NFL

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Brady and Edels did well for me. Quiet second half but nine receptions for 97 yards is decent.

That's a sensational game actually. Had I set it for points per reception (decided to keep it simple instead) it would have been even better. Any time a receiver approaches 100 yards, you're gonna be in good shape for your whole game.

I've got him in a keeper league where he is worth 1 round earlier than last year. Drafted him in the 13th round 5 years ago - also got Matt Ryan in the 14th round in his rookie year. Makes drafting much easier each year.

Wow... So how many keepers? In my main comp we drafted after week one of pre season, which meant Brady sank about 2-3 rounds cos of his suspension, and Gronk went from the only TE in the comp that anyone wants to a shaky mid second round option. 10 team league, I took Lynch at 9 and Gronk at 12... And am shaping up as a good team having, basically, a player up on every other team in the league.

[Macca 16,972]

I can see the Pats heading towards the AFC Championship (again) ... unless a team or 2 from that division puts their hand up.

They get the 1 or 2 seed and then it's win 2 games to get to the SB. The Colts might dominate their division but the other 2 AFC divisions are up for grabs.

Didn't watch all of yesterday's game but I'm told that New England did it reasonably comfortably.

[Gorgoroth 12,963]

Brady played like it was week 6, he was in song from the first snap.

And Gronk is, well bloody unstoppable.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Yeah scoreline didn't do them justice.

[Macca 16,972]

• 7mate are covering the Packers @ Bears (3am), Ravens @ Broncos (6.30am) and then SNF (Giants @ Cowboys - 10.30am)
• Redzone is back on ESPN and ESPN is also covering SNF & MNF (double header for MNF this week)
• Thursday Night Football looks like it's being covered by both 7mate & ESPN

Here are the 'Elo' predictions for this week and the yearly forecast for each team (with the weekly predictions you can click on 'Win percentage' or 'Points spread'.

Interesting that 'Elo' can only find 4 clear favourites this week that are road teams (Packers, Seahawks, Panthers & Bengals) Miami are also 2 point favourites according to Elo. The Elo lines often differ quite markedly from the Vegas lines.

[dee-luded 2,959]

anyone know when the SF49ers will be on CH-73?

[DeeSpencer 25,719]

Forgot all about tipping! Damn. Would've certainly gone GB and liked Miami and Carolina as well. Oh well. Everyones an expert in hindsight. Better start remembering for next week.

Watching the highlights now, Bears did enough to show they might at least be a physical football team this year. Definite rebuild on the cards needing to draft most of a new secondary and eventually make the big call on a QB. But hopefully in the mean time we win some games. That or finish dead last and get the first pick.

The same old story shaping up in the AFC I think. NE, Denver, Ravens.... Steelers don't write off San Diego. Teams with the best QB's. The Colts still way too reliant on Luck but also still in the weakest division unless....Mariota can keep having 4 touch down games. Bucs fans wouldn't be happy right now.

Fix that leaky run defense and the Packers will be favourites for the NFC but I feel it's probably more wide open than the AFC if Seattle's struggles, particularly with the O Line continue. Although if your O Line is your weakness the Rams aren't a fair guide.

[JV7 2,351]

Bills off to a good start under Rex... Gorgoroth youd have to be a happy man!! Mariotta off to a flying start with the Titans... I'm nervous for tomorrow morning, it's like when the dees start their season off, a crap performance could mean the start of another long and painful year, not sure I can handle it! Fingers crossed

[Macca 16,972]

If you change your mind on your tips just delete your original tips and post up your new tips ... it's more so the tips just have to be in before the games start.

So, no drama on a change of mind - it's just a quick scroll back regardless to see if anyone happened to get lucky.

Anyway, here's the points tally after week 1

1 - JV7

0 - Everyone else

And the Giants mucked up that last 3rd down play on offense - at least Coughlin owned the decision. The question is if running the ball was the right play, why throw it? A breakdown in communication or perhaps just incompetence?

It's one thing admitting an error but they must know and plan for these exact same circumstances. Just run the ball to eat up the clock - it's a no-brainer.

Instead of Dallas having 1:43 to score a TD they would have only had just over a minute - a significant difference. It's not like the Giants were rushed either - they made the decision to throw the ball during Dallas' last time out.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Yeah was dumb. Though the Giants D up til then had been pretty steadfast. I reckon he saw them play well, confident, and thought yep we can get Romo here. But it's Romo.

[cowboy_from_hell 2,390]

I thought the Giants should have ran the ball on 3rd down and 4th. Run the clock down even more and if they turned it over Dallas would of started at the 1 yard line. Buffalo are the biggest winners so far for me. They went after Luck and Rex Ryan looks like a genius when he has some defensive stars to play with. Seattle at St.Louis should be the opening game of the season every year. Last year they played a great game and today was a awesome game to watch. I'm on holidays and get to see a lot of football and can't wait for the Minnesota game.

[cowboy_from_hell 2,390]

Brady played like it was week 6, he was in song from the first snap.

And Gronk is, well bloody unstoppable.

I'm a big fan of Gronk I love his personality but surely he is juiced up. What is he 6'6 bout 280 pounds? He runs like the wind and goes straight through DB's as if they were Cale Morton.

[Macca 16,972]

Yeah was dumb. Though the Giants D up til then had been pretty steadfast. I reckon he saw them play well, confident, and thought yep we can get Romo here. But it's Romo.

I'll give Romo due credit ... that last TD drive was impressive. Shouldn't have had all that time though.

Dallas have got a tough schedule coming up (especially in the first half of the season) and a loss today might have further accentuated that tough schedule.

