Last Week: 10-6
Overall: 10-6 (.625)

After the early games last week I was worried I had no feel for the NFL and that I was on my way to a horrible season of picking games. I only got 1 of the 1 PM games correct. But, I rallied. I didn’t get anything wrong in the late games, the night game of the Monday Nighters. All in all, a decent Week 1. Let’s see if we can beat that this week. I’m barely able to keep my eyes open right now, so I’m going quick pick style.

Oakland at Buffalo: Bills 31-21

KC at Detroit: Lions, 28-14

Baltimore at Tennessee: Raves, 17-13

Cleveland at Indy: Browns 17-10

Tampa Bay at Minnesota: Bucs, 23-17

Chicago at New Orleans: Saints 32-24

Jacksonville at NY Jets: Jets 21-10

Seattle at Pittsburgh: Steelers 31-10

Arizona at Washington: Redksins 24-23

Green Bay at Carolina: Green Bay 31-13

Dallas at San Francisco: Dallas 21-17

Cincinatti at Denver: Broncos 17-12

Houston at Miami: Texans 28-16

San Diego at New England: Patriots 37-25

Philadephia at Atlanta: Philly 24-21

St Louis at NY Giants: Giants 22-14

Man it was fun having the NFL back. I don’t think I thought about the lockout once during the games. I just focused on how great it is to watch pro football.

Every Sunday my son and I sit down and watch the games together. We watch every play of the Patriots — although that was Monday Night on a slight tape delay because Dad was working on stories back at The Enterprise until around 8:30 — and then we blow out the late games on Red Zone Channel, well until I nod off for my Sunday afternoon nap. Hey, you have to rest up before the late game.

Here’s my second power poll of the season. I expect things will shake up a bit over the first few weeks, and then we’ll settle in. We had a couple of big movers, namely Indy — in the wrong direction — and Washington and Buffalo, in the right direction.

32. Indianapolis Colts (18): Wow, I wasn’t very high on the Colts to begin with, but had no idea that they’d look that atrocious in week 1. Kerry Collins won’t survive the entire season, and even if he does let’s not pretend he can run the Colts offense anywhere nearly as well as Manning. Peyton is basically the team’s offensive coordinator, on the field, and he puts players in position to make big plays. Without him making all of those annoying pre-snap adjustments at the line of scrimmage, the Colts are a bland and boring offense. Other than Reggie Wayne, who will see double coverage all season long, does this team have anyone that even kind of scares you on offense? It’s going to be a long, long year for the Colts.

31. Minnesota Vikings (28): Poor Adrian Peterson. If Donovan McNabb can’t throw for more yards than a Pop Warner QB he’s going to see stacked lines all year long and be running into walls. Take away the Percy Harvin return TD and what you’re left with is a pretty horrific opening week game, which is just the first of many such performances I’m afraid.

30. Seattle Seahawks (20): Perhaps this is an overreaction by me, but when you look that bad against a team like San Francisco, who I believe is pretty bad, you aren’t going to move up in the rankings. You may notice I write a lot about quarterback play in these here rankings, and there’s a reason for that, this is a QB-driven league. When you’ve got Tavaris Jackson as your starting QB, well, you’ve got Tavaris Jackson as your starting QB. Take away his best weapon, Sidney Rice, and it just gets uglier.

29. Cleveland Browns (26): These rankings are based on how I think Team A would do against Team B, and so on and so forth. The Brownies lost to Cincy in Week 1. Really, how much higher could I put them? At least they can boast to having ruined the most eliminator pools in the history of man before they even got interesting.

28. Carolina Panthers (32): Maybe I was a little too hard on Cam Newton last week. He gave a spirited, heck historic, effort in his debut. But, let’s not get too excited. He did it against the Cardinals, and they still lost. I loved his moxie, but let’s see how he does against legitimate teams that have a book on how to defend him. Side note: It was nice to see Steve Smith isn’t dead. I don’t even think he was drafted in our fantasy league (a 12 team league) and he was one of the top WR in the game last week.

27. Tennessee Titans (22): I think they’re better than this, but you are who your record says you are, for the most part. They lost to a team that started an inexperienced QB and a bland defense. Chris Jackson is very hit or miss. His big games are huge, but his bad games are like last Sunday’s. He needs time to round into form, and when he does Tennessee should climb.

26: Miami Dolphins (29): Defensively the Fish looked horrible, but Tom Brady can make you look that way. What happened to Miami having an advantage during the warm months at home? They looked gassed from the second quarter on, and the Pats looked like the team that had been working out in the hot, humid temps every day. Still, they move up a tad because I thought Chad Henne and his offense looked decent at times, but if they continue to feed the ball to Reggie Bush that much, especially on runs between the tackles, he won’t be around long.

