Black Monday for Missouri’s Football Teams

It’s a sad, sad Monday following a colossally weak weekend for football in the State of Missouri. As a bonkers-crazy football fan, I was looking forward to this weekend’s home games with anticipation and visions of sweeping all three games. The sweep we saw is not the one I was envisioning.

Syracuse at Missouri

The Tigers were coming off a thrilling quadruple overtime victory, earning just their second SEC win and their first on the road at Tennessee. Syracuse beat a good Louisville team the week prior, but that was at home. They wouldn’t be able to do that on the road against a rejuvenated Mizzou squad, right? Wrong.

Unfortunately my first Mizzou game of the year was a disappointing loss as the Tigers played porous defense, unable to stop the Orange’s quick passing game. As a result, Mizzou (5-6) will not be going to a bowl game this year. Not exactly what the Black & Gold faithful had in mind for its first year in the SEC.

Jets at Rams

The New York Tebows came to town on Christian Family Day hoping to spoil the Rams hopes to continue ascending up the ranks of improving NFL teams. After managing to tie the mighty 49ers on the road last week, St. Louis had its sights on a big home win. Tebow had little effect on the game, but the Jets running game and defense did plenty. Other than the Rams’ opening touchdown drive, the offense was anemic and the defense couldn’t stop New York’s running game. Both teams had the same plan – run the ball, play tough D. Only one was able to execute. The Rams fell to 3-6-1 and any hopes of competing for a Wild Card spot were put to bed. 


Bengals at Chiefs 
Cincinnati, coming off a huge home win over the New York Football Giants, was hoping and easy path to its fifth win of the season in Kansas City. The Chiefs entered the game with only one win, but the team had played the Steelers tough in Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football and hoped to ride that positive momentum double its season win total. Didn’t happen. I have Chiefs season tickets, and thankfully, I couldn’t attend the game. My son took some Mizzou buddies to their first ever Chiefs game … it was ugly. The only thing more embarrassing than the play on the field was how not-full the stands were. Needless to say, the Bengals stomped the Chefs (maybe they can cook better than they play football) and set them firmly into place as the lead dog for the first pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

As always, thanks for reading. Join the discussion. That's what makes it fun.

Steve

NFL Week 8: Games to Watch

I'm headed to Michigan tomorrow with seven guys from church for a weekend getaway at Life Action Camp in Buchanan (http://www.lifeactioncamp.com/retreats-events/momentum/). I'm not going to have my usual time to break down this week's key games, so you're going to get an abbreviated version.

I had a terrible week last week, going 0-4 with my picks. That brings my overall record to 17-11. Yuck.

Here are this week's four games to watch ... 

REDSKINS (3-3) @ BILLS (4-2)

Buffalo 31, Washington 17

PATRIOTS (5-1) @ STEELERS (5-2) 

Pittsburgh 24, New England 23

COWBOYS (3-3) @ EAGLES (2-4)
Philadelphia 27, Dallas 24

LIONS (5-2) @ BRONCOS (2-4) 

Detroit 31, Denver 17

Missouri Round-up

The Missouri Tigers are in Lubbock to take on Texas Tech; probably another road loss. The Rams host the Saints, and will lose big. The Chiefs host the Chargers, with the winner taking over first place in the AFC West. I think they'll do it and bring their record to 4-3, which is unbelievable considering how they started the season.

Thanks for reading.

Steve

NFL Week 4: Games to Watch

Many football coaches break their seasons up into segments, and for NFL head coaches that break comes in quarters. So as we head into the final week of the first quarter of the regular season, many coaches will be pushing hard to end that first piece on a positive note. And quite frankly, several team with high expectations need some positive momentum (specifically, both Missouri teams as the Rams and Chiefs are both 0-3).

Last week's record on these preview games was 3-1; overall I'm 10-2. Not bad for an amateur. The Swami has got nothing on me.

Here’s a quick look at a few of the big games on tap this weekend.

 
TITANS (2-1) @ BROWNS (2-1)

Tennessee could potentially be undefeated if they hadn’t blown that game against Jacksonville in Week 1. The team is coming off wins over Baltimore and Denver and heads to Cleveland. The Browns have had a cakewalk schedule so far, beating the Colts and Dolphins. The Brownies protect their home field in a close one.

