Anti-Farve fan found higher than kite: Tebow news ended it.

OIL CITY, PA -
Jason Rogers, 26, of Oil City was found dead Tuesday in his home at 10:46am EST. Police were call to his house after a 911 call was made by friend Greg Watson, stating that Rogers stopped talking mid-conversation. Watson states that it sounded as if Rogers stopped breathing for about a minute, then the phone hit the floor and Watson heard Rogers give out a loud sigh. Watson proceeded to call several times to ensure Rogers was ok.


Further police investigation revealed the following:

Watson received a text message from his friend Jason Rogers at 2:24pm EST on Sunday saying "I hope that ---hole Favre end his 3rd straight season with a pick and ruins it for his team, again." Watson shook it off saying "Jason was a renowned Farve-hater even since his first fake retirement after the end of the 2008 NFC Championship game.

"(Rogers) used to go on and on about how much he hated all the media exposure that Farve would get. We used watch SportsCenter religiously every day to soak up as much football info as we could. But once all the Farve loving went down, he hasn't been the same" says Watson. "He reached the point where he would either leave the room, or go on a 5 minute rant every time he saw anything involving Favre."

editors note:

Brett Favre is the Quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Favre has gone back and forth about returning to play in the NFL for the past 2 years. He had left he previous 2 teams, the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets, on bad terms. Farve has received a significant amount of media exposed since he initially began speaking of retiring 24 months ago. He threw an interception to end the season each of the previous 2 seasons, ending things for his team as well. Sunday night in the NFC Championship game, Farve threw an interception that eliminated his team, the Minnesota Vikings, from being able to attempt a game winning field goal. The Vikings never touched the ball again, and lost to the New Orleans Saints 31-28 in overtime.

"Upon seeing the result of the game, it appears he(Rogers) went into a state of euphoria" states Dr. Gomez of St. Joseph's Presbyterian Hospital "He was so pleased with the result, that his mind could not comprehend whatever had taken place." After Rogers did not show up for work Monday, Watson was given a phone call from a fellow employee of Roger's. Watson again tried to reach Rogers but was unsuccessful.

"Tuesday Morning around 10:30, I tried calling him(Rogers) one additional time. He finally answered" said Watson. "He said he had been on such a 'high' from the result of yet another Farve disaster, he could not function. He said 'I was so happy that ********er got what he had coming, and the media can go **** themselves.'"

I asked Watson to continue, but he was unable to hold back tears and asked to be excused. Investigating Officer Gates, who took Watson's statement, said "Rogers continued with 'The only thing in the world that could make me happier, is if Tim Tebow is failing at Senior Week and NFL scouts are loosing faith'. Tebow is struggling with footwork, mechanics and accuracy. Watson then proceeded to update Rogers on the situation. This lead to Rogers going into a state of ecstasy that he could not recover. He had a stroke, brain aneurysm and went into cardiac arrest simultaneously. He died instantly."

NFL Championship Weekend

A surprising development came about last weekend when the Chargers fell apart and lost at home to the Jets. We now look at a rematch from week 16 in Indianapolis, and the game people have wanted to see since week 3 in New Orleans.

3:00pm EST
New York Jets: 11-7 @ Indianapolis Colts: 15-2 (-7.5)
Outlook: I am guessing when Curtis Painter was growing up in Vincennes, IN and wanted to be a famous NFL quarterback, this is not what he had in mind. The Colts failure at perfection was dumped on his shoulders, when they replaced their starters while leading 15-10 in the 3rd quarter against the Jets in week 16. Indy went on to loose 29-16 and opened the door for New York to make the playoffs. This is being media-titled "Painter Bowl II".
Biggest Question Mark: How much of a factor will Darrell Revis be in shutting down Reggie Wayne? If he does, will the Jets be able to cover Dallas Clark and the other weapons at Mannings disposal?
Key Matchup: New York Jets running game vs. Indianapolis front 7
The Jets showed how dangerous their running game can be the last 2 weeks in playoffs victories. The Colts have a very fast and very solid defense run by their front 7.
Prediction: Indianapolis 27-10. Midnight is striking on this Cinderella story. Indy will shut them down just like they did to Baltimore last week.

