The Reports out of Boston are that Randy Moss is anticipating that this will be his last season in New England.

The embattled receiver was speaking at a charity softball game when he had this to say:

“I don’t think they going to extend my contract… I understand the beast, the nature of it. I think that just with what I think and what I know I don’t think they’re going to re-sign me back. So, after this season if there is not a lockout I’ll be looking for a new team. I’ve got a lot of respect for the Patriots and what they did for me and my family. The only thing I can do is just play this year out and see what my future holds after that.” ~ Randy Moss (Boston.com)

This may actually be the first sign of Randy Moss growing all the way up. There is a very good chance that Moss is right, because it is very unlike the New England Patriots to give a 34-year old, wide receiver, on the downside of his career the type of 3-year deal Moss will most likely be in search of at the end of the 2010-2011 NFL season.

Currently, Moss is in the 3rd year of his 3-year, $27 million deal with Patriots. He makes just $6.4 million of that this season, and barring an unforeseen return to his younger days, Moss won’t garner much more than a deal in the same range as his last one, a deal the Patriots are unlikely to agree to.

The only way I foresee Moss staying in New England in 2011 is if the Patriots think they can make a run at a title and Moss has a superb 2010 season. If that’s the case, the Patriots still wouldn’t give Moss a long-term deal. However, they could franchise him for just one season. The franchise tag on a wide receiver would be extremely high, but if the Patriots are positioned to win a Super Bowl after this season, they would pay that much to keep things in tact for at least one more season.

The post "Randy Moss Prepped to Play Elsewhere" was originally published at TSW.

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The matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots looked a whole lot better before Wes Welker was scratched from this contest. Without the quick slot receiver, the Patriots lose their leading receiver and 1st down “getter.” Now they must face the chaotic defense of the Baltimore Ravens without their most consistent weapon—a recipe I wouldn’t recommend betting on.

Ravens on offense

When the Ravens have the ball, they should be fairly successful. I wasn’t too happy with the way they moved the ball against the Oakland Raiders in the season finale, but there’s no question that Oakland really got up for that game. Assuming the Ravens are equally motivated to avenge the Patriots after an earlier loss to New England marred by faulty personal foul calls, then I think this offense can take advantage of a Patriots secondary that can’t hold water.

The Ravens passing game should destroy the Patriots. Derrick Mason definitely knows how to get open against these guys, and Joe Flacco surely has the arm to exploit any mismatches or holes in the defensive backfield. Of course, Ray Rice will be a tremendous factor in the passing game. The Patriots linebackers have yet to show the ability to defend the pass on the consistent basis, and if the Ravens can get Rice working in space against linebackers, New England may be in for a world of hurt, and I didn’t even get to the running game.

New England on offense

Without a healthy Wes Welker, it’s hard to imagine what the New England Patriots offense even looks like. Without Welker, the Patriots made the Jets look like world beaters earlier this season, so who knows what they’ll make legitimate squad like the Ravens look like. New England’s only real hope is to get something going on the ground, because I find it difficult to believe that they can dominate the passing game with Randy Moss alone.

However, they can dominate the rushing game with Moss alone. If Randy draws that extra man, the Ravens should be able to create something with Laurence Maroney and Fred Taylor in the backfield. That of course could open up the playaction and get the Patriots passing game some type of production, but it won’t be enough to make them look nearly as explosive as they are accustomed to when Welker is in the lineup.

Prediction:

As if you can’t already tell which way I’m leaning, the Ravens should win this game quite comfortably. The Ravens have the advantage on the offensive end, as their balanced attack should knock a shaky Patriots defense off balance. Baltimore also has an advantage of their defensive side of the ball now that Wes Welker has torn his PCL. You throw in the fact that the Ravens enter this game feeling as if they were cheated out of a win earlier in the year (a notion all of us at TSW tend to agree with), and you end up with a Ravens team that could and should win this game.

Ravens win, 27-14

The post "NFL Playoff Predictions: Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots" was originally published at TSW.

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It’s quite possible that the New England Patriots are being taken for granted. Yes, they had several losses to the elite teams that make many of us question whether they are prepared for the NFL playoffs this January. But this is the same team that went 18-0, won 3 out of 4 Super Bowls, and has the best quarterback of the decade on their roster.

Can we really count them out of the mix?

There are reasons to think the Patriots won’t be a factor during the playoffs. Their rushing attack is suspect and has been up and down all season long. They haven’t been able to establish whether they want to commit to the running game or throw the ball 40 times per contest. That could hurt them in the playoffs.

The Patriots also have failed to establish Randy Moss. Yes, Moss has looked “okay” over the past two weeks, coming up with touchdowns in each of their past two games, but he isn’t exactly the Randy Moss of old. I haven’t seen the deep sideline passes or the explosive 50-yard touchdowns. I know teams are taking that away from them, but they tried to take that away from the Patriots in 2007 when Brady and Moss connected on the most touchdown passes to a single wide receiver in NFL history. Where’d that ability go?

And of course, the Patriots defense has been MIA for most of the season. They were blown up by the Saints and Colts this season, the only two teams they faced with potent passing attacks. In the playoffs, the Patriots could face the Colts or Chargers in the second round, where their pass defense problems could knock them out of the playoffs.

But then again, these are the Patriots.

Is there a possibility that Bill Belichick could fix all of these problems in time for the playoffs?

If any coach can do it, it is certainly Belichick. Plus, Belichick is big on exploiting his team’s strengths, and the Pats do have some.

Even without the big bomb plays down the sideline, the Pats passing game is one of the league’s best, ranking 3rd in the NFL. New England might just go ahead and abort the running game, as they did in 2007, opting instead for passing the ball all over the place and maybe opening up that sideline for Randy Moss. If so, the Pats can go from a mediocre scoring offense back to the juggernaut they were in 2007.

Also, the Pats defense, as bad as it is against the pass, isn’t horrible against the run. If Belichick can tinker with the defense and get their defensive line healthy for the playoffs, they might be able to shut down their opponents rushing game with just 7 people in the box. That would certainly give their passing game the help it needs, and it may be just enough to eek out a win against the Colts or Chargers.

Of course, fixing the Pats offense and defense is easier said than done, but it’s hard to count a team like the Patriots. Besides, we know they are very hungry for a shot at the title. They missed the playoffs last year, despite winning 11 games. The last time they missed the playoffs in this decade, they came back with a vengeance and went on to win the Super Bowl. Perhaps history will repeat itself in the next decade.

The post "Are the New England Patriots flying under the radar?" was originally published at TSW.

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Tom Brady and Bill Belichick can defend Randy Moss against all of Chris Gamble’s remarks if they want to, but that doesn’t make them right in the least.

In case you didn’t catch it, the Panthers Chris Gamble, who picked off a ball throw in Moss’s direction this past Sunday, had this to say about Randy Moss and his performance in Week 14:

We knew he was going to shut it down. That’s what we wanted him to do. That’s what we did … He’d just give up a lot … slow down. He’s not going deep, not trying to run a route. You can tell (via) his body language.

