More preseason games recaps for your enjoyment. Clicky picture to view.

New Orleans Saints Def. Houston Texans 38-20

Brees looked sharp leading two touchdown drives while Schaub also appears ready to become a top 5 QB.

New York Jets Def. Carolina Panthers 9-3

Sanchez continues his offencive struggles. I’m not fooled into thinking that LT still has fuel in his tank despite a strong showing. Matt Moore was very ordinary, as was Jimmy Clausen.

Oakland Raiders Def. Chicago Bears 32-17

Jason Campbell is looking great with the new team and the Raiders certainly appear to be a revitalised franchise. Don’t be fooled into thinking Forte has returned to his rookie year form despite a huge 89 yard run.

Dallas Cowboys Def. San Diego Chargers 16-14

The Chargers are once again excelling in the air all the while their rookie RB Ryan Mathews puts up solid numbers. Romo didn’t look superb behind his questionable OL.

Detroit Lions Def. Denver Broncos 25-20

Stafford looks great, Javid Best looks great, heck, the Lions are looking pretty good. Orton is undoubtaly the starter but a lot of questions remain on offense.

Green Bay Packers Def. Seattle Seahawks 27-24

Aaron Rodgers is going to light the world on fire. Have I already said that? Hasselbeck found some true form as well. While the Seahawks are going to be an improved team this season Packers are going to the NFC championship.

San Francisco 49ers Def. Minnesota Vikings 15-10

Favre is back! But only for 4 plays before hitting the bench. Poor fella. 49ers show some QB depth in the form of Nate Davis and even Tedd Ginn looks improved.

Tennessee Titans Def. Arizona Cardinals 24-10

The Titans look set to start this season with a bang. Young looked sharp, Chris Johnson still has his speed and the bruiser rookie RB Blount did some damage. Meanwhile the Cardinals continue their troubles, QB2 Derek Anderson out performing Matt Leinart.

That’s it! Weekly news will be out tomorrow so stay tuned.

We edge ever closer to the regular season. Here’s the scores from the weekend and my usual quick notes. Clicky image to check it out!

Buffalo Bills Def. Indianapolis Colts 34-21

C.J. Spiller looked very slick and may have some genuine fantasy relevance this season. Don’t worry about the Colts’ loss they actually have a terrible preseason record.

New England Patriots Def. Atlanta Falcons 28-10

Wes Welker is back and looks good. The Patriot’s receiving corp is the best in the league, hands down.

Cincinnati Bengals Def. Philadelphia Eagles 22-9

Don’t start screaming at Kolb yet, despite the redzone ineffectiveness. Terrell Owens looked great.

Baltimore Ravens Def. Washington Redskins 23-3

Despite throwing for over 200 yards in the first half McNabb looked pretty poor under throwing his receivers a lot. Ravens shut down the run game perfectly.

Pittsburgh Steelers Def. New York Giants 24-17

Both Leftwich and Dixon look set to replace Roethlisberger during his suspended period. The Giant’s Bradshaw is looking to take on more carries this year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Def. Kansas City Chiefs 20-15

Matt Cassel finally showed some form while Josh Freeman injured his thumb, ruling out the rest of his preseason.

Miami Dolphins Def. Jacksonville Jaguars 27-26

Chad Henne looked great and had some solid completions to Brandon Marshall. Mike Sims-Walker for the Jags performed well.

St Louis Rams Def. Cleveland Browns 19-17

Jake Delhomme wasn’t awful. Steven Jackson finally got some carries and looks solid.

More to come soon(ish).

More drama, more injuries, more reasons to get rid of half of the preseason games. Who can watch an entire month of NFL football knowing it counts for nothing? It’s hard, I know.

The Old Man Returneth

Brett Favre has finally announced his return to the Minnasota Vikings. After three of his teammates reportedly turned up on his doorstep demanding a decision (including the ever imposing Jared Allen) Favre has decided to return to give the Vikings one last shot at the superbowl.

Stop! Injury Time!

