NCAA Saturday -- Beat the Spread

Saturday has finally arrived, and even though my BC Eagles have the bye week, the show must go on. I went 16-14 the last time I picked NCAA match ups against the spread last weekend. In my second week, I'll look to hopefully improve. But I might take a step back. I simply don't know, it's anyone's guess how things unfold. College football is an unpredictable monster.

Massachusetts at Michigan (17.5)

Ball State at Purdue (-16.5)

Ohio at Ohio State (-30.5)

Georgia Tech at North Carolina (-2.5)

Maryland at West Virginia (-9.5)

Kent St at Penn St (-20.5)

Arkansas at Georgia (-2.5)

North Texas at Army (-5.5)

Vanderbilt at Mississippi (-12.5)

East Carolina at Virginia Tech (-20.5)

Alabama (-20.5) at Duke

Hawaii at Colorado (-12.5)

BYU at Florida State (-10.5)

Florida (-14.5) at Tennessee

USC (-11.5) at Minnesota

Arizona St at Wisconsin (-13.5)

Nebraska (-3.5) at Washington

Air Force at Oklahoma (-17.5)

Baylor at TCU (-20.5)

Tulsa at Oklahoma State (-6.5)

Marshall (-3.5) at Bowling Green

Florida Int. at Texas A&M (-27.5)

Clemson at Auburn (-7.5)

Mississippi State at LSU (-7.5)

Texas (-3.5) at Texas Tech

Notre Dame at Michigan State (-3.5)

Boise State (-23.5) at Wyoming

Iowa (-1.5) at Arizona

Houston (-3.5) at UCLA

Wake Forest at Stanford (-17.5)

Winners are in bold as usual. Let's see how it goes this week.

UPDATE -- Went 18-12. An improvement. My overall record is now 34-26.

Savard Won't Be Ready for Start of Camp

Marc Savard won't be dawning the Bruins uniform as training camp starts up this week. It's not because he'll be suiting up with another team, however -- it's because he's still feeling the effects of his concussion last season.

It might be even worse than if he was traded. All this offseason talk surrounding possible deals involving Savard has really caused the ruckus, but let's take a real life look at this now. Savard returned for all seven games of that Philadelphia series. And now he's out of the beginning of training camp for the following season. The concussion is that bad, and it's having an effect on his health. Granted, this might still be more of a precautionary move to hold him out, but he suffered that concussion on March 7th. More than 6 months later, he's not fully recovered. That's bad news, and given the nature of concussions and their potential reoccurrence, it doesn't bode well for the rest of his 7-year deal with Boston.

Nonetheless, Savard's slot will be filled by Tyler Seguin, explained Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli today. Seguin was slated to start the year at wing, but now he'll be seeing action at center until Savard is fully back into the swing of things. Even though Savard will likely be back before the season actually opens up, he will need to regain the strength and conditioning from the time he misses during camp. The Bruins are simply preparing for all situations right now, devising game plans and lineups both with and without their all-star center.

Watch Out: Sanchez Ready for "Breakout"

In an interview today, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez expressed his confidence entering this weekend's battle with the first-place New England Patriots.

"We're ready to have a breakout game," Sanchez told reporters. "I think there's no better week to do it."

Hmm.. really? There's no better week to have a breakout week than after passing for 60 yards, getting only 6 first downs, and looking less effective than a pee-wee Pop Warner squad? How the hell can you not have a "breakout" week after a performance like that? Look. Sanchez's glory days were during his times as a USC Trojan. And guess what? I didn't hear him talking it up back in those days. But I definitely hear Rex Ryan talking it up a lot now-a-days. And as long as I can remember, he's never backed up his talk in the end. So I'm not sure why Sanchez is jumping on the over-confident Rex-wagon, but he is. And the Jets will be 0-2 by the time the sun sets on Sunday night. Consider it a promise.

