NFL Picks and Predictions

With the NFL football season being so young only three weeks in, it is hard to really gauge where the young players are. This NFL season, however, we are fortunate to have two NFL draft pick rookies starting for NFL football teams right from the first gun of the season. Three games in, and both Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford have seen some success. Who has been the most impressive so far?

On the surface it would appear that Sanchez has been the best in a landslide, but much of that has to do with the players around him. Sanchez is 3-0 as a starter in his brief NFL career, but his defense has as much to do with that as anything that he has done. Do not get me wrong – Sanchez has looked fantastic so far. The thing about Sanchez that is shocking to me is how poised he has been. The guy never looks rattled, and that is a sign of a future NFL superstar at such a young age. He has a quarterback rating of just below 90 which is great and has only thrown 2 picks against 4 Touchdowns. Again, that is impressive.

Stafford has had his moments as well. The problem that Stafford faces is that he plays for the Lions. This guy is already being thrown into situations that create character or destroys young quarterbacks. Thus far, he has stood up quite well though the stats do not seem like it. He is 1-2 with a quarterback rating of 57.0. He has also thrown two touchdowns and 5 picks. This is partly because they have played from behind all season with the exception of that lone win against the Redskins.

All in all, the competition is pretty darn close. I do give the nod to Sanchez for one reason. He has shown an ability to throw the deep ball as he has three passes over 40 yds so far. While not mind boggling, this is certainly respectable for an NFL rookie quarterback that is only now getting their feet wet.

Who will be the better quarterback in the end is anybody’s guess, but I have a feeling they will both be around for a very long time. These are two great young talents. Hopefully they are not snake bitten by their respective teams. They are for real.

Monday Night Football has never been so thrilled. The biggest stage in football is now the place where Brett Favre will face the team he built his legend with. While this sounds like a game made in football heaven, the truth of the matter is that its weird -weird for me, weird for Green Bay, weird for the NFL at large. Nobody really thought that the Minnesota Vikings would ever face the Green Bay Packers with Brett Favre under center. Not with a purple helmet on anyways.

The truth of the matter is that when Favre retired, he retired as a Green Bay Packer. His signing with the Jets was no big deal really in Green Bay. It stunk. It made Green Bay mad. It was odd on every level. Favre signing with arguably the Packer’s worst on field enemy is another story all together. The fact that the Vikings are serious contenders in the Packers own division is just icing on the cake. The Packers are going to be in for the fight of their life to ward off the Vikings this season. Brett Favre could very well be the reason that Green Bay does not make the playoffs this year. What crime could he commit that would be any worse to a Green Bay fan?

Watching this game on Monday night will be like nothing else in recent memory as sports go. The Packers are going to be playing against Brett Favre. No matter how many times you say it, it still has to sound strange. What will it look like? The real question is, will the Green Bay players have it in for Favre? Regardless of the niceties that are sure to be thrown around on Monday night’s pregame, you can bet that the Packers are going to be a little pissed in the back of their minds. They will be coming after Favre hard and fast.

To tell you the truth, I see that as being their ultimate downfall. They are going to be looking for Favre all night long, and Adrian Peterson is going to be running by them while they do. The real weapon in Minnesota is not Brett Favre. He is the decoy now. The real weapon is Adrian Peterson. Given this, the Vikings would do well to sling some shots down the field early against Green Bay. They should get all eyes squarely on Favre. Once they focus in, then they should smash them in the mouth with a steady dose of Adrian. The worse thing they could do is get into a passing game with the Packers.

Aaron Rodgers is actually the better quarterback at this stage of their careers. Physically he is just more put together than Favre. Favre has the experience and the mojo over Rodgers, however. If Favre is going to beat Rodgers, it will have to be between the ears. He will have to shelve his ego, and let the strengths of his team lead the way. To Favre’s credit, he has done so this year so far. This is why the Vikings are 3-0. It remains to be seen if he can do the same against the Packers.

Pull up a chair, and enjoy the ride. This should be a good one.

Three weeks into the NFL football season and I am officially humbled. I have started the season about as good as a Brett Favre reunion in Green Bay. Still, I am not giving up. I am now entering the part of the season where I usually go on a long winning streak. The pattern has been this way for several seasons, so why change now? Week four is the week when everything changes for NFLpicksandpredictions.com. Mark my words. You will be glad you did. Here is the free week four NFL picks and predictions:

SUN, OCT 4

Detroit at Chicago

This game features two teams that are feeling pretty good about themselves. Chicago is riding high with Cutler getting comfortable, and Detroit because they got their first win in the last century this past week. The Bears will crash the party and send Detroit on another losing streak.