Tom Brady defended his boy Moss, as expected, despite cameras catching him having a conversation with Moss in which Moss seemed completely disinterested. Bill Belichick, in defense of Randy Moss, took a shot at the Carolina Panthers by saying:

My response would be that’s a lot of conversation coming from a team that lost another game. I have a lot of respect for Randy, I think he’s one of our best players and I think if you watch other teams defend him and watch other teams play against him, they think the same way — other than these two guys from Carolina after they lost another game. I guess they don’t think that way. They haven’t won a lot of games now.

Once again, it’s nice that Belichick is defending his guy, but Gamble has a point. Randy Moss, temperamental or not, is not performing up to snuff. Is some of it what defenses are doing to him? Of course. But at the same time, anyone who watched that Patriots-Panthers game had to be disappointed in the effort Moss exhibited throughout that game, in a game his team really needed to win.

Today, on ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, even Chris Carter seemed exasperated and dumfounded by Moss’s effort, saying:

You can’t watch that and it not have an effect on you…For me as someone who teaches wide receivers how to be wide receivers, and how to run routes, and what type of effort and stuff it would take—it [Moss’s effort] was pathetic.

And that’s coming from a long-time friend of Moss.

That being said, Moss still lead the AFC in yards coming into this game, so he’s not exactly a complete was this season. But we all saw the effort and the numbers are what they are. In Moss’s last 5 games, there is an undeniable trend in which his targets and catches decrease each and ever week. In Week 10 against the Colts, Moss had 16 targets. Then in Week 11, just 11 targets. In Week 12, he had just 6 targets. Last week against Miami, Moss only saw the ball thrown his way 5 times. And yesterday against the Panthers, Moss had a measly 4 targets and just 1 catch.

Also on Mike & Mike, Chris Carter suggested that perhaps Moss being sent home earlier in the week contributed to his lack of effort on Sunday—that perhaps Moss felt disrespected or unwanted by the action.

Well, if that’s the case, somebody better talk to Moss and talk to him quickly. I know Wes Welker is going to go for 10 catches every game and run for a ton of yards after a catch. But that’s going to come to a halt really soon if Moss isn’t getting the looks and drawing defense like he’s supposed to. So while Belichick, Brady, and ESPN’s own Tedy Bruschi continue to defend their wide receiver, they better slap him upside his head behind closed doors, otherwise, their late-season run might result in them walking home sooner than expected.

The post "Happy Moss or Not, His Production is Way Down" was originally published at TSW.

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Well, it is the game of the week, and ESPN was lucky enough to get this game as part of their Monday Night Football package. But as anticipated this game is between two Super Bowl contenders, the question is, will the players live up to the hype?

New England Patriots on Offense

Tom Brady, Quarterback
There’s no reason to doubt the Golden Boy in this contest. The New Orleans Saints defense isn’t exactly the stoutest passing defense in the NFL. In fact, the Saints passing defense is mediocre at best, ranking 15th among the NFL’s 32 football teams. The Saints have however held opposing quarterbacks to a 57.8 quarterback rating, but most of that is due to the fact that they held their opponents to 9 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions. I doubt they can force Brady into a lot of mistakes, and when the Saints aren’t forcing interceptions, teams have managed to eat their secondary up.

Pats Running Backs
I’m not even going to talk about one single rusher, because they really are doing it by committee. Starting with Laurence Maroney, who has looked quite good as of late. He should have some success running against a Saints defense that isn’t that big up front. The Saints are currently giving up 115 rushing yards per game (20th in the NFL), and they are allowing 4.6 yards per carry, and things could get ugly for the Saints if they can’t stop the run with 7 or 6 men in the box. As for Kevin Faulk, he is really going to be a tough guard for the Saints. Knowing the Patriots, they are probably going to run the ball with him more than usual in order to defend against opposing teams’ nature to prepare for the pass when Faulk is in the game.

Randy Moss & Wes Welker, Wide Receivers
This combination is going to be killer in Monday Night’s football game. I really don’t see how the Saints can match up with them given that they don’t have a cornerback that they can trust to cover Moss single-handedly. That means they have to double him for most of the game, which should leave Wes Welker wide open. That also means that the Saints will have to slow down their tendency to blitz, which is essentially what has propelled their defense all season long. To be honest, I don’t know how the Saints are going to approach this game given their personnel, but it will be interesting to see.

The New Orleans Saints on Offense

Drew Brees, Quarterback
As good as Brady has it on his side of the ball, Brees may have an even better chance of excelling in this Monday Night showdown. Yes, the Patriots are 6th against the pass, but they were diced up by Peyton Manning, seemingly with no answer whatsoever. Brees has been very Peyton Manning like this season, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he takes advantage of some of the same things Manning did in Monday Night’s game. One of those things is going to the big wide receiver on the outside, and working off that. So expect Brees to establish Marques Colston early on, and then spread the ball around as the Patriots try to take Colston away. That should open up the field and bewilder the Patriots just enough to get the big plays that the Colts produced a couple weeks ago, as well as the plays the Saints are very accustomed to making.

Pierre Thomas, Running Back
It appears as if Thomas has emerged as the “go-to” back in the Saints backfield—and for good reason. Thomas is great between the tackles and he has the dual-threat ability of catching the ball out of the backfield. Thomas is coming off a 92-yard effort in just 11 carries last week, and he has 3 total touchdowns in his last 4 games. The Patriots on the other hand are struggling with the stopping the run. They rank only 14th against the run, but even worse, they are allowing 4.4 yards per carry. Thus, it is very likely that Thomas could be a big part of the Saints attack Monday Night, and he could be the key to a Saints victory.

Marques Colston, Wide Receiver
Colston is going to be the object of the Patriots focus. The Patriots are going to do their best to take him out of the game and make Brees go to other wide receivers. While one might think that doesn’t matter to a balanced attack like the Saints—well, one would be wrong. Colston is the player that the passing game revolves around, and if he isn’t getting the ball, the Saints offense probably isn’t moving as efficiently as it should. Because Bill Belichick will do everything he can to take Colston out of the contest, I don’t think Colston will have the best of games, but I do think he’ll have those key catches to keep the Saints offense on schedule.

Monday Night Football Prediction: Patriots at Saints (-1.5)

I definitely like the Saints to win this game. I have no idea how their defense is going to stop the Patriots on offense, but I do imagine that they will blitz and take a lot of risks. Some teams have been very successful pressuring the Patriots, so I’ll put my money on that working again this Monday Night. So, I’m taking the Saints and I will give 1.5 points.

Saints defeat Patriots, 35-31

The post "Monday Night Football Prediction: New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints" was originally published at TSW.

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This is what everybody was waiting for. Everyone and their mamma’s wanted to see Bill Belichick mess up for the first time since his early days with the New England Patriots. Because before last night, everything Belichick had touched turned to gold, and no move of his has been remotely suspect to questioning.

