An image from the future, or merely a tongue in cheek response to his haters?

Last year I went a measly 23-17.  (Granted two of those losses should be accredited to the referees.)  I seek to improve this year, and as inspiration I’ve gotten some competition.  In the spirit of the College Pick ‘Em, I’ve accepted the challenge of Striker as well as extending an open invitation to Scooter and J.P. Sprints.  (Nickname pending approval.  He is my boss.)  I’ve had to rededicate myself to the League, almost as a sign, my faith has already been rewarded by the return of Favre in likely his final NFL season.   That’s a hard line to type.  Brings tears to the eyes, and sorrow to the heart.  Due to the added competition level a new factor has been added to the NFL Coverage this season:  Each analyst will predict an upset in addition to the games normally covered as a means of making our coverage every bit as fulfilling as that of FOX and CBS.  Only ours comes a full 4 days earlier.  Enough talk though, lets get to the Coverage:

The Hampton Pre-Season Forecast

Super Bowl

Baltimore Ravens vs Green Bay Packers

Season Opener Thursday September 9th

Game 1

Minnesota Vikings vs the New Orleans Saints

In typical NFL fashion, a rematch of the most dramatic game from last year was scheduled for the season opener.  Let’s hope that this time the officiating is a bit tighter and that Bobby McCray and pals aren’t allowed to take cheap shots without being penalized DURING the game.  They shouldn’t have to take the measure though.  The Vikings have lost a lot of depth so far.  Chester Taylor, the teams starter-quality back up, left for the division rival Bears; while a hip Injury has left the Vikings without their star receiver until at least week 7.  Percy Harvin is having migraines and Berrian is under-performing, which will put all the pressure on AP.   As much as it pains my heart:

Hampton Forecast

Vikings 24 – Saints 28

Blue House Lives Prediction

Vikings 27 – Saints 24

Striker Report

Vikings 22 – Saints 26

Trojan Horse Pick

Vikings 20 – Saints 27

Cincinnati Bengals at New England Cheatriots

Other than Favre, the signing of T.O. has been one of the largest topics of discussion over the off season.  Can he play with Ocho-Cinco and will he once again become the “Team Obliterater”  as Skip Bayless has coined.  Ocho-Cinco wants to win and is will to be T.O.’s Robin.  However eventually Ocho-Cinco will outshine T.O. and the bomb will go off.  Just not this early:

Hampton Forecast

Bengals 30 – Cheatriots 21

Blue House Lives Prediction

Bengals 26 – Patriots 28

Trojan Horse Pick

Bengals 20 – Patriots 30

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans

The Texans have an high octane offense, that will only get better as Schaub progresses and Arien Foster comes into his own.  However the Colts just seem to have the Texans number, and unless Manning goes down I can’t pick the Texans over the Colts:

Hampton Forecast

Colts 35 – Texans 27

Blue House Lives Predictions

Colts 37  - Texans 24

Trojan Horse Prediction

Colts 20 – Texans 23

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles

Kevin Kolb has played well since taking over for McNabb.  Aaron Rodgers has played spectacular since taking over for Favre.  I think the trends continue.  The Eagles play well, and the Packers play spectacular.  Barring some big plays on special teams Green Bay will overpower Phily:

Hampton Forecast

Packers 35 – Eagles 17

Blue House Lives Prediction

Packers 27  - Eagles 20

Trojan Horse Pick

Packers 30 – Eagles 20

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins

The Dallas Cowboys always enter the season with enough hype to fill their ludicrously expensive stadium and always finish with little enough hype to fill a WPS one.  This is the 3rd year in a row that the Washington Redskins are expected to give the NFC East a run for it’s money.  However their big move this off-season was to pick up McNabb who as already suffered an ankle injury.  If he can’t stay healthy they have to fall back on REX GROSSMAN.  That’s a fate worse than A.J. “Touchy” Feely.  Let’s hope he can.  I doubt he will.  Regardless the Cowboys have the best weapons in the league this season.  Their O-Line is suffering but they’ll be able to lean on Barber when necessary.

Hampton Forecast

Cowboys 24 – Redskins 21

Blues House Lives Prediction

Cowboys 38 – Redskins 20

Trojan Horse Pick

Cowboys 20 – Redskins 21

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets

This match-up has two of my division winners facing off.  Not good for my predictions, but great for NFL fans.  The Jets  and Ravens are known for their Defenses.  The Jets have Revis, the best Cover Corner in the league.  The Ravens have Ray Lewis, the greatest defensive field general in the league.  However both teams are at a little less than full power with the front nucleus of the Jets D, Cedric Ellis out and the Ravens are missing the fiercest Safety this side of Bob Sanders in Ed Reed.  The Ravens however have a much more threatening Offense with the emergence of Ray Rice and Joe Flacco last year, and the addition of Anquan Boldin.  The Jets are missing Santonio Holmes and lost both Leon Washington and Thomas Jones last year.  The Jets will be scary at full power, but the Ravens have the edge in this one.

Ravens 30 – Jets 16

Blue House Lives Prediction

Ravens 24 – Jets 16

Trojan Horse Pick

Ravens 24 – Jets 20

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

Ron Burgandy is known for saying that San Diego is German for a Whale’s Vagina.  What it really means is gets off to a slow start.  The Chargers are horrible at opening with a punch, but always manage to wind up winning the AFC “Worst” as they get to near mid-season and really become dangerous.  The Chiefs reinforced one of last years weaker defenses over the off Season with the addition of Eric Berry, the UT alum with a knack for finding the ball, as well as Alabama corner Javier Arenas.  They raided the SEC once more adding the speed Demon Dexter McCluster out of Ole Miss as a jack of all trades to handle the ball as much as possible. They then picked up Thomas Jones to handle the short yardage carries, to help keep McCluster and Jamaal Charles healthy.  The added talent should be more than enough to grant them an early season upset over the slow starting Chargers.

Chargers 20 – Chiefs 23

When Eric Berry hits you in the face, you find yourself with the irresistible urge to thank him.

Blue House Lives Upset Pick of the Week

Arizona Cardinals 22 – St. Louis 24

Trojan Horse Upset Pick of the Week Inspired by the KFC Double Down

Dallas 20 – Washington 21

Tags: Blue House Sports Network, brett favre, hampton forecast, nfl, scooter, striker report, trojan horse

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.