Delhomme Might Sit vs. Tampa Bay
Jake Delhomme injured his throwing elbow last weekend, and has missed the past three days of practice, reports CBS Sportsline. The Carolina Panthers’ quarterback has been day-to-day since the injury, and has not been throwing passes in practice. David Carr, who replaced Delhomme at the end of the Panthers game last Sunday, would be his replacement. If you have Delhomme as fantasy football quarterback, this presents a real dilemma. If he Delhomme does start, then he might not play the whole game, and he might play more conservatively. Of course, he has been one of the top five QBs in the league this year, so benching him seems counterproductive. If you have a decent backup, you might want to play him instead, but don’t quote us.
In other news, it’s Friday, so you only have a few more hours to go until the start of another great weekend of football. If you don’t already have tickets to a game (which you should get at StubHub), then you have a lot of good options on TV. For some good watching, you might want to tune into the 49ers-Seahawks. This is a battle for the top of the NFC West, and should be a doozie! Then there are two Frozen North games, Lions-Bears, Packers-Vikings, that should be very interesting.
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“Beer Man” Signed by 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers signed Michael “Beer Man” Lewis yesterday. Brandon Williams, their former kick return specialists, has not worked out and hasn’t been able to earn a spot in the receiver rotation in San Fran. The move to sign Lewis is meant to bolster one of the 49ers’ weaknesses, their average kick return of 6.4 yards (in the first three games of the season). With the Niners’ defense expected to be one of the best in the league this season, the 49ers are hoping that having an explosive return man can help to improve their offense’s field position. The 49ers have been struggling to get adequate production out of their offensive stars, notably Frank Gore and Alex Smith.
“Beer Man” has this blogger thinking about football movies, and that happens to be the topic of a heart-warning and inspiring Page 2 article today. Apparently the “Beer Man” story would be a huge hit in the box office if a couple of Disney guys got a hold of it. Of course, “Invincible” was pretty much the same movie that “Beer Man” would be. In this case a beer truck driver tries out for the Saints, makes it and becomes and instant hit. With “Invincible” it was a beer server making the Eagles’ cut. I also like how the article points out that ESPN is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Corporation.
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What’s Wrong With Your Team?
John Clayton and the others at ESPN have figured out what’s wrong with your favorite NFL team, and you can read all about it. For each team they have put together a diagnosis and a cure, based on each team’s performance in the first three games of the season. Most of the things that are written are pretty obvious, but if you can’t figure out what’s wrong with your team, then you should check it out. The 49ers need to improve their passing game, the Bears need to get a better QB, the Patriots need to quit being so good all the time, etc.
Fans can think of something wrong with even the best team, and if you like the Steelers or the Colts, there are still lots of things that get die-hard fans worried sick about the future. You should remember, even if you are a Chargers fan, that having a bad couple of games at the start of the season is not a reason to get drastic. If you find that your team is still struggling with the basics after a few more weeks, then you can start the “there’s always next year” talk.
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Tennessee Titans Win on Monday Night
The New Orleans Saints are having an unfortunate start to their season, as Drew Brees continues to struggle. The Saints lost their home opener last night to the Tennessee Titans 31-13. The Saints are now 0-3 to start off the year. Brees threw four interceptions, fumbled once, and has been a nightmare for people who drafted him in fantasy football leagues. Reggie Bush had only 15 yards on seven carries. So my prediction for the Monday score was completely off. My record is now 3-1 for the year with Monday Night Football games.
The Saints are really struggling right now, which comes as a big surprise to many NFL analysts who predicted that they would be one of the best teams in the NFC. Last year they were a real surprise hit, and even made it all the way t the NFC Championship game. Of course, with a storybook team like the Saints, I would not count them out just yet. They could still make a startling comeback, New Orleans-style, and get back to the playoffs. The season is only in its third week, so there is still a lot of time to turn this ship around. The Saints might be 0-3 right now, but they have a bye this next week to reorganize. Will they be a different team after the break?
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Saints vs. Titans on Monday Night Football
The weekend of football was entertaining, to be sure, but there is one more game to be played tonight. The New Orleans Saints will play the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football at the New Orleans Superdome tonight. The game should be a good one, as both teams feature players who will likely be the future superstars in the NFL. Reggie Bush of the Saints and Vince Young of the Titans will square off, and there will be no lack of mentioning the fact that a few years ago those two athletes were playing against each other in a National Championship game. Young’s Texas Longhorns ended up beating the Bush’s USC Trojans in the final seconds of the game, but the two will meet tonight in an entirely different kind of game tonight.
