The Paul Salazar Jr Blog » Football

New York/New Jersey Superbowl!

Paul Salazar Jr — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:24:09 +0000

All this commotion about the New York/New Jersey is ridiculous. When did the Superbowl become so political? Playing the Superbowl in a cold weather outdoor stadium is awesome to me (and I’m a fan of a warm weather/pass happy team). I know playing in the snow is not ideal but why does everything have to be perfect for the biggest game of the season? Everyone wants to party in a warm weather Miami type of place but this is the Superbowl, not vacation. Leave the warm weather and the parties for the Pro Bowl. The Superbowl should be about the game not the circus that surrounds the game. I’ve just realized this a rant…I’m fine with that. This is good for the Superbowl and the NFL. Over.

Good Luck McNabb!

Paul Salazar Jr — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:41:25 +0000

Donovan McNabb has been someone that I’ve always sympathized with. Here’s a guy that has been hearing boos since the day he’s been drafted. And that’s coming from his own fans. McNabb has not been a chump. He has great stats and keeps his team in contention year in and year out. Yet for some reason Philly fans hold him to some sort of crazy standard. So McNabb has been shipped within the division and Kevin Kolb inherits the burden of ridiculously high expectations. I hope Kolb, a UH alum, does well because if he doesn’t at least hit McNabbean numbers (3,000+ yrds, 20+ TDs, and around 85 QB rating) things will get ugly for him. (Poor Kolb is in a division with Romo, Eli and McNabb.) However McNabb is shipped the the elephant graveyard that is Washington. I hope the guy gets something nicer than a new Chunky Soup commercial.

Divisional Playoffs

Paul Salazar Jr — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:57:54 +0000

Hey kids! After going 1-3 last week, I need to pick up my game and pick every game right if I want a winning record in the playoffs. It really hurts me that the only winner that I picked correctly last week was the Cowboys. And I had the Cardinals all wrong. I should have known that Kurt Warner was going to be playoff ready. Although, the Green Bay Packers almost won that game after being completely out of it. You can’t say that was a bad game, easily could be the best game of the playoffs.

Arizona at New Orleans

I don’t really know what to think of this game off the bat. The Saints have been my pick to go to the Super Bowl for most of the season. But the Cardinals offense, even without Anquan Boldin, is perhaps unstoppable. Their defense however seems to be pushovers. I’m going with the Saints because they have both a potent offense and defense. The only way the Saints can lose is if they break down.

Baltimore at Indianapolis

The Colts are a great team. Forget all that benching the starters stuff. Forget that they didn’t be part of history. All you have to know is that they want one thing and one thing only. They want to win the Super Bowl. That’s why they benched starters and decline an invitation to be ‘historic.’ The Colts are going to be ready to play. The Ravens aren’t chumps though and are ready to smack around the Colts offense. I think this will be a lower scoring game than most people think. However, Peyton ‘MVP’ Manning is going to pull through and win it for the Colts.

Dallas at Minnesota

No matter how hot the Cowboys are, I still think Vikings are a better team. I’m still waiting for the Cowboys and Tony Romo to fall apart and I’m picking that this is the game. The Vikings defense is intense and Jared Allen has put a target on Romo’s jersey. And how I forget to mention The Ol’ Gunslinger. Gunslinger is going in this game willing to do anything to win, even ignore Brad Childress’ playcalling…

New York Jets at San Diego

So right now I’m thinking to myself, I haven’t picked a wild card team to go on to the next round. And it’s not changing now. I think the Chargers are going to expose the Jets. The Jets play with a lot of emotion but are not as great of a team as they are made out to be. The Jets are a good story and have become media darlings but that doesn’t make them a good playoff team.

There it is.

The Numbers are in…

Paul Salazar Jr — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:14:26 +0000

After mailing off my picks to an unbiased accounting firm, it appears that in week seventeen I went 12-4. That’s the second week in a row I went 12-4, which is good. If I was a AFC team I could have easily got in the playoffs with a record like that. That means this season I went…(drum roll please) 163-91 (.641). Let the ticker tape parade begin, because that’s a pretty solid season. (Just image how better I could have picked if I wasn’t a Houston Texans fan.)

