Logo of a college football program that has been a powerhouse for a long time, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. This logo is from the 1950s and ’60s, an era that saw the beginning of the long-time coaching career of the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant, who won 6 national championships. Also during this era, some famous future NFL players suited up for the Tide, including Hall of Fame quarterbacks Bart Starr and Joe Namath, and long-time Dallas Cowboy linebacker Lee Roy Jordan.
1984 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ safety Steve Freeman. Freeman, after being cut by the Patriots, was plucked off the waiver wire by the Bills, and turned out to be a pretty good scrap heap find for the Bills, spending 12 years with the franchise as a mainstay in the defensive secondary. He wound up his playing career with a season in Minnesota, but retired as a player after that year. He did, however, stay active in the game, working as an official in the Southeast Conference and NFL Europe, before graduating to the NFL, where he currently works as a back judge on Jeff Triplette’s crew.
After picking 12 winners out of the 14 NFL games played in week 9, my record for the season now shows 69 correct and 34 wrong, which calculates to a .710 winning percentage. A lot of NFL head coaches would like to have a winning percentage like that. Here are my week 10 picks:
Indianapolis at Jacksonville – the Colts, behind rookie QB Andrew Luck, are becoming a great story line in the NFL this year, as they continue to win for ailing head coach Chuck Pagano. Indy should win this game, since the Jags don’t have much of a home field advantage.
Buffalo at New England – this might as well be New England versus Orchard Park High School – it might make for a closer result. The Patriots win big at home.
Oakland at Baltimore – I have this sneaking hunch that the Raiders could pull an upset here, but don’t have the guts to pick it. The Ravens win a close one.
Denver at Carolina – it’s too tough to pick against Peyton Manning now – he’s obviously back and healthy. The Broncos win due to the play of their defense this week rather than relying on Manning’s arm.
New York Giants at Cincinnati – the Bengals just aren’t showing that they are capable of repeating their playoff run of 2011. I’ll go with the Giants to rebound from a tough loss to the Steelers last week and win on the road.
Tennessee at Miami – both of these teams are coming off of disappointing losses, and the Titans should be especially motivated after being embarrassed by the Bears last week. I like Miami’s defense to carry the day and help the Dolphins get a win.
Detroit at Minnesota – I think it’s safe to say that the loser of this game will likely drop out of playoff contention in the NFC North, so it’ll be a hard-fought divisonal rivalry game. The Lions are a little better team and will squeeze out a road win.
Atlanta at New Orleans – the Saints have some holes on defense, but they’re marching again on offense. Atlanta’s undefeated run ends here as New Orleans pulls the upset at home.
San Diego at Tampa Bay – I’m impressed with what the Buccaneers are doing this year, even though they almost blew a big lead at Oakland last week. However, I have to go with the Chargers at home.
New York Jets at Seattle – if the Jets are going to keep their playoff hopes alive, they have to rise to the occasion and win here. I don’t think they’re capable. I’m picking the Seahawks to win at home.
Dallas at Philadelphia – with Tony Romo and Michael Vick squaring off in this one, it should be a turnover fest. It’s always hard to figure how these divisional games will unfold, but I’ll take Dallas since they’ve been a bit more consistent overall this season.
St. Louis at San Francisco – this figures to be a solid 49er victory, although I expect Jeff Fisher to have his Rams ready to play after getting throttled by New England in London last week.
Houston at Chicago – this could be an honest-to-goodness Super Bowl preview. Both of these teams are solid, offensively and defensively. For this game, the Bears have the home field advantage, plus a significant edge on special teams. Chicago wins.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh – not much of a matchup in this one. The Chiefs will wilt early and that translates into an easy Steeler victory.
Logo of another top college football program, the Arkansas Razorbacks. This logo was used from 1955 until 1963, a time frame that saw the beginning of the Frank Broyles coaching era, which lasted 19 years and was one of the most successful in school history. The Razorbacks played in the old, now defunct Southwest Conference at the time, winning conference titles and a national championship in ’64. Two well known players who starred as Razorbacks during the era of this logo are Lance Alworth and future coach Barry Switzer.
1965 Topps football card of one of the top receivers in the early years of the American Football League, Bo Roberson. He played for 7 seasons in the AFL for 4 different teams, with his longest stint lasting 3 1/2 years with the Oakland Raiders. Roberson got a lucky break in the middle of the 1965 season – when the defending champion Buffalo Bills ran into injury problems at the receiver position, they traded with the Raiders to acquire him – and he helped the Bills win a second straight title. Roberson, a graduate of Cornell, also was a track star in his college days, and won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
The best thing you can say about the Buffalo Bills’ performance on Sunday, against a far superior opponent in the Houston Texans, is that they didn’t get completely embarrassed, as they were earlier in the year against San Francisco and New England. The Texans won 21-9, but honestly, even though it was only a 12 point spread, you never really got the feeling that the Bills were capable of winning the game once their defense gave up the third touchdown of the day. The Bills’ offense played a decent game against a tough defense, and for really the first time this season weren’t able to score touchdowns. Against a Wade Phillips coordinated defense, that’s to be expected. The units he coaches have always been good at denying opponents touchdowns. (Remember during the Super Bowl era, when the Bills beat Denver and Wade’s defense, 10-7 in the AFC title game, with the touchdown coming on a Carlton Bailey interception?) This was a game in which the Bills’ defense needed to play out of their heads and keep the game close, and for the most part, they did. But at the end of the day, the Texans’ playmakers, RB Arian Foster and WR Andre Johnson, both topped 100 yards, and QB Matt Schaub was efficient if not spectacular, and routinely did what he needed to do when the game was on the line. There were 2 plays during the game that were maddening and typical of what Dave Wannstedt’s defense has done all year. One was a third-and- two situation on one of the Texans’ TD drives. On the play, Bills’ rookie corner Stephon Gilmore lined up 10 yards off of Johnson, then backpedaled at the snap of the ball. The result, predictably, was an easy toss from Schaub to Johnson for the first down and more. I understand the concept of respecting Johnson’s ability, but why does a team battling to get a win completely concede the first down and make it easy for the opponent to keep a drive alive? The second was the Texans’ final score. On the play, a third down and goal, the Bills only rushed the front four, and, again predictably, Schaub had all day to wait for a receiver to break open, and threw a touchdown pass to seal it. This has been a problem for the defense all year, and is a major reason why you never get the feeling that any of the players will step up and make a play when it counts. A definition of good coaching is to put your players in positions to make plays. Most coaches, including Wannstedt, are capable of doing this, but great coaches put their players in position to make plays when the game is on the line, on the 2 or 3 plays in each game that make the difference. They will put their players, on those plays, in a position to be aggressive, to dictate what the opposing team can do, somehow, some way. Wannstedt’s defense hasn’t done this all year and shows no sign that it will any time soon.