25. Denver Broncos (27): Of all the teams that I saw lose in their opener on Sunday, I felt like the Broncos were the closest to winning. Some things stats can’t explain, like bad luck. Denver had a great chance until a wet ball slipped out of Orton’s hands, I mean it just fell out of his grip. Oakland picked it up, went down and punched in a TD against the stunned horses. That’s a 14-point swing right there, it was pretty brutal Speaking of brutal, how about those Denver fans. They were all over Orton, and have already brought out the “Teeee-bow” chants. It took all of 3 quarters.

24. Cincinnati (31): Make no mistake, I still believe that the Bengals are horrible. They won, though, so they move up a few spots.

23. Kansas City Chiefs (15): Our biggest drop in the poll has to go to the team that really opened up a lot of eyes, and not in a good way, last weekend. The Chiefs were thrashed – at home – by the Buffalo Bills. The talk during the offseason was how difficult the Chiefs schedule was going to be in comparison to last year’s. I don’t think the experts were referring to their opener against Buffalo.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (25): Yes, they won. Still, do you really think that the Jags are good? Me neither. They survived against Tennessee, which looked awful. I’m skeptical about the teal being for real.

21. New York Giants (17): The Redskins are better than any of us thought they were, or at least they looked that way against the Giants. The talk out of NY during the preseason was that Eli looked bad, and his stats backed it up. He hit for about only 50-percent of his passes, and again looked horrendous against the Skins. Now there’s talk that Nicks could be hurt, too. It might be a tough, tough year for the Manning family. Archie better keep an eye on his 401k.

20. San Francisco 49ers (23): San Fran fans have to be stoked they won their first game, but how excited are they that Dallas is coming to town with a chip on its shoulder?

19. Arizona Cardinals (19): Yes they won their opener. They also beat the team that I thought was the weakest in the NFL, the Panthers, and it was a nail-biter. Someone should tell Kevin Kolb, that No. 11 is pretty good, maybe you should get him the ball more.

18. Washington Redskins (30): Our biggest mover and shaker this week is the Skins. I didn’t think they were going to be a big threat, but they laid the smack down like The Rock to a jabroni in Week 1. Tim Hightower and Santana Moss are two under the radar offensive threats that are going to sneak up on people. Just ask the Giants.

17. Buffalo Bills (24): I said last week that at least they’d be entertaining, and bless the Bills’ hearts, they went out and laid a beat down on the Chiefs on the road. You have to respect that. By the way, I put in for a bid on Ryan Fitzpatrick in my fantasy league. They’re going to put up some numbers, but they’ll give up a lot too.

16. Houston Texans (21): Beating up on Indy is no great accomplishment, but they got the job done in Week 1 the way they were supposed to. Houston has a lot of pressure to get the job done now. The division is wide-open and is theirs for the taking, they just need to grab the brass ring. They have a chance to go to 2-0 if they get past the Dolphins this week. It isn’t a must-win, but opening up some space in the division would be huge for them.

15. St. Louis Rams (12): Arch City is aching this week. The team’s best receiver, mini-Welker Danny Amendola separated his elbow (ouch). Quarterback Sam Bradford bruised his throwing hand, which isn’t a good thing. Oh, and can you believe that Steven Jackson got hurt (me neither). If they don’t get it together it could be a big-time plummet.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11): Tampa is not a good play-from-behind team. When they don’t have a lead, or are even, their biggest offensive producer – LeGarrette Blount – comes of the field. You can’t put too much stock in their week 1 loss. It was to America’s Team, the Leos from Motor City. It’s how they rebound, and if they’re able to get more out of their Blount.

13. Dallas Cowboys (8): Dez Bryant catches 3 balls in the first quarter and looks like he’s about to have a monster game. He then disappears and has 0 the rest of the way and looked like he took a slug to the foot while running that final route that Revis Island pilfered. Pretty anti-clutch, just ask Tony Romo.

12. Atlanta Falcons (7): Atlanta won 13 games last year and now could very well be 0-2 after Sunday. Mike Vick comes to town and plans on leaving a conquering hero. Matty Ice had better have a plan.

11. Oakland Raiders (14): Apparently it doesn’t matter who is the Head Coach of the Raiders, when you put on the silver and black your IQ drops by at least 10-percent and you take bad penalties, repeatedly. But, I love their running game and they did win at Invesco on Monday Night Football. Side note: Has any world class athlete this side of Charles Barkley ever had a less imposing figure than Sebastian Janakowski? He looks like he leaves the bar to kickoff and line up field goals, yet he’s now the co-holder of the record for the longest made FG.

10. San Diego Chargers (6): San Diego needed to come back to beat a team whose quarterback threw for a whopping 39-yards last weekend. They head to the east coast for a game against Tom Brady and company Sunday.

