Wild Card Wednesday Bash

The NFL is constantly full of surprises. Who would've guessed that Michael Turner would break out to be the #2 Back in the NFL?? And how about Chad Pennington? Leads last years laughing stock to become the #3 seed in the Pats and his old team's division, I mean WOW!! Who could have guessed these things?

Starting now, I will be making predictions for each round of the playoffs, also staying up-to-date with Injuries and other events. So anyways, here we are! Wild Card Weekend.... This is when teams emerge from their shells and let their potential out and play some good football. I can tell you right now, I'm definitely excited. Peyton Manning and the Colts take on LT and the Healthy Chargers at Qualcomm on Saturday. Being a Bolts fan, I'm obviously rooting for the boys at home, and whether you're a Charger Fan or not, LT and the Boys are coming out big, so I'm calling it 27-14 Super Chargers. On that topic, LT is still a question mark for the game, but it seems like with the playoff mishap for San Diego in New England last year, I wouldn't think that Tomlinson would be inactive on Saturday.

Miami and Baltimore. Flacco versus Pennington. This must be the hardest game to predict out of all the games on the weekend. Joe Flacco has started this offense up and is starting to get into the big leagues, along with the Ravens stellar defense, Baltimore has stated its case. On the other side of the game, Miami finally looks like a legit team that could very well win this game. With the signing of Chad Pennington, and the addition to their O-Line with Jake Long, this is a team that has a very good shot on Baltimore. Although I am going to have to say that the Ravens will win 21-17, because the Dolphins need one more year to get their game on. In saying that, Baltimore will have trouble next week with Tennessee and their aggresive play.

On the other side of the NFL, we have AP and the Vikings against McNabb and Westbrook along with their Eagles. With Minnesota's Defense and their Home Field Advantage, the Vikings will definitely contend against this Eagle team. So aside from that, Westbrook is healthy. McNabb is beginning to show me, being a second year NFL Junkie and not watching his full potential, that he is definitely capable of either leading this team to the Super Bowl or fluking out and losing in the first round. AP is completely healthy and is fired up for his first playoff game in the NFL, and I think that he is a guy (like McNabb) that can be scoring 5 all purpose TDs or losing 4 fumbles. I'm going to take the Vikings 24-21 on this one.

I'm going to leave my last paragraph short and sweet, because there is no point in prolonging the inevitable. Matt Ryan has become a franchise QB, Michael Turner, like I said above, is the #2 RB in the NFL. The Falcons are playing the Cardinals in Arizona, and one way or another Atlanta has grown enough to become a solid contender for the Super Bowl. The only reason that Arizona made the playoffs is the fact that the rest of their division under acheived all season, and even still looked like the worst team in the NFL in week 16 and 17. I say Atlanta 35-17 on Saturday.

Next week we're gonna see whether I was right of whether I missed my predictions. And like Trevor Kempner said it, I Could Be Wrong, But I Doubt It.

Jacob Day

Chargers-Broncos Preview

The time has come for both contending teams in the AFC West Division to stick em' up and fight for the division title. Rivers and the Super Chargers have been on a streak against two teams that have legitimate defenses and solid offenses that have put up a good fight both times, but the Bolts have prevailed. On the other side of the match-up, Cutler and the Broncos lost to the red hot Panthers and the Buffalo Bills for week 15 and 16. Jay Cutler has been 46 for 78 against the two teams for 1 touchdown, 2 picks, and two rushing touchdowns. Although the stats don't necessarily show it, Cutler shows alot of leaderbn b ship on and off the field and will prove to be a challenge to the 31st ranked Chargers Pass Defense. I have also included a shake down for both teams below explaining what team I'm picking and why.

QB Matchup: Phillip Rivers vs. Jay Cutler here's a definite doozy. I'm probably siding with Cutler here for the sake that the Broncos Offense is based around his right arm, whereas Rivers includes LT with his offense. Although Rivers handles pressure better, I will still go with the real leader of the Denver Broncos, Jay Cutler

RB Matchup: LT vs. Jimmie Johnson and Johnny Jimson. I think I speak for every single other NFL fan when I say that LT can run circles around that Denver Run D, whereas the 142nd and 143rd round draft picks for the Broncos will be lucky with a combination of 2 all purpose yards. End of Conversation.

