2017 MLB Playoff Predictions (Part 1)

Power Ranking the MLB Playoffs
1) Indians (3/1)
2) Astros (4.5/1)
3) Nationals (8/1)
4) Dodgers (3.5/1)
5) Diamondbacks (18/1)
6) Cubs (7.5/1)
7) Red Sox (8/1)
8) Rockies (25/1)
9) Yankees (10/1)
10) Twins (25/1)

This season came in thirds: the first third belonged to the Astros, the second third was all Dodgers, the final third was clearly the Indians.
In each of those thirds, the Nationals were arguably the second best team (hope Scherzer is ready to play).
I got a feeling that the Diamondbacks are more dangerous than most folks realize (and I think the most tantalizing pick for gamblers).
The Cubs should've dominated this season, perhaps they were just waiting for now.
The Red Sox are okay, they've got the talent to win it all but they'll need to take a step up to make some noise.
I think the Yankees (youth came along quicker than planned), Twins (feasted on a pretty horrible AL Central, played solid if unspectacular all season) and Rockies (props for coming from the toughest division but hard to tell how good they actually are) all wildly overachieved and aren't really in the conversation.

I'll take the Diamondbacks and Yankees, the home teams, to move on through the play-in games. 

2017-18 NFL (Week 3)

Games I watched (some of):
Giants 24-27 Eagles
NYG finally showed some offense, they exploded out of nowhere in the 4th quarter, but the defense had ups and downs. Eli finally got Brandon Marshall into the attack and Beckham re-appeared, so can the Giants keep the offense going? Ehhh, maybe. The Eagles looked like the better team to me but they're not exactly a juggernaut. The offense stops and starts, which is a reflection of a young QB I reckon. The Eagles are better and they won the game, the Giants are not as good but showed signs of maybe getting better.

Steelers 17-23 Bears
I've watched the Bears twice now this year: they looked not bad against the Falcons in Week 1 and now they finish the upset the Steelers in Week 3. That Bears pass rush is legit and their running game is really good, I don't generally think they're good enough to win very many games but they're starting to get strong in the places you want to be strong. The Steelers, on the other hand, did not look particularly good at anything. Never got the running game going, Roethlisberger is either hurt or rapidly aging (he used to move well for a big man but now he looks like he's trying to get a pull-out couch to a third floor apartment) and the defense couldn't stop the run at all. Non-conference road game, we've seen this before, Steelers went vanilla but if they're as good as they ought to be then Ben over the top to those wideout weapons should've been enough to win this game. Not a good game for the Steelers, this should've been a W; good game for the Bears, they're a team that has their moments.

Bengals 24-27 (OT) Packers
I went for a lovely mid-afternoon walk during the 1st half, assuming that the Packers would have the game in hand by the time I got back (allowing me to switch back over to soccer for a coupla hours). Much to my surprise the Bengals were up 21-7 at the half, making for compelling Aaron Rodgers watching in the 2nd half. The Bengals rolled in with a new offensive coordinator which gave them a brief advantage and I kinda liked Dalton's quick release. But that didn't last long and the Packers showed out as the better team. Sure, it might look a little scary for Packer fans but it doesn't change anything for me, I still think the Packers are the class of the NFC and the Bengals are not good.

Raiders 10-27 Redskins
The Raiders looked listless from the jump (interception on first play from scrimmage); hell, their 10 points were gifts from the Redskins, no less. The Redskins (as I've said before) are a team that looks pretty good when they're not going out of their way to look bad. Man, I was really impressed with their secondary in this game, they were draped all over Raiders WR's and the run defense kept Marshawn Lynch off the field. Yeah, it was a non-conference road game for the Raiders, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised they went vanilla but it was a prime time game, thought they'd get it up for that...they did not. In the long run I don't think this impacts either team; the Raiders are still on their way to the playoffs while the Redskins will likely struggle throughout the season.


Other results (surprising):
Ravens 7-44 Jags
I dunno, I'm skeptical of the Ravens but how does that defense give up 44 to Jacksonville? Have the Jags turned the corner? Are they ready to blitz through the NFL now? No, not seeing it. The Ravens are still likely to be a good bet to cover as an underdog and iffy to cover as a favorite. The Jags are at least getting more interesting to keep an eye on because while they don't seem to be any good, they look like they're occasionally not bad.

Browns 28-31 Colts
The Browns aren't good but they play hard, I thought going to Indy was a good chance for them pick up a W; the Colts are not good but...I thought this an easy win for the Browns. Apparently the introduction of Jacoby Brissett was enough of a spark to get the Colts to score some points. These are still two of the lesser teams in the league.

Dolphins 6-20 Jets
Division games are grudge match games, shouldn't be surprised by any outcome. But, I thought the Dolphins on a bad day would still beat NYJ, guess I was mistaken. The Jets are still not good, perhaps the Dolphins aren't as mediocre as I thought they'd be.

Saints 34-13 Panthers
I'm not surprised that the Saints were able to run up points in Charlotte, but I am surprised that the Panthers offense still can't seem to get anything going. Sometimes teams start slow, didn't think the first coupla soft weeks were indicating of an overall decline but getting waxed at home in a division game is a warning flag. Panthers are in some kind of trouble, whereas the Saints look poised to start being competitive again.

