TMC-Week 3

Another NFL week in the books, another round of shitty picks by me. Did I just cuss? Oops, sorry about that. I'm not real sure there is any other word to describe them though, so whatever.

Some of my thoughts from Week 3:

• Right now the QB spectrum in the NFL looks like this: J.P. Losman-Carson Palmer. Did you ever think that Peyton Manning's fantasy numbers would be leaning more towards Losman than Palmer? At this point Gary Hogeboom should forget about reality TV and see if he can QB the Bills.
• Bold prediction of the week: the Cleveland Browns will finish 8-8. They're giving themselves a chance to win. If they can teach Antonio Bryant some manners and get Lee Suggs healthy they'll be just fine. Plus, their schedule isn't the toughest in the league.
• Can I go to my local tanning salon and get the Mike Shannahan special? My God! Is his goal skin cancer? Just curious.
• Another prediction: the Cowboys are not going to the playoffs. They are 2-1, but didn't Drew Bledsoe look like an MVP candidate after three games in Buffalo? I think they are just too old at key positions (QB & WR) to get it done over a 16 game season.
• Have three teams ever needed a bye week this early in the season as much as the Texans, Ravens, and Lions did? For three teams with lofty preseason aspirations, they have stunk it up thus far.
• Everyone knew the Double Down had a great set of WRs, but the guy that makes his team the best in the league thus far is Cadillac Williams. What a start he's off to. I'm not going to feel sorry for Daniels next year when he has to decide which two to keep out of Kevin Jones, Cadillac, Randy Moss, T.O., and Chad Johnson.
• If the Rams rattle off three or four wins in a row will they give Adam Archuleta a nice bonus? Has any one play been bigger this early in the season than his INT return for a TD? I wasn't at the game, but even on TV it was apparant the boobirds were out. He may have saved the Rams' season with that one play and I'm not exaggerating.

Moving on to my picks. I was 2-4 last week to move to a whopping 7-11 on the season. Seven and 11 may be lucky numbers in Vegas, but not here. However, the good news is that I picked opposite my picks for the pick'em feature on the league website, so I was 4-2 for the week there. Whatever, I'm just trying to make myself feel good. I'm sorta modifying this part of Tuesday Morning Crow, just to make it a bit more spiffy.

Puffins 98, Boys 71 (prediction Boys 107, Puffins 81)

Nothing like picking yourself to lose and you end up winning. That shows how competent I am. I guess Marty Schottenheimer finally figured out that if his team is going to go down, it should go down utilizing its best player. All be darn. Marty decides to think outside the box and give LT touches and the Chargers win. Nice idea Marty. More importantly, LT's big night gave the Puffins a big win over their division rival the Buffet Boys.

Game ball goes to: Tomlinson. 246 total yards, 3 rushing TDs, & 1 passing TD. 36 pts.

Hitters 113, Crapshoot 103 (prediction Hitters 78, Fagan 73)

Fagan outscores 9 teams and loses. I guess he has a cheap win coming his way. Hudnall could be dangerous if Jamal Lewis gets going after his bye week, but needs some receivers to step up and take pressure off of Steve Smith. I thought Fagan had a chance heading into last night's game, but Ron Dayne didn't get touches and Rod Smith left early after getting knocked silly.

Game ball goes to: Steve Smith. 11 catches for a buck sixty-eight. 3 TDs. 32 pts.

TQ 122, Scott 68 (prediction Scott 105, TQ 95)

If I had a brain in my head I would have put a picture of Luke and Vader from Return of the Jedi and not from The Empire Strikes Back. I should've known better. Anyway, what can you say about the Burrowing Owls? Please accept my apologies after moving to 3-0 and taking it to the Dogs. How good of a week was it for TQ? His reserves scored 65 points. Wow. Plus, his blog made its debut. Not a bad week.

Game ball goes to: Drew Bledsoe. 368 total yards, 2 pass TDs, 1 rush TD, & a 2-pt. conversion. 26 pts.

Double Down 101, Carpetbaggers 79 (prediction Baggers 87, DD 84)

I'm done betting against Daniels. He's loaded. I thought that he may have some trouble this week with some of his matchups, but, as usual, I was wrong. I'm sure Al was happy to see Culpepper get back on track, but probably would've rather seen his team finish with more points than Daniels.

Game ball goes to: Marc Daniels. What? He's the owner. I know, but anytime you have every player score and none of them scores over 20 points you have to tip your cap to the one who sets the lineup. Am I sucking up for picking him to lose? Just a little bit.

Creamers 102, Pressers 67 (prediction Creamers 88, Pressers 72)

Unfortunately for Wes I actually got this one right. I don't know what to say about this one other than I was jacked to find the steel cage photo of Hogan and Orndorff. Man, wrestling used to be so much better. Piper's Pit was awesome. Was I the only one who actually liked Rowdy Roddy Piper when he was a bad guy? I was actually mad when he became a good guy because then everyone liked him. Oh well.

Game ball actually goes to: Antonio Gates. 6 catches for 92 yds and a TD. 19 pts.

Rampage 74, Pietschskins 73 (prediction 'Skins 93, Rampage 75)

Shaun Alexander and Marc Bulger combined for 50 points. That's a lot of points. Unfortunately for Troy, Carson Palmer only threw 3 TD passes. One point losses are never fun, especially when you consider this: If the Patriots run one more play on Sunday against the Steelers and gain, say, four yards, then Vinatieri's game-winning FG is not a 40-yarder and this game ends in a tie. Sorry to bring up a bad subject Troy, but it warranted mentioning.

Game ball goes to: Shaun Alexander. 140 yds & 4 TDs. 31 pts.

There you have it. Week 3 is in the books. Don't forget your claims tonight.