Nope. No Chance. Rex Ryan can run his mouth all he wants this week. Pittsburgh is not New England.  You want bulletin board material Rex?  Keep running your big mouth, you will get some this week.  As far as the upcoming game itself goes, Pittsburgh should win by at least ten, and I have good logic as to why.

Brad Smith (featured in video) might suit up, but he is hurting.  Without Brad Smith, the Jets can’t run anything but a base offense.  They tried to use LaDanian Tomlinson on a direct snap (which he dropped) but Smith is the catalyst in the bland Jets attack.  Smith not being there to return kickoffs and punts won’t help the Jets cause either.

Say what you want to about Ben Roethlisberger, make all the jokes you want.  The guy doesn’t have the gaudy Drew Brees statistics or the flashy Michael Vick mobility.  He does, however, have a ring.  He knows what it takes to hoist the victors chalice in February, and that experience is something that Mark Sanchez does not have.

Rashard Mendenhall looked possessed in the second half against a Ravens defense very similar to the Jets.  LaDanian Tomlinson looked tired for the most part, like San Diego actually knew what they were doing when they dumped him.

The home team is usually worth three points in any game.  When the visiting team’s coach needs to try to verbally intimidate the capable opponent, that spread moves.  Pittsburgh is a prideful organization that will not turn their heads and take the high road via Bill and his Patriots, Big Rex starts barking stupid comments to the media this week.

Final Score:  Pittsburgh 27, New York 15.

If the New Orleans Saints are going to have any chance at a repeat, they will be doing it with smoke and mirrors.  Sunday, the Saints dropped a game to Tampa Bay, 23-13.  The loss was costly for the Saints because Malcolm Jenkins lecft the game injured in the first period and Christopher Ivory injured his left leg later in the first half.  The Saints will travel to either Saint Louis to face the Rams or Seattle to challenge the Seahawks in the playoffs depending on who wins that game.

The Saints have been winning without a healthy roster the entire season.  Jeremy Shockey, Reggie Bush, and Pierre Thomas have missed more games than they have played in this season.  Shockey’s backup, David Thomas, has also missed plenty of games.

So does all this mean that Drew Brees is that good?  With virtually no running game all year, the Saints managed to win and locked up a playoff berth in Week 16, mostly thanks to Brees.  Brees had an uncharacteristic year in the interception category  with over 20, but when every team you play is blitzing every down because they know a team has no running game, he put up remarkable statistics anyway.

Sean Payton sat Brees in the fourth quarter against Tampa to not risk Brees’ health.  Chase Daniels got a couple of series as the Saints signal-caller because Payton knew that Atlanta had Carolina salted away and there was nothing to truly gain by winning this game.  The Saints will play a wild card game next week.  Marques Colston did not dress, and his status remains unknown for that playoff game.

Smoke and mirrors are used in magic, not the NFL, but if the Saints get there, Drew Brees can change his name to David Copperfield.

Before New England Patriots fans start pouting about how Tom Brady can’t be denied the biggest individual award in pro football, read this whole article objectively.

The jokes have been made since Michael Vick was arraigned on dogfighting charges in August of 2007.  Seemingly, Vick’s career was doomed and he would never prosper under center, not in this league because of what he had done.  Philadelphia had the guts to take a chance on Vick after Tony Dungy went through great lengths to make sure the Virginia Tech alum could handle things.  Andy Reid would never admit it, but Michael Vick has saved his frequently teetering hide again.

All Vick has done this season is rack up 2,755 passing yards heading into Tuesday’s game with Minnesota.  He is 208 of 329 (63.2%) and most of his passes fly more than ten yards in the air Brady fans.  He has compiled 20 touchdowns and he missed three games.  Oh yeah, he has also racked up 613 yards on the ground, averaging 6.7 per carry, and 8 touchdowns.  He is the prototype of what a dual-threat quarterback is, and if I had a vote he would be the NFL MVP.

MVP? Goes to the most valuable player of any team last time I checked.  I know his statistics are down the ladder a bit, but remember not so long ago when Kevin Kolb was supposed to tear this league up?  Kolb’s ineffectiveness and Vick getting an opportunity have parlayed into a great story for Philadelphia Eagles fans.  Without Vick, Philly has no shot of being where they are at, none.  Fact, not opinion.

Michael Vick is inspiring anyone who ever made a mistake in their life (I know, nobody comes to mind in the NFL other than Vick) to try harder to do better.  If I had a vote, I would check Vick’s name.  He is, without a doubt, the player who has meant the most to a team this season.

