Saints Are Super Bowl Champs & Other News!

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Category : New Orleans Saints

Congratulations New Orleans! You are world champs

  • Brian Westbrook – RB, Philadelphia Eagles: Brian Westbrook confirmed that he was not completely healed from his October 25 concussion when he returned to game action three weeks later last season.
  • Nate Clements – CB, San Francisco 49ers: According to beat writer Matt Maiocco, there is “no question” that Nate Clements will be back with the 49ers in 2010.
  • Jon Runyan – T, San Diego Chargers: Jon Runyan is expected to formally announce his candidacy for Congress in New Jersey’s 3rd District within the next couple of weeks.
  • LeSean McCoy – RB, Philadelphia Eagles: Sports Illustrated’s Peter King says that LeSean McCoy will be the breakout Eagles of 2010.
  • Garrett Hartley – K, New Orleans Saints: Garrett Hartley became the first kicker to make three field goals of 40+ yards in one Super Bowl.
  • Joey Porter – LB, Miami Dolphins: Dolphins OLB Joey Porter reiterated on the NFL Network Sunday his desire to play for another team next season.
  • Rey Maualuga – LB, Cincinnati Bengals: Bengals SLB Rey Maualuga will check into the Betty Ford Center later this month for at least 30 days.
  • Chad Henne – QB, Miami Dolphins:Chad Henne wants the Dolphins to use their first round pick, No. 12 overall, on a big, playmaking wide receiver.
  • Ed Reed – S, Baltimore Ravens: Ravens FS Ed Reed revealed on the NFL Network Friday that the nerve impingement in his neck and shoulder has gotten worse.
  • Anquan Boldin – WR, Arizona Cardinals: Beat writer Armando Salguero expects the Dolphins to “absolutely discuss” trading for Anquan Boldin.
  • Clinton Portis – RB, Washington Redskins: ESPN NFC East blogger Matt Mosley believes the Redskins will look to draft a running back in April “no matter what” they plan to do with Clinton Portis.

The No-Football Blues

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Category : Around the League

After the Super Bowl, we enter the lull that is technically the off-season.

Sure, if you follow college football, you can get all hopped up reading draft cheat sheets, even wishing, hoping, praying that your team takes the player(s) that you feel your team needs to compete.

But, let’s face it – it’s hard enough to stay on top of all the NFL news let alone all things college as well. Not that it’s a bad thing if you do, but for myself at least, I just don’t have the time.

So, after the granddaddy of them all, we’ve got nothing to look forward to until the pre-season starts. And we only look forward to the pre-season because, well, we’ll be so burnt out from football withdrawal that we start watching little league games on Youtube.

Now, for everyone their off-season is different. For writers like myself, we rack our brains trying to think of things to write about that aren’t already being pumped out at a mile a minute by the bigger sports writers. We try to keep you entertained and we love every second of it.

But what happens once writer’s block sets in, which it inevitably does?

We turn to our handy-dandy TV Guide channel. We look at the lineup and see all of the great NBA action going.

But, to be honest, unless you’re a die hard NBA fan, you don’t care about the sport until the playoffs are here. And these playoffs are just going to

Saints Face Battle Of History To Repeat

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Category : Around the League, New Orleans Saints

Saints Face Battle Of History To Repeat

The New Orleans Saints just made history, and even their biggest doubters can’t deny that. But with the given history of teams following a Super Bowl win (or even a loss), should New Orleans suddenly be worried of dropping off the map, or can they get excited about a possible repeat?

More importantly, does a win for their franchise mean that a different NFC team will have a better chance to reach the Super Bowl in 2011? While our fresh minds that saw Drew Brees complete his last 10 passes say no, history says “yes”. First, there is the obvious fact. In the 44 years that the Super Bowl has existed for the NFL, eight teams have won back-to-back Lombardi Trophies, while it has happened in the NFC just three times.

The last time was the Dallas Cowboys winning back-to-back titles in the 1993 and 1994 Super Bowls.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Saints can’t get back, as the Green Bay Packers won in 1997, and then reached the Super Bowl the following year and lost to the Denver Broncos.

