The Kevin Kolb problem

If you've been an Eagles fan during any of the Donovan McNabb era, or even if you have lived in Philadelphia during that span, you have to know that Kevin Kolb's success is going to mean trouble.

For his first two NFL starts, Kolb has played very well. He's thrown for over 700 yards and 4 TDs. Of course, it was against two soft defenses in the Saints and Chiefs, but still, considering his inexperience, he has to be commended for his performance.

Of course, now the real problem starts. McNabb will most likely start against the Bucs after the Eagles' bye week in week 4. Luckily for Donovan, his first two games back will be against the 0-3 Bucs and 1-2 Raiders, so he should put up big stats in those games. However, look at this next stretch of games: @ Redskins (always tough), Giants, Cowboys, @ Chargers, @ Bears, Redskins, @ Falcons, @ Giants. Yikes. Needless to say, Donovan might not put up his best numbers in these games.

So what is bound to happen? The first game the Eagles lose, the first time McNabb throws a pick, or even the first time he bounces a pass to a wide open receiver, we're gonna hear it: PUT IN KOLB. It's almost an absolute certainty that it's going to happen.

As a lifelong Eagles fan, I have no problem saying this: 90% of Eagles fans are idiots. I'll never understand why Donovan has garnered as much hate as he has amongst Eagles fans. Yes, he has had his bad and embarassing moments. But he has been the lifeblood of this organization for over a decade now. If he was not able to play this season, this team would not make the playoffs with Kevin Kolb at QB, I guarantee that.

Is Kolb the future of the Eagles? Possibly, but there is no way he's ready to lead this team to the playoffs right now. He still makes poor passes, misses open receivers, and makes bad decisions. Yes, 700 yards is nice, but he did it by throwing 50 passes against the Saints and then playing perhaps the worst defense in the league.

So next time McNabb has a bad game this season, and it most likely will happen, think twice before you call for Kolb. McNabb is the best QB the Eagles have ever had, remember that.

Power rankings after week 3:

Top 5
1. Giants 3-0
2. Ravens 3-0
3. Colts 3-0
4. Jets 3-0
5. Vikings 3-0

Bottom 5
28. Redskins 1-2
29. Bucs 0-3
30. Rams 0-3
31. Browns 0-3
32. Chiefs 0-3

Week 3 Picks

Sorry I didn't talk about week 2, here are some highlights:

- Kevin Kolb played well, but he'll never be more than a backup

- Patriots will still win the AFC East, book it

- Pete Carroll is too "cool" for his own good, that's why USC loses stupid games

Anyway, week 3 picks:

Last week: 8-8

Overall: 22-10

Upset Picks: 2-0

Washington over Detroit

Green Bay over St. Louis

Minnesota over San Fran

New England over Atlanta

UPSET SPECIAL: Tennessee over NY Jets

Philadelphia over KC

NY Giants over Tampa

Baltimore over Cleveland

Houston over Jacksonville

New Orleans over Buffalo

Chicago over Seattle

Pittsburgh over Cincy

Oakland over Denver

San Diego over Miami

Indy over Arizona

Dallas over Carolina

Why the Emmys are a joke

I'll get to football, Kevin Kolb, Eagles sucking, etc. tomorrow, but today I want to talk about the greatest injustice in the history of award shows.

Hopefully most of you by now are familiar with The Shield, the FX cop drama that ended its seven season run this year. For those not familiar, the show stars Michael Chiklis (The Thing from Fantastic Four) as Vic Mackey, a cop who frequently uses questionable (that's putting it lightly) police tactics, but always gets the job done. Needless to say, Vic gets into a lot of trouble along the way, and has to go deeper and deeper into seedy tactics to get himself out.

I accidentally stumbled upon The Shield during its pilot, and I was immediately hooked after the first five minutes. The pilot is easily the best I've ever seen, and the end of the first episode affects everything that happens in the rest of the series. I'm not the only one who has become addicted to the show at first view. Anyone who has watched it with me has to watch the next episode, and then the next episode, and then start from the beginning, and watch them all, you get the idea.

