NFL WEEK 16 RECAP

One more week - and there are some good games to watch next week. But first, the recap of the penultimate week of the season:

BEST GAME OF WEEK 16: The Chiefs-Dolphins game was pretty good - lots of scoring in tough conditions. The Giants-Panthers was also very good (though due to the circumstances of the Jets game I didn't really enjoy it) with a lot on the line. Games like the Colts-Jaguars, Bears-Packers, and Bills-Broncos weren't bad either.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 16: I'm going to avoid talking about all the teams who had a chance to do something to help themselves when it came to the playoffs in Week 16 and failed - there are a lot of them (Jets first and foremost). Instead, I'm going to highlight the Atlanta Falcons, who no one expected anything out of, and came into Week 16 needing a win for the playoffs, and got it. That makes them the best performance of the week.

WORST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 16: I don't care that it was snowing, I don't care that it was another east coast one o'clock game. The Arizona Cardinals don't deserve the playoffs any more than the Jets do. Throw Kurt Warner's 30-yard effort in with the big-picture 47-7 loss to the Patriots.

BEST GAME IN WEEK 17: With lots on the line it can either be Jets-Dolphins or Chargers-Broncos. So help me if the Broncos lose and the Chargers get into the playoffs. That would upset me as a Jets fan. The Patriots-Bills game will probably intense too.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN WEEK 17: I'm going to go with my heart again, and predict a huge playoff-entering performance from Chad Pennington. I say 19-23 for 279 yards and 1 throwing TD, 1 rushing. Dolphins, 24-10.
-Last Week: Way off with Kurt Warner and the Cardinals.

WEEK 16 LIVE BLOG

11:48am - I've just decided the conditions today are right for a live blog. There are some interesting situations in today's Jets game (a 4 o'clock start...ugh) - Brett Favre vs. Mike Holmgren, Thomas Jones vs. Julius Jones - and then there's the looming playoff situation. The Jets will be playing in snowy conditions in Seattle, most likely, and the Patriots will be doing the same against the Cardinals in Foxboro. And I hear it will be extremely cold in Kansas City where the Chiefs will be hosting the Dolphins. So it will be an eventful day. I'll watch it all. And I'll write about it. After I get in from my first round of shoveling for the day.

12:10pm - Wow. That's a lot of snow. There's going to be a lot more shoveling today than I thought. Maybe I'll give you a picture later.

I'll set another scene here without a picture...but I'll still paint the image for you. All season I had been wearing a Jets t-shirt with my Jets fleece pants on Sundays for Jets games. After the two losses to San Francisco and Denver, though, I was going to switch things up, and with guests coming over last week I wasn't going to wear the fleece pants anyway. So I went with the t-shirt, jeans, and a Jets hat. That worked out, barely. I'm sticking with that outfit today - hopefully it's still lucky. I can't invite the guests back - they're back in New York. I've also been wearing my Jets sweatshirt for shoveling, so if things aren't going so well maybe I'll switch to that in the second half.

12:25pm - Here's your almost-live picture of the snow, still falling heavily:
Should be similar conditions for the Patriots-Cardinals game...at least the start of it. I think by the end of the game this will be freezing rain and everything will ice over.

1:15pm - I've fed the baby, so at least I'm not totally neglecting my parental duties today. And so much for the Jets getting any help - the Patriots are already up 7-0, and it took the Dolphins all of 18 seconds to go up 7-0 versus the Chiefs. They followed quickly with a turnover, then they had a turnover negated by a penalty. The Cardinals look terrible in the snow...looks like the Jets are going to just have to win their final two games no matter what.

1:41pm - Kansas City is showing signs of life. But to be honest, I don't think any of that matters. The Jets can't clinch this week. So I guess it'll look nice if the Jets are 10-5 while the Pats and Dolphins are 9-6, but the truth of the matter is the Jets need to win their final two games. Period. It doesn't matter what happens with the Dolphins and Patriots.

