Macca

Welcome back Strafford! Good timing hey? Huge win for your blokes. Even at this early stage the Packers are going to have to at least win both games against the Bears. We could have been 3 and 0 and instead of that are 1 and 2. 'cfh' would have a similar story to tell with his Vikings. Got to now get at least 4 or 5 wins with the divisional games. Wild old day today and I can't believe that Colts/49ers scoreline (good pick '45'!) And yeah, our running game is going ok but I noticed Starks got injured again today. We've got a bye next week so we lick our wounds and try to get a 'W' in a fortnight's time. Baltimore must have played well today - those 2 games against the Ravens will tell a tale for your blokes. The Saints are the other quiet achiever and they're already 2 games clear in their division. What's happened to the Giants? That scoreline against the Panthers is astonishing. Just another week in the NFL! Can't see the Raiders winning tomorrow but who would know? It's a divisional game so it could be close. I'll post details of our tipping comp tomorrow but you're welcome to still enter. None of us have a clue on how to pick 3 road team wins so you might be able to show us how it's done! (that's if your interested, of course) Details in the 1st post of page 46 on this thread - here

TV games ... Mon Sept 23 3.00am Detroit at Washington (OneHD) 6.05am Atlanta at Miami (Fox1) 6.25am Indianapolis at San Francisco (OneHD) 10.30am Chicago at Pittsburgh (ESPN & OneHD) Tues Sept 24 10.30am Oakland at Denver (ESPN) ... All the other week 3 games And here's Bill Simmons 'Grantland' column ... Week 3 picks Part 1 of his column focuses on the Cleveland/Indianopolis trade for Trent Richardson (and drafting RB's in general) ... 'Game-Changers' Finally, here are this weeks 'Power Rankings'

Things are coming right down to the wire in the National League Central division (although the 2 teams that miss out on winning that division could easily win wild-card spots. The Dodgers have won their division and the Red Sox have clinched a playoff spot (most probably the division as well) It's also looking good for the Braves, Oakland and Detroit. Here are the divisional standings whilst the battle for the 2 wild-card spots in the American League has 6 genuine contenders ... Wild-card standings

Don't know if I'm keen enough to do that at 3am! The Packers are quite often one of the 7 games on OneHD or cable so I don't mind missing the odd game 'live'. Think we've got at least 5 night games to come so we're well catered for - can't complain. I'm a little excited at the prospect of our running game being on the improve. Lacy looks to have a bit of talent and great to finally have Starks back (he ran for 132 yards last game) As 'cfh' would attest, all the teams in the NFC North have tough schedules so the Packers will need some sort of running game to win enough games to make it. The Bengals will be a tough encounter and I'll take any sort of win.

That was a great story - now all we need is a 'Barnburner' to top things off in Cincinnati in a few days. Pity the game is not on the box as it's possibly the game of the round. Excellent article all the same and it looks like good old 'Curly' had his own set of rules - in all sorts of areas! He certainly had a bit of a reputation with the ladies! Another frantic game in Philadelphia today - hard to see Vick being able to play in all 16 games at this rate. Man, he takes some punishment. Good win by your blokes though. Reid has got KC well organised and that big final drive by Smith was very impressive - close enough to 9 minutes worth. Smith along with Avery and Charles all had good games. McCoy was impressive and Vick ran for 95 yards as well. There was a lot happening! Really enjoyed the game and that fast paced offense employed by Chip Kelly is great to watch. Whether it's sustainable is another story. You'll be looking ahead to the playoffs yeah? 3 and 0 and leading the AFC West - whooda thunk-it!

Certainly an unusual move for this time of the season. Gives the Browns a total of 7 picks in the first 4 rounds of next year's draft. I guess Cleveland have decided to go all in on a rebuild. Might end up being a win/win.