Some new injuries after our first full week of preseason games. Eli Manning despite bleeding all over the fresh new statium in the Giants preseason opener against the Jets will only miss one preseason game. The Bronco’s injury prarade continues with rookie QB Tim Tebow reportedly holding his side coming out of practice. The Cowboys continue their OL woes with LG Kosier injuring his knee. The Bills’ defensive star Jarius Byrd injured his groin again and might not make the season opener. Houston’s rookie RB Tate will have to undergo surgery after injuring his ankle in his preseason opener. In good news the Panthers’ Steve Smith is back and is looking great in practice.

Who Signed Who?

Ex Eagles star Brian Westbrook has finally signed with the 49ers after being reportedly courted by both the Redskins and Rams. Ex Redskins Ladell Betts has signed with the Saints (who last week suffered injuries to their RB corp).

Who Said What?

Retired Head Coach Tony Dungy took a shot at Rex Ryan’s pottymouth after seeing him on HBO’s Hard Knocks using a swear word in almost every other sentence. While I call Rex Ryan’s launguage damn fine television Dungy said “I just don’t think the league needs that.”  Rex defended himself insisting he is a good person and invited Dungy to his training camp to see the Jets in action. By the way, Hard Knocks is f**king brilliant.

“It Wasn’t Me, It Was My Astonishing Work Ethic.”

Brian Cushing, who should NOT have retained the Rookie Of The Year award after proving positive for performance enhancing drugs swears that he suffers from “overtrained athlete syndrome” and that was infact why he failed the test. Yes. This is what he claims and he is hoping that Comissioner Goodell will reduce his suspension as a result. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t happen and he is grasping at straws. Some other vastly more reputable NFL writers that I have asked experts if such a thing were indeed possible, in short: no.

That’s it! Till next week.

Gosh. There sure are a lot of games in the NFL. Here’s what happend to the other half of the league.

Cleveland Browns Def. Green Bay Packers 27-24.

Aaron Rogers as to be expected looked fantastic, Greg Jennings too. I also like the look of browns backup QB Seneca Wallace. Rookie Colt McCoy threw two interceptions.

Minnesota Vikings Def. St. Louis Rams 28-7.

Bradford got hit, a lot. Real trial by fire. Rosenfels appears to have found some solid form, ironcially two days before Favre annouced his return. I kid you not.

Arizona Cardinals Def. Houstan Texans 19-16.

Schaub solid. Mario Williams sacked Leinart twice. Guess what Slaton did? Yep. Fumbled. At the goal line. Arian Foster looks great, thankfully.

San Diego Chargers Def. Chicago Bears 25-10.

Strong start for rookie RB Ryan Mathews. Devin Aromashodu of the Bears looks like a sleeper hit this season as well

Seattle Seahawks Def. Tennessee Titans 20-18.

Backup QB Whitehurst (the guy who looks like Jesus) had a great first Seahawks game and I fully expect him to challenge Hasselbeck for the starting position.

San Francisco 49ers Def. Idianapolis Colts 37-17.

While many Colts didnt play and Manning was out there for only a short time 49ers looked ready to win their division.

Denver Broncos Def. Cincinati Bengals 33-24.

Tim Tebow played his first ever NFL game. Threw for 105 yards from 8 completions which is not bad at all. He also ran for a touchdown. Backup RB Bernard Scott looked great.

New York Giants Def.. New York Jets 31-16.

No Revis led to some big plays against the Jet’s defense, but I wouldn’t be too concerned. Brandon Jacobs got to hit somebody and Eli Manning took a wonderful hit to the head. 12 stiches.

That’s it! Ready yourself for round 2.

Preseason Games Ahoy! Who won? Who looked good? Read on.

New England Patriots Def. New Orleans Saints 27-24.

While Brees looked shaky in his first possession he quickly rallied and like Brady appears to not have lost his touch over the offseason. Julian Edelman, who if Wes Welker remains injured will start looked especially sharp.

Baltimore Ravens Def. Carolina Panthers 17-12.