I thought the Giants should have ran the ball on 3rd down and 4th. Run the clock down even more and if they turned it over Dallas would of started at the 1 yard line. Buffalo are the biggest winners so far for me. They went after Luck and Rex Ryan looks like a genius when he has some defensive stars to play with. Seattle at St.Louis should be the opening game of the season every year. Last year they played a great game and today was a awesome game to watch. I'm on holidays and get to see a lot of football and can't wait for the Minnesota game.

Yeah that was talked about as well ... however, 20 odd seconds to get within field goal range is possibly more do-able than 1 minute to score a TD. The Giants might have ran the ball in regardless with 2 goes at it.

Other observations from today ...

• KC won an important game ... home to Denver this Thursday night.
• The AFC East teams all won and the Bills might be more than nuisance value
• Packers might have covered the loss of Nelson somewhat with Jones back and firing
• Mariota & the Titans have jumped out of the blocks
• The Rams had a big big win
• Arizona & San Diego had good wins at home
• Detroit just can't get it done away from home ... Stafford's away record in particular isn't good.
• Colts continue to start poorly ... against a team with good defense, it's hard to play catch-up.

Looking forward to both games tomorrow ... it's a pity work continues to get in the way of my sports viewing habits Replay will have to do. The Vikes might surprise whilst the other game could be a barnburner.

[DeeSpencer 25,719]

And the Giants mucked up that last 3rd down play on offense - at least Coughlin owned the decision. The question is if running the ball was the right play, why throw it? A breakdown in communication or perhaps just incompetence?

It's one thing admitting an error but they must know and plan for these exact same circumstances. Just run the ball to eat up the clock - it's a no-brainer.

Instead of Dallas having 1:43 to score a TD they would have only had just over a minute - a significant difference. It's not like the Giants were rushed either - they made the decision to throw the ball during Dallas' last time out.

I can understand clock management mistakes from some players but they are inexcusable for coaches and for starting QB's on 20 mil a year.

Didn't matter if they ran or passed, all Eli had to do was take a sack instead of throwing it away. I guess that's easier if you run the ball and takes out the problem. But feeding in 2 plays and allowing Eli to run the correct one based on the coverage and seeing if he gets an open receiver makes some sense to me.

I have no idea how much they can communicate via the QB headsets but the coach really had to say 'if there's no one open then take the sack' and Eli had to know that anyway.

[Gorgoroth 12,963]

Was stoked with the win.

Got to Wilson 5 times iirc, Donald is a star.

Foles did well first up, but when Pead fumbled the ball and the got a TD then next set Foles gets hit and coughs it up and they go in front I thought we had blown it, but we fought back well.

Ps glad I took Kelce in Fantasy team! ?

[Gorgoroth 12,963]

I'm so over Hayne already, can't wait til all these wonkers stop spouting crap like they know the game.

[Whispering_Jack 30,208]

As a long time fan of the 49ers (whatever happened to Candlestick Park?) I'm gratified to see they're opening the season in Demon colours!!!

[JV7 2,351]

I'm so over Hayne already, can't wait til all these wonkers stop spouting crap like they know the game.

I'm waiting for the bandwagoners to start asking where he is ? Why isn't he on the field all the time ? This games so slow why are they on an off the field so much.. All these people predicting whether he'll make it or not have no idea about the game. I have nothing against him and hope he does well and what his achieved so far is awesome but the media/social media on this shits me.... On a side note, go Falcons! Worth the sick day in the end

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Was a terrible game of footy, and to make matters worse... Hayne plane took off and crashed. lol

My Eagles... a bit of a concern. Looked good in second half. But weren't clutch, and it's clear they're gonna need half the season to figure out who they are. This happened in Chip's first year. Everyone was lost and they went 3-5, then won through and went to playoffs.

Next week against Dallas will see Philly go from last in Division to first if they win. If they lose they're 2 wins and 2 division games behind Dallas. And in massive trouble.

[cowboy_from_hell 2,390]

I couldn't give a stuff about Hayne right now the vikings were horrible. Our run defence is woeful and Carlos Hyde smashed us. There was nothing good about today. Go T-wolves.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Yeah. Was disappointed. I had, and still have, the Vikes as being better than what they showed on the big stage. I'm sick of the same old teams... I wanna see some tough luck cases come good.

[Macca 16,972]

2 points are up for grabs in week 2 of the tipping comp (the first of the bonus weeks) It's not an easy week to find road winners though (are any of the weeks easy?)

The following link may act as a guide for your tips ... note the points spreads are not the Vegas lines - most are close though.

'Elo' predictions for week 2 and the yearly forecast for each team

Here's the points tally again ...

1 - JV7

0 - The rest of us

[Gorgoroth 12,963]

I watched the Eagles game as I like the Eagles and now with Bradford I'll follow closer.

The first half Dappa was cringeworthy, second half, Bradford threw as good as I've seen him do.

If you played the game like that the Falcons would not have kept pace.

Need a fast start v Cowboys, Murray scoring a couple gets his confidence up.

[Gorgoroth 12,963]

Had a loss in fantasy footy too. Thought I was doing well. Texans only got 2 points, that seems low, is that low Dappa?

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Yeah that's what made it hurt. Probably should be a win. Though Flacons did deserve it. They turned up.

Yeah fantasy is a fickle beast! 2 is low, yes... take a look at Seattle's D. But no Seattle will have games like that. What you need is 4 sacks or so, a few other things... low yards.... and the occasional pick 6 makes it roughly a 10-15 proposition. If you score double points with D you should be pleased. Defenses pretty regularly go into negative territory, so don't feel too bad.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Dappa Dan