Green Bay Packers v New Orleans Saints: Preview and Prediction for NFL Thursday Night Season Opener

September 8, 2011 By 12 Comments
clay-matthews-packers-saints-prediction-point-spread-preview

Football is finally back, and there aren’t many matchups better than Thursday’s game between Green Bay and New Orleans.

The Saints will open up the season on Thursday night for the second consecutive year, having won last year’s 2010 NFC Championship game rematch over the Vikings in a low-scoring 14-9 affair.

This season’s matchup pits the past two Super Bowl champions against each other, and with the Vegas over/under set at 47 (all NFL Week 1 spreads and over-unders here), this figures to be a much higher-scoring game than the 2010 season opener.

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Filed Under: Game Previews, NFL Tagged With: clay matthews, Drew Brees, Green Bay Packers, new orleans saints, nfl 2011, packers-saints spread, saints-packers pick, saints-packers prediction, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview and Prediction: Carolina Panthers (2-12) at Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4)

December 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

texans-eagles-preview-prediction-point-spread-monday-night-footballEditor’s Note: Griffin Gotta’s weekly MNF and Thursday Night Football coverage on MSF is sponsored for the second straight year by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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I would say that as far as good friends go – you know, the people that at the least I’m regularly calling, texting or posting stupid stuff on Facebook walls, the folks I see just about every weekend when it’s possible – the group I’m associated with knows one another pretty well. I realize this probably isn’t some social phenomenon, that there’s indeed more than a few close-knit circles of friends in the world, but hey, re-check that matchup up there.

Anyway, if you think of your friends, you can probably think up various ways that this line, courtesy of the absolutely wonderful Creed Bratton of “The Office,” can be successfully applied to a characteristic, quirk or behavior of someone with whom you’ve spent a decent amount of time. Because all of your friends are bigger weirdos than you, yes? Yes.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: carolina panthers, NFL, pittsburgh steelers, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview and Prediction: San Francisco 49ers (5-8) at San Diego Chargers (7-6)

December 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

texans-eagles-preview-prediction-point-spread-monday-night-footballEditor’s Note: Griffin Gotta’s weekly MNF and Thursday Night Football coverage on MSF is sponsored for the second straight year by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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On the one hand, we have a game here of mighty proportions.

Both the 49ers and Chargers can give the leaders of the painfully average divisions they’re currently trailing another reason to take a glance in the ol’ rearview.  Then again, it’s not like anyone’s running away in these races.

There shouldn’t be too much advance planning going on, even if that planning should be more towards extended stays on beachfront properties rather than football games.

And with that dumb joke, let’s address the unavoidable truth that something is screwed up with the NFL playoff system this year.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: NFL, san diego chargers, san fracisco 49ers, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview and Prediction: Indianapolis Colts (6-6) at Tennessee Titans (5-7)

December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s interesting to think that by the second Friday in December, the Indianapolis Colts could be effectively out of the playoffs.

That’s putting a little faith in the Jacksonville Jaguars, I realize, but the fact that it’s plausible is still pretty surprising. Especially given the quality of this division, which is akin to the quality of Milwaukee Special Reserve – without question, the worst beer I have ever forced myself to drink 30 cans worth of.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: Indianapolis Colts, NFL, tennessee titans, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview and Prediction: Houston Texans (5-6) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-4)

December 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Houston Texans

texans-eagles-preview-prediction-point-spread-monday-night-footballEditor’s Note: Griffin Gotta’s weekly MNF and Thursday Night Football coverage on MSF is sponsored for the second straight year by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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It makes sense that on Thursday night over on TNT, after whatever happens to Cleveland/LeBron James/social order/Erik Spoelstra, the nightcap features the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors running up each others’ faces on the fast track to a 132-129 in three-Four-Loko-beer-bong’s-worth-of-excitement basketball explosion.

It makes sense because the NFL picked the ideal matchup if they want to try and match fireworks Thursday night, as the Texans and Eagles will probably come close to outscoring their hardwood counterparts.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: houston texans, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview and Prediction: Chicago Bears (6-3) at Miami Dolphins (5-4)

November 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ravens-falcons-preview-prediction-point-spread-picks-thursday-night-football-time-nfl-network-kickoffEditor’s Note: Griffin Gotta’s weekly MNF and Thursday Night Football coverage on MSF is sponsored for the second straight year by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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Thursday night’s game features pretty stout defenses, off-and-on offenses, and quarterbacks who will probably make this interesting in good and bad ways.

Here is basic info for the second Thursday Night Football game of the season, and then four things about the Bears and Dolphins to ponder about.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: Chicago Bears, miami dolphins, NFL, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview and Prediction: Baltimore Ravens (6-2) at Atlanta Falcons (6-2)

November 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
falcons-ravens-spread-pick-thursday-night-football-preview-prediction

ravens-falcons-preview-prediction-point-spread-picks-thursday-night-football-time-nfl-network-kickoffEditor’s Note: Griffin Gotta’s weekly MNF and Thursday Night Football coverage on MSF is sponsored for the second straight year by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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This is Year 5 of the NFL Network’s airing of prime time games on Thursday nights, and there really isn’t much you can say about the viewing situation anymore. Many of us (myself included) don’t get this channel at home. There’s nothing on the horizon that suggests this will change anytime soon. If the game is important enough to you, you go to a bar, or that friend of yours’ place who gets the NFL Network, or if you really want to see the damn game but would rather avoid human contact at all costs, I believe you can stream it online now.

Whatever.

Overall, it could be worse. It’s inconvenient not to have the option at home, but there are a couple of ways to watch these games if you really want to, and the primary choice almost forces you to go to a bar. This is not something to complain about.

