Photo above courtesy of Fox Sports.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
Thursday night, NFL fans were treated to an early Christmas light show. That is, unless you are one of the estimated 8% of men (far less women) who happen to be colorblind. The latest force-fed marketing campaign by the folks on Park Avenue is called Color Rush. The league has chosen a certain amount of teams to participate by using their third uniform option like my daughters wielding markers and paint brushes. The Bills and Jets uniforms could likely be seen from space with the sole purpose to sell additional jerseys except for one big problem…those that were colorblind saw only green uniforms so it looked like a Jets scrimmage to them. Another week, another league blunder for me to comment on.
The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to go above .500 for the first time this season as they welcome Ray Finkle and the Miami Dolphins to Lincoln Financial Field. Laces out, Finkle!!
The Pick: Chip Kelly was clear following Philadelphia’s exciting overtime win over the hated Dallas Cowboys by stating the win means nothing if they don’t come back next week and beat Miami. The Chippah is correct. There were a few things that excited me about the Eagles on Sunday night. Frankly, there were was a lot that frustrated me but I’m going to stay positive here. I liked the overall run to pass ratio which was, essentially, 50/50. It was great to see Bradford follow through with his throws and push through on his rehabilitated leg. His confidence is growing. The Dolphins will be without their best pass rusher since defensive end Cameron Wake, who is tied for 5th in the NFL with 7 sacks, tore his achilles and is gone for the season. I expect the Dolphins to try and test that Eagles secondary early on but Miami is a better team when they run the ball effectively. Lamar Miller is averaging over 5 yards per rush.
Miami is coming off a tough, physical divisional road loss in Buffalo and while the team’s play has been heightened under interim head coach Dan Campbell, I don’t think they will have enough to deal with an Eagles offense starting to get its wheels moving. Buffalo gashed the Dolphins’ defense for 260 yards on the ground last week so I expect the Birds to unleash Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles and DeMarco Murray. Philadelphia 31 Miami 20
The NFL has graced us with a good card so let’s jump in head first to YOUR Week 10 What 2 Watch 4…
Detroit at Green Bay. The Lions are a disastrous 1 – 7 and have not a won a football game in the state of Wisconsin since December of 1991, nearly 24 years. Don’t expect that to change this week as they face a Packers squad returning home where they are dominant and have just suffered back to back road losses. Here’s some fun trivia…any idea who the Green Bay quarterback was way back on that fateful December afternoon in Green Bay? Mike Tomczak. More on the disgrace of a franchise that is the Detroit Lions later.
Cleveland at Pittsburgh. File this under What NOT 2 Watch 4. Quarterbacks John Manziel versus Landry Jones.
Carolina at Tennessee. Carolina is looking to extend their already franchise record of 8-0 against the Titans who are hoping for their second straight win with interim head coach Mike Mularkey.
Minnesota at Oakland. The big question here is whether or not Teddy Bridgewater will play after suffering a concussion last week. Minnesota’s defense has played well but they’ll have their hands full this week with Oakland’s Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and, hopefully, Latavius Murray.
Kansas City at Denver. Big AFC West showdown as the Broncos, hurting after their first loss of the season, host the Chiefs, fresh off a bye. DeMarcus Ware won’t go for Denver but all eyes will, once again, be on Peyton Manning. You can expect him to break the all-time passing mark, currently held by Brett Favre, with his first pass completion of the game and, please, get this over with early. I don’t want to hear about it for four quarters. With a win, Manning will break another Favre-held record. This one, for most regular season wins in league history. Not the best day to be Brett Favre. At least he still has real comfortable jeans.
New England at New York Giants. Here we go again! Undefeated talk is swirling the Patriots and they’re about to start off a tough three game stretch at Met Life Stadium in North Joisey. You would think Tom Brady could put a 50 burger on that Giants secondary but, remember, this team has his number. Specifically, the number 1, as in 19 – 1.
Arizona at Seattle. You have to wait all the way till Sunday night to catch this week’s heavyweight fight. The Seahawks are not the team they’ve been the last couple of years but that doesn’t mean they still aren’t one of the most physical squads in the league. Equally physical is Arizona, a team coached well in all three phases and one poised to take control of the NFC West.
And finally, every once in a while, fans should be able to fire an owner. With all due respect to the, I’m sure, very sweet Martha Ford, saying the fans have done enough and now it’s time for the owners to do so…well, what the hell have you been doing for the last few decades? The Ford family are iconic Americans. Like the Rockefellers, they have helped build the foundation of the industrial United States. That’s nice. They’re also terrible decision makers when it comes to owning a football team. “Now it’s time for us to do our part.” That time started a long time ago, Martha. The fans of Detroit deserve better than that. The Lions, for years, have struggled to find a competent General Manager. Remember when Matt Millen had a dreadful defense but chose to select a wide receiver in the first round year after year? How about this wonderful ownership team treating the struggling fans of Detroit to an 0 – 16 season less than 7 years ago? I guess it is, indeed, time for you to start doing your job, Martha. All of you. All you’ve given Lions fans consistently is a reason to leave the comfort of their homes on Thanksgiving each and every year so they can see their beloved team’s doors get blown off.
Check out Eagledelphia.com as I’m answering their mailbag this year!
Check back here at voodoobrown.com on Tuesday for Week 10’s What 2 Watch 4!
Each and every Football Friday starts early with me and Big Daddy Graham on Sportsradio 94WIP in Philadelphia from 2a to 6a!
Follow me on Twitter: @darrendegaetano
