NFL Week 14: Only One Quarter of the Season Left

Ladies and gentle, we are, as they like to say, into the home stretch. Three-fourths of the season is now behind us, and most of us are wondering how it passed by so fast. The 49ers, Jets, Browns, and Jaguars have been eliminated from playoff contention.  Other than the Niners, did anybody really give those other three teams a real shot? They are fighting for draft position now.

Did you see the Chiefs game in Atlanta?  I did, and man was it a nail-biter! Eric Berry and Tyreek Hill put on a clinic in the ATL, but boy was I nervous when the Falcons lined up for that two-point conversion. Thank goodness for Eric Berry who already had a pick-six and snatched another from Matt Ryan taking the Chiefs from a one point loss to a one point victory. Then, they turned around and played the Raiders at Arrowhead stadium.  The Raiders came in to the game in first place in the AFC West and left the game in second. Like Sunday's game, it wasn't a beautiful win, although Tyreek Hill was a highlight again, as was Travis Kelce who tied Tony Gonzalez's 4 game streak of 100 yards in a game, and did a wonderful impression of Raiders' punter Marquette King who retaliated with a tweet mocking Kelce's reality show.  The Chiefs lost LB Derrick Johnson to a ruptured Achilles. He was clearly missed in the second half of the game, and let's not even start on the turnovers and the lack of scoring by the offense in the second half.  Mad props though to the Chiefs Defense who also held the Raiders to only 13 points. The Chiefs may have played and ugly game, but a win is a win and now the Chiefs hold the tiebreaker in the AFC West and are in first place.

As it stands in the AFC, New England is the one seed, Kansas City is the two seed, followed by Baltimore at three and Houston at two. Currently, the two wildcard teams are both form the AFC West, Denver and Oakland.  That said, the Dolphins, Steelers, Colts, Bills, Titans, Chargers, and Bengals still have a chance.

On the NFC side, Dallas has already clinched a playoff berth and are pretty secure with the one seed, while Seattle is two, Detroit three, and Atlanta four.  The two teams hold the wildcards right now are New York and Tampa Bay.  Still in the running, the Redskins, Vikings, Packers, Cardinals, Saints, Eagles, Panthers, Rams, and Bears. 

The races are tight, and there are going to be some really good rivalry games ahead, including the Chiefs and Broncos rematch on Christmas night.  Congratulations are in order for Larry Fitzgerald who is now securely in third place on the NFL all-time receptions list.  He is behind Tony Gonzalez (number 2) and Jerry Rice (number 1).  Speaking of Tony G., Antonio Gates is closing in on his record for most touchdowns by a tight end. He is two touchdowns from catching him and three from passing.

Sorry about leaving out the Buccaneers/Chargers game last week, my bad, and I apologize, because I have no idea why I picked Jacksonville either. Even with those errors, I still had a pretty good week with a 10-4 record bringing my season total to 121-69.  Fantasy players: the bye weeks are over and for some of you the playoffs are beginning. Good luck!!! My Lucille Swings team slipped up last week, but held on to the 1st place position.  Lochte and Loaded finally ended their losing streak and the 4th place position.  

Sunday, December 11, 2016
San Diego Chargers vs. Carolina Panthers:  Carolina
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills:  Pittsburgh
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns:  Cincinnati
Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions:  Detroit
Denver Broncos vs. Tennessee Titans:  Denver
Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts:  Indianapolis
Arizona Cardinals vs. Miami Dolphins:  Arizona
Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles:  Washington
Minnesota Vikings vs. Jacksonville Jaguars:  Minnesota
New York Jets vs. San Francisco 49ers:  San Francisco (but really, it's a coin toss)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Los Angeles Rams:  Atlanta
New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  Tampa Bay
Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers:  Green Bay
Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants:  Dallas

Monday, December 12, 2016
Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots:  New England (although I would love an upset here.)

Thursday, December 15, 2016
Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks:  Seattle

Saturday, December 17, 2016
Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets:  New York

Congratulations to Louisville quarterbakck Lamar Jackson on his Heisman trophy victory! That's it guys!! Until next week, "At its best, life is completely unpredictable."-Christopher Walken

NFL Week 12: Waking up in Second Place

Welcome back, guys! Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving celebration with your families, friends, and significant others. I enjoyed spending time with my family, although it meant only 20 actual minutes of anything even close to being football related. The fam isn't into football. I know, I'm the odd duck in the bunch, but our Thursday viewing was dedicated to a non-stop comedy movie marathon consisting of Bad Moms, Central Intelligence, and Deadpool.  Not a bad way to spend a Thursday, but I missed the football, and Aretha's national anthem.

It is not a dream. The Dallas Cowboys have the best record in the NFL. I know, right?  Is there anyone more insufferable than a Dallas fan when they are winning?  Yeah, a Lakers fan, but I digress. The Boys have surprised a lot of people dominating their division and conference with a rookie quarterback-Dak Prescott. It's hard not to root for Prescott, but you guys know my feelings about the boys. Rooting for Dak, but against those boys. It's what I do.  Seriously, it physically hurts to say nice things about the Cowboys and the Raiders.

