NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
A couple of years ago we wrote them off. It was the Falcons and they just stunk up the place. Then in the off season they picked up running back Michael Turner from the Chargers and drafted quarterback Matt Ryan. So, they picked up a rookie and a backup? What could that mean? It is still Atlanta.

Admit it, we were fooled, the Matt and Michael show made a huge difference and will continue into this year. That is where the Fantasy Football comes in. There are several high rated Falcons.

Turner is the No. 2-ranked running back on CBSSports.com and ESPN.com — behind Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson. NFL.com puts Turner No. 3, behind Peterson and Chicago’s Matt Forte.

Newly-acquired tight end Tony Gonzalez comes in anywhere from No. 1 to No. 4, while wideout Roddy White is ranked No. 8 by all three sites.

Meanwhile, quarterback Matt Ryan projects as the eighth- or ninth-best fantasy quarterback after winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. Kicker Jason Elam ranks between No. 4 and No. 6.

Matt Ryan has moved up the Fantasy Football ladder

Richard describes Turner as a fantasy cornerstone, especially because he always gets the goal-line carries, but says Turner won’t get near the 376 carries he got last year.
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So suck it up and pick some Falcons and you can be the Fantasy Football leader!

Photo source Newscom

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Do you have a Facebook account? You might be surprised how many people have them and their popularity just continues to grow. Facebook is one of the modern driving factors of this world we live in and who knows how it may change things.

Now we read about an Offensive lineman that contacted a women from his Facebook page, which wouldn’t be so bad except he is married and his wife did not take too kindly to the act.

Quinn Ojinnaka has been taking it on the chin a lot

As reported in the USA Today, Quinn Ojinnaka is out on bond after knocking his wife down the stairs in an argument over the facebook incident. Quinn argues his wife started the fight with a pen.

Wait a minute, a pen? Who uses a pen anymore?
Photo source Newscom

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NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
It does not seem plausible to add Michael Vick to your football team. It seems like a personal relations nightmare. None the less, both the Vikes and Niners are thinking that Vick would be a good addition.

You remember that Vick was sent to prison for running a dog fighting gambling ring on his property and that just about destroyed the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons made a tremendous comeback this year with rookie Matt Ryan from Boston College playing quarterback. The Falcons owner, Mr. Blank, has stated the Michael would not become a Falcon again. Still Vick is under contract and teams cannot communicate with him at this time. To be sure, though, the Falcons will be getting rid of him at some time.

There might be questions about Vick’s sharpness and conditioning because he hasn’t played since 2006, but he’s a proven winner who led the Falcons to an NFC Championship game and has been to three Pro Bowls. The dynamic athlete has the NFL single-season record for yards rushing by a quarterback with 1,039 in 2006, and is third all-time. He also has passed for 11,505 yards in six seasons, with 71 touchdowns and 52 interceptions.

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The 49er’s coach, Mike Singletary, hinted that Vick would play in the NFL and why not on his team. That had to be a confidence booster for Shaun Hill.

Vikings coach Brad Childress played it a little closer to the vest by refusing to comment on anything Michael Vick oriented, but did admit that Tarvaris Jackson needed some competition. In NFL lingo that means he is not yet good enough.

Photo source Newscom

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Matt Ryan dances for joy

So what are the big stories?

No Plax and still the Giants are first. Solid offensive and defensive lines.

The Titans, rock solid, with LenDale White and Chris Johnson and an awesome defense, they had to hold back on my Lions to keep from doubling their season stats. They are number 2.

Number 3 is the Steelers. If you get a chance to watch their defense, you must do it. They are downright mean and physical! Roethlisberger has a knack for not getting sacked, too.

But the biggest surprise has to be the turnaround in Atlanta. Young Matt Ryan is playing some great quarterback for a rookie and who would have thought that Michael Turner would be this good of a running back?

It’s December, and only three teams in the NFC own more victories than the Falcons. That’s why no matter what happens the rest of the way, Atlanta’s season will be remembered as one of the franchise’s sweetest ever. You could make the case that the Falcons this year have the Coach of the Year (Mike Smith), the NFL Executive of the Year (general manager Thomas Dimitroff), the Offensive Rookie of the Year — or even the MVP in quarterback Matt Ryan — and the free-agent signee of the year (running back Michael Turner).

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Oh, and my Lions are dead last!

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Michael Turner is number 1

Oh man, today we spin off into one of my favorite worlds. Today we look at stats.

Well…say it. “Stats can be deceiving.”

Yeah, but they also can be revealing.

How about this one? (and it comes from StatBeast. They have all kinds of cool widgets and stuff and wild stats on all kinds of things.)

