Dipping Into The NFL - Week 4

Abbreviated picks this week as I spent the last two days watching our friend Scott complete his first Iron Man Triathalon in 12 hours, 13 minutes and change. Amazing feat. Congrats.

Here are The Dip's Week 4 picks (Home Team in CAPS and spreads based on Sportsbook.com lines).

For the Season: 5-9-1 Locks of the Week - 1-2

Chicago at DETROIT (+3) - Too many secondary issues for the Bears. I don't think Griese is the answer.

Green Bay (-2) at MINNESOTA - Favre is playing well and the defense is playing better.

Pittsburgh (-6) at ARIZONA - The Steelers are an emotional team. They'll be playing to prove that Mike Tomlin was the right choice as head coach.

SAN DIEGO (-12) vs. Kansas City - This is the week. It has to be.

LOCK OF THE WEEK

INDIANAPOLIS (-9.5) over Denver - The Broncos should have lost to the Bills and Raiders. They got blown out by the Jags. This won't be close. Think 21 plus. Sorry, PPD.

Stunning a Cougar

This is a crazy video.

Heidi Gill, a single mother of two, was out with friends at Up a Creek Tavern in Warren, OH on September 2, 2007 after attending a wedding.

Gill, 38-years old, was asked to leave the bar by bouncers. Apparently unable to tame the wild cougar, the bouncers asked police to help. Officer Richard Kovatch (sp?) responded and after finding the wild cougar uncooperative, decided that force was necessary to subdue the wild animal.

The officer tasered the poor woman seven times, including while she was handcuffed and WHILE SHE WAS IN THE BACK OF HIS CRUISER. That is nuts.

In the video, check out the part where she walks towards the back of the car. She takes a brutal shot off the rear fender.

Also, after the cop tells her to get out of the car and walk to the cruiser behind his, HE TASERS HER AGAIN! This time she falls to the ground and is knocked unconscious.

Dipping Into The NFL - Week 3

Spent Week 2 watching games in the luxury of my living room. A far cry from the Sportsbook at the IP where I spent Week 1.

Overall an awful week as I didn't listen to my own advice and broke all my rules by picking Cincinnati as a seven-point favorite on the road in Cleveland. Granted, nobody picked Cleveland slamming 51 up Cincy's can, but I should have seen it coming. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes and have a better Week 3.

Here are The Dip's Week 3 picks (Home Team in CAPS and spreads based on Sportsbook.com lines).

For the Season: 4-5-1

San Diego (-5.5) over GREEN BAY - Whoa, whoa, whoa. San Diego was a Super Bowl favorite heading into the season. They beat the Bears, then got smacked by the Patriots. The offense has looked bad, the defense got torched, and everybody jumped off the bandwagon. Now, the Chargers are favorites, but everybody is picking the Packers to win this game. Why? The Packers beat an Eagles team that fumbled the game to them and they didn't even score an offensive touchdown. Then they beat up on a crappy Giants team. Green Bay's defense is playing well, but they haven't faced a back like LDT yet. Every week there is some line that Vegas begs you to pick knowing full well that its a sucker's bet. This is that line. Green Bay will get zero from its running game and Brett Favre and Donald Driver are good, but not Brady and Moss good. Plus, Green Bay has a losing record at home over the last two seasons so Lambeau Field isn't worth the 3 points that home field usually gets you. Green Bay will get about 40 yards rushing, Favre will throw three INTs and possibly fumble following a Merriman sack. LDT will score twice and Rivers will find Gates on quick passes and Tomlinson on swing passes out of the backfield. San Diego will roll the Packers at home 27-17.

Buffalo (+16.5) over NEW ENGLAND - Decided on a new rule. If a team scores seven points or less in a game, take them the next week plus the points. NFL players have pride and Buffalo will not want to go into New England and get blown out like they did in Pittsburgh. Atlanta played Jacksonville close and covered, Cleveland won outright, Kansas City stayed within 12 of Chicago, and Tampa Bay won outright over New Orleans. All four teams scored a touchdown or less in week one. I think that the Patriots will be on a little letdown following Sunday night's huge dismantling of the Chargers and may be looking ahead to Week 4's Monday night matchup with the Bengals. New England will win, but Buffalo keeps it respectable with a 31-17 loss.

WASHINGTON (-3.5) over New York Giants - Ugh. This is a definite loss, but I can't see the Skins only winning by a field goal in this game. Scores of 17-13 or 24-20 are much more likely. I would even take 14-10. Hopefully not since I'll be starting Portis and Cooley on my fantasy team this weekend. This game is sure to bring lots of screams from my couch on Sunday. Washington 24-17.

