• Halftime adjustments are critical.
  • Halftime adjustments are important. Just not nearly as important as the TV analysts want you to think. What really happens at halftime during an NFL game? Well for starters NFL halftime is only 12 minutes (save the Super Bowl) so that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time to change up the offensive or defensive scheme.
    
    What people fail to realize is the majority of adjustments in the NFL are incremental and take place after each series when the players head to the sidelines look at pictures of the formations being thrown at them and talk to their coaches. So the next time you hear an analyst spouting off about halftime adjustments remember it’s more likely that players and coaches are emptying their bladders than filling up chalkboards with strategies.
• Playing a first place schedule is tough.
  • Is it really? Since the league added the Houston Texans in 2002 and expanded to 32 teams the majority of most teams schedules are quite similar. Don’t think so? Check out this fun fact: Every team in each division plays the same schedule save for two games. Here’s the breakdown: 6 division games, 4 games against a division in conference, 4 games against a division out of conference, and 2 games against teams in conference who finished with the same record the previous year.
    
    So in essence the first place schedule comes down to two games that are played against first place teams from two other divisions in conference who finished with a 1st place record the previous year. The reality is no one knows who has a hard schedule until the season unfolds. Teams that were great last year could drop off and teams that were bottom feeders can rise up. It’s called parity and in a league so rife with parity the idea of a 1st place schedule being heralded is almost comical.
• Good teams playing angry after a loss.
  

  Let me blitz or else...

  • I hear this cliched adage all the time. Some announcer talks about a good team who lost a game and how they will wreak havoc on next weeks opponent due to the anger suffered over the previous week’s loss. Really? Seriously, unless the descendants of Bruce Banner are strapping up the next week being angry doesn’t do a whole lot for being more productive.
    
    But you know what does work? Focus. I guess it doesn’t sound manly to think that 300 lb men in the wake of a loss would likely spend more time watching film and working on their techniques rather than throwing around massive amounts of weight and making grunting sounds like the feral creatures we make them out to be. I admit playing angry sounds good but it doesn’t hold water when you examine that peak athletic performance comes from focus, precision, and execution and not Gamma Radiation.

Warner is wary of his kids stepping onto the football field.

It’s been a wild off season so far. Bounties, lawsuits, and suicides have made us look at the game we love so dearly in a different light. The talk of concussions and/or head related injuries changing the game is already the elephant in the room when it comes to player safety. However, there are a lot more reasons more why the NFL will be different in the next decade and head injuries is just a small part of that. Let’s talk about four major reasons why the NFL will never be the same.

• The curtain has been peeled back.
  • The whole bounty scandal playing out in public view certainly raised more than a few eyebrows from the average fan. For years people have been able to enjoy the game and not really think about the violent nature of what really goes on except for a few hours on Sundays and Mondays. I believe the aftermath of the bounty scandal will have a far reaching affect that will change the way this and future generations look at the game. Sure, the game will still be popular among hardcore fans but casual fans will start to take a closer look at the barbaric nature of the game and parents of children in youth football might just be a little more cautious about letting their children become involved in the violent culture that is permeated in football locker rooms. This isn’t going affect drastically the NFL’s popularity in the next year or two but it could lead to a long term ripple affect that affects future generations of fans and players.
• Current and Former Players are Talking.
  • Certainly, Kurt Warner has made headlines by saying he is not in favor of his kids playing football. He has been criticized by several former and current NFL players, but the point remains that this is new ground. The NFL is full of men who have been broken both in body and mind and many have suffered silently accepting their fate as part of the cost of playing such a violent, brutal sport. I think Warner’s honesty speaks volumes because I don’t believe he is the only former or current player who recognizes that while there can be great success attained from the game the cost of what might be lost might not be the worth the potential glory.
• Players are treating themselves like corporations.
  • Jacob Bell, 31, formerly of the St. Louis Rams retired recently. The former offensive tackle’s reasoning was simple. He had made enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle, he is healthy, and more importantly football is just a means to an end. He now wants to educate current and future players on the health risks of playing in the NFL. You always hear the average person talk of how they would play for free and how much they love the game. I believe today’s players love the game but they know that their time is finite and once they have achieved a level of financial stability there is no need to keep playing. Now I am not suggesting that guys are going to start retiring early because they have become wealthy but I am suggesting that some players who attain enough wealth to live a comfortable life style would rather retire with their bodies and minds in tact rather than chase championship rings.
• The NFL has peaked.
  • It might be a long way down but consider for a moment that the NFL has peaked in popularity. The NFL is coming off a season that was almost lost by a labor stoppage only to be consumed at a frenzied rate that included a whirlwind free agent signing period, a near perfect season, phenom rookie quarterbacks, and another improbable championship run by an underdog team. Attendance, merchandise, and television ratings were at all time highs last season. But nothing lasts forever. With the true violent nature of game being exposed, the lawsuits pending, and young men dying prematurely, the NFL is slowly beginning to lose its foothold on the American public. Might sound crazy, but no one would have predicted the fall of the Roman Empire either.