Who are the top 4 rushing leaders in the NFL in terms of yards per game? (that equals out the bye week thing)

Here are your choices:

Michael Turner (Hey, he is already in the title.)
Clinton Portis (Proud member of my Fantasy Football Team.)
Brandon Jacobs (From the Super Bowl New York Giants.)
Julius Jones (Former Cowboy, now a Seahawk.)

You can only choose 4 (wanted to make it easy on you.)

That is right…Turner 108.6, Portis 102.8, Jacobs 95, and Jones 93.3.

LaDainian Tomlinson is 20th with 66.2.

Adrian Peterson is 5th with 90.4 and might be leading, but when my Fantasy Team needed him last week, Adrian only had 32 yards in 21 carries. Ouch! Check the story on Adrian and get a great picture of Lena Heady in the movie 300. She is the mother in the new Terminator TV show.

Adrian Peterson may be traded

Now you see how Michael Turner is 20 times better than LT!

Photo source Newscom

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Michael Turner of the Atlanta Falcons. And where are the Stinkin Lions in this picture?

The Detroit Lions stink.

Maybe this should end right there, but that would tell you nothing, because they always seem to stink. They should be renamed the Detroit Stinkin Lions.

How can they lose to the Atlanta Falcons? Oh, that part is easy; any NFL team can lose to another on their home field. But how do you get blown out by a team with a rookie coach, rookie quarterback, rookie linemen, heck probably a rookie water boy (The falcons water boy out executed the Lions water boy by several sips of water.)

And we hear again and again and again that Marinelli is the guru of defensive linemen. He helped turn Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice into stars. Well, maybe Sapp and Rice turned Marinelli into a star. Because yesterday, Matt Ryan looked awfully comfortable in the pocket the few times he tried to pass. And when the Falcons ran, the inexperienced line mauled the Lions defenders. The clock was already ticking on Marinelli, and yesterday’s game moved the hands forward a little bit.

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Can we call for Matt Millen’s head already? Will Jon Kitna still be our quarterback 10 years from now?

Were there any good parts for the Lions?

Calvin Johnson looked great at receiver.
Kevin Smith looked pretty good for a rookie running back.
Roy Williams had a nice touchdown grab.

What about Atlanta? Are they for real? Well, Matt Ryan had a nice debut at QB, but still only had to throw the ball 13 times. That may never happen again. Michael Turner looked pretty good at running back. Ok, he looked awesome, but it was the Stinkin Lions.

Ryan’s first NFL pass was a 62-yard touchdown. Running back Michael Turner — LaDainian Tomlinson’s understudy in San Diego the past four years — followed with 66- and five-yard touchdowns to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

Turner finished with a career-high 220 rushing yards. His career high for a season is 502.

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Brett Favre getting an award for being Brett Favre

Image details: 2008 ESPY Awards - Show served by picapp.com

What is it with people? You fans that get bummed because a old veteran that had a sparkling career and just wants to keep playing, even if he is not very good anymore, have got to get a life.

If Brett wants to play, why should he not be allowed to play? He still has to make the cut, get a contract, all the usual things. If he does this stuff then why are YOU worried about his all time stats suffering?

Hey, just don’t pick Favre for your fantasy league quarterback, if it is bothering you.

And you fans that insist a great player must stay on the same team better remember Brett was on Atlanta’s team.

That still does not stop you, does it?

There is something very unsettling about the image of Brett Favre wearing a uniform that doesn’t belong to the Green Bay Packers.
There’s also something unsettling about the soap opera that’s playing out between Favre and the Packers.

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Still you persist.

In a perfect world, Favre stays retired. He is among those athletes who should be associated with one team. When you think of Ted Williams, it’s in a Red Sox uniform. The same with Bill Russell and the Celtics or John Elway and the Broncos.

There’s something special about that, and there’s something terribly wrong picturing Favre in Carolina blue, Minnesota purple or in any helmet that doesn’t have a G on the side.

Guess what, YOU are not Brett Favre.

Brett Favre is Brett Favre. He can do what he wants. He can change his mind if he wants.

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The new face of the Atlanta Falcons, Matt Ryan

Image details: 2008 NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere Photo Shoot served by picapp.com

One day Matt Ryan is playing my Michigan State Spartans in a bowl game and the next day Matt is inking a contract with the Atlanta Falcons.

The name “Michael Vick” was conspicuously absent.

Atlanta is owned by Arthur Blank, an owner that desperately wants to move on, as they say. It is time to forget the Michael Vick era. What better way than to draft a new quarterback, to give the team a new face, and to get him signed and in uniform quick.

