Monthly Archives: May 2012

May 31, 2012

2012 Preview: Buffalo Bills

By hesaidshesaidfootball

The Buffalo Bills will not be defined as the “Dream Team” by Vince Young.  He has learned his lesson to be quiet from last year.  The Bills showed some promise last year starting off strong winning 5 of their first 7 games.  Then it appears the bottom fell out and the team lost the next 8 of 9 games…ouch!  Great moves this off season include the signing of RB Fred Jackson and WR Stevie Johnson to contract extention.  The biggest move of the off season for the Bills has been the signing of DE Mario Williams!  Williams will surely make Tom Brady and Mark Sanchez a little more uncomfortable on the field this season.  Here are a few more things about the 2012 Buffalo Bills.

Fantasy Football Studs:  Fred Jackson became a bonifide fantasy football stud last season.  He had his first 1000 yard season last year, but he is also coming off an injury.  Still, look for Jackson to get his cuts again this year.  This is the year that CJ Spiller moves into to fantasy stardom as well, especially with the Bills lining him up at receiver.  Speaking of receiver, Stevie Johnson will supply you with some decent weeks.  To me, Johnson is one of thr best WRs to exploit a favorable match-up.

Area of Strength:  The Bills are lookng strong with the run!  The contract extention of Fred Jackson was a good move.  Don’t forget CJ Spiller.  Combined this fellas averaged over 5 yards a carry with over 1500 yards. 

Area of Weakness:  QB Ryan Fitzpatrick started out last season on a red hot streak, stringing a few back to back stud performances during the first half of the season, even getting a new contract out of the deal.  But the ink wasn’t even dry on that contract before Fitz slipped back to being a liability for the Bills.  He is a definite weakness for Buffalo.  He also has newly acquired Vince Young to worry about, who is dead set on taking the starting spot.  Also, the Bills spent some money this off season by signing former #1 pick, Mario Williams.  But Williams is coming off a season ending injury.  As of now he and that defense is a weakness.

2012 Marquee Matchups:  Weeks 4 and 5 will prove to be tough as they have to face the Patriots followed by the 49ers.  Then coming off a bye week, Weeks 9 and 10 the Bills will face Mario’s old team the Texans, and then the Patriots again.  Their schedule is not too tough and with the right play, they could make a little noise this year… 

All Things Buffalo Bills:  There are several ways to keep up with the 2012 Buffalo Bills.  Here are a few…

Blogs:  Buffalo Rumblings http://www.buffalorumblings.com/  The Buffalowdown http://buffalowdown.com/ Two Bills Drive http://www.twobillsdrive.com/

Apps:  There are no really strong impressive apps right now for the Bills.

Fan Clubs: The Buffalo Bills don’t really  have an offical fan club.  They do have a site with fan photos and info which can be found on their website www.buffalobills.com under fans.

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May 30, 2012

2012 Preview: Miami Dolphins

By hesaidshesaidfootball

The Miami Dolphins have a rich tradition of  undefeated seasons, Super Bowl wins and appearances (how can we forget the Wildcat).  Sadly, the most recent history has been losing season after losing season.  I don’t expect anything different this upcoming season.  The Dolphins have no playmakers, save Reggie Bush, since they traded away the best player they have had in recent history, Brandon Marshall.  They dumped Tony Sparano as their head coach, hiring rookie coach Joe Philbin.  They also missed out on the services of Peyton Manning, and placed their future in the hand of rookie WR turned QB, Ryan Tannehill.  Then just yesterday, it was announced that HBO will profile the team on Hard Knocks this year.  The whole nation will be able to see exactly what all of this looks like for the Dolphins.  Who will emerge as the darling of South Beach on HBO:  the rookie Head Coach, who recently loss his son to a tragedy, the rookie newlywed QB, or will it be a veteran like Bush?  Exciting times in Miami even if the football is bad.

Fantasy Football Studs:  Well Reggie Bush had a pretty good year for his first year as a Dolphin.  He started off kinda slow but ended the year with 1086 rushing yards and 7 combined TDs, the most of anyone on the current roster (bye-bye Brandon Marshall).  Experience has taught me that Reggie Bush himself may be a stud, but he’s no fantasy football stud.  Those are hard to come by on the Miami Dolphins Continue reading

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May 29, 2012

2012 Preview: New York Jets

By hesaidshesaidfootball

The New York Jets organization can be called many things, but quiet is not one of them.  The 2011 season was filled with problems stemming from the locker room.  Star WR Santonio Holmes called out his QB Mark Sanchez very early in the season.  In fact the star of the team, CB Derrelle Revis recently described the locker room as being in disarray.  It’s clear that with such an outspoken, sometime tactless coach, the Jet’s recently have had a hard time being mum about issues within the organization.  To add further drama, the Jets acquire the most polarizing QB in the NFL today–the ever tactful, Tim Tebow.  As you can imagine the move has caused a lot of questions regarding who will truly be the starting QB for the Jets and for how long.  Naturally in today’s media, players of the Jets organization have had to give opinions on this topic seemingly everyday since the trade.  Oh the events:  The Tim Tebow press conference, the Tim Tebow first day of OTAs, the Tim Tebow punt team practice.  Did you notice that the NFL shop as a special line of gear just for Tim Tebow?  I’m sure Mark feels very confident (just ask his agent).  This drama would be worth it if only the Jets had found someone to improve their completed pass percentage.  Here are a few more things about the 2012 New York Jets… 

