YOUR Weekend Football Preview

It's that time again! Here's LOCKS contributor Andrew Jacobsen with the Weekend Football Preview:


It’s Friday again and that means the weekend is just a few hours away and another Football Weekend Preview. Of course, I promise this one will be shorter then last weeks…yeah I know, I got a little carried away there. Anyways…

Now, I’ve been bashing the NFL schedule a little the last few weeks for some of the crappy matchups we’ve been having to endure. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the NFL a ton…and for the most part, almost every game is close and exciting at the end (the average NFL game is decided by 4 points or less…ok, I’m making that up but it sounds about right). The problem we’ve run into this year is there aren’t any great or must watch teams out there in the NFL right now.

Last year we had the Patriots and Colts start…what?...8-0? By midseason, the Packers and Cowboys had become must watch teams as well. There were 4 teams that you felt you had to watch no matter who they were playing. This year, seemingly nobody fits that bill. Sure, the Cowboys are still interesting…but for some reason I don’t feel the same way I did about them last season…maybe because I know a meltdown is soon coming (probably in the form of another playoff loss).

Meanwhile the Colts, Patriots, Packers and other teams that we thought would do well this year (Chargers and Jags, for example) have been disappointments for one reason or another so far. So what are the great or must watch teams? Giants? Yeah, Super Bowl champions and all, but still I’m not compelled by this team. Titans? Boring. Bills? Who? Answer: There really are none. Why? I don’t know. Injuries have a little to do with it, I guess. Also maybe we are in a transition phase in the NFL right now with so many teams being so young.

Maybe…and hopefully…one or two (or three or four) will emerge as the season goes on. Still, this is shaping up to be as wide open a year in the NFL as we have seen in years…probably since 2002 when we were left with a forgettable Raiders/Bucs Super Bowl matchup. Get ready for a Titans/Redskins Super Bowl everybody!

(luckily for us, the NFC East division is so strong this year. At least we will occasionally get some must watch matchups from there)


College Football

Oh man! HUGE weekend in college football this week. What makes it even better is…MY ROOMMATES ARE OUT OF TOWN! Seriously, any of those of you out there who have ever lived with 2 or more people, you know what I mean. It always seems like someone is home and you virtually never get the place all to yourself. Well, this weekend I hit the jackpot…both roommates gone and the change to sit around and watch college football all day Saturday. I’m going to roll right out of bed on Saturday morning and go straight to the couch. I’m not even going to bother putting clothes on. Its going to be awesome.

Texas/Oklahoma – Gotta roll out of bed early for this one…9am start out here on the West coast. Damn. I will probably remember none of this game since I’ll most likely be recovering from a bad hangover while its going on. Still, even with that, this is much see TV. Two big rivals…both ranked in the top 5…both teams sporting high scoring offenses…should be fun. Who wins? Hell if I know (although, I give the edge to a more well rounded Oklahoma team).

Notre Dame/North Carolina – Wha? Why? Seriously, why am I writing about this game? Well, did you know that both teams are 4-1? Notre Dame? 4-1? Really? YEP! Now, this doesn’t mean either one of these teams are very good…in fact, I don’t think either one is really all that good. Still, I think its funny that Notre Dame is 4-1 and nobody cares. We all know you suck Notre Dame. Once you play a half decent team, you’ll know it too.

LSU/Florida – This one just sounds awesome doesn’t it. Of course it would be even a bigger game had Florida not given a game away to Ole’ Miss a few weeks ago. I am is still not happy about that one. Florida will need a win in this one to keep their hopes alive for a national championship.

Oklahoma St/Missouri – This will likely end up being the most entertaining…and LONGEST…game of the day. Both teams sport high powered offenses and, like me at a bar, scoring will be no problem. First one to 50 wins! Lets go Missouri!!

Penn St./Wisconsin – I still don’t know what to make of Penn St. Are they really this good? Tough to think they would be with a coach that’s so old he can’t even stand on the sidelines and watch the games anymore. Wisconsin meanwhile almost never loses home games but lost last week to Ohio St. Will it happen two weeks in a row?


Pro Football

Ravens/Colts – What the heck is up with Indy? Shouldn’t this team really be 0-4? The Texans just gave the game away to them last week…back to the bench Rosenfels!! The Ravens have been surprisingly decent this year. I’m kind of rooting for the upset here.

Jaguars/Broncos – This is a game I wish was being shown locally in LA (damn you Raiders!!!). I’m still not sold on the Broncos and the Jaguars have been a mess this season (couldn’t even beat a banged up Steelers team at home last week) after being so good at the end of last year. I swear it has to be the “Dave Super Bowl Pick” JINX that has them down.

Cowboys/Cardinals – At first, I thought this would be a Cardinals upset since the Cowboys have struggled a little the past two weeks and the Cards play very well at home. BUT…then everybody and their mother started picking the Cardinals to get the upset win. When that happens, its best to go the opposite way. Still, should be a good one in the dessert.

Patriots/Chargers – Rematch of the AFC championship game from last year, however both teams do not look much like they did in that championship game. Big game for both teams…maybe a little bigger for a Chargers team that has struggled to put it together so far this year. I’ll lean Chargers in this one…but if they lose, don’t be surprised to see LaDainian Tomlinson cry during the post game news conference. I’m just warning you.

There you go people. Enjoy the rest of your Friday and weekend…

Andrew Jacobsen