Jeff Risdon - Football Analysis

Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks have had a disappointing start to the season, but could make up for a lot with a road win against the Giants. Read more »

Between a couple of rivalry games between the Cowboys & Redskins and Steelers & Ravens will be one more week of tests to see which teams are legit. Read more »

Four weeks are barely in the books and few of the upper-echelon prospects have played against significant competition, but Michael Crabtree, Vontae Davis and Michael Oher have been impressive. Read more »

For fans of teams like Cleveland, Indy, Oakland, New England, and Chicago, here is the reality of the situation which may not be as dire as sports talk radio would have you believe. Read more »

Between big games between the Pennsylvania teams and the Cowboys' trip to Green Bay, this will be another exciting and unpredictable week of football, but we have your forecast. Read more »

Thumbs up to Mike Shanahan, 'The Express', while Thumbs down to the NFL schedule makers, NCAA pollsters and much much more. Read more »

Do we believe what we saw in Week 1 or all of the ideas that developed during the camp in preseason? That and two big games between rivals in the AFC and NFC East. Read more »

Thumbs up to Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, and Roscoe Parrish while thumbs down goes to the hypesters of the Texans and Browns and much much more. Read more »

Look at why 2007 was so disappointing for the Eagles: McNabb?s recovery, Coach Reid?s personal issues off the field, injuries to Dawkins and Smith, a tough schedule, Akers? slump, and an inability to create turnovers. This team is poised for a big 2008. Read more »

With the worst collection of wide receivers in the NFL, the Titans defense will have a hard time leading the club to overachieve again while their schedule does them no favors either. Read more »

The crispness is back in the air, and that can only mean one thing: It?s football season! Risdon offers his picks for Week 1 and which teams will make the playoffs. Read more »

Even with Brett Favre this team would have a real hard time coming close to the 13 wins of 2007. The QB situation is just one of the questions that faces this team as they look to repeat in the NFC North. I have a hunch that enough of those questions (the aging CBs, the gaping hole at DT, the running game) will not get answered positive that the Packers are going to slide out of the playoffs. Read more »

This team wasn?t as awful as the 1-15 record they posted in 2007, but it wasn?t a fluke either. The rebuild has begun, and the overall talent level of the team is headed in the right direction. But it?s still got a long way to go before this team gets back to .500. Read more »

The starters are good enough to carry the Steelers to the playoffs. But between the lousy pass protection and the paper-thin defense chock full of older players, that is asking a lot. A look at the schedule breeds pessimism, as Pittsburgh plays all of their non-divisional games against teams that finished with winning records in 2007. Read more »

With all the returning injured players and solid line play on both sides of the ball, the Bills are good enough to hang in the playoff race. But with the gray area surrounding Jason Peters and Trent Edwards, they probably don?t have enough difference-makers in the right spots to make those playoff seeds germinate this year. Read more »

The Rams have too many holes in the pass defense and questions with the right side of the OL to be a promising playoff team--but in their weak division it?s certainly not impossible. Read more »

If Matt Hasselbeck can overcome more typically erratic WR play and the run defense holds up, Seattle should earn a playoff bye and home field advantage, which in their case is an extreme advantage and is why they are the best bet to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Read more »

The Saints will bounce back from a disappointing 2007, thanks to improvement in both the pass rush and special teams return units. This group probably isn?t as dynamic as the 06 version that made it to the NFC title game, but the Saints drew a favorable schedule and have enough firepower to get back into the playoffs and pose a real threat once they get there. Read more »

It?s refreshing to see a team like the Vikings, one that is built around running the ball and stopping the other team from doing the same. They have the personnel to make it work, and the passing game is going to be better than most people expect. Read more »

How quickly JaMarcus Russell is able to translate his physical tools to the NFL game will go a long way towards whether these Raiders challenge for 8 wins or challenge for the 1st overall pick in 2009. Read more »