NFL 2018 Week 5 Picks

Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action is upon us. Such action that will include an interconference rivalry renewed, the oldest continuing interdivisional rivalry also gets renewed and possibly Drew Brees breaking yet another record. This column will cover what possibly is the best month of sports out of the year, the cool video of the week and the week's picks/predictions.

Best month in sports? 

The month of October is a lot of things, cooler nights, dressing up in costumes, and pumpkin spice everything. Another thing that makes October quite a special month is SPORTS! What month out of the year do you get the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, College Football, College Hockey, and Major League Soccer all lodged into one month? None. Here's my case:

• MLB has its playoffs, baseball is still pretty exciting, perhaps to most. Currently in the Division Series part of it. 
• NFL regular season is on. Week 5 is this week. 
• NHL started its regular season yesterday (10/3/18). 
• NBA starts its regular season on 10/16/2018.
• College Football is into its 6th week of competition
• College Hockey starts its regular season this weekend.
• Major League Soccer is into its last month of the regular season, playoffs would start in late-October or early-November. 

You could make a case for March is a great month for sports. You have March Madness, MLB, NHL, and NBA in the same month as the snow starts to melt and the days get longer. You just can't beat October sadly. I do like my days getting longer though. :(

Cool video of the week

This week's cool video of the week is somewhat of a repetition of last year's cool video of the week. Last year we lost a great musical mind in Tom Petty. Petty,  who did the halftime show for Super Bowl XLII, puts on a great show and has quite the music library to him. The cool video is one of his best-known songs called "Running Down A Dream." Released on his first solo album Full Moon Fever in 1989. Enjoy. 

Week 5 of the NFL starts in Foxboro, Massachusetts and ends in New Orleans, Louisiana. The week features 15 games. There will be a Thursday night game, eight early games, four late games, a Sunday night game, and a Monday night game. FOX will have the doubleheader and CBS will have the single, regional coverage game. The Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have the bye week. Let's get to the picks!

Indianapolis (1-3) @ New England (2-2) (FOX/NFL Network): TW: Patriots, CV: Patriots
The Colts took a loss against the Texans and the Patriots got a win against the Dolphins last week respectively. The week starts in Foxboro with the Patriots and Colts renewing their old rivalry. The rivalry has lost some of its juice since Peyton Manning left the Colts in 2012 but the rivalry just needs one play or one fist fight to get started again. The Patriots got back to being what they were last week and I don't see them losing this game. Sorry, Indy!

Miami (3-1) @ Cincinnati (3-1) (CBS): TW: Bengals, CV: Bengals
The Dolphins lost last week to the Patriots and the Bengals got a win against the Falcons last week as well. The game features two 3-1 teams. I like the Bengals in the matchup as Andy Dalton has better weapons than what the Dolphins have. I feel the Bengals defense will have a good day holding the Dolphins offense at bay.

Atlanta (1-3) @ Pittsburgh (1-2-1) (FOX): TW: Falcons, CV: Falcons
Both teams got losses last week as the Falcons lost to the Bengals and the Steelers to the Ravens. The Steelers got a bit of good news as Le'Veon Bell will return to the team... in week 7-8. The game could become a shootout as both teams have quite the great passing attacks. If that becomes the case the game will come down to who can get the key turnover or defensive stop. I like the Falcons in this regard.

Baltimore (3-1) @ Cleveland (1-2-1) (CBS): TW: Ravens, CV: Ravens
The Ravens got a win against the Steelers and the Browns lost to the Raiders last week respectively. The Old Browns and New Browns renew their little divisional rivalry. The Browns are fun to watch yes, this is true, but I can't trust them to win a game against the Ravens who seem to be more well built than the Browns. Sorry Browns.

Denver (2-2) @ NY Jets (1-3) (CBS): TW: Broncos, CV: Jets
Both teams got losses last week as the Broncos lost to the Chiefs on Monday night and the Jets lost to the Jaguars. The Jets were certainly a darling in the NFL for a bit then things started to fall apart. I like the Broncos in the matchup as Denver's defense is still quite formidable and the Broncos offense is still quite good, especially the passing attack.

