Friday, September 19, 2003
Thursday, September 18, 2003
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Third Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | High |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | Moderate |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | High |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Very Low |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | High |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | High |
| Level 7 (Violent) | High |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | High |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Low |
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Friday, September 12, 2003
I didn't get a chance to do my usual pre-season predictions this year, but I'm not sure how much help the week 1 results are anyway. :-) Here's my take on how things will shake out:
AFC East
Buffalo 10-6
New England 9-7
Miami 8-8
New York 6-10
Miami and New England have very unfavorable schedules, not to mention their week 1 hangovers to overcome. The Jets lost too much talent to injury and free agency. Buffalo has a favorable schedule and a much improved defense -- both their rush defense and pass defense is much better. If they don't make 10-6 it'll probably be because of Gregg Williams' failings as a coach -- if they don't win the division this year, he should get canned.
AFC North
Pittsburgh 13-3
Cleveland 6-10
Baltimore 4-12
Cincinnati 2-14
This division doesn't get any favors this season drawing the AFC West and NFC South, IMO the two toughest divisions in football. Pittsburgh is head and shoulders above all 3 other teams and anything less than a 6-0 divisional record will be highly disappointing. I'm not convinced of the supposed resurgence of Baltimore's defense, and their questions at QB leave them a notch below Cleveland. And Cincy should do better this year, but as I said, their schedule is hellish, and I just can't see them making much headway.
AFC South
Tennessee 12-4
Indy 8-8
Houston 7-9
Jacksonville 3-13
Tennessee is hands down one of the best teams in the league -- and if they put a blocking back in front of Eddie George they might be the best. But no fullback means another average year on the ground, and McNair can only do so much. Indy just doesn't give me a good feeling this year. I expect them to beat the teams they should beat, but have trouble with the elite teams, hence the .500 record. I think Houston was a much better team than they got credit for last year, and they showed me a lot on the OL against Miami. Carr has some solid receiving threats now and a chance to get balls to them, but it won't be enough to get over the hump. Still they should be better than Jacksonville, who will lose either Brunell or Taylor to injury within a couple of games and fall into full-fledged rebuilding mode.
AFC West
Kansas City 11-5
San Diego 11-5
Oakland 10-6
Denver 7-9
OK, so maybe I'm letting week one affect me a bit too much here, but KC looked absolutely dominating. I think the league has caught up to the Raiders and they will have more trouble winning games this year -- they have that first-place schedule to contend with. 11-5 might be a little high for San Diego, but they have a pretty favorable schedule with both the AFC North and NFC North, the two worst divisions in the league. Both KC and San Diego will stumble mostly within the division. I am decidedly unconvinved at this point that Jake Plummer will be able to steer the Broncos to anything, but if he keeps playing like he did this week, Portis should get tons of carries -- unfortunately, it will always be against a stacked D.
NFC East
Philadelphia 12-4
New York 9-7
Washington 7-9
Dallas 5-11
Initially I thought the Giants might take the division this year, but after a look at the schedules, I have to go with Philly. I think they match up better with the AFC East and NFC South. Washington and Dallas won't make much headway this year with inexperienced QB's going against the NFC South. The only reason Dallas will manage 5 wins is because many of the cellar-dwellers they play have porous secondaries, and Big D has some game-breakers at wideout -- if they can just get them the ball.
NFC North
Minnesota 11-5
Detroit 6-10
Green Bay 6-10
Chicago 1-15
With a year under his belt, lots of experience in the division, and plenty of talent on the roster, Tice should be able to guide the Vikes to the division crown quite easily. Detroit should make big strides, but not enough to pull up within whiffing distance of the playoffs. Green Bay is suffering from the the same thing as the Jets -- too much loss of talent from injury and free agency. I just don't think they're a terribly good team right now. But they're nowhere near as bad as the Bears, my pick for Worst Team in the League this season. They are completely rudderless, lost some of their best defensive talent -- the only thing that gave them a chance to win -- and have to play the AFC West. Dick Jauron will be out of a job by the end of the season, if not sooner.
