I watched the opening game and saw a hard fought battle almost the whole way. Then I saw the Tennessee Titans do something that I despise with about 4 minutes left. They went into this prevent/4 man rush defense that allowed Big Ben about 6-8 seconds to throw on about 6 out of every 8 passing plays. The Titans brought 4 defensive rushers who were completely gassed and abandoned the blitz almost all together. This is the same blitz that kept them in the game. The Steelers offensive line looked like a bunch big brothers pushing around their little brothers near the end.

The Titans won that game in the trenches but got over conservative at the end for some reason and handed the game away. Let me quote Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game.”

I hate the Steelers, but they did look good on defense. However they completely over pursue making them extremely vulnerable to big plays and screens. Kerry Collins took advantage of that quite a few times, but special teams has to take care of business. You can’t miss two field goals.

RGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

I feel certain that these 4 teams will do well in the 2009-2010 seaon and this why.

Seattle- They have Hasselback coming back this year with a WR/TE crew that looks like they can make some serious noise. Watching these guys in preseason has been impressive to say the least. They also have a slew of RB’s, and smaller, but quick defense. If Hasselback doesn’t get hurt, they are a deadlock for first place. Especially with the homefield advantage.

New Oreleans – Can’t say this very often, the Saints looks extemely explosive on both sides of the ball. They are deep at running back and Brees looks like a top 5 QB again. The defense has been suspect, but in preseason they looked outstanding. When they shit canned the Raiders 45-7, I knew they were on to something. Plus the starters seem to handle the teams they played against. I can’t say they are a guaranteed lock for first place in the division. However they are my suprise pick to win the Super Bowl. Yep, win the Super Bowl.

Green Bay – With Aaron Rodgers running the show, Green Bay’s offense is what JJ would refer to as “dynomite.” I can’t actually believe how many points they’ve racked up in preseason. But I do wonder about how good the defense will actually be. Yes, they’ve switched to a 3:4, but sometimes new systems take time. My guess is Green Bay’s achilles heel is the defense in the end. However, they will make a strong run.

Minnesota – Forget Brett Favre, this team already looked good. Now take away Tavaris Jacksons inability to make plays and put in Brett Favre and you’ve got one heck of a offensive team. Brett Favre took a 4-12 Jets team and almost led them to the playoffs. Now he gets to command the Vikings. Kind of a big difference there. The Jets D in 2008 was okay at best when compared to Minnesota. Also consider that if Brett Favre stinks up the joint, Jackson would be motivated to play well and keep his job.
Minnesota will win the division baring a major injuries.

The Raiders picked up Richard Seymoure from New England in exchange for a first round pick. You ever wonder how New England keeps having first round picks when they finish so well? This is how they do it. They run the old “Stevie Benz” play as it was known in my childhood. Let me explain… Stevie Benz collected baseball cards and was awed by the superstars who’s careers were nearly done. He would trade anything to have these cards. Example: In the early 1990’s I traded a beat up Wade Boggs rookie card to him for about 6 Ken Griffey rookies and a couple Barry Bonds.
Stevie was a moron when it came to trading cards. I believe Al Davis is rooming with Stevie Benz.

If the Raiders had a shot in hell this year, I would compliment this pickup. However, what will Richard Seymoure do for a 6-10 team besides work on his retiremnet plan?

So the Oakland Raiders let Jeff Garcia go and I am disgusted again. I really felt like the Raiders were on the right track. The season looked so promising. Let’s see…you have Jamarcus Russell who has proven he can’t play at a high level and is eating up the Raiders money like it’s lunchtime. Then you have a seasoned vet in Garcia who has proven he can win, and who probably demands 1/20 of the money Russell does. I understand that the Raiders need to give Russell the first string oppritunity, but what I don’t get is how they came to the conclusion of letting Garcia go. They now have Russell, Gradkowski and Frye as backups. This might be the worst QB trio in the NFL for the 2009 season.

Garcia might not have been the best thing ever at 40 years old, but he sure looked like a gold nugget compared to Russell. I was truly excited for this season because if things weren’t going well with Russell, we had someone with talent waiting to take his place. Guess the Raiders don’t see it that way.

So I have decided to write down the fact that I think this is the boner move of the century before the season starts. That way if I’m wrong, I can see how silly my words look later. The Raiders are in the easiest division in football with the Kansas Shitty Chiefs, and the Denver “I gave away my Pro Bowl QB” Broncos. Granted the Chargers look great, but both the Broncos and Chiefs don’t. You watch, Denver will make something out of this season because they are smart. The Raiders with all of these number one picks, won’t.

I say the Raiders win 7 games if they are lucky. Anything more than 7 wins and I will be blown away.
Many Raider fans will blame the run defense for their problems, but remember this. Oakland has spent countless top 10 picks on their offense (Gallery, Russell, Bay, and McFadden). If you load up the offense, it should carry your team, right? We shall see.