Jonathan Dehn
Washington Football Team (2-5) at Dallas Cowboys (6-1) – 10/27 at 8:15 PM ET on ESPN
While overmatched, Washington travels to Dallas in one of the more interesting matchups from year to year. Tony Romo has a healthy, elite running back to complement a competent offensive coordinator that keeps drives long and their suspect defense on the sideline, and an offensive line to drive down the field, and the Cowboys are contenders in the first half of the season. I would imagine they win comfortably, but there’s still the drama of former Texas QB Colt McCoy coming back to Texas as a 3rd string NFL signal-caller and trying to help pull off a terrific upset.
San Francisco Giants at Kansas City Royals – 10/28 at 8:00 PM ET on FOX
The Royals, once up 2-1 in the World Series, dropped Game Four and found themselves put to the sword by Madison Baumgartner in the fifth game. They return home for the final two games of the series on the ropes, and hope to move this series to a seventh and deciding game. The general feel of this series as that while enthusiastic, the young Royals just seem to lack the experience and skill of the Giants, who are just one more win away from being considered the team of the decade.
Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs – 10/28 at 8:00 PM ET on TNT
Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks – 10/29 at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN
New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers – 10/30 at 8:00 PM ET on TNT
The NBA season finally begins this week with a gluttonous amount of games for the cable audience. Instead of detailing each game and just calling this an NBA article, I will gladly lay these games at your feet. A pair of rivalry clashes to begin the year, and then the league’s most visible franchise heading to Cleveland to receive a near-sure whooping from LeBron and the Cavaliers. Derek Fisher’s bringing the triangle to NYC with Phil Jackson, which will most likely fail in this first season and lead Fish to be the scapegoat. At least Carmelo is going to keep cashing those large checks while the other teams on this list make some noise and do well for themselves come May.
Los Angeles Kings at Pittsburgh Penguins – 10/30 at 7:00 PM ET on NHL Network
I can’t forget about hockey during this hectic week. It’s a festive occasion as the champions head to Pittsburgh to take on Crosby and company. Pittsburgh currently is at the bottleneck at the top of the Metropolitan Division and look to keep pace with the leaders while the Kings are off to a hot start with thirteen points from just eight games and look to keep momentum as they head into the second month of the regular season.
Barclay’s Premier League – Manchester United at Manchester City – 11/2 at 8:25 AM ET on NBC Sports
It’s the Manchester Derby! I’d imagine this doubles as a holiday if it were to fall on a work day. I was surprised to see a commercial on NBC where they advertised it over a week in advance and even used a Smiths song to hype it up. Currently, United are comfortable underdogs, as they are still trying to fit all of their pieces together while finding while to cover up their obvious weaknesses on the back end. The champions from across town are in contention, but are not the power they were last campaign. However, as these two sides can see each other’s stadiums, it’s should be a passionate display where the betting book can be tossed out the window.
Denver Broncos (6-1) at New England (6-2) – 11/2 at 4:25 PM ET on CBS
It wasn’t all that long ago where both of these sides, and their QBs, were predicted to be done as contenders, and that it was time to heap some dirt on both of them. What we’ve learned since then, in a world where Ben Roethlisberger throws for six touchdowns against an Indianapolis defense that was supposed to be elite, is that you can only bet on Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to get the damned job done. So, with these meetings between the two winding down, they become more important in their novelty and rivalry. Of course, it helps that this game may already be influencing playoff seeding. So, in what may very well be the very last time, enjoy Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Image: AP
