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Bills Rally to Shock Patriots 34-31

By Mike Tyman on September 25, 2011 in

The Buffalo Bills rallied from 21 points down to beat the New England Patriots for the first time in their past sixteen meetings. Tom Brady threw four interceptions which equaled his total from all of last season.

This game was the tale of two halves as Brady threw 3 TD’s to help the Pats to a 21-0 lead. The Bills were able to cut into the lead with 10 points before halftime, trailing 21-10. The second half was dominated by the Bills, as they picked off Brady three times and had their way with the Pats’ defense. Drayton Florence had an interception for a touchdown and Fred Jackson exploded for big catches and runs during the fourth quarter. The officiating also was questionable at times, especially on an apparent Ryan Fitzpatrick interception which was negated by a “phantom” pass interference call. All the credit to the Bills though as they made the plays down the stretch and the Patriots crumbled under the pressure.

Brady had a bad day, but the most disturbing part of the game was the similarity between this year’s defense and last year’s defense. The Patriots will not win a Super Bowl if the defense can’t improve from a year ago. Albert Haynesworth and Patrick Chung both missed today’s game with injuries and will be desperately needed to stop the Oakland Raiders’ rushing attack next weekend.

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BSL’s NFL Week 3 Picks

By Brian DeCandia on September 24, 2011 in

Frank Gore looks to get it going this week against the Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2 opened up our eyes to what some of the NFL teams are going to be like in this 2011-12 season. 11-5 last week is pretty respectable, but we are going to try it a little differently this week. The spreads will now come into factor. Here are the picks…

Spread

Matchup

Pick

Analysis

CIN -2.5

  San Francisco 49ers  @Cincinnati Bengals  49ers The 49ers were disrespected with this line. Just because Andy Dalton has been tolerable under center doesn’t mean he is going to win you games against good teams. 49ers win 27-17.

NWE -7

  New England Patriots  @Buffalo Bills Bills This game is too close to call. I am taking the Bills in the spread. Buffalo and New England always play close games. This one’s a barn burner. Pats win 31-27.
NOR -4  Houston Texans        @New Orleans Saints  Saints Another tough pick with two explosive offenses. Listed as questionable, I don’t believe Arian Foster will play this week. Saints will get that one stop they need and take this matchup 34-27.

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Will the Patriots Make it Sweet Sixteen in Buffalo?

By Brendan Tyman on September 24, 2011 in

Aaron Hernandez (85) will not be running by any Bills defensive backs on Sunday because of his sprained MCL.

The Buffalo Bills are the Cinderella story through the first two weeks of the season after crushing the Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 at Arrowhead Stadium and then knocking off the Oakland Raiders 38-35 in Buffalo’s home opener.

Since 2003, the Bills have acted as the little brother to the Patriots. They always get beat, yet they manage to keep the games close. The Patriots have won 15 consecutive games over the Bills.

The 2011 edition of the  Bills is different. They have weapons all over the offense, including the NFL’s leading rusher, Fred Jackson (229 yards), who is a fifth-year running back out of Coe College. Jackson has always been a thorn in the Patriots’ side. Their other running back is C.J. Spiller (8.8 yards per carry), who is young and quick. The leader of this offense is quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has tossed seven touchdown passes.

This matchup could have the ingredients for the Bills to turn the tide in this series between longtime AFC East rivals. While both teams’ offenses are ranked among the top in most statistical categories, their defensive units have allowed a lot of points and yards.

Here are the key matchups in Sunday’s game.

1. How will the Patriots’ injury-riddled defensive line fare against the Bills’ surprising offensive line?

The Patriots have some linemen on the injury report. This includes Mike Wright (concussion), Myron Pryor (placed on Injured Reserve this week), and Albert Haynesworth (back), who was held out of practice on Thursday and Friday. While the Bills’ offensive line has been beleaguered over the past few seasons, they have displayed ability and toughness through the first two contests. Center Eric Wood is a 2009 first-round pick and guard Andy Levitre is a third-year starter. They could be without guard Kraig Urbik (knee). The Bills’ offensive line has helped them lead the NFL in rushing at 193 yards per game. Meanwhile the Patriots “D” has given up 4.5 yards per rush. The San Diego Chargers had success against the Patriots’ defensive front, especially running the ball. On Ryan Matthews’ touchdown run last Sunday, Haynesworth got out of his gap and this forced the linebackers out of position. Other than Mark Anderson’s strip sack on the Chargers’ final possession, the Patriots did not apply much pressure against Chargers’ quarterback Phillip Rivers. The Patriots did use defensive ends to chip the Chargers’ tight end Antonio Gates and they did not blitz much because the Chargers like to send their running backs out to catch balls. The question becomes how will the Patriots’ defensive tackles perform against the Bills’ young linemen? Will Haynesworth play and how effective will he be? Will the Patriots load up their front seven to stop the Bills’ running game?

