We Have A Winner!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here or not (and I'm too lazy to go back and check), but I've been in a pool since like Week 6 or so where you can pick any 4 games, College or Pros, and if you go 4-for-4, you win a cut of the pot (usually around $300 a week). My dad paid my entry fee for the rest of the season after he hit twice in the first few weeks (on home dogs mostly, no doubt), so I've been playing along. Every week, I'd take 1 or 2 college games. And almost every week, it'd be a college game that knocked me out. This week, I decided to not pick any college games, and go just with the pros…

And here's the other thing.. These picks need to be in on Wednesday (since there are some college games on Thursday night). So I generally don't spend more than about 15 minutes on these picks, and sometimes forget them by the time I do the SBS full analysis on Thursday or Friday.

This week, I finally went 4-for-4 with the following picks: Colts (-15.5), Texans (+7.5), Bengals (+3.5), and Tampa Bay (-3.5).

The funny thing is, I totally picked the opposite teams on Friday for the Bengals and Texans games. Anyways, it looks like I'll be splitting the prize this week with like 3 or 4 others, so I'll only be getting less than $100, but it's better than nothing. I'll probably skip the "Further Review" piece this week cause it'd be too long, since I'm back to stinking up the joint.

Here's what I will say about tonight's Seahawks-Eagles game though….

It's supposed to snow. A lot. That probably hurts Seattle more than Philly, since the Hawks use the pass to set up the run, and the Eagles would rather not have backup QB Mike McMahon throwing too much. I've read a few "experts" talk about how well the Eagles bottled up Tomlinson when they played the Chargers, and how they can easily do the same against Alexander. First, I'm sick of everybody claiming the new "LT" is so obviously the best back in the NFL. Alexander and maybe even Tiki Barber are right there stats-wise. So is Edge James. I'll save the details breakdown until the regular season is over, but I think the evidence will strongly favor Alexander when all is said and done.

Yes, they shut down Tomlinson. But they also gave up 111 yards to Samkon (who?) Gado last week. And 112 yards to Tiki Barber. And 126 yards to Mike Anderson and 107 yards to Tatum Bell.. In the same game… Philly has the 19th ranked rushing defense in the league.

Meanwhile, it took OT last week for Tiki Barber to become the first 100-yard rusher against Seattle this season. Yes, you read that right. Seattle did not give up a 100-yard rusher for their first 10 games this season. They are currently ranked 14th against the run. And their defense is playing better than their numbers… a lot of the yardage that's been given up has been in garbage time, playing the prevent defense, just protecting a multiple-score lead. The overall defense in terms of yardage allowed is around the middle of the pack. But their scoring defense is top 10, and that’s the important one really.

So, if the snow is a factor tonight, don't count out Seattle. I think their defense this year can stuff the Eagles offense pretty easily, and I think their ground game will be able to move the ball.