Have you ever had this happen to you?
You're watching a game, and it's going just the way you want it to. Maybe your team is winning, or a team you hate is losing. Maybe you're participating in some legal sports wagering (if you're into that sort of thing). Then, like a bolt out of the blue, something inexplicable happens, be it poor officiating, poor coaching, poor execution, or a fluke play, and your enjoyment suddenly turns to anxiety.
I mean, who hasn't had this happen, am I right?
So there I was, watching Cincinnati pound Baltimore last night. It was great. Just as I'd predicted, Baltimore was not ready for the step up in competition after having played a wretched Buffalo team on Sunday (what I like to call the "bad team hangover"), and Cincinnati, looking especially poised on offence and positively ravenous on defence, was taking full advantage.
I was really happy that Baltimore was getting pummeled. Every shot of John Harbaugh looking dejected on the sideline was wonderful. I was relaxed. I was thinking about what I might write about today. Things were going about as well as can be expected.
And then, it happened. More to the point, Marvin Lewis happened.
Cincy had just scored to go up 28-7 (!) There was 2:58 left in the half (I thought Cincy should have tried to take more time off the clock on their drive, but that's nitpicking). Baltimore got the ball, had a moderately successful drive, decided to go for it on 4th down on Cincy's 38, and the drive stalled. Cincy got the ball back with 1:22 left in the half. Great. Now all they have to do is call a couple of runs, bleed the clock or Baltimore of its timeouts, and go into the locker room with a three TD lead.
Easy, right?
Nope. Not Marvin's Bengals.
Three pass plays. Three-and-out. Fourteen seconds. FOURTEEN!
Cincy punts; Baltimore gets the ball back with 1:02 left and ALL OF THEIR TIMEOUTS!
"Uh-oh," I thought.
Flacco hits a couple of passes, ticky-tack pass-interference penalty, and next thing you know, it's 28-14.
"Don't you do this to me!"
Thankfully, Cincy's defence played well in the second half, even as the game got frighteningly close at one point, and Baltimore was vanquished. However, the horrible coaching decisions at the end of the first half rattled me so badly that I barely slept last night.
Weird, huh?
(Honestly, I can't imagine what it must be like to actually BE a Cincinnati fan. Marvin Lewis must give them nightmares.)
At any rate, I woke up this morning and decided that this was the only way to purge myself. And in the end, it was a good game, Baltimore lost, and I was right.
So now, let's move on, and get to the rest of this week's picks.
As I'm sure you're all well aware, parts of the eastern US are experiencing severe and dangerous weather due to Hurricane Florence. I hope that everyone in the affected areas are able to get themselves into situations where they are safe and sound. And please, people, don't forget your pets. It's heartbreaking when I hear these stories of abandoned animals. Be safe, everyone.
Winners in Bold:
Week Two
Sunday
Carolina at Atlanta (Note: I've heard rumours of this game being postponed due to storm-related travel issues)
Indianapolis at Washington
Houston at Tennessee
Philadelphia at Tampa
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Miami at NYJ
LAC at Buffalo
Minnesota at Green Bay
Cleveland at New Orleans
Detroit at San Francisco
Arizona at LAR
New England at Jacksonville (Note: Possibly weather-affected)
Oakland at Denver
Sunday Night Spotlight
NYG at Dallas
Big NFC East matchup here, made more important by the fact that both teams are 0-1. Some might say that I'm foolish for picking against Dallas at home, but hear me out. Dallas's defence had a decent day against Carolina last week, but this was as much due to Carolina's offensive liabilities as anything. Say what you want about New York, but they have talent in the passing game, and Saquon Barkley looks like a real home-run-hitter, who now has one game of regular season experience under his belt. The G****s' offence should prove more than adequately capable of scoring against Dallas's undermanned defence, provided New York can improve on some of its offensive line problems (All together now, G****s fans: "YOU DON'T BRING ME FLOOOOOWWWERRRRSSSS...... AAAANNNNYYYY.... MOOOOORRRE.!) Add to this the fact that Dallas doesn't seem to have much in the reliable receiver department beyond Cole "Hillbilly Edelman" Beasley, and New York should be able to key on stopping Dallas's run game and let their capable secondary handle the rest.
