Bleach 653 - The Theatre Suicide Scene 7

Another chapter of Bleach is out, so let's talk about it.

Spoilers and more deicide after the cut.

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 11

Another interesting week in the NFL as some teams that looked down and out got right and others continued to swoon.

The relative unpredictability (meaning, good teams that fell on their faces) meant that it was a hard week to pick and my picks stunk.  I batted .500 this week, which is not especially great straight up.  I banked on teams like Chicago and Minnesota winning (oops), as well as Philadelphia and the Jets.  So there was plenty of disappointment to go around.

Still, I'm thankful for football, even when it infuriates me.  And Red Zone.

And the internet.

Here are the Rankings for Week 11:

Bleach 652 - The Theatre Suicide Scene 6

Another chapter of Bleach is out, so let's talk about it.

Spoilers and mass confusion after the cut.

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 10

Week 10 of this NFL season was punctuated by stunning upsets of teams that previously looked pretty damn good.  What's particularly galling is that the teams who won were hardly what we might call "high-caliber".  Green Bay and Cincinnati in particular dropped the ball in hilarious fashion and survival pools suffered as a result.

My picks for the week, as could be expected, were a disaster.  6-8 total, with galling losses all over.  I'm not adept at calling the upset, apparently, because other than getting Chicago and Washington right, I floundered.

Also, thanks to Cincinnati's loss there are only two undefeated teams left.

Here are the Rankings for Week 10:

Bleach 650 & 651 - The Theatre Suicide Scene 4 & Scene 5

Another chapter of Bleach is out, so let's talk about it.

Let's talk about the one from last week too, shall we?

Spoilers and the ol' bait-and-switch after the cut.

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 9

Not even here were the top five set in stone.  And now that every team has played eight games, I think we have a better idea who is for real and who isn't.

As always, these Rankings are descriptive rather than predictive.  I waited until each team had played half their schedule for a reason, after all.  And I still qualify that we actually know nothing until the season is over.  True, we have ideas and we can pick the results with a fair amount of sophistication and accuracy (emphasis on "fair" amount, for sure).

But what do we really know until the playoffs come around?  And even then, performance in the playoffs is what we all focus on.  That is the nature of professional sports.

As far as the picks go, I got waylaid in the late afternoon window by a couple of good teams who lost to significantly worse ones.  Denver and Atlanta were not quite ready to play; they did well enough to avoid blowouts, but that's about as charitable as I'll get.

Here are the Rankings for Week 9:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 8

I was on-board with the NFL becoming a passing league.  But over the last couple of seasons, it hasn't really been borne out, as coaches continue to do their jobs in an overly conservative manner, running the ball is still the way to go, and defense hasn't entirely been legislated out of the game as some might want you to believe.

I put most of the blame on the Seattle Seahawks for winning the Super Bowl a couple seasons ago.  Had Denver won, I think we would be seeing a full-fledged passing league.

Since New England won after last season, I don't see much of a change. They're still the only team that plays confidently and matches their style to the opponent on the other side of the field.  Could that have something to do with their coach?  Most likely.  Belichick has four Super Bowl's to his credit, the best QB in the league, and a bag full of onions.  Yes, onions.

Speaking of the best QB in the league, most want to see that title given to Aaron Rodgers.  I think he proved that he isn't when he wilted against Denver's defense Sunday night.  We'll see how Brady does in a few weeks, but as of right now he's the best and the other top teams don't really have a guy that's in his league currently.  I mean, would you take Cam Newton or Andy Dalton over Brady?  How about Peyton Manning?

My picks were a little better than usual, but I still could have done more.  I was 10-4 straight up; picking Tennessee, the Giants, and Green Bay doomed me to a worse week than I could have had.  I didn't see Atlanta losing to Tampa Bay; that one was a surprise.

Here are the Rankings for Week 8: