BIG GAME PREVIEWS & THE INJURY STATUS OF 3 QUARTERBACKS
This weekend's biggest pro games have one thing in common, I like every road team in these matchups, which can be dangerous. Here's the reasons I feel like I do.
New England Patriots at the New York Jets
Lots of trash talk coming from the Jets, they start a rookie QB & their best pass rusher is suspended. The Patriots have replaced 7 starters from their 2007 Super Bowl team, they lost their best defensive player, Jarod Mayo, Monday night, but they have beaten the Jets at the Meadowlands 8 consecutive times. That last stat is big with me, I've never been a "they're due" guy. Until the Jets beat them, I'm sticking with the Patriots. New England's Kevin Faulk picks up the blitz as well as anyone in football, I think Rex Ryan will blitz more than the 25 times he threw at the Texans last Sunday. New England's receivers are very good & very sharp at breaking off their routes when blitzed. I can see Randy Moss catching a pair of long ones if Brady can get the time. New England 27 New York 17
New Orleans Saints at the Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan McNabb is listed as doubtful with a fractured rib, Kevin Kolb would start in his absence. I'm not a Kolb fan & with the new lease on life the Saints' defensive ends, Will Smith & Charles Grant, received from the NFL, look for them to rattle Kolb behind a reshuffled O-line. RT Stacey Andrews was put on I.R., his brother Shawn was essentially benched today when Andy Reid announced he would rotate his guards & Andrews would be coming off the bench. Drew Brees has played at such a high level for well over a year now, he's got Jeremy Shockey involved again & then there are those 4 wide receiving threats.
New Orleans 31 Philadelphia 17
Pittsburgh Steelers at the Chicago Bears
I told you I was a big believer in trends. In the last five years the Bears are 9-12 vs the AFC(including the Super Bowl) & Pittsburgh, over the same period, is 18-4(including 2 Super Bowl victories). Both teams have lost their defensive leaders, the Bears' MLB Brian Urlacher & Pittsburgh's S Troy Polamalu. Urlacher for the season, Polamalu for 3-4 more weeks. Bears QB Jay Cutler has thrown an interception in 7 straight games, 4 in last Sunday's loss in Green Bay. His fundamentals have begun to erode, really sloppy Sunday night. He relies too much on his superior physical skills. Ron Turner, Chicago's offensive coordinator, called a lousy game last Sunday & will have to find a way to get RB Matt Forte involved. The Bears can't win if the game plan is geared to throwing the ball outside. The Steelers couldn't run the ball opening night, a trend that has worsened since mid-season last year. But in a close game, which this one looks to be, I'll take Big Ben in the 4th quarter, rallying the Steelers for a win. Pittsburgh 20 Chicago 13
Baltimore Ravens at the San Diego Chargers
The Chargers are having trouble selling their seats to prevent a blackout, so I'd say the excitement level in San Diego is somewhat tempered. The last 5 road games(3 in the playoffs) have the Joe Flacco-led Ravens 4-1, losing only to Pittsburgh. They beat Tennessee, Miami & Dallas in that stretch, so I don't see Flacco being rattled. Baltimore TE, Todd Heap, had a big day last Sunday vs Kansas City. The Chargers gave up 11 touchdowns to tight ends last season & Zach Miller had a big night for Oakland Monday night. I like the Charger corners, but their linebackers don't get great drops & other than Eric Weddle, they don't play the ball well down the middle of the field. San Diego lost center Nick Hardwick & right guard Louis Vasquez Monday night, neither has practiced all week & are listed as doubtful. LaDanian Tomlinson stood on the sidelines with an ankle injury Monday night as his replacement, Darren Sproles made play after play, eventually scoring the winning touchdown. Tomlinson won't play Sunday. I heard Tony Dungy say today "Darren Sproles is what Reggie Bush was supposed to be". Well put. Baltimore 27 San Diego 24
New York Giants at the Dallas Cowboys
The grand opening of the "Jones Mahal" down in Arlington. Expect a crowd of over 100,000. The place doesn't seat that many, but you can buy "party tickets", which are basically standing room tickets for the massive concourses that allow you to essentially watch the game on TV. This Sunday night contest will be the culmination of Cowboy owner Jerry Jones' dream. Whether his team can back him up in this spot is unknown. Everyone is picking the Cowboys because of their new stadium & the excitement generated by it. The Giants would love nothing better than raining all over the Cowboy parade & they certainly have the personnel to do it. Dallas' inability to stop the run late last year & again last weekend at Tampa could be bad news in this spot. The Giants have one of the very best offensive lines in the league, they have a pair of studs in their backfield & they have a QB who doesn't rattle. Plus they have a very stubborn coach, Tom Coughlin, who won't give up on the running game. The Cowboys, on the other hand, don't have a consistent offensive line & backfield to compare, plus Tony Romo can get rattled. Neither team has a great receiving corps, so I don't expect a bunch of 50-yard passes. The Giants defensive front is so good, it might just be the difference in this game. Look for the Giants to spoil the big rodeo in Arlington.
