Dolphins Sign First Overall Pick, Jake Long

As was speculated this past week, the Miami Dolphins have come to terms with their first pick, the #1 overall pick, in the 2008 draft. Their selection? None other than Jake Long, the stud offensive tackle out of Michigan. As I said in my previous post, I believe this to be the right move because anyone with football knowledge knows that the game are won in the trenches. And there's no better way to shore up a bad offensive line than by adding a big strong tackle like Long. He will immediately contribute to that line and help point them in the right direction.

Your move St. Louis.

My Mock Draft.... Picks 1-6

With the draft coming up soon, everywhere you look you will see different Mock Drafts from the "experts" who manage to not be so expert most of the time. I'm not claiming that my picks are any better than theirs, but that many of the times I could have my dog put his paw on a name and have the picks be selected that way. That being the case, here is my official Mock Draft, picks 1-6, based on my opinion and perceived need for those teams.

#1. Miami Dolphins- Jake Long, OT, Michigan
There had been rumblings and rumors for a while now about who might be the #1 selected pick this year. Now while taking an offensive lineman isn't exactly the sexiest of picks, Long is believed to be the best OT in a draft in a long time. Everyone knows that games are won and lost in the trenches, and having a big strong tackle gives your QB the time he needs to excel. It has been reported recently that the Dolphins are in contract talks with Jake Long, furthering speculation that this is their guy. I personally believe it's the right move.

#2. St. Louis Rams- Chris Long, DE, Virginia
The second of the Long's (no relation) will go #2. Chris is a rare talent that had been rumored to be the #1 pick for a long while. St. Louis will be thrilled to get such a force at this pick and will have very little to think about. Their only other consideration here would be DT Glenn Dorsey, but with his injury concerns, Chris Long is a no-brainer.

#3. Atlanta Falcons- Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
This is where the draft can get turned upside down. It took me a long time to decide between Ryan and Dorsey here. It just seems like the Falcon's need for a franchise quarterback after trading Matt Schaub is too great to pass on a guy like Matt Ryan.

#4. Oakland Raiders- Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
Again, deciding between one guy and Glenn Dorsey seems to be a recurring theme in this draft. Knowing Al Davis, there is no way he passes on the best player in this draft. McFadden is that can't miss running back who can make an impact right away like Peterson did for the Vikings.

#5. Kansas City Chiefs- Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
To me, this isn't the hardest of decisions. Kansas City had one of the worst offensive lines I've seen in a long time. Ideally, they would have Jake Long slip to them, but that's obviously not happening. Grabbing the second best tackle in the draft would help upgrade their line significantly.

#6. New York Jets- Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State
This is the perfect pick for a Mangini team; a versatile player who would fit nicely in the 3-4 scheme they insist on using. Gholston is considered by some to disappear in games at times, but he had such an incredible workout that he has been listed as going much higher than 6. With McFadden off the board, some would argue that the Jets should trade out of the pick, but I like adding a guy like Gholston to this newly upgraded defense.

The Super Bowl Breakdown

The time is ALMOST upon us. The most hyped up sporting event there is draws closer and closer. The day when companies will spend more on advertising then any other single day of the entire year. The Super Bowl. Where tickets are currently reselling at an average price of $4,300 per ticket, hitting as high as $19,446 in some cases.

Is it the BEST sporting event in the world? That's a question for another day. Today we will look deeply into Super Bowl XLll (42 if you don't know roman numerals).

The biggest question that remains regarding this matchup is pretty simple: Do the Giants even have a chance at defeating the New England Patriots, who have a record of 18-0 this season coming into the game? The only way to answer that question is to break down some specifics. Here goes:

Comparing Tom Brady to Eli Manning is like comparing a Ferrari to a Toyota Corolla; the Corolla is a good car and all, but I think if given the option, just about everyone would go with the Ferarri. I mean no disrespect towards Eli Manning, but Tom Brady plays football at a level that hasn't been named yet. It's not elite. It's better. This will be the Patriots 4th Super Bowl in 7 seasons. Tom Brady has been the commanding general for all four and has been superb in finding ways to get his team to win. Oh and any thought that this boot on his foot you've seen lately will have any affect on his game next Sunday should just be dismissed now. Advantage: Brady of course.