Getting there again is possible. However, winning two straight titles just isn’t realistic.

True, nothing about this season for the New Orleans Saints has been “realistic”, but there is definitely a negative “something” that surrounds every Super Bowl winner in the following seasons after winning it all, and 16 years is a long time to go without having a repeat winner for the NFC. The big difference between this era (the Saints era) and the days of the Dallas Cowboys? The competition is much more fierce. Teams like the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, and especially the Minnesota Vikings, are all poised to make a strong run at the Saints’ crown in 2010.

While there’s no “guarantee” that any of those teams make it to next year’s Super Bowl, there’s a good chance that New Orleans has “had it’s day in

Super Bowl Hangover Recap

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Category : Around the League

Super Bowl Hangover Recap

I find myself dragging my feet today getting a recap article of the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl victory on the site. It could be the fact that 106.5 million people watched the Saints beat the Colts (a record for TV viewers)  so there isn’t anything I’m going to tell you that you don’t already know. It could also be the fact that many of our writers (especially Wag and Kenny from New Orleans) are a little hung-over today.

I can tell you though, that no hang over can compare to the feeling Hank Baskett must be feeling right now. After having the onside kick attempt bounce right off his head, Hank would have definitely change the game completely if the Colts had recovered that ball. Gridiron Experts had mentioned that special teams were going to play a major role in this game, but no one saw this coming.

Other thoughts

  • No one ever…and I mean ever can say that coach Sean Payton doesn’t have huge balls. His aggressive play calling could have been seen as crazy if a little luck hadn’t came his way, but “you play to win the game” and I hope his aggressive style inspires more coaches to let loose next year.
  • Joseph Addai played an excellent game. I thought at one point he was going to win the MVP, that was until the Saints amazing second half performance and of coarse some of the perfect throws Manning was making.
  • How did the ref standing two feet away from Moore’s two point conversion not see that it was a catch…nice challenge.
  • Peyton “Frankenstein” Manning’s pick 6 will eat away at him the whole off-season, women and small children should run for the hills.
  • Drew Brees’s kid was cute.
  • Alot of the commercials sucked…we added our fav’s

How lame is it that the season is over!…well, bring on the NFL draft.

The Best Super Bowl Commercials

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Category : The Lighter Side

Super Bowl Poker Game

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Category : Free Picks, The Lighter Side

Super Bowl Poker Game

Are you hosting a Super Bowl Party? Want to put a little money on the game with your friends, but tired of the traditional “Super Bowl Squares”? Gridiron Experts has a poker game that is fun for all that we’d love to share with you. This game can be customized to playing for fun, drinks, or some big bucks.

What you’ll need: a deck of cards (maybe two decks if you have more than 9 people playing)

Object of the Game: To score the most points from kickoff to the last play of the game.

Prep work: You’ll need to do a little work before you can play, but it’s worth it. Find a deck of cards that has room to write on each card (or write on paper then tape them to the cards). Then assign each card with a different situation that could happen in the game. This game is totally customizable but we made it for you….

2010 NFL HOF Ballot

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Category : Around the League, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers

My 2010 HOF Ballot

First of all, I’m not a fan of “big” Hall of Fame classes. I’d honestly like to see no more than five guys inducted a year. I think smaller classes shine the spotlight on each player receiving the greatest individual achievement in their sport.  I also think that when the big-name players are enshrined, the classes should be smaller, like three players max. Point in case: we’re already forgetting that David Robinson and John Stockton were part of the Michael Jordan NBA HOF Class of 2009.  Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers women’s basketball coach Vivian Stringer were also part of that class, but no one will remember that in five years. It’s a shame.

That being said, the problem with the NFL Hall of Fame is that the voters continue to overlook a lot of well qualified individuals, thus creating a backlog of players who should be enshrined in Canton, OH. (Cough, cough…RAY GUY!!!)

