September 24th, 2006

NFC East: A Muddled, Glorious Mess

By Bob | Add a Comment »

There are some weeks during an NFL season when I am thankful not to have a fantasy team. Actually, every week I am happy to not have a team to bore my friends with the endless talk of how it is doing, but this week in particular I was happy to have no vested interest in seeing how many touchdowns Peyton Manning tossed or how many yards Tiki Barber gained from the line of scrimmage.

Nope, instead of worrying about stats, I went outside and got a little exercise. This is sacrilege on a Sunday during football season, but when your team is spanking the 49ers 24-3 at halftime and the Giants are getting annihilated 35-3 by the Seahawks at intermission, there is no real reason to stick around for the second half.

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September 23rd, 2006

Week 3: Chicago vs. Minnesota Preview

By Brett | 1 Comment »

What the hell is going on in the NFC North? The Bears –the Bears– have the NFL’s highest rated passer through two weeks, already have 2 TDs of over 40 yards, and have scored a combined 60 points in their first two games of the season. Minnesota, a team that’s known for winning (or losing) games 34-31, has won two low scoring, defensive battles, that have featured their newfound power running game.

Both teams come into this game at 2-0. If Chicago wins, they’ll be in the driver’s seat in the division. All three of their wins would be against division rivals, and they’ll be looking at pretty easy schedule for the next couple months. If Minnesota wins, they’ll prove they’re a true playoff contender, with a very legitimate shot of knocking Chicago off as the division champ.

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September 23rd, 2006

Week 3: Quick Picks

By Brett | Add a Comment »

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, we’re not the gambling type here at NFL Logue, so we don’t usually put money on individual games. Still, we do believe that if one is going to write about the comings and goings of the NFL on a weekly basis, one should be bold enough to declare one’s picks to win every week.

If there’s one thing that we learned from Jerry Maguire, it’s that there’s only one way to get famous: Hang your balls out. And it’s with that in mind, that we offer our quick picks for Week 3.

Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
Cincy’s defense is banged up, and Pittsburgh is coming off a tough MNF loss to Jacksonville. Pittsburgh has the home field in this one, but we’re going with the Bengals, whose improved defense will make life tough on the out-of-sync Steelers offense.

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September 21st, 2006

Week 3 Preview: New York Jets vs. Buffalo

By Brett | Add a Comment »

What’s at stake?
If you’d asked us before the season started, we would have told you that these were two of the worst teams in the league. It still might shake out that way, but somehow, we kinda doubt. Both teams come into this game at 1-1. Buffalo’s been doing it with defense, while the Jets have re-discovered their passing game. With Miami reeling and the Patriots looking less dominant than in past years, the winner of this one is going to feel real good about their chances in the AFC East.

Key match up:
Chad Pennington vs. Buffalo’s secondary. Pennington has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his first two games, something that no one not named Chad Pennington’s mom saw coming. Buffalo’s secondary, which is anchored by CB Nate Clements and feature rookies Donte Whitner and Ko Simpson, has looked pretty solid so far. The great pass rush, led by DE Ryan Denney, they’ve been getting has helped out a lot. If the Jets passing attack can keep it going, look for them to come out of this one with the W.

Fantasy Outlook:
If you’ve been thinking about starting Pennington based on his two strong performances, we’d recommend leaving him on the bench. Lavernaues Coles is nursing an injured calf, and Buffalo’s pass defense ranks in the top 10 right now.

On the other side, Willis McGahee is a great start. The Jets have already given up 4 rushing TDs this season.

Pick ‘em:
We like Buffalo at home in this one. Their defense is playing well right now, and we’re still not sure if the Jets are really any good.

September 20th, 2006

Week 3 Preview: Carolina at Tampa Bay

By Brett | Add a Comment »

What’s at stake?
Well, the season is pretty much on the line for these two teams, both of which find themselves at 0-2. The winner lives to fight another day. The loser, at 0-3, can start making vacation plans for January (incidentally, we know this great travel site…).

Key match ups:
Tampa Bay’s O line vs. Carolina’s D line. Carolina’s D line is one of the very best in the league, and Julius Peppers has been a passing rushing force through the first two games. Tampa is going to need to find creative ways to protect Chris Simms to make sure he doesn’t have yet another 3 INT game. Carolina’s front seven has yielded a bit more in the ground game thus far, so look for Tampa Bay to come out and try to establish the run early, something they’ve struggled to do through two weeks of play.

Fantasy Outlook:
There’s really not much to like in this game from a fantasy standpoint. Carolina’s defense is a must start against Chris Simms and the lowest scoring offense in the league.

