My favorite part of the week. Cold. Hard. FAILS. Matty D didn’t let the golf course interfere with posting the LOCKS this week, let’s see if he was able to put a dent in my lead.

Week 9 Cold Hard FAILS

By now you’ve seen the scores so I’m going to show who we picked…

Falcons crush Bucs 43-28 – We both picked Atlanta: 1-0 G-Man/1-0 Matty D – Both Matty Ice and Jameis Winston had big nights, Atlanta is just a much better football team.

Ravens down Steelers 21-14 – I picked Pittsburgh while Matt picked Baltimore: 1-1 G-Man/2-0 Matty D – Big Ben was in the midst of recovery but the Ravens almost blew this game if not for a pooched outside kick attempt.

Cowboys smack Browns 35-10 – We both picked Dallas: 2-1 G-Man/3-0 Matty D – DAKZEKES!

Chiefs get by Jags 19-14 – We both picked KC: 3-1 G-Man/4-0 Matty D – The Chiefs D looked fantastic as they look like a great playoff contender in the upstart AFC West.

Dolphins rally over Jets 27-23 – We both picked Miami: 4-1 G-Man/5-0 Matty D – Miami is a great home team, no surprise they were able to jump over the Jets late.

Giants hold off Eagles 28-23 – We both picked the Birds: 4-2 G-Man/5-1 Matty D – A slow start for the Eagles and bad play-calling by Big Balls Doug cost the Eagles as they are winless through their first rotation through the NFC East. Defense actually looked pretty great and Wentz was able to bounce back, but those early failed fourth down conversions in the red zone end up being the difference. Horrible plays on both of them as well as on third down, again. If the Sixers have taught us anything, we just need to give it time.

Lions pounce over Vikings 22-16 in OT – I picked Minnesota while Matt picked Detroit: 4-3 G-Man/6-1 Matty D – Sam Bradford didn’t actually play horribly but the offense wasn’t powerful enough to put Detroit away.

Panthers edge Rams 13-10 – Matt picked the Panthers while I picked LA: 4-4 G-Man/7-1 Matty D – I knew that defense would give the terrible-on-the-road Panthers trouble. Not enough trouble though.

Saints smack 49ers 41-23 – We both picked New Orleans: 5-4 G-Man/8-1 Matty D – Mark Ingram ran over the Niners like he did to the SEC when he was at Bama.

Chargers surge Titans 43-35 — We both picked San Diego: 6-4 G-Man/9-1 Matty D – The Baby Blue Bowl: Melvin Gordon reminded us why we were all so excited for his NFL career. 196 yards on the ground will do it for ya as Marcus Mariota’s stellar game falls just short.

Colts hold off Packers 31-26 – We both took the Pack: 6-5 G-Man/9-2 Matty D – Frank Gore scored two TDs for Indy while the Rodgers/Nelson connection came together a little too late.

THE RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAIDERS top the Broncos 30-20 – I picked Oakland while MPD took the Broncos: 7-5 G-Man/9-3 Matty D – My AFC West pick moves into first. Latavius Murray has returned to the RB1 spot for Oakland in full form as he rushed for THREE TOUCHDOWNS. Kahlil Mack led the Oakland D to stifling the non-existent Denver running game and Trevor Siemian isn’t nearly good enough to led this team to a win by himself.

Seahawks beat Bills 31-25 — We both picked Seattle… Richard Sherman was the face of controversy in this one; I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. Aside from that, we actually got a good MNF game as DangeRuss looked sharp.

Matty D wins Week 9 10-3 to 8-5, G-Man leads Weekly Series: 5-2-2
G-Man Overall: 78-55
Matty D Overall: 74-59

What a week for Matty D. Could this actually be a contest in the second half? I’m 3up on the weekly and 4up overall so MPD will need to make some serious strides towards that goal. What I’m more concerned with is the Birds. Dougy needs to make his number one priority to watch other team’s film. Not to scout the team for a future matchup, but to actually learn when are certain plays are appropriate. This isn’t Madden where kicking field goals diminishes your street cred with your opponent. Take the points, kick the field goal, and shove the next drive down their throats right into the end zone. Speaking of, stop running everything out of the shotgun. I thought we learned this with Chip: if the defense knows it’s coming, these sweeping runs to the outside are entirely ineffective. I know we’re trying to protect Carson and Ryan is a glass cannon at RB, but they’re big boys, run something up the gut. Anyway, there’s a lot of improvement to be done but a lot to be happy about. Matty D decided to celebrate his Week 9 win with a road trip so I’ll be back on Thursday with the LOCKS. Until then…

FLY EAGLES FLY!!!