Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Week 8: Austen Plays Captain Hindsight

With a busy weekend of work, Austen gets to assume his
alter ego, Captain Hindsight, and give his breakdown of
events that have already transpired in the NFL.
I apologize for being a no show on the blog this weekend and letting Stally run the show. He got to say his part, now I get to say mine. However, I get the power of hindsight at my back.

Stally's Eight Point Pick
@Dallas over Washington

No matter how much hindsight I've got, I still cannot see my way to how the Redskins won this game. Kudos to Colt McCoy and the Redskins defense for leading a truly miraculous and shocking victory on the road against what many thought was the best team in football.

Austen's Eight Point Pick
Miami over @Jacksonville

Well, well, well. Not only did my confidence in the Dolphins help me take a commanding point lead over Stally in "Blog Points," but I also started the Dolphins defense in three fantasy football leagues which got me darn near 30 points. My thought process was that a game in Jacksonville probably has about a 50/50 split of Jags and Dolphins fans at it so it really was not a road game against possibly the worst team in the league. The Fins' defense might have outscored the offense, but this was still a pretty commanding win for them.


Stally's Seven Point Pick
@Kansas City over St. Louis

Despite my not so secret man crush on Austin Davis, I still had the Chiefs next on the board. The Rams solidly in the bottom five teams in the NFL and the Chiefs, despite their flaws, are a great home team. We were right on this one.

Austen's Seven Point Pick
@Cleveland over Oakland

Brian Hoyer has been a little bit all over the place with running this offense, but the Browns defense has been steadily improving as the year has gone along. Shockingly, this is a defense with a lot of talent, but they will need to keep it up since their offense cannot be relied upon. But now I'm rambling again. The point is that the Raiders are really really bad.

Stally's Six Point Pick
@Denver over San Diego

I threw Denver in with 10 confidence points with about 4 minutes left before games locked. Had I looked more carefully at this week, I am sure they would have been moved significantly up the chain, despite the fact that I think the Charges could be the better team once the playoffs hit. There is no team in the league playing better than the Broncos and the Chargers are exceptionally banged up at the moment. The Chargers will have better days ahead, but the Broncos might not have a whole lot of trouble locking up the division.

Austen's Six Point Pick
Indianapolis over @Pittsburgh

Can anyone explain to me who this Steelers team is? Maybe whoever explains that can explain to me how a defense can come off of the most dominant performance of the season against the Bengals and stroll into Pittsburgh and let up not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, BUT SIX (yes six) freaking touchdown passes? Ben Roethlisberger had possibly the greatest quarterback performance in the history of the NFL, and the Colts still almost came back to win this one. I still think this is a bad Steelers team, but this only goes to show that they will always have a chance with Big Ben as their quarterback.

Stally's Five Point Pick
Houston over @Tennessee

Having to face JJ Watt in your first NFL start is not optimal for any rookie quarterback. It is especially worse when you are starting for a team that is lucky to have two wins and has one of the most anemic offense in the league. That was my thought process before the game, but Arian Foster's 170 yards of offense and three touchdowns surely helped the Texans' cause as well.

Austen's Five Point Pick
Green Bay over @New Orleans

I have been betting on the Saints all year long. I even had them as my main Super Bowl contender if the Seahawks failed this season. So of course, the first week I bet strongly against them is when they play their first complete game of the year. They ran the ball with incredible success (Mark Ingram has 170 yards all by his lonesome), their passing game finally clicked on all cylinders, and their defense (yes I too forgot they had a defense) stepped up, causing numerous turnovers and stopping the Packers high powered offense in the red zone.

Stally's Four Point Pick
Seattle over @Carolina

I still cannot believe that the Seahawks had as much trouble as they had in scoring on the Panthers' defense, which has been a shell of its 2013 self. Marshawn Lynch had one of his worst games of the year and relied on Russell Wilson and their passing game (without Percy Harvin) to win the game. The Seahawks are back to being able to win in whatever way is necessary. I still think they will be the NFC's representative for the Super Bowl.

Austen's Four Point Pick
Detroit over @Atlanta

The Falcons have possibly been the worst road team in the NFL so far this year, yet they almost got a win in London against a Lions team that has been playing the best football in the NFC so far this season. The Lions are lucky to have won this game on a last second field goal after trailing by 21 points at one time, but they have won two weeks in a row on last second field goals in games against NFC opponents without the help of Calvin Johnson. That is huge no matter how you slice it. Beware of the Lions coming off a bye in week 10 with a healthy Johnson. They might just be pushing for the top seed in the NFC playoff picture.

Stally's Three Point Pick
@New England over Chicago

After struggling to do much on offense to start the season, Tom Brady has scored nine touchdowns in the last two games. To quote John Wick/Keanu Reeves, I'm thinking he's back. The entire Pats team is back.

Austen's Three Point Pick
@Arizona over Philadelphia

The Cardinals have the best record in the NFC. I do not think they are the best team in the NFC, but they have played solid football all year long. The Eagles are lucky to have won as many games as they have and do not have one thing that defines their football team on offense or defense. As the season goes along, I see the Eagles trailing off a bit as more of a 8 or 9 win team. The Cardinals have set themselves up for a playoff push, but their schedule ahead is not an easy one. This was a game they had to win, despite only having one loss.

Stally's Two Point Pick
@New York-J over Buffalo

I had the Jets with two points, but obviously I was not overly confident in their ability to beat anyone. Buffalo has now established themselves as a legit playoff contender in a strangely competitive AFC. The Jets are ready for a full house cleaning.

Austen's Two Point Pick
Baltimore over @Cincinnati

Watching the Bengals get utterly shut out by the Colts clearly had an effect on me. Maybe betting against them was a bit of an overreaction but the Ravens had been playing so well I thought they would be able to pull off a big road win. They also almost did win the game, but what would have been a game winning touchdown to Steve Smith was called back on an offensive pass interference call.

Stally's One Point Pick
Minnesota over @Tampa Bay

I had Tampa Bay with the "upset" basically because they were at home. Neither of these are good teams so I will not waste any time thinking or speaking about them.

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