The running backs breakdown is not so cut and dry. Laurence Maroney, after having an abysmal season for about 3/4 of this past year, has started to come into his own on the field. He has been near dominant when the Patriots have given him the ball over the last several weeks. But on the other side of the ball, you have the real "thunder and lightning" in Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. If anyone saw that hit Jacobs put on Charles Woodson in the NFC championship on his first carry, you know that NO cornerback in the entire league wants to ever try to tackle that man again. Bradshaw, on the other hand, brings an entirely different element to the running game. He is the pure lightning. The man can flat out move. Advantage: Giants

It is very hard to argue with what the Patriots have done through the air this season. Without anyone even coming close, the Patriots have been the best passing team in the league. You cannot do that without great receivers. Randy Moss, in many people's opinions, should have been the MVP. If you watched him play, which I did a lot, you saw him make Tom Brady look amazing. I'm pretty sure he goes into the huddle and says, "Tom, just throw the ball up. I don't care if the entire defense is guarding me. I'll catch it." Tom says "ok Randy" and does as he is told. That is clearly evidenced by Moss' record setting 23 touchdown catches. Add that with the great output by slot receiver Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth and you have one hell of a deadly receiving game.

You cannot, however, discount the Giants passing game. Plaxico Burress has been nothing short of amazing this season, all while playing injured the entire time. Amani Toomer is a sure-handed receiver who has been anchoring this squad for years. These two will need to come up huge for the Giants to have ANY chance of winning the game. Advantage: Patriots

One factor that is often overlooked in football is the offensive line. Anyone who knows a lot about football knows that the game is won in the trenches. Games are won and lost by how their offensive line fares against the opposing defensive line. That's what makes this game a lot more intriguing than people realize. You have in my opinion the best offensive line in years going against one of the best defensive lines in the game now. The Giants led the league in sacks this year, while the Patriots offensive line has been nothing short of the Great Wall of China. I do have to say, however, that this great wall has looked a little less prominent past few weeks in the playoffs. Advantage: Giants

So now that we have looked closely at the matchup itself, the question you should be asking me right now is, "So Justin, who exactly do YOU think is going to win this game?" Well I'm really glad you asked that. It's a very good, yet complex question. And here is my way of answering it: I believe this game will be closer than the 12 points Vegas is giving the Giants as underdogs. I will go as far as to say there is a chance the Giants can possibly pull this one off, even with the Patriots on a roll like no other team has been on before in the history of the game. Let's rememeber a few things here. The Patriots have had some VERY VERY close games towards the end of the season. The Ravens were a dumb timeout away from beating them. The Eagles were a stupid interception away from beating them. The Giants were some better clock management away from beating them. The JETS even had a chance to knock off this team. They are beatable. All you need to do is get to Tom Brady and knock him around. This is something the Giants defense knows a thing or two about. If they can find a way to sack him, knock him down, get in his head, they can force him to make mistakes. And remember this important stat: Randy Moss the great has exactly 2 receptions and 32 yards so far this postseason. To put that into perspective, those stats are about equivalent to Giants tight end Kevin Boss.

So I haven't really answered the question yet have I? All I can say is this; the Patriots are one game away from cementing themselves as possibly the best team to ever play the game. To go 19-0 in a season is one of the, if not the hardest task to accomplish in all of sports. If the Giants want any shot of winning, they need Eli to continue to not make a single turnover, they need their defense to hit Brady, they need to continue having Burress dominate the game, they need to continue running the ball effectively, they need to stop Brady from tearing up secondaries, they need to.......Get my drift?

Final Prediction: As much as I want the Giants to win this game due to an incredible disliking for Bill Belichick, I believe the game will go as follows: close game for most of the time, but the Patriots will prevail by a score of 34-27.

Hitler Loves the Cowboys

One of the funniest videos I've seen in a while

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K2triiYXSY8

Brady seen Wearing cast on foot in New York

Tom Brady was seen wearing a cast on his right foot in New York today while on his way to visit his girlfriend, Gisele whatever her name is. Although Brady was quoted saying that he would have to be in a stretcher to miss the Super Bowl, this could be a significant factor in favor of the Giants come Bowl time. Brady has looked less than stellar lately, and if not for their defense and play of Maroney, things might have been different. And all of this was against a team with a QB who had surgery the week before the game, an injury to the best running back in the league and an injury to the best tight end in the league. Imagine having an ineffective Brady versus a team that is healthy (minus Shockey..but that's old news already) and playing really well.

