Thursday, September 25, 2014

NFL Picks - Week 4


Week 3 brought more great games, and some confusing results. Picks were better by us though. Here’s the updated scoreboard:

Andrew – 269 Points (29-19)
Greg – 246 Points (30-18)

This week I’ll highlight a few big games: Green Bay at Chicago. Obvious big game. Philly at San Francisco… big for both teams but mostly 49ers. Saints at Dallas could be a high scoring game that will show us who is for real. And Panthers at Baltimore is the game to watch if you like physical games with defense.

Below are our picks and confidence points for all the games (less this week due to byes). Play along in the comment section if you want:

Greg’s Picks

13       Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay
12       Indianapolis over Tennessee
11       Green Bay over Chicago
10       Atlanta over Minnesota
9          Washington over NYG
8          Detroit over NYJ
7          Carolina over Baltimore
6          Miami over Oakland
5          New Orleans over Dallas
4          San Francisco over Philadelphia
3          New England over Kansas City
2          Houston over Buffalo
1          Jacksonville over San Diego

Andrew’s Picks

13       Indianapolis over Tennessee
12       San Diego over Jacksonville
11       Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay
10       Atlanta over Minnesota
9          Washington over NYG
8          Detroit over NYJ
7          San Francisco over Philadelphia
6          Chicago over Green Bay
5          New England over Kansas City
4          Baltimore over Carolina
3          Houston over Buffalo
2          Oakland over Miami
1          Dallas over New Orleans

Enjoy week 4!

By: The Sports Guys

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

NFL Power Rankings 3


NFL Power Rankings
After Week 3

NOTE: Previous ranking is noted in the first parenthesis, record in second parenthesis.

1. (1) Denver Broncos (2-1) – Despite playing at Seattle, a place nobody wins, and taking on a team that destroyed them a few months ago in the Super Bowl, the Broncos lost on a coin flip. If they had won possession in OT, we’d be talking about a 3-0 team right now. Peyton’s last drive was epic, and the defense played well in the game.

2. (4) Seattle Seahawks (2-1) – Russell Wilson showed everyone once again that he is special. His final drive was textbook as he mixed in quality runs with passes. Curious why he was shut down the entire second half before OT?

3. (2) Cincinnati Bengals (3-0) – The Cincy defense showed up again, and Dalton continues to lead a dynamic offense. They only got bumped due to Seattle’s win.

4. (3) Philadelphia Eagles (3-0) – Philly survived another scare thanks to a late INT and fourth down stop. McCoy’s lack of production is a little worrisome, but Foles is playing great like he did a year ago.

5. (6) Arizona Cardinals (3-0) – We now come to a team that I am likely not rating high enough. They are in first place in their division over the team I ranked at #2. They don’t win pretty, but they continue to win. Drew Stanton has done well in Palmer’s place.

6. (8) San Diego Chargers (2-1) – Another clinical performance by the Chargers, although they did lose another RB... For those confused about signing Donald Brown in the offseason, that move suddenly makes a ton of sense!

7. (9) New England Patriots (2-1) – I actually want to move them down the rankings after squeaking by Oakland at home. But like I said with Arizona, you don’t have to win pretty to be effective. Nice to see the defense playing well.

8. (12) Chicago Bears (2-1) – Winning back-to-back road games is impressive in this league. Even more, they’ve played through a lot of injuries. Kyle Fuller seems to be the real deal as a rookie.

9. (5) Carolina Panthers (2-1) – Carolina got punched in the mouth on Sunday night, but they are still tied for their division lead. The defense didn’t look as in sync as normal, and they need to find an offensive identity.

10. (13) Baltimore Ravens (2-1) – It took a comeback at the end, but the Ravens got a road win against a divisional opponent. They have massive issues at RB though and may have lost Pitta for the season again. Good thing they alternative weapons.

11. (15) Detroit Lions (2-1) – Don’t know where the offense went, but their defense was phenomenal against Green Bay. They’ll be tough to beat if they keep that up.

12. (16) Atlanta Falcons (2-1) – They looked great once again on both sides of the ball. It was against an awful team and it came at home where they dominate. But they looked great!

13. (17) Indianapolis Colts (1-2) – Spanking Jacksonville looked easy, but it was just what this team needed to get back on track.

14. (21) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) – They looked bad last week, but winning at Carolina is straight up impressive. The AFC is already feeling crowded, and they added their name to the mix as well.

15. (18) Dallas Cowboys (2-1) – When the game started, I envisioned this team freefalling down the rankings. But they put together a huge comeback on the road that actually impressed me. Well done.

