NFL Week 9 picks: Big hurts for the horse

Injuries are a natural part of the game of football, but what has transpired in Indianapolis this past week has been a bit out of the ordinary and very devastating to the team’s Super Bowl championship hopes.

Right as the Colts prepare to hit arguably their most crucial part of the 2009 season schedule, the team lost starting safety (and 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year) Bob Sanders and cornerback Marlin Jackson for the season. In addition, starting cornerback Kelvin Hayden is expected to miss up to four weeks of play.

Those four weeks will could ultimately decide the Colts’ fate.

It all begins Sunday with the red-hot Texans coming to Lucas Oil Stadium, continues with the always-intense matchup with the Patriots, followed by a visit to Baltimore and a trip to Houston.

The Colts have owned the Texans in their all-time series, winning 13 of 14 matchups — seven of seven in Indy — since the 2002 inaugural season for Houston.

That being said …

Plenty of good seats available in Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Jaguars lead the league in blackouts. They are officially the JaMarcus Russell of NFL franchises.

NFL Week 8 picks: Pointing and laughing at the Raiders

“I don’t think it’s me personally, I really don’t. It’s a bad combination of one guy doesn’t do something right one time. Personally, I don’t think so. Do you?” — JaMarcus Russell, following the Oakland Raiders’ 38-0 shellacking against the New York Jets on Sunday.

That collective, “Yes, JaMarcus. Yes, it is you,” is coming from America, which can easily see what the former No. 1 overall pick can’t …

This pro football thing just isn’t going that well for Russell.

The player chosen six spots ahead of the incomparable, possibly Hall-of-Fame-bound Adrian Peterson in the 2007 draft is teetering ever so dangerously close to the not-exactly lofty standards set by Ryan Leaf and Akili Smith before him. Leaf, of course, is the gold standard as far as draft busts are concerned. His is the first name mentioned in such discussions. Leaf is followed closely by Tony Mandarich, whose bustatude is beginning to slowly fade from memory by the two decades that have passed since that star-laden 1989 draft and the fact that there have been many more colossal top draft pick failures since then.

Leaf made just 21 starts in four seasons in the NFL. Russell has made 23 starts over three seasons. Let’s check out some key statistics for comparison’s sake …

Leaf (complete statistics)
Comp-Att: 317-655
Comp %: 48.4
Yards: 3,666
TD-INT: 14-36
QB rating: 50.0

Russell (complete statistics)
Comp-Att: 308-594
Comp %: 51.9
Yards: 3,687
TD-INT: 17-20 (2-8 this season, FYI)
QB rating: 66.7

Those are some ugly numbers. Please keep in mind … Leaf’s statistics are epically bad, among the worst all-time for a quarterback who was actually at one time a regular starter.

In the middle of a 6-for-11, 61-yard performance, in which Russell threw two perfect passes to Jets defensive backs, Raiders coach Tom Cable pulled Russell and replaced him with journeyman Bruce Gradkowski, whose own stat line — 10-19, 97 yards, no TDs, no interceptions — wasn’t enough to keep the former Toledo QB in the starting lineup for next week’s game against the Chargers in San Diego. This disaster should be fun for fans of other teams to watch.

While football fans outside of Oakland should be thankful that they are not Raiders fans, Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff will make some football picks …

Photo of the day: Oct. 24

Confetti falls after a Los Angeles Galaxy goal at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (Photo by Jim Reineking)

NFL Week 7 picks: Talk about blowouts

“It kind of felt like they were trying to raise their ranking in the BCS. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have expected anything less. But it’s not their fault that we weren’t matching up with them.” — Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bullock, on his team’s 59-0 pasting at the hands of the New England Patriots.

