Playoff picks: Cowboys @ Vikings

Playoff picks: Cowboys @ Vikings

Favre knows how to relax...so much more to add to this photo but..

So this game isn’t going to unfold like everyone expects…all the analysts are crazy over how good the Cowboys are, but I bet the Vikings will show up this week for these reasons…

  1. They are 8-0 at home
  2. Favre has had two weeks of rest (he is 40 and has never missed a game for 18 years, time off benefits him more than any player)
  3. The Vikings are the 2 seed and by all accounts, they are the underdog
  4. Adrian Peterson is so due

The Cowboys are a talented team and they finally got the monkey off their backs but I can’t see them winning Sunday.

Key Matchup

Cowboys OLBs Spencer and D. Ware versus Vikings OTs McKinnie and Loadholt – I see Favre neutralizing this matchup by doing screens to Taylor and AP while mixing up little dump offs to Shiancoe and P Harvin. And then at some point this will slow them down thus opening up the deep pass to Berrian and/or Sydney Rice.

Prediction – Vikings 34-17

This is the perfect setup game for Viking fans, big win and then big diss next week. Favre has been good in the divisional playoff games at home, and poopy in other games. But what do I know, I was 0 for 4 last week.

Other picks: Cardinals 38 Saints 24, Colts 23 Ravens 17, Chargers 27 Jets 6.

Published on January 15, 2010 1:33 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Predictions, playoffs Tags: , , , , ,

Possible Favre / Packer rematch?

Yes there’s still 5 games left, but if both teams continue to play at the same level the possibility of Green Bay coming to Minneapolis for a rematch gets bigger and bigger. Hopefully didn’t just jinx it cuz that game would be unthinkable. Totally agree with Simmons on this one…

Anyway, if this Pack-Vikes playoff game happens, it’s the toughest call for the Sports Gods in years. If Green Bay loses to Favre a third time, they would have to shut down the state for a week so everyone could regroup. If Minnesota blows a home playoff game to Favre’s old team Gary Anderson/Darrin Nelson-style, same thing. In other words, the stakes are too high. The last time we were here? 2003. A Red Sox-Cubs World Series looming. The Sports Gods freaked out. They couldn’t handle it. Bartman/Alou/Gonzalez and Grady/Pedro/Boone happened. I can see the same thing happening this time. Green Bay falls to the sixth seed (or misses the playoffs), the Saints keep the No. 1 seed, something — anything! — to prevent a third Favre-Packers game that would be bigger than all of us. And that’s why it can’t happen.

Published on December 4, 2009 4:59 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Predictions Tags: , , , , , ,

Favre Lambeau Beatdown – Mark Chmura

In an article comparing the 1996 Packers to the 2009 Vikings, Mark Chmura aptly compares the teams…IE there is no comparison!

Mark Chmura, tight end: “I kind of went through the teams position by position and they just aren’t as good as we were. And it all starts with Brett – Brett’s not as good as he was.

“They have Adrian Peterson, but I think Chester Taylor is a guy. We had Dorsey (Levens) and Edgar, that’s pretty good balance. Our tight ends were clearly better (laughs). I may be biased. Their offensive line may be a little bit better. Our quarterback was 10 times better, our receivers were better, our special teams were much better.

“I mean, you’re talking about the No. 1 defense in the league at that time, maybe one of the best defenses ever to play the game.

“Don’t get me wrong. Favre is still a good quarterback, but he was unbelievable in the day. When we played back then, teams feared us. I don’t know if teams fear the Minnesota Vikings today. We knew no one could beat us at home, absolutely nobody.

“I’m still green and gold all the way. I hate Minnesota; I can’t stand Minnesota. I don’t care if Brett is playing there. It didn’t bother me, him with the Jets. But Minnesota I know personally I could never do it. I would just retire.”

