There are now just three undefeated team in the league after as many weeks of play this season. The Green Bay Packers record surprises few people. The defending Super Bowl champions were expected to make another run to the playoffs after going the distance with several players being on IR last season.
The other two, Buffalo and Detroit surprise most people, including their own fans. Detroit was expected to be a vast improvement on the Lions teams of the past decade, but 3-0 was nowhere near an expectation, and only a few people seriously considered them to be a potential playoff team. There is still time in the season for the team to tank, but after handing Minnesota their third consecutive loss after holding a double-digit halftime lead, few doubt Detroit’s legitimacy as a top team.
The Bills, on the other hand, were in a position slightly different than Detroit’s. Nobody really knew what to expect from this year’s team as compared to last year’s Bills. They lost Lee Evans, and though Steve Johnson really emerged as a top tier receiver during the second half of last season, during which the Bills went 4-4 to finish 4-12, their options were not so obvious. In fact, I predicted another 4-12 record for Buffalo this season. As with Detroit, I still do have a chance at being wrong, but after Buffalo’s impressive come-from-behind win against New England, picking off four of Tom Brady’s passes, this seems very unlikely.
The Giants also upset a division rival this weekend. New York defeated the Eagles in Philadelphia. The game was pretty close through much of the game and the Eagles led 16-14 heading into the final quarter. But for the second consecutive week a late-game injury to Michael Vick forced Kafka into the game, and a 15-0 fourth quarter gave the Giants a 29-16 win.
Baltimore converted their second blowout win of the season a week after being upset by Tennessee. This week they were in St. Louis. Flacco had a very good game, but even more impressive was rookie receiver Torrey Smith of my own University of Maryland. He caught five passes for 152 yards and was on the receiving end of all three of Flacco’s touchdown passes. This came after being targeted just once and having no receptions in Baltimore’s games against Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Kansas City was finally part of a close game, and despite a fairly poor performance by Philip Rivers, Ryan Matthews gave San Diego a lift over the Chiefs. The final in San Diego was 20-17.
Green Bay helped many Bears fans relive the sorrow of last year’s NFC Championship Game loss by winning in Chicago 27-17. Atlanta, meanwhile, falls to 1-2 after a 16-13 loss in Tampa.
In Sunday Night Football, the Colts finally treated their fans to a good game. Though they lost to Pittsburgh 23-20, their defense finally looked more like the disciplined and, well, good unit Indianapolis had during their Super Bowl run in the 2006-07 season.
Last night’s game was not particularly exciting, but it was a very close game in Dallas, where the Cowboys out-kicked the Redskins 18-16. Washington scored the lone touchdown of the game, but a bad hold on an early field goal try took three points off the board for Washington that could have potentially changed the outcome of this game by a three or six point swing. Instead, Dallas’s six field goals were just enough to hand the Redskins their first loss of the season and force a three way tie between these two teams and the Giants, one game ahead of Philadelphia. Grossman again looked good, but the offensive line never got into a groove and he was forced to make several quick throws, many of which sailed over receivers’ heads.
I will be back later this week with my predictions for this weekend’s games. This week will be the last week with 16 games until week 10.
Thanks for reading!
Showing posts with label 2011 NFL Season. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 NFL Season. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Week 2 Predictions
Last week I posted my predictions for the 16 games played in the first weekend of 2011 NFL regular season action. My final tally for the week was 10-6. Cincinnati and Buffalo both played much better than I had expected (and Kansas City and Cleveland both played worse than I think anyone expected). The game I felt worst about missing was the Baltimore game. I predicted before preseason began that the Ravens would go 13-3, but I had them losing their home opener to Pittsburgh. Now, granted no one expected Roethlisberger to throw three interceptions and for the Ravens to force seven total turnovers, but they blew out the Steelers’ defense, too.
