Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers Sat. Aug. 27, 2011 7:30 p.m. EST

There is no doubt coming into this NFL preseason game that the Atlanta Falcons and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be legitimate Super Bowl title contenders heading into the NFL regular season. These two teams seem to improve with every passing season and have two of the best defensive fronts in the game today.

On Saturday night, the Atlanta Falcons will be the team that has work to be done as they are trying to get their rookie wide receiver Julio Jones ready for the regular season. Even though the Falcons already have one of the best wideouts in the game in Roddy White and arguably the best tight end of all-time in Tony Gonzalez, they were able to add a rookie wide receiver that will immediately have an impact on the offense.

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One of the main reasons for the Atlanta Falcons success over the past two years has been the maturity of up-and-coming quarterback Matt Ryan. With Ryan coming into his own last season as arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the league, the Falcons took off like a rocket and quickly worked their way up standings in order to win the NFC South division despite stiff competition from the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints and the surprising good Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This season Matt Ryan will have his work cut for him as there will be high expectations for this Atlanta Falcons team and the offense will be the one thing that everyone will be talking about. Even though the Falcons made a huge addition to the defense by adding defensive end Ray Edwards into the mix, Atlanta’s offense could be second to none this season with the addition of Julio Jones across from Roddy White.

There are a lot of people that believe the Julio Jones will be the next star wide receiver in the league, but this kid still has to prove it and there will be no better way to do that than to play across from a perennial Pro Bowler and one of the best tight ends in the game. Not only do the Atlanta Falcons have a primetime quarterback in Matt Ryan, a Pro Bowl caliber running back in Michael Turner and one of the best receiving corps in the league, but they can get it done on defense as well.

With that being said, there should be no excuses from this team this season and the playoffs should be a forgone conclusion. The one goal this team will have throughout the NFL regular season is to win the NFC South division title for the second year in a row. This is very possible, but the only way this team will see success is if they can play at high level against a top notch defense like the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It will be interesting to see how Matt Ryan handles the constant pressure brought on by James Harrison and the best safety in football in Troy Polamalu.

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Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings Sat. Aug. 27, 2011 8 p.m. EST

It is redemption time for the Dallas Cowboys as they will be doing everything within this season their power to bounce back from the nightmare season they had last year. Fortunately, the Cowboys will have the tools to make it happen this season as they now have new head coach Jason Garrett calling the shots and superstar quarterback Tony Romo healthy and back under center.

With that being said, the pressure will be on once again in Big D as the Dallas Cowboys try to get back on track in a very competitive NFC Conference. Not only is the conference as a whole much more competitive than it was last season with the emergence of teams like the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, but the battle within the NFC East division might be the Dallas Cowboys toughest challenge as they will have to deal with the revamped Philadelphia Eagles led by Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick.

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In the meantime, the Dallas Cowboys will be looking to perfect their craft and find out what deserve to be on the final roster in the last two preseason games before Week 1 of the regular season. On Saturday night, the Cowboys will travel up north to take on a familiar face in perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb and his Minnesota Vikings.

Much like the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings failed to live up to expectations last season as Brett Favre was no longer the dominant quarterback of old and injuries decimated this former playoff contender. Fortunately, despite the retirement of Brett Favre and the departure of free agent wide receiver Sidney Rice (Seattle Seahawks), the Minnesota Vikings were able to get their hands on Donovan McNabb via trade and will have a legitimate shot to win the NFC North division title and make it back into the playoffs.

At this point in time, there is no telling just how much quarterback Donovan McNabb has left in the tank, but the Vikings have faith in their new starting quarterback as they believe that he will have the right tools to take this team to the next level this season. Despite not having Sidney Rice downfield, Donovan McNabb will have a promising young wide receiver Percy Harvin who will almost certainly take over as the number one option in the passing game. Along with Harvin, McNabb will also have arguably one of the best running backs in the game coming out of the backfield in Adrian Peterson.

With those offensive weapons at his disposal, Donovan McNabb will have a chance to redeem himself this season and get back into the conversation as one of the league’s best quarterbacks.

It will be interesting to see how well Donovan McNabb can function in this new offense in Minnesota with a player like perennial Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Ware coming at him on Saturday night.

