Yep!
Good grief. What is wrong with you? That's just awful!
Well, I figure highlights from the early 1980s are in the newspapers these days, so why not share what it was like?
I never want to go back in time to the early 80s, no matter what Phoebe Cates looked like in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Anyway, we're going to see how happy the Wisconsin sports fans are with their football this weekend. And, as always, with a heaping helping of HYYYYYYYYPPPPE! Watch me work!
Iowa Hawkeyes (-7.5) vs. Minnesota Golden Elite Rowers of the Boat. The Gophers are definitely not brewing right now. Last we saw them, they were getting their multi-striped tails kicked in College Park, Maryland. Now come the Hawkeyes, hated invaders from the south. The rub for P. J. Fleck is he needs to win these rivalry games. No Pig, no Axe, no good! Iowa is a well-coached team that reflects its leader Kirk Ferentz quite well. They do things properly and without a lot of flash. Our man Fleck is all about the flash. Gophers 24, Iowa 13.
The Pig wants to stay in Minneapolis? Sure, why not? But will it happen? The Gophers looked to be outclassed in the athleticism department against the Terps, but Iowa doesn't have the dazzling athletes. But they are hard-nosed. And this will be a hard-nosed game. Iowa 27, Gophers 20.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (+17.5) vs. Beloved Wisconsin Badgers. This might sound weird, but this game could be the most difficult game on the Badgers's schedule this year. Nebraska may be having a down year, but they have a lot of pride. The Badgers still look like they're trying to figure things out and had a narrow escape from Iowa City two weeks ago. I also worry about looking ahead to Michigan. I think the Badgers win, but this will be a dogfight. Badgers 20, Nebraska 17.
You did notice the Cornhuskers have lost to Troy and Purdue, right? I sure did. Nebraska has a lot of speed, but they can't use it if they are getting steamrolled. Time for the Badgers to put that offensive line in gear. Badgers 38, Nebraska 20.
Minnesota Vikings (+3) vs. Philadelphia Eagles. The Vikings are in deep trouble this week. Philly is a tough place to play and it's not clear that the Vikings remember how to play defense. Did you see Anthony Barr chasing Cooper Kupp? It was ridiculous! This might sound melodramatic, but Mike Zimmer has to prove he can handle a turnaround. I know that sounds harsh, but it's clear that Vikings are a different team than they were last year. The Eagles are going to look different with Carson Wentz at the controls, too. I think Doug Pedersen is the best head coach in the league right now. Eagles 44, Vikings 21.
I think the Vikings do better than that. Not much, mind you. They are weak on the lines right now because of injuries and overall attrition. All the skill players who hide behind the lines have no place to hide right now. Eagles 34, Vikings 24.
Glorious Green Bay Packers (-1.5) vs. Detroit LOLions. This is gonna be a weird game. Detroit is kinda schizo, frankly -- they get blown out by the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS at home, but then handle the Patriots with ease. The question arises, yet again:
And since they are the Lions, of course they're getting on my nerves. The Packers rebounded last week against Buffalo, but are going to be shorthanded offensively. Old dude's favorite, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, will actually be part of the game plan this week. I think the Packers can win this week, but it's not going be smooth. Packers 28, LOLions 20.
That's surprisingly plausible. Frankly, the NFL confuses me these days. I'll go with the default. Packers 31, Lions 24.
Enjoy your football and baseball this week! Ben out!
1 comment:
It looked as if Mason Crosby mistakenly wore his cheese-head hat on his foot. I'm sure the special teams coach will be double-checking on that later. The Vikings kicking game also continues to be an adventure, and I was anxious (justifiably as it turns out) with the first couple of kicks Bailey had on Sunday. Strangely enough, I felt pretty good about the game clincher at the end; I guess that's where his career credibility comes into play.
Btw, the last couple of years I've really appreciated the weekly NFL highlights of each game on YouTube. In about 12 minutes you get all of the big plays, and a sense of what is happening. What I am seeing is that there are a lot of receivers running wide open (of course, that is often how you get a big play in the first place), but also many times a week where a QB makes an incredibly precise pass into coverage. Offenses are way ahead of defenses right now in a lot of cases, which isn't an accident from the NFL's perspective (case in point, what KC did the Jags' D this week). About the only way a defense can disrupt an offense now is to pressure the QB and, funny, there's all kinds of attention being paid to control how aggressive rushers can be. I believe the next step will be some college QB sharing a repressed memory of how he was harassed by Clay Matthews in a college game, with the current NFL referees being expected to listen to his testimony before taking the field.
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