NFL Week 4 Calls

Here are my NFL Week 4 Calls...

Detroit @ Chicago: Can the Lions win 2 straight? I don't think so. Cutler plays good enough and Da Bears win at Soldier Field. 27-13 CHI

Cincinatti @ Cleveland: Cincy is hot after just beating the Steelers and Cleveland is changing QBs... again. I think Ochocinco and Palmer play well and the Browns fall to 0-4. 31-17 CIN

Seattle @ Indianapolis: The Seahawks have the brightest jerseys but the Colts have the brightest QB, Manning has another big day and the Colts remain undefeated. 31-21 IND

New York Giants @ Kansas City: The Giants have been really good. The Chiefs have been really bad. Look for a beat down at Arrowhead. 35-13 NYG

Baltimore @ New England: Should be one of the best games of the week. I think that Flacco stays in a coma and the Ravens D plays better than the Pats D. 27-21 BAL

Tampa Bay @ Washington: Both teams have not played well this season. Coming off a loss to the Lions, I think the Skins are angry and come to spoil USD product Josh Johnson's first NFL start. 27-10 WSH

Tennessee @ Jacksonville: Both teams could really use this win. But I just can't see the Titans falling to 0-4 so I think they win on the road. Look for a good day from Maurice Jones-Drew. 24-20 TEN

Oakland @ Houston: Russell continues to struggle. A TD for McFadden but still Schaub, Slaton and Andre Johnson are too much for the Raiders. 35-17 HOU

New York Jets @ New Orleans: Should be a great game. I think Drew Brees shows that young whippersnapper Mark Sanchez a thing or two in the Big Easy. Look for a decent day from Pierre Thomas. 27-20 NO

Buffalo @ Miami: Miami is winless and Buffalo is not very good at 1-2. But I give the Bills the edge due to the Dolphins having to start Chad Henne in place of the injured Chad Pennington. T.O. might catch a pass this week, but you never know. 20-10 BUF

St. Louis @ San Francisco: The Rams are awful. The Niners can't believe they lost last week to the Vikings. Even without Frank Gore the Bay Area Bruisers have enough talent to win. 24-13 SF

Dallas @ Denver: Denver finally has to play a NFL team and they learn that maybe they aren't as good as they think. Romo isn't as amazing as everyone says he is but at least he shaves unlike Kyle "Neckbeard" Orton. I think Dallas wins. 27-17 DAL

SNF: SAN DIEGO @ Pittsburgh: The Chargers struggled early on Sunday and the Steelers struggled late on Sunday. I think it will be tough for the Bolts considering Pitt has lost 2 straight, but I think somehow Sproles has a big day and Rivers stays hot. Chargers "steel" one at Heinz Field. 24-20 SD

MNF: Green Bay @ Minnesota: This will be a great game. I think Aaron Rodgers plays well but some dude named Adrian has a ridiculous night but still not enough to overshadow the constant Brett Favre coverage, even though they are on the same team. Peterson carries the Vikes to a huge divisional win at home. 34-24 MIN

That's it for Week 4 of the NFL Season

---J

NFL Week 3 Impressions

Here's what I learned after another exciting week of the NFL Season...

Week 3 Impressions...

1. The Raiders are not very good. Especially JaMarcus Russell. He can throw the ball further than Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite but he can't throw it to anybody in silver and black. Throwing for 61 yards at home against Denver's defense is probably not what 167 year-old Al Davis pictured wearing his leather jacket when he drafted Russell #1 overall in 2007.

2. The Browns and Buccaneers are not very good. Especially fill in the blank. The Browns managed 3 points against the Ravens and the Bucs mustered up all of a goose egg at home against the Giants. Both teams are playing multiple QB's but the problem is very simple, none of them are any good. I know the Ravens and Giants have good teams, but I think it is pretty clear for fans in Cleveland and Tampa Bay that they are in for a long season.

3. The Colts are pretty good. Especially Peyton Manning. Mr. Endorsement showcased his skills to the country in back to back prime time games. He picked apart the Cardinals defense last night throwing for 4 TDs and over 300 yards. Maybe Al Davis hoped that his #1 pick (Russell) would turn out like this #1 pick (Manning).

4. Maybe the Steelers do miss Troy Polamalu. The Steelers hadn't lost at Cincinnati since 2001, so long ago that Chad Ochocinco was still Chad Johnson. So long ago that the Steelers coach was Bill Cowher, not Omar Epps. The Bengals only had 273 yards of total offense, but the Steel Curtain could not force a turnover or make the big stop late in the game. Who would have thought by week 3 that Cincy would be 2-1 (should be 3-0 if not for the luckiest play of all-time by the Broncos in week 1) and the Steelers would be 1-2. But it's still early.

5. The 49ers are much improved. Singletary's bunch went into the Twin cities and had that game won if not for a miraculous throw from Favre (who got smoked on the play) and a great catch by Greg Lewis. The Niners lost all-pro running back Frank Gore in the first quarter and still fought hard enough to almost steal a win on the road. Look for the NFC West race between San Francisco and Arizona to be very interesting this season.

Jake's Power Rankings through Week 3

1. New York Giants

2. Baltimore Ravens

3. Indianapolis Colts

4. Minnesota Vikings

5. New Orleans Saints

6. New York Jets

7. Philadelphia Eagles

8. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

9. New England Patriots

10. San Francisco 49ers

Jake's Bottom of the Barrel Rankings

29. Miami Dolphins

30. Kansas City Chiefs

31. Cleveland Browns

32. St. Louis Rams

**Note: The Detroit Lions are not listed here.

That's it for Week 3...

