Lots of Screwy NFL Things

The NFL season officially begins in 10 days when the Tennessee Titans travel to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. The only NFL talk going on right now should be preview-related; you know, who's going to the Super Bowl, who's winning MVP, all that nonsense that nobody can really predict (yes, sadly, including us) but try to anyway.

So why, every time you turn on your TV, is there another NFL storyline?

A few of the odd ones:

Brett Keisel signs an extension with the Steelers. I'm not one to challenge the Steelers front office; they have amassed 6 Super Bowls and I work at Burger King. It just seems that with their extensive list of 2010 free agents (Willie Parker, Casey Hampton, Hines Ward, Ryan Clark, William Gay, Dan Sepulveda), the Steelers would go out of their way to resign an average defensive end on the downside of his career.

And now Brett Keisel (pictured, left) is going to go to the Pro Bowl.

Ravens put Samari Rolle on the PUP list to start the season. At first glance, odd? No. Then you remember Samari Rolle was actually a free agent this offseason. The Ravens are stacked at cornerback - a recent SI article called their talent at the position "embarrassingly deep" - with starters Fabian Washington and Domonique Foxworth, ex-starter Frank Walker, nickelback Chris Carr and highly touted third round pick Lardarius Webb. Rolle hasn't even practiced yet. Sources close to the team are wondering whether he's going to play at all. So how does that merit the $3 million he's earning this year?

Brandon Marshall, the entire NFL world thinks you're a joke. Josh McDaniels, you're really not far behind. In suspending Brandon Marshall (pictured, right) for a puny 14 days, all McDaniels is doing is keeping him out of preseason and training camp - which nobody wants to go through anyway. Suspend the guy the entire season or trade him for a second round pick to some desperate time. How can you start a guy who basically boycotted training camp merely because he didn't want to be there? It would have been better if he didn't show up. Instead, he's there walking, batting down passes thrown to him, punting balls handed to him. He's six years old, and he gets a slap on the wrist.

Broncos: You're going to be terrible. Kyle Orton is an awful, awful quarterback. I still maintain you got the better end of the Jay Cutler deal - first round draft picks in the NFL are huge. That being said, this year ain't it. Develop Eddie Royal more. Brandon Stokley is serviceable. So is Jabar Gaffney. Point being: your receivers aren't that bad anyway, but it wouldn't matter if Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald were lining up for you, anyway. You would still be bad. Crack down on Marshall.

Now that that rant is done, Osi Umenyiora walks out of Giants camp because of a dispute with his defensive coordinator? I think I speak for everyone when I say ... please, please just let the NFL season start so we can have games to talk about.

Image Sources:

http://www.epicathlete.com/images/bodyImage_coachesKeisel.gif

http://www.roblongshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/brandon_marshall_blog1.jpg

Mock Draft: Picks 25-32

This is the end of the summary of the mock draft we held on Monday. The draft is officially less than 48 hours from now, so this is all I will say about it. Here's wishing the best possible pick to hometown Darrius Heyward-Bey, and let's see some trades. Trades are exciting. 

25. Miami Dolphins

Herman: Evander Brown (DT, Missouri)

Radecki: Vontae Davis (CB, Illinois)

Kiper: Malcolm Jenkins (CB, Ohio State)

McShay: Kenny Britt (WR, Rutgers)

Wright: Everette Brown (DE, Florida State)

- Notes: Another one with all five of us disagreeing, which shows one of two things: either A) the Dolphins are for real from last year and they don't have many holes and can draft for best player available, or B) the Dolphins last year were complete flukes and have tons of holes. I'm going for B. 

26. Baltimore Ravens

Herman: Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR, Maryland)

Radecki: Eben Britton (OT, Arizona)

Kiper: Vontae Davis (CB, Illinois)

McShay: Rey Maualuga (ILB, USC)

Wright: Darrius Heyward-Bey

- Notes: All of these make sense. Heyward-Bey is the tall, fast receiver the Ravens need. Britton would add stability to the right tackle position that the Ravens desperately need. Ozzie Newsome has already hinted at taking a corner in the first round, and Davis is a great talent. If Maualuga is still there, he will be hard to pass up. 

27. Indianapolis Colts

Herman: Clay Matthews (OLB, USC)

Radecki: Peria Jerry (DT, Mississippi)

Kiper: Peria Jerry

McShay: Evander Hood

Wright: Peria Jerry

- Notes: Defense, and more specifically, defensive tackle, is the running theme here. Only I, who thinks that Clay Matthews is too much of a value to pass up here, doesn't have the Colts taking the best defensive tackle available. 

28. Buffalo Bills

Herman: Eben Britton

Radecki: Phil Loadholt (OT, Oklahoma)

Kiper: Eben Britton

McShay: Eben Britton

Wright: Phil Loadholt

- Notes: Sense another theme? Getting rid of Peters makes tackle a glaringly obvious need here. Tyler and Wright had Britton off the board by now, or else I'm sure he would have been the pick. 