Meanwhile, the Patriots jumped from 10th all the way up to 4th in ESPN's NFL power rankings. That's more like it. And once their defense impresses for the second week in a row, and their offense gets it done for the second week in a row, and they win for the second week in a row -- then people might start bumping them up even higher. I'll be making my full slate of predictions tomorrow I believe, but I might as well give you the appetizer right now. Patriots 23, Jets 13. And everyone in New York will be trying to figure out why they have only scored 1 touchdown through 2 weeks. Get your popcorn ready.

Fantasy Outlook -- Week 2 Likes & Dislikes

If Vick starts on Sunday, he just
might be worth the fantasy start.

Week 1 has come and gone and Week 2 is around the corner. I decided that ranking the top 10 at each position is rather pointless, since you'll basically already know who to start out of the top 10. So I'm switching it up. I'll just give my random thoughts. 5 players I like, 5 players I dislike at each position -- no particular order. Just relative to what you would expect from them, I'll give my thoughts. I'll make my game predictions later in the week. But for you fantasy gurus, here goes nothing.

5 Quarterbacks I like in Week 2:


Donovan McNabb vs HOU -- McNabb is a dual threat QB with a big arm. His team pulled off an upset against Dallas in the opener and they look to continue on that path. Oh, did I mention this Houston defense allowed Peyton to fire 433 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air? Look for McNabb to get his first real solid fantasy performance of the season on Sunday.

Drew Brees vs SF -- Brees wasn't stellar from a fantasy standpoint in Week 1. You can look for him to get back to what he's used to this week against San Francisco. The Seahawks lit up that defense, and they need a confidence boost pretty badly. Do you really think they'll get it against the Saints?

Michael Vick vs DET -- What? I like Michael Vick this week? Disclaimer: this only applies if he starts. That goes without saying. But Kevin Kolb failed concussion tests today and Vick is taking first-team snaps in practice. He lit it up when he was in the game this week. I'm starting to get the feeling that the old Vick is slowly coming back. He just might take over as QB with a few more good performances. And he's facing the Detroit Lions, who even Jay Cutler succeeded against with 22 points. Vick might seriously be worth the start if Kolb is out.

Joe Flacco vs CIN -- Flacco wasn't so hot against the Jets, but I'm looking for him to turn it around against a Cincinnati defense that Brady picked apart last week. Baltimore proved to have solid options at wide receiver, and Boldin had a great game. Flacco will get things back on track, even if ESPN doesn't think so, this week against the Bengals.

Matt Schaub vs WAS -- See Flacco description. Schaub had a tough first week from a fantasy standpoint as well. Arian Foster went wild and took away all the points. Not happening again. Foster won't repeat that performance and, by default, Schaub will have a better one. Andre Johnson is still a freak and the Texans are a team to watch out for. Schaub will air it out nicely.

Watch out -- Palmer's 20-point first week
might be an aberration to throw out.

5 Quarterbacks I dislike in Week 2:


Eli Manning vs IND -- The Colts are 0-1 and will almost assuredly get to .500 this week. Eli won't beat out his brother on Sunday night. The Colts pass defense held Matt Schaub in check, even if that evened off with the running game. Still, Eli won't be able to do what Schaub couldn't do. Stay away.

Jay Cutler vs DAL -- 22 points will most likely be Cutler's best outing of the season. I'd almost put money on it right now. No one likes Jay Cutler and he will have his hands full with a Dallas defense that didn't allow a passing score last week. Don't expect a repeat performance, folks.

Brett Favre vs MIA -- I know, I know, the Dolphins faced the Bills last week. Nothing to write home about. But besides one big play, they completely shut down every phase of Buffalo's offense. And I hate Brett Favre. And the Vikings.

Tom Brady vs NYJ -- I hate saying anything bad about Patriots players or predicting them for anything less than record-breaking numbers. We're still going to beat the Jets, but don't treat Tom Brady like the 2007 Brady. The fact is that the Jets defense is very solid. Brady probably won't pass for more than 2 scores and will likely stay under 300 yards.

