Category: NFL

NFL Week 2 Predictions

Seattle Seahawks (1-0) @ New England Patriots (1-0)

A rematch of one of the greatest Super Bowls in NFL history…

Sorry, I’m just trying to remember the glory days of being a Pats fan. In the present, the Seahawks are missing their starting RB Kenneth Walker and starting RT George Fant. This should hurt their physicality in a game where they will need it. I expect this to be a low scoring, smash mouth football game because that’s how the Pats like to play. I think the Seahawks will still pull out a win, the Pats will cover (+3.5), and the under (38.5) hits.

Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) @ Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)

One of the best rivalries in football right now gets back underway. It’s as contentious as ever with Ja’Marr Chase saying Cincy is the team to beat in the AFC and another Bengals player saying all Xavier Worthy can do is run fast in a straight line. Joe Burrow is 3-1 vs Mahomes in his career, so it’s understandable why the Bengals feel good, but these comments will only fire up the Chiefs more.

Both teams are likely missing their number 2 WRs, but this should still be an exciting game like it usually is. I think the Bengals will be a great team by the end of the year, but they always get off to slow starts and Burrow is still healing and getting back into the swing of things. The Chiefs will win, cover (+6), and the under (48) will hit.

In Defense of Haason Reddick

The Hasson Reddick situation is a weird one. Like many players before him, he wanted a new contract before the last year of his current one. The Eagles decided to trade him to the Jets for a conditional 3rd rounder at the end of March instead of paying him. What’s unusual is that the Jets have still not agreed to a contract extension with him, despite giving up assets to get him. In fact, FOX NFL reporter Jordan Schultz said that the Jets have not talked to him since his introductory press conference. SIX MONTHS OF NOT TALKING!?! Only the Jets could pull of something like that.

I am normally in favor of a player not holding out. However, in this case I see where Reddick is coming from. He is an elite edge rusher and has the 4th most sacks in the NFL since 2020. Edge rusher is one of the most valuable positions in the sport and elite edge rushers get massive deals. Haason Reddick has not gotten one of those massive deals yet, despite playing so well the past 4 years. In his career, he has made just over $50 million. That’s obviously a ton of money. However, the best pass rushers in the league are making over $30 million per year and getting over $100 million guaranteed at signing. I’m not saying Reddick will get that kind of money, but he can reasonably expect to get a deal around 3 years for $60 million total and $40 million guaranteed. That would almost double his career earnings. Furthermore, this is probably the last big contract he will ever have the chance to sign since he turns 30 this month. That means it’s now or never for him.

Playing such a sought after position, the fact that the Jets traded a high draft pick for him, and the fact that the Jets are vying for a playoff spot gives him leverage. The Jets eventually either have to pay him or trade him to another team that will so they can recuperate their losses. If he plays, he could lose all that leverage by getting hurt or having a down year, which would likely ensure that he never gets the massive deal he could get now. So, while its a weird situation, I get why he’s doing what he’s doing.

And a little piece of advice to the Jets: If you’re going to trade a high draft pick for a player who you KNOW wants a new contract, try to have a deal in place BEFORE you trade for him OR be willing to pay him what he wants. The Eagles let the Jets negotiate with Reddick before they traded for him. Even though they couldn’t come to an agreement, they STILL traded for him. And then after all that, it’s not like they have been in back and forth negotiations all offseason. Instead, they haven’t talked to him in SIX MONTHS and now find themselves in an embarrassing situation that looks bleak for them.

Will the the Jets will ever learn from their mistakes and cease to be one of the worst franchises in all of sports? As a Pats fan, I certainly hope not and as someone with a brain, I’m willing to bet they never will.

J-E-T-S JETS GONNA JETS.

Robert Kraft and the Hall of Fame

Most fans can agree that Robert Kraft deserves a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame. He is one of the greatest owners of all time, oversaw the best dynasty in the sport’s history, and has been a massive help in the NFL’s growth, their TV deals, and ending the 2011 lockout. However, he continues to be denied a spot. Why is that?

First off, owners take a while to get in. Even though they run the league, this is the reality they all face. Since 2000, five owners have gotten in the Hall of Fame and have waited an average of just over 35 years between taking control of their franchise and getting enshrined. The honored owners were, Dan Rooney of the Steelers (25 years), Ralph Wilson of the Bills (49 years), Eddie DeBartolo of the 49ers (39 years), Jerry Jones of the Cowboys (28 years), and Pat Bowlen of the Broncos (35 years). Kraft became owner of the Pats 30 years ago, so he’s by no means had to wait longer than usual to be inducted.