9. Chicago Bears (16): A great man once said that when you’ve got Jay Cutler as your starting quarterback, you’ve got Jay Cutler as your starting quarterback. His teammates insist he’s a tough guy, and you believe them until he opens his mouth. However, the Bears defense is still pretty tough, and they made things happen against a team that many (raising my hand) thought would beat them at Soldier Field.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (5): I’m willing to give them a pass on that game against Baltimore. They got blown out, but sometimes it’s better to lose that way than to get beaten by a last second field goal. Pittsburgh had better open up a can like Captain Insane-o this weekend.

7. New York Jets (10): I had a real hard time figuring out which team fit in this slot. I can’t decide if the Jets performed an incredible rally, or if the Cowboys simply added to their impressive list of choke jobs of the last decade. It’s probably a little bit of both, and I’d still like to know what Tony Romo was thinking on that last pass. Still, let’s not forget that if Jason Witten isn’t tackled at the 2, it’s probably Dallas in this spot.

6. Detroit Lions (9): Yes I have a crush on the whole Detroit team. I think this is the year they break through and make the playoffs, and they opened up looking like that’s what they intend to do. Of course this ranking, and the whole season, carries an asterisk. It reads *if Matthew Stafford and Jahvid Best stay healthy.

5. Baltimore Ravens (13): I really don’t expect the Ravens to remain near the top of the rankings through the whole season, but you have to give some love to what the glorified crows did to the reigning AFC champs. Ray Rice had a huge day and Joe Flacco got the job done. But, as always, the story starts and ends for B’more with that defense, and the Ravens were stupendous on D.

4. New Orleans Saints (4): New Orleans might be in the top spot if they’d come through on the last play of the game. The Saints need to tighten up on defense, but that can be said about a lot of the top teams. I love what the addition of Darren Sproles to this offense, he brings a new dimension to a team that already had a ton of weapons.

3. Philadelphia Eagles (1): Mike Vick said he played lights out against the Rams, umm … no. He was okay, but he wasn’t great by any means. He made a couple of great throws, but there were quite a few off the mark. LeSean McCoy was great, though. It’s early, they could easily ascend back to the top spot, but for now I’ve got to move them down despite the win.

2. New England Patriots (3): Can you even wrap your head around 517 yards passing? Tom Brady had a game for the ages, and it didn’t really surprise anyone. We’re used to his greatness, just not that much. Offensively they were fantastic. Defensively, they put some pressure on Henne and got stronger as the game went along.

1. Green Bay Packers (2): Thanks to the Red Zone Channel, I saw parts of just about every game this week – although I did fall asleep around halftime of the Sunday late afternoon games. Of all the football teams I saw this week, the one that impressed me the most was the defending Super Bowl champs. It wasn’t just the amount of points that Aaron Rodgers and the boys put up, but it was the style they played against a very good football team.

Don’t panic just yet.

Yes the Red Sox have seen their lead slip a bit over the last few weeks, down to 3 games on Sunday, but this is baseball. The season is long, and teams have their ups and downs.

On Tuesday the Sox won, as Tim Wakefield finally picked up win 200, and the Rays lost. The lead in the wild card jumped back to 4 and everyone in New England breathed a sigh of relief.

Let us not forget that the Sox opened the year up by losing 6 straight and were 2-10. They are not infallible, and obviously not immune to going in the tank for stretches. It happens, and it’s better that it is happening in early September than say early October.

I’m not going to say the Sox are the favorites to win it all, because the team that wins it all is the one that’s playing its best baseball in October. That remains to be seen. If I had to venture a guess right now I’d put my money on Detroit, because they have the best pitching in the AL, and look great. But you never know. Philly’s got superb pitching too, and a good offense.

But before you make plans to trek up the Tobin and take a leap, just hold on. Give it another 10 days or so. Tampa has been riding a hot streak, but they lost a game yesterday. It takes a lot to make up that much ground this late in the year.

Just breathe, it will all be okay.

Got a phone call from Eagle One this afternoon and he channeled his inner-Hank Williams Jr. “Are you ready for some football.”

My answer: “Yes sir, I am quite prepared.”

God, I love the NFL. Tonight we have a marquee match-up to kickoff the 2011 slate. Of course I’m going to have a house full of 8-year old girls because it’s Jellybean’s birthday, but I’m DVRing the game and will catch up with it in progress.

Still, with Week 1 kicking off tonight. It’s time for my Week 1 picks. Last year we finished well above .500 for the season. Let’s see how it goes this time around.

New Orleans at Green Bay: Never pick against the defending Super Bowl champion, at home, on Opening Night. The Packers and Saints are two of my Top 5 teams in my power poll (I’ll update that probably on Tuesday after the Week 1 slate is through). I see Aaron Rodgers having a big night and it’s going to be a shootout.

Packers win it, 38-31.

Atlanta at Chicago: Normally I don’t like to pick against Chicago at home, but in week 1 I usually go with the team that I think is better. The Falcons can put up some points, and the Bears aren’t as good at doing that. Matt Ryan and Roddy White are going to have a great day and the Falcons soar.

Falcons, 27-17

Cincinnati at Cleveland: I think I’d rather chew on glass than have to sit through 4 quarters of this game. The Bengals are going to outright stink. The Browns are feisty, and unless the Madden Curse decides to rear its ugly head in Week 1, let’s take the Browns in a boring, boring game.

Browns, 17-9

Buffalo at Kansas City: On paper this doesn’t look like too much of a game, but I have a feeling its going to be entertaining. The Chiefs are certainly going to miss Tony Moeaki, but Cassell and Co. are good enough to defend home field here. I think points will be scored aplenty, but in the end KC holds on.

Chiefs, 27-23

Philly at St. Louis: Solely on the fact that I have the Eagles ranked No. 1 in my preseason poll, I’m taking the Iggles. Still, I don’t believe that Philly is a perfect team and they’re an upset contender here. Sam Bradford and his merry band of no-names will keep it interesting throughout.

Eagles: 31-24

Detroit at Tampa Bay: This is a game I can get into. Two teams that are both on the way up, with something to prove. The determining factor for me is the weather. It’s hot in Florida, and it’s going to be muggy. I think the big Detroit line will be slowed late in the game and Josh Freeman will find a way.

Buccaneers 21-20

Tennessee at Jacksonville: Really Jaguars? Really? One week before the opener you’re going to drop your starting quarterback when you have a team that isn’t that good to begin with. Jacksonville fans are in for a long, long season and the Titans will ride a healthy — for now at least — Matt Hasselbeck to a week 1 win.

Titans: 27-10

Pittsburgh at Baltimore: If you like hitting, this is the game for you. It’s a shame that they schedule such a big rivalry game this early in the season. I like to see the teams climb the standings and have more on the line when they go at it. Pittsburgh is one of the top teams in the league and Baltimore is regressing. Even on the road, I like Pitt in a close one.

Steelers, 20-14

Indianapolis at Houston: Man, watching ESPN last night you’d think that the Peyton Manning injury was equal to a presidential assassination. They covered that thing from all angles short of interviewing Manning’s nerve endings. Look at the bright side Indy fans, at least Peyton has a lot of extra time on his hands to do commercials, as long as they don’t require him to turn his head much. It’s going to get ugly in Colts-land. There’s blood in the water in that division and the sharks are circling. Houston takes the first bite out of the Colts.

Texans, 28-13

Carolina at Arizona: Man, the teams that stink really stink and the teams that are good are really good this year. Carolina is awful. The Cards are a mystery. At least we aren’t sure if they stink yet, that’s good enough for me.

Cardinals, 21-7

Minnesota at San Diego: I’m intrigued. I don’t believe that the Vikings will be good. They’ll be mediocre at best, but if Donovan McNabb recaptures his mojo and if Adrian Peterson has another good year and if Percy Harvin finds good migraine medicine, maybe — just maybe — they can contend. Probably not, though. San Diego is notorious for coming out of the gates slow, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Chargers, 31-21

Seattle at San Francisco: Another game that I am glad I don’t have to watch all of it. It’s a divisional game, so it matters to these teams. It just doesn’t matter to any of us.

49ers, 24-20

NY Giants at Washington: You want an upset? Here’s your upset. Eli Manning has been throwing the ball all over the place during the preseason. The Giants defense is down and the Redskins might — just might — be better than any of us are giving them credit for. Tim Hightower will do some high-steppin’ and the Skins score a big home win.

Redskins, 27-24

Dallas at NY Jets: I just don’t know. Dallas has a ton of offensive weapons, but the Jets play great defense. This early in the year, especially after the lockout, I’m going with teams that have a lot of continuity and the Jets seem to have a little more than the Cowboys. Tony Romo missed half of last season, and I think he might be rusty early on.

Jets, 28-20

New England at Miami: When they played like they cared, and had their starters in, the Pats made the preseason look easy. This is going to get ugly early.

Patriots 38-13

Oakland at Denver: The biggest disappointment of my fantasy football drafts was not landing Darren McFadden again. I think Run DMC is going to establish himself as the best RB in the NFL this season and he’s going to demolish Denver on the big stage.

Raiders: 24-16

Here’s my look at the NFL as we’re about to ramp up to the new season. Within the next few days I’ll be adding Red Zone channel back to the cable lineup, or maybe even switching over the DirecTV, which would give me every NFL game. How awesome is it that they don’t charge extra for that now? For me that’s a huge, huge selling point, not to mention that Comcast is way overpriced.

So, here we go. This is how I see the league, from team 32 to 1. Put aside some time, you’re going to be here for a while, and you’re going to want to click the links … trust me.

Just Ugly Group

32. Carolina Panthers: If they win 2 games I’ll be surprised. Cam Newton might — might — be a good NFL quarterback some day, but he is far from ready. He’ll make the occasional play with his legs, but they are in for one very, very ugly season in Carolina.

