3 Hail Marys - Week 6

by Sean Coffey

The NFL announced this week that there will be three NFL games in Wembley next year... well two because one of them is the Raiders at home! (Ed's Note: Hi-yo!) Wow, Raiders joke in the first sentence. Must be because I’m in a good mood.

And why wouldn’t I be? Jay Z last Sunday night, home in time for the Niners to put a beat down on the Texans after the Seahawks lost (okay, it killed my accumulator but what the hell because the Patriots killed that already). Pretty damn good start to the week.

The announcement of the extra game only added to the great week... *insert another Raiders joke yourself*. So what does the NFL have in plan for London in the long term?

NFL - Magna Carta...3 Hail Marys

by Sean Coffey

Jay Z live then the Niners, the REAL Super Sunday

"Thanks for checking out this link tonight. You could have been on any link in the world. But you’re here with me.I appreciate that"

When the winter comes, Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Football day! However, this Sunday is more special than others. I couldn’t have planned this Sunday any better. Niners are playing the late game on Sunday night. Before that, I’m heading to the O2 to see the one and only Jay Z. Although I’ve been to multiple Jay Z gigs, I still go on a big Jay Z buzz leading up to the gig. So whether I’m on the road, in the gym, cooking dinner or in the shower, my boy Jay Z is playing on some system all this week. 

So I could think of no other way to do this blog than reviewing every NFL at the quarter mark of the season to the lyrics of Hova.

Lets Go Get ‘Em Again

“I’m so far ahead of my time; I’m bout to start another life/ Look behind you, I’m bout to pass you twice.” - Hovi Baby

“Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week” - Diamonds (Remix)

5 NFL Picks - Week 1

by Sean Coffey

Sean Coffey (formerly Angry Andy, but trying to be taking seriously now...kinda like when Andy Cole wanted to be known as Andrew Cole) is back in the hotseat for another season of NFL pick 'ems, accumulator tips, 49ers-based heartbreaks and Raiders jokes. Here are his 5 picks for Week 1...

“FOOTBALL!!” 

If I was to write a blog on the only thing filling my head this week, you would be left with a full page of me reiterating that one word. The summer is over, football is back. It’s the time of year that brings so much joy to my heart...

And also despair. For something I love so much, it can make me feel like complete crap. If you were to ask me about last season, I can’t help but think about February 3rd, 2013. My Niners' dramatic comeback, only for new star quarterback Colin Kaepernick to overthrow a pass to wide receiver Michael Crabtree that would have given us the lead inside 2 minutes. A game that I still can't bring myself to re-watch highlights of.

Actually, screw being diplomatic! As Jesse from Breaking Bad would yell (if he were a 49ers fan for some reason): “Holding, BITCH!”

Rick's Quick Picks for Superbowl/6 Nations Weekend!

by Rick Nash

Going to keep this brief for once. It's been a crazy week. If you read my Royal Rumble preview column last week, you may already know why. Next week, I'll have a special preview of the Premier League Darts and, if I get around to it, a special article on gambling that I've been wanting to get around to for a while.

5-way accumulator; €5 returns €72.59; All odds via Paddy Power.

The man just loves windows of any kind...

QPR vs. NORWICH

Harry Redknapp is finding his groove, it seems, and has now had a transfer window to power him up like Popeye with spinnach. QPR have yet to lose in 2013 and, at home to Norwich, they'll walk in confident of a win.
Pick: QPR (evens)

NFL: Angry Andy's Championship Picks

by Angry Andy

As a kid playing soccer, there was one game situation that I dreaded most: semi-finals. Losing the semi-final when you are one game away from the big one is more heartbreaking in my book than never getting to the final at all. Sure no one wants to come second, but to miss out on that opportunity to compete is a much bigger burden; to sit at home when the final is on and know that you were so close to the big game!

And that is the moment we are arriving at this Championship Sunday. 

Colin Kaepernick, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Tom Brady. Two of these Quarterbacks will be sitting at their homes in two weeks while the Superbowl takes place in New Orleans. 

