The Colts are Going 0-16

Austen's Goal Line Stand

The Colts really dropped the ball on finding a decent
backup quarterback for Peyton Manning for 2011.

I do not even know how to put in words how bad this Colts team is this season. The best way for me to describe them is that they are even worse than the Detroit Lions team that went 0-16 a few years ago. With the Patriots, Ravens, Titans, and Texans still left on their schedule, it looks like their only shot at winning a game might be a  road game to Jacksonville in the last week of the season. However, this team has shown no pride all season long and I cannot imagine them putting up a good game the last week of the season on the road just so that they can win one game.

To give you a clue at how bad this team is, they are 30th in scoring offense and 32nd in scoring defense. This totals up to them being outscored by 177 points this season, for an average of losing by over 16 points a game. That goes to show how far away this team is away from winning a game.

Fighting On at USC

Stally's Goal Line Stand

Will Barkley go pro or return to
direct USC again next year? (Getty)

In a 50-0 rout of rival ucla last night, USC QB Matt Barkley set a Pac-12 record for touchdown passes in a season.  If he returns to USC next fall, it will be just one of many records he writes into the books of both the conference and the historic program.  His decision to return or go pro is sure to become a huge debate in the next couples months as he prepares for an announcement on his future.

On one side of the coin, Barkley looks ready for the pros.  The only thing that might keep him from attending the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York next month is an unfair bias against the unfair and biased suspension of USC's program.  His 39 touchdowns are second in the NCAA and his 3,528 yards ranks ninth, as does his 161.2 QB rating.  He threw just seven interceptions and was sacked just eight times.  Sure, the sacks had a lot to do with a very strong offensive line, but you can't overlook a quarterback's pocket presence and his ability to get rid of the ball on-time when you look at high or low sack totals.

Week 12: Stuffed with Football

We know Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez
are always hungry...for football. (Getty)

This is the time of year you just can't get enough football.  It started Thursday when we got our full-slate of games (although none of us got the Family Reunion on NFL Network, of course).  Then, we had two days of college football, including a 50-0 Trojan beat down of ucla!  Sunday, we'll get to wrap up the long weekend with a lot of meaningful games in the  NFL.

At this point, we're done guessing who's going to be good and who's not.  We know exactly what scores we need to watch and what games have the biggest implications.

We hope you haven't gotten full yet, because it's a great weekend to fulfill an appetite for football.

Stally (Eight-Point Pick) - Pittsburgh over @Kansas City

Week 11 Final Score

Tebow's late heroics stood out in a week
that otherwise went as expected. (Getty)

It took a while to get the final score added up, but it was a relatively even week.  Stally, again seemed to have the upper-hand in the weekly draft.  He didn't get a single pick 'em  correct in games that he and Austen differed in opinion, but still wont the weekly draft in one of the most even outcomes of the week.

All in all, despite Austen picking five more games correctly,  Stally managed to sneak out a minscule one-point win.  Needless to say, that bodes better for Stally than Austen.  It's getting late in the season and Austen will need to take a bite out of Stally's lead soon if he plans on winning the Stubborn OXen this season.

Week 11

Week 11 Coin Toss: The Quarterback Situation

Is it fair to start discussing Rodgers
as one of the best QBs ever? (Getty)

Austen: Like no other year in the NFL, 2011 has been dominated by the quarterback position. Quarterbacks have always been the most important position in the NFL, but I do not think there has ever been a season in which there were this many quarterbacks playing at such a high level. There are four or five quarterbacks who have a solid shot at breaking Dan Marino's passing record and overall quarterback ratings are on the up and up.

Young quarterbacks like Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Matthew Stafford are making great strides this season. Andy Dalton has been one of the more impressive rookie quarterbacks in recent memory, and three other rookie quarterbacks are starting for their teams. Tim Tebow and rookie Cam Newton are playing the quarterback position like no one has ever seen in the NFL and their play could have a big impact on the league as a whole.

It is for these reasons I have to ask Stally about the best quarterback in the league right now: Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is on pace to come just shy of Marino's passing record, but he has an astounding passer rating of 128.8 and has scored 33 touchdowns to only four interceptions.

Stop Talking About Tebow, Start Talking About the Broncos Defense

Austen's Goal Line Stand:

Champ Bailey may be getting older, but he is still playing
like he is 20 years old and is still one of the best in the NFL.