I will take 10-6 for an opening weekend that was full of many surprises. In fact, I had New England blowing out Miami, but the game was even closer than the 38-24 final score suggests. Hopefully I have a little better grip on what to expect for the coming week, because here are my predictions for the games this Sunday and Monday, with my predicted winners in bold.
Sunday, September 18
1:00pm
Seattle @ Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh will be at home, so there is home-field advantage consideration here. Also, Seattle was not very impressive last week against San Francisco, and Pittsburgh will be out to mend its severely damaged ego.
Oakland @ Buffalo
This could be a very good game. I’m not willing to say that Buffalo or Ryan Fitzpatrick are the real deal because I did not see their game against Kansas City and I do not know how badly the Chiefs played. But Oakland was very sloppy and McFadden was their only high point on offense, and he did not score on Monday night. I take the Bills at home.
Arizona @ Washington
I give Kolb the edge at QB, but Arizona is a bit thin in the backfield. The Redskins would be helped if their running game can get going this week; but, if nothing else, Grossman will be facing a secondary that was torched for a Week 1 rookie record 422 passing yards by Cam Newton.
Tampa Bay @ Minnesota
No bold means no winner. That’s right, I am going out on a limb and predicting a tie. Tampa Bay was ok last week. They did not play that great on offense, but their defense held Jahvid Best to 72 yards and I think they can keep Peterson right around 100 or just under the century mark this Sunday. The Bucs did give up a lot of passing yards, but McNabb did not approach even 50 passing yards last weekend, and I do not see a significant rise in that stat coming. But, again, Tampa Bay did not particularly impress on offense. Tampa Bay could win if Minnesota has another big second half letdown in their pass defense, and Josh Freeman certainly has the ability to take advantage of that, but I am going with my gut (or limb) and predicting a tie.
Jacksonville @ New York Jets
Chicago @ New Orleans
Green Bay @ Carolina
Baltimore @ Tennessee
Kansas City @ Detroit
Cleveland @ Indianapolis
This is a tough one to call. I like Cleveland this year, but they went out and had a very poor performance against Cincinnati last week at home. Now they are in a hostile environment, against a team that would still love to be able to play in a home Super Bowl, with a quarterback who looked decent in the second half last week and has had more time to get familiar with his new offense (and the offense has had another week to get more familiar with Collins).
4:05pm
Dallas @ San Francisco
Despite Tony Romo’s late game collapse, he has been a very inconsistent quarterback in the past, and this week that could actually work to his advantage.
4:15pm
Cincinnati @ Denver
As long as the Tebow chants do not get too distracting for Kyle Orten, look for him to have another slightly above average game this weekend. Cincinnati still does not seem too sure about their quarterback situation going forward, and until they do, I do not see the Bengals winning consecutive games this season.
San Diego @ New England
I only give the Patriots the win here because they are at home. San Diego is a better team than Miami and the Dolphins had a field day on offense; just wait until you see the kind of game Philip Rivers has. On the same note, San Diego had some holes on defense against Minnesota and Brady will take full advantage of the smallest opening.
Houston @ Miami
Miami should have a good game, but Houston is riding high after blowing out the only other team in their division that seems to have a legitimate chance of winning the AFC South. Look for the Texans to take that momentum into Miami and send the Dolphins to a rough 0-2 start.
8:20pm
Philadelphia @ Atlanta
America’s Game-of-the-Week features both of my preseason NFC favorites. I do not know what Atlanta has done to correct their laundry list of problems from the Chicago game, but if they cannot stop Vick and McCoy early, they will not be able to come back when their defense finally starts to get through in the second half (as it no doubt will).
Monday, September 19
8:30pm
St. Louis @ New York Giants
This one is more just me expecting the unexpected than anything. I think the Giants do gain a bit of an advantage if Steven Jackson does not play. But for now, Jackson is still somewhere between probable and questionable for this Monday’s game in New York. Not only that, but Sam Bradford should be able to have at least as good a game as Rex Grossman did last week, so if Jackson is in, it should not be close; if Jackson does not play, it should be a good game with the advantage still going to St. Louis in my mind.