Winner – Bears

Cincinnati at Cleveland

The Bengals winning? What the blue blazes is going on here? At least the Browns are playing normally. (if you call what they have been doing playing, that is) The Bengals win this one going away.

Winner – Bengals

Seattle at Indianapolis

The Seahawks are hurting badly, and the Colts are among the worst possible teams for them to face right now. This one could get ugly.

Winner – Colts

NY Giants at Kansas City

The Giants will stomp all over the Chiefs. That is a given. The question is, can the Chiefs possibly get any worse?

Winner – Giants

Baltimore at New England

The Ravens will send notice to the Pats that their time is over in the AFC. Flacco is for real, and nobody doubts that. If Brady plays like he did last week, the Patriots will have no chance at all.

Winner – Ravens

Tampa Bay at Washington

Washington will look like supermen in defense of Zorn’s job. They better.

Winner – Redskins

Tennessee at Jacksonville

The Titans are really starting to make me look bad with my picks. They get one more vote of confidence and then I show them the door. Go Titans!

Winner – Titans

Oakland at Houston

The Raiders had a bad let down game against Denver and could be dangerous here. I think it is more likely that JRussell will self implode instead.

Winner – Texans

NY Jets at New Orleans

The game of the week by far, this one will come down to who has the better defense and who can score more points. The Saints will win the point battle, and barely hang in there on defense. Great game expected here.

Winner – Saints

Buffalo at Miami

The Dolphins reaaaalllllllyyyyy needed the Bills this week. Maybe they can right the ship with a new quarterback.

Winner – Dolphins

St. Louis at San Francisco

The Niners are a team that people had better watch out for. The Rams are a team that nobody even sees anymore. This one will be a blowout.

Winner – Niners

Dallas at Denver

Denver has slowly made me a believer. They are going to have a tough one here, but I think at home they will pull it out. I still am not sold on Orton though.

Winner – Broncos

San Diego at Pittsburgh

The Steelers are angry. Very angry. If this was in San Diego, I would go with the Chargers. At home, Pittsburgh will get back on track.

Winner – Steelers

MON, OCT 5

Green Bay at Minnesota

This is the football game everyone is waiting for. The coup de gras. The first time Favre faces his former team wearing the purple. What a game this is going to be. The Vikings have too much APeterson in the backfield. He will be the difference.

Winner – Vikings
Tiebreaker Score – Green Bay 21 Minnesota 28

Week Three Record – 9-7
Season Record – 27-21

Brett Favre truly left the Minnesota Vikings in a crappy position.   Though he is approaching forty, and about the same number of retirement announcements, the former Packer and Jet really had the Vikings salivating.  How much?  So much that they left their other quarterbacks on a very precarious perch while they waited.

Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson now inherit the Viking offense with a wonderful sense of being unwanted.  Rosenfels was actually just acquired to compete with Jackson from the Houston Texans.  Excited when he first arrived, he has to be wondering why they acquired him in the first place.

With the Vikings chasing after Favre like a wounded puppy, these two quarterbacks had to have felt as though they Vikings had zero confidence in their ability.  I know I would feel that way in that situation.  The Vikings were certainly not bringing Favre to watch from the sidelines.   The Vikings did not seem to pay any attention to what would happen if they did not get their man.  And now they are paying for it.

How would you like to be the Viking’s head coach trying to explain to Sage and Tavaris now?

What do you say to these two quarterbacks.  Well, we couldn’t get the guy we really wanted but we really do believe in you now?  Sorry for chasing Favre?  Please now lead us to the Superbowl?

The Vikings are going to have a serious problem unless Tavaris or Sage one decides to make a point.  The character that is needed to overcome this situation is something that neither quarterback has shown in the past.  Tavaris has been given every chance to blossom.  What is alarming is that he was attempting to do well in a simple offense that features the best running back in the NFL in Adrian Peterson.  If he can not make that work, then what chance does he really have now?

I guess this is exactly what the Viking brass was thinking when they went after Favre.  The problem is, they now have a pair of quarterbacks that  not only are inferior talent wise to Favre, but they feel their organization has no faith in them.  That is usually a death sentence for a football team and a quarterback in particular.

The Vikings are strong enough to overcome this situation for sure.  Whether they can do it will be a very interesting thing to watch in the coming season.

Pic courtesy of wikipedia commons user Blueag9