It’s the early odds on team’s chances to make the Super Bowl. What are your team’s chances? Just look below. My team, the Falcons, well, they’re pretty much as long a shot as there is, and at 100-1, I think that’s kind of unfair (this one should be somewhere in the thousands or millions). Pats at 7-2? Chargers at 7-1? I like that action. . .

Arizona Cardinals 50 - 1
Atlanta Falcons 100 - 1
Baltimore Ravens 75 - 1
Buffalo Bills 50 - 1
Carolina Panthers 40 - 1
Chicago Bears 35 - 1
Cincinnati Bengals 60 - 1
Cleveland Browns 25 - 1
Dallas Cowboys 6 - 1
Denver Broncos 50 - 1
Detroit Lions 80 - 1
Green Bay Packers 25 - 1
Houston Texans 60 - 1
Indianapolis Colts 7 - 1
Jacksonville Jaguars 12 - 1
Kansas City Chiefs 100 - 1
Miami Dolphins 100 - 1
Minnesota Vikings 18 - 1
New England Patriots 7 - 2
New Orleans Saints 25 - 1
New York Giants 15 - 1
New York Jets 35 - 1
Oakland Raiders 50 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles 20 - 1
Pittsburgh Steelers 15 - 1
Saint Louis Rams 75 - 1
San Diego Chargers 7 - 1
San Francisco 49ers 80 - 1
Seattle Seahawks 25 - 1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 40 - 1
Tennessee Titans 40 - 1
Washington Redskins 50 - 1

There’s never enough Madden 09 previews, and with that said, I present you with yet another. As long as these things keep popping out, I’m going ot keep showing them.

I posted the original trailer, but this one seems to be the actual gameplay, which is so much more revealing than the closeups that come out at first. Enjoy.

Here’s a look at Madden 09, which features Brett Favre on the cover, which is probably bad for Brett. Before, Madden only ruined a person’s statistics. Now, it’s gonna mess up sonmeone’s fishing trip on a nice Saturday.

The day after the draft, and it’s time to see who the winners and losers are. I’m not one who believes you can pick winners and losers the day later — I think it takes two years, not three, like most of the experts say to see who really won — but with that said, I will say this: Tennessee, m’friends, you were losers. They drafted Chris Johnson in the first round, a halfback who’s fast, and that’s about it. In the fourth round, they drafted William Hayes, who wasn’t a player expected to be picked in the full seven rounds.

Aw, such is life; we’ll know more of who won and who lost when the season starts, but for now I cling to the hope that Matt Ryan’s a combination of Michael Vick (without the animal abuse, of course), Brett Favre (without the interceptions, of course), Tom Brady (without being a dick, of course), Dan Marino (without the anger, of course), and Peyton Manning (without being a, you know, a Manning, of course).

It’s hard waiting for the football season, given that it’s baseball and that’s it for quite a while, but the NFL does do whatever the NFL can do to try and pass time. They have a combine, they have a draft and, as little as it may seem, they’ve got the releasing of the NFL schedules (not to mention fantasy drafts, which are always nice). The schedules were released today, and while I won’t go through each game, I will go through some games that are sure to be some fun to watch this year.

Sept. 4
Washington Redskins @ New York Giants
-Super Bowl Champs have a history of sliding off the year after. We’ll get a good idea in week one how New York will handle the pressure of being a Champ.

Sept. 7
Kansas City @ New England
-Wonder what the spread will be for week 1? Remeber: Last year, for the first eight weeks, the Pats covered every Sunday. Vegas finally adjusted and they wore down. Like I said last year, I’ll say it for this year: Pound that ATM until they fail you. Pound it.

Sept. 14
San Diego @ Denver
-Remember Philip Rivers, Jay?

Sept. 21
Jacksonville @ Indianapolis
-The Colts will win, they always do against the Jags, but these matchups are always close.

Sept. 28
Cleveland @ Cincinnati
-Let’s see if one of these defenses can hold the other to under 40 points.

Sept. 29
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh
-It’s a fun rivalry, and based on the other MNF games leading up, it’ll be the best of the first five.

Oct. 5
Pittsburgh @ Jacksonville
-Last year, Pittsburgh was thought to be one of the best in the AFC, and then Jacksonville steamrolled them at home, then did it again in the playoffs. The Steelers should have a sour taste in their mouths, and will hopefully have some kind of plan to stop that Jaguars running game.

Oct. 12
New England @ San Diego
-Let’s hope a Super Bowl berth isn’t on the line and LT doesn’t have a stubbed toe. Let’s also hope Tom Brady throws to Wes Welker more than he does Antonio Cromartie, who terrorized him in the AFC Championship.

Oct. 19
Tennessee @ Kansas City
-Around this time, you’ll hear fans saying V-Young should be benched. Mark my words.

