Tag Archive | New Orleans Saints

NFC East Preview

By Jack Allen

The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off a great season. Last year, rookie head coach Chip Kelly reinvented his up tempo Oregon offense in Philadelphia and lead them to the playoffs. Midway into the season, starting quarterback Michael Vick got hurt opening the door for University of Arizona graduate Nick Foles. Foles had a great year and was rewarded by starting a playoff game at home against the New Orleans Saints. They lost in heartbreaker, but due to the experience, Nick should adapt into being able to step up in big games. Lesean McCoy holds high expectations this year coming off a career year. Losing Desean Jackson will not hold up this offense. The Eagles still have weapons like Jeremy Maclin, McCoy, and Zach Ertz. Many are expecting a breakout season from the young tight end Ertz. It should be a good season for the City of Brotherly Love. I’m going to predict a Wild Card Weekend win, and a Divisional Round loss.

This maybe a surprise to many of you. Yes, the New York Football Giants are back. By signing former Raiders RB Rashad Jennings and drafting Heisman candidate Andre Williams from Boston College, I think that the final hole in their offense has been filled. With a proven clutch quarterback in Eli Manning and good wide receivers Victor Cruz and Ruben Randle, the G-Men look very intriguing. Defensively, losing Justin Tuck wasn’t great, but they still have some good assets there as well. With a season that begins at Ford Field in Detroit under the Monday Night lights, my belief is that the Giants will make the playoffs in the Wild Card slot on the backs of Eli and head coach Tom Coughlin. They’ll probably make an early exit, but the fans will be happy to be there.

This next part was very hard. For me, it came down to the Giants or Redskins for that final NFC playoff spot. Washington had a magical run two years ago with Robert Griffin III HEALTHY. When he wasn’t healthy, it was another miserable season in DC. With him at 100 percent, it’s hard to keep them out of the post-season with Alford Morris and other offensive weapons. Newly acquired Desean Jackson should put up some good numbers with the young quarterback. With a tough division and a long season, it’s going to be a close finish if Griffin is healthy. It’s very possible they clinch a playoff birth if RG3 can stay healthy. I say, they fall just a little short.

Finally, “America’s Team,” the Dallas Cowboys. With chances over the last three seasons to sneak into the playoffs in week 17, my belief is that the Cowboys will not have that chance for a long time. Definitely not in this era, with the up-and-coming Redskins and Eagles, will Dallas find their way through. With a much needed improvement on defense and a quarterback with a high tendency to choke, they need serious changes in Texas. Is Tony Romo the future? I know he didn’t play in the win and in game last season, but I’m not so convinced he would’ve won it himself. Jerry Jones was recently in the news regarding his frustration with Romo and his worries about passing on QB Johnny Manziel in the draft. With good division opponents, the Cowboys antics will be unheard and ignored while the other teams are all having over .500 seasons. Im predicting the firing of Jason Garrett after this season.

Jerry Jones can prove to be a distraction to the Cowboys this season (Via AP)

Prediction

Eagles- 10-6

Giants- 10-6

Redskins- 9-7

Cowboys- 7-9

Jack Allen is a writer for dabuzzza.com. He is a fan of the New York Mets, New York Islanders, New York Knicks, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, Queens Park Rangers, and West Virginia Mountaineer football and basketball. His favorite athletes are David Wright, John Tavares, Geno Smith, Allen Iverson and Charlie Austin. He is a very passionate and determined fan. You can follow him on twitter @JackAllen99.

05/08/14

2014 NFL DRAFT

The NFL Draft starts at 8:00 PM EST tonight. You can follow the draft coverage here

