In one of the more ridiculous trades in recent history, the seattle seahawks gave career backup Charlie Whitehurst, a 3rd round draft pick from clemson, a 2 year $10 million dollar contract.  They traded a 3rd round pick in 2011 and swapped second round choices with the San Diego Chargers in the 2010 NFL Draft.

The San Diego Chargers got the better of this deal by far.  They had never used Whitehurst, and really had no use for him.  They avoided giving him a big contract, and also significantly improve their draft for the next 2 years.  Pete Carroll, the new president of the seahawks has made some very questionable free agent moves thus far.

This might have some big implications for the Seahawks next year in madden nfl 2011.  Whitehurts could  be their starting QB in Pete Carroll’s west coast offense.

I’m going to start by predicting the Saints to win this game. And here’s why.

Both teams have dominating offences and arguably two of the top three quarterbacks in the league. They also have very similar rosters on the offensive side of the ball. One of the keys will come down to the rushing attacks. There shouldn’t be a whole lot of a problem throwing the ball so it will be up to the running backs to give their offence the edge.

For me, I like the Saints rushing attack. This is mostly because of what Reggie Bush has looked like this post-season. He hasn’t gotten the ball a lot but when he has gotten it he’s gone all out. Even to go as far as to lower his shoulder and level guys. He’s a big-play threat that can make a difference in this game.

There is also the defence that will factor into this game. I give the Saints the edge in this category as well because of their ability to force turnovers. Both teams don’t turn it over much so an interception or fumble would be big. And don’t forget, Darren Sharper is one of the best at returning fumbles and interceptions for touchdowns.

Another thing with this game is the over/under total. As of now, the total is 56.5 which his pretty high for a football game. In my opinion, it’s too high.

I’m planning on betting on this game and I’ll be picking the under. Yes, both of these teams can score but it takes time to get downfield. Add on Peyton Manning’s multiple signal calls at the line, and you have a lot of time being run of the clock. A number of times I’ve seen two high scoring teams put together a low scoring game.

My Prediction for this game: 20-17 Saints

Hope everyone has a great Sunday and remember to be safe, don’t drink and drive!

The Jets get another shot to upset a favoured team at home. But I can’t really give them full credit for the win. Nate Kaeding cost his team 9 points, 9 points that would have given the Chargers the win. I’m one of those guys who still doubt the Jets’ ability. The Colts were beating the Jets in their last meeting until Jim Caldwell decided to rest his starters. Add that on to the fact that the Colts took easy care of the Baltimore Ravens. Indy’s defence allowed only 3 points in last week’s victory and it will be even more crucial for them to keep New York out of the endzone. However, the Jets offence is arguably better than the Ravens so the Colts will have a tougher task.
My Pick: Colts

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints

Both teams come into this game hot on offence. Both teams scored over 30 points and both have had a bye week to recover. This game will most likely come down to the play of the quarterbacks. Brett Favre, who is arguably having one of his best years, is hot right now while Drew Brees looked amazing last weekend. But the one guy I’ll have my eye on is Reggie Bush. He looked like the back the Saints thought they’d be getting when they drafted him second overall. He was electric every time he touched the ball and was even being physical, laying a few shoulders into defenders after runs. I think we all caught a glimpse of how good Bush could be. But anyways…
My Pick: Saints

And if everything goes right, we’ll have the two teams who were almost perfect in the regular season. Colts vs. Saints would be an epic matchup.

Nate Kaeding after another disappointing miss (Courtesy of nfl.com)

Many people will put kicker at or near the bottom of team’s needs during the off-season. This is mainly because people don’t respect what a kicker can do for their team. But after this post-season, I think some teams will have to reconsider their kicker position.

With only two rounds of the 2010 post-season finish, kickers have gone 15/26 (57.69%). In a few situations, their misses cost their team a win. The weird thing is that 6 out of the 8 games played so far have been either indoors or in warm weather. Here are the kickers who brought shame, frustration and disappointment to their fans:

Nate Kaeding is only 8 for 15 for his career in the playoffs. His worst performance was arguably last Sunday’s game against the Jets. Kaeding missed all three field goals after missing only three out of 35 attempts during the regular season. Though one of his kicks were from 57 yards out, it is still disappointing for him to miss all three kicks, especially since he’s going to the Pro Bowl. Will the Chargers cut him because of it? Probably not but his playoff stats are less than All-Pro.

Shayne Graham, Golden Graham, one of the better kickers in the league, missed both field goals in the Wildcard Round. Funny thing is, they were both under 40 yards. Now was this one bad game? We might never know but it was an awful performance. But with Graham’s contract coming to an end, there’s a possibility that we might not see the red-headed kicker in a Bengals uniform next season.

