NFL talk

I gotta get this out of the way right away because I didn't throw this out there in preseason. Here it is...I've got the Packers and Patriots going to the Super Bowl this year. This isn't nearly as effective 6 weeks into the season, but at least it's still early so I can still have it on record as my official prediction. So far, I like my prediction. Packers look like the best team in the NFL and the Patriots could easily be the only other undefeated team if they had not blown a 21-0 lead at Buffalo. That concept alone of the the Pats blowing a big lead in any football game is almost ridiculous to think about. They seem to be back on track.

The glaring difference of this NFL season to me is that there's a HUGE void missing in the quarterback world. Not only are the Colts a very mediocre football team without Peyton Manning, but the NFL isn't nearly as exciting as it is with Manning playing on Sundays. I feel like it's Christmas without Santa Claus with this NFL season missing two of the greatest QBs of all time, Peyton Manning AND Brett Favre! What exactly are the football gods punishing us NFL fans for? The lockout wasn't OUR fault! Seriously though, is there a better argument for Manning as NFL MVP as there is this season? Look how different the Colts are without Manning on the field. Not only does the offense suffer, but even the defense can't get just ONE win for the Colts so far. They even managed to blow a 17 point lead at home vs the Chiefs. The saddest thing about Manning not being available right now is that I'm probably not going to get my favorite NFL matchup of every season...Colts v Patriots with Brady vs Manning. OUCH. Hopefully Manning gets healthy soon and he's able to get back to football. As for Favre, he finally let go of the game and that may have been for the best, but I still feel like he had some good football left in him. Mostly I just don't like the way he went out, it just isn't right.

So, apparently it's "Tebow Time" in Denver. I seem to be in the minority here by not being that excited about this. I still feel like he's not meant to be an NFL QB, but is a very respectable football player. His passion is unmatched, and it's a great element for any team to have, but I just have a gut feeling that it's not meant to be. I have a strong feeling that the Broncos are going to struggle a lot the rest of this season and will be getting ready to draft the next franchise QB in April 2012. I did like how ESPNs Colin Cowherd put it recently on SportsNation, the Broncos are going to be pretty bad anyway the rest of this season...playing Tebow at least makes them a little more interesting. I can agree with that much.

Speaking of the AFC west...the Raiders just made a pretty big upgrade at QB this week by trading for Bengals' QB Carson Palmer. I think this is a perfect fit for Palmer, having played his college football at USC so he'll feel quite at home in Oakland. This really does make the Raiders a legit NFL playoff team now, and they were already in the discussion at 4-2 so far this season. I expect the Raiders to be in the wild card hunt in the final week of the season.

Blogger's Block

I want to say that I haven't been blogging since the Super Bowl because I haven't been able to come up with ideas, but since there's always something going on in sports to talk about...it wouldn't be true. The fact is I've been UNINSPIRED, due to the ridiculous drama the NFL has been going through with the current lockout. It barely deserves discussing because it shouldn't have happened in the first place, but it's so annoying that it brings out something anyway. This league is too successful and popular for this to happen and I only hope it is resolved soon. It's very frustrating to all NFL fans and very disturbing to say the least. I enjoyed Super Bowl 45, and even more than usual because my prediction was on the money! :) I called a Packers win by a TD or less and sure enough the Packers beat the Steelers by 6. Good game, NOW let's bring the football BACK PLEASE!! I wanna see the Packers host the Saints at Lambeau Field on opening night, it would be a great way to start the season. It feels like we've reached a temporary football armageddon, no Brett Favre to be found trying to decide whether to play or not...and the league is currently in a lockout. This is depressing stuff to football fans.

The NBA Finals were enjoyable for me because I was part of that large part of America that wanted to see the Heat fail with LeBron James at least in year one, because they created WAY to much hype for themselves. I thought justice was actually served with the Mavericks winning, and the Mavericks are just a good team that deserved to win it after they swept the defending champion Lakers. The Cavaliers meanwhile have the #1 overall pick in this year's draft and they are likely to take former Duke guard Kyrie Irving. He is not LeBron James, but he could be a guy to build a team around. They also have the #4 overall pick and have a good opportunity to get some solid talent right away. So the Cavs may one day be back in the playoffs to try to get that long awaited championship that LeBron couldn't deliver.

Super Sunday

The big game is this Sunday, and I think we are in for a beauty. The Packers are a team coming in on fire with 5 straight wins and put together a great playoff run with 3 road wins at Philly, Atlanta, and Chicago. Meanwhile, the Steelers bring their experience to the game, having been in two of the last 5 Super Bowls. Packers are the slight favorite to win, and I do think they are going to pull it out in the end. Both teams have great defenses, it will come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. That could be said for most games, but these teams are so close in talent that it will make a bigger difference. I like the Packers by less than a TD.