New York 24 Dallas 20
USC coach Pete Carroll has said Matt Barkley's shoulder injury hasn't responded, so the Trojans will start sophomore Aaron Corp in his spot. No word on the status of All-American safety Taylor Mays.
Chiefs' quarterback Matt Cassel's knee is responding better this week & he expects to start Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Kansas City is 3-22 in their last 25 games, with 2 of those wins coming against the Raiders. The Chiefs next 5 games are at Philly, NY Giants, Dallas, at Washington & San Diego, so there's certainly some real urgency to win this game on Sunday. Can the Chiefs O-line block Richard Seymour & company? Can the Chiefs defense hold the Raiders under 150 yards rushing? Will Raider QB JaMarcus Russell improve on his paltry 53% completion ratio? I see the Chiefs squeezing out a narrow victory.
Look for the Florida Gators to put a beat down on the Tennessee Volunteers & their big-mouth coach, Lane Kiffin. There's some real bad blood here, the Gators are way more talented & the coaching disparity is light years. I can also see the Texas Longhorns extracting some revenge on Texas Tech for their last second loss to the Red Raiders last season in Lubbock. The loss kept the Longhorns out of the BCS Championship game. Another game I'll be watching is BYU hosting Florida State. The Cougars played the first 2 on the road, winning both & now if they whip the Seminoles, they will become the leader for the "at large" berth into the big BCS tourney. This game is on Versus, if you get that network, I do on cable, don't on DirecTV.
Provided the part arrives today as promised, Linda & I will attempt to install a new power supply in the Mitsubishi in our media room. Since it's the screen we watch the best games on, it's essential that it works properly. Hopefully my Air Force electronics training will come back to me after some 35 years & the UPS overnight air guarantee is as advertised.
Today's real name of the day; D'Mentrice Lacy, safety, Ball High School, Galveston, Texas.
New England Patriots at the New York Jets
Lots of trash talk coming from the Jets, they start a rookie QB & their best pass rusher is suspended. The Patriots have replaced 7 starters from their 2007 Super Bowl team, they lost their best defensive player, Jarod Mayo, Monday night, but they have beaten the Jets at the Meadowlands 8 consecutive times. That last stat is big with me, I've never been a "they're due" guy. Until the Jets beat them, I'm sticking with the Patriots. New England's Kevin Faulk picks up the blitz as well as anyone in football, I think Rex Ryan will blitz more than the 25 times he threw at the Texans last Sunday. New England's receivers are very good & very sharp at breaking off their routes when blitzed. I can see Randy Moss catching a pair of long ones if Brady can get the time. New England 27 New York 17
New Orleans Saints at the Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan McNabb is listed as doubtful with a fractured rib, Kevin Kolb would start in his absence. I'm not a Kolb fan & with the new lease on life the Saints' defensive ends, Will Smith & Charles Grant, received from the NFL, look for them to rattle Kolb behind a reshuffled O-line. RT Stacey Andrews was put on I.R., his brother Shawn was essentially benched today when Andy Reid announced he would rotate his guards & Andrews would be coming off the bench. Drew Brees has played at such a high level for well over a year now, he's got Jeremy Shockey involved again & then there are those 4 wide receiving threats.
