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Vince Young Questionable for Week 7

Chris P. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:43:05 +0000

Houston, which started off the season hotter than a pistol but has cooled in recent weeks, may catch a break in Week 7 as they face a Tennessee Titans team that may be without quarterback Vince Young (quadriceps).

The Texans’ offense has been hampered by injuries as well, though, as they can’t get a stable corp of receivers on the field from week to week. Ahman Green’s sore knees haven’t helped matters either, but a win against the Titans will do more for those little aches and pains than Aleve ever could.

Game of the Week: Bucs at Lions?

Chris P. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:34:42 +0000

Tampa Bay keeps putting the hurt on their opponents, and much of the credit has to go to the NFL’s best free agent pickup, Jeff Garcia. The 37-year old QB has yet to throw a pick this season, and as a result, he’s led a young team to a surprising 4–2 record.

This week, the Bucs head north to face another surprise in the NFC, the Detroit Lions. The Lions are favored by 1.5 points, and since Tampa Bay won’t have the services of running back Cadillac Williams, Detroit ought to be able to play an aggressive pass defense.

Nostrabombus, who is a much-ballyhooed 0–1 on the season, says to take the Lions… but maybe you should take that with a grain of salt!

Leftwich to Start for Atlanta

Chris P. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:20:55 +0000

I don’t know how Joey Harrington has managed to get such significant playing time in six NFL seasons, but we might be witnessing the end of the line courtesy of the hapless Atlanta Falcons.

This week, free agent pickup Byron Leftwich will get his first start for the Dirty Birds, but don’t go expecting a miracle turnaround in A-town—their O-line has surrendered 21 sacks so far this season, and Leftwich’s mobility has always been an issue.

Week 6 Removed from the Competition

Chris P. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:11:34 +0000

Week 6 proved tumultuous as the entire Pick’em system went down on Thursday morning and remained down until Tuesday of Week 7. In lieu of this, I have decided to remove Week 6 from the competition, most notably because only 35% of the regular contestants were able to make their picks.

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Trent Green Dunzo for the Year

Chris P. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:59:15 +0000

The Miami Dolphins placed starting quarterback Trent Green on Injured Reserve, thus ending his season and possibly his career. On October 7, Green sustained a grade 3 concussion when he was accidentally kneed in the head by Texans’ defensive tackle Travis Johnson.

Replacing Green will be little-known 4^th year veteran Cleo Lemon out of Arkansas State. His backup will be rookie QB John Beck out of BYU.

In other words, the Dolphins are screwed.

Hines Ward “Way Ahead of Schedule”

Chris P. — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:55:29 +0000

Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward can’t say enough about how far he is ahead of the recovery schedule for his sprained right knee.

“It’s day to day, still,” Ward said. “It’s not 100 percent or anything like that. But I think I’m close. I think our policy is that if I can go out there and practice on Friday you go from there. So far, so good. I’m way ahead of schedule.”

Seriously, folks, he’s way ahead of schedule. At this point, plenty of sources are indicating that he’ll see at least some sort of on-field action against the Seahawks.

Rodney Harrison Returns to Pats’ Secondary

Chris P. — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:46:36 +0000

Starting strong safety Rodney Harrison has rejoined the New England Patriots, but it’s unclear whether or not he’ll play this Sunday against Cleveland.

Harrison is returning from a 4-game suspension for using HGH, which is on the NFL banned substances list.

Rookie QB to Start for Buffalo

Chris P. — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:39:08 +0000

Rookie quarterback Trent Edwards will get his second straight start this coming Monday against the red-hot Cowboys. Before you write this guy off as chopped liver, consider this: the Bills got their first W of the season against the Jets last week, and Edwards had the eighth-best passing day in team history.

Now, I’m not saying Buffalo is going to go out and cover the spread against Dallas, but hey—maybe they’ve finally found their first legitimate starter since Drew Bledsoe.

Printable Scoreboards Now Contain Spreads

Chris P. — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:35:51 +0000

Earlier this week, I introduced printable scoreboards, and thanks to user-extraordinaire Keith Petersen, the printouts will now include the spreads of each game. One thing to keep in mind, though, is the fact that all spreads are given relative to the home team (hence the + and - values associated with each spread).

For those of you who like cheat sheets, a positive spread indicates that the home team is the underdog. Obviously, then, a negative spread indicates that the home team is favored in that particular game

49ers LB Manny Lawson Out for Season with Torn ACL

Chris P. — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:34:30 +0000

Manny Lawson, starting linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, will miss the rest of the 2007 because of a torn ACL that he sustained in practice on Wednesday.

The 49ers run a 3–4 defense, which relies on athletic linebackers to excel in pass rushing, pass defense, and stopping the run. Lawson, a first-round draft pick in 2006, was probably the most athletic linebacker on the roster. His replacement will likely be 9-year veteran Hannibal Navies, who clearly believes he can step in and get the job done:

“I’m not just some guy that just got here and all of a sudden needs to be playing,” Navies said. “Obviously, I’ve been in there playing a lot last year in the defense. I know the players, I know the coaches, I know the scheme, so it’s not uncommon.”