Fantasy Football Studs:  There could very well be some good fantasy options on the Jets.  Santonio Holmes is still a good receiver who has a lot to prove after last year’s sub par season.  You can even get some good use out of tight end Dustin Keller and RB Shonn Greene. But none of these players can be considered fantasy studs.  When looking for a stud from the Jets for your fantasy squad, look only to the Jets defense as a possible option.  I look for the defense to get back to what got them to back to back AFC title games.  Also, anytime you have Derrelle Revis, your defense had a good chance to succeed. Continue reading

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May 28, 2012

2012 Preview: New England Patriots

By hesaidshesaidfootball

Usually the New England Patriots have a quiet off season.  As usual they had an impressive draft acquiring many players that will help their last place 2011 defense.  But it seems as if one of the team’s offensive weapons is having some financial issues, and not afraid to talk about it openly, which is a known Patriot no-no.  Wes Welker, coming off his best statistical year, is in a contract dispute.  It was a good sign, when the Patriots signed Welker to the franchise tender.  But when Welker told the media that negations had gotten worse, it didn’t sit well with the Pats brass. Not the usual quiet off season for the New England Patriots.  With a great draft and a relatively easy schedule, many pick the Patriots to repeat as the AFC representative in the Super Bowl.  Here is a look at the upcoming season for New England:

Fantasy Football Studs:  TE Rob Gronkowski had a MONSTER season in 2011–90 catches and 1327 yards to be specific.  TE Aaron Hernandez is not to shabby either with 79 catches and 910 yards.  Tom still loves throwing to WR Wes Welker, the recipient of 122 catches and 1359 yards.  The difference between the 2 TEs and WR? Gronkowski had a crucial 17 TDs!  None of this could happen without the Patriots leader and top weapon: Tom Brady.  I dont’ have to convince you but just incase, how does 5325 yards and 39 TDs sound? Continue reading

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May 27, 2012

Sunday in the Skybox: AFC East

By hesaidshesaidfootball

The American Football Conference-Eastern Division (AFC East) will kick off our Sunday in the Skybox team by team 2012 Preview.  This division (composed of the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets) has a combined total of 6 Superbowl wins.  Superbowl XLVI runner-up New England Patriots have controlled this division over the last decade winning 8 of the last 10 Division titles.  Another fun fact about this division is that it could be renamed, the Bill Parcells division.  Parcells himself coached for the New England Patriots and New York Jets.  Most recently Parcells was Vice President of Football Operations for the Miami Dolphins.  Over the years, current and former head coaches such as Bill Belichick are from the Bill Parcells coaching tree. 

Bad Blood in this Division: There has been long-standing rivalries in this division.  One of the biggest rivalries in football has always been the Jets and the Dolphins.  These teams have gone back and forth in some hard-fought games giving the Jets the overall advantage of 47-43-1.  The Dolphins have also had their battles with the Bills, meeting in the playoffs 4 times.  The most recent rivalry has been with the Patriots and the Jets.  It has mirrored the bad blood similar to the baseball Yankees and the Red Sox.  The Jets have mostly played second fiddle to the Pats, but NY has been competitive in recent years, playing the Patriots in playoff battles twice in the past six years.

Recently, there have been quite a few great moments between the teams in this division.  In 2008, the Dolphins pulled an upset win (38-13) over the Patriots using the WildCat offense.  Sadly Dolphins fans can’t shake the memory of a 41-14 loss to the Patriots during Monday Night Football in 2010.  The next day, the Dolphins fired Special Teams coach John Bonamego for managing to give up 21 points in huge special teams mistakes.  We all loved watching the battles between Randy Moss as a Patriot vs CB Derrelle Revis of the Jets.  Speaking of Revis, he called New England Patriot head coach Bill Belichick a “jerk” during a word association game played on ESPN againt Patriot TE Rob Gronkowski–awkward. Continue reading

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May 23, 2012

He Said: I’m Going Back to College

By darylemcghee

I’m a huge football fan.  I grew up watching and playing the sport religiously.  A football player was the second thing I wanted to be when I was a little kid, right after policeman.  Every Sunday I was in front of the television, and when I got old enough to stay up, I watched Monday Night Football.  All that time, I never realized that there was football being played on Saturdays too.  

Growing up in Washington, DC, there were no college football powerhouses, no big rivalries, no national title contenders.  I didn’t get to be a part of any big college football games like folks did in Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, or Florida.  Even when I got to college at Liberty University, the biggest schools that we played were Villanova, Carson-Newman, and Delaware State.  Not exactly powerhouses of college football.  I occasionally watched Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma Sooners or the Jimmy Johnson Miami Hurricanes, which eventually became my favorite college team, but it wasn’t the NFL. Continue reading

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