TV games for week 3 ... looking forward to tomorrow's game for a whole bunch of reasons. Can the Chiefs go to 3 and 0? Fri Sept 20 10.25am Kansas City at Philadelphia (ESPN & OneHD) Mon Sept 23 3.00am Detroit at Washington (OneHD) 6.05am Atlanta at Miami (Fox1) 6.25am Indianapolis at San Francisco (OneHD) 10.30am Chicago at Pittsburgh (ESPN & OneHD) Tues Sept 24 10.30am Oakland at Denver (ESPN) ... All the other week 3 games Road tips for this week ... Houston Atlanta NY Giants

Had a listen to Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal's podcast today (where both Bill and Sal try to guess the lines for week 3 and do a recap of week 2) I'm none the wiser about trying to find 3 road winners after listening to it! (although the podcast does have a comedic angle and is well worth a listen) ... "The B.S Report" ("Spoiler alert" - they chat about the latest episode of 'Breaking Bad' from about 45 minutes into the podcast, so beware!) I'll do my tips when I post up the 'TV' games tomorrow night. For those wishing to enter the comp, you still have 2 more weeks to join in the 'riotous' fun we're having. Details can be found on the 1st post of page 46 of this thread ... here

Couple of tracks from the 'Breaking Bad' series ... Macca's jazz 6.6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpZAic85Pgg

In the tipping comp, there is no change to the points table after week 2 (no one tipped 3 road winners) We probably should have a cut off point so 2 more weeks and that's it for new entries (i.e. up until the completion of week 4) Looks a little easier to find 3 road winners in week 3 but nothing is definite in this League! ... Next week's games 1 - cowboy from hell 1 - Macca 0 - Gorgoroth 0 - pantaloons 0 - DemonDave 0 - 45HG 0 - Norm Smith's Curse

Big win to Seattle. The niners just couldn't get into the end zone. Definitely a fortress there and it's hard to see the Seahawks dropping a game at home. Hell of a lot of penalties in the game as well. The Seahawks defense was just too good and they're going to be hard to beat anywhere in all honesty. That is one loud stadium - decibels levels broken apparently. Big wins to KC, Miami and even the Chargers (that was a real surprise road win) Nice to see the Packers have a big game and the Saints, Denver and Houston won as expected. Came down to the wire at Chicago - fine line between winning and losing sometimes 'cfh'. But the big winners were Seattle, Denver and probably New Orleans. Had a bit of a look at KC's schedule and it's not that tough. This Friday's game (our time) at Philadelphia now has some real significance (apart from the Andy Reid return) Not sure anyone picked 3 road team victories - I'll check again tomorrow. Tough going just to get off the mark hey? At this rate, someone might join up in week 17 and win the whole thing! Loser of tomorrow's game between the Steelers and the Bengals could be in a bit of trouble (although even at this early stage, a record of 9/7 could win 3 or 4 Divisions) The NFC East, AFC North and maybe the NFC North are candidates.

Rather than start another thread, thought I'd post a bit about 'La Vuelta' on this thread. 2 stages to go and it's coming right down to the wire (both stages are being broadcast by SBS from about midnight) Horner leads Nibali by just 3 seconds with tonight's mountain stage to possibly decide things ... General classification Tonight's stage ... click on 'Live Stage' via this link for full coverage from the official site ... Profile ...

TV games for week 2 ... Fri Sept 13 10.25am NY Jets at New England ESPN & OneHD Mon Sept 16 3.00am Cleveland at Baltimore OneHD 6.05am Detroit at Arizona Fox1 6.25am Denver at NY Giants OneHD 10.30am San Francisco at Seattle ESPN & OneHD Tues Sept 17 10.30am Pittsburgh at Cincinnati ESPN ... All the other week 2 games My road team tips this week ... New Orleans San Francisco Minnesota This might be one of those weeks where there aren't 3 'Away' winners. However, it wouldn't surprise me if there are 5 or 6. In the first month last season, there were 7 or 8 road team victories in 3 of the 4 weeks. The Saints should win but they're no certainties. Could be an interesting game tomorrow. You'd expect the Patriots to win comfortably but if the defense of the Jets can stand up, it might end up being closer than people think. Will Rex spring a surprise or 2?

