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Vikings vs. Saints Kickoff 2010 Season

Tony Bravo — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:48:41 +0000

Once again the NFL has lined up a fantastic opening night game. Tonight the Minnesota Vikings visit the New Orleans Saints at the Super Dome. Last year’s NFC rematch will have plenty of early season storylines. Brett Favre appears to be ready for his 20^th and final NFL season. Even with his past unretirements it appears that this will be his final year under center.

Minnesota comes into the game with injuries on their top flight offense. Top WR Sidney Rice had hip surgery and his expected to be out for at least two months. Percey Harvin had his own issues this summer. Harvin had to be rushed to the hospital for migraine headaches. He missed three weeks of training camp so he is way behind the other veterans.

New Orleans will be a little distracted as they raise their Super Bowl banner tonight. The saints have to avoid the Super Bowl hangover that has ruined many past champions seasons. Getting a big home win against a top team will go a long way to set up another excellent season in the Crescent City.

Saints/ Vikings in NFC Title Game Re-Match

Glenn Andrew — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:00:44 +0000

The NFL football year kicks off Thursday night with two teams that had perhaps the most memorable game from the 2009 season. The Minnesota Vikings and the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints will face-off in a re-match of their incredible NFC title game.

As we all know, a crucial interception by Brett Favre in the final seconds of the NFC Championship game may have very well cost them a trip to Miami and potentially a Super Bowl win. It’s never nice to say that the winning team was out-played, but based on all statistics from that game, the Saints clearly were. The high-powered New Orleans offense managed just 15 first downs and 257 yards. Those numbers are well below their season averages, and were due to the Vikings superb defense. Minnesota had more than twice as many first downs (31) and 218 more yards on offense, but still managed to lose the game.

This has been an eagerly anticipated game, especially after Favre decided to rejoin the Viking just a few weeks ago. Both teams are expected to fair well again in 2010 as most sportsbooks have them each winning close to 10 games. As an expert football handicapper I can tell you that the Vikings are going to have a much more difficult time getting back to the NFC title game. Brett Favre is a year older. Sidney Rice will be out until late October, and Adrian Peterson still has issues with holding onto the football. On top of all that, the Vikings are the recipients of an incredibly difficult non-division schedule. October alone may be enough to knock Minnesota into an early hole. They play the Jets, Cowboys, Packers and the Patriots in consecutive weeks, and will be lucky to escape with a 2-2 record.

The Saints have a tough schedule as well, but they are at full strength and are possibly better due to some acquisitions during the off-season. New Orleans is lucky to be in a weak division with the exception of Atlanta, and face teams like Cleveland, Arizona and St. Louis in non-division games. Drew Brees is one of the top 3 quarterbacks in the league, and surrounded by a ton of weapons on offense. Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Jeremy Shockey can all make plays! The Saints defense should be improved as they selected CB Patrick Robinson in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

This should be an exciting game with tons of offense. The Saints are naturally the favorites, but at 4.5 points the Vikings may not be getting enough respect. Expect the revenge minded Vikings to play hard and show that they are expecting to get to the Super Bowl this time around. If Favre can play at the level that he is capable of, then Minnesota has a legitimate chance of winning this game outright. Tune in an see!

Vikings not Ready for Season Opener!

Tony Bravo — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:11:09 +0000

Minnesota Vikings wish the season opener was still 3 weeks away. Vikings have too many issues to resolve before the season kicks off on Thursday. Brett Favre has only been in camp for 3 weeks after spending the off season trying to get his surgically repaired ankle back to normal. The Vikings legend did not play much in the pre season so many football experts think his ankle is not even close to being 100%.

Favre weapons on offense are still not in place. Leading WR Sidney Rice has hip surgery and is not expected back until at least week 10. Percey Harvin had his own drama with his recurring migraine headaches. Harvin had to be rushed to the hospital from practice and missed two weeks of training camp. Throw on the fact the Adrian Peterson has been banged up and the Vikings simply are not ready to take on the saints at the Super Dome.

NFL Handicappers have installed the New Orleans Saints as 4 point favorites against the Vikings. Minnesota will have their top notch defense ready to take on Drew Brees and his high flying offense. Even with all the issues Minnesota has on offense expect a great game that will go down to the final minutes.

