The Guard and the Gun

Ever wonder who those body guard hotshots are coming out for the Super Bowl? Try LSU.

The Tigers, in typical third-down pass offense form, traveled the length of the field to New Orleans a week ago, then promptly lost 27-10. They were so bad-bad that even ESPN could not hold back from chapping them up: Les Miles, Louisiana’s coach, is a “can’t-miss” hire. The “math” lesson here is that if a team is 6-0 at home and 1-7 on the road, it’s actually pretty good (Indiana is the famous exception).

But the guard and the gun … well, it’s kind of like the Super Bowl craziness. You can’t really say which team is the best in the AFC and NFC, slot gacor because they’re both Vegas products.

Know who your third-party presidential pick is in Super Bowl XL?

lismail: Bush and New England are both great and the Seahawks are the cream of the NFC crop. I’m going with the latter, but I wouldn’t wait 24 hours before placing my bet.

Which AFC team comes the longest way from home to the Super Bowl?

lismail: The Patriots, of course. Why not? They have a home field advantage on their side. And, they’ll be fully focused, as they should be after losing the last two Super Bowls to the losing team (which, at the time, were the Bengals and the defending-Championship Green Bay).

Which NFC team comes the closest in the AFC to making it to New England?

lismail: The Falcons, with the talent they’ve been showing. Besides the fact they’ve been there before, the two teams are similar in that neither will have a problem getting into the playoffs. The one major difference is that the Patriots are well-coached, and the Falcons are the kind of team that could self-destruct at any time.

I’ll ask about some NFL developments later in the week, but for now, can you give me a quick rundown of your Week 1 picks? Which games were the biggest losers, and who stood out as the biggest winners?

BDB, BoDog.ws: The biggest loser so far in Week 1 has to be the Saints, as they played poorly to start the season and now have to contend with a very strong Falcons team. Although the Saints NEVER do well in this situation, they are in desperate need of a win after starting the season 0-2. The Falcons played well this week; it was a contrast to the performance in Philly a week ago where they struggled to beat the Saints 27-14, as the Falcons held the Saints to just 113 total yards and 12 first downs.

The biggest winner so far in Week 1 has to be the Broncos, who beat the Bengals in impressive style. It was the first road win by a visiting team since the advent of the AFC Championship game in 1990. The Bengals were home underdogs against the unbeaten Patriots, and quite simply looked beaten at home. The Broncos on the other hand, looked great in the pre-season, and the performance in Cincinnati was one of the best shown-to-date. QB Jay Cutler has the arm, but he is not a match stick with the superior Tom Brady, and the superior Denver defense performed superbly against the wildly offensive Patriots. The score was 36-20 at the half.Early reports are that the Cutler pick up some serious shots in the preseason from the Patriots, and Bill Belichick should not be too worried if the renowned No. 1 pick starts popping up passes against the hapless Bengals.

What did the Internet tell us about the Pistons’ free throw shooting spell?

BDB, BoDog.ws: That it was a great play by Rasheed Wallace to survey the defense for a possible ‘False Start’ penalty, and then make an incredible fluke shot. tubes and screens couldn’t have asked for a better decision.

And finally, the announcement that Dallas would be playing without QB Tony Romo for the next three weeks or82. That announcement, and the loss of RB Frank Owens to suspension, hammered the revelation that this offense has no playoff fire-power behind it, and will probably not be able to cover the points in the upcoming weeks. Good luck, as always…Al McMordie. http://blogs.cuc.claremont.edu/realestate/slot-online/