• Everyone was a winner.
  • The idea that the draft pundits (Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, etc) can actually grade a draft less than a few hours after it happens is pure folly. Right now every team feels like they won in the draft and why shouldn’t they? It’s kind of like the theory of Schrödinger’s Cat. For you non-geeks out there it’s the idea that everyone’s a winner until proven otherwise and until they are proven otherwise they are a winner. Make sense? No? Well it makes about as much since as grading a team’s draft before any players take the field.
• RG3 will be successful in Washington.
  • Despite the enormous pressure on Robert Griffin III and the ridiculous amount of hype around him I think he will do fine with the Redskins. I don’t know if he’ll explode on the scene quite like Cam Newton but he’ll show flashes of greatness that will give the downtrodden Redskins fan base reason to hope. Griffin is just one of those guys who gets it. He knows the pressure is on and he is going to work his tail off to make sure he is a success. In other words, he’s going to make Mike Shanahan look good again.
• Rookie salary cap has made the draft fun again.
  • The rookie salary helped deliver one of the most exciting first rounds in history. 8 trades were made and you could feel the tension as teams maneuvered up and down the draft board to get the players they wanted most. It was like watching a massive chess game except it was a lot more fun.
• Mike Mayock know his sh*t.
  • No disrespect to Mel Kiper but I’ve come to really like Mike Mayock’s draft analysis and breakdown. I wouldn’t say he knows any more about the players than Kiper does, but his delivery is mixed with a thoughtfulness and humility that Kiper won’t ever approach. Bottom line, as long as Mayock is on NFL Network I’ll be watching the draft there.
• Fantasy Football was affected by the draft.
  • Think it wasn’t? How many Legarrette Blount owners in keeper leagues groaned when the Bucs traded up for Doug Martin in the first round. The same for Ahmad Bradshaw owners who know that his production might dip with the selection of David Wilson. The draft also gave us some potential fantasy sleepers like Michael Floyd to the Arizona Cardinals and Reuben Randle to the Giants.
• Miami Dolphins shouldn’t rush Tannehill.
  • The Dolphins haven’t had a star at QB since Dan Marino and they hope Ryan Tannehill can be the next marquee guy under center. The only problem is the Dolphins haven’t done a very good job of developing draft picks in recent years and they didn’t give Tannehill a whole lot of weapons in the draft. That being said, Joe Philbin and Mike Sherman could make this move look great if they can develop Tannehill into a solid starter. The biggest key will be to resist the urge to play him before his ready because that could damage his growth.
• Who will be Victor Cruz in 2012?
  • There is going to be some undrafted free agent that takes the league by storm. Who will it be? Recent history tell us it will be a person you’ve never heard of so you’ll just have to wait and see. But you know it’s going to happen. That’s what makes the NFL so special.
• The average NFL career is less than 4 years.
  • Nobody wants to think about that as the young draftees hug the commissioner and shake his hand. But the reality is most of the young men drafted won’t ever see more than this first contract. Here’s to hoping the young men manage their money and friends well so that when the ride is over they have something to show for it.
• Referring to the commissioner as RG1 was ludicrous, but funny.
  • I love Michael Irvin. I am a proud Alum from the U. But I can’t support Michael Irvin referring to the commissioner as RG1. That being said it was totally hilarious and just showed how nicknames can be abused if left in the wrong hands.
• Andrew Luck got drafted and disappeared.
  • Maybe it’s the microwave society we live in today but it seems like after Andrew Luck was drafted he just disappeared. Now don’t get me wrong he got plenty of attention leading up to the draft and such, but the media seemed to be much more interested in RG3, Brandon Weeden, or Kirk Cousins for that matter. I guess the idea that Luck was going to Colts killed all the buzz around his post-draft story. Oh well, we’ll hear plenty from him once the season starts.

