Week 7 NFL Preview – Road Warriors

Through the first six weeks of the NFL season there have been more than a few times when watching a game that I ask myself how team A beat team X.  Parity officially rules. While it is good for fans of certain teams to believe they have a chance, it really sucks for people like me in trying to predict what will happen on a week-to-week basis.  It’s also tough for odds-makers in Vegas who have created lines for road underdogs that have covered pretty regularly.  This week, despite an effort to make sure the lines aren’t as big, expect the trend to continue.

Washington @ Chicago

This NFC matchup might not look like much for a late October game, but come December the result of this game could have playoff implications.  The Redskins sit at 3-3 and I am not sure what to make of them.  Five of their six games have been decided by 6 points or less, so they keep themselves in every game.  The defense has been very opportunistic so far and LaRon Landry is making an early season push for defensive player of the year.  The offense has had its ups and downs. One drive Donovan McNabb looks great and the next he is throwing balls into the ground.  They must get Ryan Torain going early to slow down the Chicago pass rush.

The Bears are very similar to the Redskins. They have an offense that can look great or look awful. They have a defense that is carried by their front 7. Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher are going to cause havoc for the Redskins offensive line. But the problem for the Bears is their offensive line is on par with how bad the Redskins offensive line was last season. Jay Cutler has been hit hard and often so far this season and has thrown some INT’s in an effort to get the ball away to save his life.

Pick: Washington 19 Chicago 14….Carlos Rogers will have the game clinching INT.

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Week 8 College Football Preview

Week 8 of the college football season has the potential to be the most important of the season.  At least two teams will fall from the ranks of the unbeaten and two other unbeatens face very tough obstacles.  The # 1 team in the Coaches and Harris Poll’s kicks off the week on Thursday night against a banged up opponent, as Oregon faces UCLA.  And then come Saturday everything promises to get very interesting, so make sure you have your spot in front of the television, sit back and enjoy.

Michigan St. @ Northwestern

Michigan St. has played great football this year and controls their destiny moving forward.  This is the first time Kirk Cousins and company have left the state of Michigan and it has all the makings of a trap game.  If they get caught looking ahead to the Iowa game next weekend, they could be in a lot of trouble in Evanston. The Spartans need to rely heavily on their ground game as the weather conditions look a little bit iffy for this weekend. Edwin Baker and Le’Veon Bell have had great success so far this year.  The Spartans defense has been great the last two weeks; however in Northwestern they face a different beast.

The Northwestern Wildcats come into the game against Michigan St. with a record of 5-1.  Four of their six games have been decided by five points or less.  The Wildcats run a spread offense that relies more on the pass than the run. It is very similar to the Notre Dame, which gave Michigan St. its toughest contest of the season so far.  Senior QB Dan Persa is completing 78% of his passes and has thrown for 10 TD’s and two INT’s so far this season. Persa will also take off and run as he is the Wildcats’ leading rusher on the year as well. 

It will be a very interesting test for the Spartans. How do they handle their first game out of the state? How do they handle the now lofty expectations? Do they look ahead to Iowa?

Pick: Northwestern 30 Michigan St. 28

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Week 7 College Football Rewind and New Top 15

All hell continued to break loose over the weekend with Ohio St. and Nebraska falling from the undefeated ranks.  I knew Ohio St. wasn’t any good and Texas would be well prepared for Nebraska after having a bye week to prepare.  What you are seeing is not that all these conferences are super tough; rather these teams just really aren’t very good. 

Two more undefeated teams are going to fall this coming weekend as Oklahoma takes on Missouri and Auburn battles LSU.  There are also many other big games to look forward to this weekend and it gets going on Thursday night as the #1 Oregon takes on UCLA.

The initial BCS rankings came out this week as well.  And all I have to say is the computers are absolutely worthless.  If you hate the BCS as much as I do, I recommend purchasing ‘Death to the BCS’ by Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter and Jeff Passan.  If you want to know how absurd some of the computer rankings are just click here.  If you are going to keep the BCS, at least change how it is organized.  We know the coaches don’t watch all the games because they are all a little busy on Saturdays.  We also know a lot of the press doesn’t watch all the games because well they are covering games. So how exactly are people fairly ranking teams?  The NCAA needs to fix the process by which it determines who plays for the national title, and they need to do so as soon as this BCS television contract runs out. 

