With Chad out of town and myself out of commission, we are going to keep our picks short and sweet this week. 

Chad's Picks

Indy -1.5
New Orleans -11
San Diego -3
Philadelphia -3
Arizona -9

Justin's Picks

Indy -1.5
Atlanta +7
Arizona -9
New England -10.5
Philadelphia -3

There’s nothing worse than spending a couple of hours working on something, just to have it ruined in the last couple of minutes.   I had my latest recap column all ready to post, and just as I was adding the finishing touches – bam – disaster strikes!   In a way I can kind of relate to the players of the New England Patriots.  After all, the Pats put a great game together against the Colts last night just to have it flushed down the toilet by a bad coaching decision, I had a great column ready to go until my internet crashed and sent me back to the drawing board.  When Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-two from his own 28 yard line, he stepped into what I like to call “I’m the only coach in the league that can make this call and not have people calling for my head when it fails” zone.  It’s interesting how people in the media have reacted to Belichick's decision.  Before the talking heads slam Bill on the call, they preclude their statements with something like, “Don’t get me wrong, I think Coach Belichick is one hell of a coach,” or “This guys usually get’s it’s right, but…”.  I think the most interesting thing about last night was how the press handled Belichick’s call, not the call itself.  Whether or not you think the call was right or not (I say you have to punt that ball 100% of the time), you have to give Belichick credit, he’s got huevos the size of basketballs!

Another thing that is going relatively unsaid today is just how impressive the Pats looked for 58 minutes yesterday.   You have to give New England credit, they make Peyton Manning look confused at times, and there isn’t another team in the NFL that can do that.   If you don’t think these two teams are on the same level here are some of the stats from yesterday’s game:

Rushing Yards

New England – 113 (4.0 Yard Avg)

Indianapolis – 91 (5.1 Yard Avg)

Passing Yards

New England – 375 (3 TD)

Indianapolis – 327 (4 TD)

Time of Possession

New England – 35:02

Indianapolis - 24:58

3^rd Down Efficiency

New England: 7-14

Indianapolis: 5-12

As you can see, New England was just a little bit better than Indy in almost every facet of the game, but when it came down to winning time Indy came up with two touchdown scoring drives in two minutes.  Peyton Manning has stepped up to that Kobe Bryant/Tiger Woods level of athlete that you just can’t give a chance to beat you when the game is on line, because they will.   Indianapolis had no business winning that game, but coach Belichick didn’t want to put the ball back into Manning’s hands with time left on the clock, which I can at least understand, but giving Peyton Manning the ball on your own 28 yard line with two minutes left and a six point lead is suicide.   Everyone knew what was going to happen when New England turned the ball over on downs, it was certain death.  If you punt Manning still might beat you, but at least you have a chance. Coaching comes down to giving your team the best possible chance of winning, and Belichick didn’t do that yesterday.    Which is a shame because odds are these two teams will meet again in the playoffs and we will all be talking about this call again, but what we should remember was how much better the Pats were for 58 minutes yesterday.  

Here are a few other things that I took notice of yesterday:

-Cincinnati is for real people.  The Bengals are second in both rushing and scoring defense this year, and have already beaten the Ravens twice and the Steelers once.  The only bad thing to come out of yesterday’s 18-12 win over Pittsburgh was Cedric Benson going down with a strained hip flexor.  Who would have thought a couple of years ago that Cedric Benson getting hurt was a bad thing?   But going into yesterday Benson led the league in carries and was second in the league in rushing yards.   Now there is talk that the Bengals may sign Larry Johnson, which is a huge step down from Benson… again, no one would have been saying that a couple of years ago.

-I told you Chris Johnson was the man!   Not only is he doing for Vince Young’s career, what Quentin Tarantino did for John Travolta, but he’s also single-handedly carrying my fantasy football team to the playoffs.  Yesterday Johnson ran for 132 yards and two TDs on 26 carries, and caught nine passes for 100 yards.  Those are Marshall Faulk circa 1999 numbers!  I haven’t been this excited for a player on a non-contender since Kobe put 82 on the Raptors a few years ago.  The only thing more eye popping than Chris Johnson’s stats yesterday was 82 year old Titans owner, Bud Adams flipping off Bills fans after the game was over.  Classy!