Green Bay (2-1-1) @ Detroit (1-3) (FOX): TW: Packers, CV: Packers
Packers got a win against the Bills and the Lions lost to the Cowboys last week respectively. The Packers on defense last week was spectacular and the offense still put up enough but wasn't quite as efficient as they should be. The Lions could make this game quite entertaining as they have quite a potent offense as well. Fun fact: this is the oldest continuing rivalry series in the NFL. Quite wild.

Jacksonville (3-1) @ Kansas City (4-0) (CBS): TW: Jaguars, CV: Chiefs
Both teams got wins last week as the Jaguars beat the Jets and the Chiefs beat the Broncos. The game is quite a good one, surprised this isn't a late game. Both teams have great offensive talent but the bigger difference is the Jaguars have a better defense than the Chiefs. Jaguars are 1st in overall defense, the Chiefs are in 32nd. Can't beat an opponent when you can't stop them. I make my case.

NY Giants (1-3) @ Carolina (2-1) (FOX): TW: Panthers, CV: Panthers
The Giants took a loss against the Saints and the Panthers were on a bye week last week. The Panthers seem to be more talented on offense on both the ground and air games. The Giants offense while looking good on paper but haven't quite the performances that they're accustomed to. I'll give the Panthers defense an edge as well I feel.

Tennessee (3-1) @ Buffalo (1-3) (CBS): TW: Titans, CV: Titans
The Titans got a win against the Eagles and the Bills lost to the Packers last week. The Bills were shutout last week against Green Bay and the Titans looked really good against the Eagles. The Titans were down 17-3 and won. The game will come down to who can score the most points and make the big play as both teams have good defensive talent, ultimately I chose the Titans because the Bills offense is atrocious.

Oakland (1-3) @ LA Chargers (2-2) (CBS): TW: Chargers, CV: Raiders
Both teams got a win as the Raiders beat the Browns and the Chargers beat the 49ers. The Chargers offense looks a lot better than the Raiders in my opinion. The Chargers defense looks better as well. Both teams look really good on paper but ultimately I feel the Chargers will get a win as the Raiders almost lost to the Browns last week. Pathetic.

Arizona (0-4) @ San Francisco (1-3) (FOX): TW: 49ers, CV: 49ers
Both teams got losses last week as the Cardinals lost to the Seahawks and the 49ers lost to the Chargers. The game just looks bad and it does look awful. The 49ers seem to be better on offense and defense as well. The Cardinals are abysmal on offense and they could very well accidentally win this game. Just turrible.

LA Rams (4-0) @ Seattle (2-2) (FOX): TW: Rams, CV: Rams
Both teams got a win last week as the Rams beat the Vikings and the Seahawks beat the Cardinals. The game could be a trap game for the Rams who haven't won a game in Seattle since Jared Goff has taken over as quarterback of the Rams. The loss of Earl Thomas just hurts the Seahawks on defense as well. Not a good sign for the Seahawks to get an upset.

Minnesota (1-2-1) @ Philadelphia (2-2) (FOX): TW: Eagles, CV: Vikings
Both teams ended up in the losing column as the Vikings lost to the Rams and the Eagles lost to the Titans. A rematch of the NFC championship game last season. Both teams look relatively the same as they did except for the quarterback position. The Vikings had Case Keenum, now Kirk Cousins and the Eagles had Nick Foles, now Carson Wentz. The game looks really good and the two teams should play better than what last season's score was. It was 38-7, wasn't it? I'll take the Eagles as they should have a good game on defense.

Dallas (2-2) @ Houston (1-3) (NBC): TW: Cowboys, CV: Texans
Both teams got wins last week as the Cowboys beat the Lions and the Texans beat the Colts. The battle for Texas is on. The Cowboys despite not having quite the offensive numbers that you're used to seeing in them, I still like them in the matchup based on the Cowboys defense and their rushing attack in Ezekiel Elliot.

Washington (2-1) @ New Orleans (3-1) (ESPN): TW: Saints, CV: Saints
The Redskins were on a bye week and the Saints beat the Giants last week. Drew Brees could break Peyton Manning's career passing yards record. He just needs 201 yards to do it. Safe to say he'll probably get it unless he gets injured or has a bad game. I don't see it happening but I still like the Saints offense on running the ball as Alvin Kamara is quite a quality running back.

