Pictured: not the main reason people hate Tim Tebow.
Before I begin, I just want to talk about an issue that's frankly been bothering me. Like many of the other NFL discussions going on right now, it has to do with Tim Tebow, specifically all the backlash towards him. I think there are a lot of people out there who have the wrong idea about so many people's hatred of Tebow, and why they many of his "H8rs" (as Mario Lopez would say) would do things such as having fun right in front of him after a sack by mimicking his trademark kneeled-down prayer like Stephen Tullock hilariously did on Sunday, or create an actual ESPN.com meme in his honor. They think that all of this is happening because Tim Tebow is a practicing Christian that's doing it less quietly then the rest of the NFL. Yes, there very well might be a miniscule part of the football loving population that do, in fact, hate Tebow because his very public Christian belief. And sure, starring in a pro-choice Super Bowl ad with his mom a couple of years back didn't him either with the liberal crowd.
But this reasoning is not entirely true, and lacks true perspective.After all, there have been many very religious Christians that have played in the NFL over the years, and many of them (like Kurt Warner and Ray Lewis) are beloved by most fans of the league. So, what separates these players from a guy like Tebow?
The real reason, in my opinion, is quite simple: because Tim Tebow is a man currently being way too over-hyped by the media. While he was a great college football player and I'm sure that he's a very good all-around person if you were ever to meet him, in reality he's currently nothing more than a below-average quarterback. Not only that, but he can't be a good pocket passer to save his life and was drafted way higher in the 2010 draft (late 1st round) than he should have been (2nd round or later). And yet, despite all of this, the media has given him the same level of attention that a Tom Brady or a Michael Vick receives regularly when, if we were to base the fairness of his media coverage by his play, he deserves to be treated more like a Jason Campbell or a Rex Grossman (at best), and quite frankly many people are simply sick of it.
In other words, it's basically more of a protest against the mainstream media (ESPN especially) who have been desperately trying to shove down the wrong guy down the throat of the football consciousness, and because that guy is Tebow, he's been part of this hate by association. It's kind of like what happened with Brett Favre during his Vikings year. There was too much unneccessary glorification and mainstream attention towards him, and a backlash grew as a result. This Tebow backlash is basically the same, only Favre's backlash was related to his diva persona while Tebow's backlash is related to his lack of talent. The fact that he gets down on one-knee to pray to his Christian God that he believes to be the Almighty is fine because he's just exercising his 1st Amendment rights. The fact that major news outlet that they're making a superstar NFL quarterback from a guy that isn't a superstar NFL quarterback (and never will be) is not fine.
Now that I have that out of the way, let me begin with the real reason why I'm sure you're here for: the picks. And folks, while I really hate to brag, I think you should still know that there really never has been a better time in this column's history to stop by than right now. Last week, I had what was definitely my most accurate set of picks in a while with a whopping 11-2 record (and I would've gotten undefeated, too, had it it had not been for those meddling Vikings and Rams!), putting my overall this season at an impressive 80-36 record, which is by far the best start that I've ever been off to (mj50 by comparison went 7-6 last week, putting his overall record at 72-44). Not only that, but not once this season have I finished a week of games predicted with more losses than wins (the closest that I came to doing so was in week 6 with my 8-5 record).
This week, we've got an interesting set of games. The Saints are battling the Bucs in a first place showdown for the NFC South while the Patriots face the Giants in a highly anticipated Super Bowl XLII rematch, the Packers try to remain undefeated against the struggling Chargers, the Steelers play the Ravens as the NFL's current best rivalry is renewed, and the Eagles face the Bears in an interesting Monday night matchup. Will my improbable luck picking games continue, or will this be the week that Lady Luck finally changes her mind and makes me finish it poorly? Only one way to find out...
Let's begin (Note: starting game times are based on the Central time zone):
Atlanta Falcons (-7) vs. Indianapolis Colts: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Atlanta
We're now at the point of the season where I would argue that teams prepare against winless teams just as much as any of the NFL's elite teams. After all, who wants to be the guys that allowed the Colts to win their first game this late into the season? Who wants to be the next 2007 Baltimore Ravens, giving that year's Dolphins team their only win in overtime? No one, and that's why every single one of the remaining seven opponents Indy has (they play Jacksonville twice) is going to be just as determined as if they were playing the Saints or the Packers, including this Falcons team.