-Another week, another win for the Saints and Vikings, who have been separating themselves from the rest of the NFC.  Just watching the Cowboys/Packers game was enough to make me want to pencil in Minnesota and New Orleans for the NFC title game.  Three weeks ago I would have thrown Philly in the conversation for best team in the NFC, but they’ve lost three of their last five games, including a real head scratcher to the Raiders.  The only wild card in the NFC these days is the Cardinals, who have the following schedule for the rest of the season: Rams, Titans, Vikings, 49ers, Lions, Rams (again) and Packers.   That’s right folks, Arizona only has to play one contender the rest of the way, isn’t playing in the NFC West great.

That’s all for today, check back tomorrow when I will try to piece together just what the hell is going on with the Lakers.   Also coming this week is my Yankees championship look-back and an (hopefully) on time picks column.   You can also check us out throughout the week on twitter at twitter.com/justinjacobs and twitter.com/chadruter.  Enjoy the rest of your Monday folks; I hear the Ravens are playing the Browns tonight, so maybe it’s time to catch up on all the good stuff you have saved on your Tivo’s!

In an attempt to get more content on this site, I've decided to start writing on Saturday mornings.   These columns will be different from the stuff you see during the week in that they will often go on tangents that aren't necessarily sports related.   Think of these posts as our version on Saturday Morning Cartoons, only with less Japanese Anime and talking animals.   So without further adieu, welcome to the first addition of Saturday Ramblings!

-So Modern Warfare 2 came out this week and immediately stole the lives of most of friends.   It's no surprise that a group of single men in their mid-twenties, with disposable incomes, and loads of time on their hands would fall into a life of sports, video games, and beer drinking.   A lot of people look at high school or college as the best times in their lives, but I can't think of a better life than being able to watch sports/play video games/drink whenever I want.    It's no wonder I treat most of friends weddings like funerals.

-Watching Denver whoop up on the Lakers last night was a bit painful.   It's funny, the Lakers just won the title last year, and my other favorite sports team (the Yankees) just won the World Series, but it doesn't take the sting of Los Angeles stinking up the joint in Denver last night.  Given the Lakers were playing a road game on the second half of a back-to-back on the road without their second best player, but it still burns when Kobe gets held scoreless in the second half of a measure stick game.   I still get freaked out when Derek Fisher scores zero points and the Lakers backcourt  makes Ty Lawson look like a young Allen Iverson.  Observe...

-Twelve more days until the best day of the year!   Just thinking about the amount of Turkey I am going to consume on Thanksgiving makes me sleepy.  Any day that involves family, food, football and naps within a twelve hour period deserves the title of best day of the year.   You throw in Blackout Wednesday, and you have yourself a truly epic holiday.  It's like New Years if New Years Day didn't completely suck!   I mean come on, who enjoys being watching bad college football when you are trying to cope with the biggest hangover of the year.  Not me.

-Has anyone else already been bombarded with the "what do you want for Christmas" questions?   I'm starting to think about just asking everyone to chip into my, new HDTV/NFL Package Fund for next year.   Does that make me a bad person?

That will about do it for the first edition of Saturday Ramblings, if you are looking for our Pick'em column, it should be up as soon as Ruter gets around to making his picks.   Here's to hoping he doesn't read this and has to forfeit this weeks picks!   Enjoy your weekend everyone, and we'll be back on Monday for more of the best sports coverage we can grind out!

Is it just me, or is this the week where we can start taking the NFL seriously?  Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed the first nine weeks of this NFL season, but it seems like we've had some pretty boring weeks recently.  In fact, I'm almost thankful that Brett Favre went to the Vikings because it gave me a reason to care about football in week eight.  Honestly, the two most interesting developments this season, at least for me, have been the emergence of Chris Johnson as the king of fantasy football, and the emergence of the Big Four (Vikings, Saints, Patriots, Colts).  Before I talk about the big four, I want to spend some time talking about just how mind boggling Chris Johnson has been this year.  Not only is Johnson the league leader in rushing yards (959 yards), but he also leads the league in yards/carry (6.7 yards), longest rush (91 yards) and rushes for more than twenty yards (12).   He is the most exciting player in the NFL right now, and it's not even that close.  It's just too bad that he plays on such a crummy team, not only does it make watching his games nearly impossible, but it also keeps one of the most exciting players of the last decade from reaching his full potential.   I shutter to think what kinds of numbers Johnson could get if he played for the Colts or Patriots.   Johnson is the closest thing to Barry Sanders that we have seen this decade, let's just hope he doesn't spend his entire career on a loser like Barry did.