Neil Rackers might have cost his team a chance to move on to the Divisional Round after missing a 34 yarder that would have put the Cardinals up three with 14 seconds left. Fortunately for him, the Cardinals won the game. He went 1 for 3 overall in this year’s playoffs. He is now 6 for 10 for his career in the playoffs. Now does he get cut? I can’t see it happening but when you shank a 34 yarder as bad as he did, you got to question your kicker’s abilities.

We as fans should understand how important a great kicker is. Numerous games can come down to a late game-winning kick. Kickers like Adam Vinatieri have so many teams interested in signing them because of their clutch kicks. Sometimes it’s just an intangible thing that kickers have. Bottom line, the kicker position is more important than people make it out to be.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Indianapolis Colts

Or the battle of Baltimore. The Ravens are coming off of a big win over the favoured New England Patriots. But now they have a bigger challenge. The Colts won’t be an easy team to beat. However, there are similarities between the Colts offensive and the Patriots offence. Both have great Quarterbacks, average rushing attacks and skill throughout the Wide Receiver position. In their last game, Baltimore got off to a quick start and that will probably be key in this game. If they can get an early lead, their defence could keep them in charge.
My Pick: Ravens (UPSET!) because they took care of the Patriots rather easily

New York Jets vs. San Diego Chargers

Maybe the Jets should be favoured in every game like Rex Ryan said. Sorry Rex, the Chargers are favoured by a touchdown for Sunday’s game. The one battle to look at in this game would be the Chargers passing attack against the Jets pass defence. Both are very solid and have star players at key positions. This week, Revis Island welcomes Vincent Jackson. Jackson has the height advantage but so did Randy Moss in two games the Patriots faced off against the Jets and Moss didn’t do so well. This game might come down to the Jets rushing attack against the Chargers rush defence. The stats tell us that New York has the edge but we’ll have to see. It wasn’t Thomas Jones, their feature back, who was their leading rusher last weekend. San Diego has to learn from what Cincinnati failed to do. The key for the Jets last week was their play action and misdirection. The Chargers must control what the Jets do passing the ball. Though Mark Sanchez did have a good game last week, he is still a rookie that threw 20 interceptions this year. Force Sanchez into mistakes.
My Pick: Chargers

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings

Now that the Cowboys have won in the playoffs, everyone seems to be jumping on their bandwagon to the Super Bowl. So why haven’t I yet? Because the Vikings are in their way. Now I know Brett Favre hasn’t been great in his last couple of playoff appearances. I understand Adrian Peterson is in slump. But the thing is, Minnesota had the luxury of a bye week. Favre has a week off to rest his arm, Peterson has an extra week to work on his running and the team gets a week to heal up. The Vikings are going to come into this game ready to go. Their run defence has always been solid and will have a difficult task stopping the three-headed running backs of Dallas. However, it might be the passing attack for the Cowboys that is the biggest factor as Tony Romo has been hot as of late and so has their defence.
My Pick: Cowboys (I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, just thinking about it)

Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints

This game will be crucial for the Saints. They’ve lost 3 straight even though they had their starters in most of the time. The Cardinals come into this game after putting up 51 points on the second best defence in the league. Kurt Warner lit it up and there’s no doubt that they can do it again. This could be another high scoring game with two of the top offences going at it. But New Orleans is at home for this game, which is a significant advantage since it gets very loud in the Louisiana Superdome. They also got the week off to rest and prepare.
My Pick: Saints

Imagine placing two flat screen plasma TV’s side by side in your living room smack dab in front of your couch. You’ve got beer, snacks a-plenty and fresh batteries in your clicker.

One TV has an NFL game on and the other has a Major League Baseball game and they both start at the same time.

Besides this being many sports fans’ idea of hog heaven and even better than clicking back and forth between games with only one TV, it’s fun to watch the differences between these two pro sports. Watching the NFL on TV is a weekly ritual; baseball is on every night of the week, but watching the two combined is almost as rewarding as joining a Cowboy cheerleader snuggle-fest.

And that’s exactly what I did recently (not the snuggle-fest, but the two TV’s thing). Here’s what happened:

The football game started with a massive kick to the opposing team, and a line of 250-pound plus men with murder in their eyes started charging after the poor slob who caught the ball. After a few seconds he was crushed by his pursuers, becoming the bottom man in a very scary adult male pig-pile. MLB players tend to be a little mellower and less physical, but all pro players in any sport need to be strong. Football players take steroids, baseball players get caught.

Meanwhile, the MLB game started off a little less exciting. My heart rate and pulse began to slow down as I watched the catcher and pitcher play catch as the batter just stood there spitting and adjusting his crotch. I got quickly bored and turned back to the NFL game.