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NFL Week 3 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em

By Brian DeCandia on September 23, 2011 in

Cam Newton looks to keep his streak of 400 yard passing games going this weekend.

Fantasy football has taken over NFL fans’ lives, so it wouldn’t be right if we neglected to do a Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em. So here is BSL’s first Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em segment.

Quarterbacks

Start ‘Em

1. Cam Newton, Carolina – Newton is a must start this week against a suspect Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense. The Jags have given up at least two passing touchdowns in each of their first two games, plus count on Newton to run one also.

2. Tom Brady, New England – Brady and the New England Patriots’ pass first offense has been on fire as of late. The Buffalo Bills’ secondary is struggling this season and Brady did throw for six touchdowns against the Bills last season.

Sit ‘Em

1. Eli Manning, New York Giants – Manning had trouble moving the ball against the St. Louis Rams’ defense let alone the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. With a very good secondary, it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to move the ball against the Eagles through the air.

2. Jay Cutler, Chicago– Cutler has always been hard to trust in fantasy and this week should be no different. Although Green Bay’s pass defense has been the worst in the league thus far, they also played two of the hottest quarterbacks in the league in Drew Brees and Cam Newton. Cutler is only averaging 14 fantasy points per game (FPG) against the Packers. Continue reading →

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With 2-Game Lead on the Line, Red Sox Playoff Hopes Look Bleak

By Pat Millane on September 21, 2011 in

John Lackey looks to change his fortune as the Red Sox move forward.

The Boston Red Sox look like they just came out of a tough week 15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers with no clue how to move forward. With 155 in the books and only seven left to play, we still have no idea what to expect from this year’s Red Sox. Are they the team that stumbled badly out of the gate and stood 2-10 on April 15? Or are they the star studded team with seemingly no weaknesses that many experts predicted would run away with the pennant back in March?

The 2011 Red Sox are on the brink of one of the biggest late season collapses in recent memory with their wild card lead over the Tampa Bay Rays down to two games. A deadly combination of inconsistent starting pitching (John Lackey and co.) and an array of injuries has put the Sox seemly assured postseason spot in serious jeopardy. Let’s take a look at what’s wrong with the Sox and what could be done to fix each issue:

Starting Pitching: Currently the rotation (hard to even call it that anymore with people shuffling in and out so often) consists of Josh Beckett and six question marks. Jon Lester has had more downs than ups lately. Erik Bedard is coming back from a lat strain and his start tonight marks his first appearance September 3rd. The organization does not know what they are going to get from Bedard in the final week of the regular season. Tim Wakefield is 45 years old and is  an innings eater at this stage in his career. Kyle Weiland is an unproven rookie with a grand total of 19 big league innings under his belt. Continue reading →

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BSL’s NFL Week 3 Power Rankings

By Brendan Tyman on September 20, 2011 in

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has led the Buffalo Bills to a surprising 2-0 start.

There are seven teams who remain undefeated after Week 2. They are defending Super Bowl champs (Green Bay Packers), perennial Super Bowl contenders (New England Patriots and New York Jets), a solid yet underachieving team (Houston Texans), and three maligned franchises (Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and Washington Redskins).

There is the rookie quarterback, Cam Newton, who threw for over 400 yards, but lost for the second time in as many weeks.

The Kansas City Chiefs lost another star player in Jamaal Charles and they look like they will be in the sweepstakes for the No. 1 pick in April 2012 to take a quarterback at Stanford, who could be the next John Elway.

Here are the Week 3 Power Rankings:

Rank

Team

Record

Analysis

1

 Green Bay Packers

2-0

 The defense struggled early on the road against a game Carolina Panthers team, but they were fortunate Newton looked like a rookie later in the contest.

2

 New England Patriots

2-0

 Their explosive start alleviates the angst of Red Sox fans.

3

 New York Jets

2-0

 The offense scored a TD in the opening quarter for the first time in 16 games.

4

 New Orleans Saints

1-1
Drew Brees and Co. looked strong over Da Bears.

5

 Pittsburgh Steelers

1-1
The Seattle Seahwaks’ offense couldn’t even move the ball on the University of Pittsburgh’s defense, let alone the Steel Curtain.

