Senin, 31 Oktober 2011
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Kamis, 27 Oktober 2011
Week Eight NFL picks
So I get to move another one of my regular NFL columns to a new site. Since I am no longer working for that other site we will be starting fresh with the games on week number eight. Here is what I think about the week eight NFL games.
1.
The Ravens lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars last Monday night, and they will be looking to make a statement. They play very well at home. The best cure for a passing game that hasn't performed all that well is a game against the Cardinals. I got the Ravens winning this one convincingly.
2.
At this point, I would not pick the Vikings to beat a squad of girls or a flag football contest. They suck out loud and have never one a game in
3.
Yes, the Jaguars won on Monday night. However, they are still a bad team. The Texans need this game more and are the home team. Not to mention they have RB Arian Foster. I got the Texans in this one in a loss that will put Jack Del Rio's but on the hot seat.
4.
The Dolphins are a bad football team and the suck for luck controversy is sure to continue. They have no reason to win this game and if they were at home, I would be picking them to lose big. As it stands, I cannot see the Dolphins scoring more than 10 points and that will not get it done against the Giants.
5.
The Rams are terrible defensively and the Saints have a high-powered offense. For me that means the Saints blow out the Rams at home.
6.
Two very bad offenses, but the Colts have a bigger reason to lose this game so the can continue to “suck for Luck”. I will not be watching this game and it could be another crappy 6-3 game. I got the Titans in this one but a little bit.
7.
Normally when the Bills play in
8.
This is a tough one. The Lions are 3-0 on the road, but have lost two straight. The Broncos have Tim Tebow who is really good for one drive a game. Tebow's mobility is a problem for the Lions but I think the y get their season back on track with a fourth road win.
9. New England Patriots at
This is a simple one Tom Brady owns the Pittsburgh Steelers even when they have a legit dominating defense. I got the Pats by a bunch in this one.
10.
The
11.
I am not a believer in the Browns, and think they have large problems. The 49ers are coming off a bye and will not play down to them. It will be on the
12.
This is a tough one. I am not a big believer in either of these teams. The Eagles can gain a lot of yards, but they turn the ball over a lot.
13.
If this game were anywhere else, I would stick with the Chargers. However, the Chiefs run the ball well even without Jamal Charles. The Chargers have issues in run defense and added to the noise of Arrowhead Stadium I think the Chiefs win a close one.
Rabu, 26 Oktober 2011
Can the UFL survive once again?
Over the pat year, I have written a number of posts declaring the UFL either dead or on its deathbed. Some how this little league that could finds a way to come back, despite reports all over the web that they have failed to pay their bills and even some of their employees. Now I find in posts on profootballtalk.com and the UFL league site that the UFL owners remain committed and will return in 2012.
That seems pretty unreasonable since all this league has done since its inception is lose money, and blunder there way through three seasons. When the pulled the plug on the 2011 season halfway through that looked to be the final deathblow. Now it appears the UFL is willing not only to come back, but also to switch to a spring schedule where they could actually make some head way.
The thing they have going for them is the on the field product is good. It is good football and people will flock to good football especially in the spring. They have identified several good markets for themselves and if they keep on working that, they could very well survive and even thrive.
Of course, the other side of this coin is NFL Commish Roger Goodell told the press in
Of course, the NFL would have to learn the mistakes of NFL Europa. First and foremost, they would have to make a rule that every member of a team’s practice squad must play in this league. It will not work having each team send one player. NFL Europe helped the NFL develop a number of quality players and a spring based UFL developmental league could very well do the same.
Of course, to accommodate all those practice squad players, and all of the not quite ready for the NFL players coming out of college the UFL would have to field more than four teams. It seems that eight teams would be the minimum number needed to make something like this viable. That of course would mean the UFL would have to find at least four more markets where their teams could thrive. They seem very interested in
The thing to remember here is Goodell wants a player development league that is not commercial, that is in one location ala the NFL Scouting Combine and annual Senior Bowl in
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Selasa, 25 Oktober 2011
What is wrong with the Cleveland Browns?
The Cleveland Browns are probably the worst 3-3 team I have ever seen in twenty plus years of watching NFL football and now six writing about it. They are one of the few teams I have seen play live in their own building this year (thanks to my membership in a Browns Backer club). The question has got to be what is wrong with this team, if anything?
I think the Browns have a number of problems. The offense is not very good, and is adapting to a new offense. New Head Coach Pat Shurmur has changed a lot of things and I am not a big believer in the Head Coach taking on the offensive coordinator job as well. It seems evident that Shurmur is overmatched as an offensive play caller. They rank 27th in points scored averaging just 16.2 points per game. They are averaging over 300 yards of total offense a game, but that has them ranked just 23rd. They rank 22nd in passing yards per game and just 29th in rushing yards.