Flacco and co. unleashed their new passing offense strongly with Boldin getting his first ever touch and Claton and McGahee looked particularly good. Matt Moore got smacked a few times but rookie Jimmy Clausen looked solid despite an unlucky interception.

Oakland Raiders Def. Dallas Cowboys 17-9.

New Raiders QB Jason Campbell looked to fit in well while the Cowboys showed they had solid depth under Romo in the form of Kitna. Raiders endzone defense held Cowboys to only 3 field goals.

Washington Redskins Def. Buffalo Bills 42-17.

Donovan looked solid against a weak Bills defense with Shanahan’s new team putting up big numbers. Questions loom large still over Bills’ QB situation and injuries have seen to put rookie C.J. Spiller in the spotlight.

Philadelphia Eagles Def. Jacksonville Jaguars 28-27.

Kolb looked great and Vick found his legs in what was a much closer victory than expected.

Atlanta Falcons Def. Kansas City Chiefs  20-10.

Matt Ryan looked good however Cassel for the Chiefs did not. Dexter McCluster looks like he could be entertaining while Michael Turner appears solid.

Miami Dolphins Def. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10-7.

This game was largely unimpressive but while Heine for the Dolphins was not terrific the backup Thigpen looked good. Brandon Marshall for the Dolphins was practically a no show. Josh Freeman looked good.

Pittsburg Steelers Def. Detroit Lions 23-7.

Both Matthew Stafford for the Lions and 3rd string QB Dennis Dixon looked better than current Steelers starting QB Leftwitch (while Roethlisberger is suspended). Javid Best had some nice touches as well.

That’s part 1! I’ll be rushing part 2 later tonight.

The first week of the 2010 NFL Pre-Season comes to an end this Tuesdasy as the New York Jets face the New York Giants in the grand opening of the New Meadowlands Stadium in Monday Night Football.

Apart from that the 2009 NFL Yearbook series continues through the week looking at each teams 2009 season in review and also don’t forget to catch up with the latest NFL news on NFL live.

So. Many. Injuries. Read on for more.

Stop! Injury time!

Broncos took another blow when star pass rusher Elvis Durmervil tore a pectoral muscle during training camp. It’s probably going to cost him the entire season and really hurt the Bronco’s sack count. Raiders RB McFadden has a sore hamstring and will not play in their first preseason game. The Browns lost D’Quell Jackson to a chest injury for up to 8 weeks and the Saints RB Harrison tore his ACL, stopping his season dead. Arizona’s Beanie Wells suffered a rib injury on Monday but will probably be %100 by the regular season. Michael Jenkins of the Atlanta Falcons is out for 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Raven’s CB Dominic Foxworth is out for season with a knee injury. Finally Brett Farve is not certain that he is healthy enough to play this season and Percy Harvin is again suffering from migraines, as is his coach.

Money!

Texans make the smart move and extended Andre Johnson’s contract to 2016 making his contract worth over 70 million dollars. Andre Johnson is the best WR in the league and is now being paid as such. The Broncos also picked up RB Fargas to give a little depth to their injury worn running game (LenDale White is injured too). Finally all the 1st round picks of the draft have been signed with no holdouts. Phew!

Contract Issues!

Revis and the Jets are looking no closer to a deal, with very real implications for the Jet’s playoff chances should he sit out part of the season. The Chargers still have contract issues with Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeill and Shawne Merriman (in order they should: trade, pay, ignore). Skins fans can rest assured Haynesworth has passed his fitness test and is practicing with the rest of the team, albeit with the 2nds at this time.

Tis the Preseason (to be bored).

Cowboys and Bengals fans enjoyed a pretty bland Hall of Fame game with the Cowboys coming on top 16-7. Highlights include T.O. catching the ball a few times and some terrible decisions by Jordan Palmer capitalised on with a theatrical defensive touchdown by the Cowboys. That was about it.

Madden 11!

Madden NFL 11 came out this week with super commentator Gus Johnson and actual run blocking. In my Skins franchise by week 4 I had already had both Chris Cooley and Donovan McNabb out with broken collarbones. It was worth it because I beat the Cowboys in week one.