I have been trying very hard to stop talking about Tim Tebow, but with so many injuries to high profile players, it is hard not to talk about the Tebow phenomenon. However, after watching the Broncos take a late lead against my beloved Jets, I was less impressed with Tebow and much more impressed with the Broncos' defense, which was one of the worst in the NFL last season.

Yes, Tebow put together a very impressive 95-yard touchdown drive that gave his team the lead and it will always be the offense that gets the majority of the attention, but it was the Broncos' only good offensive drive of the entire game. This is becoming a habit for Tebow, who can put together one or two great drives at the end of the game after playing poorly the rest of the game. It is the Broncos defense that has been keeping this team in games in order for Tebow to have a chance to win it for his team despite playing poorly for over three quarters.

While the Broncos' defense is middle of the pack in most categories, they are playing much better in recent games than they were in the beginning of the season, and even being middle of the pack is still a huge jump for a defense that was dominated by every offense they played last season. They are getting sacks and takeaways in critical situations, which will kill any offense's momentum and rhythm.

Week 11: The Midseason Grind

When the Chiefs injured Tom Brady,
Matt Cassel emerged as a starter.
Unfortunately, Cassel is now out for KC.

It's a pretty ho-hum week in the NFL as we plug along into the later part of the season.  This will be the last week we see any teams on bye and with New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Houston all out, we lost some of the crop of solid teams that make for good games.

For the most part, we'll see either good teams against bad teams or mediocre teams against one another.  That's not to deter anyone from watching, the playoff race is in full swing, so a game like Atlanta and Tennessee could have huge implications, but that's not exactly a matchup any of us are highlighting as "must watch."

Austen (Seven-Point Pick) - @New England over Kansas City

Austen: The Jets may not be as good as we thought they were, and maybe the Patriots are not as good as expected either, but there is no way this Pats team loses to a Matt Cassel-less Chiefs team. I am sure Brady is still pissed about having his home record broken by the Giants, so there will be a little extra motivation on Brady's part.

Upon Further Review

Stally's Goal Line Stand

If spiking the ball is against the rules,
count me out, No Fun League. (Getty)

Upon further review, I think that NFL's officiating needs to have some notions overturned.

I found myself frustrated watching last week's Patriots-Jets game.  Not because the Pats won by 21, that was awesome.  I was more just irritated by some of the calls the refs did or didn't make.   I'm not usually someone to blame a game on the refs, and wouldn't have here, but poor officiating seems to have become an epidemic.  It's time we admitted that and worked on finding a cure.

Recently, we saw our Trojans stripped of a fair chance to win by the Pac-12 and the incompetent officials that Commissioner Larry Scott still stands behind (probably because Stanford was one of his bell cows for a National Championship appearance).  Officials made an unfair judgment call in taking the final second off the clock when USC could have attempted a game-winning field goal.  Then, in double overtime, they spotted the ball eight yards, eight yards, off of where a 10-yard spot foul should have placed the ball.  It was closer to being a 10-inch penalty on Stanford than a 10-yarder!

This same incompetence seems to have made its way up to the NFL.  It especially seemed to affect the performance of Pats' tight end Rob Gronkowski on Sunday.

Week 11 Coin Toss: The Injury Epidemic

Matt Schaub's injury is just one on
a 2011 list that's far too long. (AP)

Stally: In case you haven't heard fantasy owners, Matt Schaub and Matt Cassel are the most recent additions to a list of injured players that could compile a reasonably sized book.  It seems to be an epidemic this year.  This is the first time where I've just seemed to lose excitement in fantasy football and the only reason is because it's deflating watching all your players go out.

I had a phenomenal team in the keeper league Austen and I play in.  However, Andre Johnson has missed most of the season, Jahvid Best hasn't been right with a concussion, Ahmad Bradshaw cracked a bone in his foot, Daniel Thomas has battled a hamstring and my team is very mediocre.  Austen beat me in that league this past week, while I beat him in the one he created.  In that league, he has a crazy list of running backs that have gotten hurt while on his team and I'm sure he'll kick off his response with that group.

Austen, what do you think the issue is right now in the NFL?  Are injuries up this year or is just our perception because the fantasy starts have fallen?  Is this a long-term issue and how can the league fix it?

Week 10 Final Score

At least Stally enjoyed watching
things fall apart in New York. (AP)

Oh, dear!  Just when it looked like Austen was climbing back into the Stubborn OXen battle, he lost his eight-point pick on the week.  Then, he lost his seventh...and his sixth.  And, just for good measure, he attended the Jets-Patriots game in person to not only watch his beloved New York team give up the division, but also watch his three-point pick go to Stally, who was gloating from the New England win.