16. (7) San Francisco 49ers (1-2) – If I’m a 49ers fan, should I be worried? Maybe a little, but they really just need to learn to put two halves together.

17. (10) Green Bay Packers (1-2) – The Green Bay offense has been up and down so far this season. With a trip to Chicago on the docket for Week 4, they better find their new gear.

18. (20) New Orleans Saints (1-2) – Playing Minnesota at home should have been a huge blowout and it wasn’t. Makes me think this team isn’t as good as we all thought despite picking up their first win.

19. (19) Washington Redskins (1-2) – Washington played Philly neck and neck the entire game but fell short at the end. Cousins played spectacular but had a costly INT and a bad throw on fourth down to end the game. They’ll be alright though.

20. (11) Buffalo Bills (2-1) – The Chargers ended their early season run, but they are still sitting pretty at 2-1. The issue is that EJ Manuel looked bad in this game.

21. (28) Kansas City Chiefs (1-2) – Still question if this team has enough playmakers on it to be a real threat, but they looked good this week.

22. (14) Houston Texans (2-1) – And back down to earth Houston comes. Granted, it was without Arian Foster, but they looked bad against the pathetic Giants.

23. (23) New York Jets (1-2) – With a few things tweaked here and there, New York could be sitting at 3-0. Instead, they have two losses in a row and are looking for answers.

24. (24) Cleveland Browns (1-2) – Nearly toppled another good team but fell short against Baltimore. The defense is playing inspired ball as well as the running game. Need a little more oomph in the passing attack though.

25. (32) New York Giants (1-2) – At least for week, New York looked like a capable football team again. Was that the real squad?

26. (22) Miami Dolphins (1-2) – What happened to that team that dominated New England in week 1? They couldn’t do anything positive on Sunday.

27. (30) St. Louis Rams (1-2) – Had their record wrong last week by accident so I bumped them up a few spots to adjust. Still choked against Dallas on Sunday.

28. (26) Tennessee Titans (1-2) – Another poor offensive performance, but this time their defense played poorly as well. They simply aren’t very good.

29. (27) Minnesota Vikings (1-2) – I called it last week… It’s time for Teddy. Things can’t get any worse right?

30. (29) Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3) – It’s Bortles time, so we’ll see if they can establish anything positive.

31. (31) Oakland Raiders (0-3) – Great effort against the Pats, but couldn’t find a way to put real points up on the board.

32. (25) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3) – Not only are they winless on the season, they got blown out of the water in a primetime game. They are destined to be last after that performance.

By: The Sports Guys

Friday, September 19, 2014

NFL Picks - Week 3


Week 2 continued to confuse and baffle us… The Saints and Colts are both 0-2, but Jacksonville and Miami are 2-0. Just weird! We also saw Seattle get beat by San Diego, and the 49ers lost their stadium opener against the Bears. Injuries were everywhere also, as AJ Green, RG3, and many others went down and didn’t return. Here are our updated standings:

Andrew – 157 Points (17-15)
Greg – 156 Points (20-12)

Those 2-0 Bills will be tested this week as they take on San Diego. We also will see how Kirk Cousins holds up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Other divisional matchups include Green Bay at Detroit and San Francisco at Arizona. Of course, the game we all can’t wait to see is the Super Bowl rematch – Denver at Seattle. It’s sure to be a great week.

Below are our picks and confidence points for all the games. Play along in the comment section if you want:

Greg’s Picks

16       Indianapolis over Jacksonville
15       Seattle over Denver
14       Buffalo over San Diego
13       New Orleans over Minnesota
12       Cincinnati over Tennessee
11       New England over Oakland
10       Miami over Kansas City
9          Carolina over Pittsburgh
8          Chicago over NYJ
7          San Francisco over Arizona
6          Detroit over Green Bay
5          Dallas over St. Louis
4          Washington over Philadelphia
3          NYG over Houston
2          Cleveland over Baltimore
1          Atlanta over Tampa Bay

Andrew’s Picks

16       New Orleans over Minnesota
15       New England over Oakland
14       Atlanta over Tampa Bay
13       Cincinnati over Tennessee
12       Carolina over Pittsburgh
11       Indianapolis over Jacksonville
10       Philadelphia over Washington
9          Dallas over St. Louis
8          San Diego over Buffalo
7          Houston over NYG
6          Miami over Kansas City
5          Baltimore over Cleveland
4          Chicago over NYJ
3          San Francisco over Arizona
2          Detroit over Green Bay
1          Denver over Seattle

Enjoy week 3!