But with Belichick’s decision, and ultimate failure, to go for the 1st down, on 4th and 1, on his own 28-yard line, with about two minutes left in the game, and up by only 6 points has people jumping at the chance to bash Belichick.

Unfortunately, these are the same people that would have been the first to pat Belichick on the back had the Patriots converted that 1st down and gone on to beat the Indianapolis Colts.

However, as much as I often love to see the big, bad Patriots lose, I don’t think this would be the right time to pick on them. The fact is the Patriots game against the Colts this past Sunday night was not the Super Bowl. It wasn’t the AFC Championship. It wasn’t a playoff game. Heck, it wasn’t even a play-in game. It was a game in Week 10 that for all intensive purposes probably won’t mean much when this season is all said and done. Could the Patriots have possibly gotten home field advantage with a win over the Colts?

Maybe.

But maybe not.

And either way, the Patriots showed that they can play with the Colts in Indianapolis, so how much does that really matter, especially when I’m sitting here writing about a 4th and 1 call that determined the game?

I don’t understand people. There are so many people out there who are enraged and think that Bill Belichick made the wrong call by going for it. But even if he did, it doesn’t matter! You cannot convince me that the Patriots won’t rebound from this loss, that they are somehow grief stricken and won’t play their best football from here on out. The Patriots have 7 weeks to get ready for the playoffs, and unless pigs start to fly, you cannot possibly convince me that they won’t make the playoffs.

There lies the problem with everyone’s critique of Bill Belichick’s call. Okay, so he went for it and the Patriots didn’t get the first down and lost the game. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, and that’s why Belichick made the call he made. He saw an opportunity to win the game, and instead of giving the ball to the Colts to lose the game, he kept the ball in the hands of Tom Brady and tried to win the game with the quarterback he has won so many games with in the past.

So for everyone to get all amped up, outraged and boisterous over this call makes no sense whatsoever. In fact, all that does is justify that Belichick is cooler, calmer and smarter than you are. He knows that all he did was go to the racetrack and bet on horses with the laundry money. He didn’t lose the house, his children’s tuition or the family car. He lost a rather insignificant game that had no importance other than pride, and for 1 game out of 16, Belichick was willing to swallow his in turn for the last laugh had he won his bet. Instead, he lost, and now he’ll go back to work to put his team in an even better situation next time around.

You know, I’ve never rooted for the Patriots before, but the backlash on Belichick for making what in all reality was a move that gave his team its best chance to win, has kind of polarized me in favor of New England. I’m not saying I want to see them win the Super Bowl or anything, but for the first time in a long time, I might actually root for the Patriots when they play the Colts in the playoffs.

The post "Zo Knows: Bill Belichick Is Still Smarter than You" was originally published at TSW.

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Tom Brady has not been Tom Brady by any stretch of the imagination. At least not the Tom Brady everyone remembers from 2007, when he orchestrated the best offense in the history of the NFL.

But when you really think about it, the Tom Brady of 2007, wasn’t really the Tom Brady we all have come to know. The fact is, what Brady did throughout that magical season, was just that: magical.

Unfortunately, for Brady and his fantasy football owners, magic isn’t something you can manufacture, no matter how much you figure it’s in your control.

Read More…

The post "Fantasy Football Week 4: Tom Brady Won’t Be That Guy for You!" was originally published at TSW.

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Anyone who listens to The Sports Watchers Podcast knows that I have always said, “You can’t allow Tom Brady to dink and dunk the ball down the field and expect to win the game!”

Ever since the New England Patriots became the most feared offense in the land, it has driven me crazy how defenses have backed off and allowed Brady to throw it to Wes Welker when and wherever he wants.

Well, the trash-talking New York Jets wouldn’t have any of it. They came after Brady with the philosophy that, sooner or later, the pressure was going to get to him.

And it did, allowing the New York Jets to beat the Patriots by a score of 16-9 in a great game in the Meadowlands.

I’ll admit it. I did not think the Jets could do it. There was no way in my mind that Bill Belichick was going to allow a rookie quarterback to come anywhere near beating his Patriots. However, Mark Sanchez may have actually outplayed Brady in their head to head competition Sunday. Still, the Jets offense is a story for another day. It was the Jets defense that stole the show, holding the Patriots without a touchdown, for the first time since 2006—before Randy Moss and Brady became the NFL’s leading couple.

Even though it was the Jets offense that I thought would do the Jets in (and in some ways it almost did), certainly I didn’t see the Jets holding the Pats to single-digits. Part of my reasoning was that there was no way that the Jets would blitz the Patriots that much, because every team and there mama was afraid to come after them.

But boy was I wrong.

Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan certainly wasn’t there to kiss Belichick’s or Brady’s rings. All he did instead was kiss Brady in the mouth with a series of blitzes that sent everything from nose tackles to safeties pressuring the All-Pro quarterback to a degree that no has done since—well, since Rex Ryan did it with the Baltimore Ravens back in 2007 when the Ravens almost stopped the Patriots from going 16-0.

I will say this. Part of the reason the blitzing strategy was successful today was because the Pats did not have Wes Welker, who was listed as inactive right before the start of the game. His loss certainly hurt how the Pats attack the blitz, and his backup, Julian Edelman, while serviceable, missed a lot of plays that Welker usually makes.

Nonetheless, the Jets, who have talked trash about the Patriots since Ryan got the head coaching job, backed up their smack talk by smacking Tom Brady, again, and again, and again, and again. And I can’t wait until they meet the Patriots in Foxboro so they can do it all over again.

The post "NFL: That’s How You Defend the Patriots" was originally published at TSW.

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“I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings. I came to win. Let’s just put it that way. So we’ll see what happens. I’m certainly not intimidated by New England or anybody else.”

Those were the words uttered by New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan when he was interviewed by WFAN back in June.

This week, Ryan might have to eat those words.

That’s not to say that he hasn’t made his mark on this Jets team. In just one week of play, we see that this team is building a very formidable defense that will be hard to deal with for years to come. And it’s way too early to even make a hash decision, but Mark Sanchez exhibited the kind of cool and calmness, in his first ever start, that you rarely see from rookie quarterbacks.

Still, Rex Ryan is the head coach of the New York Jets. He’s not the coach of the Indianapolis Colts. He’s not the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And he’s certainly not the coach of the New York Giants. For him to enter his first head coaching job with a franchise, in which its last Super Bowl win was before they even called the darn thing a Super Bowl, is quite brash. While I respect his confidence, courage, and bravado, calling out a Super Bowl coach and team before you have so much as won a game in the NFL might come back to haunt him. And it’s probably going to happen this week!

The New York Jets will host the New England Patriots this Sunday, as one of the lead games in NFL Week 2. The Jets are the underdogs, with the Pats favored by 4 points, despite being on the road. Usually these games between these opponents live up their billing and deliver a competitive match.

