Sunday, June 12, 2011

Five things to look for in the NFC north this season.


Five things to look for in the NFC north this season.

With the start of training camp less than two months away and yes I see the season starting on time, I've come up with five things to look for in the NFC north in the 2011 season.

( # 1) rookies from this years draft will have Little or no impact on this coming season. Unless the players cave in to owners demands over the next fews day and not wait for the judges ruling on the legality of the lockout ( which could take up to three weeks ) coaches will have very little time to work theses guys into their game plans. This is really to bad considering Chicago and Minnesota drafted for instant needs. Trying to input rookies into the starting lineup is bad enough with a full session of off season workouts and mini camps, the lockout has all but destroyed any chance for rookies to get the needed reps or time with coaches to be much help this year.

( # 2 ) The Super bowl champ's Green Bay Packers as scary as it might sound are going to be a better team this season. This team's make up is just that good. From top to bottom they have the best team in the NFC north and the motivation of knowing they finish second in their division last season. I think if the rest of the NFC think there might be a Super bowl hangover attached to this team, they will be sadly mistaken. You will see a more balance offense with James Stark and Ryan Grant running the football which will open up an already potent passing game. And with Jermichael Finley coming back from injury the Packers will be a very hard team to stop offensively. The Packers defense speak for it's-self even with an aging Charles Woodson the Packers have the best defense in the NFC north and a lot of young players who will get nothing but better.

Record 12-4


( # 3 ) The Chicago Bears will take a huge step backwards next season. The Bears have the look of a team that will self-implode in 2011.Their failure to fully to stay out in front of the Jay Cutler situation might be their un-doing. It's hard to believe a team that just won 11 games and the NFL north may be the team in the NFC to take the biggest fall. There is a serious chemistry problem in Chicago from the front office to the assistant trainer on the sideline. You need to answer three questions on the Bear's going into next season to get a feel for the team you might see. Do you trust the quarterback, the coaching staff, or the front office, if you answer no to any of theses questions expect a long season in chi-town.

Record 6-10


( # 4 ) The Detroit lions will be the second best team in the NFC north but will not make the playoffs in 2011. The lions have the most interesting team in the NFC this coming season. In my opinion they have a better over all team than the Bear's or Viking's even if Matthew Stafford didn't play a down this season. The lion put up the second most points scored in the division without Stafford playing for almost a whole season. They have a very good receiving core, a good running game and one of the best d-lines in football. What's missing with the lions is a history of winning, it's one thing to win when no one expect's it, however it's another thing to win when teams will be waiting for you. Look for the lion to have growing pains this coming season, their secret out, they have a good young team.

Record 8-8


( # 5 ) The Minnesota Vikings will sign a veteran quarterback to help mentor rookies QB Christian Ponder. With a new stadium on the line and needing fan support to make it happen the Viking can ill afford going into the 2011 season with a rookie quarterback and no chance of winning. The Viking will struggle this coming season, no QB, an aging defense, and a huge Brett Favre hangover will be very hard for them to overcome. The term starting over is very hard to do will be the theme of the Viking 2011 season. Minnesota has the look of a last place team for the foreseeable future and Viking fans can only hope the their quarterback situation is handle properly or this could lead to a decade of heartache for them.

Record 4-12


Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Out of season out of mind





Out of season out of mind

The one thing that American sports has on other country is that we have three main sports we can follow season to season. ( baseball, basketball, and football ) So with that being said it's easy to see why NFL football hasn't been at the forefront of a lot fans minds. Could you imagine what it might be like in Europe if soccer's was taken from there fans. Soccer's is a year around passion for their fans, so if there was a lockout in that sport there would be a huge fan uprising. Now I'm not saying we don't have year around die hard football fans in this country, ( i'm one ) but on a percentage basic most fans follow sports season to season.

I don't see fans really getting involved in this hold CBA mess until mid July when training camp is suppose to start. Then and only then will NFL owners and players feel the full anger from sports fans. It's nice to have other sports to fall back on, but this fight over the control of a billion dollars will not end until not only the die hard football fans, but also the seasonal fans let it be known now there's going to be a huge price to pay for greed and selfishness.

The NFL owners were counting on the out of season out of mind mentality from fans As they tried their bullying tactic on players with this lockout. Fans have a huge voice in how this might end and the time is now to let it be heard. This may be the only time that fans can make an impact on all three major sports; because after the NFL is finally done with their CBA negotiation's the NBA and MBL will follow with their's CBA negotiations over the next year. How fans deal with the lockout in the NFL will have a direct affect on the upcoming CBA negotiations in the NBA and MBL. Don't believe for a Second that theses two league are not paying close attention to fan reaction in the NFL. If out of season out mind works for the NFL they will try the same thing in their negotiations too!!!


Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

NFL owners and players need to shut up and make this deal happen!!




NFL owners and players need to shut up and make this deal happen!!

The one thing the NFL lockout has showed us over the last 20 days or so is that owners and players have way to much time on their hands. There has not been a day that has gone by where someone from either side hasn't say something just plain dumb. Instead of letting the people they are paying tons of money to do their jobs of trying to find a meeting point to get a deal done and the NFL season back on track. But every-time Owners and Players have a mike is put in front of their faces they feel the need to take shot after shot at one another as if they want this war over money to never end.

There has been way to much time spent on name calling and false actuation, than throw in words like slavery and cartels used to describe theses CBA negotiations you can see why both sides should just shut their mouth's and let the people who supposedly know what their doing work on getting a deal done, instead of putting out their fires. As long some owners try to portray players as spoil little boys asking for more candy which by the way is a blatant lie ( players were happy with the deal they had in place ) theses two sides will stay a billion dollars apart.

The only thing we should be hearing from both sides is we're doing all we can to end the lockout. As their June 3 court date approaches to finally put to rest the legality of the owners imposed lockout of it's players, there should be only one thing on both the owners and players minds; how they might come together to ends this lockout. Not what can I say to get under the other side's skin.


Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com