AFC South, Best In The NFL

Through 3 weeks of the season they are by far looking like the best division in football
(As predicted) and I don’t expect much to change. Colts, Titans, Jags, and Texans are undefeated outside of their division, and I expect all 4 teams to have winning out of division records at seasons end, with the Titans and Texans in the wildcard hunt. But don’t be fooled, this change hasn’t happened over night. It has been a long process of all three teams building from the lines up to try and battle defensively and with ball control against the high powered Colts. The rest of the NFL should take notice as Titans, Texans, and Jaguars have built solid football clubs with nominal amounts of star players, a lot of mediocre NFL talent, and solid fundamental football strategy.

Legend of Favre meets the Curse of Turner

After three weeks in the NFL, things seem to be moving along as can be expected. The colts are still the colts, The Pats are the Pats plus Moss, and the rest of the league is a jumble. I hold to my maxim the picture doesn’t clarify really until week 5, but there is one story from week 3 that peaks my interest.

Brett Favre is a legend, and as he led his young charges to a 3- 0 start by defeating last year’s winningest regular season club, the Chargers, he showed that with Favre at the helm, victory is always plausible. In an epic 2 minute drill drive, Brett Favre hits Donald Driver in stride on a slant route, letting him glide to the end zone. A game winning TD which ties him with Marino's all time TD mark. And as my heart goes out to the Packers, as they are poised to make a playoff run as Favre's last hoorah, it absolutely abysmal that the Chargers could not put that game away.

With 11 probowlers from a year ago, all of which returned, the only changes made were with the coaching staff. Pitt seems to have rebounded well after losing cower. They simply didn’t change anything. If I am Sandiego management, I am looking to drop the hammer early season on a head coach and staff that has taken a contender and turned them into a laugher. Just look at the drive charts and make a few tweaks, to see that the play calling just isn’t working. Tomlinson, Gates, turner, are all having success up the middle. Yet they insist on throwing and running to the edges. The edges are sealed!! Tomlinson is great not because he gets around the corner, but because he can start up the gut and then bounce out and get the corner when they collapse. He was also the 2nd leading receiver on the team for a number of years, and he isn’t even getting fed screen passes to get him open in space. They still have the talent to contend in this league, they may be the most all around talented team out there, but if this staff can’t figure out how to call games in a hurry, the chargers may be looking at a long disappointing year, and a lot of angry probowl caliber players wanting out. This week they start division play against the lowly chiefs, and should be walking away with an easy victory, which hopefully will spell the beginning of an early season turnaround for a very talented football team.