In a matter of a three minute span two men had been injured, with one having his ankle relocated to his armpit. A touchdown was scored, the ball changed hands twice, and a whole lot of tackling, smashing, crunching and finger-breaking happened.
Football is more of an immediate gratification, ADD-friendly game to watch.

I glanced back at the MLB game for a couple of minutes. Two strikeouts and four fly outs came and went and we were already in the second inning, with little action to show for it. A baseball game is more of a wise-old-man kind of sport, where patience and number-crunching are paramount. It reveres serenity.

Football reveres mayhem. Watching football gets me angry and all charged up. Watching baseball makes me sleepy. In fact, I usually like to watch the first two or three innings, fall asleep, and then wake up to catch the last few innings. Watching football players hit each other full force and light each other up is exciting, and dozing is out of the question. Watching one grown man with ball in glove chase another grown man to tag him in a pickle is kind of funny.

As 10,000 commercials played on the football TV, I had a few minutes to catch up on my MLB game. Finally, in the bottom of the third, a man hit the ball and dropped it in the right field gap for a single. All the baseball players, including the guy running up to first base, seemed quite pleasant. Why not be? They were playing in a nice park, on a nice warm and sunny day and no one had even broken a sweat yet. The batter reached first base and started chatting with the opposing team’s first baseman. They started smiling and having a great time with each other. My lip-reading skills are not what they used to be but I think I saw one say to the other, “Hi Johnny! How’s the wife doing? It’s been a while since we saw her. We’ve got to get together sometime soon.”

Growing restless, I turned back to the NFL game just in time to see one man standing over a writhing and groaning man on the turf. I think I saw his lips yelling, “Hey Bruno, while we were having breakfast together this morning, your wife told me to tackle you into next Tuesday, did I do a good job?”

In the very next play a running back was nailed in a bone-splitting tackle. Indeed, his bone did split, and then protruded right out of his bloody skin causing a wave of nausea to spread over the crowd.

Fascinated but horrified, I quickly turned to the baseball game and witnessed a wild pitch hit the batter on the finger. The batter yelped and had to sit the rest of the game out, his pinky was smarting.

To replace the bone-sticking-out-of-his-leg guy in the NFL game, a bulky player with flowing dreadlocks sticking out of his helmet started lumbering onto the field. He had a huge cast on his arm that looked like a big club. With the hand totally encased, forming a big bulbous weapon, he shook it as his opponents in defiance while possibly struggling to stick one particular finger up, and then reluctantly joined the huddle.

It was nearing the halftime and so many timeouts had been called that they seemed to have run out of commercials to play. So the cameras started scanning the crowd. It was a lot colder where this game was being held, and I could see people’s breath. I also saw a guy in shorts and no shirt who had painted his skin from head to toe in his NFL team’s colors. His head was shaved and also painted, and he was wearing a big pig’s nose on his face.

As I briefly scanned the crowd on the other TV, I saw lots of people in button down, short sleeve shirts, baseball caps and gloves on, waiting expectantly for that ever-elusive foul ball.

The first half started to wind down in the NFL game, and I actively awaited gratuitous shots of hot cheerleaders. I was rewarded with lots of silly pompom waving and cleavage. I then happily turned back to the MLB game but only saw three heavy-set women shoving sausage dogs and peanuts in their mouths.

At halftime I got a chance to go to the bathroom and grab another cold beer and more snacks. There is never a big break in baseball, and every time I go to the bathroom while watching baseball I always miss the big play, which of course happened this time too.

My MLB game continued to plod along when I got back, inducing the unique ball-strike-out hypnotic state that only baseball can cause. I was about to doze off when I was jarred out of my trance by the flashy touchdown dance I saw on my other TV. The guy who just scored was moonwalking across the uprights while flapping his arms like wings. He then proceeded to do a magnificent swan dive which turned into a double summersault with a twist and finally landed perfectly on the field.

I then quickly caught the replay of the big baseball play I had just missed. Someone hit a grand slam, rounded the bases and was greeted by a big, warm, bouncing-in-unison group hug.

After a while, both games ended and I had experienced a full range of emotions. Both games are great to watch and if you can get past the roller coaster ride of stimulation, watching football and baseball simultaneously is a blast. I decided to keep both plasma TV’s in front of the couch permanently

Finally, no football vs. baseball article could be complete without mentioning one of the masters of comedy and this subject, George Carlin. Here’s a quote from Carlin’s famous monologue that inspired this article:

“And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive line. In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! – I hope I’ll be safe at home! ”

About the Author
Jason OConnor owns and operates NFL and MLB Game Tickets – a place to buy cheap tickets to NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and NCAA games. Find theater and concert tickets too.