Carson Palmer vs BAL -- I have to admit it. Monday night's comedy was not solely due to the pathetic ineptitude of the New York Jets. The Ravens defense is pretty damn good. Like sort of almost the best in the NFL type of good. And Palmer will struggle against them. 20 points against New England, mostly due to a blowout in the second half without any intensity. Not the same type of success this week.

Steven Jackson once again came up short of the
end zone in Week 1. Will that be the case again?

5 Running Backs I like in Week 2:


Steven Jackson vs OAK -- Jackson was real high on my charts entering the season. He was a relative disappointment in Week 1, but I don't see it happening again against an Oakland defense that Chris Johnson destroyed last week. Jackson's one of the best pure runners in the game, and it will be on display this weekend.

Rashard Mendenhall vs TEN -- The Titans allowed Darren McFadden to reel in 21 points on the fantasy scoreboard last weekend. Mendenhall ran like a monster against the Falcons. The steel curtain doesn't have a ton of firepower through the air, so how to you think they're going to attack the Titans?

Brandon Jackson vs BUF -- It's the cliche selection to take Jackson after Ryan Grant goes down for the season. Newsflash: Buffalo sucks. The Packers should be way ahead in this game, and since Brandon Jackson is basically the only back in their depth chart worthy of NFL regular season snaps, his work load should be decent. It will translate into a pretty solid fantasy week -- and maybe even a solid fantasy season.

Darren McFadden vs STL -- Tim Hightower had decent success against this Rams defense, and McFadden had great fantasy success last weekend. He comes in as the 4th highest scoring running back from Week 1. While I don't expect he duplicates his 21-point performance, I expect he notches double digits and continues to reward those who have held out hope with him.

LeSean McCoy vs DET -- McCoy may take a hit if Michael Vick does indeed start at QB, because Vick will be scrambling and taking yards from him. Still, McCoy had a solid fantasy day and he is the number one back on an offense that utilizes its backfield pretty effectively. And did I mention he's facing the Lions? I think I did mention that before actually.

Michael Turner and the Falcons offense
were pretty sluggish in Week 1.

5 Running Backs I dislike for Week 2:


Pierre Thomas vs SF -- San Francisco did get destroyed in Week 1, and I picked the Saints to toy with them in the passing game this week. But I don't think it will happen in the running game. The run defense may have been the only bright spot last week for the Niners, and Patrick Willis is still a monster. Thomas vultured a touchdown last week, but his fortunes may not be so good this time around. ESPN projects him highly, I don't.

Shonn Greene vs NE -- We have a very underestimated run defense. We stifled Cedric Benson and forced a fumble this week. Shonn Greene coughed it up himself once on Monday night. And basically my bashing of Greene just needs to continue, because I still fervently believe he was the most overhyped player this year. Period.

Arian Foster vs WAS -- DO NOT play Foster expecting a repeat performance. I just wanted to warn you of that. Foster had a fantastic first week. You can't count on that continuing on Sunday. The 'Skins shut down the Dallas running game, and I already explained that the Texans aerial attack will get on track this week. Foster isn't posed for another enormous showing. Plain and simple.

Michael Turner vs ARI -- It's tough to dislike Turner because he's such a strong runner. But I have serious questions about this Falcons offense right now. And the Arizona defense did their job shutting down Steven Jackson -- a better runner than Turner, in my opinion -- last week. I'm not looking for big things out of #33. You may not have the depth to bench him, but I'm just telling you I'm not a fan this week.

Adrian Peterson vs MIA -- This is when you all start laughing at me. I've been adamant about my opinion that Peterson is the most overrated back in the league. And I also like this Miami team quite a bit. I also previously said that the Dolphins will beat out the Jets for 2nd place in the East. Plus, I hate Brett Favre. And I hate the Vikings.

Moss was one of McNabb's favorite
targets last week. Will that continue?

5 Wide Receivers I like in Week 2:


Santana Moss vs HOU -- Like I said, McNabb should bounce back strong this week. And Moss is his favorite target. I'm giving him the start if you're up in the air about him.

