With the 49ers getting the weekend off, many of us get a chance to enjoy some non-49ers football and see what the rest of the league has to offer. I will not be one of those people as I will be buried in the USF library for most of the day trying to hammer out this paper due Monday morning. Writer's block is a bitch.
I think we've got some great matchups that should make for a fun Sunday. The game of the day has to be New England at Dallas, in an early matchup of unbeaten squads and a possible Super Bowl preview. I can't see how anybody can pick against New England right now, especially since they look to be getting Laurence Maroney back in the lineup. Sammy Morris has been solid, but Maroney gives them yet another weapon.
The NFC has an early potential playoff preview with the Redskins heading into Green Bay. I think Green Bay wins, but it could be pretty close as I think Washington is bit underrated.
The Raiders take on San Diego down south, and while I think San Diego is not as bad as they've been much of this year, I also don't think they're as good as they were last week as long as Norv Turner is in charge. I'm going with the Raiders upset.
I'm certainly disappointed in the Cal loss, but considering the number of upsets so far this season, Cal is not entirely out of the national title picture. I'm not holding my breath, but assuming they don't drop out of the Top 10 (who knows how that will play out), they're not totally screwed. Hell, thanks to their win today, a team like Kentucky even has a shot at getting into the argument. I hate the BCS, but there will certainly be plenty of discussion the rest of the way.
One last NFL note: In the SB Nation Fantasy Football League, the Niners Nation fantasy squad is 3-2 and tied for second, a game out of first in the "Makin It Rain" division. We face Windy City Gridiron, the Bears blog and we're currently a 17-point favorite, as he's playing without Willie Parker or Reggie Wayne. We'll do whatever we need for a win.
Rosters
Niners Nation
QB: Daunte Culpepper
RB: Ronnie Brown
RB: Rudi Johnson
RB/WR: DeShawn Wynn
WR: Laveraneous Coles
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
WR: Steve Smith
TE: Kellen Winslow
K: Shayne Graham
DST: Redskins
Windy City Gridiron
QB: Matt Hasselbeck
RB: Earnest Graham
RB: Maurice Jones-Drew
RB/WR: Michael Turner
WR: Bernard Berrian
WR: TJ Houshmanzadeh
WR: Matt Jones
TE: Greg Olsen
K: Stephen Gostkowski
DST: Eagles
Rudi is coming back from injury and expected to lose some carries to Kenny Watson, but I figure he's a better start than Dominic Rhodes or Fred Taylor, which is all we've got in terms of RB depth for now. Lamont Jordan and Michael Pittman are both hurt, but once they get healthy we'll be in better shape. Only 4 teams make the playoffs and with 3 divisions, that means 1 wildcard spot. After a 2-week playoff, the winner from the NFC blogs will face the winner from the AFC blogs in a Super Bowl matchup Week 16. Windy City Gridiron is also 3-2 so this is a big game for us.
Anyways, I'm getting this up Saturday night because I'm planning on getting to the library relatively early Sunday. Enjoy the football and hopefully I don't go crazy writing this paper.