Week 17 NFL Preview and Predictions (Jan 1)

Record Last week 11-5

Detroit (9-6) at Green Bay (14-1)

This game does not mean anything for the Packers and expect most of the starters to only play one half of the game.  The Lions need to win this game to avoid either San Francisco or New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs.  The Lions have been impressive the last two weeks. The Lions will win 21-14.

Tennessee (8-7) at Houston (10-5)

The Texans will finish as the third seed in the playoffs and will rest players for this game, but do not want to enter the playoffs with a three game losing streak.  The Titans have an outside shot of making the playoffs.  TJ Yates has looked like a rookie the last two games.  The Texans will win 17-10.

Indianapolis (2-13) at Jacksonville (4-11)

The Colts have won two in a row.  The Jaguars have yet to find any consistency on offense despite the efforts of Maurice Drew-Jones.  If the Colts win this game they will lose out on the number one pick in next year’s NFL draft and losing a lot of leverage.   The Jaguars will win 14-10.

New York Jets (8-7) at Miami (5-10)

The Jets need to win this game and hope that Baltimore beats the Bengals in order to make the playoffs.  The Jets fans have been calling for Mark Sanchez to be replaced at quarterback.  Reggie Bush has rush for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his NFL career.  The Jets will win 27-14.

Chicago (7-8) at Minnesota (3-12)

The Bears has lost every game since losing Jay Cutler.  The Vikings won against the Redskins last week after losing Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder.  Josh McCown has moved the offense for the Bears.  The Bears are looking to avoid a losing season.  The Bears will win 14-10.

Buffalo (6-9) at New England (12-3)

The Patriots will not have the luxury of rest players in this game because two teams are challenging them for the top seed in the AFC playoffs.  The Bills broke their nine game losing streak last week with the win over the Broncos.  The Bills defeat the Patriots earlier in the year.  The Bills will win 21-17.

Carolina (6-9) at New Orleans (11-4)

The new single season passing record now belongs to Drew Brees.  The Saints will have to play this game hard, because the other game that matters to them will be played late on Sunday.  Cam Newton will cap off his rookie record season.  No one expected the Panthers to win six games.  The Saints will win 34-28.

Washington (5-10) at Philadelphia (7-8)

Too little too late for the Eagles, they have won three games in a row.  The Redskins do not have any playmakers on offense.  If Rex Grossman can stop making at least two turnovers every game the Redskins may have a chance to win.  Michael Vick has been good since his return. The Eagles will win 30- 17.

San Francisco (12-3) at St. Louis (2-13)

The Niners need to win to get a first round won bye.  The Rams were shut out by the Steelers defense last week and San Francisco’s defense is better than the Steelers.  Alex Smith has silenced his critics this year.  San Fran wants to go far in the playoffs and getting a bye will help.  San Fran will win 28-10.

Seattle (7-8) at Arizona (7-8)

Both teams are playing well of late.  It is too bad both teams got off to such bad starts early in the season.  Tavaris Jackson has been better than expected.  John Skelton has won five of six games for the Cardinals.  The game will be used to build off of for next year.  The Cardinals will win 27-24.

Kansas City (6-9) at Denver (8-7)

The Chiefs came close to defeating the Raiders last week and would love to try to knock their arch rival out of the playoffs.  Romeo Crennel is hoping to convert the interim coaching job into a permanent head coach.  Tim Tebow would love to redeem his play from last week.  The Broncos will win 21-20.

Tampa (4-11) at Atlanta (9-6)

The Bucs are reeling having lost nine games in a row.  The Falcons is in the playoffs and would love to avoid playing New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs.  It is very likely that the Bucs head coach Rahim Morris could be coaching his last game in for Tampa.  The Falcons will win 27-10.

San Diego (7-8) at Oakland (8-7)

Oakland has to win and need for Denver to loss in order to get into the playoffs.  The Raiders beat the Chiefs last week to keep their playoff hopes alive.  The Raiders need to get good rushing yards from Michael Bush.  The Chargers would love nothing more than to beat Oakland.  Oakland will win 21-20.

