A FEW MO' THINGS, 9/14/12
Gotta be honest, this happens more than you would think. Especially to hosts that spend their days talking about politics.
Before we get to the football, you're paying attention to the baseball, right? Not the Reds, but the baseball. There's more drama in an episode of "The Newsroom" than in the NL Central race. The playoffs are an inevitability, many are bored with what's left of the regular season, burned out on getting mad about starting lineups, unmoved by the chance at a 100 wins, and they simply want the battles of October to get here now.
But beyond Cincinnati, and outside of this division, there's some pretty riveting stuff going on, on a daily and nightly basis.
Consider yesterday and last night alone....
The Yankees and Orioles are engaged in good 'ol fashioned pennant race, with neither team guaranteed the fallback of a wild card spot. After the Cartoon Birds (have I mentioned how much I love the return of the old O's logo) pulled out a dramatic 14-inning win over Tampa Bay (a crushing blow to the Rays), the Yankees followed up with a fantastic (and somewhat unlikely) performance from Phil Hughes at Fenway Park to keep the division race even.
The Phillies, almost two months after effectively giving up, have crawled back into the wild card hunt. They went into play last night three out of the lead, then blew a 3-0 edge against the Astros, who refreshingly looked like a team of little leaguers in the dugout as they clicked down the final outs.
The Cardinals and Dodgers, two teams desperate for wins, played a tense pitchers duel in LA last night. We had Jared Weaver keeping the Angels alive against Oakland. We had the Rangers blowing a game against the Indians and failing to build their lead in the AL West.
The AL Central race looks destined to come down to the last day. The AL West race is tighter than anyone ever could've imagined. Five teams are within 4.5 games of each other in the race for the two NL Wild Card spots, five are withing four games of each other in the American League. We legitimately could have multiple play-ins the day before the Wild Card round, meaning we could have a team play four games in four cities in four days, with three of them do-or-die.
I know many of us just want the playoffs to get here, but what's happening in the weeks leading up to them has been, and should be, equally compelling.
It means that MLB Network has become a nightly must-watch. Their coverage of multiple games at once is NFL Red Zone-esque. It makes the investment in the Extra Innings package, or the MLB.TV subscription, worth it. It's great stuff, almost every day, and it's meant meaningful baseball in September in more cities than ever before.
If October is the main course, September is serving up one hell of an appetizer.
-The NFL, for its part, is offering up a pretty solid slate of games this week. And the Bengals face their first must-win of 2012.
Bengals v. Browns
I usually make a video where I pick this week's Bengals result. We'll put that on hiatus until next week. Or you can just watch the one I made with coworkers yesterday.
These games are usually closer than we think they will be. The last six Battles for Ohio have been decided by ten points or less, and four of those games were decided by a field goal or less.
In 2009, the Bengals made the playoffs and beat the Browns twice, but only by a combined total of 12. Last year's team has also postseason-bound, and also beat Cleveland twice, but by ten and three points respectively.
The point is that I'm really good at finding scores of old games and that if you think this game will be a blowout, it probably won't be.
As frustrating as last week was from the home team's standpoint, I don't see them losing even if the game is close. The Browns are too young, too devoid of good NFL-ready offensive talent, and as much as creepy Brandon Weeden will probably improve upon last week since he can't get any worse, he won't improve enough.
The big play makes a return to the Bengals' offense. AJ Green takes advantage of the Joe Haden suspension, they build upon what they did on the ground against Baltimore, and while the Bengals don't exactly light up the outdated PBS scoreboard, they don't make many mistakes either.
I predict a very solid morning of tailgating at Longworth Hall and a relative low-scoring afternoon of football. I can't imagine what life will be like if these guys start 0-2. Fortunately, we'll only have to imagine it. Bengals 24 Browns 16
I had the Packers winning, which they did, but not covering, which they also did, against Chicago last night. I like the Thursday night games because it gives me something to watch besides the usually dreadful college game they show on ESPN. But admittedly, there have been very few really well-played Thursday games since the league started regularly staging them. I can't imagine how hard it is to bounce back and play again with just three days of rest....And it's fair to wonder, as Jayson Whitlock does, what's more dangerous to player safety, bounties or a team like the Ravens playing four games in 17 days? The league comes across as pretty disingenuous when it talks about player safety then forces a team to play so frequently in such a short amount of time.
The Bills were week one's biggest disappointment. That Fitzy extension looks worse and worse. Buffalo (-3.5) rebounds though with a week two win over KC....Indy (+1.5) won't win many, but will this week over Minnesota...If Oakland (-2.5) figures out how to play special teams and finds a long snapper who doesn't bowl the ball pack to the punter, they win easily in Miami....The Cardinals aren't beating anyone with that running game, especially the Patriots. New England (-13.5) big over Arizona..Will Tom Coughlin be back on the hot seat after he starts 0-2? Tampa Bay (+7.5) wins in New Jersey....No winning team might have been as impressive in week one as the Ravens. No winning team might have been less impressive in week two as the Eagles. Baltimore (+2.5) wins at Philly in a rematch of the 1983 World Series...New Orleans (-2.5) gets it going on the ground and wins what could be a shootout over Carolina....Blaine Gabbert against the Texans defense = funny. Houston (-7.5) rolls over Los Angeles Jacksonville....RGIII. That is all. Washington (-3.5) by double digits at St. Louis....Tony Romo and Kevin Ogletree were very good in the Cowboys week one win, but no one talked about their defense. They will after Dallas (-3.5) improves to 2-0 at Seattle...Pittsburgh wins but the Jets (+6.5) hang in and make it interesting....By the end of the season, no one will want to play the Titans. Tennessee (+6.5) makes life tough for San Diego in a loss...Fun game in 'Frisco, where everyone will just be waiting for the handshake. San Fran (-6.5) wins a good one over Detroit....The Falcons are already dealing with injuries to the secondary. Denver (+3.5) wins handily at Atlanta.
Normally on Fridays I run through the weekend's slate of local college football games. But two things....
1) As I type this I'm leaving for a Chicago/Wrigley Field trip in 30 minutes.
2) This weekend's run of games is pretty brutal.
None of them will be close, and the teams we all expect to win them, indeed will win. I'm off to Chicago. Enjoy your weekend. Hit play, turn up, and walk away....
