NFL Week Nine Cheat Sheet -- BEAT AIR FORCE Edition
Everybody knows about Navy stringing together 14 straight Army/Navy Game victories. What folks probably have forgotten is the series has been extremely close and competitive beyond that historic streak. Even after those 14 victories by the Midshipmen, Navy only leads the series 60-50-7.
Prior to that awful decade and a half, Army and Navy both had two five-game win streaks in the books. Army had three four-game win streaks, while Navy had once accomplished the trifecta. Heck, before Navy's 14 wins, Army led the series by three.
That's a pretty even series. You know who has strung together some wins on the Army team with impunity? Air Force.
After the 1988 Army/Air Force, the series was tied 11-11-1. The series now sits at 14-36-1 in favor of Air Force. That's right. Beginning with the 1989 game, Air Force has beat the original, most-excellent, and best academy to the tune of 25-3.
Air Force has accomplished streaks of eight, seven and, six wins and has now won the last four matchups. I matriculated along the Hudson during a seven-game Army losing streak. We lost the four games of my cadet career by a total score of 67-15.
Air Force has been holding it over our heads for a while now. But Coach Jeff Monken has the Army Team playing better than it has since Bob Sutton coached some legends in the mid-to-late '90s. Air Force is a six-point favorite at home, but I am sure Monken will have the boys ready. Being ready is one thing -- gaining the victory is another.
Youth sports ends for me today around noon. Guess what I am doing around 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. That's right...tuning in to CBS Sports Network and probably getting overly emotional.
My buddy Dan Head has a great Army/Air Force preview on his blog.
Go Army, BEAT AIR FORCE.
And with that, let's get to the NFL Week Nine Cheat Sheet...
Baltimore Ravens vs. (-3.5) Tennessee Titans: This is a match-up of two predicted playoff contenders that have spent a few Sundays playing some awful football. Both are coming off of victories, and some time off. Tennessee has the 8th ranked running game, Baltimore has the 30th ranked rushing offense, and Tennessee has had a few more days off to heal and prepare. -- TITANS
Cincinnati Bengals vs (-5.5) Jacksonville Jaguars: Neither of these teams was thought of as a playoff contender prior to the start of the season, but the winner will be in the middle of the hunt for a playoff spot. Both teams have good defenses, but struggling offenses. I couldn't find anything to separate the two, so I looked at the predictions on Cincinnati.com. -- JAGUARS
Atlanta Falcons vs. (+2.0) Carolina Panthers: This game depends on which Cam Newton shows up. Carolina is currently 5-3, but 4-0 when Newton's QB Rating exceeds 80.0. His top rating the last three weeks was 66.4. -- FALCONS
Denver Broncos vs. (-7.5) Philadelphia Eagles: The 7-1 Eagles, after winning six straight games, look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The 3-4 Broncos, after losing three straight games, look like a team that will be on vacation in January. Philadelphia even boosted their 5th ranked rushing offense by trading for RB Jay Ajayi, formerly of the Miami Dolphins. -- EAGLES
Indianapolis Colts vs. (-6.5) Houston Texans: The Colts announced this week that QB Andrew Luck is now officially out for the rest of the year -- not too surprising the way his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery was going. Sports media blew up Thursday with the news that Texans QB Deshaun Watson blew out his knee at practice and is now out for the season -- shocking mid-week surprise. This game will be unwatchable, avert your eyes! --TEXANS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (-6.5) New Orleans Saints: Both of these teams are rolling...in different directions, however. The Saints have won five straight, and the Buccaneers have lost their last four. Tampa Bay is bringing the 29th ranked defense to the Big Easy to match-up against the 2nd ranked offense. --SAINTS
Los Angeles Rams vs. (+4.0) New York Giants: I didn't put any NFC preseason predictions on this blog, but I would have predicted the Rams to be bad and the Giants to be good, if I would have done so. That looks "dumb and dumber" at this point. I hate to pick a West Coast team playing on the East Coast, but this Giants team is bad. New York has trouble stopping the run on defense, and QB Eli Manning has trouble completing passes to receivers on offense. That's a horrible combo. -- RAMS