Brandon Marshall vs MIN -- Swiss Cheese... I mean, the Vikings secondary... shouldn't pose too much of a problem for Marshall in Week 2. He'll get into the end zone for the first time and gratify the owners who took a chance on him.

Calvin Johnson vs PHI -- This is a game that I expect the Lions will be trailing. So they'll be airing it out. Even if its Hill and not Stafford, Calvin Johnson will get numbers. He should have had a big touchdown last week. He'll get that back this week.

Anquan Boldin vs CIN -- I expressed my interest in Joe Flacco this week coming off a subpar quarterback (fantasy) performance over the New York Jets. Boldin's his top target, and he played like it last week -- even against a strong secondary like they have over there in the Meadowlands. Boldin is definitely worth the play this week, and I think he'll reward you for making that decision.

Mike Williams vs CAR -- Surprise pick here out of the Bucs wideout group. Josh Freeman is no passer to celebrate over, but he connected with Williams for an acrobatic catch in Week 1. Williams has a lot of upside and, against a Panthers defense that allowed 203 yards and 3 touchdowns to receivers last week, he just might be worth a flex play. I dig it.

Will Ward be missing Big Ben when
they take the field on Sunday?

5 Receivers I dislike in Week 2:


Hines Ward vs TEN -- Ward is still without Ben Roethlisberger, which might show up more significantly this week against the Titans. Dennis Dixon is a scrambler, Ward might not see the targets he needs to in order to be a top caliber fantasy player this week. Just beware.

Hakeem Nicks vs IND -- Same argument as I made for Eli. The Colts defense held Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson in check last week. Add in the fact that I'm not entirely sold on Nicks, and I'm plain and simply staying away from him if I have other options this week.

Chad Ochocinco vs BAL -- Ocho might be a player you can't afford to sit. Still, if you have another player on your bench that is a formidable option, go with him. Baltimore's got a hell of a defense, and that might be enough to slow down Ocho. The Patriots defense lacked intensity in the second half, and that's where Ochocinco did most of his work fantasy wise. I'm not expecting another big performance.

Randy Moss vs NYJ -- Again, I hate picking against the success of Pats players. But Revis is phenomenal. Nobody can even argue that, whether or not you hate the Jets. He's fully capable of shutting down Moss, and the Pats have other options. If Revis switches over to Welker, then I expect Moss will burn Cromartie for a deep touchdown. But for precisely that reason, I don't see Revis switching off of Moss at any point.

Larry Fitzgerald vs ATL -- Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure why I'm against Fitzgerald this week. I have one of those feelings. Derek Anderson isn't exactly stellar, and the Atlanta defense was actually pretty solid against Pittsburgh last week in the passing game. He might get decent numbers, but don't start him with the expectation that he wins your matchup for you this week.


Have more fantasy questions? Send us an email or leave us a comment. We'll be happy to answer them, or even just to get your thoughts about the breakdown. I'll be picking my NCAA and NFL winners later in the week. I'm 16-14 in NCAA and 11-5 in NFL. Hopefully the winning trends will move forward.

Maroney Headed to Denver Broncos

Wait, what? After a long preseason where Bill Belichick constantly assured the media (indirectly, of course) that nothing was wrong with running back Laurence Maroney and hinted at the fact that he was just getting some rest, the news breaks today that the Denver Broncos have acquired the Patriots former #1 halfback. The return package coming from Denver to New England has not yet been announced, but it is now for certain that Fred Taylor tops the Patriots depth chart at the running back position. Veterans Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk are also in the mix, as well as Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis.

It's a move that is confusing but not so confusing in the end. Maroney's time here was stunted with inconsistency just about every season, whether it was due to injury or play-calling or ineffectiveness. He just never blossomed into the back we thought he'd be. Now Josh McDaniels can have fun with him. Still, though, giving up hope on Maroney might hint at something bigger. I mentioned it during the preseason. We have the Oakland Raiders' first round pick this season. That could be a clutch pick. I'm talking top-5, almost assuredly top-10. Might we take a running back with either that selection or our own first round selection? It's still a ways away, but with Maroney gone, it's certainly a possibility.

