NFL Picks 2013: Divisional round

by | Jan 7, 2014 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

Okay, most of the pretenders are now done for the season. It’s time for my weekly-picksfavorite football weekend of the year.

Actually, Wild Card weekend was really, really good this year. There were some epic games, with three of the four being decided in the final minutes.

But normally it’s the divisional round during which I am most excited and interested. By the this weekend comes along you’ve usually narrowed down the contenders to eight top notch teams. That would seem to be the case this week. There are some great games on the slate.

Before we get to our picks, let’s do a quick review of last week’s.Tony had the best week, getting two of the four games correct. Anthony and I both got San Francisco’s win over Green Bay correct, but missed on the other three — though it’s hard to feel too bad. Both Saturday games could have gone either way.

Here’s who we think will win this week: (more…)

Hall of Fame names Baker president/executive director

by | Jan 6, 2014 | Hall of Fame

David Baker today began his role as the president and executive director of the Pro Football

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame.

Baker has a 35-year background in business management, professional sports and public service, according to a statement at the Hall of Fame’s website.

For the last four years, Baker has worked as a partner in Union Village LLC, the largest healthcare project in the U.S. creating thousands of jobs in Henderson, Nevada, according to the statement. He also previously was commissioner of the Arena Football League for 12 years during which the league saw growth in attendance, television ratings, corporate sponsorships, merchandise sales, revenue and profitability.

He replaces Stephen Perry, who announced in September that he would retire. Perry took the position in 2006.

Baker is the sixth Hall of Fame director. His son, Sam Baker, is an offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons. He arrives as Hall of Fame voters are preparing to announce finalists for the 2014 Hall of Fame induction class. It will be announced at 8 p.m. central Thursday on NFL Network.

 

Playoff expansion money grab rewards mediocrity

by | Jan 4, 2014 | NFL Playoffs, NFL Random Thoughts

Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager/president/player personnel (snicker) guru Jerry Jones Friday, on 105.3 The Fan ESPN radio in Dallas/Fort Worth, revived one of my least favorite ideas regarding the NFL: Expanding the playoffs.

Jones argues that giving teams that were .500 an opportunity to reach the postseason and, possibly, the Super Bowl creates excitement.

“From the standpoint of looking at how exciting it is for a city or a community to be involved in the playoffs and the fact that you can have a team that might have literally operated at .500 or in that area … you can have that team win the Super Bowl,” Jones said. “That makes a big case for adding a couple of more cities or communities that have NFL teams to make the playoffs.”

This argument may be a bit self-serving from Jones. I was in attendance at the last playoff game the Dallas Cowboys actually participated in, a 34-3 whipping at the Metrodome at the hands of Minnesota in 2009. Under Jones’ lead as, cough, cough, general manager of the Cowboys, an expanded playoff may be the only way his team qualifies in the near future (though a two team expansion would not have helped him in any of the last four seasons).

But as Jones was finishing his speech on the radio, Vince Lombardi, who actually stood for excellence, just rolled over in his grave. Back in his day, the championship was decided by pitting the best team in the Western Conference against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Don’t win your conference? Don’t play for the championship.

That is pushing for greatness. That is requiring a team to accomplish something before they get to play for the big prize. (more…)

2013 Playoff Previews: Wild Card Weekend

by | Jan 4, 2014 | 2013 season, NFL Random Thoughts

So, yeah. Playoffs start today. You’ll be inundated with info on the games, so we’ll keep it brief. Here’s what we think.

Saturday, January 4

Kansas City at Indianapolis
3:35 central, NBC
Line: Kansas City by 1.5
Over/Under: 46.5

Earlier in the week I picked Kansas City. Then I had a chance to watch some of the NFL Network replay of the game these two teams played two weeks ago in Kansas City and I feel much less confident. The Colts went through a rough stretch after losing Reggie Wayne. But Andrew Luck in the last month has pulled a Peyton Manning and started finding unsung receivers with whom he can distribute the ball. Meanwhile the Chiefs finished 2-5 after a 9-0 start and blew an opportunity to capitalize on Denver’s sloppy play toward the end of the season. I’ll stick with Kansas City because Jamaal Charles should have a solid day and the defense is legitimately one of the league’s toughest. But I don’t feel as good about this as I did at the beginning of the week.

Picks: Kansas City -1.5, Under 46.5

New Orleans at Philadelphia
7:10 central, NBC
Line: Philadelphia by 3
Over/Under: 53.5 (more…)

Reviewing our Playoff Preview

by | Jan 3, 2014 | 2013 season, NFL Random Thoughts

As the playoffs begin I thought it would be a good idea to provide some accountability for our preseason selections by taking a look back at our playoff previews to see where we hit and what we missed.

You can find the playoff preview by clicking here. And at the bottom of that page, you can click on each of our individual division previews, should you desire.

I was surprised to see that I hit six of the eight division champions, including nailing all four in the AFC. Just as anyone does when making preseason projections, I also had a couple humbling picks, as well. I failed miserably, as did the rest of us at ZoneBlitz, in predicting the ascensions of Carolina in the NFC South and Philadelphia in the NFC East.

Tony hit five of eight division champs. His biggest miss was Houston – a reasonably excusable oversight, I think, since most thought the team would be pretty good and it’s hard to predict injuries. If you predicted a 2-14 season for the Texans heading into the season, I tip my cap.

Fantasy editor Anthony Maggio hit half of his predictions on division champs while contributing writers Tim Madsen and Rich Larson each hit three.

Again, the biggest misses across the board seemed to be not predicting that Philadelphia and Carolina would rise from the ashes to division titles and not seeing the falloffs in Houston, Washington and Atlanta. (more…)