31. Cincinnati: If Carson Palmer were still in town I’d say that the Bengals were going to suck. Without him they’ll be starting Andy Dalton. Wait. Who? On a side note, imagine to have to sit through last week’s Cincy-Carolina preseason game. Isn’t that one of the outer rings of hell?

30. Washington Redskins: Are you noticing a pattern here? If you don’t have a good quarterback, your team is going to be pretty bad. Rex Grossman or John Beck, doesn’t matter, they’ll be awful.

29. Miami Dolphins: Tony Sparano looks like a castoff from the Sopranos, which is appropriate because he very well could get whacked from his job before the season’s end. The quarterback is Chad Henne, which says a lot, and none of it is good. Reggie Bush will be the No. 1 tailback to start the year, until he is broken in a heap somewhere around week 3. Daniel Thomas was supposed to be the back of the future, but word out of Miami is that he looks “confused.”

It Could Be Worse Group

28. Minnesota Vikings: When you’ve got football’s best running back you’ve always got a chance, and the Vikes have that in Adrian Peterson. They don’t have a whole lot else, though. Donovan McNabb is hoping to get his groove back, but it’s doubtful he’ll find it consistently. The defense isn’t very good either. At least the roof is fixed.

27. Denver Broncos: It’s funny how much was made out of the Orton-Tebow thing this summer. I think Tim Tebow is a wonderful human being, but unfortunately he throws like he has a broken elbow and can’t run their whole playbook. Denver’s D isn’t very good either.

26. Cleveland Browns: If nothing else, at least they have the Madden12 cover to enjoy. I was already going to stay away from Peyton Hillis for fantasy football this year, but with the jinx now on him I’m expecting every ligament in his body to explode on the third snap of the first game.

25. Jacksonville Jaguars: One of my best friends in the world, the great and powerful Ando, is a huge Jax fan. We were talking football on Wednesday night and he admitted the Jags are going to suck. This is a guy that came to town and wanted to fight the entire crowd at The Fours during the Jacksonville-Pats playoff game a few years back. I saved him that day, but no one can save the Jags this season.

24. Buffalo Bills: Here’s the thing about the Bills, they will at least be entertaining. They can’t play defense, but with Fitzpatrick hucking it and Stevie Johnson hauling in passes, they’ll be in a lot of games that hit the over number.

Aiming For Mediocrity Group

23. San Francisco 49ers: What do you get when you combine a potentially schizo wide receiver with a noodle-armed quarterback and an injury prone running back? Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 49ers.

22. Tennessee Titans: The good news is that Chris Johnson holding fantasy football players hostage for the entire preseason is finally over, he’s signed a huge deal and will probably be good to go for the season opener. The bad news is that he’ll probably pop a hammy in game one and have a bad season. Missing all of training camp just can’t be good. They have a chance to be a playoff team, but seem like a 6-10 season waiting to happen, and if Hasselbeck gets hurt, they could be really bad.

21. Houston Texans: Houston and Tennessee are forever linked by their shared history, and this year they look like mirrors. Each has a diva running back that very well could regress this season. Each has a quarterback that seems to be held together with bailing wire. Houston does have a stud wide out, and a slightly better defense. I’m not sold on them though. They finish 8-8 0r 7-9 seemingly every year, so this spot seems about right for them.

20. Seattle Seahawks: I’m going to be honest, I’m confused by the crows, who have always been my second favorite NFL team, just ask Eagle One, he’ll remember that awesome Curt Warner jersey I had in college. Somehow this team not only made the playoffs, at 7-9 last year, but knocked off New Orleans in the wild card round. But, and this but is bigger than a Kardashian, they now feature Tavaris Jackson behind center. If he’s okay, they could make a run, especially in a bad division, but I just don’t think that they’re very good, and Pete Carroll is not a good pro coach. He’ll be tuned out sooner rather than later.

Hmmm, maybe Group

19. Arizona Cardinals: The Cards could be this year’s Seahawks. The NFC West is winnable for them, though they’re not the favorites, but with some luck and a good year from newcomer Kevin Kolb, who certainly feels like he has something to prove, Arizona is a sleeper. Let’s keep an eye on them.

18. Indianapolis Colts: Indy plays in arguably the worst division in the NFL, with all apologies to the NFC West. The AFC South is three laughingstocks and then the Colts. They’ve got at least 5 division wins in the bag, but the signs are pointing to an Indy decline. Peyton Manning couldn’t even turn his head two weeks ago, and now he’s ready for week 1? I’m dubious. Part of this could be just me rooting for them to finally fall apart. They’ll make the playoffs, I think, because of the division, but we’re looking at a 9-7 team here.

17. New York Giants: Who’s the better Manning? Tough call. Eli is only completing around 50-percent of his passes in the preseason. Hakim Nicks helped guys like me have great fantasy football seasons a year ago, but he’s going to be doubled consistently this year. Really, it’s all on Eli. If he straightens things out, they’re in the top 10, but right now they look like they miss the postseason to me.