I will be back on Monday with a recap of Sunday’s action and then Tuesday with a brief recap of the Rams/Giants game. Thanks for reading!
I will take 10-6 for an opening weekend that was full of many surprises. In fact, I had New England blowing out Miami, but the game was even closer than the 38-24 final score suggests. Hopefully I have a little better grip on what to expect for the coming week, because here are my predictions for the games this Sunday and Monday, with my predicted winners in bold.
Sunday, September 18
1:00pm
Seattle @ Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh will be at home, so there is home-field advantage consideration here. Also, Seattle was not very impressive last week against San Francisco, and Pittsburgh will be out to mend its severely damaged ego.
Oakland @ Buffalo
This could be a very good game. I’m not willing to say that Buffalo or Ryan Fitzpatrick are the real deal because I did not see their game against Kansas City and I do not know how badly the Chiefs played. But Oakland was very sloppy and McFadden was their only high point on offense, and he did not score on Monday night. I take the Bills at home.
Arizona @ Washington
I give Kolb the edge at QB, but Arizona is a bit thin in the backfield. The Redskins would be helped if their running game can get going this week; but, if nothing else, Grossman will be facing a secondary that was torched for a Week 1 rookie record 422 passing yards by Cam Newton.
Tampa Bay @ Minnesota
No bold means no winner. That’s right, I am going out on a limb and predicting a tie. Tampa Bay was ok last week. They did not play that great on offense, but their defense held Jahvid Best to 72 yards and I think they can keep Peterson right around 100 or just under the century mark this Sunday. The Bucs did give up a lot of passing yards, but McNabb did not approach even 50 passing yards last weekend, and I do not see a significant rise in that stat coming. But, again, Tampa Bay did not particularly impress on offense. Tampa Bay could win if Minnesota has another big second half letdown in their pass defense, and Josh Freeman certainly has the ability to take advantage of that, but I am going with my gut (or limb) and predicting a tie.
Jacksonville @ New York Jets
Chicago @ New Orleans
Green Bay @ Carolina
Baltimore @ Tennessee
Kansas City @ Detroit
Cleveland @ Indianapolis
This is a tough one to call. I like Cleveland this year, but they went out and had a very poor performance against Cincinnati last week at home. Now they are in a hostile environment, against a team that would still love to be able to play in a home Super Bowl, with a quarterback who looked decent in the second half last week and has had more time to get familiar with his new offense (and the offense has had another week to get more familiar with Collins).
4:05pm
Dallas @ San Francisco
Despite Tony Romo’s late game collapse, he has been a very inconsistent quarterback in the past, and this week that could actually work to his advantage.
4:15pm
Cincinnati @ Denver
As long as the Tebow chants do not get too distracting for Kyle Orten, look for him to have another slightly above average game this weekend. Cincinnati still does not seem too sure about their quarterback situation going forward, and until they do, I do not see the Bengals winning consecutive games this season.
San Diego @ New England
I only give the Patriots the win here because they are at home. San Diego is a better team than Miami and the Dolphins had a field day on offense; just wait until you see the kind of game Philip Rivers has. On the same note, San Diego had some holes on defense against Minnesota and Brady will take full advantage of the smallest opening.
Houston @ Miami
Miami should have a good game, but Houston is riding high after blowing out the only other team in their division that seems to have a legitimate chance of winning the AFC South. Look for the Texans to take that momentum into Miami and send the Dolphins to a rough 0-2 start.
8:20pm
Philadelphia @ Atlanta
America’s Game-of-the-Week features both of my preseason NFC favorites. I do not know what Atlanta has done to correct their laundry list of problems from the Chicago game, but if they cannot stop Vick and McCoy early, they will not be able to come back when their defense finally starts to get through in the second half (as it no doubt will).