2:00pm - So a Dolphins win hurts the Patriots, does nothing for the Jets. A Dolphins loss helps the Patriots, does nothing for the Jets. What a weird week.

2:33pm - Update on the wardrobe - I'm really cold in just a t-shirt, so I'm going with the sweatshirt. Hope I don't cost the Jets a win.

Here's something good I just thought of - it's going to be bad weather in Seattle, but Brett Favre played his entire career in Green Bay, so he's got to be unaffected by it, no?

2:45pm - Out to shovel the next foot of snow that's fallen since I last shoveled three hours ago.

3:18pm - I hope the Jets are seeing what the Patriots are doing to the Cardinals (similar to what the Jets did to Arizona the last time I live-blogged, incidentally), and go out and do the same thing to the Seahawks in about an hour. There's no reason the Jets should lose today.

3:55pm - I am enjoying this Dolphins-Chiefs game. And I think since the Jets control their fate by playing the Dolphins next week, I'd rather see the Dolphins win, putting the Patriots in the tougher spot. And I need a fantasy touchdown from Ronnie Brown. So go Miami!

4:16pm - The Jets got three on their opening drive. Came close to getting a touchdown...but I'm encouraged by how they've moved the ball. The thing that scares me is that the Jets have done that on opening drives most of the season, then they go flat. So they need to keep it up.

The weather in Seattle, by the way, doesn't look all that terrible.

4:30pm - The weather is getting worse. That Seattle crowd is loud, even when the Seahawks are terrible. Good for them.

4:37pm - Through one quarter, 3-0, Jets. And I'm not feeling any less nervous.

5:01pm - My daughter may be a lucky charm. Twice I've had her yell 'Defense' at the TV, and twice it's resulted in the Seahawks fumbling (the last two drives). This last fumble came inside the 5. I will definitely be using this to my advantage.

5:22pm - I'm so friggin' angry. 7-3 Seahawks at halftime. The Jets haven't been able to move the ball since the opening drive. And the Seahawks are moving the ball pretty well. This game scares me a lot.

5:44pm - Another round of shoveling under my belt. Haven't even begun to try to dig out the cars (still coming down pretty steadily, by the way). This will be good therapy after the game, though - win or lose. I will need a distraction from the way the Jets make me crazy.

6:05pm - It's the end of the 3rd quarter, Seahawks up 10-3. I feel like I'm going to throw up...and now it's time for dinner.

6:19pm - A delay of game on a field goal...the Jets are lucky to still be down 7 right now with the ball. But they need a touchdown on this drive.

6:24pm - 6:48 to go in the game, and the Seahawks are playing like they're trying to wrap up a playoff spot. The Jets look awful. Like they have the past month. I'm so disappointed.

6:32pm - This is it - 3:06 left, the Jets have it at about their own 10. If the Jets don't get a touchdown, they can kiss their playoff hopes goodbye. And I just might root for Chad Pennington to beat them and make the playoffs next week.

6:37pm - It's not fun being a Jets fan. Disappointment after disappointment. I hope Pennington embarrasses them next week.

FRUSTRATING FAVRE

Got a text from the Southern Bureau during the Jets game Sunday, while communicating about Wilmington, North Carolina's own Connor Barth - kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. It read:

"Watched the first half. Brett Favre must be frustrating to watch."

And the Southern Bureau is right. He is frustrating to watch. But I came into this season eyes wide open on Brett Favre.

I knew that last year was more exception than rule from Favre. I knew that he throws a lot of interceptions. I knew that the bad sometimes outweighs the good. But in the past two weeks, he has put the Jets in position to lose, then led them back to a chance to win (one resulted in a loss, one in a win). (And of course, the problem here is that both games should have been easy wins.) So it's been a whole lot of the bad mixed with the good....which is what I expected, having watched a considerable amount of Favre with Green Bay.

But I've watched Favre much closer this year than I have in the past, because of the uniform he's currently wearing, and I've noticed a couple of things that I'd like to share here:

1) Regardless of the fact that Favre might be hurt, resulting in these subpar performances the past couple of weeks, I've noticed this - after Favre takes a big hit or looks like he might have been hurt in some way, the next pass or two that he throws are absolutely rifled.

I mean, he rears back and throws them about 100-mph. Almost to prove that he's not hurt - even if he clearly is. No one can possibly catch these throws - often thrown inaccurately. But there's that.

2) Favre is not seeing the field well. I don't know why it is - but he's throwing passes that are right to defenders. A couple of times the past few games I'll give him a pass because a receiver fell down, but a couple of times he's thrown to defenders and been picked off, a couple of times the defender dropped the ball.

3) Favre forces way too many throws into spots that he has no business throwing to. He either needs to take more sacks (he's getting hit anyway - it's not like he's doing it to avoid the hits) or throw more balls away and save some face.

4) And this one might be the most important - for every time they show the stat that Favre has 35 (or something like that - my brain zones out the stat every time they show it on the screen these days) 4th quarter game-tying or go-ahead drives, I think even more telling is the one that came on NBC during the Chargers game a month or so ago:

I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was something to the effect of 'Favre has never led a team back from a 14-point or more halftime deficit'. Isn't that something? Probably because of 1, 2, and 3 above - he starts throwing too wildly and things go the other team's way.

As though the past two weeks weren't bad enough - that stat is not much of a sign of pleasant things to come.

A SUNDAY WITH NOTHING TO PLAY FOR

Strange Sunday. The final week of the NFL season, which means the fantasy league is over (for me, without playoffs, it's been long since over), and after the Giants lost to the Pats on Saturday night, I had no chance of winning anything in the confidence pool I'm in (I had been doing so badly that the past few weeks I just picked against the Patriots because everyone was picking them, just hoping their loss might benefit me financially). So that left me with nothing but 'the love of the game' on Sunday for the final day of the NFL season.

I watched much of the Jets-Chiefs game, knowing it would be the last time I saw the Jets play for months. I also hoped Chad Pennington would make an appearance in what was likely his last game in a Jets uniform (more on that later in the week). That didn't happen, but I think by watching the game, I have made my peace with Kellen Clemens. If he is the Jets' quarterback in 2008, so be it. I'll never love him...I don't know that I'll ever get very attached to a single Jet ever again...but I'll live with him. Amazingly, in a game just about everyone just wanted to go out and get it over with, the Jets and Chiefs went to overtime. The Jets did win, hurting their draft position a little, but I really don't know enough about this year's draft crop to judge whether or not that's a horrible thing. The way I see it, they should trade the pick and build up a stockpile of picks...unless there's one great player out there.

I want to spend a bit of time, though, talking about the Saturday night game, because that was the best game of the weekend.

I want to reiterate my claim - I do not think the Patriots will go 19-0. If they do, then yes, they can be considered the greatest team of all time. I don't think you can argue that. But they're starting to slip. They're beatable. And I just think 19-0 will be an incredibly hard thing to do. I don't know who it is that will beat them - and I think you can make the argument against me that they will go 19-0, just having to win 3 more games, after a bye week. But those three games won't come easy...and I think the game plan to beat them is out there. It just needs to be executed.

The Giants looked like they had that game plan in place and all but had the Patriots beat Saturday night. But Eli Manning did them in. I've never seen a player go from having a great game to an awful one quicker. Eli looked like Peyton in the first half and on the first drive of the second half, when the Giants took a 28-16 lead. Then it's like he suddenly realized he was on the verge of the biggest win of his career, got nervous, and played horribly, when all the Giants needed was a few first downs to keep the Patriots' offense off the field.

That's not to take the credit away from the Patriots. Tom Brady has the opposite gift of Eli -nothing rattles him. He knew he'd win that game, and went out and did it. The Patriots' defense sensed Eli was getting rattled, and rattled him some more. Brady to Moss didn't work once, so they went right back to it. That's why they're 16-0.