I don't know what is going on with Green Bay and Kansas City. My Chiefs had no business losing that game to Tampa Bay on Sunday. NONE!!! I will give Tampa Bay their props. They are a decent team, but the Chiefs are better than what they put on the field Sunday. Even with the injuries, there is no way they are Super Bowl bound losing games like this. They fell from first place to second place (barely) and will now face the Broncos in Denver tonight on national television. The Chiefs, sigh, are not good on national television. Maybe it's me. Nah, it's not me. A big shoutout to one of my favorite Chiefs' blogs ArrowheadPride.com, who pointed out that since 2004, the Chiefs are 10-18 on national television. They lost their first national televised game in that abomination against the Steelers early this season. They are scheduled for two national televised games, one against Oakland on December 8, and the other against Denver on Christmas Day.  I regret to say have no hopes for either of those games. Wow, they are doing the Who's got the Edge segment on the Chiefs/Broncos. Tony Gonzalez is picking this game. Sigh...Chiefs are going to lose.

Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers, smh, I am just as surprised as anyone that Green Bay is so infuriating this year. The Packer fans are blaming Olivia Munn for Jessica Simpsoning the Pack, while even legit sports sites are citing a rift in the Rodgers family (also blamed on Aaron's girlfriend Olivia) for causing Aaron's problems on the field.  Whatever the problem, Green Bay is going to find themselves buying tickets to the playoffs if they don't solve this problem. 

Well, to the task at hand, last week was a good week.  I once again improved my record with a 12-4 showing thanks  in part to my 3-0 Thanksgiving day picks.  The old record ticked up to 102-61 for the season.  My fantasy teams:  Lucille Swings is still in first place with a 9-2 record, while Lochte and Loaded dropped its second game in two weeks dropping to fourth place. Lochte and Loaded is such a dumpster fire, that the most exciting thing happening this week is that I was able to swing getting Matt Bryant back as my kicker. No byes this week with three teams playing on Thursday.

Sunday, November 27, 2016
Arizona Cardinals vs. Atlanta Falcons:  Atlanta
San Francisco 49ers vs. Miami Dolphins: Miami
Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints:  New Orleans
San Diego Chargers vs. Houston Texans:  San Diego
Tennessee Titans vs. Chicago Bears:  Tennessee
New York Giants vs. Cleveland Browns:  New York
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens:  Baltimore
Carolina Panthers vs. Oakland Raiders:  Oakland (It makes me sick  to keep picking Oakland.)
Seattle Seahawks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  Seattle
New England Patriots vs. New York Jets:  New York
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos:  Denver (and it hurts, really hurts to pick them)

Monday, November 28, 2016
Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Philadelphia

Thursday, December 1, 2016
Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings:  Dallas

For better or worse, my picks, ladies and gentlemen. Before I leave, I would like to bid a fond farewell to two actors we lost over the break-Florence Henderson and Ron Glass. They both entertained us for decades and will be sorely missed. Until next time, "To help yourself, you must be yourself. Be the best that you can be. When you make a mistake, learn from it, pick yourself up and move on."-Dave Pelzer

NFL Week Nine: Round and Round

Sigh...Now, everybody, my Chiefs are in the midst of a winning streak and are clearly still in the running to win the AFC West and can take control of second place if they win this week because Denver and Oakland will break their tie when they play each other today. So, why am I not a happy fan girl?  Well, Alex Smith's head bounced of the ground at Lucas Oil Stadium not once, but twice last week, and although the Chiefs say he does not have a concussion, something happened to his noggin because the Chiefs are giving him a break this week and playing Nick Foles in his place. Nick played well last week against the Colts, and I'm sure that he will be fine against the Jaguars, but I'm worried about Alex.  The same thing happened to Chiefs QB Trent Green a few years back, and he was never quite the same. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Speaking of concussions, while Alex Smith was not diagnosed with a concussion, running back Spencer Ware was diagnosed with a concussion, and like Alex, he will not be playing against the Jaguars this week. Then, there is Jamaal Charles. He had a second opinion on his ailing knee, and now he is headed to the injured reserve. See, this is why a Chiefs fan is never happy.  Thank goodness for poor Knile Davis. This kid has had a roller coaster of a week. He was traded to the Packers when it looked as if J. Charles was healthy.  After two weeks, he was waived by the Packers, picked up by the Jets, waived a day later, before being picked back up by the Chiefs. Welcome back, Knile Davis! I hope your second stint with the Chiefs is better than the first. I might need to to pick him up for my fantasy roster.

The biggest game of the day, at least to me, is Oakland and Denver. I'm going to be very, very honest right now. Y'all know I hate each of these teams equally, and I truly don't care which one wins, but at the end of the day, one of these teams will be alone in first place, and the other will join the Chiefs and Charger in the chase. I'm hoping the Chiefs, of course, win so the other team will drop to third, but the Jaguars are no pushover and could easily surprise the Chiefs who are without their quarterback and two of their running backs.

