By Guest Blogger Stephen Kersey of Hoops Fantasy and Knuckle Curve

5. Drew Brees will have a huge season.
Last season, Drew Brees was amazingly cold to begin the season for the Saints. In his first four games, Brees had one touchdown pass and nine interceptions. However, from then on, Brees was very good. In his final 12 games, Brees had 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions. With the addition of Jeremy Shockey and a healthy Deuce McAllister, Brees should have a great season in 2008.

4. The Cowboys will implode.
Not only is Terrell Owens always a ticking time bomb, Dallas has decided to add Pacman Jones to the mix (or Adam Jones, if he prefers). Having one potential volatile player such as T.O. is one thing. Adding a second volatile player is just asking for trouble. In 2008, look for the Cowboys’ team chemistry to erode and the squad not to be able to live up to their expectations.

3. The Dolphins will surprise.
Bill Parcells is the master at turning around organizations. With the recent addition of Chad Pennington, the Dolphins now have a legitimate quarterback. Pennington, along with a number of other offseason acquisitions, has heart and will help the team exceed expectations. Miami won’t make the playoffs but they will be close to a .500 team – which will be a major surprise who expect the Dolphins to be the worst team in the NFL.

2. Brett Favre will struggle.
Lost in all of the Brett Favre hype is the fact that 2007 was likely a fluke season for Favre. Prior to last year, Favre had two sub par seasons in a row. And now at 38, Favre can’t be expected to evade father time for much longer. Expect Favre to have a few magical moments but he’ll likely end the season with more interceptions than touchdowns. The New York Jets will be improved but not improved enough to make the playoffs.

1. The Patriots will win the Super Bowl.
Last season, the Patriots almost had a perfect season on their way to a championship. But, as we all know, the New York Giants ruined the shot at perfection in the Super Bowl. This year, New England will actually save some juice for the postseason. Don’t be surprised if you see the Patriots struggle a little bit out of the gate. As the season goes along, expect the Patriots to improve and then go into the playoffs and take home another Super Bowl title.

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

Ralph Wilson Stadium

It is a sad day in Buffalo.

Buffalo is an economic area that is contracting.

Toronto is an economic area that is expanding and hustling and bustling.

Ralph Wilson, the long time owner of the Bills, has his eyes on Toronto.

Already there is a deal in place to play games in Toronto.

Toronto will formally land on the NFL map later this year, when the Bills become the league’s first franchise to play an annual regular season game outside the United States. The deal also includes the Bills playing three preseason games — one every other year, starting this year — in Toronto.

Dates have yet to be announced.

The games would be played at the downtown Rogers Centre, a domed stadium with a retractable roof and home of the Toronto Blue Jays. source

Can moving to Toronto be far behind for the lowly Bills?

Wilson steered clear from discussing whether the Bills would ever relocate north of the border. “Don’t worry right now,” was the best answer he could provide at a news conference Wednesday announcing the Bills would begin playing an annual regular-season game in Toronto beginning this season through 2012.

Based on what Wilson saw during a half-hour drive from the airport to a downtown hotel, he was convinced Canada’s financial capital and North America’s fifth largest sports market was ready for the NFL.

That is not all Ralph said and maybe this is more telling. Read more

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

Wes Welker is often open when the pressure is on Tom Brady

Looking around the net, it seems obvious that everyone is picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl.

Time to get to work and break it down.

Foxsports.com had all 11 sports analysts pick the game and 10 out of 11 picked the New England Patriots to triumph.

Interestingly enough, they list the game as Giants vs. Patriots, maybe an alphabet thing or something.

My pick is the Patriots, as well.

But geez, nothing would make me happier than being wrong. My wife says that being wrong is pretty much easy for me. Maybe she is picking the Giants.

Wait, maybe she is on to something. If we could figure out how the Giants could win, maybe we would know why most of the world thinks the Patriots will win.

Does that make any sort of convoluted sense?

For today’s expert we turn to Michael David Smith of Fox Sports.com. Michael will give us 5 keys for the Giants to win this game.

Your intrepid author’s comments will be in italics.

1. Eli Manning has to continue his mistake-free playoff run

After a regular season in which he threw 20 interceptions in 16 games, Manning has zero interceptions in three playoff games. Manning is making wise decisions — including throwing the ball away and taking sacks when nothing is open — in a way that he too often failed to do during the regular season and, for that matter, during his entire NFL career. source

Ok, this one is obvious. Tom Brady is a way better QB than Eli Manning. Eli has to stay out of his own way for the Giants to win. Add in that Tom Brady has to have a rare off game.

2. The Giants’ running game must produce

…the good news for the Giants is they have a weapon at their disposal that they lacked the first time they played the Patriots. Rookie running back Ahmad Bradshaw, a speedy, shifty runner who has been the Giants’ leading rusher during the playoffs, was injured and missed the regular-season matchup. A couple of big plays from Bradshaw — along with some tough runs from starting running back Brandon Jacobs — could turn the game in the Giants’ favor.

The running game made the difference in the frigid Green Bay game. At minus 24 degrees wind chill it may have been ok for Brett Favre, but his receivers could not hold on to the ball. Problem with that is the weather in Arizona will not be minus 24 degree wind chill. Still, if the Giants have any hope of moving the ball on offense, the running game will be paramount.