But I still don't think they'll go 19-0. Part of this rationale is my studid heart getting in the way of my head...I just don't like this team. At least with the past few Patriots championship teams they had players you could respect and, in spite of yourself, root for. Those players drowned out the Bill Belichicks and Rodney Harrisons, at least in my view, and made the team tolerable. But this year it seems like the Patriots have suddenly gotten classless, and there are more Rodney Harrison-types than not. There's a lot more "me" guys there...and I'm surprised it's working for them so well. But that's another part of the reason I think their season will end with a loss.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
1) A couple of years ago I was all over the Jaguars, and how, at 12-4, I thought they were fakers. I think I called them the 'worst 12-4 team of all time'. Well, this year they're 11-5, and I think they're better than the 12-4 team. I am buying into David Garrard - I think the Jaguars made a great decision going with him over Byron Leftwich. I've been anti-Fred Taylor the past few years, thinking he's washed up. I take it all back. He's had a fantastic year, and he's splitting time with Maurice Jones-Drew. I think the Jaguars could be dangerous in the playoffs - but it hurts them that they have to go on the road.

2) For you die-hards out there, Anthony Becht is still playing with the Buccaneers. He gets decent playing time (I think, because I haven't spent much time watching Tampa this season), but he is mainly a blocking tight end. He finished the season with 5 catches for 20 yards, but two of those catches were for touchdowns, and another two for first downs. Watch for him next week against the Giants - he always came up big for the Jets in big games.

SITE UPDATE: I think I'll make my playoff picks by Friday night, and you are free to post comments with your picks. I'll pick against the spread, and using the over/under. I urge you to do the same.

Also, please note that I have transferred all of the Jets content to this site, and the Jets site is effectively no more. Thanks.

ON TO THE PLAYOFFS....

Jets 23, Raiders 3 (NYJ: 10-6, OAK: 2-14)

The Jets beat the Raiders on Sunday, 23-3, to finish at 10-6, and clinch a playoff berth. I can't believe that I'm actually writing playoff previews now.

First, Sunday's game. It wasn't as dominating as I expected. The Raiders couldn't do anything, but the Jets weren't doing much for the first three quarters either. At no time was I afraid the Jets would lose, but I really wanted them to just blow the doors off the Raiders, and that didn't happen until the fourth quarter.

Later on Sunday afternoon, the Broncos blew their lead to the 49ers, and the Colts, Chargers, and Ravens all won, setting up this week's playoff matchups of the Colts versus the Chiefs, and the Jets versus the Patriots. I can't believe the Jets are going to be playing the Patriots. There's a lot to write about this week - I'll have an entry everyday. But first, today, I'm going to revisit Sunday before looking ahead to the playoffs.

There's a reason I don't break my back to go down to New York (actually, New Jersey for the games) for every Jets home game. And I always forget what that reason is, until I'm sitting there in Section 336 at Giants Stadium. The people in my section are idiots. It's nearly impossible to focus on the football game. There's a guy who sits behind us - for years this guy has been sitting behind us - but somehow, his son hasn't aged...the kid is like Bart Simpson. This guy, who my dad aptly, perfectly, called "Nitwit" on Sunday, has been insulting Jets quarterbacks from the upper deck since Ken O'Brien. Anyway, this guy is the most annoying person in sports fan history (but he's not the only one in our section). (And I know that there are probably other sections in the stadium that are bad, and there are other sections that are probably great to sit in, but I don't sit there. I have to sit with these people.) It's hard to enjoy the game when this guy is behind you yelling at Chad Pennington all game to "Throw the long pass Chad! The 10-yard one!" Followed immediately by, "Chad! Throw the medium pass - the 6-yard one!" It's funny, ten times a game, you see, because Chad Pennington doesn't have a great arm. But at least when he yells that he's watching the game. 90% of the game this guy is watching the scoreboard, making sure everyone knows who he bet money on (and in my case, who we're really rooting for to lose). Sunday, it was Cincinnati. I was quite pleased when I came home to find out how the Bengals lost. Oh - and he had the "over" in the Jets game - so he's the only nitwit in the stadium rooting for the Raiders to score. My dad made a funny observation - this guy has never won a bet in all the years he's been sitting behind us. He must win the weeks we're not there.

