My Week 4 NFL Picks

Week 4 and after the huge debacle on Monday Night Football, the NFL has done what they needed to do to bring the real refs back.  These guys will make up to 220K a year for 16 games plus playoffs, for most of them this is their part time gig that also gives them benefits and a retirement package.  Why in the world would anyone want to play do anything else but ref?  Honestly if my future son sucks at sports, I'm going to suggest that he becomes a NFL ref, the benefits and pay is great!  Either way I'm glad to have them back, all refs make mistakes but the other refs seemed to slow down the game with their indecisiveness.  Now we will just get bad calls quicker and keep the game moving.  I wonder if the lockout will effect refs since they didn't get an offseason.  Will they still be in shape?  Or were they at home drinking beer and eating Papa John's while watching their replacement fail miserably?  Eh either way, lets get to the picks.

Ravens over Browns - I just didn't think the Browns had the fire power to get the win here, they are a young team and they have some potential.  Trent Richardson has the ability to take the shine as the best RB in the AFC North in a couple years if he keeps it up.  The Ravens were predicted to win by 13.5, I wouldn't have taken that bet, I figured it would close but still a win for the Purple and Black.

Lions over Vikings - Hill or Stafford, it doesn't matter, I think the Lions have a better team, plus they are at home.

Patriots over Bills - I doubt this will be a blow out, but I think the Patriots will make sure to finish this game better than they have their last two.

San Francisco 49ers over Jets - tough loss last week but I mentioned in my post that I felt weird about that match up. Oh well its over, they should be more focused and learn no to take any match up for granted.  The Jets are missing their Peyton Manning of their defense and that will help ease the the pressure for the Niners WRs, but the 49ers will win this game on the ground and the Jets will have a hard time getting things going against this tough defense.  Chants for Tebow might start as early as 3rd Quarter.  It could be a problem for the Niners if he comes in.  The Niners haven't done well against backup QBs in the past, I assume its due to a different play style and lack of planning for it.

Falcons over Panthers - Falcons at home and they are hot.  The Panthers are who we thought they were.  But they will compete, mistakes against a tough ATL defense will slow them down early. Falcons stay undefeated.

Chargers over Chiefs - Flipped a coin... who knows both of these teams are flip flop teams, plus its a divisional match up so its even tougher to pick.

Seahawks over Rams - I think the Seahawks showed the world on Monday how good their defense was, even if they lost their defense played great all night long against a high powered offense.  So against the Rams I think this defense will have a field day.

Texans over Titans - The Titans would need a miracle or 200 yards from CJ0K to even compete in this one.  The Texans have the best defense and offense combination in the league right now and they will remain undefeated after this weekend.

Broncos over Raiders - This will be a classic QB battle, but I think the Broncos defense will help Peyton to a nice divisional win over Carson Palmer and the Raiders.

Cardinals over Dolphins - Defense will win this one against an inexperienced offense.  Plus Reggie Bush isn't 100% so the offense will be slowed somewhat by that.

Bengals over Jaguars - The Bengals defense hasn't looked much like it did last year but their offense has looked electric and that offense will be way too much for the Jaguars to handle.

Saints over Packers - This is one of my Under Dog picks, but 0-4 Saints, that just doesn't sound normal.  Most people are picking the Packers because they are home and have something to prove to the league after that horrible call that costed them the game.  But I still feel like Brees and the Saints have more to prove.  Sean Payton's job is officially secured, now Drew Brees needs to get his team together.  I'm looking for a shoot out from this game.  Last Touchdown wins the game.

Redskins over Buccs - Maaaaaan, I can't call it for real on this one, both teams are primed to win, the Redskins are a scoring machine and the Buccs are a team that's letting teams get busy.  I look for the Redskins to take advantage of that early, probably let the game get close in the 3rd and 4th, but end the 4th Quarter strong and get the win.

Eagles over Giants -Sorry again Giant fans homies, but I'm going to go out on limb and say that the Eagles will rally at home and even with a few turn overs they will finish this game with a win like they did against the Ravens in Philly.  I'm just giving them the edge because they are at home in this divisional matchup.  This is another under dog pick.

Bears over Cowboys - I went back and forth about this pick but at the end of the day I took the under dog Bears to grind this game out for a win, especially if Forte and M.Bush are both in the back field this week.  I don't see a high scoring affair but I do see a good amount of turnovers by both offenses.  The least turnovers wins the game.

Tebowing With A Purpose...Times Eight [Wedding Day]

From left to right: Adeeb (friend), Demetrius (cousin), Ian (friend), Marques (bestman), Lance (groom), Chris (bestman), Tony (brother), Richard (brother). Photography by JPix Sutdio


As I've mentioned in previous posts, last year I got married (11.19.11) and of course we had a team of photographers there to capture this special and epic event (JPix Photography).  Well in our photo session prior to the ceremony we decided that we wanted to get a shot of us all Tebowing.  Mind you this is Mid-November during the first wave of Tebow Mania.  But looking back, this just makes sense.  If Tim gets down on one knee and says a short prayer of thanks after a big win or a big play, then me and my groomsmen doing the same right before the big moment on the big day sounds like the perfect thing to do.  Thank you Lord for this day, for getting me to right here, to right now, and thank you for the road ahead.