If you have Cadillac Williams on your team, you probably have to start him, but you also probably don’t feel real good about it. We wouldn’t either.

Pick ‘em:
We’re going with Carolina in this one, even though they have to head into Tampa Bay. The Bucs are a mess right now, and even though Carolina is also 0-2, they’re still a much better team than Tampa Bay.

September 20th, 2006

Jeff Fisher, Billy Volek, and A Bus

By Brett | Add a Comment »

Billy Volek says the Titans threw him under a bus. Jeff Fisher says Billy Volek threw the Titans under a bus, that Volek is a big fat liar.

Now, we don’t know who did the throwing, and who actually ended up under the bus (we’re not talking about a real bus, right?), but we do know two things that rub us the wrong way about this whole situation.

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September 20th, 2006

1st Annual Best Gear Awards

By Brett | 1 Comment »

No one has ever accused us of being a fashionista. We don’t know the difference between wool and tweed, and we’ve owned the same three pairs of shoes for the last six years. We’d wear a T-shirts and jeans every day, to every function if we could get away with it.

Generally speaking, we really don’t care what anyone else is wearing either. But, when it comes to football, looking badass is almost as important as actually being badass.

And it’s with that in mind that we present the 1st Annual NFL Logue Gear Awards.

We’re looking for classic colors, lines, and simplicity. A good helmet is also a must. Nothing too loud, and certainly nothing with teal highlights.

The only fashion column we’ll ever write, after the jump.

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September 19th, 2006

Coaching Shorts

By Brett | Add a Comment »

The NFL is a coach’s league, or so they say. Like most sports fans, we here at NFL Logue believe that wasting countless hours of our lives watching football gives us both the ability and the right –no, the responsibility– to call out coaches for the stupid decisions that they make. And that’s a responsibility that we take pretty darn seriously.

This weekly column will be our forum for pissing, moaning, second-guessing, and otherwise nitpicking about some of the coaching decisions that happen on a week to week basis in the NFL.

We may even say something nice about one or two of them from time to time. But probably not.

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September 18th, 2006

MNF Liveblog: Steelers vs. Jags

By Brett | 1 Comment »

Once agin, we’re going to be liveblogging –which, incidentally, my family is convinced is not a real word– the Monday Night game. The game is set to kick off in at 5:30 PST, following what we’re relative sure will be an insipid intro feature.

After a huge weekend of both college and NFL action, we’re stoked that the football gods send us MNF like manna from heaven, allowing us to drag this out for one more day.

We’re also stoked about the following:

Donovin Darius, SS, Jacksonville
We admit that we don’t get to see the Jags play all that much, and with Darius injured last year, we haven’t seen him play since he clotheslined –as in, almost fucking decapitated– Robert Ferguson of the Packers a couple years back. That was one of the most vicious we’ve ever seen. We’re kind of ashamed to admit (but not really) that’s one of the things we love about watching football. Darius is a nasty hitter, and we’re looking forward to seeing him back in action.

The Fatties
This is a game that will be won and lost in the trenches, which is a classic NFL cliche way of saying, “neither of these teams has any skill position players that really excite us that much.” In this case, though, there really are some great match-ups along the line. Pittsburgh’s O line is probably the best in the league, and DTs Marcus Stroud and John Henderson for Jacksonville are both studs. With the Jag’s missing DE Reggie Hayward and Paul Spicer and MLB Mike Peterson banged up, though, Pittsburgh has the advantage. Nevertheless, this is going to be a good, physical game.

Mike Tice
He’s a big dumb animal, isn’t he folks? We miss Mike Tice being in the NFC North. Reunited with his old buddy Jack “Keep Choppin’ Wood” Del Rio, Tice is now prowling the sidelines in Jacksonville. They might have him relegated to the booth, we’re not really sure. Either way, though, we feel pretty good about the odds of ESPN giving us a shot of him smackin’ away at his gum with a pencil behind his ear. Horrible, horrible coach. Did we mention that we miss him coaching in the NFC North?

Get your liveblog on after the jump…
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September 18th, 2006

A Lifetime of Being Kicked in the Balls Continues

By Bob | Add a Comment »

People who don’t grow up in Philadelphia might have a hard time understanding why Philly fans are so negative. How could anyone boo Santa Clause, you might ask? Well, I’m here to tell you that Santa Clause is a fat bastard who only breaks kids’ hearts, much like the teams do in Philadelphia.

Yesterday was the latest miserable chapter in my lifelong suffering in the name of a team from Philadelphia. The Eagles were up 24-7 on the NY Giants, seemingly in control of the game and seemingly ready to climb back up on top of the NFC East mountain.

And then it happened.

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