Nightmares in Sandiego

The much anticipated week two match up of the Sandiego Chargers and New England Patriots disappointed many a viewer as the billed clash of two titans seemed more like a lamb in a slaughterhouse. The Pats demolished the chargers in a very methodical machine like fashion. For me however, the outcome wasn’t as shocking as what the play of the game confirmed. First, it confirmed that Moss plus Brady equals incredibly scary. Moss completely tore up the Sandiego secondary so bad in the first 6 minutes of the game that the entire defense turned to him leaving the likes of Watson, Welker, and Stallworth in man to man or wide open. And what’s scarier, is even with a corner and safety lined up on him every down there on after, moss still managed to make play after play whenever Brady felt like throwing his way. But more consequentially then commenting on the Patriots who as usual are on pace for a playoff clash with the Colts, the Chargers seem to have dropped a step back. The question mark I had about Norv Turner as head coach seems to be coming to fruition as multiple times did I have horrid flashbacks to Gannon taking 7 step drops and getting pummeled. His play calling was atrocious which was only compounded by the poor decision making early on of Phillip Rivers. On the opening drop back Rivers threw a pick to Colvin. Replay showed rivers staring right at the linebacker, and seemed to attempt to toss it over his head into the waiting receiver’s arms, who was still covered on the outside regardless. But why is he even looking to the sideline on the opening drop back? The 3 -4 scheme is designed to take away the edges. Either that Linebacker rushes or drops back on the outside. And much of the first half was called this way from the SD sideline, just putting Rivers in a position to fail. As madden quoted of Norv Turner “we need guys other than Gates and Tomlinson to make plays, so we are going to try and get them involved early.” That statement is unbelievable. Especially considering the weakness OF ANY 3-4 defense is up the gut with the run and over the middle to the Tight End, which the Chargers have the two best in the league. But that’s ok; at half time they will go into the locker room and right that ship. So the chargers come out in the second looking like they should have in the first, efficiently moving the ball up and down the field with the Tomlinson/Gates combo we know and love. Then some receivers start opening up and the offence looks in rhythm with a sequence of 3 - 5 step drops and Tomlinson rushes. Tomlinson is even starting to look in form, like he may be poised to break something big. But that is when the giant question mark of what the chargers will be occurs. New England fumbles the kick return to start the 4th and Sandiego recovers in great field position across the 40. I stare at the screen and see the New England defenders poised to blitz like crazy, and all I can think in my head is “Tomlinson draw, breaks it big" and the chargers will be back in the game. But no, the Gannon killer 7 step drop, which makes regular appearances in nightmares of Raiders fans, pops out, and down goes Rivers. All right, that’s understandable. He wanted to go for the big play downfield to keep momentum. But now its second and 20, in 4 down territory, surely we’ll see Tomlinson run here in the face of another pass blitz. Woops, wrong again, as Rivers stumbles into a seven step drop and gets absolutely wrecked, a fumble follows, chargers recover, 3rd and 30. And in 3rd and 30 not even the annexation of Puerto Rico can save you against Belichek and the Pats. Chargers punt and New England kills the clock (all ten minutes that were left). I wish I weren’t saying this again but Norv Turner killed a powerful Oakland offence that has still yet to recover long after his departure and the talented chargers seem to be on the same path. It begs the question as to what he is thinking, and why he keeps getting rehired. If the Pats can’t stop the Tomlinson run, Gates up the middle combo, who can? The chargers rolled last year with this strategy and for all intensive purposes could have been in that championship game. The wide outs will get involved, as they did last year when Gates and Tomlinson garner all the attention and they are left open or in man coverage down field. It doesn’t work the other way around. And if Turner can’t look at the game film from weeks 1 and 2 and see what’s going on, the Chargers will have an early playoff exit, and Turner will have a very short tenure in Sandiego.

Week 2 Picks

My picks for week two are NO, Min, and SEA. And as a bonus, although I think houston will battle carolina to the bitter end. And I believe come from the best division of football this year in the NFL, I offer a crazy twist prediction.

Consider that carr is the back up for delhomme, and I still believe is a solid nfl quarterback who had a raw deal. The disputed first pick of Houston in last years draft Mario Williams, will hit Delhomme, causing him to leave the game due to injury. Carr will then step in, and in a twist of irony, light up the houston secondary.

KC VS Chicago

I have decided to preview this game not because of its relevance or potential out come in terms of the league but to assure bears and kc fans of two things. First off, the bears lost to a better team in week one, and are still the class of the NFC. They should be able to pound KC in to the ground. 2) kc is not a good team this year , and regradless of how hard larry johnson plays, his impact on the outcome of a game will be irrelevant. This game is no contest and I dont understand why analysts are devoting much time to it at all. I mean larry johnson is a great back and tony g is the best TE the league has ever seen. But they both were beneficiaries of a rock solid offenseive line and a solid veteran qb in trent green. And with the line dissipated, and a career back up huard at the helm, look for the chicago defence to cause all sorts of havoc in the backfield, and dominate the field of play.

No Fields For Soccer

It’s already top tiered in Mexico and it has shown promise in Canada with the popularity of Toronto FC and the world juniors drawing crowds across the country. But the big bucks and top tiered status come from our southern neighbors, and it will never crack the American big 4 sport market. The U.S. already has a massive sports market super saturated with everything that soccer could potentially bring to the table.

Across the globe, soccer games are mega events. Stadiums are packed and atmospheres are electric. There is a perfect blend of cheering families and rowdy fans. There’s tailgating, after parties, pre and post game shows, the works. It’s nearly impossible to find a ticket from world cup, through the premiership and even into the bottom of the club league ranks. There's just one problem with bringing that to the American public…Its Already there. NFL games are massive events, consuming cities and network television. Tickets are so tough to get, that Green Bay has a 20 year waitlist and the stadium holds more people than the town! And the market is supersaturated. You’ve got the NFL, NCAA, and AFL. Even high school football is enormous. Rural communities base their livelihoods on high school teams’ performance. As a European would dump his savings to see his country win world Cup, rural Americans are liable to sell the farm to win State. The market is absolutely flooded. And we haven’t even broke into the other major sports; baseball (which has an incredibly large, and widely supported minor league system to tag along with MLB) the NBA and Canada’s gem the NHL. I mean, the little league World Series draws more attention then the MLS.