Although the show has always been praised by critics, it hasn't been recognized by the awards shows anywhere near what it should have been. Chiklis won the Emmy for Best Actor in 2002, but the show has had a dry spell since then. I figured the final season of The Shield would finally get the show the recognition it so richly deserved. The season was amazing after all. Episodes were great from start to (especially) finish, and every actor saved their best performance for last. Chiklis was amazing as always, but Walton Goggins as Shane and David Rees Snell as Ronnie really stepped up for the last season.

So how many Emmy nominations did The Shield receive for its final season?

Zero.

Absolutely none.

None for Best Actor (Chiklis), none for Best Supporting Actor (Goggins or Rees Snell), none for Best Supporting Actress (CCH Pounder), none for Best Writing (the last episode), and most egregiously, none for Best Drama.

I don't watch every show on TV. I don't watch Mad Men, but I'm sure it's good. But honestly, how do four Mad Men episodes get nominated for Best Writing, and the final episode of the The Shield gets none?

I can't stress enough how great Goggins and Rees Snell were in this season. I might even say they deserved nominations more than Chiklis, they were that good. Vic Mackey has pretty much been the same since season 1, but it's incredible to see how much the characters of Shane and Ronnie have evolved since the beginning. Shane went from being an unlikable jackass to, well, and unlikable jackass but for many different reasons. Even though he was the de facto villain in the last season, you had to feel incredibly bad for him, and a lot of that comes from Goggins' performance.

Ronnie wasn't even supposed to be a regular character on the show. However, the writers decided to write him into the stories more because Rees Snell was so great in the role and fans loved him. He goes from having about two lines in the first season to becoming the third-main character on the show in the last season. I guess the Emmy voters didn't see his last scene in the final episode.

It wouldn't really bother me too much if The Shield didn't win any Emmys. The newer shows usually get the awards anyway. But to have ZERO nominations for the last season of one the greatest cop dramas ever is a crime. If only Vic was still around to crack some Emmy nominator skulls.

Do yourself a favor, watch The Shield, all of it, and you'll understand.

Week 2 Picks

Last week: 14-2

Atlanta over Carolina

Minnesota over Detroit

Green Bay over Cincinnati

Tennessee over Houston

UPSET PICK: Oakland over Kansas City, it's the Raiders winning, so it's an upset no matter who they're playing

New England over New York Jets

Philadelphia over New Orleans

Washington over St. Louis

Arizona over Jacksonville

Buffalo over Tampa Bay

Seattle over San Francisco

Pittsburgh over Chicago

Denver over Cleveland

San Diego over Baltimore

Dallas over New York Giants

Indianapolis over Miami

Random thoughts from NFL Week 1

Every year after NFL week 1, everyone dissects the week way too much, and makes outlandish predictions based on one game. I'll try not to do that, but here are some of my impressions from the first week:

- I hate to say it, but Donovan won't be the same this year. Remember the year after they went to the Super Bowl, in the first game he suffered a seemingly minor sternum injury, but it ended up hampering his play for the entire season. I'm afraid even if Donovan comes back by week 4, he won't be the same for the rest of the season.

- That being said, the Eagles D looked great against the Panthers. Sure Delhomme was terrible, but many of his poor throws were caused by Eagles pressure. My biggest worry about this team heading into the season was the defense, but they looked great against a pretty good Carolina team.

- Again, not to make outlandish predictions based on week 1, but Chicago is done. Besides the loss of Urlacher, the just looked lost on offense even with supposed franchise savior Jay Cutler. Cutler seems like the kind of guy who could lose focus easily if he starts the season out poorly.

- Arizona is in trouble as well. They still have no running game, and let's face it, Kurt Warner is old.

- Denver will still be bad, a miracle play against the Bengals to win means nothing.

- The Raiders actually played with some life for the first time in years, and they got robbed of that game. They'll be second in the West, maybe get to 7 wins.

- Even though they lost, the Titans might have been the best team in the AFC South in Week 1. The Colts looked bad just getting by the Jaguars.

- The best performance of the week goes to Drew Brees. I don't care if you're playing against the Drexel football team, 6 TDs is impressive.

- The worst performance of week 1 goes to the Texans. For years we've been waiting for this team to break out, and this finally seemed like the season. Instead, they lose by 17 points to a rookie QB in his first start on the road.