Another reason Kraft hasn’t been inducted yet is that, until this year, coaches and owners were grouped together in the “coaches and contributors” category. Usually only one or 2 people from this group get enshrined each year and coaches tended to get in over owners. Now, owners will be considered separate from coaches, which will help Kraft out.

The next piece has to do with human psychology. Reports are that for over a decade Kraft has lobbied hard behind the scenes, having people close to him tell voters that Kraft needs to be put into the Hall of Fame. This is naturally going to irk voters who don’t want to be told what to do. These people all know football and it likely annoys them when someone consistently asks to be voted for because they think they are so deserving. This may have led some voters to reject Kraft, as they don’t want to feel like they’re giving in to what they perceive as whining or being told how to vote.

Also, there are reports that Kraft used The Dynasty docuseries to basically be an advertisement for his Hall of Fame candidacy. According to ESPN, Kraft owns the docuseries and sought editorial control of it. If that’s the case, to voters this looks like an embarrassing plea that isn’t going to convince them. It also looks even worse because Kraft has denied he had any involvement and said he was disappointed with the film. The only thing worse than making a documentary like that, would be to then deny your involvement and say it wasn’t good. There is a lot of he said, she said, but regardless, it isn’t a great look for Kraft.

Another reason for Kraft’s current omission from the Hall is that when you think of the Patriots dynasty, you think of Brady and Belichick before anyone else, and rightly so. They were a lethal combo of a superstar quaterback and genius head coach. When you watched the Patriots march through the playoffs year after year, it was Brady and Belichick who were talked about the most since the QB and coach are always right in the thick of things. Kraft definitely deserves credit, but no owner is going to outshine their star QB and head coach. When we look back on the Chiefs dynasty, no one will mention Clark Hunt over Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

Lastly, I think it’s fair to say that some voters are jealous of the success the Patriots had and are salty because they consider the Pats to be cheaters. They see this as an opportunity to “get back” at the Pats, because Kraft is the one central member of the team they can get away with doing it to. Brady is guaranteed to be a first ballot Hall of Famer, because if he wasn’t, then it would completely delegitimize the prestige of the NFL Hall of Fame. Even Belichick, who is the least likable of the three, really has to get in first ballot. He is widely known as a football genuis and the greatest coach of all time. He has more Super Bowls than any other head coach and was the coach and architect of the greatest dynasty in the NFL’s history. Not putting him in right away, or damn near close to that, would just make the voters look petty and once again, delegitimize the prestige of the Hall of Fame.

I think Kraft is the greatest owner in NFL history and will soon get into the Hall of Fame. He just needs to stop trying so hard.

Bill Belichick Biography Review

For anyone interested in learning more about Bill, I highly recommend Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time by Ian O’Connor.

It gives an in depth look at the upbringing of Belichick as a kid, college student, and his early coaching days. The books takes you through his high and lows and helps you get a better understanding of why Belichick was the way he was. It is unbiased and neither attacks nor hypes up Bill. As a Pats fan, I absolutely loved it, but I think any football fan would enjoy it.

2024 NFL Week 1 Reaction

Baltimore Ravens (0-1) @ Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)

The exact type of opening game you wanted to see. The game set an NFL kickoff game record with 28.9 million viewers.

Lamar Jackson falls to 1-5 vs Mahomes despite being 60-19 against the rest of the league. He and the Ravens need to solve their Chiefs problem. In terms of optimism for the Ravens, Lamar plus Derrick Henry should be a problem for other teams, especially as the year goes on. I love the 2 TE set the Ravens are using. Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely are both so talented that this formation will be lethal for their running and passing games.

The Chiefs look scary. Last year in their opening game, and for much of the season, they looked lethargic offensively and still won the Super Bowl. This year, their explosiveness is back. Rashee Rice continues to get better and develop into their WR1, Isaiah Worthy looks like he could be the next Tyreek Hill with his track star speed, Travis Kelce is gonna be Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco continues to get better, and Marquise Brown is going to come back from injury. I’m sure all the sports media will say that the Chiefs three-peating is a given for the next week and a half. One word of caution is that Brady’s Patriots teams that won the Super Bowl were often the ones who were “boring” like last years Chiefs. Those boring teams fared better than his ones with explosive offenses, so nothing is guaranteed.

Stats of the game: Mahomes became the Chiefs all-time leading passer this game at just 28 years old. Jackson moved to third all-time on the QB rushing list and could break Michael Vick’s record this year.

The league is sending a message with the illegal formation calls. It’s annoying right now but teams will learn and it will make the game better.

