Joe's 2010 NFL Season Preview: AFC South posted by Joe Anello

With the Hall of Fame game being played this past weekend, the 2010-2011 NFL season is on the horizon. With teams in training camp and rosters being formed, I'll take you around the league in the coming weeks to preview each division. This week we start with the AFC South, a division dominated by the Indianapolis Colts. Will their run continue this year or will someone else take the division title? We'll go in order from worst to first from last year's season standings. Let's get it on!

Jacksonville Jaguars

Last year the Jags were plagued by injuries to their offensive line and inconsistency from the skill positions. Maurice Jones-Drew is still a talented running back in this league, but I'm not sold that his production will match the near-1400 yards and 15 touchdowns from last year. Torry Holt, Jacksonville's second-leading receiver last season, has departed for New England, leaving Mike Sims-Walker as the only wide-out of note on the roster. (Don't even mention Troy Williamson. He's a bust until otherwise noted.) Tight ends Marcedes Lewis and Zach Miller will be integral to David Garrard's success this season, particularly in the red zone. With only 15 TD's and 10 interceptions last season, Garrard needs to step up this year if he's to keep his job. Head Coach Jack Del Rio is on the hot seat too.

As it is every year, the Jaguars spent another first round pick on a defensive lineman, this year taking DT Tyson Alualu. Paired with last year's first-round DE Derrick Harvey, the Jaguars need to see pressure on the opposing QB this season. Their 27th ranked pass defense only netted 14 sacks and 15 interceptions, paltry totals to be sure. Since the offense won't put up more than 20 points a game, the defense can't afford to struggle again... but they probably will.

A Block of Alge posted by Randolph Charlotin

With a gaping hole at tight end, the Patriots decided not to wait until the draft to begin addressing the problem. They signed four-time Pro Bowler Alge Crumpler from Tennessee.

Unfortunately this is a signing that sounds better than it actually is. The 32-year-old Crumpler is three years from his last Pro Bowl season in 2006. Since then his receiving yards have steadily dropped year after year. Today Crumpler is a blocking TE with receiving skills well beyond the average blocking tight end.

Crumpler takes the role of Chris Baker last year. Crumpler is a better receiver than Baker, but he won’t get many opportunities to catch passes if Baker’s 14 receptions last year is a reliable predictor.

Crumpler likely will see the ball more, but he isn’t the threat he used to be. New England still needs a receiving tight end following Ben Watson’s departure. That might come from the draft.

This draft has good depth at the TE position. My personal favorite, Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham, could still be available early in the second round. If the Pats address a different need, I like Florida’s Aaron Hernandez as a possibility later in the second round.

Heisman Winners Who Couldn't Hack The NFL posted by Colin Linneweber

The 2009 Heisman Trophy will be awarded to the most outstanding NCAA college football player by the Downtown Athletic Club at an annual ceremony at the Nokia Theatre in New York City on December 12. 

In recognition of college football’s greatest individual accolade, I decided to rank the five Heisman winners who ultimately had the smallest impact playing in the National Football League (NFL) over the course of the past 25 years.  

1)      Jason White- White, 29, won the Heisman Trophy in 2003 as a quarterback for the University of Oklahoma Sooners. 

White finished his collegiate career as the Sooners all-time leader in passing yards (8,012) and touchdown passes (81). 

Despite his stellar achievements in Norman, White garnered very little interest from the professional ranks and he was not selected in the 2005 NFL Draft.  

To compound the frustration of not being selected, White was further disrespected when he was not even invited to tryout for any NFL squad after he was snubbed in the draft. 

The Tennessee Titans eventually threw White a bone and signed the former Sooners superstar as an undrafted free agent before the start of the 2005 season. 

White’s stint as a Tennessean was extremely brief and he prudently decided to quit football altogether because of his balky knees.  

2)      Gino Torretta- Torretta, 39, was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 1992 because of his stellar play at the quarterback position for the University of Miami Hurricanes. 

Joe's Final Drive: Week 6 posted by Joe Anello

In a crazy week six in the NFL, we saw both New York teams fall, one squad completely give up, and three teams continue their undefeated ways. The Final Drive of week six starts right now! 