Trying To Crash The Party Group

16. Chicago Bears: Da Bears always have a shot with that defense. They hit, they play hard and they don’t let teams run the ball. However with Jay Cutler‘s winning personality running the team they also know how to keep things closer than they should be. I see some regression from a year ago, but they’re in the mix.

15. Kansas City Chiefs: You know that Snickers’ commercial where the guy screws up the end zone painting? Great googly moogly I loved that spot. The Chiefs had a good season last year, but an easy schedule. This year, the slate’s a lot tougher. They do possess the league’s biggest home run threat, in Jamaal Charles, but Coach Haley doesn’t give him enough touches if you ask me. I think by week 4 or 5 we’ll know who they are, for now let’s say they’re a slightly above average team.

14. Oakland Raiders: Here’s my guess for the team that surprises everyone and makes a run at the playoffs. Run DMC and Mike Bush are a great running back tandem that could average well over 175-yards per game between them. If Jason Campbell is serviceable — I know, a big if — they’ve got a chance to really make some noise. The defense took a hit by losing Namdi, but for now I’m on the bandwagon, but my seat is definitely on the aisle near an exit.

13. Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens don’t seem to age. They don’t seem to regress. They don’t seem to get better either. It’s as if that team is stuck in place. They’ll be good on defense, mediocre on offense, and a wild card team. Remind me to cut and paste that graph for the 2012 preview.

12. St. Louis Rams: Quick, off the top of your head tell me who the Rams leading receiver will be this year. Time’s up. Don’t worry, I don’t know either, and neither does anyone else. Sam Bradford reminds me of a young Tom Brady. He makes good decisions, has the tools to make all of the throws and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He spreads it around all over the place. The Rams are on the rise and I think they win the NFC West. Oh, and my money’s on Danny Amendola to become a Welker clone.

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: One of the big reasons I won the office picks pool a year ago was I was the only one around these parts that realized that Tampa no longer sucked. Josh Freeman is a good QB, he’s not great, but he’s good. When Legarrette Blount isn’t sucker-punching linemen, he’s pretty good too.  The Bucs biggest problem is that they are in perhaps the toughest division in the league, with New Orleans and Atlanta. By the way, I have a prop bet with Timmy Ankle Tape where I have Freeman besting Matt Ryan in fantasy points for the year. A cup of Starbucks is on the line.

10. New York Jets: At least Mark Sanchez always makes things interesting for Jets fans. He’s not a top 15 quarterback, but he’s got weapons all around him. The Jets are clearly one of the better AFC teams, but not as good as the Pats, which has Rex Ryan calling out the rest of the league to take it to his rivals.

Pretty Close Group

9. Detroit Lions: Ah, America’s Team. When the Lions were at their worst, 2 years ago, Rye and I adopted the Lions as the team we always root for other than the Pats. What’s not to love? They’ve got cool unis, nice colors, Megatron, a great young defense and an up-and-coming quarterback. Two years from now I think they’ll be very close to the top of these rankings. Right now they’re definitely feisty and interesting.

8. Dallas Cowboys: I really have never cared for the Cowboys at all. They’re the Yankees of football, but as much as I dislike them, this year I respect them. If Tony Romo truly is healthy they could make a legitimate Super Bowl run. Now that he no longer has to carry bags against his will for veterans, word out of Big D is that Dez Bryant looks like a superstar. Also, coming out of Dallas this fall will be potentially my new favorite TV show.

7. Atlanta Falcons: Last year the Falcons went 13-3, but fizzled in the playoffs against the Packers. They bring back all of the key players from last year’s awesome season, with Matty Ice having gained a year of experience. They’re in the conversation, and with new stud receiver Julio Jones joining superstar Roddy White, the should be a lot of fun to watch.

6. San Diego Chargers: Imagine if San Diego didn’t always get off to a slow start. Now imagine if they had a good coach. Wow, that’d be one awesome football team. Well, they’re still stuck with this guy, but other than they’ve got a lot going for them. Phil Rivers is going to put up huge numbers, especially with Vincent Jackson around for the whole year. SD is close to being in the next group.

Playoff Reservations Already Made

5. Pittsburgh Steelers: Alright, I admit it, the Steelers are good. I hate them, but they’re good and if the offensive line holds up, they’ve got a great chance to return to the Super Bowl (wasn’t it fun watching them lose last year). Of course, they need Big Ben to stay on the straight and narrow, and upright.

4. New Orleans Saints: Somehow the Saints seem to fly under the radar this year. They’re going to be fun to watch again, and with rookie Mark Ingram joining in on the fun, they’ve got a new weapon to add to Drew Brees’ arsenal.