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Week 7 College Football Preview

Yes, the first six weeks of the season matter a great deal, just ask Alabama. But now we had into Week 7 with a lot more on the line as the BCS rankings will come out for the first time on Sunday night.  So the top teams in the country need to be very careful as a loss now could take them out of the national title picture.  Yes, I absolutely hate the BCS. One loss should not ruin a season — it doesn’t in the FCS where there is a playoff. But the BCS is what we have so we have to deal with it.

Texas @ Nebraska (Saturday, 3:30, ABC)

The rematch of last season’s Big XII title game, only the teams look just a little bit different.  Now Texas appears to be in the position Nebraska was last season: a team with a solid defense that is still trying to find its identity on offense.  Following two losses, the Longhorns have had a bye week to game plan for Taylor Martinez and the rest of the Nebraska offense.  Mack Brown and Will Muschamp know the Cornhuskers are going to primarily run the ball. Expect eight guys in the box and single coverage on the outside by the Longhorns in an effort to stop Nebraska.

Martinez and the Cornhuskers have been explosive on offense. Much like Michigan had been up until last week, the Cornhuskers toughest test has come at the hands of an FCS opponent.  What that proved to me is if a team is well coached and the players want it, Nebraska can be stopped.  If you line up and play athletes against athletes with no real game plan, Nebraska will run right by you.  So as the Cornhuskers get ready for their toughest test this season, are they going to be too hyped up do their jobs, or is Bo Pelini going to keep them level headed?

Pick: Nebraska 27 Texas 21

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Week 6 College Football Rewind and New Top 15

Finally we have chaos and my guess is this is just the beginning.  The #1 team in the nation Alabama suffered a crushing defeat over the weekend.  The worst part about it for the Tide is that it wasn’t by a field goal — South Carolina dominated the game from beginning to end. The loss looks like it could knock Alabama out of any talk of the national title game.

So who are the big winners of the weekend? The Boise St. Broncos and TCU Horned Frogs.  Thanks to Oregon St. going on the road and beating previously unbeaten Arizona, Boise St. and TCU’s strength of schedule is soaring.  Add to that for Boise, Va. Tech keeps on winning as well.  For TCU, Air Force and Utah keep winning games as well giving the Horned Frogs the potential for two more top 20 victories. 

On an individual basis this weekend, Denard Robinson appears to have lost his stranglehold on the Heisman Trophy.  The first tough defense he faced held him in check and caused him to throw three INT’s.  So now the Heisman race is WIDE open.

And now onto the new BumpAndRun.com Top 15:

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Week 5 NFL Preview – Are the Chiefs ’72 Dolphins? Nah

Heading into every week of the NFL season, you always want to know what the marquee matchup is.  Well, as we look at Week 5, the slate of games resembles nothing close to the word marquee. But anyhow, it’s time to take a look at three games that could entertain you:

Kansas City @ Indianapolis

The Kansas City Chiefs take to the road and hope to keep their goal of an undefeated season going.  Yes, I realize people may laugh at that last sentence, but really isn’t it every team’s goal to go undefeated?  The Chiefs are the only team that still has that chance this year.  The young core that the Chiefs have is entertaining to watch.  So far their offense hasn’t been that crisp, but after having the bye week last week I expect things to be different.  I mean look at their offense: Chambers, Bowe, McCluster, Jones, Charles, Moeaki…how long can you hold them down?

The Colts on the other hand come into the week trying to figure out how a 59-yard field goal beat them.  It would be one thing if the loss came against a good team, but the Jaguars?  Come on Indy, get your act together and I mean that for the defense.  Manning and the offense have been great so far this season — in fact Manning at this pace could have one of the best statistical seasons of his career.  A 24^th ranked team defense is killing the Colts right now. Yes they have significant injuries and three of their games have been on the road, but they need to see a drastic improvement. Quickly.

