Monday Morning Quarterback

Phew. Back to normal. For a minute I was worried we were going to have to get used to being a middle of the road 8-5 ATS handicapper every week. Thank god that winning streak is over. There's no glory in NFL for being average. There's no spotlight shined upon the 4-5 or 5-4 teams on the fringe of the playoffs with no real shot at making it because they can't string more than two consecutive solid games together. There are no human interest stories at halftime when you alternate wins and losses. Nope, it's all about being the best or the worst at what you do in this crazy world, and much like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we tease our fans with with mediocrity before blowing shit up and sucking to the point of inspiring homicide. Much like the geniuses of the world, our 2-10 ATS record has us well outside the bell curve with the rest of the anomalies.



Since it's probably too soon to make Gary Kubiak jokes, I'll keep this short - like his breath before he fell to his knees at halftime of last night's game. I mean talk about a role model - he collapses on his way into the locker room and his team collapses when they come out. Okay, okay - I just figured since it's not a heart attack, a little ribbing's okay. My hypothesis is that Kubiak had been enduring a season long panic attack due to the pressures of success combined with pressures of distress with Matt Schaub as his quarterback. Watching Case Keenum light up the crowd, field, and scoreboard during the first half relieved all of his anxiety at once and his body gave into the exhaustion. It's akin to when cigarette smokers finally quit and then get sick because their body's immune system realizes it can take a break. He should be fine now that the Texans lost again and Matt Schaub took a tire iron to Keenum's knee after the game.



Seriously, though, how would you like to be Matt Schaub. Let's face it, you're not the best looking guy in the world, your quarterbacking skills leave a lot to be desired, fans cheer when you get hurt, and then along comes this kid straight out of Friday Night Lights who throws 70 yard touchdowns, fires of the defense, ignites the crowd, and leaves you waiting in the wings in full uniform and on national television every time he does something else good in the game. I guess the millions of dollars to not feel like a train wreck after the game make it a little easier to swallow.

The good news on this fine Monday morning is that our TSZ Insider Friday Five contest has a few promising beginnings. With the Chicago/Green Bay game still in the balance, we have three Insiders sharing the lead - Michael M., Miles, and Jay Y. - each with 9 of a possible 15 points. Nice start gentlemen. If any of you are looking for unpaid, under-appreciated work from your own home as an Internet blogger/NFL handicapper, a sure-fire way to decrease your premonitory capabilites to come work for The Spread Zone. Fortunately for Marco and me, one of the two games we predicted correctly was in our confidence rankings (thank you Carolina) which means we're only 7 points off the lead with 7 weeks to go.

There's still hope and until the Super Bowl, there's always next week. The Week 10 lines are out and MaChez has a very interesting, practically psychic preview of tonight's Monday Night Football game.

Enjoy,

Vinny and Marco