Like a perfect storm, things are going to be falling into place for The Pittsburgh Steelers just in time to make a run at an AFC Championship and possibly another Super Bowl.

Everyone wrote Pittsburgh off during the preseason when it was determined that Ben Roethlisberger would be suspended for the early part of the Steeler season.  People in Cleveland and Cincinnati enjoyed the fact that Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon would have to start at QB and took endless shots at Big Ben.  Somehow, that tandem accomplished three victories in four games to get to the bye week and work Roethlisberger back into the fold.

Troy Polamalu and Heath Miller are going to be ready to roll for the playoffs.  Miller was cleared for the two remaining regular season games against Carolina and Cleveland.  All of the pieces seem to be fitting as the Steelers march on.  Polamalu is a game changer, a dominant defensive back who can change a game at any time, on any day.  If Miller played against the Jets last week, Pittsburgh wins the game.

I am not a Steeler fan, but have marveled at how this team hits on all cylinders when the time is right.  They may be the most opportunistic franchise in any sport.

This could be it for Hines Ward, a final hurrah.  The new blood that is Mike Wallace (53 catches, 1,048 yards) and Rashard Mendenhall (1,173 yards, 83.8 yards per game) can carry Pittsburgh, but the strength of Mike Tomlin’s team is a stingy defense.  Lawrence Timmons is unheralded yet has 121 tackles.  James Harrison gets fined when he sneezes, and arguably could care less.  LaMarr Woodley (8.5 sacks) has another gear that people will see real soon.

This is as good of a “team” as there is.  When the bulk of that group is healthy, they are as good as anyone in the NFL.

]]> http://smf.neswblogs.com/2010/12/beware-the-pittsburgh-steelers/feed/ 0 http://smf.neswblogs.com/2010/12/beware-the-pittsburgh-steelers/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/StacheMouthFootball/~3/ZU73PhEtJdI/ http://smf.neswblogs.com/2010/09/introducing-fanduel-and-daily-fantasy-football/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:46:06 +0000 Ethan Jaynes http://smf.neswblogs.com/?p=237
Introducing Fanduel and Daily Fantasy Football

The following is a new venture my good bud, Injury Rate, is doing. I’ll let him explain it

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FanDuel, the daily fantasy sports site, is having a $50,000 NFL fantasy football championship this fall. Some of you are probably thinking, what the heck is FanDuel? And most of you are probably thinking what is daily fantasy? Well, FanDuel is a site that does only single-day fantasy contests, either head-to-head or in leagues of 5 to 10 people. However, instead of the customary season long fantasy contest, FanDuel does it in one day. Most importantly, FanDuel does a salary cap draft, so you can select your players any time you want, and you don’t need anyone you’re playing against to be present.

Ok, great, but what about this $50,000 NFL fantasy football championship? The contest operates the same way as FanDuel’s daily league games – as in it’s multiple people facing off in a one day contest. However, the difference with the NFL fantasy football championship is that there’s no limit to how many people can enter the contest. It’s basically a league game that has no limit. So there could be 57 people in the NFL contest game during Week 1. Or 200.

The contest consists of the first 10 weeks of the NFL season and you can play as many or as few of those weeks as you want to. For each week of the first 10 weeks of the NFL season, one overall winner will come out on top (there are plenty of cash bonuses for the runner-ups, by the way). The overall winners for each of those 10 weeks are then headed on an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas, where they’ll have the chance to vie for $40,000 on Dec. 5th. Yep, on Dec. 5th, in one last league game, the 10 overall winners will square off. The winner pockets $25,000, second place gets $10,000 and third place $5,000. Not too shabby.

So check it out and see if you can make it to Vegas and take home $25,000.

Haynesworth is simply pouting.  He doesn’t like the plans Coach Shanahan has for the defense, and the new 3-4 defense alignment which has him lining up in scrimmage in the nose tackle position.  Yes, he can be a thoroughly menacing player, but his frequent injuries left the Redskins wanting for a decent performance from their high priced player.   Now his attitude that he doesn’t need to work with his team has players, coaches and fans wonder if he will even show up for training camp at the end of the month.

Prima Donnas who seem to think themselves above the law are rampant.  Headlines of this running back or that wide receiver being found with a gun, driving drunk, or beating on their spouse are as common place as hurricanes and tornados at this time of year.  In fact, the similarities don’t end there.  A wayward football player stepping over to the wrong side of the law can seem like a hurricane to a team trying to focus and establish plays and routines for the coming season.  Just ask the Oakland Raiders how they feel about the former number one pick, JaMarcus Russell. 

Of course, there are always the “will he retire or won’t he” players like Brett Favre, who hasn’t yet decided what the 2010 season holds.  He did the same thing last year, leaving his team hanging while he weighed his options.  Will Brett play for one more year?  No one knows yet, maybe not even Brett himself, although one would think his intentions for the coming year are clear, at least in his own mind.  Chris Samuels, on the other hand, realised his career as an NFL player was at an end and announced his retirement.

The question is, however, are these players really “all that”?    Do they have the right to treat their fellow players, their coaching staff and their team owners with such disdain and disrespect?

Many of the fans say no.

In fact, I’ve heard it suggested more than once that this group of miscreants should be assigned to play on their own team.  Surely there are enough of them to make a full roster.  In fact, there might be an abundance of players for this particular team.  They could be assigned to Alcatraz Island, a location that would suit them perfectly.  Of course, I know the island is no longer used as a prison, however, the location itself is just too perfect to ignore.  They could be given the name the Alcatraz Asses and have the donkey as their team mascot and symbol.

Ridiculous? Well of course it is, but the behaviors of certain players is unfair to their teams, the owners and especially to the fans.  The owners deserve to have players who show up to play football as do the fans.

After a trade between the Broncos and Browns, it looks like Brady Quinn will be the next one challenging Kyle Orton for the starting QB job in Denver. The Broncos gave up fullback Peyton Hillis and a couple draft picks for Quinn, who was a first round pick in 2007.

Quinn’s career QB rating is a paltry 67.2, and he has had a difficult time adjusting to the NFL after being coddled and overrated at Notre Dame. In 14 games over 3 seasons, he has 10 TD passes and 9 interceptions. That’s less TD passes than embarrassing pictures… like the one above. And the ones below.

The highlight of his career thus far has been when a homosexual dating site thought highly enough of him to pirate his picture for their advertising.

We’ll see if he can do any better in Denver, where Jay Cutler and Kyle Orton both experienced some success. Well… more success than they each had with the Bears, at least. It’s a better situation for him than Cleveland, where apparently the signing of interception machine Jake Delhomme made Quinn expendable.

In my book, everyone’s a winner in this deal. The Browns get SOMETHING for Brady Quinn, the Broncos get a little QB competition for cheap, and Jake Delhomme gets the chance to embarrass himself once again on a terrible team. I’m sure he’ll get as many interceptions as he could possibly want, with the Browns.

Last time, it was Andrea McNulty, who seems a bit off her rocker, and her story didn’t exactly hold up. This time, the incident was reported immediately to the police, and they’ve already questioned the Steelers’ QB about it.

So exactly why is this wealthy NFL star resorting to such despicable behavior? Personally, I think the answer is clear. He has a strong sense of entitlement, as a professional athlete, and feels like he should be able to get any girl he wants. Unfortunately for him, he’s a hideously ugly man. Some ladies (most from Pittsburgh) will try to deny it, but there’s really no getting around it. Ben is an ugly man. So he probably gets turned down a lot more than his less ogre-ish counterparts. This leads to frustration on his part, and so he feels like the only way he’ll get what he wants is to take it.

I was willing to let the first one slide. Some women are just trying to take advantage of athletes, and these things happen. But when it happens again, you have to look at the guy a little differently. Even if he’s not out sexually assaulting women, he’s at least idiotic enough to put himself in terrible positions like this, and leave himself open to these allegations.

We’ll see what comes of this, but perhaps it’s time for the Steelers to lay down the law, and let him know that if he can’t keep his nose clean, they’ll find someone who can. There are a dozen other QB’s in the league who could do what he does… and they can do it without all the distractions of sexual assault charges.

Michael Vick will be picking up his Ed Block Courage Award on Tuesday. I won’t even go into my thoughts on the many reasons he doesn’t deserve the award, but I think it’s safe to say that most people with a functioning brain would agree with me on that. Going back to playing professional football in the face of a bunch of PETA hatred isn’t “courage”. It’s what every other ex-convict WISHES he could do. If you’re blessed with the athletic ability that Vick has, I would even go so far as to say it’s EASY. But anyway, enough of my ranting. Vick will be picking up the award on Tuesday, along with a member of each NFL team, and they’ve already had to change the rules for him, because crown reaction might be a little different from the norm. No more autographs, no more meet-and-greets… just another stuffy awards ceremony for guys who get accolades heaped on them on a nearly daily basis.

