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Geno Smith

Is This Peyton Manning’s Year?

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It’s been a long 6 months. Sure, we’ve had the “Summer of Soccer”, baseball and the NBA. Fun, but not enough. I’m ready for some football!

deflategate
The offseason has been interesting. Everyone knows about “DeflateGate” and how my Niners had The Worst Offseason In Professional Sports History. You’ve heard how Geno Smith‘s jaw was broken by linebacker IK Enemkpali and might have deserved it; and that Rex Ryan snatched up Enemkpali the day after he was released by the Jets.

Then there’s the standard New Head Coach optimism. Jack Del Rio is hopeful for his young, fresh faced Raiders. John Fox believes he can get Jay Cutler to play good football and maybe even care about it. Jim Tomsula is still holding out hope for Aldon Smith.

Now, finally, the offseason is over. It’s officially preseason. The NFL Network is in full swing, broadcasting every preseason game it possibly can. And I am watching. Yes, it’s preseason. Yes, it’s sloppy and boring. But it’s football.
More importantly, the beginning of preseason starts a very short countdown to September 10, when the Patriots take on the Steelers in the first regular season game. So yeah, I am pretty happy.

Here’s my big prediction for the 2015-2016 NFL Season:

The Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl. Yes, you read it here first. Ok, I know. The Seahawks, Patriots and Packers (among others) have great teams. Just hear me out:

This could (maybe should) be Peyton Manning‘s final season and he must go out on top. There is no better field general in the sport. Maybe never has been. Brady is more mobile (my desk is more mobile) and a great quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is at the top of his game and a force to be reckoned with. But Peyton is the man.

He’s arguably the smartest quarterback ever. That goes a long way when your team is in the trenches. He is the consummate problem solver under pressure. Totally unflappable. I have never seen Peyton panic under pressure. I can’t say that about any other QB in the league.

His team goes to war for him. Peyton is liked and respected by his coaches and teammates. That’s not necessarily the case in some of the other top-tier franchises. They trust him to call the right plays at the right time. His histrionics at the line (Omaha!) are less to confuse the defense than to adjust his play to what he sees on the other side of the ball.

The Broncos are solid. Sure, their secondary has been weak but Kubiak is working on it. Every other part of the team is rock steady. This team is ready to go head-to-head with the toughest competition the league can throw at them.
Peyton Manning

Lastly, and most importantly, there is no way Peyton can retire with only one ring. Eli has two. It’s just not right. This gross inequity can’t stand. I don’t see much danger in Eli adding to his two Super Bowl rings, so Peyton can level that score with a win.

I can’t wait to see him hoist the Lombardi trophy over his head.

I love football!

New York Jets Head Into Week 5 With Turnover Woes

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The New York Jets (2-2) are in a tight spot in the league behind New England (4-0) and Miami (3-1) after an embarrassing 38-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans (3-1). The first three weeks were less demoralizing, though, as the Jets beat the Buffalo Bills (2-2) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) in a squeaker at home. The New England Patriots, struggling to complete passes, almost gave the Jets another win, too, in their Foxborough meeting. However, expectations have sunk deep down – and in dramatic fashion – thanks to last Sunday’s blowout game in Nashville.
It’s just a quarter of the way through the season, but it’s not too soon to make some predictions. As the Jets head into the coming week, here are a couple of things fans need to know:

Rex Ryan signing autographs at New York Jets Mini Camp in Florham Park, NJ, on June 11, 2013. Source: WikiPedia.org

TOUGH WINS, IF ANY

First of all, from this point onward, wins are going to come hard. For the first time in three seasons, New York has almost zero chance of making the postseason. The Jets started out relatively strong, at 2-2, but it’s too soon to be celebrating. The schedule of the team over the coming two months is crucial… and terrifying. NY will visit Baltimore, Atlanta and Cincinnati, and play home games against the New Orleans Saints, Patriots and Miami Dolphins. All of this happens before Week 14!

Combining all records of NY’s upcoming opponents, we get 25-22. If we take away the next two matches against the Falcons (1-3) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (no wins yet), the remaining record of NY’s opponents is a staggering 24-15.

Hopefully, good defense will help the New York Jets to compete against the toughest teams, although it’s a bit of a stretch to see them win more than seven games. The 2013 Jets might be better on paper, but we won’t know until the games are played.

THE WORST TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL IN THE LEAGUE

The Jets could easily have been 4-0 if turnovers hadn’t beaten them. The Jets contributed at least a pair of turnovers in each game, and Jets rookie Geno Smith has given the ball away 11 times in his first four games of the season. If he continues to perform at this rate, he’ll have a record-breaking 44 turnovers over 16 games (unless Rex Ryan does something drastic). Smith makes poor decisions, which might be an understatement, since he underthrows receivers in many cases. Rookie or not, Smith has to take care of the ball if he wants to keep his starting job for the rest of the season.

Also, while the Jets’ defense might be solid, it still fails to pose a turnover threat against opponents. Over the first four games, the Jets came away with only two takeaways. All in all, this turnover differential of –9 ranks merely a point ahead of the Steelers (ranking last in the league). It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if they took away Pittsburgh’s bottom spot before the end of the year.