Green Bay Packers (0-1) vs Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) (In Brazil)

The playing surface was very slippery. That plus first game rust led to a sloppy game.

Saquon was on full display. It was a reminder that when he is on, he is one of the best RBs in the league. Him plus a great offensive line, two star WRs, and Jalen Hurts gives the Eagles an offense that can go toe to toe with any other in the league. Jahan Dotson and Dallas Goedert are good compliments too.

Jayden Reed looked electric for the Packers. They have so many good young players that it might be hard to keep them all happy and develop them like they want to. Their biggest current concern is Jordan Love. He sprained his MCL and should be back in a couple weeks. The Pack need to keep it together during his absence.

New England Patriots (1-0) @ Cincinnati Bengals (0-1)

An absolute shocker of a game. The Pats defense absolutely stifled the Bengals and they had no momentum or fire as a team whatsoever. For the Pats, I don’t think wins like this are sustainable because the defense completely carried and the offense was not very good. Still nice to get a W though.

For the Bengals, this is concerning. It’s one thing to lose and its another thing to lose and have the team not look like it gives a fuck. They had a loud offseason and have let the Ja’Marr Chase drama spill into the season. They are 1-5 in Week 1 the past six years, so this is familiar territory. They normally start slow and build momentum, but they need to sign Chase and have some passion as a team.

The one bright spot for the Bengals was that their rookie punter, Ryan Rehkow, had the best game by a punter I have ever seen. He had 4 punts and his AVERAGE punt went 64.5 yards (an NFL single-game record), including an 80 yard punt. The first and, probably, last time we hype up a punter on this blog.

New York Jets (0-1) @ San Francisco 49er (1-0)

The 49ers look motivated to get back to the Super Bowl. They went out and dominated the Jets without their best player Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey missing the game is probably good long term, as now the Niners know Jordan Mason (147 yds rushing), can help take some of the burden off McCaffrey. The one area they needed to be better was finishing drives, as Jake Moody made 6 field goals last night.

Rodgers and the Jets looked rusty last night. They clearly have the talent, but they need to mesh. Realistically, this was the first full regular season game they have played with Rodgers, so some kinks need to be worked out.

Game/Betting Picks Results

Game: 2-2 (2-2 This Season) (40-18 All-Time)

Spread: 2-2 (2-2) (41-16-1)

O/U: 3-1 (3-1) (32-25-1)

Patriots Season Preview

The Patriots are currently at the beginning of a full on rebuild so expectations are low. Hopefully last year was rock bottom and we see improvement this year. The biggest thing we need to see is improvement offensively. I don’t know how much Drake Maye will play, but we obviously want him to look good if he does. I think Maye will start playing around the mid season mark so the Pats can see what they have in him. The young wide receivers and offensive lineman we have ideally get experience and develop a lot this year too. The offense will likely start slow but gain momentum as the season goes on.

The defense has been a strength so we want them to keep playing well. Expect a great season from Christian Gonzalez who played well before a season ending injury last year. It will also be interesting to see if anyone can replace Matthew Judon as a premier pass rusher. The Pats defense should be at worst average and will be the strength of the team.

Finally, we want to see that Jerrod Mayo can coach. He is replacing the greatest coach of all time so it doesn’t get harder than that. As a part of the dynasty as a player, he knows what it takes to win here so I have belief that he can have a similar positive impact that DeMeco Ryans had on the Texans last year.

I think the Patriots go 6-11 and finish last in their division. In addition to rebuilding, they have the hardest schedule in the NFL, so they get no break whatsoever. This should net them a top 10 draft pick and allow them to get another great young player to help build their team up. This year might be tough at times, but unlike last year we should have some things that give us hope for a great future.

The Unique Careers of Curly Lambeau and George Halas

Curly Lambeau and George Halas had unheard of careers in the NFL that will never be replicated. Both of these men were players, coaches, and owners (sometimes all 3 at the same time) for their respective teams. Looking at the modern NFL and seeing how that would be absolutely impossible to do today makes these feats even more incredible.

Lambeau founded the Packers in 1919 in his hometown of Green Bay, WI. He played on the team from 1919-1929 and was named to the 1920s All-Decade NFL Team. The Packers joined the NFL in 1921 and he was a player-coach from 1921-1929, before retiring as a player.

He continued coaching the Packers until 1949, winning 209 games and 6 NFL titles. He is tied for being the longest tenured coach in NFL history with Tom Landry and is tied with George Halas and Bill Belichick for the most NFL championships by a coach.

Lambeau won 226 games total as a coach, was part of the first NFL Hall of Fame class in 1963, and was named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. The Packer’s stadium was named Lambeau Field in 1965 and bears the same name to this day.