But that’s not going down this year.

The Jets enter this game with a rookie quarterback who will make his second ever start, and his first start in New York City, against a Bill Belichick coached defense that prides itself on taking advantage of unsuspecting quarterbacks.

Bill, allow me to introduce you to unsuspecting quarterback #9427, Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez has no idea what he’s up against. Hell, I doubt the Jets coaching staff even knows what they’re up against. I guarantee, that Belichick, the Pats staff, and their players, took note of what Ryan said in the offseason, and they probably circled this Week 2 game as their “real” opener. It wouldn’t surprise me if they held back on defensive sets and blitzes just so they could unleash them upon whomever the Jets quarterback is for Week 2.

And we’re talking about Belichick. A man who has routinely made Peyton Manning look like Ryan Leaf in the playoffs. Remember when he had Manning seeing ghost in the AFC Championship game in Foxboro? If he can make Manning, a player who had started nearly a hundred games by the time he faced Belichick, doubt his reads and his eyes, what do you think he will do to poor little Sanchez? Sanchez is making just his 15th start since graduating from high school!

He doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell!

Obviously, you can see who I’m picking by my thoughts on the Jets defense alone. But the fact is, Ryan makes his living coaching up the guys on the other side of the ball, and quite frankly, he might want to consider making his living elsewhere after what the Pats offense does to them on Sunday.

If you thought the Pats wanted to run the score up against Buffalo last week, imagine how badly they want to push the envelope with big-mouth Ryan. It could get ugly, and Ryan’s comments certainly won’t help slow the bleeding.

That being said, Ryan did hold the same Pats offense to just 27 points in 2007, when he was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens. Then again, that had a lot to do with Kyle Boller playing the game of his life and Willis McGahee controlling the time of possession. Unfortunately for Ryan, it would be unlikely for him to get even remotely similar performances out of either Sanchez or his starting running back, Thomas Jones.

Thus, his defense is all alone, and it might die alone on Sunday. I don’t think it will be pretty, and after the game, I’m sure we’ll be talking about why the Pats went for it on 4th down when they were up 30 points in the 4th quarter.

Still, that’s why they play the game. Who would have thought that Buffalo and Oakland would have been seconds away from winning their Monday Night matchups against two teams favored to win the division. However, if I was a gambling man, and I am, I would put my money on the Patriots and give the points.

But hey, what do I know?

The post "NFL Football Realities: Rex Ryan Shall Eat Crow" was originally published at TSW.

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Well, the Oakland Raiders have officially put the hit out on Richard Seymour.

Well, sort of.

The Raiders have reportedly sent Seymour the oft-talked about “Five-day letter,” which would require Seymour to report to the Raiders within 5 days of receipt of the letter, or else the Raiders would then have the option to suspend Seymour, without pay, for the remainder of the 2009 NFL season.

One might think this would force Seymour to the Raiders and that we should expect to see him before Oakland’s Week 2 game. I, however, think quite the opposite is plausible.

Why would Richard Seymour want to play for the Raiders?

After an entire professional existence with the best modern-day franchise of its era, the New England Patriots, Seymour must want to figuratively kill himself before showing up in the Bay Area wearing a black and silver uniform. This man has spent the last 8 seasons playing for a contending team, winning Super Bowls, going to Pro Bowls, and being a part of 16-0 teams, and now the Patriots have traded him to the abysmal Raiders franchise?

That sucks.

You know what? It sucks so much, that Seymour might actually consider not showing up. And who could blame him?

Everyone thinks that Seymour is just going to cave in, go to the Raiders, suck it up and be a professional football player. But he doesn’t have to. Seymour could sit out this year and surrender the relatively paltry $3-something million he is owed for the 2009 NFL season. That’s probably not that much money to him, and I’m certain he would give it all up to go play for the team of his choice.

Speaking of which, if Seymour sat out the 2009 season, he would have his choice of teams come the 2010 offseason. And it’s not like he would be competing against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade; he’d be a star among a relatively unimpressive list of free agents slated for the upcoming off-season.

Besides, what’s a year off to him? This defensive end has been injured, beat up and bruised for the better part of 8 years, he could use a year of rejuvenation. Going to the Raiders, on the other hand, might cause him to lose some hair. He would have to relocate his family, or be away from them for 4 months. He would have to change his lifestyle, get a new house, meet new players during the season, and look for new friends. Not to say the life of a professional athlete doesn’t already entail all of this, but more often than not, the athlete has some say, or at least some time, to deal with new and unfamiliar environments. In this case, Seymour has just 5 days to get ready for a life-altering ordeal.

I’m not expecting Seymour to show up in Oakland anytime soon. As much as others might call him a baby and a whiner for not showing up, I call him a human being. I certainly wouldn’t want to be traded from TheSportsWatchers.com to some website in Sioux Falls where the boss is crazy, the site isn’t very good, and all of the other employees there don’t really want to be. That wouldn’t be a good look for me, and Oakland, apparently, isn’t a good look for Richard Seymour. That’s why I don’t doubt him sitting out the 2009 NFL season. And so I ask again, “Who can blame him?”

The post "Richard Seymour to Oakland?…Not so Fast, My Friend!" was originally published at TSW.

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The NFL season is upon us, which means that it’s time for everyone to make their predictions. TheSportsWatchers.com is no different, so without further adieu, here are our division winners, playoff predictions and Super Bowl picks:

AFC East – New England Patriots
Love them or hate them, the New England Patriots remain at the top of the heap. After a 2008 NFL season which saw the AFC East produce 4 legitimate teams, it appears as if New England has again separated itself from a division full of young teams and problems at quarterback.

AFC North – Pittsburgh
The Steelers are the reigning Super Bowl champs, so it comes as no surprise that I have them winning the mediocre AFC North division. Their only competition is Baltimore, which they beat 3 times last year.

AFC South – Indianapolis Colts
As long as Peyton Manning is the quarterback, the Colts will contend. The Tennessee Titans had a nice run last year, but their defense is going to fall off by the wayside with the loss of Albert Haynesworth.

AFC West – San Diego Chargers
The Chargers should win this division by several games. The Denver Broncos have fallen off, the Chiefs might have the first pick in next year’s draft, and the Raiders—well, they’re the Raiders.

NFC East – Philadelphia Eagles
Believe it or not, but the time may have come when the Eagles actually have the most explosive offense in the entire division. The addition of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin over the last two seasons has turned this once wide-receiver-less team into a team with too many pass-catching options to deal with.

NFC North – Chicago Bears
I think Jay Cutler finally gets it done for this young Bears team. His ability to stretch the field and put points on the board went overlooked in Denver, where his defense was giving up 30 points a game. Sorry Vikings fans, but I can’t buy the Favre kool-aid just yet.

NFC South – Carolina Panthers
Yes, they got shellacked last postseason, but history tells us this is the most consistent team in the league’s most inconsistent division. However, the Panthers have veterans on both sides of the ball and one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL. Those things should combine to make them the favorites over a young Atlanta team and a defenseless New Orleans Saints squad.

