NFL Picks: Week 4

Well, last week was a step in the right direction … and no, I did NOT let my 4 year old daughter make my picks for me. Although I’m not ruling that out in the future.

Editor’s note: publishing early this week, because the newest member of Team D’Entremont will be joining the roster any day now.

Now, on to this week’s picks …

Sunday, October 4th
Oakland (+9.5) at Houston --- Houston
Tennessee at Jacksonville (+3) --- Tennessee
Baltimore (+2) at New England --- New England
Cincinnati at Cleveland (+5.5) --- Cincinnati
NY Giants at Kansas City (+8.5) --- Kansas City
Detroit (+10) at Chicago --- Detroit
Tampa Bay (+7) at Washington --- Tampa Bay
Seattle (+10.5) at Indianapolis --- Indianapolis
NY Jets (+7) at New Orleans --- New Orleans
Buffalo at Miami (+2) --- Miami
St. Louis (+9.5) at San Francisco --- San Francisco
Dallas at Denver (+3) --- Denver
San Diego (+6.5) at Pittsburgh --- Pittsburgh

Monday, October 5th
Green Bay (+3.5) at Minnesota --- Green Bay

Last Week’s Record: 10-6

Season Record: 26-22

Are You Ready for Some ... Hockey?!?

With the Bruins getting ready to kick-off the '09-10 campaign tomorrow night, let's take a quick look around the Net (pun definitely intended) and see what's being written about them ...

• Fluto Shinzawa of The Boston Globe talks about their defense-minded approach.


• Rich Thompson of The Boston Herald writes about the expectations of team owner Jeremy Jacobs.


• Craig Custance of The Sporting News is picking the Bs to win the Northeast Division.


• Allan Muir of SI.com thinks that they have a shot at the Cup.


• Matt Kalman of ESPNBoston.com projects them to win the Northeast, but fall short of the Finals.

Thoughts on Mangini

I just read a nice little article by Joe Posnanski, in which he wonders if Eric Mangini is the worst coaching hire ever. Personally, I found this to be a very satisfying read after watching him burn all bridges to New England. Posnanski lists some pretty good reasons to back-up his claim, and I think he might be on to something (personal bias aside).

At the risk of sounding like a total homer (guilty as charged), I do think that he missed two pretty big ones, though --- and they both speak to Mangini's character:

1. He supposedly had a gentleman's agreement in place with Bill Belichick, stating that he would not leave the Patriots for a head coaching job after one year in the position of Defensive Coordinator. We all know how that worked out. He spent one year running the Patriots defense, then bolted when the Jets opened-up their wallet. Personally I can't blame him for taking the Jets money, but I can certainly see why this stung Belichick. Mangini was elevated to a lofty position in the New England organization, with the understanding that he would provide some stability to the role beyond one season. He benefited from Belichick's tutelage, and he also inherited a pretty solid defense. It seems to me like this is a classic case of being born on 3rd base, and thinking he hit a triple.


2. Spygate. Yeah, I went there. I know that I sound bitter, and that's because I am. I truly believe that Mangini did not know the amount of damage that he was going to unleash on the man that gave him his start, but that lack of foresight is another check-mark against him. I find it truly astonishing that someone in his position could not grasp the damage that he was doing. Now, to be fair, the Patriots did break the rule that was in place. My point is just that it seems that Mangini might have broken one of the unwritten codes by snitching on a fellow coach.

I was truly shocked when I heard that the Cleveland Browns hired Mangini so quickly after he was fired by the Jets. My first thought when he was fired, was that no team would hire him based on his connection to the Spygate scandal. Add to that the lousy job that he did coaching the Jets, and it seemed obvious that he'd be unemployed for awhile. Then along came the Browns. On a personal note, I was a bit disappointed because I think that Browns fans deserve better. I've spent a lot of time in Cleveland, and that city and its fan-base is certainly deserving of a championship. Unfortunately, the moment that they hired Mangini they put those dreams on hold.

3 Up, 3 Down

Mowing 'em down Patriots style ...

3 Thoughts from Today's Game

1. Joey Galloway might not be around for the full season. He just doesn't seem to be in sync with Tom Brady, and by game 3 he should be --- especially given that Welker's absence the past two games has resulted in more looks for him. Considering that Julian Edelman is starting to make a bit of a name for himself, Galloway really needs to start showing something.


2. I'll take Randy Moss with a bad back over 95% of the WRs in the NFL today. Even though he didn't get into the end-zone, he still made his presence known with 10 catches and over 100 yards. Plus, conventional wisdom says that some of the wide-open catches made by other receivers were the result of Moss drawing extra attention from the Falcons defense.


3. The Patriots defense, at least so far, is underrated. Despite losing some key players, they've been very stingy. They might not be pretty, but they've been effective.

3 Upcoming Opponents to Watch Out For

1. Baltimore Ravens. This is going to be a huge test for the Pats in Week 4, and the outcome will tell us a lot about how they stack up to the elite teams of the league. Not only are the Ravens 3-0, but they've scored 103 points while only allowing 53.


2. Indianapolis Colts. With the amount of times these teams play each other, this feels like a division game. It's definitely one of the games that you circle on the calendar. Hopefully by the time that the Pats head out to Indy in Week 11, Brady and the offense will have found some solid footing.


3. NY Jets. The outcome in the Week 12 re-match could be vastly different for a couple of reasons:

• The Jets were emotionally charged to win "their Super Bowl", but now that they've won, are they going to have the same edge?

• Hopefully by Week 12, Brady will be more comfortable playing in real games. In the same sense, this team should also have a solid idea of what kind of team they are.

