NFL Week 8 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Oops. My bye week lasted an extra week. Blame it on my flag football league, the DFFL, which plays on Sunday mornings and business travel. I went to Philly and back for a site audit on the 20th and was slightly frazzled all weekend. I hate flying to Philly or Newark because the return flights to Boston never leave on time. I forgot to post the Pats Prediction last Saturday and I don’t have the chance to do so on Sunday mornings. By the time I get home the 1PM games are underway.

I’m not even sure what the spread was for last week’s game. I’m going to guess that the spread was between 4 and 10 points and that the Patriots were favored.

Here’s where you have to trust me; I am an Eagle Scout, after all. I would have taken the points last week, but said that the Patriots would prevail. The Bills’ defense gives Brady trouble (they did have three sacks) and the Pats were on the road. I still felt, correctly, that the Pats were a far better team than Buffalo. The Bills need at least one more year to be contenders in the AFC East. They need to shore up the offensive line, get a possesion receiver, and let Losman progress naturally for the remainder of this season. I would not have expected the blowout, though.

Season record: 4-2 straight up, 1-4-1 against the spread.

Week 8 Favorite: New England (-2.5)

The Monday night game this week scares me a little bit. The Vikings are a very good team. They aren’t truly a great team yet because they have let a couple of games slip away. They do play very well at home and the Metrodome is a very loud stadium. If this game were being played in New England, I would pick the Patriots outright. This game isn’t being played in New England and I have a hard time predicting the outcome. I can see several possibly scenarios: a low scoring defensive game (favoring the Vikes), a high scoring shootout (favoring the Pats), or something in the middle. I’m hedging my bets on this one and predicting something in the middle, a game that could really go either way.

Prediction: Vikings 24, Patriots 23.

Shame on "the U"

The brawl that occurred between the University of Miami and Florida
International University football teams last Saturday night was a
black eye on the face of college athletics. The brawl was so raucaus
and nasty that it was more like a broken nose with the complimentary
pair of black eyes. Not surprisingly, the melee resulted in 31
players receiving at least a one game suspension.

FIU did the honorable thing and held its players accountable for their
actions. Some of the FIU players received increased suspensions, were
kicked off the team, or had their scholarships revoked.

Meanwhile, "the U" took the low road and maintained its much deserved
public image of a university more interested in coddling thug football
players than in preparing the youth of America for life after college.
Miami President Donna Shalala should be ashamed and embarrassed by her
actions this week.

Shalala failed to take any significant action after the brawl. In
fact, the only action she took was to avoid watching the tape of the
incident. How can the head of a major university do her job by
sticking her head in the sand? Shalala caved to boosters and the
football program when she decided to ignore the problem.

At an absolute minimum Shalala should have expelled the player who was
swinging his helmet at FIU player's heads and Brandon Merriweather,
the defensive captain, who was stomping on at least two prone FIU
players with his cleats.

Donna Shalala is a joke of a leader and should be fired. Head Coach
Larry Coker should follow her out the door. Miami needs to start at
the top with this housecleaning.

NFL Week 5 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Bengals were favored by 6. I said the Bengals would beat the Pats 30 - 20. I was very happy to not only be wrong, but to be way off base. The final score was 38 - 13 New England.

I would like to thank my wife for helping the Patriots win in Cincinnati last week. She left the room and the Pats scored their first touchdown. She fell asleep for 10 minutes and the Pats scored their second touchdown. She went for a walk with my mother and the Pats scored 24 unanswered points in the second half.

Season record: 2-2 straight up, 1-3 against the spread.

Week 4 Favorite: New England (-10)

Prediction: Pats 27, Miami 20.

Miami looks terrible so far this year. If Culpepper sits in favor of Harrington this week, the Dolphins offense might actually be better than it has been to date. The last time a team that wasn't playing well faced the Patriots was the loss to Denver at home. I'm not convinced that the game will be a cakewalk today. I'll take the points but the Pats will win.

Money Can't Buy Me Love...

...and it can't buy George Steinbrenner a championship. All $200+ million dollars of Georgie Porgie's payroll couldn't buy the 27th world championship for the New York Yankees.

Celebrate tonight, but do it safely. It's always a good day when the Yankees lose and it's always a great day when they are elminated from the playoffs. Good luck Tigers fans.

NFL Week 4 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Pats were favored by 7. I said New England would beat Denver 31 - 27. The actual outcome was 17 - 7 Broncos.

Season record: 2-1 straight up, 1-2 against the spread.

Week 4 Favorite: Cincinnati (-6)

Prediction: Bengals 30, Pats 20.

The Bengals are rolling offensively. They can run the ball and have one of the best passing offenses in football. They are ball hawks on defense. This is my first predicted New England defeat of the season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm completely rooting for the Pats, but my head says the Bengals are too good, especialy at home, for the Pats this week.