Will they get In?

The 2012 NFL season is winding down and the playoff picture is becoming clearer every week.  Last week I discussed the AFC/NFC North picture.  This week we will discuss the disappointing AFC/NFC South conference playoff picture.  We will go into remaining schedules and predictions.

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts: The Packers are not the only team striving for perfection.  The Colts are trying to achieve a feat that only the 08 Lions were able to do….go 0-16.  Currently the Colts are 0-12 and they even brought in the man who was the QB for the Lions during that stretch, Dan Orlovsky.  Games versus the Ravens, Titans, and Texans are for sure losses.  It will all come down to the last game at Jacksonville for the Colts to win a game this season. Colts are devoid of talent at all levels and Andrew Luck alone will not be able to turn this team around.

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Will They Get In: AFC/NFC South Edition - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Nate Potter OT for Boise State Could be the LT the Falcons are looking for

The Atlanta Falcons are in kind of a difficult position they are a very quality team that just needs to bolster their depth for the most part and find their franchise LT because Sam Baker increasingly doesn’t look to be that guy. The problem is with the trade for Julio Jones they are without their first and fourth round pick so they will have to do a good job of finding value with only 5 picks.

All of our scouting reports our from our scouting report page (over a 100 scouting reports)

2nd Round-Nate Potter T Boise State

Nate Potter is not an elite athlete, but he’s a smart player and he has a chance at playing a successful LT at the N.F.L. level for the long-haul, which is more to said abotu most of the players past him. It is hard to find quality LT outside the first round, but Potter could be the exception to the rule and why the Falcons could take a chance with Potter.

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2012 NFL Mock Draft Atlanta Falcons Mock Draft - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Detroit Lions (5-1) vs. Atlanta Falcons (3-3)

This game is pivotal for both teams but we will get into that shortly.  As it is this should be an exciting matchup featuring two young explosive offenses led by two up and coming QB’s.  Matt Ryan of the Falcons and Matthew Stafford of the Lions represent two of the best young QBs in the league and  this could turn into a future rivalry.

What’s at stake?

Both teams need this win.  The Falcons cannot afford to stay at .500 or under and expect to go to the playoffs.  Winning on Sunday would get them to 4-3 and their road record to 2-2 before the bye.  The Lions would like to avoid a two game losing streak, at home nonetheless, and avoid the fan base thinking “same old Lions.”  Beating the Falcons at home would put them 6-1 and in prime playoff positioning.

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Week 7 Preview Detroit Lions versus Atlanta Falcons: New Rivalry could be born - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Four Years later, no one questions whether or not Matt Ryan was the right pick

Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are just two of thee picks that have highlighted the last three years in the draft for the Atlanta Falcons, but what about the other players. How are they doing? What about the this year’s rookies, are they getting on the field much. I reached out to Jamie Kelly Senior editor at Blogging Dirty.com an Atlanta Falcons sports blog to get his thoughts on the recent and current rookies for the Atlanta Falcons.

T hey say it takes three years to evaluate a draft class how is the 2009 class looking?

If we go pick by pick, starting with first round selection (24th) DT Peria Jerry. Jerry struggled his first two years in the league after suffering a knee injury a few games into his rookie season. This season, he looks fully healthy and is developing into quite a force. He has regained his starting spot and looks to be getting better and better every week.

Second round pick (55th) S William Moore, is the best selection from the 2009 draft. He is dominant against the run and utilizes punishing hits on anyone that comes near him. Moore is getting better and better in coverage, he has had a few INT’s already this season. He reminds me of a young Brian Dawkins, which is high praise but I think he can become one of the best safeties in the game.

Third round selection (90th) CB Chris Owens started well but has since regressed, he was notably picked on by Aaron Rodgers in last year’s playoff defeat to Green Bay. At the moment he is listed as the 4th corner on the depth chart.

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Atlanta Falcons Rookie Review: First Quarter Report - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Michael Vick May Have left with a Concussion, But it was Pure Entertainment When he was on the field

In honor of the emmy’s being last night I thought I’d give you a breakdown of the emmy winners so far of the N.F.L. season.

Best Supporting Actor Comedy Series

Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs

The way the Chiefs have played this season has been nothing short of a top notch comedy. Nary have I seen such terrible play. The Chiefs have gotten absolutely blown out by the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. Two teams that have long been the laughing stocks of the league.

What does Todd Haley reply to this with ” as far as I know they haven’t canceled this season”. Bravo, Mr. Haley! Master piece.

Oh wait, you’re trying to win football games? Yikes. The Chiefs are in for a bad, bad year.

Best Actor Drama

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo Bills

Ryan Fitzpatrick is seriously smart. He’s a Harvard man (the announcers of any Bills game won’t let you forget it), but on Sunday he was the best actor in the dramatic finish of the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders. The Bills have long been a team who puts up a valiant effort to come back only to end the game with a pat on the back, a “that a boy” thanks for trying, a cold shower and a long lonely drive home. But on Sunday, Fitzparick showed up big. There were big hits. Big plays. And a dramatic finish. The Bills have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs (awful) and the always inconsistent Oakland Raiders to start the season 2-0, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, but this is precisely the kind of game the Bills ALWAYS lose, but they came up big on Sunday. Thanks in large part to Ryan Fitzpatrick (Fred Jackson also had a big say in the game as well).