Local TV Schedule (courtesy of 506sports.com):

CBS Single:
Denver @ NY Jets
Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

FOX Early:
Green Bay @ Detroit
Thom Brennamen, Chris Spielman

FOX Late:
Minnesota @ Philadelphia
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

For more info on which game is played in your area check out, NFL Maps: Week 5

2018:
Week 1: 10-5-1
Week 2: 6-9-1
Week 3: 8-8
Week 4: 12-3
Overall: 36-25-2

Cardinal Viking
2018:
Week 1: 8-7-1
Week 2: 9-6-1
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 9-6
Overall: 31-30-2

See you guys on Monday/Tuesday for the week's recap, enjoy the games, and have a great weekend!
-Tom

Super Bowl LII: Picks + Predictions + Results

Hello readers! It has been a bit since the last time I last posted a column in terms of NFL coverage. Hell it was last year since I did anything with this blog. The 52nd edition of the biggest sports event in North America is just a day away (writing this on Saturday). The blog will cover the regular season results between me and Cardinal Viking (my roommate), our playoff picks (not discussed in blog posts but will do it anyway), as well as the Big Game tomorrow.

The 2017 NFL regular season was the first season since 2014 for me doing NFL picks. It was a rather fun experience to pick teams and hope for the result to go in my favor. It was more of an interesting season with picking against my roommate Cardinal Viking. Here is the week 17 results:

My Record:
8-8

Cardinal Viking's Record:
9-7

The last week of the regular season is particularly tough to predict. Some teams bench their starters for the whole game or last through a half. One prime example of that is the Cowboys/Eagles game. I picked the Eagles but the Cowboys only won by 6 points via shutout. Here is the final regular season totals:

Record:

Week 1: 10-5

Week 2: 10-6

Week 3: 8-8

Week 4: 11-5

Week 5: 7-7

Week 6: 7-7

Week 7: 8-7

Week 8: 12-1

Week 9: 6-7

Week 10: 9-5

Week 11: 8-6

Week 12: 14-2

Week 13: 12-4

Week 14: 8-8

Week 15: 14-2

Week 16: 12-4

Week 17: 8-8

Overall: 164-92

Cardinal Viking, my roommates record:

Week 1: 7-8

Week 2: 13-3

Week 3: 8-8

Week 4: 11-5

Week 5: 4-10

Week 6: 7-7

Week 7: 10-5

Week 8: 11-2

Week 9: 7-6

Week 10: 9-5

Week 11: 12-2

Week 12: 13-3

Week 13: 10-6

Week 14: 9-7

Week 15: 13-3

Week 16: 14-2

Week 17: 9-7

Overall: 167-89

So pretty much by default the winner of the regular season pick'em's is: CARDINAL VIKING! Sure I'm somewhat disappointed by the result towards the latter half of the season. I banked on the predictability of certain teams like the Panthers, Packers, and the Falcons quite a bit. I am more than happy to award victory to my roommate. I just have to get used to the bragging rights though :-(

When I first made the Week 1 column back in September, I made a prediction on how each division will be won based on the division winner and the wild card teams, including the preseason Super Bowl matchup. Let's take a look at that as well:

NFC:

North: Packers
South: Panthers
East: Eagles
West: Cardinals
WC: Seahawks & Giants

AFC:

North: Steelers
South: Texans
East: Patriots
West: Raiders
WC: Titans & Broncos

Super Bowl LII: (biased) Packers vs Raiders... Packers win.
(unbiased and probably right) Cardinals vs Patriots... Cards win.

So out of the 8 division winners that I picked, only 3 of them would win their respected divisions. The Panthers got a wild card spot but they didn't win their division so I couldn't count them. Out of the 12 teams that I picked to get to the playoffs only 5 made it. I only got the Patriots prediction right. Bummer. 

The pick'ems continued into the playoffs starting with the Wild card matchups. Now I never did do post the playoff predictions of seasons past but heck why not. Cardinal Viking suggested it and I humbly agreed to it. Here are the results:

My record:

2-2 (Got Saints and Jags right while the Chiefs blow and the Rams well they choked too.)

Cardinal Viking's record:

1-3 (Got Jags correctly and lost the other wild card matchups)

Probably one of my favorite playoff weekends is the Divisional weekend. The 1 and 2 seeds up against the field. A sort of David vs Goliath deal. Here are the results for that:

My record:

3-1 (only messed up on the Saints/Vikings matchup, you had one job Saints!!!)

