NFL Week 1 review - The SFB Podcast (9/13/2011).....

The opening weekend of the NFL season is in the books and while some will be jumping to conclusions, I'll just review the games from the weekend and only large step to some conclusions after only one game. If the first week is any indication, those of you who like offense, will love this year. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: September 13, 2011 (right click to "save as target")
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

Super Bowl 45 is set - The SFB Podcast (1/24/2011)

At the end, we are left with the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Super Bowl 45 crown. Both teams needed to hang on in the 4th quarter against two tough opponents who gave it everything they had, but at the end of the day the better teams came out on top. Mike's heart is finally beating normally, so he joins me to review Sunday's games. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: January 24, 2011 (right click to "save as target")
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

AFC & NFC Championship Game picks.....

Two great matchups for getting to play in Super Bowl 45. The Jets have to travel to Pittsburgh in a week 16 rematch, while in Chicago, division rivals play their "rubber match" for the season when the Packers play the Bears.

As for my Divisional round picks, I was 4-0 against the spread, but only 3-1 straight up with my only loss being the Jets upset of the Patriots.

Championship Games:

Packers (-3) over BEARS
I had the Packers in the Super Bowl before the season and I am not going to get off them now. I have not believed in the Bears all year, but they have grown on me as the season has gone forward. Mike Martz really made the correct adjustments in giving the ball to Matt Forte more in the running game and Mike Tice getting the offensive line to play much better in protecting Jay Cutler. On the defensive side of the ball, they have been solid all season and showed that they made the smart off-season move in getting Julius Peppers to help make their defensive line a force, which made their overall defense much better. That said, the Packers have also gotten better as the season has moved forward as they have overcome a large amount of injuries to important pieces on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Aaron Rodgers is playing great and the defense, which was ranked #2 this season in the NFL, is making plays at the right times with different players making those important plays. This is not a great matchup for the Packer offense as the Bears' Cover 2 scheme has given them trouble in their two meeting this year. The Packers will need to get some production from their running game and I think they will, while on the defensive side of the ball they make a play against Jay Cutler, either with sacks or an interception, that turns the tide in Green Bay's favor.
Packers 17
Bears 12

STEELERS (-3) over Jets
The Jets come into this matchup as high as possible after knocking off Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in back to back weeks, and now they look to take down their third straight Super Bowl winning quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger. Unlike the previous two games, stopping Roethlisberger will not be their top priority. It will be helping their quarterback, Mark Sanchez, be comfortable enough to put up points against this very good Steeler defense. That will mean running the ball against the #1 ranked run defense and #1 overall defense and while they did break the 100 yard barrier in their week 16 matchup, that same result is not likely here in the AFC Championship game. This game should be a little different for the Steelers with Troy Polamalu roaming the Steeler secondary, which will help their run defense and put the Jets in more third and long situations. Then on the offensive side of the ball, tight end Heath Miller will be in the lineup and was missed by Pittsburgh in the first meeting. The Steelers will have to try and not allow another big special teams play by the Jets kickoff returners like they did on the opening kickoff in their first meeting. On the offensive side, the Steeler offense was moving the ball well against the Jet defense and had two shots to win the game inside the 10 yard line in the final seconds. Not sure what the Jets will do differently this time to hold the Steeler offense at bay. In the end, it will be the Steeler defense harassing Mark Sanchez (like the Ravens and Packers both did during the season) and Roethlisberger making enough plays on offense which willmove the Steelers to Super Bowl 45 and their attempt at a 7th ring.
Steelers 22
Jets 13

Divisional weekend record: 4-0
2010 Playoffs: 7-1


Win/Loss picks:
Divisional weekend: Sal (3-1) / Mike (3-1)
2010 Playoffs: Sal (5-3) / Mike (6-2)

Sal / Mike --- Packers at Bears ---
--- Jets at Steelers --- Sal / Mike

AFC & NFC Championship Preview - The SFB Podcast (1/21/2011).....