- To college now, and I haven't been more upset about a game recently than Notre Dame/Michigan. Michigan played well, no doubt, but Notre Dame just shot themselves in the foot. Notre Dame has the talent to win 10 games, and I wasn't convinced of that before the season. But they still don't know how to win close games, so it looks like it'll be something like 8-4, Gator Bowl loss, and bye bye Charlie Weis.

Top 5/Bottom 5 after week 1
Top 5
1. Steelers
2. Eagles
3. Patriots
4. Giants
5. Vikings

Bottom 5
5. Chiefs
4. Bucs
3. Browns
2. Lions
1. Rams

Week 1 NFL Picks

In case you wanna know who's gonna win every week...

Pittsburgh over Tennessee

Atlanta over Miami

Cincinnati over Denver

Minnesota over Cleveland

Indy over Jacksonville

New Orleans over Detroit

Dallas over Tampa Bay

Philadelphia over Carolina

Baltimore over Kansas City

Houston over New York Jets

New York Giants over Washington

UPSET PICK OF THE WEEK: San Francisco over Arizona, because I have to pick one every week, and I picked all favorites so far

Seattle over St. Louis

Green Bay over Chicago

New England over Buffalo

San Diego over Oakland

NFL Preview Extravagana Part IV

So, I'm an idiot. I forgot the season actually starts tomorrow, so I guess I need to wrap this up. So here's my complete standings, playoffs, etc.

AFC

East
1. New England 13-3
2. Buffalo 9-7
3. New York 7-9
4. Miami 6-10

North
1. Pittsburgh 12-4
2. Baltimore 11-5
3. Cincinnati 6-10
4. Cleveland 4-12

South
1. Indianapolis 11-5
2. Houston 10-6
3. Tennessee 8-8
4. Jacksonville 5-11

West
1. San Diego 12-4
2. Denver 5-11
3. Kansas City 4-12
4. Oakland 2-14

NFC

East
1. New York 10-6
2. Philadelphia 10-6
3. Dallas 9-7
4. Washington 7-9

North
1. Green Bay 11-5
2. Minnesota 10-6
3. Chicago 9-7
4. Detroit 3-13

South
1. Carolina 11-5
2. Atlanta 9-7
3. New Orleans 9-7
4. Tampa Bay 5-11

West
1. Seattle 9-7
2. Arizona 9-7
3. San Francisco 6-10
4. St. Louis 3-13

Playoffs

San Diego over Houston Baltimore over Indianapolis New York over Minnesota Philadelphia over Seattle

New England over Baltimore Pittsburgh over San Diego Philadelphia over Carolina Green Bay over New York

New England over Pittsburgh Philadelphia over Green Bay

Super Bowl XLIV

New England over Philadelphia

NFL Preview Extravaganza Part III

Thank you very much Virginia Tech for making me look stupid on the first week of the season. Oh well, at least Notre Dame looked good. On to the AFC South:

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
Remember when we thought we saw then end of the Colts mini-dynasty last season when they started 3-4? All they did to finish out was 9 wins to end the season. They entered the playoffs as many people's AFC favorite, but were defeated by the Chargers in the first round. Despite their early playoff exit, there's no doubt that the Colts are the favorite to take back control of the South this season. As long as they have everyone's favorite TV spokesman, Peyton Manning, at QB, the Colts will be a contender. Some of the other faces on offense have changed; Marvin Harrison is gone, and his production is expected to be replaced by former first round pick Anthony Gonzalez. Although Joseph Addai is still listed at the starting RB, he will be pushed by this year's first round pick, Donald Brown. The defense still has room to improved, especially on the D-line, but they are good enough to keep them in games. If you have any doubt if they Colts are at the end of their run, just watch the first quarter of their preseason game against the Eagles. They'll be back in the playoffs.

2. Houston Texans (10-6)
Every year the Texans get a little bit better in the offseason, and every year we expect them to finally make the playoffs for the first time. So this year I'm going to say...the Texans will break out and make the playoffs for the first time. All of the talent is certainly in place. The offense is potentially explosive. Andre Johnson is easily one of the top 3 WRs in the NFL, and Kevin Walter is a nice no.2 option. Steve Slaton had an excellent rookie season at RB and should only improve this season.. The key to this team is QB Matt Schaub. He has done well when healthy, unfortunately that has not been very often. If he plays the whole season, this team will make the playoffs. The D is still a bit shaky, but has two superstars in Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans. They're not quite ready to overtake the Colts, but they could be the team to beat in the division next season.

