Now that week 1 in the NFL is in the books, it’s time to get prepared for week 2. As in most circumstances every year, there are some teams that start off off like a cannonball getting shot out of a cannon, then coming crashing rapidly back down to earth. On the other hand, there are teams tripped more than their shoelaces at the beginning line, then speedily catch up to speed. Only time will inform this season who these teams are.

Final week, I went 11-5 in my predictions. Considering that I didn’t make an official write-up, I’ll recap my Week 1 predictions:
Giants over Cowboys
Bears over Colts
Falcons over Chiefs
Eagles over Browns
Saints over Redskins
Lions over Rams
Patriots more than Titans
Bills more than Jets
Texans over Dolphins
Seahawks over Cardinals
49ers over Packers
Panthers over Buccaneers
Broncos more than Steelers
Ravens over Bengals
Chargers over Raiders

Here are my week 2 predictions:

Packers 31, Bears 27
In a quite close game that could go either way, I really feel the Packers will edge out the Bears. The Bears have improved in the offseason, but we want to see them beat a severe contender first, instead of a rebuilding Colts group.

Bills 31, Chiefs 29
Another really close game that could go either way. Final year, the Bills demolished the Chiefs 41-7 in the season opener, but that was final year. Both the Chiefs and the Bills lost convincingly to their week 1 opponents, and look to redeem themselves in week 2.

Saints 38, Panthers 20
Are the Saints a single of the week 1 teams that tripped themselves up at the beginning line? That is really achievable. I see the Saints rebounding this week over the Panthers.

Bengals 30, Browns 19
Neither group looked good final week. The Bengals had the daunting process of taking on the defending AFC North division champs, the Ravens on the road in Baltimore, and had been beaten soundly in all 3 phases of the game. The Browns on the other hand had been in “the battle of the interceptions” as Browns rookie QB Brandon Weeden and Eagles QB Mike Vick had four interceptions every. I like the Bengals at residence on this one particular.

Vikings 27, Colts 23
Both the Colts and Vikings are rebuilding, so this is yet another game that could go either way.

Texans 31, Jaguars 13
Texans are proving that they are a leading contender in the AFC, while the Jaguars hired former Bills HC Mike Mularkey, who was lately fired as the Falcons Offensive Coordinator (OC). Texans will prove to be also a lot for the Jaguars.

Raiders 20, Dolphins 12
Each the Raiders and Dolphins continue their HC and QB carousel. The Dolphins have lost too significantly in the offseason and appear to have a single of the worst records in the NFL this year. Advantage: Raiders.

Patriots 40, Cardinals 13
The Patriots have arguably one particular of the very best offenses in the NFL, which will prove to be also a lot for the Cardinals on Sunday.

Giants 20, Buccaneers 17
The Giants look to rebound after obtaining beat by division rivals, the Cowboys in the season opener. Can the Bucs take advantage of the injuries to the Giants secondary? In a game that could go either way, I’m searching for the defending Superbowl champs to rebound this week.

Ravens 41, Eagles 10
Expect a Baltimore beat down of epic proportions on Sunday. If Eagles fans had issues about their team going into the season, they really should be really concerned this Sunday. In a town that booed Santa Claus, expect Eagles fans to be calling for the whole coaching staff and Mike Vick to be fired!!

Cowboys 27, Seahawks 15
Are the Cowboys legit this year? For Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ sake, they much better be as Jones put a lot of resources into the group in the offseason.

Redskins 34, Rams 27
Redskins QB Robert Griffin III (RGIII) showed in week 1 that he was worth the extremely heavy investment the group place into him in this year’s draft. Are Rams fans going to be second guessing the trade with Redskins for RGIII? If Rams QB Sam Bradford doesn’t turn out to be a probowl player that leads the team to multiple playoff wins, then Rams fans will commence their grumbling.

Jets 27, Steelers 23
The crucial to this game will come down to whoever can get the most pressure on the opposing QB. I like the Jets in a close 1.

Chargers 20, Titans 18
In a game that could go either way, I see the Chargers squeaking by on this one particular.

49ers 31, Lions 20
49ers look to be a single of the far more dominating teams in the NFC this year. The 49ers currently beat the Lions division rivals the Packers in week 1, and look to do the very same against them. I like the 49ers at home.

Falcons 31, Broncos 27
Each the Falcons and Broncos have made significant upgrades in the offseason. The Falcons hired Dirk Koetter as their OC, and Mike Nolan as their Defensive Coordinator. The Broncos acquired arguably a single of the best QB’s in the game this offseason, Peyton Manning. In a game that could go either way, I give the edge to the Falcons, only because of the restricted quantity of time Manning has had so far with the Broncos. If this game took location towards the finish of the season, I would lean more towards the Broncos.