Monday, September 19
8:30pm
St. Louis @ New York Giants
This one is more just me expecting the unexpected than anything. I think the Giants do gain a bit of an advantage if Steven Jackson does not play. But for now, Jackson is still somewhere between probable and questionable for this Monday’s game in New York. Not only that, but Sam Bradford should be able to have at least as good a game as Rex Grossman did last week, so if Jackson is in, it should not be close; if Jackson does not play, it should be a good game with the advantage still going to St. Louis in my mind.
I will be back on Monday with a recap of Sunday’s action and then Tuesday with a brief recap of the Rams/Giants game. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Week 1 Predictions
It is football time, with 8:30pm tonight marking the start time for the first game of the 2011 NFL Regular Season.
This year I will post predictions for each game (with a couple comments for the games I expect to be fairly close. The day following the games (i.e. tomorrow for the NO@GB game, Monday for all the Sunday games, and Tuesday for the Monday Night games) I will post about the game(s) on the previous day.
The following are my predictions (I only predict scores for the postseason, my predicted winners are in Bold).
Thursday, September 8
8:30pm
New Orleans @ Green Bay
This should be a very good game, but I think the Packers have the stronger defense. I also think Green Bay's offense has the upper hand with a better 1-2 punch in the backfield.
Sunday, September 11
1:00pm
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore
I really wanted to pick Baltimore at home here, but Pittsburgh started fast last year without Roethlisberger, and I think they will start just a well with him this year.
Atlanta @ Chicago
Cincinnati @ Cleveland
Indianapolis @ Houston
I felt this way even before it was announced that Manning would be out. I think Collins will be fine in the Colts offense, but I don't think he will be winning many games that the Colts would not have won with Manning under center.
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
Buffalo @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ St. Louis
Detroit @ Tampa Bay
This is a game I very much expect to be close, but with a defensive line as strong as Detroit's is, I don't think Josh Freeman will be able to get in the rhythm he needs to be in to lead Tampa Bay to a win this weekend. In addition, with Stafford and Best both healthy, the Lions offense will take advantage of having two very good skill position players healthy while they have them (neither have been full-season bets so far in their careers.
4:15pm
Carolina @ Arizona
Minnesota @ San Diego
Seattle @ San Francisco
New York Giants @ Washington
I do not see the Giants running away with this one, but I am very weary of trusting that the Redskins will begin the regular season at the level they performed through most of the preseason, simply based on history.
Dallas @ New York Jets
Monday, September 12
7:00pm
New England @ Miami
10:15pm
Oakland @ Denver
This one definitely has the makings for a close game. There still seems to be some uncertainty about who will start under center for Denver, though Orton has been named the starter. This uncertainty will not bother Oakland, however. They have won seven consecutive division games (yes, they went 6-0 in the AFC West last year and still missed the postseason) and Monday Night could be number eight in a row.
I am very excited for the start of the Regular Season tonight. I will be rushing home from class this evening to try and catch the tail end of the 1st quarter so hopefully I will not miss too much of the excitement. I will post a short recap of tonight's game sometime tomorrow.
This year I will post predictions for each game (with a couple comments for the games I expect to be fairly close. The day following the games (i.e. tomorrow for the NO@GB game, Monday for all the Sunday games, and Tuesday for the Monday Night games) I will post about the game(s) on the previous day.
The following are my predictions (I only predict scores for the postseason, my predicted winners are in Bold).
Thursday, September 8
8:30pm
New Orleans @ Green Bay
This should be a very good game, but I think the Packers have the stronger defense. I also think Green Bay's offense has the upper hand with a better 1-2 punch in the backfield.
Sunday, September 11
1:00pm
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore
I really wanted to pick Baltimore at home here, but Pittsburgh started fast last year without Roethlisberger, and I think they will start just a well with him this year.
Atlanta @ Chicago
Cincinnati @ Cleveland
Indianapolis @ Houston
I felt this way even before it was announced that Manning would be out. I think Collins will be fine in the Colts offense, but I don't think he will be winning many games that the Colts would not have won with Manning under center.