What makes this week more exciting than most weeks in the NFL is that we get to watch two Championship contenders play in the regular season.   The Colts and Patriots have the best rivalry going in the NFL right now, and given the volatile nature of the game these days, a good rivalry is hard to find.   In order to have a good rivalry you need three things.  First, you need two teams that are fighting for Alpha Dog status in the league they are playing in.   Is there any question that the Colts and Patriots (along with the Steelers) have completely owned this decade?  Secondly, you have to be able to draw an audience bigger than the two teams collective fanbases.   To pull this off you need to have star players, which these teams have in spades, and compelling figures, and who is more compelling in big games than Coach Belichik?  Watching Belichick actively come up with a game plan against Peyton Manning is one the of the most interesting exercises in coaching that we have in sports today.  Last but not least, for a rivaly to be considered great, it has to transcend the sport it's being played in.   You don't have to be a fan of the NBA to realize how important the Lakers/Celtics rivalry has been to the NBA.  The same holds true for the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry.   Under these criteria you can not consider the Bears/Packers rivalry to be great anymore, because neither of the franchises have been particularly relevant at the same time in years.  I wrote the last sentence to prove my point, but also to stick it to the Bears fans out there.   It's always fun to beat a team's fanbase when its down, and after losing to the 49ers it looks like Chicago won't be relevant for awhile.  It's not easy to get enough circumstances to come together and create a great rivalry like we have in the Colts/Patriots, so enjoy watching them play.

Now let's get to the picks.

Justin's Picks

Denver -3.5 over Washington

I've been hard on the Broncos so far this year, but even an overated team like Denver can handle the Redskins atrocious offense.   I'm so confident in the Broncos that I even made them my survivor pick this week.

Cincinatti +7 over Pittsuburgh

Maybe this is just me overcompensating for picking against the Bengals last week, but a touchdown seems a bit much to be giving a team that has impressed so far this year.  The Steelers are known to have let downs in the regular season, and I wouldn't be shocked if Cincy pulls off the upset in this one.

New Orleans -13.5 over St. Louis

This line could have been 20 and I still would have thought about taking the Saints.   I can only imagine how excited Drew Brees owners are in fantasy football, it must be like Christmas in November.

Atlanta -1.5 over Carolina

Why is this line so close?   Carolina's three wins this year have come against the Redskins, Buccaneers and Cardinals, not exactly inspiring much confidence in me.   Atlanta's already beaten the Carolina by eight this year, what has changed in the last eight weeks to make us feel differently?  Nothing, that's what.

Dallas -3 over Green Bay

You have to give Aaron Rodgers a lot of credit for playing so well even though he is getting beat more than Rihanna did when she was with Chris Brown.  I think it's time for the world to realize that the Packers just aren't that good anymore, wait a second, as long as Vegas keeps giving them too much credit, I won't complain.

........

Chad's Picks

 Cincinatti +7 over Pittsburgh

Hey Vegas - you fellas know that Cincinnati is 6-2 and can run the football, right?  I know that the Steelers are playing well with Polamalu back to 100%, but that's no excuse to dog a good team 7 points.

New Orleans -13.5 over St. Louis

I have just three words.  Not...nearly...enough.

Denver -3.5 over Washington

Well, would ya lookee here; the best quarterback in the NFL lost a couple of games.  Jim Zorn coaching automatically is a 4 point deduction and that amazingly will cover the laughable spread in this one.

Dallas -3 over Green Bay

Bill Simmons said in his column this week that the Packers are 6-10 in their last 16 games, with their wins coming against the Bears (twice), Detroit (twice), Cleveland, and St. Louis.  Bad.

Baltimore -10.5 Cleveland

Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson.  It's like choosing between being stabbed in the eye with a jagged stick or passing a kidney stone. 

........

Last Weeks Records

Justin: 2-3

Chad: 3-2

YTD Records

Justin:18-21-1

Chad: 20-20

Sorry that we didn't get our Pick'em column up this weekend, but we were to busy doing important things like... um... playing Halo 3 and watching episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.  I was also trying to recover from the shock of being quoted in Bill Simmons, The Book Of Basketball.  No, really, I'm in the book!  If you own a copy, turn to page 501, scroll down to the bottom of the first paragraph, and enjoy my poetic waxing of LeBron James' greatness!  If you are reading this and don't own a copy, what are you doing?  This is the definitive book of basketball, and I'm in it!   Surely you can head over to Amazon and pick up a copy!  

...But I'm digressing.   Here are our picks for last weeks NFL games!

Justin: Yeah, I never got around to doing a write-up for my picks, so let's just talk about what happened with these games.