Baltimore (11-4) at Cincinnati (9-6)

If the Bengals win they are in the playoffs.  If the Ravens win they will have a bye next week and host a playoff game.  The Ravens have not played well on the road this year.  Andy Dalton is looking to become one of few rookie quarterbacks to led his team into the playoffs.  The Bengals will win 17-14.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland

The Steelers still have a chance of obtaining the second seed in the playoff if the Ravens lose and they win.  The Browns would love nothing better than to end the season betting their arch rival the Steelers.  Peyton Hillis has been good since returning to the lineup.  The Steeler will win 17-10.

Dallas at New York Giants Sunday night

Tony Romo has had one of his best statistical years of his career.  However bad losses have put the Cowboys backs against the wall.  Eli Manning is looking to solidify his status as an elite quarterback by taking his team back to another Super Bowl. The Giants will win 24-21

Week 16 Preview and Predictions (Dec 22-26)

Last week’s record 8-8

Houston (10-4) at Indianapolis (1-13) Thursday night

The Texans are coming off of a bad lost to Carolina and would like to get back on track this week.  The Colts got their first win against division rival Tennessee.  The Colts would like to win two in a row.  The Texans would like to win to earn first or second seed in the conference.  The Texans will win 17-10.

Cleveland (4-10) at Baltimore (10-4)

The Browns are just playing out the string of games left in the season.  The Ravens would like to make it make to the Super Bowl from the number two seed of the AFC.  The Ravens’ Ray Rice has been coming up big for the Ravens.  The Browns offense will not be a match for the Ravens.  Ravens will win 31-14.

Denver (8-6) at Buffalo (5-9)

Tebow mania took a hit last week with the lost by the Broncos to the Patriots last week.  The Bills are in the middle of a nine game losing streak.  The Broncos are in first place and looking toward the playoffs.  The Bills are just playing out the string and looking toward the off season.  Broncos will win 28-10.

Tampa Bay (4-10) at Carolina (5-9)

The Buccaneers are reeling this season.  Josh Freeman has not been as effective this season and the Bucs offense has suffered.  The Panthers are coming in off an impressive victory over the Texans.  The Panther’s defense played their best game of the year.  The Panthers will win 27-21.

Arizona (7-7) at Cincinnati (8-6)

Both teams are still making a push for the final playoffs spot in their conference.  Neither team was expected to be in contention this late in the year.  The Cardinals have been in very good late in games.  The Bengals defense has been good all year.  The Bengals will win 17-10.

Oakland (7-7) at Kansas City (6-8)

Romeo Crennel’s defense has been great despite losing key players to injuries this year.  The Chiefs played inspired against in win over the Packers last week.  Oakland misses their running game and need to avoid turnovers to win the game.  The Raiders will win 27-21.

Miami (5-9) at New England (11-3)

The Patriots sent a message to the league last week in the win over the Broncos.  Tom Brady has led the offensive explosion of late and the defense actually put a good game plan up against the Broncos.  Miami have been executing better on offence.  The Patriots will win 35-21.

New York Giants (7-7) at New York Jets (8-6)

This is a road game for the Giants in their own stadium.  The Giants loss last week to the Redskins, makes this a must win game for the Giants.  The Jets has control of the last playoffs spot in the AFC.  The loser will have their chance to make the playoffs put on life support.  The Jets will win 21-17.

St. Louis (2-12) at Pittsburgh (10-4)

The loss last week by the Steelers was costly, because now they do not have the opportunity to rest players this week against the Rams and hope that the Ravens will lose one of their remaining games.  The Rams have just been awful this year.  The Steelers will win handily 28-17.

