football

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 9

NFL WEEK NINE Apologies for this column being a day late, but I've been focused on doing my part to crank out the next issue of mental_floss magazine. Week 10 brings Thursday Night Football, so we'll be a day early next week (and for the rest of the season). See? It all works out in the end. Woody chose several upsets last week, and paid for that by posting a pedestrian 5-8 record. Teams I expected to wake up (Dallas, Denver) failed to do so, and those I thought would lie down (Green Bay, San Diego)... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 8

NFL WEEK EIGHT What I've learned through seven weeks of NFL play this season: Buffalo will win a few games before the season's over Oakland will become a contender over the next three years Teams have figured out how to beat New Orleans Dallas has leadership issues and needs veteran help It's no fun for anyone when games are blacked out Tennessee is good enough to reach the Super Bowl Any team can beat any other team on any given week There are no particularly potent slices of brain... READ ON

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Woody's Winners: NFL Week 7

NFL WEEK SEVEN: Week 6 brought a bit of normality back to the NFL, with fewer head-scratchers than in weeks past. I won 9 of 14 picks, and three of my losses were upsets that didn’t quite happen (including 3-point losses for Washington and Dallas). Still, things are weird in the standings: In the NFC, every team has lost at least twice, meaning a win could propel a team from third to first in their division in an instant. In the NFC West, all four teams lost in Week 5, but won in Week 6. Over in... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 6

NFL WEEK SIX: Week 6 was an absolute mess, leaving prognosticators nationwide scratching their heads. My 6-8 record last week included the Giants’ upset win at Houston, but who’d have predicted Oakland over San Diego or Arizona over New Orleans? Heck, some teams – Minnesota, for instance – can do the Jekyll & Hyde thing in a single game, looking awful in the first half and awesome in the second. Still, Woody promises to do better in Week 6. Here are my picks: +++ Cleveland (1-4) @... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 5

NFL WEEK FIVE: Woody ended last week with an even 7-7 record, correctly choosing the Rams in an upset, but blanking by choosing the Dolphins on MNF. That puts me at 34-28 for the year, not bad for a season that’s been wild and wacky one-quarter of the way through. How wacky? Indianapolis has lost two of their first four games, Dallas is in last place in the NFC East, and Kansas City is the league’s only undefeated team. We’ve had TD catches that weren’t, umpires in different spots, several QB... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 4

NFL WEEK FOUR: A 9-7 record in Week 3 is good but not great, but I'm tickled that two of my three upset picks (Seattle and Chicago) came through. A third in Oakland ended up sailing wide left. Also, being a Georgia boy, I don't mind that I muffed my Saints-Falcons prediction. I did say it would be "a close one," but forgot to specify "as close as kissin' cousins behind the barn door at a Labor Day barbecue." And that's close. Woody has compiled a 27-21 overall record this season. Here we go for Week 4!... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 3

NFL WEEK THREE: By my count, seven teams are expected to start a different QB this week than they did just half a month ago on Kickoff Weekend. Some replacements are due to injury, but others are due to poor performance, and Woody thinks it’s a bit early in the season for any NFL team to pull that kind of trigger. As a result, I’ve chosen more upsets than usual this week. Just call me “Wild Woody.” Woody went 10-6 last week, bringing my season total to 18-14. Here are my predictions for Week 3.... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 2

NFL WEEK TWO: For those who missed last week's column, Woody's Winners is written with highest respect in a similar style to that of the most entertaining football prognosticator of my youth, Leonard Postero, host of Leonard’s Losers. I went a respectable 8-5 through last Sunday afternoon’s games, but then fell apart to lose all three night games on Sunday and Monday to end Week 1 with an even 8-8 record. More day games! Do ya hear me, NFL? Oh, you’ve got your hands full with referee positions and... READ ON

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Brain Game: Players in the House

NOTE: Okay, I wrote a clunker. My apologies. This Brain Game was altered from its original text after readers discovered some exceptions to the NFL's rules, particularly amongst linebackers and linemen. (I knew there were a few, but also assumed that most fans would know that they were atypical.) My bad. We've cleaned up those comments to avoid confusion. Here's the corrected version: Four NFL players from the same team are the first ones in the locker room before a big game. They wear jerseys #15, #35,... READ ON

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Woody's Winners, NFL Week 1

NFL WEEK ONE: The fact that my first pick is the Rams should make it clear that this isn’t your typical stack of NFL predictions. In honor of the most entertaining football prognosticator of my youth, Leonard Postero, I employ some of the good-old-boy themes from his classic Leonard’s Losers radio show as a springboard for my own column in what we’ll call Woody’s Winners. Enjoy! +++ Arizona @ St. Louis It’s always fun when team-stealers (Arizona, which lured the Cardinals from St. Louis)... READ ON