By the way, have you seen how the Falcons rank among other teams in the league lately? 17th in total points, 17th in total yards, 18th passing yards, 17th in rushing yards, 19th in total defense, a 4-3 record...this team has been the epitome of "average."
mj50's pick: Atlanta
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints (-8): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: New Orleans
I just don't buy the idea that the Buccaneers are going to beat this Saints team twice in one regular season. They had a bit of luck last time out, with Drew Brees having his worst game since October 2010, and this time they're playing their division rivals at the Superdome, with the Saints coming into the game pissed and with a desire to get back on track following last week's embarrassing loss to the Rams.
mj50's pick: New Orleans
Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans (-10.5): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Houston
5-3, 1st place in the AFC South, 3-0 against the division, and an offense that is still one of the league's best? And now they're at home against a Browns teams that is terrible offense, and terrible at stopping the pass? Yep, I'd say that it's never been a better time to be a Houston Texans fan.
mj50's pick: Houston
New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills (-2): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: New York
There's a lot of reasons for why I shouldn't be picking the Jets this week. But then again, there were a lot of the reasons for not picking the Jets two weeks ago against the Chargers, and that seemed to pay off really well. New York is off a bye well-rested and in need of this win so as to keep up in this year's very competitive AFC East race, and because of this I think they shall get it done.
mj50's pick: Buffalo
Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-4): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Kansas City
Since starting the season 0-3 and losing guys like Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry, the Chiefs have won four in a row and now have the chance to take a solo spot at first in the AFC West after this week if they win (and, since it's against the winless Dolphins, I don't see why they won't) and if both the Raiders and Chargers lose. If the St. Louis Cardinals hadn't won the World Series last week, I'd say that this is the most surprising sports story of the entire fall season.
mj50's pick: Kansas City
Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys (-11.5): Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: Dallas
I don't care if the Cowboys lost by a dozen touchdowns last week, and that both Tavaris Jackson and Marshawn Lynch are back for Seattle. There's still no way in hell Dallas is losing this one.
mj50's pick: Dallas
San Francisco 49ers (-3.5) vs. Washington Redskins: Sunday- 12:00 p.m.
mj15's pick: San Francisco
As I mentioned in last week's power rankings, this 49ers team seems to be the usually reliable Mike Greenberg Theory's kryptonite. They've won three road games at 1 p.m./ET already this season, the first team to do so since the '96 49ers, and now they're playing early afternoon against a struggling Redskins team. In other words, I am pretty confident in San Francisco getting their 4th road win Sunday afternoon.
mj50's pick: Washington
HALFTIME! Here's some comedy courtesy of Wyatt Cenac, who many of you might know from his current stint as one of the correspondents for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." I tried to find something from his latest special "Comedy Person" (which was hilarious), but Viacom apparently is the only company that hates YouTube more than Bud Selig does. So, I found this instead. Hope it's worth watching.
Take it away, Wyatt!
Denver Broncos vs. Oakland Raiders (-7): Sunday- 3:05 p.m.
mj15's pick: Oakland
This one should be pretty close, as I'm still not convinced that Carson Palmer is completely rust-free and well acquainted enough with the rest of the Raiders offense. However, the Raiders should get it done because they not only have the rushing offense to do it, they're at home and they have the defensive front seven good enough to be the next NFL team to stop Tim Tebow rather easily.
mj50's pick: Oakland
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Tennessee Titans (-3): Sunday- 3:05 p.m.
mj15's pick: Cincinnati
Don't look now, but the Bengals are currently the league's second best performing NFL team against the rush, which means that we should all expect another bad game for this year's Least Valuable Player, Chris Johnson (who in a span of two month has gone from CJ2K to CJ2YPC, if you catch my drift). This means that it's going to be another game in which Matt Hasselback will try to save the day with his passing. Considering how the Bengals defense ranks in the top ten of that category as well, I'm not banking on that happening.