NFC South
Tampa Bay 14-2
Atlanta 10-6
Carolina 9-7
New Orleans 5-11
Tampa still looks to be the class of the league. They'll stumble once or twice, but man they will be tough. The offense will continue to improve as it did last year, but this year Brad Johnson is already in synch. If they lose Johnson, though, look out. I'm not convinced Mike Vick is the savior everyone in the media claims he is. He'll steer the Falcons to the playoffs this year, but teams will be better prepared for him this year. Carolina just doesn't have enough talent to get over the hump, but they should be strong this year. They're a good QB and a solid #1 receiver away from the playoffs at this point. I have never been convinced that Jim Haslett is a good head coach, and I think this is the year the spit and bailing wire finally fail for him. They had way too much talent to underachieve the way they have the past few years, and I think the talent on the defensive side has slipped this year.
NFC West
Seattle 12-4
St. Louis 9-7
San Francisco 8-8
Arizona 3-13
Every year I pick Seattle to live up to their potential, and every year they fail. But this year they have a much better shot -- the rest of the division has slipped while they took a step forward. Holmgren is once again coach-only. Rhodes knows how to work with Holmgren to get the most out of his defense -- and he has more talent in Seattle than he had in Denver -- and the offense is finally clicking right out of the gates. I don't expect them to make much noise in the post-season, but they should finally get there. The Rams' talent has started to erode, and there are too many question marks on their defense for them to return to their elite status -- they couldn't stop Tiki Barber, what do you think Shaun Alexander will do to them? I think Erickson is a bad coach, but the Niners have too much offensive talent for them to fall too far. My bold predicition of the year, though: Arizona will beat the Niners at least once.
So my playoff teams are:
1 Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay
2 Tennessee, Seattle
3 Kansas City, Philadelphia
4 Buffalo, Minnesota
5 San Diego, Atlanta
6 Oakland, New York
I see everybody holding serve in the wildcard rounds (KC, Buffalo, Philly, and Minnesota).
In the second round, Pitt will handle Buffalo, Tennessee will edge out KC, Tampa will manhandle Minnesota, and Philly will knock off Seattle.
Tampa will once again beat Philly, this time in Tampa, and Tennessee will once again show Pittsburgh the door.
In the Big Dance, Tampa will beat Tennessee and repeat as champs.
Of course somebody will have injury problems and throw all this out of whack, but that's the way I see it.
Got comments? Email me.
AFC East
Buffalo 10-6
New England 9-7
Miami 8-8
New York 6-10
Miami and New England have very unfavorable schedules, not to mention their week 1 hangovers to overcome. The Jets lost too much talent to injury and free agency. Buffalo has a favorable schedule and a much improved defense -- both their rush defense and pass defense is much better. If they don't make 10-6 it'll probably be because of Gregg Williams' failings as a coach -- if they don't win the division this year, he should get canned.
AFC North
Pittsburgh 13-3
Cleveland 6-10
Baltimore 4-12
Cincinnati 2-14
This division doesn't get any favors this season drawing the AFC West and NFC South, IMO the two toughest divisions in football. Pittsburgh is head and shoulders above all 3 other teams and anything less than a 6-0 divisional record will be highly disappointing. I'm not convinced of the supposed resurgence of Baltimore's defense, and their questions at QB leave them a notch below Cleveland. And Cincy should do better this year, but as I said, their schedule is hellish, and I just can't see them making much headway.
AFC South
Tennessee 12-4
Indy 8-8
Houston 7-9
Jacksonville 3-13
Tennessee is hands down one of the best teams in the league -- and if they put a blocking back in front of Eddie George they might be the best. But no fullback means another average year on the ground, and McNair can only do so much. Indy just doesn't give me a good feeling this year. I expect them to beat the teams they should beat, but have trouble with the elite teams, hence the .500 record. I think Houston was a much better team than they got credit for last year, and they showed me a lot on the OL against Miami. Carr has some solid receiving threats now and a chance to get balls to them, but it won't be enough to get over the hump. Still they should be better than Jacksonville, who will lose either Brunell or Taylor to injury within a couple of games and fall into full-fledged rebuilding mode.