Jacksonville (4-10) at Tennessee (7-7)

Tennessee loss to arch rival Colts last week was hard for them to take.  The Titan’s running back Chris Johnson has been improving after his early season holdout.  The Titans needs a lot of help if they are to make the playoffs and that starts with them winning games.  The Titans will win 17-10.

Minnesota (2-12) at Washington (5-9)

The Redskins swept the season series with the Giants.  Skins fans are wondering where they would be if Grossman had not been benched earlier this year.  Christian Ponder has played impressive, but does not have many wins to show for it.  The Redskins will win 21-17.

San Diego (7-7) at Detroit (9-5)

The Chargers are one game out of first place in their division and are playing like everyone expected them to be playing.  The Lions came from behind to defeat the Raiders last week.  Suh blocked a potential game winning field goal.  Phillip Rivers will shine.  The Chargers will win 34-24.

Philadelphia (6-8) at Dallas (8-6)

Michael Vick has been playing well lately.  The Eagles still has an outside shot to make the playoffs.  The Cowboys lose games they should win and win games they should lose.  The Cowboys team has been inconsistent all year long.  The Eagles will win 27-24.

San Francisco (11-3) at Seattle (7-7)

The forty-niners are still in contention for the second seed in the playoffs.  They are coming in off a big Monday night win over the Steelers.  The Seahawks have been great at home and Tavaris Jackson has been great with Marshawn Lynch at running back.  The forty-niners will win 21-20.

Chicago (7-7) at Green Bay (13-1) Sunday Night

The Bears are hoping that a change in quarterback will lead to a win.  The Packers are coming in off their first loss of the season.  These bitter rivals love to beat up on each other.  The lack of offense by the Bears should be just what the Packers defense need.  The Packers will win 38-14.

Atlanta (9-5) at New Orleans (10-3) Monday night

Drew Brees is on pace to break the single season passing record of Dan Mario.  Matt Ryan and Roddy White have led the Falcons to wins in 7 out of the last 9 games. Neither team has a great defense.  This will be a shootout with the team with the ball last could when the game.  The Saints will win 35-31.

Robert Griffin III the person

Most people may know Robert Griffin III as a quarterback from the University of Baylor who just won the Heisman trophy.  Others know him the person who has brought the Baylor Bears to respectability as a football team in the Big 12.   If this is how you know Griffin, you really do not know him as all.

Griffin was born in Japan, where his parents, Robert Jr. and Jacqueline, both were Army Sergeants were stationed.  The family would later move to Washington state, then New Orleans and finally to Copperas Cove, Texas in 1997.  RG3 would graduate from Copperas Cove High School and play basketball, football and run track.

Griffin is affectionately known as RG3.  RG3 entered Baylor in the spring of 2008 a semester early, because finished all the necessary credits need to graduate high school at the age of 17.  Griffin initially committed to play for the University of Houston under head coach Art Briles.  When Briles left Houston to coach at Baylor Griffin switched his oral commitment to Baylor.  The major reason Griffin switch was Briles promised Griffin that he could play football and run track.

In his first semester at Baylor Griffin would run track and finish first in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship meets.  He broke the NCAA Midwest Regional 400-meter hurdles record.  Griffin finished in third place in the NCAA meet and participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials.  RG3 has played four years at Baylor, but he was injured in his sophomore year after three games and received a medical redshirt for an additional year to play college football.

Griffin finished his undergraduate work in Communications with a 3.67 GPA and is currently pursuing a Masters in Communications.  Griffin has the option to return to college because he has another year of eligibility left and would like to pursue a law degree.  Despite having another year of left to play football at Baylor he would have to get permission from the NCAA to if he choose to continue playing football.

RG3 has many awards and accomplishments.  The best recognition that Griffin receives are the ones that comes when the cameras are not rolling and people talk openly about him as a person.  Griffin is a far better person than he is an athlete.  People love to talk about how selfless he is or how kind he treats everyone.  People who do not know Griffin are surprised when they hear him speak for the first time.  They often say how well-spoken he is.  Once you know Griffin nothing about him will surprise you.