Oct. 26
Cleveland @ Jacksonville
-A strong defense and strong running game vs. no defense but one ridiculous passing game. Makes for a fun matchup.

Nov. 2
New England @ Indianapolis
-May want to mark this one on the calendar. ESPN is licking their chops for this Sunday Night game.

Nov. 8
New Orleans @ Atlanta
-Just kidding.

Nov. 16
Philadelphia @ Cincinnati
-Two good offenses, though one has to wonder just how good the Bengals offense will be without Ocho-Cinco. Guy’s a douche, I get that, but he’s a douche that’s really good at catching and then running.

Nov. 23
Indianapolis @ San Diego
-Peyton plays his worst games against the Chargers. Every time I say it’s a fluke. I’m starting to just think they know what they’re doing against the guy. He won’t have six interceptions in this one, but I don’t see him winning.

Nov. 30
Indianapolis @ Cleveland
-Two good offenses. Who doesn’t want to watch that?

Dec. 8
Carolina @ Tampa Bay
-It’s one of the few MNF games that I think will have playoff implications. I said it last year, and I was wrong, but I think the Panthers do win the NFC South, and NFC overall, this year.

Dec. 15
Cleveland @ Philadelphia
-If you haven’t noticed, I’m looking forward to seeing Cleveland this year. They’re young, they’re fast, and they don’t play defense. It’s everything I love in watching a game in which I bet the over.

Dec. 22
Green Bay @ Chicago
-Eh, it’s a rivalry. But I don’t see either team being over .500 at this point.

Dec. 28
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh
-Let’s hope the Browns are good, or else half the games I’ve said to watch will be no fun to watch.

It was a busy day 1 of Free Agency, and there’s much more craziness that’s expected. Here’s a rundown of some of the things that took place.

• Kawika Mitchell, fresh off a Super Bowl win that has him looking better than ever, cashed in like most Super Bowl free agents do. He signed a 5 year, $17.5 million deal with the Bills, which should help a defense that struggled statistically, but rarely gave up points.
• The Jets came to terms with Kris Jenkins, the oft-injured DT formerly with the Panthers. When healthy, Jenkins is as good a defensive player there is in the game; something that can be a big “if.” Jenkins will more than likely play nose guard in the JEts 3-4 set.
• Josh Brown is headed to the Rams, and it appears to be a record deal as kickers go.
• Andre Davis signed a multi-year deal with the Texans. With Andre Johnson out most of the year, Davis had 33 cathces for 533 yards, and was considered their No. 1 receiver in Johnson’s absence.
• The biggest news of the day was Asante Samuel signing with the Eagles. The Eagles already have Lito Sheppard listed as their second string corner, and it is thought they’ll seek a trade for the vet with plenty of experience and plenty of speed.
• Allen Faneca signed with the Jets. Mangini’s first pick as head coach was on an OT, and now he’s going out and spending on a guard. Fortifying that line is clearly his first concern.
• Randy Moss still has no deal. Every Patriots hater out there is hoping he somehow lands on another team — preferably their team.

There was some grumbling earlier in the week about Richard Seymour head-butting a coach of the Chargers, and this video seems to capture that moment. Kind of. If you look around the 2:48 mark, that’s apparently where it happens; he’s jawing with a guy about my size, and I guess maybe he head-butts him. But if a 300 pound man head-butted me, my neck would be broken. So I’m not sold on the proof.

With the Pats up two scores, and with possession of the ball, this one looks all but over. There’s under 6:00 to go, and the Pats are just moving it. The Chargers got to the Pats 35 yard line with 9:37 left, but instead of going for it on 4th and 10, Norv decided it would be best to punt it when his team was down two scores.

The Pats just picked up another first down, which makes this one over. The Chargers put up a good effort without their best player, but there were some questionable coaching calls, and an inability to score once they got in the red zone. Three red zone possession, three field goals. It’s no formula to success.

Since the weather is set for five degrees tonight, my guess is you’ll see a Pats/Packers Super Bowl, with Brady/Favre storylines for the next two weeks. The chances of my controller finding ESPN the next half month are slim to none.

The game has been pretty competitive thus far, but with the Patriots any competitive game can suddenly become a blowout. Other than the first drive, LT has been out, but Michael Turner and Darren Sproles have picked up the slack nicely. Sproles had about 35 yard run to end the half, cutting the Pats lead to 14-9.

Philip Rivers has 129 yards and two picks, and has yet to yell at someone in the stands or Tom Brady. Brady has been rather pedestrian. . .

The Pats just threw a pick on 3rd and 11. Donte Stallworth was able to get a hand on the ball, but the overthrow by Brady was just tipped right to San Diego, and now the Chargers have the ball on the Pats 28 yard line, threatening to score/kick another field goal. I’ll keep you updated.