3. Tennessee Titans (8-8)
Last year, I though the Titans would show that their playoff run from 2007 was a fluke and they would fall back into mediocrity. Of course, they ended up going 13-3 and winning the South. Of course, this year I'm gonna say that the Titans were a fluke last year, and they'll fall back into mediocrity. The Titans are built in the same mold as the Steelers and Ravens: run first and play great defense. The problem with the Titans, and it was exposed in the playoffs last year, is they're just not as physical as the Steelers or Ravens. They'll be able to run the ball again this year with Chris Johnson and the svelte LenDale White. However, and I know I'm making a mistake for saying this, but I don't trust Kerry Collins for another season. Even though they added Kenny Britt, they still lack a go to receiver for this season. And you can't underestimate how the loss of Albert Haynesworth will affect their defense. He was their MVP last season, and they're gonna be alot easier to run on this season. So yeah, the Titans will be mediocre this season, and I won't be wrong this time.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
Is there seriously a more boring team in the NFL than the Jaguars? First of all, they play in Jacksonville, and apologies for all the Jacksonvillians reading this, but how did Jacksonville get an NFL team? What is in Jacksonville, except a bridge or something? I remember when the Eagles played in the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, and everyone just seemed miserable to be there. Second of all, they have one good player, Maurice Jones-Drew. Torry Holt might help out the receivers a little bit, but he's all they've got there. David Garrard is one of those "game manager" QBs, which is a nice way of saying he's terrible. The defense is nothing special anymore. How can I tell? Sean Considine is staring for them. That right there about sums up the 2009 Jacksonville Jaguars.

NFL Preview Extravaganza Part II

Before I get to the AFC North, man, what a terrible game between Oregon and Boise State last night. You have to expect something like 42-38 when those teams play each other, but instead we got a 19-8 game (what kind of score is that?) with a ton of mistakes and bad play. Then of course there was that nice sucked punch after the game, probably the most exciting thing that happened all night. I hope Blount had fun playing football, cause he's not gonna be playing too many more games I think.

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
If you look at the Steelers last year, you've gotta think that their defense didn't get nearly enough credit for their Super Bowl victory. Back when the Ravens won it all, we heard about how their defense was the all-time greatest, and how they completely carried their offense. The same can be said for the Steelers last season. Big Ben's stats were nothing special (17 TDs to 15 INTs), Willie Parker and pretty much their entire running game was nonexistant, and their o-line gave up a ton of sacks. Still, and I hate this cliche, they know how to win games. The D is still the best in the NFL, and they didn't lose anyone of importance from last season. Even if the offense struggles again, they're the favorites in the division.

2. Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
The Ravens are kinda like the Steelers-lite. They play very similar brands of football, and have the same strengths and weaknesses. It seems like the Ravens have never had a good offense, but that could be changing soon if Flacco continues to develop and Ray Rice emerges as a no.1 RB. Their defense is 1b to the Steelers 1a. Watching Ravens/Steelers games is always fun, and it looks they'll be battling it out for North supremacy once again this year. The Ravens have the talent to overtake the Steelers, and with a couple more years for their young offensive players to develop, they could easily be the favorites.

3. Cincinatti Bengals (6-10)
Forget the Madden Curse, I think it's about time to take the HBO Hard Knocks curse seriously. 2001- the Ravens, coming off a Super Bowl win, lose in the playoffs, 2002- Cowboys, sucked, 2007 (next year it was on) -Chiefs, terrible, 2008- Cowboys, no playoffs. So it's the Bengals turn to be cursed this season. About the only reason for optimism for the Bengals this season is the return of Carson Palmer, and the (alleged) return of Chad Ochocino to form. They also added Laverneus Coles and Chris Henry has looked good at receiver, so they should have a much improved offense. I still wouldn't trust Cedric Benson at running back, hopefully they'll get smart and start Brian Leonard. The defense still isn't anything special, considering Dhani Jones might still be starting. They'll score more points, but don't expect a dramatic turnaround.