Cleveland 19, Tennessee 17

 
LIONS (3-0) @ COWBOYS (2-1)

Everybody is jumping on the Lions bandwagon these days. I picked them as a wildcard playoff team before the season began, so I like them, too … but not this much. Dallas is beat up and Romo is ailing, but the defense is good enough to hold off the hard charging but very inexperienced Lions.

Dallas 28, Detroit 24

 
PATRIOTS (2-1) @ RAIDERS (2-1)

I am sure the “Hoodie” was ticked off in practice this week as his Patriots blew a 21-point lead at Buffalo last weekend. The Raiders know how they feel, losing a close one to those same Bills in Week 2. This game matches two high-powered offenses: New England passing and Oakland running. Even though they are traveling, I’m giving the edge to the Pats.

New England 30, Oakland 27

 
JETS (2-1) @ RAVENS (2-1)

Rex Ryan takes his Jets back to Baltimore to face off against the Ravens and the defense he built there. The Jets’ vaunted defense hasn’t been real good so far, giving up 61 points in three games. The Ravens absolutely slammed the Lambs in St. Louis last week, and I’m sure they want to make a statement at home.

Baltimore 27, New York Jets 20

Missouri Round-up

This weekend should be significantly more positive than last for Missouri’s football teams. Mizzou gets this Saturday off after traveling to Norman and putting up a good fight against then No. 1 ranked OU. The Tigers go to Manhattan next week to take on Kansas State. And both the state’s NFL teams have favorable match-ups. The Rams host the Redskins and should be able to take advantage of QB Rex Grossman. In KC, the Chiefs welcome the winless Minnesota Vikings to town. Both teams at least have a chance to compete for wins this weekend so we should all be able to go to church Sunday with a smile on our face.

As always, thanks for reading.

Steve

NFL Week 3: Games to Watch

While Week 2 didn’t have a lot of games that appeared to be that great on the surface, there were a number of good games and some surprises. We expected the Chiefs to lose at Detroit, and sure enough, they got trounced. The Ravens were supposed to go to Tennessee and wipe the table with the Titans … and they lost. As expected, the Saints handled the Bears, the Packers beat the Panthers (barely) and Tom Brady killed it again as the Patriots beat the Chargers. And per the annual pattern, Mike Vick got hurt and the Eagles lost. It was all good stuff.

Here’s a quick look at a few of this weekend’s best games.

Texans (2-0) @ Saints (1-1)
The Texans have looked sharp so far, putting the beatdown on two bad teams in two weeks – Indianapolis and then at Miami. The test will be significantly tougher this week as Houston goes to New Orleans to take on the Saints, who drubbed the Bears pretty soundly last week. This will be the first of five tough games for Houston. They fail this first test, but not by much.
New Orleans 30, Houston 27


Patriots (2-0) @ Bills (2-0)

New England and its high-powered offense led by Tom Brady continue to roll up yards, touchdowns and victories. And the surprising Buffalo Bills are in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC East. The Bills fought hard and beat the Raiders at home last week. How they perform this week in the face of their divisional big brother will speak volumes about how good they are. 
New England 27, Buffalo 20

Packers (2-0) @ Bears (1-1)
Green Bay travels to Chicago this Sunday for a classic black-and-blue divisional match-up between two good teams. This rivalry is one of the oldest in the NFL, and the games are almost always close. The Packers defense is softer than expected, giving up 400-yard passing games the past two weeks. On the Bears’ side, Jay Cutler has to stay upright; the O line has been porous.
Green Bay 24, Chicago 23

Redskins (2-0) @ Cowboys (1-1)
On the surface, this appears to be a battle of two teams headed in opposite directions. Dallas has looked rough and really should be 0-2. The Skins are 2-0 and seemingly on a roll, but they have beaten two weak teams: Carolina and Arizona. Romo is injured and Rex Grossman has the passing offense clicking. I still see the Cowboys winning at home on MNF. 
Dallas 27, Washington 21 

Missouri Roundup – The year is quickly going down the tubes for Missouri’s “professional” football teams. The Chiefs … well, they are just a mess. And the Rams could potentially be 2-0, but instead they are winless again, sitting at 0-2 for the fifth straight year. I see them both losing again this weekend. The Chiefs go to San Diego (geesh) and the Rams host the always-tough Ravens. Looks like 0-3 for both franchises. Maybe Mizzou can beat Oklahoma on Saturday … doubt that one, too.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Steve