3. New England Patriots: Let’s be honest, the regular season matters not. Playoffs are what matter. I’m sorry if I’m sounding like Yoda, but after last season’s great regular season and playoff meltdown, I’m only going to judge this team by how it performs from January on (even if that meltdown did give us one of the best wrestling promos of all-time). They’re good, they’re healthy, the D-line looks awesome, they’ve got Brady, what else do you need to know.

2. Green Bay Packers: If things had broke a little differently in December, the Pack would have missed the playoffs. Instead, they got in and made a great run which led to this. Funny thing is, they look even better now than they did then. Rodgers is legit, and perhaps the best QB in the game right now. Jermichael Finley is back. The defense is solid. They’ve got two solid running backs. The sky’s the limit for the defending champs.

1. Philadelphia Eagles: Following in the footsteps of the Phillies, the Iggles are attempting to add as many stars as possible and make a run right now. It all comes down to Mike Vick. If he’s healthy, and plays well, they’re nearly unstoppable, especially with all of the weapons around him. They’re my pick to win it all, well at least right now. Pat thinks so too.

Hi, my name is Rye Maclone. My dad is Rich Maclone, who writes the sports for the Enterprise. On July 29 me and Dad went to Fenway Park for the Cape League All-Star Game. Dad was there to talk with people and he got me an orange wrist band (press pass) so I got to stand on the field and take a lot of pictures. This is me doing a pose on the field. I hope you like my pictures.

This is the sign we saw on Storrow Drive in Boston on our way to Fenway Park. There were a lot of them, but they were hard to get pictures of because we were driving so fast.

I saw this right when I got into the park. It was painted on the wall before we went up the ramp. Dad said that this was pretty cool and I should take a picture of it.

This is the first thing I saw when we went out onto the field. The players were taking batting practice. I wanted to get into the cage too. I think I would have hit one close to the Green Monster.

That’s me and Jake Rodriguez. Jake plays second base for the Commodores. He took a picture with me, and that was cool. He also signed my ball. I’m never going to play with that ball! It’s in my room sitting on my shelf.

This is the West team’s dugout. The players had all of these cool gloves and bats in it, and cool helmets too. I think it was all a little too big for me.

That’s the Green Monster. It’s not as big as I thought it would be, but I was able to get a picture of the whole thing. I wanted to go sit in the seats up there, but it was closed. So were the bleachers, where the red seat was. Dad told me that seat is where Ted Williams hit the farthest home run in Red Sox history. I want to know where the farthest one ever in the world was hit.

This is a history display of cool stuff. The jersey in the middle was Mike Lowell’s shirt. He used to be my favorite player, and he still is. I also like Kevin Youkilis and other players.

This is the trophy that was the Yawkey Award. We saw it in the press box.

This is a shot from the press box. It’s a really cool shot.

This is where dad was supposed to sit for the game. We sat in the stands instead, in the third row near the dugout.

This shows all the times that the Red Sox won the World Series.

This is my dad taking a picture of me when I was eating a Fenway Frank. It tasted juicy. I had two, they were awesome.

Me and Dad are in this picture. When I look at the picture me and daddy look very cool. I had a very good time that night, and it rained on my head.

This is Wally. He’s the Red Sox mascot. He was signing balls and hats and gloves. I was lucky because I took a picture of him throwing the hat back to a kid.

This is helmet soup, it was ice cream but it melted quicker than I could eat it. It was six or five inches big and the helmet is right now in my room, sitting on my dresser.

Those are my pictures from Fenway Park. I hope you enjoyed them. I would like to go back another time soon. Bye.

After Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the game-winning run last night in the bottom of the ninth inning I got a little excited. He’s been my guy since Day 1, way back when he played here for the Commodores, and every success he has makes me smile. I like the dude and want to see him succeed. The season he’s having is awesome, and for a second there I got a bit crazy and said ‘he might be the team’s MVP this year.’

Before I allowed myself any more delusions, I decided to take a look at the stats of the team’s top 3 contenders for that title. With all apologies to Marco Scutaro and JD Drew, I chose Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia as the 3 most deserving candidates.

Let’s look at the stats, because numbers rarely lie.

It’s hard to find a problem with any of those numbers. They’re all having great, great seasons, but Gonzalez is having a unbelievable one.

The Red Sox new first baseman leads the American League in hits, average and runs batted in. He’s on pace to hit about 27 homers and drive in around 150 runs. If he gets especially hot down the stretch hitting for power he could contest for the triple crown, though we won’t get too angry if he doesn’t get that.

While toiling in San Diego he was one of those guys that you wondered what he’d be capable of in a hitter’s park, with good hitters around him, and it’s pretty awesome. Not only is he hitting the ball well, but he’s made everyone in the lineup better.

Pedroia and Ellsbury are having all-star years that are in the MVP conversation. But when I looked closer at the numbers I found that they were outstanding, but just not as good as Gonzo. Both run appreciably better than the first baseman, but they’re supposed to in the 1 and 2 spots.