Texans 33-36 Patriots
Texans finally have a QB, as rookie Deshaun Watson looked good on the road. The Pats are still not looking like their dominant selves (the defense looks a step or two behind) but they got the W and Belichick has gathered more data to avoid a defeat like this again. Still, though, the Texans scoring 33 on the road is a shocker after how anemic that offense has looked so far.


Other results (not so surprising):
Rams 41-39 Niners
Well, I didn't realize the Niners were gonna score this many points, but I'm not surprised to see that the Rams are already superior to the hapless Niners. Looks like a rare good Thursday game.

Broncos 16-26 Bills
Buffalo isn't an easy place to get a W and that Bills D is still pretty good, so I wasn't shocked by this result. I still think the Broncos are good, still convinced the Bills are mediocre, but still not shocked by this outcome.

Falcons 30-26 Lions
The Lions are the poor man's Falcons, aren't they? High octane passing game, so-so defense, clearly a better team at home in the dome. Not a surprise that this one game down to the last place of the game (in this case, a video replay followed by a run-out of the clock). I think I still think the Falcons are great at home, so-so on the road and that the Lions are a good enough to outscore some teams but not good enough to outscore most teams.

Bucs 17-34 Vikings
The Vikings are a good squad, solid on both sides of the ball. The Bucs are getting better but are we surprised that they struggle on the road against good teams? Score is kinda lopsided but the result isn't a shock to me. The Bucs are still capable of being good, the Vikings are still looking like a playoff team.

Seahawks 27-33 Titans
West coast teams coming east always have trouble, but I thought the vaunted Seahawk D did not look all that vaunted this week. Likewise, impressed with the Titans running up points on Seattle with big plays but how does that defense give up so much to the anemic Seahawk attack? Weird game but somehow still worked out like I thought it would.

Chiefs 24-10 Chargers
Chiefs scored a TD late in the game, looks like the game was closer than the score indicates. Chiefs are good, big division W on the road, still looking like the class of the AFC; the Chargers are close but not finishing, which is what they've been for a few years straight now.

Cowboys 28-17 Cards
Not a surprising score (though it looks like the Cowboys took their time finishing this game). The Cowboys needed a W after a loss last week, the Cards are just aging all over the field and do not look good at all. The Cowboys are still one of the better teams in the NFC and the Cards are not.

Won (covered): Jags, Bills, Bears, Falcons, Colts, Vikings, Jets, Saints, Titans, Chiefs, Redskins, Cowboys
Won (didn't cover): Pats, Packers, Eagles,
Push: Rams, Niners
Lost (covered): Texans, Bengals, Giants,
Lost (didn't cover): Ravens, Broncos, Steelers, Lions, Browns, Bucs, Dolphins, Panthers, Seahawks, Chargers, Raiders, Cards

2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 4)

(16) TCU 44-31 (6) Oklahoma State
Hmmmm, Oklahoma State was one of those squads I was curious about because that offense looked unstoppable. But getting waxed at home by a conference opponent is a bad bad loss for them, gonna be tough to overcome that. They were in the hunt in the 4th but TCU was able to get the last score and that was enough. Great W for TCU.

(17) Mississippi State 3-31 (11) Georgia
Wondered how Mississippi State would handle Georgia...now we know. Losing on the road to a higher ranked team would generally earn a Bad Beat from me but because this is a grudge match conference foe, Mississippi State has got to get it done and they did not. Good win for Georgia.


Top 25
Handled their business:
(1) Alabama,  (2) Clemson, (5) Southern Cal, (7) Washington, (8) Michigan, (10) Ohio State, (11) Georgia, (13) Virginia Tech, (14) Miami, (15) Auburn, (16) TCU, (18) Washington State, (19) Louisville, (21) South Florida, (22) San Diego State, (23) Utah


Got it done but did not impress:
(3) Oklahoma 49-41 Baylor. Baylor has not looked good this year, not at all, not even close, not good at all, like kinda feel sorry for Baylor for how not good they are, like so not good that this couldn't even be considered a trap game. Its not like OU failed to get the offense going, so how did they let Baylor get so much done? This is a suspect result.

(4) Penn State 21-19 Iowa. Shouldn't diss this result, Iowa played well. But the Nittany Lion offense just never got going until that last drive. Not a bad loss for Iowa, might be the motivator they need for the rest of their season. May look back on this as a pretty good win for Penn State but it doesn't feel like it just yet.

(20) Florida 28-27 Kentucky. Kentucky led throughout, bumbled defensive assignments late, still had plenty of time to win (2 timeouts, 45 seconds on the clock, ball at midfield, needed an FG....should've won). Florida won this game by inertia, because beating Kentucky is muscle memory, not because they're an impressive side.

Syracuse 26-35 (25) LSU. Syracuse (a dome team) has not impressed this year at all, so going on the road to a battle-hardened SEC squad should not have been as close as this. LSU is not looking like a classic SEC West side.


Not so good:
(16) TCU 44-31 (6) Oklahoma State. Good for TCU, not so good for OSU.

NC State 27-21(12) Florida State. Dropping the first game to Alabama wasn't a killer, but it looks like losing their starting QB and getting postponed by Hurricane Irma took the sap out of this squad. Their special teams looked strong but the Wolfpack D-line lived in the Seminole backfield today (dang, that dude Chubb was all over the place!). I thought the Seminoles would've benefitted from running more, complexifying the running attack in the 2nd half would've given their Frosh QB a fighting chance. The QB is gonna take the blame but I thought this was a coaching loss. Seminoles are looking pretty well done for this season. NC State looked pretty good, not really sure what to make of their victory.