3. Hit Tom Brady early and hit him often Read more

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

The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to beat the St. Louis Rams 41 - 24, but at a great cost.

Willie Parker, the NFL’s leading rusher, left the game after the Steelers’ second play from scrimmage with a broken right leg, and the Pro Bowler is out for the rest of the season.
Parker, who entered the game with 1,317 rushing yards, got tackled by Rams linebacker Will Weatherspoon for a one-yard loss and his lower leg appeared to buckle as he crumpled to the turf at Edward Jones Dome. source

Who will win the rushing crown? Be sure to vote in the poll to your right and pick your winner!

This is how it reads as of today.

1. Willie Parker PIT 1316
2. LaDainian Tomlinson SD 1311
3. Adrian Peterson MIN 1278
4. Willis McGahee BAL 1197
5. Brian Westbrook PHI 1191

Parker with -1 yards rushing against St. Louis, ends up with 1,316 yards.

LaDainian Tomlinson early favorite

LT has been on a monster run with 177 yards against the Chiefs, 146 against the Titans, and 116 against my sad sack Lions. He has averaged over 6.8 yards per carry during the last 3 games.

LT is in this weeks Monday night game with Denver and although Denver is not very good against the rush, Monday Night Football is sometimes bizarre and how much will LT play in this game?

LT’s last game is the 4:15 game with the Oakland Raiders and they are a dandy 31st against the rush.

With the Chargers having the AFC West wrapped up, how much will LT play is another question.

Adrian Peterson the great challenger

Adrian Peterson is coming off the bizarre San Francisco game where he had 3 yards and the Bears game with 78 yards.

The Vikings play the late late game Sunday against Washington and the Skins are 9th against the rush holding opponents to under 100 yards per game.

The Vikings are still Read more

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

Lovie Smith says It will be a Cold Day in Detroit when we use injuries for an excuse

It happens often.

Sometimes there is just no explanation for it.

What is it?

The team with the supposed disadvantage comes up big, sometimes in the very place where they are hurting.

The Bears are hurting with a number of injuries.

Some think the Lions are catching the Bears at the right time. Some think it’s the worst possible time to play the defending NFC champs.

Confused? Don’t be. Both scenarios are possible because the Bears are struggling. source

Two teams living in two different worlds

The Bears are a team that just went to the Super Bowl and wants to return. No, make that thinks they will return. In their minds, they are the favorites.

The Lions are an up and coming team, short on talent Read more

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

Raiders? No Way. It was all their fault. Hey, your looking at the greatest player ever!

Going into the off season the Patriots were loaded to the gills. After blowing a huge early lead to the Colts in the playoffs, the New England Patriots have developed that killer instinct again. They want to win it all.

The off season comes and New England begins to fill the few holes they had on their team.

Adalius Thomas was added to a pretty good, but getting older linebacking crew.

Donte Stallworth, ever the deep threat, was added to an anemic receiving crew. Wes Welker was also added to that crew, and also, to be a return man. Throw in the additions of Kyle Brady and Kelley Washington and you have all the makings of an excellent receiving corps.

Another, not so subtle move, Read more

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

Oh yeah, it could happen in the future if the NFL can find a way to expand into China, but let’s talk about other things for a while, before we trade Peyton.

Today was the fourth of July and the celebrating was going on everywhere. While driving back from my Mom’s house late at night, you could see fireworks going off in every direction.

It may have been forgotten why Read more

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

Your intrepid author is a huge NBA basketball fan and hailing from Michigan finds me rooting for the Detroit Pistons, win or lose.

This year was bittersweet as the Pistone-ians went down to the Cleveland LeBrons. This left the LeBrons to play San Antone with the Big Fundamental. You just knew the LeBrons would lose, because San Antone always wins. They always win.

During one of the games, the NBA Broadcasting team flashed a graphic showing Read more

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

****Important Bulletin****
We interrupt this blog to bring forth the following important message.
The Squibster celebrated his first year as the author of Squibkick!
My first blog was last July 1, 2006.
Thank You for all the fan support.
It has been my pleasure!
**********************

Oooooh, it is so tough being a Lions fan. The losing, the pain, the losing, the humiliation, and the losing.

And it would be remiss of me not to mention the losing.

Finally, along comes a guy named Rod Marinelli and he seems to be doing it differently.

Oh, there is still the losing, but now there are attitude adjustments. A sort of cleaning out of the deadwood, if you know what that means.

This year the Lions are starting to rebuild and move in a positive long term direction for the first time in years and some may say decades. So why Read more

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

Paul takes his anger out on one of my Spartans, ouch!

J.P. Losman is your quarterback.

Who?

J.P. Los..

Ok, ok, J.P. we get it. Knew who he was, just didn’t care. You know and we know that Losman should be called Lose man.

Face it, Buffalo had some severe losses and may have picked up some good players to replace them, but the Bills aren’t really going anywhere.

Paul Posluszny and Marshawn Lynch may turn out to be great rookies, but the key word is rookies.

So what did the Bills do right and do they have any future expectations? Read more