The Titans took the biggest beating the NFL has seen in quite some time on Sunday, so to make them feel better about themselves Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff will present the top 10 biggest blowouts suffered in college football over the weekend …

1. Rowan 67, Morrisville State 0
2. SUNY-Maritime 68, Becker College 6
3. Michigan 63, Delaware State 6
4. Washburn 55, Pittsburgh State 3
5t. Kansas State 62, Texas A&M 14
5t. Case Western Reserve 55, Ohio Wesleyan 7
7t. North Carolina Central 52, Cenral Methodist 7
7t. Gettysburg 59, Juniata 14
7t. Linfield 59, Lewis and Clark 14
10t. Weber State 49, Sacramento State 10
10t. Bemidji State 45, Minnesota-Crookston 6

Turns out, the Titans would have appeared at No. 3 on the above list of colossal blowouts, just behind Morrisville State (which is located in New York, the state) and Becker College (of Massachusetts).

While the Titans will get an extra week to lick their wounds, let’s go ahead and see which teams that actually are playing this week will come away victors …

Teams to move to L.A. power rankings, version 1.0

It’s starting to look more and more like a stadium is going to get built in Los Angeles and an NFL team, or two, will move in to a proposed stadium in the city of Industry.

Stadium developer Majestic Reality Co. plans to approach NFL teams about moving to Los Angeles when the current season comes to an end.

Eventually — possibly as soon as for the 2011 NFL season — a team will move to Los Angeles. Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff is going as far as to officially predict two teams moving to Los Angeles, thus creating a shared stadium situation much like the one that the New York Giants and Jets enjoy in East Rutherford, N.J.

Here are the candidates to move to Los Angeles …

NFL Week 6 picks: Hopping on that Broncos bandwagon

“It’s more fun when you win. And when you do, it’s everything any coach would want it to be.” — Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, on his postgame celebration following a thrilling win over the New England Patriots.

Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff can admit when it’s wrong, and Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff was wrong about the Broncos heading into that awesome clash with the Patriots.

Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff won’t make the same mistake again as it tackles picks for the upcoming slate of pro football games …

Five best NFL throwback uniforms

On Monday, Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff tore through the five worst throwback uniforms in the NFL.

A day later, Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff is ready to turn that frown upside down with happy analysis of the five best throwbacks in the league.

Throwbacks included below are those that teams should not wear on an occasional and random basis, but instead make a permanent fixture in game-day attire.

Let’s begin …

Five worst NFL throwback uniforms

“Yeah, those socks really threw me for a loop,” Denver Broncos nose tackle Ron Fields, on his team’s throwback uniforms, which featured vertically striped socks.

During Week 5 of this awesomely exciting NFL season, five teams trotted out onto the gridiron in what would be considered “throwback” uniforms — the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams.

Sometimes, teams sporting these uniforms should never have changed (Bills, Chargers, Patriots come to mind immediately).

Typically, uniforms that toss it back to a bygone era feature a healthy combination of colors no longer sociably acceptable to include on a professional sports team’s uniforms.

Of course, however, somehow teal is an accepted color for a football team. Hmm …

Anyway, here are the top five worst throwback uniforms worn by NFL teams.

NFL Week 5 picks: Mini-Me faces Dr. Evil

On Sunday, the Denver Broncos will unveil what may just go down as the worst throwback uniforms ever unleashed before an unsuspecting public.

Their opponents — the New England Patriots — will also be featured in old-timey garb. However, unlike the Broncos’ original look, these threads get two thumbs up for awesomeness.

While that will be quite an eye-popping spectacle, much of the pregame focus will be on new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels facing his mentor, Patriots coach Bill Belichick. A sort of Mini-Me vs. Dr. Evil showdown at Invesco Field at Mile High, one might say.

Are the 4-0 Broncos capable of another shocking upset of the 3-1 Patriots?

No.

Sports Illustrated had to go ahead and put the upstart Broncos on the cover of their latest issue, therefore jinxing Denver’s chances at victory on Sunday. We all know how that worked out for Oklahoma State after being featured on the cover.

Let’s move on to those pro football picks …