(3-3) Houston Texans 28
(4-2) Cincinnati Bengals 17 

Every once in a while, Houston goes ballistic and puts up mega-points. Matt Schaub once again proves he’s a fantastic fantasy QB… five games a season. The Bengals aren’t an elite team, so you had to expect a letdown eventually after winning four straight. Now they dropped back with Pittsburgh, who are also 4-2, but technically behind since the Bengals beat them head-to-head.  

(6-0) Minnesota Vikings 33
(3-3) Baltimore Ravens 31 

Why won’t anyone beat the Vikings?! Steven Hauschka’s missed 44-yard field goal keeps the legend of Brett Favre in Minnesota going strong for another week. Who thought that the Baltimore defense would be the team’s weakness this season? They don’t deserve to be called “good” with the amount of points they’re allowing. Take that Ray Lewis.

(5-0) New Orleans Saints 48
(5-1) New York Giants 27 

What was supposed to be the best game of the weekend was over by halftime. Drew Brees let loose with another four TD’s as the Saints pwned the Giants in Louisiana. But the football sky isn’t falling in New York… at least not for Giants fans. 

Pick Six: Week Six posted by Randolph Charlotin

That was not nice. I was starting to feel sorry for the Titans. That kind of beating you only wish for your worst enemies (New York Jets) or someone you have a vendetta against (Denver Broncos for that OT loss).

Not that it was all merciless. Tennessee was their worst enemy. Sometimes you can’t help it when you’re given chance after chance to bury the opponent.

1. Way to bounce back, Tom Brady. He tied a personal record with six touchdown passes, five of them in the second quarter. The last time a player had five TDs passes in a quarter was 1950. I’m not ready to say Brady is back, but it was a great day to fine tune his game.

2. They grow up so quick. OT Sebastian Volmner and CB Darius Butler got their first starts of their careers. Butler made the best of it, coming away with his first interception.

3. Another rookie that got his first taste of the pro life was QB Brian Hoyer. He led a touchdown drive that ended with his first career rush touchdown.

4. The 12th player award goes to…Mother Nature. Clearly Tennessee couldn’t handle the cold. Six fumbles (three for turnovers) and countless dropped balls…the Titans missed the mild weather.

5. That’s one way to handle the red zone problems. Five touchdown plays of 28 yards or longer. And when they reached the red zone, the Patriots came away with three touchdowns and a field goal.

6. The 59 points broke the franchise record set in 2007. To do so, the Pats scored on nine consecutive offensive drives.

Hours Before Kickoff: Week 6 posted by Randolph Charlotin

I’m not buyin’ it. Tennessee is 0-5, but they are the best 0-5 team in the NFL. Usually that’s a tongue-in-cheek jab at a bad team, but I mean it this time. I wasn’t a true believer in Tennessee’s 13-3 record last year, but I’m positive they are not as bad as 0-5.

The Titans have been decimated by injuries. What was the best secondary in football last year with Pro Bowlers CB Cortland Finnegan and S Chris Hope is being held together with tape.

Finnegan is out, which means both starting corners won’t play as Nick Harper is sidelined with a broken arm. That’s just the start of the injury problems as six other defenders have a 50 percent or less chance of playing. The list includes S Michael Griffin who is questionable with a neck injury. The secondary could be very ripe for the picking if all three are out.

Until the losses to Jacksonville and Indianapolis, Tennessee lost three games by a combined 13 points. That includes an overtime loss to defending Champion Pittsburgh and a seven-point loss to the AFC East-leading New York Jets.

Kerry Collins doesn’t have a lot of tread left on his tires, but he has enough to spread the ball around to his group of tall receivers. That will be a challenge within itself as Nate Washington, Justin Gage, and Kenny Britt are all 6-1 or taller.

Say what you want about the Titans record, but you know what you’re gonna get from a Jeff Fisher-coached team. They will run the ball down you throat with RBs Chris Johnson and the slimmed down LenDale White. The defense will be physical, relentless, and opportunistic. LB Keith Bullock is still one of the league’s underrated defenders. And even without DT Albert Haynesworth, the rotation at the position is difficult to handle with Tony Brown and Jovan Haye. Jason Jones, the interior pass rusher, is questionable.

