(photo credit: Matt Cashore / US Presswire)

Remember those tests in college where they give you a bunch of questions and you pick the ones you want to answer? Me neither. But that’s how this recap is going to go. Here’s 7 things I thought were worth mentioning. You can comment on any and all points you like.

1. The First TD, err, FG – Did you think R-Burger got in? Honestly, I wasn’t watching close enough at this point as people were still showing up at the house. Seemed like they made the right call, though…right?

2. The Harrison INT – wow. This will probably get slightly overshadowed by the amazing finish, but what a play. A 10 or 14 point swing right there that many of us thought would seal the fate of the Cards. Ridiculous that no one on the Cardinals could get the guy out of bounds.

3. The Penalties – The refs played a huge role in this game, didn’t they? Seemed like every call was against Arizona, especially the sketchy personal foul calls on the drive that resulted in Pittsburgh kicking a field goal. But then,  with one holding call in the end zone, it was all even. (The penalty turned that play into a safety, but Holmes made a remarkable catch on that play considering he turned his head to look for the ball and it was right on him – behind him actually.) What did you think of the officiating?

4. The Boss – I’m not a Bruce fan myself, but I know some of you are. So what did you think, Springsteen fans? Oh and for the record, having the ref come out and throw the flag on Bruce for whatever the heck he threw the flag for…that was more offensive to me than Timberlake exposing Janet…call it a “cheesy embarrassing gimmick malfunction”.

5. Fitzgerald! – Why weren’t they throwing to him in the first 3 quarters? We may never know. Maybe they were saving him for the 4th quarter, where he did the things that make us say “Holy Pooplogs.” What a catch on the first TD and what a great play on the second.

6. The Tiptoe Catch – Holmes gets both feet in and secures control of the ball to win the game for the Steelers. That’s a catch that every WR has dreamed of making to win the big game, and R-Burger put it right where he needed to. Fantastic finish!

7. Everything Else – any other storylines I missed? Big Ben’s ability to keep a play going and somehow avoid would-be tacklers to find an open guy downfield? . . . The last play of the game where it clearly looked like Warner’s arm was going forward, but they never reviewed it? . . . Madden saying Harrison should have been ejected for his unsportsman like conduct call? . . .  Did anyone catch Warner after the game? . . . Oh and did anyone see the prayer huddle the Steelers were in on the sidelines on the first half? what was that about?

My guess? They were offering up Prayers For Blowouts.

Okay, your turn.

Now that the Super Bowl is set and the Eagles are playing golf, it’s become clear who came through with the best preseason predictions of 2008. He’s the only guy with 3 check marks in his row of prognostication.

Let’s look at this busy graphic one last time…

By my calculations, our NFL King for 2008 is none other than singer/songwriter Andrew Osenga, who described football to us last week as “millionaires in tights playing games“.

I will now tie anchors to my legs and drown myself in the Kankakee River. (and if you don’t get that joke, go get yourself some free Andy Osenga music right now.)

Here he is ladies and gentlemen: praise him, congratulate him, or mock him. Your NFL King for 2008:

Oh wait,one last thought. I was walking out of the grocery store last weekend and I saw this display. Take a close look at which 2 teams they have playing in their Super Bowl advertisement:

Hmmm, could it be the Jaguars and Cowboys! The 2 teams that I predicted would be in the big game! You know what, maybe I need to take that crown off Andy’s head and stick it on The Schnoz. He might have bested me in the prediction game, but I had Frito-Lay and Pepsi craft a multi-million dollar advertising campaign around my picks!

Take that toothbrush boy!

Well, well, well. Who would have seen that coming? Both #1 seeds – gone. 3 of the 4 home teams – see ya. The answer, of course is Matt Ralph, the lone PFB Member who correctly picked all 4 winners this weekend.

Good job, Matt!

In Baltimore it was tough to tell who was responsible for the outcome. Was it the Ravens D that won it or was it the Titans Offense that fumbled it away? One thing is clear: Jeff Fisher needs to ditch the goatee and go back to the ’stache.

Later that night the Cardinals rolled over the Panthers in a game that I’m still scratching my head about. NFC Divisional playoff wins should never be that easy. John Fox, I’m looking at you.

On Sunday, the Eagles broke the will of the Giants, one defensive stop after another. You can blame Plaxico, you can blame the wind, or you can blame Rod Blagojevich, but in the end, the Eagles have the look of a united team playing with purpose right now.