Week 15 Preview and Predictions (Dec 15-19)

Last week’s record 12-4

Jacksonville (4-9) at Atlanta (8-5) Thursday night

Maurice Jones-Drew is the best back in the NFL and will always give his best every game.  However, he is playing with a rookie QB that has not fully developed.  The Falcons are playing better of late and rookie Julio Jones has been a beast at receiver.  Atlanta will win 21-17

Dallas (7-6) at Tampa Bay (4-9) Saturday night

The Cowboys have lost the last two games in dramatic fashion.  They can’t afford another loss.  Tampa Bay is playing for pride and to keep their coach Rahim Morris employed as their coach.  Tony Romo will need to score early and often to secure a win.  Dallas will win 28-14.

Miami (4-9) at Buffalo (5-8)

The Dolphins fired their coach this week and players on the team will be auditioning for the next head coach.  The Dolphins have played hard this year.  The Bills are on an eight game losing streak and have been devastated by injuries all year.  The Bills should break their losing streak this week 21-14.

Seattle (6-7) at Chicago (7-6)

Seattle has played well with the running of Marshawn Lynch.  The Seattle plays well at home, but will be playing this game in the winter of Chicago.  The Bears are fighting for their playoff life and coming in off a bad overtime loss to the Broncos.  The Bears will bounce back and win this week 24-17.

Carolina (4-9) at Houston (10-3)

TJ Yates is 2-0 as a starter and has the people in Houston believing that he can take them to the Super Bowl.   Every week a Texan is injured and every week their replacement has performed well.  The Panthers has had leads in most games but they have not been able to hold them.  Texans will win 28-21.

Tennessee (7-6) at Indianapolis (0-13)

The Titans are fighting for a playoff berth.  The Colts are trying not to stay perfect in the winless column.  These two teams when they meet do not care about records just winning against one another.  This will be a very entertaining game and the Colts will fight to the end.  The Titians will win 17-14.

Green Bay (13-0) at Kansas City (5-8)

The Chiefs fired their coach and replace him with defensive coordinator Romeo Cromel.  The Chiefs defense has been great the last few weeks, but the offense has struggled to score points.  The Packers well are the Packers and they have been great for the last 13 games.  The Packers will win 28-10

New Orleans (10-3) at Minnesota (2-11)

The Saints are fighting to get a bye the first weekend of the playoffs.  The Vikings are trying to continue to improve with their rookie QB Christian Ponder.  The Vikings barely lost to the Lions last week.  If New Orleans does not come to play they will be in for a long day.  The Saints will win 38-21.

Washington (4-9) at New York Giants (7-6)

The Redskins came within a touchdown in the closing seconds of the game in tying the score against the Patriots last week.  Rex Grossman has been steady since returning back to the lineup.  Eli Manning has had a great year statistically and has the Giants in first place.  The Giants will win 17-10.

Cincinnati (7-6) at St Louis (2-11)

The Lock of the week is this game the Bengals are playing hard and defeat inferior teams.  St. Louis is clearly an inferior team.  The Rams do not have the weapons to compete against most teams in the NFL.  The Bengals are fighting the Jets for one of the last playoff spots left.  The Bengals will win 28-14.

Detroit (8-5) at Oakland (7-6)

Oakland does great when they have a running attack, but lately that has been missing due to injuries.  The Lions get the return of Suh to shore up their defense.  The Raiders are tied with Denver for first place.  The Lions are in great position for a playoff spot.  The Raiders will win 24-21.

Cleveland (4-9) at Arizona (6-7)

The Cardinals have been playing with very few mistakes the last few games and upset the forty-niners last week.  The Browns played the Steelers very physical last week.  Arizona has been playing two quarter backs because of injuries and the QB will be game time decision.  The Cards will win 14-10.