Jets defense is secure with Revis back

Glenn Andrew — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:00:15 +0000

The Jets secured the strength of their defense Sunday as they came to an agreement with who many football experts believe to be the best defensive back in the game. Darrelle Revis was the leader in a defensive secondary that allowed a meager 153.7 yards per game passing in 2009. To have an idea of how amazing that number is, all you have to know is that the second best team in terms of passing “D” allowed almost 33 more yards per game!

Revis has been in negotiations with the Jets for months, and it is said that the reason this agreement has taken so long is due to the guaranteed money. Both sides came to terms on a 4-year deal that’s worth $46 million with $32 million guaranteed. The Jets have made several substantial offers to Revis over the past few weeks, but he insisted on being the highest paid cornerback in the league…..rightfully so! Normally this wouldn’t have been such a hard contract to negotiate as the Jets and the rest of the NFL agree that Revis is in fact the best CB in the NFL. However, Al Davis and the Raiders gave Nnamdi Asomugha a contract that far exceeded that of any other DB in the league. This outrageous contract put New York in a difficult position as they didn’t want to overpay for Revis.

The 36-day holdout by Revis came with some stiff penalties. He racked up over $500,000 in fines and forfeited the $21 million guaranteed that was remaining on his current deal. I’m sure he won’t mind paying the fine now. The Jets are expected to have another solid year in 2010, but they would have had a difficult time doing so without Darrelle. New York has an average offense, but makes up for and some with their stellar defensive play. A solid defense and a powerful running game generally are are good recipe for winning Championships, and that’s exactly what the Jets are built on.

Getting Revis prior to week 1 was extremely important as the Jets start of the year with 2 difficult games against Baltimore and New England. New York allowed just 67 points in the pre-season (31 against the Giants) despite only playing their starters for a limited time and not having Revis. They are primed for a strong year as most football handicappers have them pegged to win between 9 and 10 games. With Revis in on defense, there’s no telling how good this team can be!

NFL 18 Game Schedule Long Overdue

Tony Bravo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:18:09 +0000

It looks like the NFL will approve an 18 game regular season with their next collective bargaining agreement. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners love the profits possibilities of a new 18 game season. Goodell just needs to get the players to sign off on this new format. Sports handicappers around the nation would love to extend the season 2 more weeks.

Lets face it a 4 week pre season schedule is way too long. The NFL should have canned this long month long exhibition season that has fans falling asleep watching free agent hopefuls trying to make the squad. Most football experts can handle a week or maybe two weeks of practice football. Fans are getting ripped off being forced to pay regular season prices for exhibition football.

NFL picks sites and NFL players need to realize that this system is long overdue. Players are complaining that the 18 game format is too long. These arguments are lip service so the league will kick down more money to the players for the extra two weeks. NFL regulars play in about two pre season games already so they are already playing the equivalent of a 18 game schedule. College football picks sites loved it when they extended the college season. The NFL handicappers will love having two more weeks of real games to handicap.

Sunday Night Football: Pittsburgh vs. Denver

Glenn Andrew — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:00:35 +0000

Two of the top defenses from a year ago go head to head Sunday night. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos ranked amongst the league leaders in total defense last season, but neither of them were able to make the playoffs. Both the Broncos and Steelers will look to take their games to the next level this year. Defense is clearly the focal point for both teams as they used several picks in the NFL draft to maintain the defensive excellence that they have sustained throughout the last decade.

Denver is in need of consistency. After the first 6 games of the 2009 season, most NFL experts including myself felt as though they were the real deal, and that making the playoff was a given. Little did we know that their offense would implode, and that their defense would sink to the level that it did. They gave up almost 26 points per game over the last 10 games of the season after allowing just 11 through their first 6 games. Denver’s rushing defense was torched for the majority of the second half last year, and that was due to a weak defensive line. They had a few injuries, but that shouldn’t have accounted for the major decline.

Offensively they will need to pick up their passing attack as Kyle Orton will need to take his game to a new level in order to for the Broncos to stay competitive. Orton is far too inconsistent, and will need to cut down on the turnovers this season. He has the capability to lead a team, but he’s not a pure passer that has the ability to shred defenses with his passing ability.

The running game for Denver seems to be in good hands as Knowshon Moreno has taken over the started job from Correll Buckhalter and literally ran with it!. He rushed for 947 yards on only 247 attempts in 2009. Expect a much better season for Moreno as he has the ability to elude tacklers as well as fight for extra yardage. He may be a solid 3rd or 4th round selection for many fantasy football players as he crosses the 1000 yard barrier with ease. I anticipate that they Broncos finish right around were most football handicappers expect. Eight to nine wins will be the max for this squad due to an extremely difficult schedule.

Pittsburgh will need to get off to a good start without the services on starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger has a tremendous year in 2009. He passed for 4328 yards and 26 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions. His quarterback rating was over 100, and he completed 66.6 percent of his passes. Big Ben will be out for at least the first 4 games of the season because of his off-season issues. The Steelers fate may be in the hands of backup Byron Leftwich. Leftwich has been a journeyman since his days in Jacksonville, but is still capable of leading an offense. Dennis Dixon has tremendous speed at the quarterback position, but doesn’t have a good enough feel for the game. He may be brought in for certain situations, but expect Leftwich to have the starting job until Roethlisberger returns.

The running game is average, but with this top 5 defense should be more than enough to keep Pittsburgh in most games. Rashard Mendenhall will have a breakthrough season in 2010. He had just 7 carries in the first 3 games last season, but still ended the season with 1108 yards and 7 touchdowns. His 4.6 yards per carry is more than enough to show that he has what it takes to be a good running back in this league for years to come.

Although Santonio Holmes is gone, the Pittsburgh’s receiving group is in better shape than they have been in years. The addition of Antwaan Randle El more than makes up for Holmes’ departure. Hines Ward is always a go-to receiver that can make big catches at crucial times. Tight end Heath Miller has turned out to be one of the best ends in the league, and will have another great year in 2010.

This will be a defensive battle. Both teams may be looking to see where they are at offensively, but their defenses are priority #1. Tune in Sunday night as Pittsburgh and Denver crank up the intensity in week 3 of the NFL pre-season.

Giants and Ravens in Super Bowl XXV Re-Match

Glenn Andrew — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:00:27 +0000

A rematch of Super Bowl XXXV will happen Saturday as the New York Giants take on the Baltimore Ravens in week 3 of the NFL pre-season. Obviously a lot has changed in terms of personnel since that game, but both teams still use a defensive philosophy to win.

The Giants had a miserable second half of the year in 2009. After a 5-0 start, the New York defense fell apart as they allowed 40+ points in 5 of their final 11 games. They finished the year at 8-8 and well out of the playoff hunt. Many of the problems on defense were due to injuries, but they are healthy again for 2010, and loaded with talent. The Giants used their first 4 picks in the 2010 NFL Draft to strengthen their “D”. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is a freak! New York saw past his lack of experience and drafted him based on athletic ability. He moves like a linebacker, but has the strength and size of a D-end. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph, FS Chad Jones and linebacker Phillip Dillard were taken in rounds 2-4. This defense is absolutely loaded with talent, but will need to mesh as a unit if the Giants are to make it to the playoffs again.

Eli Manning and company did all they could to keep the Giants in games last year. I think Manning has turned the corner, and is not a legitimate threat to move the ball down field. He will have an easier time this season as the Giants have a ton of weapons to utilize on offense. Their receivers group may be youthful, but they have gained a ton of experience over the last 2 seasons. Steve Smith has become Manning’s favorite target. Smith caught 107 passes for 1220 yards last season, and has become Manning’s go to receiver in critical situations. Along with Smith the G-Men have Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks and rookie Ramses Barden. Barden like Pierre-Paul is a bit of a project, but has a tremendous up-side as he has great hands and size. Manning and the Giants offensive coordinator are hoping they don’t have to air it out like they did a year ago. The reason for this is their hopes of being more efficient with their running game.

Brandon Jacobs had a bad year statistically, but he played hurt for the majority of the season in 2009. He’s nursing a neck injury, but will be back at full strength to start the season. Ahmad Bradshaw proved last season that he is capable of eluding tacklers, and can contribute at any time. His 4.8 yards per rush was more than a yard better than the power rushing game of Jacobs. This part of the offense will be critical for the Giants this year. If they can eat up the clock and move the ball more consistently, then it will take the strain off of their defense.

Baltimore is expected to be one of the best teams in all of football this season. Most NFL handicappers have them winning between 11-12 games, and possibly getting to the Super Bowl. As a football expert, I feel that they may be slightly over-rated only because of their lack of depth at receiver.

Joe Flacco didn’t have a Pro Bowl caliber year in 2009, but he did improve dramatically. His total yards passing, completion percentage, touchdowns and quarterback rating all increased from his rookie season to year 2. Flacco isn’t looked upon to lead an aerial assault, but to lead his team without making any major mistakes. That is a much easier task to handle when you have one of the best running backs in the league in the backfield. Ray Rice had an incredible first season as the starting running back. He rushed for 1339 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught an incredible 78 passes for 702 yards receiving. Rice is a fantasy league beast, and will have another great year in 2010.

On defense, they are led by the great Ray Lewis. Lewis may be in his 15th season, but he still plays with an incredible intensity that is second to none. His work ethic and knowledge of the defense is what keeps him at the top of his game. Lewis has acquired some help this year as the Ravens picked up several key defensive players via the draft. Sergio Kindle is a highly rated defensive end that Baltimore picked up with their first selection. Along with Kindle they took DT Terrence Cody from Alabama. The Ravens are hoping that these 2 draft picks will help their secondary as they put more pressure on the opposing quarterbacks.

This may be a pre-season game, but you can surely expect tons of intensity as these teams look to size themselves to their competition prior to the start of the season. Tune in Saturday as the Ravens host the Giants in a match-up of top notch defenses.

Similar teams, similar expectations: Miami vs. Atlanta

Glenn Andrew — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:00:58 +0000

The Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons are in very similar positions heading into the 2010 season. They both finished 2009 with poor seasons. They are both expected to improve this season, and they both were within 50 yards of each other in terms of total offense and total defense last year.

Even though their records weren’t the same (Miami 7-9; Atlanta 9-7) in 2009, the closeness of their starts on both sides of the ball is remarkable. The Dolphins ranked 22nd in total defense last year while the Falcons allowed just 39 less yards and finished 21st. On offense, the Falcons ranked 16th with 5447 total yards, and Miami was just 46 yards behind them as they finished 17th.

The differences in these squads are how they get it done. Miami has a more traditional approach as they pound the ball with a hard nosed running game while the Falcons like to air it out behind the young arm of Matt Ryan. The defensive game plan for these teams is much more consistent. They both rank in the middle-of-the-pack against the rush and pass.

To improve for the upcoming season, Atlanta and Miami have taken very different paths. The Falcons did use their first 2 picks to get LB Sean Witherspoon and DT Corey Peters, but they used their 3rd and 4th picks on offensive guards to try to give Matt Ryan more protection in order to open up the passing game. The Dolphins “wildcat” offense doesn’t require as much pass protection so they used 7 of their 8 picks to get help on defense. Defensive tackle Jared Odrick was taken with Miami’s first pick, and is expected to contribute immediately. They also added a defensive end, two linebackers, cornerback, strong safety and a defensive lineman to their roster via the 2010 NFL Draft.

The majority of football experts (including myself) believe that Atlanta will have the better season this year. I’m not sure what their reasoning is, but I feel that the Falcons have a much easier schedule to navigate in a much more balance division. This isn’t to say that the Dolphins can’t win 10 games and get in the playoffs, but they have a much steeper hill to climb.

These incredibly identical teams in terms of total yardage will face-off Friday in Miami. The Dolphins have had a solid showing thus far as they have won both of their games in the pre-season. They did play 2 struggling teams in the Jaguars and Bucs, but they won with defense one game and with offense the next. If they can figure out a way to get both sides of the ball on the same page, they have the possibility of putting together a surprising year in 2010.

Atlanta has been slated as a 1 point underdog in this contest, but my football pick for this game would be to take the Falcons as they seem to be further along offensively than the Dolphins at this point. This should be a close game that is decided by 4 points or less. Check out this battle of evenly matched teams as they prepare for the regular season.

Colts vs. Packers, Pre-Season Week #3 Shootout!

