http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/1093 Recent articles about John Abraham en-us Tiered defensive lineman rankings for 2008 fantasy IDP leagues. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:30:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301863 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301863 It looks as if first-round draft pick offensive tackle Sam Baker may find his way to the starting lineup come week one. Sporting News is reporting that Baker has been working out with the first team, and despite getting beat badly by John Abraham, Baker has been learning the ropes on what it takes to [...] Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:17:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299309 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299309 If someone walks up to you and says, man I knew these Jets were going to be good this season you are allowed to either laugh in their face, smack them in their face or spray fart in their dinner. Depending on how bitter of a person you are, if you're a Jet fan you're probably aiming for the latter. Even as an optimistic Jet fan I figured they would rattle off 6 wins this season, but now they stand at 7-5 with a legitamte possibility of making the playoffs and these are the reasons why. Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:32:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6487 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6487 The punchline goes like this. Not enough parachutes, Clinton says screw the kid, Jacko says of course, but do we have time? I got this week! Six games, I say I at least hit .500! Lesgo! 1. Atlanta at Cincinnati. I've been tempered to go for the home team in these types of games. Cincy got ermbarassed at home against New England, but otherwise have played solid. If Abraham was healthy, I'd give this one to the Falcons. But Cincy gets the edge at home in an ugly, low-scoring game. Fun fact: In the last two years Vick has fumbled twice as much at home as on the road. Bengals 17, Falcons 13. 2. Baltimore at New Orleans. New Orleans hasn't had a winning record at home since 2003, yet all of a sudden this is the hardest place to play in football. I've touched on it earlier, but it bears repeating: New Orleans is a STILL OCCURRING TRAGEDY. But anyways: I wouldn't play McNair, but it comes down to whether New Orleans bothered to put in a Boller defense, which wouldn't be difficult. Steve is too old to be risking like this, but they lose with Boller. Ray Lewis sits in the middle of two OLB's with five sacks each. They keep this one close, but I would hope McNair doesn't play the whole game. If he tries, he'll get knocked out and probably lost for the season. Goodbye playoffs! Saints 23, Baltimore 12. 3. Jacksonville at Philadelphia. I hate to say it, but I don't like the Jags chances in this one. Their defense has taken some big hits, and I don't know if they'll be able to capitalize on an injured Philly offensive line. And they really don't have any weapons at receiver besides Matt Jones. But if they can key in on Westbrook, they have as good a chance as any to stifle Philly's one-dimensional offense. Marcus Stroud's health factors majorly into this one. Eagles 27, Jacksonville 13. 4. St. Louis at San Diego. Both teams have offenses that can get to be unstoppable, with defenses that still let them lose after fourth quarter comeback scores. Bulger is having as good a year as any QB in the league, ten TD's and only one INT. San Diego got lucky with the Merriman appeal, but he's still going to be suspended when they go on the road to Cincy and Denver in a couple weeks. Shaun Phillips is gonna play? Won't matter. Offenses rule the day, with St. Louis winning the turnover battle as they have all season (league best +11). Rams 37, San Diego 31. 5. Indianapolis at Denver. If NBC had its druthers it would've nabbed this game for the night game, but that's not for a couple more weeks. This is the big one, folks: Indy wins and they're legit favorites, Denver wins and their kingkillers, even though Indy still hasn't won anything. This is such a referendum on Plummer, its ridiculous: you know Shanahan expects him to win against a team he sees as weak and getting weaker. Plummer is a big reason why the team is -1 in turnovers (two fumbles, SEVEN interceptions). You look at Dungy's injury report, and it looks as though he's trying to confuse you by putting EVERYBODY on the list. 19 questionables has got to be some sort of record. So here's what we have: Denver has banged up running backs and Eric Pears starting his first game at left tackle trying to run against a banged up Indy defensive line. Pears tries to block Dwight Freeney as Jake Plummer tries to take advantage of a banged up Indy defensive backfield. Denver can keep Indy to twenty three points, but I don't think Denver's offense shows up to this game, and credit the Indy pass rush (re: Freeney) for ruining Plummer's career in Denver. Cutler! Cutler! Colts 23, Denver 9. 6. New England at Minnesota. C'mon, Nobody actually thinks Minny can win this one, do they? The Pats won't be able to run the ball, but I like New England's odds against the secondary as the game wears on. Tom Brady has seven players with a TD reception, five players wtih at least twelve receptions. He's the hardest QB to read, and that's why he only has three picks: nobody jumps his routes because they don't know who he's gonna pass it to. The Vikings two starting receivers both suffered concussions, and may have turtle arms going over the middle against Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson. And while Minnesota allows the fewest yards per game rushing, New England is fifth. This one will be defensive, turnovers and points off of them, and New England wins those games. Patriots 21, Minnesota 17. Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:32:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/4084 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/4084 The Falcons defense will be playing without star lineman John Abraham for the next couple weeks. Abraham suffered a torn lower abdominal muscle this past weekend, and had surgery to repair it. He should be back soon, but without him this Falcons front four will be distinctly weaker. Will they be able to stop Rudi Johnson? Wed, 25 Oct 2006 04:03:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3976 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3976 This week's big mathups, plus: the first edition of "Lysol Picks The Winners!" 