With the NFL draft right around the corner 2 Guys get serious about breaking who will be taken and where.

2 Guys examine the quarterback position and how many should be taken in the first round.

2 Guys also discuss how the young class of running backs and wide receivers will affect the fantasy landscape in 2012.

Lastly, 2 Guys discuss their mock draft that can be found on 2GuysFantasy.com

• The countdown on Rex Ryan’s job has begun.
  • When the Jets acquired Tim Tebow from Denver they just set the current coaching staff up for a huge fall. If the Tim Tebow experiment fails then Rex Ryan will not survive its aftermath. Heading into his fourth year as coach of the Jets, Ryan is under quite a bit of pressure to prop up the shaky confidence of Sanchez along with the shaky skill set of media sensation Tim Tebow. The only bright side is if it doesn’t end well, it will still be fun to watch.
• Peyton Manning will be a success in Denver.
  • I don’t know if Peyton will bring another Lombardi Trophy to the Broncos but he should be good enough for them to win the AFC West in 2012. Too often people over analyze great players fitting into systems. Peyton Manning is one of the greatest QBs of all time (especially in the regular season), and he should have no problem lifting the Broncos into the AFC’s upper crust.
• Bill Parcells should sit this one out.
  • No one who knows football can deny Bill Parcells has a great football mind. He’s one of those guys that you would like to talk football with on a Sunday or any day for that matter. But I think if he comes back to the Saints as head coach he would be making a huge mistake. Not because of the whole Hall of Fame Argument, but rather because I think the game has passed him by. The players nowadays are not like the ones he coached back in the 80′s and 90′s with the Giants and Jets respectively. They are a different breed, more self centered than self deprecating, and quicker to shift responsibility to someone else than to own up to their mistakes. It’s not really a criticism of either side really, it’s just old school vs new school at its core. And in this case I think Parcells is better off in the booth or on a beach than he is on an NFL sideline.
• The Colts are going to draft Andrew Luck.
  • Even if RG3 turns out to be better in the long run. The Colts can’t afford to take the PR hit of letting Peyton Manning go and then not drafting the QB who scouts and GMs have touted as the best QB prospect since Elway or Peyton Manning.
• Carolina will be a playoff team next year.
  • You know what the stats say, right? In a nutshell 40% to 50% of the NFL playoff field turns over on a yearly basis. Using that fuzzy logic it would seem that a couple of new teams will sneak into the playoff mix next year. Keep an eye out for Carolina. Cam will be even better with a full training camp and their defense will be better if no reason other than the fact they will have more healthy bodies.