6

 Philadelphia Eagles

1-1
They need to hope Michael Vick recovers quickly from his concussion because they looked lifeless when he went down.

7

 Detroit Lions

2-0
If Matthew Stafford remains healthy…

8

 Houston Texans

2-0
Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson continues to be one of the best tandems in the NFL.

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Patriots Zap Chargers, 35-21

By Mike Tyman on September 19, 2011 in

Vince Wilfork (75) celebrates his interception with teammate, Shaun Ellis (94)

The Patriots moved to 2-0 with a well earned victory over the San Diego Chargers. The Pats once again won by following their favorite formula: “Create turnovers on defense and don’t turn the ball over on offense.”

Tom Brady victimized another top-10 defense from a year ago by throwing for 423 yards and 3 TD’s. The Patriots started fast, scoring on each of their four first-half possessions The Patriots’ defense gave up alot of yards but made several game changing plays. During the second quarter the defense stopped the Chargers on a 4th and goal play inside the Pats’ 1 yard line. With less than two minutes before halftime, mammoth defensive tackle, Vince Wilfork, intercepted a pass from Phillip Rivers and ran it back into Chargers’ territory. The Wilfork play helped set up a Stephen Gostkowski field goal right before the half. Leading 20-14 in the 4th quarter, the defense forced a Mike Tolbert fumble and Brady made them pay by throwing a touchdown to tight end Rob Gronkowski. Late in the 4th quarter Benjarvus Green-Ellis ran into the endzone to ice the game at 35-21. All-pro tight end Antionio Gates was held without a single catch for the first time in his career.

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New England Patriots – San Diego Chargers Preview

By Brendan Tyman on September 17, 2011 in

Tom Brady and the Patriots offense will face a tough challenge in the San Diego Chargers defense on Sunday.

This Sunday’s matchup between the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers pits two top contenders in the AFC. While the Patriots have won four out of five since 2005 over the Chargers, these games could have easily gone the other way.

The Chargers defense gave the Patriots offense fits in last season’s matchup. Due to turnovers (4) and mental mistakes, the Patriots were able to escape with a 23-20 victory at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Patriots are beginning their home slate at Gillette Stadium and there will be heavy emotions as the 70,000 fans are receiving lapel pins in the memory of Bob Kraft’s wife, Myra. This could be a high scoring game considering both teams have two elite quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers.

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BSL’s NFL Week 2 Predictions

By Brian DeCandia on September 17, 2011 in

Calvin Johnson looks to keep the Detroit Lions rolling this week against the Kansas City Chiefs

The first week of NFL action is now in the books. A week that saw the Ravens dominate the Steelers, 35-7, as well as surprise victories from the Bills, Redskins and Bengals. AFter finally seeing what the NFL has to offer, here are our Week 2 picks.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Detroit Lions – DET 31-13
 The Lions recorded a big road win last week against the Bucs. The Lions will not stop rolling this week against a banged up Chiefs team on their home turf. Lions’ fans thought the offense was explosive outside in Tampa, just wait until they play this week in their own dome. “Megatron” puts up huge numbers in this 31-13 rout over the Chiefs.

Oakland Raiders @ Buffalo Bills – BUF 20-17
 The Bills could be a surprise team in the AFC East this season. Now I am not saying they will make the playoffs but an 8-8 record doesn’t seem so ridiculous now. The Bills start off 2-0, squeaking by Oakland in this one. The Bills defense is the difference in this one as they hold Darren McFadden to just 60+ yards rushing.

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Patriots steamroll Dolphins, 38-24

By Mike Tyman on September 14, 2011 in

Welker catches an NFL record tying 99-yard TD reception from Tom Brady

Tom Brady passed for 517 yards and 4 TD’s, including a 99 yard TD-pass to Wes Welker. Brady had perhaps his best performance as a Patriot, which is amazing considering how great he has been.

Game Synopsis: The Pats struggled on the Dolphin’s opening drive, allowing a touchdown after Miami dominated the line of scrimmage. Down 7-0, Brady went into surgical-mode and carved up the Dolphin’s defense with TD passes to Welker (2), Hernandez and Gronkowski. The Patriot’s defense was shaky at times but certainly pressured Henne into some poor throws on key 3rd downs. The Patriots can improve defensively, but it’s tough to point any weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball. The main detraction from the night was center, Dan Koppen, going down with a leg injury in the 2nd quarter. He has since been declared out 6-10 weeks with a broken ankle.

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