NFL Week Six Cheat Sheet with Seriously Salty Additives
The Washington Nationals lost 9-8 at home in the deciding Game 5 of their National League Divisional Playoff Series with the Chicago Cubs, Oct. 12.
The Nationals have won the NL East Division four of the last six years. Each year they entered the resultant divisional playoff round as the favorite. They have now lost each of those series.
You can blame it on a multitude of reasons.
You can blame it on Nationals manager Dusty Baker whose record of post season failure makes the Nats' string of failures look trifling. It makes you wonder why a team struggling to get its first playoff series victory would ever hire someone who hasn't done such a thing in 14 years.
You can blame it on Washington backup catcher Jose Lobaton for getting picked off of first base to end an eighth inning rally with the tying run on second base with two outs and centerfield Trea Turner at the plate. It is kind of hard to get picked off of first base, but not when you have a ridiculously large lead, you are slow of foot, and your head is up your ass -- Lobaton nailed all three.
You can blame it on left fielder Jayson Werth starting all five games and batting 0.167 in the five game series with equally inept play, if not worse, in the field. The Nationals overpaid for Werth back in 2011, but they had to, and he has been a positive for the Nats over the bulk of his contract. He should not have played five games in this series, however.
Clearly the items above contributed to the playoff defeat, but many other things added to it. Some people, like ESPN Senior Writer Eddie Matz, think it is a curse.
I am not exactly sure what to attribute the loss too (I can't even narrow it down to a top three), and I certainly don't believe it's a curse. I do know one thing for sure though -- I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!! Read the last paragraph in Textbook DC Sports Night.
I am not saying predicting a Nationals playoff loss makes me clairvoyant or anything. In fact, true D.C. sports writers do it all the time. I'm not saying, just saying...you know?
I am a Cincinnati Reds fan first and foremost, but I believe in cheering locally. I have told you before that, for me, sport is community. As long as the Nats aren't playing the Reds, I am cheering the local guys with my neighbors.
These D.C teams are all pretty good to great (in the regular season), but, boy, they make it tough on you in the playoffs.
To the cheat sheet...
So that Nats loss had me pretty salty, and I had to get that off my chest. It also cut into my writing time for the NFL picks. There have been many other distracting factors this week:
1. Work has been crazy and all encompassing.
2. I offered to volunteer with the organization of a major event in March, because I need to give more to my community.
3. I am trying to up the frequency and volume of my workouts, because I have been losing the Battle of the Bulge.
4. I am trying to get back to two blog posts a week instead of just one, because...um, I am not exactly sure why on this one.
So I knocked out this truncated version late Friday night. My whole weekend is spoken for and then some. I have two soccer games and one football practice on Saturday and many other things to get done, but as far as Cheat Sheets -- he gonna do one ("he" being me, and "one" being cheat sheets, not bong hits)! So here we go!
Green Bay Packers vs. (+3.0) Minnesota Vikings: Minnesota can live without QB Sam Bradford, but they lost their best RB Dalvin Cook two weeks ago, and now their best WR Stefon Diggs is out this week. -- PACKERS
Cleveland Browns vs. (-9.5) Houston Texans: Houston has gone 1-2 over last two weeks, but they were competitive in their losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, the best teams in the American Football Conference. Cleveland hasn't been competitive since the second George W. Bush term. -- TEXANS
Miami Dolphins vs. (-12.5) Atlanta Falcons: Miami is lucky to be 2-2, and Atlanta is coming off of a loss and a bye week -- talk about being salty. -- FALCONS
NOTE: I told you in August that Miami would regress to the mean in comparison to last year's superb finish. It's happening.
San Francisco 49ers vs. (-10.5) Washington Redskins: Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan has reason to be salty for this affair, but his team stinks. -- REDSKINS
Chicago Bears vs. (-6.5) Baltimore Ravens: I think Chicago will improve with QB Mitchell Trubisky starting, but they still have a long way to go to catch a mediocre Baltimore team. -- RAVENS
Detroit Lions vs. (-4.0) New Orleans Saints: New Orleans got a two-game winning streak going before their bye week last week. Detroit is about to piss away a great start. -- SAINTS
New England Patriots vs. (+9.5) New York Jets: New York is playing much better than anybody (with a brain) expected and now sit atop the AFC East with the Bills and the Patriots. If you think the Jets will win this weekend, please raise your hand...so we can take you out of the gene pool. -- PATRIOTS
NOTE: I had a conversation Friday afternoon with a very good friend who is extremely knowledgeable on the NFL. I was telling him that I would have to sprint through my picks this week. We did a quick review, and I determined I feel very comfortable immediately with 10 of the 13 games remaining games. The following three are the games that I knew I would need to slow down and try to think a little.