• Randy Moss’s best days are behind him.
  • Randy Moss might still run like the wind but don’t expect numbers that rival those from his early Vikings or Patriot stints. Moss will still make big plays but he’s past the point of running a ton of plays for and with the 49ers run first offense he won’t see as many deep balls as he likes. In fact, I wouldn’t be totally surprised if the didn’t finish the season with the 49ers.
• Bounties will never end.
  • But they’ll never be orchestrated at such a high organization level like the Saints did from 2009 – 2011. The nature of the game lends itself to such vices and among small groups of players I don’t think it’s too big a deal. Yes, I agree that the idea of hurting people for additional money is wrong, but to act like all the players in the NFL are choir boys would also be quite naive as well.
• Running Backs are now officially second class citizens.
  • The days of the feature back are all but dead save a handful of teams. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say by the 2015 NFL season no more than 2 or 3 teams will have one feature back. The shelf life of running backs, combined with the pass happy rules have turned the running back position into a mere cog in the machine rather than the engine that used to power teams offenses.
• The NFC is clearly the power conference.
  • Eli, Rodgers, Stafford, Brees, Cam, Ryan, Cutler, and Romo. Combine that with RG3 (potentially) and a young Josh Freeman and the NFC is the tougher conference without a doubt. Certainly these things swing back and forth as seasons go by, but in a pass happy league the NFC is clearly the deeper conference at QB heading into 2012.
• Buffalo will make the playoffs next year.
  • Much like the logic I used with the Panthers I like the Bills to jump back into the postseason party next year. Mario Williams is a great signing and the Bills other free agent moves have them poised to be one of the sleeper teams heading into 2012.

The biggest free agent that the NFL has ever seen is officially on the market.

2 Guys speculate about where former Colt Peyton Manning will land and how big an impact he will make in fantasy football in 2012.

2 Guys also discuss the ethics behind bounties and how the scandal with the Saints affects the NFL.

Lastly, 2 Guys take a look at Randy Moss and ponder whether or not he can return to form if he signs with a team in 2012.

With the buzz surrounding the recently completed combine and discussions concerning Peyton Manning’s new team the NFL proves that there is no off season.

2 Guys talk about Robert Griffin III’s outstanding combine performance and how he and Andrew Luck will factor into the fantasy landscape in 2012.

2 Guys also discuss standout running backs (Lamar Miller, David Wilson) and wide receivers (Michael Floyd, Stephen Hill) and who will have a chance to make the biggest impact on the field next season.

Lastly, Frank and Evan disagree about where Peyton Manning will end up but they both agree that it will not be with the Colts.

• Victor Cruz proves scouting is still an inexact science.
  • How many teams could use an explosive slot receiver who also plays on the outside? Salsa dance aside, Victor was the most electrifying player to emerge from nowhere to super star this season. Even Giants general manager Jerry Reese acknowledged that the Giants were very happy with Cruz and he exceeded all of their expectations. The fact that all 32 teams passed on Cruz during the draft shows that the best talent isn’t always at the biggest programs with the biggest television contracts. Who will be Victor Cruz in 2012? Whoever he is you probably haven’t seen him yet.
• Tom Brady is new Peyton Manning.
  • For years Brady had the luxury of playing with a solid defense and running game. Brady took full advantage by winning his first 10 postseason starts along with 3 Super Bowls. However in Brady’s last 12 playoff starts he is only 6 – 6 including two Super Bowl losses to the New York Giants. So what’s wrong with Brady? Absolutely nothing. He is still probably the best quarterback in the game but his supporting cast is not nearly what it used to be. What Brady did this season was remarkable for the fact the he lead a team with a last place defense and no game breaking wide receivers within a hail mary pass of winning a Super Bowl. Brady is just as good as he ever was, but unfortunately for him he is experiencing the cruel reality that often befell Peyton Manning in Indianapolis. Teams win titles, not individuals.
• Cam Newton is in a class by himself.
  • One thing that kills me is when people only compare Cam Newton to other African American QBs. Granted, there have been some great black quarterbacks in NFL history but to compare Newton to Randall Cunningham or Michael Vick because he is mobile is missing the point. Cam Newton not only broke the rushing touchdown record for rookies (with 14) but he also threw for the most passing yards (4,051) of any rookie (breaking Peyton Manning’s record) in NFL history. Cam Newton is what scouts have always wanted: a mobile, pass first QB who is just as good with his arm as he is with his legs. Right now Cam isn’t like anyone I’ve ever seen and so I think it will be interesting to see how he develops going into his second season.
• The Lions are good again.
  • Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson helped the Lions to their first playoff berth since 1999. Even though they lost to the Saints in the wild card round, Detroit fans can finally breathe easy knowing that the Lions have finally turned the corner.
• Peyton Manning will play for the Cardinals next season.
  • Despite several notions that Peyton will head to the 49ers or the Redskins, I see him ending up on the Cardinals. Why Arizona? Three reasons. The first reason is the Cardinals have a team that can contend right away with Peyton under center. Second they have the money to potentially bring in Peyton’s favorite target, Reggie Wayne. Lastly, Arizona has great weather and a retractable dome so he won’t have too many bad weather games playing in the NFC West.

