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Top Storylines Of Week 7.

Published: October 24, 2009

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Every week the NFL offers a host of great match-ups for us to sink our teeth into, but the match-ups within the match-ups are sometimes the most intriguing parts of the game.

Cendric Benson facing the Chicago Bears

Cendric Benson was selected fourth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the team he will face this Sunday. After being awarded a contract worth $35 million dollars, Benson struggled to find his place with the Bears. During their Super Bowl season in 2006, he accepted being a glorified short yardage back. It looked as if the former Longhorn would fall through the cracks of the NFL and become just another draft bust. Benson was taking a swan dive and looked like he would land in a ditch occupied by the likes of Adam Jones.

This season Benson has been nothing but a model citizen and teammate. He is the third leading rusher in the NFL. He has silenced his critics thus far, but he has one more mission to make his comeback complete; he wants to stick it to the team who left him for dead. He went as far as accusing the Bears this week of blackballing him.  

“I heard all the rumors that were said coming out of Chicago, even the Bengals told me all the things, that they would call and inquire about me and get nothing but negative things. Just that I didn’t work hard, that I was I guess a prima donna or I didn’t work hard on the field, just wasn’t focused, just anything negative that they could say, it was said. I’m sure that contributed largely to me not getting picked up right away.”

It’s always fun to see a player with a chip on his shoulder try and set the record straight.

Michael Crabtree finally making his NFL debut in his home state

Michael Crabtree, the All-American wide receiver from Texas Tech University, is set to make his NFL debut after finally signing his inaugural contract worth a reported $8 million, more than originally offered back in August. Despite only being with the team for about three weeks, he is expected to start this weekend against the Houston Texans.

Realistically Crabtree will go through some growing pains as he eases into the NFL and a new offensive system. But, I fully expected to bust the game wide-open on Sunday and put all other NFL secondary’s on notice.     

Sherman Lewis relieving Jim Zorn as offensive signal caller

Late into the month of September Sherman Lewis was enjoying his retirement and his post football career as a bingo caller. Two weeks after being persuaded to come out of retirement by Redskins owner Dan Snyder, Sherman Lewis will be replacing Jim Zorn as the offensive play caller.

Sherman Lewis arrived barely three weeks ago, sure he knows the basics of their offensive system, but he is still unfamiliar with the protection schemes and the blitz pickup packages. They already have trouble protecting Jason Campbell as they get set to face the Eagles traditionally aggressive blitzing defense with a play caller who won’t know how to shield his QB. Good luck Dan, I hope this move works out for ya. 

Lock of the week! Jets @ Raiders +6 

Last week I pegged the Monday nighter right on the head, so I’ve decided to give you guys one game a week that can hopefully make you a little bit of cash.

The NFL has the Jets heading out west for week seven, last season they went 0-4  while on the west coast. East coast teams generally don’t travel to the west coast very well. The Raiders are getting six points in this game and are looking to build off an impressive win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Sanchez will be in trouble with Asomugha shutting down Edwards and Cotchery being sidelined with a hamstring injury, Oakland will be able to stack eight in the box to focus on stopping Thomas Jones. They’ll also be able to send a heavy blitz in passing situations. I’m not saying the Raiders will win the game, but they will keep it close. Take the Raiders +6.   

There are a slate of great games this week, even with the lack of parity the league is still producing top tear match-ups on a weekly basis. Who really cares if nobody is watching the Bills at the Panthers when they give us games like the Vikings and Steelers?

By the way follow me on twitter, mattbish9

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com


Top Storylines Of Week 7.

Published: October 24, 2009

commentNo Comments

Every week the NFL offers a host of great match-ups for us to sink our teeth into, but the match-ups within the match-ups are sometimes the most intriguing parts of the game.

Cendric Benson facing the Chicago Bears

Cendric Benson was selected fourth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the team he will face this Sunday. After being awarded a contract worth $35 million dollars, Benson struggled to find his place with the Bears. During their Super Bowl season in 2006, he accepted being a glorified short yardage back. It looked as if the former Longhorn would fall through the cracks of the NFL and become just another draft bust. Benson was taking a swan dive and looked like he would land in a ditch occupied by the likes of Adam Jones.

This season Benson has been nothing but a model citizen and teammate. He is the third leading rusher in the NFL. He has silenced his critics thus far, but he has one more mission to make his comeback complete; he wants to stick it to the team who left him for dead. He went as far as accusing the Bears this week of blackballing him.  

“I heard all the rumors that were said coming out of Chicago, even the Bengals told me all the things, that they would call and inquire about me and get nothing but negative things. Just that I didn’t work hard, that I was I guess a prima donna or I didn’t work hard on the field, just wasn’t focused, just anything negative that they could say, it was said. I’m sure that contributed largely to me not getting picked up right away.”

It’s always fun to see a player with a chip on his shoulder try and set the record straight.

Michael Crabtree finally making his NFL debut in his home state

Michael Crabtree, the All-American wide receiver from Texas Tech University, is set to make his NFL debut after finally signing his inaugural contract worth a reported $8 million, more than originally offered back in August. Despite only being with the team for about three weeks, he is expected to start this weekend against the Houston Texans.

Realistically Crabtree will go through some growing pains as he eases into the NFL and a new offensive system. But, I fully expected to bust the game wide-open on Sunday and put all other NFL secondary’s on notice.     

