The NFL is rough and as we all know, it’s tough to stay relevant. Last week, The Guru learned first hand what that meant as I got my backside handed to me and barely stayed afloat with a subpar 7-7 record picking game. That trend can’t continue and like a corner badly burnt on a deep post, I have to put last week behind me and begin this week with a renewed confidence. I AM THE GURU. HEAR ME ROAR.
Let’s get into what everybody is talking about this week, Roger Goodell dropped the HAMMER on Adrian Peterson, suspending him for the remainder of the year and announcing that he wouldn’t be up for reinstatement before April 15, 2015. In my opinion, Peterson’s attorney Rusty Hardin summed it up best in a recent interview talking about Roger Goodell “Who in the Hell do you think you are?” That’s the question we should all be asking right now. Goodell, in a letter to Peterson announcing/defending the suspension talked to Peterson in a childlike manner and I seriously have a problem with his tone. Nobody is defending Adrian Peterson for what he did at all. But, the punishment was excessive, time served is time served. This is a LAME attempt at a PR move for Goodell and just proves once again that he goes way too far in his powers as far as disciplining his league. Goodell makes up rules as he goes and with no protocol being followed for this latest suspension, that’s exactly what Roger has done again. Makes NO sense.
Pittsburgh ran all over the Titans late Monday night to secure a victory on the road 27-24. But the story this week centered around a guy that left the locker room early in order to, get a head start on traffic maybe? Steelers running back Legarrette Blount didn’t receive a carry in the three point win and as you could tell from the reports, he was rather perturbed by the circumstances. Shaking my head. In any event, the Steelers released Blount this week and the troubling back now finds himself again a free agent in the NFL. Blount has now been on four teams in five NFL seasons of actions. Clearly he’s an issue inside locker rooms. His NFL days are numbered.
Jason Avant from the Carolina Panthers found himself in the same hole as Blount this week. The veteran receiver criticized coaching decisions in a 19-17 loss at home against the Falcons and caught the axe on Tuesday of this week. The message is clear in the NFL, if you’re replaceable, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
Which brings me to my final tidbit of knowledge for the week. Can we finally put the Eagles to rest. Seriously, let’s have the funeral. Sure they will probably make it into the playoffs and we know their season isn’t over. But for all intents and purposes we HAVE to stop calling them one of the best teams in football and actual “contenders” for a Super Bowl. They are NOTHING of the sort. Winning a Super Bowl with a less than ideal quarterback “I don’t want to use the word elite, but you easily can substitute it in here” can be done, we’ve seen it and it’s nothing out of the ordinary. But usually, those quarterbacks have a freakishly good defense that can compensate for what they lack or what the offense lacks in general. See the 2013-2014 Seattle Seahawks as an example. The Eagles have neither. Nick Foles was proven this season to be run of the mill, and Mark Sanchez, well…he’s Mark Sanchez. In any event, the Eagles just don’t have what it takes to be anything but a regular season juggernaut as a high powered offense that looks pretty and has shiny wheels. When they run up against a real team, with real aspirations like Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, then 53-20 happens. It’s equivalent to the Clippers out in LA, Lob City is great and it’s fun to watch, but you can’t realistically think that teams will let you alley-oop your way into the finals. It’s great regular season play, but in the end it doesn’t hold up. Chip Kelly can believe in his system all he wants, but until he gets either a defense or a quarterback that is substantially better than Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez, the Eagles will forever fall short of the ultimate goal of navigating their way to a Super Bowl ring. BOOK IT.
RGIII is on notice. I’m giving him another week before I absolutely rip Mr. Griffin to shreds. Oh, what’s that you say? Jay Gruden already put him on notice? Cool.
#NFCSouthStillSucks
#WinterCameEarly
#NCAABasketball
Overall Record (93-67)
Last Week (7-7)
GuruDAMNtee (10-1)
Upset Special (1-10)
Kansas City 21 @ Oakland 26 *Upset Special*
New York Jets 24 @ Buffalo 23
Cleveland 27 @ Atlanta 24
Tampa Bay 17 @ Chicago 31
Cincinnati 20 @ Houston 23
Detroit 24 @ New England 35
Green Bay 37 @ Minnesota 21 *GuruDAMNtee
Jacksonville 16 @ Indianapolis 34
Tennessee 27 @ Philadelphia 33
St. Louis 24 @ San Diego 28
Arizona 26 @ Seattle 27
Miami 21 @ Denver 28
Washington 14 @ San Francisco 27
Dallas 31 @ New York Giants 24
Baltimore 30 @ New Orleans 35
Oakland wont go 0-16. So they have to win at some point right? The Raiders will be at home on Thursday night against the Chiefs, winners of five straight. I’ll take Derek Carr as he leads the Silver and Black to their first win of the year. Upset Special.
I like Green Bay for my GuruDAMNtee this week. I’m about a week away from penciling in the Packers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. No way they drop one to a rookie quarterback.
I’ll take the Jets in Buffalo. The Jets are underdogs by 4 points according to Vegas, but with the snow and wintry weather anything can happen. Buffalo stomped a mudhole in New York the last time these two teams met back in Week 8. Expect NYJ to put up a much better fight this time around.
I don’t trust Cleveland and I damn sure don’t trust Atlanta. But Josh Gordon returns to action this week and that should be enough to get the Browns past the Dirty Birds in ATL.
Finally, I’ll go with the Saints at home against the Ravens. New Orleans was torn apart by the Bengals last week with their best defender being a man in the stands intercepting a ball being given away by a player to a Bengals fan in the crowd. I think New Orleans pulls it together and gets a much needed win at home. If they can’t find a way to win this one, then the long run of Saints having a crazy home field advantage will be all but lost.
Sports Minded 