| All right, you want me to say it: I fucked up. Shesh, can someone PLEASE give a brother a break around here? With Swami finally getting some REAL work and being busy kick ass in Central Park Football (suck it Moore), it has been hard to get my picks in. While I deeply regret missing a week this year, I am truly upset about missing round 1 of the playoffs. But let's be honest. Round 2 is where we seperate the flukes from the real contenders. So with old friends Dave and Nick facing off, and new enemies Navid and Brock going at it, this week will decided once and for all some serious questions like... |
| Is Nick for real? Last week, I had a conversation with Sherman where I pointed out that Scott was in serious trouble because Westbrook was out for the year. Sherman replied back the now infamous words "at least he get's Nick in the first round." For those teams that have dismissed propaganda as a fluke, a lucky team that just has things going right for them, I dare you to look at the fine team Serrano has compiled over the weeks. In 13 regular season games, Serrano has started 36 different players. That is an amazing number, especially given the fact that most pickups were made at 4am Russian time. He started the season 0-4, but built a team that could contend, and saw his average go from 82 points per game in the first 7, to 94 in the last 7, including two games at over 120 in the last three weeks. And that doesn't even mention that fact that he became only the second team this year to beat Brick Walls and Trees with.... ....Jacobins being the first. Dave shot out of the gate this season with a 131 point performance in week 1, and a 3-1 record to start the season. He took a hit in the middle of the season as players went on byes, going on a three game losing streak and posting season lows of 89, 75 and 80. But a Week 8 beating of the then 7-0 Walls followed by a season high posting of 144 vs Duckville, put the spring back in Jacobins step. With his starting 7 in tac, Jacobins has a chance to prove that the team he built at the draft is the best team it could be. Two different teams, with two different styles. One rebuilt itself after a slow start, while one stayed the course through 13 weeks. This week Jacobins (who continue to think that "my logo will fill the toilet bowl award for years to come) sends Brees to Indy, Barber to KC and Gonzalez vs. the tough Giants D. propa, seeing the return of Kerry Collins as a good thing, send Bruce against Philly, Davis against Arizona and Jurvicius against Tennessee. If Baltimore D can maintain, sustain and BEAT Brett Farve on Monday Night, I am going to go with the 8 seed underdog and choose: PROPAGANDA |
2
| Can Navid repeat? When you heard his choices at the draft, you thought "good team, but is there enough there to repeat? Probably not." Or at least I thought that, but he has proved me wrong. With the second highest point total in the league (and the one of only two to break 1500 this season), Nomads Part 2 are a team to reckon with. He has retained 5 of his starting 7, losing Clayton and replacing Holmes with Johnson. And perhaps the most telling stat is that in 13 games this season, he has outscored the competition by 244 (not to mention the 84 point difference in his first playoff game). Ending the season 10-3, the only three teams he lost to (Walls, Ravens and Nose) are all gone. In the 10 wins, he averaged 123 points per game... ...while Bandits averaged 114 in his win's. The four losses varied from big busts (scoring a season low 59.97 in Week 8) to near misses (1.6 point loss in week 1). But in all these cases, Bandits have been able to maintain a strong team core, with Brady, Holt, Branch, Alexander, Johnson and McMichael (only WR Rod Gardner was dropped from the starting 7). Call it the blessing of Jerry Rice: He took him cause he was a proven winner, even if it was a joke (and Rice later retired). Similar teams in dominance and stamina with their team. Bandits seem to have tough matchups this week, facing TB, Indy and Philly. Nomads meantime are looking at 8 players out of town, but playing teams like New Orleans, Detroit and Tennessee. If Brady is good to Branch for Bandits, Arizona can pull off some hustling of Houston, and Alexander exploded in Tenessee (don't ruin him for Rich) then we could be looking at a big day for Brock. Nomads could see Smith and Hasselbeck shine in their respective games, but don't reply to much on Johnson (at the Giants ) and Dunn (at Chicago). If the RB's can overcome, Nomads has a solid chance. This is a tough call, but I am giving a slight edge to the former champ to return to the big game: NOMADS |
 |
5
8
3
| vs. |
| vs. |