(24) Oregon 35-37 Arizona State. Alas, poor Oregon, we hardly knew ye.


Other interesting games:
Texas A&M 50-43 (OT) Arkansas. Looked like a fun game every time the score went by on the ticker.
Notre Dame 38-18 Michigan State. Yes, this is not a classic Spartan squad but I thought Notre Dame looked pretty good in this game.  Notre Dame should finish the season back in the top 20.


Next week's interesting games:
(5) USC @ (16) Washington State
(24) Mississippi State @ (13) Auburn
(2) Clemson @ (12) Virginia Tech

2017-18 NBA Free Agency (later weeks)

Jazz: Thabo Sefolosha (2yr/$10.5m), Jonas Jerebko (2yr/$8.2m), Ekpe Udoh (2yr/$6.5m)
Well, they'd rather have Gordon Hayward, but these are nice veterans on reasonable deals (feels like they just raided the Euro super league for these adds). All three can play some D and score some points, Utah's bench just got a lot deeper.

Cavs: Cedi Osman (3yr/$8.5m)
A low cost move to build some depth for the Cavs. He's an intriguing Euro prospect but I can't help thinking the Cavs are not a good place for him: they're so concerned with the future of Lebron, hard to feel like they're in development mode (though they probably ought to be).

Hawks: Ersan Ilyasova (1yr/$6m)
Nice affordable vet contract. Cheap enough to make him a trade chip if he plays well (wouldn't be surprised to see him with Celtics, Cavs or Wizards by year's end).

Grizzlies: Rade Zagorac (3yr/$3m)
Don't know him, does he have grit and/or grind?

Wizards: Otto Porter (4yr/$106m)
Took a step forward last year, not sure it was a $25m/per kind of step but the Wizards couldn't afford to let him go. If he continues to advance, then this deal will be worth it (if not....).

Thunder: Nick Collison (1yr/min)
I expect this will be Collison's last year as a player and that next year he'll be wearing a suit on OKC's bench.

Magic: Jonathon Simmons (3yr/$20m)

Spurs couldn't come up with 3yr/$21m for this guy? Hmmmm....clearly Simmons and the Spurs organization didn't mesh off the court but he looked pretty good for them on the court last year, sure though they could use him going forward. The Magic have collected a nice pile of players, up to Coach Vogel to mold them into something, I'm guessing Simmons will be the key to the Magic's season.

Rockets: Luc Mbah a Moute (unknown), Tarik Black (1yr/$3.2m), Troy Williams (3yr/unknown)
These are cost-effective ways to thicken the bench. Luc is a well-liked veteran, Black is a useful big man off the bench and I don't know Williams but he turned heads in Summer League.

Spurs: Manu Ginobli (1yr/unknown), Pau Gasol (3yr/Unknown)
Bringing back the old legs for another run. I expect this to be Manu's last year and Pau to retire as a Spur soon enough.

Bulls: David Nwaba (unknown)
I don't know him.

Pelicans: Rajon Rondo (1yr/$3.2m)
Rondo is plenty talented enough to help the new-look Pelicans and this deal is certainly team friendly. That said, I can't help thinking he is exactly the wrong guy for that offense. Maybe they'll be scoring so much down low that a PG that can't score to save his life will fit just fine, but I suspect they'll need perimeter scoring and guards that attack the basket and get to the FT line, all of which are things that Rondo doesn't do.

Clippers: Willie Reed (1yr/$1.5m)
The new-look Clippers will need all the bench depth (re: injury minutes) they can get. Reed is a good pickup for them.

Heat: Udonis Haslem (1yr/min)
Haslem is still around? I advocated moving him to the coaching staff when Lebron was there.

2017-18 NFL (Week 2)

Games I watched (some of):
Browns 10-24 Ravens
The Browns went with rookie QB D'Shone Kizer throughout and, well, he looked like a rookie most of the day. The Ravens D-line pressed him hard up front and forced mistakes (3 interceptions) and controlled the game from beginning to end. That said, the Ravens still look sluggish, like a team looking to do just enough to feel good about themselves. They're still a head-scratcher of a squad, while the Browns are playing hard (and might be kinda good by the end of the year).

Vikings 9-26 Steelers
The Vikings left Sam Bradford at home and, let's be honest: road non-conference games against playoff teams early in the season are not when you bring your A-game (especially with Case Keenum under center). The Steelers had a consistent attack and looked pretty good. Not a bad loss for the Vikings, one of those weeks were you just take the L and move on.

Cowboys 17-42 Broncos
Damn, Broncos kinda put it on the Cowboys, didn't see that coming. I was impressed by Denver's offense, they passed and ran well, moved the ball consistently on a good defense. Denver's D stuffed Ezekial and never let Dak get comfortable but my gut is more that the Cowboys had a bad day then that the Broncos got some monster D (remember kids: teams don't bring their A+ effort in non-conference road games, stay vanilla, don't get hurt, try to steal a W if you can). I expected the Broncos to take a step back on both sides of the ball this year, I may have been premature in that expectation. The Cowboys are fine, this is not a bad loss.