AFC West
Kansas City 11-5
San Diego 11-5
Oakland 10-6
Denver 7-9
OK, so maybe I'm letting week one affect me a bit too much here, but KC looked absolutely dominating. I think the league has caught up to the Raiders and they will have more trouble winning games this year -- they have that first-place schedule to contend with. 11-5 might be a little high for San Diego, but they have a pretty favorable schedule with both the AFC North and NFC North, the two worst divisions in the league. Both KC and San Diego will stumble mostly within the division. I am decidedly unconvinved at this point that Jake Plummer will be able to steer the Broncos to anything, but if he keeps playing like he did this week, Portis should get tons of carries -- unfortunately, it will always be against a stacked D.
NFC East
Philadelphia 12-4
New York 9-7
Washington 7-9
Dallas 5-11
Initially I thought the Giants might take the division this year, but after a look at the schedules, I have to go with Philly. I think they match up better with the AFC East and NFC South. Washington and Dallas won't make much headway this year with inexperienced QB's going against the NFC South. The only reason Dallas will manage 5 wins is because many of the cellar-dwellers they play have porous secondaries, and Big D has some game-breakers at wideout -- if they can just get them the ball.
NFC North
Minnesota 11-5
Detroit 6-10
Green Bay 6-10
Chicago 1-15
With a year under his belt, lots of experience in the division, and plenty of talent on the roster, Tice should be able to guide the Vikes to the division crown quite easily. Detroit should make big strides, but not enough to pull up within whiffing distance of the playoffs. Green Bay is suffering from the the same thing as the Jets -- too much loss of talent from injury and free agency. I just don't think they're a terribly good team right now. But they're nowhere near as bad as the Bears, my pick for Worst Team in the League this season. They are completely rudderless, lost some of their best defensive talent -- the only thing that gave them a chance to win -- and have to play the AFC West. Dick Jauron will be out of a job by the end of the season, if not sooner.
NFC South
Tampa Bay 14-2
Atlanta 10-6
Carolina 9-7
New Orleans 5-11
Tampa still looks to be the class of the league. They'll stumble once or twice, but man they will be tough. The offense will continue to improve as it did last year, but this year Brad Johnson is already in synch. If they lose Johnson, though, look out. I'm not convinced Mike Vick is the savior everyone in the media claims he is. He'll steer the Falcons to the playoffs this year, but teams will be better prepared for him this year. Carolina just doesn't have enough talent to get over the hump, but they should be strong this year. They're a good QB and a solid #1 receiver away from the playoffs at this point. I have never been convinced that Jim Haslett is a good head coach, and I think this is the year the spit and bailing wire finally fail for him. They had way too much talent to underachieve the way they have the past few years, and I think the talent on the defensive side has slipped this year.
NFC West
Seattle 12-4
St. Louis 9-7
San Francisco 8-8
Arizona 3-13
Every year I pick Seattle to live up to their potential, and every year they fail. But this year they have a much better shot -- the rest of the division has slipped while they took a step forward. Holmgren is once again coach-only. Rhodes knows how to work with Holmgren to get the most out of his defense -- and he has more talent in Seattle than he had in Denver -- and the offense is finally clicking right out of the gates. I don't expect them to make much noise in the post-season, but they should finally get there. The Rams' talent has started to erode, and there are too many question marks on their defense for them to return to their elite status -- they couldn't stop Tiki Barber, what do you think Shaun Alexander will do to them? I think Erickson is a bad coach, but the Niners have too much offensive talent for them to fall too far. My bold predicition of the year, though: Arizona will beat the Niners at least once.
So my playoff teams are:
1 Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay
2 Tennessee, Seattle
3 Kansas City, Philadelphia
4 Buffalo, Minnesota
5 San Diego, Atlanta
6 Oakland, New York
I see everybody holding serve in the wildcard rounds (KC, Buffalo, Philly, and Minnesota).
In the second round, Pitt will handle Buffalo, Tennessee will edge out KC, Tampa will manhandle Minnesota, and Philly will knock off Seattle.
Tampa will once again beat Philly, this time in Tampa, and Tennessee will once again show Pittsburgh the door.
In the Big Dance, Tampa will beat Tennessee and repeat as champs.
Of course somebody will have injury problems and throw all this out of whack, but that's the way I see it.
Got comments? Email me.