George Halas co-founded the NFL and took ownership of the Chicago Bears in 1921. The Chicago native played for the Bears from 1920-1928 and was a member of 1920s All-Decade Team.

From 1920-1967, he coached the Bears 4 separate times for a total of 40 years. He was a 2-time AP Coach of the year, won 6 NFL titles as a coach (tied for an NFL record), and 318 games (3rd all-time). He won two additional NFL titles while owning the Bears.

Similar to Lambeau, he was part of the first NFL Hall of Fame class in 1963, and was named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. He is nicknamed “Papa Bear,” due to his everlasting connection with the team and the NFC championship trophy is named after him.

2024 Week 1 Prediction

Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs

The season kicks off with an awesome opening matchup. The Ravens look to get revenge on the team who eliminated them from last year’s playoffs. I don’t think that happens as the Chiefs will win, cover (-3), and the under (46.5) hits.

Green Bay Packers vs Philadelphia Eagles (In Brazil)

A Friday night game to kick off the season in Brazil is unprecedented but I’m here for it. Both teams have huge expectations for the season. I think the Packers win, cover (+2.5), and the over (48.5) hits.

New England Patriots @ Cincinnati Bengals

This season will not be fun for Patriots fans. The Bengals, meanwhile, are all in for a Super Bowl victory. That will be apparent as the Bengals win, cover (-7.5), and the under (41) hits. Note: Updated 9/7 to Bengals -7.5

New York Jets @ San Francisco 49ers

Both teams think they can win the Super Bowl this year. The Jets are delusional, while the Niners actually have a shot. The Niners will win, cover (-3.5), and the over (44) will hit.

2024 NFC Predictions (Plus Super Bowl Pick)

NFC East

  1. Philadelphia Eagles (3 Seed)
  2. Dallas Cowboys (7 Seed)
  3. Washington Commanders
  4. New York Giants

The Eagles are the clear cut favorite to win the division. They have a more talented roster and the Cowboys have had way too much drama this offseason and it still isn’t over yet. The Commanders are getting some hype that I’m not buying at all. The Giants are in rebuild mode and may get the #1 pick.

NFC North

  1. Detroit Lions (2 Seed)
  2. Green Bay Packers (6 Seed)
  3. Chicago Bears
  4. Minnesota Vikings

This division got competitive fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these teams made the playoffs. The Lions have the most talented and experienced team so they get the edge for me. The Packers have such a talented young roster and will get a Wild Card. The Bears are still a year away from making it to the playoffs and contending for the division. The Vikings won’t have the QB play to go with such a great roster and coach.

NFC South

  1. Atlanta Falcons (4 Seed)
  2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  3. New Orleans Saints
  4. Carolina Panthers

This is the worst division in football. Kirk Cousins is a great regular season QB and has talented young roster just like in Minnesota. That should be enough to win it the division. Tampa could contend, but they are getting old. The Saints are old like the Bucs, but with less talent. The Panthers have no shot.

NFC West

  1. San Francisco 49ers (1 Seed)
  2. Los Angeles Rams (5 Seed)
  3. Seattle Seahawks
  4. Arizona Cardinals

The 49ers have the best roster in the league and now have the Aiyuk situation figured out. They need to win this year before they have to start paying Purdy so there’s urgency. The Rams have the ideal mix of a great offensive head coach, a great veteran QB who has won a Super Bowl, and a talented group of young players. They will just miss out on the division. The Seahawks will be very average. The Cardinals have hope and talent, but it is too soon for them.

NFC Playoffs

Wild Card Round

  • 1 SF: Bye
  • 2 DET vs 7 DAL: 2 DET Wins
  • 3 PHL vs 6 GB: 6 GB Wins
  • 4 ATL vs 5 LAR: 5 LAR Wins

Divisional Round

  • 1 SF vs 6 GB: 1 SF Wins
  • 2 DET vs 5 LAR: 5 LAR wins

NFC Championship Game

  • 1 SF vs 5 LAR: LAR Wins NFC

Final NFC Thoughts: 

The NFC is by far the more inferior conference. That being said, there are some young teams with a ton of talent and potential that could emerge this year. I think the Rams come out on top and make it to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LIX

LAR vs CIN: CIN wins the Super Bowl

For the 2nd year in a row, there will be a recent rematch in the Super Bowl – but with two different teams. I think Cincinnati gets revenge from Super Bowl LVI and bring Cincinnati their first Super Bowl in franchise history. 

Note: All predictions as of 8/29/2024