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On World Cup Hiatus… back soon
Jun 29th
If you hadn’t noticed, we’re taking a short break whilst we enjoy the world cup and the hot weather here in the UK.
We’ve still got our First Look series to finish, and will be taking a second (and final) look at each of the conferences before too long.
Stay tuned!
First look 2010… AFC North
Jun 16th
Being my first ‘Division’ prediction, ever, I figured I might as well do one for the division I know most about! The AFC North is usually an entertaining and exciting division. The matches are played well, and are usually close. Rivalry is fierce and the bouts are relentless. It’s always difficult predicting without seeing the four pre-season matches, but I’m going to give it a go.
First Look 2010… AFC East
Jun 14th
We all know that predicting the divisions before the season has started can be, well, lets say – tricky! However, it is one of the things that we love doing and something that serves as a reference point for the changing fortunes of teams throughout the year. Oh, and more importantly means we can refer back to the awful predictions each other made as the year goes on!.
So Long Moose and Bruce
Jun 11th
With the average NFL career being less than four seasons, when someone’s spent 14 years they deserve a mention.
Muhsin Muhammad retired yesterday. He leaves the game ranked 20th on career receiving yards and having spent the vast majority of his year with one team, the Carolina Panthers. He was selected in the second round of the 1996 draft. This year’s second round pick – Jimmy Clausen – was just 8 back then.
Take care Moose, be well.
14 seasons you say? Isaac Bruce will see your 14 and raise you 2 additional season. Likewise the 20th career placing… Bruce is 3rd on the all time career yards and spent thirteen years with the Rams, helping them to Super Bowl victory for the 1999 season.
After two years a 49er, he retires a Ram. His club will honour him by retiring the number 80 in the game against Carolina later this year.
Again, be well.
Image Credit (Isaac Bruce): Jachdeja
Image Credit (Mushin Muhhamad): pnther60
Video Credit: LilMike1309
First Look 2010… NFC South
Jun 10th
The run that the Saints went on took us by surprise. Indeed, from the pre- and off-season Graham and I both fancied the Panthers to be the err, big dogs of the division. As it happened, they were pussycats and the Saints went marching on and it’s now history. But enough of me murdering metaphors…
This NFC South has been particularly well balanced in recent years, with all four teams making the post season and each team has made the championship game and all but the Falcons made the Super Bowl since 2002. That could make things hard, but could make them fun too!
So let’s take a look…
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Is This The Real Life?
Jun 7th
Fantasy Football sign-ups are live again at Yahoo! Sports. We’re all signed up and raring to go, even though the draft isn’t for 3 months yet. This is a league that I’ve run for several years now and it goes from strength to strength.
We’ll be running a Mac draft later this year, and if you’d like to be involved then let us know and we’ll get invites out when it’s ready. Or you can just laugh at us from a distance… I know I had a terrible season last year!. But whatever you do…
Get Playing!
We use Yahoo! Sports‘ fantasy league and live draft, but there are plenty available. Like at nfl.com.
UK fans should also look at the nfluk.com fantasy competition, which works in a different way but has some good prizes on offer.
First Look 2010… NFC North
Jun 3rd
There are no easy divisions to predict but the NFC North is one of the toughest. Last year neither Graham or I saw the Vikings being as good as they turned out to be. Neither of us saw the North sending two teams into the post-season either but it turned out to be the case. Although we all called the Lions to prop up, the Bears were a disappointment and again caused us to get it wrong.
Let’s take an early look ahead to the 2010 NFL season…
First Look 2010… NFC West
May 28th
This is another division where I didn’t cover myself in glory. By my own admission it was the one that I struggled with most, but my call of Seattle and Arizona as a wildcard. The Seahawks were appalling, and the 49ers finished strongly to take second but were way short of the playoffs.
Graham did well though, calling the Cards as divisional winners and 49ers as runners up but missing the playoffs. Nice work.
What will happen this year?
First Look 2010… NFC East
May 20th
I did pretty badly with this last year, predicting that the Giants and Eagles would go into the post-season as winners and wildcard respectively. In the end, the Cowboys surprised and the Giants disappointed to swap places from my predictions. Unfortunately the ‘Skins did no better than I thought they would and were propping up the division.
Let’s see what’s happening for 2010…
Baltimore Ravens – A Summary
May 10th
M&T Stadium, Baltimore
Well, the draft is over and the mini-camps are getting underway. Figured I’d wait until this point to give my opinion on the last few months, well, as a Raven anyway.
The Anquan Boldin Trade:
This really did take me by surprise. I could see us trading for a solid wide receiver, but to be honest I never really expected it to be Boldin. A pleasant surprise by all means though. Boldin really is a quality player. He may have had a few injuries lately but his effort and his production is nothing to be dismissed. I really can’t wait to see him in the Purple of Baltimore. He came at a pretty reasonable price too. A 3rd and 4th round draft pick? Bargain, especially since we recouped those by trading down in the draft.
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