Author: AG

Week 14 Picks

Another fairly chalk week in Week 13 as three of the writers had 12 win weeks. This week has a lot of 50-50 games however, as we see the smallest number of consensus picks all season. With the NFC as wide open as it is, big games between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams, and the Vikings – Panthers will prove to be very important to seeding and home-field advantage. The Sunday night showdown between bitter rivals will also prove to be an important match-up. Let’s take a look at the picks.

 

CONSENSUS: 69-19 (LW: 8-0)

wk14

CONSENSUS PICKS:  CIN, GB, LAC, NE

 

Week 13 Picks

Office Chatter Episode 6

In the sixth installment of our title podcast, we discuss the newfound fact that the NFL is violent. We touch upon the big stories in Week 14, including JuJu’s & Gronk’s hit, the return of everybody’s favorite sober WR, and if Case Keenum has done enough to prove himself. The gang (minus one) also discusses the breaking news of Rafael Palmeiro wanting to attempt a comeback and Ohtani doing whatever he wants. We touch on the upcoming winter olympics and how some of us think it’s a waste of time. Last, we finish out with our “Jackass of the Week.”

ITUNES LINK — SUBSCRIBE HERE

Last Week’s Episode

Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d’Or 2017

Another year, another Ballon d’Or for the best player in soccer (yes — he plays for Madrid NOT Barcelona). This is his fifth time winning the award gifted to the best player in the world, tying him with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (who blew a 4-1 lead in trophies, no big deal). The lifelong debate of who is better is always fun and there is no clear cut evidence but the dominance by the two of these players is unheralded. Take a look at the last 10 winners of the Ballon d’Or.

  • 2008: 1st, Cristiano Ronaldo(Manchester United)
  • 2009: 1st, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2010: 2nd, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2011: 3rd, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2012: 4th, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2013: 2nd, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)
  • 2014: 3rd, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)
  • 2015: 5th, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2016: 4th, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)
  • 2017: 5th, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)

 

Absolutely insane — of course the younger generation (including Neymar) are finally starting to catch up skill wise, but enough can’t be said about these two players. 16% of the Ballon d’Or  awards have gone to these two players. Incredible. Cristiano had a great season last year — leading Madrid to their first La Liga title in 5 years and a third Champions League trophy in four years. Ronaldo scored twice in the final against Juventus en route to a 4-1 victory.

Messi and Neymar rounded out the top 3.

Why the Steelers – Bengals Game Was Good for Football

The Steelers faced off against the Bengals in an AFC North showdown last night on Monday night. Amidst a devastating injury to Ryan Shazier (who since seems to be doing better in the hospital still), we had this fake outrage from people who don’t realize football is violent. The AFC North games are always physical games — these teams hate each other. The NY Post even went as far to say that the game was a “violent mess and terrible for the NFL.” Troy Aikman even went to twitter to air out his thoughts.

Football is supposed to be violent — people are going to get hit, it happens. This isn’t flag football and the fact that people are suddenly outraged at a late season Bengals-Steelers game is outrageous. Especially considering this one wasn’t even as bad as past ones (see: Burfict hit on Antonio Brown in playoffs).  The Shazier hit, although bad, was a completely legal play and there was nothing wrong with it. Sure — it was devastating and the whole NFL community and every fan wishes nothing but the best for him, the notion that the players on the field would tone down the physicality is absurd.

Let’s talk the JuJu hit first — to put it bluntly, it was an absolutely brutal hit. JuJu knew exactly what he was doing and honestly this was karma for Burfict. He led with his shoulder and did get some helmet contact but it looks as if that wasn’t intended.  A little dirty — yes, just because Burfict wasn’t looking in his direction. The staredown, obviously not very sportsmanlike, was a wild move. To be honest, I loved it. Smith-Schuster knew he was going to be penalized for it and most likely a fine but we’ve seen blocks just as bad as that before. He wanted to make a statement — and he did.

That being said, I don’t think he should be anywhere near Burfict when the two teams meet again but Burfict may actually kill him on the field — but this is the type of action football fans want to see. We don’t want to hear Jon Gruden and Sean McDonough complaining about how this is awful for football, because it’s not.

These two teams absolutely hate each other and I think it’s great. I know a good chunk of the NFL are friends but sometimes it’s fun to watch two teams go out there and try to completely out-muscle the other team. Obviously things happen when that’s the case and things can get out of hand.

