The NFL Playoffs are upon us, which means it is time for everybody to make their ridiculous predictions. However, TheSportsWatchers just going to cover the NFC games in this post, because clearly, as we are about to show you, our poor picks should be taken in moderation.

Let’s just get right to it. Like many of you, our Super Bowl picks from earlier this season were awful. We had the Cincinnati Bengals coming out of the AFC. Somewhere around their 10th loss in a row, we decided that our prediction probably wasn’t going to come true. Our other pick, you won’t think is all that horrible, except for the fact that we’re already picking against them. If you will note, we picked the Green Bay Packers to come out of the NFC this season.

Now the Packers have entered the playoffs as the 6th seed (despite being the probably the 3rd or 4th best team), are hot, on fire and have reeled off some impressive victories over the last couple of weeks. However, instead of sticking with our Super Bowl pick, we’re going with the opposing team. It suffices to say, if your strategy in reading this post is to bet against everything we say, you’ve made the right move.

Here are our NFL Wildcard Playoff Predictions:

#6 Green Bay Packers (10-6) at #3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

As many of you recall, the Packers did indeed knock of the Eagles earlier this season—in Week 1. But that was opening week. Back then, Philly fans were still whining about Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb was the starting quarterback, Michael Vick wasn’t an MVP candidate, and the Green Bay Packers were actually healthy. Well, you can flip everything I just said, and you can pretty much flip the result of that game as well. The Eagles should win this contest for two reasons: their ability to run the ball, and their ability to stop the run.

The Eagles cannot stop the pass for crap, which is why one should expect Aaron Rodgers to have some fairly good numbers. But his numbers will be far from as efficient as they usually are, because the Eagles will make the Packers beyond one-dimensional. With no Ryan Grant on the field and Brandon Jackson running like a toddler in a walker at the point of attack, the Packers pose no threat to an Eagles rush defense, despite how mediocre it has seemed at times this season. Because the Packers won’t be able to run the ball, Aaron Rodgers will have to put on his cape—again. Do you really think he’s going to go the entire game without making a mistake against that Eagles blitz, tossing a freebie over Asante Samuels way, or getting a bad play from a backup tight end not named Jermichael Finley? I wouldn’t bet on Rodgers being his usual flawless self this time around.

On the other side of the ball, the Packers are actually pretty average at stopping the run. However, defending the run is an entirely different ball game when Michael Vick is on the field. All of a sudden that backside end can’t crash the line on runs away from, because he has to respect the bootleg. That poses the threat of huge backside runs for LeSean McCoy, and we know he can house those bad boys. And if McCoy gets going, it’s hard to imagine the Eagles losing this game.

That being said, we respect the Packers. This game will be close, and in all likelihood, it will come down to the 4th quarter, just as it did in Week 1. Only this time around, the Eagles appear to have the better hand, and we expect the Packers to get outplayed on the river.

Eagles win, 31-24

#5 New Orleans Saints at #4 Seattle Seahawks

Who says a losing team shouldn’t be in the playoffs? Why not? They won their division, those are the rules. If you want to change them, do it by any means necessary, but crying about it as if you didn’t know this type of thing could happen is about as ludicrous as the Seattle Seahawks chances of winning this game.

Don’t get us wrong though, we are not underestimating the power of the 12th man in Seattle. In fact, we respect it so much; we think this game is going to be close. But Matt Hasselbeck or not, there’s no way that Drew Brees is getting outplayed by a quarterback from a 7-9 team. Not this Saturday in Seattle, not on a Thursday in Mars. It just isn’t happening.

But the game will be close, mainly because the Saints have more holes than the Obama healthcare plan. The Saints have trouble stopping the run. Drew Brees has been entirely too freewheeling with football. And on defense, if the Saints need a stop, I’m not sure they can get it against an above average offense.

However, Seattle isn’t above average—in fact, by record, they are by definition below average. They aren’t any good, they probably don’t deserve to be playing this weekend, and they certainly don’t deserve to win this game.

Saints win, 27-21

The post "NFL Playoff Predictions: NFC Games" was originally published at TSW.

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Randy Moss is no longer a member of the New England Patriots.

Wait!

That’s old news.

Randy Moss is no longer a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Yes, you heard me correctly. Randy Moss will be waived by the Minnesota Vikings this week, and is expected to undergo the waiver wire process very soon. This comes after Moss played just four games for the Minnesota Vikings after being traded by the New England Patriots to the Vikings following Week 4 of the NFL season.

Now Moss could wind up anywhere.

Anywhere!

Even your favorite team!

Of course, your favorite team might not make any sense. Here are five teams that do though.

1. New York Jets
Oh that’s right! From the team that brought you Hard Knocks this past summer, comes the very likely idea that they are more than willing to take on another big personality. Only in New York City could a team with this much ego take on a player of Moss’s stature. Thankfully, the Jets have the right kind of coach to handle a guy like Moss: a loud one!

For everybody out there who grew to hate the Jets while watching Hard Knocks, it would be almost unfathomable to imagine a loud mouth guy like Moss touting the green and white too. But when you put all of the chatter aside, what you have with Randy Moss is a guy that still demands a double team down the field. And for a run-first team like the Jets, that means a lot of extra holes for LaDainian Tomlinson, and a much easier read for second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez. While Moss may not be what he once was, I do know one thing; no team of his is going to get shut out.

2. Miami Dolphins
With Bill Parcels gone, the Miami Dolphins may be more likely to make a risky move like this. Sure, the idea of having Moss and Brandon Marshall on the same locker room is about as scary as Moss on a fly pattern. But the idea of having them on the field, at the same time could strike fear into the hearts and minds of defensive coordinators everywhere. While the TheSportsWatchers may have been wrong about how much Chad Ocho Cinco and Terrell Owens were going to run the league (somewhat wrong anyway), Marshall and Moss would undoubtedly be a terrific twosome.

3. New Orleans Saints
Nobody knows why the Saints aren’t as explosive as they were last year, but I know a dose of Randy Moss could help fix that. Call me crazy, but Moss would become the best wide receiver on the team, wouldn’t he? I mean, does either Marques Colston or Lance Moore require a true double team for most of the game? I don’t think so. Moss does. What’s being lost in all of this talk of Moss’s demise is that he can affect a game without even touching the ball. By playing for the Saints, teams now have to put two guys on him, giving Drew Brees a decided advantage with all of his other wide receivers—not to mention giving a boost to the Saints run game. And once Reggie Bush comes back, that would give the Saints more options than a Friday night in downtown New Orleans.

4. Washington Redskins
Mike Shanahan should probably be barred from making any more moves this season. After all, the man has now managed to alienate the best player on his offense and the best player on his defense in a matter of months. However, before he totally counts McNabb out, maybe he should consider giving the aging quarterback a chance by providing him with a deep threat. McNabb may not be the most accurate passer in the NFL, but he throws one heck of a productive deep ball. Moss would give the Redskins a deep threat, McNabb would have a new weapon, and maybe the two-minute drill won’t be so “exasperating” next time around with Moss on the field.

5. New England Patriots
Don’t rule it out! How awesome would Bill Belichick look if he traded away a fourth-round pick for Randy Moss, traded Moss away for a third-round pick 3 years later, and then got Moss back for nothing? We’d have to nominate him for GM of the year on that alone, wouldn’t we? Listen, things may have ended inharmoniously before, but winning can change things. The Patriots are in a good position and Moss still seems like he loves his former boss. If he came back on his 2007 behavior regimen, the Patriots would take the risk. Quite frankly, I don’t see how they could lose unless Moss is 100% finished, but for the umpteenth time, I find that hard to believe.

The post "Moss set free: Five teams that could use him" was originally published at TSW.

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The New Orleans Saints loss to the Atlanta Falcons might have been negligible considering that their kicker missed a 29-yard field goal in overtime that would have won them the game. However, with the Falcons win, Atlanta assumes first place in the NFC South, and more importantly, they look like the more impressive team through the NFL’s first three weeks of the season.

The Falcons appear to be clicking on all cylinders. Tails of Matt Ryan’s demise were greatly exaggerated. Going head-to-head with Drew Brees, Ryan threw for 228 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, while the Super Bowl MVP there for 365 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also had 2 interceptions that, in part, cost the Saints the game.

Tony Gonzalez, who many thought had aged quickly given his performance in the first two weeks of the season, looked like his typical Hall of Fame self, catching 8 passes for 110 receiving yards and a score. Roddy White also chipped in, hauling in 5 catches and scoring on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ryan.

