Southern Miss may have started the 2011 season with an ugly loss at Marshall in week two, but the Golden Eagles ended the season on an extreme high by thrashing Houston in the Conference USA Championship game and then winning the Hawaii Bowl.
Last year, the Clemson Tigers were the Figure 1A example of a “feast or famine” team in college football. The Tigers started out a flawless 8-0 and ranked #6 in the AP poll, only to lose four of their last six.
The Saints have Drew Brees back in the fold after signing him to a massive contract in the off-season, but can they get over the Bountygate scandal? Head coach Sean Payton is suspended for the season, as is one of the leaders on defense in Jonathan Vilma.
The Bucs were a mess last season and one of the main reasons they were 4-12 is that production of QB Josh Freeman. After the 2010 season he established himself as a future star with 25 TD and only 6 INT, but last season he only had 16 TD and a whopping 22 INT.
The Tigers come into this game red-hot winners of 4 straight and they are now only 1.5 games out of first place in the AL Central and they are in the lead in the Wild Card race.
The A’s have been one of the best teams since the All Star break and they are now in 2nd place in the AL West only 1/2 game up on the Angels. Oakland is in the Wild Card lead, but it will be hard to stay there facing Angels ace Jared Weaver tonight.
Last season’s Hall of Game was cancelled due to the labor dispute, but this year the NFL is all ready to go this Sunday night. The Cardinals and Saints will kick off the NFL Preseason schedule with this showdown.
Ohio State and Michigan might have the most tradition in the Big Ten conference, but no one has been better in the last few years than the Wisconsin Badgers. If you were to pick a team that has been the most consistent at the top of the heap in this conference of late, you’d have to select Wisconsin. Michigan and Ohio State are gaining steam with great new coaches. Can Wisconsin stay on top?
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series makes its second trip of the season to Long Pond for the running of the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
The Panthers landed the QB they have been looking for in Cam Newton, who had a great rookie season passing for over 4,000 yards. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are a great RB duo and Newton is already a star, but can the Panthers’ defense, which ranked 24th against the pass and 25th against the run, improve?
Once again the Falcons made the playoffs last season, but flamed out in the playoffs. Matt Ryan leads a great pass offense and the rushing offense is solid, but the defense may be an issue again this season in Atlanta.
2012 Atlanta Falcons Team Preview /Predictions
2011 Record: 10-6
ATS Record: 7-8-1
2012 Falcons Futures
Super Bowl Odds: 25-1
Conference Odds: 12-1
NFC South Odds: +140
2012-2013 NFL Regular Season Wins: 9.5 wins
Ryan had a great campaign last season throwing for a career high in yards and he has one of the most explosive WR’s in the game in Julio Jones and Roddy White, who has 215 catches in the last 2 seasons. Jones had some injuries last season and with White no spring chicken Jones has to step up this season. On top of that White led all WR’s last season in drops (15).
Ryan still has the ageless Tony Gonzalez at TE and the Falcons’ pass offense may be on of the best in the league this upcoming season.
Michael Turner had 1,340 rushing yards last season, but struggled down the stretch with only 1 game in his last 7 averaging more than 3.6 yards per carry. Jacquizz Rodgers has to help him out and these guys are the only legit rushers for the Falcons. The offensive line is a good one and they drafted OT Peter Konz in the 2nd round and he was a projected first round pick.
The Falcons’ defense got a big shot in the off-season when Atlanta landed free agent Asante Samuel and he will be counted on to anchor a pass defense that only ranked 20th in the league last season. William Moore is a solid SS, but he has missed 18 games in his 3 years in the league.
While Samuel was a big free name addition this season last season’s addition in Ray Edwards was a bust. He only had 3.5 sacks last season and he has to put more pressure on the QB this season, especially if the secondary struggles again. John Abraham had 9.5 sacks last season, but he is 34 and can he repeat that performance?
Overall, the Falcons’ run defense was pretty solid last season ranking 8th in the league. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The one big loss for Atlanta was Curtis Lofton, who led the team in tackles last season and he left in free agency. He will be missed and to throw salt in the wound he signed with NFC South rival New Orleans.
As a Falcons’ starter Matt Ryan is 26-5 in the Georgia Dome, but he needs to get it done in the playoffs, which he has not been able to do.
Besides the Saints and the Giants the Falcons do not have a tough home schedule, but they have a tough away schedule, obviously, facing the Saints in the Big Easy as well as the Chiefs, Chargers, Redskins, Eagles, and Lions.
Since the Falcons gave up so much a little over a year ago to get Jones they did not have a first round pick and they used their 2nd and 3rd round picks to upgrade their offensive line.
Atlanta has the pass offense and Turner is a solid back, but there are still questions for the Falcons. Can Samuel and Edwards play up to potential and help the defense? Can the Falcons’ pass defense keep legit opposing legit QB’s from shredding them? And the big question is can Ryan finally lead the Falcons to any post-season success?
Place they’ll finish in NFC South 2nd
Place they’ll finish in NFC Conference: 6th
Over/Under Wins Prediction: Over
The Atlanta Braves will look to get back on the rails following Wednesday’s loss to Miami that snapped their seven-game winning streak
Atlanta had been playing lights out, and it all starts with pitching.
This series sets up pretty nicely for them they take on a Houston Astros club that has lost 15 out of their last 16 games, and have just two wins since the All-Star break.
A little over a week ago, the Detroit Tigers had taken over the AL Central lead and looked ready to run away with it.
The Dodgers have been struggling lately and going losing 3 straight and 6 of their last 10 games. They are 1/2 game out of first place behind the Giants, but since San Fran is also struggling the NL West is now a 3-team race with the red-hot Diamondbacks only 2 games out.
With the start of MLB’s stretch run there are several divisional races that appear to be headed right down to the wire as every game from here on in can have an impact on the final outcome.
The Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox meet on Thursday for Game 1 on their three-game series at Fenway Park.
Winners of 4-of-6, Minnesota have been playing well as of late, and while it isn’t going to be their year, they are showing signs that things are moving in the right direction.