WR/TE: Vincent Jackson and Gates vs. Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Scheffler. I believe that the Chargers crush the Broncos for this one, for the sole purpose that the SD defensive backs are tightening up alot more, and Denver's defense isn't what we call the '77 Steelers.

Defense Matchup: This is alot closer than I would hope it to be, and again I will go with the Bolts. I can guarantee that this defense would be a top 10 in the league IF Shawne Merriman had a say in it. San Diego has a good enough defense to hold the Broncos to 10-20 points this week.

To conclude my post, I would like to make the prediction that San Diego will defeat Denver by a score of 28-17. Make sure to check in every Monday for an update on the postseason and my predictions.

Who Will Be #1?

6 Days before the season opening kickoff, the big question still remains. Who will be the #1 Running Back in the NFL? Lots of people have their money on San Diego's Stud Running Back LT, but there are other people that would say 2006 rookie Adrian Peterson is going to give LT a run for his money. The least likely choice would be the St. Louis Rams star Back Steven Jackson who just recently signed a new deal with his team. LT has been the #1 Back for 2 years in a row, but all good things must come to an end. AP's time might come this year, but his year relies on his Offensive line playing like a wall. Steven Jackson undoubtedly has the potential to be the #1 back, but the thought that he might get injured is putting a knife in his chances. I'm a serious fantasy football player, and in my opinion I would say that LT will take the #1 spot, but it might be too early to tell considering the fact that injuries can change everything. LT holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in a season, AP holds the record for most rushing yards in a game, which flings the door wide open for the unabbreviated Jackson who was ranked 3rd overall for running backs in 2006. I believe that LT will be able to claim the #1 spot for the 3rd year in a row, but you never know. All three of the candidates will have stellar season but which one will have the best? Leave your comments for your choice of the #1 Running Back.

Jackson Ends Holdout

Finally, after 27 days of Steven Jackson's Holdout, the St. Louis Rams running back has signed a six year deal to stay in St. Louis. The contract guarantees Jackson $20 million that he has for keeps, for a grand total of $44 million over the six year period averaging about $8 million per year. In an interview shortly after the signing, Jackson said "Now that I'm being paid like one of the top running backs in the NFL, I'm planning to perform like one". Steven Jackson ended up with 1,005 rushing yards plus 5 Touchdowns playing in 12 games due to a serious injury in 2007. But no one should expect another 5 TD year out of Jackson. In 2006 he produced a total of 18 Touchdowns playing a full season; Jackson isn't likely to get injured a second time. And as a final quote Jackson released to the press

"I'm going to come out and play hard and run, block and catch and be a football player; because that's all I am at the end of the day."

The Burner's New Team

Okay, so the NFL is going into the 2008 season with high expectations for quite a few players (LT, AP, the unabbreviated Westbrook etc.) and for a player/team to have a record breaking season. Everybody is looking at Brady's 50 tds., Moss's big 23 tds., or LT to break some of the records he already broke. Well every single fan that watches an NFL game is going to turn their heads to the least likely team imaginable... The Atlanta Falcons. No, it's not because of their First Round selection, Matt Ryan, and NO it's not because Michael Vick is coming back (that was a joke for everyone on the Vick Band wagon) but because of the free agent signing of Michael "The Burner" Turner. Hardly anyone has seen him play in an NFL game for the sole reason that he was on the bench watching LT run till the cows came home; but for all of you that have seen The Burner play, he has (in my opinion) as much talent as Frank Gore. The reason I say that is because Turner is playing for a team that needs to start growing, and he can have as many carries as he wants. And for all you doubters out there, just watch Michael Turner when he has the ball 25-30 times a game, and you can be the judge of how good he is.