Late Night Rant posted by Charles Bisbee

Its recently been brought to my attention that, over the past couple of weeks or so, my readership has doubled in volume, from 2 to 4. Thanks to these good natured and sympathetic followers, I’m left to wrestle with a serious question: Do I quit while on top (never had I anticipated the blog becoming this great a success), or do I continue to dribble out these “bi-weekly” blunderbusses, even though there is likely nowhere to go from here but down?

I’ll continue…

Lets see… The Red Sox lost. It was a rough series. I was in San Francisco, missed most of it. Jonathan Papelbon is a turkey, Daniel Bard is the second coming of Rod Beck (‘90s Rod Beck, minus the mullet and a metric ton, give or take). Lets can Pap, keep Bard and save everyone from another year of Pap’s guido shenanigans…. The Celtics won a pre-season game against Toronto the other night and Tommy Heinsohn almost invited an unknown rookie named Lester Hudson to the altar. Should be another interesting season for the C’s, provided Tommy is allowed to pursue his increasingly befuddling tangents, wherever they may take him… I’m mildly afraid for the Patriots this week. The Titans are not a 0-5 team, regardless of what their record might indicate. This is the exact same team (minus Albert “Stomp-On-Your-Face” Haynesworth) that went 10-0 to begin the season last year. And they have Jeff Fisher patrolling the sidelines, who, aside from looking like a 70’s highway cop, also happens to be a damn fine coach.   

Welcome to Fantasy Land! posted by Amari Harris

Good morning fantasy friends!

Today is Saturday September 26, 2009 so you have a little more than 24 hours to get your fantasy act together or you may end up with that crucial week 3 L.  

It has been a very interesting week in fantasy land for me.  Lots of wheeling and dealing, some unfortunate attempts at cheating and a hazy injury to Marion the Barbarian.  Let’s begin with this “cheating” situation:

So, I am in a random NFL.com fantasy football league. We’ll call it the “Bush League” which is a very appropriate title for so many reasons.  One great fantasy insight that I’ve picked up this year is setting up my fantasy alerts.  (In most leagues you can set up regular e-mail alerts that notify you of a player’s status, league transactions, starting line-ups, trades, etc).  These alerts are very useful because it allows me to check on important league activity without having to log into the site every five minutes.  My fantasy alerts proved to be very useful this week. 

You can imagine my surprise when I received notification of a pending trade involving “Bush team 1” and “Bush team 2”.  (Although I have aliased the names of these two teams for confidentiality and competitive purposes everyone should know that the real names of these two teams were very similar which raised a red flag in my head from the beginning, but I digress.)  My notification revealed to me that there was a pending trade that would send Chris Johnson and Andre Johnson from Bush team 1 to Bush team 2 for Joseph Addai and Michael Jenkins.  Now to the average person this is no big deal because the players play the same position and 2 equals 2.  But to “fantasy landers” this is sheer blasphemy.  Consider the fact that Chris Johnson scored 3 touchdowns last week of 50 yards or more and amassed

Cards Continue September Tear and Recent Sports Oddities posted by Ryan Turner

The Cardinals continued their dominance of the National League Central this week, going 5-1 on a road trip with a blown save on Sunday, meaning it could've been a 6-0 trip. Last night the Cards got a boost from John Smoltz who was rocky early, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but he stuck with it and shut out the Brewers over the next three innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The Brewers had their chances for a knock out blow, but they couldn't capitalize, just as the Cards couldn't do so with runners in scoring position. When a team goes 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and can still grind out a win, that's the make of a championship caliber team. Even when they don't play that well, they win.

