Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

Brett Favre. Do I need to say more?

Of course I do, but you get the point. In my opinion, he’s one of the three greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. John Elway and Joe Montana are the other two, with apologies to Dan Marino. Favre has endured a remarkable period of time for any athlete let alone QB. To hell with Cal Ripken’s playing streak, this is the Freakish one. Though he doesn’t have the same skill set he once did and hasn’t had the players around him to finish off this Canton bound career the way most of us would like to see, he still gets it done better than most in the league.

The Packers have the youngest team in the NFL for the second year in a row where the average age on their roster is 25, which makes Favre old enough to be pops to some of the younger players. In an effort to bridge the generation gap and understand some of the young bucks, Favre having his daughter download him songs on an iPod she got for him. Cute!

The offensive line is coming along nicely and Brandon Jackson has some skills at running back. It will be running back by committee for a while in Packerland but along with Greg Jennings at wide receiver, I do look for the Pack to score some points in certain games.

On the D-side of the ball, I love “Mr. Linebacker” A.J. Hawk and his hard hitting linebacker bro Nick Barnett. They were a vastly improved D in 2006 and should be even better in 2007. Unfortunately the Pack have a very difficult schedule in the beginning of the year with games against Philly, N.Y. Giants, and the Chargers.

This is a team that I see as on the rise though I don’t know if it will reach its apex with Favre as the quarterback. For now, I would sit back and just enjoy what could be possibly (I know it’s that one more drink thing) last season for #4 and relish watching a guy who will eclipse all but one of Dan Marino’s passing records this year.

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

Can we finally stop with all the hype about the Lions? Yes, that includes you, Jon “11 wins” Kitna! I’ll stop riding the Detroit Lions when they finally prove me wrong and win some frickin’ games.

They selected Calvin Johnson, yet another wide receiver, in the draft and I know he’s the best to come out since Randy Moss, but I hope for the sake of all you Lion fans that Johnson lives up to his hype.

Did I mention Playoffs Kitna? When is this guy going to retire? He’s already getting back spasms and it’s barely September. He’s a good back-up despite the others that think to the contrary. The Lions do have Kevin Jones and Tatum Bell back there running the football, but both are a little dinged up and again, the season has barely begun.

The Lions will score some points against lower ranked defenses, but it won’t be enough to offset the problems on defense where they simply don’t have the right players to make the Cover 2 defense work properly. Yeah you’ve got big Shaun Rogers there on the on the line but it will take more than him to stop the run. Cornerback Stanley Wilson is going to try and replace Dre Bly with the operative word being TRY.

The Lions are still a couple of years away from really contending in the NFC North. After Mike Martz has a couple of years to mold Drew Stanton into a hottie NFL QB instead of hottie NFL backup, then the Lions might have a chance to show the world that Matt Millen actually deserves a job in an NFL front office. He should have been outta there a few years ago and that’s where the Lions will be by week 7!

Posted by | Madison | in Season Previews

It’s Kick Off Night, our favorite night of the year, and we can’t hardly wait!  The NFL has given us a treat tonight with the Colts vs. The Saints.  Alikat will be posting her pick of the night later today so check back for that.   While we still have a few previews to post, here is a rundown of our predictions for the entire season.

AFC East:
Alikat: Pats, Bills, Jets, Dolphins
C.J.: Pats, Dolphins, Jets, Bills
Madison: Pats, Jets, Bills, Dolphins

AFC North:
A: Steelers, Ravens, Bengals, Browns
C: Steelers, Ravens, Bengals, Browns
M: Ravens, Steelers, Bengals, Browns

AFC South:
A: Colts, Jaguars, Titans, Texans
C: Colts, Jaguars, Titans, Texans
M: Colts, Texans, Jaguars, Titans

AFC West:
A: Chargers, Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs
C: Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders
M: Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

NFC East:
A: Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, Giants
C: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Redskins
M: Eagles, Cowboys, Redskins, Giants

NFC North:
A: Bears, Vikings, Packers, Lions
C: Bears, Vikings, Packers, Lions
M: Bears, Packers, Vikings, Lions

NFC South:
A: Saints, Panthers, Bucs, Falcons
C: Panthers, Bucs, Saints, Falcons
M: Saints, Panthers, Bucs, Falcons

NFC West:
A: 49ers, Seahawks, Rams, Cardinals
C: Seahawks, Cardinals, 49ers, Rams
M: Seahawks, 49ers, Rams, Cardinals

AFC Wild Cards:
A: Ravens and Broncos
C: Ravens and Chargers
M: Chargers and Steelers

NFC Wild Cards:
A: Eagles and Redskins
C: Eagles and Bucs
M: Cowboys and 49ers

AFC Champ:
A: Patriots
C: Colts
M: Ravens

NFC Champ:
A: Saints
C: Seahawks
M: Saints

Super Bowl Champs:
A: Patriots
C: Colts
M: Saints

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

Brady “Men’s Fitness Cover Boy” Quinn is looking so very fine in his cover shots that you have to wonder how in the hell do you not draft him if you live in MIAMI? I mean if I’m a GM, I get this good looking kid down there with all the models in South Beach and turn him into the 21st century version of Broadway Joe. Hell, Namath lives down in Florida and I’m sure he was champing at the bit to ditch his whole sober AA thing and get that young Irish kid from Notre Dame a frickin’ drink so they can both make fools of themselves and harass Suzy Kolber!

That whole dream was dashed however when Quinn ended up with The Browns, his boyhood team. If there is such a thing as justice in this world, I didn’t think it would be served in Cleveland. Fact is you Browns still need a lot of work and time is running out on Romeo Crennel. With Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson at QB you’re going nowhere fast. Let’s just get this over with now and stick the kid in there. I do expect Quinn will be the Browns starter by week 8.

I like the move of getting Jamal Lewis as I think he was just getting stale in Baltimore. With a new lease on life, I see the former convict going for over a 1,000 yards this year. Anybody seen the “former soldier” Kellen Winslow, Jr. lately or the “Mouth from Michigan” Braylon Edwards? If these two yo-yo’s don’t start producing a helluva lot more yards on the field instead of sound bites for reporters this year, they will become Raider material in the off-season.

The Browns defense is starting to come around with some very good draft picks the past couple of years. Linebackers Andra Davis and Kamerion Wimbley are quite good and safeties Brodney Pool and Sean Jones give the Browns some pieces to make for grind it out, hard hitting match-ups on certain Sundays. If this unit is taken too lightly, they will make it difficult to score a lot of points on.

The Browns are improving and I see chances of some legitimate success but it will be in 2008-2009 not 2007, unless of course ol’Namath comes to town with his mink Coat and tells Quinn to just have a few drinks, get a couple of ladies and wing it downfield.

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

Welcome to the “Drugs, Guns, and Booze Bengals” where you can be sure there’s a little somethin’ extra for you in the Gatorade bottle after a long, hot practice.  I mean it must be a great organization to come to if you can run fast, catch a ball, tackle somebody, and have the love of drinking, driving and hanging out in your SUV with a bunch of guns!

Now on offense, we all know the Bengals can score just about as much as they do on the police blotter.  Though running back Rudi Johnson just eats up yards, he gets no repsect since all the attention is paid to Carson Palmer and his wideouts led by Chad “Ocho-Cinco” Johnson lighting it up. 

The 30th ranked defense in the NFL has to learn how to stop the run because they can’t rely on getting the tons of interceptions they did back in 2005.  The problem is they are just too small up front with Michael Myers and John Thorton at the defensive tackle positions to get enough push. 

At the defensive end positions, you’ve got Justin Smith and Robert Geathers who can get you some sacks, but it never seems to be enough to contain good running games.  In the secondary, they drafted Leon Hall out of Michigan which should help the play making secondary, but I don’t see it being enough to consistently stop the running game of the Ravens and Steelers.

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

There’s a new sheriff in town by the name of Mike Tomlin.  Being a Viking fan, I know how GOOD this guy is going to be for all you Steeler fans.  Tomlin took one of the worst defenses in recent history and turned them into the Purple People Eaters of old…against the run at least.  He’s bright, passionate, and has those alley guts you need in the NFL.

Ben Roethlisberger, aka Benny the Motorcycle Kid, is all healthy for the first time in a while and he looked good throwing the ball around more than usual for the Steel City in the pre-season.  It’s going to serve him well having more of an older brother at head coach rather than a strict father figure who splatters all over you every time he scolds you.  It’s bad enough getting yelled about an interception, but when you also have to endure a spit shower from a man in his fifties just can’t be sexy.

I like the looks of Santonio Holmes now that he’s got a little more time under his belt. Along with Heinz Ward, the Steelers should have a good passing attack.  Willie Parker will rack up another 1,200 yard season and I look for the Steelers to score some more points in 2007.

On defense, the Steelers will just keep on BLITZING cause that’s what they do.  I like the mixture of Tomlin and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.  With the additions of rookies LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons, there will be added depth in the linebacking crew.  The secondary still has some work to do as they can be burned more often than you like to see.  This team has the chance to go 10-6 or better and make the playoffs despite playing in the very tough AFC North.

Posted by | Madison | in Season Previews

This is a big, defining year for the 49ers. 

It’s Year Three for Mike Nolan and as we all know, Bill Walsh, the man who pretty much revolutioned modern football with the Niners in the early 80’s and who unfortunately passed away in July, won his first Super Bowl in Year Three of his reign.

If having the ghost of The Genius’ Year Three haunting them wasn’t enough, it’s also Alex Smith’s Third Year, which means that if he’s going to make the jump to be a franchise quarterback, it usually happens in the third year (just a note that it was Eli Manning’s third year last year and some might say that he regressed).

Plus, since Nolan and the boys went out and had what many consider to be one of the best offseasons by acquiring shutdown corner Nate Clements, safety Michael Lewis, rookie linebacker and tackling machine Patrick Willis, wide receivers Ashley Lelie and Darrell Jackson (though they had a shot at Randy Moss) and some other role players, they are another trendy pick to win the NFC West and possibly go deep the playoffs. 

The ghost of Bill Walsh + Alex Smith’s third year progression + great offseason - Having to decide what to wear during home games = a lot of damn pressure in San Francisco.

And pressure is what separates the wheat from the chaff (figuratively, obvs) and how the Niners respond to this pressure cannot be known.

I’m told math explains the world, so in times of doubt, I always refer to back to the mathematical truths I learned in middle school. 

In this case, I will use the transitive property: if winners are sexy and I find sharply dressed men sexy, then Mike Nolan, who is the 11th best dressed man in the world according to Esquire Magazine, must be sexy and therefore a winner (this theory holds true because Tom Brady is number one on the list and he’s both a winner and sexy).  Mike Nolan cannot be a winner if the team he coaches is a loser, so therefore his team must be a winner as well.

Because I’m a math wizardrix, I am predcting the Niners bring sexy back to the NFC West.