NFC West – Arizona Cardinals
I really like the Seattle Seahawks this year, but unfortunately for them, I think Arizona got a slightly more favorable schedule, based on when and where they have to play teams. The Cardinals were 9-7 last year, but you can account for several of those losses by pointing to East coast trips and winter weather. This year, the Cards only have one potential cold weather game and they finish the year at home.

For our playoff predictions, continue reading here…

Other NFL Predictions:
Week 1 Picks for Thursday Night & Early Games
Week 1 Picks for Sunday Late Games
Week 1 Picks for Monday Night Football
NFL Week 1 Predictions, Lines and Picks: Eagles at Panthers

The post "2009 NFL Predictions: Division Winners, Playoff Predictions and Super Bowl Picks" was originally published at TSW.

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It’s that time of year! The NFL is just about locked and loaded. As a part of a virtual tour around the NFL, let’s take a look at what teams have done over the off-season to improve their odds in 2009. Today’s division of choice? The AFC West.

Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills made a splash when they brought Terrell Owens to the organization this offseason. He truly gives the team a downfield threat that demands a double team, something the Bills haven’t had in quite some time. Of course, Owens can do a lot of other things, such as running routes over the middle of the field to make up for the lack of a productive tight end on the Bills roster. The addition of Terrell Owens should improve quarterback Trent Edwards as a quarterback, but the loss of Jason Peters (albeit, he didn’t have the best year last season) could make it a difficult season on the QB’s body.

On defense, the Bills brought in defensive end Aaron Maybin. He’s a smallish guy who certainly won’t be an every down player in his rookie season, but he does have the speed of a pure pass rusher, something the Bills struggled with mightily last season. If Maybin can come in and give the Bills some edge rushing production on 3rd downs, that could be the difference between this team contending for a playoff spot and not doing so.

Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins didn’t spend a whole lot of money during the offseason, but they were very efficient. On offense, getting Pat White in the NFL Draft was big in terms of running their wildcat offense. Now they can bring White in, and still have Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams on the field, making it a very dangerous offense, that will certainly have some new wrinkles in it with Pat White on board.

However, the Dolphins failed to address their wide receiver concerns, and one wonders if they can make another run at the AFC East title without more production from their wideouts in 2009.

On defense, the Dolphins focused on their secondary, drafting Vontae Davis and Sean Smith, two playmaking college corners. Davis was very exceptional at Illinois and demonstrated all kinds of speed and athleticism (just like his brother, Vernon Davis). And Smith is a 6’3” specimen, who will probably end up at safety before it’s all said and done, but will certainly have an opportunity to earn his way on to the field as a nickel or dime back this season. The Dolphins also added Gibril Wilson and Eric Green via free agency to come in and start at safety and cornerback, respectively. And of course, there was the acquisition of DE Jason Taylor, who comes back to the Miami Dolphins with a little less money coming his way and far less fanfare. But if he can be an effective edge rusher in this 3-4 system, pairing him along Joey Porter might prove to be the most deadly edge rushing combination in the NFL.

New York Jets
The Jets brought Rex Ryan in to take over the reigns of this underachieving Jets squad. One of Ryan’s and the team’s first moves was to bring in Bart Scott, the explosive linebacker out of Baltimore, to come be the Ray Lewis of his complex defensive system. The addition of Marques Douglas is a very significant add-on to the defensive line, as Douglas already has experience in Ryan’s system and was quite effective in it just last year. The Jets also traded for Lito Sheppard, brining in a cornerback that should be able to provide elite coverage if healthy.

On offense, the Jets traded up to get quarterback Mark Sanchez to be the future of their organization. Sanchez showed that he has all of tools while in college, but the question is, is he ready for the NFL in the same way that Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco were last year? He has far less experience coming out of college, and he is not used to having to muster the ball through the hailing winds of the Meadowlands, so it would be hard to fathom him coming in and starting right away, but that appears to be the Jets’ objective if they can get Sanchez ready during camp. Of course, it will be really difficult for Sanchez to have success if he doesn’t have someone other than Jerricho Cotchery to throw to. The Jets lost Laveranues Coles this offseason and they don’t have a replacement as of yet.

New England Patriots
So you think Tom Brady is ready for the season, huh? Well, that remains to be seen. While I think he’ll be healthy before the season is over, he’ll still probably need some time to regain his confidence with that knee. That being said, he has a lot of weapons to cover up for him while he fully recovers. In addition to Randy Moss and Wes Welker, the Patriots have added proven weapons to their offense, including Chris Baker, Fred Taylor Greg Lewis, Joey Galloway and Alex Smith. With all of those weapons around them, it’s hard to believe that the Patriots might not be an even better offense than they were in 2007 when they broke all the records and went undefeated during the regular season.

On the defensive side of the things, the Patriots just keep getting older and older. They traded away Ellis Hobbs, and now Shawn Springs is in at the cornerback position, along with Leigh Bodden, both older veterans, who might not be as good as they once were. But they did pick up cornerback Darius Butler, so perhaps he’ll give the secondary some much needed youth and athleticism. In the box, the Patriots rid of Mike Vrabel, but Adalius Thomas will likely focus on being more of a pass rusher now, and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain might have an impact if he can get himself together.

The post "2009 NFL Football Preview: AFC East" was originally published at TSW.

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This past weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to finagle their way into trading a mere 2nd round pick in exchange for the New England Patriots’ quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel…

Say what?

That’s unbelievable? Is that even fair?

First of all, Mike Vrabel is probably worth more than a 2nd round pick by himself, but given his age and his cap number, let’s say his fair market value is a 2nd rounder. That means the Chiefs essentially got Cassel—a man slated to receive some $16+ million this season—for nothing.

Why on Earth would the Patriots make this trade?

It’s quite simple. It’s an example of a Bill Parcels guy doing the Bill Parcels’ thing: helping out a former comrade so long as it doesn’t directly affect his own them. That’s the motto Bill Bellicik, the Patriots head coach, followed. It was going to be hard to trade Cassel giving his high salary for this season, so I’m not saying it would have been easy for the Patriots to get a top 5 pick for him. But at the very least, they could have gotten 2 picks in this deal, one for the Pro Bowler Mike Vrabel, and one for the promising young quarterback.

But no.

The Patriots just took a measly 2nd round pick to give a packaged deal to their one-time football official, Scott Pioli who is now the GM in Kansas City. It’s a move that symbolizes the very two trades that created the best two teams in the NBA last year. When Kevin McHale sent Kevin Garnett to Boston for some unproven talent, he did his old Celtis squad a huge favor. And when Jerry West, a Lakers legend, sent Memphis’ Pau Gasol to the Lakers in an exchange that included ‘Kwame Brown,’ he essentially did away with the notion of getting back fair value in a trade.

