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This
is Lucky here, back with a little recap
of yet another unpredictable, and thoroughly
amazing week. I mean, The Colts D only allowed
14 points, who could have predicted that?
I think the heavens even got that one wrong.
Let's see what I got wrong, and discover
if a name change is truly in order.
GAMES
WON - 6
Ravens(-1.5)
@ Jets - I took the Ravens in this one thinking
Quincy Carter would stumble upon a tough
situation and give the game away. I was
wrong. I also thought the Ravens would feed
Jamal Lewis the ball. I was right. But I
sure as hell didn't think that if Lewis
carried the pigskin 30 times he would gain
a total of 71 yards. A Ron Dayinish 2.4
yards a carry. That's more like a Warren
Sappish ypc average. With everything going
opposite from what I thought would happen,
the game scooted into the extra session.
Suddenly a Matt Stover field goal made me
a winner. Ravens 20, Jets 17. A small
bet on this game gave me a quick boost.
Cincinnati(+3)
@ Washington - Like I said, The Redskins
have been overrated since Joe Gibbs took
over. A Cincy team that had been playing
decent ball came in to Washington as a 3-point
underdog. Looking at this, there was no
way I was taking the 3 measly points. I
went for the big money and took the Bengals
to win. To my surprise Mark Brunell and
Patrick Ramsey gave the Redskins no chance
to win the game... Oh, who am I kidding,
that's exactly what I thought would happen.
The Portis factor was negated early in the
second half. Time was running down and The
Skins were down 17-0. The Bengals ran away
with this one. Mr. Ramsey threw a meaningless
touchdown with about 2 minutes left, after
a field goal late made it a 14-point game.
Don't let the 7-point margin fool you, Washington
never had a chance. The Bengals to win,
made me a little cash. Bengals 17, Washington
10.
Pittsburgh(-3.5)
@ Browns - I didn't take money on this game,
but certainly should have. I know, hindsight,
it's 20-20, but what made me miss out on
this one? Big Ben is destined for greatness,
starting 7-0 in his first 7 games. Pittsburgh
has a smothering defense that brings back
memories of the famous Steel Curtain. Pittsburgh
gave the ball to The Bus, who had a full
tank in his second start of the year. He
looks like the Jerome Bettis of old, giving
his team another option when Duce Staley
comes back. Phil Dawson kicked an early
field goal in this one, putting the Browns
up for the last time in the game. Cleveland
didn't score again until backup Kelly Holcomb
threw a meaningless touchdown with just
over 2 minutes left. The better team clearly
dominated this entire game. Steelers
24, Browns 10.
Tampa
Bay @ Atlanta(-3.5) - Tampa Bay had
been winning some games lately but that
did nothing for me. As I figured, the Atlanta
Defense shut down the Buc running game that
terrorized a much weaker Chief unit a week
ago. Mike Vick didn't have to do all that
much, but made sure his presence was felt
by rushing for 73 yards. After starting
the game with two unanswered touchdowns
and a field goal, the Falcons let up a little,
seemingly letting the Bucs back in. Brian
Griese's touchdown passes late in the second
and early in the third brought the Bucs
back with in three. Vick would end the threat
in the fourth with a 49-yard touchdown pass
to Algae Crumpler. No bet to brag of, but
the Falcons won 24-14.
Carolina(even)
@ San Francisco - This game was meaningless,
but high scoring nonetheless. Luckily for
me, I took the over, which was relatively
low. Two terrible teams that couldn't stop
Drew Bledsoe's feared option attack only
had a 40-point over. 64 points later, I
took home a little cash and happened to
pick the winner as well. Who knew? Carolina
37, 49ers 27.
Philadelphia(-6.5)
@ Dallas - This game turned out just as
I had planned. I took the over, which Philly
won by themselves, and The Eagles favored
by just under a touchdown... against Dallas.
HA! Dallas got their asses kicked all over
the field. I win, not once, but twice. The
Cowboys are threatening to be eliminated
from the playoff race as early as next week,
making me root for them on Thanksgiving
when the only thing they can do is get a
higher draft pick. An exciting year, that's
for sure! Philly 49, Dallas 21.
GAMES LOST - 8
Chicago
@ Tennessee(even) - So, I was wrong.
This game was a toss up from the beginning.
NO McNair, half a Chris Brown, and a complete
Billy Volek. That is never a sign of good
things to come! But then again neither is
this... Starting QB, Craig Krenzel, Thomas
Jones (the Bears lone bright spot) out with
an injury, and their leading receiver is
David Terrell. I guess I picked the wrong
poison. But, think about this game and wonder...
how in the hell? The game went into overtime,
seemingly punishing the 338 people who were
watching the two teams play. In the extra
period the Bears won on a safety. A safety
in overtime for God's sake! And look at
the stats, how in the hell did Chicago win?
Volek threw for 334 yards, and two touchdowns.
Krenzel was 10-28 for 162 yards, no TD's,
and two interceptions. The Bears only had
a yard over 100 rushing for the game, on
34 carries. And they won! Amazing! Bears
19, Titans 17.
Vikings
@ Packers(-4) - Talk about a Heartbreaker.
This game was my big bet for the week. I
went ahead, put a bunch of cash down, and
watched the Packers kick the crap out of
an undermanned Viking squad. Unfortunately,
I only watched that game for 55 minutes.