Washington Redskins vs. (-7.0) Seattle Seahawks: In mid-October, the Redskins were 3-2 and I really felt good for my local friends that cheer the home team. Since then, Washington has lost two straight games to division opponents by double-digit margins. The Skins had a ridiculous 17 players on the injury report before last week's loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Well, this week it's 21 players on that list. No team is capable of going on the road to Seattle and winning with almost a third of their roster banged up. --SEAHAWKS
Arizona Cardinals vs. (+2.5) San Francisco 49ers: Bad football game alert, right here. I was really leaning toward picking the upset here and going with San Francisco. Seriously, they might be 0-8, but the talent difference between teams in the NFL is small and the 49ers are due. But then I read a little about Arizona having to start backup QB Drew Stanton, and it actually made me go with the Cardinals. He has beaten the 49ers in fill-in duty already over the past couple of years and I got a good vibe about his leadership (from words in a report written by a dude that writes about sports...gut feel, I know it is not much). -- CARDINALS
Kansas City Chiefs vs. (-2.5) Dallas Cowboys: OK, Cowboys RB Zeke Elliott gets to play this weekend. The Chiefs beat the Broncos (already discussed, not so good) last week, but had lost two games in a row prior to that. Their win against the Broncos was Monday night, so Kansas City has had one less day to prepare for this road game. -- COWBOYS
Oakland Raiders vs. (+3.0) Miami Dolphins: This is a must-win game for the Raiders, another team with high hopes during the preseason. They are already three games back of the AFC West Division-leading Chiefs, but a win gets them back into the Wild Card hunt. Miami got obliterated last week by Baltimore, 40-0, but Oakland didn't look a lot better losing by 20 points to the Buffalo Bills. I don't trust either of these teams, so I am just going to go with the Vegas line. --RAIDERS
Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers: With Aaron Rodgers out for the season and Brent Hundley starting at quarterback, the Packers need to be able to run the ball. The Lions have the 5th ranked run defense. Detroit QB Matt Stafford has had a real hard time getting his team in the end zone, but the 23rd ranked Green Bay defense might just be what the doctor ordered. --LIONS
Prior to that awful decade and a half, Army and Navy both had two five-game win streaks in the books. Army had three four-game win streaks, while Navy had once accomplished the trifecta. Heck, before Navy's 14 wins, Army led the series by three.
That's a pretty even series. You know who has strung together some wins on the Army team with impunity? Air Force.
After the 1988 Army/Air Force, the series was tied 11-11-1. The series now sits at 14-36-1 in favor of Air Force. That's right. Beginning with the 1989 game, Air Force has beat the original, most-excellent, and best academy to the tune of 25-3.
Air Force has accomplished streaks of eight, seven and, six wins and has now won the last four matchups. I matriculated along the Hudson during a seven-game Army losing streak. We lost the four games of my cadet career by a total score of 67-15.
Air Force has been holding it over our heads for a while now. But Coach Jeff Monken has the Army Team playing better than it has since Bob Sutton coached some legends in the mid-to-late '90s. Air Force is a six-point favorite at home, but I am sure Monken will have the boys ready. Being ready is one thing -- gaining the victory is another.
Youth sports ends for me today around noon. Guess what I am doing around 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. That's right...tuning in to CBS Sports Network and probably getting overly emotional.
My buddy Dan Head has a great Army/Air Force preview on his blog.
Go Army, BEAT AIR FORCE.
My buddy Stacey Pittman (left) used to throw a great tailgate for Army/Air Force. This is from the 2009 game. Air Force won that one too, 35-7.
And with that, let's get to the NFL Week Nine Cheat Sheet...
