Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Dwarf's Tuesday NFL Musings - Week 2 Edition

Hey everyone!

Well, I went a very humbling 9-7 this weekend in my predictions. That, while still over .500 (which is the threshold of acceptability), is not very good. Still, I won 35$ with betting (Won 50$ with Baltimore and San Diego, lost 15$ on Philly), which brings my total earnings to $80 in 2 weeks. So at least I am doing well in that department.

One thing that looked worse than my predictions in week 2 was offense. Yes, offense, as in they're not scoring many points. Tampa's offense, lead by Cadillac Williams, Chris Simms and Joey Galloway, has scored all of 3 points in 2 games. The Raiders offense, which includes Randy Moss, has scored 6 points in 2 games. Pittsburgh got shutout last night. Daunte Culpepper, who was supposed to revive the Miami offense, has been sacked 10 times in 2 games. The vaunted Denver offense with its dominating running game, has scored a whopping 19 points in 2 games.

But while we look at that thinking that offense is down, what I found out is that this is not true at all. Yes, it is true that offensive numbers were way down in week 1 compared to last year. In fact, 553 points were scored in week 1 this year, as opposed to 615 in 2005. That's a big drop. But when you look at week 2, 589 points were scored this year, compared to 565 last year. So, after 2 weeks, the difference is negligeable.

The truth is, we are always looking for storylines. A few years ago, the Patriots started 0-2, and all the talk was about how they had fallen from grace; they went on to win the Super Bowl. Last year, after 2 weeks, the Chiefs were sitting alone in first place in the AFC West, and they wound up not making the playoffs. This year, it's offense that's down. It's the Giants, who might've won the division by beating the Eagles this weekend. It's Jay Cutler, who will be replacing Jake Plummer in 1 or 2 weeks. It's Tony Romo, who will quarterback Dallas to the playoffs. Maybe some of those stories will come true. But don't bet on it.

Random Observations from Week 2
  • Daunte Culpepper looked even more uncomfortable this week than he did last week for the Dolphins. Ron Jaworski said on NFL Primetime he thought Culpepper looked like someone who didn't trust the system, like he's hlding on to the ball because he doesn't trust his receivers will be at the right place at the right time. I think Jaworski is exactly right.
  • While I am not too happy the Dolphins lost, I told you that I liked that Bills team. Their defense is just really good. Donte Whitner, the Safety Marv Levy "overreached" for in the draft (according to so-called experts) is looking like a seasoned veteran back there. And there's J.P. Losman who, while not playing great, is really managing the game well and is giving his team a chance to win.
  • I think John Fox's call of a reverse punt return when leading in the 4th quarter and with Minnesota punting from deep in their own endzone is a stupid call. Still, I think Chris Gamble, who missed on his lateral, is even more stupid. Memo to Gamble: when you see the guy you're supposed to throw it to is surrounded by 3 purple jerseys, don't throw it. That was way dumb.
  • Washington just doesn't look very good right now. They need Clinton Portis back really fast. And they need a quarterback who doesn't look 100 years old.
  • Jacksonville's receivers are big guys, big targets. Still, I am amazed at how Byron Leftwitch keeps putting the ball in such tight spaces. I said it last week and I am saying it again: this guy throws the tightest spiral in the tightest spots. No one does it like him in the league.
  • We can talk about declining offenses all we want, great quarterbacks will be great quarterbacks. Check out these lines: Peyton Manning 400 yds; Donovan McNabb 350 yds, 2 tds, 0 int; Eli Manning 371 yds, 3 tds, 1 int; Brett Favre 340 yds, 3tds, 1 int. That's pretty good.
  • The Eagles really blew it against the Giants. They were leading by 17 points in the 4th quarter, at home, agaisnt a division foe, and they lost. But to me, that just looked like one of those freak times when the ball starts rolling, and you can't do anything to stop it. Keanu Reeves refers to it as "quicksand" in The Replacements. When the Giants started to get going on offense, suddenly the Eagles couldn't muster any offense of their own. Brian Westbrook fumbled, McNabb missed open receivers... everything went wrong. They kept sending their defense back on the field to get beat up some more, and they eventually lost the game. Oh yeah, and DE Trent Cole took a roughing the passer penalty with 8 seconds to go, giving the Giants kicker a 35-yard field goal to make to tie the game. That was dumb.
  • Finally, there's New England, who aren't playing that well. Brady is clearly missing Deion Branch. But you know what? They're 2-0. And I bet that when the regular season is all done, the Pats are right there in the playoffs as one of the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. I hate the Patriots, but Tom Brady is just that good.

I'll be back on thursday with some talk about the upcoming hockey season. Then, I'll check back in on friday for my weekly picks.

Dwarf out.

8 Comments:

At 6:23 PM, Blogger Nick said...

I guess the only member of the Morin family who can be direct and short (not talking bed stuff here) is the Sweetness. A post doesn't need to be a friggin' novel! Or I guess the younger brothers have just too much time to waste (or money to loose with their NFL bets).

Patriots are the best! OK I admit they were less impressive in the 2nd half (even in HDTV) but a victory is a victory. I don't know why Dwarf and beloved Cheesehead hate the Pats, probably because they're getting frustated of cheering for losers (aka Brett Favre/Packers and stupid Dolphins).

As for Veillotron, well you made your choice. You decided not to be the witness of another W of Chelsea. Instead, you will go buy some overpriced old crap in a overcrowded public market. Where are your priorities!?!?!?! I hope your juicy burgers will make up for that disappointment. And yes I expect nothing less than Kobe beef in my burger! And I won't buy another Chelsea jersey since I think that Abramovitch (or another bitch of that name) doesn't know what do to with my money! And let us know when you touch the ball at your UBS game...

 
At 9:28 PM, Blogger Nick said...

I think that the last post from Veillotron is really shit...

 
At 9:32 PM, Blogger Nick said...

And one last thing about the comparaison of Brett and Tom... Brett represents the past of 1 Superbowl while Tom is the future of many!

BTW Veillotron, are you trying to make a deal with Napster? I read in the WSJ today that UBS has been mandated to find a buyer. I hope not because Napster is really shit.

 
At 9:45 AM, Blogger The Dwarf said...

To Veillotron:

I dislike the Pats, but I do like Tom Brady. He is cool, as cool as one can get (especially under pressure). But I don't like the Pats. I hate Belichick especially.

 
At 1:04 PM, Blogger The Dwarf said...

By the way, interesting quote to point out...

On Sunday Morning, on ESPN's NFL Countdown, the Mayne Event was about Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith's appearances on ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars'. So, when asked why Emmitt was participating, Rice said: "He's just jealous because I'm the all-time leading receiver". But then Mayne retorted that Smith was the all-time leading rusher. To that, Rice answered with this gem: "Yeah. By 1,600 yards. A statistical error could've accounted for that."

Love the Mayne event...

 
At 1:28 PM, Blogger The Dwarf said...

Everybody needs to read this... it's too funny.

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/columnists/james_duthie/

 
At 7:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

About the Duthie article... I hope we don't get those jelly-O in Baie-Comeau or Rimouski... Na... the water is to fucking cold.

 
At 8:47 PM, Blogger Nick said...

Surgeons in China who said they performed the first successful penis transplant had to remove the donated organ because of a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife. The transplanted penis regretfully had to be cut off.

This is really shit...

 

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