I gotta send some congratulations out to Ndamukong Suh, who was voted AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year! He really is a beast of a defensive tackle, and really should have won the Heisman last year. He was the most dominant player in college football last year, but just wasn't on the best team. I think he's going to make a big difference for the Lions in the next few years, as I suspect the Lions to be competing for a wild card next season. It wasn't talked about much, but the Lions won 4 in a row to finish the season! If Stafford stays healthy for the Lions all season, they will be a tough team to beat in the NFC.

There have been a handful of coaching changes in the NFL so far, and the Broncos really made a great move with getting former Carolina head coach John Fox. He's EXACTLY what the Broncos needed. He's a defensive specialist that has playoff and super bowl experience. He took over a bad Panthers team and turned them into a very consistent winning team. The Broncos are in good shape.

Xmas Hoopla

The Patriots are back to their old selves, with impressive wins over the rival Jets on a Monday night at New England and on the road in a snowbowl at Chicago over the NFC north champion Bears, both in blowout fashion. Then they just escaped a very feisty Packers team on Sunday night, proving again that they are a complete team that just finds a way to win each week. Brady is back to his MVP form and the Patriots again have all the ingredients a championship team always needs. The Patriots are likely going to have the homefield advantage in the playoffs and unless they fall asleep along the way, should end up in the Super Bowl. It's pretty hard to argue that anyway. On the other side of the field in the Super Bowl, it's too soon to tell who we're going to see representing the NFC, but it seems like the defending champion Saints are quietly making their run to get back. They will likely have to go through Atlanta to get there, but I'm not counting them out. This Monday night's game with the Saints and Falcons should be an NFC title preview. That will be a good one.

Tim Tebow made his first NFL start last Sunday at Oakland, and even though he had a couple nice plays in the game for the highlight reels, I just can't see him as the long-term plan for my Denver Broncos. There are too many questions there about his abilities and the Broncos need to be fixed in a hurry. They are now playing uncompetitive, sloppy, uninspiring football and that's absolutely gutwrenching for diehard fans like myself. They finally made the choice to give up on the McDaniels experiment. Hopefully they will now make good on their mistake and get an NFL experienced coach to turn things around quickly. The word around Denver is that Hall of Fame QB John Elway is going to be hired as a front office executive to help change the atmosphere in Denver back to the winning ways that he was accustomed to. That's a pretty good start, to bring in a guy who knows how to win and has a personal attatchment to the Broncos. Maybe we can start to bring our franchise back to respectability and make Sundays fun again!

The BCS games are set, and while some of them are exciting matchups, it doesn't make me forget how ridiculous the BCS is. That being said, it's looking like the first team to 45 or 50 wins the championship game between Auburn and Oregon. I'm not all that excited about the matchup or have a team to pull for this one, I'm just hoping for a good football game since we'll never know how either of these teams would do against the other top 10 BCS teams in a playoff atmosphere that we are BADLY missing for college football! It's OK, I will stop myself from another rant about the ridiculous BCS system. I'll save it for later.

Starship 7

Starship 7...that's the name that ESPNs Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden gave to Eagles QB Michael Vick. Not exactly catchy, but does get your attention. That's exactly what Michael Vick did on Monday Night Football this week, got a lot of sportsfans' attention! I think the word I completely abused during the game against the Redskins was "Wow". Seriously, that was one heck of a performance. Vick did something that no QB in the history of the game did, and it was on national TV on one of the biggest stages there is in professional sports. Vick threw for over 300 yards, threw 4 TDs, 0 INTs, rushed for over 50 yards and 2 TDs. He was a one-man wrecking crew as he led the Eagles to blowout the Redskins, on the road, 59-28. I felt like I was watching a real-life version of a Madden Football game on my TV. This stuff only happens in video games. It was something extraordinary to witness, and you know that's the case when the NFL Hall of Fame wants a part of that history. This week, the Hall of Fame has requested the game jersey worn by Vick during this performance to showcase. That's pretty special all by itself. Vick's road back to the NFL was a very difficult one, and he's making it count. I read somewhere today that some members of the Giants' defense respects Vick, but is not all that intimidated or scared to take on Vick this coming Sunday at Philadelphia...well, they really should be! I think some of the Redskins' defense is still having nightmares.

This sunday is the NFL game of the season, Colts visit the Patriots. This is the #1 game on my preseason list of Must-see NFL games for the 2010 season, and it is every year. The two best QBs in the league Manning and Brady will add another chapter to their rivalry and it will be a ton of fun. The Colts aren't what they used to be this season with a number of injuries and Manning putting up non-Manning numbers, while Brady's Patriots are coming off their biggest win of the season at Pittsburgh as Brady played like his old Super Bowl MVP version. It's always a great game when these two get together and this sunday should be no different. Last season's game went down to the wire, and I'm guessing this one will too. Who knows, this could even be an AFC Championship preview. Let's buckle up and enjoy.