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
Buffalo @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ St. Louis
Detroit @ Tampa Bay
This is a game I very much expect to be close, but with a defensive line as strong as Detroit's is, I don't think Josh Freeman will be able to get in the rhythm he needs to be in to lead Tampa Bay to a win this weekend. In addition, with Stafford and Best both healthy, the Lions offense will take advantage of having two very good skill position players healthy while they have them (neither have been full-season bets so far in their careers.
4:15pm
Carolina @ Arizona
Minnesota @ San Diego
Seattle @ San Francisco
New York Giants @ Washington
I do not see the Giants running away with this one, but I am very weary of trusting that the Redskins will begin the regular season at the level they performed through most of the preseason, simply based on history.
Dallas @ New York Jets
Monday, September 12
7:00pm
New England @ Miami
10:15pm
Oakland @ Denver
This one definitely has the makings for a close game. There still seems to be some uncertainty about who will start under center for Denver, though Orton has been named the starter. This uncertainty will not bother Oakland, however. They have won seven consecutive division games (yes, they went 6-0 in the AFC West last year and still missed the postseason) and Monday Night could be number eight in a row.
I am very excited for the start of the Regular Season tonight. I will be rushing home from class this evening to try and catch the tail end of the 1st quarter so hopefully I will not miss too much of the excitement. I will post a short recap of tonight's game sometime tomorrow.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Pre-Season Time!
Never before in my life have I been so excited for pre-season action in the NFL. I spent my afternoon watching last year’s episodes of Hard Knocks, focused on the New York Jets training camp, and realized just how badly I am craving some pro football.
I had planned to post as soon as the lockout ended. But the moment it ended, I knew that each post would only end in me turning around and posting something else on the now-most-recent acquisition.
Players were flying from one team to another so quickly it left my head swimming, so I chose to wait until the trades and signings slowed down to write my first post-lockout post; this one.
Probably the biggest acquisition was the Eagles’ signing of cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who’s career in Oakland began in 2003. He started 99 of the 122 games he played in and has 11 career interceptions. His best games as far as being a shutdown corner go came back in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 he had 14 knockdowns and a career high 60 tackles, 55 of them solo tackles. 2006 was his best year overall; he made his first career interception (and then 7 more that season), had a career high 19 knockdowns, and he had 50 tackles (48 solo). Projections had him landing either in Dallas or with the Jets, but he shocked everyone and chose Philadelphia. With him, Asanté Samuel, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in their secondary, their defense is going to be very tough to penetrate.
Before I move onto another topic, and since I’ve already brought up Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, I may as well stay on the subject and explain how he got to Philadelphia. He arrived as part of the imminent Kevin Kolb trade. Kolb is now in Arizona, to whom he was traded for Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2nd round pick in next year’s draft.
The Eagles stayed busy by picking up recently-cut Vince Young, who has had a lot of ups and downs with the Titans. His past two years have probably been his best, but he has only played in 24 games over the past three seasons. He will take Kolb’s vacated spot, backing up Michael Vick on Philadelphia’s depth chart.
To replace Young, the Titans signed Matt Hasselbeck who led Pete Carroll’s Seahawks to a divisional playoff appearance last year, knocking off the defending Super Bowl champs in the wild-card round.
New England was also rather busy, bringing in Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth. Assuming he doesn’t step off the field every third play as he did in Washington, the addition of Haynesworth on the defensive line will make their run defense even tougher than it already was, in addition to greatly bettering their pass rush (they were in the middle of the league in sacks last season). The Patriots already have several proven receivers, including Wes Welker and Deion Branch, and younger players who proved their worth last season, like tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, so adding Ochocinco will simply add extra depth to an already solid receiving corps.