That said, what can you do about it? The whole notion of trading players is an objective practice. For all we know, that 2nd round pick could turn out to be a Hall of Famer. Hell, the Patriots made an HofF’er out of a 6th round pick…you may have heard of him.

The post "Cassel Dealt in Unbalanced Trade" was originally published at TSW.

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Bill Belichick, get off your high horse and get Daunte Culpepper into the New England Patriots facility immediately!

I know Coach Belichick of the New England Patriots said that he wasn’t going to turn to the free agent market to pick up a quarterback to replace Tom Brady. I understand that he wants to see what QB Matt Cassel can do, and he should…for this one week. But to relinquish the job to Cassel by default and not give Culpepper a call is just beyond preposterous. Right now, there is a quarterback sitting out there who has thrown more touchdowns to Randy Moss, the second greatest receiver of all time, than any other person on the planet…and you don’t want him?

I’m sorry, but you just have to bring in Daunte Culpepper and see what he can do. I know he is at a disadvantage without having actually played football in some time, but Culpepper has always been a gamer that plays within the feel of the game, and perhaps he will more readily recapture that gamer mentality with Randy Moss.

You know, it wasn’t long ago when Daunte Culpepper was at the top of the league, receiving MVP votes, getting on the cover of Madden, and leading the Vikings to playoff victories. Sure, he may never be that player again. But then again, what if he is?

Not too long ago, there was this guy named Randall Cunningham, you may have heard of him. He had left the game after his long stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, and everyone thought he was done. Then the Minnesota Vikings gave him a chance. They put him behind a solid offensive line, with two quality receivers, and with Cunningham, the Vikings went on to dominate the league like few offenses have ever done.

Cunningham was an MVP candidate that year. Of course, he wasn’t nearly the player he was with Eagles. He couldn’t run as well, which meant he lost all of his dual-threat ability. But he still had a big arm, and he still knew how to make plays with that big arm. And I’m sure Daunte Culpepper still knows how to make plays. The New England Patriots just have to give him a chance. A chance that looks eerily familiar to the one that Cunningham was given just years ago.

The post "New England Patriots: Replace Tom Brady with Culpepper!" was originally published at TSW.

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Well, there hasn’t been an official report on whether or not Tom Brady is done for the season—but he’s done for the season.

Certainly, I’m not playing the role of the bearer of bad news, for this news is quite old and quite obvious. When Tom Brady went down against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 of the NFL season, a million football fans around the world were in awe. They couldn’t believe that the most untouchable quarterback in the NFL was hurt so badly. And when post-game reports all but confirmed that Tom Brady would be out for the season, not only were football fans in disbelief, they were disillusioned.

Disillusioned? Yes, disillusioned. Disillusioned that in someway the New England Patriots were done. They aren’t done. They are far from it. Sure, last year’s MVP, who had the best passing season in the history of the NFL, is no longer on the squad. But they were 16-0 last season. Does the loss of Tom Brady really cost them 8 games and the playoffs? I’ve never seen a quarterback cost their team 8 games, and that includes quarterbacks that were much more pivotal to their team’s success.

I hate to bring up Michael Vick in comparison to Tom Brady, but the fact of the matter is that Vick drove the Falcons to success that they never deserved. If you were to use a Value Over Replacement Player type of stat to figure out Brady’s value to the Patriots and Vick’s value to the Falcons, there is no question that Vick would be the more valuable quarterback. Not the better one, just the more valuable one to their respective teams when they were at their peak.

But even when Vick last played in 2006, his Falcons won seven games. The following season when he was sent off to jail, they only won 4, but that was just a 3-game drop off, not 8. And even if you count Vick’s last great year (11 wins) and skip all the way to last year’s horrible and terribly unrelated Falcons team, it’s still only a 7 game drop-off. Close to eight, but not 8.

Let’s take the average of those Vick-less team calculations and say the Patriots are now 5 games worse than they were before. Well, they’ve already won one game. So there is a good chance they will finished 11-5 or maybe even 12-4. I just don’t see how the best regular season team in recent history is suddenly out of the playoffs because Tom Brady can’t play anymore. Maybe if it was Peyton Manning I would understand because he is like an extension of the coaching staff on the field. But Tom Brady’s game isn’t quite based on that, and the Patriots offense is a lot more talented than the Colts right now.

So let’s not kid ourselves, people, the Patriots aren’t done. In fact, they are far from it. And if you were to pick a single team that could overcome a loss like this, wouldn’t it be the team that just went 16-0 a year ago? Well, at least that’s my choice. And by the end of the regular season, I’m the sure the Patriots will make it yours.

The post "Patriots Down, But Not Out with Loss of Brady" was originally published at TSW.

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Umm, has anyone else taken notice of the fact that the NFL’s two most dominate quarterbacks over the past 5 to 7 years, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, haven’t played a down of preseason football in 2008?

Well, they haven’t. But the question is, “Should we be concerned?”

As with most things in the world, the answer to this is neither in black or white.

On one hand, we should be very concerned about these players having not taken a snap of preseason football yet. For one, they have never just missed an entire preseason before, which means that the idea that are missing games in the preseason denotes that there is probably something very wrong with the both of them. Also, there is a good chance that their timing is off and the passing rapport with any new offensive acquisitions will be behind schedule come Week 1’s start to the NFL season. That could ultimately mean that Manning and Brady’s play could cost their team’s wins in the opening week of the season, because unlike college football, there are no warm-up games on the schedule.

On the other hand though, Manning and Brady are true professionals. They take care of business, and when it comes to being ready for the game, they are the best at being prepared for any and all situations. If there are any two persons in the league who play the quarterback position and don’t need a preseason, it is these two guys. Besides, even if they are rusty, haven you ever watched an NFL game in Week 1? All teams are rusty, and very few teams look the same way they do in Week 17 as they looked in Week 1. So ultimately, there is a good chance that the lack of a preseason only brought them back to field in terms of having to go through a learning curve in the opening weeks of the 2008 NFL season.

My take?

Personally, I think they will be okay. Especially Peyton Manning. I don’t think there has ever been a quarterback who has had more mastery of the game before the snap than Peyton Manning, which means if he is physically healthy, than he’ll be ready to go for Week 1, and won’t have too much rust to get rid of. As for Brady, he is one of the best clutch quarterbacks to ever play the game, so I think when he gets in that moment of having to make a big play, his injury woes will fade and his rust will wash away. He too is the ultimate professional, and both he and Manning won’t need more than Week 1 to get ready for the next 16 weeks of the season. So in conclusion, don’t worry about Manning and Brady overall, but you may not want to start them at quarterback on your fantasy football team in Week 1.

The post "The Two Best Quarterbacks Not Playing…." was originally published at TSW.

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Is anyone else as disappointed by the Matt Walsh tapes as I am?

The post "Matt Walsh Has No Juice" was originally published at TSW.