Packers 23-34 Falcons
The Falcons look good at home, man. I watched them last week at Chicago and they kinda made the Bears look good, but indoors on the home turf, dang, they fly. The Packers rolled in missing both starting OT's, thought Rodgers made it work for the most part, but there were stretches (3Q particularly) where the Falcons pass rush gained momentum and kept the Packer attack off balance. Good win for the Falcons, disappointing but not a bad loss for the Packers. I thought the Falcons would fall off this year (and Panthers and Saint would jump ahead of them), I think I'm ready to re-think that. For at least 7 more home games, the Falcons offense is gonna pummel people, they already won at Chicago and they get to play the Bills and NYJ, the Falcons are gonna do just fine. I'm not worried about the Packers but they're gonna want home field in January, so they better pile up some W's.


Other results (surprising):
Dolphins 19-17 Chargers
Kinda thought Rivers would pull it out at home, too bad the new hero K couldn't bring home the game winner. The Dolphins eking out W's, good stuff, I'll be pretty shocked if they make the playoffs (feels like the AFC wild cards are coming from the West, right?).

Niners 9-12 Seahawks
Shouldn't the Seahawks be better than this at home against a horrible division foe? Oh yeah: the Seahawks do this every year, don't they? Win with smothering defense that hides the strangely inept offense for a coupla months til Wilson can finally pull it all together. Maybe they don't pull it together this year, but can't imagine the Niners, Cards or Rams challenging, right?

Redskins 27-20 Rams
I can't say this was a surprise--I had no idea what would happen! But the Skins beating anyone on the road seems kinda weird. The Skins are one of those teams that looks good when they're not going out of their way to look bad. The Rams got a good RB, a promising QB and a good pass rush, they can be pretty good right away, don't you think?


Other results (not terribly surprising):
Texans 13-9 Bengals
Well, one of these teams had to be not as bad as they looked in Week 1...guess it was the Texans. They've still got a good D, if they can get anything out of QB, they can still win the division. The Bengals just look terrible and I don't see how it gets better.

Bears 7-29 Bucs
Yeah, not hard to see this coming.

Pats 36-20 Saints
All the scoring was in the first half, kinda wonder what happened after halftime. Neither of these teams have enough defense at the moment to seem dominant but the Pats offense has enough veteran moxie to get it done on the road.

Eagles 20-27 Chiefs
Man, wish I'd gotten to watch this one. Two good teams getting better battling it out, this was the game of the week I reckon.

Titans 37-16 Jags
Titans did not impress last week against the Raiders but this seems like a team that knows what its doing. The Jags stink, don't let that Week 1 result in Houston fool ya.

Cards 16-13 (OT) Colts
Felt like the Colts would pull this out but two sloppy teams getting together favors the veterans, which in this case is definitely Arizona.

Bills 3-9 Panthers
The Panthers offense still hasn't found its groove and the Bills tough D coming to town was a good test for them (well, maybe not). This looks like a defensive sludge fest of a match.

Lions 24-10 Giants
The Lions are hardly world-beaters but they can score some points, whereas the Giants look...not good. The offense is not moving the ball and while the pass rush is still pretty good, the rest of the defense is not good enough. The Giants are looking like a draft pick chasing team, the Lions are gonna be good enough to kinda hang around but I don't think are a threat to make the playoffs.


Won (covered): Texans, Chiefs, Patriots, Steelers, Bucs, Titans, Ravens, Raiders, Dolphins, Broncos, Redskins, Falcons, Lions
Won (didn't cover): Cards, Panthers, Seahawks
Push: (none)
Lost (covered): Colts, Bills, Niners
Lost (didn't cover): Bengals, Eagles, Saints, Vikings, Bears, Jags, Browns, Jets, Chargers, Cowboys, Rams, Packers, Giants

Cleveland Indians 22 Game W Streak

The Indians won 22 straight before losing to the Royals on Friday night. (I'm pleased to report the Indians have a started a new streak, whipping the Royals on Saturday) As a lifelong Indians fan, I watched a fair amount of those 22 W's and I just wanna say two things: 1) congratulations and 2) damn, I'm glad that's over! This Indian team is good, real good, just being good will win them a lot more games than they lose. They don't need to worry about being perfect, just be good! I'm glad they stamped their names in the history books, that's cool, but the goal is the World Series not this streak.

This team is much deeper than the team that was up 3-1 in the World Series last year.  And the key to this amazing run has been the pitching. At the trade deadline they remolded their bullpen and around that time SP's Kluber, Carrasco, Clevinger and Bauer went lights out.

Worth noting: the 22nd W was perhaps the sweetest of all: a Lindor double to tie it in the bottom of the 9th and a Jay Bruce single to win it the 10th. Great comeback, fun game, the Royals played well that night and beating them was a real treat, all in all a fitting end to the streak. I was a little surprised by the L that followed in that I kinda thought when the streak came to an end it would be because the Indians played a lousy game (bad at-bats, bad base running, poor pitching, errors, etc.) and that isn't really happened; the Indians had their chances late (I appreciate that Francona left Gomes and Mejia in the bat in the 9th and that he brought in Salazar, the one SP that had no success during the streak, out of the bullpen) but just failed to pull it out like they did the night before. No sweat, I was ready for the streak to end (I bet Terry Francona was too!).