The result is one of the more lopsided weeks, but a series of weird and unlikely finishes gave Austen some hope as Stally lost a few of his own higher picks as well.

Week 10

Week 10: The Rivalry Continues

Who wins this round of Ryan vs. Belichick? (Getty)

It's a big week for Austen and Stally.  The Jets and the Patriots are playing (and Austen's going).  We're playing each other in two fantasy leagues, including our super-competitive keeper league.   Here in Stubborn OXen, there are a lot of difficult games to prognosticate which could cause a big, unexpected swing in the course of our season.

Austen is hoping that Stally stumbles with some of his picks for the second straight week to turn the blog back into a competition.  Meanwhile, Stally is hoping to recover after last week's debacle to try to start putting it out of reach.

We did promise that Nick Haskell would weigh in with the Las Vegas take, as he's on The Strip this weekend.  However, he never got his analysis to us, so it'll be the standard look this weekend.

Stally (Eight-Point Pick) - @Green Bay over Minnesota

Not Thirsty for Thursday

Stally's Goal Line Stand

NFLN has a lot going on, but
good luck finding it on your TV.

Did you see the Chargers-Raiders game on Thursday night?

No!  Of course not.  Ot was on NFL Network on a Thursday!  Who the heck gets NFLN and who can afford to stay up until midnight on a week night trying to find it?

Look, we all enjoyed our Thursday nights in college.  Heck, I didn't take a Friday class after the fall of my freshman year.  However, most of us aren't in college.  Most of us are too dragged out to stay up that late watching a football game on Thursday.  And, most of us don't get NFLN anyway.

Week 10 Coin Toss: Rivalry Weeks

Can Brady and Belichick figure it out
in time to beat the rival Jets? (Getty)

Our fraternity brother, Nick Haskell, will be traveling to Las Vegas this weekend and will get a close look at how the football betting world works out there. He's offered to share his thoughts from The Strip to help increase the amount of OXen we have being stubborn on this blog. It should provide a different perspective since Austen and I always base our arguments around the bottom line of wins and losses, while Haskell will focus on the betting lines and spreads that generally ignore the importance of a winning or losing the actual game.

Stally: There are no teams on bye this week. With that in mind, Austen, I made it "Rivalry Week" in our fantasy football keeper league, so naturally, I set the schedule to make sure it was the week we played one another. The NFL seemed to have the same kind of thing in mind.

This week, we'll see the four teams in the AFC West and the four in the NFC North going head-to-head. I've always viewed those divisions, like the NFC East, as a group of four that just didn't like anything about the other three. The Patriots and the Jets will also face off on Sunday night.

Week 9 Final Score

Stally would be all for benching Peterson after
his 99-yard punt return killed his week. (Getty)

There were some great endings this week!

The Ravens and Giants both mounted two-minute drills while trailing to score game-winning touchdowns and steal road games against strong opponents.  Meanwhile, the St. Louis Rams had a game-winning field goal blocked and Arizona's Patrick Peterson made a rookie decision to field a punt at the one, before returning it 99 yards for the overtime game-winning TD.

It all made for an exciting weekend.  For everyone but Stally, of course.  He'd draft all three of the hard luck losers in the Weekly Draft and took a humbling return to reality in losing his first Stubborn OXen matchup since Week 2.

Week 9

Quarterback of the Never

Austen's Goal Line Stand

The Cardinals really dropped the ball when
they gave an arm and a leg for Kevin Kolb.

Can we all finally agree that Kevin Kolb is at best a mediocre quarterback? Through seven games, he has tossed as many interceptions as touchdowns and has completed just 56% of his passes for a quarterback rating of 77.8. You can blame the offensive line and the lack of offensive playmakers, but you can only make so many excuses for a quarterback who was supposed to bring this team back to the playoffs. They also gave him a hefty $60 million contract before he ever played a down for their team, which anyone could have told them was a mistake.

Not only has his play been mediocre at best, but also one of the biggest knocks on him was that he was injury prone. Kolb missed last week with turf toe and he looks like he will miss at least another week with his injury. As a Jets fan, I know all too well that an injured quarterback is no good to your team.

Week 9: Madden Curse Hits Hard

The Madden Curse has struck again and
without bruising running back Peyton Hillis,
the Browns don't have much of a chance.