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Watching the NFL versus the MLB

Now I know that the Bengals got destroyed last week. They’ve now lost 3 out of 4 and have some injuries to deal with. The Bengals might not have Chad Ochocinco or Domata Peko for Saturday’s game and they placed Rey Maualuga on IR. The key is to get both Ochocinco and Peko back and starting. Peko is a big guy that can shut down the run, which is something that Cincinnati had trouble with last week. Ochocinco is the main guy in the receiving core and if he is not playing, the Bengals will have to rely on the run. However, both of these guys practiced on Wednesday and should be ready to go. On the flip side, the Jets might not have the services of David Harris, their solid and underrated middle linebacker, for the game.
My Pick: Bengals. I just can’t see the Jets beating them twice but we’ll see.

Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots

The Ravens managed to secure a playoff spot after beating the Raiders Week 17. The key for them now is to prove that they deserve to be playing in the playoffs. These two teams faced off in New England Week 4, a game that the Patriots won 27-21. The difference is that the Patriots had Wes Welker in that game. Welker, who ranked 1st in receptions during the regular season, will not play and it might hurt New England’s offence somewhat. With him being out, I can see Randy Moss being targeted a few more times, especially since the Baltimore cornerbacks are average and not all that tall.
My Pick: Patriots. I don’t know if the Ravens can have the run they had last year in the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys

We’re seeing something out of the Cowboys that we haven’t seen in a long time: Them winning in December. And technically, they did win in January. Tony Romo has been leading his team to the playoffs and is looking almost MVP like. If he can continue with his success and their defence can keep on shutting the door, the Cowboys might be the team to beat in the playoffs. Then again, we haven’t seen them in the playoffs yet and the Eagles are a tough team to beat twice. However, Philadelphia has to make up for the disappointing loss last week. The Eagles could have been sitting back at home watching the Wildcard round on TV if they were to win last week.
My Pick: Cowboys. I know they sucked recently in the playoffs but I can see them beating up the Eagles once again. The new stadium is going to be rocking Saturday Night.

Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals

The Packers have been one of the hottest teams heading into the playoffs. They are 4-1 in their last 5 games and had a huge win against the Cardinals last week. They have also outscored their last 2 opponents 81-17. Now they head back to Arizona with some swagger. The Cardinals come into this game knowing what it takes to make the Super Bowl. Both have great quarterbacks, pretty good run games but Green Bay does have a better defence.
My Pick: Packers. Too good of a defence for me to pick Arizona, but it will be a tight game.

Disappointing Finishes

The Cincinnati Bengals couldn’t have picked a worse time to slump. The Bengals have now lost their last 3 out of 4. Their worst loss of the year came on Sunday Night Football against the New York Jets. The Bengals kept a bunch of their starters in yet still lost 37-0. It was a rather disturbing game to watch for me and I’m sure to any Bengals fan. We’ll see how they do in the playoffs. Both teams face each other Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium. Expect a more competitive game out of these two teams.

The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints are two surprising finishes to the year. In the last three weeks, both teams combined have totalled only 1 win. Both are riding losing streaks heading into the playoffs. Luckily for them, they have home-field advantage and first-round byes. The Colts have the edge in experience as they have been in the playoffs for the last 7 year. However, 4 out of their last 7 playoff appearances have been 1 and done. Maybe one of these two teams will go perfect in the playoffs?

The Playoffs Have Arrived

AFC:

NFC:

Some interesting questions that will be answered after this weekend:
Are the Jets good enough to win in the playoffs?
Are the Bengals for real?
Did the Cowboys shake off their playoff woes?
Is Favre going to hold up in the playoffs?
Can the Cardinals repeat as NFC Champions?

And the most important question of all: WHO’S MOVING ON?

Draft Order

1. Rams
2. Lions
3. Buccaneers
4. Redskins
5. Chiefs
6. Seahawks
7. Browns
8. Raiders
9. Bills
10*. Broncos (from Chicago)
10*. Jaguars
12. Dolphins
13. 49ers
14. Seahawks (from Denver)
15. Giants
16*. 49ers (from Carolina)
16*. Titans
18. Steelers
19*. Falcons
19*. Texans

*Will be determined by coin flip

The Rams have a top 3 pick for the 3rd time in a row. I believe that they will draft a quarterback with the first overall pick but Ndamukong Suh is also a very good option. The 2nd and 3rd overall picks will not be quarterbacks unless there is a trade. Both teams have their quarterbacks of the future. Some players I like: Joe Haden, Donovan Warren, Dez Bryant.