April 25, 2024

Mike Wallace Heading to Miami?

 

Many reports are indicating the Miami Dolphins are the most likely place for free agent Mike Wallace to land.  Wallace a New Orleans native is a big fan of warm weather and Miami has plenty of it to offer.  The Dolphins signed Brian Hartline earlier this week to a 5-year $31-million deal to keep him with the team, but the need for more fire power is evident.  If the Dolphins can land a top-flight receiver like Wallace things would certainly be looking up in South Beach.  Free agency begins this coming Tuesday at 4 PM EST so stay tuned.

When you have to go you have to go!

We have all seen players picking their nose or hocking up major loogies on the NFL sidelines, but I personally don’t ever recall a player taking a leak.  San Diego Chargers kicker Nick Novak did just that behind a towel into a Gatorade jug on Sunday during the game against the Denver Broncos.  Denver went on to win the game 16-13 which is probably a good thing for Norv Tuner or he could have dealt with an unpleasant Gatorade shower.

It’s Here! It’s Really Here! Well Almost!

Fore score and 6 months and 5 days ago we watched the last televised football game of of any consequence.  That makes this Thursday so stupendous because it brings us the first nationally televised football game since the Super Bowl on February 6th. Take a deep breath though since it is only preseason and we will have to endure 4 weeks of meaningless scrums before the real thing begins in 28 days. Then on September 8th we will get to enjoy a game at Lambeau pitting the last two Super Bowl Champs Saints and Packers against each other.

This year it is more than preseason though because it is the end of a long battle between NFL owners and players. The time has come to study long and hard on who you want to take in the 12th round of your fantasy football draft and to determine if this is the year you upgrade your television for your NFL watching enjoyment. In the last three weeks there has been a whirlwind of free-agent signings and looking forward there is a strong possibility of injuries which should lead to a wild and wacky season. It’s almost time to defrost the frozen potato skins, DiGiorno pizzas and buffalo wings because it’s time for FOOTBALL!

Thursday 8/11
Jax @ NE 7:30 PM EST
Balt @ (Dream Team) aka Philly 7:30 PM EST
Seat @ SD 8:00 PM EST on ESPN
Den @ Dall 8:30 PM EST
Ari @ Oak 10:00 PM EST

We Have Some NFL Games to Watch

The NFL has turned out to be a version of Storage Wars or a Forrest Gump box o’ chocolates because you just don’t know what you are gonna get. I mean who would have thought that Seattle would beat the reigning NFL champs and who believed that Green Bay would beat Mike Vick and Philly last weekend? This past weekend we had the Packers and Jets go on the road for the second consecutive and week win outright.

Now this upcoming weekend we have the oldest rivalry in all of the NFL between the Packers and Bears who will battle for a birth to the Super Bowl. This will be the third straight road game in the Playoffs for Green Bay. The New York Jets will also play in their third straight road game at Pittsburgh. I will give you my predictions later this week, but no matter who wins in either game we should have an exciting match-up for Super Bowl XLV.

Fragile Stafford

If you didn’t see the latter part of the Jets and Lions game this past Sunday than you missed Matt Stafford’s right shoulder getting crunched for the second time this year. News out of Detroit today points to Stafford being done for the season due to a Grade 3 separation of the shoulder. Now the question needs to be asked is Stafford very unlucky or is he more fragile than fine china? Stafford signed a six-year deal for $41.7 million last year, but has only played in 13 games to date. The Lions do seem like a team on the rise, but Drew Stanton and/or Shaun Hill aren’t the answer so Stafford must stay healthy.

The NFL is King

So far this year the NFL has had some excellent Monday Night games on TV, but this past Monday was a real stinker. Tennessee and Jacksonville isn’t very appealing to a national audience and quite frankly the Jaguars have a hard time getting people in northern Florida to care about them. Considering the game was a 30-3 blowout one might think the MLB playoff game between the nationally loved Yankees and the Texas Rangers would win in the TV ratings, right? WRONG! The abysmal MNF matchup was watched by 7.2% of US households and the Yankees/Rangers were only watched by 6.5% of homes. Imagine how bad the NFL would have crushed baseball if the Giants/Cowboys, Jets/Patriots or Packers/Vikings would have been pitted against each other. America’s pastime continues to lose their audience while the NFL gains popularity at a rapid pace. If the NFL is smart, and I believe them to be, they will figure out the looming collective bargaining agreement and insure there is no stoppage in play. The NFL is the cream of the crop when it comes to professional sports at this time and a lockout is something they must avoid at all cost.

R U Ready for Some NFL?

Here are the unconventional picks for Week 1 in the NFL.

How many of you are in a suicide pool and looking for answers? Well, I totally laid out in my ‘Big $’ pool and chose New Orleans so I’m on to week two. I couldn’t play just one entry though so my second one is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While we are on the subject take Jax -3 over Tim Tebow, errr I mean Denver because they have no defense and no running backs. The Jags are loaded with vets including a top 3 pick in fantasy player in MJD. Garrard is a a vet and the WR core is not too bad. Can you name the QB, RB, WR tandem in Denver? Exactly so Jville rolls.

Prediction Jacksonville -3

Detroit is at the Bears. Jay Cutler still hasn’t got it and Matt Stafford has a top 3 WR in Calvin Johnson along with Jahvid Best as a RB. Take the 6.5 and run to the bank!

Prediction Lions +6.5

The Niners are going to the playoffs this year so put the mortgage on SF as they roll.

Prediction SF -4

Preseason Week 1 and My Thoughts

We are only in week 1 of the preseason and it is already obvious there are teams that have ZERO chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February. Here are the teams that won’t win 6 games this year.

In the order of worst to still incredibly crappy:

1. St Louis Rams – OMG!!! $50M for a QB that has no offensive line to protect him. You think Matt Stafford had a tough time in Detroit?  Wait until Sam Bradford takes the field as a starter after AJ Feeley gets jacked up early in the season. This team is in a major rebuilding era and will not win more than 2 games which is actually 1 more than 2009. How bad were the Rams in 2009? Keith Null was their starting QB for the last 5 games. They were 29th in overall offense with no thanks to over 1,400 yards rushing by the 2nd best RB (Steven Jackson) in the NFL. The Rams got shut out twice including the season opener and scored 10 points or less in 8 games. If it wasn’t for teams with Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn and Ryan Fitzpatrick the Rams would have been last in overall yards. Their only win was against Detroit in front of the lowest attended 2009 NFL game with a putrid 40,000 fans in the stands.  Maybe 2 wins for the lowly Rams this year.

2. Buffalo Bills – Buffalo has not been to the playoffs since 1999 and they won’t make it there any time soon. No QB, no WR’s and their top two running backs are already hurt for at least a month. They may be the first NFL team to play in Canada on a full time basis because the owner is losing money and needs a new audience for this poor display of a football team. Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Brohm and Levi Brown are the current QB’s on the roster which is depressing to say the least.  Draftee CJ Spiller will have to run back a punt per game to get this team points because they are in huge trouble offensively. 30th in total offense in 2009 and it could even be worse this year. Maybe 3 wins for the Bills.

3. Denver Broncos – Look for Tim Tebow to start by week 5 and I think he will be a good quarterback. He has all the tools and a great attitude in order for him to be a long time fixture in the league. All their RB’s are hurt and really don’t impress me overall anyway. Heck they even picked up Justin Fargas recently because they are so decimated. The loss of Brandon Marshall hurts very bad because just imagine Eddie Royal or Jabbar Gaffney as Kyle Orton’s number one target. Elvis Dumervil is out for the year which is a huge blow to the Broncos ability to pass rush. Champ Bailey is still a stud, but he can’t do it all on defense. Don’t forget the Broncos lost 8 of their last 10 games last year and their struggles will continue. Maybe 4 wins for the Broncos.

4. Kansas City Chiefs – Their QB never took a snap in college and signed a huge contract after leading New England to 11 wins when Brady got injured. That team was coming off a Super Bowl so it was really a plug and play more than anything else. The questions surrounding Cassel along with no real formidable running backs or receivers could lead to scoring problems. The Chiefs are very young on offense and don’t forget last year they were 26th overall in offense. One positive is KC only plays three teams from the 2009 playoffs plus they play St. Louis and Buffalo so anything is possible. Looking like 5 wins for the Chiefs.

5. Carolina Panthers – The loss of Julius Peppers is devastating from the #9 overall defense in 2009. Peppers was the Panthers big name defensive lineman who anchored the defense with tons of sacks over the last several years.  His replacement has 15.5 sacks in his career and the defensive line has been completely overhauled. The new everyday QB Matt Moore took over in game nine last year for Jake Delhomme and looked decent overall. The issue for Moore is outside of Steve Smith they have no other proven talent at the receiver position. The good news is their RB’s are total studs. Both Stewart and Williams had over 1,100 yards rushing last year, 17 total touchdowns and finished as the #3 rushing team in the NFL. The Panthers will struggle to score and with so many questions around their defense things don’t look promising. Maybe 6 wins for the Panthers.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tampa lost their first 7 games in 2009 and 12 of their first 13. That being said, they did beat 2 playoff teams and the Super Bowl champs which is promising. Josh Freeman looks like he could be the real deal, but the Bucs receiving corps is really weak. Cadillac Williams when healthy is a top 10-12 RB, but he just can’t stay healthy. Tampa did draft 2009 All-Americans Gerald McCoy and Brian Price so they are starting to shore up their defense. Ronde Barber is still there in center field with a core of second and third year corners who were 10th overall against the pass and 9th in INT’s. The problem was they were dead last against the rush. Maybe 6 wins.

The Pro Bowl Has Lost It’s Luster

Are you getting amped up in anticipation for the Pro Bowl next Sunday in Miami? I didn’t think so and really why should you? Let’s face it when Vince Young is named to the AFC roster you know it has become a complete joke. I’m not saying Young isn’t a good quarterback because he did help turn around the Titans season, but he shouldn’t be at the Pro Bowl. Vince had 10 touchdown passes on the season to go along with 7 interceptions and Jason Campbell had a higher QB rating than him. Uggh!

No Philip Rivers, no Tom Brady and no Ben Roethlisberger plus Larry Fitzgerlad has pulled out to only be replaced by New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith, who basically disappeared the second half of the season. As a fan, I like the idea of all-star games, but I’m starting to understand that the NFL’s version is just generic. It’s being played now at the wrong time of the year and this year is won’t be in Hawaii so the paradise destination is no longer attached to it. By moving the game up a couple of weeks, the NFL is robbing me the luxury of watching any of the Super Bowl players because not one of them will participate. I understand players will pull out due to injuries and I get it that players like Brett Favre, if he is available after this Sunday, will turn down the invite yet it used to be fun. Yes, the game is lax, the rules are made for points to be put up and the players themselves do everything they can to not get injured, but it was fun. It’s nice to watch the league’s best players play one more game before we lose football totally until late August. Not this year. We will instead watch a lot of second tier guys take the field in Miami without the colorful sideline gear we are used to seeing in Hawaii. Roger, I’m begging you to wise up and move this game back to Hawaii the week after the Super Bowl or

T.O. Hatin Via Twitter

Terrell Owens decided to take to his Twitter account this weekend and share a thought about his former quarterback Tony Romo. Terrell’s new team the Buffalo Bills won on Sunday against the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then the Cowboys lost at home to the Giants so Owens tweeted what was on his mind. “Dallas just found out they had a T.R. problem not a T.O. problem !!” This was an obvious back handed comment considering Romo went 13 for 29 and threw three interceptions in the loss. I think it’s safe to say T.O. doesn’t love his ex-quarterback anymore.