Friday, August 16th 2002

Potential Sandwich Games Nothing is so satisfying when 'capping an NFL contest as to correctly predict the old ba-da bing, ba-da boom sandwich game for a team. Usually you end up backing some low-life marginal NFL squad in the clutches of some whoop-ass powerhouse team. On the surface it's one of those plays when you grimace as you make it and think "this could get ugly." Of course if assessed correctly as a letdown spot for the big 'un though, then they don't show up and your ragtag band of NFL imposters gets to be king for a day, frequently upending the favorite with an outright upset. The TwoMinuteWarning moles are I know working on some of the usual hardcore, stat-filled, number crunching research to "quantify motivation" as they say, but until that's released we'll have to make do with a couple of previous attempts at the theory: Look Ahead Teams Punishing Teams and the old SportsMaster Stan classic Schedule Letdowns Enough blathering! Time for the main dish.... TIM's OFFICIAL NFL 2002 'POTENTIAL SANDWICH GAMES' as confirmed by the NFL Sandwich Hedge Fund All of these are kind of loosey-goosey at this point, hence the 'potential' tag as it will undoubtedly turn out some teams are lousier than expected and others are much better Dallas: vulnerable week 12 against Jacksonville, with the Redskins coming into town just four days later for a thanksgiving bash, post game in Indy first off a bye. NY Giants vulnerable week 6 against Atlanta. Following away game against Dallas, they host the Falcons before a bye and then return for monday night special in Philly. Philadelphia: extremely vulnerable week 14 against Seattle. Following horrible defeat matchup with Arizona, they take on San Francisco in SF on monday night, followed by St. Louis, with Washington post...big time trouble spot! Washington: slightly vulnerable week 10 at Jacksonville, with Giants, Rams, Cowboys (Thanksgiving), Giants and Philly string to follow. Chicago: very vulnerable week 12 at home against Detroit. Post St. Louis Monday night bash, pre Green Bay, pre Miami Monday night...if Lions are lowly, watch out! Detroit: really depends how the season plays out. If they're as bad as last year then a letdown would be hard to tell apart from a regular game... Green Bay: danger in week 10 at home against Detroit. Post monday night matchup with Miami, pre at Minnesota, at Tampa, Chicago, Minnesota string. Minnesota: couple of tricky spots for Tice to get the team up: week 10 at home against the Giants (post Chicago, Tampa, pre Green Bay) and week 13 home against Atlanta (post New England, pre Green Bay II)...drag out those bad playoff memories maybe Mike? Atlanta: another team that's hard to read at this stage. Carolina: could have some difficulty week 11 at Tampa following the horrible defeat replay with New Orleans, and pre home game with Atlanta. Chances are Bucs will seem out of their league and if they win against the Saints... New Orleans: watch for week 12 against Cleveland. Post two straight divisional away games and pre home match with Tampa Bay, Browns may be much hungrier than the Saints. Tampa Bay: lots of trouble in the schedule for the Bucs, who will likely be on the minds of many teams this season with Gruden presenting such a high profile, under the microscope situation. Week 4 early danger at Cincinnati following a Monday night event with the Rams, and week 8 at Carolina post Philly, pre Minnesota are the two most likely letdowns. Note: despite Gruden's excellent coaching overall and fiercely competitive nature, his Raider teams threw in clunkers quite often in "not so crucial" games. Arizona: poor Cardinals likely have a rough road ahead with such a tough division. Weeks 12 and 13 could both be bad efforts, following at 'Frisco, St. Louis, Seattle, at Philly streak. St. Louis: super-talented teams are always the most likely candidates for a half-hearted try, as they are often over-confident and frequently do win when playing at less than 100% energy. Still, Rams were solid last season so may be an exception to the trend. Danger spots include week 4 at home against meek Dallas following Tampa Bay monday night rematch and pre San Francisco. Week 10 against San Diego may be overlooked since they crushed the Chargers last time they met and it's pre Chicago Monday night, pre at Washington, at Philly series. San Francisco: watch out in week 8 at home against Cardinals. Division game sure, but Cards may seem like cannon fodder to 49ers. Post St. Louis, Seattle (Monday), New Orleans emotional string and pre Oakland (ultimate rivalry) game. Seattle: could be letdown game for them in week 8 against Dallas post San Francisco (Monday) and St. Louis and pre Washington. Redskins may not seem like big rivals but have a hunch that Spurrier matchups will be circled on most coaches schedules, and particularly for Holmgren who has seen his "coaching genius" stock drop lately and would like to put the uppity college guy in his place... That's the NFC, I'll do the AFC next week. tim@twominutewarning.com Return to TwoMinuteWarning.com Copyright © 2002 by TwoMinuteWarning.com, All Right Reserved