New England (10-3) at Denver (8-5)

The Broncos are winners of the seven out of eight and do not expect anything to change this week.  Tom Brady had a sideline spat with his offensive coordinator last week.  The Patriots offense has had to score more points than normal, because of a bad defense.  The Patriots will win this week 35-21.

New York Jets (8-5) at Philadelphia (5-8)

It is December and that means the Jets are winning.  The Eagles looked good last week with the return of Michael Vick at QB.  The Eagles are not going to the playoffs and will enjoy playing the role of spoiler for the rest of the year.  The game will come down to turnovers.  The Eagles win in an upset 17-10.

Baltimore (10-3) at San Diego (8-5) Sunday Night

The Ravens want to play a playoff game at home.  The Chargers just want to play a playoff game.  The Ravens have won four and a row.  Phillip Rivers has not play a good four quarters in a row all year.  Antonio Gates return has sparked the offense.  The Charges win in an upset 27-21.

Pittsburgh (8-5) at San Francisco (6-7) Monday Night

Is the thrill gone in San Francisco?  The forty-niners were upset by the Cardinals last week.  The Steelers come into this game with 11 days of rest.  The Steelers have theirs clearly on the playoffs wand would like to go into the playoff as divisional champs with a week of rest.  The Steelers will win 14-10.

Thompson looking to make an impact in the NBA

The National Basketball Association and their player union finally reached a handshake agreement in principal on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.  As a result, some future player’s dreams will be coming true.  

That is the case the for former Texas Longhorn standout Tristan Thompson.  Thompson was selected with the four overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Although only playing one season with Texas, Thompson was the third highest Longhorn ever drafted by the NBA.   Tristan was born in Brampton, Ontario in Canada and played high school basketball at Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, NJ.   Thompson chose to go to school in Newark, because he wanted to play with better completion and get additional exposure as a player.

During his senior year at Saint Benedict Thompson got into a heated argument with his coach and left the team and transferred to Findlay Prep.  At Findlay Prep Thompson would join his former AAU and future Texas teammate Cory Joseph.  In 2009 Thompson became only the third Canadian basketball player to be named to the McDonalds All-American team. 

At Texas Thompson led the team in rebounding with 7.8 rebounds per game and with 86 blocked shots and he had a scoring average of 13 points per game.  "We're very excited for Tristan and his family," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "I'm not sure we've seen a player improve so quickly once he came to campus last June. I often tell people jokingly that Tristan improved too much, as our staff would have loved the opportunity to coach Tristan for several more years. The exciting thing is Tristan is truly just getting started in his development. Tristan is a wonderful person and Cleveland is getting a special individual who will work hard every day, both on the court and in the community."

Although the CBA with the NBA has not been finalized it appears that the rookie scale will be similar to the one in the previous agreement, which means once it is approved Thompson will quickly sign in first professional contract with the Cavaliers.  Thompson said, “It is definitely exciting with Coach (Byron) Scott and the coaching staff and young team rebuilding.  They want to win and I am a winner and I want to come in and contribute”.

Week 14 Preview and Predictions (Dec 8-12)

Last week’s record 10-6

Cleveland (4-8) at Pittsburgh (9-3) Thursday Night

The return of Peyton Hillis has lifted the Browns offense.  However the Browns will be playing an inspired Steelers defense.  The Steelers are getting healthy on defense and has been causing turnovers.  The Steelers young receivers have given the team a better balance.  The Steeler will win 28-10.

Indianapolis (0-12) at Baltimore (9-3)

The Colts had their best chance to win last week against the Patriots.  The Ravens have to win to keep pace with the Steelers.  Ray Rice has carried the offense, while the defense has shut down opponents.  The Ravens have to avoid another melt down against a lesser team.  The Ravens win 17-10.

Houston (9-3) at Cincinnati (7-5)

The Texans have won six games in a row and the last three with three different QBs.  TJ Yates looked comfortable in the pocket last week.  The Bengals are in a dog fight for a wildcard spot and have to win to keep their hopes up.  The Bengals have to pressure Yates to win.  The Bengals will win 24-21.

