It seems my disfavor with the football gods has continued, and perhaps worsened, despite my pleas for relief last week.  Not only did Ole Miss' losing ways continue, but my bad mojo is now beginning to rub off on the New York Giants, it would appear.

The prospect of the possible relocation of the New Orleans Saints, along with their terrible play and the injury of Deuce McAllister, has led me to take more interest in the Giants, led by ex-Rebel Eli Manning.  That's been my only winning team this year, with Ole Miss, New Orleans, and the Tennessee Titans in the gutter.  But just one week after I begged for mercy from the football gods, they delivered that little gem called Minnesota 24, Giants 21.

The Vikings had their worst offensive game of the season, but managed touchdowns on returns of a punt, a kickoff and an interception.  It was the first time an NFL team had ever scored on all three in the same game, and it's a feat you're not likely to see many more times in your life.  Minnesota had six total yards in the first half, but seven points because of Darren Sharper's 92-yard interception return.

To make matters more painful, the Giants found life late in the game, scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion inside of two minutes, and then let Minnesota, which struggled to move the ball all day, march down for the winning field goal with 10 seconds left.  

Sadly, it was a bit of déjà vu for The Average Joe, who had watched a similar collapse from Ole Miss the day before.  Ole Miss led hapless Arkansas 17-7 in the third quarter and was dominating the Razorbacks defensively before freshman Hogs quarterback Casey Dick suddenly turned into Joe Montana, leading his team on three straight touchdowns drives and a 28-17 win.

This was an Arkansas team leading the SEC in rushing at 251 yards per game that Ole Miss held to just 86 yards on the ground.  The Hogs were last in passing, having thrown for just seven touchdowns all season, before erupting for three in the final 18 minutes of the game.  It was a sickening collapse from an Ole Miss team that dominated the game in virtually every statistical category.

But while the Rebels were choking up and trying to milk the clock in the third quarter, Dick was completing 12 straight passes, many of them on third and long.  Seriously, late in the game, it seemed like it didn't matter what Arkansas did on first and second down because Dick was going to come up with some ridiculous Houdini act on third down.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin summed it up best for both his Giants and my Rebels on the weekend.  "It's beyond belief that we would play that poorly," he was quoted as saying.  You hit the nail on the head, Tom.  I'm still stunned about it.

To make matters worse, the Rebels now have to play host to a No. 4 LSU team that just beat Alabama on the road.  
The maddening part is that Ole Miss will probably cover the 17-point spread and lose by a touchdown or so. 

The Rebs almost always play LSU close, and much of their problem is a tendency to play to the level of their competition.  It's going to make me mad to have watched Ole Miss lose close games to very good LSU and Alabama teams but lose by 11 to a very average Arkansas squad.

Bets
I also lost my only bet last weekend, a play on Ole Miss UNDER 41.  Rebels games had only gone OVER that total once this year, and everything was cool with that bet until Dick pulled his Montana impersonation.  My bankroll is slowly fading away as the season progresses, and I need a turnaround badly.  I'm going to have to be on the ball with my action for this week.

Bad Winds
At least I wasn't the only one foiled by football gods last week.  Somebody in San Francisco apparently forgot to appeal to the weather gods or Mother Nature, because that wind was certainly angry.  The video of Joe Nedney's 52-yard field goal attempt being blown suddenly and violently off course before Nathan Vasher returned it for an 108-yard touchdown was wild.  That kick was heading in the right direction until a serious gust of wind jerked it way off course.  It looked unnatural, like something out of “The Matrix.”

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