2017 Eurobasket

Championship: Slovenia 93-85 Serbia

Goran Dragic putting up monster numbers and winning the MVP. Nice! Bogdan Bogdanovic giving the Sactown Kings fans something to look forward to. And what exactly is the draft status of Luka Doncic? Will he be available next summer?




3rd Place: Spain 93-85 Russia

Pau Gasol and Alexei Shved (former Sixer) rounded out the all-tournament team. Gasol also became Europe's all time leading scorer (passing Tony Parker). (Hmmm....Spurs have room for Shved? Always kinda liked him, he'd be fascinating with Sacramento or Phoenix)




And some bonus highlights of the MVP.




(Dang! Just realized I could've streamed this. Well, in two years I hope I remember this is here)

2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 3)

(23) Tennessee 20-26 (24) Florida
This was the match to decide once and for all who is almost a top 20 team and who is probably not a top 20 team! I watched this game and I gotta say: the last 10 minutes was the best part. I thought UT's QB was not good and their kicker had a terrible game, both teams had solid D-lines, my gut is that Florida is the slightly better team, but not in the hunt for an SEC crown. Both teams tried to hard to give the game away in the end and Tennessee tried harder. Fine with me, I'm just glad there wasn't any OT.

(3) Clemson 47-21 (14) Louisville
Felt at first like Louisville was gonna hang....but that didn't last long. Clemson is legit, man, it's early, they may stumble but I suspect they'll be there at the end. They've got so much speed at the skill positions, a smothering D-line, the QB is just fine, even the special teams looks like a cut above. They'll be top 5 all year. As for Louisville, they haven't impressed so far but this loss was a bad beat, they'll be better than this going forward.


Top 25
Handled their business:
(1) Alabama, (2) Oklahoma, (3) Clemson, (5) Penn State, (6) Washington, (8) Ohio State, (9) Oklahoma State, (10) Wisconsin, (13) Georgia, (15) Auburn, (16) Virginia Tech, (20) TCU, (21) Washington State, (22) South Florida, (24) Florida

Got it done but did not impress
Texas 24-27 (2OT) (4) USC. I watched most all of this game and I thought Southern Cal was the better team but made too many dumb turnovers and didn't make plays to finish the game down the stretch. They did well to come back and luck their way to a W against an overmatched Texas team. USC got the W but they did not look good doing it.

Air Force 13-29 (7) Michigan. I kinda thought the Wolverines would come out big in this game, looking to run up the score and getting the opportunity to do so from a pass-happy Air Force team. I didn't see any of this but apparently none of that happened and Michigan's offense slunked along unconvincingly through the 1st half.

Bad beat
(14) Louisville

Not so good
(12) LSU 7-37 Mississippi State.  Yipes! LSU's offense is always a mystery but, man, they got straight thumped in Starkville.
(18) Kansas State 7-14 Vanderbilt. Hmmmm....kinda thought K State would have no problem running up points in Nashville, looks likes Vandy is better than we thought...?
(19) Stanford 17-20 San Diego State. Just noticed this score. Looks like Stanford is not gonna hang around this season.
(23) Tennessee 20-26 (24) Florida. UT has a bad QB, terrible special teams and a suspect secondary, they did not look good in this game--and still had their chances late!
(25) UCLA 45-48 Memphis. Yeah, I had this one. An overrated West Coast team playing a noon game against unheralded eastern squad, this one was easy to see coming.

Cancelled/Postponed (lasting effect of Hurricane Irma)
(17) Miami @ (11) Florida State (postponed);

Other interesting games:
New Mexico 14-28 Boise State. Got my eye on Boise State, I suspect they'll be in the top 20 soon.
Northern Illinois 21-17 Nebraska. Man, time was when this result would've gotten somebody fired, the fact that that probably won't even happen is kinda sad.
Oregon 49-13 Wyoming. The Ducks can clearly score points, with Stanford and UCLA flailing and Southern Cal looking far from dominant, is there still time for Oregon to make an impact this season?
Kentucky 23-13 South Carolina. Didn't see that coming. So after 3 weeks Kentucky and Vandy have better records than Auburn, LSU and Tennessee?


Next week's interesting games:
(16) TCU @ (6) Oklahoma State
(17) Mississippi State @ (11) Georgia

2017-18 NFL (Week 1)

Games I watched (some of):
Chiefs 42-27 Patriots
Wow, did not see that coming. The Pats stumble from time to time (I seem to recall they got punked pretty hard at home by the Bills just last year), so this doesn't mean the dynasty is over. Belichick makes improvements by gauging what is wrong, this game will go a long way to winning games later in the season, I have no doubt. I gotta say the Chiefs looked more dynamic, more fun, more scary than any time I can remember. I always think of the best Chiefs teams as gritty grind-it-out, rely on RBs on one side and LBs on the other, Memphis Grizzlie kinda football, but Alex Smith was kinda Brady-ish in this game. Not sure what to make of it, the Pats may not make it to 12 W's this year, maybe the Chiefs can snag themselves a home game in the post-season.

