John Morgan's Archive:

The New England Patriots opened as 8½ point favorites in advanced betting lines for NFL week 5. DE Jeremy Mincey returns for Dallas after sitting a game due to a concussion. The 2006 6th round draft pick for the Patriots has high praise for Bill Belichick.

New Orleans’ trade of Hicks is not all that surprising when you consider his diminishing role in the defense as the Saints turned to rookies Tyeler Davison and Bobby Richardson in recent weeks. Hicks’ snap count dwindled from 68 percent in Week 1 to 44 percent in Week 2 to 43 percent last week in Carolina. The talented but inconsistent Hicks clearly had fallen out of favor with the team’s staff and brain trust. Still, his precipitous fall from grace is startling when you consider just 13 months ago he was considered a lynchpin along the Saints’ defensive front. The Saints have been in the market for a third tight end throughout the offseason. They have carried only two on the roster this season and desperately need to improve their in-line blocking at the position.

The Buffalo Bills did not suffer any letdown after their loss to the Patriots, as they traveled to south Florida and pummeled Miami, 41-14, to advance to 2-1. While three games is too soon to to reach a definitive conclusion, it appears that Buffalo has finally found a quarterback. Tyrod Taylor is completing 75% of his passes with seven touchdown passes to three interceptions, a passer rating of 116.1, and is also averaging 5.6 yards a carry. Taylor was able to stretch the defense with deep, accurate throws; against Miami he was 21-29 for 277 yards with three touchdowns, no picks, and no sacks. Tight end Charles Clay (5 catches for 82 yards and a TD at Miami) has been a nice pickup, and it is worth noting that the Bills were able to score those 41 points without LeSean McCoy.

Another week and another marquee NFL player is sidelined with a serious injury. Ben Roethlisberger was off to a fantastic start of the 2015 NFL season but will reportedly be out 4-6 weeks after suffering a medial collateral ligament sprain and bone bruise from a low hit in the pocket by St. Louis safety Mark Barron in the third quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 12-6 victory over the Rams on Sunday. Big Ben had completed over 75% of his passes this season and was leading the league with 10.2 pass attempts; in the first two games of the year Roethlisberger threw for a whopping 720 yards, and was picking the St. Louis defense apart, completing 20 of 24 passes before the unfortunate hit.

NFL week three has a few interesting matchups on tap. During commercials for the Pats-Jaguars game – or if it turns into a blowout – Pittsburgh at St. Louis and Cincinnati at Baltimore are a pair of compelling early games on CBS. Once the game against Jacksonville ends, Pats fans should be interested in leaving the tv on to watch a pair of AFC East teams meet as the Bills are at Miami in a late game on CBS. The other late game on CBS is a bit of an anomaly, as it is a cross-flex game between two NFC teams: Seattle will look to get their first win of the season as they host the Bears, who will be quarterbacked by Jimmy Clausen.

One early game on FOX features an underachieving 0-2 team versus a 2-0 team that has exceeded expectations as the Jets host the Philadelphia Eagles. Atlanta is at Dallas in a clash of 2-0 teams early, and the late game on FOX should be a good one with San Francisco at Arizona. Detroit looks for their first win Sunday night at home against the Broncos, and the week wraps up with Kansas City at Green Bay on Monday night.

Despite their recent history on the road, at this point in time Washington appears to be more stout in the trenches, where games are still won or lost. Their running game has dominated defenses that are better than New York’s…

NFL Week 3 finds the Patriots hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars in what on the surface appears to be most one-sided matchup next Sunday. The most competitive contests should be the Steelers at Rams, Bills at Dolphins, Bengals at Ravens and Chiefs at Packers.

The Patriots-Bills game highlights the early Sunday afternoon action, and then Dallas at Philadelphia follows as the big late game. The two prime time games are both well worth watching: Seattle travels to Green Bay in a rematch of January’s NFC championship game on Sunday night, and then on Monday night the Colts will attempt to fix their offensive line issues against a Jets team that recorded three sacks and forced five turnovers last week …

NFL Week Two kicks off Thursday night on CBS with a compelling matchup as the Denver Broncos travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. These two division rivals both won last week, though the Chiefs did it in convincing fashion on the road at Houston, while Denver escaped with a home victory against Baltimore…

The New England Patriots travel to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York to take on the Buffalo Bills at 1:00 pm eastern time on Sunday, September 20. This marks the 111th meeting between these two original AFL teams, with the Pats holding a decisive edge in the rivalry. The Patriots own a 67-42-1 all-time record against the Bills, and have won 26 of the last 29 contests….

Within hours the betting line has dropped, with this game now listed as a pick’em in many venues. Also, links to several early views on Sunday’s game against the Bills – local, national, and from western New York.

Each of the four teams in the AFC East won their week one NFL games. From what we saw Sunday the division is filled with strong defenses that will be very competitive every week this season.

The first Sunday of the 2015 NFL season brings us some intriguing matchups. The best early game will be in Buffalo where Rex Ryan makes his coaching debut for the Bills, against this off-season’s most hyped player (Andrew Luck) and team (Indianapolis); the Colts are 2½ point road favorites in a classic battle between a good offense/bad defense and a good defense/bad offense. In the late afternoon two of the top AFC teams meet as Baltimore travels to Denver…

While all the hype this week is on Jim Harbaugh’s home debut as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, the best game on Saturday is across the state in East Lansing where #5 Michigan State hosts #7 Oregon.

I fully understand how and why two parties would not completely agree on something within a football organization. When for example a general manager and head coach disagree on a […]