Published on October 28, 2009 12:06 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Old Packers Tags: , , ,

Favre Lambeau Beatdown (Tuesday Preview)

Favre Lambeau Beatdown (Tuesday Preview)

High of 43, Low of 31 and maybe some snow!

So with the Viking Favre coming to Lambeau this Sunday, I did a little weather check…Looks favorable for the Packers so far….cuz we all know that Viking Favre doesn’t like inclement weather!

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/USWI0288?dayNum=5

Published on October 27, 2009 9:58 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Lambeau Field Tags: , , ,

Week 4 Wrapup and First Quarter Review

Week 4 Wrapup and First Quarter Review

With Minneapolis hosting a pretty solid weekend plus of sports – Twins playoff run, Vikings/Packers, Badgers/Gophers –  I thought I’d post this…Probably the best celebration speech of a stadium closing I’ve seen. Kent Hrbek = Boozer.

Since I’ve already blabbed about the Vikings/Packers game, I’ll quickly review the other NFC North matchup then take a look ahead to the next quarter of the season.

Bears 48 Lions 24

The Lions started this game well and it was close at the half. But the Bears were just too strong and eventually pulled away. The injury to Stafford also doesn’t help…and btw, this was the first time I watched him play a bit. He has potential and a good arm. The Bears are playing all around good offense right now, but their D looks weaker than usual. They have beaten last year’s champs (Steelers) but I’m not sure they can maintain this level of play the rest of the season.

First Quarter Review

So after four games the NFC North looks like this…

Vikings 4-0 – They have played a very deliberate game so far this season. And after their big win on Monday, now they seem to be firing on all cylinders. One thing I worry about is there pass coverage…if the Packers were able to get average pass protection it seemed that they had lots of wide open receivers.

Bears 3-1 – Cutler has played pretty good the past three games, this might be the first place team after the second quarter of the season is over.

Packers 2-2 – Not real consistent on defense or offense. Some big time mistakes at the worst times has cost this team at least one loss. They are the youngest team in the league again, how much longer does this last?

Lions 1-3 – Showing some promise with the  new coach and without dumb ass GM.

Looking Ahead

Here are the next games for the top three teams in the North.

Vikings – (@STL, BLT, @PITT, @GB) This is probably the toughest part of the Vikings schedule, if they can come out of this 3-1 or even 2-2 they should make the playoffs. But thats a hard three game stretch against some notoriously tough football teams. The Ravens and Steelers both can stop the run and bring pressure, this will be the real test for Favre this year. Throw in some inclement weather and the Vikings could really slip in this games.

Bears – (@ATL, @CIN, CLE, AZ) Here’s another stretch of games that will show what the Bears are made of…Will Cutler be exposed here? Probably in at least two of these games. If they are able to win two of these games they will be looking good.

Packers – (DET, @CLE, MN, @TB) For the Packers to make a run, they have to win all four of these games. Except for the Vikings game, they should win them all by a wide margin. But that game at Tampa scares me for some reason.

Projected Standings after Q2

Bears 5-3

Vikings 5-3

Packers 5-3

Lions 2-6

Published on October 7, 2009 10:25 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Bears, Game Summary, NFC North, Predictions, Videos, lions Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Packers @ Vikings

Packers @ Vikings

How the hell did we get from this...

...to this

...and now this?

So just one more day until the craziest regular season game I can recall….At the begining of the season and up to last week, I thought that all the attention would be on Favre and the Vikings, making it ripe for a Pack upset. But since the regular season started, the Packers have yet to show the promise in the preseason. And after last week’s miracle (lucky) Favre throw my confidence in a Packer victory has been in a huge decline.

