Posted by | Madison | in Season Previews

It should be noted that I was terribly wrong last year when I wrote that the signing of Daunte Culpepper would propel the Dolphins into the playoffs and possibly into the Super Bowl. It should also be noted that I was right on the money when I wrote that the it would be another sad year in Raider nation. So it all came out in the wash.

But hell, I’ll say it again - I like the Culpepper signing. Even though I think Andrew Walter can be a good quarterback if given the correct system, I think Culpepper is a good fit for the Raiders and since number one pick JaMarcus Russell has not signed, he will unlikely be NFL ready by next week. When and if Marcus does sign, Culpepper with his size, arm and mobility, may prove to be a good mentor for Russell, so long as he doesn’t try to mentor that elusive little quality called “judgment.”

Will The Raiders be an improvement over last year? Yes, but considering where they were last year, that’s not saying a whole lot. If the defensive front can improve against the run and their overall defense stays stout under Bob Ryan, they’ll keep games close.

But I still wouldn’t expect much. Come on. Al Davis has gone insane. Their male fans dress up like assholes and their girl fans give the real girl fans like us a bad name. I mean seriously, that girl (on her hands and knees? WTF??) sends intelligent female football discourse back to the Stone Age. I get cheerleaders but that bitch is ridiculous. And this kind of whoredom only happens in Raider Nation.

Posted by | Madison | in Season Previews

What a great story the Saints were last year.  A year after Hurricane Katrina basically left them and millions others homeless, the Saints came marching back in and became a beacon of hope for their rebuilding city, coming within one game of the Super Bowl.  For anybody who says sports don’t mean anything should take a look at the 2006 Saints season and its effect on the people of the city, particularly the Monday night game at the Superdome on September 25.  If you didn’t get goosebumps during that game, you are a mean, heartless soul.

This year will tell us whether or not The Saints have reemerged as an NFL power or if last season’s success was due to a ton of my favorite sports cliche, playing on emotion. 

They certainly won’t surprise anyone this year.  The league now knows that Sean Payton can coach in the NFL, Drew Brees can still play quarterback after the elbow injury,  Marques Colston should have been drafted much earlier than he was (second to last), and that there’s at least one Bush that has the best in mind for New Orleans. 

Though their offensive line doesn’t get much love, no team can put up points the way The Saints did last year with a line that can’t block.  Similarly, their defense gets no respect but they were the third ranked NFC defense last year in points per game trailing only the Bears and the Panthers.  Sure, they could improve on their takeaways and giving up 20 points a game isn’t that great but if you can score 21, who cares?

Which leads us back to the offense: Deuce McAllister brings the power to the running game while Reggie Bush brings the finesse.  Colston may find it a little more difficult to get open now with Joe Horn catching passes with troubled Falcons but with a good core of big wide receivers like Devery Henderson, David Patten, and Robert Meachem, we fully expect the loss to be offset.  If new tight end (and Yalie) Eric “The Smart Hotness, aka The Smartness” Johnson can stay healthy, he could be a great safety valve for Brees and put together a very solid season. 

And besides, would you bet that Bush isn’t going to further improve and become even more of a playmaker?  Yeah, neither would we.  Barring some sort of epic rise of David Carr, Joey Harrington, or Jeff Garcia, the dirrrty south belongs to the Saints.  All together now, “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?”

Posted by | Madison | in Season Previews

They were pre-season Super Bowl favorites last year but the Panthers finished out of the playoff picture because of inconsistent play, injuries and cheerleaders gone wild. 

While are healthy this year (so far), they are also collectively older and don’t have a serious threat at wide receiver outside of Steve Smith now that Keyshawn Johnson has taken the “Former wide receiever who says crazy, crazy stuff,” role at ESPN, recently held by the one, the only, Michael Irvin.  They have high hopes for Dwayne Jarrett but it still looks like their second WR option will be a mix of three thirds (Jarrett, Drew Carter, and Keary Colbert).  

In an attempt to take some pressure off of Jake Delhomme, the Panthers have brought in a new offensive coordinator and new offensive line coach to install a zone blocking system which they hope will spring DeTerrible twosome of DeAngelo Williams and DeShaun Foster for some big runs.  In an attempt to put some pressure ON Jake Delhomme, they brought in hard luck case David Carr who is both dreamy and much better than what he had in Houston. 

With their aging, injury prone, yet still effective and very talented defense keeping games close, my bet is that Delhomme will falter early in the season which will force coach John Fox to turn the reins over to Carr, who will lead the Panthers on a push for the Wild Card.  Signs saying “Wild Carr” will start pop up all over North Carolina. 

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

So how is Mario Williams working out for you Texan fans?  Sports betting is very similar to running a football organization.  It all comes down to making good decisions.  Passing on Reggie Bush and Vince Young for Mario Williams was not the best of decisions.  Now I know you Texan fans already know this and what’s done is done so we’ll move on to the brighter side of life -

Heeeerrrrrrrrrreezzzzz MATT SCHAUB, the greatest QB who ever played two games.  He’s looked good (in more ways than one) in those two games and he’s kept it up in some of the pre-season affairs but we’ll just have to wait and see how he does when it’s all on his shoulders as the number one guy.  Given that the O-Line is still in need of serious overhauling, I think Matty is going to have some days where he’ll be nursing a sore tush just like David Carr did on a regular basis when he was under center in Texas. 

The Texans did go out and get an aging yet still tough running back in Ahman Green and they already Andre Johnson, one of the seven best receivers in the NFL.  With Gary Kubiak in his second season, I expect the Texans to move the ball better than in years past, but it will all depend on the play of the O-Line.

On defense, the Texans will see if all the millions they spent last year on Mario Williams goes into sacks instead of toe bandages.  Drafting DT Amobi Okoye out of Louisville will pay dividends for years.  With the wonderful play of LB Demeco Ryans, Dunta Robinson at CB and all the money being spent on this D-Line, the Texans are devolping a good, young defensive nucleus.

I see this team on the rise in 2007 but still a couple years away from really making any waves.  Kubiak is a very good, young head coach and this team is on the verge of putting the pieces in place for some big upsets this year and next. 

One final note from a betting standpoint, look at the spread when the Texans play the Colts in Houston.  If it’s over 10, jump on it and ride the underdog Texans to money lane!  You can thank me in a few months. 

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

One of the hottest questions in Jacksonville must be, which team will show up this year - the one that unraveled at the end of last year or the 12-4 squad in 2005? 

It really all comes down to the consistency and health of Byron Leftwich.  I mean when he’s good, he’s really good and when it goes bad for him, he just looks awful.  He’s in a contract year so that, along with an ankle that finally got the surgery it needed, should make for more focus.  The Jags do have the powerhouse little man in RB Maurice Jones-Drew.  Man, can that kid bulldoze through a defense.  And don’t forget about - though I know you will - Fred Taylor who is the least talked about RB to ever rush for over 10,000 yards in NFL history.  WR Matt Jones is a superstar waiting to happen but we’ll have to see if they can get any of the other receivers to become consistent playmakers. 

There’s that word again - consistency!

One area you don’t have to worry about consistency is the defense.  One of the most physical D’s in the NFL is back for another year of punishment.  With a D-Line boasting Marcus Stroud, Marcellus Wiley, and Reggie Hayward, they will stuff a lot of running attacks this fall.  They picked up a fast, hard-hitting safety in Reggie Nelson from the University of Florida who should make an immediate impact.

The Jags always start out great at home in the month of September.  This combined with a favorable schedule makes me think the Jags are due to make some noise this year.  Head Coach Jack Del Rio is a competitor who couldn’t stand what happened in the final month last year.  Look for him to keep the Jags focused much more in 2007.

All in all, we’ll just have to see if Leftwich can stay healthy and not get into the habit of throwing of his back foot.  If he conquers these two demons the Jags will make a good run at the AFC playoffs!

Posted by | Alikat | in Season Previews

Vince Young and the boys from Nashville sure had a great 2006 for all you sports betting fans out there.  They went 11-5 Against the Spread (ATS), tied with the N.Y. Jets for the best ATS record in the NFL last year.  Young came on like gangbusters in a couple of games, most notably the game in Houston where all the hometown fans were wishing they had picked the former Texas star.

We all know about Pacman Jones’ stupidity.  I know 5-year olds that pick up right and wrong faster than this thug.  This guy wants to be 50 Cent and Scarface so bad you wonder how in the hell did he ever developed the football tools he has.  Make no mistake about it Pacman can play football and that’s what gets lost in this whole deal. 

Personally, I think he’s just a spoiled idiot who deserved everything he received this past year.  I still think he should be punished for the nightclub shooting which left an honest man who was trying to put his wife through law school paralyzed from the waist down.  All that being said, from a football standpoint the Titans are going to miss his playmaking abilities tremendously.

The Titans also got rid of (RB) Travis Henry, who went off to the Broncos.  He was their MVP and a very good runner.  I’m just not sure if cheeseburger loving Lendale White is ready to carry the load for this team.  Eric Moulds joins the Titans as their #1 receiver but after that it gets pretty dicey as to who is going to make big plays for the Titans.

The Defense added (CB) Nick Harper from the Colts and drafted Michael Griffin out of Texas to help bolster their defensive backfield, but I gotta tell you they were dead last in D last year and I don’t see them improving that by more than a few notches this season.

However, I see the Titans being a friend to the smart sports betting aficionado due to the fact that they’ll be receiving a good amount of points against certain teams.  One thing about Vince Young and Jeff Fisher is that they are winners and play well in the underdog role.  This organization is rebuilding and should be there in a couple more years but other than picking up some upsets here and there, I don’t see the Titans going above .500 in 2007. 

I do see value in them though as a team to look for when they are getting 5 or more points playing against teams similar in talent.  They play tough through all 60 four quarters and that is what you want in an underdog.

Posted by | Madison | in Season Previews

My heart goes out to Chris Simms, a sweetie if there ever was one.  First his heart and leadership are questioned by Steve “Mormon Hotness” Young, then he literally gets his spleen knocked out of him. 

Even Jake “Porn Star” Plummer, who retired, is above Simms on the depth chart. 

Sad!

I do like the Jeff Garcia signing.  He led the Eagles to the playoffs last year, barely losing the Saints.  I’m not saying this makes the Bucs a playoff team but Jeff Garcia is a gamer, fits the requirements of Chucky’s West Coast system and has a little 37-year-old shake and bake to boot. 

The Bucs would be a playoff team if Cadillac Williams has a rebirth like his namesake car company did a few years back.  Cadillac spent some time in the body shop this off season and according to reports, he is leaner and…

Harder…

Did it just get hot in here? 

Cadillac’s success (and to a large part Garcia’s) depends on the Bucs offensive line what has been upgraded with the development of Davin Joseph, Jeremy Trueblood and the signing of Luke Petitgout. 

Most of all, they need the defense to continue playing at the level they’ve been for the better part of the last decade.  It’ll be a tough task since Monte Kiffen’s cuppard is almost bare.  The small linebackers are getting older and slower, there are questions in the secondary, and while Gaines Adams has the physical tools to be a monster some day, word on the street is that Kiffen is unhappy with his sloppy technique and has been working overtime to correct these problems.  

According to reports, Kiffen has had to adjust the famous Tampa 2 Scheme to fit the skills of his players.  It’s sort of like Tampa 2 Lite.  Whether it tastes great or less filling remains to be seen.