So many injuries (real and virtual) and we are still 4 weeks from the regular season. Enjoy the preseason everybody!

Welcome back to our special Australian NFL TV guide series. Every week we will be posting all the upcoming NFL shows and feature them on an easy to read calendar.

The NFL pre-season is nearly upon us and the NFL action is starting to heat up on Australian TV already. We have our first pre season game Friday morning…the Carolina Panthers vs Baltimore Ravens.

Every year the NFL seems to get bigger in Australia and much to my delight that also means every year we seem to get better and more consistent coverage and programming.

I remember back in the old days when the only NFL show I could find was hosted by Don Lane on SBS in the middle of the night! Now we have specials, live coverage, the Draft, Hall Of Fame action and even prime time replays on free to air and Foxtel!

I am currently in the middle of making a new TV guide feature with a Calendar, up to date widget and some cool email and subscribe features but its not quite ready yet.

Without further ado here is this weeks NFL action on Australian Free To Air & Pay TV:

Rookie contracts! Veteran contracts! So much money! When do Andy and I get a cut? Also Haynesworth finally brings consistency to the Redskins camp in the form of multiple failures of his fitness test. Want more news? Read on.

Rookies being showed the money.

It’s about that time of year when rookies open their bank accounts and owners open their wallets. Those 1st round draft picks need to be in camp, and the quickest way to get them in there to learn the system is to pay them astonishing amounts of money. Case in point: QB of the future and 1st round pick Sam Bradford who just picked up the largest rookie contract in history with 51 million dollars guaranteed! That’s right, 51 million for a player who has never played a single down in the NFL. Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot. Here‘s a list of the current rookie deals.

Veteran deals not done dirt cheap.

Talking about big money, Peyton Manning is about to receive a huge deal from the Colts, arguably well deserved. The Titan’s Chris Johnson seems to have something planned out,  also the Chargers Vincent Jackson is still refusing to sign his tender, suggesting a possible trade for the teir 1 WR if he jumps up and down like a baby enough. Also the best CB in the league, Darrell Revis? Still waiting to get paid.

Haynesworth clearly worth every cent.

From a shopfront in Maryland. Just don't let Haynesworth see it.

Albert Haynesworth made good on his promise to attend the Redskins training camp by promptly failing his fitness test. He took a bathroom in between his first and second 300 yard shuttle runs and despite passing the first run was forced to start over and then fail. He has now over last few days been consistently too sore (knee) to try/fail again. Haynesworth is getting pissed because he can’t train with the team until he passes the test, while Shanahan is being a lovable hardass by refusing to give him a break.

Injury Bonaza!

Injuries! Philadelphia just went into deep shock. It was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced: Star WR Desean Jackson may have suffered a minor injury in camp, jury is still out on how bad it is. Also? Dez Bryant is out for 4 weeks, again hurting himself in training camp. Sorry Andy. Finally Denver’s Knowshon Moreno AND Correll Buckhalter both got injured on the same day, literally 10 minutes apart.

T.O. to Bengals on a 1 year contract.

Hands up if you can think of any team in the NFL primed to be more entertaining than the Bengals this season? Put that hand down! You are a liar Sir. Nothing can be more entertaining that the Bengals with OchoCinco and OchoUno (Terrell Owens) on the same team. T.O. Signed a 1 year deal and will probably line up as the WR2 (bumping Bryant to the slot).

What is Favre doing? Who knows.

Brett Favre has retired? Nope. Last year I told a friend to drop Favre before the season started from his fantasy team because he was retiring. Then a rival picked him up, Favre un-retired and promptly had a career best year. The moral of the story? Screw you, Brett Favre.

That’s it! Can you believe I managed to fit in references to both Spider-Man and Star Wars? I’m such a delightful nerd. More news next week!

This time I turn my highly questionable gaze upon the AFC North. Will the Bengals once again sweep the division? Will Ray Rice continue his rise as an elite RB? Will the Browns continue their late 2009 season form? Will Ben Roethlisberger…ah.. restrain himself? Read on, fella, read on.

