Top 3 for Week 2

Week 2 can be the week that determine how well of a start do teams get off. 16 teams are 1-0, a 75% chance at making the playoffs. 16 teams are 0-1, a 25% chance at making the playoffs. Since 1990, 12 of the 16 teams that start off 1-0 will go to the playoffs while 4 of the 16 teams that start 0-1 will recover and make the playoffs.

1. Bears at Packers: Well the Bears are 1-0 and Packers are 0-1. This is a huge Thursday Night game at Lambeau and this could very well be a huge division win or lost for these teams. The Bears are trying to take a 2-game lead (2 1/2 because of winning one of the two regular season meetings) and for the Packers, being in 4th place in the NFC North wasn't in their plans this season.
2. Lions at 49ers: For the 49ers, last week's game at Lambeau could be the game that puts the NFL on notice: THIS TEAM IS FOR REAL. Dominating defensive performance against the Packers could set this team up for home-field in January. As for the Lions, a very dismal game against the Rams, are looking to show the world that they are not the Detroit Lions of old. Being that this is a Sunday Night Game, what other way to get the world to know your name by beating the 49ers at home after they came off of a dominating win at Lambeau. 
3. Saints at Panthers: For two teams that we're thought to be 1-2 in the NFC South, one of these teams could be last by the end of day on Sunday. With Falcons looking pretty dominate and the Bucs seem to have found their old-school defense, the Saints and Panthers could be in for a uphill battle if they lose. Cam Newton is looking to shake off his performance in Tampa with a performance similar to what newcomer RGIII did to this Saints D last week.

2012 NFC North Preview

NFC North

Review are in order of final standings in 2011

1. Packers (15-1): - The Packers did everything almost perfect, winning at will and dominating all opponents they've faced. Well all except one. Lately, when it comes to playoff football, Lambeau Field and Giants: The Packers don't fare so well. Eli's Giants nipped the Packers again in the playoffs and the Packers great season came to an end just like that. Well the question on this team is can the Packers continue their dominate ways as they did last season?
2. Lions (10-6): - Well for Detroit, this is the first time since 1999 they had a winning record and they could play in the playoffs like its 1999. Well yea, the Lions have come a long way from the 0-16 season that plagued them a few seasons ago. Now with a young, talented and dominating core of players, the next step is to win the division and have a home playoff game for the first time in 20 years. Can the Lions repeat their winning season again and contend for the NFC North title in 2012?
3. Bears (8-8): - Well if the NFL had a 10-game schedule, the Bears would have made the playoffs last season. However, they would not do much after that, considering that they lost QB Jay Cutler and RB Matt Forte in the final stretch of the season. 7-3 was the Bears record when Cutler went down and a week later Forte got hurt and the Bears season went with them. The Bears would of have a team that could of made such a playoff run as did the Giants did last year, had they stayed healthy with their star players. The Bears in the off-season gave Cutler a some brand new toys the play with in that offense, including a toy he once had in Denver: WR Brandon Marshall, who should be a huge upgrade for him. Question for the Bears would be: Will this be the year that Cutler finally take the Bears back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 6 years?
4. Vikings (3-13): - The Vikings could look at 2011 with the first 3 games of the season. After having double digit leads in those games going into or in the 4th quarter, the Vikings lost all 3 games and thus lost their 2011 season. Injuries and ineffectiveness helped paved the way for QB Christian Ponder to take over the helm of this team. Well then as the season of hell continue, it got even worse at the end of the season: RB Adrian Peterson blows out his knee the second to the last game of the season. Vikings are at the process of rebuilding, but this rebuild project have been put on hold over the last few years until this season. They must spend this season seeing if the young players they've drafted over the last few years can mesh and produce wins....not give them away. So the main questions for the Vikings is: Will AP be the same RB he was before the knee injury? Will Ponder be able to take the next step to lead this Vikings team to a championship someday? 

2012 NFC North Champion: Chicago Bears

CHI: (11-5)
GB: (10-6)
DET: (9-7)
MIN: (8-8)

Recap: NFC Wild Card - Lions vs Saints

Lions 28, Saints 45

Recapping my 4 Downs for the Lions/Saints game:

• 1st Down: Can Stafford keep up with Brees? Depends on which half were you watching. If you saw the 1st half, then you would say yes he can. But games are won in the 2nd half and Brees just out played the younger Stafford when it counted. Brees finished throwing for 33/43 for 466 and 3 TD's while his counterpart Stafford threw for 28/43 for 380, 3 TDs and 2 INT's. Advantage: Brees
• 2nd Down: Big Plays for the Defense: Which defense made the big plays in the game? Well this is the game in a nutshell: 2 Turnovers for the Lions which resulted in 0 points. 2 Turnovers for the Saints in which resulted in 14 points. Advantage: Saints
• 3rd Down: Containing Calvin Johnson: Well lets see Johnson's numbers:  12 catches for 211 yards and 2 TD's. Advantage: Megatron
• 4th Down: Lions D-Line vs Saints O-Line: 2 sacks and 2 fumbles in which if it wasn't for an inadvertent whistle, the Lions D-line would of scored a TD. Huge difference in the game. However the Saints O-line was able to create holes for the Saints RB's , which accounted for 3 TD's. Advantage: Saints O-line

What's Next: Saints will travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers for a showdown of former NFC West rivals.