Looking back at Favre’s history in big, crazy games could be a good indicator on what will happen Monday. Throughout his career Favre seems to play better and calmer the more fucked up things are around him, or if he takes a couple big hits….But this is a completely different Favre now, its like he’s turned into Darth Vadar now. He gets up really slow after a big hit, and I think he’s pretty spent after last week.  (The right coaching move here would be to limit Favre’s impact on the game because you have AP and an awesome D, but this is also Brad Childress we’re talking about)

Here are a few of the crazy, emotional games in Favre’s career
1999 Holmgren comes back to Lambeau – Just one year removed from Packer head coach, Favre’s mentor comes back to Green Bay. I remember this game starting ok for Brett, but then it headed in a downward spiral quick. In my mind, other than the 2000 playoff game versus the Rams, this is probably Favre’s worst game. The Seahawks weren’t even a good team that year. There was also a fake lambeau leap by an ex-packer (Derrick Mayes). Favre finishes 14-35 with 180 yards, with 1 TD and 4 INTs. He was also sacked four times and fumbled at least twice. I remember thinking after this game that Favre might be done and how he could’ve had like 8 or 9 picks. There were a few dropped INTs by the Seahawks. Plus he didn’t even finish this game, Ray Rho took him out in favor of Matt Hasselbeck. Final score Seattle 27, Green Bay 7.

1999 First game of post-Holmgren Era – This is an up and down game for Favre but he finishes in fantastic fashion. This was probably one of the best games I saw in person with Favre leading a last minute drive for the go ahead TD. Afterwards Favre was in tears and just a mess, obviously this was very emotional game for him. He finshes: 28-47 for 333 yards, with 4 TDs and 3 INTs. (And I believe two of those picks were off of tipped passes)

2003 Irv Favre Passes – This game has been discussed thoroughly over the years. Favre was probably at his best this game, just perfect…no screwed up passes or overthrown balls. He was solid and his receivers made big plays too. At the time, I thought this team was Super Bowl bound after this win. Favre finished 22 of 30 for 399 yards, with 4 TDs and 0 Ints.

There were also several other games that were emotionally charged for Favre. Like when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, his best friend died, playing the Cowboys in Dallas or the Vikings at the dome. And I won’t even get into the playoff games…So its either a super charged Favre who gets too amped up and karma hits him hard, causing him to have a horrible game…Or he is ultra cool about it and has stunning numbers leading the Vikings. But I think for Monday’s game its either going to be him playing really well or having little impact and Adrian Peterson having a gigantic game.

Looking at the matchups is probably a better assessment than just the Favre factor.

  • RBs = Vikings
  • QBs = Push
  • TEs = Push
  • WRs = Packers
  • O-line = Vikings
  • D-line = Vikings
  • LBs = Push
  • DBs = Packers
  • Special Teams = Push (Pery Harvin and Will Blackmom are a wash, packers coverage probably better but vikings punting and longwell are better)
  • Coaches = Packers

And I’d say the weakest link right now for Green Bay is by far their offensive line. Which isn’t good going against one of the best D-lines in football. On the other hand, I think the Packers receivers have a pretty big edge against the Vikings D backs. So the key for Green Bay will be running game, protection of Aaron Rodgers, and slowing Adrian Peterson as much as possible…forcing Favre to have to do something. The key for the Vikings will be special teams, turnovers, and keeping Favre in check.

As I forecasted in my season predictons, I give the Vikings the edge here. But this will be a crazy game, full of big hits and maybe even a couple fights. I’m looking forward to seeing the Packer 3-4 D get some hits on Favre. He needs to feel the Packer’s rage.

Vikings 31 Packers 23

Crazy outcome: If Favre has to do too much and the Packers get some lucky breaks…Packers 38, Vikings 17.

Published on October 5, 2009 6:31 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Predictions Tags: , , , , ,

Week 3 Predictions

Packers @ Rams

With the abysmal play last week, you would think McCarthy would have his team fired up this week against the lowly Rams. This is not the same Rams team however, I give them two years and they’ll be a playoff team. I’ve always like Spagnaluo the former Giants D Coordinater. Guarantee he’ll have his team fired up, this is is first home game. But I’m going to have to say that if the Packers line can hold up (even if they have to max protect) and pull out a win. And if Raji plays, look for the D to hold the run with Jenkins and maybe AJ Hawk having a HUGE game.

