3rd and Long Power Rankings

Well, it's Friday afternoon and I have some free time, so I decided to share my NFL Power Rankings. Let's get right into them...

1. New England Patriots- This one is a no-brainer. The Pats are historically good. Tom Brady is probably going to put up the best numbers of his career. Watch out for them.

2. Indianapolis Colts- Defending champs. Enough said. They have Peyton and an improved defense. They host New England in Week 9. Should be interesting.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers- No NFC team yet. Have you seen this new offense they're running? Pretty impressive. More 4 and 5 wide receiver sets and Willie Parker and Ben Roethlisberger look spectacular. Kudos Mike Tomlin. The defense is still good. Keep an eye on them. They may sneak up on some people.

4. Dallas Cowboys- Definitely the best team in the NFC. Tony Romo is costing Jerry Jones more money every week. The running back duo is looking great and T.O. looks like 2005 Philadelphia T.O. New offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is bringing Jason Witten into the offense very nicely. The defense looks kind of soft but no worries...IT'S THE PHILLIPS' 3-4!

5. Seattle Seahawks- I don't know what is about this team I like, but I think they're good. I love the experience of Hasselbeck and Alexander and the chemistry Hasselbeck and Deion Branch are developing is fun to watch. They may not dominate, but I think they can cruise to the playoffs out of the NFC West.

6. Baltimore Ravens- This defense is still the best in the league. McGahee was a nice addition and McNair will be back soon. Keep an eye on KR Yamon Figures...very explosive.

7. Green Bay Packers- 3-0. Crazy huh? Favre looks 27 not 37. They're winning without a decent running game. Spectacular young defense.

8. San Diego Chargers- Who would have thought they would be 1-2? They still have loads of talent. LT will step it up and Rivers will improve. If they can get some momentum, watch out.

9. Philadelphia Eagles- I know they're 1-2, but they are still in my top 10. McNabb is well on his way to being 100% and Brian Westbrook is extremely versatile. Still have a good defense. This is an interesting squad.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars- I like this team a lot. The offense needs to show some improvement and the wide receivers need to step it up. The defense is good. Quick, athletic and full of playmakers. It's tough to win in the AFC.

11. Denver Broncos- I know they've struggled so far this year and they'll probably get beat Sunday, but I still think they have a shot to win their division. Cutler is experiencing a learning curve, but he'll straighten it out. Good D.

12. Cincinnati Bengals- If they had anything that resembled a somewhat competitive defense, they would be in the top 5.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- This team is surprising me. The offense is fairly explosive. Jeff Garcia and Joey Galloway have evidently found the fountain of youth or HGH.

14. Tennessee Titans- Vince Young is a winner. This team can sneak up on a lot of people. I like their chances at contending for the wild card.

15. Chicago Bears- Defense wins championships, Rex Grossman loses football games. Brian Griese can drive the Bears bus to the playoffs.

16. Carolina Panthers- The race in the NFC South could turn out to be interesting. Looks like we'll get to see David Carr Sunday...hmmm.

17. New York Giants- They should be 0-3. This team is dysfunctional. Bill Cowher in 2008?

18. Houston Texans- $48 million well spent. Matt Schaub is turning this franchise around. Improved defense. Looks like they could win 7 or 8 games this year.

19. Washington Redskins- Interesting team. Jason Campbell has some potential. Defense isn't looking too bad. They should be 1-2.

20. New York Jets- Thomas Jones has been unimpressive, but he has a good chance to turn it around around this week against the Bills. They would be a wild card team in the NFC.

21. Detroit Lions- Crazy good offense. Amazingly horrendous defense. Kitna will probably surpass 5000 yards this season.

22. New Orleans Saints- The biggest disappointment in the league. It's beginning to look like last year was a fluke. No Deuce. This could get ugly.

23. Minnesota Vikings- Pretty talented defense. Some issues on offense, but Adrian Peterson looks very good.

24. St. Louis Rams- The O line is banged up as well as Bulger and Jackson. The defense needs to step it up. If they start 0-4, they're done. Another big disappointment.

25. Arizona Cardinals- Who's the QB? I think it was a bad idea to bench Leinart at the end of last week's game. Boldin looks great.

26. Miami Dolphins- Ronnie Brown is the only bright spot on this team. Please bench Trent Green and bring in John Beck.

27. San Francisco 49ers- This team has a lot of potential, but they are not performing up to it thus far. We'll see...

28. Oakland Raiders- They look decent and they've won a game. LaMont Jordan looks good. Looks like Culpepper is going start Sunday. It was ironic that they won last week on a last second timeout to ice the kicker considering that's how Denver beat them in Week 2.

29. Atlanta Falcons- Hopefully Byron Leftwich can learn the offense and playbook quickly...

30. Buffalo Bills- J.P. Losman is hurt. Good or bad? You tell me. By the way, his backup went 1-11 last year in college.

31. Cleveland Browns- Hey, they beat the Bengals.

32. Kansas City Chiefs- Money well spent on LJ...46.6 ypg.

Those are my rankings as of right now. Let me know what you think. I'll try to update every week if I can.

Peace,

3rd and Long

Wow...

Is there a better time of year? You gotta love football season. I watched a little over 24 hours of football this weekend and man there was some good games. Saturday was pretty good, but Sunday was amazing.

- Can you believe the Packers are 3-0? I personally thought they would be terrible. They are winning with the ageless Brett Favre and a backfield consisting of Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn.

