Week 2 Could Be a Snoozer

With less than three hours to go before kickoff of the 1 p.m. games and this being a rare Sunday when the NFL Guru actually can kick back and watch all of the games since the Dolphins play tomorrow night, let's dive right into some bonus analysis.

One quick glance at the schedule reveals six potential blowouts, four nondescript games and five games that on paper should be compelling. That is definitely not music to the ears of television networks, although ESPN and NBC have two of the games I believe will be entertaining.

Unfortunately for those of us who enjoy a full day of football that keeps our eyes glued to the television if we're not actually at the stadium, seven of the nine games kicking off at 1 are likely to be snoozers. So if you haven't played golf in a while or gotten to the beach on a Sunday, this might be the day to do it, and then make sure you are back for the 4 p.m. games and the Sunday night showdown in Dallas between the Cowboys and the Giants.

(Continue to NFL Guru)

Dreading a Trip ... to New Jersey

I should be excited.

I'm going to the Meadowlands for a big Jets game against a division rival...and it is shaping up to be a great game. I should be really excited.


But I'm kind of dreading it.

Even growing up in Queens the trip out to Rutherford, New Jersey was such a pain. Actually, the trip there wasn't so bad - we could finagle it so that we could beat most traffic. Coming home was the disaster.

Now, trying to go to a Jets game from Framingham, Massachusetts is nothing short of a mistake. I'm going to try out the new train transportation to get there, but again, I'm worried about how long it will take to get out of Jersey ... and then what time I will end up back in Massachusetts that night (a school night, no less).

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

UW Proves USC Lacks Playmakers

Before USC’s 16-13 loss to the Washington Huskies, a lot of people thought that QB Aaron Corp would be allowed to throw the ball more than Matt Barkley did at Ohio State. Corp finished the game 13-for-22 for 110 passing yards, 1 INT and only 5 yards per completion. Head Coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt were familiar with all things USC, but Washington does not have the talent that the Trojans possess and this game should not have been close. The one position that matters is the one that the Huskies had an advantage at and that is the QB position. QB Jake Locker went 21-for-35, threw for 237 yards and no turnovers.

It is very hard to ignore the turnover margin, which was 3-0 in favor of UW, but the Trojans couldn’t get anything going with the passing game for the second week in a row. Joe McKnight is not a huge part of the passing game despite USC’s plan to utilize him the same way that they used Reggie Bush. McKnight finished the game with three receptions for six yards. McKnight only touched the ball a total of 14 times. Meanwhile, Sarkisian found a way to get the ball to his RB Chris Polk 28 times.

As Pete Carroll continues to lose quality coaches and it might finally be catching up to the USC program.

(Continue to Inside the Pac-10)

Gutless Vols Content to Lose Close

Tonight’s game had a lot of moments worth examining, but in all my years of watching college football I have never seen an SEC team try not to win a game that was still within some reasonable semblance of reach.

Sure Tennessee probably wasn’t going to win with 6 minutes left and down by 10 points. But Lane Kiffin and the Volunteers didn’t even try. How else can you explain the following sequence of plays –

(Continue to Saurian Sagacity)

USF Suffers Big Loss in Victory

The University of South Florida was supposed to beat the stuffing out of Charleston Southern on Saturday night and it did, 59-0.

The Bulls were supposed to get out of that contest without any serious injuries and turn their sights toward bigger prizes, FSU and the Big East.

They didn't.

Fate dealt the Bulls a real whammy when all-everything quarterback Matt Grothe, the all-time offensive leader in the Big East, was tackled, bent backwards in an awkward position and suffered a sprained left knee with three minutes left in the half and his team ahead 28-0.

(Continue to Running with the Bulls)

Tigers Chipping Away Playoff Hope

Words can’t describe how unbelievably perturbed I am with the Tigers’ latest “effort” during the first two games of a pivotal series against the Twins.

Where is the pride? Where is the heart? Where is the pitching?

No one would confuse the Tigers pitchers with other fine staffs in St Louis, New York or San Francisco. But at least the pitchers kept Detroit in the game on most nights. I’ve known all year the offense had lost a lot of its punch, so I clung to the hope that the pitchers could hold together — even if it had to be with duck tape and gum — long enough to get into the playoffs.

(Continue to Michigan and Trumbull)

Sip on This Fantasy Juice

The 2009 NFL season kicked off with a bang last weekend, providing us fans with the excitement, action, and superb highlights that we've come to expect out of the country's greatest sports league. While there wasn't a catastrophic injury that will impact fantasy owners like the one suffered by Patriots QB Tom Brady in week 1 of the 2008 season, there were a few that will surely hurt fantasy owners for the next few weeks.

Donovan McNabb, Anthony Gonzalez, and LaDanian Tomlinson all got banged up and will not see any action in week 2, causing owners to look elsewhere for production at key positions. You never like to see players go down, but it's part of the game and an important aspect of fantasy football is dealing with adverse situations like early season injuries to your stars.

Finding viable replacements can be a bit tricky this early since there's such a small sample size of games to analyze, but there are a lot of good reads throughout the Internet where you can find helpful information to help you make those decisions. I recommend http://www.rotoworld.com/ as a site that has thoughtful commentary geared towards fantasy owners.

(Continue to Inside Fantasy Sports)