• The Texans are still kicking themselves.
  • Sure it was a feel good story that the Texans finally made the playoffs and even won a playoff game. But with the way things played out the Texans have to feel like they had a chance to make to the Super Bowl if not for the injury to Matt Schaub. Houston had a championship caliber defense and running game but their inexperience at QB really prevented them from advancing further in the 2011 postseason.
• Roughing the passer is still a joke.
  • Protecting the QBs is vital to the game, but this is football, right? Too many times a flag is thrown when a QB is barely touched or has his helmet grazed after throwing a pass. I am ok with blatant late hit penalties or obvious blows to the head being called but the referees continue to error on the extreme side of caution.
• Moving the kick off up 5 yards didn’t ruin kick off returns.
  • Sure, there were more touch backs but there were plenty of long returns as well. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen as many 100 yard plus kick off returns in one season. I actually kind of liked the long returns myself. The main question is did the NFL see a reduction in the number of injuries on kick offs from previous seasons? If so good job, NFL.
• Momentum is better than being good.
  • The Giants of this year and 2007 along with the Packers of 2010 prove that getting hot means a lot more than being good during the regular season. However, it is a fine line to try to achieve the perfect balance of desperation to build up momentum while still avoiding getting knocked out of the playoffs. The key is for teams that do well during the regular season to keep that edge going into the playoffs. Easier said than done.
• The 2012 season will be here before you know it.
  • With no lockout looming, you can kick back and enjoy the off season knowing that the NFL will be back in September 2012. Ironically, the NFL benefited greatly from the threat of the game being taken away from the fans in the form of increased popularity that broke numerous television and merchandising records this season.

This was lot easier to figure before Gronkowski got hurt. Now I am not sure how the Patriots will compensate for the loss of their best playmaker. One thing is for sure though, Bill Belichick knows he must slow down the Giants pass rush and because of that look for a lot more running plays than usual from the Patriots. I know people are clamoring for Ochocinco to make an impact but I wouldn’t count on that happening at this point. I expect a lot of short passes and screens to both Green-Ellis and Ridley to make up for the loss of Gronk. Of course, Welker and Hernandez will have to step up as well.

When the Pats are on defense I think they try to mix up the looks they give Eli Manning. Staying with one particular look will get them carved to shreds so look for Belichick to mix up some sneaky blitzes backed by some complex zones schemes. The Patriots best defensive game plan is to tackle well and limit yards after catch because the Giants receivers (Nicks, Cruz, Manningham) are very explosive after the catch. Wilfork is also a huge factor and must play well in order to slow down the Giants run game.

How the Giants Win:

Eli Manning has to continue to play well. He has been the glue that has kept this team going when nothing else was working and so the team will feed off of his play. Look for the Giants to throw on early downs to see where the best match ups. If Julian Edelman is on the field the Giants will likely go after him but, I also look for the Giants to run the ball a lot as well. Brandon Jacobs could end up being a huge x-factor as his punishing running style could provide dividends for the Giants as the game wears on.

On defense it’s kind of simple, the Giants know they have to get to Brady. The Giants seemingly catch a break in that Gronkowski won’t be 100% so look for New York to single cover him for the most part. Corey Webster is also a huge x-factor for the Giants defense. He has played well all season and will need to continue to do so as he will probably be alone on the outside against Deion Branch or Chad Ochocinco.

And the Super Bowl XLVI Winner is…

When it is all said and done Eli proves he is truly elite (again) and out duels Brady for his second and the Giants (4th) Super Bowl Title.

Giants 28 – Patriots 20