Quick Wednesday

For the first time in my graduate career, the end of the semester has swamped me with papers to grade, papers to write, and other various research-related tasks that have completely zapped away my time to blog.

No big loss, I know.

I do want to echo the rest of the editorial board in the proclamation that the Hawks, on Monday Night, showed signs of coming back. I made a point to have ESPN turned on yesterday while I was grading papers, so that I could look up whenever someone talked about the Hawks, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard, because it's exactly what I believe.

Are we a contender? Yes.

Are we the favorite? Absolutely not. I rank the Bears and Cowboys as 1 and 1A right now, with the Hawks at about 2c, until we see more consistency from our stars through the next couple of weeks, including a tough, tough game against the Broncos Sunday night. This is a game that I pegged as an automatic loss going into the season, but now.....? Jay Cutler starting his first game? That's a game you have to win, don't you?

I will give the rest of my picks on Friday, but here is my prediction for the Bengals/Ravens get-together on Thursday night. Both teams seem to be playing up to their potential, which should bring a sigh of relief to Bengals fans, who were forced to watch their offense suck for the majority of this season. When that offense is playing well, and it currently is, I don't believe that any defense can truly stop it. Contain it, sure. Stop it? Absolutely not.
Scientific Pick: Cincinnati