4 Downs - NFC Wild Card: Lions vs Saints

Lions (10-6) vs Saints (13-3)

• 1st Down: Can Stafford keep up with Brees - Stafford will make his first start in the playoffs in this career, while Brees is wanting to come off of a huge disappointment from last season's wild card game in Seattle. These two faced off about a month ago in New Orleans with Stafford out playing Brees, statistically, but wasn't able to win the game. These two QB's can make each defense have a long night if their hot.
• 2nd Down: Which Defense will make the BIG play that turns this game around for their team - With both QB's capable of putting up 300+ yards against these defense, they can be in for a long night. However, if one of these defense can force one of these QB's into mistakes, this could be a spark for their team.
• 3rd Down: Can the Saints contain Calvin Johnson - This could be key for the Saints if they are able to contain and control Johnson. For the Lions, if Johnson has one of his big games, this could bode well for the Lions in their quest for an upset.
• 4th Down: Lions D-Line vs Saints O-Line - A month ago, Suh didn't not play in this game because of his 2-game suspension. If the Lions D-line can cause problems with the Saints O-line, Brees timing could be off which will play a huge advantage for the Lions. But if the Lions D-line can't pressure Brees and help out their secondary, then Brees and the Saints will have a field-day.

Confidence Pick: Saints

• QB: Stafford (5) vs Brees (2)
• Defense: Lions (5) vs Saints (6)
• Overall Team: Lions (5) vs Saints (1)
• Lions (15) vs Saints (9)

My Pick: Lions 24 vs Saints 34

Wild Card Confidence Picks

This year I'll be doing confidence picks for the NFL Playoffs. This will help out with my predictions in who will win or at least what kind of game it will turn out to be. I am using the Mike and Mike format, when picking the confidence number. This format is simple: I'll use 3 categories (Overall Team, Quarterback, and Defense) and then I'll rank those categories by using the numbers 1-8 (1 being the most confident and 8 being the least confident). Of those 3 categories, I'll combine the total and get the confidence number. Remember, the lower the number wins for each game.

Quarterbacks:
1. Roethlisberger
2. Brees
3. Manning
4. Ryan
5. Stafford
6. Yates
7. Dalton
8. Tebow

Defense:
1. Steelers
2. Texans
3. Giants
4. Bengals
5. Lions
6. Saints
7. Broncos
8. Falcons

Overall Team:
1. Saints
2. Steelers
3. Texans
4. Falcons
5. Lions
6. Giants
7. Bengals
8. Broncos


Bengals (18) at Texans (11)

Lions (15) at Saints (9)

Falcons (16) at Giants (12)

Steelers (4) at Broncos (23)

Results of the confidence pick shows that the Texans, Saints, Giants and Steelers will win over the weekend. I actually agree with the confidence picks, although I believe that the Bengals have a great opportunity to steal a game in Houston.

Turkey Day Football Games Recap

Well had a good time with family and friends yesterday. Three football games, upset stomach, and a headache later.....I am here to give a recap on the football games from Thanksgiving.

First game was the Packers vs. Lions and this game was noted more for what one player did than the whole grand scheme of the Packers winning again going 11-0 for the season. Ndamukong Suh was ejected from the game in the 3rd Quarter after an act for which I'll say is just plain "stupid", this changed the game. The Packers just got stopped on a key 3rd & Goal and should have been kicking a FG to make it 10-0, until that incident. The Packers got the ball on the 2 and scored a few plays later. From that time on, Stafford throw a few INT's and the Packers scored on those mistakes and before you knew it was 24-0 and the game was essentially over.


Second Game featured the Dolphins vs Cowboys and this game, the Dolphins effort wasn't question this time around. Matt Moore played well against Tony Romo, whom despite two 1st quarter INT's, lead the Cowboys on a few good scoring plays of his own. This game came down to a last-second FG, and no it's wasn't snowing this Thanksgiving for all of you Leon Lett fans, but Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey nailed the game-winning kick in a 20-19 victory for the streaking Cowboys.


Third and final game was between the 49ers vs Ravens, the headline of this game was the Harbaugh family, bothers Jim and John Harbaugh teams faced off against one another in a possible Super Bowl preview. This game was just a defensive battle. The Raven's defense sacked Alex Smith not 1, not 2, not 3 (okay I'll kill the Lebron James reference) but 9 times. Joe Flacco threw the only TD of this game as the Ravens won 16-6.