Soccer’s popularity with youth correlates with how easy it is to play and have success. If you can run and kick, you can play soccer. Kids all over the globe scrape together whatever they can for a ball, run out to a grassy field and emulate there heroes with flashy moves and boisterous post goal celebrations. Sounds great, but the American youth already have that with basketball. If you can bounce a ball and toss it in the general direction of a hoop you can play and have a blast. Kids and teens spend hours dribbling on sidewalks, streets, driveways alleys in urban and suburbia US alike. Always working on the razzle dazzle the superstars showed the night before. And in the concrete jungles that populate much of the United States, the thump of a basketball will always dominate the scraping of a rolling soccer ball.

First Week Picks

First week picks against the spread are minnesota, tennesse, seattle, and denver.

Colts Vs Saints

Many sport sites seem to be billing this game as a highflying attack show, but watch for the battle to be won or lost on the ground. The key for the saints on offence is too exploit the centre of the colts' defensive line against the run, if not to break a few big ones (which bush and mcallister probably will do), but also to slow down the pass rush of freeney and mathis, allowing brees to spread the field and go deep. On the other side of the ball, if the saints continue to play the gambling style defence they employed last season, look for manning to pick them apart down field. If the saints are smart they will stay at home on defence except for mannings blind side, and test the rookie left tackle. If the saints pass rushers can confuse the rookie with some stunts and single line backer blitzes, they may be able to disrupt mannings rythm, much like the chargers did two seasons ago.

NFL Preview #1: Colts and Pats

Here we go, the season is about to begin. Optimism fills the air and hype is at it's peak. Every team starts fresh and everyteam has a chance to bring home the big prize. That means its time for the vaunted preseason predictions.


The Power Houses: The top contenders for the NFL crown havent changed and still reside in the AFC. Indianappolis and New England are still the teams to beat while sandiego and Baltimore are on the outside looking in. But of the big four what has the offseason produced? While,one team has vastly improved, one has taken a step back and two have question marks.


The defending champion Colts are poised to defend. They finally knocked off there arch rivals the pats on route to a superbowl victory and have shown they can control tempo and make big plays on either side of the ball when it matters.The offense remains solid with a few minor adjustments. Most notably i steh retirement of their veteran, stout left tackle leaving a stud draft pick gaurding mannings blind side. If he can hold up, which I think he will, the offence will continue to be the most effective and diverse attack in the game.


The Colts defence however may be in need of some tweaking. They demonstrated great poise and play making ability under Dungy's team defensive scheme. As a unit they can both come up with timely stops and make big plays. However the early trouble clogging the running lanes the colts experienced last season may rear its ugly head once more. Their run plug, anthony mcfarland suffered a seaosn ending inury leaving another rookie attempting to clog up the middle. Using a late round pick to replace an allstar calliber plug may leave the colts needing some fine tuning.

The team making the upgrade, as scary as this may sound is the New england Patriots. And by my estimation, it is a very scary upgrade. They have acquired a receiving core!! The most consistent and successful team since 2001 , playing in a cream puff division, they are always there. Solid defense and ball control, timely offense have been keys to victory. Although the evolution of Tom Brady and rb acquistions has seen the offense begin to grow outside of the troy brown and kevin faulk safety valves to something much more potent. Yet now, for the first time in his career, the best protected QB in football has a top flight receiving core as a target. The savy Troy Brown and safe man faulk remain, with added fire power of the incredibly gifted randy moss who has been freed from exile in oakland. Also joining are speedsters dante stallworth and wes walker. Oh yeah, not to mention the solid jump ball/posession receiver combo of kelly washington. All this adds up to a career year from tom brady coupled with leagues of running room for lawrence mauroney who could make noise with the elite nfl backs come seasons end.