OK, then there's the drunk people. Way too many drunk people. It's dangerous. We also sit two sections over from the section they sell to fans from the opponents' city. So there are also a lot of fights. I don't feel safe a lot of the time.

Two more complaints, then I'll focus on the football. Two rows in front of us, there's a group of grown men, I'd say in their late fifties, early sixties, and their sons, maybe my age...maybe everyone's a bit younger than I'm estimating. But they look like good football fans. They look like people who'll be paying attention to the game. But, no...they spend the entire game making paper airplanes and seeing if they can get them to fly onto the field. And they don't just buy a program (or take the free one we're given at the door) and rip out pages...they bring their own white paper with them to the game. IT'S PRE-MEDITATED, PEOPLE!!

And my last one - the guy who brought a sign to the game. In the past few years, they've installed a camera at Giants Stadium above the tunnel in our section. I'm not really sure why, we're in the corner of the end zone - it's not a great view, but it does offer a decent panorama of the field. (If you're ever watching a Jets or Giants game with me, I'll point out the shot - they use it like twice a game.) Anyway, once in the game this camera turns around for a crowd shot, and this guy and his 12-or-so-year-old son have a sign that says "JETS - Come Back Season" - a good CBS sign, you figure probably this guy will get on TV. He's up every commercial waving it at the cameraguy - fine, whatever. Every commercial. Then he starts doing it during the game. Then -this is hilarious - the cameraguy has the camera pointed at him, and it looks like they're going to show this guy on TV, and people start gathering around the camera and waving, as they are wont to do (and totally in their right to do). And the guy starts yelling at all the people in front of him, "HEY! THE GUY IS TRYING TO TAKE A PICTURE! F-IN' PEOPLE." Classic. I'm not sure the people in front of you knew that the guy was taking video there. They thought they were waving into a mirror, you moron.

OK, it feels good to get all that out. My final thoughts on Sunday's game, then the rest of the week is a playoff preview:

• The Jets played a video montage of Curtis Martin towards the end of the game. The crowd gave it a standing ovation. I scanned the sidelines with the binoculars, but it didn't seem like Martin was there. A shame if he's played his last game (as a Jet or otherwise). But it was nice that they gave him the tribute.
• The Jets do have cheerleaders (I forgot if I speculated on that here or talking to someone). The women in tight green outfits replace guys who use to run around carrying flags when the Jets would score. I told my dad, "Eric Mangini has done a nice job re-doing the Jets' image this year, but I don't think you can credit him as a 'genius' for this move. How smart do you have to be to say, 'You know how we have those fat guys running around carrying flags after touchdowns and field goals? What if we replaced them with hot chicks?'"

This thought occurred to me yesterday, because when we left the Jets game, we thought there'd be no way we'd be going back. But that was when the Jets were the lowest seed. Now the Chiefs are the lowest seed. And they could beat Indy, what with Larry Johnson running (though I'm not sure they will). Anyway, if the Jets win out, and the Chiefs win out, the AFC Championship will be at the Jets. Welcome back, Herman Edwards. Wouldn't that be something. I would even put up with the bozos in Section 336 to go back to the Meadowlands to boo Herm Edwards.

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

PICKS!!!

A bad loss to the Chiefs in Week One,
And you thought things couldn’t get worse.
Well, now just look what I’ve done –
This week’s Jets pick is in verse.

They bounced back in last week’s game,
Beating Miami by ten.
This week expect more of the same,
The Jets will triumph again.

Some have the line at No Line,
Some have New York minus-3.
Leftwich’s status – not fine.
He has a bad arm, leg, and knee.

Curtis Martin is better,
His status received an upgrade.
He really is a go-getter…
And Blaylock’s there should he fade.

Chad Pennington’s treasured arm
Has shown recent signs it’s alive.
Once he starts getting warm,
Like in last week’s game’s final drive.

The defense is a major force –
For the Jags it won’t be an easy day.
But their D’s tough too, of course,
The offenses will not find their way.

