NFL Week 2 in Review

Wow, even though picking against Eli blew up in my face this week, I can at least be happy that the Cowboys lost (I know, I can't have it both ways but you have to admit - non-cowboy fans - that it was nice listening to dead silence during the first game in the brand new 8th wonder of the world that is "Jerryland"). Furthermore, if there was an awkward meter somewhere, I'm not sure if those exist, it would have broken within 30 seconds of the Jerry Jones/Bob Costas interview right before kickoff. For those of you that missed it (sorry, but I can't find a video to link to it), Jerry and Bob stare INTENSELY - I can't stress that enough - into each others eyes with about 18" separating their noses throughout the entire interview where Costas allows Jones to talk about how sweet he is and how he just built the best stadium ever (more on the stadium in a minute). There are only a few fleeting moments that they break eye contact but more than a few sly "is he listening to himself?" grins from Costas during the course of the interview. Words can't describe and I hope that everyone reading this (both of you) watched Sunday night.

Also, how does Jerry Jones sit there and pick his nose - in plain view no less - when he knows there will be at least 10 cameras trained on him at all times (counting all the ones that he hires to follow him around and bask in his awesomeness)? That ranks up there on the list of things celebrities, not the right description for Jones.... thinking.... got it, absurdly wealthy snobs that keep tabloids in business shouldn't do since they know they are ALWAYS on camera at events, especially ones in their own new stadium (ranks right below hunting endangered animals in their luxury box - or whatever it is they do up there...). Also, what does this say about the state of America that I can find 100 different versions of Jerry Jones mining for gold on national TV and zero showing the new standard that unintentional comedy should be held at (the Costas vs. Jones staring contest)?

Final Jerry Jones related tangent (I promise). How much of a circus is the Cowboys new stadium? It just seems like a big joke and I would hate it if it were my teams home stadium. First of all, I would have to take out a second mortgage on my house, my parents house, and sell my first born child to afford tickets within a quarter mile of the field. Secondly, both teams run through a WWE style ramp/tunnel to get to the field with field box fans on either side of them (explain to me how this isn't an incident waiting to happen - paging Ron Artest...). How extremely awkward/stupid do you think this is if you're a player? I say up there with coming out of the tunnel wearing a "Jason" mask - sorry Eagles fans, I forgot your starting safety did this on Sunday. I could go on and on with the ridiculous non-football circus sideshow attractions that the new Cowboys stadium has, but I'll end with this one; the cheerleaders dance on platforms above the field level seats! Find me one father of a girl that can go to a game and say with a straight face that they hope their daughter ends up there one day. This takes the absurdity of NFL cheerleaders to another level... wow.

Alright, so I was close on my prediction for this game, but Eli decided to play just well enough to pull it out at the end (since I live on the east coast and I'm a loser, I didn't stay up for the whole game). But close doesn't count (0-1).

Carolina (+6) at Atlanta - Atlanta wins outright and Delhomme still hasn't quite got it back yet (0-2).

Pittsburgh (-3) at Chicago - A disappointing game all around. Once the rain really started coming down both teams got a little out of sync. Even though everyone in Pittsburgh is at least a little bit unhappy with Jeff Reed - myself included - I take some solace in that he looked genuinely upset with himself for missing those kicks (who am I kidding... I'm pissed). Oh yeah... (0-3)... damn...

New England (-4) at New York Jets - Alright! finally a game that I got right! How cold was that handshake at the end of the game? I say somewhere between naked in Antarctica and absolute zero (for you non-nerds, that's -459 degrees Fahrenheit). Even if I didn't think the next game would be equally as good, I'm still watching the game to see the handshake at the end (1-3).

Cardinals (+3) at Jacksonville - Unfortunately, even if I wanted to watch this game, I couldn't have since I don't have direct TV and the NFL will only show me an extra game if I sell them my soul - but I digress. The Jaguars got smacked around by the Cardinals who must have been stung by their loss last week. Let's see if they can keep it up against NFL teams that aren't trying to tank - a la the Cleveland Indians of "Major League" - to get moved to a better NFL city. You know your team is hurting for fans when the front office says, "we are strongly considering drafting 'local college player X' (in this case Tim Tebow) in hopes of stirring up more local interest," yeah, I know, not quite the exact quote from the Jags, but you get the point (2-3).

I'll post a new power rankings soon. Also, for the picks this week I'm hoping to get a couple of my friends to pick ATS the same 5 games that I pick for the coming week. Hopefully I choose games that we disagree on to make things interesting. Only time will tell...