Packers 26-17

Bears @ Seahawks

Seattle was looking good this year, until Hasselbeck got injured…again. Enough said, man I’m already bored with this game.

Bears 28-16

49ers @ Vikings

This is a hard game to gauge….I mean the niners are my darkhorse team, but I also have the Vikings doing good the first half of the season. If San Fran can hold AP and force the Vikings to pass I see this being a dogfight….since I don’t think Favre can really throw long yet. Although these are the games when Favre surprises folks. Like whenever everyone is questioning is abilities…Fuck it, this is a blow out…no matter how good Frank Gore is…

Vikings 28-10

Redskins @ Lions

This is one of those games where the team that wants to lose it worst, loses. Although I haven’t seen much of the skins this year, I just am not feeling them yet. Lions have some talent but are still real shakey.

Tie 16-16 (Ok I realize this doesnt happen often so I’ll just pick Skins 16-12)

Published on September 26, 2009 9:42 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Predictions Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You’ve got a f-ing dart in your neck! (Week 2 Wrapup)

You've got a f-ing dart in your neck! (Week 2 Wrapup)

Bengals @ Packers

Since the Packers seem to be living in denial over their inability to block anyone, thought it was analogous to one of my favorite Will Ferrell clips. Last Sunday a single DE attibuted for 5 sacks and 2 knockdowns. They are lucky Rodgers made it out of this game without sustaining any injuries. So in my mind there are three major issues with this seemingly unstoppable offense. First this is not PRE-SEASON! Packer’s coaches should recognize that most teams play vanilla defense during pre-sesason, so you can allow your QB to wait for plays to develop and your offense can look unstoppable. But you cannot base your game plan on how things went in the PRE-SEASON!

Second, they are not establishing or trying to establish any sort of running game. I think McCarthy is so giddy about his young QB and talented receivers that he just wants to show them off. Kind of like when you get that first new bike when you were young. Like even if it was a simple walk across the street, you still take your bike out…to show it off.

The second issue is the lack of pass protection and Rodgers holding the ball too long at times. They should have kept a TE back to help out College after Clifton went down. So this week against the lowly Rams, I expect them to go back to the short passing game and running the ball. If they cannot do either then it will be a repeat of last week. Although I have no clue who the Rams have on the D-line.

If they are able to sustain drives and mix it up with a good run then they’ll win this game by a couple TDs.

Steelers @ Bears

Didn’t see much of this game, but the Bears played much better than Week 1. But I think Pittsburgh isn’t has strong w/o Paulamalu. Cutler was much improved, and the bears home field helped.

Vikings @ Lions

What can you say? The Lions were actually in this one until they remembered that they are the Lions. Didn’t watch much of this game either as it coincided with the GB game, but it appears the Vikings are firing on all cylinders. But that is the way thing are supposed to be.

Week Two Winners

  • Bengals – Yes the Bengals are decent
  • Cutler – Redemption!
  • Adrian Peterson – Amazing.

Week Two Losers

  • Mike McCarthy – Ever here of a team having a letdown game on week two? Neither have I…
  • Ryan Grant – Hasn’t broken a tackle all year, and that fumble was at the worst time
  • Aaron Rouse – Released
  • Nick Collins – Injury bug creep alert
  • Brett Favre – going to be a while

Published on September 24, 2009 10:06 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Predictions, Videos Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Week Two Picks

Week Two Picks

Will Barnett take off his nerd glasses this week and serve up Ochocinco?

Cincinnati @ Green Bay

This could be a real blowout right from the start, except, unlike most experts, I believe the Bengals are a decent team. They finally have Carson Palmer back and they’ve had an assload of high draft picks so you’d think they’d have some talent spread around.

