(The problem with pre-writing a post and scheduling it to my main property -- Snarkin' the NFL -- is that I forget to re-post to my syndication sites. Sorry this is a little late, but you can check the main blog to confirm that I really did pick last night's contest correctly BEFORE it went down.)
The preseason was so brief and chaotic this year, how can I possibly pick the games for week one?
I have to give priority to the teams I picked for the playoffs, and other than that? Coin flip.
The Eagles open the 2011 season traveling to St. Louis to take on San Bradford and his Rams. I had the opportunity to visit St. Louis for the first time for a conference in August. I wasn't super excited to go -- this same conference has recently been in Chicago, San Diego, LA and Toronto -- but I was very pleasantly surprised by St. Louis. The city really rolled out the red carpet for us, from an opening party on the grounds of the Arch complete with fireworks to shutting down several blocks of the Washington Avenue entertainment district for us for the closing party. The people were super nice, and the city itself was lovely.
What does that have to do with the game? Not a damn thing, but I wanted to say some nice things about St. Louis to try to take some of the sting out of the beat down they're going to experience Sunday. Do you think it helped?
Eagles.
Saints at Packers: This is a tough one, since I picked BOTH teams to make post-season appearances, but I'll have to go with home field advantage and pick the Packers.
Steelers at Ravens: See above. Ravens.
Bengals at Browns: Coin says Browns.
Colts at Texans: Texans.
Titans at Jaguars: Coin says Titans.
Bills at Chiefs: Coin says Chiefs.
Falcons at Bears: Falcons.
Lions at Bucs: Lions. Go Team of Destiny! Let's see if you can get Matthew Stafford through a game without suffering a major injury.
Giants at Redskins: Giants. Didn't need a coin for this one. The Redskins are going to be TERRIBLE this year.
Panthers at Cardinals: Cards.
Seahawks at 49ers: Coin says 49ers. Coin may be wrong.
Vikings at Chargers: Two more Snark-predicted playoff teams. Home field says Chargers.
Cowboys at Jets: J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
Patriots at Dolphins: Patriots. Poor Dolphins. They are also likely to be TERRIBLE this year.
Raiders at Broncos: Gotta go with the Raiders, who I think are on an upswing. Really.