In addition to trading Albert Haynesworth to New England, the Redskins also traded away quarterback Donovan McNabb. He will be in Minnesota this year, and the Redskins will get a 6th round pick in next year’s draft and a potential pick in 2013.
The Cowboys recently cut wide receiver Roy Williams, among other players. Williams has had a pretty good career overall if you look at his year-to-year numbers. In fact, he did so well in four years in Detroit (five if you include his 2007 season greatly shortened by a knee injury) that the Cowboys traded 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks in the 2009 draft and a 7th round pick in 2010 to Detroit for him. He has played decently in Dallas for the past two seasons, but never reached the level of productivity that they needed from him. He has been picked up by Minnesota, with whom he has signed a one-year contract.
Another former Cowboy will also be in the NFC North this season as Chicago picked up running back Marion Barber.
The Dolphins picked up Reggie Bush in a trade with New Orleans, sending away safety Jonathan Amaya. There were also draft pick(s) involved, but they are so far undisclosed.
All of this was done (not necessarily in order) over the first few days after the lockout ended and free agency began. There are still several transactions being made every day, but so far not as many big names have been involved. DeSean Jackson is expected to end his holdout and report to camp with the Eagles tomorrow. There still is no word on when or if the Chris Johnson holdout might end in Tennessee. And despite his tweets, it looks as if the Titans will also have to deal with Cortland Finnegan holding out as well.
With the preseason fast approaching, I am working on a season outlook and playoff prediction for the coming season. Hopefully I will be able to publish it sometime on Wednesday, the day before the first five preseason games of 2011, including Seattle in San Diego, scheduled for an 8:00pm start time on ESPN.
Remember to check back weekly for new posts. I’ll probably be more active on the blog than I was last season, but I can’t really give any guarantees since I’ll also have a busy schedule between classes and athletics.
As always, I appreciate any feedback, including criticism. Nobody is a perfect writer, and I am bound to make mistakes like anyone else, so please be considerate with how to criticize on grammar/spelling issues, but certainly don’t hesitate to correct any facts if I have made errors concerning them.
I had planned to post as soon as the lockout ended. But the moment it ended, I knew that each post would only end in me turning around and posting something else on the now-most-recent acquisition.
Players were flying from one team to another so quickly it left my head swimming, so I chose to wait until the trades and signings slowed down to write my first post-lockout post; this one.
Probably the biggest acquisition was the Eagles’ signing of cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who’s career in Oakland began in 2003. He started 99 of the 122 games he played in and has 11 career interceptions. His best games as far as being a shutdown corner go came back in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 he had 14 knockdowns and a career high 60 tackles, 55 of them solo tackles. 2006 was his best year overall; he made his first career interception (and then 7 more that season), had a career high 19 knockdowns, and he had 50 tackles (48 solo). Projections had him landing either in Dallas or with the Jets, but he shocked everyone and chose Philadelphia. With him, Asanté Samuel, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in their secondary, their defense is going to be very tough to penetrate.
Before I move onto another topic, and since I’ve already brought up Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, I may as well stay on the subject and explain how he got to Philadelphia. He arrived as part of the imminent Kevin Kolb trade. Kolb is now in Arizona, to whom he was traded for Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2nd round pick in next year’s draft.
The Eagles stayed busy by picking up recently-cut Vince Young, who has had a lot of ups and downs with the Titans. His past two years have probably been his best, but he has only played in 24 games over the past three seasons. He will take Kolb’s vacated spot, backing up Michael Vick on Philadelphia’s depth chart.
To replace Young, the Titans signed Matt Hasselbeck who led Pete Carroll’s Seahawks to a divisional playoff appearance last year, knocking off the defending Super Bowl champs in the wild-card round.
New England was also rather busy, bringing in Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth. Assuming he doesn’t step off the field every third play as he did in Washington, the addition of Haynesworth on the defensive line will make their run defense even tougher than it already was, in addition to greatly bettering their pass rush (they were in the middle of the league in sacks last season). The Patriots already have several proven receivers, including Wes Welker and Deion Branch, and younger players who proved their worth last season, like tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, so adding Ochocinco will simply add extra depth to an already solid receiving corps.