Sherman Lewis relieving Jim Zorn as offensive signal caller

Late into the month of September Sherman Lewis was enjoying his retirement and his post football career as a bingo caller. Two weeks after being persuaded to come out of retirement by Redskins owner Dan Snyder, Sherman Lewis will be replacing Jim Zorn as the offensive play caller.

Sherman Lewis arrived barely three weeks ago, sure he knows the basics of their offensive system, but he is still unfamiliar with the protection schemes and the blitz pickup packages. They already have trouble protecting Jason Campbell as they get set to face the Eagles traditionally aggressive blitzing defense with a play caller who won’t know how to shield his QB. Good luck Dan, I hope this move works out for ya. 

Lock of the week! Jets @ Raiders +6 

Last week I pegged the Monday nighter right on the head, so I’ve decided to give you guys one game a week that can hopefully make you a little bit of cash.

The NFL has the Jets heading out west for week seven, last season they went 0-4  while on the west coast. East coast teams generally don’t travel to the west coast very well. The Raiders are getting six points in this game and are looking to build off an impressive win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Sanchez will be in trouble with Asomugha shutting down Edwards and Cotchery being sidelined with a hamstring injury, Oakland will be able to stack eight in the box to focus on stopping Thomas Jones. They’ll also be able to send a heavy blitz in passing situations. I’m not saying the Raiders will win the game, but they will keep it close. Take the Raiders +6.   

There are a slate of great games this week, even with the lack of parity the league is still producing top tear match-ups on a weekly basis. Who really cares if nobody is watching the Bills at the Panthers when they give us games like the Vikings and Steelers?

By the way follow me on twitter, mattbish9

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com


Chad Ochocinco and Motorola Team Up To Lift Blackout

Published: October 16, 2009

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The Bengals have been in danger of having their games blacked out locally all season, and with less than 24 hours until the blackout was to be put in affect for week 6 Chad Ochocinco has teamed up with Motorola to purchase the remaining 1200 seats and give them out to fans. 

Ochocinco who has been vilified in the media for past transgressions but seems to have turned it around. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still the same arrogant, flamboyant receiver that we’re used to. But he seems to have a renewed work ethic and is now finally developing that special bond with the city of Cincinnati. 

Earlier this season he announced on Twitter that for every home game he would be giving away a flight to Cinci, a ticket to the game, and hotel accommodation to one of his followers.

At first I assumed it was a ploy to regain acceptance from the Bengal fan base, but what he did this week really transcends that and shows that he actually cares about the fans. Not only is he giving away 1200 tickets, but he is also forwarding the entire city of Cincinnati the opportunity to watch the Bengals game on television.  

The Bengals are off to a very impressive 4-1 start beating all three divisional opponents in successive weeks and they’re still not receiving nearly the support that they should be.

Ochocinco is smart enough to know that the economic climate in the United States and particularly in Ohio is making life tough on a lot of people who need to cut out luxuries like going to NFL games. 

Cincinnati should thank Chad and I am particularly happy to see that he has turned around such a bleak relationship with a team and city that deserved much better. 

Kudos!      

By the way, follow me on Twitter mattbish9

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com


Broncos Still Getting No Love: Denver an Underdog to Chargers on Monday Night

Published: October 16, 2009

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Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos are coming off an extremely emotional and hard fought victory against my New England Patriots as the San Diego Chargers sat back on their bye week watching helplessly as the Broncos took a two-and-a-half game lead early in the chase for a division title.

The line opened up with the Broncos taking a three-and-a-half point lead into San Diego, a road divisional rivalry game, so ok maybe the line is justifiable…let me tell you why it’s way off base.

Let me start by saying that I know the home team is usually awarded a certain amount of points just for having home-field advantage but I don’t believe that should apply for a Monday night game, the intensity of it being a national broadcast, the pregame fireworks, the magnitude of this game can’t be overlooked, it’s going to be the closest feel to a playoff game that you can get in mid-October.    

The Chargers have been woeful on defense since the start of the year; a season that kicked off with such promise has turned bleak in hurry with a season-ending injury to Pro Bowl nose tackle Jamal Williams and the less than stellar play of Shawn Merriman who has produced but eight tackles through four games this season.

Their defense can’t stop the run or generate any type of pass rush as they face one of the league’s best young runners and a very efficient quarterback with an ultra-talented receiving core.

The Broncos on the other hand bring the fifth best overall defense only allowing 171 yards per game through the air and 81 on the ground. Elvis Dumervil has been absolutely “lights out” so far with eight sacks in his first five games, the defensive line in general has been absolutely relentless and with the absence of any semblance of a running game Philip Rivers may be in for a long night.

Vegas has really overlooked this talented Broncos squad, I’m looking for their playmakers to have a big day, Orton, Moreno, Marshall, and Dumervil will be too much for the Chargers to handle and the Broncos will win this one outright.

Final score 28-21 Broncos.

 

By the way, please follow me on Twitter mattbish9

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com


An Early Top 10 for the 2010 NFL Draft

Published: May 4, 2009

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Now that the 2009 NFL draft is over and done with, let’s take a look at the 2010 NFL draft prospects.

Young men who are eligible to become the next crop of great NFL players. They are leaders on the field who can take their game to the next level.

A new generation of warriors who will be the face of College football in 2009 and the face of the NFL draft in early 2010.