Pittsburgh -3 over Denver

If you've been reading these columns at all this year, you know that I have absolutely no faith in The Broncos, Denver may win their weak division, but they will have all kinds of trouble playing teams like the Steelers.

Baltimore -3 over Cincinnati

Can you blame me for making this pick?  Sure the Bengals have looked good this year, but the Ravens were just coming off of a big win against the Broncos and looked to have it going with Ray Rice.  Rice still had a big game, but most of his yards came in garbage time yesterday, as Cincy controlled this game from beginning to end.

Atlanta -9 over Washington

You know your team is heading nowhere when the most fight they show is against the opposing teams coach on the sidelines.  After Portis left the game early with a concussion, I stopped paying attention to the game.   The Redskins are now one of those "bucket-of-yuck" teams that I can't bring myself to watch, regardless of the team they are playing.

New England -10.5 over Miami

I really, REALLY, thought that the Patriots would stick it to the Dolphins after last years fiasco, but the 'Phins did a good job of controlling the clock in the first half and keeping the game relatively close.  Of course as soon as Randy Moss made that ridiculous 71 yard catch-and-run touch down in the third quarter, the game was pretty much over.  There's nothing that hurts quite as much as losing a cover by half a point, especially since Chad picked the other way.

Philly -3 over Dallas

Sure the Cowboys won this game, but was anybody impressed by either one of these teams?   They both show glimpses of brilliance, but always seem to stink it up when they play in big-time pressure games.  

Chad:

Miami +10.5 New England

Nobody has proven they can stop the Wildcat.  Not even the great Bill Belichick.

Atlanta -9 Washington

I'm just picking on Washington because they flat out suck.  They need to clean house totally - and it needs to start with owner Daniel Snyder being removed from any personnel decisions that don't involve the GM.

Green Bay -9.5 Tampa Bay

The Packers can sure score a ton of points, and against the Tampa Bay No-Namers, I think they'll continue that trend.  I didn't think of Josh Freeman as a franchise quarterback when he was drafted in the first round this year, so we'll see how he fares with little weaponry around him.

San Diego +4.5 New York Giants

If I may use a basketball analogy: the Giants can't buy a bucket. I think Philip Rivers will get them ahead and LDT will run out the clock on 'em.

Jacksonville -6.5 Kansas City

Doesn't seem like nearly enough points here.  I know Jacksonville isn't that good, but doesn't MJD run for 200 yards in this game?

...............

Here are our records (not counting this weeks games)

Justin: 4-0-1

Chad: 3-2

YTD

Justin: (16-18-1)

Chad: (17-18)

............

Before I let you guys enjoy the rest of your Monday, I just want to talk a little bit about the site.   I'm sure you've noticed that we have been wildly inconsistent with the rate in which we have bene posting lately.   The truth is that Chad has been insanely busy over the last couple of weeks.  The guy took a vacation last week so he could drive from Chicago to his hometown in Western Illinois to help his family out on the farm.  That's right, Chad takes vacations from work, so he can do more work.   As for myself, while I tend to stay busy, I'm nowhere near as swamped as Chad is on a day-to-day basis and have far less of an excuse to not be posting at least three times a week.   For some reason I've been in a funk lately when it comes to writing, so we are going to try something new and see where it goes.  Every day for the next month, let's just say until next Christmas, I'm going to be posting "something".   Now this "something" may be a 10,000 word magnum opus on my love of the Lakers, or a 100 word rant on why Bears fans need to stop blaming Lovie Smith for the their teams problems.   Hell, I may even write about some things that are not even  directly related to sports - i.e. video games, sports movies, etc.   For instance, tonight the much anticipated Modern Warfare 2 is being released.   As someone who enjoys first-person shooters, I don't think I've ever been more hyped for the release of a video game.   How excited am I for this game?  Well,  tonight at midnight I am going to drive half an hour to get to my local Gamestop so I can have the game as soon as it releases.   Yes, I am aware of how much of a nerd that makes me, but that's just who I am.  If you are wondering why I haven't written anything about the Yankees winning the World Series yet, don't worry, I will be writing something.   I just wanted to wait for the smoke to clear on all the hyperbole that has been getting thrown around by the media, so I could write something that isn't completely biased/full of shit. 

Alright, so that is my plan for the next month or so, we'll see how long I can stick to it.   Don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/justinjacobs, and Chad at twitter.com/chadruter, and who knows, maybe we'll get to podcasting again one of these days.   Until then, keep it tuned to Grind It Out Sports for (hopefully) the best sports coverage Chad and I can grind out on a daily basis!