Cardinal Viking's record:

3-1 (picked the Falcons against the Eagles, losing in Atlanta-like style).

With the NFL's Final Four in place the 3/4 remaining teams had never won a Super Bowl. A decent chance but the Patriots would come back to beat the Jaguars and the Eagles would steamroll the hapless Vikings. Here are the results:

My record:

2-0 (Patriots and Eagles won, easy peasy).

Cardinal Viking's record:

2-0 (same result).

And with that ladies and gentlemen we are now at the Super Bowl part of the column. Strange how that all works out. I just sometimes amaze even myself. 

The 52nd version of the big game will be televised on NBC this year. NBC has shown 19 Super Bowls (including this year's): I (with CBS), III, V, VII, IX, XI, XIII, XV, XVII, XX, XXIII, XXVII, XXVIII, XXX, XXXII, XLIII, XLVI, XLIX.  The play-by-play announcer will be Al Michaels (who will be calling his 10th Super Bowl) who called XXII, XXV, XXIX, XXXIV, XXVII, XL, XLIII, XLVI, XLIX. The color commentator will be Cris Collinsworth who has played in two Super Bowls: XVI and XXIII and has called 3 Super Bowls: XXXIX, XLVI, and XLIX.

The game will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The is the 2nd time that the big game has come to the State of 10,000 lakes. The first time was in Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins played against the Buffalo Bills. 

Here are some interesting stuff to keep in mind for the big game:

Referee: Gene Steratore (1st Super Bowl)

Line:

New England by -4.5 (as of 3:23 pm on 2/3/18)

O/U 48.5

Cost of 30-Second TV commercial:

$7.7 Million dollars

National Anthem: Pink

Halftime Show: Justin Timberlake (3rd Super Bowl appearance) who has appeared in Super Bowl's XXXV (as a member of *NSYNC), and XXXVIII (with Janet Jackson, yeah...).

Super Bowl Lead-Out Program: NBC's This Is Us.

The Super Bowl history between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots is sort of like a "Tale of Two Cities." One team has seen much Super Bowl success, while the other can't seem to figure itself out. New England has appeared in 9 Super Bowls prior to this years. Their record is 5-4. Philadelphia has made it to 2. Their record is 0-2. Let's take a look at the Super Bowl history for the two teams.

The New England Patriots first trip to the big game was in Super Bowl XX, where they lost to the Chicago Bears 46-10. The next trip came in Super Bowl XXXI where they took on the Green Bay Packers, they lost 35-21. The next three trips to the Super Bowl would result in victories for Brady & Company with wins in Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX. The Patriots were then undefeated heading into XLII against the Giants. New York would pull off one of the hugest upsets in Super Bowl history by handing the Patriots their first loss of the season, finishing off their season at 18-1. The same two teams would face off in another matchup in Super Bowl XLVI with the Giants winning yet again. The Patriots would face huge point deficits in Super Bowl's XLIX and LI (10 and 25 points respectively) and would overcome them to defeat the Seahawks and the Falcons. The Patriots have won five super bowls and seek to win a record-tying sixth Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Super Bowl's. 

A much less happier story with the Philadelphia Eagles. The first trip to the big game for the Eagles came in Super Bowl XV when they took on the Oakland Raiders. The score was 27-10 in favor of the Raiders. The Eagles would not see another Super Bowl appearance for another 24 years until Super Bowl XXXIX. The matchup was against the New England Patriots (who woulda thunk it). The game was close but the Patriots would come out on top 24-21. The Eagles are seeking their first Super Bowl win, their first league championship since 1960. 

The two teams have had stellar regular seasons posting an overall record of 13-3 in the regular season. There have been highs and lows for both teams. Let's take a look back at each team and how they got here. 

The New England Patriots started off the regular season with a loss on opening night against the Kansas City Chiefs, but would rebound to win their next two games against the Saints and the Texans. The 2nd loss of the season came against the Carolina Panthers who would upset them at home. After the loss the Patriots would rebound going on a 8-game winning streak before losing their 3rd game against the Miami Dolphins. The Pats would finish off the regular season winning their last 5 games to a 13-3 record. In the division round, the Patriots would face off against the Tennessee Titans who kept it interesting early in the game but the Pats would turn up the heat and win 35-14. In the AFC Championship game, the Patriots would play against the Jacksonville Jaguars who had upset the Pittsburgh Steelers the weekend prior. The Jaguars applied pressure to Brady, kept him off the field for much of the game, holding onto a 7 point lead going into the 4th Quarter. With the score at 17-10, the Patriots would go on a 14-3 run to beat the Jaguars and reach their 10th Super Bowl. 