Update -- Sources say that the remaining pieces in the deal were New England getting Denver's 4th round pick in 2011 while the Broncos get the Patriots' 6th round pick in that same draft. Long story short, the Patriots give Laurence Maroney to move up 2 rounds with one of their draft selections for next year.

Surprise: Jet's Can't Back It Up

I almost can't decide which event I'm more thrilled over. The Patriots win, the Colts loss, or this complete shit show by the New York Jets tonight. Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense stifled them all night long, holding them to just 6 first downs. Mark Sanchez and his gang of green was an astonishingly bad 1-for-11 on third down conversions and managed just 60 passing yards in the game. On 3 Baltimore turnovers, they managed just 3 points. Does that look like a Super Bowl contender to you?

Last time I checked, getting first downs was a relatively important part of winning Super Bowls.

So the Jets are 0-1. Sure, their defense looked good tonight. But Cromartie was burned several times. The Ravens shot themselves in the foot in the first quarter and they were still relatively ineffective all game long. But they still won the game. What will happen when a team is able to actually put up points against the Jets (next week?) steadily throughout the game? Shonn Greene was real impressive tonight. He almost broke 20 rushing yards. Can we dethrone him from the absurd fantasy charts yet? I just can't even explain how thrilled I am to see this Jets offense struggle the way they did. I hope it was a reality check for everyone who is marking them down as a Super Bowl favorite. Get real, folks. I've been trying to remind you all preseason -- this team misses the playoffs last year if the Colts don't pull Peyton in Week 17. They haven't undergone any magical transformations. Mark Sanchez is still Mark Sanchez. Does LT make this a high octane offense? Hell no. If you still think this is a Super Bowl caliber team, you must have seen something I didn't. They need to make a lot of adjustments to become a Super Bowl caliber team. And I mean a lot of adjustments.

Will the Jets be 0-2 after they get stomped by the Patriots next week? Of course I'll tell you that will be the case. But I'm biased. Only time will tell, but I think we all have been exposed to the reality of this fantasy New York Jets powerhouse. If the Super Bowl was won via smack talk and HBO television series, then gang green would be flying high right now. But since Super Bowls are won by scoring more points than your opponent on the football field... the Jets have some work to do.

Something is Different...

I've noticed a few key (awesome) differences in the NFL this year:

1. Remember the Titans? Yeah, 0-6 last year and 1-0 to start this year. Might be too soon to call Vince Young a pro-bowl QB but the combination of his passing with the self-proclaimed best RB in the NFL Chris Johnson, this team is looking at a bright future. Though it should be noted that their schedule is no walk in the park. In fact, it's probably one of the toughest any team has to face this season.

2. Think the Colts will go 16-0? I don't! And I don't need to wait until there's two weeks in the season for everyone else to believe me this time. Last year I said it every week: "The Colts WON'T WIN every GAME!" This year, I can just point to their week 1 loss against the Texans. I knew Houston would do it. Nothing is more dangerous than a team with something to prove (just ask New England).

3. Close call for the Pats? Maybe during last year's eye opener against the Bills, when Tom Brady's 4th quarter heroics helped NE barely escape with a win. A game against the Bills should never go to the 4th quarter (unless you're Miami today). This year, this game was over before the second half had even started and the Patriots rolled to a victory. By the way, hello defense.

4. Return of the run? Last season was a pass-dominated, offensively charged season for the NFL. Today, I saw a lot of game breaking plays/players in the run game. The walk-off win for the Steelers on a running play. Not to mention Arian Foster and his 231 yards on the ground.

5. New faces, new places, new era football? There were certainly a lot of debuts today for new players in new uniforms. McNabb got his first taste of the poor receiving core in Washington tonight but pulled off a win. Bradford threw 50+ passes in a sloppy loss to the Cardinals in his debut. And T.O. was a virtual non-factor who played in the shadow of his new best friend Ochocinco. Maybe he would have had a better day if he had stayed in the game during the last play of the second quarter instead of calling it quits early and heading to the lockerroom.

