Week 15 NFL Predictions

Chances are, if you read this or other sports blogs, you may be at least a casual fan of sports, and possibly the NFL. If that is the case, then you may be familiar with the recent, widespread rule changes that have hit the teams and players hard.( You see what I did there? Hit? Yeah. Bad.I Know.) League commissioner Roger Goodell has an idea in his head of what he would like to see the NFL become. His ideas....are not popular. In today's article, I though I'd give his job a try, make some hypothetical changes of my own. First, lets start with the way the game is broadcast to us fans..

Step 1: Change the announcers
There's a trend in the league that you become a player, play your career, retire, then you either coach for a while and then do broadcasting, or you go open up some other business venture, usually involving  a car wash, strip club or Ponzi scheme. Most NFL broadcasters today are former players or coaches, and alot of times I hear people say "ugh, I wish these announcers would stop talking about their old careers. No one cares." Prayer answered, my friend. If he were still with us, I think Billy Mays would have been a great announcer.
"The running back cuts to the outside, hit HARD at the sideline and Ooh!, he's got a nasty stain on that knee there. A nice dose of Oxi-Clean would get that right out!".

I can't make your kid popular, but I can make him clean!

Boom. Football commentary on the spot, and you also figured out how to get that ketchup stain out of little Jimmy's nice Ralph Lauren cardigan.

Step 2. Change the Vendors
Ok, well the first step here is actually to make the games cheaper to attend. Two tickets to the Lions game and I've paid enough for my entire family to see Cats! on Broadway. Ridiculous. Next, we have the food. $6.00 hot dog, $4.00 chips and cheese, $3.50 for a bag of Skittles. Get rid of all that, and lets get in there a Taco Bell, a Popeye's, Subway and a Mr. You's Chinese food. And lets get the same prices that they normally sell food at. Boom.


Step 3.Change the way players get rewarded.
Nowadays, when players leave the field, they normally head over to the oxygen tanks for a couple long breaths of pure oxygen bliss, whether they did a good job or a bad job on the field. I'm thinking you send the guys who screw up over to a CO2 tank instead. Nothing says "don't fumble the ball on the goal line again" like not being able to breath. Ehh, who am I kidding, that's just a joke. But honestly, no one would take a job where they had to tell those 350 pound lineman that they get the CO2 tank instead. Nothing says medical bills like....well, you get the picture.


Well, there's probably a lot more things that I'd change, but those are a few of the important ones. Now onto the recap of last weeks predictions and the new picks for this week.

Last week:
Committed Fan: 11-5
ESPN: 14-2

Running Score
Committed Fan: 135-69
ESPN: 146-58


Atlanta vs. Jacksonville
ESPN: Atlanta
Committed Fan: Atlanta


Miami vs. Buffalo
ESPN Pick: Buffalo
Committed Fan: Miami

Indianapolis vs. Tennessee
ESPN Pick: Tennessee
Committed Fan Pick: Tennessee

Green Bay vs. Kansas City
ESPN Pick:Green Bay
Committed Fan Pick: Green Bay

Cincinnati vs. St. Louis
ESPN Pick: Cincinnati
Committed Fan Pick: Cincinnati

New Orleans vs. Minnesota
ESPN Pick: New Orleans
Committed Fan Pick: New Orleans

Washington vs. New York Giants
ESPN Pick: New York
Committed Fan Pick: New York 

 Carolina vs. Houston
 ESPN Pick: Houston
 Committed Fan Pick: Carolina

 Detroit vs. Oakland

 ESPN Pick: Detroit
 Committed Fan Pick: Detroit

Denver vs. New England

ESPN Pick: New England
Committed Fan Pick: New England

Philadelphia vs. New York Jets
ESPN Pick: Philadelphia
Committed Fan Pick: New York Jets

Arizona vs. Cleveland

ESPN Pick: Arizona
Committed Fan Pick: Arizona

Baltimore vs. San Diego
ESPN Pick: Baltimore
Committed Fan Pick: Baltimore

San Francisco vs. Pittsburgh
ESPN Pick: San Francisco
Committed Fan Pick: San Francisco

Seattle vs. Chicago
ESPN Pick: Seattle
Committed Fan Pick: Chicago

Dallas vs. Tampa Bay
ESPN Pick: Dallas
Committed Fan Pick: Dallas


Awful Decision of the Week: Buccaneers WR Preston Parker attempted to field a punt deep inside his own territory with his team leading 14-0. Upon catching the ball, he was nailed by RB Montell Owens and fumbled. The ball was scooped up by a Jags player and returned for a touchdown. The Jaguars then scored 41 straight points to run away with the victory.

Player of the Week: Cardinals QB John Skelton, who, after being benched by the team last week, responded to Kevin Kolb being knocked out of the game in a big way, throwing for 282 yards and 3 touchdowns en route to leading the Cardinals to an unlikely big win over San Francisco.