6:40pm EST
Minnesota Vikings 13-4 @ New Orleans Saints: 14-3 (-3.5)
Outlook: The trend in the NFC playoffs this year has been teams putting up Tecmo Bowl type points. Expect more of the same from this game. 2 of the NFL's top scoring teams in a dome. This could make for a great game.
Biggest Question Mark: Will the Viking pass rush be able to get to Brees?
Games where the Vikings front 4 has had issues getting to the QB has allowed opponents to be able to complete passes easily. No one is better at creating formations and miss matches then Sean Payton. Look for him to move the pocket to give Brees time to make plays.
Key Matchup: Jabari Greer vs. Sidney Rice
Rice has been the best receiver for Minnesota all year. Greer was having an All-Pro year before needing hernia surgery half way through the season. He returned last week and shut down the league best receiver, Larry Fitzgerald. If he can keep Rice in check and make a big play or 2, Favre will have big issues.
Prediction: Saints 31-27. Brees will need to have a very good day, and he will be up to the challenge at home.

Last Week:

Spread: 0-4
Picks: 2-2

NFL Divisonal Round

I know I missed the Divisional Playoff (the lines were pretty bad) but let’s take a look at what this weekend holds for us.
Lines as of Friday morning

Saturday 4:30 EST
Arizona Cardinals: 11-6 @ New Orleans Saints: 13-3 (-7)
Outlook: This game has all the makings of a shootout, but there really is no way it can live up to the hype. The Saints defense is well rested after taking the last month off.
Biggest Questions Mark: Health. The Saints had issues with injuries which helped lead to their losses at the end of the season. The Cards fought off injuries last week to defeat the Packers, but they will need Anquan Boldin to pull off a win this week.
Key Matchup: Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell vs. Cards rush defense.
Arizona was 17th in rush defense, and people forget that New Orleans was one of the top rushing teams this season until injuries. Sean Payton will look to a now rested Thomas and Bell to keep Warner and Fitzgerald off the field.
Prediction: Saints 31-27 With the Saints running out the clock on a tired Cards defense.

Saturday 8:15 EST
Baltimore Ravens: 10-7 @ Indianapolis Colts: 14-2 (-6)
Outlook: Will the Colts be rusty after not playing a meaning full game for a month? Will Peyton Manning be able to exploit the holes in the Baltimore secondary? Will Joe Flacco’s leaking hip allow him to post a QB rating over 10.0?
Biggest Question Mark: The Colts have lost in their first game all 3 times in the Manning era when resting their players and getting a first round bye (including last year). Will that trend continue?
Key Matchup: Baltimore front-7 blitz vs. Indianapolis O-line
The Ravens constant pressure of Tom Brady last week is what lead to the 3 INTs and strip-sack in their rout of the Pats. Indy has a great offensive line, and no one gets touched less than Manning.
Prediction: Colts win 20-17 with yet another Manning game winning drive.

Sunday 1:00 EST
Dallas Cowboys:12-5 @ Minnesota Vikings 12-4 (-3)
Outlook: Romo grew up in Wisconsin idolizing Brett Favre. Now he has to chance to knock him out of the playoffs and possibly into a permanent retirement. Adrian Peterson hasn’t had a 100-yrd game in weeks, and this would be a great time to get one.
Biggest Question Mark: Who is going to dominate the crowd? In their loss to the Eagles in this exact situation last year, nearly 1/3 of the crowd was Eagles fans. Dallas has an even bigger fan base.
Key Matchup: Dallas pass rush vs. Minnesota O-line
With Spence, Ratliff and Ware, Dallas is able to only rush 4 or 5 and get after the QB. McNabb was on the run the entire time the last 2 weeks. Farve is much less mobile but does have a quick release.
Prediction: Dallas 27-17 The pass rush is too much to handle, and Tony Romo grows up in from of our very eyes.