On the ground, the Falcons were no less productive. Michael Turner entered Week 3 bruised and banged up, and still managed to churn out 114 rushing yards on a bruising 30-carry afternoon. And Jason Snelling also contributed to the running game with 62 rushes of his own.

So offensively, the Falcons have little to worry about. Defensively, they have some issues. While giving up 24 points to the New Orleans Saints is a tad bit impressive, the fact that they had multiple blown coverages and watched Brees go for 365 shows just how far the Falcons have to go before their secondary is on par with the rest of the NFL. Up front, however, the Falcons had no trouble stopping the run, and they held the Saints, an underrated rushing team, to just 2.7 yards per carry. If nothing else, being able to stop the run and make teams one-dimensional is a decent way to help a bleeding secondary—so at least the Falcons have that going for them defensively.

As for their NFC South counterparts, they have a lot of issues right now. They barely beat the San Francisco 49ers, which just got thrashed by the Kansas City Chiefs. They barely beat the Minnesota Vikings, who are a shell of their former selves. And now they were involved in yet another very close game in their home stadium. At the end of the day, they are 2-1 and are tied with the Falcons, but how many times do you succeed at winning close games before your bubble gets popped like it did this past week?

Where’s the dominant Saints offense of old?

Where’s the turnover-causing defense of yesteryear?

If the Saints keep playing like a team on the rebound that has to scratch out every win, can we really expect them to win this division with that type of defense.

Probably not.

Thus, things are looking pretty good for the Atlanta Falcons. A lot of people thought they might win the NFC South, but they were looked at with crazy eyes given that the Super Bowl champs played in the same division. Well, those eyes aren’t so crooked-looking anymore, as the Saints look sluggish, and the Falcons look like sluggers through the first three weeks of the 2010 NFL season.

The post "Atlanta Falcons: Kings of the South?" was originally published at TSW.

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Maybe it is just me, but doesn’t that 2005-2006 National Title Game between college football’s USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns on January 4, 2006 seem like yesterday?

I was in college and in the last semester of my senior year when that game aired. Admittedly, I’m a Texas fan, so I was pretty down mid-way through the fourth quarter when it looked like USC had gotten the better of us. In fact, at one point I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the game because I was so disappointed—although, that didn’t last more than 1 commercial break.

By the end of that wonderful game in which Texas had comeback from 12 points down with 6:42 left in the game, Vince Young had become a part of college football folklore, Matt Leinart capped what was one of the best quarterbacking careers ever at the college football level, and Reggie Bush outstanding Heisman Trophy campaign had come to an official end.

Those three guys were heroes, not because of that game along, but for everything they had done for college football up until that point. The fact that they all had been in the national spotlight for multiple years, faced all kinds of pressure, and delivered performances the way they did made them instant college football legends. And at the very point when everyone knew their college football careers had come to an end, it seemed inevitable that each of them would become NFL superstars early on in their NFL careers.

But to this point, neither Reggie Bush, Vince Young nor Matt Leinart has achieved stardom. Hell, only of them has achieved “start’em,” as both Leinart and Bush have been bench players for essentially their entire NFL careers to this point.

I wrote an article for ESPN prior to the 2008 NFL season that detailed some of NFL’s most expendable football players. It was an interesting piece (or so I thought) that really highlighted just how replaceable some of the most talked about players in football are. On that list were big-name players like Terrell Owens (who has been replaced by Miles Austin), Jeremy Shockey (who was replaced by Kevin Boss right before the Giants won a Super Bowl) and Safety Roy Williams (who the Cowboys gave up for a bag of chips at end of 2008).

Also on that list were all three of the college folk heroes I just mentioned. Two years after being three of the top 10 picks in the 2006 NFL Draft, each of those players had gone from sugar to shit and were as replaceable as the sun is bright.

At the time, Vince Young was entering the 2008 NFL season having just taken his team to the playoffs. As impressive as it was, it was anything but pretty, and there was no doubt in my mind that his backup, Kerry Collins, was every bit as capable of leading to the Tennessee Titans to the NFL playoffs, just as Young had done the season before. Turns out as was right, because Young got hurt, Collins took over, and the Titans were the best team in the NFL during the regular season.

Reggie Bush was a tougher sell to the ESPN audience, as many had criticized me for failing to account for Bush’s importance as a return man. The only problem with that argument is that Bush had just 3 punt returns in the season prior to me writing that piece. Now the season following that Bush, did have 20 punt returns and scored 3 touchdowns in the process. Of course, his team, the New Orleans Saints, finished just 8-8 that season and failed to make the playoffs for the second year in a row—case and point.

And does my inclusion of Matt Leinart among the NFL’s most expendable players need any justification after the debacle that was this offseason, his release and his eventual agreement to sign with the Houston Texans as the backup to Matt Schaub—a quarterback that went 80 draft picks after Leinart in the 2004 NFL Draft…?

So what happened to these three guys? Are they disappointments? Are they busts? Or is there still some slither of hope that they will come through in the end and make us remember why we put them on a pedestal for all those years in college?

As it stands now, the jury is still out on Vince Young. He had a major resurgence at the end of the 2009 NFL season, when he led the Titans to an 8-2 record after the team had gone 0-6 with Kerry Collins as the starter. Now Young is poised to lead the Titans back to the NFL Playoffs, as he and his Titans look pretty good with a healthy defense and superstar Chris Johnson at running back.

Reggie Bush still has question marks—including whether or not he is a bust? However, some of the questions seemed to have been answered. The answer to the question of whether Bush can be a feature back has been answered. In my article, I was holding out for the possibility that Bush could go from scat back to main back just as Tiki Barber had with the New York Giants. But at this point in his NFL career, Bush is averaging just 4.0 yards per carry and has 17 fumbles on just 488 carries. That’s not the stuff feature running backs are made of, and quite frankly, you don’t draft a non-feature back #2 overall in the NFL Draft.

And last but not least, Matt Leinart is a bust until proven otherwise. Leinart’s best season was in his rookie year, when he threw for 2,547 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while leading the Cardinals to a 4-7 record. Leinart would get hurt in his second year, and would lose his starting job for good in his third year to eventual Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Not to toot my own horn, but after naming Leinart to the most expendable list, Warner took the starting job from Leinart for good and let the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. Now Leinart has recently signed with the Houston Texans and appears headed destined for a career as a journeyman quarterback.

So what does this little walk down memory lane tell us?

It tells us not put too much stock into the careers of 22 year olds. Bush has made more news for his violations at USC than he has on the football field, and Vince Young’s most talked about point in his career came when some people thought he was suicidal. Twenty-two year olds just aren’t meant to be the future of anything. That’s too much pressure and too much responsibility for someone of that age. All three of these guys have failed to live up to the pressure till this point in their careers, and no one knows if any of them will ever achieve the heights to which they were expected to reach when they were drafted in 2006.

So let’s not put too much pressure on this recently heralded class of NFL rookies. Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy are legends at their respective schools, and Sam Bradford is supposed to be the prodigy the NFL has been waiting for since Peyton Manning was drafted in 1998. And while the expectations of those three fail in comparison to that of Bush, Young and Leinart, let’s learn from history and not even expect them to live up to even the most meager of college careers.

The fact is, Matt Leinart’s entire professional career may have already seen its best years 5 years ago. And while Bush may have gotten a Super Bowl ring and Young is still an NFL starter, they may never achieve the pinnacle of individual achievement as they did half a decade ago. Maybe 2010 can prove otherwise, and maybe each of these guys can have an amazing year that reminds us all why they were among the best that ever played football at the collegiate level. But in the case that 2010 turns out to be as indicative of their mediocrity as other seasons have been, well, we will always have 2006, when they played in one of the best games in college football history and seemed unstoppable, if only for a brief moment in time.

The post "Zo Knows: The NFL Class of 2006 has not lived up to the hype" was originally published at TSW.

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TheSportsWatchers want to get you in shape for the upcoming 2010 NFL football season. So in the spirit of NFL training camp, we are doing two-a-days to get you in gear for each and every NFL team.

No one can say anything bad about what the New Orleans Saints did last year. Their 2009-2010 NFL season was one for the record books. They dominated the regular season and proved to be the better team in each playoff game, as they won the 2010 Super Bowl and took the Lombardi trophy back to New Orleans! Can anyone say encore?