Carolina (-4) over ATLANTA - Oh, boy. After everything I said about Buffalo above and Cleveland last week I pick Carolina. Here's the problem by picking against the Falcons: 1) Home underdog. 2) Scored seven or less week before. 3) Division rival. 4) Starting QB called out by coach. What makes me go against everything is Carolina's loss to Houston last week. They should be fired up. I think that if they beat the Texans last week, they could be upset in this game. But Steve Smith won't let the Panthers lose. He'll be running the sidelines screaming at teammates all game. He lights DeAngelo Hall up for a score and the Panthers running game gets going again. Falcons' coach Bobby Petrino said QB Joey Harrington needs is hesitating too much and just needs to let it fly. Does he know that Harrington has more INTs than TDs in his career? Harrington lets it fly but the Panthers make most of the catches. Carolina gets a return for a score and wins 27-14.

LOCK OF THE WEEK -

OAKLAND (-3) over Cleveland - The Raiders could be 2-0 with close losses to Detroit and Denver. Warren Sapp and company will not lose the chance to get a victory with Cleveland in town. It was easy for Cleveland to get for division/state rival Cincy, but its a long trip to Oakland for the Browns. QB Derek Anderson comes back to reality with a couple of picks. The Raiders defense is much better than the Bengals defense. Lamont Jordan continues to have a good season and Oakland gets just enough from Josh McCown for a 17-13 victory.

Other Games - Just my opinion but won't count towards my season totals.

Indianapolis (-6) over HOUSTON - No Andre Johnson means throw the rules out the window.

Minnesota (+2.5) over KANSAS CITY - Kelly Holcomb is much better than Tavaris Jackson.

PHILADELPHIA (-6) over Detroit - Just a hunch. Think they're due. Seems like a strange line and oddsmakers know way more than we do.

NEW YORK JETS (-3) over Miami - No Zach Thomas. This is what they traded for Thomas Jones for.

PITTSBURGH (-9.5) over San Francisco - Could have been lock of the week. They'll shut down Gore and Alex Smith might actually cry on the field.

Cardinals (+7.5) over BALTIMORE - Defense is good, but offense is stagnant. Cards do just enough to cover.

Rams (+3.5) over TAMPA BAY - Another hunch. Just feel like Steven Jackson is due for a 150-yard, 2 TD game.

Jacksonville (+3) over DENVER - Denver wins every game with a late field goal. You'll either push or win.

SEATTLE (-3) over Cincinnati - Long trip for the Bengals and they didn't even pack their defense. Plus, bet the under of 49.5 points. When everybody thinks its going to be a shootout, it usually isn't.

Dallas (+3) over CHICAGO - Dallas offense is much better than Kansas City's. I'll bet against Grossman anytime.

NEW ORLEANS (-4) over Tennessee - I bet against the Saints in the Superdome opener against the Falcons last year. Not making that mistake again.

Redskins-Giants Preview

Week 3 – NY Giants at Washington

This week will be huge for Washington with the bye week up next. Tiki Barber ran wild on the Skins last year but Tiki is retired, finally. Safeties Landry and Sean Taylor will want to put big-time hits on TE Jeremy Shockey and WR Plaxico Burress. The Giants defense won’t be able to stop Portis and Betts and Cambell will have his best game of the first three.

Prediction – Washington 24 – Giants 17 (Record 2-1)

I think I'm going to stick with my original prediction for this game. The Giants are playing worse than I expected and the defense has been non-existent. But previous performances can be thrown out the window when it comes to rivalry games such as this.

Based on the first two games, the Skins should be able to put 30-plus points up at FedEx Field, but the Giants are going to bring everything they can to this game. The defense has been called out for the entire week and they are going to rally and play their best game of season to date. That shouldn't be hard after their first two performances.

The Skins will start out slowly and emphasize the running game hard in the first half. It won't be effective at first, but the point will be to open up the play-action passing game and wear down the defense for the second half.

The game will be close at the half, but the Skins will open it up in the third quarter with a bomb to Santana Moss and the defense will force a turnover in Giants' territory that will lead to a Portis touchdown run.

Portis and Betts will run hard in the fourth quarter and keep the Giants' offense off the field and stop all chance of a Eli Manning led comeback. The Giants will get a late touchdown, but it won't be enough.

A Dip into Youtube

Christ, man. There's just some things you don't talk about in public.



(It's really only 1:27 long and probably not too safe for work)

Will You Just Shut Up and Get Naked!!!

Finally, the people at PETA have figured out a way to make me care about vegetarianism.

