Brownie Points: Does J-Rich fit in Phoenix?

We didn’t expect the Suns to go 82-0, but the beat-down in Orlando Tuesday night was a wakeup call for people who think the Suns can just run themselves into title contention.

The Magic played without both wing players shooting guard Vince Carter and forward Rashard Lewis and those guys still managed to match the scoring output of Suns wings Jason Richardson and Grant Hill.

Hill has been great so far this season and some of the Suns had a right to be a little tuckered out after beating the Heat the night before. But J-Rich has only played in three games – what’s his excuse?

Without Richardson and with Barbosa, the Suns were scoring 120 points and the tempo was sky high. Without Barbosa and with Richardson, the Suns are reduced to spotting up in the corners and play a much more traditional game – albeit against tougher competition. It shows how important Barbosa is to the team’s success – and how much Richardson is an overpaid and, for the most part, unnecessary piece.

Look at this team with its improved bench (from Lou Amundson, to Goran Dragic, to Jared Dudley to even Earl Clark in small doses). Now take Richardson off this team and add another versatile big man (Boris Diaw) and capable defender and shooter (Raja Bell). Injuries, salaries and all, I think I’d go with Plan B.

Prediction Time

I knew it, I knew it. I’ve only been watching the Cardinals since 1988, so a trap game like last Sunday should have been easy pickings. And as for Brett Favre throwing four touchdowns to beat me in Lambeau … the drama was worth the loss.

But we did sweep through the colleges again and finished 6-2 for the week to jump our season total to 36-14 (.720) which is nice – but not enough to overcome the ugliness of another Yankees’ purchased World Series win.

Luckily, while we have to wait ‘til next year for baseball, we have another interesting slate of football games to wade through:

USC 42, ASU 21: Think of all the years the Devils came into this game fat and happy with a bloated record only to be tased back to reality by USC’s depth and speed. Well, the Trojans already have two losses, no hope of a national title and are a step behind their normal dominating self. Trouble is ASU isn’t as good as they have been either.

Arizona 33, Washington State 10: The Wildcats are home and coming off a bye week, so a slow start might be in the offing. But they put up 59 points on the Cougars last year and that Wazzu team was probably better than the one that comes to Tucson.

Alabama 21, LSU 10: Does anyone see anything getting in the way of the Tide facing off with Florida in the SEC title game with the winner winning the national championship? Me neither.

Ohio State 24, Penn State 17: I’m not altogether sure the Buckeyes are the better football team here; I just want them to keep their confidence high and mighty so they can beat Iowa and keep the propped-up Hawkeyes from willing us a horrible national championship rout.

Cardinals 24, Bears 10: Can you even think Cardinals-Bears without having Dennis Green’s famous meltdown crawl between your ears? Well the Bears aren’t as good as they were then, and the Cardinals are a perfect 3-0 on the road this year and have won in tougher places than Chi-town. Too bad Anquan Boldin and Antrel Rolle are still hobbling or I could see the Arizona version of The Wildcat coming out for this one.

Colts 35, Texans 14: Here’s where the Texans face The Alamo. Houston doesn’t have a pass rush and when you’re playing the Colts, Peyton Manning plus time to throw equals a long plane ride home

Broncos 28, Steelers 20: I’ve been saying the Broncos are a sham all season. So why the flip-flop? It’s Monday Night in Denver and something tells me the home team has one more big night in them before the second-half collapse begins. Yeah, I am probably wrong.

Ravens 23, Bengals 14: It’s three touchdown passes for Joe Flacco and a Flacco-jacket for Carson Palmer.

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Tags: Anquan Boldin, Antrel Rolle, Boris Diaw, Brownie Points, Earl Clark, Goran Dragic, Grant Hill, Jared Dudley, Jason Richardson, Leandro Barbosa, Lou Amundson, Raja Bell