Ravens 20-0 Bengals
Ravens D looked old-timey good (then again, the Bengals OL was non-existent and the Bengal attack looked pretty rickety) and the Ravens offense looked good enough to keep games close. Coming into this season I went with an every-other-year theory: the Bengals were underappreciated 2 years ago, hot garbage last year with the same roster, I felt like they could get the magic back....I do not think that after this game. Combined with the Browns kinda hanging with the Steelers, feels like the Bengals could be mailing it in this year. The Ravens looked better than I thought they would on both sides of the ball, wouldn't be surprised them in a dogfight in the 4th quarter every single week, they're not getting blown out much this year.

Falcons 23-17 Bears
The Falcons looked...fine....on both sides. The offense had flashes of killer but mostly just kinda slunked along; Bears D-line looked pretty good to me. For the Bears, Tarik Cohen was everywhere and Mike Glennon seemed...serviceable at QB. I'm not ready to say the Bears could be good, but I suddenly think they won't be a laughingstock kinda squad this year. They've got a good pass rush and an exciting RB, if they can figure out how to win they'll be an okay team. With the Falcons this game is hard to tell: they looked fine on grass, outdoors, against a good-but-not-great defense. The Bears had their chances at the end, but the Falcons were in control by halftime, they were the better team. I had the Panthers and Saints leapfrogging the Falcons this year, its early, we'll see.

Seahawks 9-17 Packers
Impressed by the Packer D and by the fact that Aaron Rodgers looks capable of scoring every time he has the ball in his hands (the NFL's James Harden?). The Seahawk D wasn't bad but without any support from the offense it was only a matter of time before Rodgers get it in the end zone. Last year the Seahawks offense took a while to come together, as I recall, a lot of games where Russell Wilson was running around getting just lucky enough to will a W. Looks like they may be starting out stagnant all over again. The Packer D was good though, perhaps Wilson and co. will look better against they next opponent. I had these two in the conference final, I saw nothing to make me change my mind about that.

Giants 3-19 Cowboys
Both D-lines played really well. Thought the Cowboys were clearly the better team though. The Giants offense had one good drive out of halftime and otherwise looked terrible. The Cowboys on the other hand missed a lot of chances (thought Dak sailed a lot of passes in the 1st half), and still controlled the game pretty convincingly from the gitty. I had the Eagles and Redskins leapfrogging the Cowboys and Giants; after one week I feel pretty good about my predictions for the Giants and Eagles, not so much about the Cowboys or Redskins. This division is always good and this year looks to be one of the even gooder years.


Other results (surprising):
Jags 29-7 Texans
So...uh....what the fuck happened here? I knew the Texans were gonna have QB problems, I couldn't even remember their starting QB when thinking ahead to this game, but I didn't figure the D would have any trouble against a one-dimensional Jag squad. Hey, those Houston guys have had an emotional lead up to this--oh wait, those Jax guys did too! Not sure means anything really, this is probably a throwaway game.

Eagles 30-17 Redskins
I thought both of these teams would take a leap this season. Looks like I was right about one of them. Redskins could looking at a long hard season, I know its early but you need to get results in home division games. Eagles might be really good, like really really good, that's not crazy, that could happen.

Colts 9-46 Rams
Yeah, I knew the Colts would be bad, really bad. But this result jumped out at me. Curious to see how many games it takes the Rams to score 46 more points.

Other results (not terribly surprising):
Steelers 21-18 Browns
Steelers didn't cover but what do they care? Division W on the road, they got the result, they're not out to win a fashion show. I had the Steelers in the conference finals, I'm still good with that. The takeaway could be that the Browns might actually be not bad, not like making the playoffs good but they might have a couple upsets in them, curious to see if they can keep covering.

Cards 23-35 Lions
Yeah, I figured these two would score some points on each other, looks like it was a turnover battle. I thought the Cards would be pretty rickety this year and they are looking it. Lions...who knows? Maybe they're good but can't tell from this.

Raiders 26-16 Titans
Everybody's two favorite AFC darlings. I saw none of this game, got no feel for it, not sure what it tells us about either team. Good win for the Raiders to come east and get a result. (Incidentally this is the game I would've preferred to watch instead of Bengals getting torched at home)

Jets 12-21 Bills
I think NYJ are gonna be awful, like really awful, like man, they are awful kinda awful. That said, it looks like they mostly hung with Buffalo--who might also be awful. I thought the Bills would be mediocre, not sure what this result portends. Still convinced the Jets will be continue to be awful.

Panthers 23-3 Niners
I thought the Panthers would be good this year, seems like the offense struggled against a Niner squad that has no business being any good. The Panthers could be the kinda team that needs some time to really get going. This game doesn't mean much because it was too predictable.

Saints 19-29 Vikings
Saw none of it. I had both of these teams getting better this year, sounds like that could be what happened here.

Chargers 21-24 Broncos
Saw none of this either. Division game, long time rivals, tough way for both of them to start the season.

Won (covered): Chiefs, Ravens, Lions, Raiders, Eagles, Jags, Rams, Packers, Panthers, Cowboys, Vikings
Won (didn't cover): Bills, Falcons, Steelers
Push: Broncos-Chargers
Lost (covered): Jet,s Bears, Browns
Lost (didn't cover): Pats, Bengals, Cards, Titans, Redskins, Texans, Colts, Seahawks, Niners, Giants, Saints

2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 2)

(13) Auburn 6-14 (3) Clemson
Not a lot of offense in this game.  Auburn fans are acting like this is a bad loss but I think holding that Clemson attack to 14 points isn't bad. Good win for Clemson, this combined with Buckeyes gacking up a home game cements their Bama-in-waiting status early.