There’s one weak spot to be found-
And it helps the Jets and their Curtis.
The Jaguars give up lots of ground –
“The running backs can really hurt us.”

So it’s with the Jets I will stick,
A defensive struggle it’ll be.
And for this week’s big pick -
It’ll be Jets, thirteen to three.

OK. Now I'll be normal again. For some reason I just felt like doing that - I was inspired, I guess.

So last week I was the best against the spread - 10-5-1. The wife was 8-7-1, and Dave from Brighton went 6-9-1. Overall, Dave's record is the same (he had nothing for Week One), the wife is 18-13-1, one game in front of me at 17-14-1.

This week, the wife picks the Jets, and Dave also does...we're using No Line on that game.

Across the NFL:

The Rams are home to the Titans. I think this is the first home game for Saint Louis - after losing at San Francisco and then winning in Arizona. Tough luck for Tennessee. After beating the Ravens in Tennessee last week, I think they're going to get smoked. I take the Rams giving six-and-a-half. (Wife picks TEN, Dave takes ST.L.)

Philadelphia hosts Oakland. Wow. Tough early sked for Oakland. At New England, home to KC, now at Philly. I take Philly, giving seven-and-a-half. (Dave and wife take PHI)

Cincinnati is in Chicago, favored by three. Chicago is good defense, Cincinnati is good offense. I think Cincy's offense is better. I take CIN -3. (Dave takes CHI +3, wife takes CIN)

Minnesota hosts New Orleans. For some reason, I wrote down that I'll take New Orleans. Maybe the dome will benefit them...I don't know. Maybe I think they'll only lose by three, getting three-and-a-half. (Dave takes NO, wife takes MIN giving the points).

Carolina is three point favorites at Miami. After beating the Patriots, they can't lose to Miami. This is a typical let-down game, but the Panthers already had their let-down in Week One. I take Car - 3. (Dave and wife also take CAR)

Indy is giving 13-and-a-half to Cleveland. I picked Indy minus the points, but I'll be interested to see how Peyton Manning does against Romeo Crennel. Interesting matchup here. We'll see if it's Crennel who has Manning's number or Belichick. (Dave takes Indy, wife takes Cle).

No line on Buffalo and Atlanta, because of Mike Vick's uncertain status. I think he'll play. And win. I take Atlanta. (Dave takes BUF, wife takes ATL).

The Packers have to win eventually, don't they? They host the Bucs, and are home 'dogs. They can't lose as a home 'dog. I think they win outright. I take Green Bay, plus three-and-a-half. (Dave and wife also take GB)

Seattle hosts Arizona, giving six. I don't know why, but I'm taking Arizona. I guess I figure they're going to win eventually, and the NFC West will be all messed up, and to get to that point, they're going to have to beat Seattle, and that will probably happen this week. So I take Ari, +6. (Dave takes Sea, and so does the wife)

Pittsburgh hosts New England, and is giving 3. It looks like two losses in a row for the Pats. I don't buy Roethlisberger, but the Steelers can play smashmouth like the Panthers did last week. Regular season, anyway. Steelers, -3. (Dave and the wife, both Pats fans, take NE and the points)

Dallas is favored by six-and-a-half in San Francisco. I think the Cowboys win by a touchdown. I take Dallas. (Dave takes Dallas, wife takes SF)

Sunday night, it's Chargers-Giants. I have to say, the Giants have looked good in their first two games. Eli Manning hasn't impressed the heck out of me, but he's playing smart. I also think the Chargers are overrated (or were, anyway, before they started 0-2). So I'm taking the Giants, getting five-and-a-half, although the Chargers will probably sneak by and win this game. (Dave takes SD, wife takes NYG)

Monday night, it's Denver-KC, in Denver. Kansas City, the way they've been playing, should kill Denver. They're actually getting three. Easy pick. KC, plus-3. (Same for Dave and the wife).

Enjoy Week Three!