mj50's pick: Tennessee
New York Giants vs. New England Patriots (-9): Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: New England
For the first time since their two memorable games in 2007 (the 16-0 game and the 18-1 game), the Giants and Pats square off in a matchup that will certainly feature at least five different replays of the Tyree catch by FOX. I'm taking the Patriots simply because they have a lot of things going for them heading into this one. Not only will they come into this game motivated by both last week's loss to the Steelers and that little game they played back in February of 2008 (which I'm sure all of those that were part of it have yet to let go), but also the Giants are without Ahmad Bradshaw, which shouldn't bode well for their rushing attack. Oh, and they're at Foxboro and if there's one thing I've learned in the past five years, it's to never pick against Tom Brady in a regular season game at Foxboro until proven otherwise.
mj50's pick: New England
Green Bay Packers (-5.5) vs. San Diego Chargers: Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: Green Bay
You know how the Chargers under Norv Turner almost always start the season with a stretch of bad losses? Well, it looks like this year, Principal Skinner and his gang of Groundskeeper Willies have decided to spice things up by doing so at the season's midway point, rather than doing so in September. Expect to see both the Chargers losing their third game in a row while also getting behind a game in the AFC West race. After all, if they can't beat both the Jets and the Chiefs, then there's no doubt that they will get beat by the league's sole remaining undefeated team, which is set into getting into the "perfect season" discussion any moment now.
mj50's pick: Green Bay
St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals (-3): Sunday- 3:15 p.m.
mj15's pick: St. Louis
Had this picks column been posted a few days ago, I might have gone with the Cardinals. They are at home, after all, and the Rams are coming off what was quite an emotional victory (their first win of the season) against the Saints, and big wins like that historically lead to letdowns soon after. But then I checked out the Cardinals injury report. No Kevin Kolb (meaning the great John Skelton is likely to be the starter), no Joey Porter, no Kerry Rhodes, and potentially no Beanie Wells once again. That is not a good list of injured players to have heading into a divisional showdown like this one.
mj50's pick: St. Louis
Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (-3): Sunday- 7:30 p.m.
mj15's pick: Pittsburgh
The more and more the weeks go by, it seems more and more apparent that the Ravens blowout win against Pittsburgh week one was nothing more than a fluke caused largely by Baltimore's massive determination to try to get a big win over their division rival and the Steelers many injuries heading into that game. Since then, the Steelers have not only won six out of their last seven (including a big win last week against the Patriots that put them right back in the AFC title discussion), but they've gotten healthier and have continued to improve on both sides of the football. The Ravens, meanwhile, have almost an identical record, but their terrible losses to the Jaguars & Titans, and their near-loss to the Cardinals hasn't helped in their cause to be taken seriously. And now they shall meet once again for the right to remain on top of the AFC North. Because this game is at Heinz Field, and because the Steelers are the third hottest team in football behind the Packers and the Chiefs, I'm taking the black and gold. But, knowing this rivalry, their victory will not come easy.
mj50's pick: Pittsburgh
Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5): Monday- 7:35 p.m.
mj15's pick: Chicago
It seems that ever since their blowout win to Dallas last Sunday, all of the pundits that have gotten off the Eagles bandwagon earlier in the season because of their poor start are right back into anointing them one of the NFC's superior teams. Well, call me hesitant, but I'm just not ready to buy into that just yet. As a result, I'm taking Chicago to pull an upset in this one. After all, the Bears do know a thing or two about stopping Vick (see: week 12 of last season). They also have NFL scrimmage yards leader Matt Forte (who reportedly will not abandon the team this week for more money), and are coming off a BYE that spanned for a pretty respectable length of time (15 days, to be exact).
mj50's pick: Chicago
RECAP
The Undertaker at "WrestleMania" "Lock of the Week": Dallas over Seattle
The Dallas Mavericks over Miami Heat "Upset of the Week": Chicago over Philadelphia
The "Up" vs. "Monsters Inc." "I'm Not Sure" Pick: Cincinnati over Tennessee
And...that's gonna do it! A quick programming note: because next week marks the beginning of the NFL Network's slate of Thursday night games, it also means that I'm going to start posting this column a few days earlier than before. So instead of the usual Friday night/Saturday morning publishing schedule, be sure to stop by every Wednesday or Thurday until further notice. Until then, enjoy the games, everyone!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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