In addition to trading Albert Haynesworth to New England, the Redskins also traded away quarterback Donovan McNabb. He will be in Minnesota this year, and the Redskins will get a 6th round pick in next year’s draft and a potential pick in 2013.
The Cowboys recently cut wide receiver Roy Williams, among other players. Williams has had a pretty good career overall if you look at his year-to-year numbers. In fact, he did so well in four years in Detroit (five if you include his 2007 season greatly shortened by a knee injury) that the Cowboys traded 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks in the 2009 draft and a 7th round pick in 2010 to Detroit for him. He has played decently in Dallas for the past two seasons, but never reached the level of productivity that they needed from him. He has been picked up by Minnesota, with whom he has signed a one-year contract.
Another former Cowboy will also be in the NFC North this season as Chicago picked up running back Marion Barber.
The Dolphins picked up Reggie Bush in a trade with New Orleans, sending away safety Jonathan Amaya. There were also draft pick(s) involved, but they are so far undisclosed.
All of this was done (not necessarily in order) over the first few days after the lockout ended and free agency began. There are still several transactions being made every day, but so far not as many big names have been involved. DeSean Jackson is expected to end his holdout and report to camp with the Eagles tomorrow. There still is no word on when or if the Chris Johnson holdout might end in Tennessee. And despite his tweets, it looks as if the Titans will also have to deal with Cortland Finnegan holding out as well.
With the preseason fast approaching, I am working on a season outlook and playoff prediction for the coming season. Hopefully I will be able to publish it sometime on Wednesday, the day before the first five preseason games of 2011, including Seattle in San Diego, scheduled for an 8:00pm start time on ESPN.
Remember to check back weekly for new posts. I’ll probably be more active on the blog than I was last season, but I can’t really give any guarantees since I’ll also have a busy schedule between classes and athletics.
As always, I appreciate any feedback, including criticism. Nobody is a perfect writer, and I am bound to make mistakes like anyone else, so please be considerate with how to criticize on grammar/spelling issues, but certainly don’t hesitate to correct any facts if I have made errors concerning them.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Lockout Nearing End
Both owners and players are reporting that they are nearing an agreement on a new CBA, expected to cover the next 7-10 seasons (estimated number). Once they do, supposedly early this week, there will be a few more steps that need to be competed, which I won't go into too much detail describing. But once everything has been signed the lockout should be lifted and we'll head into free agency. In fact, The Onion posted a short article about the lockout ending that I found funny. You can read it at NFL Players, Owners Warn Lockout May Be Over In Time For Exhibition Games.
Once the lockout is lifted and the NFL year officially begins I'll get back to posting regularly. I know I've been saying that all offseason, but I just haven't found the time to keep up with everything, considering it takes a lot of time to do so.
I'm really looking forward to this season, and hopefully all of you are, too. There will be several unknowns this season, not the least of which will be how players perform after not all having or participating in organized team activities all offseason. The ones who found ways to get their work in will do well and the others may disappoint the fans. It will be interesting to see who ends up in which category. I'll go a little more into detail on what to watch for, in addition to division/team previews, playoff predictions, and other topics once the lockout ends.
Once the lockout is lifted and the NFL year officially begins I'll get back to posting regularly. I know I've been saying that all offseason, but I just haven't found the time to keep up with everything, considering it takes a lot of time to do so.
I'm really looking forward to this season, and hopefully all of you are, too. There will be several unknowns this season, not the least of which will be how players perform after not all having or participating in organized team activities all offseason. The ones who found ways to get their work in will do well and the others may disappoint the fans. It will be interesting to see who ends up in which category. I'll go a little more into detail on what to watch for, in addition to division/team previews, playoff predictions, and other topics once the lockout ends.
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