Finally in Pittsburgh, the Steelers Offense controlled the clock while their defense kept the Mighty Sproles to only 15 yards of rushing. I’d say more about this game, but I was stuck at a neighbors house for a “we’re moving out of the neighborhood and we’ve never had you over, so why not now?” party. Good times.

Before we get to your thoughts on the weekend, let’s take an updated look at our pre-season predictions:

In the end, Chadd Gibbs, Mark Batterson, and I predicted nothing correctly. Not sure what this means. If you have any ideas for the penance we should pay for our ineptitude, let us know in the comments.

On the flip side, Larry has a great shot of finishing with the best predictions, all he needs is two more wins from the Eagles and he will stand alone as the wisest of all the PFB Predictors.

But if the Eagles lose? Well, if the Eagles lose then Andy Osenga probably has the best case for supremacy. And honestly folks, if that happens I might have to shut the site down. Andy’s a good friend of mine, and I love him to death…but I’m not sure I want to run a website where Andrew Osenga reigns as the king of NFL predictions.

So yeah, it’s your turn. Thoughts on the games this weekend? What surprised you, disappointed you, and made you pump your fist in jubiliation?

So, what did you think of the game last night?

I didn’t catch any of the first half, but I turned it on in the 3rd quarter to see Florida take the lead, lose the lead, retake it, and then ice it with a patented Tebow jump pass.

Looking back at the predictions all of our members made, looks like I ended up being the closest with my “Florida 28, OU 17″ guess. It’s not that I thought it would be a low-scoring game…I only picked a low score because everyone else and their mom predicted a shootout.

A few more  notes about the game…

+ Tim Tebow had “John 3:16″ written on his eye black. It’s a great verse for sure, but couldn’t he have mixed it up a bit and gone with something less traditional. Even a “1 John 3:16″ would have worked.

+ Apparently Obama predicted the Gators would win earlier in the day. And yeah, he’s still calling for a playoff system.

+ I missed Tebow’s post-game speech – bed was calling – but Sports Blogger Dan Shanoff (who I believe is Jewish, and I know is a huge Florida fan) had this to say about it:

I loved the very first reaction from Tebow when he was interviewed on the podium by Fox:

“I just want to thank the fans. They are so unbelievable… I just love being a Gator and I thank all of you!”

(Yes, he eventually got to thanking Jesus, but (a) there’s nothing wrong with that — I give him so much credit for, as usual, not shoving it in our faces, and (b) that he prioritized his thankfulness for the fans and for being a Gator is at the core of his appeal.)

+ Did you catch the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Tebow was whistled for as the game was ending? The replays showed he was taunting a Sooner player by doing the Gator chomp in his face (replay also seemed to show the Sooner player was doing some talking of his own). I thought it was funny because for the past 5 minutes the announcers were going way overboard with the Tebow lovefest. Their response to the flag: something to the effect of “that might be the first thing he’s ever done wrong.” Gak. If I was Tebow, this would annoy me to no end.

Alright, your turn…what did you think of the last 60 minutes of the college football season? And now that it’s over, are you okay with Florida as National Champions?

UPDATE: Shanoff has a few additional thoughts on the John 3:16 Eye Black.

So, after a weekend full of college football, pro football, a stiff-arming trophy, free agent signings, annoying sub-plots in Dallas, Auburn’s search for a coach with a losing record, and much more, which of these 3 statements do you hate the most?

1. Sam Bradford was the right choice for the Heisman Trophy.

2. With the addition of Sabathia and Burnett, the Yankees will make the playoffs in 2009.

3. We’ve got a better shot at seeing a Steelers-Panthers Super Bowl than a Titans-Giants Super Bowl.

Let us know which of these statements you have the biggest problem with, and why.

I watched a lot of football yesterday. Not a record-breaking amount, or anything like that. Just a nice heaping, healthy dose of it. But around 7:30pm last night I was done, so we DVRed the AMAs and watched them instead of the Colts-Chargers game.

Despite going only 7-7 in my picks yesterday, my predictions from Friday’s Schnoz Report weren’t too bad. In some cases, they were actually pretty good. Between the football games and the AMAs, I had enough thoughts going through my noggin that I figured we needed a recap of what went down yesterday.