Los Angeles Rams vs. (-2.5) Jacksonville Jaguars: Not many people expected both of these teams to be in first place of their divisions at this point in the year. These teams are trending up, but I will go with the home team that dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. -- JAGUARS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (+1.5) Arizona Cardinals: Both of these teams are on shaky ground, and need to gets things stabilized soon. Tampa Bay QB Jameis Winston often looked awful to me last week against New England, but that was on Thursday...10 days of prep time ago. -- BUCCANEERS
Los Angeles Chargers vs. (no line) Oakland Raiders: You know what else I told you in August? I told you the Chargers would rebound from all of their close losses from last year -- I was wrong. They have managed to go 1-4 and stack up three more close losses (defined by games within one touchdown differential). I think that close win at the New York Giants last week began to flip the script. -- CHARGERS
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. (-4.0) Kansas City Chiefs: I told you in the Week Four Cheat Sheet that Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger is bad on the road, but that he would win in Baltimore. In that same post, I told you Kansas City has one of the few remaining true home field advantages prior to their games against the Redskins. I was correct on both. -- CHIEFS
NOTE: I saw some of Speak for Yourself on FOXSports Friday. They were talking about this game and how Roethlisberger spoke about considering retirement during this past offseason. Super Bowl-winning defensive back Eric Davis said something to the effect of 'once you starting thinking about retiring, you are retired.' Roethlisberger threw five interceptions last week, at home no less, in a deflating loss to the Jaguars, 30-9. But then Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson brought up the fact that Roethlisberger has never lost to the Chiefs and how he remembers certain teams 'had your number.' It was a fascinating conversation, but I will still be going with the Chiefs.
New York Giants vs. (-11.5) Denver Broncos: A few years back Laphroaig scotch asked its drinkers to describe the smell and taste for an advertising campaign due to the unique flavor, smell, and taste of the beverage. Some responses were:
Indianapolis Colts vs. (no line) Tennessee Titans: Shocked there is no line here. Have you ever heard of an 'emotional hedge bet?" That's when you put money AGAINST the team you want to win to salve the loss you know is coming. You have to really think about that bet amount, because you want to still be happy if your team scores an upset and you lose money. I am feeling like the Colts have a chance. But there is no money on the line here, therefore, as always, I emotionally hedge the Colts game. The Colts mean a lot to me...like the phucking Nats! -- TITANS
The Nationals have won the NL East Division four of the last six years. Each year they entered the resultant divisional playoff round as the favorite. They have now lost each of those series.
It is time to pack up your Nats baseball gear for the year.
You can blame it on a multitude of reasons.
You can blame it on Nationals manager Dusty Baker whose record of post season failure makes the Nats' string of failures look trifling. It makes you wonder why a team struggling to get its first playoff series victory would ever hire someone who hasn't done such a thing in 14 years.
You can blame it on Washington backup catcher Jose Lobaton for getting picked off of first base to end an eighth inning rally with the tying run on second base with two outs and centerfield Trea Turner at the plate. It is kind of hard to get picked off of first base, but not when you have a ridiculously large lead, you are slow of foot, and your head is up your ass -- Lobaton nailed all three.
You can blame it on left fielder Jayson Werth starting all five games and batting 0.167 in the five game series with equally inept play, if not worse, in the field. The Nationals overpaid for Werth back in 2011, but they had to, and he has been a positive for the Nats over the bulk of his contract. He should not have played five games in this series, however.
Clearly the items above contributed to the playoff defeat, but many other things added to it. Some people, like ESPN Senior Writer Eddie Matz, think it is a curse.
I am not exactly sure what to attribute the loss too (I can't even narrow it down to a top three), and I certainly don't believe it's a curse. I do know one thing for sure though -- I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!! Read the last paragraph in Textbook DC Sports Night.
I am not saying predicting a Nationals playoff loss makes me clairvoyant or anything. In fact, true D.C. sports writers do it all the time. I'm not saying, just saying...you know?
I am a Cincinnati Reds fan first and foremost, but I believe in cheering locally. I have told you before that, for me, sport is community. As long as the Nats aren't playing the Reds, I am cheering the local guys with my neighbors.
These D.C teams are all pretty good to great (in the regular season), but, boy, they make it tough on you in the playoffs.
To the cheat sheet...
So that Nats loss had me pretty salty, and I had to get that off my chest. It also cut into my writing time for the NFL picks. There have been many other distracting factors this week:
1. Work has been crazy and all encompassing.
2. I offered to volunteer with the organization of a major event in March, because I need to give more to my community.
3. I am trying to up the frequency and volume of my workouts, because I have been losing the Battle of the Bulge.
4. I am trying to get back to two blog posts a week instead of just one, because...um, I am not exactly sure why on this one.
