The Return: Derrick Rose isn't the only one

Just like Michael Jordan did in 95, or Derrick Rose will later this year, I have returned. You can all breathe.

Lets recap what happened in the world of sports while I was gone.  Lebron got his first ring in one of the most dominating finals performances ever.  The Lakers acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to make their own super team.  Kobe wants one more ring to cap his hall of fame career.  

 

Baseball plays how games?  The playoffs are still going on and it’s almost November! Shorten the season please!

The United States ruled in London at the summer Olympics. We watched one Olympic legend close out a remarkable career (Michael Phelps) and a new star rise in Missy Franklin (who by the way attends the same high school I did). USA basketball continued its world dominance earning another gold medal. 

And lets not forget that football season is in full force.  College football hasn’t disappointed, unless you are a Nebraska fan.  Alabama remains a top the rankings in all three polls. They continue stress defense as they assert their dominance in the SEC but can they win a second straight BCS title?  Speaking of defense, Notre Dame is relevant again? They rank top five in total defense and 2^nd in points against.  They remain one of the most exciting stories in college football this year.  With brutal road tests against Oklahoma and USC later this season, we will get to see how they rank against two powerhouse programs. 

Oregon continues to marvel the nation with their speed and uniform combinations.  Personally I’m not a huge fan of the flashy jerseys changing every week but it definitely works as a great recruiting tool year in and year out. 

And finally the NFL football.  With 6 weeks down the hatch what do we know so far?  The replacement refs were THAT bad. Vick owns a dog, oops! The Ravens went from Super Bowl contender to fighting for playoff spot in one weekend after losing Ray Lewis. And there is a new comeback kid in Denver. 

The Atlanta Falcons remain the only undefeated team in the league.  With each win getting harder and harder they look like a 4 loss team by the end of the season. 

Eli Manning has established himself as an elite quarterback as the Giants remain one of my Super Bowl Favorites. 

One week the Patriots and Tom Brady look unstoppable on the offensive end, and the next they are losing to NFC West teams like the Seahawks and the Cardinals. 

Speaking of the Seahawks, how about their “win” against the Packers?  Congrats, you earned a controversial win that wasn’t yours and Packer fans thought their season was heading for the Joy John.  But there is no need to worry. The Packers stomped on the Texans last week and Aaron Rodgers showed why he was the last year’s MVP. 

The NFC and AFC couldn’t be more different.  There are only two teams in the AFC with a record above 500 (Baltimore and Houston).  And in the NFC you have the NFC West sitting as the best division in the conference and the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings sit a top the NFC North ahead of the Packers. 

Six weeks are down, but I already have my list of contenders and pretenders. 

Here are my top ten contenders.

1. Houston Texans-are good at all facets of the game.

2. New York Giants-remain the premiere team in the NFC

3. Chicago Bears-Their offense doesn’t even have to put up points to win.

4. Atlanta Falcons-Matt Ryan and his lethal weapons get better each week.

5. New England Patriots- Tom Brady/Bill Belichick …nothing more to be said

6. Baltimore-Defense is hurt, but Ray Rice and Joe Flacco can win them games. 

7. Denver Broncos-Could be higher on the list if they played to their potential each week.

8. San Francisco 49ers- Great defense still and emerging offense.

9. Greenbay Packers- Don’t sleep on last year’s MVP

10.  Seattle/Minnesota- two way tie.  Both have physical defenses good running backs and playmakers on special teams. 

Top 5 Pretenders-Teams in playoff hunt but will tail out. 

1. Arizona Cardinals-Quarterback league and they have a good quarterback.

2. Philadelphia Eagles-Too much drama. Vick has too much pressure. 

3. San Diego Chargers- Clean house.  Fire Norv and start rebuilding. 

4.  NY Jets- Sanchez has gone backwards and they only beat really bad teams. 

5. Cincinnati Bengals- Good Offense, bad defense…the Browns beat them!

Everyone in Between-Teams without an identity.

Pittsburgh Steelers-Two bad losses to bad teams

Washington Redskins- RG3 is awesome, but question marks around their defense.

Detroit Lions-Beat themselves each game with penalties and dumb plays but have so much talent on offense they can compete with anyone.

Miami Dolphins- Young and talented team that finds ways to win games, just not their time yet. 

Dallas Cowboys- Tony Romo is good one week and bad the next.   

New Orleans Saints- No Coach Payton has turned out to be problematic. 

This is the NFL in a nutshell so far and the next 11 weeks prove to be nothing short of exciting as playoff races will heat up.   

To finish the post, here are my picks for week 7

49ers over the Seahawks

Bills over the Titans

Colts over the Browns

Packers over the Rams

Vikings over the Cardinals

Giants over the Redskins

Bucs over the Saints-UPSET

Texans over the Ravens

Patriots over the Jets

Raiders over the Jaguars

Bengals over the Steelers-UPSET

Bears over the Lions

No need to agree with me on these picks but here you go.  Good luck to you this upcoming weekend in football. Whether you’re a fantasy football guru, College Football Diehard, NFL pick’em expert or just a football fan in general.  Remember one thing…”You play to win the game!”