Division Champion, Baltimore Ravens, 11-5. Once again under the leadership of young QB Joe Flacco the Ravens reached the playoffs in 2009, an achievement both in part to their marvelous defense and strong running game. Ray Rice has exploded onto the scene with some genuine numbers despite supposedly being a part of a committee and having many goaline TD’s vultured. But this year that’s not all: The Ravens picked up Anquan Boldin from Arizona, giving their WR corp immediate respect, particularly in yards after the catch, and teams who spent most of their off-season game planning for Rice suddenly have to cover the pass as well. Not to mention the two strong DL 2nd round picks in Terrence Cody (DT) and Sergio Kindle (DE) and the two late TE picks in Ed Dickerson and Denis Pitta. The pass could become quite dangerous in Baltimore. Nice.

Division Runners Up, Cincinnati Bengals, 9-7 or 10-6. If the Bengals get 10 wins this season its because they beat Baltimore and have actually won the division. Possible, sure, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Last year the Bengal’s ran the ball a lot, and with the resurgence of Cedric Benson it proved a hit. However the pass certainly suffered for it, and Carson Palmer did nothing to reclaim his earlier success a few years back. This is an issue that the Bengals to their credit have addressed this off-season by picking up Antonio Bryant on a 5 year contract and very recently signing Terrel Owens to a 1 year stint. It really wouldn’t be outlandish to think for the most of the time all three WRs will be on the field.  Picking up Jermaine Gresham (TE) in the first round in the draft clearly indicates that the Bengal’s will be trying to go back to the air this 2010 season. Did I mention they have more or less maintained their top 10 defensive team as well? Certainly dangerous.

Then, Pittsburgh Steelers, 7-9. The Steelers had a terrible season in 2009 and perhaps a worse off-season. Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes both had off field ‘issues’ with the law (to put it as mildly as possible) and now the star QB is suffering a massive suspension and superbowl MVP Holmes was traded away. However not all is lost: last season both Rashard Mendenhall (RB) and Mike Wallace (WR) took full advantage of their chances and gave us flashes of brilliance.  Despite this with the injury of one of their best tackles Willie Colon (what an unfortunate name) there are a lot of questions hovering over the Steelers camp this pre-season. The Colon injury (ha!) has dangerous implications as the OL has been a consistent issue with the Steelers (in part due to Roethlisberger’s reluctance to let go of the ball). Thankfully they have made efforts to fix it by drafting Maurice Pouncy (C) in the 1st round and grabbing ex Cowboy Flozell Adams as Colon’s replacement. However, with Byron Leftwich opening the regular season until Big Ben returns don’t expect fireworks.

Finally, Cleveland Browns, 6-10 or 7-9. The Browns ended their previous season on a high note with some nice wins but have struggled to carry that momentum into the pre-season. In the draft they addressed their struggling secondary with 1st round pick Joe Haden (CB) and 2nd round pick T.J. Ward (FS), both could develop into solid starters. Am I the only guy who noticed that Jerome Harrison exploded in the last 3 games of the season? He ran for 286 yards in week 15, I’m not kidding. Despite this they still drafted another RB in the 2nd round in Montario Hardesty, continuing the tradition of bad teams drafting to replace well performing RBs. Grabbing Jake Delhomme (QB) in the off-season is a small improvement although I do like Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy waiting in reserve. I have said it before but Joshua Cribbs is amazing and because of him alone the Browns deserve some wins this season, I’m hoping they get it. Preferably against the Steelers.

The way I see it there are going to be two key battles this 2010 season: Firstly, between the Ravens and Bengals for the top spot, and then the Steelers and Browns for 3rd. Both battles are up for grabs and if we get half as many surprises as we did last season from these teams the AFC North should be paid close attention to by any true NFL fan. Ochocinco and Ochouno! Madness!

Also, don’t forget you can sign up to our fantasy league by emailing me at zedekdavies@hotmail.com. We want YOU to stand up and be counted! Show us your fantasy stripes! Enlist Signup now!