I Dislike Your Favorite Team

Four games in, the Lions, Bills and Skins lead their respective divisions. While quite a refreshing treat for their long-suffering fans, the standings will be different by mid-season.

It's been a weird & wobbly start. With missed tackles, 15-yard flags on virtually every pass play and replays taking more time but still not getting it right, the product on the field isn't the best football we've ever seen. This was expected due to the lockout, like a sour stomach after drinking thirty Hamm's.

In the NFC East, the Philly Cream Dream imploded immediately -- I was expecting a late-season meltdown. This worries me a bit, as there's too much time for them to right the ship and make the playoffs (where they'll lose again).

The DC Skins still haven't beaten a good team, and their QB is averaging two turnovers per game. That they are 3-1 speaks to the improvement in the defense and running game. There will certainly be a multi-game slide coming up, a QB benching and then hopefully we'll continue our climb. I think we are actually building a decent contender for the future, but it'll be a dogfight (oops) in this division all the way to the last week.

There is no pick'em this year because I am leaving on Monday for a month-long writing tour in Europe. I will be finishing my new novel, The Object: a love story. While in Iceland, Prague, Budapest, Piran (Slovenia) and the French Riviera, I will have limited internet and NFL access.When I return, I will double down on the sardonic irreverence and hope to have an NFL Playoff Pick'em for the winter. Until then.