road to glendale

[fergus8]

started to watch american football about week 10 this year, what a great game to watch once you understand what its all about, anyway we re heading into playoff time and it is looking good for edge of your seat games

wildcard weekend sees seeds 1 and 2 get a bye with 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 in both conferences afc, nfc

ok so the games this weekend are all live on sky sports

saturday:

washington redskins @ seattle seahawks 9pm ish

jacksonville jaguars @ pittsburgh steelers 1am ish


sunday:

new york giants @ tampa bay buccaneers 6pm ish

Tennessee titans @ san diego chargers 9pm ish


i dont know much but i fancy seattle and san diego to be convincing wins as favourites, new york and pittsburgh to narrowly win from an underdog position
             


post your thoughts, who you support, betting predictions etc

oh and i think im a pittsburgh fan, mon the steelers. big ben rothesjfhvndjsdgsmkfhgsgjdkskberger reminds me of will ferrall and heinz "baked beans" ward is class in a glass

[bobby1]

Its a superb game isnt it, a dream for gambing on as everything is so stats based. As for this weekends games Im gonna wait til the weekend when all the team news and weather forecast's are known for sure.

As for Big Ben Roifkjfjdfnfddfjdberger I bought a Pitts shirt with his name on in New York just after he had been taken in the draft and before he had played a game for Pittsburgh. As a Pittsburgh fan you can have it for £500 and I will throw in  the reciept too. 

[TightEnd]

begin this weekend with the wild cards

best odds can be found here

http://www.oddschecker.com/american-football

I have laid off my Dallas bet a fortnight ago as they are losing momentum and are to my mind opposable in the NFC, I have done so at a good price about Washington (defence and a fit Clinton Portis mean they will be a tough opponent)

In the AFC the Patriots are prohibitively short but I have a long each way running on Jacksonville, a team built for the play offs behind a running game and a stout defence

This weekend


NFC

Washington at Seattle, I'll take Washington here as the underdog. Stop Shaun Alexander and make Hasselbeck beat them through the air.

Giants at Tampa. I want to back the Giants but believe Eli Manning chokes on the big occasion and his offensive weapns are either injured or hurt


AFC

Tennessee at San Diego. Titans superbowl was beating the Colts to get to the Play offs. Not strong enough to win in California

Jacksonville at Pittsburgh. Taking Jags here. This flies in the face of history, an away team up North in the Play offs but with Willie Parker missing and Jags built for bad waether, I'll go with the Jags


The Cowboys and the Packers in the NFC and the Patriots and the Colts in the AFC await the winners of these four games

My picks would mean

Washington at Dallas

Tampa at Green Bay

Jacksonville at New England

San Diego at Indy


If the Patriots are to slip up, that Jacksonville game would be the one to my mind. I don't see the other teams beating them

[TightEnd]

merged topics hadn't seen Fergus' when I posted

[steeveg]

Its a superb game isnt it, a dream for gambing on as everything is so stats based. As for this weekends games Im gonna wait til the weekend when all the team news and weather forecast's are known for sure.

As for Big Ben Roifkjfjdfnfddfjdberger I bought a Pitts shirt with his name on in New York just after he had been taken in the draft and before he had played a game for Pittsburgh. As a Pittsburgh fan you can have it for £500 and I will throw in  the reciept too. 

same here, i try and stop myself from picking a bet till later in the week when all the news is available,unless ive read other team has problems and odds to good to miss on team i want to back,
 its hard game to folow at first as it looks like its 1 mad scramble but i got a good tip when you first start watching the game from a john madden video in early 80s , keep your eyes on offensive line not the quaterback when the ball is snapped, in a split second you will know what the play will be, if they move backwards its usualy a throw as they are dropping back to protect him, if they move forward its a run, simple, only a few plays when it dosent happen. you will find you are thinking pass and run a lot quicker and can then follow the play a lot better
i always support san fran 49s stopped backing them years ago though ,lol ,lucky enough to see montana and young play at wembley, only a few teams have ever got close to the 49rs team of late 80s and early 90s,awsome offence and defence,
dont think the patriots are as good as the 49rs in those days but brady and moss are the closest to montana and jerry rice ive seen . they will take some stopping and i will pob back them in every match to beat the handicapp as Bill Belichick is ruthless ,always looking to crush any team they play.

[fergus8]

i really know next to nothing about transfers but the kick returner devon hester sp? for chicago bears must be worth buying for a big team, this guy is awesome. also why do they not use him as a normal runner , sorry dont know positions but the willie parker role, he seems perfect for this

[fergus8]

as for dallas they look as if it all depends on TO returning to fitness

redskins, portis played awesome versus the vikings, but are the seahawks not amazing at home?

defo the more open conference

[Newportlad]

The Seahawks are nowhere near as good as they were a couple of years ago. They have lost their best Offensive Linemen and Fullback. As a result, their running game is now decidely average, and Sean Alexander has picked up another injury.  I take the Redskins to win this one.
In fact i agree with Tighty in all the Wildcard games.  The Jags beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh convincingly in the regular season. Since then the Jags have improved and the Steelers regressed.

[Boba Fett]

i really know next to nothing about transfers but the kick returner devon hester sp? for chicago bears must be worth buying for a big team, this guy is awesome. also why do they not use him as a normal runner , sorry dont know positions but the willie parker role, he seems perfect for this

I havent watched any this year but Id guess Hester is faster in the open field than their normal running back while their running back is faster over a shorter distance and stronger being more able to take a tackle and grab a few extra yards.

