I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this excited for football. It’s been at least since … last year.
There are a number of huge storylines out there as the season starts for real. Here are seven I’m watching.
Just how good is Tom Brady? – Almost 90 percent of his completions in 2012 went to players who will not be active in week one. Zach Sudfeld and Kenbrell Thompkins are next in line. So is Danny Amendola. But Tom Brady is advancing in age. Can he still take a collection of relative newcomers to the Promised Land? Here’s guessing this team starts transitioning toward a more balanced attack, as Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen are among the best and most proven talents on offense. (more…)
We’re changing things up a bit this year. We’re still going to pick four bets: three on the pointspread and then one moneyline upset every week. Each of us will start with $10,000. We’ll disperse that through all 17 weeks, scoring both the wins and losses and the dollar amounts we end up with.
If it goes as well as it did last season, we’ll both be out of money by week 11. We’ll figure that one out when we get there.
I am eager for the football season and I am excited to watch Thursday night, when the Denver Broncos host the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of one of the most exciting playoff games in recent memory.
There will be a lot of compelling football taking place this weekend, but this game is a great kickoff to the season. It’s also a kickoff to the new Zoneblitz Game of the Week segment. The Game of the Week will be selected during our pick segment each week. For that game, we’ll find bloggers who will share their thoughts on why their team should win and how their team could lose that game.
As we were writing the division previews and talking about how we were going to put these preseason projects together I got a message from contributing writer Rich Larson razzing me about this particular aspect of the assignments.
It’s pointless trying to predict what’s going to happen in the NFL, he says. Too many things are going to change over the next few months. Too many things have changed over the last several months.
And he’s right. Half the playoff teams will turn over from last season. About one-quarter of the league’s teams will dramatically underachieve based on our expectations and another quarter will surprise the hell out of us. So what’s the point?
Everyone else is doing it? Bragging rights? Who knows? But we did it anyway. Our eight division previews have been posted over the last several days and our playoff predictions, for better or for worse, are below. Let us know who you think is right on and who you think missed the mark. (more…)
Here we are, folks. Kickoff for opening night is a mere two days away. It seems like just yesterday we were watching the lights go out in the Superdome while Baltimore was taking down San Francisco to win a second Vince Lombardi trophy … well, okay. Not like yesterday. Let’s be honest. Life just isn’t the same during the offseason – it feels like an eternity since the last real football was played.
But that ends soon.
This is the third year in a row we’ll be doing a season’s worth of picks. Last year we invited some guest bloggers to join us. This year, we’ve got some new faces joining the Zoneblitz team. You’ve been reading Anthony Maggio’s fantasy football advice here now for a couple months. Rich Larson contributed to our season previews. Both will also be making weekly picks.
To review, I’ve gotten the best of my brother two years running. In 2011, I came on strong in week 17, going 12-4 to hold off Tony, who finished 10-6. So I went 172-84 for the season and he went 169-87. Last year we slid just a bit. Tony dropped to 161-94-1. He did lead the picks competition through week 16, but a 27-5 run in the last two weeks allowed me to overtake him with a 166-89-1 mark.
Overall, I’d say we haven’t embarrassed ourselves too badly at picking these games. I’ve hit at a 66.1 percent clip while Tony has been correct 64.6 percent of the time. We’ll see if the new guys can keep pace with us. (more…)
The “Toughest Division in Football” will again be a closely bunched group in 2013. The Washington Redskins return in 2013 with one of the most dynamic young players in the league and take another shot at the postseason with their steady and effective running game. The Giants look to return to a top spot in the division by sticking to what has worked in the past and counting on key players getting healthy. The pressure is on in Dallas, as it is playoffs or bust, while the Eagles introduce a new head coach and innovative offensive scheme. This division is, once again, destined to come down to the season’s last couple weeks. (more…)
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