Pick: Indianapolis 34 Kansas City 24

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Week 6 College Football Preview

Two classic rivalries have relevance again.  The battle of Michigan and Florida headline this week’s slate of games, plus a possible upset brewing in Big 10 country.  Here we go:

Indiana @ Ohio State (Saturday, 12:00, ESPN)

The Indiana Hoosiers are relevant again in college football.  Last week at home they took Michigan down to the wire.  Now they look to take their show on the road and prove they belong in the talks with the top teams in the Big 10.  Senior quarterback Ben Chappell has completed 70% of his passes, for 1370 yards, 12 touchdowns and only one interception.  He will pose a serious threat to the Buckeyes D, as he has a great connection with his receivers.  This is the first test Ohio St. really faces as the Hoosiers are well coached and won’t make stupid plays. 

Ohio St. escaped Champagne last week with a very ugly victory.  Terrelle Pryor had a big play early but was fairly contained and injured his hamstring during the game.  If healthy he should be able to create big plays against the Hoosiers D. Expect Indiana to blitz early and often to see how mobile he is on the injured leg. 

Pick: Indiana 27 Ohio St 23

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Week 5 College Football Rewind and New Top 15

Through five weeks our record here with the games we have previewed is 12-3, add on the four games I added at the end of this week and we hit 16-3.  Yes, I am gloating. 

A few observations from this weekend’s games: Alabama is the only team worth talking about in the SEC.  Ohio St. isn’t going to go undefeated and that’s because they aren’t as good as people think, not because the Big 10 is very good.  Oregon’s offense is the most electric in the country, but their defense can be exposed.  Va. Tech is bouncing back from the early season losses, but has yet to play a complete game.  

And now onto the new BumpAndRun.com Top 15 as there has been some movement:

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Week 4 NFL Preview – McNabb Returns to Philly

We enter this week with some key early season divisional battles that could go a long way in determining what teams are fighting for playoff berths at the end of the season. Let’s take a look at three divisional games in Week 4:

Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams

The Seahawks head into St. Louis looking to create some early separation in the NFC West and make it essentially a two team race for the division.  Seattle has been great in their two games at home this season but when they went on the road to Denver it seemed like a different team was playing.  That has basically been a theme over the last few seasons for Seattle; however they have dominated the matchup with the Rams both home and away.  Look for Matt Hasselbeck to have a big day connecting with his young wide receivers Golden Tate and Mike Williams and tight end John Carlson.

The Rams enter the game after easily handling the Redskins for their first win of the season.   They did it mostly without Steven Jackson who left the game in the first half.  Jackson remains questionable for this week’s contest.  Sam Bradford settled into his job last week. He made throws when he needed to and seems to be building a good connection with Mark Clayton.  If Bradford can continue to slow the game down in his head he could be a very special quarterback.

Pick: Seattle 27 St. Louis 24

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Week 5 College Football Preview

Conference play begins in full force this weekend with many critical matchups.  The top teams around the country will begin to suffer defeats and the chase for the BCS title game will become clearer as each week passes.  Let’s take a look at three of the top games in Week 5:

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma St. (Thursday, ESPN, 7:30)

Two of the top 12 scoring teams in the nation will do battle Thursday night in Stillwater.  While neither team has faced stiff competition in their first three games this season, they have both moved the ball at will.  A&M is led by senior quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who was excellent in the first two games of the season but struggled mightily against Florida International, throwing 4 INT’s.  For the Aggies to hang with the Cowboys, Johnson needs to play how he did in the first two games. 

The Cowboys come in putting up points at ease so far this season. They are averaging close to 600 yards of offense per game and are second in the nation in points per game.  Quarterback Brandon Weeden has been very impressive.  More importantly however is they have a healthy Kendall Hunter at running back.  Hunter is averaging almost 8 yards per carry, over 150 yards per game and has 6 touchdowns thru 3 games.  The winner of this game could challenge for the conference crown. 

Pick: Oklahoma St. 45 Texas A&M 35

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