Minnesota (2-10) at Detroit (7-5)

This will be the second game for the Suh suspension, but they should not need him this week.  The Vikings have played well enough to stay in games, but not well enough to win games.  The Lions were not hurt in their pursuit of the playoffs with their loss last week.  The Lions will win 21-14.

Oakland (7-5) at Green Bay (12-0)

The quest for perfection continues for Green Bay.  Oakland is coming in off a disappointing loss to Miami and fell into a first place tie with Denver last week.  Aaron Rodgers dissected the Giants defense last week to put his team into a game winning field goal.  The Packers continues to roll and will win 28-21.

Tampa Bay (4-8) at Jacksonville (3-9)

Jacksonville has already fired their coach and the Buccaneers’ coach is in the last year of his contract.  Both teams have issues at QB.  The Bucs Josh Freeman did not play last week, because of an injury.  The Jaguars rookie QB Blaine Gabbert is still taking his lumps.  The Bucs will win 17-10.

Philadelphia (4-8) at Miami (4-8)

Some believe that the Eagles have quit on Andy Reid this season.  Michael Vick has practiced this week and may be able to play.  Miami has been in all games this year, but have found ways to lose games.  The Dolphins dominated the Raiders last week.  The Eagles will win 17-10.

Kansas City (5-7) at New York Jets (7-5)

The Chiefs picked up Kyle Orton to assist in their playoff push; however Orton hurt his finger and will miss some time.  The Chiefs did not need Orton last week because the defense contained the Bears.  The Jets won at Washington and have started their normal late season run.  The Jets will win 14-10.

New Orleans (9-3) at Tennessee (7-5)

The Saints have a two game lead in their division, but would like to have a bye for the first week of the playoffs and are one game behind the Niners for second place in the conference.  The Titans need the win because they are two games behind the Texans and need to keep place.  Saints will win 27-24.

New England (9-3) at Washington (4-8)

The Redskins played well last week for 3 quarters, but the game is played for four quarters.  The Patriots are in a three way tie for the number one overall seed for the Conference.  Rex Grossman has added some punch to the Redskins offense.  Tom Brady has been surgical of late.  The Patriots will win 28-14.

San Francisco (10-2) at Arizona (5-7)

Despite having a five game lead in the division and with a win San Fran will clinch the Division Title.  Arizona want to keeps its playoff hopes alive.  Alex Smith has been more than just a game manager of late.  The Forty-Niners would like to have a bye for the playoffs.  San Francisco will win 24-10.

Chicago (7-5) at Denver (7-5)

The Bears offense was not there last week and with the loss of Matt Forte for the season, more pressure will fall on QB Caleb Hanie.  Tim Tebow and the Denver defense are on a roll.  The Broncos are in first place and playing for what looked impossible a few weeks ago a playoff spot.  The Broncos win 17-10.

Buffalo (5-7) at San Diego (5-7)

The Chargers looked great on Monday night.  The Bills have lost seven games in a row and are decimated by injuries.  This is a playoff elimination game for both of these teams.  Phillip Rivers finally looked like a former Pro Bowl quarterback against the Jaguars.  The Chargers will win 28-14.

New York Giants (6-6) at Dallas (7-5) Sunday Night

This game means more for the Giants than the Cowboys.  The Giants played well last week, but gave Aaron Rodgers too much time and lost on a last minute field goal.  The Cowboys lost week on a missed last minute field goal.  The Cowboys run game was halted last week.  The Cowboys will win 28-27.

St. Louis (2-10) at Seattle (5-7) Monday Night

This is the type of game most football fans wish that could be changed for a better game.  This game does not have any playoff ramifications.  The loss to the Redskins two weeks ago seriously hurt the Seahawks playoff chances.  However this game will be very competitive.  Seattle will win 28-21.