Midseason

It's been another fun season of football so far, really a bit surprising, and is going WAY too fast! It feels so wide open this year for both college and NFL football for who could come out on top. It seems like there isn't a clear favorite in college football right now, although both Auburn and Oregon have very scary offenses. Still, I get the feeling we may end up getting at least one team that has 1 loss in the national championship game. For what it's worth I really hope we don't get Auburn vs Oregon in the title game, because to me that's just not an exciting matchup. There would probably be a lot of points, but the matchup isn't great.

Looking at the NFL at the midway point, it's even more wide open as to who is the best team in the league. In the NFC, the Giants are the hot team right NOW but I can't count out the defending champion Saints. I'm still pulling hard for the Vikings to get out of their funk, but it doesn't look good so far at 3-5. However, I will NEVER count out a Brett Favre-led team. The AFC seems to have the usual suspects in contention with the Patriots, Steelers, and Colts all leading their divisions, but no one is the clear favorite at this point. All that being said, it's GREAT for football, the unpredictability being even higher than usual.

Going back to Favre for a moment (because I can), I am convinced that it will take a SWAT team to get that guy off a football field. This guy is amazing. This season alone he's fought through elbow bursitis, TWO fractures in his already surgically-repaired ankle, and TEN stitches in his chin to keep showing up every Sunday for the Vikings. Favre is an absolute warrior, and the day a SWAT team finally does keep him from playing football, it will be a VERY sad day in the NFL. One of the "geniuses" at NFL Network decided to ask Favre if he will be back for another season in 2011. REALLY?? Even if he were going to consider this, it's about as bonehead a question as you can ask this guy. Every sports reporter in the world needs to realize you don't ask this til PRESEASON comes around. You've gotta be out of things to say if you are asking Favre what he's going to do NEXT season when we are only halfway thru this one! Wow. For what it's worth, I do believe this will be the last season for the ultimate Iron Man. His body is finally telling him he's had enough. It's a real shame, he will be missed. Hopefully the Vikings make one last run for #4.

The NBA season is underway and the Heat have turned out to be overhyped. They are playing pretty well vs teams they SHOULD beat, but are already 0-2 vs at least one team that will be in their way of a championship, the Celtics. The Celtics in two games have looked and played like the much better team. Meanwhile the defending champion Lakers are off to a fast 8-1 start. So far, Lakers and Celtics are still the teams to beat.

A Team Game

At this point it's hard to find any other players on the Patriots roster other than Tom Brady who remain from their three super bowl teams. Monday night, I was reminded of how they won their super bowls...as a complete team. I had a big flashback to when the Patriots requested to be introduced as a team in Super Bowl XXXVI vs the Rams when they were big underdogs. Monday night vs the Dolphins, that's exactly how the Pats won, as a TEAM. Tom Brady really didn't do much at all and didn't need to. He had 153 yards passing and 1 TD pass. Meanwhile, their special teams were a beast. One kickoff return for a TD to start the second half, a blocked punt which resulted in another Pats TD, a blocked FG returned for a TD, and an INT-return TD for the defense. It was really impressive as the Pats rolled over their rival Dolphins 41-14. The Patriots may not be the most impressive team in the league anymore, but they still know what it takes to win as a team in the ultimate team sport.

I did get a chance to see a little bit of the new Miami Heat's first preseason game. Basically the excitement was over before it began as Dwyane Wade was hurt in the first 4 minutes of the game, so really we still have no idea of how this will work yet. Those first few minutes were sloppy at times, and I think it will take awhile before they really play well together. LeBron James looked pretty good in his debut with 18 points and a nice dunk. For now it's too early to say what they have in Miami though.

It looks like Brett Favre will have a little bit of help coming his way in Minnesota with the pickup of Randy Moss on Wednesday. I am cautiously optimistic about this though. It really depends on how fast Favre and Moss can click on the field, but even more it depends on what Randy Moss the Vikings get. Monday night, he clearly had no interest in his last game as a Patriot. Too many times I saw him barely jogging during a play. If he can play at the high level he's capable of on a regular basis, the Vikings might have something. I hope he has the right attitude going to Minnesota because Favre and the Vikings deserve nothing less. Monday night's Vikings vs Jets matchup will tell us a lot about what the Vikings have. They gotta get it right pretty fast because the Vikings October schedule leaves no room for a bad day. Good luck to the Vikings.