Pick	Team	Player	Position	College
1	Houston Texans	Jadeveon Clowney	DE	South Carolina
2	St. Louis Rams (From WSH)	Greg Robinson	OT	Auburn
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Blake Bortles	QB	Central Florida
4	Buffalo Bills (From CLE)	Sammy Watkins	WR	Clemson
5	Oakland Raiders	Khalil Mack	OLB	Buffalo
6	Atlanta Falcons	Jake Matthews	OT	Texas A&M
7	Tampa Bay Buccanners	Mike Evans	WR	Texas A&M
8	Cleveland Browns (From MIN)	Justin Gilbert	CB	Oklahoma State
9	Minnesota Vikings (From CLE) (Via BUF)	Anthony Barr	OLB	UCLA
10	Detroit Lions	Eric Ebron	TE	UNC
11	Tennessee Titans	Taylor Lewan	OT	Michigan
12	New York Giants	Odell Beckham Jr.	WR	LSU
13	St. Louis Rams	Aaron Donald	DT	Pittsburgh
14	Chicago Bears	Kyle Fuller	CB	VA. Tech
15	Pittsburgh Steelers	Ryan Shazier	LB	Ohio State
16	Dallas Cowboys	Zack Martin	OT	Notre Dame
17	Baltimore Ravens	CJ Mosley	LB	Alabama
18	New York Jets	Calvin Pryor	S	Louisville
19	Miami Dolphins	Ja’wuan James	OT	Tennessee
20	New Orleans Saints (From ARI)	Brandin Cooks	WR	Oregon State
21	Green Bay Packers	Ha-Ha Clinton Dix	S	Alabama
22	Cleveland Browns (From PHI)	Johnny Manziel	QB	Texas A&M
23	Kansas City Chiefs	Dee Ford	DE	Auburn
24	Cincinnati Bengals	Darqueze Dennard	CB	Michigan State
25	San Diego Chargers	Jason Verrett	CB	TCU
26	Philadelphia Eagles (Via CLE) (From IND)	Marcus Smith	DE	Louisville
27	Arizona Cardinals (From NO)	Deone Bucannon	S	Washington St.
28	Carolina Panthers	Kelvin Benjamin	WR	FSU
29	New England Patriots	Dominique Easley	DT	Florida
30	San Francisco 49ers	Jimmie Ward	S	Northern Illinois
31	Denver Broncos	Brandon Roby	CB	Ohio State
32	Minnesota Vikings (Via SEA)	Teddy Bridgewater	QB	Louisville

Draft Day Trades:

Bills acquire No. 4 Pick (Sammy Watkins) from Browns for No. 9 pick (Anthony Barr), plus 2015 1st & 4th round picks
Browns acquire 8th pick (Justin Gilbert) from Minnesota for 9th pick (Anthony Barr)
The Cardinals traded No. 20 (Brandin Cooks) to New Orleans for No. 27 (Deone Bucannon) and their third-rounder, Pick No. 91.
The Browns traded Pick No. 26 (Marcus Smith), and their third-rounder, Pick No. 83, to move up to No. 22 (Johnny Manziel)
Vikings acquire the 32th pick (Teddy Bridgewater) for the 40th pick and 108th pick

Amid all of the hype for other players this season, expect Clowney’s name to be called first at the NFL Draft (Via Jeff Blake/US Presswire)

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Brett Malamud is a Computer Science Major at Binghamton University. He is the co-founder of dabuzzza.com. His favorite athletes are Derek Jeter and Todd Bertuzzi. You can follow him on twitter at @brettnyy

11/21/13

Thursday Night Football Preview: Saints vs Falcons

By Matthew Wieselthier

Before the season, this game was circled on the calendar as a game that could decide the NFC South. The Saints heading to the Georgia Dome to face the Falcons was to be a top game of the season. However, the Falcons have looked terrible. They’ve been bruised up at the WR position with Roddy White being on and off the field and Julio Jones being on the IR. The RB position has been inconsistent with no option looking great and maybe could there be regrets on losing Michael Turner. Whatever the case may be, the RB turntable of Stephen Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers, and Jason Snelling has been far from good. And now, a Super Bowl favorite has turned into the laughing stock of the NFL.

Sean Payton is back on the sidelines and the Saints are back to their winning ways (Via SI)

The Saints are one year since “Bountygate” and cannot be more thankful. At this point in the season last year, they were 5-6 and missing Sean Payton, who was suspended due to the bounty problems of the past. This season, they got their head coach back and have been successful ever since. The Saints are 8-2 and are on top of the NFC South. They are averaging 28.8 points per game, which is good for 2^nd in the league. Drew Brees has the 4^th best passer rating in the NFL (106.7) and the defense is 5^th best in the league, giving up 18.8 points per game.

In this preseason-hyped game that has turned sour, the Saints should be able to march into the Georgia Dome and take the win with ease.

Prediction: Saints 31- Falcons 17

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Matthew Wieselthier is the Sports Director at WPOB 88.5 FM, Plainview. He is also the PA announcer at all sporting events at POBJFKHS. You can follow him on twitter at @wieselsports66.