Our favorite "Clueless" actress from the 90's, Alicia Silverstone, has agreed to appear naked in a telelvision ad for PETA to help promote vegetarianism.

The 30-second spot is scheduled to run about 24 times in Houston today. PETA chose Houston as the city to debut the ad due to its unusually unhealthy eating habits. Men's Fitness magazine listed Houston among its top-ten fattest cities.

The commercials will feature the 30-year old Silverstone walking out of a pool, covering her naked body with her arms. Unfortunately, she ruins the shot by blabbering about the healthy benefits of not eating meat. Insert "eat meat" joke here.

A couple of side notes here:

1. Isn't it amazing how far off Silverstone has fallen in the past 13 years? As a gorgeous 17-year-old, Silverstone jumped into the spotlight, literally, in the Aerosmith videos "Cryin'", "Amazing" and "Crazy". Then had a stellar performance as psycho Adrienne in "The Crush" with Cary Elwes. She was only 17 in that movie! Cary Elwes has a a very lucky career (NSFW).




She officially blew up in 1995 as Cher in "Clueless" at the age of 19. She really shit the bed in her 20s with crappy movie after crappy movie.



2. In the "Cryin'" video, the guy who steals her purse in the diner is Josh Holloway, the actor who plays "Lost" favorite Sawyer.

Hail To The Redskins!

Sometimes you have to love it when you're proven wrong.

I predicted a 31-17 victory by the Eagles over the Redskins in last night's Monday Night Football matchup. Fortunately for Skins' nation, I proven with my two Sundays of NFL picks that I'm an idiot and know nothing about football.

The Redskins defense bent, bent, bent, and bent again but finally stiffened when it mattered the most and held on for a 20-12 victory at the Linc. They allowed Westbrook to run in space and left receivers open, but McNabb was wild in the first half and missed high on a lot of his throws. The Eagles moved the ball but Greg Williams' defense held the Eagles to four David Akers field goals and didn't let any Philly player sniff the endzone.

After a very boring first 29:46 of the game, the Redskins drove the field and found themselves with a first and goal from the one-yard line. Campbell spiked the ball to stop the clock. Then in a bizarre chain of events on 2nd and goal:

First try on 2nd and goal from one-yard line: Penalty - Delay of Game after Gibbs and Saunders were too late in getting Campbell the play and the goalline package into the game.

Second try on 2nd and goal from six-yard line: Penalty - False start on new right tackle Jason Fabini (starting RG Randy Thomas tore his tricep and was forced to leave the game)

Third try on 2nd and goal from 11-yard line: Penalty - False start on Fabini

Fourth try on 2nd and goal from 16-yard line: Gibbs sends out K Sean Suisham and the field goal unit. First of all, it's only second down. Second of all, there are 14 seconds left.

What the hell was that?

Lucky for Gibbs, Andy Reid calls a timeout to freeze the kicker giving the Washington assistant coaches a chance to remind him that he's supposed to win football games and not tie them. He sends the offense back onto the field and on try number 5, Campbell hits Cooley with a great ball on a corner route to the back of the endzone for a touchdown.

The teams traded field goals in the third quarter, then Washington scored on a 63-yard drive highlighted by a 28-yard screen pass to Ladell Betts and capped off by a 6-yard Portis TD run to give Washington a 20-9 lead.

After a Philly field goal, Washington took over with 6:32 left and a chance to run out the clock. After a 4-yard Betts run, Saunders called a play-action pass that had Santana Moss streaking down the middle of the field a good eight yards behind the Eagles secondary. Somehow, Cambpell overthrew one of the fastest guys in the NFL by nearly 10 yards and missed a chance to clinch the game.

Philly took a Redskins punt at started at the 20-yard line with just under five minutes left in the game. McNabb led the Eagles down the field, including hitting Reggie Brown with a 19-yard completion on 4th and 5.

The Eagles had a first down on the Skins' 13-yard line with just over two minutes remaining in the game. The Skins defense held with great tackles and constant pressure on McNabb. Facing fourth and sixth, McNabb hit Kevin Curtis with a pass over the middle good enough for a first down. However, rookie safety LaRon Landry crushed Curtis and separated the man from the ball.

Last season, Washington lost three games in which they led by over ten points. This is usually a product of poor coaching, conservative play calling, and prevent defense. In Monday's game the Skins took a shot down the field with Moss and continued to blitz during the final drive. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come this season.

Washington hosts the 0-2 NY Giants next Sunday, then gets the 2-0 Lions a week later. I predicted final scores of 24-17 and 35-24 in two Redskins victories.

Hopefully they won't prove me wrong in these games.