Week 4's Opening Coin Toss

Hype around Vick and the
Eagles has cooled off. (Getty)

Stally: Austen, what's up with the Buffalo Bills?

They trailed the Raiders 21-3 and the Patriots 21-0 and came back to win both.  Is this just the karma training bowling me over for making you talk about Tom Brady's greatness?  Was it just proving my theory that there's too much parity in the NFL for lengthy streaks to exist (like the Patriots 15-gamer over Buffalo that was snapped)?

Or, are you actually buying the Bills are this good?  Likewise, do I need to be worried in New England or was it just a bad half of football?

Heads or tails?

Austen: I am buying the Bills as a decent team. I have been a strong proponent of Ryan Fitzpatrick being a franchise quarterback since his impressive play last season with a very mediocre offense, and one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. Since Fred Jackson was on my sleeper list this season in fantasy, I am clearly a fan of his skills in what he can do in the run game and the passing game. He is a rare feature back in the NFL and I really hope the Bills pay him what he deserves. 

Week 3 Final Score

Nobody wins when Tom Brady loses. (AP)

Stally took home his first win in three tries, thanks to his first winning week of draft pick choices.  However, neither manager went home happy as they each lost the karma battle by picking the other guy's team for big points against perennial duds.

Austen took Stally's Patriots for seven-points over the Bills and Stally reciprocated by taking Austen's Jets over the Raiders for six-points.  Both picks failed, so neither guy went home with a big smile on his face.

Both put up impressive pick 'em weeks, with Austen again coming out on top.  Austen also finally saw his season picks come out on the positive end, after Stally had opened up the first two weeks at 19-13.

Here's a look at this week's final score,

Week 3

Week 3: Steel Curtain

The Steelers' rugged defense will be too much
for the Manningless Colts offense.

Stally: A programming note that I'm literally in the middle of working the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race so sorry for being brief and that it's late.

Austen (Eight Point Pick) - Pittsburgh over @Indianapolis 

Austen: The Colts' offense has been one of the worst and they are not going to play better against what is still one of the best defenses in the league, despite slowing down due to age. Also, defensively the Colts will not be able to stop the Steelers' tough run game and they do not have the speed in their secondary to match up with the Steelers' speed receivers.

Stally: I think Austen is lower on the Colts than I am.  I guess I'm old school, but it's hard for me to ever go eight points against Indianapolis when they're at home.

Austen: Stally said the same thing last week when I took the Browns over the Colts high, but we all know how that worked out for me.

Stally (Eight Point Pick) - @San Diego over Kansas City

Stally: I'd already written this one in for Austen, so I was faster than a fat kid on a candy bar to take the Chargers when they fell to number two.

Austen: While I don't think the Chiefs have a chance in this one, we never know how bad the Chargers can play from week to week and I'd stick with the Steelers over an inferior opponent any day. 

Too Much Mike Martz

GOAL LINE STAND WEEK 2

Mike Martz has gone from legend to clown.

Can we all finally agree that Mike Martz is a mediocre and stubborn offensive coordinator? You can blame some of the Bears’ offensive troubles on the General Manager, Jerry Angelo, for being dumb enough to allow the Bears only good offensive lineman, center Olin Kreutz, to walk in free agency over $500,000 when the Bears had the cap room. However, Martz’s offensive scheme has just as much to do with the team’s struggles protecting Jay Cutler. I have been very critical of the hiring of Martz since the beginning and it is time that others take notice of Martz’s faults.

Martz has an offensive system that is extremely effective when he has the right pieces in place, but when he doesn’t, his offense really struggles. Sure Martz’s system was made famous by creating the “Greatest Show on Turf,” but he had at least five Hall of Fame players in Marshal Faulk, Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Issac Bruce, and Orlando Pace. With that amount of talent, I could have had those guys producing like champs. On top of his great players, he also had Dick Vermeil, who could very possibly also end up in the Hall of Fame, as his head coach and mentor before he took over the head coach job for the Rams.

Not Enough Chiefs

Make fun of Charlie Weis all you want,
but the Chiefs could use his command.

Stally's Goal Line Stand

In our current bureaucratic society, it's common for me to look at a roomful of people delegating responsibility to a select group of individuals.  It's almost an epidemic these days and the concept is simple: too many chiefs, not enough Indians!

That's not the case in Kansas City.  While their chiefs, Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles, have gone down for the season with ACL tears, they needed more than just two chiefs to be successful this year.  They didn't have that.

The injuries are an easy cop out in KC for why the 2010 playoff team might end up at 3-13 or maybe worse, but they were headed for double-digit losses long before the workhorse RB became the second season casualty in Week 2.