Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tennessee Titans Sun. Sept. 19^th 1pm EST

When the Pittsburgh Steelers started the NFL regular season last week against the Atlanta Falcons, the beginning of a four-game suspension began for their superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the not many people were expecting a win in Week 1 with young gunslinger Dennis Dixon under center.

Ironically enough, even though Dixon is no Big Ben and tends to run more than pass, the Steelers were able to get the best of Matt Ryan and company in Week 1 and show that their lockdown defense is back to form with a healthy Troy Polamalu.

Bodog, one of the leaders in online sportsbook wagers has the Titans odds set at -5.5 over the Steelers while BetUs has the Titans at -5, a half point difference. Continue Reading…

Buffalo Bills vs Green Bay Packers Sun. Sept. 19^th 1pm EST

Coming into this NFL regular season, the Green Bay Packers were considered Super Bowl title contenders and for good reason as they have one of the most potent offenses and arguably one of the best defenses in the league.

Even though the Packers have a relatively easy schedule compared to other Super Bowl title contenders like the Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings, Aaron Rodgers and company were tested right out of the gate against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1.

They must be doing some thing right in the eyes of the online sportsbooks odds makers as they have the Packers at -12.5 over the Bills. That’s as large a line as we have seen this season. Continue Reading…

A couple of years ago, the AFC East showdown between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots wouldn’t have been much of a matchup at all as Tom Brady and company were by far the better team, but this season times have changed as the Jets have become a legitimate Super Bowl title contenders with arguably the best defense in the league coming into their head to head matchup with their division rivals.

Even though the Patriots aren’t exactly the dominant team of old, they did play really well in Week 1 by dominating the revamped Cincinnati Bengals with a 38-24 victory, but they will definitely have their work cut out for them in Week 2 against Darrelle Revis and the New York Jets defense as Rex Ryan’s squad will look to bounce from the Week 1 loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a win over their division rivals. Continue Reading…

It seems that several of the football players that have been served game suspensions are able to come off early one way or another.  Some for good behavior and some if they are traded to another team.  The latter of which being the case for wide receiver Vincent Jackson of the San Diego Chargers.

Jackson was originally given a three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy for substance abuse and then was handed an additional suspension of three games when San Diego placed the WR on the roster-exempt list due to not reporting to the team because he was still an unrestricted free agent and was unable to reach an agreement on a contract with the Chargers. Continue Reading…

St. Louis Rams vs Oakland Raiders Sun. Sept. 19^th 4:05pm EST

In Week 1 neither the Oakland Raiders or the St. Louis Rams looked particularly good on either side of the football, but there were definitely positive things to work with moving forward like Rams rookie Sam Bradford’s impressive performance and the Raiders running back Darren McFadden finally showing signs of promise, but in Week 2 only one of these two teams will come out on top (unless there is a tie) as one of these struggling NFL franchises will get a win.

BetUS, one of the leading online sports books has the Raiders at -3.5, so they are expecting something out of them this weekend.

Personally, I believe the Oakland Raiders are the better team right now when it comes to a head to head comparison as Tom Cable’s squad has some promising young players on both sides of the football, but Sam Bradford and running back Stephen Jackson will look to prove that they will be a force to be reckoned with sooner rather than later by pulling off the slight upset (Raiders favored by -4). Continue Reading…

Kansas City Chiefs vs Cleveland Browns Sun. Sept. 19^th 1pm EST

Over the past few years, the Kansas City Chiefs have been nothing more than a joke in the NFL and almost guaranteed to finish in last place in the AFC West division, but this season they have already shown some signs of turning things around on both sides of the football after beating the Super Bowl title contending San Diego Chargers in Week 1 with a thrilling Monday Night Football victory 21-14.

Obviously, the Week 1 win over the Chargers could be just a fluke, but the way there is no doubting that Chiefs played extremely well on offense with a solid running game led by running back Jamaal Charles (92 rushing yards, one touchdown) and a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown by Dexter McCluster. Continue Reading…

Houston Texans vs Washington Redskins Sun. Sept. 19^th 4:15pm EST

Last week both the Houston Texans and the Washington Redskins pulled off some major upsets as Arian Foster and company took down the Indianapolis Colts and Donovan McNabb’s new squad were able to get the best of the Dallas Cowboys.

Even though the Texans and the Redskins are seemingly much improved this season, no one could have predicted that either of these teams would be able to take down Super Bowl title contenders in the first week of the regular season.

One of the best online sportsbooks, Bodog Sportsbook Review, has the odds for this match-up set at Texans -3. Continue Reading…

Training camp is just days from starting and the New York Rangers aren’t wasting any time signing Marc Staal.  The Rangers announced Wednesday that they have officially signed leading defenseman Marc Staal to a five-year new contract.  The five-year deal is reportedly worth almost $20 million.

The 23-year-old restricted free agent is entering his fourth year in the NHL and was one of the four New York Rangers that participated in all 82 of the games last season.  Continue Reading…

Cameron Sheffield, rookie linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday and will be out for his first NFL season due to an injury he sustained to his neck.

The injury occurred during a pre-season game during week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles during a tackle on August 27.  After hurting his neck, he was motionless temporarily and gave everyone went into a sort of panic.  Since his injury, he hasn’t returned to the Chiefs practice nor did he play in the season opener against the Chargers on Monday night.

Sheffield was drafted during the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of Troy and was in competition for a back-up position.  He had 37 starts at Troy recording 161 tackles, 15 sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, eight passes defensed as well as a single interception.

Kansas City was ultimately hoping that Sheffield would recover and be able to play this season but when it became apparent that he was not going to be able to play this year because of his neck injury not improving, they moved quickly to reinforce the depth and sign an experienced linebacker.

In order to replace Sheffield on the field and on the roster, the Chiefs have already signed linebacker Charlie Anderson.  Seven-year veteran Anderson was drafted in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans and has participated in a total of 92 games between the Texans (2004-2007) and the Miami Dolphins (2008-2009). He has had seven starts in 92 games and has recorded 92 tackles, seven and a half sacks, four forced fumbles, two passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.

After being such a large disappointment to the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos have now acquired running back Laurence Maroney, who will go on the free agent market after this season, from the Patriots.

Maroney was originally drafted in the first round and 21st overall in the 2006 NFL Draft.  Since being drafted by the Patriots in 2006, he has been battling injury after injury as well as ineptness.  He has had the opportunity to participate in 65 regular season games for his career but have only appeared in 45 of those.  He has recorded 21 touchdowns and rushed for nearly 2,500 yards. His career-best was in 2007 for 835 yards.  Last season, Maroney recorded nine touchdowns and 757 rushed yards. Continue Reading…