Just wanted to make a new post to welcome all the readers I'm sure to get from North Carolina. Also, I should plug Kevin from Wilmington's blog for both of my regular readers who don't yet know about it - wect.com, click on the "Orange Couch". I'd put a direct link to it, but first of all, how lazy are you that you can't type it in, and second of all, I don't know how.

It goes without saying that I am embarrassed to be a Jets fan, and horrified at what might still come the rest of the season after Sunday's performance at Kansas City. I need to work out a code so that when I come back from a weekend away, and I have Tivo-ed the Jets game, and I sit to watch it later that night, someone should stop me. I think this will only apply to games where Chad Pennington fumbles more than 5 times in one half. But Sunday would have applied.

It was just disgusting. And then it comes out that Jonathan Vilma was punched in the face by James Reed on the sideline during the fourth quarter. Great - nothing like a little team disharmony to go with a terrible performance.

The good news - the Dolphins are bad. Even though they won on Sunday, they are bad - and they're coming to the Meadowlands for the Jets' home opener. Get ready for a blowout - the Jets should be able to beat the Dolphins anyway, and their pride is now hurt.

The other bad news from Sunday - Larry Johnson, the Kansas City running back who tore up the Jets - probably shouldn't have played. He turned himself in to police today (Tuesday) for assaulting his girlfriend on Saturday night. He was out with another girl on Saturday, and his girlfriend saw him at that bar. He took her and forcibly tried to get the bouncer to remove her from the bar. The nerve of her to interrupt his date! Anyway, imagine if the police had arrested him during the game - that would have been great. And imagine they couldn't find him - and they're watching the game on Sunday?

The officers are sitting there, watching the game - one of them says to the other, "We got this arrest warrant out for this guy Larry Johnson. No one seems to know who he is."
Game in the background - Announcer says, "And the Chiefs score a touchdown! Larry Johnson!"
Officer 1 to officer 2 - "You don't suppose......"
Officer 2 - "Naaah."

I hope that came across like it was in my head.

I expected a flood of e-mails following the loss. All I got was one:

"From one man who suffered a harrowing defeat last weekend (the University of Evil over my alma mater 17-10) to another: I was curious to read your breakdown of the breakdown, so to speak. And yet, nothing. I fear someone should have taken your belt and shoelaces. Are you faring ok? Still processing oxygen? What is your analysis of what happened and where your beloved Jets go from here?

Love Always,
Don Lagreca"

Sorry. The problem was, I didn't finish watching the game until about 8:30/9:00 Sunday night, because I was away, as I mentioned. By then, I was mad that I had watched the whole thing (it was like watching a train wreck - I was wondering how bad it could have gotten), and that I had missed the end of the 4 o'clock games, and then I needed to cool down so I could actually fall asleep and be effective the next day. Then Monday I was still mad, and I didn't feel like writing about it. So there.

I really think this was just a bad game. I've seen the Jets be horrible before - we all have. There's no way they're going to play every game this poorly. And I need more proof before I lessen my expectations for a great year. I will say I should have been more uncomfortable with the fact that the Jets have high expectations placed upon them this year - that's never a good thing. If the Jets don't blow out Miami (OK, if they don't beat Miami), then I'll start worrying. And the following week will be a good measuring stick, with Jacksonville at home. In the end, as horrible as Sunday was, it was just one loss. It only counts as 0-1 (although it deserves to jump them to 0-10), and the Jets can bounce back next Sunday. I promise to write something up after that game and re-assess.

Another thing that left me angry Sunday was the total disaster that was my picks. I'm already out of the knockout pool...I might keep picking that on this site for fun....now that I've lost my money. But my other picks were brutal too - weird week of football. I'll update the standings between Dave, the wife, and me on Friday.

By the way - clever alias by the man who beat me out in one of my weekly pools - and in case you didn't guess, he's a Michigan alum. And I don't know how he knows about Don LeGreca.

To my new Carolina readers - I'm rooting big-time for your Panthers on Sunday. I'd appreciate e-mails if you'd like to offer predictions or info on the upcoming game with New England.