4. Cleveland Browns (4-12)
I was tempted to make Cleveland a surprise team of sorts this season, like everyone was expecting them to be last season, but then I realized it's the Browns and that wouldn't be a good idea. I'm rooting for my boy Brady Quinn to win the QB job and show something this season, but it's won't be easy with their o-line, Braylon Edwards dropping everything, and a nondescript running game. The defense isn't much better, actually it's probably worse. I like how the Browns turned the 5th pick of the draft into 3 average players from the Jets (thanks to Eric Mangini) and a center. A center will probably turn the team around. Sorry Cleveland, basketball season starts soon.

NFL Preview Extravaganza Part I

Well, pretty soon we'll get to hear football stories that don't involve the names Favre, Vick, Burress, T.O, or even Stinson. And thank God. This NFL offseason has been so incredibly annoying, I'm so excited that some real football is actually about to start. This is the first part of a 10938430 part NFL blog super extravanganza, and it might even be as good as this preview: http://media.www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2006/06/30/Sports/New-England.Cincy.Should.Repeat.As.Division.Champions-2119806.shtml

So here's part I, the AFC East.
1. New England Patriots 13-3
Despite the incredible annoyingness of anything or anyone from Boston, you have to be impressed by what the Patriots have done over the last decade. It's getting to the point where it's hard to remember the last time the Patriots weren't the favorites in the AFC East, and that's pretty darn incredible considering how quickly the fortunes of any NFL team can change. They even went 11-5 last year despite losing the best QB in the league after 5 minutes into the season (and as Kansas City will probably find out, it wasn't because of Matt Cassel).
Brady will be fine this year. Not 2007 fine, but he'll probably be amongst the top 3 QBs statistically this year, easily. They still have Moss, Welker, and now they added the ultimate weapon in Greg Lewis. The defense is great; they have the protoypical 3-4 defense and it doesn't seem to matter who they plug in there.
They have one potential weakness: the running game. They have about 5,000 RBs now with the addition of Fred Taylor, but they don't really run the ball too much, and they don't really need to. You just have to wonder how they'll move the ball if Brady somehow has a bad game. But doesn't really matter, they'll be dominant again this year.


2. Buffalo Bills 9-7
Everyone's already saying that T.O is a terrible fit in Buffalo, it'll never work, Trent Edwards is not good enough for T.O, etc. Well, yeah everyone is pretty much right. Why T.O chose to go to Buffalo is beyond me. I've gotta think there were at least a few other teams out there that would have taken him, but why he went to the NFL city with perhaps the least amount of media exposure baffles me. However, T.O has always behaved for at least one season wherever he's been, so I think they just might get one ok year out of him. Trent Edwards looks like he could be decent, and I think they could have a pretty good looking offense. The running game is a little unsettled with Marshawn Lynch suspended for being a criminal or something, but he'll be back. The defense is pretty average all around, but they're young and could definitely improve this season. They just seem like that one team every year that is just all around average but somehow comes close to sneaking into the playoffs.

3. New York Jets 7-9
Unless you're the 2008 Atlanta Falcons, the combination of rookie QB and rookie head coach usually doesn't turn out very well. Of course, for the Jets last year, the combination of Brett Favre and being old didn't work out too well for them. Remember when they started off hot, and everyone was talking about a Jets/Giants Super Bowl? That seems like a long long time ago. The Jets still have talent. Sanchez looks like he'll be a solid QB. Maybe not Matt Ryan of last season, but good enough. I'll be shocked if Leon Washington isn't starting at RB by the end of the year. They really need to get him the ball. The D was pretty good last year, and should probably get better with Rex Ryan as head coach now.
Still, the rookie QB/new head coach thing is still weighing against them. I think they'll be the team that loses a lot of close games this season, then comes on strong next year.

4. Miami Dolphins 6-10
Did the Dolphins really win the AFC East last year? That doesn't seem right. I'm just not convinced that this is a good team. Yeah, they innovated the whole wildcat thing last season, but now that everyone is using it, it'll be easier to stop. I'm not sold on Chad Pennington being a playoff QB again. I think he played with a chip on his shoulder last season, and won't duplicate last season's success.
I guess I should have better reasoning than I just think they were a fluke last year, but yeah, I just think they were a fluke last year. Well here's a stat: despite going 11-5 last year, they only outscored their opponents by 28 points. So take some of those close wins and turn them the other way, and here we are. In an all-around solid division, I think they fall back this season.