So here’s a combination NFL Week 12 / AMAs Wrap-Up…

Bonus Prediction: Buckeyes 42, Wolverines 17. Actual: Buckeyes 42, Mich. 7. – Right around the time this game was ending I was waiting in line at Steve and Barry’s to buy Starbury warm-up pants for $8.98. Happy to report they are comfortable. In other words, I didn’t watch a single snap of this game. I’m sorry. But hey, I nailed the Buckeyes score and missed Michigan by 10 points.

Bonus Prediction: Sooners 37, Red Raiders 27. Actual: Sooners 65, T Tech 21. – Not really close on this one, though I did have the right side winning. Speaking of confident teams winning, that Kanye West has enough confidence for all of us. He was presented with 2 awards last night and performed near the end of the show. I think his new CD comes out tomorrow too. Be prepared for an onslaught of people telling you they love his new CD, when in fact they bought it and only listened to it twice.

Prediction: Browns 24, Texans 13 Actual: Browns 6, Texans 16 – Not a good prediction. I didn’t see the Texans scoring a lot of points…and they didn’t. But what I failed to see was Romeo Crennel benching a struggling Brady Quinn for Derek Anderson. That didn’t turn out so well. Speaking of failing to see things. I fail to see what’s going on with Pink. Her duet with Sarah McLachlan showed that she has some singing talent…but, I don’t know, who’s buying her records? Do teenage boys want her? Do teenage girls want to be like her? I mean, her new song on the radio is about how she is going to go have more fun now that she’s divorced because she’s a rock star and has the right moves. I guess there’s just some things I’ll never figure out the allure of, like binge drinking and Color Me Badd.

Prediction: Chiefs 27, Bills 20. Actual: Chiefs 31, Bills 54 – Another not so good pick. Did anyone see the Bills breaking out like that? Speaking of did anyone see…did anyone see Beyoncee perform that “Single Ladies” song? There was so much jiggling going on during that song that lawyers for Jell-O filed 7 different lawsuits for copyright infringement before she was finished. Not to mention the fact she was basically dancing in her underwear, or a bathing suit, or whatever that was she was dancing in. I’m no prude, but geesh. After 10 seconds I had seen enough. Seemed like a good time for a drink refill anyway.

Prediction: Ravens 38, Eagles 9. Actual: Ravens 36, Eagles 7. – I basically nailed this one, right down to my call that Andy Reid would “eat Donovan McNabb”. He actually did something worse. He benched him at halftime, but he didn’t even do it himself. He sent his assistant coach over to tell him. Shame on you Andy! Not that he didn’t deserve it, but Donovan would probably have preferred to spend the second half traveling through Andy Reid’s duodenum than on the sideline in a parka.

Prediction: Dolphins 31, Patriots 27. Actual: Dolphins 28, Patriots 48. – It was a shootout like I thought it might be, but it was Matt Cassell, and not Chad Pennington, who proved to be the difference. What’s Bill Belicheck doing up there in Foxboro? He works Cassell into the offense slowly for the first 8 weeks and doesn’t allow him to throw deep…now he’s had back to back 400 yard passing games? I really hope these Patriots get another shot at the Jets in the playoffs…that would be a phenomenal game.

Prediction: Bucs 40, Lions 24. Actual: Bucs 38, Lions 20. – I have to admit, when the Lions went up 17-0 I thought I was going to look like a fool for picking TB as my Super Bowl sleeper pick on Friday. Then I remembered that the Lions are starting Daunte Culpepper as their QB, and next thing I know the Bucs were on top. The only thing more predictable than that Buccaneer comeback was the inevitable Jonas Brothers-virginity joke from AMA host Jimmy Kimmel last night. Is that going to be a running joke at every music awards show until one of them gets married or has a child? Yawn.

Prediction: Bears 16, Rams 3. Actual: Prediction: Bears 27, Rams 3 – I nailed the ineptitude of the Rams offense…the only problem was I underestimated the ineptitude of their defense.

Prediction: Cowboys 35, 49ers 11. Actual: Cowboys 35, 49ers 22 – Another nice guess. Random thought on the Cowboys: last year the Cowboys peaked too early, but this year they are set up to peak when it matters most. I’m not saying they will, only that they’re set up to do so. Speaking of peaking too early, Miley Cyrus turned sweet 16 yesterday. Not a bad way to spend your 16th birthday, performing at the AMAs. She’s really good at what she does, I only hope we’ve learned from the countless other young stars who’ve gone before that it’s hard to stay on top of this industry while keeping your sanity. I hope she pulls it off.

