2015-16 NFL Week 1 Picks

Welp, I got the itch to start writing again and this seems like a great time.  I will probably have to play with the format a little to make sure that I am providing good content, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy.  Ok, now we’re done with that,…let’s get back to NFL football.  Welcome 2015-16 NFL Season, you have been sorely missed. 

Pittsburgh @ New England – We’ve had to endure, Deflategate, the Seahawks not running the ball, Spygate (revisited) and just in general all of the stuff that the Patriots have gotten away with over the last several years.  Can we move past all of this to get to some football?  That’s what the NFL wants us to do.  They have hijacked the entire summer over this silliness.  On to the game,……The Steelers come in to this game without LeVeon Bell (suspension) and Maurkice Pouncey (injury) and with a lot of new faces on their defense.  You used to be able to depend on the Steelers, no matter the year, to put a staunch defense on the field and this new group will have an opportunity to set that tone.  Ex-Florida State LB, Lawrence Timmons should become a stalwart for this defense, this is his time. 

On the offensive side of the ball, the Steelers have Big Ben and they hope that’s enough until Bell can return.  With Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant as his two leading targets, and let’s not forget the ageless Heath Miller, the Steelers will probably toss the ball around a lot more this year.  I imagine that Big Ben should be on par for a near 5000 yard season (has already had 4 4000+ yard seasons).  The question all season will be whether the defense will be able to slow down some of these offenses so that the Steelers can put up some wins. 

Now to the reigning Super Bowl Champion Patriots (can I tell you how much that hurt to type?).  Roger Goodell messed up the whole deflated ball issue and allowed Tom Brady to slip back into the starting lineup.  I had been practicing how to spell Garoppolo for a while.  But now we get a pissed off Tom Brady, at home and many feel he has something to prove.  All I have to say is that Brady will be Brady.  No LeGarrette Blount (suspension) but these are the Patriots and they basically will list (insert name) as their starting RB and run for 4 TDs on you.  They kept the same WRs in Edelman and Amendola, but more importantly they have Gronk(owski).  We’ll probably see a lot of double TE sets (nothing has changed in New England) with Scott Chandler able to do some of the same things that Gronk can do.  The bigger questions for the Patriots come on defense where they lost of boatload of people (Browner, Revis, Wilfork, etc.) and whether this somewhat inexperienced defense will be able to step up to the plate.  Jamie Collins, Jerod Mayo, and Chandler Jones will be the core of this defense, but everyone wants to see if this secondary will be able to stop anyone. 

Winner – Patriots.

Crossing the Line

Roger Goodell has allowed Terrelle Pryor to enter the NFL Supplemental draft and that is something that took way too long to complete but it came with a caveat.  Pryor had initially been suspended 5 games by the NCAA for violations, but signed a letter/promise to former coach Tressel that he would come back this year to OSU.  Goodell felt that Pryor should sit the first 5 weeks of the NFL season as a result.  Well,...maybe.  The NFL/Goodell made the following statement:

"... Pryor made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL Draft. Those actions included failing to cooperate with the NCAA and hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules, which resulted in Ohio State declaring him ineligible to continue playing college football. Pryor then applied to enter the NFL after the regular draft. Pryor had accepted at the end of the 2010 college football season a suspension for the first five games of the 2011 season for violating NCAA rules. Pryor will be ineligible to practice prior to or play in the first five games of the NFL regular season after he signs."  - ESPN.com

While basing his decision on this, it allows Goodell to collude with the NCAA to enforce 'rules'.  I will give it to Goodell, when you're the man, you're the man and you make the rules.  BUT, I will ask the following questions:


1) WHEN Tressel becomes an assistant coach with some NFL team in the next year or two will Goodell suspend him for 5 games or even more?  One could argue that Tressel 'failed to cooperate' with the NCAA and he even voluntarily accepted the same 5 game ban that Pryor was 'forced' to accept.  Did I say forced to accept?  When does a school wrangle to make sure that their best players aren't ineligible for a bowl (that's going to make them lots of money) and then force a kid to sign an agreement to return the next season? 

2) Pete Carroll should be sitting somewhere drinking profusely.  If Goodell is going to institute this punishment, where's Carroll's slice of that pie?  We KNOW he knew about Bush and others that came through USC and instead of facing the music he took a several million dollar parachute to become the Seattle Seahawks coach?  Why isn't he getting suspended?

3) Miami.  If Nevin Shapiro is even half right, are all of these Miami guys going to get suspended? I'm sure a lot of them took these gifts/parties/women/etc. knowing that they were only going to be there for a short period of time.  The fact that they left school after their last game and hired an agent shouldn't allow them to escape the wrath of Goodell. 

This is just another chapter of the hipocracy of those in charge.  Should Pryor fight this?  I would probably say no, because he wants to get in the league and Goodell could argue this issue until the 2012 NFL Draft which would require Pryor to sit for a year.  Is it right?  I would definitely say 'no'.  Goodell overstepped his boundaries and set a bad precedence.  Understand that Pryor's agent, Drew Rosenhaus came up with this deal (and again, this may be the best way for Pryor to get in), but the NFLPA never took a position on this and that's their job to make sure that players aren't cutting deals that undermine the entire union.Nevertheless, Pryor will have his chance to play in the pros, but I guess he never thought it would turn out like this. 

Should Pryor appeal this decision?  Did Goodell cross the line?  Why wasn't the NFLPA a part of this decision?  Should any coach also be held accountable for any issues with the NCAA if and when they forgo college coaching to go pro?

Things I Don't Understand

The commish, Roger Goodell, has made the decision to reinstate Michael Vick so that he can play in Week 3 against the Chiefs. Thanks for nothing Commish. Is it just me or are we just really making more about this whole Michael Vick thing than necessary. I mean, we don't have to go back into this, but yes he killed some dogs and he lied about it. So freakin what?!?!?

I'll go into this briefly. I am a dog owner, love the dog, she's great. BUT, I own her. I paid for her. She is not a PERSON. The dogs he killed were HIS dogs. He paid for them. They are pets, not kids, not anything else, pets. Just the other day, I went to get dog food for my dog. While I'm there this kid comes in, as he does almost every two or three weeks to buy a mouse (based on the conversation between him and the sales rep at Petco). Either he is running some crazy experiments that require he replenish his mouse population or he is feeding something that particularly likes to dine on mice (my assumption is a snake). What's the difference here?

Anyway, the Commish should have just allowed Vick to play the entire season. He already served his time and his debt to society. Why make it linger on longer than that? Dante Stallworth accidentally killed a man (and lost his licenses because of it) and he is suspended for a year. When he comes back he won't be conditionally reinstated. Goodell has already said he can play once he gets back. Where are all of the DADD/MADD groups? Nowhere. But Vick kills some animals and PETA is posted up outside of his crib. Does this make any sense?

I digress. I'm just glad that Vick can now play in the NFL again. He shouldn't be kept from earning a living in the way that he was previously. Besides, he'll end up being the starting QB for the Eagles in 2010 or 2011.

What's your take on Vick getting back on the field? Is it good for the Eagles? Does Donovan see that he is training his replacement?