Wednesday, October 21, 2009

NFC North 2009 Predictions (End of Week 6)

I predicted this divisions records at the end of week 1 here. After 5 more weeks of interesting play in the 2009 NFL season, I am ready to again predict their schedules.

Here is just the numbers for anyone who hates walls of text:

Bears 8-8
Lions 4-12
Packers 11-5
Vikings 15-1

I will keep the Bears at the 8-8 mark. They have played incredibly well to this point, but they also have looked weak at times and have needed well established kickers to miss in order to secure wins. I don't think this Bears team can beat the Vikings in Chicago or Minnesota. The other losses are the Bengals, Cardinals, 49ers, and a struggling Baltimore team.

I had the Lions at 2-14 and I believe they will do better than that. The Lions will finish at 4-12. They won against Washington, which i didn't see coming, and they have played well against good teams. They have also played horribly at times (@ GB) The Lions should still beat the Rams and Browns, and here is my upset for their 4th win... Cardinals. Yeah I just did.

Despite their loss to the surprise Bengals, the Packers have looked solid this year. I am not ready to change my projection of them, so they stay at 11-5. I have them losing again to the Vikings, and then to Chicago and Pittsburgh. This is a playoff team if the Falcons finish the year badly.

The Vikings are tough to project, but they have looked fantastic this season. They come from behind to win, but they do so convincingly. If they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh this week, I think that this team could go undefeated until they play the Giants, who even with Vikings starters playing, I think would win this game. So 15-1 for the Vikings. The only possible hiccup I can see is Carolina in week 15. The Vikings might be on cruise control at this point, but I doubt it.

McHenry High School Football

I graduated from McHenry High School in Illinois, which used to be a perrenial Football playoff lock. Beginning during my time at the school, we started to slip, and last year the team missed the playoffs all together. I won't at this time speculate on the coaching, but the Warriors are dangerously close to missing the playoff again. In Illinois, 5-4 teams are almost a lock to make the playoffs if they come from the Fox Valley Conference. McHenry needs to beat Crystal Lake South who is currently 7-1 and ranked #6 in 6A play. Crystal Lake South's only loss came from #3 Cary Grove. Things do not look good for the Warriors, but after a strong showing against Cary Grove earlier this year, anything is possible.

Edit: Here is the Massey Ratings for McHenry this year.

http://tiny.cc/xa95t

For the most part they have beaten the teams they should, and lost some by a much closer score than many predicted. (The rankings on the linked page are across all classes of State Football)

Denver Broncos

So I might have misread Denver earlier this season. The Bengals game was one they definitely should have lost, but the Denver Broncos have proven to be contenders and one of the best teams in the NFL through this point in the season. They have won the games they needed to win and I look forward to seeing Orton and the Broncos continue their great season.

Michael Crabtree

I am projecting Crabtree for 3 catches, 50 yards, and 1 TD this week against the Texans.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Mizzou/Nebraska

The horsecollar call on Nebraska was ridiculous. The fact that it almost kept mizzou in the game, along with the "completion" on 3rd down following it are a testament to the falling quality of referees. (lakers game, I know they are subs, but still)

The pass interference call was right on, but Nebraska should have never been put in the situation if it weren't for the bad officiating leading up to it.

Gabbert looked terrible in the 4th quarter and the Mizzou o-line was doing nothing to support him. The 4th and 20 was a microcosm of the 4th quarter.

With Helu's TD it was clear who wanted it more. Hopefully mizzou can rebound from this loss and Helu's injury is nothing serious. The mizzou offensive line needs some serious help.