Well so much for any sort of a “lockout hangover”. The 2011 NFL regular season kicked off Thursday night at Lambeau Field with the defending champion Green Bay Packers defeating the 2009 Super bowl champion New Orleans Saints in a thrilling 42-34 game (at no point in the game did my friends and I flip over to Jersey Shore, that should tell you how good it was). Both of the last two Super bowl MVP’s did not disappoint as Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees combined to throw for 731 yards with 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions (makes me sad to think that we’ll be getting the complete opposite of this when Tarvaris Jackson goes up against Alex Smith on Sunday). The game ended with Drew Brees marching his team down from their own 20 with no timeouts left to the Packers 9 yard line. An incomplete pass across the middle intended for Darren Sproles looked to be the end of the game until an iffy pass interference call gave the Saints one more chance at the 1 yard line. The Saints tried to run it up the middle with rookie Mark Ingram and got stuffed, I didn’t and still don’t understand the play call by Saints coach Sean Payton. Why not throw it there? Because your QB just marched down the field with ease and was picking apart the other team’s D? Strange play calling. It was a great way to signal the return of football that made me even more excited for the upcoming season and because I’ve grown tired of reading the same season preview on every other site I thought I’d try something new. So here is the 2011 NFL season preview as told by Hip-Hop.
To the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles. A team that undoubtedly won the offseason by adding pro bowlers Ronnie Brown, Cullen Jenkins and the best cornerback in football, Nnamdi Asomugha. They have been dubbed among other things: the dream team and “the Miami Heat” of the NFL (I find this particularly upsetting since I have been an Eagles fan since the tender age of 9). However, there are several differences between the Eagles and the Heat, in basketball there are 5 players on the court at one time and Miami had three top 20 players (including two in the top 5) making up 60% of their starting lineup. In football this is simply not the case so even with all of the talent the Eagles have amassed, it will not be as direct of an impact. Secondly, the Eagles did not have a pre-season celebratory parade/show (I still don’t know what to call this) and have downplayed the dream team talk. The main thing to know is like last year the Eagles will only go as far as their star QB, Michael Vick will take them. If Vick gets injured early (and if you watched the O-line in the preseason then it is a possibility) it will be a long season in Philadelphia (although if this happens I will be the first guy to talk myself into Vince Young). If he manages to stay healthy, look out. I will be writing weekly updates on Philadelphia’s season so expect more on the Eagles this year.
To what seems to be Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization way of looking at free agency. This year’s off-season led to the acquisitions of Chad Ochocinco, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver who has been in some trouble over the past but nothing too serious. Chad has definitely been a distraction in the past to his QB and the whole team, something that Belichick and the Patriots believe that they can keep out of Foxborough and squeeze whatever is left out of the 33 year old (Btw, am I the only one who finds it insanely stupid that we have to call this guy Chad 85? I feel as if you change your name to something fucking stupid then don’t expect people to always call you by it. And yes I’m also talking about you Ron Artest). The Patriots also took a chance with Albert Haynesworth. An extremely talented defensive lineman who basically committed robbery on the Washington Redskins organization with his play last year. Haynesworth is a proven commodity in the NFL when he is properly motivated and so far he has said all the right things about the Patriots team-first mentality. But what is said off the field and done on it are two completely different things and maybe giving a guy whose nickname was Fat Albert the benefit of the doubt isn’t such a smart thing to do. For more on the Pats, go here.
Unless you’re Chris Johnson. Then it is all about the money.
To the St. Louis Rams and the Detroit Lions as being this year’s unquestionable public favourites to match the hype and take the next step into becoming playoff teams. Both teams have very talented, young but injury prone QB’s in Matt Stafford (Lions) and Sam Bradford (Rams) who are surrounded by talented supporting casts. Both teams even have their own game changers in Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh for the Lions and Stephen Jackson for the Rams. So which team do I think will live up to the hype this season? I’m picking the Rams based on the fact that the rest of the NFC West teams look like NFL Europe teams, in other words, terrible.
What every Raiders fan thinks of when he remembers Al Davis is still running the team.
To the San Francisco 49ers and their QB Alex Smith who for some bizarre reason will be the team’s starting QB when the season kicks off. In 5 years as a quarterback in the NFL, Smith has piled up these statistics; 51 TD’s, 53 interceptions, a completion percentage of 57.1% and a QB rating of 72.1. George Lopez had a better run as a late-night talk show host. Of course the niners might realize their team sucks this year and are throwing Smith out there to have a better shot at getting Andrew Luck next year.
To the 2011 Indianapolis Colts who are probably getting sick and tired of being called one of the worst teams in football now that their star QB Peyton Manning is out for at least 2-3 months with a neck injury. The Colts will start the season off against the Houston Texans who are now everyone’s pick to win the AFC South. The Colts will begin the season with Kerry Collins under center and even though replacing Manning with Collins is like replacing Leonardo Dicaprio with Billy Zane, Collins is still a solid veteran QB (not the same can be said for Billy and his acting abilities) who can manage a team fine. This Colts team and the way their season turns out will be a very interesting subplot this year.
To me, you, and the rest of the fans. We have no idea what this season will bring but we do know why we watch. Enjoy the season.
Luka Milanovic
@Luka_M91 on twitter
Good to be writing finally
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