Of course the bigger problem here may be the attitude of RB Peyton Hillis. I truly believe, despite what many of my Browns Backer friend think (granted they have rooted for this team far longer than I have), that Hillis has let his 2010 success and his presence on the Madden Cover to go to his head. I also happen to think his agent is not doing him nay favors, and that this situation has severely distracted a pretty young locker room. That is all bad.
Beyond the questions about Colt McCoy who is having a pretty forgettable sophomore campaign. He has 14 passing TD's but has also thrown 13 picks. I really think that this team has a wide receiver problem. Greg Little and Joshua Cribbs have talent, but they do not have a wide out who can stretch the field. Little is averaging less than 10 yards a completion and looks to be an ok piece, but this is an offense that still needs a legit deep threat. Cribbs feels like more of a game changer than a legit wide out talent and is only averaging 12.8 yards per catch. Mohamed Massaquuoi drops a lot of passes put is averaging 13.3 yards per catch. However it does not feel like enough.
Sure, some of those numbers may be due to McCoy's arm. At this point this team and its fans have to question everything. However, it does not look like they go down the field enough, and the problems with Hillis are disturbing the flow of the running attack. I truly believe that the offense is the problem here.
The defense, under Dick Jauron, is fifth in total average yards allowed at 291 per game. They are second in passing yard allowed where they give up just 172 yards through the air on average. However they are 19th in rush defense and that speaks to a weaker LB corps or problems along the Defensive Line. That could be explained away by the switch to the 4-3 scheme and the fact that two rookies are starting on the D line.
We see this a lot, teams that look pretty good one year taking a big step back the next. We have also seen new Head Coaches come to teams, and those rosters take a little bit of time to get use to new systems and new expectations. In the end that is what I see when I look at the 2011 Cleveland Browns.
Before I made a final decision on Colt McCoy I would like to see this team get him some legit talent in the WR corps and see if that makes the difference. Of course the Browns have not had a ton of luck in developing young QB's recently.
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Senin, 24 Oktober 2011
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Selasa, 18 Oktober 2011
The Oakland Raiders trade for Carson Palmer
So The Oakland Raiders, motivated by an injury to QB Jason Campbell, traded a 2012 first round pick and a 2013 second round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for QB Carson Palmer. That 2013 pick could become a first round pick if the Raiders win a divisional round playoff game. For those keeping score at home that means the Raiders now have a 2012 first round, 2012 third round, 2012 fourth round, and a 2013 second round pick tied up in the three QB's on their roster.
Normally I would not be so harsh on them, but that seems like an incredible investment in QB's with no real proof that any of these decisions are going to work out. They gave up a fourth round pick in next year's draft for Jason Campbell. He has performed pretty well, and an injury is hard to avoid. However, with Palmer and Pryor on the roster he will not be back in
However, they have already used a 2012 third round pick for Terrell Pryor. Now with Palmer on the roster Pryor becomes the backup. A fourth round pick by itself is not a terrible price to pay for a good backup, but we do not know if he will be a good backup yet. Having Palmer on the roster would seem to limit the amount of snaps he can take, as Palmer will have to be rushed through his learning of the Raider offense. Granted Kyle Boller is not the answer and some sort of move had to be made.
We could even excuse the trading of a first round pick for Palmer if he can come in and be effective, but that is hardly a guarantee. The point here is none of these moves by themselves should be cause to waive a red flag, but with all the Raiders trades, they now have no picks in the 2012 NFL draft until round five. For a relatively good team that looks to be close to doing something special that could severely set this team back in the future. Of course, it could also put them over the top.
Let us not forget that the Raiders did not trade for the Palmer we saw in 2005 and 2006. No, they traded for a 31-year-old guy who has not looked all that great over the last two years. Over the past two seasons, he has thrown 47 TD's and 33 picks. Those are not great numbers. His QB rating has not been above 85.0 in those years, and there are very real questions about his arm strength.
The better news here is in both of those years he threw for more than 3,000 yards and completed more than 60% of his passes. If he can do that for the Raiders than they may end looking all right. However, while the Raiders are certainly a good team I do not know if going all in (in terms of draft picks) on a trio of QB's for team that is as far away as this team feels is a great policy.
Of course, I could be wrong and Palmer and Pryor could ignite the Raiders to a strong post-season run, which of course would cost the team a first round pick in 2013. We will have to wait and see on this one.
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