Boy I am loving the NFL this year. Sometimes change is good.

Patriots Shred Bengals in Opener

Tom Brady and the Patriots may have only won by two touchdowns in the end today, but this was a game that was never in doubt as New England rolled over Cincinnati 38-24 to improve to 1-0 on the young season.

The Pats stormed out to a quick 24-0 lead in the first half before the Bengals even sniffed the scoreboard. Most of that was due to a strong passing attack that saw Wes Welker grab two touchdowns from Brady, who finished with a passer rating of 120.9. For Welker, it was a big day in his regular season return from his torn ACL -- he hauled in 8 catches for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns. Randy Moss was right behind him in the receiving game, grabbing 5 receptions for 59 yards. Brady hit 7 different receivers en route to a 25-for-35 day, throwing for 258 yards and 3 scores. He didn't throw an interception in the game.

The same cannot be said for Carson Palmer, who tossed an interception to Gary Guyton in the second quarter that the Patriots' linebacker returned 59 yards for the touchdown. While Palmer's final numbers were respectable, his offense was unable to get anything going prior to New England grabbing a 31-3 lead after the very first play of the second half. That play was on the opening kickoff. Brandon Tate took a bouncing kick, threw one juke, and burned his way through the holes for a kick return touchdown to start the third quarter and spot the Patriots a 31-3 lead. Chad Ochocinco had a big second half that rounded off his great statistical day -- 12 grabs for 159 yards and a touchdown -- but it wasn't enough for the Bengals, who fell to 0-1 on the season. Rob Gronkowski added New England's final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

It was a pretty impressive day overall for New England, who will travel to New York to take on the Jets next weekend. Last season's week two trip to the Meadowlands didn't turn out so well. Hopefully things go differently this season.

PS -- If you refer back to my winners predictions from the fantasy outlook, I'm 8-2 right now.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Words cannot describe my excitement. The opening Sunday of NFL football is finally here at last. For all of you fantasy players out there, check out the Week 1 Rankings I posted on Wednesday night. I didn't nail it with Brees, but he still performed very well. Picked the winner anyway. But that could all change today. I'm 1-0 now, but I could find myself at like 2-13 in the blink of an eye. In my first weekend picking NCAA games against the spread, I went 16-14. Could have been worse I suppose. I'm not too disappointed. But I'm just through-the-roof excited for the NFL season to kick off this afternoon. I'll be watching the Pats and the Bengals.

So what's going to happen in this game? Well, as you saw in my predictions, I picked the Pats to win 28-10. That's a fair share of optimism on my part, thinking this defense can hold Cincy to 10 points. But at the same time, that Bengals offense has the potential to flop on its face. They're pretty hyped up with that receiving duo, but let's face the facts. When it comes to receiving duos, Cincinnati doesn't even have the best duo on the field today. Moss and Welker, check and check. So how will they take down the Pats? Everyone is calling out Tom Brady for being a prima donna and a pretty boy that doesn't care about winning anymore. Look. I'll admit that Brady has turned into somewhat of the NFL's pretty boy. Modeling and marrying super models and being a daddy and seeing chick flicks with his girl. I get it. But I'd rather have our QB be the golden boy of the league than be the rapist of the league (Roethlisberger) or the commercial clown of the league (Manning) or the indecisive little bitch of the league (Favre) or the drug addict of the league (JaMarcus). I'm perfectly happy with Brady and I still have 100% confidence in his ability to lead a Super Bowl caliber team. It's amazing that one game in 2007 could change so much. None of this would be brought up if Brady was a 4-time Super Bowl champion. Sorry, God forbid he's only won us 3!

Anyway, he'll light it up today. Even though Moss is acting a little alarming lately, he'll quiet the critics with a deep ball touchdown. And life will be good in New England. 1-0 to start the season and to begin our quest for an undefeated Super Bowl championship season. Hope for the best, right?