Matt Ryan, the No. 3 pick in last month’s draft, signed a $72 million, six-year contract Tuesday. The announcement of the new deal came with smiles, confident talk of the future and no mention of Michael Vick, the first pick in 2001 who signed a $130 million extension, the richest in the league at the time, in December 2005.

Team owner Arthur Blank and the Falcons were especially eager to sign Ryan, avoid a holdout and help the franchise move away from the Vick era with new general manager Thomas Dimitroff, new coach Mike Smith and now a new quarterback.

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It is always dicey taking a quarterback with one of the top picks. Ask my Detroit Lions and Joey Harrington. It does not always work out.

Darren McFadden

To make it even more risky, Atlanta passed on Darren McFadden, more of a sure thing at running back and most likely soon to be one of the league’s stars. You can bet there will be some criticism of the Falcons if Matt Ryan comes out of the gate slowly while Darren McFadden gets off to the races. Matt may face some struggles with the lack of offensive weapons on the Falcons and an anemic offensive line, so expect some criticism.

Matt Ryan guarantee

The Falcons are putting all Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Jon Kitna is at it again. He is calling for 10 victories, but for a different reason.

No, Jon is not crazy. Well, maybe a little, he did agree to play for the Detroit Lions. Nobody made him do it.

This year Jon is calling for 10 victories, because that would mean they are in the playoffs and that would mean they are more than competitive. That would mean a very successful season for the team.

Just as he did last off-season — and again earlier this year — Kitna said Tuesday that the Lions should not accept less than 10 wins. The team went 7-9 in 2007.

“Our expectation is we will be disappointed if we don’t win 10 games,” he said after the Lions’ first Organized Team Activities practice in Allen Park. “Because that will mean we’re not in the playoffs and that (stinks). I can’t make it any simpler than that. Anybody who says that’s not their expectation level is, unfortunately, not very much of a competitor.”

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Ok, all that scoffing has to stop right now. The Lions will be better and even though that does not always translate into more victories, Jon believes it will.

Let’s take a look at their schedule.

Sun 9/7 at Atlanta 1:00 pm
Sun 9/14 Green Bay 1:00 pm
Sun 9/21 at San Francisco 4:05 pm
bye
Sun 10/5 Chicago 1:00 pm
Sun 10/12 at Minnesota 1:00 pm
Sun 10/19 at Houston 4:05 pm
Sun 10/26 Washington 1:00 pm
Sun 11/2 at Chicago 1:00 pm
Sun 11/9 Jacksonville 1:00 pm
Sun 11/16 at Carolina 1:00 pm
Sun 11/23 Tampa Bay 1:00 pm
Thu 11/27 Tennessee 12:30 pm
Sun 12/7 Minnesota 1:00 pm
Sun 12/14 at Indianapolis 1:00 pm
Sun 12/21 New Orleans 1:00 pm
Sun 12/28 at Green Bay 1:00 pm

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Certainly playing in a division without any other proven quarterbacks, now that Brett Favre is gone, has to help.

There are also games with non powerhouse teams like Atlanta, Houston, Carolina, and Washington.

Certainly a lot of winnable games on the schedule, but what Detroit Lions team will we get? Gone is Mike Martz and the least fabulous show on Earth and in its place is a running offense without a tailback. Ouch.

Gone is the on again off again Shaun Rodgers from defensive tackle with more emphasis on speed and youth.

This will be Coach Rod Marinelli’s team to live with or die with.

Good Luck, Jon Kitna, on your attempt at 10 victories.

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Michael Vick is vilified everywhere

Image details: Michael Vick Sentenced in Federal Court served by picapp.com

What could possibly happen next to Michael Vick?

Will he get benched by his prison team for erratic passing?

Will the guard dogs start hearing rumors of his past life and threaten him?

Now we find out Michael Vick is being held responsible for a defaulted loan.

A federal judge ordered imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick to repay more than $2.4 million to a Canadian bank for defaulting on a loan.

The Royal Bank of Canada sued Vick in September, arguing his guilty plea to a federal dog fighting charge—and the resulting impact on his career— prevented him from repaying the loan.

According to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Newport News, the loan’s terms specify that any employment change negatively impacting Vick’s income constitutes a default on the loan.

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You remember the Atlanta Falcons and owner Arthur Blank went after Michael Vick’s bonus money that was paid to him from 2004 to 2007 to the tune of 20 million bucks. Lucky for Vick a Fed Judge let him keep all but 3.75 million.

There is also another lawsuit for 1.08 million Read more