Junk Food Nation, it’s a Football Friday, so let’s go!  As you might remember, I have a season-long bet with my friend The Backup QB. Last week, the BQB went 4-9-2, netting him 4 points, and yours truly went 6-7-2, grabbing 6 points. Both of our lock of the weeks failed. The takeaways? (1) I’m in the lead! and (2) We are horrible at evaluating football games.  So far.

Week 2 is here, and you can read about The BQB’s Week 2 picks over on his post. His lock of the week is Cardinals -2; his rationale: “Without the benefit of week 1, the Giants are likely favored at home against the Cardinals.  As of now, Arizona is favored by 2.  Even though it’s a west coast team playing on short rest traveling to the east coast for an early game, a field goal’s not enough.  Arizona’s a much better team; to get them giving less than a field goal is criminal.“

My LOCK OF THE CENTURY…OF THE WEEK… is the Tennessee Titans -3.5 over the lowly Cowboys. I mean, I know the Niners are good…but did you SEE the Cowboys at home?  Did you WATCH that game? Tony Romo doesn’t bounce back this week, as his spine has very little bounce left in it. Plus, I’m going to buy Jake Locker.  The BQB told me to, I ignored, but I’m convinced.  I mean, with guys like Eli and Romo falling off, by definition, SOMEONE has to rise into the Top 15 QBs, right?  Locker is it.

The rest of our picks here:

GAME	Backup QB Picks	JFG Picks
Lions @ PANTHERS	Lions +3	PANTHERS -3
Dolphins @ BILLS	Dolphins PICK	BILLS PICK
Cardinals @ GIANTS	Cardinals -2 (LOCK)	Cardinals -2
Jaguars @ REDSKINS	Jaguars +6	REDSKINS -6
Cowboys @ TITANS	TITANS -3.5	TITANS -3.5 (LOCK)
Patriots @ VIKINGS	Patriots -3	VIKINGS +3
Saints @ BROWNS	BROWNS +6.5	Saints -6.5
Falcons @ BENGALS	Falcons +5	Falcons +5
Rams @ BUCS	BUCS -5	BUCS -5
Seahawks @ CHARGERS	Seahawks -6	CHARGERS +6
Texans @ RAIDERS	Texans -3	Texans -3
Jets @ PACKERS	PACKERS -8	PACKERS -8
Chiefs @ BRONCOS	BRONCOS -13	BRONCOS -13
Bears @ NINERS	Bears +7	NINERS -7
Eagles @ COLTS	COLTS -3	Eagles +3

 

The BQB picking a lot of road wins this week – 9 out of 14. Bold move, BQB. I’m picking ten teams to cover at home.

And today we’re gonna wrap up our coverage of the Walkers Do Us A Flavour Potato Crisps. Today’s junk food: Sizzling Steak Fajita & Pulled Pork in a Sticky BBQ Sauce

We finish up our tour of the Walkers Do Us A Flavor Potato Crisps with two meat flavors: Sizzling Steak Fajita & Pulled Pork in a Sticky BBQ Sauce. Walkers generally does meat flavors pretty well, so FINALLY here are two flavors I am not scared of.  Like before, Brit will give her opinion, and I will give mine.  Check out our previous two reviews here and here.

BRIT: They smell like refried beans with some fried bell peppers with a slight vinegary note at the end.

They taste great, definitely refried bean-y to me. I taste bell pepper and fajita spice, I can just about pick up the beef and a nice light chilli at the end. Really good, a nice smoky fajita flavour, I would prefer both the chilli and the steak to be a little more intense but I guess this makes them more accessible. Walkers did a great job with these, really accurate and enjoyable.

JFG: This flavor kind of cracks me up, because it means that somewhere in the UK there’s a Chili’s. I *JUST* went to a Chili’s earlier this week, randomly. Here’s all you need to know – happy hour rail drinks were $3, and the joint was COMPLETELY EMPTY.  Chili’s, ladies and gentleman!

Anyways, as soon as I opened this bag and sniffed, I caught a meaty-smell. Smelled like…steak? I guess.  Definitely some deeper meat smell, with some pepper.

Placing a bunch of chips in my mouth, the flavor profile was immediately recognizable – BEEF AND BEANS. Even the Junk Food Gal ate these, and her eyes widened. We agreed – the steak flavor was actually spot on (weirdly) and the bean flavor was unmistakable. BEEF AND BEAN.  Here’s the thing – FAJITAS DON’T CONTAIN BEANS.  At least, not the ones I’ve ever had. But whatever. As a calculated flavor, these were definitely tastiest so far. Meaty, smoky, beany….the flavors were clear, and the spices (pepper, taco spice) were light and not dominating.  Good chip.

FINALLY: Pulled Pork in a Sticky BBQ Sauce!

BRIT: Hmmm, to me these smell quite faint. I can smell vinegar and a vague smoky, fatty-meat. To be honest, these smell like Walkers Prawn Cocktail which are actually just tomato flavour.

They taste nothing like prawn cocktail; I get a tangy, smoky flavour with some meaty notes at the end. They are a little sweet too which I appreciate. I’m not convinced that I would guess what this was supposed to be if you blindfolded me but they’re still quite nice. I like the vinegar tang and how the flavour develops but I wish there was something else. More spice or more barbeque maybe? Not bad, these are in my top 3.

JFG: These smelled lightly vinegar-y (a little nostril curl) and had a meat odor as well. But honestly…they just smelled like BBQ chips. I wanted to be astonished by a brand new flavor when I realized – these are BBQ chips.

Placing the crisps in my mouth, I was correct – these just tasted like a tangy BBQ sauce.  If I were to compare it to anything, they reminded me of the Memphis BBQ Pringles, but just the BBQ sauce part – very little garlic. Just a tangy sweet BBQ.  So, these tasted fine, better than most of the other ones…but since I’ve had zanier BBQ chips, these registered a MEH from me.

WALKERS DO US A FLAVOUR, OVERALL?

BRIT: Overall I found these a little disappointing. Ranch Racoon is the worst because it has a boring, barely-there flavour. The chip shop chicken curry and cheesy beans are also at the bottom due to weak flavours and in the case of the cheesy beans; overly salty and inaccurate flavours. I’d say the hotdog with ketchup and pulled pork are in the middle; the hotdog ones are super accurate but I find them a little gross. The barbeque are nice but they’re missing something to make the flavour really stand out. My vote would go to the steak fajita; while it tastes more like chilli con carne or refried beans, it’s an enjoyable flavour.

JFG: Concur with Brit – VERY disappointing. I thought out US versions were hit or miss, but these UK versions were definitely more miss than hit. My vote would also go to the Steak Fajita flavor, but rename it BEEFY BEAN BURRITO. See?  I ought to be the winner of Walkers Do Us A Flavour!

Anyways, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to reader Brit for giving me the opportunity to try these crisps with her. I hope you all out there in Junk Food Nation enjoyed it. Have a great weekend! GO BILLS.

PURCHASED AT: UK!

COST: 1 pound per six pack.

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy