Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Drawing the Lein

-- Hmm. Matt Leinart says he "outplayed" the competition in Arizona during the pre-season and that because of this, the only explanation as to why he isn't the starter is because of his previous off the field issues. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that for a second. "Outplayed" to me indicates a clear gap between one player and another, such as Kyle Orton out-playing his two understudies in Denver. Leinart has definitely not made that clear distinction between himself and Anderson. If anything I'd say Anderson has a slight edge on the principle that he's been through all this before and has the experience of running an NFL offense. You get the sense that time is running very short for Leinart in Arizona. -- Errrr, there's actually not a lot left to talk about. Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm going to use to split the final pre-season game previews as all the games are being played on Thursday so teams can maximise their rest before the beginning of the season proper. So, till then, Have a great day everyone.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Steelers @ Broncos

-- Steelers 17 @ Broncos 34: Who needs offense, defense or special teams when you have penalties? The Steelers committed 11 for a grand total of 93 yards, which is a better showing than any running back on either team put up. The Broncos tried, but could only muster 8 penalties for a mere 67 yards. The fact that most of these penalties were for 'Unnecessary Roughness' and 'Roughing the passer' (technically one and the same, to a degree) is not surprising in a league where any contact is gradually being frowned upon more and more. Roethlisberger and Orton both did ok in their brief outings, but in keeping with the earlier established theme I want to focus on the back up spots. Naturally I have to start by laughing at Brady Quinn, who came into replace Orton after he took a knock and promptly got himself sacked. Quinn finished with a stunning 1/2 for a whole 2 yards. Tebow then was poised to become the man of the hour. But it started a little rocky. Taking the ball from under center he looked uncomfortable, but that's natural given his history. At least he kept his poise and still got his passes off. Then, looking to his right he wound up and launched a bolt... to Steelers rookie Crezdon Butler. At least he chased him back down the field and 'forced' him out of bounds 5 yards shy of the goal line. Not to be deterred, he came back and led a 5 play, 74 yard drive, capping it with TD pass to Eric Decker. And to be honest, I can't see why scouts were moaning so much before the draft. Yes the wind up is begging to be stripped, but other than that he looks like a steal for the 25th overall pick. His feet were quick, he anticipated his receivers breaks well (ahem, for the most part) and his ball placement on the throws was very good. Given that he's a rookie and will get to sit behind Orton for the season, developing himself (and his center/QB exchange) the future looks bright for Mr. Tebow. Perhaps less so for Pittsburgh fans (all together now; hahahahaha. Good). Dennis Dixon went 9/16 for 94 yards and two interceptions (and two sacks). The first INT was right down the sideline into the end zone... and into the waiting arms of rookie corner Perrish Cox (see the rookie watch list from the other day). The second went to old hand Andre Goodman who took it back 77 yards for the score (note to corners; I think it was Dre Bly who last year demonstrated the dangers of doing your stupid little dance before you get into the end zone. Dixon nearly had him). Byron Leftwich was poised then to have the day to himself. Of course he probably would have done, had he not thrown 4 passes and connected on precisely zero percent of them. It was left to Charlie Batch to come on and restore some sort of dignity by going 3/4 for 44 yards and a TD. He however, decided that things were going a little too well and thus decided instead to play his part in "The Great, let's make Chris look like he knows what he's talking about conspiracy" by throwing a pass way short to his right which was promptly picked off and returned 48 yards for a TD by rookie Syd'Quan Thompson (see again, rookie watch list). Thompson added the 'coup de grace' by returning a punt on the next Steelers possession for 62 yards. On the ground we finally got a good look at rookie Steelers RB Jonathan Dwyer, who showed quick feet and good vision to finish the game with 89 yards and a TD from 13 carries. Dennis Dixon was the next best Steelers rusher, scrambling three times for 33 yards. The Broncos also looked pretty good on the ground. LenDale White went for 34 yards and a TD off 12 carries, while 2nd year back Lance Ball led the Broncos with 75 yards from 10 carries (biggest run was 43 yards). So there we have it. Pre-season week 3 done. One more week to go and it's time for those rookies and fringe guys to bust out some big efforts. And of course I'll be previewing all the action and eventually recapping it, right here. Till then, Have a great day everyone.

Steelers @ Broncos

-- We begin today with some news and as teams start making roster cuts (they have to narrow their roster to 75 by the end of the month), the Bengals have finally ended the speculation and let go of WR Antonio Bryant. Bryant has struggled all through camp trying to recover from a knee injury and having already been paid something in the region of $7 million, the Bengals appear to be cutting their losses and running. The Bengals will now fall back on Terrell Owens and their excellent crop of rookie and reserve receivers to supplement Chad Ochocinco. Bryant will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent and interest could be quite high as teams look back on the pre-season and reflect on the state of their receiving corps. Now, game time. -- Steelers @ Broncos: The Battle of the Back Ups comes to Mile High stadium. Big Ben Roethlisberger will start for the Steelers. Kyle Orton will start for the Broncos. Of this much we can be pretty certain. Everything else is a little up in the air. The expectation is that Dennis Dixon will get a shot with the offensive starters after Roethlisberger has been pulled and that Brady Quinn will likely fill in for Kyle Orton, as Tebow still nurses his sore ribs. But there is still a game within the game to be played. Or rather two games within the game. Dixon vs. Leftwich. Tebow vs. Orton. Now as well as sounding like a WWE show, it should prove to be a promising football clash. Dixon has already piled the pressure on Leftwich with some good showings, in particular the use of his mobility and how this effects the defenses mentality. The question still remains though as to how Dixon will cope under pressure. When facing Baltimore in the regular season last year I thought Dixon did really well, but then Leftwich has been no slouch himself. Overall Leftwich is a slightly better pocket passer, which may not be a good thing in the Steelers offense, that seems tuned to to the skills of Big Ben (e.g. everyone fan out and wait for Ben to evade some pressure and make the play). As for Tebow/Orton, we may not even get a look at the player who has caused a huge amount of squabbles, arguments and controversy without even taking a regular season snap (no, I mean Tebow). Although the Broncos are playing it coy over his injury, you just get the feeling that both Head Coach and player want to see him out there at some point. Brady Quinn will hope not, but hoping is never a good substitute for going out there and winning the job yourself. The trouble with Quinn has always been the lack of any real big plays. He can do a lot of the dink and dunk stuff, but he rarely seems to be able to find those down field bombs that make the "Madden" crew at EA Sports salivate so much. On defense, the Steelers are the Steelers. Nothing less than hard hitting, run stuffing, pass deflecting brilliance will suffice, at least not in the eyes of Steeler fans. I'll accept the slightly less demanding goal of just not being terrible in the back end when Troy Polamalu isn't on the field. The Broncos D do need to step up though. With Dumervil out for the long haul there is talk of him going on injured reserve, which means the rest of that defense will have to discover their inner pass rusher pronto. So, it's all set. One more game and then pre-season week 3 is done. I'll be back later to recap and share my thoughts on the game. Then that leaves just one more week of "exhibition" games to go, in which the fringe players will be going all out to live the dream and win those last coveted roster spots on an NFL team. Then we'll finally be there, within touching distance of week one of the 2010 regular season. Have a great day everyone.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Saturday Night Football round up

Saturday Night Results time: -- Browns 27 @ Lions 35: There's a funny thing about football. Typically when two good teams get together, the end result is rubbish. They're so good, so tight and play so conservatively that they often end up having a boring contest. Conversely when you put two bad teams together, the result is often an explosive and sometimes comical clash. This is what happened when two bad teams came together again. A Browns FG got us started, then Stafford found Johnson (Bryant, not Calvin) in the end zone. Then Eric Wright returned a fumble to the end zone for the Browns before Jake Delhomme found Lawrence Vickers with a 5-yard TD pass. Then Lions DB Chris Houston returned a Browns fumble for a score, only for the Browns to hit back with a TD run by Peyton Hillis to end the first half scoring. The second half scoring began with a Kevin Smith TD run for the Lions from 2-yards out, followed by another Browns FG. Two short TD runs by Lions RB Aaron Brown finally put the game to bed. Jake Delhomme finished 20/25 for 152 yards and a TD...... and 0 INTs!! Colt McCoy finished 10/14 for 76 yards and made a valiant attempt at a last drive down the field with about 4 minutes remaining but it was not to be. Matthew Stafford finished 13/17 for 141 yards and a TD. Jahvid Best led the Lions in rushing yards, taking his sole carry for 51 yards and showing good vision to use his blockers down field. -- Bengals 20 @ Bills 35: Robin may have got his TD, but Mr. Freeze wins the Twitter battle (well, technically Mr. Freezes minions do). It began with Carson Palmer to Jermaine Gresham for a TD, followed by Trent Edwards to Roscoe Parrish to tie the score. Then Palmer found Ochocinco to make it 14-7, only for C.J. Spiller to come back with 2 rushing TDs for the Bills. A third quarter FG gave the Bengals hope, then Ryan Fitzpatrick found David Nelson with a 20 yard TD pass to crush it. The Bengals mustered another FG, but then Jordan Palmer (confused?) looked right, threw right.... and was picked off for six by the most aptly named CB in the league; Reggie Corner. Carson Palmer finished 9/11 for 95 yards and 2 TDs. Jordan Palmer; 7/12 for 116 yards and an INT. Cedric Benson led the Bengals on the ground with 8 carries for 50 yards and Quan Cosby topped the receivers with 4 catches for 82 yards. Bengals LB Brandon Johnson tied for the lead on his team for tackles with Roddrick Muckelroy (on my rookie watch list) with 5. Geno Atkins (also on the list) bagged himself yet another sack. For the Bills Trent Edwards finished 13/17 for 153 yards and a TD. Ryan Fitzpatrick came home with 6/9 for 77 yards and a TD. Naturally C.J. Spiller led the Bills backs with 12 carries for 52 yards and 2 TDs. Roscoe Parrish topped the receivers with four catches for 56 yards and a TD. -- Jaguars 19 @ Buccaneers 13: They say that lightning never strikes in the same place twice. One thing it certainly does seem to do is to follow the Jaguars around wherever they go, delaying their games like an ominous attempt from above to delay the inevitable. Except in this case the Jags won, so maybe it worked in their favour. After exchanging field goals, Josh Johnson found RB Earnest Graham to give the Bucs' a 10-3 lead, with the Jags pulling back another FG before half time. The third quarter saw another exchange of field goals, then Luke McCown zipped a beauty 27 yards to John Matthews to make it 16-13, with a 4th quarter FG by the Jags wrapping it up. Garrard ended the game 24/31 for 211 yards and an INT, while Luke McCown went 9/14 for 76 yards, a TD and an INT. Josh Johnson led the Bucs' with 9/14 for 122 yards and a TD, while his replacement Rudy Carpenter went 4/13 for 37 yards and then threw a pick on a last hope jump ball. Rookie Buccaneers WR Mike Williams (4th round, 101st overall) has been getting rave reviews in camp and finished the game with 3 catches for 83 yards. The Bucs' also provided the only true defensive standouts, with CB Ronde Barber and LB Quincy Black both recording 7 tackles. -- Giants 10 @ Ravens 24: It was over almost before it began. A FG and two 2nd quarter touchdowns for the Ravens was met by the Giants with a single field goal. In the 4th quarter an exchange of TDs left the differential where it had been at half time. Manning played and went 9/18 for 63 yards and an INT, while Rhett Bomar produced 10/20 for 140 yards and a TD pass to WR Victor Cruz who continues to impress, leading the Giants with 4 catches for 76 yards and a TD. For the Ravens, Flacco went 21/34 for 229 yards, 2 TDs (Todd Heap and Anquan Boldin) and an INT. Troy Smith also impressed with 8/11 for 71 yards and a TD. The rushing standout for the game was Giants RB Brandon Jacobs, who notched 41 yards from 6 carries and showed a surprising burst to get to the outside and turn up field. Defensively the Giants finally got some pass rush together, bagging 5 sacks total (2 for Rocky Bernard, 2 for Justin Tuck and 1 from Linval Joseph). Antrel Rolle led the team in tackles with 7. For the Ravens, Haruki Nakamura came up with an interception which - coupled with his special teams play recently - might just be enough to grab a roster spot. -- Cowboys 7 @ Texans 23: It's early days yet. There's still time to improve. It's not the end of the world to lose a few games in pre-season. It's not a true reflection of how we'll play in the regular season. These are all lines Head Coach Wade Philips will be trying to feed the press over the next few weeks to try and convince them that the world as Dallas knows it is not about to implode. I personally believe however, that Wade Phillips is a coaching genius. Yes, a genius. Because (yes, I know; grammar) there is only one possible explanation as to why Tony Romo was playing like Curtis Painter, why the Cowboys RBs have hardly been seen all pre-season (a combined 9 carries for Choice, Barber and Jones in this game) and why the Cowboys D looked like the Lions D. Phillips is saving it all for week one. Like a cunning general of yester year, he is hiding away his forces true strength while putting on a ruse, a display to lull his enemies into a false sense of security. It's either that, or the Cowboys are in some serious s**t this season. Romo went 13/18 for 146 yards and an INT, while giving up some tough sacks and some hilarious fumbles. The Texans did slightly better. Matt Schaub went 18/29 for 183 yards and a TD. Arian Foster did the impossible and actually produced a 100 yard rusher for the Texans, getting 110 yards and a TD off 18 carries. The defense produced 3 sacks and the O-line kept Schaub upright all through the game. It's almost like they read my preview post from yesterday and did the complete opposite. I mean, if this had been a regular season game they'd have definitely cost me a pick as well as making me look like a right a**. Wait... this seems familiar.... like.... Carolina.......... !! ........... I hate the Texans. -- Seahawks 13 @ Vikings 24: When Favre threw a pick to rookie safety Earl Thomas who returned it for a TD, Seahawks fans could be forgiven for thinking that they were about to take a big scalp. Sadly not, as Adrian Peterson then rumbled home on a powerful 24 yard run to level the score. TD passes from Sage Rosenfels and Joe Webb to Javon Walker and Ryan D'Imperio respectively sealed the deal (plus FGs). Favre finished 16/26 for 187 yards and 2 INTs, as well as fumbling on a sack by Chris Clemons. Rosenfels did better; 5/6, 71 yards and a TD. Charlie Whitehurst 'led' the Seahawks with 12/26 for 138 yards and an INT, while Matt Hasselbeck ended up with 9/17 for 126 yards. Chris Clemons stood out defensively for the Seahawks, getting 3 tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble. The Vikings D also managed a combined 3 sacks. -- Titans 7 @ Panthers 15: See, this is what I'm talking about! This is why I hate the Panthers! Since when, WHEN has the Panthers D in the last few years ever produced 7 sacks?! SEVEN! A** clowns. Even despite this the Titans still appeared to be heading for victory when Kerry Collins found Jerry Cook in the 4th quarter for a TD. But on the ensuing kick off the Titans inexplicably managed to pile four guys onto RB Mike Goodson without bringing him down and with a superb second effort he broke free and carried the ball all the way to the house for 91 yard kick return TD. Kerry Collins finished 6/10 112 yards, a TD and an INT. Vince Young; 6/9 for 48 yards. Matt Moore led the Panthers QB pair with 18/33 for 190 yards. Jimmy Clausen 4/5 for 79 yards. What really boggles the mind is that the Titans hardly called on their rushing attack. Chris Johnson received just 10 carries and Blount and Ringer combined for just 9 more. Defensively the Titans stand out was rookie DB Alterraun Verner (appearing soon in a Star Wars movie near you) with 5 tackles, an assist and a forced fumble. The Panthers D was lead in tackles by LB Jon Beason with 5. DE Charles Johnson ended with 4 tackles and 2 sacks. Greg Hardy, Richard Marshall, Everette Brown, Charles Godfrey and Eric Moore all took home a single sack each. Brown in particular looked quick on his feet and was in among the pressure all game long. 3rd year corner Brian Witherspoon capped the show with 2 INTs. I hate the Panthers. -- Cardinals 14 @ Bears 9: I like the Bears. You know what you're getting with the Bears. You know that a) their rushing attack will be chronic and b) Jay Cutler will inevitably bottle it and throw a few Interceptions. This game being a case in point. Maybe a little harsh. Chester Taylor led the Bears backs with 36 yards off 5 carries (Bears fans; just gloss over the 34 yard run that contributed most of the yards). Cutler finished 10/20 for 129 yards and 2 INTs. Dan LeFevour did better; 10/12 for 110 yards and a TD. For the Cardinals both Anderson and Leinart did well. Anderson; 7/12, 94 yards and a TD. Leinart; 9/10 for 84 yards and a TD. Tim Hightower was the RB stand out with 8 carries for 62 yards and the Cardinals rookie WR Steven Williams led all WR with 5 catches for 79 yards and a TD. -- 49ers 28 @ Raiders 24: Roll on week 6! Well, Kind of. Jason Campbell went out injured after going 6/8 for 93 yards, which meant that Bruce Gradkowski experienced a little deja vu, stepping in once again for the starting QB in Oakland. And you have to feel sorry for Gradkowski. Once more he took the chance with both hands and posted 14/22 for 202 yards and 2 TDs. One day you'll get your shot Bruce. One day. Louis Murphy led the Raiders receivers with 2 catches for 87 yards and a TD. On the '9ers side, Alex Smith went 9/15 for 113 yards and a TD. David Carr; 7/17 for 54 yards. Frank Gore was finally let loose... for 2 carries. Not one to complain, Gore promptly ripped off a 49 yard run, ploughing defenders with his shoulder along the way and finishing the game with 58 yards. Brain Westbrook also got a look in, taking 2 carries for 17 yards. The heaviest load fell on Anthony Dixon once more, who shall hence forth be known as "The Golden Mule", carrying the ball 21 times for 69 yards and a TD, in addition to 3 catches for a further 15 yards. Defensively for the Raiders it was first round pick Rolando McClain who led the way with 6 tackles and 2 assists. For the 49ers, you guessed it, Patrick Willis; 7 tackles, an assist and a sack. Well, that appears to be it for the day. Only one game remains now in pre-season week 3 as the Steelers travel to the Broncos for some Monday Night Football, but I'll be f***ed if I'm doing the preview right now. Must sleep. Hmm, sleepy, sleepy. Have a great day everyone.

Friday Recap

We'll begin today then with a recap of Friday nights games: -- Falcons 16 @ Dolphins 6: A better outing from the Falcons, but they still struggled. Matt Ryan was 13/26 for 103-yards, a TD and an INT. Back up Chris Redman did ok, with 5/8 for 56-yards and a TD. On the ground the Falcons fared a little better than usual, with Turner leading the charge with 16 carries for 47-yards. Bizarrely both Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood carried 5 times for 22-yards in a desperate effort to ensure that neither of them upstaged the other. Defensively, LB Curtis Lofton stood out once more with six tackles and five assists, while DT Kroy Biermann added another sack to his pre-season tally. For the Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne actually looked ok in the pocket, finishing 10/22 for 123-yards and an INT. Chad Pennington; 7/14 for 62-yards. Pat White; 4/4 27-yards. Brandon Marshall led the Dolphins receivers with 3 catches for 51-yards. Most depressing for Miami fans will be the apparent abduction of their running game from last season. Ronnie Brown finished the night with 8 carries for 9-yards, with his longest run being 6-yards. At least Vontae Davis provided some hope on the defense by turning in seven tackles and a forced fumble. -- Redskins 16 @ Jets 11: Beware the Grossman! Well, kind of. 8/16 for 111-yards, no TDs. Which pretty much sums up this game until the 4th quarter when Mark Sanchez finally found Dustin Keller. Prior to that it was FG Jets, then FG Redskins, FG 'Skins, then safety Jets (Grossman kicking a botched shotgun snap out the back of the end zone might have been the best play of the game). Another Redskins FG marked all the action in the 3rd, then Sanchez threw a potential game winner, only for Richard Bartel to find Larry Johnson on a screen pass for 15-yards and the TD. Sanchez himself finished 13/21 for 139-yards, a TD and an INT, and continues to look like anything except a franchise QB. LaDanian Tomlinson however was looking like the franchise back of old, taking 11 carries for 86-yards, including a 43-yard scamper that showed off his excellent vision to make the cutback, though his lack of open field speed was also exhibited shortly afterwards. Larry Johnson led a horrid Redskins backfield with 9 carries for 42-yards. Jets LB Calvin Pace led the Jets D with 5 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, while LB Perry Riley's 5 tackles and 2 assists were enough to top the Redskins D. -- Chargers 21 @ Saints 36: Defense presumably hasn't been high on either teams schedule for the off season. FB Jacob Hester opened the scoring for the Chargers, before Brees picked apart the Chargers with TD passes to Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson (arguably one of the best receiver pairings in the league). Philip Rivers found Malcom Floyd to tie the game before the Saints kicked field goals on either side of half-time to take a 6-point lead. Then Chris Ivory happened. Taking a short pass 76-yards while running around and even over defenders on his way to the end zone. Chargers QB Billy Volek ran home a TD from 1-yard out, then another Saints FG and finally Leigh Torrence returned an interception 87-yards for the last score. Rivers finished 16/27 for 167-yards and a TD, but worryingly his back up Billy Volek went 9/21 for 97-yards and 2 INTs. Chargers fans left praying then that Rivers can stay healthy. RB Ryan Matthews had 13 carries for 43-yards. On the other sideline the Saints will be happy as Brees went 18/27 for 240-yards and 2 TDs, while Patrick Ramsey finished 10/18 for 191-yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Unfortunately Brees was also at the center of the latest example of how stupid the game is getting in terms of overly protecting Quarterbacks (should just point out, it was in no way Brees's fault). Chargers LB Shaun Phillips came flying in on a blitz from Brees's right hand side and threw an arm out to try and bat the ball as Brees stepped up to throw. Unfortunately Brees was took quick with his release and got the pass off, resulting in Philips patting Brees in the head. This then was flagged; Unnecessary Roughness, Contact to the head of the quarterback, 15-yards. Fifteen freakin' yards for what was nothing more than entirely incidental contact during a legitimate attempt to make a play on the ball. Where will it end? What the hell was Philips supposed to do? This is ridiculous and this is precisely the sort of thing that the NFL should be doing something about, instead of a**ing around with proposals for the 18-games schedule. In fact this is probably indicative of why I hate the new proposals so much. There are so many little tweaks that need to be made (*ahem, tuck rule anyone?) that it just makes my blood boil that we're being asked to accept these other proposals in the interest of 'enhancing' the game. -- Eagles 20 @ Chiefs 17: The Eagles finished the 1st quarter up by twelve after a TD run from promising back LeSean McCoy and a FG by David Akers. Things were looking good. Then Matt Cassel found Dwayne Bowe in the end zone and Thomas Jones rushed in for a second Chiefs TD. What followed was a nervous wait for Eagles fans till the 4th quarter for Akers to put away another field goal, only for the Chiefs to reply in kind. It then fell to Mike Kafka to find Riley Cooper for an 18-yard score to save the day. Kevin Kolb finished 11/25 for 103-yards and an INT, and he wasn't even that good. Kafka went 9/13 for 93-yards and a TD. Matt Cassel went 14/23 for 85-yards, a TD and an INT. On the ground the Chiefs trashed the Eagles; Jackie Battle finished with 10 carries for 49-yards, McCluster turned in 8 carries for 47-yards, Jamaal Charles; 6 carries for 40-yards and Thomas Jones; 10 carries for 30-yards and a TD. LeSean McCoy lead the Eagles with 28-yards and a TD off 5 carries. Brandon Graham and Ernie Sims led the average Eagles D with 4 tackles a piece. LB Demorrio Williams topped the Chiefs much better performance with 5 tackles and and two sacks, closely followed by LB Andy Studebaker who was only one tackle shy of equalling Williams's overall performance. They Chiefs ended with 5 sacks, and the sole Chiefs interception was recorded by Kendrick Lewis (who's on my 2010 rookie watch list). I'll be back later to look at the results from Saturdays games. Till then, Have a great day everyone.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Boo hoo Peyton

In keeping with the recent trend of bizarre time lines, we'll look forward to Saturdays games first, then look back at Fridays action, But first I just wish to chortle further at Peyton Manning's misery. The Colts are complaining that because of the new placement of one of the umpires (one of the few good improvements we've seen under Goodell) that the Colts are getting flagged excessively for false starts. Being that this rule has so far only had a major impact on one team I'm intrigued to see if the league does anything about it. It is the Colts after all. I'm also amazed that Manning can bitch about this when his team has been more than generously provided for in recent years by officiating crews regarding pass interference calls, namely the sometimes pathetic defensive calls that the Colts get in their favour while simultaneously getting away with offensive pass interference (so called 'pick plays') so regularly that I suspect we may one day look back at them and refer to them as 'Colts specials' plays. Anyway, on with the games: -- Browns @ Lions: The Jake Delhomme/Seneca Wallace battle rages on as the Browns drop in for a visit with their fellow bottom dwellers. If anyone got better in the off season then it was the Lions. It's a sad testament to just how bad they've been recently that even with the addition of a 3x pro bowl Defensive End, a second overall pick at Defensive Tackle - plus numerous other upgrades - the Lions are still a terrible football team. To a degree anyway. Their defense is still suspect and that remains the major problem. Like the Saints of 2008 (and 2010?) they often have few troubles scoring, but all kinds of problems stopping other people scoring in return. Hopefully for Lions fans the Browns will solve that inconvenient problem, 'cos lets face it, they're hardly a dominating offense. They're slowly scraping a run game together, but they have nothing else to back it up. Their idea of a down field game consists of Josh Cribbs returning punts and kicks, or catching screen passes. It's getting better, but the rate of increase is probably not enough to stop the Lions. -- Bengals @ Bills: Batman and Robin come to visit the frozen tundra hideout of Mr. Freeze. I've realised in the run up to this game that Twitter does indeed have a use; it allows defensive backs to write checks their play may not be able to cash. Drayton Florence laid down the challenge to the Bengals dynamic duo of receivers and it's sure to be a gauntlet that Ochocino and Owens will want to pick up. The Bills pass defense was among the best in the league last year (I don't think I'll ever get used to saying that) and so provides the perfect test for Palmer and the Bengals. The Bills on the other hand will be wishing they had their own dynamic duo. They still have no standouts among their receiving corps to compete with (or even just prod) Lee Evans, so again much of their play making ability will fall on the shoulders of running back C.J. Spiller and their defense (Jairus Byrd prime among them). It doesn't say a lot about your offense when you're relying on Roscoe Parrish to return special teams plays for TDs. -- Jaguars @ Buccaneers: A 3rd year QB takes over from a 2nd year QB to lead one of the worst franchises in the league. And surprisingly, I'm not even talking about the Jaguars. I am of course referring to the injury to Bucs' QB Josh Freeman that will sideline him and leave the door open for Josh Johnson in what might be his best opportunity to win a starting job in Tampa. I like Johnson. He is one of those quarterbacks who can make plays with his feet and can throw pretty well too. What he could really use now is some plays by his young but promising receivers. For the Jaguars it's the never ending quest to find a way to not suck such b***s on defense. Last weeks performance was much improved given their terrible record rushing the passer last year, but was it a flash in the pan or can the Jaguars indeed find some consistency? What they could really do with is playing a quarterback who's had limited playing time so far in his career... ah! -- Giants @ Ravens: We find out what Rhett Bomar is really made of against the Ravens D. Let's not beat around the bush; even with a depleted secondary, this is still going to be a tough ask for Rhett. Chances are that Manning wont play. If he does then his snaps will be very limited so it's up to Mr. Bomar to find a way past the likes of Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed. Good luck with that. The Giants looked under a rock last week and found what they suspect might be their running game, but only time will tell if it's back to business as usual for Earth and Fire (if you don't get that, not to worry). For the Ravens there will be a target on Joe Flaccos back. That seems like a fairly obvious thing to say, but the Giants are still looking to get back to their old ways with their pass rush. Taking down the vaunted 'Air Flacco' would be a big boost to their season, so Joe had better keep his eyes on them hot routes. Hoping to see a bit more of Tight End Dennis Pitta and maybe some Anquan Boldin reviving his Arizona days in the screen game. -- Cowboys @ Texans: Texas goes to war (now there's a surprise) as dull offense and tight D take on explosive Offense and sieve like D. Obviously the Texans aren't going to be mistaken for having a tight defense, so we'll start with them. Watching them play New Orleans last week you can't help but wonder if the Texans have ever heard of the phrase "block destruction". Their D-line looked for all the world like "block constructors" last week, so that definitely has to be improved this week if they're not to get trashed by a Cowboys offense that has so far failed to kick start its rushing attack. Most interesting will be when the Texans O takes the field. Can they off set the play of their defense by breaking down the Cowboys D? The Texans are very pass heavy still as their RB situation hasn't progressed the way they'd hoped this off season. That plays right into the hands of DeMarcus Ware and DT Jay Ratliff, so don't be surprised to see plenty of clips of Matt Schaub hauling himself up from the turf. -- Seahawks @ Vikings: Maybe Frasier can finally talk Favre into retiring. The ancient one is raised from his coffin once more, this time to fight back Seattle and their fearsome Defense! Oh wait... sorry I forgot, Seattle doesn't have a defense. But then the Vikings are rapidly running out of offense, as Favre drains the life force of the youngest players around him in order to sustain himself for one more season. Bernard Berrian isn't quite the desperation receiver some are making him out to be, but things are looking grim in Minnesota. Not that the Seahawks can laugh. Almost every time that Matt Hasselbeck slips off the field for a quick gatorade break, the Seahawks offense collapses like a bridge made from damp cigarette papers. Their sole bright spot in a sea of gloom has been the return to fitness and the field of RB Leon Washington. On a side note, Russell Okung gets a nice test of his skills against the Vikings pass rush. -- Titans @ Panthers: Under rated Titans take on Chris's favourite team (haha). When the Titans stormed to the play offs on the back of of a ten game winning streak, it was Chris Johnson and LenDale White that led the charge. It was only when they hit the play offs and inexplicably decided that Kerry Collins had suddenly morphed into Joe Montana that things went awry. LenDale is gone, but luckily his particular skill set (being big and running with a low pad level) is easily replicated by backs like Javon Ringer and LaGarrette Blount. Thus the Titans march on through the pre-season. The Panthers are in a slightly tighter spot. They still have DeAngelo Williams and will get the excellent Jonathan Stewart back with plenty of time to kick butt. But they also have Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen. Neither is quite living up to their billing so far and herein lies the problem. The obvious choice is to grind it out through the season on the ground and hope that an improving defense can hold strong. But that's precisely what the Panthers refused to do last season - foiling my picks at every turn in the process - hence why I hate them so much. Go Titans. -- Cardinals @ Bears: Two craptacular quarterbacks flame out in style. So Leinart has been benched then? At least the Hindenberg had an air of class about it before finally going down. Enter then Derek Anderson, the saviour of Arizona. If you listen really carefully, you can hear the Browns fans laughing from here. And time for a bold prediction I think; Whisenhunt decides to go Steeler-style on the Bears a**es, pounding the rock with Wells and Hightower while unleashing play-action bombs to Fitzgerald, Doucet and Breaston down the field. And it works... The Bears have the duel problem of trying to find a way to stop Jay Cutler throwing the ball away in the red zone while also finding a way to stop Matt Forte getting stuffed for no gain. Easy as that then. The Cardinals D has adapted well to the loss of some key players so this will hardly be a walk in the park for the Bears. I'm expecting D-R-Cromartie to fill his boots in this one. -- 49ers @ Oakland: Almost akin to saying Jets @ Giants, but without the unwarranted media hyperbole. Again, another reason to like pre-season. You get rivalry match ups on a consistent basis. And without JaMarcus Rustle-me-up-some-codeine at the helm anymore, the Raiders will be eyeing a chance to knock off their highly touted neighbours (at least, as highly touted as you can be coming from the NFC West). And unlike the Jets, the Raiders have their prize corner locked in. The 49ers will be looking to take the reins off "The Gore" or "The Inconvenient Truth", depending on your personal stance. Anthony Dixon has taken a pounding so far as the 49ers try to bring him up to speed and test his readiness. I'm expecting Michael Crabtree to be fully unleashed as well this week. The 49ers have done well in their two pre-season wins so far, but the reliance on the defense to keep the score down to manageable levels is worrying (see Redskins circa. 2009 season). And that - as they say - is that. Now, recap time. I'm afraid that will have to wait till tomorrow as my eyes feel like they're about to fall off my face. Have a great day everyone.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Screw Akamai

So in the interest of time management I'm going to preview Fridays games now and possibly by the time I'm finished so will have Thursdays games, allowing me to review them. Get it? Before we do though, two quick fingers up to the NFL: -- If, like me, you've found the video viewing experience on NFL.com to be nothing short of a hair-loss inducing nightmare then there is hope. Providing you're not that bothered about seeing Rich Eisens head in HD, you can now disable the Akamai Net sessions program that was previously required to watch almost all of the videos. Just got to your computers C drive (usually under the heading 'computer'), then find the folder Program Files. In this you will find another folder called common files. In this you will find another folder headed 'Akamai'. Open this and you should see a heavenly little red icon that says Uninstall. Double click and then relax, safe in the knowledge that you will now be able to watch videos without anywhere near as much hassle as before. Maybe if enough people stop running it NFL.com will get the f***ing hint. -- Second finger up to the NFL over the 18-game schedule. All along Roger Goodell - the crown prince of football evil - has been telling us that fans fully support the proposed schedule increase. Well, I'd like to firmly say f**k you Roger. Naturally the owners meeting has been widely reported across the interweb and everywhere you go you notice a surprising trend in the comments section; the ratio of fans against the 'Enhanced Season' compared to those in favour seems to be about 4:1. Most fans with a brain and a semblance of logic seemed to understand that this is nothing but an attempt to extract more cash from the TV networks, while doing little to actually 'enhance' the game. While they admit that pre-season games aren't exactly thrilling, they seem very understanding of the way it will effect both the players long term health and the reduced chances of fringe players to make the roster, coming to the conclusion that the 'enhanced season' is garbage (though not always quite as politely as that). I don't think fans are being given enough credit for their intelligence and I get the feeling that this could potentially blow up in Goodell's face, hopefully sooner rather than later. Enough of that though, let's take a look at Fridays games: -- Falcons @ Dolphins: The Falcons were supposed to give the Saints a run for their money in the NFC South this year. The Dolphins were supposed to be the upstarts challenging the big mouth Jets and the stoic old Patriots for the AFC East. So far, both teams have looked flat. Brandon Marshall hasn't raised the Dolphins as might be expected. He had a good game last week, but there are almost daily reports from the 'phins practices of drops and frustrations. Meanwhile the Falcons seem to be struggling to really get Michael Turner involved in their games. This could go either way to be honest. It could be two teams slopping it out in a puke fest of a football game, or it could see one team finally realise that once the pre-season is done then it's live time and so sending them into a scoring fury. I'll be getting my bucket I think. -- Redskins @ Jets: After coming up short (well short) against the Ravens, the Redskins will be looking to bounce back against a Jets teams that is still missing Monsieur Revis and that looked abject against the Panthers (hate 'em). Without Thomas Jones the Jets offense looks a little barren. Mark Sanchez is still struggling to find form and find receivers. The Redskins D may not have held up all that well against Baltimore, but they're still a tough unit and second year linebacker Brian Orakpo continues to improve in leaps and bounds, meaning a tough day in store for Sanchez. Donovan McNabb on the other hand has been producing good yards through the air, but like in Philadelphia seems to struggle in the Red zone still. The situation is not helped by the Redskins having the same problem as the Eagles; no run game. Despite their splash of off season acquisitions at the RB position, the Redskins have been unable to get things moving on the ground. The point is well proven when in sight of goal and with no apparent method of scoring other than trying to find Chris Cooley or Fred Davis, who are routinely finding themselves drawing heavy coverage. So this game comes down to offense. Which team can finally pull its O out of a slump and find some scores? Judging by the way they've both performed so far, both these teams are going to be looking back at the pre-season optimism and wondering where it all went wrong. -- Chargers @ Saints: Philip Rivers vs. Drew Brees. It's a battle that many have been looking forward to seeing and could prove to be one of the more interesting games of the pre-season. Certainly the Saints defense will be under the spotlight. Mid ranked last year, they've long been the weak link that's kept this team from the Super bowl prior to 2009. It might not be enough this year, as the Saints offense is unlikely to repeat the very gaudy numbers that it put up last season. The combination of Ryan Matthews on the ground and Rivers through the air will either leave Saints fans anxious about the season ahead, or optimistic of a repeat. For the Saints it's very much about the run. As I've stated before on numerous occasions, the Saints scored a ton of points off play-action last year. This year their rushing attack promises to be less than stellar, leaving question marks as to how much respect it will receive. A solid outing here for the Saints backs would do wonders. This is also a Chargers D that is recovering from the loss of Antonio Cromartie, so is ripe for a kicking by Brees. -- Eagles @ Chiefs: The Eagles have looked pretty good so far. Not sensational, but good. Kolb is settling as the starting QB and starting to look at home. The Chiefs are.... well. Not good. With the changes in coordinators and a pretty solid draft under the belt, plus the pick up of Thomas Jones at RB, the Chiefs looked like they were set for a season that might just appease the fans a little. So far however it just hasn't come together for them. As we're in week 3 of the pre-season I'm anticipating seeing a little more from Mr. Jones and Mr. Charles in the Chiefs backfield. The Eagles conversely are looking for a plump piece of game to poach and the Chiefs just might be it. Brandon Graham has been moved up the depth chart ahead of Juqua Parker, which is surprising considering the season Parker had last year. I think the Eagles are either grossly under rating Parker or Brandon Graham is a hell of a lot better than we all imagined. Offensively the Eagles might be keen to unleash DeSean Jackson on a secondary that remains suspect. Right, results time: -- Rams @ Patriots: ............................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................................................. ............... 36 - 35. No, no, no, I mean 36 to the Rams. Yes. Rams 36, Patriots 35. Wait, let me just check again, make sure. Jesus. For a long time in this game, the Rams led comfortably. A rally that began in the end of the third quarter brought the status quo back, only for the Rams to upset the balance and come back with a TD and finally a last second field goal to win. The crazy thing is, Brady took home 18/22 for 273 yards and 3 TDs. Even Brian Hoyer came in and lobbed himself a score. Randy Moss; 3 catches for 74-yards and a TD. Rob Gronkowski; 3 receptions for 66 yards and 2 TDs. This must have been gutting, to do so well only to get wrecked at the last second by a field goal. Sam Bradford impressed for the Rams, finishing with 15/22 for 189-yards and 2 TDs. Thaddeus Lewis also played well with 11/14 for 120-yards and a TD. Tight End, Michael Hoomanawanui (I promise you, that's his real name) led the Rams receivers with 4 catches for 53-yards and 2 TDs. The only real defensive stand out for the game was Patriots Linebacker Jerod Mayo who finished with 8 tackles and 2 assists. -- Colts @ Packers: This one hasn't actually finished yet. Satisfyingly though the Colts are getting pounded into the floor and "The Painted One" has just fumbled the ball again.... and then sacked two plays later. I'm gonna have a ciggie then I'll be back in a bit to recap this one. Hahahaha! 24-59. Man the crowd in Lambeau were rewarded for their good turn out. Who says pre-season games are boring? Having exchanged TDs in the first quarter, the Colts tacked on a field goal and then a 2nd quarter TD to take the early lead. And from their it all unravelled. A TD from Rodgers to Finley, then a muffed Punt by the Colts was recovered by Packers FB Korey Hall in the endzone for another TD. Add another Rodgers TD pass and the Packers were pulling away at half time. A field goal followed in the third followed by another TD and the Colts were almost done, with Donald Brown providing scant relief with his 1-yard TD run. But the Packers weren't finished yet. Another TD pass by Matt Flynn, a rushing TD by Kregg Lumpkin, and then a 75-yard punt return for a TD by Jason Chery finished the job. Rodgers finished 21/29 for 195-yards and 3 TDs. Matt Flynn; 8/13 for 80-yards, 2TDs. On the Colts side Peyton Manning managed 15/26 for 214-yards and 2 TDs, 1 INT while Curtis Painter finished the game 6/11 for 97-yards and an INT. Manning had one fumble, Painter two. Defensively the Colts failed to produce a single sack but good showings from Antoine Bethea (8 tackles and an assist) & rookie LB Pat Angerer (7 tackles - 3 assists) at least provide some bright spot among the gloom. CB Tramon Williams led the Packers in tackles with 6 and there were some good showings from some rookies (which they wouldn't have otherwise had under the 18-game 'enhanced season'). Rookie LB Frank Zombo finished with 5 tackles, 4 assists, and a sack/forced fumble. The other sack came from rookie LB Cyril Obiozor. Rookie DBs Morgan Burnett and Sam Shields came up with the Packers two picks. Well, there you have it. The Colts are beatable. The Packers just get better by the week. And I'm off so I'll see you guys tomorrow to preview Saturdays games and recap all the Friday Night action. If you have any questions etc, you can leave a comment or drop me an e-mail at keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk Any free publicity you'd like to swing my way would also be more than welcome. Till next time, Have a great day everyone.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Disingenuous dealings