(5) Oklahoma 31-16 (2) Ohio State
Good win for OK. Looked like they'd play each other to a stalemate but the Sooners were finally able to punch through the Buckeye D, while the Buckeye offense just never get going. Not a terrible loss for OSU but Michigan's looking good, so their margin for error is razor thin.

(14) Stanford 24-42 (6) Southern Cal
Bummer of a loss for Stanford fans but a good ol' fashioned thumping of a conference foe in front of the home folks was what Southern Cal needed. I wouldn't write off Stanford just yet, these outcomes happen when you play the same foes year in year out.

(15) Georgia 20-19 (24) Notre Dame
I thought Notre Dame was generally the better team, but weren't able to get that last score or last stop they needed. Good win for Georgia, thought they might leap frog more people in this week's ranking; not a terrible loss for Notre Dame, they have USC, Stanford, Miami on the schedule, they can still put together a good season.

Top 25
Handled their business:
(1) Alabama, (3) Clemson, (4) Penn State, (5) Oklahoma, (6) Southern Cal, (7) Washington, (8) Michigan, (9) Wisconsin, (11) Oklahoma State, (12) LSU, (15) Georgia, (17) Louisville, (18) Virginia Tech, (19) Kansas State, (23) TCU, (25) Tennessee

Got it done but did not impress
(20) Washington State (going triple OT at home to an unranked Boise St that basically matched them every step of the way, suggests that they are an edge of top 20 team at best--and maybe Boise St too)

Bad beat
(13) Auburn
(14) Stanford
(24) Notre Dame (felt like they were gonna pull it it out)

Not so good
(2) Ohio State (getting steadily thumped through the 2nd half in an early season home game just don't seem right for an Urban Meyer squad)

Cancelled/Postponed (casualties of Hurricane Irma)
(10) Florida State, (16) Miami, (21) South Florida, (22) Florida

Other interesting games: Iowa 44-41 (ot) at Iowa St (road rivalry win, nice work, Hawkeyes), Indiana 34-16 Virginia (Hoosiers Run Wild in Chancellorsville, only in Trump's America smh), Nebraska 35-42 Oregon (fun game, watched some of them running up and down on each other, good stuff for football lovers, not sure it impacts the ranking much, doubt we'll see either of these teams making any kind of run this season), South Carolina 31-13 at Missouri (are the Gamecocks good or the Tigers bad?), Utah 19-13 BYU (Utes takin care of bidness, another road rivalry win)

Next week's interesting games: (17) Miami @ (11) Florida State (postponed); (23) Tennessee @ (24) Florida; (3) Clemson @ (14) Louisville

2017-18 NFL Predictions (Playoffs)

AFC
(bye) Pats, Steelers
Raiders over Bengals
Chiefs over Titans

Pats over Chiefs
Raiders over Steelers

Pats over Raiders

NFC
(bye) Packers, Seahawks
Vikings over Redskins
Panthers over Eagles

Packers over Vikings
Panthers over Seahawks

Packers over Panthers

Super Bowl: I'll take the Packers over the Pats

2017-18 NFL Predictions (Over/Under)

AFC East
Pats (12.5) Over
Bills (6) Over

Dolphins (7.5) Under

Jet (4.5) Under

The Pats are clearly the odds-on fave to win the AFC, they should easily win 12 games. The Bills go 8-8 every year, I don't see this year being any different. The Dolphins cannot be as good next year with Cutler instead of Tannehill, I think they'll struggle early and struggle late. I think the Jets are gonna be bad this year, like really bad, like oh-my-god-what-is-going-on-with-the-Jets kinda bad.

AFC North
Steelers (10.5) Over
Bengals (8.5) Over

Ravens (9) Under

Browns (4.5) Under

The Steelers are just good year after year and though I think the Bengals and Browns will be better this year, I think getting to 11 wins is within their grasp. The Bengals took a step back last year, I think they get that step back and are in the hunt for a wild card spot down the stretch. The Ravens will either be better than last year or worse...I'm betting worse (no reason, just a feeling). The Browns should take a step forward this year but they could be monumentally better and still not get to 4 wins.

AFC South
Titans (8.5) Over
Texans (8.5) Over
Colts (9) Under
Jags (6.5) Under

I'm on the Titan bandwagon, I like them to be solid from beginning to end. The Texans have a monster defense, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that the offense will be good enough to scratch out some W's. I'm not a fan of the Colts roster and haven't been for a few years, I think their devolution continues (Andrew Luck is the NFL equivalent of Anthony Davis?). The Jags might step up but I don't have any reason to think so.

AFC West
Raiders (10) Over
Chiefs (9) Over
Chargers (7.5) Under
Broncos (8.5) Under

The Raiders did not win the division last year, that slight step down in schedule gives them the advantage over the Chiefs, I think the Raiders continue to improve and both sides of the ball and shine out this year. I like the Chiefs, they're a steady team and I think they'll lock down a wild card spot early. I think the Chargers finish the season strong and give the LA fans hope for 2018. I think the Broncos take a big step back this year, the defense suffered some losses and the offense didn't gain enough to offset that.