- How about dem Cowboys? I think Sunday's performance proved that they are the best team in the NFC. Romo is playing great and Jason Garrett looks like an offensive mastermind. The defensive MVP is definitely the pickmaster Anthony Henry.

- How bad is the Detriot defense? The Eagles hung 56 and racked up 536 yards of total offense. McNabb, Westbrook and Curtis made a lot of fantasy owners happy today.

- Are the Patriots historically good? They've looked nearly flawless so far. Randy Moss already has 5 TD's and three 100+ yard games. Brady and his new found wide receivers will continue to wreck shop. 16-0?

- Some crazy falls from glory so far:
Chicago 1-2
New Orleans 0-2
San Diego 1-2

- Also, some teams not living up to the hype:
St. Louis 0-3
Cincinnati 1-2

Gotta love football.

Peace,

3rd and Long

It's time...

The first full day of NFL action kicks off today and it's going to be amazing. We have some great matchups. The best game seems to be Chicago at San Diego. It's a matchup of last year's Super Bowl runner up and arguably the most talented team in the NFL. It should be fun to watch. Now, let's take a look at some storylines for 2007.

Top 5 Storylines to Follow in 2007:

1. The Atlanta Falcons- It will definitely be interesting to see how the loss of Vick will affect the Falcons. They will definitely not lead the league in rushing this season since Vick accounted for 1,039 of their 2,939 yards. Will Joey Harrington be able to lead this team? Sorry Petrino.
2. LT's Touchdown Production- LaDainian Tomlinson is coming off a year in which he was absolutely dominant. He set the single season touchdown record in 2006 with 31 trips to paydirt. It will be a great to watch him again in 2007.
3. Impact Rookies- Which rookie will make the biggest impact in 2007? Will it be Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Anthony Gonzalez? Or will it be a no-name from from the later rounds like Marques Colston in 2006?
4. Any Sophomore Slumps?- Who will suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump? Leinart? Vince Young? Reggie Bush? We will see.
5. Who will win the NFC West?- This should be by far the mediocre and competitive division in the league. I have Seattle winning it at 9-7. I just don't think the other teams (Arizona, St. Louis and San Francisco) have what it takes to be a playoff team yet.

Here are my division winners, playoff teams and Super Bowl Champion...

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
NFC North: Chicago Bears
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC Wildcards: Philadelphia Eagles & Carolina Panthers

AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC West: San Diego Chargers
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts
AFC Wildcards: Denver Broncos & Cincinnati Bengals

NFC Champion: Seattle Seahawks
AFC Champion: Indianapolis Colts

Super Bowl Champion: Indianapolis Colts

Now on to Sunday's picks:

Denver @ Buffalo.

-Play Denver -3 for 20 units

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland.

-Play Pittsburgh -5.5 for 50 units

Carolina @ St. Louis.

-Play St. Louis -1.5 for 30 units & Over 42.5 for 20 units

New England @ New York Jets.

-Play New England -6.5 for 20 units

Tampa Bay @ Seattle.

-Play Seattle -6 for 20 units

Chicago @ San Diego.

-Play San Diego -6 for 20 units

New York Giants @ Dallas.

-Play Dallas -6 for 20 units

Week 1 is finally here. Enjoy!

Peace,

3rd and Long

Week 2 picks...

This will be short and sweet. We're headed into Week 2 of the college football season and it's just going to get better from here on out. Hopefully, we all learned a lot from last week and we can parlay that knowledge into a winning week this week. Here are 12 games I would bet...if gambling were legal of course...

West Virginia @ Marshall.
-Play Over 62 for 30 units

Nebraska @ Wake Forest.
-Play Nebraska -8.5 for 20 units

Bowling Green @ Michigan State.
-Play Michigan State -18 for 20 units

Buffalo @ Temple.
-Play Temple -3 for 20 units

Boise State @ Washington.
-Play Washington +3 for units

Fresno State @ Texas A&M.
-Play Fresno State +17 for 20 units

South Carolina @ Georgia.
-Play Georgia -3 for 20 units

Missouri @ Mississippi.
-Play Missouri -6 for 20 units

Notre Dame @ Penn State.
-Play Penn State -17 for 20 units

BYU @ UCLA.
-Play UCLA -7 for 20 units

Hawaii @ Louisiana Tech.
-Play Hawaii -28 for 20 units

Virginia Tech @ LSU.
-Play LSU -11.5 for 30 units

Those are my picks for Saturday. May the betting gods be with us.

Peace,

3rd and Long

NFL is simply the best...

Wow. I can't believe it's almost here. We're a little 48 hours away from the kickoff of the 2007 NFL season. As much as I like college football, I like pro even better. The parity that exists in the NFL makes it the best and most lucrative sport we know today. The salary cap causes a lot of player turnover, but that turnover leads to the NFL being the most competitive sports out there. You have to give credit to the league for figuring out exactly how to satisfy the fans. First, it was brilliant to have the first game on a Thursday and it was made even better this year by scheduling the best possible game (Saints at Colts). The Thursday opener is much appreciated by Vegas. This game will most likely be bet more than any other solo game of the season excluding the Super Bowl. Second, they came up with the genius idea of having two Monday Night Football on the opening week. What's better than one game in primetime? Two games in primetime. Kudos NFL.

More to come before Thursday...