1. Carolina at Baltimore. This is a tough one. Baltimore only won six games last season, but all of them were at home. Ray Lewis is a tough guy to play on his own turf, apparently. McAlister vs. Steve Smith may decide this, but another big question is whether DeShaun Foster can carry the load for a full game by himself. He is literally the only back they have that is healthy. But I think Carolina needs this one more, and they won't let Baltimore get in the end zone. Matt Stover carries them as far as he can. Carolina 13, Baltimore 12. 2. New York Giants at Atlanta. Atlanta is on their home track, and if John Abraham plays they may be too tough for the Giants. Look on the other side: Atlanta has a couple of banged up lineman. If they take out Vick ... oh wait, Matt Schaub is a better passer. They would be trading a perpetual running threat for a pocket passer. Either way, Atlanta beats New York. Atlanta 23, N.Y. Giants 16. 3. Philadelphia at New Orleans. Somebody commented on my last article that I should have Philly higher. Well, this is the game that they earn it. I don't see New Orleans being able to get much going against Philly offensively, and they won't be able to hold them to under thirty. The Saints' weakness is their run defense, and that means a lot will ride on Brian Westbrook. But if Philly doesn't win ... Philadelphia 30, New Orleans 17. 4. Seattle at St. Louis. As a Niners fan, I wish they could both lose. I'm torn: The Niners have a better chance of catching St. Louis, but a loss by Seattle increases the value of St Louis' sole loss versus the Niners. St Louis is winning the battle of turnovers, Seattle's second best wide receiver is hurt, their running back and left guard out. I don't trust a team that's leading receiver is Darrell Jackson. Stephen Jackson gets 150 yards and St. Louis eeks out an ugly, turnover ridden game that has Seattle committng at least three of them. St. Louis 37, Seattle 31. 5. Kansas City at Pittsburgh. I checked Pittsburgh's schedule and they have four games that they should win and at least five that quite frankly, they should lose. That leaves them 5-8 with three games in the swing: this one, Atlanta and New Orleans. If they want to get in the playoffs they have to win these swing games and at least one or two of the hard ones against playoff opponents that would crush the Steelers that have shown up so far. Kansas City is limping (we may see quite a bit of Dee Brown this weekend) and Damon Huard faces an intimidating defense that is better than any other he's faced as a starter. Steelers get a defensive touchdown that proves to be the difference. Pittsburgh 20, Kansas City 17. Thu, 12 Oct 2006 21:19:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3352 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3352 hardly any surprises this week. -Jacksonville comes close but still loses to Indy, just like they always do -Pittsburgh ran into a wall called Cincinnati, who is still missing their best pass rusher Odell Thurman due to off the field problems -Cleveland knows Baltimore well enough to keep it close, but franchise player Matt Stover wins it for the Ravens but for my money, here are the top five teams in the league: 1. San Diego. They'll find a way to lose five games this year, but that doesn't mean they aren't better than that. Maybe their defense won't fall apart late in the season 2. Cincinnati. Marvin Lewis has this team believing. 3. Indianapolis. I think their window shut last year, but what do I know? The following, actually: Indy will make it to the AFC championship game and Adam Vinatieri will lose the game for them. Because curses go beyond kickers, they follow teams. 4. Baltimore. They win ugly, and there's always one team on top that wins ugly. They'll be tested come playoffs, but Steve McNair and Derrick Mason look comfy playing as upgrades from the nobodies (sorry Dilfer) who held the job during the Super Bowl year. 5. Atlanta. I wanted to keep this list all AFC so badly, but I couldn't nudge the team for anyone else but ... oh wait, never mind. The Real 5: Jacksonville. Tough enough, and I don't think that Donavin Darius gets enough credit. One of the holdovers from the expansion team, this guy is their Brian Dawkins. He gets fined 50K for leading with his helmet every year, but its comforting knowing that you can make a jump on a play and your hard hitting safety will cover your ass and get your man on the ground. He missed the entire year last year, an All-Pro, and they still went 12-4. Scary. 5a. OK, I'll give Atlanta some dap. Them running the option with Vick and Dunn is the most entertaining early season anomaly since Dante Hall was leading the league in scoring. And John Abraham is a beast; I shudder to think how well the Jets would be playing without them. Speaking of which, my top underdog teams that I think can make it: 1. Niners. Just kidding, but there's always hoping (sigh). 2. Jets. Winning games is how you get it done, and just because Herm is gone doesn't mean his legacy won't last through one or two off seasons of free agency. 3.Carolina. The scary thing is that this is exactly where you don't want Carolina: down, pissed at themselves and with a healthy Steve smith. Watch for the Panthers to drop 40 on a 4-12 type team (New Orleans and Cleveland the next two weeks), get their swagger back, get healthy and finish the season 11-5. Teams that won't win because I think they're cursed (see Portland Trailblazers, Philadelphia Eagles, Sacramento Kings): 1. Colts. Just a hunch, they remind me too much of the Buffalo Bills of the early 90's. 2. Bears. No real scoring threat. They'll melt against playoff defense. 3. Seahawks. No cohesion on the squad, no healthy Shaun Alexander, and I've always thought Matt Hasselbeck is the most overrated player in sports. Deion Branch is nice, but he's the only one that can hold onto the ball in important games. Double him and they get five drops a game. 4. The NFC East. Football's equivalent of the New York Yankees: big payrolls, flashy high profile stars and coaches, a constant playoff presence, and yet they haven't won a Super Bowl in ten years. Tue, 26 Sep 2006 01:07:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2704 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2704 From my series of season previews I wrote about a month ago, this one concerns Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons. I break down his improvement as well as factoring in the new additions for the team on offense and defense. Sat, 16 Sep 2006 18:34:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2405 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2405