The lone road team this weekend that won their previous matchup was the Redskins. Washington beat the Seahawks 20-17 in overtime and the yardage in that game was as even as the score, with the Seahawks having a 354-352 edge. That loss dropped the Seahawks to 2-2 and Holmgren’s bunch was not seen as anything special at the time. Of course the Seahawks have gone on to win every game they’ve tried to win since then, reeling off 11 straight victories before a “mail it in” loss at Green Bay in the season’s final week.

On October 6th the homestanding Broncos beat the Patriots 28-20. In the second quarter and the first drive of their third quarter the Broncos went scored 4 TD’s on scoring drives that totaled 342 yards on 24 plays. In that 20 minutes Shanahan’s troops virtually put the game away by taking a 28-3 lead. The gaudy 14.25 yards per play stat is actually held down by the fact that the scoring plays were 1, 2, 4, and 6 yards. Drives were keyed by non-scoring plays from scrimmage of 72, 55, and 68 yards. But keep in mind that the Patriots were without Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour, and the defensive backfield was unsettled. Offensively, Troy Brown, Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk were among those who didn’t play in that game who are available this weekend.

When the Bears beat the visiting Panthers 13-3 on November 20th it was seen as a big upset, as it was the Panthers, not the Bears who were favored by a TD that day. The scored the only TD of the day on an 8 yard TD “drive” following a long interception return. Chicago won yardage 258-238. No surprise that this total is so low. The Colts ran away and from the Steelers in their 26-7 home win on the last Monday night in November. That was the second loss for Pittsburgh in a three-game streak that was later blamed on injuries.

Nothing against Bruce Sutter, but is a guy who barely throws 1000 innings in his career really Hall of Fame worthy? Bert Blyleven, in comparison, went nearly 5,000 innings. Not to suggest that Blyleven is or isn’t Hall worthy. But the closer is such a one-dimensional specialist. In comparison, the only place kicker in the NFL Hall of Fame is Jan Stenerud. There are no punters in Canton, not even Ray Guy.

When looking into whether there were any kickers/punters in the NFL Hall of Fame, I was wondering if George Blanda would have made the hall based solely on
his quarterbacking, as it was before my time. Look at these numbers. Even though a lot of them were earned in the AFL, it is clear that the answer to Blanda’s Hall worthiness at a QB is a resounding yes: http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=29

By the way, please, please, please don’t contact me to debate anything the Baseball Hall of Fame. I’m not displeased that Sutter’s in there. I don’t really care that Blyleven isn’t in the Hall. There’s nothing that brings out misplaced passion quite like Baseball Hall of Fame debates and I’m simply not that interested.

Basketball box scores can sometimes surprise you. On Wednesday night Portland caught the Lakers looking ahead for to their TNT matchup with the Cavaliers. The Blazers notched their season high in scoring in the 113-103 victory and shot better than 52% from the field. They must have really run the Lakers out of the building, huh? Not necessarily, as the Blazers did not have a single fast break field goal according to the scorekeeper. That’s some solid shooting by Portland.

We had the over in that Portland/LA matchup, an easy winner. Since I started personally handicapping the NBA four seasons ago Strategic Sports Publishing is better than 60% against the spread in the NBA. We’re currently number 2 service out of all the handicappers monitored by The Sports Monitor of Oklahoma City (that darn Steve Merrill has us beat so far this season). College started slow but appears to be back on track with an undefeated week this week. Call our free hotline at 1-770-618-8700 to hear basketball selections broadcast 24 hours per day. We’ll offer football information and basketball picks on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Strange days in Buffalo. 87-year old owner Ralph Wilson hires an 80-year old General Manager in Marv Levy and the coach takes off, citing “family considerations”. Any truth to the rumor that the geriatric managerial types are going to try to hire Bud Grant to coach the Bills? No? OK, how about a youth movement with John Robinson? It’s just a shame that Weeb Ewbank passed away a few years ago and is unavailable. If you had a bad day today, cheer up, things could be worse. You could be a Bills fan.

Colorado State is 0-2 in conference play but both of those losses have come on the road at tough venues San Diego State and New Mexico. 11-4 CSU’s big lineup offers matchup problems for any team and the Rams will benefit from an enthusiastic home crowd who have been offered $2 tickets in an effort to fill Moby Arena for Saturday’s game with Utah. Don’t confuse this 8-6 Utah team with one of Rick Majerus’ outfits, as the Utes just lost at home to San Diego State for the first time in 24 years. The Utes are struggling and will be hard pressed to stay with a CSU team that is 7-0 at home. To avoid conflicting with the Broncos game, this is a time change game that will be taking place at 4PM EST. Home court advantage is important in the Mountain West and we like the Rams to roll here. Plenty of basketball information is available all weekend long on our hotline at 1-770-618-8700.

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