I’m just throwing this out there so take it however you want to: “The Sports Guy” Bill Simmons went 133-116-5 this year. I love “The Sports Guy” so this isn’t a crack on him, but Bill step it up next season.

It was a great season friends. I had fun. You had fun. It was a good time. Let’s enjoy the playoffs. I’ll see you later, I’m off to change my last name to UnoSeisTres-NueveUno.

NFL Wildcard Weekend

Paul Salazar Jr — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:32:32 +0000

Alright so let’s take a quick look at the wildcard matchups…

New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

Everyone is going on and on about this game being tough on the Bengals for the beating they took last week. But the Bengals had nothing to play for and didn’t want to give away any “secrets” so that they could win the playoff game. The Bengals are just like that boxer that is cornered with his gloves up taking punch after punch only to lash out and beat the snot out of the other fighter. The Jets play with a lot of emotion but will probably fall short because of a unproven quarterback and a drop happy wide out. The Bengals are the better team, but this is still going to be a close game.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

This is the game that has me scratching my head the most. I think the Eagles are the better team and I hate the Cowboys with every fiber of my being, but I’d be a fool to say that there is any other team that is bringing this much fire into the playoffs. However, these Cowboys are not as good as some of the other Cowboys teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs in years past. As much as I hate to do it, I’m going with the Cowboys on this one. Although I really hope that Tony Romo finds a way to show that he’s still a bonehead. The Eagles have this game in the bag if ghost of playoffs past haunt Romo.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

This year I feel like all of these matchups are almost too close to call. The Ravens defense has the edge in this game but you can’t count the Pats out (even with a possibly weak Wes Welker). The Pats proved in the Texans game last week that they have a potent backup for Welker should he need to sit out on plays. The Ravens offense is no joke either, Ray Rice is going to be all over this field today. I’m going with the Patriots because they are better coached. I think that the Ravens have more fire, but I have to go with the Pats here.

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

This is the only pick that I feel confident about. I think the Packers are going to push around the Cardinals. The Packers are hungry and I feel the Cards are on the decline and a little complacent.

Texans Fans Everywhere Bitter and Heartbroken

Paul Salazar Jr — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:56:25 +0000

Earlier this afternoon some Texans fans were ecstatic with the possibility of a playoff run. However most knew the reality of the situation, the Texans needed two bad teams to win and the Bengals to play well in a meaningless game. After the Kansas City Chiefs won playoffs looked like they could be on the horizon. But as we all know by now the Jets beat the Bengals and got the much coveted second wild card berth. So let the blaming begin! The scapegoat of the bunch is Kris Brown, a veteran kicker who lost his confidence Brad Lidge style. While he didn’t do his job, Kubiak put him on the hot seat by not using his stellar offense to score touchdowns. Coach Kubiak opted to set up for field goals at the end of the game. (Someone should have told him he had a good offense.) Of course Kubiak is on the list as well. And maybe Steve Slaton losing the magic he had in the first season. (Which might be attributed to the loss of our two starting guards but that seems like a free pass.)

While we could sit here and play the blame game, which I’m sure myself and many other fans will do in the off season, I’d like to look at some positive.

First the defense. After last seasons miserable excuse for a defense we made a new hire in DC, Mr. Frank Bush. Frank Bush’s defense had a rocky start, but as it started to gel with the hardcore tendencies of Brian Cushing and the acquisition of Bernard Pollard. The linebacking core was amazing and as the year went on the defense only got better.

Second, Matt Schaub started 16 games and silenced all doubters. With a little more leadership and charisma the guy should be a pro bowler next year.

Third Arian Foster. The main reason we even won the game against the Pats was the rushing effort on the new guy. He might not be the answer but he was a Godsend for the closing of our first winning record.

The season shouldn’t have ended like this yes. (Relying on other teams to win games instead of letting our record speak for itself.) We only have to look at the first game of the season and think that if we would have beat the lowly Jets we would be in the playoffs right now.