Put you on the 'Ladder' NSC. Huge game next week on SNF - your blokes are at home to the 49ers. Should be a cracker (the 12th man could break all decibel levels!) Yeah, the Chargers really should have put that one away. They just needed to get a field goal to almost guarantee the win. Credit to Houston though.

Welcome aboard 45 ... (I've taken the liberty of adding you to the 'Ladder') In other news ... pertaining to Friday's big Divisional clash between the Pats and Jets, I came across this article ... don't ya just love Rex! ... ... LaDainian Tomlinson: Rex Ryan said he was going to punch Bill Belichick (LT tells the story at about 3.30 into the Video which accompanies the article)

Big comeback win by the Texans - thought the Chargers had a big enough lead. San Diego just seem to have forgotten how to win. Chip Kelly and the Eagles hung on as well - the up tempo offense being a feature of their game. McCoy had a big game for Philadelphia. They're another team that could cause a few headaches in the NFC East. In the tipping comp only 'cfh' and myself tipped 3 winners - strangely enough both our teams lost whilst pantaloons, DemonDave and Gogoroth didn't pick up a point but their teams won. Has the comp got some sort of reverse mozz attached to it already The Ladder 1 - cowboy from hell 1 - Macca and equal 3rd ... 0 - Gorgoroth 0 - pantaloons 0 - DemonDave 0 - 45HG 0 - Norm Smith's Curse It's not too late to enter - details at the top of this page

Yeah, watched all of your game as well as the Packers/49ers match. You started off well but Detroit were too good. As you said, Bush makes a big difference. Our division is wide open with Chicago winning as well today. As for the Packers, we played a very good game and our defence wasn't as bad as what might be indicated by the yardage that the 49ers gained. Kaepernick and Boldin were immense (why on earth did the Ravens let Anquan go?) We just couldn't stop either of them. Whenever San Francisco bring their 'A' game this season, they will beat up on sides. They've got some weapons. It was a terrific match of high quality and I wasn't disappointed with our effort - could have gone either way in the end. Rodgers was his usual self but it wasn't enough. Lacy had a couple of nice carries but the better team won. As for the other games, the Jets found a way to win (ya gotta hand it to Rex ... Geno had a good game!) KC had a big win and they could be in for a decent year. Rams, Colts, Seattle and Pats all had close wins. Not sure what is going on with Steelers? (I picked 'em to win that division ) The Saints winning today throws that Division wide open - are they back in business? Rob Ryan as the Defensive co-ordinator earned his money today - great finish. Miami won a game they had to win. SNF was fairly messy for the most part but it livened up in the 4th quarter. Thought Eli was gonna pull it out of the fire for a minute there but not to be. Overall, a mistake riddled game. Bit of a rusty opening week but we've still got a double header tomorrow! Both games could be close and I'll be interested to see how Rivers goes - he's at the crossroads a bit and I hope he comes good. At one stage a few years ago, he was going to be the next big thing. Edit: I guess the other story was the late tackle on Kaepernick by Clay Matthews - turned out to be quite costly for the Packers. The 'down' ended up being replayed (which led to an immediate touchdown) and then Rodgers copped the 'Evener upper' a couple of plays later! Not only did Green Bay lose out on the deal, we've given the 49ers even more ammunition for our next match ... Egads!

If a Chargers fan suddenly appears on this thread, it may well be the great man! I'm guessing he'd be a fan of the NFL. In other news ... here's a couple of columns from 'Grantland' by Bill Simmons ... AFC Power Poll & NFC Power Poll The Giants are at Big D for SNF on Monday morning (10.30am our time) Always a good match-up and the game often ends up with a close finish.