Prediction: Vikings 30, Jags 17. Actual: Vikings 30, Jags 12 – Again I picked the winning team’s score on the dot. I’m beginning to feel a little bit like Kanye West. Maybe I should wear some ridiculous sunglasses as I walk around work today. (I won’t even get into the bedazzled eye patch Rihanna was wearing)

Prediction: Jets 20, Titans 14. Actual: Jets 34, Titans 13 – This just felt like the right time for the Titans to lose. I bet deep down, Jeff Fisher’s not even mad about it. Too difficult to carry the “undefeated baggage” all season long. Now they can worry about winning just 1 game at a time. And I’ll tell you one thing: despite how dominant the Jets were in this one, if these teams meet again in January, I like the Titans’ chances.

Prediction: Broncos 31, Raiders 13 Actual: Broncos 10, Raiders 31 – Here’s the first of the two backwards games that I almost predicted perfectly, only I had the teams flipped. Who’s feeling worse this morning? Mike Shanahan because his team got spanked by Al Davis in Denver, or Scott Weiland, who did not seem fit for operating heavy machinery as he (ironically) introduced Pink to sing her song “sober”?

Prediction: Panthers 42, Falcons 28 Actual: Panthers 28, Falcons 45 – Here’s the second of the backwards games. I blame both of them on last week’s Broncos-Falcons game, which convinced me that the Falcons were on a slide and the Broncos were going to make this thing work. Wrong and wrong.

Prediction: Giants 28. Cardinals 27. Actual: Giants 37. Cardinals 29 – The Giants are the best team in football. Before yesterday about 95% of everyone knew that. Now everyone probably knows. They can beat with you offense or defense. They can beat you by being disciplined AND they can beat you when their play is sloppy. They can beat you with 3 RBs, and they can beat you when their best RB is out. Are you ready for Eli Manning to be a back-to-back Super Bowl champion? You might want to start thinking about the idea.

Prediction: Redskins 24, Seahawks 17. Actual: Redskins 20, Seahawks 17 – We’ll finish up with the most frustrating of all the finishes yesterday. I had the Redskins (-3.5). I also had predicted a 24-17 finish. The Skins were inside the 10-yard line with a 3rd and short and Jason Campbell hit Mike Sellers on the hands with what would have probably been a touchdown. If Sellers catches it, I probably cover the spread, and absolutely nail the prediction. But…he drops it. Redksins settle for 3, and then fumble the ball minutes later when they had another chance to tack on more points, and 20-17 is your final score. This is why I don’t bet big money on NFL games.

Let me know if I missed anything…

I’ll admit it, I was totally cheering for a tie yesterday in that Eagles-Bengals game. It just seemed so fitting for both teams, who look to be having futile seasons, to experience the ultimate in futility.

As the Bengals missed the game-winning field goal with 7 seconds left in overtime, I wondered how many blogs would run with the whole “a tie is like kissing your sister” headline. Then I started to think about that cliche. I’m not sure I agree with the premise, which posits that kissing your sister is some kind of neutral event. It’s a positive that you’re kissing someone, but it’s negated by the fact that it’s your sister.

I usually hug my sisters. And unless you’re in grade school, should you even be kissing your sister? I don’t know, I’m not sure I agree with the notion. I’d like to make a motion that we remove “kissing your sister” from the vernacular. We need a better way to describe the frustration of ending the game in a tie. How about “a tie is like kissing a girl but then waking up and realizing it was a dream” or “a tie is like kissing a girl with bad breath” or “a tie is like playing soccer”?

We’ll have to work on that.

I have to say though, one thing I didn’t expect was that some of the players had no idea an NFL game could end in a tie. Seriously. Here’s Donovan McNabb:

Wow.

As for that shady ending to the Steelers/Chargers game? Yeah, that was pretty bad. It takes a lot for me to levy charges of corruption against NFL Refs, and I’m not sure I’ll do it here. But for them to review a meaningless play after time had expired, and incorrectly overturn it, directly affecting which team covered the point spread? That looks awfully fishy. And it’s reason #482 why you shouldn’t be betting a lot of money on NFL games.

From VegasWatch:

“We should have let the play go through in the end, yes,” [referee Scott] Green said. “It was misinterpreted that instead of killing the play, we should have let the play go through.”

Green said the confusion occurred because there was a misunderstanding about whether Tomlinson’s pass or Chambers’ pass was in question.

“The first pass was the one that was illegal, but it only kills the play if it hits the ground,” Green said. “That was incorrect to have killed it at that point. The ruling should have let the play go on.”

Being a numbers geek, I was fascinated by the fact that this was the first NFL game to end with an 11-10 score in over 12,000 games. Maybe the refs wanted to be a part of history?

(h/t: Deadspin and VegasWatch)

My family and I spent the weekend up at a cabin near State College, PA with a bunch of friends. We had a great time playing games, going on a hike, playing golf, and just hanging out. Why am I telling you this? Because the cabin didn’t have interwebnet access, so other than occasional updates on my iPhone (because I didn’t want to be ‘that guy’), I was basically exiled from the sports world for 48 hours.

Here’s what I’ve caught up on at this point: 7 Top ten College Football teams lost this weekend, the Mets blew it, the White Sox aren’t dead yet, Broncos and Cowboys lost, and Brett Favre is immortal.

Sure, I could go to ESPN.com and read stories about what happened, but I like my news with a bit of personal opinion sprinkled in. So tell me, Upon Further Review, what did I miss this weekend?

10 Questions coming off this loaded sports weekend…pick a few and share your thoughts:

1. How much Ryder Cup did you watch this weekend? I caught some of Friday, more of Saturday, and almost none of it on Sunday. Kinda wish I had tuned in for more of it, but the NFL has quite a grip on my Sunday afternoon viewing.

2. Cowboys, Giants, Broncos, Titans, Ravens (2-0), and Bills. Those are your undefeated NFL Teams after Week 3. The Giants eeked out their win over the Bungles…ditto for the Bills, who scored 10 points in the final 4 minutes against a porous Oakland defense. My instant reaction is that the Cowboys and Eagles are the cream of the NFC and the Broncos and Titans might be the best of the AFC. Have you seen Tennesee’s Defense? Pretty impressive.

3. If Ronnie Brown was on your fantasy football bench this weekend, raise your hand (and then punch yourself in the face with it. If he was on your opponent’s bench, pump your fist with reckless glee!

4. The SEC owns 3 of the top 5 spots in the new AP rankings, but USC and Oklahoma remain at the top as they were idle this week. How did your college football team do this weekend?

5. In a related story, is Chad Gibbs alive after Auburn’s tough loss to LSU, or did he hang himself with toilet paper at Toomer’s Corner?

6. Moving to baseball…of this group, which two teams should be getting the golf clubs ready for next monday? The Phillies, Mets, Brewers, White Sox, and Twins? Anyone want to go out on a limb and predict a collapse for the Mets, Phils, or ChiSox?

7. Sticking with baseball, anyone got a shot to win their fantasy baseball league with 1 week of games left? I can’t even talk about how I did in the PFB Fantasy Baseball league at this point, but in my Roto Keeper League I’m in first place by a couple points over Geof with just 7 days to go. I’ll keep you posted.

8. Lance Berkman and the Houston Astros lashed out at the MLB for scheduling their home games at “Wrigley North” in the wake of Ike. “Major League Baseball has always valued the dollar more than they do the individual, the players and their families,” Berkman said.

9. What will happen first this week? Boo Weekley will sober up, Brian Westbrook will have the MRI on his ankle, or Lane Kiffin will get fired?

10. Have you ever been to Yankee Stadium? I’ve never been there myself, but I always heard it was a great place to catch a game…not to mention the history of the place.

Any other thoughts on the spots weekend, Upon Further Review?

Unlike the rest of us, Carlos Zambrano likes coming back to work after a 2-week vacation…Brandon Marshall has 3 times as many catches as Jamarcus Russell has completions…The Red Sox and Phillies make pushes to play in October…5 Top-25 College Football Teams lose…all the biceps in the world can’t make up for Ed Hochuli’s blown call against the Chargers…Miss. St. scores 2 and gets beaten by 1, UCLA scores 0 and gets beaten by 59…and Mike Shanahan cares not for your “play for overtime at home” rule…

So what did you watch? How did your teams fare? Could USC give the Miami Dolphins a game?

Upon Further Review, what’s your take on the sports weekend that was?