This post seemed some what appropriate for today since Peyton Manning making his decision pretty much puts Tim Tebow out of a job.  I'm sure he'd grin and bare it to be a backup and maybe learn some good pointers from two legends and hope that in 3 or 4 years he can start again.  Unfortunately, I doubt the media will like that at all.  Skip Bayless has already been on twitter petitioning to #FreeTebow like he's Mumia Abu Jamal or Mike Tyson.  I do agree that the Bronco's need to let him go, make a trade or something.  Not because he's the best pure QB out there and needs to be starting somewhere, he's not even close, but because he has a will to win and he sells tickets.  Several teams need that, the Browns, the Jaguars, the Dolphins just to name the first few that came to mind.  Honestly Tebow in Florida would be the best move for him and for the franchise that he goes to.  Good Luck Tim!

***Update***

Here's the link to this picture on www.Tebowing.com

http://tebowing.com/post/20351130380/the-groom-grooomsmen-tebowing-before-a-wedding

T-Sizzle Takes On Football's Hey-Zeus (Plus Wild Card Picks)

First off, calling Tim Tebow Jesus is blasphemous, and all the references to him performing miracles is even worse.  Second, his team has been as bad as it has been good, he didn't turn around the organization. The guy he replaced came back and beat them and if the Raiders had won they wouldn't have made the playoffs.  But at 8-8 they have made the playoffs and will face an injured Steelers team in Denver.  Nothing in my football mind can allow me to pick them to win this weekend.  Actually as a quick run down, I'm picking the Steelers over the Broncos by 12, the Bengals over the Texans in a close game decided by field goals, The Saints over the Lions in a shoot out where the last TD wins, the Falcons over the Giants by 4 points.  The NFC games were there toughest to pick for me, I wouldn't bet money on any of those games they could go either way and not be an upset.  The only upset would be the Broncos beating the Steelers, well the Ravens & Patriots wouldn't be upset about that one.

OK so now to the title of this post. I read some comments that Terrell Suggs aka T-Sizzle of the Ravens had to say about Tim Tebow in the playoffs.  They were very entertaining but also had a lot of weight/truth behind them.  I don't blame Tebow for any of this the media has made his simple actions way bigger than they would have been with anyone else and I think T-Sizzle is just responding to this character that the media has built up and I'm sure if he knew Tebow as a person her wouldn't be attacking his actions.  Read below for his comments copied from ESPN's AFC North Blog written by Jamison Hensley.

Asked by Skip Bayless for his take on Tebow, Suggs said, “He’s all right. He’s all right. Come on now, let’s be honest, Skip. I can put up the numbers he was [putting up]. It’s all about numbers, baby. Give me a shot. Let’s see what we can do, create my own offense and hopefully my kicker can nail a 62-yarder to bail me out a few times, Jesus shows up."

Suggs added, "That boy be praying on the sidelines, boy. I don’t feel comfortable [if] I’ve got to pray every fourth quarter like, ‘Oh my God, please come save me again.’ Let’s just go out there and win the game.”

Suggs then took a shot at Tebow's religious persona. "With all due respect, we don't pray on the sideline," he said. "We do -- we give it up to God to keep us safe and healthy. When our quarterback prays, he's like, 'God, sit on the couch and enjoy this. Thank you for blessing me and letting me wake up and play this game. I'm going to impress you.'"

Bayless pointed out that Tebow went 7-4 as a starter and led the Broncos to the AFC West title.
"He didn’t win the AFC West," Suggs said. "Oakland lost it."

So, would Suggs rather have Joe Flacco or Tebow as his quarterback?

“Are you kidding me? Why don’t you like my quarterback, Skip? Is it his mustache? Is it his eyebrows? Is it because Tim Tebow is prettier?” Suggs said. “I understand you’ve got your man crush but you can’t force that on the rest of us. We here in Baltimore, we’ve got a quarterback that fits our personality. … I love the kid. He plays football. He’s my quarterback. I stand by him. And I love him on the sidelines with the ice in his veins. I just feel awesome about him.”

Back to my opinion, nothing is wrong with praying, or praying publicly, its actually a great testament of faith.  But pray to be safe, pray for strength, pray for health, pray for an injured player, I don't think praying to win a game is something a professional should do. Its a game, its not life.  If your life was on the line if you didn't win, then yes, please pray.  But a game is just a game at the end of the day, if everyone stays healthy then they go on to play another game and continue to get paid.  If Tebow is praying for wisdom in tough situations, then I greatly applaud that.  At the end of the day its between him and God, and I can only blame the media for making a simple gesture of faith by an overrated player into such a big deal.  Personally I think this is a great chess move by Terrell Suggs, but Tebow doesn't listen to any chatter that hits the media or if he does he doesn't let it effect him.  But it would be smart to hype up the opponent of the team that you don't really want to face for a third time this year in an elimination game on the anniversary of them eliminating your team from the playoffs a year ago.