Our triumphant return to picking NFL games went about as well as would be expected for us in week 1—Andy led the way with a 9-7 record, while I limped in at 8-8. Not terribly surprising, given the number of upsets in the first week. This week hinges on three key matchups for us, as the other 13 we actually picked the same way:
Andy’s fantasy advice for week one.
Locks:
Quarterback: Philip Rivers, SD vs MN – Kevin Williams will miss the game for Minnesota, which will hamper the Vikings’ defense against the run and its pass rush. Meanwhile Minnesota’s secondary remains a work in progress, at best. Antoine Winfield will be solid, but the team needs a contribution from Chris Cook and Cedric Griffin at cornerback. Both are coming off knee injuries. And the safety position remains a concern. Expect Rivers to get out of the gate in 2011 with a big game.
Running back: Steven Jackson, St. L vs PHI – Philadelphia will debut its cornerback trio against an improving quarterback in Sam Bradford. But Bradford lacks any star power at wide receiver. And teams will have to run the ball against the Eagles to have any chance of making the passing game work. I don’t love Jackson’s prospects for the entire season but I think he gets off to a solid start in Sunday’s home opener, as the Rams try to live up to growing expectations in 2011.
Wide receiver: DeSean Jackson, PHI vs St. L – St. Louis is improving and I expect the Rams to win the NFC West in 2011. That said, the team lost free safety OJ Atogwe in the offseason. Quintin Mikell is an adequate replacement but he’s still picking things up. That will create some vulnerability in the secondary, allowing Jackson and Mike Vick will hit on at least one long TD.
Sleeper:
RB – Willis McGahee, DEN vs Oak – John Fox debuts as head coach in Denver, bringing with him his running philosophies from Carolina. Knowshon Moreno will get more carries, but McGahee will have an instrumental role in short yardage and at the goal line. Oakland gave up the eighth most fantasy points to running backs last season and I don’t see the defense getting a ton better right away. Expect McGahee to snipe one at the stripe.
Bust:
WR – Dwayne Bowe, KC vs BUF – Dwayne Bowe had an incredible 2010 season. And while Buffalo would look to be one of the easier games on the Chiefs’ schedule this year, the Bills were not half bad against the pass. Particularly if Tyler Palko is pressed into duty due to Matt Cassel’s ailing ribs, the Chiefs will rely on the running of Jamaal Charles, Thomas Jones and possibly Dexter McCluster to take it to Buffalo. It will be tough for Bowe to duplicate what he did a year ago as it is. With these factors working against him, his week one performance will be pedestrian at best.
We don’t claim to be Vegas insiders, but here are some of our takes on the lines for week 1 of the 2011 season (using lines from Vegas locks): (more…)
As another NFL season rolls around, we figured we’d bring back something we used to do here at Zoneblitz—weekly NFL picks with a little bit of analysis. Week one is below. We’ll also be adding in some NFL Gambling picks.
***UPDATE: 2011 Hall of Fame Finalists Announced Here***
Well, for better or for worse the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees have been named. The debates over the merit of those inductees are taking place on other articles on this site.
Now, as per normal, it’s time for us to start looking ahead to next towards 2011.
Many great candidates – Shannon Sharpe, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Tim Brown, Dermontti Dawson, Charles Haley, and Richard Dent, among others – were held over for at least another year.
Meanwhile the 2011 crop brings several more first time nominees. The most oft-mentioned of that crew is Deion Sanders, the brash, trash-talking cornerback who played in Super Bowls for Dallas and San Francisco after being drafted by Atlanta in 1989. In his first year of eligibility he could join three other top five picks from that 1989 draft in the Hall – Troy Aikman, Derrick Thomas and Barry Sanders.
A trio of upper echelon running backs in Marshall Faulk, Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis also will take their first turns in front of the Hall voters. Each is in the top 10 all-time leading rushers and both Faulk and Bettis have Super Bowl rings.
Among offensive linemen Willie Roaf gains eligibility.
The list would have been even more crowded if Priest Holmes and Junior Seau hadn’t changed their minds on retiring after 2005. But there’s plenty of competition for slots in the Hall again next year.
Do any of these guys make it on their first go-around? Or do the voters make this collection of players, which is good but not quite as star-studded as this year’s Emmitt Smith/Jerry Rice class, wait while clearing some of the logjam that has collected in recent years?
As always, we’re looking forward to seeing your thoughts. But first, here’s ours:
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If only if Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft had been elected then we wouldn’t be having this discussion
Paul we’ll just see what happens and if changes are made which I hope there are
My guess is that Bill goes in before Kraft as it was Bill's omission that really generated the negative press…
I wouldn’t have a problem if Robert Kraft went in with Rob Gronkowski next year and Bill Belichick went in…
I want to apologize for all my complaining you don’t know what it’s like living with autism