And We're Back

How did everyone spend their summer? Flew by as usual amiright? So let's start off addressing the elephant at Foxborough. We all know that the collective North North East of the U.S. we know as New England held its breath for nearly the entirety of training camp. New Englanders all finally exhaled last week, creating a significant Southern zephyr, as a Judge overturned Tom Brady's potential four game ban.

Putting any biases towards Brady, the Patriots & Roger Goodell aside, my single largest complaint is the waste of judicial resources in this process. This entire affair involved, lawyers, judges, arbitrators & any number of ancillary officials. When I was a kid, if you cheated or deflated someone else's balls, you either bought them a new one or had to line up and everyone got a free throw to peg you with another ball.

Week 1 - Thursday Night Game:

PIT @ NE (-7)

New England kicks off at home.  Without any real stars at RB or WR, the loquacious Bill "no comment" Belichick looks to continue to produce offensively by committee. Of course, when you have Rob Gronkowski playing TE, your playbook really only needs to be one play, with multiple check downs inserted. On defense, New England should be decent, although noticeably absent will be fan favorite, Vince Wolfolk, who could swallow a gap almost at will. My guess is that the Patriots play a numbers game this year, not worrying too much about points given up, hoping that the offense can always score a bit more.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, rolls in with a very un-Steelers-like team. Often favored for its staunch defense ("Steel Curtain"), this year's club looks more like a baby blanket. Losing many fan favorites to retirement, this defense is so bad, that when asked about getting the defense ready, long time defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau reportedly said the Korean War was a cakewalk compared to coaching this group. In fact, he resigned from the Steelers in January and took an assistant coaching position with Tennessee a few months later. On offense, however, Pittsburgh has a chance to be very well balanced, maybe even explosive. The Steelers are stocked at WR, with Anotonio Brown looking to lead the league in almost every category. They'll be even better once Martavis Bryant comes back from suspension. Speaking of which, RB Le'Veon Bell will also miss a few games, but when he returns, QB Ben Roethlisberger should have the ability to finally run an excellent play-action game. Until then, just throw downfield to Brown.

Although the Steelers will likely score a lot during this year, don't expect them to be fully up to speed until around week 5, when all their weapons should return. I like the Patriots to take the home opener, with Pittsburgh covering the spread.

Spread: PIT
Straight Up: NE
Score: 27-21

49ers Stink or do They? (Week 3 Late Games)

Some good late games this week, including a rematch of last year's Super Bowl:

Too Many TO's from Kap

SF @ ARI (+2.5)

The Cardinals have been fairly unremarkable in their two wins. First barely getting by the Chargers and last week hardly having to show up against the Giants. Meanwhile, the 49ers did everything possible to give up a huge lead to the Bears, exposing many of the team's flaws (QB turnovers and a weak secondary). Lucky for the 49ers that Drew Stanton really didn't show much last week against the Giants. I think the 49ers come back strong here getting the win on the road and barely covering.

Spread: SF

Straight Up: SF

Score: 24-20 

KC @ MIA (-4.5)

Bad news for the Chiefs, where it appears they may be without star RB Jamaal Charles, who has a high ankle sprain. The questions is, even if he played, can the Chiefs even win a game? The Dolphins had a great opener at home, then laid an egg last week in Buffalo. I'll chalk it up more to the Bills being better than everything first thought. I think this game will be close throughout, with the Dolphins getting the win. I'll take the points though.

Spread: KC

Straight Up: MIA

Score: 17-14

DEN @ SEA (-4.5)

We all know what happened the last time these teams met. This year, despite both teams showing they can still score, it is their defenses that have been a bit suspect. For all his talk about individual accolades, the Sherminator (I don't really think he calls himself this) is useful if the entire team plays well. Also, when challenged last week by the Chargers, he wasn't all that impressive. Maybe change the name - thoughts Parkman?

Thoughts Richard?

As for the Broncos, they too have not been overly impressive on the defensive end and have yet to get the ball moving well via the running game. Seahawks never lose at home and the Broncos can score in bunches. I like Seattle to win, but I'll take the points here.

Spread: DEN

Straight Up: SEA

Score: 31-28

PIT @ CAR (-3)

Panthers are 2-0 and the Steelers appears to be inconsistent. They can't score consistently and they can't defend at all. Carolina appears to be able to do both. I'll take the Panthers on all fronts.

Spread: CAR

Straight Up: CAR

Score: 24-10

Folk for the Win?

CHI @ NYJ (-2) 

The Jets looked pretty good last week, then came out and pulled a "Jags" in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Bears looked like the comeback kids, walking all over the 49ers in the 4th quarter. What do we glean from these games? Nothing really. Inconsistency is the new normal in the NFL. I see this as a game of turnovers, with the team getting the last one connecting on a FG. I'll take the home team for the win on MNF, but I'm taking the points.