29. New York Giants

Herman: Hakeem Nicks (WR, North Carolina)

Radecki: Hakeem Nicks

Kiper: Hakeem Nicks

McShay: Hakeem Nicks

Wright: Percy Harvin (WR, Florida)

- Notes: Another seemingly obvious pick. Nicks would fill the void that Plaxico Burress's jailing will leave, and Harvin will give the Giants a dynamic playmaker. 

30. Tennessee Titans

Herman: Alphonso Smith (CB, Wake Forest)

Radecki: Darius Butler (CB, Connecticut)

Kiper: Percy Harvin

McShay: Vontae Davis

Wright: Darius Butler

- Notes: Wider receiver and cornerback are the biggest needs for the Titans, and it's not even close. However, wide receiver has been a need for such a long time, it's hard to see them finally addressing that need now, so cornerback is the choice for most. 

31. Arizona Cardinals

Herman: Larry English (OLB, Northern Illinois)

Radecki: Knowshon Moreno (RB, Georgia)

Kiper: Larry English

McShay: Donald Brown (RB, Connecticut)

Wright: Chris "Beanie" Wells (RB, Ohio State)

- Notes: If Wells is still there at 31 for the Cardinals, they may seize up out of pure joy. More likely they will go for a runningback like Brown, or they may take the risk and go for Larry English, an underrated pass rush out of Northern Illinois.

32. Pittsburgh Steelers

Herman: Alex Mack (C, California)

Radecki: Alex Mack

Kiper: Eric Wood (C, Louisville)

McShay: Max Unger (C, Oregon)

Wright: Vontae Davis

- Notes: Center is the likely choice for Pittsburgh here, although is Davis is still on the board, Pitt definitely could take him to add a quality cornerback. 

And that's that. I'll be following this up on Sunday with the winner and percentages for everyone. Just so everyone knows up front, this is how scoring will work. One point for every player taken in the spot the drafter said he would be taken in. Once again, we're going to work off numbers here, not teams. That's how I'm getting rid of the trade aspect. I'm intrigued to see how this pans out. 

5 Things to Keep an Eye on

Sure, you have the NFL playoff races, but there's other things to keep an eye on this weekend. Here's five things I'll be paying attention to.

1. The Mark Teixeira sweepstakes. C.C. already went to the Yankees; everyone expected that. Teixeira, on the other hand, is a local boy. Both the Orioles and Nationals have expressed interest, and Teixeira has reciprocated with both. It will be interesting to see where Texeira ends up, and whether the local teams will be filling to fork over enough money to get him.

2. Maryland basketball: taking care of business. More on this later, but it's the worst time of the year for Maryland basketball. It's no longer the beginning of the season, so we're not really learning anything about the team. They no longer play anyone that will help their resume at the end of the year. It's full of Elons, Bryants, and Delaware States from here on out. None of these wins will help, but losses will devastate.

3. Pittsburgh-Baltimore: Will the emotions finally boil over? Both teams have been good all week. No players or coaches have expressed anything but mutual respect for the other team. You know it's just because they feel the eyes of Czar Goodell looking over them, though. I mean, after all, this is the same Ravens team with Bart Scott (pictured), who openly threatened to kill Hines Ward last year. It will be interesting to see whether all this emotion they're keeping inside will spill out onto the football field in terms of some 15-yard penalties.

4. Which team will get back on track: Dallas or New York? I have a feeling New York is going to destroy Dallas in this game, but that's just me. Everything I've ever said negative about Tony Romo (pictured) I will reverse if he managed to get the huge win this week. If not, I don't see Dallas winning another game. Conversely, New York has to show the league that they just ran into a Philadelphia team at the wrong time, and that the Giants are still the team to beat in this league, with or without Brandon Jacobs. We're going to learn something about both of these teams after this game.

5. We will immediately start to see the effects of the first big trade in the NBA. Forgive me, but I don't think the Wizards getting rid of Antonio Daniels for two guys who combine to average about 5 ppg is going to make that big of a difference. There was a trade that went down last night between the Bobcats and the Suns, though, that caught a lot of people's interest. Boris Diaw (pictured, left) and Raja Bell (two staples of Suns for the past few years) and Sean Singletary (whom Maryland fans know quite well) left for the Bobcats. In return, the Suns received Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley (also well known by Maryland fans). Steve Nash was visibly upset during last night's Suns-Lakers game. 

And yea, I just wrote about the NBA. 

(Photo Credits: AP)

And the Titans fall

There will be no 16-0 team this year. Earlier today, the NFL's last undefeated team fell as the Titans lost to the New York Jets 34-13.

I did not expect them to lose this week, mainly because they were at home. But the Jets flat out dominated this game. Kerry Collins threw the ball 39 times and the Titans defense (best in the league, at least points-wise) gave up 34 points and let the Jets go 7-13 on 3rd downs. The Jets had 192 yards rushing and the Titans had a mere 45.