So, I pared my list down to seven individuals. That’s more than the five I’d like to see. But, as you’ll see, there are some old-schoolers on this list

Money Where Your Mouth Is

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Category : Free Picks, Money Where Your Mouth Is

Money Where Your Mouth Is Super Bowl 

This a column that puts our expertise to the test, as we show a couple of the bets that we are placing on specific games, or prop bets offered by the many sports books and casinos. Of course we are a fantasy football advisory, but we also take pride in our pick’em pool strategies. Our goal is to help you win pools & money, but if you can’t afford to place bets…don’t

Colts/Saints Over “56.5″ points

In our Super Bowl pick article we got into the fact that the Saints have the type of offense that can run up the score and could catch the Indianapolis Colts off guard. What we forgot to mention was the fact that there is a guy named Courtney Roby returning punts.

Special teams are always over looked in huge games like these, but each Super Bowl team has excellent kickers, punters and return specialists. While Peyton Manning and Drew Brees get all the glory (as they should) games can, and will be won on reliable people like Garrett Hartley, Thomas Morstead, Matt Stover or Adam Vinatieri and Pat McAfee. It sounds kind of stupid to recommend Super Bowl Prop Bets on something as simply as the feet of kickers and return men, but field position will play a major role in the outcome of this years game.

Gridiron Experts is expecting a shoot out, mainly from obtaining excellent offensive starting positions from special teamers. These offense’s don’t need a lot of help, but that doesn’t mean they won’t take it.

Super Bowl Odds have the over/under at 56.5 points for the Super Bowl, but we feel that the score could go as high as 63. Teams that pass the ball as frequently as the Colts and Saints, use up less clock with a 3 and out opposed to a running team. With incomplete passes stopping the clock these two teams will have scoring drives in a much shorter time periods.  In other words drives will be all or nothing. We believe that this game should allow each team more offensive drives than a normal NFL game. Take the over and enjoy a shoot out

Gridiron Experts Money Where Your Mouth Is Playoff Record: 5-0

    Gridiron Experts Super Bowl Pick

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    Category : Around the League, Free Picks, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints

    Gridiron Experts Super Bowl Pick

    Gridiron Experts has been on a hot streak with our free picks for the playoffs in our weekly article Money Where Your Mouth Is, but this game is a lot closer and harder to predict. While many watched a nail biter with the luck of a coin flip to decide the outcome of the New Orleans Saints stamped ticket to the Super Bowl, the Colts won with ease. Does that mean that the Colts are a better team? No, in fact all we really know for sure is that the Colts are favored to win.

    5 points is the spread in which the Indianapolis Colts are favored to win Super Bowl XLIV. Are they really deserving of such a large margin? Bookies may think so, but those who love sports betting aren’t sold on any kind of a  sure thing.

    The fact that The Who are the halftime show is almost fitting under these circumstances, and we are going to break down why.

    The Indianapolis Colts had an amazing season. They were working on a perfect record right up until they pulled their starters against the Jets, allowing New York into the playoffs and setting up the AFC Championship. But the result of laying down the last couple games of the season didn’t

    Rookie Jackpot

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    Category : Indianapolis Colts, NFL Draft / Off Season, New Orleans Saints

    Rookie Jackpot

    The NFL is loaded with tonnes of young talent. The search never ends for younger, stronger, faster and bigger players every day. Naturally, some of these young guns will end up in the Super Bowl with their respective teams just as luck of the draw from being drafted at the perfect time. Some of these rooks helped their teams attain elite status, while others warm the bench. Nonetheless when all the smoke clears one group of these rookies will be able to say they already have a one up on players like Ladanian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders, and Dan Marino. Simply because of the ring, something many greats still do not and may never have a claim to.

    The Colts lead the way with a large group of rookies, 11 to be exact, many of whom were integral to this season’s success. Topping off the list is wide receiver Austin Collie; hooking up with Peyton for 7 touchdowns. Collie has emerged as a new weapon for the all pro and his future is bright. Next comes running back sensation Donald Brown, he was impressive when called on and you can just see he’s waiting to explode. Cornerback Jerraud Powers earned the starting job for the colts this season and has been stellar alongside the other rookie in the secondary, Jacob Lacey who recorded 85 tackles with three interceptions. Punter Pat McAfee started for the colts this season, while outside linebacker Ramon Humber chipped in where he could recording