Coming To America Predicts Giants Winning

I was sent this link earlier today and I was laughing my ass off. If anyone has seen Coming to America, you probably remember the scene but didn't think of it after the Giants beat the Packers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izArWUVtMC4

Favre Just Being Favre.....O and the Packers Winning too

You think Brett Favre still loves playing in the NFL after ALL these years? It was pretty hard to tell with him celebrating everywhere and throwing snowballs at his linemen/running backs during the game. Brett Favre, today at the age of 38, looks like the Brett Favre of 95': completely dominant. How someone can be at the top of his game after all this time continues to blow my mind. It would be safe to say that I am developing a slight man crush for the man. How can you not after all he has done this season?

And oh yeah, the Packers just destroyed the Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs. That was one hell of a game to say the least. So many story lines, so little time and space to write about them.

Let's start with the word redemption. Fumbling the ball two times on your first two possessions leading to 14 points for the opposing team. Not exactly the most ideal of starts for my boy Ryan Grant. How about these ending numbers: 201 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Now THAT'S redemption. Those 201 yards were a franchise record in the postseason for the Packers.

Next word: record-breaking. Okay. That was two words. Or one. What is the rule with hyphens anyway? On top of Ryan Grants postseason rushing record of 201 yards, Brett Favre passed John Elway for 2nd most passing yards ever in a postseason game, & the 42 points scored were a Packers postseason record as well.

Last word: skull-breaking. Only phrase I could think of when having to describe Atari Bigby. That first half was all about Bigby on the defensive side of the ball. He was knocking people out left and right, starting with that perfect hit on Bubba Franks to cause the fumble that was recovered by Kampman. That set the tone for the half. He had several over bone crushing hits. His presence was felt so strongly that Bobby Engram dropped the ball in the red zone because he felt Bigby approaching. Talk about hearing footsteps.

All in all, great game by the Green Bay Packers, all around. Nothing signified that game better than Brett Favre nearly getting sacked, stumbling around about to fall and just tossing the ball into the hands of an open Donald Lee for the first down to lead to a touchdown. You just knew the game was in the Packers' hands.

Bring on the Cowboys...... I mean the winner of the other divisional game.

** feel free to Digg the article on Digg.com so others can enjoy the story as well. (pardon shameless promotion)
http://www.digg.com/all/football/upcoming

*** UPDATE***
For starters, my appologies to all Giants fans, I definitely did not see that coming. I'm not too sure half the Giants fans saw that coming. Good stuff though.

Second, my bad on the reference to Bigby hitting Bubba Franks and not Marcus Pollard. That's what happens when I try to sneak in a post while on a vacation with the girlfriend yelling at me for being on the computer the whole time.

Owens Looks as Though he Might Play

It's beginning to look as though Terrell Owens will be playing in this Sunday's game against the New York Giants. The star receiver returned to practice today for the first time since injuring his ankle. Although he was seen to have a slight limp at certain times, he was running routes and catching balls, all good signs.

This is monumental news for both sides, amazing for the Cowboys and horrible for the Giants. We all know what T.O. has done to the Giants this season, and it hasn't been pretty. Keep him off the field and I truly believe the Giants can win. Keep him on the field, and it's looking a little in the favor of the Boys'.

End of the Year Awards.....the way I see it

So now that our lovely regular season has been in the books for a little, it is definitely time to take a look at at the season that was. This season was far from normal in any way, shape or form. The following are the awards that I see fit. We'll start it off with the cliche one.

MVP: To be honest, when I sat down to right this piece, I was putting in Randy Moss. To me, he was the reason that Tom Brady was so ridiculously amazing. Then I did my research and found some really, really scary stats: Let's say we were to take away ALL of Moss' stats. I mean all of his near 1500 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns and pretend they never existed and no one else made up for those yards. In this world I just mentioned, Brady would STILL be in the top 9 of QBs in touchdowns and top 10 or so in passing yards. That is just about the scariest thing I've ever heard in my life. That being the case, there is no way I can make a valid argument for MVP for anyone other than Tom Brady.