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Baltimore Ravens @ New York Jets Mon. Sept. 13th 7pm EST

The Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets are two prominent teams in the NFL that have lived and died by their play on the defensive side of the football. This season both of these AFC Conference heavyweights will be looking to take it to the next level as they will finally be able to compliment their lockdown defenses with high powered offenses.

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Last season the New York Jets established themselves as arguably the best defensive team in the league with the league’s best defensive player in superstar cornerback Darrelle Revis, but this season they will be making waves on the offensive side of the football as well as they have brought former NFL MVP running back LaDainian Tomlinson and former Super Bowl MVP wide receiver Santonio Holmes.

It is uncertain whether or not second year quarterback Mark Sanchez can help lead this Jets offense, but things are starting to look up for this AFC East team as they will have Super Bowl aspirations heading into this season.

As for the Baltimore Ravens, they have also made some drastic improvements to their up and coming offense by adding two very good wide receivers in perennial Pro Bowler Anquan Boldin (Arizona Cardinals) and T.J. Housmandzadeh (Seattle Seahawks) to quarterback Joe Flacco’s passing game. Along with having arguably one of the best receiving corps in the league, the Ravens also have one of the most promising young running backs in Pro Bowler Ray Rice.

Even though the Ravens might need another year or two before they can compete with the likes of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Conference, they will also be heading into this season with their sights set on playing in the Super Bowl come February.

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On Monday night, we will see these two up and coming teams battle it out in what could quite possibly turn into the game of the year as these teams will not be backing down an inch and New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan will be looking to get the best of his old team.

Despite the New York Jets being favored to win this matchup, I believe the Baltimore Ravens will look to make an example of Rex Ryan’s squad to prove to the rest of the league they are a legitimate Super Bowl title contender from here on out.

Even though both of these offenses are much improved this game will come down will be a defensive battle from beginning to end as Ray Lewis will be looking to lead his boys to victory and Darrelle Revis will try to shutdown Joe Flacco.

Ultimately, the Baltimore Ravens should come away with this one in my opinion as I believe they are the better all around team with the kind of veteran players that will expose the inexperience of the New York Jets.
Regardless of the outcome, this will be one hell of a game and a must see for any avid football fan!

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Only a couple of seasons ago, the Tennessee Titans were considered legitimate Super Bowl title contenders as they had arguably the best defense in the league with Albert Haynesworth leading the way and veteran quarterback Kerry Collins leading the offense after head coach Jeff Fisher benched their face of the franchise in Vince Young.

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Even though the benching of Young was heavily criticized throughout the league, the Titans seemed make the right move as they just dominated the competition all the way up to the playoffs with Kerry Collins under center, but then went one and done in the postseason after the Baltimore Ravens beat the Tennessee Titans 13-20.

Unfortunately, the 2009 season started with Super Bowl aspirations, but ended the regular season with an 8-8 record and watching the playoffs from home.

Despite last season starting with six straight losses and a lot of questions surrounding the quarterback position, head coach Jeff Fisher decided to give Vince Young another shot under center and it was just what the doctor ordered as the Titans instantly got back to their winning ways with eight wins in the next 10 games.

Although the wins in the second half of the season were impressive as Vince Young got back to form and arguably the best running back in the league emerged in Chris Johnson, the Titans missed the playoffs despite threatening to clinch the AFC Wildcard.

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Coming into this NFL regular season, the Tennessee Titans will still be a team considered on the outside looking in on the playoffs, but with Vince Young finally playing like the player of old and Chris Johnson only getting better coming out of the backfield, the Titans could be a surprise team in the AFC Conference.

The biggest problem that the Tennessee Titans face is the fact that they play in the AFC South division with the perennial Super Bowl title contender Indianapolis Colts.

With the Tennessee Titans competes with four-time NFL MVP quarterback Peyton Manning in the same division, the best chance of making the playoffs is strictly through the AFC Wildcard. Back in 2008, the Titans won the AFC South division, but that will not happen this time around as it will be an uphill battle throughout the entire.

Not only does playing the defending AFC Conference champion Indianapolis Colts twice in the regular season hurt their chances of being playoff bound, but they will also have to face off against the up and coming Houston Texans who could threaten to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history through the AFC Wildcard.

Needless to say, the Titans will have their work cut out for them this season as making it back to the playoffs will be no easy task, but the two players to watch this year will be Vince Young and Chris Johnson once again as they could become one of the most dynamic duos in the league.

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