The Weekly Muck: NFL Picks from the Black Lagoon

Hello and welcome everyone to the Grand Opening of The Swamp AKA Swampthing.guru! This website was an idea of mine that has been a long time coming and I am happy to say I finally got my sludge together and created the link with the help of some people who are much wiser than me regarding this type of stuff. My main goal for the theme of the website was to KISS the hell outa it! Now what I mean by that is to “Keep It Simple, Stupid” when I was creating it. I thought to myself that my demographic of visitors that will so kindly come and peek at this website are most likely going to be fellow gentlemen like myself. Basically this means that ya want what ya want when ya want it. In other words you’re coming here to gain some NFL insight and to gain a different perspective on a handful of games for the upcoming week in the NFL. I want to bring you exactly that and nothing more, nothing less. In other words, ZERO FLUFF! I am proud to introduce to you a basic page with no fees or sign up BS. Just a man’s man type of website! It’s a place to post my picks and analysis for the week, every week of this glorious NFL season that I love so much. I will pick five games total every week and tell you why I like the side that I do in great detail and anyone who wants to take a looksee can go ahead and do so. I shall call this segment (Dr. Evil voice)… “The Weekly Muck,” and shall bring to you NFL picks straight from the…(pinky raises to mouth)… “Black Lah-goon,” Now without further ado, I bring to you the inaugural edition of The Weekly Muck! HAPPY FOOTBALL SEASON EVERYONE, LETS GO!!!!

***ST. LOUIS RAMS -3.5***

It is no secret that everyone and their pa-pa had big expectations from the Rammies this upcoming season. They are a team who plays in arguably the toughest division in football. They are a young, up and coming squad who has an extremely tough and hard-nosed defense along with an offense who is just a few pieces short of the puzzle from being dominant. As you all know they took a HUGE blow to their organization when Bugs Bunny QB AKA Sam Bradford suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game and is out for the season. I’d be lying if I said that I was shocked about it and that an unfortunate event of that sort took place for Bradford. It is truly a shame and I feel bad for my man Bugs Bunny since he is yet to stay healthy since he has been in the league so there is definitely not much surprise there. To be honest it was only a matter of time. That being said something tells me that the Ramskins had to of known that this is always a giant possibility with Bradford so the good news is that they planned ahead and invested in an extremely solid backup QB. Even better news is that many are underestimating the longtime trustworthy veteran backup QB in Shaun Hill. As a Lion’s fan, I am a big supporter of Sir Shaun and believe he has what it takes to fill in comfortably at QB for the Rams. Hell I’d even go as far as to say that he isn’t too far off from Bradford, maybe even better! Bradford has yet to be the QB the Rams drafted years ago. Something about the guy is just off. Maybe it is the fact that I have never seen him blink….hmmm…alien? Anyway back to the matter at hand here… with their starting QB going down for the season, I really like the Rams to play motivated and start the year off with a big home win against the Minnesota Vikings. The Ram’s defense plays lights out at home in the dome and with the sack-monster Robert Quinn all fresh and ready for a new season; he HAS to be licking his chops when going up against a chump type of QB like Matt Cassel. Quinn is going to try and outdo himself from the season prior which is downright frightening, and I love it! He will be sure to take advantage of stat padding opportunities like this one on Sunday facing the sitting duck Matt Cassel. All I’m going to say is that Cassel is in very big trouble and something tells me he knows it and is already waking up in a cold sweat after watching film on the freak. I’m going to go ahead and predict three sacks for Quinn on Sunday to start his season off with a bang! The Vikes will try to do what they do best and run the rock all game with Adrian Peterson, and as always he will do his thing and have his moments I’m sure to a certain extent. However the Rams are just going to stack the box against him and force Cassel to throw it while attempting to play catch-up and when he does, lookout ‘cause it will be a field day for that St. Louis D-Line which is arguably the best one in the entire league. Now I say “play catch-up” because I believe that Shaun Hill will have no problem putting up some points early and often with the weapons he has in his arsenal. The Rams are equipped with a young stable of horses for RBs who are led by the bowling ball Zac Stacy and what should be a great WR duo consisting of the deadly quick Tavon Austin and a hopefully finally focused Kenny Britt whom I fully expect to have a big bounce back year with a new beginning and reunited with old HC and mentor Jeff Fisher. Lastly, I want to go ahead and predict a huge year from the big bodied giant target TE Jared Cook, whom is extremely athletic for his size and should act as a nice security blankey for Mr. Hill­­­. As you can see I can go on and on about this so I think you get my point. With the spread dropping from -6 to -3 most likely because of the public perception of Bradford’s absence giving the Rams no shot at a win, I am all over this one even more so. Take the Rams -3 at home to roll over Minnesota.