Baltimore Ravens vs. (-3.5) Tennessee Titans: This is a match-up of two predicted playoff contenders that have spent a few Sundays playing some awful football. Both are coming off of victories, and some time off. Tennessee has the 8th ranked running game, Baltimore has the 30th ranked rushing offense, and Tennessee has had a few more days off to heal and prepare. -- TITANS
Cincinnati Bengals vs (-5.5) Jacksonville Jaguars: Neither of these teams was thought of as a playoff contender prior to the start of the season, but the winner will be in the middle of the hunt for a playoff spot. Both teams have good defenses, but struggling offenses. I couldn't find anything to separate the two, so I looked at the predictions on Cincinnati.com. -- JAGUARS
Atlanta Falcons vs. (+2.0) Carolina Panthers: This game depends on which Cam Newton shows up. Carolina is currently 5-3, but 4-0 when Newton's QB Rating exceeds 80.0. His top rating the last three weeks was 66.4. -- FALCONS
Denver Broncos vs. (-7.5) Philadelphia Eagles: The 7-1 Eagles, after winning six straight games, look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The 3-4 Broncos, after losing three straight games, look like a team that will be on vacation in January. Philadelphia even boosted their 5th ranked rushing offense by trading for RB Jay Ajayi, formerly of the Miami Dolphins. -- EAGLES
Indianapolis Colts vs. (-6.5) Houston Texans: The Colts announced this week that QB Andrew Luck is now officially out for the rest of the year -- not too surprising the way his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery was going. Sports media blew up Thursday with the news that Texans QB Deshaun Watson blew out his knee at practice and is now out for the season -- shocking mid-week surprise. This game will be unwatchable, avert your eyes! --TEXANS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (-6.5) New Orleans Saints: Both of these teams are rolling...in different directions, however. The Saints have won five straight, and the Buccaneers have lost their last four. Tampa Bay is bringing the 29th ranked defense to the Big Easy to match-up against the 2nd ranked offense. --SAINTS
Los Angeles Rams vs. (+4.0) New York Giants: I didn't put any NFC preseason predictions on this blog, but I would have predicted the Rams to be bad and the Giants to be good, if I would have done so. That looks "dumb and dumber" at this point. I hate to pick a West Coast team playing on the East Coast, but this Giants team is bad. New York has trouble stopping the run on defense, and QB Eli Manning has trouble completing passes to receivers on offense. That's a horrible combo. -- RAMS
Washington Redskins vs. (-7.0) Seattle Seahawks: In mid-October, the Redskins were 3-2 and I really felt good for my local friends that cheer the home team. Since then, Washington has lost two straight games to division opponents by double-digit margins. The Skins had a ridiculous 17 players on the injury report before last week's loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Well, this week it's 21 players on that list. No team is capable of going on the road to Seattle and winning with almost a third of their roster banged up. --SEAHAWKS
Arizona Cardinals vs. (+2.5) San Francisco 49ers: Bad football game alert, right here. I was really leaning toward picking the upset here and going with San Francisco. Seriously, they might be 0-8, but the talent difference between teams in the NFL is small and the 49ers are due. But then I read a little about Arizona having to start backup QB Drew Stanton, and it actually made me go with the Cardinals. He has beaten the 49ers in fill-in duty already over the past couple of years and I got a good vibe about his leadership (from words in a report written by a dude that writes about sports...gut feel, I know it is not much). -- CARDINALS
Kansas City Chiefs vs. (-2.5) Dallas Cowboys: OK, Cowboys RB Zeke Elliott gets to play this weekend. The Chiefs beat the Broncos (already discussed, not so good) last week, but had lost two games in a row prior to that. Their win against the Broncos was Monday night, so Kansas City has had one less day to prepare for this road game. -- COWBOYS
Oakland Raiders vs. (+3.0) Miami Dolphins: This is a must-win game for the Raiders, another team with high hopes during the preseason. They are already three games back of the AFC West Division-leading Chiefs, but a win gets them back into the Wild Card hunt. Miami got obliterated last week by Baltimore, 40-0, but Oakland didn't look a lot better losing by 20 points to the Buffalo Bills. I don't trust either of these teams, so I am just going to go with the Vegas line. --RAIDERS
Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers: With Aaron Rodgers out for the season and Brent Hundley starting at quarterback, the Packers need to be able to run the ball. The Lions have the 5th ranked run defense. Detroit QB Matt Stafford has had a real hard time getting his team in the end zone, but the 23rd ranked Green Bay defense might just be what the doctor ordered. --LIONS
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