-- We kickoff today with news that the NFL owners got together in Atlanta and approved the takeover of the St. Louis Rams by part owner Stan Kroenke. Kroenke will be forced to hand over control (both operational and financial) of his two other major sports franchises - the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche - to his son, and has until 2014 I believe in order to sell his majority shares in those ventures. It then appears that the league owners spent the next five hours congratulating each other on what a brilliant idea the 'enhanced' season is. Those of you that follow me regularly will know I hate it. For those that don't; I hate it. Any time you have to describe something as being 'enhanced' instead of just 'extended' means you're on a PR mission of epic proportions, usually because what you're selling isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Like an 18-game regular season for example. Yeah ok, so the fans get an extra pair of games that 'mean' something. In turn, the value of those games is diluted, as you now have 18 games in which to make something happen. I'll give the whole College BCS farce one thing; at least all of the regular season games are important. One slip and that's you potentially done for the year. There's a sense of drama and tension. I think I'd be more open to the idea of an 18-game season if the NFL just came out and said "look, 18 regular season games and 2 pre-season games are more valuable to us when negotiating with TV companies than 16 regular games and 4 pre-season games". Because that's all this is about. That's all the league is really concerned with. It's like Roger Goodell himself. His job is to a) help generate as much revenue as possible and b) keep the NFL looking good in the eyes of the media and the fans. They don't really give a toss whether the fans enjoy pre-season or not. It's cash. Weighing all the positives and negatives, the only thing that stands out as a big positive is that extra TV revenue. For the players it's a balance; will the extra revenue warrant the extra punishment they'll take through out the season, coupled with reduced chances for second and third stringers to get a look in during pre-season? Not that it matters really. As Giants D-Tackle Barry Cofield told the Associated Press "Personally, I don't see how it helps the game, or the quality of the game. But if they demand it, they will probably get it." You got that right son. -- On the flip side, I wish players would stop talking about being asked to take a "pay cut" in the new CBA. On paper, yes, the percentage will go down. But if revenues go up as expected and the league has more money to spend on advertisements, stadiums and other things to grow the game then players will earn more from their reduced percentage than they do now. The reason I take such issue with it is because like the leagues use of 'enhanced season' it's disingenuous (yeah, check out it out! I've learnt a new word). They're twisting the truth for personal ends and when a discussion must take place and people are being asked (through the media) to sympathise or take sides, then we must have the absolute bare truth laid out before us. At the minute it's like... well it's like watching two politicians having a debate. You can't trust either of them and no matter who you vote for you're going to get shafted one way or another. Right, back to that thing that the NFL should be about; Can-Can dancing. Or even football. It's all hotting up in pre-season week 3: -- Rams @ Patriots: Someone at the league office has obviously got a thing against the Rams by sticking them in this one. Talk about lambs to the slaughter. I'll be keeping my beady eye out for CB Jerome Murphy and WR Mardy Gilyard of the Rams, who are on my list of 48 players who I think might do well (suggestions for a catchy name for that list please?) (Danario Alexander is also on the list, but still recovering from injury I believe). With Feeley injured it's expected that Sam Bradford will be thrust into the limelight this season, beginning tomorrow night. It's a tough ask against a Pat's D that has certainly improved since last year. Thankfully for Bradford the Patriots pass rush is still a little suspect, so providing he can avoid doing an Aaron Rodgers circa 2009 impression, then he shouldn't take too many lumps. RB Steven Jackson or as he's otherwise known "the one man offense" is expected to play and will naturally be a focus of the Rams for as long as he's on the field. Defensively the Rams could do with taking inspiration from the chance to beat up Tom Brady to try and lift their pass rush. As for the Patriots, again that pass rush needs work. Eyes should be kept on the two rookie Tight Ends (Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez) who are gradually becoming a bigger and bigger focus of the offense in 2010. Other than that the Patriots have looked pretty darn solid so far. Hopefully me saying that isn't courting disaster. -- Colts @ Packers: I hear low flying air traffic has been banned over Lambeau field as the Packers and Colts prepare for what promises to be an aerial shoot out. Rodgers has simply been on fire so far in the pre-season. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold. Of course building him up like this is destined to end with a spectacular collapse during the regular season, but hey ho. We already knew though that the Packers offense was going to be good this year (eyes out for OT Bryan Bulaga). The question is whether their D can recapture their form from the end of the regular season (not, that play off game). The Colts will certainly provide a worthy test. Until Curtis Painter takes the field of course. Then you might as well flip a coin to decide whether he'll sink or swim. My coin came up with swim, but I'm over-ruling probability in order to say sink. Of course this offense-testing-defense thing works for both teams with the Colts D getting a good work out against the Packers O. Right, that's your lot for the day. I'm feeling quite stingy. Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow at some point to round up the Thursday night games and to look at Fridays contests. Till then, Have a great day everyone.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Curran-t affairs (god that was bad)