***OAKLAND RAIDERS +6***

I will start by saying that the NY Jets shouldn’t be favored by 6 over anybody until they prove that they are worthy of a spread of more than 3 points. The annual three-ring circus of the NFL that is the NY Jets offseason did not disappoint this year. The Jerks did what they do best and made some serious noise this offseason by acquiring a handful of interesting players this offseason. Given the circumstances of losing their best player and franchise CB Darrell Revis and gambling on an unproven rookie QB in Geno Smith, NY actually finished the year pretty strong despite missing the playoffs. All in all when viewing it as a rebuilding year, it wasn’t all that bad. The question that the Jets still have to answer is if Geno is indeed their QB of the future. That being said, the Jerks went ahead to acquire the infamous dog loving QB in Michael Vick to back up Geno should he totally crap the bed like he is very capable of doing in the first couple of weeks. In my humble opinion, although I like Geno and think he is a good kid, he is not the answer and will not be able to hack it in the NFL on a consistent basis. Until the Jets inevitably throw Vick in there to take over, they are going to experience a dog fight every week (no pun intended) and have a real hard time getting any notches in the win column. The Jets also added Erick Decker at WR but without being able to throw him the rock, he will remain irrelevant. Chris Johnson also came over as well from the Titans to try on some green for size and become the lightning to Chris Ivory’s thunder. I love this pickup and am a fan of both Johnson and Ivory. I think CJ2k will have a very solid year in the Jet offense and if they were smart they would make him their primary focus the way the Titans did in his heyday if they want to win games. Now while I am all about Gang Green’s M.O. of defense, defense, defense and then simply pounding the rock on offense ‘til the cows come home, and then pounding it some more, I do not think it will be enough this week to cover the number. The Jet secondary is hurting BAAAADDD with injuries and inexperience and that is an understatement. They will fail to take advantage of their opponent’s rookie QB, Derek Carr. I’ll use that as a little segue to briefly talk about the other team in this matchup, DAAA RAAAIIIIIDAAAAAZZZZZZZ. Oakland is another team that has added some interesting personnel this offseason. They are rolling with their rookie QB Derek Carr which I think is a great move. The alternative in Matt Schaub is like having a QB who plays for the other team under your center. It was purely painful to watch the downfall of that man last season. Just because he changed uniforms and grew a beard doesn’t mean he suddenly will be a new man as preseason proved. Now as for Carr, I watched the kid this preseason as well pretty closely and I really liked what I saw. Call me crazy but I think the kid has what it takes to make DAA RAAIIIDDAZZZZZZ relevant again. I may be getting way ahead of myself with that statement but it is just a gut feeling that this kid is the answer to their immediate problems at QB. What a way to start his career too by going up against a secondary that is in shambles. Talk about a confidence booster! I think with his speedy WR core of Streater and Moore and now with the addition of James Jones in it as well will allow him to spank up the Jerk’s on the deep ball all day. I also think Carr will have success early mostly because of the strong RB duo behind him that NY will have to account for which will also help open up the passing game for the kid. That being said, DA RAAIIIDAAAAAZZZZZ will feature newly silver and blacked veteran Maurice Jones-Drew to help out the injury prone but deadly when healthy Darren McFadden, AKA RUN DMC and I can’t wait to see those two in action interchangeably. The Jet run defense is stout but the way MJD and RUN DMC continue to pound the rock eventually one of them will break one to the house, maybe even two! I think Oakland does enough to hang close in this one and I actually think they take this one outright for an upset! I also want to quickly add and point out that I think Oakland’s #1 draft pick LB Khalil Mack is the truth and will be a STUD in this league for years to come. He reminds me of Von Miller, only not a weirdo and he and the new Raider veteran pass rusher Justin Tuck, who is no stranger to Metlife Stadium might I add, will have Geno Smith running for his life allllllll day long. Geno is very turnover prone and with ball hawks like Charles Woodson back there lurking at the safety position and newly acquired shutdown CB Carlos Rogers will be watching the kid’s eyes and waiting for him to telegraph his passes so they can pounce! All I’m going to say to end this rant is….PICK CITY! ………Take DAAA RAAAIIIIDAAAAAAZZZZZ and DAAA POIINNTTZZZZZZZ!!!!

**PS- If you’re feeling like a wise guy like me, just go ahead and pick them to win outright. Don’t be scurrred!!!! JUST WIN BABY!!!!

***BALTIMORE RAVENS -1.5***

Up next we have a great rivalry matchup to help kickoff week 1 consisting of the Cincinnati Bengals going into the house of one of the teams whom I’m predicting to bounce back and have a great season, and that team is the Baltimore Ravens. I totally expect Joe Flacco and company to hold down the fort when the Bungs come in to try and make a statement. All the hype is behind ‘WhoDat’ when I completely think that the black birds are the ones who will make some noise this season. I know Ray Rice is suspended for two games for being a big time jackass but Bernard Pierce is a great backup RB and some may even say should be the one to start regularly in that backfield. That being said, he will be more than capable to shoulder the load in Rice’s absence. The Ravens were victim to the infamous Super Bowl hangover last season and missed the playoffs altogether while the Bungles made the playoffs and were knocked out by a very tough San Diego Chargers squad. As the spread indicates here, this game will be an extremely close and hard fought battle all the way to the end as these teams are pretty evenly matched. However I think Baltimore has the edge in this one feeling refreshed with a clean slate and feeding off of the energy that will be pulsating from their home crowd. I love the Raven’s addition of the feisty veteran WR, mighty mouse himself, Mr. Steve Smith. In my humble opinion, Smith has A LOT left in the tank and will fill the void perfectly for the Ravens that was left by the WR Anquan Boldin the year they won the Super Bowl. They missed Boldin oh so much last year and it showed tremendously. Flacco was missing the security of a sure handed go-to veteran to bail him out when he was in trouble. The year the Ravens won the championship, Boldin didn’t receive nearly enough credit as he deserved. He basically was the reason Flacco played as well as he did during that post season and it was extremely foolish for Baltimore to not bring him back the following year for their franchise QB. However lucky for Flaccenstien, ­Steve Smith will be more than enough to fill this role and I am extremely excited for him to join this WR group. The tenacity and aggressiveness that Smith plays the game with is truly one of a kind. I always loved the way this man played the game and I felt that he was being wasted in Carolina so I am glad to see him go to another team for the remainder of his career who has a QB with a great arm and will be able to find him early and often and utilize him correctly. I think Flacco and Smith will be one hell of a combination this season (Fantasy alert: Pick up Stevie Boy!). With Smith, his brother from another mother Torrey Smith, the speedy Jacoby Jones, and the return of ‘ol faithful AKA “The Cliché,” white TE Dennis Pitta, the Raven’s offense should be a force to be reckoned with. Joe Cool will have a big bounce back year with those weapons and a new offensive coordinator along with the best kicker in the game in Justin Tucker on top of it all. I think it is safe to say that they will put up points consistently. The revamped Baltimore defense is also coming along nicely after the post Super Bowl renovations. Led by veterans like Suggs and Ngata, and young and mean Bama bred LBs in Upshaw and Rookie C.J. Mosely….need I say more? Yikes…..the Red Rifle Andy Dalton will be under fire all day. He will be forced into making some decisions that will result in one too many costly turnovers which will leave Cincinatta’ shaking their heads and wondering why they just paid this kid the big daddy bucks. Now don’t get me wrong, the Bengals will be good this year; there is no doubt about that. However I just think that they will struggle within the division big time, specifically on the road. All in all I think this is a bad spot for the Bangs to start the season and throw in the fact that they lost their offensive coordinator in Chucky Jr., MR. Jay Gruden. That being said I am willing to bet that Cincy takes a week or two to get into the swing of things. When it comes down to it, we are looking at Joey Flacs vs Andy Dandy. Give me Joey boy any day in that matchup! Especially because I had just learned while writing this that Dalton has yet to win in Baltimore in his short career. Could it be starting to get into his head a bit? Hermmmmm…..The Baltimore Black Birds will get it done at home and make a statement here to remind everyone of just who and how good they are with a big win this Sunday.

***MIAMI DOLPHINS +4.5 ***

The Miami Dolphins are another squad who had juuuuusstttt missed the playoffs last year and I look for them to bounce back and make some noise this year. What better way to do so then by spanking their big brothers behind (NE Pats) and stealing a HUGE divisional “dubbya” to start their season?! You can always count on the Phins to come out strong and motivated against the Patriots, the effort is always guaranteed. The question that always remains is if they can hang with the Pats for the entire game to stay within the number and possibly even win outright and pull off a miracle upset? When you throw in the fact that it is week 1 and they are home, it adds some more hype and energy in the Dolphin’s favor. I think the fresh start combined with the bad blood between the two organizations and most of all remembering the close matchups that took place last season will give Miami the confidence they need to go into Sunday thinking they can come out on top. Playing with that confidence is the key. They need to have that same swagger that I saw flashes of last season and play with a ton of confidence in order to make the upset a reality, confidence is everything! They have the talent to pull it off there is no question about that; they just need to play a close to flawless game to make it happen. I strongly believe that a spot like this is the perfect time for it. Being that it is week one, Miami has a clean slate, there are no more distractions and most importantly they are healthy. This is the best situation for them to take advantage of and beat their longtime rival, the mighty Patriots. It is no secret that the Patriots will be among the elite this year. They made some impressive moves during the offseason by acquiring long-time foe and former Brady kryptonite, Darrell Revis. Along with him they picked up Seattle CB Legion of Boom member Brandon Browner to play opposite, which is arguably going to be the deadliest CB combination in the league. It is an insanely good CB duo that will give opposing QBs fits all season long, but NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! It is important to note that Browner must serve a four game suspension before becoming the Robin to Revis’ Batman. I cannot express how huge this is for Tannehill this Sunday. Not having to worry about both of these CBs at the same time is a gigantic relief for the QB. It actually gives the youngster a chance to be somewhat successful against the NE secondary. Hopefully Dolphin TE Charles Clay is able to give it a go (listed as probable) because he is a major part of this offense and gets a lot of touches. He is also quite the YAC monster once the rock is in his hands (Fantasy Alert: Charles Clay is my TE Sleeper, acquire if you can). If Charles Clay plays which I think he will, it will help open up the secondary for the other weapons in the WR core such as deep threat Mike Wallace and the long time reliable possession receiver, whiteboy Brian Hartline. Also another important tip straight from the swamp is not to sleep on newly acquired Miami RB Knowshon Moreno. NFL analysts and critics have been writing this guy off all offseason long due to his nagging injuries and the fact that he is coming off of a pretty big surgery. I watched and paid close attention to preseason as I always do when scouting my future fantasy studs and let me tell you that Moreno is more than READY to pound the rock!. Just watching one series with Moreno in the backfield was all I needed to confirm this because WOW! It was very clear and obvious that this guy has a massive chip on his shoulder and is healthy, motivated, and will continue to be a BEAST this season just like he was last year in Denver before they wrote him off. He was roaring with energy and adrenaline after ripping off a 12 yard gain roughly and I must say I was very impressed. Now I know the man played alongside Peyton Manning and most say that this is the main reason the RB was successful in Denver. While this certainly holds some truth to it in the sense that most RBs who play alongside Manning will be successful because defenses are not focused on them, I do not think that this is the case when it comes to Moreno. I have been following this kid since he was in HS and he was always a stud RB, and he just took some time to come into his own in the NFL. Last year with his back against the wall and what was probably his last chance to prove himself, he verified two things; 1. He can be a dominant RB in this league and 2., He has some god damn faucets for tear ducts, ha! Remember his tears during the National Anthem? What the hell was up with that?! Anyway, I think the Phins truly got a steal in signing him for this season if he stays healthy. Will he? Nobody knows and only time will tell. However he will be able to for at least game 1, and that is all we are concerned about at the moment! In a nutshell, look for Moreno to have a big statement game this weekend, and I have a hunch that he shows the NFL that he is indeed an elite RB this year (Swampo Fantasy Alert: Pick up Moreno if possible!). Between Moreno and the quick slashing Lamar Miller also playing with something to prove, the Miami backfield is looking like a great one-two punch. On the other side of the ball, the Dolphin defense will continue to be solid and maybe even become a force to be reckoned with somewhat this year. Brent Grimes is a true shutdown corner who doesn’t get nearly enough credit as he deserves. He quietly takes away half of the field for QBs and we just never hear much about him since QBs don’t throw his way often. Miami has also acquired tough-guy veteran Cortland Finnegan to play the opposite CB of Grimes, as well as dangerous when healthy Safety Louis Delmas from Detroit to round out what is now an extremely strong and hard-nosed secondary. I really like the offseason moves they made and the mix of guys they now have in that secondary. I think that they will bring a certain attitude and tough persona that this defense needs to have moving forward. They will be sure to capitalize off of Brady’s inevitable mistakes this weekend since he will be under fire feeling the heat and pressured all game long by the sack master, Miami defensive end Cameron Wake. EarthWake is an absolute pass rushing monster who cannot be stopped and the Patriots will have to game plan and double team and account for him on every play because he WILL be in Brady’s face all game despite whatever they try and do to stop him. It is also important to note that the Pats just traded away their longtime offensive line captain Logan Manknis. I think this will be a bigger loss than they expected and they will miss his leadership out there on the field. It will take a couple of weeks to get another guy to step up and fill that role that is now a gaping hole in this offensive line. Now we all know how Tommy boy gets when those big mean fellas on the D-Line start pushing him around……The man does his best audition for the sequel of Happy Feet and becomes very flustered and frustrated, taking it out on his young WR core which doesn’t help their performances whatsoever. That being said, on top of it all of that I think it takes the Pats a couple games to gel completely with the passing game as well being that they are extremely young and there are some fairly new faces in the group. Also Brady’s favorite weapon by far in the mongoloid TE Gronkowski is a game time decision which tells me that even if he plays, he will not be 100%. The stars are aligned for the Dolphins to take advantage and impress the rest of the league with a big surprise upset on Sunday and I think they do in fact pull it off! Basically what I am trying to say is, take the home dawgie here +4.5 and don’t be surprised when they win this thing outright!

PS- I would suggest staying away from the Pats in any survivor pools as they will probably be a popular pick and I can already foresee a whole bunch of people getting knocked out week 1 in this game, I’ve seen that movie way too many times! Tread carefully my friends!

***BLACK LAGOON BONUS PICK: TAMPA BAY BUCS -2.5***

Now onto my favorite pick of week that I have loved and had circled all summer long since the lines first came about, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last year I remember looking at the lines as soon as they opened up and choosing my early lock for week one which I kid you not was the underdog Carolina Panthers who were hosting the future Super Bowl champion, the mighty Seattle Seahawks. The Panthers surprised the NFL as their defense unexpectedly hung tough against Seattle throughout the game shutting them down completely for the most part. They led the Hawks the entire time only to give up a lucky bomb ‘Hail Mary’ type of touchdown in the waning minutes of the game to blow the lead and the game. Despite blowing the game, Carolina covered the spread and could have easily won outright and probably should’ve. They then went on to become one of the most dominant forces in the NFL all season long. My point is that Carolina the year prior to last was a no good team and just like that, in one single offseason they turned it all around and went on to become an elite defense and one of the league’s biggest surprise teams of the year. Every year there are teams that do this same thing and go from “worst to first” in a sense while bouncing back from the bottom of the barrel of the NFL and do a 180 degree flip, launching themselves into contention. That being said I have the same gut feeling about the Bucs this year as I did for the Panthers last year. Now there are also a handful of teams every year that do exactly the opposite of this by falling off of their pedestal and regressing big time. Last year my prediction to do this was the Pittsburgh Steelers, and sure enough that turned out to be the case. This year I am thinking it is the 49ers who have a bit of a rough time in the beginning of the season and have to overcome an uphill battle throughout, but that is a conversation for another time in another Muck! Ah yes now where were we again? Oh yeah that’s right, I was just about to go into detail on one of my sleeper squad predictions for this year, the Buccaneers. Now we all know that Tampa went through a lot last season which is a bit of an understatement; Tampa was a damn mess last season, okay that sounds much more accurate. It was definitely a season to forget and pretty much was an all-around nightmare. It is no secret that Tampa plays in a very tough division accompanied by the Saints, Panthers, and Falcons. After starting off last season on a terrible note and struggling to win a game for the first three quarters of the season, they pretty much lost all hope and had packed it in early. They quit on their coach and stopped playing for him, they even quit on their quarterback. I repeat, they QUIT ON THEIR QUARTERBACK! When that happens, there is no saving a team until big changes take place because there is no coming back from that. Now I don’t blame them for doing so, the dude was a total weirdo! “Ehhh I’m Josh Freeman and I like snakes, I have seven of them as pets tehehe” (now try and read that in the creepiest voice you possibly can because that’s how I meant to type it). So a long story short….umm well a long story into a slightly less long story I guess, since it is way too late to call this analysis anything close to short, ha! Anyway, the Bucs soon cut the freakazoid and gave the nod to their rookie QB who I’m actually a big fan of, McGLovin. Excuse me, I meant McGlennon. No wait, damnit…I mean Mike Glennon. Yeah that’s it. (BADUMPSHHH!) Man these jokes don’t work as good when typed haha! Whatever though, the swamp people think I’m funny! You know what? I shall call Mike Glennon McGLovin’ from now on anyway because that should be his nickname and it makes me happy to do so. Okay now back to the analysis: McGlovin impressed the hell out of me in all of his appearances thus far. Given the circumstances of being a rookie with an abnormally long giraffed out neck, he still managed to get a team who straight up quit playing, to turn things around somewhat and at least compete toward the end of the season. They actually ended it on a decent and positive note. Now despite McGlovin’s success, the Bucs still went ahead and acquired longtime Journeyman QB Josh McCown to be their new fearless leader moving forward this season. They also drafted him a brand new toy who is a future stud in WR Mike Evans. In my opinion Mikey Evs is the best WR in the draft and a perfect counterpart to pair up with the already established WR opposite of him, Vincent Jackson. Dudes look like twins out there. They are mirror images of each other and I think Evans will benefit big time learning under Jackson. They are two giant WRs who remind me of another WR duo that McCown had tremendous success with in Chicago last season in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey. That being said it should be one awesome and easy transition for the old gunslinger with those two to work with. Do not forget about Tampa RB Doug Martin AKA the Muscle Hamster who is back and healthy. He looked very strong during preseason and ran hard. With the recent addition of Logan Mankins on the offensive line from the Patriots to go along with the rest of the