Monday Night
Seattle at Chicago
Bonus Coverage
These are the games I'll be watching this week (plus whatever else I have time for):
Min/GB; KC/Pit; Ne/Jax; NYG/Dal; Sea/Chi
You're watching a game, and it's going just the way you want it to. Maybe your team is winning, or a team you hate is losing. Maybe you're participating in some legal sports wagering (if you're into that sort of thing). Then, like a bolt out of the blue, something inexplicable happens, be it poor officiating, poor coaching, poor execution, or a fluke play, and your enjoyment suddenly turns to anxiety.
I mean, who hasn't had this happen, am I right?
So there I was, watching Cincinnati pound Baltimore last night. It was great. Just as I'd predicted, Baltimore was not ready for the step up in competition after having played a wretched Buffalo team on Sunday (what I like to call the "bad team hangover"), and Cincinnati, looking especially poised on offence and positively ravenous on defence, was taking full advantage.
I was really happy that Baltimore was getting pummeled. Every shot of John Harbaugh looking dejected on the sideline was wonderful. I was relaxed. I was thinking about what I might write about today. Things were going about as well as can be expected.
And then, it happened. More to the point, Marvin Lewis happened.
Cincy had just scored to go up 28-7 (!) There was 2:58 left in the half (I thought Cincy should have tried to take more time off the clock on their drive, but that's nitpicking). Baltimore got the ball, had a moderately successful drive, decided to go for it on 4th down on Cincy's 38, and the drive stalled. Cincy got the ball back with 1:22 left in the half. Great. Now all they have to do is call a couple of runs, bleed the clock or Baltimore of its timeouts, and go into the locker room with a three TD lead.
Easy, right?
Nope. Not Marvin's Bengals.
Three pass plays. Three-and-out. Fourteen seconds. FOURTEEN!
Cincy punts; Baltimore gets the ball back with 1:02 left and ALL OF THEIR TIMEOUTS!
"Uh-oh," I thought.
Flacco hits a couple of passes, ticky-tack pass-interference penalty, and next thing you know, it's 28-14.
"Don't you do this to me!"
Thankfully, Cincy's defence played well in the second half, even as the game got frighteningly close at one point, and Baltimore was vanquished. However, the horrible coaching decisions at the end of the first half rattled me so badly that I barely slept last night.
Weird, huh?
(Honestly, I can't imagine what it must be like to actually BE a Cincinnati fan. Marvin Lewis must give them nightmares.)
At any rate, I woke up this morning and decided that this was the only way to purge myself. And in the end, it was a good game, Baltimore lost, and I was right.
So now, let's move on, and get to the rest of this week's picks.
As I'm sure you're all well aware, parts of the eastern US are experiencing severe and dangerous weather due to Hurricane Florence. I hope that everyone in the affected areas are able to get themselves into situations where they are safe and sound. And please, people, don't forget your pets. It's heartbreaking when I hear these stories of abandoned animals. Be safe, everyone.
Winners in Bold:
Week Two
Sunday
Carolina at Atlanta (Note: I've heard rumours of this game being postponed due to storm-related travel issues)
Indianapolis at Washington
Houston at Tennessee
Philadelphia at Tampa
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Miami at NYJ
LAC at Buffalo
Minnesota at Green Bay
Cleveland at New Orleans
Detroit at San Francisco
Arizona at LAR
New England at Jacksonville (Note: Possibly weather-affected)
Oakland at Denver
Sunday Night Spotlight
NYG at Dallas
Big NFC East matchup here, made more important by the fact that both teams are 0-1. Some might say that I'm foolish for picking against Dallas at home, but hear me out. Dallas's defence had a decent day against Carolina last week, but this was as much due to Carolina's offensive liabilities as anything. Say what you want about New York, but they have talent in the passing game, and Saquon Barkley looks like a real home-run-hitter, who now has one game of regular season experience under his belt. The G****s' offence should prove more than adequately capable of scoring against Dallas's undermanned defence, provided New York can improve on some of its offensive line problems (All together now, G****s fans: "YOU DON'T BRING ME FLOOOOOWWWERRRRSSSS...... AAAANNNNYYYY.... MOOOOORRRE.!) Add to this the fact that Dallas doesn't seem to have much in the reliable receiver department beyond Cole "Hillbilly Edelman" Beasley, and New York should be able to key on stopping Dallas's run game and let their capable secondary handle the rest.
Monday Night
Seattle at Chicago
Bonus Coverage
These are the games I'll be watching this week (plus whatever else I have time for):
Min/GB; KC/Pit; Ne/Jax; NYG/Dal; Sea/Chi
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