"HAPPY FOOTBALL SUNDAY!!!!"

“Yes It Is.”

“YAHOOOOOOOOOO!”

One of the best things about football season is that, even though we are hundreds (or thousands) of Kilometres apart, I know where my football fan friends are, and it’s heartening to know that we’re doing the same things, together/apart.

I watch football because I enjoy it. That’s the same reason I write about it, and I hope that’s the same reason you’re reading this. I’m no expert. Players and agents don’t text me, and I don’t have any coaches, owners, or GMs on speed-dial. My picks are part observation, part psychology, sometimes part wishful thinking.

This week, as with every week, my needs are simple when it comes to the product on the field:

·         That the players and coaches get to decide the games, not the officials

·         That no one gets injured

·         That we are entertained

(Above: Maximus Decimus Meridius snaps when he sees a Jets fan in the press box)


This week, and for the rest of the season, we are missing the likes of Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Leon Hall, Dennis Pitta, Brian Hoyer, Reggie Wayne, Brian Cushing, Sam Bradford, Brian Bulaga, Henry Melton, Julio Jones, Dustin Keller, Mark Sanchez, Maurkice Pouncy, Larry Foote, Ahmad Bradshaw, Danieal Manning, Ryan Clady, Dwight Freeney, David Baas, Chris Snee. The game is better with these guys healthy, because they raise the level of competition (or, in the case of Sanchez, provide comic relief and make Jets’ fans suffer). Come back healthy next season, guys.

Happy football Sunday? Yes, it is. Yahoo!

49ers “at” Jags FC

Location doesn’t matter. Rain shouldn’t matter. Winner: 49ers

Cowboys at Lions

Lions favoured only because they’re at home. Winner: Cowboys

Dolphins at Patriots

Until the Dolphins fix the O-line, they’ll only beat bad teams. Winner: Patriots







Bills at Saints

(All signs point to) No Jimmy Graham. Bills’ defence is good. Saints favoured by too much in this one. I’d pick the Bills is Spiller was healthier. Winner: Saints

Giants at Eagles

A win against a wretched Vikes team isn’t enough to tempt me yet, Coughlin Mystique. Winner: Eagles

Browns at Chiefs

Imagine trying to play QB against a top NFL defence with the equivalent of a jet engine screaming in your ear. Winner: Chiefs

Jets at Bengals

“The Red Rifle” is smokin’ hot, Gio “Storm” corners like he’s on a rail, and AJ Green, he’s pretty good too. Winner: Bengals

Steelers at Raiders

This pick’s all about Terrelle Pryor, my favourite new player this season. Winner: Raiders

Washington at Broncos

Back to pushovers. Winner: Broncos

Falcons at Cardinals

Roddy White’s a no-go. Steven Jackson is a go-go, at least until he’s gone-gone again-gain. Winner: Cardinals

Packers at Vikings

This is the best the Pack’s running game has looked since Aaron Rodgers became the starter. Winner: Packers

Monday Night

Seahawks at Rams

Since the Panthers played on Thursday, would it be completely out of the question for Steve Smith to do a run-in and hit Janoris Jenkins with a steel chair? By the time the Seahawks are through with them, most of the Rams will probably feel as though they suffered a similar fate. Of course, no one in St. Louis will be watching. Winner: Seahawks

So, the Jets, who I picked to earn the first pick in next year’s draft, picked up a victory in week one over a team I predicted would be much improved, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New York achieved this feat in notable fashion, winning dramatically 18-17 via a late 48 yard field goal, in rookie QB Geno Smith’s first NFL start. These Jets might be better than I thought. They might be able to give the banged-up Patriots a game on Thursday night.

Whoa. Not so fast.

That the Jets even had the opportunity to attempt the winning 48 field goal was only due to the Bucs’ Lavonte David hitting Geno Smith out of bounds and incurring a 15-yard penalty. Tampa Bay played horribly, particularly QB Josh Freeman, and for the past couple of days, I’ve been reading stories coming out of Tampa that the Buccaneers are a team in turmoil. I don’t know how much is true, but most of the talk seems to centre on Freeman and Tampa Bay head coach Greg Schiano: the players don’t like Schiano; Freeman has been late for team functions; Freeman missed the team picture; the players voted for their team captains, and Freeman was not chosen, as he had been the past three seasons; Schiano has it in for Freeman; Schiano rigged the captaincy vote… and on and on.

Kind of makes the Jets’ win seem somewhat less impressive.

In my season preview, I wrote about the challenges facing New England on offence this season. Tonight, the Pats face a few extra ripples, as they will be without 100-yard rusher Shane Vereen, who had surgery on his injured hand, and will likely be without WR Danny Amendola as well. Still, New England should have enough healthy bodies on offence to get the job done. Meanwhile, the Pats’ defensive depth in the front seven will ensure that they have enough fresh players to handle the Jets on a short week. I’m hoping for a decisive Jets defeat. As anyone who reads me regularly knows, I can’t stand the Jets, and I especially despise Jets fans. Like the ones who would allow their child to behave like this in public.

People like this should be disappointed, often, and in the worst possible way.

Go Pats!