NFL Week 17

Paul Salazar Jr — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:22:03 +0000

So week sixteen went well for me, my picks as well as my Texans. I went 12-4, which puts my season total to 151-87 (.634). Who would have thought the Texans would have had a second half breakdown and still manage to win a tough one on the road?

As for playoffs, we in Houston can but dream. But the AFC wildcard chase is more crowded than an elevator holding the Patriots offensive line. This might be the best last week of the season in a while. I can’t wait to watch some hardcore, heartfelt football on Sunday.

For those people hoping Belichick will play a soft game against the Texans on Sunday can keep dreaming. There’s no way Mean Ol’ Belichick is going to let another playoff contender just waltz their way to a win. Maybe he might rest the starters if they’re ahead but probably in the fourth quarter. People claim he did it in Miami a couple years back but Miami wasn’t going to the playoffs and Nick Saban is part of the Belichick mafia. Gary Kubiak won’t be so lucky. Kubiak is going to have to outwit the Pats. He’s going to have to play aggressive. He’s going to have to prove that he’s the coach that can lead this team into the playoffs. This is the defining moment of Kubiak’s coaching career in Houston. Houston fans will remember this game win or lose. If he losses, he might be back next season as head coach but no one will respect him and the whole season would be just waiting for him to mess up to kick him out of town. If he wins, he lives to see another day and he might be a hero if we sneak into that last wildcard spot.

Indy over Buffalo.

New Orleans over Carolina.

Cleveland over Jacksonville.

Houston over New England.

Minnesota over Giants.

San Fran over St. Louis.

Atlanta over Tampa Bay.

Pittsburgh over Miami.

Chicago over Detroit.

Philly over Dallas.

Kansas City over Denver.

Baltimore over Oakland.

Tennessee over Seattle.

San Diego over Washington.

Green Bay over Arizona.

Cincinnati over Jets.

NFL Week Sixteen

Paul Salazar Jr — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:42 +0000

Week fifteen was pretty nice to me. Although the Saints losing to the Cowboys? I guess I brought some of my bad Houston luck to New Orleans. This week I went 11-5. Which brings my season total to 139-83 (.626). Here comes week sixteen.

Chargers over Titans.

Bengals over Chiefs.

Falcons over Bills.

The Pack over Seahawks.

Texans over Dolphins not because we need it, because I believe it.

Steelers over Ravens.

Giants over Panthers.

Pats over Jags.

Browns over Raiders.

Saints take frustration out on Bucs.

Cardinals over Rams.

‘Niners over Lions.

Eagles over Broncos.

Colts over Jets.

Cowboys over Redskins.

Vikings over Bears.

NFL Week Fifteen

Paul Salazar Jr — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:37:37 +0000

For the last two weeks I’m sad to say that I went 16-15, which brings my season total to 128-78 (.621). Football has been dead to me since the Texans have crushed my playoff hopes and my picks haven’t been spot on like they’ve been earlier this season. I haven’t even been able to pick the Thursday night games due to my hectic schedule the last two weeks. So I’m hoping to remedy that and get my picks in on time this week. Here we go.

Indy over Jacksonville

New Orleans over Dallas

Cleveland over KC

Houston over St. Louis

New England over Buffalo

Miami over Tennessee

Philly over San Fran

Arizona over Detroit

Baltimore over Chicago

Atlanta over Jets

Denver over Oakland

San Diego over Cincy

Seattle over Tampa

Pittsburgh over Green Bay

Minnesota over Carolina

Giants over Washington

NFL Week 14

Paul Salazar Jr — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:14:10 +0000

This was sitting in my folder of drafts…I’m still getting used to this new format stuff. This was to be published on the 12th, I didn’t make any changes scouts honor.

New Orleans over ATL

Baltimore over Detroit

Green Bay over Chicago

Houston over Seattle

Indy over Denver

Miami over Jacksonville

KC over Buffalo

Minnesota over Cincy

New England over Carolina

Tampa Bay over the Jets

St. Louis over Tennessee

Oakland over Washington

San Diego over Dallas

Giants over Philly

Arizona over San Francisco