--Okey dokey, the other day (yesterday?) I mentioned LB Rennie Curran and that I would be keeping an eye out for him during the Cardinals @ Titans game. But why? Well, when normal people get bored, they go read a book. Or they watch television. Or they stick on a video game. Or they play a game of Monopoly with someone. Things like this. This is what normal people do. So what do I do when I get bored? I spend three days trawling through footage of Draft prospects from the 2010 class. Exciting s**t! Constantly going back and watching the clips over and over. Watching hands. Then watching feet. Then hands again. Then hips. Then the first step. And so on.... So, I thought for a change I would actually share the fruits of my boredom killing with you by presenting a list of players that I picked out from the 2010 class, who I think might go on to do rather well. Maybe this year, maybe next. Who knows? I'll be keeping a file with the names in to periodically check on over the coming few seasons. So here they are, 48 players presented in the order in which they were selected: 1st round: Trent Williams: OT, 4th overall to Washington Redskins. Eric Berry: S, 5th overall to Kansas City Chiefs. Russell Okung: OT, 6th overall to Seattle Seahawks. Tyson AluAlu: DE/DT, 10th overall to Jacksonville Jaguars. Ryan Matthews: RB, 12th overall to San Diego Chargers. Brandon Graham: DE/LB, 13th overall to Philadelphia Eagles. Mike Iupati: G, 17th overall to San Fransisco 49ers. Maurkice Pouncey: G, 18th overall to Pittsburgh Steelers. Sean Weatherspoon: LB, 19th overall to Atlanta Falcons. Demaryius Thomas: WR, 22nd overall to Denver Broncos. Bryan Bulaga: OT, 23rd overall to Green Bay Packers. Tim Tebow: QB, 25th overall to Denver Broncos. Dan Williams: DT, 26th overall to Arizona Cardinals. Kyle Wilson: CB, 29th overall to New York Jets. 2nd round: Brian Price: DT, 35th overall to Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Dexter McCluster: WR/RB, 36th overall to Kansas City Chiefs. Koa Misi: LB, 40th overall to Miami Dolphins. Rob Gronkowski: TE, 42nd overall to New England Patriots. Sergio Kindle: DE/LB, 43rd overall to Baltimore Ravens. Daryl Washington: LB, 47th overall to Arizona Cardinals. Taylor Mays: S, 49th overall to San Francisco 49ers. Javier Arenas: CB, 50th overall to Kansas City. Toby Gerhart: RB, 51st overall to Minnesota Vikings. Montario Hardesty: RB, 59th overall to Cleveland Browns. 3rd round: Jerome Murphy: CB, 65th overall to St. Louis Rams. Jon Asamoah: G, 68th overall to Kansas City Chiefs. Chad Jones: S, 76th overall to New York Giants. Donald Butler: LB, 79th overall to San Diego Chargers. Jordan Shipley: WR, 84th overall to Cincinnati Bengals. Colt McCoy: QB, 85th overall to Cleveland browns. Rennie Curran: LB, 97th overall to Tennessee Titans. 4th round: Mardy Gilyard: WR, 99th overall to St. Louis Rams. Everson Griffen: DE, 100th overall to Minnesota Vikings. Aaron Hernandez: TE, 113th overall to New England Patriots. Geno Atkins: DT, 120th overall to Cincinnati Bengals. Eric Norwood: LB, 124th overall to Carolina Panthers (hate 'em). Roddrick Muckelroy: LB, 131st overall to Cincinnati Bengals. 5th round: Kam Chancellor: S, 133rd overall to Seattle Seahawks. Kendrick Lewis: S, 136th overall to Kansas City Chiefs. Perrish Cox: CB, 137th overall to Denver Broncos. 6th round: Anthony Dixon: RB, 173rd overall to San Francisco 49ers. Dezmon Briscoe: WR, 191st overall to Cincinnati Bengals. Charles Scott: RB, 200th overall to Philadelphia Eagles. 7th round: Dekoda Watson: LB, 217th overall to Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Syd’Quan Thompson: CB, 225th overall to Denver Broncos. Sean Canfield: QB, 239th overall to New Orleans Saints. Jeff Owens: DT, 243rd overall to Philadelphia Eagles. Undrafted: Micah Johnson: LB, currently signed by Miami Dolphins. Danario Alexander: WR, currently signed by St. Louis Rams. How many of them will make it big? I think only god (and possibly Bill Belichick & Scott Pioli) knows that. How many of them will even make a teams roster by next season? There are no guarantees in life (except toasters) so I can't say for sure, but I think all of these names listed here have a chance to go on and be very productive players. I'll be back tomorrow with a run down of the week ahead in pre-season (sort of). Till then, Have a great day everyone.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

House of Cards

-- Cardinals 10 @ Titans 24: So the AFC South has finally broken it's 2010 pre-season duck. I bet they're all over the moon about that. The Titans did it solidly and comfortably. Vince Young went 9/13 for 128 yards, more than any of the Cardinals QBs did individually. Chris Johnson appeared for one drive, capping it with a TD, finishing 6 for 22-yards. Both Javon Ringer and LaGarrette Blount got their chances, with Blount coming off the better at 9 carries for 42 yards. Blounts running style also caught the eye as he powered through potential tackles with apparent ease. The star though was Samkon Gado who went for 21 yards off 7 carries with 2 TDs, marking himself out for short yardage duty. Defensively the Titans struggled to generate pressure, but at least free agent acquisition linebacker Will Witherspoon is nicely filling the void left by Keith Bulluck. Rookie Rennie Curran (remember I was keeping an eye out for him?) finished with 2 tackles and 3 assists. Offensively the Cardinals under Matt Leinart were horrid. Lienart finished 4/6 for 28 yards. Derek Anderson managed 11/19 for 105 yards and rookie Max Hall went 7/15 for 101 yards, a TD and an INT. The Cardinals barely made use of their ground game so it's tough to draw any conclusions from it, but then we know that Arizona will probably follow that method throughout the whole season (much to their detriment I imagine). Defensively the Cardinals seemed to hold up reasonably well against the pass, but against the run their tackling looked remarkably suspect. Now some of that can be attributed to the Titans running backs, but still, the Cardinals will have to make great strides in this area unless they wish to spend the season getting run over. Have a great day everyone.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Cardinals @ Texans

First order of business is to lodge a complaint with the NFL Network. I like watching their "highlights" segments if only because they rarely turn out to be highlights. Some of the plays and things they show (and some of the stuff they miss out!) is mind boggling. In particular I'd like to wave my electronic finger in the direction of Vikings @ 49ers highlights. Now I know that NFLN loves Brett Favre, but this was ridiculous. They didn't show fans who were tuning in the awesome bomb thrown by Nate Davis. No, the highlights consisted of a brief look at Alex Smith and Anthony Dixon, followed by EVERY snap taken by Favre. Even the ones where he just handed the ball off. And was the voice over interested in those other players? Not really. It was all about Favres ankle etc. Just.... grr. I like Brett Favre. I think he's a great player. But c'mon. This is ridiculous. Is this what it's going to be like all season long? Just one permanent Favre watch? Christ. Anyway, Cardinals at Titans: -- Cardinals @ Titans: Want a boring fact for this game? Ok, no AFC South team has won a pre-season game yet in 2010. The Titans will try and fix that with a victory over the Cardinals. Or will they? Let's be honest, pre-season is much more about testing players out in live game day situations and right now the Titans need to test their back up RBs. With LenDale White gone and Chris Johnson being a little on the small side, the possibility of extended injury is what really hangs over the Titans. Who fill the void? And even if Johnson is fit, who will back him up and relieve the load? LeGarrette Blount and Javon Ringer seem to be the front runners right now. Having watched a bit of both, I'm siding with Ringer at this early stage but that is obviously a very much up in the air statement. Again, defensively I'm intrigued by the Titans line and how it will cope with two big losses in two years (Haynesworth and Vanden Bosch). I'm also keeping my eye out for LB Rennie Curran (more on why tomorrow) (oooh, intrigue). For the Cardinals it's back to Matt Leinart. The word around seems to be that Leinart is not under any pressure right now and that this is just another pres-season game. In other news, Brett Favre will be attending all of the Vikings OTAs and the whole of training camp next year. Both Matt Leinart and Derek Anderson are fighting, let's be real clear about that. Neither has shown anything over the last two years that would inspire a huge amount of confidence in their respective performances. While the Cardinals have answers on the ground, they are still reeling to some degree at the loss of Warner (which to be fair, is the teams fault for not sufficiently planning ahead). In addition, their receivers will have a tough time against one of the better secondaries in the league, so all does not bode well for the Cardinals offense. Their defense might fare a little better. Progressively they've been getting better (but then I said that about the Texans D...) in the last few years, but again the losses at Linebacker in the off season will have hurt. Facing the Titans and their combo of running backs and Vince Young will be an excellent test. Right, I'll be back later (possibly tomorrow) to recap the game. Till then, Have a great day everyone.

Pre-season week 2 round up

Right, round up time.
  • Ravens 23 @ Redskins 3:

Well, the Redskins certainly got airborne last night, but a failure to convert yardage into points cost them dearly. I still don't understand why the Redskins bothered to go out and acquire so many RBs when they seem so absolutely averse to running the football. Unless this is a cunning Shanahan ploy to lull teams into a false sense of security ahead of the regular season. At least Haynesworth managed to rustle himself up a sack.

For the Ravens the defensive standout was LB Prescott Burgess who tallied 6 tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble. The two interceptions their secondary generated are a positive sign for a defense that on paper is weak in the back end due to injuries. Aerially both Flacco and Bulger continue to impress, while the Ravens backs keep getting the scores in the trenches.

  • Steelers 24 @ Giants 17

No blood this week for the Giants. Rhett Bomar was the only QB to be risked last night and made some good yards and was unlucky with the pick. On a more positive note the Giants finally found their long lost ground game to produce two scores, but again they let themselves down by generating just one sack from their defense.