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Filed Under: NFL, TV and Betting Tagged With: Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, NFL, thursday night football

Thursday Night Football Preview: Colts-Jaguars Spread, Analysis, and Pick

December 14, 2009 By 5 Comments
colts-jaguars-spread

titans-texans spread pick, analysis, prediction - monday night football - tennessee at houstonEditor’s Note: AJ Kaufman’s weekly MNF and Thursday Night Football coverage on MSF is sponsored by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.

Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.

With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.

Check out Sadler’s Monday Night Football Recipe of the Week: Sadler’s Smokehouse Turkey Chili

Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse

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Thursday Night Football Preview

Indianapolis Colts (13-0) at Jacksonville Jaguars (7-6)

  • Colts-Jaguars Date: Thursday, December 17
  • Colts-Jaguars Kickoff Time: 8:20
  • Colts-Jaguars TV Network: NFLN
  • Colts-Jaguars Announcers: Bob Papa and Matt Millen
  • Colts-Jaguars Point Spread: Colts -3
  • Colts-Jaguars Over-Under Odds: 42.5
  • Colts-Jaguars Spread Pick by Jerod: This is a very difficult game to handicap without knowing exactly what the Colts will do with their starters. From all of the reports I’ve read this week, it sounds like the starters will play as normal this week. Regardless, I like the Jags to at least cover, and possibly win, this game. Jacksonville always plays Indianapolis tough and clearly is the team with more riding on this game. Indy is obviously a better team, and would demolish Jacksonville if this were the playoffs, but the Jags have always proven to be a tough regular season foe and the Colts will undoubtedly be in for a Thursday night road dogfight. Colts-Jaguars free pick: Jaguars +3

Colts-Jaguars Analysis

I attended the Colts record-breaking win over Brandon Marshall and Denver this past Sunday. And while Indy is still 13-0 and getting little respect from the media as compared to New Orleans, Minnesota, Arizona, San Diego and even New England, the Colts looked suspect for over half of their 28-16 win versus the 8-5 Broncos.

Blitzed most of the day, and hurrying passes (three of them picked), Peyton Manning looked flustered at times, but as the AP game recap noted, “he demonstrated how an undefeated team survives the perfect storm.” Though the Broncos missed all kinds of scoring opportunities, and arguably outplayed Indianapolis, the Colts have prevailed in these kinds of situations/games week after week this season (and last), which is the mark of a great team.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: colts-jaguars announcers, colts-jaguars kickoff time, colts-jaguars nfl network, colts-jaguars pick, colts-jaguars spread, Indianapolis Colts, indianapolis-jacksonville, jacksonville jaguars, jaguars-colts over-under, jaguars-colts tv, thursday night football

Could the Browns Actually Beat the Steelers Tonight on Thursday Night Football? (Update: YES!!!)

December 10, 2009 By 6 Comments
browns-steelers-spread-pick-thursday

I realize that the question posed in the title of this post probably sounded absurd to you when you first read it, but should that be the case?

Look, we all know how bad the Browns have been this year. They’ve won one game: a 6-3 road “victory” over the hapless Buffalo Bills who have since fired the head coach who presided over that horrific war of gridiron attrition. And most weeks, they have not even been competitive.

And when they are competitive, they lose to the Lions.

Add to that the fact that the Browns have already fired a GM who was on the job for less than a year and that their best player, Shaun Rogers, is injured and out for the season.

There really is not a lot of hope to cling to here.

But consider these facts about the Steelers: they’ve lost four games in a row, are coming off of a 4th quarter home collapse to the Raiders, and they are still without the lynch-pin of their defense, Troy Polamalu.

So I will repeat the question: could the Browns actually beat the Steelers tonight on Thursday Night Football?

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: ben roethlisberger, brady quinn, browns-steelers, browns-steelers kickoff time, browns-steelers pick, browns-steelers spread, Cleveland Browns, cleveland-pittsburgh, pittsburgh steelers, steelers-browns prediction, steelers-browns tv, thursday night football

Bears-49ers Thursday Night Football Fantasy Start/Sit Analysis

November 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Thursday night football is here, which means that our usual lineup setting routines are now thrown out of whack.

Though the Thursday night game won’t affect every team every week, most of us, across all of the leagues that we play in, will most likely have a key decision or two that will have to be made three days earlier than before.

This is annoying and can lead to the unnecessary benching and/or starting of players. The trade-off, however, is an extra night with an NFL game.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Because I know that many of you will be late to the party in realizing that you have to decide on your Bears and 49ers players by tonight, I have taken the liberty of doing the dirty work for you. Here is your 49ers-Bears fantasy analysis, complete with start/sit recommendations so you don’t even have to think about it.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: alex smith fantasy, alex smith week 10, bears-49ers, bears-49ers thursday night football, Chicago Bears, devin hester fantasy, devin hester week 10, frank gore fantasy, frank gore week 10, greg olsen fantasy, greg olsen week 10, jason hill fantasy, jason hill week 10, jay cutler fantasy, jay cutler week 10, matt forte fantasy, matt forte week 10, michael crabtree fantasy, michael crabtree week 10, san francisco 49ers, thursday night football, vernon davis fantasy, vernon davis week 10

Nebraska-Missouri Preview: Tigers, ‘Huskers Kick off “Show-Me” Week in College Football

October 7, 2009 By 2 Comments
bo-pelini

This week is most definitely the “Show-Me” week in college football.

We’ve come to the point in the schedule where everybody has entered, or is entering, conference play. Several teams, including the Missouri and Nebraska, are out to earn a little respect by taking on ranked conference foes.

Tomorrow night, the Tigers and Cornhuskers will do just that when they face off in Columbia on ESPN’s Thursday Night Football.

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Filed Under: Big 12 Football, CFB Tagged With: blaine gabbert, bo pelini, espn, nebraska cornhuskers, Nebraska-Missouri, thursday night football