The last couple games, the Titans looked beatable. I figured it would only be a matter of time until they lost, because a team like the Titans couldn't go undefeated. In today's NFL, with scouting the way it is, only a dominant team can go through the gauntlet and finish 16-0. The Patriots were that dominant team...well, until the Super Bowl.

The big question is: where do the Titans go from here? Most experts - including TnT Sports' very own Tony Herman - had the Titans at #1 because they hadn't lost. The Giants looked much more dominant in all facets of the game for most of the season (the Browns game was obviously a fluke, for both teams) and should now be #1 in most power rankings, assuming the win today, which is no sure thing. As I type, the Cardinals are up 12-10. That is definitely the biggest game of today, if only because it will prove to the country that the Cardinals are for real (it honestly feels wierd to say that the Cardinals are one of the NFL's "elite" this season).

Update: The Cardinals lost, but their offense played great against a good defense. They are legit.

Looking Back

With so many sports going on at once, how can you keep track of them all? You don't have to, but I will. Every Monday* I will look back and hit briefly upon the five story lines that stuck out from the previous weekend.

* Editor's note: I know it's Tuesday, and there are a few things in here for which I will say "look for it later." Look, I'm a student like you. I get busy. It will come.

1. The Philadelphia Phillies can pitch. Just look at the stat of the week. They've been absolutely abysmal with runners in scoring position, but it just goes to show that baseball can be traced back down to one golden rule: If you have pitching and defense, you can win almost every game. The Phillies have had a tremendous amount of both.

Look Tuesday and Wednesday for my World Series update and my thoughts on the rain situation.

2. Terps' ACC chances: Why not? They, like so many others, control their own destiny. I know they have a brutal schedule coming up: At VT, home for FSU and UNC, and on the road against always tough BC. This is a team that's a bit of a head case, though, and that's why I think they will win the ACC. Let me explain that.

If the Terps win the ACC Atlantic, they will win the ACC championship. In my opinion, UVA is going to fall off. They've done enough to establish that Maryland's loss to them was not a terrible loss by any means, but I think they will start to lose again. The next two contenders for the Coastal will be VT and UNC. If Maryland wins the Atlantic, it will be because they beat both of those teams. Maryland is the type of team that you can just tell says to itself, "Well I beat you once, I can do it again." Just my thoughts.

I'm not sure Maryland will win at VT next Thursday, but I do think they will win out at home. If they do, they will make it to the championship game. The FSU game is the important one.

3. BCS trouble is brewing. The BCS right now is absolutely praying that Penn State does not win out. If they do, there may be a fiasco.

The best case scenario is that Texas wins out, Penn State wins out, and Alabama loses bad to somebody they shouldn't.

After that, it gets scary. If UT, Bama, and PSU all win out, PSU is the third man there and doesn't play in the national championship. 

If Texas loses, for example to Texas Tech this week, assuming that Texas Tech doesn't win out, the only two BCS teams undefeated would be Alabama and PSU. However, if Texas loses in close fashion and beats the snot out of everyone else they play, there's a strong chance Texas plays in the national championship ahead of Penn State anyway.

If Alabama loses, but USC starts beating everyone by 50 again, there's a chance they could move ahead of PSU as well.

Of course, this not to mention the fact that Utah, Ball State, and Tulsa are all undefeated as well.

4. Predict for me right now who will be in the playoffs in the AFC, because you can only choose 6 out of 13 teams that are still very much in the hunt. Plus, there is only one guarantee. (It's the 7-0 team.)

What about Pittsburgh, you say? Let's say they lose at Washington on Monday night, which is certainly very plausible. And let's say the Ravens win at Cleveland this week, which is certainly very plausible. All of a sudden, the Steelers are only a game up on the Ravens, and have yet to play in Baltimore. (Pitt hasn't swept the season series since 2002.)

New England actually looks in the best position out of everyone else. At least they're finding a rhythm. Buffalo just lost to Miami. Nobody in the AFC West can play defense. It's kinda crazy.

Last note here: there are only 7 teams in the conference with a winning record right now. If the playoffs ended today, either the Jets or the Ravens would get in at 4-3 (please don't ask me to do tiebreakers.) That means that the Dolphins, Browns, Colts, Jags, Texans, and Chargers are only one game out with three wins. It's anybody's race.

Except for the Bengals, Chiefs, and Raiders.

5. The NFC BEast is back. Dallas beats a good Tampa team on the road. Philadelphia beats a good Atlanta team, and shows how good their offense can be with Brian Westbrook. The Skins didn't make it look pretty, but got the job done against the Lions. All the Giants did was waltz into Heinz Field and 

thoroughly outplay the Steelers. 

Because they might beat themselves up, the NFC South could still sneak in a wild card team. The NFC East removed all doubt this weekend, though, as to whether they were slipping.