Blogging on Thanksgiving. I have either an incredible work ethic or badly misplaced priorities.
I'm thankful for a lot of things. I have an incredible family, some amazing friends, the best job ever, and I don't play for Sean Woods. Life ain't bad.
I just hope whomever is preparing the turkey at the Woods house doesn't screw it up.
BENGALS v. RAIDERS
I think, even three days before the game, that we've exhausted all the Carson Palmer angles. We're gonna let him know how we feel, and hopefully he'll respond by throwing six pick-sixes. I care less about how Carson plays and more about both how the Bengals play and how they make Carson play.
The Bengals have to win Sunday. They can't afford to lose another home game, especially their last one against a losing team. We can boo, scream, yell, and do whatever we want to the Oakland quarterback, but it will all feel hollow if the Bengals lay an egg. And if they do, their playoff chances will take a pretty major hit.
This is, fair or no, a measuring stick game for Andy Dalton. What's most interesting to me is how Andy responds with his play in the crosshairs. Does he respond or wilt? I say he responds.
But this game will be no pushover.
Bengals 31 Raiders 28
Wanna know who the worst person in the world is? It's this guy....
In Kingston, Ontario, it’s not the Grinch but a 24-year-old man who police say stole Christmas.
An hour into the city’s Santa Parade on Saturday, as Christmas-themed floats slowly travelled down Princess St., the voice of a man yelling at startled children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist was heard over the crowd.
I do think it's worth wondering why they had a Santa parade on November 17th, but this guy should still get a sound beating from someone.
I could go back and look at my record for the season, bu I have food to eat. And football to watch. Three pretty interesting games on Thanksgiving...Long overtime game + short week + travel + desperate Lions team = Detroit (+3.5) win over Houston....The Bengals play the Cowboys in a few weeks. People are mistakenly taking that game for granted already. Dallas (-3.5) has a good defense, and they'll stifle RGIII just enough to beat Washington....No significant injury is less impactful than that of Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots have like 27 other decent tight ends. New England (-6.5) rolls over the Jets....I don't care who's behind center. The Bears don't look good. Minnesota (+5.5) beats Chicago....I'm not sure the Browns win the game, I am sure I'd never pick Charlie Batch to cover the spread. Cleveland's (+3.5) defense keeps it close against Pittsburgh....Indy (-3.5) bounces back against Buffalo. There's no such thing as running up the score in pro sports, by the way....The Chiefs are one of the worst five teams I've ever seen. Denver (-10.5) pounds KC....The best story in the NFL this season is Russell Wilson, not Adrian Peterson or Peyton Manning. Seattle (-2.5) big over Miami....Game of the day has Atlanta (-0.5) barely beating Tampa Bay....Tennessee (-2.5) wins against Jacksonville....The Chargers look like a team on the verge of quitting. I hope they've completely done that by next week. Baltimore (-0.5) drops San Diego....The idea that a player shouldn't lose his job because of injury is straight out of 1966. It's 2012. New Orleans (+1.5) wins again, this time over San Fran....St. Louis (+2.5) wins a turd of a game over Arizona....The Packers get revenge. Green Bay (+2.5) beats the Giants....And in maybe the worst Monday night game ever, Philly (-2.5) phinally wins against Carolina.
I've got food to eat and parades to pretend I've watched, so I'm making this quick.
My Bearcats win a game that feels very, very, meaningless, beating South Florida 24-14
I'm attending my first Ohio State/Michigan game in Columbus. I think I see the Buckeyes complete an undefeated season, winning on Saturday 21-17
I think Tennessee wins the Butch Jones Bowl, beating Kentucky 11-10
And I have Ball State beating Miami 33-13.
Happy Thanksgiving.
