Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Second Down

By Sports Magician

Welcome to the second down of Unsportsmanlike Conduct, last week we took a look at player performances for passing, rushing and receiving yards. This week our focus will be on potential winners of Super Bowl XLV.

NEW YORK JETS

It’s been a long 41 years since Joe Namath led the underdog New York Jets to a Super Bowl win against the heavily favoured Baltimore Colts. Namath famously guaranteed a Jets victory days before the match, much like I have guaranteed victory at my workplace for our upcoming Fantasy Football Premier League auction competition.



Rex Ryan led the Jets to the AFC Championship game last season, where they lost out to the Indianapolis Colts. It was an impressive season from the Jets, especially since quarterback Mark Sanchez was playing his rookie season. A good running game and a strong defense laid the foundation for the green side of New York and they were able to benefit from the athletic abilities of Sanchez, although they also had to weather the expected rookie mistakes.

Sanchez coped well with the expectations of a demanding New York public and seemed to revel in the increased limelight and attention. This season the Jets are without running back Thomas Jones, but the emergence of Shonn Greene means the Jets running game should still be strong. LaDainian Tomlinson isn’t the player he was a few years ago in San Diego, but he still has enough in the tank to take some of the pressure off Greene and will no doubt be able to show off some of his explosive speed from time to time.

The Jets made a big push on offense in the off-season, having already built one of the best defences in the league – thanks in no small part to shutdown corner Darrelle Revis. The Jets traded for wide receiver Braylon Edwards during last season and the talented but inconsistent receiver looked to be finally living up to some of his potential. Santonio Holmes has joined the Jets from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a move that was instigated by off-field trouble rather than on-field performances. The Steelers had enough of trouble finding its way to Holmes’s door and facilitated his move to the Jets. Holmes, like Edwards, is a very talented receiver and proved as much while in Pittsburgh. If he can stay out of trouble off the field he will be a huge weapon for Sanchez and his big arm.

We’ll be backing the Jets for Super Bowl glory in the market that allows for four places at a quarter of the odds. We will do likewise for our other Super Bowl selections, this means that should any of our selections reach their respective championship game – be it AFC or NFC – then we would yield a positive return.

PICK: 3*(EACH-WAY) NEW YORK JETS WIN SUPER BOWL XLV (1/4 ODDS 1-4 PLACES) @ 13.00 (SPORTING BET / LADBROKES)

BALTIMORE RAVENS

It’s almost 10 years ago now that I sat in my living room hoping to see the New York Giants somehow overcome the record-breaking defense of the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV. The Ravens had given up the fewest points in a regular season and at that time were the only team in NFL history to hold the opposition to under 1000 yards rushing in a 16-game regular season. The Giants had destroyed the Minnesota Vikings 41-0 in the NFC Championship game, but the Ravens were a different story altogether.



It was a comprehensive beat down and the Ravens haven’t been back to the Super Bowl since, but they have as good a chance this year as any since. Like the Jets, Baltimore’s season ended in Indianapolis in the playoffs. And again, as with the Jets, Baltimore had the foundation of a strong running game and solid defense. What has always been lacking for the Ravens, even in the year they won the Super Bowl, is a number one receiver. Derrick Mason is a great professional and a very good receiver, dependable and with leadership skills. However, he’s not a number one guy. Aquan Boldin is.

The Ravens traded for Boldin in the off-season and he can do great things with quarterback Joe Flacco. Boldin formed part of an awesome receiving duo in Arizona with Larry Fitzgerald which saw them almost win the Super Bowl two years ago. His arrival almost feels like a missing piece falling into place in the Baltimore puzzle. The Ravens began last season with a three-headed monster at running back with Willis McGahee, Le’Ron McClain and Ray Rice carrying the load between them. By the end of the season Rice had emerged as the feature back and will spearhead the running game this season.

Ray Lewis remains the heartbeat of the defense even though he is no longer the dominating linebacker he was 10 years ago. His experience and leadership is vital to this team, even if his skills are on the decline. Lewis has been a Raven his entire professional career and Baltimore ensured he would retire a Raven when they decided to let Bart Scott go last year. The Ravens were in a position where they couldn’t keep all of their top line linebackers, and they allowed the younger Scott to move to the Jets (where he teamed up with ex-Ravens defensive co-ordinator Rex Ryan), so they could re-up Lewis’s contract.

PICK: 3*(EACH-WAY) BALTIMORE RAVENS WIN SUPER BOWL XLV (1/4 ODDS 1-4 PLACES) @ 15.00 (SPORTING BET / LADBROKES)

NEW YORK GIANTS

I’ve been a New York Giants fan for over 20 years and still remember vividly sneaking out of my bedroom as a kid to watch the TV in the living room in the early hours of a Monday morning to see Super Bowl XXV. It had one of the most dramatic endings, if not the most dramatic ending to a Super Bowl, ever. A whole season came down to one kick.



Three years ago the Giants won a second Super Bowl since I became a fan (the Giants’ third in all) when Big Blue upset the odds to inflict the only defeat the New England Patriots suffered all season. This also had a dramatic ending and featured the David Tyree catch which is argued as being the greatest play in Super Bowl history – catching the ball between his arm and helmet while falling to the ground with Rodney Harrison desperately trying to dislodge the ball. I still have no idea how Tyree managed to keep possession of that ball, I’m just glad that he did.



But enough about the past, what of the present? The Giants maintain many of the core group of players that won the Super Bowl three years ago, still in place is coach Tom Coughlin, quarterback Eli Manning, running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, receiver Steve Smith, the entire offensive line and defensive lynchpins such as Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka. The Giants followed up the 2007 Super Bowl win by winning the NFC East in 2008 before losing out in the divisional round of the playoffs. Much was expected of the team last year and after a 5-0 start the pre-season hype appeared to be justified. The Giants collapsed from that point onwards; the defense was haemorrhaging points – due in part to significant injuries – and the offense couldn’t run the ball as effectively as in previous years.

Changes had to be made and duly were – out went defensive co-ordinator Bill Sheridan, who many blame for the decline of the defense. The main criticism aimed at Sheridan was that he wasn’t scheming to suit his personnel, instead asking players to do things they were either not accustomed to or not capable of. Perry Fewell has come in to replace Sheridan and the buzz seems to be back with the Giants defense. Veteran linebacker Keith Bulluck has also been brought in to replace the now retired Antonio Pierce (a vital cog in the Super Bowl XLII winning team). While Antrel Rolle was the Giant’s big off-season free agency signing, and he will team up with Kenny Phillips (returning from injury) in the secondary.

As always the Dallas Cowboys are ridiculously over hyped by the American media and that is reflected in the prices for the Super Bowl. In turn this enables us to take advantage of greater value on other teams that could be in contention, the Giants being one of those teams. The inflated price is also due to the fact the Cowboys and Giants play in the same division, therefore the shorter the Cowboys are, the greater their divisional rivals become since only the division winners are guaranteed a place in the playoffs.

PICK: 2*(EACH-WAY) NEW YORK GIANTS WIN SUPER BOWL XLV (1/4 ODDS 1-4 PLACES) @ 26.00 (SPORTING BET)

Next week in the third down of Unsportsmanlike Conduct we will be taking a closer look at the respective divisions in the NFL.

Sports Magician