NFL Waiver Moves

Today, 2 high-profile NFL players were picked up on waivers.  Randy Moss and Shawne Merriman were picked up by the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills, respectively.  Moss will now join his third NFL team in a month, and Merriman will escape the bright lights and many temptations of San Diego to join a winless Buffalo Bills team.

The road these two players have taken is an interesting one.  Both were once superstars in the NFL, and both recently have let their words and actions off the field drive their release from their respective teams this week.  Merriman was a short-term NFL superstar; he was voted to 3 Pro-Bowls in 5 years, and he has played only 3 full seasons healthy.  Moss has been a defining wide receiver in NFL history.  A lock for the Hall of Fame, Randy Moss trails only Jerry Rice in touchdown receptions (153 to Rice’s 197).  Randy Moss is arguably the best deep-threat receiver in the history of football.

If only the stories ended at the talent of these players.  Both players have had their careers impacts by their off the field actions.  Merriman has been a Hollywood regular, as he has made appearances on television shows, namely, “Entourage,” has made appearances in music videos, and has let the Southern California lifestyle affect his football far more than the San Diego organization would have liked.  In addition, Merriman made the stubborn decision to forgo necessary surgery for 2 torn ligaments on his knee in the 2008 offseason so he could try to play “all 16 games.”  He then found after only 1 game that he could not play on 2 torn ligaments, and the subsequent poorly timed surgery ended his season.

Moss has been more outspoken and has caused more controversy than Merriman throughout his career.  Moss has left games early (2004 regular season finale against Washington), pretended to moon the Green Bay fans in a 2005 playoff game, hit a police officer with his car and had marijuana in the car at the time (2002), and minimized the impact of the Marshall plane crash during his time at the university.  In addition, Moss is renowned for quitting on offensive plays and quitting on his routes.  Moss is one of the most talented and controversial players in the history of football.

With all the similarities of these players, they now enter completely different situations.  Moss moves from a team in utter chaos to a team with a legitimate chance to win the extremely competitive AFC South.  Merriman, on the other hand, moves from a team that, while struggling, still has a chance at the division title in the weak AFC West, to the worst team in the NFL right now, the Buffalo Bills.  Both players’ contracts are up after this year; however, and will need to perform well in the last 8 weeks of the season to prove their worth once again to the rest of the NFL after allowing outside factors to compromise their former superstar status.

Christmas Weekend Bowl Preview

The first of three bowl’s December 26th is the Little Caesar’s Bowl (1PM), which will pair Marshall of Conference USA and Ohio from the MAC.  Ohio is 9-4 this season and won the MAC East.  Marshall started the season strong, but struggled in Conference USA play and finished the season 6-6 after going 1-3 to end the season.  Marshall is playing without a coach, as Coach Mark Snyder resigned after the Herd’s final regular season game.  Defensive coordinator Rick Minter will coach under the interim tag for this game.

Ohio is led by quarterback Theo Scott and talented running back/kick returner Chris Garrett.  Marshall will need to key on Chris Garrett in an effort to make Ohio a one-dimensional team.  The defense will need to eliminate Garrett’s impact make slightly nicked-up Theo Scott be the one to beat them.  This will be the only way Marshall will be able to stay in the game.  Marshall’s offense is led by quarterback Brian Anderson and running back Darius Marshall.  Anderson has solid passing numbers, but has a mediocre TD-INT ratio.  The Ohio defense will look to exploit Anderson in the passing game.

This game will come down to turnovers and which team’s running back can impose his will on the other defense.  Ohio is just too talented of a team for Marshall to compete with for 60 minutes.

My prediction:  Ohio 31-Marshall 14

The 4PM game is the Meineke Car Care Bowl, which pairs Pittsburgh and North Carolina.  This could be one of the best bowl games of the season, and a very difficult one to predict.  Pittsburgh has an extremely explosive offense, and North Carolina has one of the top 10 defenses in the country.  North Carolina has struggled at times on offense, but Pittsburgh’s defense has not been very consistent this year.  Every time I think about this game, I switch from picking Pitt to picking UNC, and then back to Pitt.  Will Bill Stull and Dion Lewis impose their will on the North Carolina defense, or will UNC’s defense stop the explosive Pitt offense?  The other big question is whether or not the UNC offense will show up and play well.

My prediction may change by gametime, but I think the UNC defense will stop the Pitt offense, and the UNC offense will do just enough to win the game.  My prediction:  UNC 27-Pitt 21 

The final game of the day is the Emerald Bowl, where USC will battle Boston College.  The game will be played at San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park.  This game is an interesting matchup in that both teams have not played to their potential this  year.  USC looks to erase the disappointment of a 5th place finish in the Pac-10 with a bowl victory.  It is not certain whether or not Joe McKnight will be cleared to play yet, but he would be a big part of USC’s offensive attack.  Another key to the game will be quarterback Matt Barkley’s response to his first career bowl appearance.  Boston College will rely on Montel Harris, who set the school rushing record this year with 1,355 yards and 13 TDs. 

My prediction:  Boston College’s Montel Harris will run free on the USC defense that has struggled against the talented runners this year.  BC 30-USC 17.

The only game Sunday, 12/27 is Clemson vs. Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.  This game will be a matchup of the ACC runner up and a middle of the road SEC team.  Kentucky has played many solid games this year; with a few good wins and a few tough losses against good teams.  This game comes down to if Kentucky can stop Clemson running back CJ Spiller.  Kentucky’s defense has not looked stellar this year against the run, and I think that will be the difference in the game.

My prediction:  Clemson 28-Kentucky 21