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In this edition of “Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust,” Uzo Ometu discusses Shawne Merriman’s hypocrisy, the NFL’s similarity (or lack their of) to Watergate, and why bringing back Moss was only the first of many problems to be addressed in New England.

From the March 11th edition of Sports Section Syndicated:

Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News: Memo to Jerry Jones: Don’t even think about acquiring Pacman Jones… Not today. Not next month. Not ever… He ain’t worth it… You can’t trust him. How could you? We have 44 strip clubs in Dallas. Another 14 in Fort Worth. And eight more in Arlington… You don’t have enough security to prevent him from “making it rain” in Dallas-Fort Worth. Even if you did, he could fly down to Houston on his off day and find 45 more strip clubs. Or head to Austin, which has 14 strip clubs. Or San Antonio, which has 20 topless joints… Pacman is currently serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s player conduct policy time after time after time… He didn’t even play last year, and there’s no guarantee league commissioner Roger Goodell will let him play this year. You know why? He makes dumb decision after dumb decision after dumb decision.

Just Thinking…

I was just thinking about Shawne Merriman’s appearance on ESPN’s Sportscenter last night. They asked him what he thought about the Spygate issue, in particular, he was asked what the overall perspective was on the matter from a player’s point of view. As you would expect a San Diego Chargers player to say, Merriman expressed utter skepticism about the issue and basically said that players are incensed by the Patriots actions, if they indeed did cheat.

My question is, where on Earth does Merriman get off talking down to someone about cheating? Maybe in his head he doesn’t think he is a cheater, but the fact of the matter is that he did violate the league substance-use policy. Whether it was on purpose or just an accident, the public will never know. But we do know that that is something Merriman could have and should have avoided. So his comments on ESPN seemed a little naïve and hypocritical to me. What’s your take?

I was also thinking….

Why doesn’t the NFL just hurry up and get this over with? It would seem to me that they would want to close the door on Spygate as soon as possible, yet their talks with former New England Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh seem to be dragging on.

For those of you who don’t already know, Walsh claims that he has the goods on the Patriots and can pin them to having cheated more than they have already admitted to. However, Walsh won’t talk about it with the NFL before he is assured that the NFL will have his back for any problems he may encounter in violating a non-disclosure contract he signed with the Patriots prior to leaving the organization.

The NFL needs to hurry up and assure Walsh that they will help him out to the full extent of the law. The problem, however, isn’t with covering Walsh’s punitive charges, but the NFL probably wants to have the option to destroy or hide any evidence that Walsh brings forth. However, he may need it if brought into court. Frankly, the NFL needs to get off its high horse and stop thinking that evidence of cheating in football is the equivalent of Watergate. They don’t need to destroy the tapes, because all it does is leave people like myself to imagine the most egregious of actions to have taken place on that tape. And that may even be worse than reality.

Speaking of New England….

The New England Patriots managed to get their superstar wide receiver, Randy Moss, back on the roster before the Philadelphia Eagles were able to swoop in and steal him away with CB Asante Samuel… But the loss of Samuel, coupled with the losses WR Donte Stallworth and LB Roosevelt Colvin, may be just too much for even the NFL’s first 16-0 team to come back from… Randy Moss was the most important step for the Patriots this off-season. Clearly, it was his play this season that elevated this traditionally “scrappy” offense into the best offense ever. You can give quarterback Tom Brady all of the MVPs and awards that you want to, but it was the infusion of Moss’s speed, leaping ability, and reading of defenses that transformed Tom Brady from a great decision-making quarterback into a prolific one. So getting Moss back was essential, and they ought to thank their lucky stars that they did not lose him once they let him loose on the free agent market. [Read More…]

The post "Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust (3YCD) – March 11th, 2008" was originally published at TSW.

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The New England Patriots managed to get their superstar wide receiver, Randy Moss, back on the roster before the Philadelphia Eagles were able to swoop in and steal him away with CB Asante Samuel.

But the loss of Samuel, coupled with the losses WR Donte Stallworth and LB Roosevelt Colvin, may be just too much for even the NFL’s first 16-0 team to come back from.

Randy Moss was the most important step for the Patriots this off-season. Clearly, it was his play this season that elevated this traditionally “scrappy” offense into the best offense ever. You can give quarterback Tom Brady all of the MVPs and awards that you want to, but it was the infusion of Moss’s speed, leaping ability, and reading of defenses that transformed Tom Brady from a great decision-making quarterback into a prolific one. So getting Moss back was essential, and they ought to thank their lucky stars that they did not lose him once they let him loose on the free agent market.

That said, Moss did not do it all by himself. There were other players on the team who contributed to their 16-0 season. Obviously, Wes Welker was a big part of that receiving core, as was Donte Stallworth. Now that Stallworth is with the Cleveland Browns, the Patriots have to find another wide out to play wide out. To be more specific, they need another receiver who has the speed and explosiveness to play along the sideline. That player is not Wes Welker, so any thoughts of just moving him to the outside of the formation are preposterous. I do think their former reserve Kelly Washington would have had a shot a filling that hole, but they let him loose, and he is not a proven commodity either.

Whatever it is they do, filling that hole is essential to the success the team has. Who ever is at that wide out spot has to win one-on-one battles, and be able to get behind the coverage just like Stallworth did. Because if other teams can guard whoever plays that position with one man, then they can effectively take away Moss and Welker with extra coverage. And the Patriots really can’t afford to come back with one less weapon in their offense, because any single defect from last year could be the

On the defensive end, losing Asante Samuel was crucial. He allowed the Patriots to do many different things defensively. Even though he was not the greatest of man-to-man corners in the NFL, he certainly was more than capable of staying behind receivers. Now that they do not have that assurance, the Patriots will be forced to compensate that by putting more players into deep coverage. In addition, loosing Roosevelt Colvin at the linebacking position (even though they might re-sign him) will cost them an athletic linebacker that is very good at dropping into coverage, or being used as a pass rusher.

So while it’s nice to have Moss back on the squad, the Patriots have a lot more tinkering to do if they plan to go 16-0 again. More importantly, if they plan to win the Superbowl, they had better patch up these holes. Then again, they usually do, don’t they?

The post "Moss Is Back… But is All Well in New England?" was originally published at TSW.

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When the New York Football Giants played the New England Patriots close on December 29, 2007, it was a breath of fresh air for all football fans wanting to see the Pats challenged in the final part of their quest to be the first team to ever go 16-0. However, with the Giants in control of most of the game, and finishing within three-points of the heavily favored Patriots, one has to reckon as to whether that was due to the two-teams being evenly matched or something else reigning as the great equalizer.

I’m forced to go with the latter. Afterall, the New England Patriots were heavily favored in this game, and they handled teams that are considered just as good as or better than the New England Patriots, such as the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers. Not to mention, the Giants have done very little over their previous seven games to demonstrate that they are capable of playing at the level of the Patriots, and position for position, the Giants roster falls in comparison to that of the Pats.

So what is the great equalizer that helped the Giants play the Patriots so closely?