Last week divisional rivals met in the AFC playoffs, while the NFC had rematches from the regular season. For the Championship games, it has flipped as the AFC game is a rematch from week 16 with New York going to Pittsburgh, while over in the NFC, it is the third game of NFC North rivals when the Green Bay visits Chicago. Mike joins me to preview the games and give our predictions on who we think will meet in Super Bowl 45. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: January 21, 2011 (right click to "save as target)
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

Well, #6 is Higher than #1 - The SFB Podcast (1/17/2011).....

We have seen #1 seeds go down in the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs, but not both top seeds in such convincing fashion. Aaron Rodgers had one of the best games ever by a playoff quarterback, while the Jet defense played the perfect game against the high scoring Patriot offense. Meanwhile the Steelers had a great second half in beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. Then in Chicago, the Bears looked like a team off a bye week playing an inferior opponent in rolling the Seahawks. Mike joins me to go over the weekend's action and breakdown the games. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: January 17, 2011 (right click to "save as target)
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

NFL Week 4 review - The SFB Podcast (10/5/2010).....

A quarter of the season is complete for most teams and I am not sure that we have more answers than questions still after 4 games. One of my questions is, "are we seeing good football"? Week 4 was the first of the seven bye weeks, so we did not have a full slate of 16 games, but we still had games. I'll take a look a what happened in week 4 and how things are looking as we head into the second quarter of the season. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: October 5, 2010 (right click to "save as target)

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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

Broncos buzz.....

OK, who predicted the Denver Broncos would start the season 6-0? Umm, anyone? I'm not even sure you could find anyone being paid by the Broncos who would have seen this coming. Let's go back, because if we look again at the Broncos offseason, we should be able see this perfect record after six games staring us in the face.

Last December, the Broncos are 8-5 and only have to win one game to take the AFC West division. Three losses in a row, including a 31 point loss (it wasn't even that close) at the hands of the Chargers to give San Diego the division ended 2008. OK, not good, but Denver has a 2 time Super Bowl coach in Mike Shanahan, a franchise QB in Jay Cutler, and a top 5 WR in Brandon Marshall. A few adjustments to the defense, and all should be good.

Three days after the Charger loss, Broncos' owner, Pat Bowlen, fires Mike Shanahan, and less then 2 weeks later, hires Patriots' assistant coach, Josh McDaniels, who in turn, tries to trade for his old QB in New England, Matt Cassel, which ends up annoying his current QB, Cutler, who demands a trade. Finally, on April 2nd, with the situation deteriorating, the Broncos trade their All-Pro QB, Cutler, to the Chicago Bears. Then to top it all off, their best remaining player, Marshall, has problems with his coach/team, causes a disturbance during a practice, and gets himself suspended for the last 2 preseason games. A three win season looked like a lock. I know I was sure thinking that way.

Instead, six weeks into the season, and the Broncos are perfect, with wins over the Cowboys, Patriots and Chargers the past three weeks. They are shutting people down with great team defense, including allowing only 10 points in these six second halves. Kyle Orton, who replaced Cutler, has been great, with only one interception, and that was on a Hail Mary pass to end the first half of the Patriots' game.

So, does the ride keep going? For the last three weeks I have said no and picked against them, but after last night's win over the Chargers, in San Diego, I am now part of the Bronco Believers. A solid defense, along with a descent running game, and a QB who doesn't turn the ball over sure seems like the formula for good things. Add in a young coach with lots of energy, plus a rabid fan base, and this does seem to have the makings for a special season.

It also shows how close the teams are in the NFL from season to season. A few tweaks, and some good breaks can turn a bad team into a good team, and also that the opposite is true (ie: Tennessee, but that's another column).

So looking at the remaining schedule ahead of them, I can see them going 6-4 or 5-5 the rest of the way, which will give them an 11 or 12 win season. What about the rest of you? Are these Broncos for real? What do think was/is the difference and what do you see happening the rest of the way?