NFL Underachievers

NFL Underachievers

These are teams that have not lived up to expectations.

1. Chicago Bears (4-6) - Jay Cutler leads the league in picks and Matt Forte looks nothing like the player that suited up in 2008.

2. Buffalo Bills (3-7) - The offense has Marshawn Lynch, Terrell Owens, Lee Evans and averages 15PPG.

3. Washington Redskins (3-7) - Every year they win the NFL's free agency pool and every year they underachieve.

4. Baltimore Ravens (5-5) - After the 1st three games of the season, Peter King and ESPN had the Ravens in the Super Bowl.

5. Atlanta Falcons (5-5) - Matt Ryan and the Falcons have experienced a sophomore slump under coach Mike Smith.

NFL Overachievers

These are the teams with a better record then I thought before the season began.

1. New Orleans Saints (10-0) - Best Team In the NFC

2. Indianapolis Colts (10-0) - Who honestly expected the Colts to be undefeated at this point in the season?

3. Cincinnati Bengals (7-3) - 1st place in a division that includes the Steelers and Ravens. Who knew?

4. Denver Broncos (6-4) - A better record then the Jay Cutler led Bears.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) They may not finish the season with a winning record but they are off to a great start.

NFL Thoughts

The Ravens are totally underachieving this season. Losses to the Vikings and Colts can be blamed on the field goal kickers. If those kicks were made we would be talking about a 7-3 team in 1st place and not a team fighting for its playoff life. It's pretty simple, if the Ravens lose Sunday then they aren't going to make the playoffs.

The Giants loss to the Broncos Thursday night is the definition of an ugly loss. Brandon Jacobs looks nothing like the running back from last year and the secondary is a mess. Eli and the wide receiving corps are carrying this team. The Giants have a tough stretch ahead and they better turn it on soon if they hope to get a wild card.

I guess the Vikings were just a quarterback away from being an elite team. I have to give Brett Favre credit. The Vikings look like a Super Bowl team with him under center.

The Browns, Raiders and Lions are a joke. None of these teams has the talent to contend for anything. It will be years before either team can mention the word playoffs. I do like that the Lions have a good young QB. The same cannot be said for the Browns and the Raiders.

We're Back!!

It's been awhile but now we are back up. I recently had the thought to start publishing my thoughts on all things NFL including fantasy football. Check during the week for updates.

ESPN's Worst Personalities

ESPN used to be my favorite sports network to watch. That was until the "personalities" at ESPN decided to try to become media stars instead of simply reporting the sports stories. Here are the worst offenders:

1) Colin Cowherd - ESPN has recently started airing Cowherd's broadcast in my area and he is terrible. Cowherd comes off as an arrogant self-important pompous fool. He has a terrible attitude and is very condescending. Cowherd swears that he knows everything and if you disagree with his opinion then he calls you ignorant.

2) Chris Berman - Berman's act is old and tired. The worst part is that his nicknames and acronyms aren't even funny. He rambles on and on about sports in which he has absolutely no knowledge whatsoever.

3) Trey Wingo - He is the most arrogant and cocky host of any show on the four letter network. Wingo comes across as unlikeable and just plain nasty at times. Just listen to his testy exchange with Doug Gottlieb for proof.

4) Stuart Scott - Stuart Scott falls in the Chris Berman category. He tries too hard to be street overusing slang and words that he thinks are cool. He needs to just go back to being himself and stop trying so hard to be hood.

5) Stephen A. Smith - When he first started Stephen A. Smith was bold and refreshing. He would raise his voice to make his points. Now all Stephen A does is yell and yell and yell.

Derrick Mason Retires

According to a story on Jocklife.com Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason announced his retirement today through his agent. The 2 time Pro Bowler played 13 seasons amassing over 10,000 yards and scoring over 50 TD's in his career. Mason's retirement comes at an odd time for the Ravens. Training camp begins in 2 weeks and the Ravens were counting on Mason to be the number 1 wide receiver again. Mason's retirement leaves a huge void in the Ravens receiving corps. The team does not have a reliable receiver on its roster and its too late to fill this void via the draft. This places pressure on GM Ozzie Newsome to acquire a wide receiver via trade. Anquan Boldin and Brandon Marshall are both still available via trade but the asking price is too high. It would be nice for the Ravens to get a prototypical number 1 wideout but if the team is unable to then they will need to acquire a solid possession receiver capable of catching 70 balls in a season.

Kidd re-signs with Mavs

Jason Kidd re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks today for 3 years and 25 million. This move makes completely no sense. Neither did the Knicks courtship of Kidd. Kidd is on the downside of his career and is not the missing piece to a championship team. Whatever happened to the Mavs team that was loaded with young talent. Their roster one had Steve Nash, Devin Harris, Marquis Daniels, Antawn Jamison and Michael Finley. In the early 2000's the Mavs had the most talented roster in the entire NBA. Dallas traded away much of their young talent for older players with much less upside. Now the Mavs are no longer the exciting team that they were in years past.

The Mavs will never win a championship as long as Dirk is their best player. They lack a number 1 option on the offensive end of the court. Dirk Nowitzki is a nice player but is a number 2 option on a championship caliber team. He is not a closer at the end of games like a Kobe, LeBron or Dwade. Dirk is a 7 foot jump shooter and not a tough finisher that can be counted on to win games in the clutch. Dallas should have been freeing up cap space this season to pursue a franchise player in 2010. Instead the Mavs are wasting valuable cap space pursuing Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd. It appears that the Mavs are content with being a 50 win team that flounders in the postseason.