3 Recent Patriots Links Worth Checking Out

1. Dale & Holley (WEEI) talked to Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins and Fred Taylor after last Friday's practice.


2. The always insightful Mike Reiss discusses how the Pats were able to shut down Tony Gonzalez.


3. The Sporting News has an article talking about the more balanced offensive attack of the Pats against the Falcons.

NFL Picks: Week 3

Okay, last week's picks were pretty pathetic --- and that's not even counting the fact that I neglected to include the Carolina-Atlanta game (I'll count that as a loss). Well, with two weeks of play in the bank, no more excuses ... until next week of course.

Now, on to this week's picks ...

SUN, SEP 27th

Tennessee (+2.5) at NY Jets --- Tennessee

Jacksonville (+4) at Houston --- Houston

Kansas City (+9) at Philadelphia --- Kansas City

Cleveland (+13.5) at Baltimore --- Baltimore

NY Giants at Tampa Bay (+6.5) --- NY Giants

Washington at Detroit (+6.5) --- Detroit

Green Bay at St. Louis (+6.5) --- Green Bay

San Francisco (+7) at Minnesota --- San Francisco

Atlanta (+4) at New England --- New England

Chicago at Seattle (+2.5) --- Seattle

New Orleans at Buffalo (+6) --- New Orleans

Miami (+5.5) at San Diego --- San Diego

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (+4) --- Pittsburgh

Denver at Oakland (+1.5) --- Denver

Indianapolis (+2.5) at Arizona --- Indianapolis

MON, SEP 28th

Carolina (+8.5) at Dallas --- Carolina

Last Week's Record: 7-9

Season Record: 16-16

Random Clicks: 9/22/09

Roaming the sidelines, and telling myself that the NFL season is still young ...



Patriots/NFL

Jeff Schultz at AJC.com writes about the return of former Patriots personnel guy, and current Falcons GM, Thomas Dimitroff.

WEEI.com has an interview with Bill Belichick, in which he talks about the loss to the Jets and the upcoming match-up with the Falcons.

Red Sox/MLB

Mike McDermott of the Providence Journal runs down some of the reasons why the Sox are facing the Royals at the wrong time.

Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci talks about possible Sox playoff opponent LA Angels, and the state of their rotation.

Bruins/NHL
Boston.com's Fluto Shinzawa reports on the underlying reasons behind the Phil Kessel trade.

Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald reports on the passing of Fred Cusick.

NFL: Week 2 Picks

Well, last week could've gone better, but at least I finished over .500 --- so that's something.

Now, on to this week's picks ...

SUN, SEP 20th
Houston (+6.5) at Tennessee --- Tennessee
Minnesota at Detroit (+9.5) --- Minnesota
Cincinnati (+9) at Green Bay --- Green Bay
Oakland (+3) at Kansas City --- Kansas City
New Orleans (EVEN) at Philadelphia --- New Orleans
Dallas at Tampa Bay (+6) 1:00 PM --- Dallas
St. Louis (+10) at Washington --- St. Louis
New England at NY Jets (+4) --- New England
Tampa Bay (+ 5) at Buffalo --- Tampa Bay
Arizona (+3.5) at Jacksonville --- Jacksonville
Seattle (+1.5) at San Francisco --- Seattle
Pittsburgh at Chicago (+3) --- Pittsburgh
Baltimore (+3.5) at San Diego --- Baltimore
Cleveland (+3.5) at Denver --- Denver
NY Giants (+3) at Dallas --- NY Giants

MON, SEP 21st
Indianapolis at Miami (+3) --- Indianapolis

Last Week's Record: 9-7

Troy Brown Interview

There's a pretty good interview with Troy Brown (member of the Patriot 50th Anniversary Team) posted on The Sports Hub (my new favorite radio station).

Some of the highlights include thoughts on ...

• The performance of Benjamin Watson
• The return of Tom Brady
• The "short pass" gameplan on Monday Night
• The potential impact that Joey Galloway will have on the receiving corps
• Meeting other members of the 50th Anniversary Team
• The Richard Seymour trade

I especially liked his comment about working out, so that he could suit up on defense (in light of the injury to Jerod Mayo).

NFL: Week 1 Picks

FINALLY!!! Despite the entertainment value of last season (thank you Mr. Cassel), the thought of making another run at the title has been a long time coming.

Now, on to this week's picks ...

THU, SEP 10
Tennessee (+6.5) at Pittsburgh 8:30 PM --- Pittsburgh

SUN, SEP 13
Miami (+4) at Atlanta 1:00 PM --- Atlanta
Denver (+4) at Cincinnati 1:00 PM --- Denver
Minnesota at Cleveland (+4) 1:00 PM --- Minnesota
Jacksonville (+7) at Indianapolis 1:00 PM --- Indianapolis
Detroit (+13) at New Orleans 1:00 PM --- New Orleans
Dallas at Tampa Bay (+6) 1:00 PM --- Dallas
Philadelphia at Carolina (+2.5) 1:00 PM --- Philadelphia
Kansas City (+13) at Baltimore 1:00 PM --- Kansas City
NY Jets (+4.5) at Houston 1:00 PM --- Houston
Washington (+6.5) at NY Giants 4:15 PM --- NY Giants
San Francisco (+6.5) at Arizona 4:15 PM --- San Francisco
St. Louis (+8.5) at Seattle 4:15 PM --- Seattle
Chicago (+3.5) at Green Bay 8:20 PM --- Green Bay

MON, SEP 14
Buffalo (+11) at New England 7:00 PM --- New England
San Diego at Oakland (+9.5) 10:15 PM --- San Diego