The talk of Pittsburgh was Ben Roethlisberger, but I wouldn't exactly call 6/8 for 76 yards and an INT to be the great return that everyone is talking about. Byron Leftwich got himself a TD and 95 yards despite completing just 3/6, but again Dennis Dixon stole the show. 7/8 for 82 yards and 5 carries for 27 yards as he orchestrated some impressive drives.

  • Chiefs 15 @ Buccaneers 20:

Scary thing about this game was that Matt Cassel looked... ok? Damn. Shame that Tyler Palko (who?) wasn't able to live up to the same standards, throwing two interceptions. Apart from a Thomas Jones fumble, the Chiefs running backs acquitted themselves well.

For the Bucs' it was a heart attack moment when Josh Freeman came out injured, but luckily Josh Johnson came onto the field and made me look good for sticking by him with 6/10 for 113 yards and a TD. A worthy mention should go as well to Bucs' safety Cody Grimm who's being followed by the NFLN for their "On The Fringe" series. Grimm made some effective tackles and showed great desire.

  • Dolphins 27 @ Jaguars 26

Maurice Jones-Drew. Four carries for -2 yards. Nice going Drew. Here I am fighting your corner for more carries and this is what happens! Still, Luke McCown found his form for the second week, going 14/23 for 152 yards, a TD and an INT. Luckily Rashad Jennings also pitched in on the "let's make Chris look good" front by chalking up 26 yards on three carries to lead the team in rushing (which is a bit like coming first at the beauty contest for over 80s) as well as blocking a punt for a safety. The Jags defense threw up the biggest surprise with 5 sacks between them. For a team that struggled at rushing the passer last year, that's an impressive showing.

For the Dolphins, Chad Henne looked in command with 11/14 for 151 yards and 2 TDs. TE Anthony Fasano continues to impress with 2 catches for 66 yards and 2 TDs. Brandon Marshall will be pleased with 4 catches for 65 yards. On the ground the Dolphins struggled a bit which I'm quite surprised by. Given the number of sacks they also gave up, that doesn't speak highly of their offensive line.

  • Rams 19 @ Browns 17:

My god, Jake Delhomme didn't throw a pick! 12/16 for 127 yards and a TD is actually looking like his old form. Picks from Seneca Wallace and Brett Ratliff made up for it though. Colt McCoy impressed by going 0/2 as well. An absence of sacks will be disappointing for the Browns.

My man Feeley was going great guns with 5/6 for 45 yards and a TD... then he got injured and it was left to Keith Null to go 3/14 (yes) and Sam Bradford who notched 24 yards by going 6/14. This. This right here is why the Rams picked first overall in the 2010 draft. There was a plus side for the Rams though. Yesterday I commented that "Given the amount of talent (and money) on that D-line, we really should be seeing results by now." So next up on the "Make Chris look good" list are the Rams D-line with a combined 4 sacks.

  • Texans 20 @ Saints 38:

The Texans offense upheld their end of the bargain. The defense however, did not. In a bid to undo all my good work so far they proceeded to shun my claim from yesterday that they were improving and instead gave up over 400 yards of total offense, including Darryl Sharpton who followed up a solid first game by contributing just one tackle. Their inability to shed blocks was embarrassing.

Saints backup QB Chase Daniel was the star of the show, registering 15/21 for 182 yards and 3 TDs. The only downer was his interception. Even the Saints RBs pitched in with a good game. The defense was solid and produced two sacks to supplement the offense.

  • Jets 9 @ Panthers 3:

This was a truly Craptacular game. 4 field goals between the two teams. The Jets bagged four sacks and two picks defensively, while their offense chugged along with all the efficiency of an afterburner attached to a mountain. Seriously, 46 yards through the air from 26 attempts (not including the five sacks). I like teams that run the ball, but you actually have to be able to pass as well. The whole point is that you control the ball with the run and then score/hit explosive plays with Play-action etc.

Ugh, I've just checked the Panthers final numbers for passing. A combined 15/39 for 129 yards and 2 interceptions. Read above about running teams and passing. At least their defense came to the rescue with 5 sacks. Everette Brown and Eric Moore notching 2 each will be a big positive for the Panthers. I still hate the Panthers though.

  • Raiders 32 @ Bears 17:

The Raiders actually looked ok on offense. On special teams they kicked butt. Defensively they rocked the sh*t. In the latest installment of "Let's make Chris look good" I happened to mention yesterday that "Defensively they're still leaning on Richard Seymour to generate most of their pressure, though rookie LB Rolando McClain and former Brown Kamerion Wimbley offer some hope for the Raiders D". Enter Kamerion Wimbley with 6 tackles and 4 sacks. Kamerion is now officially my favourite Raiders player.

Brian Urlacher didn't play to my knowledge, thus joining the crew of "let's prove Chris wrong". Instead the team was led in tackles by Julius Peppers with 5 tackles and a sack. The Bears passing game continued to falter but finally something good happened for Chicago on the ground as Matt Forte broke free for an 89 yard TD run. Keep it up kid.

  • Cowboys 16 @ Chargers 14

I can't help but laugh when a team wins a game by a safety. It wasn't likely to be won by much else. Tony Romo went 4/11 for 30 yards, a TD and an INT. Even John Kitna made him look bad, with 9/15 for 84 yards and a TD. The Cowboys run game was almost non-existent as the wheels continue to fall of the Cowboys off-season hyperbole cart.

Philip Rivers has a good outing for the Chargers going 11/15 for 125 yards and an INT, while also rushing for a 1-yard TD. His understudies looked less impressive. Another bright spot was the continuing good play of RB Ryan Matthews. The defense let the Chargers down though, failing to repeat their sack heavy performance from last week. Just one this time round, against a Cowboys O-line hardly notorious for it's stoutness.

  • Lions 25 @ Broncos 20:

Matthew Stafford looked good starting, going 13/18 for 130 yards and a TD. Even Shaun Hill looked good at 9/14 for 93 yards. RB Jahivd Best produced 49 yards from 8 carries to supplement an offense that is beginning to click in all the right places. Defensively the Lions even produced 4 sacks. I'm not lying, go check it out.

The Broncos didn't do quite as well on defense, but offensively they looked better. Kyle Orton maintained his vice like grip on the Broncos starting QB position with 16/22 for 177 yards and 2 TDs, the interception being an acceptable blemish. Even Brady Quinn did ok, producing 11/17 for 115 yards.

  • Packers 27 @ Seahawks 24:

Aaron Rodgers. 8/11 for 116 yards and 2 TDs. Am I the only one who's scared of how good Rodgers is looking? RB Brandon Jackson also had a good day, going for 80-yards and a TD on 11 carries. Packers defense was average.

The Seahawks weren't too shabby offensively themselves. Well, Matt Hasselbeck wasn't. 11/15 for 127 yards and a TD. His understudy Charlie Whitehurst wasn't quite as prolific with 9/20 for 73 yards, a TD and 2 INTs. That trade is looking... like a bust so far. More promising for the Seahawks was to finally see Leon Washington back on his feet and running, even if it was only 4 carries for 19 yards. The TD will boost his confidence. Rookie LB Dexter Davis was the highlight defensively with 5 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.

  • Vikings 10 @ 49ers 15:

As you can probably imagine, I'm quite happy about this. On the very first drive Brett Favre was dumped to the floor by Patrick Willis, setting the tone for a tough day on Minnesota's part that would include another 3 sacks before the game was done. No Minnesota QB finished with more than 47-yards and in fact rookie Joe Webb did the most damage with his feet, rushing three times for a team leading 53-yards (the next closest was Tavaris Jackson with 18-yards) and a TD.

The 49ers offense did enough given the excellent performance of the D, with Smith going 9/13 for 88-yards and Nate Davis going 7/16 for 114-yards. Anthony Dixon certainly got his chance to shine with 20 carries, which produced 51 yards and a TD. A notable highlight among the receivers was Ted Ginn Jr. who produced 65-yards from two receptions, showing some of the speed that the 49ers receiving corps badly needs as he raced down field to catch a damn near 60-yard throw from Davis.

Right, that's your lot for tonight. I'll be back tomorrow to preview the Cardinals at Titans. Till then,

Have a great day everyone.