Brad
So AJ, what did you
learn this week?
AJ
1. The Patriots...offense. Through four games
they made valid excuses that their fans and most of America sort of had to
choke down, appreciating the capital they've built up through the Tom Brady
era. The Cincy game exposed them on two levels: first, the illusion that Tom
Brady can turn shit into pro bowlers is just flat out wrong, and the second is
that Belichick is actually struggling to find answers.
I could write at length
on these two points.
I’ll skip to the latter
because it's more general: much like Brady, the coaching staff needs weapons on
offense to make their wonder boy systems work right. Now that the offense has
been scrubbed of efficient talent, we're seeing the tragic holes in McDaniels
system that plagued him in Denver. Mainly, at times, a complete inability to
move the ball.
If you can't get 2 yards
with Tom Brady, you can't get 2 yard period.
Belichick needs to clean
it up.
I expect a scheme change
(when don't you expect a scheme change though from this team?) by Sunday when
they battle the Saints, and I think it'll be obvious from the first play.
I guess I’ll take a knee
and ask you, Brad, what did you learn this week?
Brad
I learned (and continue
to learn more about) just how good Peyton Manning is. Just a quick recap, he
threw his first interception Sunday of the season
He has 20 touchdowns and
one lonely interception
He is paying dividends
for John Elway, who is riding off the coattails of likely the greatest man to
play the position
He also is paying
dividends for fantasy owners for his seemingly effortless play
Denver doesn't have the
toughest schedule by any means, but there is no reason they shouldn't romp
right through the playoffs to whatever lowly team the NFC has to offer a
football god such as #18 himself.
Also, watch out Tom
Brady, because Peyton is on pace for 64 touchdowns.
AJ, what else did you
learn this week?
AJ
No. 2. In the NBA....the
Sacramento Kings are actually alive and well.
As a Sonics fan who had
my hopes of a NBA return ruthlessly shattered by David Stern intervention at
the 11th hour, I was hoping the Kings would languish, the Sacramento community
would turn away from their crazy arena profiting scheme, and the CA government
(one of the most broken governments in America) would shut it down as soon as
humanly possible
Then, as the league
mandated, the Kings would have to endure a possible Seattle relocation again
possibly as soon as 2015, but alas, their ownership group has made play after
play, bringing in young but competent coaches, resigning their best talents,
and reaching out to the community
The rat bastards even
made Shaq a minority owner, mostly just for the press
CA assembly is ramming
through bill after bill to ease not only the Kings arena plans
But to soften future
arena plans as well! (looking at you, future LA NFL team)
So...compared to the
Maloof era, the Kings are actually doing very well. Just no idea if it'll
transfer to wins...
And as a sonic fan, I
learned the world just keeps on kicking you while you're down.
Alright Brad, what else
did you learn this week?
Brad
I learned that from the
Head Coach down to the lowly Jack Husky, Washington Football is constituted of
a bunch of whiners
Starting with Sark
He ripped into one of
the (seemingly) nicest head coaches in the NCAA, David Shaw, about having his
players take dives on plays to stop their new hurry-up
After being asked, he
didn't really cite any specific play, he simply mentioned "I saw what I
saw"
At least the Ducks had
video showing where a Cal player took a dive a few years ago
Further, the 'Dawg Pound'
(student superfan group) is plotting a way to make sure the Cougar flag doesn't
fly on GameDay's set
Chris Fowler from ESPN
told the representatives of the Dawg Pound that the flag would be protected
from any sort of hooliganism, so now they are trying to find a way to obscure
it from vision.
I'm really eager to see
who wins, a multi-national sports enterprise or some annoying, self-entitled
18-22 year olds.
Should be a good one,
fly the flag high Coug fans.
What else did you learn
this week AJ?
AJ
3. West coast
football...is even better than we think it is
For some reason, the
west coast is never respected for football fandom
While all the rest of America
is taking turns fellating Bama, or Florida, or Georgia, or whatever SEC
"power house" has caught the twinkle in their eye, Pac 12 and west
division teams are just winning fucking games
The only big games we
seem to be losing these days are the ones we play against each other
3/4 AFC west teams won
in nasty fashion
All the NFC west teams
that played at home DEMOLISHED the opposition
And for the first time
in forever
The coaches agree that
the Pac 12 is currently a stronger conference than the SEC, no doubt thanks to
resurgences in perennial bottom feeders WSU, Colorado, Arizona and UCLA
So I learned what we all
should have known all along
The west coast is the
best coast
Brad
I'm pretty sure that was
on the back of the stone tablets that came down from Mt. Sinai
AJ
Yessir, did you learn anything
else this week Brad?
Brad
Just one more thing
I learned that the Colts
"down years" constituted really of just one year. And that Andrew
Luck is certainly the real deal.
He certainly is no
Peyton Manning yet, but he is fitting into the somewhat reformatted Colts.
Now that he has a new
buddy, Trent Richardson, expect there to be more of an emphasis on 'in-the-box'
defending when he is on the field.
We always knew Luck
could make comebacks, but he outdid himself this last weekend. I honestly
didn't expect the Colts to win after they spotted Seattle 12-0. But I honestly
think that if the game were in CenturyLink, that the Hawks would have won.
I predict at least one
Super Bowl meeting between Luck and Russ in the next decade.
And as a footnote, their
AFC South Champion chances don't seem to be in much question anymore after what
Houston has done to themselves.
Did you learn anything
else this week AJ?
AJ
Last thing for me:
4. Nobody really cares
about baseball.
I don't even have a
reasoned analysis, the shit is obviously
I mean two huge markets
in Boston and LA are slugging their way to baseball's equivalent of a ring, and
I’ve barely seen highlights on ESPN
Maybe I’m not looking
hard enough
But if baseball was that
big of a deal, I wouldn't have to
Brad
Probably has something
to do with ESPN not owning the rights to the playoffs
AJ
Let's just say I’ve seen
more MLS and overseas futbol highlights than baseball and that paints a grim picture
considering 70% of the teams can't fill a stadium
Still standing by it,
baseball is officially America’s least favorite child
Brad
Well I certainly enjoy
baseball more than basketball. But that might change now that Indiana has a
team that isn't a majority of at-risk human beings.
AJ
Haha, exactly my point
Oh basketball is on
drugs? I can't let him in my house. Guess I have to invite baseball
Oh shit basketball
cleaned it up? Sorry baseball, maybe next time
Get that A-Rod zit
looked at too
Brad
Let it be known that I
only watch playoff basketball and the Christmas Day games
AJ
Lol your words
I watch regular season
Gonna be trying Boston, Sacramento
(for the perverse thrill), and Houston this year
Brad
Do you have a bold
prediction for this week?
AJ
What matchups
Brad
I think the OSU-WSU game
this week will top 90 points total
AJ
Ooh, I wouldn't take
that
I will take the under
We scored 44 against Cal
But only 17 against Stanford
Oregon State is
averaging 40 but they won't put that up against our defense
Brad
Oregon State happens to
lead the Pac 12 in passing, as well as being #2 in the nation
AJ
I think both teams are
going to have a hard time moving the ball
But as the game is in Pullman, I think it's going to be
around 38-31. Maybe a defensive score
for the coughs and a special team score for the Beavs, most likely the kind of
game we talk about next week and agree "that was ugly"
My pick last week was
basically Cincy over NE but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud
I think the easy pick is panthers over Vikings
The "bold"
pick is Thursday night's game when I take the giants over the bears in a big
way. Time for Eli’s rumblers
to get in the win column
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