Spread: CHI

Straight Up: NYJ

Score: 24-23

Sundays Are For Couches

If you love football like I do, then your home couch or chair probably gets a lot of use on Sundays. I have always loved watching these games. As a kid, my dad and I would watch whatever game was on at 1 PM (usually the Giants or Jets), then put on the 4 PM game (usually taking a quick power nap during if we didn't care about the results. Now, even my wife Jen has created a Sunday tradition, which usually entails her cursing out the bulk of her fantasy teams. You gotta love Sundays.

Let's get right to the games:

CLE @ PIT (-6.5)

Quick question. What number will be higher this year? The number of offensive TD’s by the Browns or cars sold by Josh Gordon? In all seriousness, the highly talented WR has some issues going on and needs to be away from football (and probably Cleveland as a whole) for a while. The publicity stunt having him work at a local dealership is just that – jury is out on who it benefits, if anyone. As for the QB situation, coach Mike Pettine has come forward saying that while Brian Hoyer is the starter, expect to see Johnny Manziel see some action as well. Who cares who is throwing if they have no one to receive it?

Pittsburgh enters the game under a cloud (bad pun?) of uncertainty. It seems like every year we are discussing how offensively, Pittsburgh has drawn up new schemes to make them more of a downfield throwing team, as opposed to their traditional, smashmouth football. That never happens. WR Antonio Brown is a legitimate deep ball threat and I look forward to QB Ben Roethlisberger finding him several times this game (and most of the year) in the end zone. On defense, watch out for first round pick, LB Ryan Shazier who should be playing like a veteran by the third quarter.

I don’t have high hopes for the Browns, but am not sold on the Steelers ability to score just yet. I like PIT to win at home, but I’m taking the points.

Spread: CLE

Straight Up: PIT

Score: 17-13

MIN @ STL (-3.5)

I received a call from my agent earlier this week asking me if I wanted to try out for the open Rams QB position. I told him I would, but I really enjoy my menially paying job instead. You have to feel really bad for injured QB Sam Bradford and the Rams as a whole. Jeff Fisher’s team will look to journeyman Shaun Hill to lead the offense. I doubt he will be the starter by the end of the year. Hill will need a lot of help from particularly RB Zak Stacy. The Rams have a more than serviceable defense, which should help the game close.

Minnesota enters the season with some confidence, particularly on offense. Any team with RB Adrian Peterson (assuming he is fully healthy) has a chance to win a lot of games. QB Matt Cassel will start, while first round draft pick Teddy Bridgewater will watch and learn and most certainly be ready to play, when and if necessary. The Vikings also have a new potential breakout player in WR Cordarrelle Patterson. The Vikings defense certainly has some holes, but I’m just not sure if the Rams will be able to expose them.

I like MIN to cover on the road.

Spread: MIN

Straight Up: MIN

Score:  27-22

CAR @ TB (-1)

Lovie Smith has reason to be excited for his new team in Tampa. They went out and signed a familiar face in reliable QB Josh McCown. RB Doug Martin and several good WR’s including Vincent Jackson and rookie Mike Evans, should be able to put points on the board. Their offensive line is suspect (better with the acquisition of Logan Matkins from the Patriots) and we all know this can have a crippling effect on offensive efficiency.

No Newton, no win

For Ron Rivera’s Panthers, this is a fairly simple game. Without a healthy Cam Newton, this is likely a loss. It sounds like Newton won’t play and if he does, will certainly not be 100%. Without Newton, the Panthers will really struggle. I think rookie WR Kelvin Benjamin will be good, eventually, but needs time to mature. Defensively it remains to be seen if their secondary is strong enough. Look for McCown to expose this during the game.

I like Lovie Smith’s debut to be a successful one in Tampa. A Newtonless Panthers team just doesn’t have enough to stick with the home Bucs.

Spread: TB

Straight up: TB

Score: 20-14

IND @ DEN (-7.5)

I expect Denver to average about 35 points a game this year. Even without WR Wes Welker (suspension, injuries, etc…) QB Peyton Manning has plenty of options, particularly with WR Demaryius Thomas as well as TE Julius Thomas. With an offense like this, who cares about their defense, which by the way, is quite good.

The Indianapolis Colts should have a fine year. They just won’t win today on the road in Denver. QB Andrew Luck has a solid group of offensive weapons. The main question is at RB where no one is certain if Trent Richardson can be a dominant force once again and if he can’t, then if often injured Ahmad Bradshaw can step it up and play like he did back with the Giants. Father time is often cruel to football players, particularly the running backs. I just don’t see it happening.

I like DEN at home in a shootout.

Spread: DEN

Straight Up: DEN

Score: 40-23