--J

3 and Out: NCAA Football Week 4

Just as the St. Louis Rams do almost every time they get the ball... I'm going 3 and out. This time going from the NFL where all players get paid, to college, where only USC players get paid.

NCAA Football Week 4:

1st down: Upset Alert: #22 North Carolina @ Georgia Tech: This may not be a huge upset, but anytime a team ranked in the top 25 loses to an unranked team, it is considered an upset. UNC has a good rush defense and GT has a ridiculous rush offense, so that should be an interesting match up. A rowdy Bobby Dodd Stadium could be tough for the Tar Heels considering GT got shut down by Miami last week and will be chomping at the bit. I think GT wins this one.

2nd down: TCGU (This Could Get Ugly) Alert: South Florida @ #18 Florida State: USF lost do-it-all QB Matt Groethe for the year. Now they are going into Tallahassee to play a confident FSU team that just put up 54 points at BYU where the Cougars hadn't lost at home in 18 games. I think the Seminoles could blow up again this week.

ARIZONA STATE @ #21 Georgia: I know that by writing this I could lose my Sparky card but if ASU struggles early on offense in front of 90,000+ drunk Georgians between the Hedges it could get Fernando Valenzuela real quick. Georgia put up over 50 last week at Arkansas and although the Sun Devil defense has been really solid so far, ULM isn't quite UGA. I don't know if the ASU offense has enough fire power to battle with the Bulldogs even though their defense has been pretty terrible thus far. I'll be cheering for my Devils but if they get down early and let that crowd take over, it could be some tough sledding for Danny Sullivan and crew.

3rd down: Players To Watch This Week: Penn State QB Daryl Clark: He's at home against Iowa, the only team the Nittany Lions lost to during the regular season last year. He played terrible in that game last year and I look for him to play well at home.

ASU LB Vontaze Burfict: Ever since the true freshman bailed out of a verbal commitment to USC and came to Tempe there has been a buzz around him. He absolutely killed an Idaho State QB in the season opener, despite finding out he was eligible to play less than 24 hours before kickoff. See for yourself here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwJCYhOdazE . He looks like a pro prospect already and he should show some of his skills against SEC opponent Georgia. After all, opposing QBs have been saying "Don't taze me bro."

Texas QB Colt McCoy: Colt was sick last week against Texas Tech and his play on the field early on made Longhorn fans sick. They won but McCoy will be looking to light it up against UTEP to help boost his Heisman hopes in front of the home crowd at Memorial Stadium. Look for a big day from #12.


There's my three downs for College Football Week 4...

... and now I'm out.

---J

NFL Week 3 Calls

Here are my Week 3 NFL calls...

Packers @ Rams: The Rams may not win a game this year. Packers need to protect A-Rod better and do this week; 31-10 GB

49ers @ Vikings: Singletary's Niners are much improved but I think Peterson has a big day if they actually give him the ball. 28-17 MINN

Falcons @ Patriots: Brady is pissed and comes back with a vengeance, 2 TDs for Moss and the Burner has a big day but as they say on unforgivable... it ain't enough!. 34-28 NE

Titans @ Jets: The J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets! are red hot and the Titans are ice cold, so you gotta go with the Titans, you've seen that happen many times before. 17-13 TEN

Chiefs @ Eagles: Kolb plays alright and Desean Jackson has a good day and perhaps Vick does something. 35-17 PHI

Giants @ Buccaneers: Giants have looked really good, not so much for the Bucs. 27-13 NYG

Browns @ Ravens: The Browns haven't scored an offensive TD in Lord knows how long and Flacco and the Ravens D should handle the the Browns. 24-10 BAL

Jaguars @Texans: Matt Schaub stays hot and Steve Slaton finally realizes that the season has started already. 31-20 HOU

Redskins @ Lions: The Lions are terrible but at least improving somewhat, the Skins are allergic to the end zone but I think they still hold on. 24-17 WSH

Bears @ Seahawks: Seneca Wallace needs to have a good day with Hasselbeck hurt again, even with Urlacher out I think the Bears D does the job. 24-20 CHI

Saints @ Bills: Drew Brees throws another 10 or so TD passes and TO catches about 50% of his passes so I think the Saints go to 3-0, even in bad weather in Buffalo. 41-31 NO

Steelers @ Bengals: The Bengals killed me last week in my eliminator pool by actually showing up against GB, but I think it was a fluke, the Steelers make enough plays to win it. 27-20 PIT

Dolphins @ CHARGERS: The Fins had the ball for the entire night Monday and still lost, the Chargers can't cover TE's (or tackle) so look for a big day from Fasano. The Wildcat should confuse the Chargers since they get confused on a normal dive play, but still, having to travel across country on a short week even if your playing Norv "Kick on 3rd-down" Turner is tough. 34-24 SD

Broncos @ Raiders: For starters, who cares? But I guess the Broncos have a good chance if Jamarcus Russell continues to complete passes as often as Raider fans read a book. 24-13 DEN

SNF: Colts@ Cardinals: See above about traveling west on a short week, Cards stadium will be fired up on SNF and Fitz is looking to explode. Manning plays well but still not enough. 27-24 AZ

MNF: Panthers @ Cowboys: If you spend $1.5 Billion on a new stadium and lose the first two home games, things can get ugly. Romo picks it up and the D picks it off (Delhomme) and Big D get Jerry Jones his first victory in Cowboys Stadium.

That's it for Week 3 of the NFL Season

--J