Well, what else could it be besides the Madden Momentum Theory?

Anyone who is a big fan of John Madden Football by EA Sports is familiar with the Madden Momentum Theory. It’s the theory that when a user gets up by 2, 3 or even 4 scores, the game starts to initiate a process in which all of the momentum swings toward the losing user in order to increase the competitiveness of the game. This momentum swing often results in favorable penalties, fortunate bounces, spectacular plays, and even more spectacular opposing defensive mishaps for the losing user. The end game of it all is that you have a better player often being challenged by players that are good, but not on that better player’s level, and it makes it quite apparent that no Madden game is ever out of reach. Sometimes this results in a few wins being stolen, but often times, that momentum does eventually return to the winner and results in him or her winning the game.

I liken the Giants-Patriots game to the Madden Momentum Theory because the Giants aren’t on the Patriots level. The contest was close because all of the momentum went their way. Even in the presence of excellent game play, the Giants constantly, and somehow, made lemons out of lemonade. When Randy Moss capped the Patriots first scoring drive, they got a bogus team celebration penalty, and the Giants returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Then of course, there is the fact that the Giants were at home, the majority of football fans wanted the Patriots to falter in their 16-0 quest, and the Giants had the safety net of playing without anything to lose.

So will the Madden Momentum Theory exist as an equalizer throughout the AFC Playoffs and possibly the Superbowl? I would have to say so. After all, currently the record stands at: Pats 16, NFL nothing. That’s a sizeable lead, but as the Madden Momentum Theory would suggest, a comeback is never out of reach.

The post "Giants, Patriots & Madden…Oh My!" was originally published at TSW.

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The NFL has done it again. It appears as if the days of national sports leagues accommodating the consumer of their product are over.

On Saturday night, December 29^th, 2007, the New England Patriots will play the New York Giants in what is setting up to be one the more important games in the 2007 NFL Season. It may even be bigger than the Patriots vs. Colts match-up back in Week 9.

The Giants, who are having a very impressive season, are more likely than not going to have something to play for in Week 17. With the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers ahead of them through 10 weeks in the season, it is very likely that the Giants will be battling them for playoff positioning in the last week of the season. Not to mention teams like the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints who are not too far behind them.

Then of course you have the Patriots, who after beating the Colts in Week 9, they have only history to compete with. Bill Belichick and the New England have left video-gate behind them and they are completely running through everyone in the league. And I mean everybody.

So on December 29^th, at 8:15 PM, against the Giants and in the New York Giants stadium in the Meadowlands, the Patriots might be going for history and their 16^th win. No other team in the history of the National Football League has won 16 games in one season, and this game is going to be the game where history is possibly made!

Too bad, you won’t be able to watch it.

Or at least most of you that is. The NFL Network will be in charge of broadcasting that game, so anyone outside of the New York or Boston Metro Area’s who do not have DirecTV and the NFL Network channel will not be able to watch the game.

Rough estimates say that the NFL Network can only be seen in about 41 million households. That’s not even as many households as one of ESPN’s sibling channels, ESPN News, which is in 55 million homes.

Naturally, you would think that the NFL would change the broadcasting of the game and allow the entire nation to see history be broken. Well, think again.

They aren’t going to do that.

There is also a big game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving night that is being broadcasted by the NFL Network.

So what was Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, suggestion to people who can’t get the game?

He told them to switch.

Now, if you are an average person, or even make a modest amount of money, switching to DirecTV to get the NFL Network does not make sense financially. Many of you have contracts, that if broken would require an exorbitant fee. And then, the pay another installation or set up fee on top of that does not make any sense either.

The NFL is not saying anything different from Jones. Not that they are telling people to switch, because I doubt they want that. They want you, the viewer, to call your cable operator and other providers and tell them to get the NFL Network on their stations. The NFL wants their station in more households so they can, of course, make more money.

So once again, the American sports consumer is being squeezed for money. As if high priced tickets, the most expensive TV sports package, and “TV timeouts” for goodness sake, weren’t enough, now they have to make us switch our cable providers to watch the most significant regular season football game in the history of the NFL.

It just goes to show you that the only thing the NFL is accommodating is their wallets.

The post "The NFL Network Shall Spite It’s Own Face" was originally published at TSW.

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Contractual issues are a very important part of professional football in the NFL. Due to the salary cap and the onset of free agency, the finer points of contracts are extremely important in the modern day era. That is why the upcoming contractual negotiations for Randy Moss are very critical in this upcoming off-season.

On October 29, 2007, it was reported Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys had reached an agreement on a $67 million deal that included over $31 million in guaranteed money. (For those of you who need clarification on the guaranteed part of the contract, that is the money that the team has agreed to pay him and even if the player or the team is to void the contract. However, if the player voids the contract, the team can usually redeem the money through arbitration…Yes, it is unfair.)

It was important for the Cowboys to do this now, in the mist of the season, for two reasons. First, the team can apply the new contract to what is left in their available salary cap funds for this year, which will help the team completely use all of their cap space. It is like using what is left over on last year’s X-mas Gift Card to purchase that expensive gift this year.

The second reason it was important for the Cowboys to get the contract done was because at the end of year Romo would be a free agent, which would mean he could field offers from all across the NFL. That would drive up his price, and entice his interest, which could lead to Dallas not being able to afford him or Romo not wanting to be a Cowboy anymore.

Randy Moss becomes a free agent at the end of the year.

Moss is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. That means he can field offers from all of the teams that are interested in him, much like the Romo situation had he not signed. The reason this is so interesting is threefold, First, Moss has completely turned the Patriots offense around. It is the best it has ever been, and may be the best offense in the history of the NFL. Second, because Moss has turned the offense into a juggernaut, he is extremely valuable to Tom Brady and the Patriots. Moss may become MVP, and that means many teams will be willing to play top dollar for his services. Third, with his price tag at an all-time high, this is when the Patriots would usually let any player not named Brady or Richard Seymour go off on their own. However, Moss’s value to the Patriots may be so high that it has reached Seymour and Brady’s level (to a degree). So the Patriots will not be able to cut bait with Moss so easily.

Can you imagine if the Patriots win the Superbowl going 19-0 or 18-1 with the most dominant offense ever and then release the single acquisition that is most correlated with the team’s offensive prowess? They just cannot do it. Which means the NFL’s most thrifty organization would have to pay one of the leagues most controversial players. Afterall, management cannot tell Brady that he took less money only to see the best offensive weapon of his career sent packing.

It’s a bit of poetic justice though when the Patriots, the financial stalwarts of the league, who for so long preached not paying players massive amounts of money, not bringing on players with attitude problems, and teamwork, now has to open up their wallets to pay a man who said “I’ll play when I want to play,” mimicked mooning Packer nation and walked off the field in the middle of a quarter.

Get that money Moss, because it’s all about that straight cash homey.

The post "Moss’s Hustle May Break the Bank" was originally published at TSW.

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