Just a walk in the park for Peyton ... threw for 462 yards, a 141.1 passer rating and 7 touchdowns with 0 interceptions (the best since 1969) He's all class. Looks like Denver are heading for another big year. Early doors but The AFC West Divisional title seems to be heading the Bronco's way already. KC with Andy Reid could rack up a number of wins but Denver looked very good. The Ravens looked to be out of synch. They did score 27 but to give up 49 points is not great by Baltimore's standards. Maybe the call will come for Ray to make a comeback!

Got 4 for the tipping comp so far ... just a reminder to the following posters that the comp starts this week (if you'd like to participate) Details of the comp can be found at the top of this page ... Dappa Dan Cards13 QueenC Whispering_Jack DemonDave 45HG titan_uranus Norm Smith's Curse Strafford DirtyDees DDC New Age Hipster daisycutter rpfc Striker 475 Adzman MFC4Life JT9 the master Dr Gonzo belzebub59 Good Times Grimes old dee Demon Land 7 biggestred america de cali Demon2 jezzzza Entry is free! Yes, you heard it - FREE entry And what's more, there is no prize for the overall winner! ... just bragging rights.

Once again, here are the week 1 TV games. Great 1st up game too ... reckon the Broncos will prevail but it could be another close one. Packers are back at San Francisco in a tough opener for my blokes. The Falcons/Saints game should be a beauty but there are a number of other big match-ups. If I had the time, I'd watch all 7 games that are being broadcasted Fri Sept 6 10.30am Baltimore at Denver (OneHD & ESPN) Mon Sept 9 3.00am Atlanta at New Orleans (Fox1) 3.00am Minnesota at Detroit (OneHD) 6.15am Green Bay at San Francisco (OneHD) 10.30am NY Giants at Dallas (OneHD & ESPN) Tues Sept 10 9.00am Philadelphia at Washington (ESPN) 12.15pm Houston at San Diego (ESPN) ... here are all the other games in week 1 For those interested in seeing how your team is rated for this season, here's a couple of podcasts from Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal. They discuss the relative merits of each team in an 'overs and unders' format ... AFC (part 1) ... NFC (part 2)

3 'away' winners for week 1 ... New England Miami Houston

Rules of the 'Demonland' NFL tipping competition * You get 3 picks only in any given week (but they must all be 'Away' teams) * Anyone who correctly tips all 3 winners receives 1 point (so any number of people can win a point in any given week) * Bonus points are up for grabs in weeks 5, 9 and 13 (2 points to all winners) whilst week 17 carries 3 points to any given winner. * No margins or correct scores are required - just the straight winners. * If you miss a week or come into the comp later on, there is no penalty. You just simply miss the chance to win points for that week or weeks. * Your tips must be in before the start of Monday's games (AEST) ... or before the Friday game if you include that game. All 3 tips must be included in your post (editing your tips is strictly forbidden ) * The person with the most points by the end of the season wins (Kudos being the prize!) If there are any questions or you're unsure, ask away. I think I've covered everything but I've possibly overlooked something. I'll post a 'Ladder' on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. We probably only need 5 or 6 participants to keep it going - if not, no harm done. For those of you who just read this thread, feel free to join in the comp. It's just a bit of fun and we could do with a few more people on the thread anyway. Definitely need some more fans from the AFC.

Just the winners Gorgoroth - seems quite straight forward but it's trickier than one might think. There's always a few upsets and 'home' underdogs can get up when you least expect it. I'll do my tips later today when I re-post the TV games but just looking at this week's games, it's not easy to see 3 sure-fire 'away' winners. The next post will give a brief outline of the rules (don't ya just hate rules!)

'cfh' ... the tipping idea was to pick 3 'Away' winners in any given week with the proviso being that you only get 3 picks. 1 point to anyone who gets it right. Fairly straight forward comp that way. We could start it off and if there are enough participants, we can keep it going. I'll do my tips tonight