New Orleans 31 Philadelphia 17
Pittsburgh Steelers at the Chicago Bears
I told you I was a big believer in trends. In the last five years the Bears are 9-12 vs the AFC(including the Super Bowl) & Pittsburgh, over the same period, is 18-4(including 2 Super Bowl victories). Both teams have lost their defensive leaders, the Bears' MLB Brian Urlacher & Pittsburgh's S Troy Polamalu. Urlacher for the season, Polamalu for 3-4 more weeks. Bears QB Jay Cutler has thrown an interception in 7 straight games, 4 in last Sunday's loss in Green Bay. His fundamentals have begun to erode, really sloppy Sunday night. He relies too much on his superior physical skills. Ron Turner, Chicago's offensive coordinator, called a lousy game last Sunday & will have to find a way to get RB Matt Forte involved. The Bears can't win if the game plan is geared to throwing the ball outside. The Steelers couldn't run the ball opening night, a trend that has worsened since mid-season last year. But in a close game, which this one looks to be, I'll take Big Ben in the 4th quarter, rallying the Steelers for a win. Pittsburgh 20 Chicago 13
Baltimore Ravens at the San Diego Chargers
The Chargers are having trouble selling their seats to prevent a blackout, so I'd say the excitement level in San Diego is somewhat tempered. The last 5 road games(3 in the playoffs) have the Joe Flacco-led Ravens 4-1, losing only to Pittsburgh. They beat Tennessee, Miami & Dallas in that stretch, so I don't see Flacco being rattled. Baltimore TE, Todd Heap, had a big day last Sunday vs Kansas City. The Chargers gave up 11 touchdowns to tight ends last season & Zach Miller had a big night for Oakland Monday night. I like the Charger corners, but their linebackers don't get great drops & other than Eric Weddle, they don't play the ball well down the middle of the field. San Diego lost center Nick Hardwick & right guard Louis Vasquez Monday night, neither has practiced all week & are listed as doubtful. LaDanian Tomlinson stood on the sidelines with an ankle injury Monday night as his replacement, Darren Sproles made play after play, eventually scoring the winning touchdown. Tomlinson won't play Sunday. I heard Tony Dungy say today "Darren Sproles is what Reggie Bush was supposed to be". Well put. Baltimore 27 San Diego 24
New York Giants at the Dallas Cowboys
The grand opening of the "Jones Mahal" down in Arlington. Expect a crowd of over 100,000. The place doesn't seat that many, but you can buy "party tickets", which are basically standing room tickets for the massive concourses that allow you to essentially watch the game on TV. This Sunday night contest will be the culmination of Cowboy owner Jerry Jones' dream. Whether his team can back him up in this spot is unknown. Everyone is picking the Cowboys because of their new stadium & the excitement generated by it. The Giants would love nothing better than raining all over the Cowboy parade & they certainly have the personnel to do it. Dallas' inability to stop the run late last year & again last weekend at Tampa could be bad news in this spot. The Giants have one of the very best offensive lines in the league, they have a pair of studs in their backfield & they have a QB who doesn't rattle. Plus they have a very stubborn coach, Tom Coughlin, who won't give up on the running game. The Cowboys, on the other hand, don't have a consistent offensive line & backfield to compare, plus Tony Romo can get rattled. Neither team has a great receiving corps, so I don't expect a bunch of 50-yard passes. The Giants defensive front is so good, it might just be the difference in this game. Look for the Giants to spoil the big rodeo in Arlington.
New York 24 Dallas 20
USC coach Pete Carroll has said Matt Barkley's shoulder injury hasn't responded, so the Trojans will start sophomore Aaron Corp in his spot. No word on the status of All-American safety Taylor Mays.
Chiefs' quarterback Matt Cassel's knee is responding better this week & he expects to start Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Kansas City is 3-22 in their last 25 games, with 2 of those wins coming against the Raiders. The Chiefs next 5 games are at Philly, NY Giants, Dallas, at Washington & San Diego, so there's certainly some real urgency to win this game on Sunday. Can the Chiefs O-line block Richard Seymour & company? Can the Chiefs defense hold the Raiders under 150 yards rushing? Will Raider QB JaMarcus Russell improve on his paltry 53% completion ratio? I see the Chiefs squeezing out a narrow victory.
Look for the Florida Gators to put a beat down on the Tennessee Volunteers & their big-mouth coach, Lane Kiffin. There's some real bad blood here, the Gators are way more talented & the coaching disparity is light years. I can also see the Texas Longhorns extracting some revenge on Texas Tech for their last second loss to the Red Raiders last season in Lubbock. The loss kept the Longhorns out of the BCS Championship game. Another game I'll be watching is BYU hosting Florida State. The Cougars played the first 2 on the road, winning both & now if they whip the Seminoles, they will become the leader for the "at large" berth into the big BCS tourney. This game is on Versus, if you get that network, I do on cable, don't on DirecTV.
Provided the part arrives today as promised, Linda & I will attempt to install a new power supply in the Mitsubishi in our media room. Since it's the screen we watch the best games on, it's essential that it works properly. Hopefully my Air Force electronics training will come back to me after some 35 years & the UPS overnight air guarantee is as advertised.
Today's real name of the day; D'Mentrice Lacy, safety, Ball High School, Galveston, Texas.
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