[TightEnd]

transfers in the NFL are usually only at the end of contracts

the hugely fascinating draft system is the primary route to acquire college talent, and with the worst teams picking first it ensures that there is an element of every team always having a chance to improve

hence, Patriots and Colts aside who have bucked this trend, from one year to the next any team can go from worst to the play offs

draft aside free agents do move across but for someone like Hester, the best in his position in the league and under LT contract the price to acquire him would be exorbitant, and usually measured in future draft picks...as these are the route to restocking with young talent teams don't usually pay these prices

Remeber also that each team operates with  a salary cap..so a real skill in running a franchise is to stock a squad within that

so if you acquire Hester you might have to pay, lets say your top draft picks in 2008 and 2009 and then pay him..lets say $10m upfront... when the overall salary cap is $120m and you have a roster of 53 players

...the Patriots have always drafted fantastically but the real difference maker has been acquiring cheap street players etc and allowing themselves to pay all their stars by filling the roster with bargains, which then perfrom way above the price paid

contrast that with the Colts, who have 1/5th of their cap invested in Manning and who won the Superbowl, but then lost a number of their team to others because they could not compete in the wage $$$$ stakes to keep them  as Manning was taking up all the space


I love the NFL!! can you tell?!?!

[bobby1]

i really know next to nothing about transfers but the kick returner devon hester sp? for chicago bears must be worth buying for a big team, this guy is awesome. also why do they not use him as a normal runner , sorry dont know positions but the willie parker role, he seems perfect for this

This  season they have played him at wide receiver too and he has shown some potential but needs to learn how to run the right routes. The guy at Cleveland Josh Cribbs is getting the same reputation as Hester as a kick retuner too.

[TightEnd]

to me, I love watching the big guys that are amazingly athletic..I've watched DeMarcus Ware, 6-5 and 320, run down running backs from ebhind this year

Guy is a beast

Way back the all time great Larry Allen, who is enormous..6-6 and 350+ was playing for Dallas. An offensive lineman. The pass was intercepted and he ran down a corner, half his weight and notionally 4.4 in the 40 against his 5.2, from behing giving the guy a 10 yard start

Absolutely amazing stuff


All the glamour guys at positions like reciever, qb and running back get the publicity but the game is won in the trenches..can your OL open up lanes to run through and protect? can your defense sack and pressure the QB...

very very few teams win without good OL and DL

and here the Patriots with  the likes of Matt Light on OL and Semour and Wilfork on the DL are the best too
...

[steeveg]

at first i thought tampa would win a high scoring game, but if you look at tampas schedule,it was far easier than the giants,it is a concern that manning will choke again and he may well do later in playoffs  ,but maybe not in this game as tampa are nothing special, nyg look a great bet
 
pittsburgh would win if fully fit, lots of key injuries though and they were beat by jacksonville a few weeks back but the weather played a big part that day so forget the result, i am still  taking pittsburgh defence to play great and the teams playoff experience to get them through,
 
Tennessee game against san diego is going to be a tough heated game, the key to the game is ladamion tomlinson, if has a good game san diego should win ,but Tennessee are very good against the run, no strong opinion but wont be betting on san diego and wouldn't be surprised to see Tennessee win so worth a little interest bet on tennessee 13 -18 points
 
washington against seattle ive no idea, may be a good idea to back in running,seattle to win if hasselbeck hits his receivers, if washington stops the thow early i may see what the odds are for washington
 
 
 giants to win  13/10
 winning margins pittsburgh 13-18  9/1
 tennessee  13-18  20/1
 

[bobby1]

at first i thought tampa would win a high scoring game, but if you look at tampas schedule,it was far easier than the giants,it is a concern that manning will choke again and he may well do later in playoffs  ,but maybe not in this game as tampa are nothing special, nyg look a great bet
 
pittsburgh would win if fully fit, lots of key injuries though and they were beat by jacksonville a few weeks back but the weather played a big part that day so forget the result, i am still  taking pittsburgh defence to play great and the teams playoff experience to get them through,
 
Tennessee game against san diego is going to be a tough heated game, the key to the game is ladamion tomlinson, if has a good game san diego should win ,but Tennessee are very good against the run, no strong opinion but wont be betting on san diego and wouldn't be surprised to see Tennessee win so worth a little interest bet on tennessee 13 -18 points
 
washington against seattle ive no idea, may be a good idea to back in running,seattle to win if hasselbeck hits his receivers, if washington stops the thow early i may see what the odds are for washington
 
 
 giants to win  13/10
 winning margins pittsburgh 13-18  9/1
 tennessee  13-18  20/1
 

I think the key to that San D game will be Albert Haynesworth for the Titans, If he is fit I think they have a good chance to stop the San D run enough to make Rivers have to beat them, for me Haynesworth is one of the top 3 Defensive players in the league and when he missed earlier in the season they didnt defend the run very well.

[steeveg]

to me, I love watching the big guys that are amazingly athletic..I've watched DeMarcus Ware, 6-5 and 320, run down running backs from ebhind this year

Guy is a beast

Way back the all time great Larry Allen, who is enormous..6-6 and 350+ was playing for Dallas. An offensive lineman. The pass was intercepted and he ran down a corner, half his weight and notionally 4.4 in the 40 against his 5.2, from behing giving the guy a 10 yard start

Absolutely amazing stuff


All the glamour guys at positions like reciever, qb and running back get the publicity but the game is won in the trenches..can your OL open up lanes to run through and protect? can your defense sack and pressure the QB...

very very few teams win without good OL and DL

and here the Patriots with  the likes of Matt Light on OL and Semour and Wilfork on the DL are the best too
...

yeah very true,as they say offence wins games  defence wins championships, a few bad offence teams with brilliant defence have gone to superbowl,i may be wrong but i cant think of any brilliant offence with a bad defence who have done the same