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Emmy Winners…for week two of the N.F.L. Season - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Where did the Super Bowl Champ Packers rank after week 1?

The power rankings below are strictly based off of week one performances. These power rankings should look a lot different once we move later into the season.

Here are the NFL power rankings for week 1:

32 Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs deserve to be the worst team on every single power ranking that comes out today. They got shut down by one of the worst teams in the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The Chiefs offense made the Bills defense looked like the Ravens and the Chiefs defense made the Bills offense look like the Packers. Maybe it’s just the Bills are getting better, but it’s still no excuse for the horrible loss they suffered against them.

31. Indianapolis Colts 

You can’t blame Kerry Collins two fumbles for the loss against the Houston Texans on Sunday. More of the loss should be put on the running game and rush defense. They ran the ball for only 64 yards and allowed a player that goes by the name of Ben Tate, not Arian Foster, run for 116 yards and a touchdown.

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NFL Week 1 Power Rankings - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Through the first quarter: Deji Karim looks impressive (picture source http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/062510aaj.html)

First let me say this: I don’t know how many more times I can listen to another conversation between the game announcers about the new kickoff rule. We get it, you don’t like it, get over it.

Now moving on. Unlike the Falcons and Steelers, the Jaguars and Falcons have nplenty of players who will make an impact for the team this year.

 I’ll post this now and try to update it live throughout the night and also recap th game a bit when it’s over.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Deji Karim

Very nice return. He hits the hole fast and hard and is making the most of his opportunity tonight. He caught a little screen pass and made some moves to get 26 yards. He looks very explosive.

Cecil Shorts

The rookie out of Mount Union had a reverse opportunity early in the first quarter but fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Falcons. Tony Siragusa commented that Cecil Shorts should have immediately fell on the football once he lost it instead of trying to scoop it up and run with it. The next series he had a nice out patter for 16 yards and a first down and also another 12 yard button hook pass.

Tyson Alualu

Easily the most questionable first round selection last year continues to show that the Jaguars might know a little something, something about scouting. He continues to collapse the pocket (one time that sticks out in my mind is when he forced Matt Ryan into an intentional grounding penalty. Collapsed the pocket a few more times, chased around Matt Ryan quite a bit.

Blaine Gabbert

 First series was a three and out. Early in his second series he had a pass deflected at the line which nearly resulted in an interception. He hasn’t gotten off to a great start tonight, though he did have a nice completion on a third down and 10 that resulted in a first down. He held onto the ball for too long and took a sack (Eugene Monroe gave up the sack). Showed of his excellent arm though early and often, could develop into a good N.F.L. player (obviously…that’s why he was drafted in the first round), but probably better that he’ll have at least a year to learn. He struggled with accuracy despite making some nice passes and showing some nice touch on his passes.

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Atlanta Falcons vs Jacksonville Jaguars: Talking Young Players - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

How Good Would Matt Ryan Look in a Dolphins Uniform Now? (Picture source playerpress.com)

The conventional wisdom is that it takes three years for players to hit their stride in the N.F.L. So I began to wonder if teams could have a second chance after watching these players in the league for three years, what would they do now? The problem with this exercise is semantics. If I’m redrafting, do I go back to 2008, which would cause a ripple effect for each subsequent year, or do I pretend that these players are just put back into the drafting pool and teams get to draft based what’s no the roster now. I’m going with the latter, try to ignore the butterfly effect that happens (for instance the Rams draft Chris Long, but now he’s back in the pool DE becomes a need, but we’ll pretend that in those three years they were able to plan for Long’s exit).  Even though it’s an utterly useless exercise, it should be fun to take a look at what teams did in the 2008 draft and what they could consider doing now.

Miami Dolphins-Jake Long, T, Michigan

Leading up to the 2008 N.F.L. draft the big question was Jake Long or Matt Ryan? Jake Long or Matt Ryan? The Dolphins decided to go with the talented offensive linemen (even though there was a prevailing wisdom that he wasn’t worthy of the first overall pick) and Long has rewarded them with three very good years where he’s started 48 games and played continually at a pro bowl level. Do the Dolphins regret the decision? That’s possible because they are still searching for a franchise quarterback. Are the Dolphins unhappy with Jake Long? No way.

Remix pick

Matt Ryan, QB

As tough as it would be to throw a cornerstone LT back into the mix, the Dolphins would take the franchise QB. They were worried that Matt Ryan might not be a franchise quarterback, but the pre-draft Peyton Manning similarities that were swirling around Matt Ryan seem fairly apt right now. Ryan has shown tremendous leadership and production. He’s coming off a 28 Touchdown, 9 INT season. A M.V.P. caliber season in some years. Matt Ryan would be the easy choice today.

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NFL Draft Remix: Re Mock of the 2008 NFL Draft - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

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