The Results, Week 03, Weekly NFL Related Humiliation

I didn't quite make it to 5-0 last weekend, will have to settle with a lousy 4-1 against the spread, instead (Oakland let me down by not being utterly horrible in Buffalo). The seasonal picks were a respectable 9-7 this week.

D'oh!! Oakland 23 Buffalo 24, my pick Buffalo -9.5
So, Buffalo (3-0) rallied and beat Oakland (1-2), but they didn't come close to covering the huge spread. They might be a decent team, have an easy schedule, and have the inside track on winning the AFC East, but they aren't ready to play like a heavy favorite and put away bad teams when they get the chance. It'll be interesting to see how they do against the spread with all the other lousy teams they play this season (having the AFC West and NFC West on their schedule this season is a huge advantage).

Woohoo!!! New Orleans 32 Denver 34, my pick New Orleans +5.5
Denver (3-0) is the worst 3-0 team in the league. It's not even close, another game they should have lost, but somehow won. New Orleans (1-2) is a solid offense tied to a lousy defense, and will struggle on the road this entire season (I think they'll win at home, though). They still might win their division, but it won't be easy for them. Denver's luck is going to run out, and they'll start losing these type of games. Fun game to watch, anyway, and Grammatica was a little punk for avoiding the press after missing the winning attempt at the end of the game.

Woohoo!!! Pittsburgh 6 Philadelphia 15, my pick Philadelphia -3.5
Philadelphia (2-1) might be the 2nd best team in the NFL right now (2nd only to Dallas). Great balance on both sides of the ball, they can beat you with the pass, the run, or with their defense (the Dallas game was an outlier, their defense is much better than it appeared against Dallas). I did not see them being so good this season, but they ought to go undefeated outside of their division, so even if they struggle against NFC East teams, they'd still finish 11-5 or 12-4. Pittsburgh (2-1) might be the best team in the AFC, but they can't score, with their defense, scoring won't matter much. They'll win a lot of games where the point total for both teams is under 25 points, just not last Sunday's.

Woohoo!!! Dallas 27 Green Bay 16,my pick Dallas -3.0
Dallas (3-0) continues to roll. If they have another solid regular season and stumble in the playoffs again, they'll earn Michael Wilbon's "September's Team" insult that he's been throwing their way. They look unbeatable right now, a great offense, tied with a good enough defense. Green Bay (2-1) didn't look terrible in getting beat, but they got beat, and beat convincingly. They're probably a decent team, but they probably shouldn't be planning on a return trip to the NFC Championship just yet.

Woohoo!!! NY Jets 29 San Diego 48, my pick San Diego -8.5
San Diego (1-2) didn't have to worry about last moment heroics this week. They crushed the Jets, and made Favre look like an old QB prone to making bad decisions. The Chargers' offense was rolling, and Sprouls is a fantastic weapon. There's still some questions on defense for this team, but they have the best offense in the AFC, and could easily be 3-0 right now. NY Jets (1-2) didn't look so good. Actually, they looked bad, very bad. Not much else to say about the Jets, I don't think they're a particularly relevant team this season with Buffalo most likely being the team to challenge New England for the AFC East title.

Week 4 is going to be a lousy week of football with terrible match-up after terrible match-up. Good week to enjoy early fall weather (unless you are in the rainsoaked Carolinas). After 3 weeks it's enough time to be able to gauge somewhat the relative strength of these teams. Here's my top 5 right now, (1) Dallas, (2) Philadelphia, (3) Tennessee, (4) San Diego, (5) Pittsburgh [I know the NY Giants are 3-0, but I refuse to believe they are any good, really]

Totals so far . . .

Seasonal 26-21

Weekly 10-5