2009 NFL recap for the New Orleans Saints

The Saints looked like Super Bowl contenders from start to finish last season. Their ability to put up huge offensive numbers made them look like world-beaters early on. Whether it was the 45 they put up on Detroit to open the year, or the 38 they put on the New England Patriots, the Saints didn’t discriminate, as they pretty much scored at will all year. It wasn’t until Week 15, when the Saints faced the Dallas Cowboys that the Saints would score fewer than 24 points and get their first loss of the season. Being 13-1 after that game, the Saints elected to sit the final two games out and enter the playoffs fresh. That proved to be a winning strategy, as the Saints would score 45, 31 and then another 31 points in the Super Bowl to beat the Indianapolis Colts and become NFL Football Champions of the World.

New Orleans Saints 2010 Offseason Transactions

The Saints had a somewhat interesting offseason over the last couple of months. Knowing that their defense is going to determine whether or not they can repeat as champions, the Saints brought in DT Anthony Hargrove, DE Alex Brown, S Roman Harper and re-signed S Darren Sharper. Of course, this is an offensive team; so head coach Sean Payton made sure to bring in a few new weapons and resign some of his old ones. Offensive tackles Jamaal Brown and Charles Brown were re-signed, as was RB Pierre Thomas. Lance Moore got a new contract. TE Jimmy Graham was brought on and so was WR Mark Bradley. With their first round pick though, the Saints went to work on the defense and drafted cornerback Patrick Robinson.

2010 NFL Prediction for the New Orleans Saints

Offensively, the Saints have very few questions to answer. They have the ability to throw the ball deep, dink and dunk the ball, and work the sidelines. Their lone weak point might be their rushing game, which had been more formidable in previous seasons than it was in 2009. However, Reggie Bush seems to have taken to a new downhill running style, and if Pierre Thomas can stay healthy, he is formidable option as well. The Saints true weakness, however, is on the defensive side of the ball, where the team finished 25th among the NFL’s 32 football teams. Last year, the defense got away with giving up so many yards by creating so many turnovers and leading the league in turnover differential. However, leading the league in turnovers is usually more of a fluky thing than it is about the talents of the team, and despite the Saints defensive acquisitions, it would appear that the again would need to rely on turnovers. They just don’t have the size up front or the speed on the edges to be a really dominant defensive football team—or even a mediocre one at that. Thus, we predict that the Saints will continue to be among the bottom third defenses, yet again, which we think gets them another NFC South crown, but haves them exiting the playoffs early on this season.

The post "NFL Predictions 2010: New Orleans Saints" was originally published at TSW.

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The 2010 NFL Football season is approaching, which means it is time for our first edition of this season’s NFL Power Rankings!

Don’t be surprised by anything we have up here today, because as each and every NFL season continues to prove, these things are in what one might call a “fluid situation.”

So before the NFL schedule is underway and games are actually being played, we though we’d give you some insight into how we see things entering the 2010 season. Here it is, our preseason NFL Power Rankings for the 2010 season!

1. Indianapolis Colts – The Colts come back with essentially the same squad as last year. The only difference is the health of their players, of which the wide receivers are good to go, the offensive line is banged up, and Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney should be ready to play. This Colts team ought to be just as good as last year, so the only questions are, did every other NFL team catch up to them, and will the 2010 NFL schedule be kind unto the Colts?

2. New Orleans Saints – I know they are the Super Bowl champions, but I can’t put a team without any defense at the top of the initial NFL Power Rankings. Sure, they managed to win a Super Bowl without playing superb defense, and I’m sure they CAN do it again—but I wouldn’t bet on it. So while I like the Saints offense and Drew Brees, they are going to need to some help from the other side of the ball if they are going to repeat as NFL champions.

3. Cincinnati Bengals – That’s right! The Bengals got a bump up in our rankings. The hell with chemistry! This squad is full of stars that know how to make plays. With Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Jermaine Gresham and Antonio Bryant catching passes, Carson Palmer should have a field day against the rest of the league. The biggest benefactor is Cedric Benson, who just may rush for 1,500 yards with all of the pressure that got taken off his back by the additions to the Bengals receiving core.

4. Green Bay Packers – Brett Favre or not, the Packers could be better than the Vikings this season. Yet of course, if I account for any chance that Favre may not play, I have to put the Packers ahead; especially given how well the Packers played outside of their two games against the Vikings in 2009. Allegedly, the offensive line will protect Aaron Rodgers a lot better in 2010, and the defense now has a full year under the 3-4 scheme. This team is prime to make a move to the top of the division and the NFC Conference for years to come, and 2010 just may be their time.

5. Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings need Favre; otherwise, they can kiss this top-10 ranking goodbye. I love Sage Rosenfels and all, but he’s not throwing 30 touchdown passes and putting the Vikings on his back. He might be able to get the Vikings to 10 wins, and he could even help them win the division. But playoff wins are a whole other animal, and Rosenfels just won’t get it done for the Vikings on that accord.

6. Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys have their best team in years. With the emergence of WR Miles Austin, the Cowboys know who they are on offense. Defensively, they have a pass rush to die for, but they also have a secondary that could kill them. If they can sure that secondary up, they will be at the top of this list in no time.

7. New York Jets – Given the high-praise we gave to the New York Jets in our Two-a-Days segment, you might think I’m accounting for the possibility of a Darrelle Revis holdout. On the contrary, while the Jets have the talent to go all the way, QB Mark Sanchez still needs to prove himself. I need at least half a season before I can give the green light on the Jets as the best team in the NFL, so don’t expect the Jets to move too far up in these rankings before then.

8. Baltimore Ravens – I love the Ravens, just not as much as everybody else. The addition of Anquan Boldin makes them much better on offense, but that defense that everybody automatically overlooks has gotten old over the years. Sure, Ray Lewis can still play and Haloti Ngata is a beast, but they have a lot of holes in the secondary, and their linebacking core isn’t as vaunted as it once was when Rex Ryan was there.

9. San Diego Chargers – The Chargers either let go of let hold of several players this offseason, including LaDainian Tomlinson and three holdouts. The holdouts prevent the Chargers from being higher on this list, but the lack of a running game probably would have had them back down here anyway.

10. Atlanta Falcons – The Falcons are poised for a big year, if they can just hang tough early on in their NFL schedule. They have to play the Steelers to open, the Saints in Week 3, the Eagles in Week 6 and the Bengals in Week 7. After that, it gets a lot easier, with 6 out of 9 games against teams that didn’t make the NFL playoffs last year.

The rest of the 2010 NFL Power Rankings:

11. New England Patriots
12. Houston Texans
13. New York Giants
14. Tennessee Titans
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
16. Washington Redskins
17. Philadelphia Eagles
18. Miami Dolphins
19. Chicago Bears
20. San Francisco 49ers
21. Arizona Cardinals
22. Denver Broncos
23. Oakland Raiders
24. Jacksonville Jaguars
25. Seattle Seahawks
26. Kansas City Chiefs
27. Carolina Panthers
28. Detroit Lions
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Cleveland Browns
31. Buffalo Bills
32. St. Louis Rams

The post "NFL Power Rankings: Preseason" was originally published at TSW.

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The Indianapolis Colts are the favorite to win the Super Bowl. They have the better quarterback, the better defense and the experience.

Still if they don’t accomplish two specific things, they might see their second date with the Lombardi Trophy cancelled come Sunday night.

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The post "The Colts Can with the Super Bowl If…." was originally published at TSW.

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You know the old question, “In order for x to happen, what has to happen to y?”

Well, if the Saints win the Super Bowl, it’s going to be because they did two things: Create pressure up the middle and cover the jerk route. I’ll speak to the former first.

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The post "Super Bowl Scenario: If the Saints Win…" was originally published at TSW.

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The New Orleans Saints are not favored to win the Super Bowl. By most objective measures, they aren’t the better team.

The Indianapolis Colts have a better defense, a more trusted offense, and they have more experience, as well. While I think this game will be a lot closer than some because of the emotional impact that the city of New Orleans brings to this year’s Super Bowl, the Colts should win this game.

However, if ever there was an equalizer that increases the Saints chances of winning this year’s Super Bowl, it is the fact that Dwight Freeney may not play.

The injury to Freeney’s ankle is possibly going to keep him out of the Super Bowl. It’s only Monday, but right now it looks as if the Freeney’s best chance at playing will be on passing-situations, when he can come in and do his thing. However, if Freeney’s ankle limits his ability to explode off the line of scrimmage and get up the field as quickly as he does, his mere presence on the field won’t be enough to put real pressure on Saints quarterback Drew Brees. And if Brees isn’t being pressured, that could spell trouble for the Colts defense.

The Colts secondary is not outstanding by any measure. However, they are very disciplined, so when asked to do a task for 3 or 4 seconds, they do it very well. But ask them to cover a receiver on a double move, for an extended period of time, and they could be in a whole lot of trouble. Without Freeney in the game, that’s the situation the Colts secondary might find themselves in. While the Colts other defensive end, Robert Mathis, is a great pass rusher as well, if he is the lone guy the Saints have to worry about, he can be accounted for in their pass protection schemes. Doubling Mathis will give Brees the time he needs to throw the ball down the field, which is what he will do against the soft coverage of the Colts. And really, there’s nothing the Colts can do about it if Brees has time to pass the football.

The Colts defense is predicated on getting pressure on the quarterback, thereby eliciting quicker throws. The longer the quarterback has, the more likely he will complete a pass against the Colts zone schemes. The Colts are not a blitzing team, so it’s not really in their nature to manufacture pressure by sending extra players. And even if they attempted to do so, that brings us back to the fact that their secondary isn’t all that good at man coverage. Heck, even Mark Sanchez beat the Colts on a few man coverage plays last week, so you can only imagine what Drew Brees would do.

As a result of Freeney’s injury, expect the Colts to adjust their defensive game plan. If their 4-man rush sans Freeney isn’t working, they won’t blitz, but they will try to make Brees dink and dunk the ball by taking away all deep throws. And Brees will do just that, taking what the defense gives him for most of the game. But trust me; Brees doesn’t produce 5,000-yard seasons by dinking and dunking the ball down the field. He will fiend weak spots in the Colts secondary during the game, and if he hast the time he needs in the pocket to exploit those weaknesses, rest assure, the Saints will be making a whole lot of plays down the field on Super Sunday—perhaps, to the ultimate detriment to the Colts Super Bowl chances.

The post "How Can the Saints Win the Super Bowl? Answer: No Dwight Freeney" was originally published at TSW.

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So much going out there in the world of sports, that I don’t even know where to begin!

We’ll save the Super Bowl mumbo-jumbo for next week, but until then, there’s still plenty of sports commentary on the other sports.

Mitch Lawrence, New York Daily News:

Fifty games? That’s it? That’s all Gilbert Arenas has to serve for his stupid and dangerous gun antics?

Arenas should hope he gets off as easily on March 26 when Judge Robert Warren tells him how much time he will be spending in the can.

In the meantime, as he sits around waiting for judgment day, Arenas can breathe a sigh of relief that he works for David Stern.

Arenas gave Stern the best chance he will ever have to solve his gun problem, once and for all. And Stern blew it.

Howard Bryant, ESPN.com:

Whatever cleansing effect Bud Selig and Tony La Russa thought might be produced by Mark McGwire’s re-entry into baseball has been hijacked by real anger from an unexpected source — his fellow former players and baseball insiders — in the weeks following his admission that he used steroids during his career. The result is a not-so-welcome fact: McGwire’s return to the game is not working.

It is, in fact, toxic.

Disparate voices around the game have made themselves heard, and their repudiation of McGwire — and by extension, the lucrative and discredited steroids era — is unmistakable.

Henry Abbott, Truehoop.com:

For Arenas, after the NBA’s suspension has been determined he’s now not getting paid at all for the remainder of this season, yet the contract weds him to a team that has distanced itself from him in every way imaginable — right down to removing his likeness from around the arena. People close to Arenas have been saying that he does not want to play for Ernie Grunfeld any longer.

The only natural thing is to assume that the Wizards and Arenas will find a way to part ways. But can they?

Tough to trade: There has been talk about the Wizards finding a trade partner willing to take on Arenas. Front office sources say they can’t imagine any team would take on his contract. Among the things working against Arenas: He is one of the NBA’s worst defenders. Synergy Sports tracks every NBA play. At the time of Arenas’ original suspension, he was rated the worst defender among the 107 players with at least 300 plays as an on-ball defender.

Rick Reily, ESPN the Magazine:

You can’t knock the smile off my face with a snowball. I am Optimist Prime. You see a recession? I see a pawnshop boom. You see global warming? I see terrific new surf spots. You see a sports world full of cheats you wouldn’t let babysit your rubber tree? I see a column. For instance …

It’s been bad news if you’re a Mark McGwire fan. He copped to using steroids throughout the ’90s, which surprised exactly three people, all of them at the Beijing Dominos Association. After all, McGwire’s younger brother (admitted ‘roids-using bodybuilder Jay) wrote a book proposal detailing all the junk he introduced to his bro. McGwire’s five-years-too-late confession was weaker than prison coffee. He insisted his usage was light and didn’t help him go deep. Please. It was like Carlo Gambino admitting he stole library books.

But it’s been good news if you’re a Ken Griffey Jr. fan. With every tearful, trembling doper who fogs up our flat screens, Griffey shines brighter. We point to his 630 home runs and say, “Not a smudge on them!” We point to his failing with age — less than 40% of his bombs have come past his 30th birthday, compared to more than 60% of McGwire’s — and exclaim, “A slugger not built in a lab!” We point to Griffey’s before and after pictures and compare them to McGwire’s or Barry Bonds’ or Sammy Sosa’s and rejoice, “Behold! Hat size still a 7 1/8!”

Kurt, Forum Blue & Gold:

When a team is not reaching its potential around the trade deadline, there is a temptation to want to “shake them up” with a trade.

The Lakers are not reaching their potential. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, 1-2 on this road trip. They played better against a Toronto team that plays well at home, but it was still a better overall game from them than we have seen recently. It’s one of those things I notice in baseball (not sure if the stats would back me up) — when a slumping hitter is about to break out of that, they seem to go through a phase where they start hitting the ball hard but still make outs. They drill the ball but right at the shortstop, or the centerfielder robs them of a home run. Is that where the Lakers are?

Or, do the Lakers need to be shaken up?

Thomas B., KnickerBlogger.net:

During halftime of the Dallas game, Coach D’Antoni said the only thing wrong with Duhon was that he wasn’t hitting shots (eFG% 44.8). Sure, and the only thing wrong with the Titanic was a small hole in its hull. D’Antoni mentioned Duhon’s assist to turnover rating (37.0 Ast-R), and total assist (6.7 per/36) in defense of his point. Unfortunately, Duhon’s passing numbers, while good, simply are not strong enough to make up for his abysmal shooting. Duhon’s TS% of 48.3 (28th of starting point guards) is about the same as noted brick layers Jared Jeffries (48.4) and Larry Hughes (47.4).

Matt Loede, Saints Gab:

Our friends at TMZ.com sent us the following today about Reggie Bush’s squeeze:

TMZ has learned Reggie Bush’s favorite asset will be hitting the town on Super Bowl weekend in a Vault XXL2 Limousine by Armor Horse — which is a tank/limo hybrid built with composite ballistic panels and bullet-resistant windows.

And that’s not all: Both doors on the limo are fitted with emergency gun ports — so, whether the limo is rockin’ or not … it’s best if you don’t come a knockin’.

The post "Amazing Commentary: January 28, 2010" was originally published at TSW.

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New Orleans Saints versus the Indianapolis Colts on February 7th, better known as Super Bowl Sunday!

If you think about it, this is the Super Bowl matchup that we anticipated all NFL season long. For 13 weeks, these teams were both undefeated and looked like they were incapable of losing a football game. Both teams finished #1 in their respective conferences and used their home field advantage to advance their way to the Super Bowl. Now, with two weeks to prepare and a career’s worth of achievement right in front of them, they will square off in a matchup of two of the most formidable offenses to ever appear in the Super Bowl at the same time.

So which team is going to win? We will break it down in our Super Bowl Prediction analysis:

When the New Orleans Saints have the ball…
The New Orleans Saints offense looked sluggish toward the end of the regular season, but during the NFC playoffs, they appeared to get their mojo back. They put up 76 points in two games, had just 1 turnover, and were brilliant on 3rd down. Their ability to stretch the field both horizontally and vertically, and not always force the ball down the field, has made them almost unstoppable in the passing game, and the added dimension of a running game makes them difficult to prepare for.

Of course, the question is can this offense continue to thrive against the stingy defense of the Indianapolis Colts? The Colts absolutely shutdown the Baltimore Colts offense, and they held the New York Jets scoreless in the second half. However, there is no question that the Saints will be the toughest offense the Colts have seen all year, maybe even tougher than the offense they go up against every day in practice.

For starters, the Saints will make plays downfield. The Colts scheme does not cater to defending the deep ball against teams that have multiple options. Their Cover 2 is very vulnerable to passes over the middle of the field; an area that quarterback Drew Brees tends to control very well. Even when the Colts go 1-safety shell, their corners aren’t the best cover guys in the world, and are likely to be easily worked by the likes of Marques Colston and Devery Henderson in the slot and on the outsides, respectively. And let’s not forget about Jeremy Shockey. While Shockey hasn’t done much of anything since Week 7 or 8, he is still going to make plays and is more than capable of working middle linebackers, which again, will help the Saints exploit the middle of the field.

As for the running game, the Saints will keep the Colts honest, which could be the Colts biggest downfall in this game. The Colts had a difficult time controlling the Jets offense and there was no secret as to what the Jets were going to do. One could even make the argument that had it not been for an injury to Jets running back Shonne Greene, we could have had a different result in the AFC Championships. In light of that, expect the Saints rushing to do just enough to keep the Colts defense off balance and very vulnerable to playaction.

When the Indianapolis Colts have the ball…
Peyton Manning is on his way to becoming the best quarterback in the NFL, and if that indeed is what he is, he will have to put that on display in the Super Bowl. The Saints defense is anything stalwart, giving up big play after big play over its past couple of games, despite the Saints ability to win both playoff games thus far. For example, the Saints almost lost the game against the Minnesota Vikings, and had it not been for red zone turnovers, the Saints defense would have been on the hook for an inevitable Saints loss in last Sunday’s NFC Championship game. So how will Peyton Manning take advantage of a defense that isn’t playing so well right now?

First of all, don’t expect the Saints to continue their blitzing ways. The Saints were one of the most blitz-happy defenses in the NFC this past season, but after watching tape of that AFC Championship game and looking at the way the New York Jets defense got dissected in the 2nd half, it would be hard to imagine that the Saints go into the Super Bowl blitz-happy. Sure, one might think they’d be tempted to “stick with what they know,” but the Jets have far better personnel on the defensive side of the ball and were soundly beaten in the passing game, so a blitz-happy defensive package should not be in the cards for the Saints defense.

Thus, expect the Saints to drop back, and make Peyton Manning dink and dunk his way down the field. They will do their best to confuse Manning by disguising coverages, showing blitzes, and moving defenders out of position and all over the field, but at the end of the day, they will be in a two-shell for most of the night. This actually is a pretty smart strategy, because Manning loves to throw the deep ball, and if you make him a manager of the game, there is a small chance that he might get frustrated.

However, I don’t expect Manning to get frustrated and take the bait. He will take the short throws, and do his best to tempt defenders to gamble on short passes. But if the deep ball isn’t there, Manning is too smart to take a chance down field with the Super Bowl title on the line. So expect plenty of short passes to Dallas Clark, plenty of screens to Pierre Garcon, and more running plays than the Colts are use to calling. In fact, the game plan for the Colts might be eerily similar to that of what they did in 2007 against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

The Prediction…
If the Saints execute an offensive game plan that keeps the Colts defense off balance, and makes Manning a manager of the football, they have a great chance to win this game. However, I have sneaky suspicion that because the Saints are led solely by a defensive coordinator and not the coach, they are more likely to tilt towards being blitz-crazy than marshmallowy-soft, and I think one too many blitzes will cost them the game. Besides, the players on the Saints defense really aren’t that good talent-wise, and that wasn’t hard to see last week when they were decimated by the Vikings offense. In my opinion, the Saints would have to put up at least 35 points to overcome the licking they are going to take on defense, and I just don’t see that against this bend but don’t break defense of the Colts. I like the Colts to win (and many others agree with me), but the Saints to cover:

Colts are your Super Bowl champions by a score of 28-24.

The post "Super Bowl Prediction: New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts" was originally published at TSW.

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The Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.

This is what we thought the NFC Championship Game would look like since Week 5 of the NFL season, and now it has finally come to fruition.

The Vikings enter this game coming off two big wins, including their playoff whipping of the Dallas Cowboys. While the Saints enter the NFC Conference Championship Game coming off their first win in a month, a win that showed they still have the offensive firepower they displayed earlier in the year.

So which team will prevail?

Here is our prediction for the NFC Conference Championship Game to be held on January 24th, 2010:

When the Vikings have the ball…
The Vikings offense looked flawless through the air last week. They attacked and defeated a Dallas Cowboys secondary that had looked extraordinary in the 4 or 5 games leading up to last Sunday. Sidney Rice, especially, was overwhelmingly dominant, getting the better of the Cowboys corners, exploiting his size and “moment-of-truth-ability.” Against the Saints, Rice should have the same opportunities to use his size and speed against the inferior corners on New Orleans’ defense. Meanwhile, Brett Favre’s ability to recognize and defeat the blitz will be ever apparent, as it’s hard to imagine that Greg Williams simple defense is going to confuse a veteran like Favre.

The Vikings should also be able to run the ball against the Saints. The Saints have struggled stopping the run all season, especially against teams able to demonstrate offensive balance. So expect Adrian Peterson to put some big numbers in this game, at least topping the 100-yard mark for the first time since early November.

When the Saints have the ball…
Watch out! I know the Vikings looked great on defense last week, and the Cowboys were a formidable opponent, but the Saints offense could be primed to take on this Vikings defense. If the Saints can protect Drew Brees, the passing game is in full effect. Even though it was the Cardinals defense, Brees just seemed to be in total command of the Saints offense and was prepared for everything they threw at him. The Vikings secondary really isn’t all that good either, so if the Saints can block up front, or even just max protect for Brees, there will be opportunities for Brees to make some big plays down the field.

As for the Saints rushing game, I don’t expect a lot of that their ground game. The Vikings are one of the best teams in the NFL at stopping the run, so I can’t imagine Reggie Bush having the same kind of ground-performance this Sunday that he had last week against the Cardinals. If the Saints rushing game doesn’t work early on, watch out for screens and draws in the second half, because that short-game is very important to what the Saints offense does in the passing game.

The Prediction
The Saints have a lot going for them this game. They are playing at home, Reggie Bush is running hard and defense is continuing to make big plays getting the ball back for their offense. However, the methodical precision of the Vikings offense coupled with their ability to create the explosive play down the field is going to be too much for the Saints defense to handle. So long as Favre doesn’t revert back to his days of throwing crucial playoff interceptions, the balance the Vikings should display in this game should throw this Greg Williams-led offense off its kilter all game long. And while I like what I saw from the Saints offense last Sunday, the Vikings defense won’t be half as bad as the Cardinals and should do just enough to get their team a win.

The underdog Vikings win, 31-27

The post "NFC Conference Championship Predictions: Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints" was originally published at TSW.

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The Arizona Cardinals are coming off one of the most exciting games in the NFL history. In fact, if you judge their game against the Green Bay Packers by points alone, it was the most exciting game, producing the most points in a single post-season game in NFL history.

Thankfully, there’s good reason to believe that the Cardinals matchup with the New Orleans Saints this Saturday at 4:30 PM EST won’t be much different. The Saints defense that looked formidable earlier in the season, now looks quite Swiss-cheese like. And well, you saw the Cardinals on Sunday.

So which offensive juggernaut comes out on top?


Arizona Cardinals offense vs. New Orleans Saints defense There’s really not much to discuss here, because there is little reason to believe that the Saints can put up a defensive effort that can slow the Cardinals down. Up to this point in the season, the Saints have not demonstrated an ability to rush the passer or cover the middle of field. And if they can’t get near Kurt Warner on offense, then both Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston are going to do whatever they want against that Saints secondary.

Even though we did not see much of a running game from the Cardinals last week, they do have the ability to run the football with rookie Chris Beanie Wells. The running game will allow the Cardinals pass-happy attack to show some semblance of balance, which will ultimately give Arizona a big edge on that side of the ball.

New Orleans Saints offense vs. Arizona Cardinals defense In this NFC Divisional Round matchup, both offenses should thrive. The New Orleans Saints offense has traditionally been too creative and too diverse to allow a mediocre defense like Arizona to slow them down. With weapons that include Jeremy Shockey, Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston and others, quarterback Drew Brees should have no problem spreading the ball around and doing whatever it is he wants to do.

However, I do not think the Saints running game will be all that effective. They will have to incorporate some trick plays (i.e. reverses), screens and draws into their gameplan if they want to stay balanced, because even though the Cardinals defense showed some ineptitude at stopping Ryan Grant last week, I still think they are good enough to hold a Saints running game that hasn’t been on point in over a month.

The Prediction Before the playoffs started, we at TSW had the Saints advancing to the next round, and even to the Super Bowl. But that game between the Cardinals and Packers seems to have changed our mind. Even though many of my writers feel as if the Saints have the potential to play a good defensive game, we really don’t see it happening given the team’s last 3 performances. Also, we think the Cardinals have a slight advantage offensively, because they will be able to run the ball at least a little bit better than the Saints will. Thus, we like the Cardinals to advance to the NFC Championship.

Arizona moves on, 40-35

The post "NFL Playoff Predictions: Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints" was originally published at TSW.

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I already gave you our NFL Playoff Predictions for the wildcard round this weekend, so I don’t have any real games to pick at this moment. However, I yet to unveil our staff-selected Super Bowl picks as we enter the postseason, and so without further adieu, here are our Super Bowl predictions.

NFC Championship Prediction:
Dallas Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints
With all due respect to the Minnesota Vikings and the reigning NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals, we at TSW believe these two teams will make up half of the NFL’s final four. If Dallas beats Philly this Saturday, they would automatically play Minnesota, and we believe that Minnesota just isn’t playing well enough at this point and time to beat a very tough Dallas defense. Not to mention their secondary is all out of whack. And while either the Packers or Cardinals have a chance against the Saints, it’s hard to imagine either team beating the Saints via the passing game, which both teams rely on.

That brings us to the actual matchup between the Saints and the Cowboys. Dumb luck might lead one to pick the Cowboys in this one, because Dallas just beat the Saints in their house a few weeks ago. But to do that twice? With the Saints having already seen what the Cowboys have to offer defensively? Call us crazy, but there’s no way that the Saints don’t go into this game having made the adjustments they need to make to put points up against a defense they have already seen. So as long as New Orleans gets past the divisional round, we like them to advance to the Super Bowl.

AFC Championship Prediction:
San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts
Predicting this half of the final four was pretty easy. I don’t care who San Diego plays, they’re not losing. The Colts, they could suffer a loss, but they can’t play New England in the 2nd round, and the Bengals, Ravens and Jets just don’t have enough offense to beat them; however, the Chargers do.

The Chargers should win this game given their all-around talent. There isn’t a hotter team in the league right now, and with the balance they have to offer offensively, and the way their defense is picking up the slack right now, I’m not sure that a one-dimensional offensive attack from the Colts is going to get it done this game. I know the Colts have the home field advantage, but that hasn’t mattered to the Chargers in games past. And while the Colts defense has been very stingy this season, their primary weapon, their pass rush, is very susceptible to the run game of the Chargers. Not to mention, that Cover 2 defense is going to be tested to death by Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd going down field with Antonio Gates roaming the middle of the field. Go Chargers! Go!

Super Bowl Prediction:
New Orleans Saints vs. San Diego Chargers

We had the Chargers in the Super Bowl prior to the season, so you could call us bias if it weren’t for the fact that we had the Eagles in the Super Bowl as well, and we didn’t pick them to make it. Having said that, we’ll still go with our preseason pick and project a Super Bowl victory for the Chargers. While the Saints offense is good enough to get them past their first game, and smart enough to get past Dallas the second time around, they aren’t enough to outscore the Chargers. Maybe if the Saints defense was playing at the level they were during midseason I would look at this game differently, but if this game turns into a shoot-out, I have to go with the team that can make “A” stop. The Saints couldn’t even make “A” stop against the Bucs the other week, so it certainly isn’t happening against the Chargers in the Super Bowl.

Our Super Bowl Prediction:

The San Diego Chargers!

The post "Friday Predictions: Super Bowl Picks or Bust!" was originally published at TSW.

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Ten days ago, the thought of beating the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs, at New Orleans, was unfathomable. Then the Dallas Cowboys, a playoff team, came into the Superdome and beat down the Saints in their own building.

Okay, but anything can happen once, right? That was just a slip up, wasn’t it?

Wrong!

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked into one of the liveliest settings in the NFL, shut everybody up, and flew home to Tampa Bay victorious. They handed the Saints their second loss in a row, their 2nd loss in the Superdome, and they did it in an unfathomable fashion, coming back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Saints 20-17 in overtime.

A loss to the Cowboys, followed up by a loss to the Bucs has everyone wondering, “What happened to the New Orleans Saints?”

This was a team that was the consensus pick to win the NFC. Heck, they were on top of everybody’s power rankings after they beat down the New England Patriots several weeks ago. Now they’re a team that’s just waiting around for the playoffs, despite having plenty to play for, and little room for error. It suffices to say, this isn’t the team we thought they were in Week 10. This is a team on the brink of disaster as they face potential of being a one and done football team this postseason.

So what happened to them? How did they go from best in the NFL to playing the worst football of any team set to enter the NFC playoffs?

For starters, the Saints stopped rushing the ball. They ran the ball only a few times against the Cowboys, getting away from the balanced attack that got them to their 13-0 record. Now they’ve lost Pierre Thomas to injury, so who knows if they can get back on track with the running game before their first playoff contest.

The Saints special teams are also to blame for their recent woes. They have given up a ton of yardage on the punt returns, including the punt return for a touchdown that helped the Bucs claim victory over them in Week 16. Special teams is the area of the football game that a team has the most control over, and as we get set for the playoffs, the Saints seem to have very little control over this aspect of the game.

Lastly, nobody wants to admit this, but maybe Drew Brees and that passing game is to blame for some of the woes the Saints have had over their past two games. At the beginning of the season, Brees and those wide receivers were impossible to defend. We were already talking about Brees going for the touchdown passing record in Week 2. But in a game against the lowly Bucs defense, Brees managed just 1 touchdown pass, and the offense as a whole didn’t score in the 2nd half of the football. This happened in spite of the fact that Brees completed 32 of his 37 passing attempts. That tells me that teams are playing the Saints deep and making Drew Brees and dink and dunk the ball all the way down the field. And as evidenced by the Saints two losses, it doesn’t look as if the Saints are very good at maintaining long drives with their passing game alone—or at the very least, they can’t turn them into points.

So if the Saints want to make sure they’re not this year’s one and down team, they need to get back to the basics. They need to run the ball more, focus on special teams, and the passing game that got them to 13-0 needs find that explosiveness again and start putting up some points; otherwise, their next game in the Superdome may be their last one of the season.

The post "Where’s the mojo in New Orleans?" was originally published at TSW.

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As a Philadelphia Eagles fan, it’s blasphemous for me to say this, but it has to be said, especially for a fan of a single team like me. As bad I as I want my Philadelphia Eagles to hoist that Lombardi Trophy in February (well, I really would like to see it happen in January, but that’s a story for another day), a match between two undefeated teams is something that no NFL historian or prognosticator could have ever seen coming.

One team going 16-0, and then 18-0, and maybe even 19-0 doesn’t excite me anymore. Even though I was one of those who rooted against New England’s pursuit of regular season and entire season perfection, I got enough shock value out of their accomplishments, as well as their ultimate failure, to no longer be amazed by a single zero in the loss column come the end of the playoffs or the start of the Super Bowl.

However, the idea of two zeros in two different loss columns, at both the end of the regular season and the beginning of the Super Bowl is something that absolutely amazes. And how could it not?

We have never had a Super Bowl in which two perfect teams squared off? Can you imagine the hype that would precede such a game? How about the media coverage? Or the three P’s? The pride? The preparation? The pressure?

All of those things would be off the charts. Of course, the NFL’s two undefeated teams, entering Week 15, will see pressure in entirely different ways. The Indianapolis Colts have been here before. They have been on the precipice of going undefeated several times now. Never before have they come this close, but even when they have been 10-0 and 11-0, that never resulted in Super Bowl victories. In fact, their Super Bowl win back in 2006-07 came without a bye and with a second round game on the road. Still, they already have a Super Bowl win. So as bad as the undefeated pressure would be, the pressure to not have another stunning season and collapse in the playoffs would be a weight unlike any other, despite having faced that same problem many times before.

As for the pressure on the 13-0 New Orleans Saints? Eh, not so much. You’re talking about a team that once had its nickname altered by its own fans to the pejorative “Aint’s.” The Saints haven’t won anything of any significance at any point in their history. They have very few players of not from their team’s past. They don’t even have a whole lot of big name draws on their current roster. After Drew Brees, the star appeal for the Saints gets pretty bleak. That’s why coming into the season the only pressure facing the Saints was can Brees challenge Dan Marion’s record again?

But then there’s the city of New Orleans. While there were never any real expectations for this year’s Saints team, making their undefeated run icing on the cake, the battered city of New Orleans loves this football team. And to see them do something that very few teams in the history of the NFL have been able to accomplish would bring joy to a city that needs it almost more than any other major metropolitan area in the United States.

Can you imagine the external emotion of New Orleans vs. the purposeful mission of the Colts in the Super Bowl? It’s a dichotomy that could drive two weeks of Super Bowl coverage on its own, but when you add the idea of both teams being 18-0 in the biggest game in all of sports, how can one not be excited by the anticipation of such a game?

Sure, we have 3 more games to go in the season, and the Colts head coach has already publicly put zero emphasis on having an undefeated season. But I won’t let premature assumptions dictate what I’m about to say, and I certainly don’t associate Jim Caldwell’s emphasis on going undefeated with the opinions in that Colts locker room. Thus, I have no problem with anticipating an undefeated Super Bowl. The Colts have done away with most of the AFC’s elite, and it is incredibly hard to imagine anyone outscoring the Saints in the Superdome. So while I know it’s early, and that prognostications like this look stupid on seconds after their made, but a “perfect” Super Bowl between the Colts and Saints is what we’ll get in February. Say I’m getting ahead of myself if you want to, but I’m not further ahead of myself than those two teams are ahead of the competition.

The post "Zo Knows: A perfect Super Bowl is worth rooting for" 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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The Power Rankings in full effect. It’s Week 6 of the NFL season, and for the most part, we know how good these teams are.

So far, it is evident who the top tier teams are, but so many of those teams haven’t played anybody to this point in their seasons. We should find out how good those top level teams are this week, especially when the Giants play the Saints and the Ravens play the Vikings.

That being said, the Week 6 NFL Power Rankings didn’t see too much movement this week. We did move the Broncos from #9 to #6; however, the biggest move was by the Bengals, which jumped from #12 to #5. Anyway, you can check out the rest for yourself in this week’s NFL Power Rankings:

1. New York Giants (5-0; Last Week: #1) – In my mind, this is the team that is playing the best football in the NFL. Their defense is #1, their offense is flawless right now, and their quarterback appears to be able to handle the pain of plantar fasciitis.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0, Last Week: #2) – Peyton Manning is off to his usual start. He has the Colts atop the division, and hasn’t really been put to the test quite yet.

3. Minnesota Vikings (5-0, Last Week: #3) – The Vikings have beaten up on some not so good teams to this point. We’ll find out how good they are when an angry Ravens team comes to the Metrodome.

4. New Orleans Saints (4-0, Last Week: #4) – The Saints had a bye week to prepare for their second game against a team from New York. This time, it’s against the #1 team in our power rankings.

5. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1, Last Week: #12) – The Bengals have now beaten the Ravens and Steelers and are a top the AFC North. Who would have guessed that?

6. Denver Broncos (5-0, Last Week: #9) – Am I wrong for still not ranking the Broncos with the other undefeated teams in the league?

7. Chicago Bears (3-1, Last Week: #7) – Some people don’t agree with my ranking of the Bears, but their win over Pittsburgh kind of leaves them in the driver seat with some of the other 1-loss teams.

8. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1, Last Week: #8) – The Eagles don’t have any wins against even average teams, but they have looked good in beating the poorest of the poor.

9. Atlanta Falcons (3-1, Last Week: #14) – The Falcons had a nice rebound win against the 49ers. If they can carry that into division play, they may just win that darn NFC South.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2, Last Week: #13) – The Steelers struggled with the Lions. That alone should leave them with a lower ranking, but our staff is giving credence to the Super Bowl Champions.

11. New England Patriots (3-2, Last Week: #5) –
12. Baltimore Ravens (3-2, Last Week: #6) –
13. San Diego Chargers (2-2, Last Week: #15) –
14. New York Jets (3-2, Last Week: #11)
15. San Francisco 49ers (3-2, Last Week: #10) –
16. Arizona Cardinals (2-2, Last Week: #20)
17. Green Bay Packers (2-2, Last Week: #16)
18. Dallas Cowboys (3-2, Last Week: #17)
19. Miami Dolphins (2-3, Last Week: #22)
20. Houston Texans (2-3, Last Week: #18)
21. Seattle Seahawks (2-3, Last Week: #25)
22. Washington Redskins (2-3, Last Week: #19)
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3, Last Week: #21)
24. Carolina Panthers (1-3, Last Week: #26)
25. Buffalo Bills (1-4, Last Week: #23)
26. Detroit Lions (1-4, Last Week: #24)
27. Cleveland Browns (1-4, Last Week: #31)
28. Tennessee Titans (0-5, Last Week: #27)
29. Kansas City Chiefs (0-5, Last Week: #30)
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5, Last Week: #29)
31. Oakland Raiders (1-4, Last Week: #28)
32. St. Louis Rams (0-5, Last Week: #32)

The post "NFL Week 6 Power Rankings: Giants At the Top" was originally published at TSW.

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Well, I’m not surprised that the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday by a score of 48-22.

However, what does astound me is how poorly the Eagles defense played. Sure, Kevin Kolb’s 3 interceptions, and Ellis Hobb’s kickoff return fumble didn’t help. Still, the defense gave up 421 yards of offense, which was more yards than they allowed in any game last year, when they only gave up a high of 410 yards to the New York Giants.

Yes, it was the Saints. Yes, Drew Brees is unstoppable. But the fact is, if the Eagles want to win the Super Bowl they have to be able to beat the New Orleans Saints, who look as if they are indeed headed for the playoffs. Which is why Sunday’s loss is so troubling, because they certainly don’t look like a team that can keep up with the Saints offense—something no one would have predicted before the season started.

Everyone’s first inclination is to chalk the Eagles loss up to Donovan McNabb being out. Certainly, his presence would have given the team a better chance at winning, but based on what went on yesterday, there’s no evidence that suggest that the Eagles would be the favorites if they played the Saints tomorrow with a healthy McNabb. Sorry, but McNabb doesn’t play defense.

In fact, outside of the turnovers, the Eagles offense didn’t play that bad. With a troubled offensive line, the Eagles dropped back 51 times and only surrendered 2 sacks and let very little pressure reach Kolb. The Eagles also averaged 4.0 yards per carry, which is more than enough to have a successful running game in the NFL. And both Brent Celek and DeSean Jackson went over 100 yards receiving as Kolb threw for 391 yards in the loss.

But the defense was horrendous. Drew Brees was sacked 2 times, but faced very little pressure for most of the game. The Eagles let Mike Bell rush all over them, as Bell averaged 5.1 yards per pop. Marques Colston proved, yet again, that the Eagles struggle to defend big wide receivers. And the fact that Drew Brees finished the day with a 118.8 quarterback rating has to be the sickest thing of all.

I am not getting off the Philadelphia bandwagon, but I do foresee a major issue that will override even the greatest of returns by Donovan McNabb.

The Eagles defense appears susceptible to the pass, and with a new defensive coordinator, brand new safeties, and the loss of their middle linebacker, perhaps fate has bitten off more than the Eagles defense can chew. I didn’t want to believe that before the season started, and I don’t want to believe it now. Once is just coincidence, but twice is a trend. And if the Eagles don’t bounce back in a Week 3 visit from the Kansas City Chiefs, it could be a very long, long season.

The post "Eagles’ Loss Raises Questions About Their Once Dominant Defense" 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 offseason to improve their odds in 2009. Today’s division of choice? The NFC South.

Carolina Panthers
After Carolina’s horrible playoff loss last season, you might have thought that this team was headed for wholesale changes. Well, you were wrong! Not much has changed on the Panthers roster. Other than a few rookie draft picks, the same team that went 12-4 last season is coming back in 2009. So who did the Panthers draft?

The Panthers big draft pick was second rounder Evertte Brown, a pass-rushing end out of Florida State. At 6’1, 256 pounds, he is a little light, but he has great speed coming off the edge, and they are hoping he will be the replacement for Julius Peppers should he leave next season. The Panthers also drafted Sherrod Martin at cornerback, hoping he will see some immediate time and bring some youth and athletic ability to a secondary that was torched by the Arizona passing game this past January.

Speaking of passing games, the Carolina Panthers did nothing to help improve theirs and will continue relying on the deep ball to Steve Smith for the majority of their aerial production. However, they did look to improve upon an already terrific running game by acquiring Tony Fiammetta, a hard-hitting fullback out of Syracuse who could see immediate time in the Panther’s backfield, blocking for Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who looks to get a few more carries this season.

Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons made a big splash when they went out and got Tony Gonzalez in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. They now enter 2009 with one of the most promising 1-2 receiving punches in the NFL, with Roddy White at wideout and Gonzalez at tight end. This move gives the Chiefs a lot of versatility in their offense, because Gonzalez can line up at so many different positions on the field. This will also give running back Michael Turner a lot more lanes, as safeties will have to pay a lot more attention to Gonzalez, especially in the red zone, where he is one of the most dangerous targets in the NFL.

As for the defense, the Falcons really needed to get better at the run coming into this season, and they tried their best. Free agent linebacker Mike Peterson is with the team, and he was an accomplished run stopper over in Jacksonville. And the drafting of first round pick Peria Jerry out of Ole Miss will give them a big boost at the defensive tackle position, where they were so readily destroyed throughout last season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There’s no question that big changes are coming to the Buccaneers. With new coach Raheem Morris, the team enters a new era, and the first thing to go is that Tampa 2 defense that had been a staple of the team since the freaking Reagan administration. With Derrick Brooks gone, former safety Jermaine Phillips will now play weakside linebacker, in a attempt to bring that same type of speed and explosion that Brooks used to provide at the Will linebacker position. However, in this defense, it is probably more imperative that Phillips be a better filler then he is a speedster, as this new scheme will look to force all plays to the middle, where as the Tampa 2 defense was an advocate of “spilling” the run to the outside. The addition of Roy Miller, DT from Texas, should also contributed to an improved rush defense.

Offensively, the Bucs will likely remain challenged, as they are giving Byron Leftwich a second chance at career redemption. While I think Leftwich could be very good, the fact is that that they have a horrible offensive line, which could spell trouble for both Leftwich and newly acquired running back Derrick Ward. Perhaps, free agent acquisition Kellen Winslow can help both of those guys out with his speed and versatility. Of course, if things go awry early on in the season, Winslow could be catching passes from 1st round pick quarterback Josh Freeman, who was once coached by new head coach Morris at Kansas State.

New Orleans Saints
The Saints high-flying offense may be even faster this season. The departure of Deuce McAllister gives way for more carries from Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas. Thomas should get the bulk of the carries though, as he has proven to be a much better “running back” than Bush, whose primary impact on the game comes from his versatility as opposed to his pure rushing skills. Also, the addition of fullback Heath Evans gives the Saints another weapon out of the backfield. If WR Marques Colston can stay healthy, the Saints could be looking at their most explosive offensive season yet.

Defensively, the Saints addressed their abysmal secondary by drafting cornerback Malcom Jenkins out of Ohio State. Many considered him to be the best cornerback in the draft, and he is definitely one of the more versatile corners who could start at safety this season. The Saints also went out and got Jabari Greer and Darren Sharper in free agency, to give them a much more experienced defensive backfield.

The post "2009 NFL Football Preview: NFC South" was originally published at TSW.

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The latest installment of our 2008 NFL Divisional Predictions brings us to the NFC South.

The NFC South has been up for grabs for about the last 4 seasons now. In that period of time, the team that finished last in the division, went on to win the division the following season. And that was no different in 2007, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bounced back from a dismal 2006 to capture the NFC South crown and march into the playoffs.

Tampa Bay showed that John Gruden can always bounce back from a bad season and lead his team into the playoffs. He took a team that was definitely in a transition stage in 2006 and turned them into a legitimate 9-7 squad with playoff potential.

The Carolina Panthers, on the other hand, proved that coach John Fox can’t bounce back from an even a mediocre season. This Panthers team severely underperformed in 2007. Granted, they had so many injury problems at the quarterback position that they had to bring in Vinny Testaverde. Nevertheless, that’s no excuse for the defense to look as bad as it did for most of the season last year.

The New Orleans Saints came into the season the favorite to win it in the NFC, and they ended the season with much lower aspirations for 2008. That said, the injuries to both Deuce McCallister and Reggie Bush probably played a role in that.

And then there was the Atlanta Falcons, whose best player was sitting in a maximum security prison for a good part of the season. Needless to say, their season was a bust.

So what’s on tap for the NFC South in 2008?

Here are my NFC South predictions and rankings:

1. New Orleans Saints (10-6) – Okay, so I am projecting the Saints to go 10-6 after saying they left last season with little to aspire to. The only way I can justify that is to say that I think this is a very soft division. Well, this is a very soft division, and frankly, there is no better offensive team in this division, and maybe the entire NFC conference, when this team is playing at its best. Sure, Deuce is coming off an injury, and Bush doesn’t play too well without Deuce at his best, but McAllister should come around by mid-season, and that will make all the difference in the world in 2008. And for those of you who think that my prediction isn’t reliable because of the Saints defense, think again. The Saints picked up Jonathan Vilma from the New York Jets and Sederick Ellis, the defensive tackle out of USC.

2. Carolina Panthers (9-7) – If the Carolina Panthers can get past those first couple of weeks of the season without suspended wide receiver Steve Smith, they might just see the other side of a .500 record. Whether that’s good enough to make the playoffs are not, I’m not sure yet. However, they have always been a team with the talent to make the playoffs. They have one of the best defensive lines in football, anchored by superstar Julius Peppers. But the defensive line drastically underperformed last year by not producing sacks and giving up the 18th most rushing yards in the NFL. Every team that made the playoffs gave up fewer yards on the ground than the Panthers. So they’ll need to address that this year if they want to the make the post-season, and I think they did. They added some depth to their defensive line and Dan Connor should make a difference at linebacker. Offensively, it really all comes down to the quarterback, Jake Delhomme. If he is healthy and plays the position the way he is capable of, the offense can be one of the most efficient ones in the NFL. Because they definitely have the running game with DeAngelo Williams and rookie J. Stewart, and the passing game is there with Muhsin Muhammad and Steve Smith. So the offense truly rest on whether or not Delhomme can shoulder the load.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8) – Everyone talks about the Buccaneers as if they were that good last season, when the truth is they finished with a meager 9-7 record. Sure they made the playoffs, but they were quickly dismissed by the New York Giants. The truth is, they were nothing more than what essentially amounts to a .500 team, and they are pretty much the same squad this year, except they have a much tougher schedule after finishing in first place last season. Not to mention, they are a team that continues to get older on both sides of the ball. Who knows if the aging Jeff Garcia and the 36-year old Joey Galloway can hold up all season long. And that defense is full of aging players like Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks and Kevin Carter. Nevertheless, these aging veterans are good players, and should they be on the field for most of the season, this is a .500 ball club.

4. Atlanta Falcons (3-13) – Maybe I’m crazy for thinking that the Atlanta Falcons will actually win 3 games. With no Michael Vick, the departure of Alge Crumpler, and a very questionable hiring at the head coach position, I can’t foresee this team having any real shot at winning any games this season. Picking up Michael Turner to play running back was a nice addition, and getting S. Baker, the offensive tackle out of USC, was a great draft pick, but neither of those guys can be difference makers with a rookie quarterback in Matt Ryan running the offense. Not to mention the defense, which just got ran through last year, finishing 29th in yards allowed. Yeah, this team will have its struggles, for maybe the next 2 or 3 seasons. I guess I gave them three wins because they tend to play hard at the Georgia Dome, where they knocked off some pretty good teams last season. Maybe lightning can strike twice, no?

The post "NFL Divisional Predictions: NFC South" was originally published at TSW.

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Yet another surprising, yet not so surprising, trade has gone down in the NFL today.

Less than 24 hours after the Miami Dolphins finally sent Jason Taylor packing to the Washington Redskins, the New York Giants sent often talked about Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have been in the hunt for Shockey’s services since the beginning of the off-season. Many people thought that Shockey was going to be a Saint before the start of the 2008 NFL Draft, but the Giants stuck to their guns and didn’t trade him a way for a cent less than they thought he was worth.

Well, just like Bill Parcells realized down in Miami, it’s not the trader who sets the price, it’s the market. A simple rule of supply and demand. And it appears as if the market said that Shockey was not worth more than a 2nd and a 5th round draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

So now Shockey will be a part of what has been one of the more prolific offenses of the past 2 seasons. His demands to throw him the ball should be satisfied, as this is not only an offense that loves to get the ball over the middle of the field, but they also love to throw to the tight end. Last year, Erick Johnson caught 34 passes in the first half of the season before injuries, and his lack of production after catching ball, caused his numbers to drop in the 2nd half. If Shockey hit that pace he would catch about 70 balls in 2008. He only caught 57 passes last season.

The post "New York Giants Trade Jeremy Shockey to Saints" was originally published at TSW.

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