Ben Roethlisberger may make his return to the field this week.  Dallas is continuing to rule the NFC East, as the Patriots are ruling the AFC East. Dallas is flush with QBs right now and are weekly the subject of QB controversy. Minnesota seems to be regressing a bit after their 5-0 beginnings. Atlanta is surprising a lot of people taking over the NFC South from Super Bowl runner up Carolina, who is shockingly in last place with a 2-5 record.  Seattle is barely keeping their head above water in that hot mess of a division that is the NFC West. The AFC North is still up for grabs, for everyone except Cleveland, whose fans basically summed up the team with one sign.

Well, I had a better week than the Cleveland fans.  My fantasy team Lucille Swings connected again and is still holding the 1st place position.  Lochte and Loaded has fought it's way into third place in my second league. Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you are.  I even did a fair job of picking last week with a 9-4 record bringing my year to 70-50.  Fantasy fans:  New England, Cincinnati, Houston, Washington, Arizona, and Chicago are all enjoying their byes this week.

Sunday, November 3, 2016
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs:  Kansas City
New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers:  New Orleans
Tennessee Titans vs. San Diego Chargers:  San Diego
Dallas Cowboys vs. Cleveland Browns:  Dallas Cowboys
New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins:  Miami
Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings:  Detroit
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants:  New York
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens:  Baltimore
Carolina Panthers vs. Los Angeles Rams:  Carolina
Indianapolis Colts vs. Green Bay Packers:  Green Bay
Denver Broncos vs. Oakland Raiders:  Denver

Monday, November 7, 2016
Buffalo Bills vs. Seattle Seahawks:  Seattle

Thursday, November 10, 2016
Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens:  Baltimore

Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs!!! I'm still not a fan, but it is awesome that the curse is finally over. Better luck next time, Cleveland. Hey, at least you have Lebron.  Until next week, "The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed." -Eminem

NFL Week 15 Picks

It's Week 15 in the NFL, and teams are now scratching and clawing to make their way into the playoffs.  I would like to take a moment to smile at the fact that Philip Rivers and the Chargers went to Denver and left with a victory on Thursday.  I don't want to get too arrogant with the taunting.  My Chiefs play the Raiders today, and those sneaky Raiders love to play the spoiler.  GO CHIEFS!!!!

So, the Washington Redskins are turning into the New York Jets. Coach Mike Shanahan decided to bench QB Robert Griffin III in favor Kirk Cousins citing the old "protecting him for next year and checking the value of Cousins" as the reason behind the benching. Yeah, right Shanahan. I really have no doubt that Shanahan is not a fan of RGIII, to be honest with you, I'm not either, but you know, whatever, I don't really see Shanahan there next year, and if healthy, RGIII will prove whatever he will actually be next year.  Rob Gronkowski has a torn ACL and MCL and will miss the rest of the season. This will be his 6th surgery in a little over a year.  I'm beginning to wonder if this guy will ever play another complete season.

Well, there are only three games left in the illustrious career of Tony Gonzalez. Too bad, those last there games will be with the wilting Falcons.  Gonzalez is 54 yards from 15,000, he scored his 109th touchdown (he is the active leader right now) last week, and he has had a reception in 208 consecutive games.  Pad the stats TG. Matt Ryan, you need to help him out, because you guys convinced him to come back to whatever this is in Atlanta.

I continued that .500 record last week with an 8-8 record, bringing my total to 115-90.  Sheesh...

Sunday, December 15
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts: Indianapolis
Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville (Did I just say that?)
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins: New England
Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings:  Philadelphia
Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants:  Seattle
San Francisco 49ers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  San Francisco
Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons:  Atlanta (Do it for TG, guys!!!)
Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns:  Chicago
New York Jets at Carolina Panthers:  Carolina
Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders:  Kansas City
Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys:  Dallas
New Orleans Saints at St. Louis Rams:  New Orleans
Arizona Cardinals at Tennessee Titans:  Tennessee
Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers:  Cincinnati

Monday, December 16
Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions:  Baltimore

Until next week, "A goal without a plan is a wish. What's your plan?  It's on you, because you have to do all the work. " ~ Herman Edwards

Thanksgiving Day Picks

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!!! Diana Dishes wishes all of you a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving to all of my followers, occasional page visitors, and future readers and their families!!! I have so many things to be thankful for, my family, my friends, my co-workers, my students, my health, My Kansas City Chiefs aren't in the basement, seeing Tony Gonzalez play live in his last season in his last game in the Super Dome, watching Jimmy Graham at any time...so many blessings!!!

This will be a brief post because we will be starting our festivities shortly, which will include football.  So, here are my turkey day picks...

Thursday, November 28
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions:  Detroit

Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys:  Dallas
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens:  Pittsburgh

Until next time,  

NFL Week 8 Picks

What's up, y'all?  Last week was a rather depressing week for me.  My Chiefs were on a bye, and yet, still managed to lose by declaring Brady Quinn the starting quarterback for week 8.  Did I mention he has a career 10 touchdown/11 interception total.  I'm thrilled!!!! For those who don't know me well, that was sarcasm. It's rivalry week as the Chiefs take on their arch rivals the Oakland Raiders, and NFL fans collectively, yawn.  The Chiefs are 0-3 at home; the Raiders are 0-3 on the road.  *dramatic movie voice* "Something has to give."  Probably, my lunch...