The last 5 minutes some other game came
on. The Vikings and The Packers were still
playing, but all of a sudden the game was
tied. I Tivo'd back about a minute of high
speed Tivo and found the original game I
was watching. Unfortunately, it wasn't a
new game at all, just a terrible slap to
the face. In a matter of what seemed like
seconds, Daunte Culpepper slung the pigskin
all over the field, tying the game with
1:20 seconds left. I was stunned. Unfortunately
for him, he scored the points too fast.
Brett Favre led his team down the field
and Ryan Longwell kicked a short field goal
to win the game... by 3. Ouch! A Packer
win has never felt so painful. Packers
34, Vikings 31.
Giants(-2)
@ Arizona - The Giants here seemed like
an easy pick. New York's athletes on offense,
mainly Tiki Barbar, had me excited about
a miniscule two-point spread against a feisty,
but poor Arizona team. Or so I thought.
Arizona took it to New York. Beating them
with two touchdowns from a young man named
Emmitt Smith. Remember that name, he's going
to be something big one day! Wow! Tiki got
his 100 yards, but after the game Tom Coughlin
named Eli Manning starter for week 11. Tough
for me sure, I got this one wrong. But how
about Warner? Lead your team to a loss against
the Cardinals. Then get replaced almost
immediately after the game by a rookie.
Times are a little tougher for him I'd suppose.
We'll see what Eli can do. Arizona 17,
Giants 14.
Houston(+9)
@ Indianapolis - The Texans truly disappointed
me. They could only manage to score 14 points
against The Colts, who are just about the
worst defense in the league. I expected
Peyton to have a big game, and he did. I
sure didn't expect David Carr to turn the
ball over four times and fail to throw a
single touchdown. I took the Texans to win
in this one, going for the big bucks as
I've done with them often. But they couldn't
follow through. They didn't even get close
to the spread either. Houston is a perfect
fit for this season, I never know what to
expect. Colts 49, Texans 14.
Buffalo(+8)
@ New England - Buffalo proved me wrong
once again. Lately it has been on the other
side of the radar, but not this time. Somehow
the Bills "tough" defense gave
up a whopping 151 yards to Corey Dillon
on Sunday night. Tom Brady threw for two
touchdowns and the Bills were never in it.
Drew Bledsoe might as well have been running
Nebraska's old option attack the way he
played. He threw for 76 yards, 0 touchdowns,
and 3 interceptions. His backfield mate,
Mr. McGahee rushed 16 times for a criminal
37 yards. Can't win with those numbers.
Unless you're the Bears of course. Pats
29, Bills 6.
Detroit(+3)
@ Jacksonville - Detroit played poorly,
but sent the game into overtime with an
amazing, Dante Hall like performance by
Eddie Drummond, who just happens to be faster
than lightning. He returned two punts for
Touchdowns for his teams only TD's on the
day, leaving him thinking, "Who's the
human highlight film now, Dominique?"
Unfortunately for the Lions, they couldn't
stop the Jaguars in overtime to force a
punt. David Guarrard, who played very well,
threw a touchdown to Jimmy Smith to win
the game in OT. This marks the 6th time
the Jaguars have won in the last minutes
of a football game this year. Fred Taylor
led his team with a season high 144 yards
rushing and 21 yards receiving. Jaguars
23, Lions 17.
Kansas
City(-5) @ New Orleans - Derrick Blaylock
filled in for The Chiefs holy man with flying
colors. His 186 yards rushing and 224 yards
from scrimmage had me thinking the Chiefs
had a pair of Priests. Unfortunately for
Blaylock, he had the same problem Mr. Holmes
has had this year. Despite his amazing game,
the Chiefs couldn't win, leaving them at
3-6. Aaron Brooks threw a touchdown pass
late in the fourth to Joe Horn, giving the
Saints the win and bringing them to 4-5.
Trent Green couldn't get it done, throwing
for more interceptions than touchdowns.
This game told me what this year has already
shown, you never know. Saints 27, Chiefs
20.
Seattle(even)
@ St. Louis - Could Matt Hasselbeck look
any worse? Shaun Alexander had more rushing
yards than Matt had passing yards. Don't
get me wrong; Alexander came to play, gaining
176 yards on the ground. But Hasselbeck
was 15-36 for 172 yards, without a TD, and
one interception. That's about as sickening
as games get! That's a 45 rating. What would
you have to do to get 0? Ask Craig Krenzel
I guess, he got damn close. Maybe next week.
I love the Hawks; I still think they have
a chance. All this did was leave them tied
for first in their division. The only problem
is, Sundays action didn't give me any hope
either. It wasn't a hard played game against
a tough team. It was a game Seattle just
gave away. Not that The Rams don't deserve
their credit, but the Hawks did nothing
to help their cause. Hasselbeck needs to
watch last year's playoff game against Green
Bay. He was a leader with an aura of confidence.
Lately he's been short-arming balls and
just flat out throwing like a sissy. Terry
Bradshaw, who has just a little less hair
than Matt, laid into Matt after his horrible
performance. Hopefully that will piss Matt
off a little, and get his competitive juices
flowing. Anything to show a little life
would be nice. I lost a little, but didn't
risk anything big on the Hawks. Rams
23, Hawks 12.
I
came out of the weekend down a little. Thanks
to some good odds on The Bengals to win,
plus a big Monday Night victory, the 6-8
week didn't harm me that much. I'm left
down a few bucks, but nothing drastic. Next
week begs to be better, and leaves me hoping
for Craig Krenzel of all people, to lead
his team, The Bears of all teams, to their
4th straight victory. That would truly do
it for me. Until then, this is still Lucky,
signing out.
Feel
free to drop old Lucky a line at luckylester@hotmail.com
to let me know of you're success this football
season.
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