The Saints come into the game with an 0-2 record. Coming off a season where they went to the NFC Championship game, the Saints and their fans have been disappointed with their efforts so far. Brees has struggled, and Bush has yet to break out for a good game. Will playing on Monday night at home help them to get their game back? I think so. I predict that the Saints will win, let’s say 35-24. So get off of work a bit early and make sure to watch this game. Hopefully Young and Bush will have some thrilling plays to watch if you don’t happen to be a fan of either team.
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Locks on Sunday Countdown
So the weekend of football is almost upon us. Make sure to stock up your fridge with frozen pizzas and beverages and get some fresh batteries in the remote control, because there will be some good games on TV. If you are trying to pick which teams are going to win, then you might wan to check out the Sunday Countdown at ESPN.com, because these guys are pretty good at picking winners. Take a look at their records. Of course, the Vegas odds makers are pretty good as well, so you might just want to go with them.
There are a few consensus picks for winners among the analysts, Ditka, Johnson, Smith, Mortensen and Jackson. Among them are Pittsburgh over San Francisco, New England over Buffalo, and Denver over Jacksonville. One slightly odd thing was that everybody picked Tampa Bay to beat St. Louis. Both teams aren’t in top form, but it was interesting to see everybody come to such a consensus. Well, get your fantasy football picks in by Saturday night and good luck to everybody and everybody’s teams this weekend.
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Niners’ Lawson Injured for Season
The San Francisco 49ers have just been dealt the first major injury of the season. Manny Lawson, a linebacker who was drafted by the team in 2006, has just sustained a season-ending injury to his ACL. He will have to undergo surgery shortly and will have to sit the rest of the year out recuperating. The 49ers as a team are doing well, off to a 2-0 start. They are set to face one of the best teams in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers in week three. Lawson will surely be missed, as he was going to be required o keep a short string on Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker.
In some better injury-related news, the Bills’ Kevin Everett will be asked to stand on his own very shortly. His doctor has made the decision to attempt the stand within the next few weeks, and he even believes that Everett will be able to walk again within months- not years. This is exciting news for the Bills and Everett’s family, as it was once feared that he might never walk again. We will have to keep our eyes on this story and Everett’s already remarkable recovery.
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O.J. and Overreacting
Since this is an NFL blog I feel like I should take the time to at least address an issue that has been around for some time. I have been avoiding even mentioning it because there are a lot of other stories out there that deserved to get priority over it, but since it’s the furthest point in the week from any NFL action, I guess I should talk about it a bit. O.J. Simpson is back in the news. Like I’m sure a lot of you out there, I just let this story stay in the back of my mind for a while. I read the headlines, skimmed the first paragraphs and then quickly looked away. With my one hand on the mouse rapidly clicking “Back” and my other pressed against my forehead, I said to myself, “What the hell is this guy doing?” I suppose that’s all that will be said on the subject for now. Having been witness to some White House Press Secretary tactics, I know that I can reserve any actual comment pending an investigation.
But if you are interested in something a bit more humorous, you can check out Page 2 of ESPN, where Kevin Jackson has called a bunch of NFL teams’ fans out for overreacting after just two weeks of play. I like the cartoon, too.
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‘Skins Win on Monday Night
Well, well, well. It looks like I was pretty good with my Monday Night Football pick this week. The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-12 last night. If you check the blog right below this one you will notice that I got the winner right and I even guessed the exact point spread. That makes me a perfect 3-0 for MNF picks thus far this year (there were two games last Monday night). Donovan McNabb’s Eagles continued to struggle, as the team has lost six of their last seven games. I’m not happy about how the QB is getting all of the blame for the team’s struggles, though. ESPN’s title was “McNabb drops sixth of last seven starts as Eagles fall to Skins.”
In other news, the online magazine Slate has a recent article about the Patriots that was rather enlightening. The author contends that the Pats will probably go undefeated this year, citing that their motivation just got a jump start with all of the recent controversy. You’ll probably love it if you are a Patriots fan because it is a confidence-booster while still being hard on Belichick for making the team look like a bunch of jerks.
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Weekend NFL Highlights
Probably the best game of the weekend was slated to be Patriots-Chargers, which featured two teams that entered the season as favorites to get to the Super Bowl, and two teams who apparently had bad blood stemming from a smack-talkin’ playoff game last season. The Patriots quickly ran away with it on Sunday night, looking perhaps better than they did in Week One. There seemed to be no lingering affects from the whole signal-stealing mess, much to the chagrin of the rest of the NFL.
Cincinnati and Cleveland had a high-flying, state-pride showdown that was won by the Browns 51-45. But the real winners were the residents of The Buckeye State, who had a very entertaining competition within their state that had the whole nation watching. The last time that happened we got another four years of losing. This time we only have until next weekend. Tonight you will get a Monday Night Football game that could turn out to be a high scoring affair, as Philadelphia and Washington are set to go at it on ESPN. I like the Redskins in this one, let’s say… 32-24.
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