New England signed free agent veteran cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden. Miami went the younger route and drafted Vonta Davis and Sean Smith.

Being division neighbors means they play almost the exact out of division opponents, save for Denver and Baltimore for the Patriots and San Diego and Pittsburgh for the Dolphins. Otherwise they both play the AFC South and NFC South.

Most of these teams feature large wide outs that are very tough to handle without the proper equipment: Atlanta’s Michael Jenkins (6’4” 217), New Orleans’ Marques Colston (6’4” 225), and Houston’s Andre Johnson (6’3” 225) to name a few.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff Week 9"

A slew of division match-ups are highlighted in this week’s NFL schedule. First place is up for grabs in the NFC East and one team hopes to avoid falling further behind the Colts in the AFC South. What games should you be watching? Find out in the Opening Drive of week nine!

(4-3) Baltimore Ravens at (5-2) Cincinnati Bengals

With the Ravens, Bengals and Steelers all making a case for their place atop the AFC North, this game will go a long way in deciding the final two. If Baltimore is swept by Cincinnati, they’ll drop back to .500 while the Bengals and Steelers fight it out. The Ravens dominated Denver in the second half of last week’s game, thanks to Joe Flacco’s efficiency with the football. He’ll need a repeat performance if he’s going to keep up with Carson Palmer, who is playing on a Pro Bowl level. Both offenses have depending on a balanced attack, so look for each defense to shut down the run.

Continue reading "Joes Opening Drive Week 9"

This year New England fans will have a tough time rationalizing Patriot players worthy of being selected. The offense’s big three of QB Tom Brady and WRs Randy Moss and Wes Welker will get their share of votes. Beyond them…good luck.

As much as we like ILB Jerod Mayo, his injury set him back. He’s eighth on the team in tackles. No one from the front seven has a chance of getting voted in.

And even though safetys Brandon McGowan and Brandon Merriweather are playing well, the star power at the position in the AFC (Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu, Baltimore’s Ed Reed and Indianapolis’ Bob Sanders) might keep either out, as well as costing each other votes.

Continue reading "Pro Bowl Ben"

(5-2) Pittsburgh Steelers 27
(6-1) Minnesota Vikings 17 

It’s about time I see Brett Favre being Brett Favre. That fourth quarter fumble and tipped pass/interception cost the Vikings another comeback win and an undefeated season. For shame. You should probably run Adrian Peterson more and stop 40-year old Favre from passing 51 times. Just a thought. Without Antoine Winfield, the Vikings’ secondary and run support is nowhere near as intimidating. Ben Ben and the Steelers are back in the division running after troubles the first weeks of the season. Troy Polamalu is all the difference in the Pittsburgh D.

Continue reading "Joes Final Drive Week 7"

Um… I struggled to find six games with real significant drama. Bob Sanders will return to the Colts, but it’s against the lowly Rams! The Packers face the bumbling Browns, New England faces winless Tampa Bay in London, and Buffalo takes on Carolina. *shudder* Here’s the best of week seven in my Opening Drive! 

(6-0) Minnesota Vikings at (4-2) Pittsburgh Steelers 

So in spite of their early problems while without Troy Polamalu, the Steelers have emerged 4-2, trailing a half game behind the Bengals for the division lead. They welcome in the still streaking Vikings, who are making the rounds on the Brett Favre victory tour. Polamalu practiced this week and is expected to play, which should healthily improve the Steelers’ run and pass defense. Against Favre and Adrian Peterson, they’ll need Troy at his best. With Ben Roethlisberger coming off a 400-yard passing game of his own and Vikings Pro Bowl corner Antoine Winfield doubtful with a foot injury, this has potential to turn into a shoot-out. 

Continue reading "Joes Opening Drive Week 7"

(3-3) Houston Texans 28
(4-2) Cincinnati Bengals 17 

Every once in a while, Houston goes ballistic and puts up mega-points. Matt Schaub once again proves he’s a fantastic fantasy QB… five games a season. The Bengals aren’t an elite team, so you had to expect a letdown eventually after winning four straight. Now they dropped back with Pittsburgh, who are also 4-2, but technically behind since the Bengals beat them head-to-head.  

(6-0) Minnesota Vikings 33
(3-3) Baltimore Ravens 31 

Why won’t anyone beat the Vikings?! Steven Hauschka’s missed 44-yard field goal keeps the legend of Brett Favre in Minnesota going strong for another week. Who thought that the Baltimore defense would be the team’s weakness this season? They don’t deserve to be called “good” with the amount of points they’re allowing. Take that Ray Lewis.

Continue reading "Joes Final Drive Week 6"

Week 7: @ Houston Texans. This should be an interesting game. The Texans run defense has been suspect all season, and as you may well be aware, Mike Singletary is an "Old-School"-run-the-ball-play-tough-defense kind of coach. The 49ers will hopefully be welcoming back Frank Gore (he has been looking good in practice all week) who will be chomping at the bit to get the ball. Look for the 49ers to pound the ball early to get Gore going, and then use him to stretch the defense with screens and dump-offs, eventually leading to some playaction passes. The Texans have the weapons to put up some points, so it will up to Nate Clements to lock down Andre Johnson, and Patrick Willis to supply decent pressure.

Continue reading "Bye Week Blitz"

It's been an interesting NFL Sunday thus far, so I had the urge to get my two cents in on the day's events. First thing that comes to my mind, it's going right into this post...

-New York football is riding high, as both the Jets and Giants have improved to 3-0. The Giants had a walk in the park against the laughable Tampa Bay Bucs, but the Jets had to work extremely hard for their victory against the desperate Tennessee Titans. Rex Ryan's boys (and my favorite team) certainly earned the win, but Tennessee's wide receiver drops had a little something to do with it. Kerry Collins' statistics were very misleading today; he actually played well. 

-My preseason predictions suggested a bit of a surprising season for the Washington Redskins in the NFC East, but the surprise is how BAD they are. Congrats to the Detroit Lions on breaking their seemingly endless losing streak against the 'Skins. Jim Zorn's crew had the opportunity to steal away the victory in the late fourth, but Detroit held its ground. Washington simply doesn't have the weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Clinton Portis played banged up but didn't provide much. 

Continue reading "NFL Week 3 Notes and Commentary"

Today is Saturday September 26, 2009 so you have a little more than 24 hours to get your fantasy act together or you may end up with that crucial week 3 L.  

It has been a very interesting week in fantasy land for me.  Lots of wheeling and dealing, some unfortunate attempts at cheating and a hazy injury to Marion the Barbarian.  Let’s begin with this “cheating” situation:

So, I am in a random NFL.com fantasy football league. We’ll call it the “Bush League” which is a very appropriate title for so many reasons.  One great fantasy insight that I’ve picked up this year is setting up my fantasy alerts.  (In most leagues you can set up regular e-mail alerts that notify you of a player’s status, league transactions, starting line-ups, trades, etc).  These alerts are very useful because it allows me to check on important league activity without having to log into the site every five minutes.  My fantasy alerts proved to be very useful this week. 

Continue reading "Welcome to Fantasy Land"

Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers

In the Thursday night season opener, we get what should have been last season’s AFC Championship match-up. The eventual Super Bowl winner Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to make another deep postseason run, and they’re talented enough to do it. Running back Rashard Mendenhall is back after spending most of last year on IR with a shoulder injury. During this campaign he’ll begin to see more carries each week as an eventual successor to Willie Parker. Ben Roethlisberger may still have a lot on his mind, but beating the Titans on national TV may cure what ails him. (For now anyway.)

Continue reading "Joes Opening Drive Week 1"