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Petrino passed over a single of his Falcons to hire his mistress

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 14, 2012, 7:39 AM EDT

When Bobby Petrino walked out on the Falcons to coach Arkansas in 2007, he did so in a style that had his players feeling betrayed. It turns out that the circumstances that led to his departure from Arkansas this week involved betraying one of the players on that Falcons team as effectively.

Petrino was fired due to the fact, among other factors, he hired a lady he had an affair with, Jessica Dorrell, for the position of player improvement coordinator for the Arkansas football plan. Dorrell was quick-tracked for the job and was the 1st person interviewed even even though she wasn’t certified for it, and she ultimately was chosen over the second person interviewed: Ben Wilkerson, who played for Petrino on the Falcons in 2007. It’s now clear that Wilkerson’s interview was a sham designed to hide the fact that Petrino’s sole objective in the hiring procedure was to get his mistress a job.

Sports Illustrated has detailed the bogus job search that Arkansas carried out prior to hiring Dorrell, and there’s no way to appear at it and not conclude that Petrino wasted Wilkerson’s time with an interview simply because he wanted to make it look like Arkansas was considering other applicants. Wilkerson was obviously a lot more qualified than Dorrell for the job, but Wilkerson didn’t have the advantage of sleeping with Petrino.

One of the “minimum qualifications” for the player development coordinator position was “two years of prior knowledge inside a football system.” Dorrell had no encounter within a football program at all. Wilkerson was a four-year starter at LSU, a very first-team All-American on a team that won the national championship, and an NFL player who went back to LSU and worked with the football program right after his playing profession ended. One more qualification listed for the position was “master’s degree in related field.” Dorrell does not have a master’s degree Wilkerson has a master’s degree in sports management from LSU.

Wilkerson wasn’t the only applicant who got passed over 159 people applied for the job and the Sports Illustrated investigation located that a lot of had been certainly much more certified than Dorrell. The third person Arkansas claimed was a finalist for the job that Dorrell was going to get all along, a lady named Tiffany Fields, was drastically a lot more certified than Dorrell as properly. Fields has two master’s degrees from Arkansas and has previously worked for the football system as a tutor, and she has also helped Arkansas organize summer football camps, which is 1 of the player improvement coordinator’s duties.

Immediately after Wilkerson was passed over at Arkansas he accepted a job as Grambling’s offensive line coach, and he stated this week that he doesn’t want to talk about the experience of interviewing at Arkansas.

“I’m ready to just go on,” he mentioned. “Of course I interviewed for the position, but I’d rather not discuss it since of the whole factor . . . I’m beginning a new job now and that’s my focal point.”

When Petrino left the Falcons, he was described by other individuals in the locker space as “classless” and “a gutless bastard.” Wilkerson is taking the high road publicly, but privately he could be forgiven if he has even stronger words than that for Petrino.

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1. spellingcopfather says: Apr 14, 2012 7:43 AM

   Gave this young lady a great job &amp $ 20 thousand, plus risk his marriage, damn she must got some great a$ $ !!!

(About:) This write-up was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For much more NFL football news see: Petrino passed over a single of his Falcons to hire his mistress.

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John Abraham is about to enter what his agent describes as a “do or die” round of negotiations with the Atlanta Falcons.

Abraham’s agent, Rick Rosa, told NFL.com’s Steve Wyche on Wednesday that he believes the defensive finish will turn out to be a free of charge agent next month. But that expectation hasn’t prevented Rosa from continuing talks with the Falcons in the course of the NFL Scouting Combine.

Rosa told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that he plans to meet with the Falcons this weekend in Indianapolis. The initial discussions have not gone nicely, according to the report, and the two sides have but to talk about actual years and numbers.

Abraham, 33, has 58.five sacks in six seasons with the Falcons and is coming off a 2011 season for the duration of which he totaled 9.five sacks in 15 starts.

Rosa told the Journal-Constitution that Abraham would like to play 3 more seasons.

(About:) This write-up was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For a lot more NFL news see: Falcons, Abraham’s agent to discuss contract this weekend.

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Saints outclass Falcons to lock up NFC South

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 27, 2011, 12:19 AM EST

The Falcons and Saints have played the most reliably entertaining games of any NFC rivalry over the final few years. The final four games among the two teams have been decided by specifically three points.

That streak ended drastically on Monday night for a very good cause: The Falcons are no longer in the identical class as the Saints.