NFC East
Redskins (7.5) Over
Eagles (8) Over
Cowboys (9.5) Under
Giants (9) Under

In short: I think the Cowboys and Giants take a step back, while Eagles and Redskins move up. The Redskins might have a really good defense and the offense could be good enough. Ditto the Eagles. I think the Cowboys overachieved on both sides of the ball last year and I think they regress big time. Similarly for the Giants: I think that D last year was so good that it lifted the offense. I think the D regresses and the offense regresses big time.

NFC North
Packers (10) Over
Vikings (8.5) Over
Lions (8) Under
Bears (5.5) Under

The Packers should dominate this division as usual. The Vikings are this season's most intriguing dark horse to me, that D could be the best in the NFC, the offense could be sneaky good. The Lions overachieved last year, I just don't see them doing that again. The Bears are terrible, man, and will likely be starting a rookie for a long stretch of the season.

NFC South
Panthers (8.5) Over
Saints (8) Over
Falcons (9.5) Under
Bucs (8.5) Under

The Panthers are an every-other-year team and they kinda sucked last year, I expect them to be really good this year. The Saints offense is still really really good, they made some moves to upgrade the D and I think that'll be enough. I think the Falcons step back on both sides of the ball and struggle in a division full of explosive offenses. The Bucs are everybody's favorite dark horse...just like every year; I ain't buying it.

NFC West
Seahawks (10.5) Over
Cards (8) Push
Niners (4.5) Over
Rams (5.5) Under

The Seawhawks are still stacked on both sides and the class of the division (arguably the conference). The Cards are just getting older, they'll play hard, they'll play smart, but they won't recover from injuries well enough to get a wild card spot. I think the Niners improve nicely this season. I think the Rams could be a real grease fire.

2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 1)

(3) Florida State 7-24 (1) Alabama
I was shocked that Fla State came in as an 8 point favorite, figured Bama was a sucker bet. I was in and out of this game, didn't watch it super close, but my basic observation was the Seminoles just couldn't move the ball; it wasn't an embarrassing thrashing or anything, but Florida State just couldn't find the holes in the Crimson Tide D. I'm not giving up on Florida State, I think holding Bama to 24 points will look like quite an achievement by year's end and the Seminoles still have plenty enough talent to be virtually unaffected by an L to the #1 team. Bama is the still the team to beat, feels like there's a number of interesting teams out there, I tend to doubt any of them are better than the Tide. (BREAKING NEWS) Fla State QB Deondre Francois is now out for the year, which makes this loss a really critical one for the Seminoles. I was surprised by the news, the hit was ugly and while it sure looked painful, it didn't look like that kind of injury to me.

(11) Michigan 33-17 Florida
I started to watch this game and had to leave before halftime.  From what I saw Florida looked like the better team, the more poised team, the team that was gonna get it done. Apparently, after I left they didn't look like that anymore. The Gators nabbed two quick pick-6's, rode the Wolverine Heisman candidate QB right off the field....and then did nothing for the rest of the game.

(22) West Virginia 24-31(21) Virginia Tech
Good game between two evenly matched squads. Tech pulled away in the 4th quarter but WVU had their chances late too.  Both of these teams will hang around the top 20 all year long I reckon.

Top 25
Handled business, looked good
(1) Alabama, (5) Clemson, (6) Penn State, (7) Oklahoma, (9) Wisconsin, (10) Okla State, (11) Michigan, (12) Auburn, (13) LSU, (14) Stanford, (15) Georgia, (18) Miami, (19) South Florida, (20) Kansas State, (21) Virginia Tech, (24) Washington State

Didn't impress but did what they needed to do
(2) Ohio State (eh, Indiana has had a weird knack for scoring points lately and Urban Myer teams always start a little groggy, not a big deal really....right?)
(4) Southern Cal (uh, sure took their time putting away Western Michigan at home; are the Trojans starting slow or was today an indication of sloppy overrated-ness?)
(16) Louisville (Cardinals were a 24.5 point favorite, ended up scrambling to finish the game in the 4th; Purdue didn't look all that good to me, hung with Louisville easier than they should have. This does not bode well for the Cardinals)

Bad beat
(3) Florida State
(22) West Virginia

Not good
(17) Florida (Michigan looked good in this game, Florida did not)
(23) Texas (18.5 point fave at home, got slugged, ouch!; Under Armour getting revenge on Kevin Durant's notorious pro-Nike comments....?)

Not sure
(8) Washington (30-14 over Rutgers). The Huskies came in as a 27.5 point favorite, won by 16. Hey, the pros have a tough time going from the West Coast to the East, should I more impressed with a solid win a long way from home? Or is Washington gonna look lackluster against all mediocre opponents this year? Or is Rutgers better than we thought? I dunno.
(25) Tennessee (42-41 over Georgia Tech in 2OT). The Vols in the last decade or so have slipped from a consistently top notch team to an okay-every-once-in-a-while kinda team; it could be that Tech is better than we thought or that opening on a Monday night just wasn't the optimum kick off for the Vols. Not ready to say that UT is done (but they might be).

Notable games from the rest: nice win for Cal at North Carolina (but I thought both teams had moments of looking pretty good, wouldn't be shocked to see either of these teams in the top 25 this year) and I was kinda surprised to see South Carolina take out NC State (just thought State would have a little more depth than the Gamecocks).