Next week’s game in New England should be ugly to watch. The Patriots have routinely gouged Buffalo’s defense, for at least a decade now, for 6 or 7 touchdowns per outing with Tom Brady probably breaking more of a sweat during the week’s practice sessions than he does against the Bills in the game. With Wannstedt too stubborn to change his passive approach, there’s no reason to believe it’ll be any different this time.
After recently featuring the logo of the Army football team, it’s only fitting to also highlight the logo of the Naval Academy. This particular logo was used by the school’s football team from 1959 until 1971, an era that featured the Midshipmen’s most famous player, quarterback Roger Staubach. The school produced 2 Heisman Trophy winners in this era also – Staubach in 1963 and Joe Bellino in 1960. Navy’s biggest rival, of course, is Army, but they also play annual rivalry matches against the Air Force Academy and Notre Dame.
1984 Topps football card of one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time, former Cincinnati Bengal tackle Anthony Munoz. He played 13 years in the National Football League for the Bengals, and was a Pro Bowler 11 times. He was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All Time Team, and the All Decade Team for the 1980s. He was known for his charitable work off the field as much as his play on it, and won the Walter Payton Man of The Year Award in 1991. When he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998, Munoz became the first former Bengal to receive the honor.
After a mediocre week of picking 7 winners and 7 losers, my season record now stands at 57 games correct and 32 wrong. Here are the week 9 picks:
Kansas City at San Diego – the Chargers have gained a reputation as massive underachievers over the years, but Kansas City has major problems, including a quarterback controversy. San Diego wins at home.
Buffalo at Houston – Texans’ star RB Arien Foster has to be salivating at the thought of facing the Bills’ porous run defense, ranked at the very bottom of the entire NFL. Houston should win this game handily.
Denver at Cincinnati – the Bengals are becoming desperate and should be a tough out at home, but Peyton Manning is starting to settle in with his new teammates in Denver, and the Broncos are beginning to look like an AFC power. Denver wins a close one.
Baltimore at Cleveland – the Ravens are still trying to plug injury holes on defense. Unfortunately, the Browns don’t have the firepower to take advantage. Although Cleveland rookie RB Trent Richardson should have a good game, the Ravens will win a low-scoring affair.
Arizona at Green Bay – after opening the season with 4 straight wins, the Cardinals have lost 4 in a row. The Packers will send them to their fifth on Sunday.
Miami at Indianapolis – both of these clubs are off to surprising starts, but Miami looks like they’re ready to contend for a playoff spot. The Dolphins pull out a hard fought win on the road.
Detroit at Jacksonville – the undermanned Jaguars are fighting hard under coach Mike Mularkey, but Detroit needs this game badly to try to stay alive in the NFC North. The Lions will win.
Chicago at Tennessee – I don’t see Titan RB Chris Johnson having much success against a tough Bear defense. After surviving a scare against Carolina last week, Chicago will be ready and will win here on the road.
Carolina at Washington – last year’s rookie phenom QB, Cam Newton, faces this year’s, Robert Griffin III. Opposing defenses are beginning to figure out how to stop Newton, while I expect RGIII to rebound from a poor showing against the Steelers. The Redskins get a win.
Tampa Bay at Oakland – a battle between 2 clubs with rookie head coaches that are fighting for respect. The Buccaneers have been a little more consistent, and I expect them to win this game.
Minnesota at Seattle – the Vikings are the type of opponent, despite their success so far this year, that is ripe to be overwhelmed by the Seahawks and their home crowd. Seattle wins at home.
Pittsburgh at New York Giants – although I feel the Giants are the better team, I also feel that this is the type of game they may sleepwalk through since they have a comfortable lead in their division. The Steelers win on the road.
Dallas at Atlanta – it’s taken almost half the season and a 7-0 record to finally convince me that the Falcons mean business this year. Atlanta throttles an up-and-down Cowboy team.
Philadelphia at New Orleans – the 2012 Disappointment Bowl. Both of these teams should be playoff contenders but are struggling badly. At this point, the Saints are a better bet to perform at a high level, even though their defense is horrible. New Orleans wins.
Logo of the West Point Academy football team, used from 1962 until 1993. The team is better known as the Army Black Knights, and is an independent college program that competes on a major college level. Their main rivalry games each year are against the Air Force Academy and, in one of the most storied rivalries of all time, against the Naval Academy. Over the years, the team has had a lot of famous coaches, including Paul Dietzel, Lou Saban and Bobby Ross as head coaches, and Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells as assistants.