There’s also the whole side story to this game, Ochocinco coming to Lambeau for the first time going up against is former teammate, Nick Barnett.  Not sure much will come of this, I think the biggest story will be A. Rodgers having a HUGE game, maybe 3 TDs, 300 yards.

So my pick for this week is something like 28-17 Packers. I see them having a slight edge throughout the game and then getting a late score by Driver in the 4th. Packers D again creates turnovers and pressure. I’ll be watching Raji most of this game…and Matthews.

Pittsburgh @ Chicago

This will be one of those hard hitting games between two tough teams. Both have to move on without their leaders on D, but I think they’ll be fine. Especially the well-coached and talent ridden Steelers. One factor that will limit scoring and hopefully doesn’t lead to serious injuries is the brand new turf…

Pittsburgh wins this like 16-13.

Minnesota @ Detroit

Favre returns to Ford field, a place he’s had some amazing games as well as some real head scratchers. (Remember that 1993 game, throwing a INT while laying on his back?)

Vikings again start slow and wear down the Lions late. Look for a little (Cul)pepper in this game.

Vikings 24-20.

Published on September 19, 2009 8:34 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Bears, Predictions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday Wrapup – Lovie Gets Pwn’d

Wednesday Wrapup - Lovie Gets Pwn'd

What? You did that to me?

Green Bay 21, Chicago 15

Video of Jennings TD

Last Sunday, the Packers proved something to me. Rodgers can win games and McCarthy will finally take some chances this year.That 3rd and 1 call at the end was well timed. The game was a little sloppy, but similar to the Thursday nighter (TEN@PITT) a few days prior, it was intense and featured lots of crushing hits.

Chicago probably wins this game if you take away Cutler’s 4 picks. But thats what they traded for…

The Packers probably win this game outright they connect on any of the four or so dropped long balls. Especially that one to Jordy Nelson.

But the best part was seeing Lovie Smith’s face after Rodgers connected with Jennings to take the lead. After all these years, the Packers finally gave him a taste of his own medicine. IE winning a game they shouldn’t have at the end

That was priceless.

Winners:

  • Rodgers – Good tablesetter for his 4th Quarter confidence.
  • Pickett/Jolly/Collins – Sign them now!
  • Hester – Legit receiver
  • Ogunlawye – Terrorizing first half

Losers:

  • Packer play calling – Urlacher is out, you have weapons in the middle…maybe try throwing over middle to Finley/Lee or James Jones!
  • Barbre – One more bad game and we may see Gionconni
  • Lovie – (See above)
  • Urlacher – Done

Vikings 34, Browns 20

Watched probably half of this game, but it went basically how the Vikings want to play this year. Heavy doses of their D fronting combined with an offense that methodically moves the ball down the field by running and little flare passes.

Then in the second half, their opponent begins to wear down; opening up Adrian Peterson to break out huge runs. If they can maintain this all season, they will be a formidable opponent and probably in the top 5 of the division. But if you factor in the Vikings history + Favre’s age and recent history + Childress + injuries I doubt that will happen.

Winners:

  • Adrian Peterson – Yes he’s faster version of Walter Payton
  • Josh Cribbs – Solid
  • Chilli/Zygi – For one game Vikings management’s moves look to be right.
  • Percy Harvin – Very promising

Losers:

  • Browns – maybe the worst team in football
  • Favre – its going to take a lot to get out of the loser category in the eyes of many…

New Orleans 45, Detroit 27

Didn’t see any of this game, just the highlights. But looks like the Lions have some life. Let’s see how they handle the Vikings in their house next week.

Winners:

  • Drew Brees – maybe best QB in NFC
  • Lions fans – first game w/o Matt Millen had to feel good

Losers:

  • Lions fans – team still sucks
  • Browns fans – teams still sucks
  • Dante Culpepper – remember he was almost MVP three years ago

Published on September 16, 2009 11:15 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Bears, Game Summary, Videos Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,