offensive line being back and healthy, Martin should have a monster year with great blocking in front of him. Basically, I’m loving this revamped Buccaneer offense. I kind of wish they started McGlovin because he throws a beautiful ball and is extremely poised in the pocket for being such a green QB in a terrible situation. The kid was practically baptized by fire and hung in there so I respect what he accomplished and if I was a team in need of a QB like the Rams, I would totally try and make a trade for em pronto! I think he will eventually make a great starting QB for Tampa or somebody else despite being one ugly dude! Hahah I keed! I keed! I just couldn’t resist sometimes it is way too easy to get my corny jokes on. After all who am I to talk? I am made out of swampnasty substance! Heheh, Okay now on the other side of the spectrum we have the Panthers who are hurting on offense with QB Cam Newton suffering from some banged up ribs and apparently it is bad enough to where he is listed as a game time decision. This is kind of chapping my butt a bit because it is drawing more attention to the Tampa side which as a result will drive the spread up a bit I’m sure. This is a problem because this game is going to be a very close and hard fought battle right until the end and most likely will be won on a last second FG so each little point matters when picking the side. I am confident the Bucs will come out on top victorious for the reasons I mentioned above and a few more that I will talk about quickly as I am sure at this point you are tired of reading my rambling. For that I want to thank you for continuing all the way through to this point, it is much appreciated! Phewph! You must be exhausted! Here, have a winner! Heheh, (BADUMPSHHH!) Now I know that Carolina is a clearly much better team judging off of last year’s results and statistics. However that is the beauty of week 1 and why I love it oh so much. The spreads are so heavily impacted on the public perception and everyone’s view of teams based off of last year’s results. Newsflash ladies and gents, this is a brand new season with absolutely nothing to do with last season. One needs to make their predictions on what will happen this upcoming season and then locate which lines are there to take advantage of, aaaaaaand that’s where I come in! Carolina lost its entire WR core pretty much. The departure of lifetime Panther Steve Smith is absolutely devastating, more than some may realize. He IS and now WAS the Carolina Panthers, and WAS the heart and soul of that team for many years. Rookie WR Kelvin Benjamin was a great pickup in the draft and a great successor to Smith to step in as the Panther’s new #1 WR; I like the kid a lot and think he will be great target for Cam moving forward. The two will be a superb QB and WR combination for years to come. I just think it will take a few games before they are on the same page completely like a true dominant duo always is. This type of thing takes time and experience to develop. Lastly, the Tampa defense is loaded with up and coming talent and I absolutely love it! Their LB core is so athletic and strong led by Lavonte David. Their defensive line led by Gerald McCoy is all returned and healthy, not to mention extremely deep. Yes, they lost Revis Island at CB but they have some solid youngsters who will be able to deal with the depleted and inexperienced Panther WR core this weekend. Do not forget about the safety duo in Tampa who are some big boys who love to lay the BOOM! Dashon Goldson and Mark Barron are probably the meanest safety duo in the league next to Seattle, and should be the most feared in my opinion when it comes to getting laid out! Unfortunately for Benjamin, I foresee a couple of “Welcome to the NFL, Rookie” type of hits. All in all it is extremely important for the Bucs to start the season off on the right foot if they want to be in the mix this year. Like the Dolphins and Ravens who I talked about previously, a home win against a divisional foe to start the season is CRUCIAL! I admit the Panther defense is back and healthy so therefore it should be the same as last year which was pretty damn good! I just think the Bucs have enough weapons on offense to put up some points against them and that the Panthers will not be able to match them score for score in this game and will struggle on offense with a banged up Cam and limited weapons. I foresee a low scoring defensive game with the Bucs squeaking out the upset, even though they are favored. BUCCOS -2.5 for the win!

Well ladies and germs thank you for visiting the brand new Swamp location and taking the time to read through my thoughts and analysys, I really appreciate it! Please feel free to comment and share your opinions and views with me. I would love to know what you think and have some good healthy conversations about the NFL. We can shoot the shizzy about what I wrote up above, other games, or just anything NFL related in general. I will be more than happy to do so, I live for this shiz! I also am trying the whole new Twitter thing for size this year. Please find and contact me @swampy_swami when you get a chance, I need to get my followers up! Okay, good talk everyone. See ya out there! Happy Football season and the best of luck with your picks this year, I hope I was able to help and give you some insightful insight on a swampy side and perspective of things. Enjoy the first Sunday of the year and remember, Swampy loves ya baby! Go get ‘em!

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