Obviously a brutal hit on Antonio Brown from George Iloka — he led with his head and clearly made contact. He was flagged immediately and Brown caught the TD, shook off the hit and came right back in on the next drive. Problem solved. Fine Iloka and move on — as Roethlisberger said, “this is AFC North football.”

The suspensions rained down today, with JuJu and Iloka both getting 1 game. Both were flagged and both should have only been fined. A suspension is a little outrageous — nothing happened after the plays. Sure, JuJu taunted Burfict but to suspend them a game is a little much of a reach. The NFL saw the public pressure and panicked as once again there isn’t any sort of precedent on these issues. This game was great to watch from a neutral perspective and the NFL knows that — watch them to schedule this for primetime again next year.

Office Lock of the Day 12/5

The Spurs didn’t make it easy with such hefty odds at the ML but came through when it mattered with a 96-93 win to bring us to 5-0. The spread was -4.5 so the ML was the better call as the Pistons would have won otherwise. Today, we have a huge slate of Champions League games which brings me to the pick:

Celtic FC (-110) vs Anderlecht

Celtic took the first meeting in Brussels 3-0 and I don’t see this one going much different in Scotland. They return Dembele from injury, who is surely able to help out the offense in this one. Celtic is out after being fortunate enough to be in PSG & Bayern Munich’s group but will look to wrap up a Europa spot tonight. Take the boys in Green at home.

LOTD: 5-0-0 

Week 14 Top 10 Power Rankings

With 3 quarters of the season in the books, the good teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack. We’re going to highlight the top 10 teams and who will be contenders in the playoffs that are fast approaching.

Image result for new england patriots

  1.  New England Patriots (10-2)

The Patriots are back and doing the same thing they always do.  They started off slow and the defense was looking bad — now they can’t lose and opponents have failed to score more than 17 points in 8 straight games. Dion Lewis is back to form and Tom Brady is well…Tom Brady. Hard to see this Patriots team losing in the AFC playoffs.

Image result for minnesota vikings2. Minnesota Vikings (10-2)

The Vikings being in first place in Week 14 after losing both their starting QB and RB is about as improbable as the way Case Keenum is playing but we have arrived here. The Vikings have looked to be unstoppable and slotted in the #1 seed in the NFC after the Eagles’ loss. This team is for real and has the potential to never leave Minnesota during the playoffs — even the Super Bowl.

Image result for philadelphia eagles3. Philadelphia Eagles (10-2)

The Eagles have been beneficiaries of an easy schedule but have came out and took care of business. A road game in Seattle in the month of December is a very difficult but the Eagles got exposed a bit as they were outplayed in every asset of the game. I’m sure this team will bounce back but for now they’re going to have to accept that the playoffs may not run through the Linc.

4. New Orleans Saints (9-3)Image result for new orleans saints

The Saints check in at 4 after an impressive season sweep against Cam Newton and the Panthers. The Saints are firmly in control of their division race but they still have two matchups left with rival Atlanta Falcons. If the Saints win at least one, it’s hard to see them not on top of the NFC South when the dust is settled.

 

Image result for pittsburgh steelers

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2) 

The Steelers round out the top 5 after a tough AFC North Monday night game against the Bengals. The Steelers sport the same top record as the top 3 but they have been shaky in recent weeks, barely beating the Bengals, Packers, and Colts. This team does keep winning but the injury to Shazier is a huge blow. The Steelers-Patriots showdown in two weeks will decide home field advantage.

Image result for rams clinch first winning season since

6. Los Angeles Rams (9-3) 

The Rams clinched their first winning season since 2003 with the win over the Cardinals this weekend. Sean McVay has done a tremendous job turning around this team but it’ll be interesting to see how their offense performs when the playoffs are on the line. This is the same team that was only able to put up 7 on the Vikings.

Image result for sacksonville

7. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4) 

Nobody is scared of Jacksonville’s offense but their defense is scary good. Calais Campbell just broke the franchise sack record .. in week 13. This team is definitely on the rise and probably will not be able to beat the AFC top contenders. Still fun to watch and deserving of the #7 spot.

Image result for seahawks

8. Seattle Seahawks (8-4) 

Speaking of defenses — the Seahawks check in right behind the Jaguars ahead of a showdown this weekend. The Seahawks, despite huge losses of Sherman and Chancellor are still ball-hawks on defense. Russell Wilson is having a MVP caliber season and they may have found their running back in Mike Davis. Watch out for the Seahawks in January.

