#NFL Battlefield of the Mind

Its finally here! Its that time of the year where cities that participate in this illustrious game get hyped and people feel a sense of pride for their current or birth city when “Game Day” begins. Superbowl XLVI will be a battle of the minds for both coaches on Superbowl Sunday. Even though I feel that the best DL, DBs, and WRs belongs to New York, the edge on game calling goes to New England. It’s going to be a example of an intellect vs barbarian type of game. The Giants have the brute force while going against the chess like mind of Bill Belichick . If Tom Coughlin wins he will be the oldest coach to win the Superbowl. If Bill Belichick wins he will be tied with the most Superbowl victories. This should be a great game. Who do you think will win ?

One down, One more To Go

Down goes the Saints…. By the hands of the Cowboys….
Saints were on a come back as they normally have done this season…. But a late strip by Demarcus Ware, who just came off a broke neck, haulted the Saints come back with :09 left to play…
Tony Romo sweetened the tongues of the critics by not executing any points down the stretch…. Being down 24-3 with 12:35 in the 4th, the Saints scored to make it 24-10 and started a come back with conviction…. With help of the Cowboys offense who were non-productive in the fourth quarter…. The Saints were moving down the field in chunks…. 14 unanswered points by the Saints sparked the confidence of the team and they were on pursuit of another score..The Cowboys put together a good drive that moved them into field goal range to only miss it with 7:35 left.. The Saints drove down field and made the score 24-17… With another short cut drive by the Cowboys offense, the Saints gained possession of the ball again and was driving for the tie…
Cowboys defense created four sacks, an INT, & 1 fumble thus far in the game…. They bent but didn’t Break…. as the pressure was on Drew Brees under :20 left…. And as Brees dropped back to pass to a wide open Marcus Colston…. D. Ware was there….

The Breakdown of the Buccaneers

The ’09 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking into the eyes of their worst season in almost 25 years…. They have atleast won one game, which saved us from going winless( thanks Packers), so they can’t be as bad as the Lions in modern free agent era…. Still they have to overcome the fact that they are not finishing games….. Tampa Bay comes out explosive and fired up….. But by the time the fourth quarter rolls around…. The teams slowly gets fatigued and the plays aren’t being made….. Since businessmen are making athletic decisions in the organization, Tampa Bay released one of the best LB’s in Derrick Brooks…. Him alone could change the play of Tampa’s LB’s on the roster….. Tampa Bay’s trouble comes from a weak LB corps…. Nothing against the starting LB’s…. It’s just without Brooks…. They become average at best….. Tampa is open to crossing and short routes across the middle…. Which inturn pulls up the strong safety for support and it leaves Tampa open for the deep pass…. There is a reason that they have a defense named after them…. Tampa 2….. With a good player in each level of the defense, an offense has to assure good blocks are created in each level…. If not, the offense will spend 4 qts guessing where the opening is….. Very difficult for inexperience coaches…..

My ’10 prediction is if Tampa drafts a Defensive Tackle and a Linebacker in the first two rounds…. We will see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back to being the measure of a good defense and a playoff contender.

FANTASY FORECAST week 10

In this segment, i will go thru all match-ups for week 10 and break down offensive and defensive stats and rankings for each team so that you can get an idea of who can help your  fantasy team…. I broke it down into DEF Sacks… turnover ratio….touchdowns given up by the defense…offensive touchdowns…. and the teams offensive and defensive rankings according to TOTAL YARDS…..

*TRNOV= TURNOVER RATIO/ *PTD= PASSING TD/*RTD=RUSHING TD/         

                                                    (DEF)             (OFF)                  (YARDS)

               SACKS   TRNOV   (PTD - RTD)   (PTD- RTD)  OFF RANK   DEF RANK

BEARS     16             -1             (16 - 7)              (14 - 5 )                17                  14                                        

49ERS      17             -3             (9 – 8)                (11- 6)                26                  17

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LIONS    16              -7              (19 -7 )               (6 – 6 )              25               26

VIKINGS  31            +5              (13- 2)               ( 16 - 10 )             11                19

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

BRONCOS   26       +5           ( 7-  3 )              ( 9 -  4)                20                3

REDSKINS  21       -8             ( 7-  5)               (  9-   3)                24                4

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

FALCONS   19       +4           ( 11-  6)              ( 13- 11)              19                 25

PANTHERS 18      -9            ( 10- 8)              ( 5 - 11)               18                   7

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

BUCS          17        0        ( 18- 9)            ( 11 - 3 )          28                 29

DOLPHINS   21     -1          ( 10- 9 )           ( 6- 13)          23               21

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

JAGUARS       8       -3         ( 15- 5)            ( 6 - 13)           9                22

JETS       14            0            ( 5 - 4)             ( 8- 12)          14               1

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

SAINTS  19        +8             (6 - 11)            (17  - 15)        1                 16

RAMS      14        -7             (11- 12)           ( 6 -  1)        27           24

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

BILLS    17       +3             ( 6- 12)           ( 8- 2)            29               27

TITANS   19       -4          ( 21- 8)            ( 6 -  9 )             22               31

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BENGALS     21      +2        (10- 4)            ( 14-  7)             13              15

