans (-5). Three of the four have Saints (-5) and one has (-5.5). The opening line I saw early in the week was Saints (-4.5). At home to open the season and a rousing Super Bowl reception should have the players and fans amped. Saints

Miami (-3) at Buffalo. Bookies and bettors not showing the Dolphins much respect. I actually find the spread to low. I think the Dolphins win handily.

Indy (-2) at Houston. The spread ranges from -1.5 to -2.5 on this game. Two books had the -2 spread. I know this game intimately as I've spent many seasons on my season ticket seat angry after watching the Colts beat the Texans. I'd almost say it's a sucker bet with the Texans taking it to the wire last few meetings only to blow it. They could keep it close and upset the spread and still lose. Given recent history my logic wants me to say Colts but I'm going with Texans

Cincinnati at New England (-4). No enough love for a Bengals team that won the Black and Blue division. Bengals might lose but they beat the spread.

Atlanta (-2.5) at Pittsburgh - The Steelers offense is in disarray with Big Ben's suspension and Byron Leftwich's possibly missing with injury. Going to take the road favorite Falcons

Oakland at Tennessee (-6.5). That's about right with Chris Johnson having a field day. Titans

Detroit at Chicago (-6). I had a tie with my FoxSport odds with a two with -6 and two with -6.5 Bears. I used oddsmaker.com for the tiebreaker. Bears

Denver at Jacksonville (-2.5) - Ineptitude of Jack Del Rio vs. the clown Josh McDaniels. I'm going to side with Del Rio here. Jaguars

Carolina at NY Giants (-7). This is kind of a gut call. I think the Giants are a bit in disarray. Panther

Cleveland at Tampa Bay (-3) - More ineptitude on both sides of the ball. For some reason I like Eric Mangini's ineptitude slightly more. Browns

Green Bay (-3) at Philadelphia. I think Green Bay makes enough stops of Kevin Kolb's debut and it's a bigger margin. Packers

Arizona (-4) at St. Louis. Sounds about right. Cards are night and day with Kurt Warner gone. Cardinals

San Francisco (-3) at Seattle - I think -3 is a bit low. 49ers

Dallas (-3.5) at Washington. Not to sure about the Cowboys offense until they show something in the real season. Redskins

Baltimore at NY Jets (-3.5). This is going to be a very interesting game for the opener. Ravens pull off the upset.

San Diego (-4.5) at Kansas City. Bad news for KC's defense. Chargers