Sunday 4:40pm EST
New York Jets: 10-7 @ San Diego Chargers: 13-3 (-7)
Outlook: At kickoff, it will have been 2 days shy of 3 months since San Diego last lost a game. They lost to Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Denver. All 3 teams either made the playoffs, or were in the hunt until the final Sunday. If you eliminate last week and the 2 games that Indy and Cincy phoned in to end the season, the last time the Jets won a game against a good team was week 2 vs. New England. Sanchez is due for a bad game.
Biggest Question Mark: Revis will be able to cover Vincent Jackson, even though Jackson has a 6” height advantage. The question is what NY is going to do about Antonio Gates and Malcolm Floyd?
Key Matchup: Shone Green and Thomas Jones vs. San Diego rush defense
We all know Rivers and the Chargers can march up and down the field without issues. If the Jets can run the ball, control the tempo of the game, and keep the offense off the field, they might be able to win this game.
Prediction: Chargers 31-13 Sanchez returns to form and turns it over 3 times. Rivers captializes

NFL season wrap-up

A look back at what my playoff and regular season picks were for the season.
I didn't do too bad. (3/6 on NFC teams 4/6 on AFC) (15 Pro Bowl starters. Several others I picked are alternates)

Here were my picks from mid-season review.

Let's recap all the things I was dumb enough to open my mouth about.

Team most likely to have a major drop off from last year:
My picks: Dolphins, Cardinals, Panthers, Broncos
Result: pretty good
Dolphins, Panthers and Broncos finished better than I though at 8-8 but missed the playoffs. Cardinals are the same team as last year and will need another miracle run to make the Super Bowl again this year.

Player most likely to have a down year:
My Picks: Jay Cutler - QB Bears; Anquan Boldin - WR Cardinals
Result: Cutler- Jackpot; Boldin - ok
Cutler lead the NFL in INTs and if it were not for a great last 2 games of the year, had a good chance to have the most INTs in the last 34 years in the NFL. Boldin still got to 84 catches and over 1,000 yards but finished with only 4 TDs

Player most likely to have a return to All Pro:
My picks: Larry Johnson - RB Chiefs; Joseph Addai - RB Colts
Results: Major strike out
Can I take a mulligan on this one? Johnson has been a disaster but somehow weaseled into the playoffs. Addai has scored a lot of TDs, but the Colts continue to struggle to run the ball.

Team most likely to shock the NFL:
My picks: San Francisco 49ers; New Orleans Saints
Result: Jackpot
Saints flirted with perfection till a late season collapse, but still finished as the NFC's #1 seed at 13-3. 49ers had an up and down year, but did finish 8-8.

Break-out Player of the Year:
My picks: Leon Washington - RB Jets; Jonathan Vilma - LB Saints
Result: Not quite there
Washington was hurt for most of the season. Vilma made the Pro Bowl as a back up.

Now my bold predictions from Mid-Season.

1) Neither the Saints or Colts will finish 16-0.
Result: Winner
Not that crazy of a pick. NFL is just too hard to do this, and they were both going to rest their starters.

2) Chris Johnson will break the rushing record this year (2,105 yards)
Result: Almost
He did break the yards from scrimmage record and ended up with 2,006 rushing yards. I expected him to have at least 2 more of those 200+ yard games in his final 8, but never did.

3) The New York Giants will finish 8-8
Result: Winner
Despite starting 5-0, they completely collapsed on Eli's injured heel. Who knew their defense would be that bad?

4) The Houston Texans will make the playoffs
Result: Missed it by a hair
Had the Colts and Bengals not phoned in their games to the Jets in the last 2 weeks, Houston would have been in. The Texans should have won 1 more game and gotten in regardless, but at least they finished with their first winning season ever (9-7).

5) 7 teams will finish 4-12 or worse
Result: Close
Oakland and Cleveland both managed to beat the Steelers and got to 5 wins. As for the rest of the teams... ouch.