Pig Skin Pay Off
By Jared “Dirty JC” Curtis
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Week three is here, and although there are some clunkers already emerging (will the Chiefs ever be any good?), there are some surprises, too. Here are my three locks for the week.
Kansas City at Philadelphia: Sure, Matt Cassel looked great in New England, but he had a great line and one of the best coaches in the game backing him up. Now he plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. Enough said. He looked decent in his debut, but when the overrated Dwayne Bowe and the unheard of Bobby Wade are your go-to receivers, you’re in trouble. Even with a banged up Donovan McNabb, nobody puts the Eagles in a corner, especially not at their home nest.
Washington at Detroit: Call it intuition or just plain stupidity, but I’ve seen the growth in this Lions team over the span of two games. Even though first round pick Matthew Stafford isn’t shooting out of the gun like Matt Ryan did last year, he is coming along. Once he realizes he can just throw the ball in the air and Calvin Johnson will go up and get it, the offense will flourish. Add in running back Kevin Jones (who looks reborn) and Stafford’s growing trust with rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and you have the making of a winning football team. And with a wading Washington team coming to town, I predict the Lions winning ways start in week three. But you know what they say, “stupid is as stupid does.”
Carolina at Dallas: The pesky New York Giants came to town and ruined owner Jerry Jones over-extravagant stadium debut. But a wimpy Panthers team rolls into town this week, and there is no way Jones is going 0-2 in his new home.
Schedule:
Sunday, Sept. 27
Kansas City at Philadelphia 12 p.m.
Green Bay at St. Louis 12 p.m.
San Francisco at Minnesota 12 p.m.
Cleveland at Baltimore 12 p.m.
New York Giants at Tampa Bay 12 p.m.
Jacksonville at Houston 12 p.m.
Tennessee at New York Jets 12 p.m.
Atlanta at New England 12 p.m.
Washington at Detroit 12 p.m.
Chicago at Seattle 3:05 p.m.
New Orleans at Buffalo 3:05 p.m.
Miami at San Diego 3:15 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati 3:15 p.m.
Denver at Oakland 3:15 p.m.
Indianapolis at Arizona 7:20 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 28
Carolina at Dallas 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Game Day
College previews
Iowa (3-0) vs.
#5 Penn State (3-0)
Saturday, Sept. 26 • 7 p.m.
College Station, Penn.
Lightning, they say, never strikes twice in the same place. Or is it that it doesn’t strike twice? Or can it strike twice in the same place but rarely does? Whatever. Put it this way, it’s tough for something really cool to happen once. But to turn around and happen again and be even cooler than it was the first time? No sir. Not going to happen. And that’s bad news if you’re the Iowa Hawkeyes, who used their five-year allotment (one) of lightning strikes last season with a 24-23 upset of then No. 3 Penn State, which flushed the Nittany Lions’ national title hopes down the crapper. But as Lou Gramm says: “That was yesterday.” The Hawks travel to State College for a rematch against Penn State this weekend, and you can bet you’re ass that Joe Pa and the White Helmets have revenge on their minds. Undefeated, yet untested, Penn State still has the firepower of quarterback Daryll Clark, who has averaged more than 250 yards passing in the first three outings. Elusive quarterbacks have always been a thorn in Iowa’s defensive side. This game will be no different. Iowa Quarterback Ricky Stanzi picked a bad game to try to break out of his habit of waiting until the second quarter to strap it up. Six of the last seven have gone to the Hawks, surprisingly, but two years in a row of beating a top-5 team? That’s like asking lightning to strike more than…..ah, forget it.
Penn State 28, Iowa 17
Army (2-1) vs.
Iowa State (2-1)
Saturday, Sept. 26 • 6 p.m.
Jack Trice Stadium, Ames
Prior to last weekend’s matchup against Kent State, the Iowa State Cyclones football team had lost 17 consecutive road games. In Game Day’s extensive — yet impressive — archeological research to find the exact date of the ‘Clones’ last victory away from home, a handwritten letter was unanimously delivered to our offices, purportedly having been found in the bowels of the North Grand Mall’s basement, i.e., State Southeast Asian Cockfighting Championships headquarters. The piss-colored, tattered parchment read: “Dear ISU: I have work to do, and so do you. Shoot straight. Best, John Wilkes Booth.” Talk about a find. At least it was until last Saturday. Iowa State’s 34-14 win over the Golden Flashes effectively ended The Streak, and now we’re left with a worthless piece of paper from what must have been the 1865s. On the bright side, The Streak II has begun. ISU, now 1-0 in The Streak II, and 2-1 this season, battle Army (2-1) and its triple option offense. While the Clones haven’t been world-beaters in stopping the run, an assassination of The Streak II will be prevented. Easily.
Iowa State 40, Army 24