The bookies favorites to reach the Superbowl are the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers, setting up a rematch on what was arguably the best regular season game this year. And what a match up that would be. Tom Brady looking to cement his legacy as the greatest of all time against his childhood team that was once led by a four-time Superbowl winner (and Brady’s childhood idol), Joe Montana. What better way for the 49ers to get back to the promised land, in their Quest For Six, than to beat the best franchise in the last decade?

NFL: Angry Andy's Divisional Picks

by Angry Andy

 

It’s been a long time since the NFL had a stinker of a weekend but that is exactly what last week provided. Four one sided games with RG3, one of the most exciting players in the league, going down with a severe knee injury. The Bengals were the typical Bengals in the playoffs...which is very worrying if you're a Houston Texans fan because they couldn’t put 20 points up against them. The Vikings started the first guy they found on the street to play Quarterback (sorry Joe Webb) and failed miserably. Like the Vikings, The Colts seemed to happy just to get to the playoffs because they were danced all over by Ray Lewis (the only highlight of the weekend for yours truly). And even when Seattle were losing 14-13, you just knew the Seahawks were winning as the Redskins' only gameplan was that RG3 could pull off a miracle play with one leg.

But with all that being said, the pretenders for the Superbowl have been eliminated and a legitimate case can be made for all eight team remaining to win the Vince Lombardi trophy in New Orleans.

The Time For Talking Is Over...It's The Wildcard Round!

by Angry Andy

After 17 weeks, the playoffs are finally upon us. 32 teams have been narrowed down to 12. Come Sunday, the pretenders will have been eliminated and we’ll be down to 8 teams battling it out for the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Of the 20 teams that did not make the playoffs, 11 made changes at the head coaching position, front office or, in some cases, both on Black Monday. Black Monday certainly lived up to it’s name but talk of replacements and how they’ll fit in certain teams can wait for another month. The spotlight is on 8 of the 12 remaining teams this weekend, starting in Houston on Saturday night.
 

It's time for the Wildcard Round.

NFL: Win And You're In...

by Angry Andy

We approach the final week of the season and a lot of the newer fans will be hearing the term “Black Monday” through out the course of the day.

“Black Monday” refers to the amount of head coaches that will get the sack after they have failed to get their team into the postseason. According to reports, Cleveland have already started this process, according to reports, and will fire Pat Shurmur on Monday. You have to hand it to the NFL, they’re so organized with everything and have yearly events (and catchy titles) for hiring and firing people. It wouldn't bode well for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to own an NFL team!

NFL: Angry Andy's Post-Apocalypse Picks

by Angry Andy

Well, we’re past December 21 and the world, obviously, has not ended. However a lot of things have ended, or are about to this weekend, in the NFL which will prove that the Mayans calendar was more accurate than Mark Sanchez.

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy

@AMTRick turned to me the other week and stated that he loves how my arguments blow up in my face, when comparing the blog to the games that night. That I jinx my argument by putting it down in a blog. He’s probably thinking right now that I have some sort of come back to this. He’d be wrong. I embrace it. And there has never been another week which I have embraced it more than this week.
This past Monday night, when the Patriots routed the Texans to solidify their status as the top dog in the AFC, ESPN analyst, and ex-Superbowl-winning coach, Jon Gruden claimed that Brady was the greatest Quarterback of all time!

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy

As Andrew Luck lead an astonishing comeback last week, the conversation between my mates and myself turned, once again, to who is better between Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. I argued for Luck with one of my points being how he has taken the worst team in the league last season which now looks playoff bound (this was before Monday night’s Redskins game when RG3 and co beat the Giants.) The counter point that was thrown right back at me? RG3 leads the league in fantasy points!

HUH?!

I was genuinely taken back as to how in the hell do I respond to that. My mind set on fantasy football has always been that players have break out games each week that changes results (e.g. Doug Martin) but that there are players who may not have the best fantasy points every week that just do what is required of them by their team to win (Alex Smith ranked no 24 overall last year yet got to the NFC Championship game, something I don’t see the Redskins doing  . . . this year at least).  And also, fantasy points can easily be racked up in garbage time of games and don’t show how player A performed when it counted or when their team still had a chance of winning the game.

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

The following blog was written before the tragedy in Kansas City took place.

The most interesting story in the NFL right now is the quarterback controversy in San Francisco. It’s a defining battle of experience versus potential. Alex Smith has been phenomenal statistically over the past two years, ranked number 3 statistically this year before going down with a concussion against the Rams. In stepped back-up QB Colin Kaepernick, who was already starting to make headlines with Niners fans as Harbaugh was fearless in introducing him for snaps at almost any period of the game. With Kaepernick undefeated after two starts and looking to offer a different dimension to the 49ers, is this the right option for the coach to go with?

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy
 
A few weeks ago, I talked about how the NFL was only starting to take off this side of the pond and that people I could talk to about the game were few and far between. @AMTRick was definitely not one of those people. But, as you could guess from running a sports page and pod cast, he is definitely a sports fan. Over the last two seasons, especially this season, he has embraced the sport and is an avid reader of this blog (as I assume all editors should be, right?)

So when he sent me a list of questions this week for the blog, I was genuinely intrigued. Easily a much better forum than in person because he will clutch onto his argument in defiance and can make you feel stupid for disagreeing even if you know you’re right. So without further adieu, this weeks blog:

@AMTRick: How happy are you right now that you can do a Bill Simmons-style 'squint and it'll look like a mailbag' blog? You are welcome, sir. 

Thank you. I really like how this question is phrased. “Right now” is key here as I’m sure some of the following questions are going to be sly jabs in some form or another. I’ll probably end up hating you by the time this is over.

NFL: Angry Andy's Thanksgiving Picks

I’m usually not a fan of Thursday night football. But this is thanksgiving baby! With one eye on the turkey cooking, we going straight into tonight’s picks:

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

What a difference a week makes! Four quarterbacks went down last week. Two of them were my Superbowl picks, go figure. One of those picks was the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes, really! Out of all the things I have wrote in this blog over the past few weeks, this was the one thing that drew the most reaction. The Steelers are not a stand out pick for the Superbowl . . . . Right now.

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy

Sleepless In Seattle

Being a fan of San Francisco, Miami Heat and Aston Villa, I’ve had my share of heartache over the past few years. In the case of the 49ers, you can look no further back than last year's championship game. The failure to convert 3rd downs combined with Kyle Williams was easily one of my worst sports losses ever. A few months before that the Miami Heat were unceremoniously dumped out of the championship by Dallas.

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

“That Tony Romo lad is useless” quipped my Dad after I told him the Giant were up 23-0 early in the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately for my Dad and I, we were working behind the bar rather than watching the game. Which meant I was getting updates on the game through my battered Blackberry (a battle scar from when the Giants kicked the OT field goal against the Niners in January’s Championship Game).

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy
 
"With correctly calling exactly how a few games would go (Jets & Patriots down to the wire and Sanchez blowing it) but then getting a few games completely wrong every week (Ravens getting demolished by Texans and I do believe Oakland where backed against the Broncos which is totally inexcusable) what has gone wrong in the accumulator and is there still time to fix this awful record?”

I'm going to leave this room and I'm going to bring in a suggestion box and I want your suggestions to be in that suggestion box because I sure don't know. I really don't. I wish I could tell you. But the only thing I control, sweetheart, is myself. Statistically, I am the leader of this column and I haven't been getting the job done.

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy

Last week was like staring patiently at an egg timer, waiting for the last few grains of sand to drop. The NFL was taking shape after the turmoil of the replacement refs at the start of the season. The cream was slowly rising to the top. Sanchez was one more poor performance from being dropped and replaced by Tebow. The dominant teams were to rise, crushing the opposition and establish themselves firmly as contenders.

And then the footballing Gods decided to turn that egg timer, and the league, on its head.

NFL: Angry Andy's 5 Picks

by Angry Andy

“We want Carr, we want Carr.” 

Say these words to a 49ers fan and we will cringe like remembering some God awful drunk thing we did the night before. What were we thinking?