The Philadelphia Eagles started the season at Washington cruising to a 30-17 victory. Their first loss of the season came the week after against the Kansas City Chiefs, losing 27-20. The week after would see the Eagles go on a 9-game winning streak before losing on the road against the Seattle Seahawks 24-10. The Eagles would finish off the regular season winning 3 of their last 4 games, their third loss coming against the Dallas Cowboys, 6-0 in week 17. In the week 14 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, starting quarterback Carson Wentz would injure himself, tearing his ACL, which would be a season ending injury. Nick Foles would step up to help guide the Eagles into the playoffs. In the division round, the Eagles would take on the Atlanta Falcons, who had lost last year's super bowl by the Patriots. The game was a low-scoring affair against two defenses but the Eagles would hold Matt Ryan and company to 10 points giving the Eagles a 15-10 victory. In the NFC championship game against the Minnesota Vikings, who had won their game off a game-winning touchdown by Stephon Diggs. The Vikings scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game. The Vikings would not score again for the rest of the game as they would give up 38 unanswered points to the final score of 38-7. The Eagles would get to their 3rd Super Bowl. 

Keys to the game: 

Patriots:

- Keep Brady on his feet, if he can get good protection he will find his tight ends, wide receivers

- Stop the Eagles rushing attack

- Keep the game close or stay ahead, Bill Belichek is a great adjuster

Eagles:

- Attack Brady early and often, take notes on the 2007 Giants if you have to.

- Keep it balanced, you have a great rushing attack and good receiving corp

- Keep Brady off the field, if you can do that you can win.

Prediction:

New England Patriots. Score: 34-31. 

The matchup will come down to which offense can score the most points. The Patriots defense will struggle against the Eagles offense but will eventually keep it close. Brady once again has the game of his life but throws at least one interception. 

The prediction was very hard to predict as I do enjoy seeing the greats do well against fine competition like Tom Brady. I do also wanted to see North Dakota boy Carson Wentz get a ring as well since it is his team. It was a difficult decision to make but you cannot count out Tom Brady and his drive and will to win. Let alone overcome a 28-3 deficit. 

Let's also take a look at my predictions of Super Bowl's past:

Super Bowl XXXII: Packers vs Broncos (lost)
Super Bowl XXXIII: Broncos vs Falcons (won)
Super Bowl XXXIV: Rams vs Titans (won)
Super Bowl XXXV: Ravens vs Giants (lost)
Super Bowl XXXVI: Rams vs Patriots (lost)
Super Bowl XXXVII: Raiders vs Buccaneers (lost)
Super Bowl XXXVIII: Panthers vs Patriots (won)
Super Bowl XXXIX: Patriots vs Eagles (won)
Super Bowl XL: Steelers vs Seahawks (lost)
Super Bowl XLI: Colts vs Bears (won)
Super Bowl XLII: Giants vs Patriots (lost)
Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers vs Cardinals (lost)
Super Bowl XLIV: Saints vs Colts (won)
Super Bowl XLV: Steelers vs Packers (won)
Super Bowl XLVI: Giants vs Patriots (lost)
Super Bowl XLVII: Ravens vs 49ers (lost)
Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks vs Broncos (lost)

Super Bowl XLIX: Patriots vs Seahawks (lost)

Super Bowl 50: Panthers vs Broncos (lost)

Super Bowl LI: Patriots vs Falcons (won)

All-time record: 8-11

I hope you all enjoyed my time reading my weekly predictions and got some joy out of it. I certainly had a great time doing it. As far as what will happen with this blog during the offseason, it is much up in the air certainly. I do wish to do something like this during Baseball season when that comes later next month. I still have to figure that out. I also have work on some non-sports blogs that will possibly be worked on. Until then, I hope you all enjoy the game, enjoy the food, company, the commercials, the halftime show, and stay safe. 

-Tom