New Orleans won 45-16 in a game that will be remembered as the night Drew Brees broke Dan Marino’s passing yardage record. It ought to also be remembered for the Saints re-establishing themselves as the dominant team in the NFC South.

It was only a year ago that the Falcons had been the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Now Atlanta is a good-not-wonderful unit incapable of beating high top quality competition.

They have lost to the Packers, Texans, and now the Saints twice. The Falcons came into this year looking for much more playmakers on offense, but the total lack of a running game has negated the boost that Julio Jones gives to the offense.

Whilst Atlanta’s defense has appeared improved this year, they had no answer for Brees. The pass rush was non-existent. New Orleans converted their very first nine third downs, 4 of them on third-and-long. The Saints rushed for 164 yards on only 21 attempts.

Now 12-3, the Saints could tie for the best regular season record ever for any team that doesn’t get a playoff bye. The 49ers just have to beat St. Louis to clinch the No. two seed and push the Saints down to the third seed.

The Falcons, meanwhile, will be the No. 5 or No. 6 seed. They don’t look like a team capable of going far in the playoffs or stopping a high powered passing attack.

It is very feasible that these two teams will play once again in the Superdome only two weeks from now.

That’s a rematch the Saints really should welcome.

Permalink 8 Comments Newest Stories in: Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Rumor Mill, Leading Stories

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1. polegojim says: Dec 27, 2011 12:23 AM

   Strong and impressive O… but D is their weakness, just like Pats and Pack.

   Falcons O shot themselves in the foot.

   Strongest Defensive Team will prevail in this SuperBowl.
2. captainwisdom8888 says: Dec 27, 2011 12:24 AM

   Saints vs Packers in NFC championship game. Cant see any other matchup taking place. And really honestly, I like the Saints in that game with the Packers defense getting gashed up lately
3. cmdv8 says: Dec 27, 2011 12:25 AM

   as lengthy as the lions dont go there once more im very good
4. hauntedspawn says: Dec 27, 2011 12:26 AM

   That game looked like a replay of the GB-ATL playoff game last year. To sum up Atlanta’s offense: some would say consistent, I would say stagnant. Too predictable.
5. bradeh says: Dec 27, 2011 12:26 AM

   Yes, Saints D is so bad. Turner 39 yards, Chris Johnson 23, Peterson 60 and ATL had 16 points.
6. cobrala2 says: Dec 27, 2011 12:27 AM

   They Had been?! Sorta diminishes the Saints’ final couple of seasons to claim they had been peers. I’m pretty positive the Falcons have yet to peak past “wannabe” or “poser”.
7. YouMadCauseImStylingOnYou says: Dec 27, 2011 12:28 AM

   Losing Ovie Mughelli early actually hurt the points that Michael Turner did in the past.

   That and them attempting to force Matt Ryan to be an elite QB with his new toys, when they must have kept him as a game manager which is his ceiling.
8. hauntedspawn says: Dec 27, 2011 12:29 AM

   If Detroit’s secondary gets wholesome, they could make a run in these playoffs. I hope Detroit gets at least 1 win in the wild card and then addresses OL and CB in the draft or FA.

(About:) This post was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For a lot more NFL football news see: Saints outclass Falcons to lock up NFC South.

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ATLANTA — Falcons coach Mike Smith is feeling “fine” heading into Thursday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars following a one-night remain in a Charlotte, N.C., hospital for chest discomfort, according to a source really close to the situation.

The supply spoke with Smith on far more than 1 count Thursday morning and mentioned the coach himself noted he feels fine. The Sports Xchange reported Wednesday that Smith may possibly undergo further medical tests soon after experiencing a lot more chest pains this week.

“The Falcons will have no comment on the report,” team spokesman Reggie Roberts told ProFootballTalk.com on Wednesday, and my source stated a regular and common adhere to-up appointment was scheduled at some point between Smith’s departure from the Charlotte hospital and Monday. That appointment subsequently was confirmed for this Friday.

Any current reports suggesting Smith suddenly is in require of further testing Friday are false, and any reports regarding the require for the coach to check in to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta this week, I’m told, also are “incorrect.”

Smith, 52, has attended all practices and meetings this week as regular, and he even stayed last night at the team hotel, per the Falcons’ usual property-game routine.

When asked if the team has discussed a “next-coach-in-line” scenario must Smith expertise any future setbacks, the source immediately said the Falcons haven’t discussed any such strategy.

Follow Stacey Dales on Twitter @StaceyDales.

(About:) This post was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NFL news see: Falcons coach Smith scheduled to have routine check-up Friday.

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