Oklahoma at Tennessee
Butch Jones has been recruiting his butt off to change the talent and culture at Tennessee. For those unfamiliar, the state of Tennessee does not produce enough talent each year to make in-state recruiting a large focus at Tennessee. The Vols have been at their best when they can grab talent from neighboring states and the rest of the country.
Quarterback Josh Dobbs and cornerback Cameron Sutton are from Georgia, receiver Pig Howard is from Florida. The Vols recruiting classes have been ranked 4th and 7th in the last two seasons. This has helped fill the program with talented players to once again compete against the likes of Oklahoma.
That hasn’t been the case over the last few years. Since 2011 the Tennessee Volunteers have played 22 games against Top 25 ranked opponents. They are 1-21. The only victory over that time was in 2013 against South Carolina.
This is a bigger game for Tennessee. It represents a chance to beat a Top 25 team at home and prove that they can be a contender in the SEC East. The talent is there, but the recent history has not been.
Oregon at Michigan State
If there has been an Achilles heel for the Oregon program over the past several seasons it has been their defense. While their offense took a small step back under Helfrich, it’s still among the very best in the country. But the defense has routinely been a question mark, as the bend but don’t break mentality has been part of the program.
Oregon gave up 549 yards last week in a season opening win against Eastern Washington. That puts them at 113th defensively in the country. The same thing happened last year as Oregon gave up a ton of yards to open up the season. Their defense was consistently ranked in the 100’s, before improving late in the year to reach 84th overall in the country.
Michigan State got off to a slow start defensively last week by their standards in giving up 383 yards to Western Michigan. But the Spartans were ranked 8th last season, and 2nd in the country the year before. Defense and toughness is what they do. Teams that make life difficult on Oregon’s offense tend to be the types that beat them.
Last year Michigan State held a 27-18 lead on Oregon in the 3rd quarter in Eugene. It took a dynamic play by the Heisman Trophy winner in Marcus Mariota to turn that game back in their favor. Oregon will need that type of play on the road to overcome their defense.
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
The New York Giants struggles over the recent seasons can be directly attributed to the aging and deterioration of their offensive and defensive lines. During their 2011 Super Bowl winning season, the Giants were a poor rushing team who got it together in the playoffs and outrushed their opponents.
In 2013, the Giants inability to play well on the offensive line led to just a little more than 1,300 rushing yards that season. Eli was sacked 39 times. In 2014 they improved to a little over 1,600 yards, but Eli continued to struggle with taking care of the football. Over the last two years he’s thrown 41 interceptions and has been sacked 67 times.
The Giants have lost 4 straight to Dallas and 5 of 6. The rise of the Dallas offensive line and running game has changed the dynamic of this rivalry. The Giants used to be able to rely on Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo having to throw a ton while being beaten up by the Giants pass rush. In 2013, Romo had to throw 87 times over two games to beat the Giants (4 TDs/2 INTs). Last year, he needed just 49 passes (7 TDs/1 INT).
If the Giants are going to be a factor this year, their offensive line will be the key. They have weapons, but Eli needs a clean pocket. The defense did have 47 sacks last season, but with Jason Pierre-Paul unavailable it will be interesting to see how much that pass rush falls off. They’ll need that rush and the offensive line to play well to beat Dallas.
Players of interest: Odell Beckham Jr (terrorized Cowboys in 2014 for 4 touchdown catches and 146 yards in their final matchup) …Terrance Williams (finished last season as a go-to player given opponent’s focus on Dez Bryant. Scored three touchdowns in the playoffs including scores from 76 and 38 yards out. Was the primary target of Romo during OTAs)… Joseph Randle (averaged 6.7 yards per carry as a backup. Randle will get the start and his 2nd half playing time will be dictated by how he performs early)
Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons
This game will be decided on 3rd downs. That is not rare in the NFL as the league is largely dictated by what happens on that critical down. But when it comes to the Eagles and the Falcons, 3rd down has special significance.
One of the most overrated statistics in college football is time of possession. With the amount of plays and pace of play, it tends to not matter in terms of winning and losing. In the NFL it’s very different. But Eagles coach Chip Kelly does not value time of possession.
Consider this; the Eagles were 13th in the NFL on 3rd downs last season. They were better than New England, Green Bay, Dallas and Baltimore. So why The Eagles and their pace of play on offense means that they give their opponents the ball more, and their defense must play more snaps. Last year the Eagles were 30th in the league in the amount of 3rd downs defended, with 232. Time of possession teams like Dallas and Seattle faced 3rd down on defense just 200 times.
The Falcons have overhauled their pass rush and their front seven this offseason. Atlanta was dead last in overall defense, and dead last in third down conversions as their defense gave up the first down nearly 47% of the time. Third down will mean everything on Monday Night Football.
Players of interest: Julio Jones (Eagles were 31st in passing yards given up last year) Tevin Coleman (gets his first start as a starting NFL running back) … Jordan Matthews (Falcons were 32nd in passing yards given up in 2014) DeMarco Murray and Ryan Matthews (Should be carries available for them both with a lead in the Georgia Dome.
Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos
This game is a tale of two Peyton Mannings. Which one are you going to get?
For all of the talk of Peyton Manning being done, I feel people conveniently forgot about the first 13 starts for Manning in 2014. During those 13 games, Manning threw for 3,910 yards including 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. But then came the start against the San Diego Chargers in which Manning tore his right quadriceps. From that point on he looked like a different player.
Manning went on to throw four interceptions over the remainder of the season and didn’t post a QB rating higher than 80.1 to end the season. His 56.5 completion percentage against the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs was his worst of the season, and the lowest since a November start in 2013 against the New England Patriots.
Manning is now healthy, and has played at a high level in Denver when he is. Since 2012, Manning has only lost two regular season home starts. 2013: San Diego. 2012: Houston. Expect Manning to look like Manning always does at least early in the season.
Players of interest: Peyton Manning … Demariyus Thomas