More interesting notes:

Shutdown Corner takes a look at some of the best free agents that could help your team this year, both on offense and defense.

Some of the latest rumors (nothing concrete here, folks): Julius Peppers and/or Darren Sproles to the Panthers, Peppers to the Redskins, Donovan McNabb to the Rams (in a trade), Adalius Thomas to the Dolphins, Darren Sharper to the Giants, every linebacker available to the Broncos. Once the bidding opens up, things are going to get interesting very quickly.

As exciting as free agency is, nothing compares to the NFL Draft. The post-combine hype right now is incredible. People are even paying $160 for a chance to get an autograph from future 2nd or 3rd round pick and NFL nobody Tim Tebow.

The always entertaining KSK gives us an interesting profile on one of my favorite prospects (for me to poop on), Jimmy Clausen.

Speaking of Clausen, the Redskins appear to be a little more interested in him than they should. I’m not saying Jason Campbell is the best thing since sliced bread, but when your offensive line is among the worst in the league, doesn’t it make sense to get some protection before you throw another QB to the wolves?

Brady Quinn is on the trading block again (or still)? I’m interested to see which team(s) will continue to think this guy has a future in the NFL. In case you can’t tell from my tone, I don’t think he does. He was overrated coming out of college, and makes up for his fragile mental makeup with far too much gym time than a QB should ever bother with. If he spent half as much time studying film as he did in the weight room, he’d be a lot better off.

Last but not least, Chad Ochocinco is the latest in a series of viral ads from Reebok. They’re… ummm… provocative, to say the least.

After nine years with the San Diego Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson has been released by the team.  He was tearful as he bid good-bye to the place he has called home for almost a decade.  At 30 years of age, with several injuries slowing him, LT has become what many people view as a typical NFL veteran, bruised, battered and beat up.

But is his career over?

Rumors flew last week that Drew Brees was lobbying for LT to move to the New Orleans Saints, but honestly, the Saints don’t need him.  They showed last season that they have a very well-oiled machine when it comes to their offence.  They don’t have anyone they would want to sit, should they hire LT.  Plus there is the issue of the salary cap.  It just wouldn’t work for LT to go to New Orleans.

However, the Washington Redskins are building.  Coach Mike Shanahan has had more than a full-time job in this off season, negotiating, wrangling and strengthening his team.   He has made it his business to ensure he has the very best team he can possibly arrange heading to the 2010 pre-season and beyond.  Why not add another brick to that foundation?

LaDainian Tomlinson was instrumental in making the San Diego Chargers the strong team they are today.  Who can forget  2006, his best yet, when he was named MVP and set the record for single season touchdowns with 31.  Yes, he was injured in 2009.  However, he should be completely healthy heading into the 2010 season and the Redskins could definitely use a skilled running back.  Clinton Portis has said he is confident he has the number one spot for the ‘Skins, but a little competition for that spot could only be a good thing, in this writer’s opinion.  Ladell Betts was also injured last year, so both his and Portis health could be an issue.

Mike Shanahan has already said he and LT are acquainted and he keeps in touch, following LT’s career.  He has also already said he pays attention to what players do in the off season.  And he’ll be attending the Combine.  The Redskins hold the number 4 pick in the first round, meaning they should have the opportunity to make a strong pick.  They need a quarterback (more about that later) and could go with Colt McCoy if he is still available.  Also, Clemson’s CJ Stiller would be an excellent choice in the running back position, but may not be available by the 4th choice.  Shanahan will likely look at later rounds to find a quality RB, and honestly, so he should.  However, he could also look at LT.  Yes, it may be a stretch, especially given the injuries and that could be the single factor that eliminates him from Shanahan’s sites.  Why add another injured RB to the two he already has?  Surely a healthy younger RB would be a better choice?  Possibly, but a younger running back, fresh out of university will take time to groom.  He will have to adjust to the NFL playing style and it has been said so often that an incredible college player may only achieve MFL mediocrity.   In my opinion, adding LT to the Redskins’ roster and in effect, creating a competition for the starting position,  will only “encourage” the existing players to step up their efforts to be the very best, and that is something the Redskins definitely need.