CubmanPi

I'm not doing too well trying to pass time until then either, but this Superfans clip helped a little. The references to Superbowl XXVI and the loss to the Giants are slightly out-dated, but it never gets old. I miss Chris Farley.

I think Leinert will definitely have a formidable outing, and his team won't be completely out of the game by halftime like 4 of the first 5 Bears opponents have been, but I don't think we'll have a nail-biter on our hands by any means. I think the prediction of a late touchdown making the game appear to have been closer than it really was is a good prediction.

To be fair, Hasselbeck hasn't had that benefit this season either. A few mediocre showings and a few weeks injured isn't much support.

If the argument is over who the best QB is this season, I'll take McNabb's 58.7%, 1849, 13/2 over Hass's 60.4%, 1122, 9/7. Looks like McNabb is ahead on career numbers too. edit: They've also experienced comparable levels off success, so I think I would rather start the season with McNabb.

It's okay, I'm sure the Raiders have it in them to pull out the loss. If the Cubs were able to come back and snatch last place from the Pirates, the Raiders should have no trouble. I just picked the Cardinals because I'm planning on Matt Leinart having something to prove after getting embarrassed the week before :D

Let's hope slipping off the first page isn't the bad juju I thought it was. I would have done something about it, but I was running out of excuses for pointless posts. Only one game left this week - let's see sexy Rexy and crew mow down one more roadblock. Like that ever stopped you before !! :wink: If it never stopped me before, my post count would be MUCH higher... say, somewhere around your level... :)

I'm picking a big week for the road teams next week. (Sorry ndistops, Carolina isn't one of them.) I think San Diego will be convincing in their win over KC. The hardest games to pick I think are Carolina/Cincy, AZ/Oakland (yawn), and Minn/Seattle. The Bears are off though, so there are no no-brainer picks this week either though. (Except for maybe Jets/Lions.)

Let's hope slipping off the first page isn't the bad juju I thought it was. I would have done something about it, but I was running out of excuses for pointless posts. Only one game left this week - let's see sexy Rexy and crew mow down one more roadblock.

At least you aren't 0-11 which I think I am Didn't you win the Carolina game? Whoops, your totally right 1-10 You must have been pretty bombed last night if you didn't pick Chargers over 49ers.

Madden has been a few fries short of a Happy Meal for a long time now. I love how any praise for an NFC team has to come with that "in the NFC" caveat - it can't be "in the NFL." As a whole, is the NFC or AFC better? The AFC has been getting quite a bit of attention for the last several years, and rightfully so, with the success of the Pats and Steelers, plus the Colts having always been a powerhouse that just can't finish the job. Now Jax, SD, and Denver are all really good as well (SD is the team to beat in the AFC, imo), but I think the NFC is going to provide much better competition this year. The Bears are the best team in the league until otherwise proven, but the Eagles, Saints, and Falcons should all me making plenty of noise this year as well, and StL and Seattle should be good too.

I don't like the idea of four divisions with a winner from all making the playoffs. The great thing about the advent of the wildcard is that you will no longer have seasons like '93 when the second best record in baseball (Giants) watched the playoffs from home. Four divisions and four playoff teams would also make it an almost yearly occurence for at least one team to make the playoffs with 84 wins or less. Personally, I don't have many complaints about the way it is now. What difference does it make if the WC advances more frequently? One of the great things about baseball is that any team has a chance to win on any given day. In football, you can have teams win or lose 85 percent of their games all season, and lobsided matches on paper turn out the way they "should" much more frequently, but in baseball, heavily favored teams will normally just take 2 games out of 3. When it gets to the playoffs, there is no such thing as a heavily favored team. In this year's AL playoff pool, the difference from top to bottom was 4 games, in a 162-game season. Why should the WC team (who had a better record than the division winner they played in the ALCS) need to have some sort of disadvantage? The Tigers and their 95 wins had just as much right to be there as the Yankees and their 97 wins did. I'll throw in a QFT for simple brilliance.

The game will be on during my bowling league, but everyone is religious about watching the Monday night game during league. I'll just have to watch with no sound, but knowing ESPN, that's probably a good thing.

Seattle just came back and took the lead over the Saints, 24-21

Philly scores a touchdown less than two minutes into the third quarter, now 17-10 Saints.

Does the Rams' 21-7 lead over Seattle say more about the Rams or the Seahawks? Personally, I think the Rams have been pretty underrated this year. I'm not looking forward to when the Bears go to StL in December.

Man, just having to wait until Monday is getting pretty rough already. I'm seriously not looking forward to this bye week.

:lol:

There would be a conspiracy if I ever saw one.

So if you're coach, and we're going into the Green Bay game with 15 wins...do you rest the starters? Green Bay will come to Chicago when we're 15-0, and no way the starters rest. If they take a double-digit lead into halftime, then I sit the offensive starters and some of the defensive starters, with the understanding that any threats will result in the whole squad going back out. 16-0 without a Superbowl will definitely be remembered, though dubiously so. There will then have to be a distinction between "undefeated season" and "undefeated regular season." I would rather have 15-1 with a Superbowl, but the season would be more remembered (notorious is a better word) if it were 16-0 with no SB.

Let's hope that Manning Jr. isn't suspended. There's not a lot of depth in the secondary with Harris out. Regarding the secondary, I have a feeling that its (lack of) depth won't tip the scales for the AZ game, and there's a bye-week after that, so as long as Harris is better in three weeks, it should be okay.

What are we waiting for?!

I think it's already a lock to be a season to remember, either because of the team going all the way, or with a big disappointing collapse. You can't start 5-0 with this big of a point differential, and just fade away. Very true. I've been trying to keep my enthusiasm down a bit too, probably because Cubs fans are genetically predisposed to expect disappointment, but I no longer think it's too early to call for Miami or bust.

Leinert was looking pretty studly today, and he has a raw talent on a level that the Bears' D hasn't encountered too many times. Plus, the Bears D showed at the beginning and end of the second half today just how quickly and severely they can go flat. I also don't think TJ is the back that his numbers seem to keep suggesting. Cardinals fight to keep this one close, and an untimely turnover late in the game is just enough for the rookie QB in AZ to hand the mighty Bears their first loss, 16-13. (reverse jinx)

Playing in AZ doesn't quite count as a bye week. Close though. You are right. My bad. I wonder if Matt Leinert will be soiling himself this week while going over video in preparation for his second career start - on top of being against a defense that will bury him, it's a Monday night. Can't wait.

Playing in AZ doesn't quite count as a bye week. Close though.