Thursday, June 30, 2011

NFL Preseason Predictions: NFC East

The NFL players association and NFL owners seem to be moving closer and closer towards an agreement. Assuming we will have football, Connor Jones and i have decided to go division by division and make predictions as to who will finish where this upcoming season.
NFC EAST
Connor 4th: Washington Redskins, this is a team with to many holes to fill for the upcoming season. They are moving closer to being competitive again but without a decent quarterback, they will have trouble winning in the strong NFC East

Josh 4th: My beloved Washington Redskins will finish 4th, as much as I hate to admit it. But, the most prominent issue with this team is their lack of a quality quarterback. Hell, they don't even know who there quarterback is going to be. Defensively they will be okay, but they do not have good enough players in skilled positions. The Skins do have a good core of young runningbacks who could develop into productive players in the future, but not this year.

Connor 3rd: Dallas Cowboys, Dallas is going to be an above average team, just not as good as the Giants and Eagles. I believe Dallas will be in the hunt for a playoff spot all the way to the end. They have a strong quarterback in Tony Romo and multiple strong running backs in Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice. They also have the best pass rusher in the league in DeMarcus Ware. The big issue with this team is that Tony Romo is not a proven big game winner.

Josh 3rd: The Dallas Cowboys were awful last year. 6-10 was not something Cowboys fans were used to. This year will be different, but not a gigantic one. The backfield is not good enough to support Tony Romo and win this division. The defense is good but not great. I think the Cowboys will finish right next to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2nd wild-card. and will miss the playoffs. I see a 9-7 finish for them this year.

Connor 2nd: New York Giants, The New York football Giants will once again produce a strong season. Eli Manning is an always trusted veteran quarterback. He also has weapons on the outside for him to get the ball to in Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham. The Giants will count on rookies Prince Amukamara and Marvin Austin to anchor the defense. I believe they will finish 10-6 but just miss a wild-card spot, they are one year away from making another Super Bowl run.

Josh 2nd: The Philadelphia Eagles will finish 2nd this year. Okay, what Vick did last year was ridiculous, but to expect him to duplicate that performance is unrealistic. The weapons are there offensively, they will be a fun team to watch with McCoy, Maclin, and Jackson. They are not stunning defensively, above average at best. The Eagles will finish 2nd and go to the playoffs once again behind Andy Reid.

Connor 1st: Philadelphia Eagles, The Eagles will win this years NFC East with another 11-5 season. This team is lead by the flourishing Michael Vick at quarterback. He was arguably the 2nd best quarterback in the NFL last year by Michael Vick. They have various speedsters on the outside in Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson. If Philly signs Plaxico Burress to be a tall jump ball style receiver they should be an unstoppable offensive team and if the average defense holds down fort, it should be enough to win the division.

Josh 1st: The New York Giants are the bully in this division. Unlike the other teams in this division, this teams greatest strength is its defense. Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora are forces on that front 4. Keith Bullock has not decided where he will sign, but if he chooses NY that is even more of a reason to pick the Giants. Prince Amukamara is a great addition in the secondary. Offensively the Giants are set with Eli Manning getting better each year. Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham are good weapons on the outside and Brandon Jacobs is a consistent tough runner and I think NY will power through a pretty strong schedule and win this division.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

A foreign flavor

There was an obvious theme in this year's NBA Draft. The large number of foreign players drafted this year is leaving many questions for the fans of these NBA teams. Sports Spin will be doing a series of articles telling you about these players.

Enes Kanter: #3 Utah Jazz- Statistically Enes Kanter looks like a below average player. He played about 100 minutes in his 08-09 season overseas. Regardless of this, his intangibles are what made him such an attractive player. He is the classic European big man; he demonstrates an wide array of post moves, can shoot from the outside, and can appear flashy at times. His 6,11 frame and 7 foot wingspan is going to make him the biggest body the Jazz have. He fits well into the system, but will struggle to adjust to NBA life in his early years in the league. The 82 game schedule could turn out to be his nemesis, making him weary easily and increasing his risk to injury. At the end of the day I see Kanter as the of the European players who could have been. I do not see him developing his intangibles fully and becoming a productive NBA player.-Josh Neighbors

Friday, June 24, 2011

Sports Spin

It has been a while, I apologize. The past few months have been a very busy time for me and my writing staff. We have decided to change our blog name and widen our stance. We will now be covering the full range of sports on both college and pro levels, now our first love is college sports, but seeing that the other members of the staff are very passionate about their pro sports, I feel we needed to make a change. So as of  today we are now the Sports Spin. New material will be coming soon, we hope you enjoy our new site.-Josh Neighbors