Ellsbury’s season is especially gratifying because he’s reaching a place that we weren’t sure he’d ever be after last year’s Rib-gate cost him just about the whole season. He’s answered his critics with his breakout season. He’s having a Rickey Henderson-lite year. He’s going to be around .310-.320 with around 25 homers and close to 100 RBIs while scoring around 125 runs. He also is going to be in the neighborhood of 45-50 doubles, and have about the same number of stolen bases.

Ells’ season is no joke. He’s definitely an MVP candidate, but Gonzalez is just a little bit more important to what the team is doing. There’s a reason that this team is in first place and the favorites to win it all again, and the top of the order is certainly among the biggest.

If you average out the production from the Sox’ top 3 hitters in the order, you’ve got a .329 hitter with 16 homers, 76 runs scored, 29 doubles, 69 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

If that guy were in the running he’d be one of the favorites.

Randy Moss announced his retirement today, or as Bill Simmons said on Twitter, “Randy Moss announced today that he retired last year.”

Here’s the funny thing, the Patriots reached out to Randy and offered him a 1-year deal to come back and be a part of the 2011 squad. He declined.

He did not decline because he wanted to retire, though. No, he declined because he wanted a 2-year contract.

Umm, does this confound anyone else? Randy Moss retires because he can’t get a 2-year deal. He could have played for 1 more year, and obviously he still wanted to play — or at least collect paychecks.

That just blows my mind. If you want to play Randy, play for one more year, get 16 more game checks, but don’t retire just because you can’t get 32.

The L in NFL certainly does not stand for logic.

Thursday is a bit of a crazy one at The Enterprise. We put all of our papers to bed on Thursday, so there isn’t a whole lot of time to surf the net and stay abreast of breaking news. When the Sox play an afternoon game on a Thursday, like today, I usually find out what happened late that evening.

I was surprised when I found out around midnight that they actually lost today.

While at the office today we got word that the Patriots had signed Albert Haynesworth. Geoff, Kaz and myself were excited about the idea of the big man lining up on the D-line for the Pats, but like everyone else in the free world wondered if the dude would actually pay attention to Belichick and his staff.

Time will tell.

Tonight I returned home from the Aaron Lewis show at the Melody Tent (very good, by the way) to see that New England had made another move.

Must be a pass-rusher, I thought.

What? Chad Ochocinco? Really?

Ummmmmm …. okay.

Personally I think Chad’s best days are well behind him and he’s become more of a personality than a football player. He certainly not a deep threat, he’s sort of like a rich man’s Deion Branch, and the last time I looked they already had Deion Branch. He certainly isn’t a field-stretcher. Tom Brady won’t be completing many bombs to him.

Ochocinco had 67 grabs for 831 yards and 4 TDs last year in Cincy in 14 games. Considering that he had Cadaver Palmer throwing to him, that’s not bad.

Branch, on the other hand, played 11 games with the Patriots and had 701 yards with 5 touchdowns on 48 grabs.

They’re basically the same player.

That would be one solid player, but consider this. The top 3 wide outs right now are Wes Welker, Branch and Chad Ochocinco. Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski are also big targets, and Brady likes to hit check downs to Danny Woodhead as well.

Those guys are all going to get the ball, but who is going to stretch the field?

This could be a good move for the Patriots in the end, but I worry that right now they’ve got too much of the same thing. It might be a good thing, but how many pieces of chocolate cake can you eat before you get sick of it?

It took less than 24 hours for the email chain to begin. “When are you available for the fantasy draft?” And, in the first email of the chain we already had a shot thrown across the bow of one our owners.

You think maybe we had some people chomping at the bit for the NFL lockout to end? Yeah, I think so. It’s amazing the amount of love we have, as a nation, for a game that leaves 95-percent of us pretty ticked off in the end.

Vacations have to be planned around. Schedules have to be juggled, but we’re readying for the 2011 season, and that’s a beautiful thing.

It was an automatic response. I think we’re all like Pavlov’s Dog. Me, I downloaded my favorite fantasy football podcast the second I heard that the lockout had ended. I knew that email was coming soon, and I had to prepare for the coming season.

The chances that my team will be better than last year’s are pretty much nil. My team went 13-1 last season, but lost in the playoffs (cumulative score over 2 weeks). I went from the worst record in our league’s history to the best in one year. It was pretty cool.

Now the biggest problem facing me regarding fantasy football is who to protect from last year’s team. We’re allowed one keeper, and I’m torn. I’ve got either Chris Johnson or LeSean McCoy for our PPR league. They were listed No. 2 and 3 overall in the first draft sheet I looked at. Four of my players were in the top 20. Basically I hate to see that team torn apart. That was inspired drafting I did last year.

So for the next month or so I will begin to ingest every piece of football information I can find. I want to know who the backup running backs are in Houston, who the fourth wide receiver is in Oakland. It’s all somewhat relevant. Every bit of info helps.

It didn’t take long for us to be ready for some football, did it.