Biggest Dirtbag of the Year Award: Now this was definitely a tough one. So many choices, so little time. Who am I kidding? There is one and only one choice for this award, if you want to call it that: The one. The only. Darth Hoodie himself.

Belichick: "Wow. It is such an honor to win this award. So many people I'd like to thank. First off, all of the teams that allowed me to be a scumbag and run up the score when already up 90-0. O, and all of the refs that helped pave the road towards perfection. Eric Mangini for ratting me out. I thought we were boys. That is all."

Rookie of the Year: Short and Sweet. Adrian Peterson. Next! Out of Nowhere Player of Year: This was a tough one to decide, due to there being 2 players I felt really deserved this award. I had to go with my boy, Ryan Grant, however. Let's toss some stats at you: 986 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns. Not that impressive, right? Wrong. He did this in 10 games. Grant was not the team's starter until week 8. Do some deductive reasoning and you could put his season's totals around 1600 yards rushing and 13-14 touchdowns had he started the whole season. I can't wait to see this kid play a whole season next year.

Fantasy Stud of the Year: You probably were the #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs if you had this guy: none other than the Golden Boy himself again, Tom Brady. Back to his scary stats: Brady scored 390 fantasy points this season. The second best player? 307. That's one hell of a difference when you look at the rest of the leaders and notice their differences are about 5 points or so between them. Not 83 points.

(he only gets one picture of him. He doesn't need two)

Fantasy Surprise of the Year: As a consolation if you will for not winning the Out of Nowhere Award, Derek Anderson is a no-brainer for the fantasy surprise of the year. When he had that ridiculous game against Cincinnati way back when, no one in their right minds thought that he was going to perform at a high level all season. Well I guess score one for the people not in their right minds. With the exception for the last few weeks (when I needed him the most....damn you Anderson) Anderson was a fantasy stud.

Biggest Joke of a Team Award: This award is not as simple as it may appear. First off, I can't even discount my own beloved Jets for this award considering their pathetic play. The nominees include my Jets, the lowly Dolphins, Chiefs, and Falcons. After much consideration I feel that no other team truly deserves it than the Kansas City Chiefs. Allow me to explain. Although the Dolphins appear to be the clear-cut winners, if you look closely, they had MANY games decided by 6 points or less. They just happened to come out on the losing side every single time. That's what happens when you lose your franchise running back and your quarterbacks as well. The Falcons were the next consideration, but they lost one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the game and actually had a pulse towards the end of the season. The Chiefs truly won it for me after watching the last game of the season, vs. the Jets. I haven't seen a bigger joke of a team in years. They could barely pick up a first down, let alone score any points. I understand you lost your running back and all for a while, but come on. That and their "coach" seemed to be "trying" real hard that last game against the Jets. Sandbagging anyone?

So that wraps up another wonderful regular season of the NFL. We still have some games to be played and some New England Patriots Super Bowl Championships to be won.

Garrard Leads Jags over Steelers

Talk about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This game was both, for both teams. First half it looked as though the Jaguars would win by 30. Ben Roethlisberger looked like Eli Manning out there, and the Jags were dominant. Then the fourth quarter rolls around and all of a sudden the Steelers look amazing, and the Jags look like they want to blow an 18 point lead.

But in the end, the team I was hoping would win, did just that. The Jaguars accomplished something no team has ever done before: beat the Pittsburgh Steelers two times in a season in Pittsburgh. I can see why. It's an incredibly tough stadium to go into, between the field and conditions themselves and the fact that the Steelers have always been a very well run franchise.

So as myself and many other people have been saying for the past month or so, I really don't believe I'd want to play the Jacksonville Jaguars if I were any team. I don't care if you are the Colts or the Patriots, there is something about these Jags I don't want to mess with. They possess a scary combination of great defense and great run game, while having an incredibly efficient quarterback. Although he was far from perfect tonight, Garrard still kept his cool and ran for that 40 yard run on 4th and 2 with the season on the line. That's no easy task for anyone.

So all in all, very nice game for the Jags. They blew a huge lead, but kept their composure and took care of business. I wish them the best of luck in the next round; they'll need it.