By: The Sports Guys

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

NFL Power Rankings 2


NFL Power Rankings
After Week 2

NOTE: Previous ranking is noted in the first parenthesis, record in second parenthesis.

1. (2) Denver Broncos (2-0) – Just like in week 1, they seemed to let off the gas in the second half, but the defense stepped up when they needed to. Wes Welker may return this week so look out.

2. (4) Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) – There is a concern surrounding AJ Green and his toe injury, but as long as he’s fine, they are.

3. (5) Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) – Don’t know why Philly struggles in the first half of games, but they are dominant in the second halves.

4. (1) Seattle Seahawks (1-1) – They showed some vulnerability in their loss at San Diego, but they are clearly still an elite team.

5. (10) Carolina Panthers (2-0) – Cam Newton returned and looked good. But the story continues to be that their defense is rock solid. They dominated Detroit on that end of the ball.

6. (8) Arizona Cardinals (2-0) – Even with a backup QB this week they won a game on the road, something that is tough in the NFL. We’ll see what they are really made of this week as they take on San Fran.

7. (3) San Francisco 49ers (1-1) – Speaking of San Fran, they fell in their stadium opener to the Bears. It was a shocking result, especially because they were dominating early. Does their lack of size in the secondary concern them yet?

8. (16) San Diego Chargers (1-1) – They played their gameplan perfectly as they kept plugging away on offense and controlled the line on defense. They did that to Denver last year in an upset.

9. (11) New England Patriots (1-1) – Solid bounce back win for NE, and I’m glad they leaned on the run. They are better when they do that.

10. (12) Green Bay Packers (1-1) – After a slow start against New York, they torched the Jets again and again, particularly to Jordy Nelson. Aaron Rodgers is a stud.

11. (17) Buffalo Bills (2-0) – A surprise 2-0 team to start the year, but they Bills do a few things really well. They run it, they don’t turn it over, and their defensive line is dominant.

12. (18) Chicago Bears (1-1) – After a disappointing opener, the Bears bounced back to win at San Francisco in a primetime matchup. Brandon Marshall caught three TD’s, so he gets the game ball.

13. (20) Baltimore Ravens (1-1) – They completely owned their archrivals on Thursday night. The game was also marked by the re-coming out party of Steve Smith.

14. (23) Houston Texans (2-0) – They play solid defense and they run the ball effectively. That’s why they are 2-0 right now.

15. (9) Detroit Lions (1-1) – Struggled mightily against the mighty Panthers defense. They needed a little better balance, even though I own Stafford in fantasy.

16. (6) Atlanta Falcons (1-1) – After announcing their return to greatness in Week 1, they fizzled badly this week. Is it too much to ask for consistency?

17. (13) Indianapolis Colts (0-2) – Two heartbreaking losses to two good teams. People said they’d start slow based on their schedule, but nobody thought they’d be trailing Houston by two games already either.

18. (24) Dallas Cowboys (1-1) – Demarco Murray should be the new “beast mode” as he is hammering defenses right now. Sunday was no different.

19. (28) Washington Redskins (1-1) – The bad news is that RG3 got injured badly… But the good news is that RG3 got injured badly. Why? Cousins is the man!

20. (7) New Orleans Saints (0-2) – Bad loss to Cleveland. Worse was losing Ingram who was actually producing.

21. (15) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) – Getting blown out in a primetime game against the Ravens is the worst fear of all Steelers fans. And it happened last week…

22. (14) Miami Dolphins (1-1) – As good as they were last week, they were equally bad this week.

23. (19) New York Jets (1-1) – Geno looked great early on, but the team got conservative and gave up the lead. Not great from Geno or the coach on that one.

24. (25) Cleveland Browns (1-1) – Only one spot after beating the Saints? Yep, it was a fluke.

25. (30) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) – The running game looked solid, even without Doug Martin. So should Martin stay out?

26. (21) Tennessee Titans (1-1) – Where did Justin Hunter go after the preseason?

27. (22) Minnesota Vikings (1-1) – Ok, that was bad. Bridgewater time?

28. (26) Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) – Charles better be healthy, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

29. (27) Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) – After Hurn dropped a sure TD pass early in the game, Jacksonville didn’t threat much after.

30. (29) St. Louis Rams (0-2) – Bet they wish they had a better QB now…

31. (31) Oakland Raiders (0-2) – Got to be frustrated as a fan right now.

32. (32) New York Giants (0-2) – This time it was Arizona doing the whooping!

By: The Sports Guys