Image result for carolina panthers

9. Carolina Panthers (8-4) 

The Panthers had a let-down game in which one that they could have made a solid statement in the NFC playoff run. They are however still in prime control of the first wildcard spot and with Cam Newton at the helm — anything can happen. Lack of receiving depth is going to hurt them but the return of Greg Olsen can definitely boost this team to dangerous.

Image result for baltimore ravens

10. Baltimore Ravens (7-5) 

The Ravens are very quietly having a solid season in Baltimore. The defense has pitched 3 shutouts and made the Lions offense look foolish. The season-ending injury to CB Jimmy Smith definitely hurts but nobody should want to play against Joe Flacco in January. The Ravens have a Sunday night showdown against bitter rival Pittsburgh this week which will say a lot about where they’re at.

 

JUST MISSED: Tennessee Titans (8-4), Atlanta Falcons (7-5), Los Angeles Chargers (6-6)

Francis Ngannou Might Be The Scariest Man Alive

On Saturday night, UFC 218 brought us several fantastic fights — the main event included but the knockout during the co-main event was one of the best we’ve seen. Alistair Overeem is no slouch at all and was the #1 heavyweight contender going into this fight. However, he ran into the train that is Ngannou and well..

Ngannou is for real. Give this man a title shot because a fight with Stipe is exactly what the heavyweight division needs to reignite it. The seed has already been planted too:

https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/937766994744524800

Love it — haven’t been this excited for a UFC Heavyweight fight in a loooong time.

The Jimmy G Era in San Francisco Begins With a Win

The Garoppolo era began yesterday with a 15-14 win at Soldier Field on a last-second FG by Robbie Gould (against his old team, nonetheless) to propel the 49ers to their second victory of the year.  Obviously a lost season for the Niners, who — to be honest are just spoiling their draft spot at this point, were able to have a bright spot this season after the big mid-season trade. With reports already that they are going to franchise tag Garoppolo after the season, Kyle Shanahan looked to the former Patriots’ backup QB to see if he could provide the spark that the Niners franchise needed.

Jimmy G finished the game going 26 – 37 with 293 yards and 1 interception. Not eye popping numbers but he did lead his team 92 yards to kick the game winning FG. Also, pretty hard to argue these stats:

manning-18-years-2-rings-2-super-bowl-losses-garoppolo-13920352

 

Kidding obviously but this was a huge sign for the 49ers to see some positivity come out of Garoppolo. They’ll still end up with a high draft pick and look to add a star to bolster their rebuild. The future looks bright for the 49ers for sure but in the NFC West, it may be awhile until we’re able to see a competitive Niners team.

Office Lock of the Day 12/4

I’m taking a heavy favorite today just to get back into the swing of things. Big Monday Night Football game tonight with the Steelers taking on the Bengals but that game screams trap to me. Home dawgs against Big Ben on the road? I’m all set on both sides of that. We have almost a full slate of NBA games tonight which brings me to the pick:

San Antonio Spurs ML (-160) vs Orlando Magic

Not great value out of this pick but it’s hard not to like it. The Spurs just lost a 90-87 game to the Thunder in which they rested just about everyone who is important. They return home to a matchup with Stan Van Gundy & the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons, who some would say have been overachieving this year sit at 14-8. It’s hard for me to think they’ll be able to steal one in San Antonio tonight. Give me the Spurs tonight but not taking any chances with the spread — take the ML tonight and enjoy the win.

 

LOTD: 3-0-0

 

Giants Fire Ben McAdoo

Well good riddance — how it took this long for the Giants organization to realize that McAdoo needs to be fired was ridiculous. The Giants organization deserves every bit of the storm that is going to come to them. Granted, the Giants have not fired a coach mid-season in over 40 years — so kudos to them for breaking that streak with the worst possible hire that they could replace Coughlin with. Geno Smith, of course, fell flat on his face and Eli’s streak was ruined for absolutely no reason.

McAdoo was hailed as a good hire and did make the playoffs at 11-5 last year but this year has been a complete trainwreck, with the Giants sitting at 2-10. The Giants made the right decision here, albeit a bit too late. The only thing McAdoo will be remembered for is benching Manning.

UPDATE:

Looks like the Giants are cleaning house — can’t blame them. Reese has done a horrendous job at the helm of this team. The Giants haven’t had a running back worth notice since Brandon Jacobs — and that’s saying something.

Expect the Giants to be bad for quite some time now. Wouldn’t surprise me if Eli left next year and if Odell leaves as soon as he can as well.