Chargers begin the longest road trip of the season with a stop in Buffalo this Sunday. From Buffalo the Chargers head straight to London where they will face the New Orleans Saints. San Diego arguably coming off their best game of the season defeating the New England Patriots 30-10 in the Sunday night prime time game, and we’ll see if that momentum carries over here. Buffalo off a rough loss at Arizona two weeks ago as their QB Edwards was knocked out early in a 41-17 embarrassment against the Cardinals. Buffalo QB Edwards suffered a concussion in that game but he’s had the bye week to get healthy and has been cleared to play. So who’s got the edge here today? Let’s take a look a closer look at both squads and we’ll start with the visiting Chargers.
San Diego now stands at 3-3 on the season and sit a game back of Denver in the AFC West standings. Of course San Diego fans and referee Ed Hochuli will tell you that the Chargers should be the 4-2 team and Denver 3-3, but that’s a whole different discussion. Chargers have the twelfth ranked offense in the league averaging 318 yards per game, but unlike years past, LaDainian Tomlinson hasn’t been the main reason. LT only averaging 3.7 yards per carry this season and he’s only scored 4 touchdowns this season. Without LT producing the Chargers have turned to the air to get it done. Rivers has nearly 1500 yards passing this season with 14 touchdowns and only 4 picks. Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers a terrific tandem at WR, Antonio Gates one of the best tight ends in the game, and the special teams with Darren Sproles have been excellent. Defensively it’s another story for San Diego. The Chargers rank twenty-eighth in the league in defense giving up 366 yards per game and gets even worse on the road where they’ve given up a whopping 400 yards per contest. Charger secondary is allowing 65.3% pass completions this season and they’ve got to get better is they expect to make a Super Bowl run.
Buffalo Bills 4-1 on the season are coming off their first loss of the season at Arizona two weeks ago, and they’ll look to get back on track at home where they’re 2-0 this season. Bills offense has been more productive this year with Edwards at QB scoring 25.2 points per contest. Edwards is completing 66.4% of his passes, and he has a nice young RB in the back field in Marshawn Lynch who has 4 scores this season. Defensively the Bills hold the edge here today. Buffalo ranks ninth in the league in overall defense and eighth against the pass, so it’ll be interesting to see that Charger passing attack against the Bills pass defense. Buffalo special teams should get a boast with the return of Roscoe Parrish to the line up, and like San Diego’s return man Sproles, he’s a threat to score every time he gets the ball. Bills suddenly find themselves in the role of favorite in the AFC East division and a favorable schedule could just put them in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
Checking the trends and angles for this one we find that San Diego is a terrific 36-17 ATS on artificial turf since 1992, and 16-4 ATS versus AFC opponents the last 2 seasons. Bills are a solid 11-3 ATS in tight games where the line is 3 or less in any direction, and a money making 12-6 ATS at home the last 18. San Diego is 4-2 straight up in the series but just 3-3 ATS and Buffalo has actually covered 3 of the last 4. It’s certainly a good situational spot for Buffalo as the Bills are coming off a loss and a bye while the Chargers are off a satisfying revenge win over New England and they’re headed straight to London to face New Orleans next week. With that said I’m going to take the over in this one Sunday. Bills should have success against that Charger secondary and San Diego’s balanced offensive attack should get some good play action going against Buffalo. Buffalo 4-1 over this season including 2-0 over at home and the Chargers are 5-1 over on turf the last 2+ seasons. I don’t think 45 is enough points and I’ll side with the over here.
By Mike Wynn Sports
For the tenth time since 1950 the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns are both ranked in the top 5 heading into the Red River Rivalry in Dallas. Both teams have been very impressive offensively and both teams have yet to be tested seriously. Sooners and Longhorns are both averaging about 36 points margin per victory this season and this game has national implications written all over it. So let’s take a look at both these squads and we’ll start the Oklahoma Sooners.
By Mike Wynn Sports
After taking the North Carolina job at the end of the 2006 season Butch Davis makes his first trip back to Miami to face his old club the Hurricanes. Last year Davis’s Tar Heels got the better of it in Chapel Hill winning 33-27. This year things have changed as the Hurricanes seem to be back on the rise after a couple down years and N Carolina will be going it with an inexperience QB as starter Yates is out for 6 weeks with an ankle injury. So let’s take a look at both teams here and well start with the visiting N Carolina Tar Heels.
By Mike Wynn Sports
The 10th ranked Wisconsin Badgers are 2-0 on the young season and making their first road trip of the season to face the 21st ranked Fresno St Bulldogs. Fresno St 1-0 with a big road win over Rutgers to kick off the season, and Pat Hill is hoping to splash onto the national scene with a win over a top 10 opponent. It will be a great atmosphere for this game Saturday night as Fresno St head coach Pat Hill is billing this game as the biggest game in the history of their stadium, and it better be after they turned down a one million dollar offer from the Badgers to move this game to Lambeau Field in Green Bay. These two teams have met twice and both games were played in Madison with Wisconsin edging Fresno 23-21 in 2002, and losing 32-20 in 2001. This will be Wisconsin’s first trip into Bulldog stadium and it should be a fun one to watch. So let’s take a look at both these teams and we’ll start with the visiting Wisconsin Badgers.
By Mike Wynn Sports
With hurricane Gustav done and gone it looks like they’ll be playing football at the Superdome Sunday, and the Saints will look to put a very disappointing 2007 campaign behind them. Last year the Saints opened up the season with 4 straight losses and never really ever recovered or lived up to the expectations finishing the season 7-9. Tampa Bay on the other hand was a nice surprise finishing off 2007 winning the NFC South with a 9-7 record and a playoff birth. Big game for both teams here today, as divisional match ups are always doubly important, and both teams will be ready coming out of pre-season. So let’s take a look at both teams here and we’ll start with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
By Mike Wynn Sports
After the great success of both these teams last season this game Saturday becomes very important to both ball clubs. Illinois and Missouri both ranked in the polls to start the season and both teams are expecting big things this season. Missouri is hoping to compete for a national championship and this team should have some attitude after being shunned for a BCS bowl bid last season. Illinois hopes to compete for a Big 10 title this season and follow up on last year’s successes. So let’s take a look at this match up Saturday and we’ll start with the Fighting Illini of Illinois.
By Spike Measer, Big Time Sports
NFC EAST
Dallas - The ‘Boys are still smarting from their playoff loss last season. A lack of focus and overconfidence dealt a humbling blow in 2007, but that won’t be a problem this year. This is the most talent-laden club in the conference, and could easily replicate that gaudy 13-3 record from a season ago. Terrell Owens and Jason Witten return as powerful weapons for athletic playmaking quarterback Tony Romo. Marion Barber will be the full time featured back, but rookie Felix Jones will make a significant contribution. The O-Line is already solid and will benefit from new position coach Hudson Houck. Dallas was the second-highest scoring team in the NFL last season, and should be near the top again this time around. The stop unit is a very capable bunch, playing a 3-4 scheme featuring DE Marcus Spears and OLB DeMarcus Ware (14 sacks in ‘07). The secondary of Newman, Hamlin, Williams and Henry is one of the best in the league. PK Nick Folk has a strong leg. With back-to-back road games only once, and 4 of their last 6 at home, anything less than a trip to the Super Bowl will be a disappointment. This team clearly warrants being the favorite in the NFC.