Super Week: Two Days Away

Super Bowl XLVI is so close and the anticipation is starting to get to me. The media has been in a whirlwind all week, trying to keep up with the development of everything Peyton Manning while also covering the two teams that this week is truly about.

While there is more going on around the NFL than the storylines of Manning and the 46th playing of the Super Bowl, they by far overshadow anything else the league has had to offer the past several days. However, before I get to those two topics, I’ll provide a brief summary of some other news of the week.

Roger Goodell held a press conference earlier today and I really liked what I heard. He touched on several topics, including the possibility of expanding the NFL to Los Angeles, issues concerning concussions and HGH testing, Thursday Night Football in 2012, and more. To go into detail would make this way too long, so instead I will link to the video of his press conference at the end of this post.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will meet tomorrow to make a final decision on the Class of 2012. I will also link to a list of the semifinalists at the end of this post. Personally, I am hoping that Cris Carter and Don Coryell will be two members of this year’s class. Watch NFL Network at 5:30 p.m. Saturday to see who is elected to the Hall of Fame.

I don’t want to spend much time on the topic of Peyton Manning because I know a lot of people are tired of hearing about him and, quite frankly, I’m more focused on this Sunday’s game.

Sometime last night, the doctor who performed his surgery, according to several sources, cleared Manning to resume his career. Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted shortly after,

"Peyton has not passed our physical nor has he been cleared to play for The Indianapolis Colts. Team statement coming on Friday."

I have yet to hear any official statement, but there certainly seems to be some tension remaining despite the joint statement made by the two parties earlier this week.

The excitement surrounding this weekend is sky-high right now. Almost two weeks ago, after the conclusion of the NFC Championship in San Francisco, I could swear I heard a massive groan from the sports fans of America. Nobody seemed to be all that interested in the Super Bowl XLII rematch. But as the week has progressed I think many people have warmed up to the matchup.

The Giants’ defensive line is almost certainly better than it was in 2007, as are Eli Manning and the receiving corps on offense. The Giants, who barely sneaked off with the NFC East title, are the hottest team in the league right now. Though the Patriots have gone longer since their last loss (to the Giants in week 9), their defense hasn’t faced a particularly strong offense since then. The only possible exception would be the Redskins in week 14 because they turned their level of play up, but even saying that was a strong offense is a major stretch.

As funny as it sounds, the roles may be reversed this year from those of the 2007 Super Bowl. The Patriots will have to run with the Giants on Sunday, but they will need their tight ends at full strength to do so. Rob Gronkowski (left ankle) was listed as questionable today for Sunday’s game. However, he was seen practicing with no limp today. If he is indeed healthy and ready to go Sunday evening, the Giants’ linebackers and secondary will have their hands full.

One big question I’m looking forward to having answered is whether Chad Ochocinco will finally be used this weekend. He wasn’t a big part of the New England offense at any time during the season, but that could make him all the more effective.

I will play Madden on Sunday morning to determine my prediction for the game. I have played a ‘dress rehearsal’ game of just four-minute quarters and came out with a 17-0 score in favor of the Patriots. I also played an online game as the Patriots against another person playing as the Giants and won 27-0. Not good news (or maybe very good news) for the Giants, but we will see how the real deal goes.

Be sure to check out my prediction post on Sunday and you can now follow my blog on Twitter: @PuffontheNFL

Links:

Roger Goodell Press Conference

Semifinalists - HOF Class of 2012

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.

Week 1 of Super Bowl Week

After the Conference Championships we have to wait an entire fortnight for Super Bowl Sunday to come around. In a league like the NFL, a lot can happen in that time. Here’s a recap of the first week of preparation for Super Bowl XLV.

Adios Ochocinco:

Chad Ochocinco is [soon to be] no more, as he announced early in the week that he will change his name back to Chad Johnson.

There is a lot of uncertainty about the Wide Receiver’s future in Cincinnati, and the league for that matter. He has always been very outspoken, often in a fashion others don’t like, which could make it difficult for him to sign if the Bengals choose to let him go.

Goodell to Cut Own Salary:

With time running out on talks between the Labor Union, the Players’ Association and everyone else involved, Goodell is apparently very serious that he wants the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to be done on time. If progress is made, it has been announced that the deadline could be pushed back, as it was in 2006.

In the mean time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he will cut his own salary, which is about $10 Million annually, to $1 for this year if the new CBA isn’t done in time for the 2011 regular season.

Brian Reed’s Body Recovered:

Earlier this week a body was recovered from the Mississippi River that was believed to be the body of Brian Reed, brother of Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed. Reed’s brother had gone missing after reportedly jumping off a bride and into the Mississippi when approached by a police officer. That was during the week leading into Baltimore’s Divisional Round matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The body was found on Wednesday and the autopsy was performed Thursday. The autopsy confirmed a preliminary report that the body was, indeed, Brian Reed.

Fisher Out in Tennessee:

Jeff Fisher, who has been with the Titans organization for more than 16 years, will not return as their coach for the 2011 season. He was there for their move from Houston, through the name change from Oilers to Titans, and for their Super Bowl run, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams the year they made the name change.

It has not yet been determined who will take Fisher’s place. But, despite being a couple seasons removed from their last winning season, his replacement will have big shoes to fill.

Vikings Still Hoping for New Stadium:

The Minnesota Vikings want an outdoor stadium. The city doesn’t want to give it to them, which was causing irritations within the organization since their MLB counterpart, the Minnesota Twins, was moved from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to outdoor Target Field, with the 2010 baseball season being its inaugural season.

There were brief talks of moving the franchise. Though no specific locations were named, it was believed that Los Angeles was the implied location, since there is already talk of building a stadium there to attract an NFL franchise to relocate.

This week, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that a former Army ammunitions site in the Twin Cities is now being considered for a new outdoor stadium for the Vikings. Nothing has been announced by team officials or governing officials in Minnesota as of yet.

Hostage Blackberry:

In other news from Minnesota, Vikings WR Bernard Barrian was reportedly reunited with his Blackberry, which he had lost in Las Vegas back in October. A couple found it and were charging Barrian $30,000 for it’s return, with the alternative being that it would be sold to the “highest bidder.”

After Barrian sued the couple for his phone’s return, the Blackberry was reportedly returned to him.

Tweeting Packers:

A lot is on the line on February 6, but the Packers appear to be falling apart at the seams. There are multiple storylines for this one so I won’t delve into the details. You can check nfl.com for those.

Earlier in the week it was about Green Bay players on IR not being in the team photo for the Super Bowl. Mike McCarthy wasn’t happy with how it was handled, but pushed the photo op back so that those players will be able to be in the picture when they join up with the active players near the end of next week.

Most recently it, was a comment made by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers that received a tweet by teammate Nick Barnett, who has been on IR since week 4 with a wrist injury.

That is my list what I felt were the most important, or funny, stories within the NFL this past week. The Senior Bowl just ended about an hour or so ago, with the South winning 24-10. Any other news can be found on nfl.com.