In past years, I have been a strong defender of the reality of the Madden Curse. Last season, Drew Brees was on the cover and while he did not have an awful season, he threw a career high 22 interceptions and lost his Wild Card matchup against the worst team to ever make the playoffs, a 7-9 Seattle Seahawks team.

For whatever reason this year, I jumped off the bandwagon and thought that Peyton Hillis would be able to break through the curse since he was conditioning hard than anyone else I saw in the NFL. I mean the guy was pulling trucks in Arkansas during the offseason. How could you not love a guy who does that?

However, he has been entirely irrelevant and ineffective for his team so far this season, and even more useless on my fantasy rosters. He is clearly struggling physically and mentally, and the fact that the Browns organization already came out saying they will not resign him for the 2012 season, things can only get worse. I had the Browns winning 8 games this season, but without a motivated and productive Hillis, they have no chance of getting anywhere near that number.

 Austen (Seven-Point Pick) - @Houston over Cleveland

Austen: Clearly I am not high on the Browns right now, but there are more problems than just Hillis with this team. Cleveland has one healthy running back left on their roster, and its Chris Ogbonnaya. Considering he has never ran the ball more than 11 times in an entire season before, I think the Texans are going to blitz the heck out of the Browns and there is no way they can keep up with the Texans potent offense.

Stally: With all our talk about who's the best in the AFC, it could well end up being the Texans once Andre Johnson gets healthy.  I think the Browns are more competent than some teams, but not much argument here.

Bad Decisions Lead to Bad Quarterbacking

Stally's Goal Line Stand

The Colts' picture doesn't look good
with Curtis doing the painting. (Getty)

Ok, so Austen was interested in talking about Tim Tebow again and why he shouldn't start at quarterback in the NFL.  Look, his team just lost 45-10 at home and he posted a 56.8 QB rating.  We can all agree at this point that Denver's off on its own planet trying to make him into a star.  Let's move already and take a look at other teams that have made bad quarterback decisions and thus flat-out stink this season!

We'll take a little tour across the country for this one and start in the northwest of Seattle.

Pete Carroll, I love you, man, and I think you did great things at USC!  Heck, one of the great things you did was build some fantastic quarterbacks.  Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart both won Heisman Trophies under your tutelage, Mark Sanchez likely would have won it had he returned for his final year of eligibility and even John David Booty looked like a stud in the cardinal-and-gold.  So, what the heck's going on with the Seahawks, Coach!?

Week 9 Coin Toss: CJ's F and the AFC's Average

Chris Johnson has always looked questionable,
but now his play is questionable. (AP)

Stally: Let's try to make some sense of the AFC East.

So far, the Ravens have mangled the Steelers, grounded the Jets, but lost to Jacksonville and almost Arizona.  Pittsburgh soundly drubbed the Patriots, but lost to the Texans and the Ravens.  The Texans have lost three games.  The Patriots have been good for the most part but didn't really belong on the same field as the Steelers this past weekend.  The AFC West has three teams tied for the division at 4-3, and the Jets and the Titans have shown clear weaknesses, even though they might contend for the playoffs all season.  That's easy, that leaves us with a debate between the 5-2 Bills and 5-2 Bengals...Wait.  What!?

It's way to early and too much of a cluster to start trying to figure out who's going to the playoffs, but please, Austen, can you at least tell me who is the best team in the AFC?  Are they the second best team in the NFL (behind Green Bay) or do we need to go to the NFC for that?  And, when it's all said and done, who's taking home the Lamar Hunt Trophy and heading to the Super Bowl out of this conference?

Austen: If I knew who the best team in the AFC is/who will make it to the Super Bowl, I would be running to Vegas to throw down some bets. However, I am just a man and I can only take a swing at it.

Week 8 Final Score

How did the Saints get
 battered by the Rams!? (AP)

Just when we thought the NFL couldn't get any weirder, NFC-power New Orleans got flattened by winless St. Louis.  Not Sam Bradford's St. Louis Rams mind you, A.J. Feeley's St. Louis Rams as starting QB Bradford is still out with an ankle injury.

That gave Stally the dubious distinction of being the first OX in the eight weeks of the blog to bust on the week's first pick.  Yet, despite taking the seven-point bath, Austen's picks weren't any better and Stally still took the Weekly Draft, as he swept out the week in ugly fashion.  Both guys botched the Pick 'Em and the Season Draft was the most lopsided it's been all season (although, Austen did get the Rams win, even if not much else).

Week 8