Every summer, I start to think about NCAA two-zero-fill-in-the-blank, and Madden two-zero-fill-in-the-blank. This year will be NCAA 2010, and Madden 2010, and given that both of my teams should be good (Georgia Tech and the Falcons), I feel a little more excited than most.

[Falcons Message Board]

I’m not somebody that really cares about draft grades the day after a draft — how many times have these so-called “experts” been wrong in the past? — but since NFL is officially over, and since we’re stuck with a few boring NBA series right now and 145 more MLB games, I figure I may as well milk this post for what it’s worth.

It’s the last time we’ll be discussing the NFL until a Bengals player gets arrested in the offseason.

How’d your team do over the weekend? I’ve got lots of different opinions from lots of different people. Click here and you can see how Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline rates the picks; click here to see how Larry Weisman, writer for USA Today, breaks down all seven rounds. Clifton Brown, writer for Sporting News Today, has his take here; for Yahoo! Sports, go here.

I’d give you Todd McShay or Mel Kiper, Jr., but they’re douche bags and charge you $39.95 a year for their services — if I could charge everyone $39.95 to be completely wrong about how a player will turn out, I would. McShay isn’t that bad, but Kiper’s looked like a weatherman with some of his recent predictions.

Enjoy the grades. They mean nothing. At the end of the day, Calvin Johnson has to catch Matthew Stafford’s passes, and DHB wasn’t a stretch by Oakland until he officially busts in Oakland. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I’m counting down to September. Fall, you couldn’t get here soon enough.

ESPN has a nice little piece on each team’s strength of schedule for 2009. It also notes that if you went from worst to first in the NFC South, then you’re pretty much screwed (see: Falcons, who have the fourth hardest schedule this year, with opponents’ records being a combined 150-105).

An interesting note: The Cardinals, who made the Super Bowl, have the 27th hardest schedule, or sixth easiest next year; the Minnesota Vikings, who won their division and played a first round playoff game at home, have the second easiest schedule. The Patriots, who missed the playoffs, have the third easiest schedule.

You can see all teams here. With the addition of Jay Cutler, and with the easiest schedule in the NFL, it looks as if the Bears might have an easy ride to the playoffs next year.

[ESPN]

I’ve noted many times that the NFL Combine is the most overrated event in sports when it comes to gauging talent, yet every year I get caught up in what a guy runs or what a guy jumps or what a guy throws (combine studs that probably went a bit high: JaMarcus Russell, Donte Stallworth, and just last year, Vernon Gholston).

That said, via The Big Lead, here’s some guys that impressed, and some guys that didn’t. A couple of notables on my end, from what I’ve seen on NFL Network:

Pat White, QB/WR: He ran an unofficial time of 4.49 in the 40, and then it was adjusted to a 4.55. He also jumped a solid nine feet in the broad jump, which is real important once you’re actually in the game. I know I often see guys stand in place, squat, and leap as far forward as possible. Like I said: Great gauge at talent.

Darius Heyward-Bey, WR: This guy was being talked about as a second rounder, but after running a 4.3 flat, he’s probably going to end up cracking the top 15. Michael Crabtree is still “the guy” when it comes to receivers, but Heyward-Bey is sure creeping up.

Derrick Anderson, WR: This is the guy that I think will be a solid NFL player — probably a good number two receiver — but his 4.58 40 will have schools not paying attention to whether or not he can run a route and catch the ball, and just say he’s too slow to play.

Beanie Wells, RB: I can’t tell if a 4.59 40 is good or bad for him. On one side, it’s slower than most strong safeties. But he’s 235 pounds, and at that size, how fast do you want him to run?

[The Big Lead]
Getting Listy With The Combine

Julius Peppers has made it clear that he wants out of the 4-3 defense, and that there’s four teams — one of them the Cowboys, and two others teams in the NFC South — that he’s willing to go to.

