Super Bowl 46: The Edge Starts On Defense

So who’s going to win the Super Bowl? Better yet, who’s going to cover? There are a lot of factors to examine carefully when trying to determine who has the edge. One of the simplest to examine, and very revealing, is defense. Defense wins championships, of course, and when we look at the defensive merits of the Giants and Patriots, it’s a mixed bag. Both ranked in the bottom half of the league in points allowed with the Giants 25th and the Pats were second worst in yards allowed. On... 

Super Bowl 46 Preview

Rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl thriller with the Giants scoring late to stop the 18-0 Patriots, 17-14. Much of the same cast returns for both teams, including the head coaches. The Giants have 14 players remaining from the 2008 Super Bowl team, the Patriots have seven. Back in August the Patriots were 5-to-1 and the Giants 18-to-1 to win the Super Bowl. We have been in a golden age for the AFC for a while. It’s almost as if the pendulum has swung. During the 1980s and much of the 90s, the NFC... 

Giants at 49ers Odds and Picks

Apparently defense does still win championships. San Francisco will host New York at 4:30 p.m. EST on Sunday for the NFC Championship Game. The winner advances to the Super Bowl (you may have heard of that) to face either Baltimore or New England. The 49ers and Giants advanced to the NFC Title Game thanks to incredible defensive efforts last week, out muscling the No. 1 and No. 3 offenses in football, respectively, in wins over the Saints and Packers. San Francisco and New York forced turnovers and... 

NFL Playoffs: Conference Champions at Stake!

This is it, the final weekend of games before the Super Bowl with the Ravens, Patriots, Giants and 49ers squaring off. The last month we’ve been hearing about playoff seedings, bye weeks and home field advantage. Are all those things really important? Historically it has been during the second round of the playoffs. Teams with the bye have home field advantage and two weeks to prepare, both of which are usually important edges this time of year. However, during the conference championship... 

NFL 2012 Championship Sunday Power Preview

In this Piece we will Preview both the AFC and NFC Championship Games on Sunday as we surge towards another entertaining Super Bowl. On Sunday, January 22nd Its Championship Sunday. At 3:00 eastern it all kicks off with familiar faces with the Baltimore Ravens traveling up to New England in a Playoff rematch from 2010. In that game the Ravens garnered their first ever road win in New England catching a Patriots team off guard racing out to a 21-0 lead en route to a 33-10 win in a game where Ray Rice... 

The Best Offense is a Great Defense

There has been a lot of focus on offense the last few years in NFL. Two years ago the Saints and Colts were dynamite offensive teams with below average defenses and met in the Super Bowl, and last year the incredible Green Bay offense bested the Steelers dominant defense for the title. Many shrugged off the importance of defense, but that was more of an aberration: Don’t understate the importance of defense this time of the NFL season with so much at stake. Teams in playoff races like the Jets,... 

NFL Juggernauts and Fading Has Beens

Looking at NFL in 2011, it’s clear that, despite the unbeaten Packers, parity has returned. Look at teams that were recent doormats who are playing well: Lions, Bills, Bengals, Texans, 49ers and Broncos. Even the Panthers and Dolphins have been competitive, with shots at respectable seasons after bad starts. The season is also littered with flops. The Vikings, Chargers, Bucs and Colts were expected to be better and but were out of it at the halfway point of the season. The Rams had high hopes... 

NFL Totals and Cooler Weather

The weather is getting colder for football teams in the northern parts of the country. That means wind, rain, sleet, snow – and potentially lower scoring games. Lovie Smith, the head coach of the Chicago Bears, is a proponent of conservative play, running the football and playing tough defense. The Bears started last season 8-2 under the total and have gone back to running the football the last month, which has helped key their win streak. The Bears play their home games in cold, windy Chicago... 

NFL Quarterback Shuffle

2011…The Year of the Quarterback? Are you kidding? While the numbers that Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are putting up are on pace to both break Dan Marino’s single season passing record, 2011 has been the Year of the Quarterback Shuffle. It started back in September when the Jaguars decided to cut veteran starter David Garrard for rookie QB Blane Gabbart. The results have not been a surprise: Jacksonville has had the worst offense/passing offense in the league all season. That shows the important... 

NFL Handicapping: Run the Football!

“Run the football more times, and you win.” I hear this all the time, on television and on radio, even in 2011, which has been a passing season in the NFL. When examining key games, analysts often conclude one team failed to run the football enough times, and the opponent pulled won the game simply because they had more rushing attempts. We heard this a lot after Super Bowl 36. In that game, the two-touchdown favorite Rams saw star running back Marshall Faulk get just two carries, while Patriots... 

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