Tony Bravo — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:55:24 +0000

Tonight’s Colts @Packers game will be a shootout with two of the best QB’s in the NFL. Both Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers figure to play deep into the 2^nd half. Most sports picks sites have posted a high total above 45 for this game. Game #3 of the pre season has always been the game most coaches use to get their starters at least 3 quarters of work. The final game of the pre season has most stars watching the game from the sidelines.

Sports handicappers will finally see these two playoff teams are full strength. Forget that we are still in August both Manning and Rodgers have looked impressive in their limited action. For those who thought Rodgers has a wasted pick 5 years ago have been proven wrong now that the Packer QB has a pair of Pro Bowls appearances under his belt. In just two seasons as the Packer starter Rodgers has show the Packer faithful that the team in good hands for the next 10 years.

Both teams have the offense to make a Super Bowl run, they need to show they have the defense to play with the elite teams in the NFL. Green Bay has been focusing on defense the last few drafts. That strategy has worked as the packers have climbed to the top of the defensive charts. Indianapolis has defensive playmakers but they have always had the fineness label on their defensive unit. Colts need to be able to play smash mouth football with teams that want to run the football. Tonight game will show us witch defensive unit looks like it’s ready for the start of the season.

Colts vs. Packers: Potential Super Bowl Preview?

Glenn Andrew — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:00:08 +0000

Two of the top quarterbacks in the NFL will go head to head Thursday night as Peyton Manning and Indianapolis Colts take on Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay Packers. Rodgers has proven to be one of the best signal callers in the league after spending several years behind Brett Favre. Manning has been the face of the league for 12 years, and is expected to win every time he’s on the field. This will be an aerial assault as both of the top rated QB’s will play for at least the entire first half. At this point of the pre-season, teams are looking to get a true feel in regards to how they match-up to the rest of the league.

Manning has the confidence and ability to lead his team to another Super Bowl title. He’s been their twice, and is considered by many NFL experts to be the best quarterback of our time and possibly ever. It’s my opinion that he will need to get 1 or possibly 2 more Super Bowl wins to be put in the same class as Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, and Johnny Unitas. It’s even debatable that Manning may be the second best quarterback of the 21st Century as Tom Brady has 2 more Championships, and has been far more competitive in the playoffs. Either way, Manning is an elite player that has tremendous drive and passion for the game.

The Indianapolis offensive attack is loaded once again as all of their leaders in rushing and receiving are back for the 2010 season. The running game is led by Joseph Addai with Donald Brown being used as a solid back-up. Addai’s yards per carry weren’t very impressive (3.8 ypr), but he does more than enough to keep opposing defenses respect as he rushed for 10 touchdowns last year. While Manning can make any receiver look good, he is fortunate to have a trio of wide-outs that compliment his passing game with incredible athleticism and route running. Reggie Wayne is one of the top-5 receivers in the league, but much of his success last year was due to defenses paying a lot of attention to Pierre Garson and Austin Collie. The kicker for this offense is that Manning also has the luxury of throwing to perhaps the best tight end in the league. Dallas Clark caught 100 passes for 1106 yards in 2010. His 10 touchdowns tied Wayne for team high, and his chemistry with Manning is uncanny. Expect much of the same this season offensively from the Colts as they push defenses around with a well balanced attack.

Green Bay has made huge strides over the last few seasons under Rodgers, and will do so again this year. I believe that Rodgers is capable of being the leagues MVP. Why not? He has a 1200+ yard back in Ryan Grant, 2 top flight receivers in Greg Jennings and Donald Driver and a tremendous 3rd year tight end in Jermichael Finley. Rodgers elusiveness allows him and his receivers more time to make plays. This has been a huge key for the Packers offense.

Rodgers has improved steadily through the last 2 seasons. After falling in the draft in 2005, it was thought by football analysts that he wouldn’t be good enough to lead a team. Now that many NFL picks for 2010 have the Packers finishing with 10-11 wins, it seems as though he’s proven them wrong. His phenomenal 2009 season included passing for 4434 yards, 30 TD’s to just 7 interceptions, a 64.7 completion percentage and a quarterback rating of 103.2. He has become a fantasy league owners dream, and will be as good if not better this season.

This may not be as exciting as a regular season game, but there is no question that both of these squads will be playing all out as they try to get fine tuned for the regular season. Check out this match-up between 2 of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.