As it turns out, the Panthers have tagged their former first pick, and Peppers is set to receive $16.83 million for 2009. Peppers’ agent expected the franchise tag, but also expects him to be traded. The problem with the trade is that, under the rules, no other team can sign Peppers without giving up two first round picks, which is a hefty amount for a guy that’s had 16.5 sacks over the last two years, with 14.5 of them coming last year.

They’re not set-set, as there’s still some time in the Chargers/Steelers game, but up three scores with under a couple of minutes to play, we’ll go ahead and assume Pittsburgh takes this one home.

So there it is: Next week Baltimore will play at Pittsburgh for their third and final grudge match of the season. In the first game, Ravens players accused Heinz Ward of being dirty, and also ended the season of Rashad Mendenhall. In their second contest, there was the very disputed call when Ben Roethlisberger completed a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes that didn’t quite look like a touchdown (certainly not something that was indisputable).

And on the NFC side? Well, not as much fun. It’ll feature a game in Arizona where the Cardinals — maybe the flattest team coming into the playoffs — will host the Eagles, a team whose fanbase was screaming that Andy Reed and Donnovan McNabb should both be doing their thing elsewhere.

I’ll admit: Philadelphia/Pittsburgh or Philadelphia/Baltimore has a decent ring to it. But Arizona playing one of those teams? Would they really stand a chance against that defense. I know they tore apart Carolina, but I feel most of that was contributed to really, really bad quarterback play. I’m not sure that’d be the case if they played Baltimore (who runs and relies on its defense) or Pittsburgh, who does much of the same.

Games are next Saturday and Sunday. Should be fun. No Peyton, no Tom, no Eli, no LT, but we do get an old QB, two great defenses, and a team that doesn’t believe in running the ball (what’s the over/under on passes thrown in that Philly/Arizona game?). I’m looking forward to it.

There’s one game left — and it’s essentially a playoff — between San Diego and Denver right now, with Denver up 6-3. The winner of that game will advance to the playoffs and play at home against the Colts next week. Here’s the rest of the playoff picture.

-Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins: The first time these two teams played, Baltimore killed them. But Miami’s done a lot of growing up since then.

-Indianapolis Colts @ Denver/San Diego: The Colts will be rooting hard for Denver in this one. The Chargers have given them absolute fits over the last couple of years.

-Philadelphia Eagles @ Minnesota Vikings: Are the Eagles the hottest team in the NFL right now? Minnesota can’t be happy about drawing them in the first round.

-Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals will need to play better than they have the last few weeks to win this one. Atlanta can run, and they don’t turn the ball over often.

What you’ll notice is that Dallas is out. That’s because they sucked balls against Philadelphia, and there’ll surely be some heads rolling soon. And Tampa Bay is out because they lost again, only it was at home to the Raiders, which isn’t really excuseable.

Here’s how I’m doing against Vegas this year. Sorry for the abbreviated run down again this week, but I’ve got a real time crunch with work and Christmas coming up. Enjoy the picks.

Last Week: 7-6
On the Season: 115-100
Locks of the Week: 14-6

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars (+6)
Baltimore Ravens @ Dallas Cowboys (-4)
Pittsburgh Steelers (-2) @ Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins (-4) @ KC Chiefs
Arizona Cardinals @ New England Patriots (-7)
Cincinnati Bengals (+3) @ Cleveland Browns
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins (+5)
SF 49′ers @ St. Louis Rams (+5.5)
Atlanta Falcons (+3) @ Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints (-7) @ Detroit Lions
Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants (-3)
New York Jets (-4) @ Seattle Seahawks
Houston Texans (-7) @ Oakland Raiders
Buffalo Bills @ Denver Broncos (-6.5)
San Diego Chargers @ Tampa Bay Bucs (-3)
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears (-4)

The NFL Pro Bowl rosters have been announced, and like every year when these things are announced, there’s already a big uproar of who’s been snubbed and who doesn’t deserve to be there. You can get both the NFC and AFC starting rosters here and figure out who you think got snubbed.

