NFL Week 1 : Malaysian Chicken Satay

Hello and welcome again to an annual tradition - Eric's Themed NFL picks! It was tough to pick a topic this year; it came down to:
"Review of Asian Foods" vs. "Best $25,000 Pyramid Winner's Circle subjects"
 By a flip of a coin, the culinary idea won. Maybe we will look at "Things that are Violent" next year.

So our first trip out of China was a trip to Malaysia in the fall of 2010. Our life was in utter and complete chaos at that point, so a friend of ours directed us to a resort in the city of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to head for the October vacation that year. And - best news - there was no need to go off the resort; they had 6 different restaurants in the place; we found out on that vacation that the boys loved the Hibachi grill. (sadly, there is no Benihana in Guangzhou).

The most famous Malaysian food, I think, is meat served Satay style - meat skewed on a stick. And when I think of Satay, I think of the peanut sauce.  MMM-mmmm! Hunks of chicken in the shape of a kids' popsicle that I can dip in a vat of peanut butter....

The reality, however, is not like that. The sauce was excellent - it was very much as I expected. The meat? Well, the amount of meat on the stick barely covers the skewer. It is like a pipe cleaner's worth of meat on the wooden skewer - so when you try to eat it off the stick, you have to watch out for slivers on your tongue. The taste was fine, but I expected more than just gristle on a stick.

Grade: B- .

This is how I feel about the Browns in week 1. In my mind, I envision a sharp passing attack coupled with Richardson being explosive in the backfield...the defense being as solid as it was last year....and with a break or two, this game could (and should) be winnable!

In reality tomorrow, I hope I'm not watching gristle.

On to the picks:

Chi 23, Ind 17 . We all will focus on Luck on this game, but the key is Indy's good D line vs. Chicago's weak O.

NYJ 17, Buf 13. Again, we all focus on the Jets O - when we should focus on the Jets' D. How exactly will the Bills score?

NO 31, Was 17. Now that the players are vindicated, I need to stop typing and get in on this game before the line rises any more.

NE 30, Ten 24. Is Jake Locker really the one to exploit the weak Pats' D?

Min 24, Jax 13. I like Min's D Line vs. Gabbert.

Hou 27, Mia 7. Miami has a good defense and will stop the Texans -but how will they score?

Det 24, StL 20. Detroit is a one-dimensional team, they have questions in their secondary and I trust Fisher as a coach.

Atl 27, KC 23. We'll see how good each of these teams are with this game.

SF 27, GB 24. I think the Niners will move the ball against the porous GB pass D, and their own D will do just enough to stop the Pack.

TB 20, Car 19. Layup made a good point here - the Panthers were not very good in the 2nd half of the season once people starting figuring out Cam a bit.

Az 23, Sea 20. Wilson, Wilson, Wilson. The previews of this game sounds like a Dennis the Menace convention.

Den 27, Pit 17. I'm interested to see how good (or bad) Pit's O line is.

Bal 27, Cin 17. Ugh - high emotions in Baltimore?

SD 24, Oak 23. Double Ugh. I have no idea about this one.

Best bets: 15 this week.
 Ind +9.5
Buf/NYJ under 38
NO -8
NE/Ten over 47
Min -3.5
Hou -13
Mia/Hou under 42 1/2
St Louis +8.5
Atl/KC Over 43 1/2
SF +5
TB +2 1/2
Car/TB under 47
Az +2 1/2
Den -2
Bal -7

A review of results:
2011: 143-118-12  (54.8%)
Overall - 6 year history on F&J:   733-670-46 (52.2%)


The Supercontest is back! The picks for this week:

Min -3.5
NE +5.5
St L +7
TB +2.5
Den -1.5

I welcome any of you (Wiz, especially) to post your choices here.