So I knocked out this truncated version late Friday night. My whole weekend is spoken for and then some. I have two soccer games and one football practice on Saturday and many other things to get done, but as far as Cheat Sheets -- he gonna do one ("he" being me, and "one" being cheat sheets, not bong hits)! So here we go!
Green Bay Packers vs. (+3.0) Minnesota Vikings: Minnesota can live without QB Sam Bradford, but they lost their best RB Dalvin Cook two weeks ago, and now their best WR Stefon Diggs is out this week. -- PACKERS
Cleveland Browns vs. (-9.5) Houston Texans: Houston has gone 1-2 over last two weeks, but they were competitive in their losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, the best teams in the American Football Conference. Cleveland hasn't been competitive since the second George W. Bush term. -- TEXANS
Miami Dolphins vs. (-12.5) Atlanta Falcons: Miami is lucky to be 2-2, and Atlanta is coming off of a loss and a bye week -- talk about being salty. -- FALCONS
NOTE: I told you in August that Miami would regress to the mean in comparison to last year's superb finish. It's happening.
San Francisco 49ers vs. (-10.5) Washington Redskins: Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan has reason to be salty for this affair, but his team stinks. -- REDSKINS
Chicago Bears vs. (-6.5) Baltimore Ravens: I think Chicago will improve with QB Mitchell Trubisky starting, but they still have a long way to go to catch a mediocre Baltimore team. -- RAVENS
Detroit Lions vs. (-4.0) New Orleans Saints: New Orleans got a two-game winning streak going before their bye week last week. Detroit is about to piss away a great start. -- SAINTS
New England Patriots vs. (+9.5) New York Jets: New York is playing much better than anybody (with a brain) expected and now sit atop the AFC East with the Bills and the Patriots. If you think the Jets will win this weekend, please raise your hand...so we can take you out of the gene pool. -- PATRIOTS
NOTE: I had a conversation Friday afternoon with a very good friend who is extremely knowledgeable on the NFL. I was telling him that I would have to sprint through my picks this week. We did a quick review, and I determined I feel very comfortable immediately with 10 of the 13 games remaining games. The following three are the games that I knew I would need to slow down and try to think a little.
Los Angeles Rams vs. (-2.5) Jacksonville Jaguars: Not many people expected both of these teams to be in first place of their divisions at this point in the year. These teams are trending up, but I will go with the home team that dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. -- JAGUARS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (+1.5) Arizona Cardinals: Both of these teams are on shaky ground, and need to gets things stabilized soon. Tampa Bay QB Jameis Winston often looked awful to me last week against New England, but that was on Thursday...10 days of prep time ago. -- BUCCANEERS
Los Angeles Chargers vs. (no line) Oakland Raiders: You know what else I told you in August? I told you the Chargers would rebound from all of their close losses from last year -- I was wrong. They have managed to go 1-4 and stack up three more close losses (defined by games within one touchdown differential). I think that close win at the New York Giants last week began to flip the script. -- CHARGERS
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. (-4.0) Kansas City Chiefs: I told you in the Week Four Cheat Sheet that Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger is bad on the road, but that he would win in Baltimore. In that same post, I told you Kansas City has one of the few remaining true home field advantages prior to their games against the Redskins. I was correct on both. -- CHIEFS
NOTE: I saw some of Speak for Yourself on FOXSports Friday. They were talking about this game and how Roethlisberger spoke about considering retirement during this past offseason. Super Bowl-winning defensive back Eric Davis said something to the effect of 'once you starting thinking about retiring, you are retired.' Roethlisberger threw five interceptions last week, at home no less, in a deflating loss to the Jaguars, 30-9. But then Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson brought up the fact that Roethlisberger has never lost to the Chiefs and how he remembers certain teams 'had your number.' It was a fascinating conversation, but I will still be going with the Chiefs.
New York Giants vs. (-11.5) Denver Broncos: A few years back Laphroaig scotch asked its drinkers to describe the smell and taste for an advertising campaign due to the unique flavor, smell, and taste of the beverage. Some responses were:
- "You can smell the seagulls' armpits."
- "Damp dog and tree bark."
- "It smells like a burning hospital."
Indianapolis Colts vs. (no line) Tennessee Titans: Shocked there is no line here. Have you ever heard of an 'emotional hedge bet?" That's when you put money AGAINST the team you want to win to salve the loss you know is coming. You have to really think about that bet amount, because you want to still be happy if your team scores an upset and you lose money. I am feeling like the Colts have a chance. But there is no money on the line here, therefore, as always, I emotionally hedge the Colts game. The Colts mean a lot to me...like the phucking Nats! -- TITANS
Comments
Post a Comment