STEELERS   23     -2          ( 9 - 2)           (15- 6)               8             5

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

CHIEFS   10       +2        (14- 8)             (12-  0)                30               30

RAIDERS  17     -9           (8- 13)             (2- 4)                 32               28

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

COWBOYS          21          0            (13- 3)           (13- 9)           5            18

PACKERS             13        +10      (16- 3)           (16 - 7)             7           2

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

SEAHAWKS        20          0           (12- 6)        (13- 3 )      21        13

CARDINALS       21         -6           (14- 5 )        (16- 6 )      15       20

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EAGLES                27       +11        (12- 5)       (14- 7 )          12         11

CHARGERS         22       +1       (11- 7)           (14 - 5 )          16         9

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PATRIOTS          15          +8      (9- 2 )     (16 -8)         4          6

COLTS                    22      +7       (4- 6)        (17-8 )         6          8

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

RAVENS                17             +2    (10 -  5)     (12 -11)      10       12

BROWNS                16           -11     (10-12)       (3- 2)         31        32

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4-3 v.s. 3-4

One of the biggest debates in football conversations everywhere is Whats a better defense 4-3 or 3-4? Both defenses have it’s advantages but only one can produce an uneven match up…..
The 4-3 allows you to occupy 4 OL with 2 DL….. In the 4-3 scheme the DTs must at least draw 1 double team if not 2….. With that the LBs can run free without interference of OL….. If you happen to have an athelete at MLB, that can run tackle to tackle, the 4-3 will bend but never break…..
Now with the 3-4 it’s more like a confusion philosophy…. Don’t show where the jail break is coming from….. For OL it is difficult to scan the line of scrimmage and determine where the pressure is coming from….. Advantage defense…. With LBs that are agressive and are ok in tackling….. You can send different looks towards the opponents offense….. If a 3-4 blitz package was picked up by the offense….. The 3-4 would definitely break…. 3-4 is all about timing and overload….. Creating pressure is the mindset of a well coached defense….. If the timing or the overload is miscalculated….. The offense is gone in the other direction…. Plus your asking a lot from the nose guard to defend the 2 “A” graps….. Brown of the Packers, from their Superbowl years in the 90′s, was a great prototype of a dominant noseguard…..

“To me, I like the 4-3 because of the constant pressure” says coach Moody of the youth Buccaneers…. It allows pressure all the time

” I say the 3-4 because of the ability to cover the outside and pass to then come up and support the run” says E, a former Dragon cornerback ’98….. “So you can retreat to refortify to have the ability to come back with a stronger defense” implies E….. The element of surprise is what’s important…..but it has to be timed right….

Still my belief is the 4-3 because of the double team potential….. Eliminating more with less is my formula for success

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The 2008 season went astray the last 4 games of the season. Perhaps fatigue or bad coaching could be the reason. So they fired John Gruden and released some good veteran players. In this off season , the Bucs went after some big name players. The biggest signing for the Bucs was Tight-End Kellen Winslow this off-season . With the addition of Winslow, the Bucs now have a blocking TE/ receiver that can attack the middle of the field. Imagine pounding the ball for close to 5 yards a carry and running a play-action. Linebackers are gonna have to respect the run at that point, so a TE pass will kill defenses. In the past, we had decent TEs on our roster but they were not as big as a threat as Winslow. In Cleveland , he complimented Jamal Lewis and the running game to a okay season. Here in Tampa, Winslow will lead the running game with his ability to block and generate a double team once in awhile.  The Bucs are already praised for having the best offensive line in the league lead by Davin Joseph. The only weak link on the OL of the Bucs would have to be Jeremy Trueblood.  The oldest OL is Jeff Faine at 27 years of age.

In this upcoming Draft the Bucs should go for a defensive lineman or linebacker. With a quick secondary like the Bucs have, they need an interior lineman to assist “the last chance” Gaines Adams.  Everyone is yelling that we should draft a QB first then worry about defense. Last time i checked a QB doesn’t make a game changing tackle or a 3rd down deflection. We have a strong cast of QBs with Griese, McNown, and Johnson. If all three are given a fair chance to try and start, hands down it would be Johnson, Griese,and McNown. Griese is a great QB as long as the pressure isn’t on him. Coming in as a back up has shown some of his greatest games he’s ever played. The Tampa offense is intact with good enough talent to score. We all know the saying, “If they don’t score, we can’t lose”