To know who deserved to go at every position I’d have to be some kind of NFL machine. As much as I love the NFL, I couldn’t tell you if every guy picked deserved to be there or not. That said, here’s just a couple of snubs that jump out at me.

-John Abraham: He’s probably the biggest snub I see. The guy has 15.5 sacks and is the only reason Atlanta’s defense has been decent (if you look at that roster, their next best defensive player is Curtis Lofton, a rookie, or Lawyer Milloy, a 36 year-old). He had three sacks against the Bucs, and one of them came in overtime to help Matt Ryan and the offense get the ball in good field position to set up the winning field goal.

Brandon Jacobs: Maybe he doesn’t have the stats and yards of the other guys. But the Giants were 11-1 with that guy in the roster, and we all saw Sunday night what happens when that guy goes out. He’s the most important player to his team, and he’s the oil that helps run that offensive machine.

DeAngelo Williams: This one deserves an asterisk, because it’s not like you can take out AP, Michael Turner, or Clinton Portis. But the guy had a killer year.

Haloti Ngata: Big reason the Ravens D is back to being the Ravens D. He anchors that defensive line.

Brett Favre: This isn’t a snub. He actually made it in. How in the hell did Brett Favre make the Pro Bowl? This is another reason the NFL shouldn’t let fan votes. Every no-nothing football fan votes for Favre because they know him. Favre should give his ticket to Matt Cassel.

Calvin Johnson: He’s playing on the worst team maybe in the history of the league. He’s had four different starting quarterbacks. He’s still got 1,165 yards, 10 touchdowns, and is averaging 17.9 yards per catch. He’s Randy Moss, only there’s no players around him. A team would get a steal if they could somehow trade for this guy in the off-season.

It was a good week, and there’s a lot of questions left as to who will be playoff bound in 2008. Dallas and Tampa Bay have the edge in the NFC, with Atlanta and Philly a game and a game and a half behind, respectively.

In the AFC, the Jets, Pats and Dolphins all battle for the East. Indy leads the Wild Card, and the AFC West could very well come down to the last game of the season if San Diego wins and Denver loses next week.

Here’s my observations from Week 15:

• The Saints are out of playoff contention this year, but the last few games have them ready for next year. This team is finally learning they can run the ball and win.
• Huge win for the Falcons, keeping them alive in the playoff race. This team will be upset if they miss the playoffs, but at 9-5, they could lose their last two and still call this season a major success.
• The Redskins need to figure out that offense. Losing to Cincy is just inexcusable.
• Of the Dolphins’ last six games, only one team, the Pats, had a winning record. In that six game span, it was their only loss.
• If the Jets make the playoffs, they can send a nice thank you letter to JP Losman and the idiotic Bills coaching staff. Run the football, Dick.
• The Lions have two more games to try and take one. Calvin Johnson continues to perform even with a bad team around him.
• The Chargers finally had a close win go their way. They’ve been an absolute bust this year, but if they win and Denver loses, they’ll essentially have a one-game playoff in Week 17 when they head to Denver.
• Houston will be a very good team next year, but I’ve said that for the last three years.
• I’m hoping that performance the Vikings put on wasn’t any indication of what they’ll do to the Falcons on Sunday. Atlanta really needs to win this game.
• When I watch them, I don’t feel the Panthers are the best team in the NFC, but that might be hard to argue right now.
• The Ravens have a right to be pissed about how that game ended. If the call on the field put the ball at the one-inch line, what on that replay said otherwise?
• Other than a bad call, Pittsburgh won for one simple reason: The Ravens played prevent defense, when their blitzes messed Roethlisberger and Co. up all night. Stick to what’s working, Rex. Stick to what’s working.
• The Giants are in trouble. I said back at the beginning of the season that Brandon Jacobs is what makes this offense tick. He’s proving my point right now.