Today, the Cards played much better as Adam Wainwright was back to his normal self after only going five innings in his last start. He went seven scoreless innings today, while striking out six, and also helped himself by doubling and scoring a run. Albert Pujols has officially entered beast mode, as he jacked two more homers today, including the first of his career against former teammate Jeff Suppan. Over his last 14 games, he's batting .460 with seven home runs, six doubles, 17 RBI, 10 walks, and a 1.000 slugging percentage in 50 at-bats. He now has 47 home runs for the season, just two shy of his career high of 49 and he now has three and a half weeks left to pass that mark. The guy is unbelievable. As for his partner in crime, Matt Holliday, he left the game today after stumbling across first base on a ground out with what the team is calling a bruised knee. He had a minor injury a few weeks ago and it didn't phase him, so even though I cringe every time I see him or Chris Carpenter stumble, I'm not worried about this particular injury.

Big 10 Network posted by Chad

I have a love/hate relationship with the Big 10 Network.  You see, I am from Wisconsin, land of cheese, cows, brats, burgers and Big 10 Sports.  The weather, the game atmosphere, the rivalries, the fans, and the ugly fights in the trenches appeal to me.  So, naturally the Big 10 previews, the classic games, and the live games are amazing to me.  Look, I hate Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio State; I mean really hate.. yet, here I tun in and watch Iowa beat LSU on a hail mary, Michigan vs. Ohio State, Ohio State's improbable win over Miami.  Why?  I think they are clearly great games; I know the players, the tradition, and the result.  I laugh to myself watching Jeff George sling the rock, ol Jess Settles battling in the paint, and seeing Desmond Howard strike the pose.  Just classic.
Yet, the channel recently crushed me.  Single handily.  I was on top of the world, and the next thing I know I was Brandon Marshall/Jay Cutler.  Laying over in the corner, crying.  Sobbing uncontrollably.  It was a beautiful Saturday; I had gone to the Farmer's Market to help out the locals.  A great cause.  Upon returning to the car, I had a voicemail from my dad; the classic battle of titans on the Big Ten Network.  No, not Indiana vs. Northwestern.. #5 Purduh vs. #12 Wisconsin at Ross-Ade Stadium.  A colossal showdown, Purduh hyped it up as "When Mega-Powers Collide"  Sound familiar?  Yeah, that's because they stole it from Savage vs. Hogan (true megapowers).  Allegedly, this was bigger, West Lafayette, a city of intense cabby drivers, one of the best food joints in the Midwest, and a typically mid-level football team was on top of the world.  Kyle Orton was doing his best Jeff George impression and the defense appeared as tough as nails.  The city was full of big talk and Rose Bowl aspirations.

Titans gain optimism from defense (AP)

Vince Young was sacked four times in two quarters, All Pro Chris Johnson found himself stymied and left tackle Michael Roos banged his right knee in an ugly preseason loss. At least the Tennessee Titans can console themselves with how well the defense played. A unit so woeful in 2009 giving up an average of 25.1 points per game was the only bright spot in the Titans' 15-7 loss at Carolina on... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Titans rookie RB Blount punches teammate (AP)

This punch won't be so costly for LeGarrette Blount. The rookie running back capped off a feisty night practice for the Tennessee Titans with a short punch to the helmet of defensive end Eric Bakhtiari a few moments after having his own helmet ripped off for the second time in as many plays. Blount had just returned to the Titans on Wednesday night after being excused since Sunday for personal... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Titans RB Blount punches teammate (AP)

This punch won't be so costly for LeGarrette Blount. The rookie running back capped off a feisty night practice for the Tennessee Titans with a short punch to the helmet of defensive end Eric Bakhtiari a few moments after having his own helmet ripped off for the second time in as many plays. Blount had just returned to the Titans on Wednesday night after being excused since Sunday for personal... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Titans release injured rookie RB Johnson (AP)

The Tennessee Titans have waived injured rookie running back Stafon Johnson, the former Southern California standout whose college career was ended by a weightlifting accident that crushed his neck. Johnson dislocated his right ankle and broke his fibula Saturday night in the Titans' 20-18 loss at Seattle. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Titans RB Johnson dislocates ankle

Hard-luck rookie running back Stafon Johnson dislocated hisright ankle during the Tennessee Titans' 20-18 loss to the SeattleSeahawks in their preseason opener Saturday night. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL