2009-10 NFL Preview

‘Twas the night before football and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, not even a fantasy football-exhausted computer mouse,

The father and sons slept with dreams of footballs in their heads,

The remotes were cleaned and the TV was shined,

Extra batteries by their chairs, chips and burgers smelled divine,

When all of a sudden… “Bwoooooooop”,

Power outage! Wait, it was just a dream. Well, here we are once again. The start of another amazing football season. A chance for the slate to be wiped clean. (I bet the Detroit Lions couldn’t wait.) And once again it’s time for my NFL Preview Post “Fake studio applause”. I’m your host, thisoldsoul.

AFC East: I will take the Patriots here. They would have won the division last year, had it not been for Tom Brady’s injury. The Jets, Dolphins, and Bills just can’t contest this year. Possible wild card for 1 of those 3.

AFC North: This will be contested between the Steelers and Ravens. The Bengals will fight valiantly but lose out, and the Browns will acknowledge another poor season. Steelers will most likely win, with Ravens being in the lead for a wild card.

AFC South: Titans vs. Colts here, with the Jaguars and Texans slipping in here and there.  Tough call but whatever team doesn’t win the division will win a wild card. Best guess: Titans. Texans may have a possible wild card.

AFC West: Plain and simple: Chargers. They may be slightly contested by the Broncos, but the Chiefs and Raiders will not even pose a threat.

AFC Wild Cards:  Colts and Ravens.

NFC East:  Quite possibly the strongest division in the NFL at this point. I will take the Giants here with Eagles and Cowboys, and quite possibly the Redskins in wild card contention.

NFC North: I’ll take the Packers, with the Vikings and Bears lurking in the wild card and possible division contention again. The Lions should pop champagne if they get one win, celebrate by going out to eat if there are two, and if they win three, they should sit around and just stare in amazement. Give them a clap. Or two if they deserve it.

NFC South: Falcons will most likely win, but Buccaneers, Panthers, and Saints should all contend also. Expect those four to fight to the finish.

NFC West: Flat out Cardinals here. Rams, Seahawks and 49ers will not even contend for anything. Except possibly first pick in next year’s draft.

NFC Wild Cards: Eagles and Vikings.

AFC Championship: Patriots over the Steelers. (Sorry, pal.)

NFC Championship: Eagles over the Giants.

Super Bowl: Patriots over the Eagles.

Sunday Wild Card Round Review

And now. the second part of my wild card review.

The  Baltimore Ravens demolished the Miami Dolphins with a resounding 27-9 defeat of the team. Ed Reed had two interceptions off Chad Pennington, the Dolphins quarterback, who ultimately threw four, a season high for him. One came where Ted Ginn Jr. tripped on a deep throw and Reed easily picked it up and followed excellent blocking all the way back for the touchdown. The Dolphins did score one touchdown, off a beautiful finger tip catch by Ronnie Brown, the halfback. but then missed the ensuing extra point, putting the exclamation mark on a lousy game for the Dolphins. Baltimore will take on the Tennessee Titans next week on Saturday.

 

The afternoon game pitted the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles rode 83 receiving yards, 38 rushing yards and a beautiful screen pass for a touchdown by Brian Westbrook, and had an excellent pass defense. The Vikings did have two touchdowns by Peterson, one a beautiful down field run but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles won 26-14. The Eagles will take on the division Rival, the New York Giants next week.

Well, that concludes my review. Check back next week on Sunday and Monday for more playoff game reviews!

Playoffs?!?

Don’t talk to me about playoffs! Playoffs?!?

Well,the season is over for the Patriots and the Redskins. The Redskins ended another dismal season, finishing 8-8 with a horrific loss to the lowly 49ers, 27-24. I didn’t even watch the game because I had no interest in it at all. Instead, I decided that STAR WARS Battlefront 2 was more interesting. Zorn has done well for a first time head coach, bringing the ‘Skins to 8-8, which is good for a beginner. We can expect more of him next year.

 

Meanwhile the Patriots have been knocked out because of wins by the Ravens and the Dolphins. But it was a great game to watch as they played the Bills in 40 to 50 mph winds, with some gusts up to 60 mph. There was one field goal attempt where the ball was kicked to the left on account of the winf going to the right, and the wind blew it across , out of play, and into the stands!

Well, now I am officially fans of the Steelers in the AFC, and the Giants in the NFC. I am fans of them because I was born in the New York area and was conscripted by a close friend into the Terrible Towel regime.

Finally!

Finally, a Redskins win. And it actually came from a quality opponent. The Eagles’ playoff hopes have now been dashed, and the Redskins have played the spoiler. Next week, they take on the 49ers. USA Today has actually picked the 6-9 49ers over the 8-7 Redskins. Not surprising, considering the poor quality of theri wins and play this season. But jsut think, if the Redskins had been able to beat the Rams and the Bengals, 2 absolutely horrible teams, they would be 10-5. And if they had just one more win versus another team, they would be 11-4 and have a playoff spot virtually locked up.

 

Now, considering the wild AFC East race.  The Patriots need to defeat the Bills and have the Jets beat the Dolphins to win the division, or have the Ravens lose to the Jaguars and Beat the Bills to get the final wild card. If the Jets beat the Dolphins and the Bills beat the Patriots, the Jets win the division. If the Dolphins win over the Jets, they win the division.

Man, that was tiring.