Jeff Butler's Games of the Week - Wk 9

Ok sports fans!

Entering the Auburn Game, as several previous games, Les Miles and the LSU Tigers felt they had something to prove. They were desperately looking for that break-out game for quarterback Jordan Jefferson and the underachieving offense. A game that would legitimize national title hopes. To that point, the offense consisted of very good running game and a passing game that completely consisted of short to intermediate passes. An offense that was predictable and often called vanilla. This game, Miles had promised a more aggressive downfield attack and more pocket presence from his young quarterback.

On Monday, I hope that coach Miles was sending a thank you card to Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof. Roof’s game plan played right into what Miles was wanting to do, albeit a fan pleaser. Auburn seemingly decided to attack LSU’s strength, its running game. Shut down the running game and dare the sophomore quarterback to beat them with his arm. Well, it worked out well for LSU. Auburn’s porous secondary was lit up for a LSU season high 242 passing yards. It quietened a lot of the critics but rose concerns for the running game as the Tigers star running back, Charles Scott, was held to a measly 20 yards. Freshman sensation Russell Sheppard struggled for running room with 5 carries for 6 yards until he broke one for loose for 69 yards and his first collegiate score.

Although Miles is declaring mission accomplished, I believe LSU still hasn’t put together a complete game offensively. When facing a complete defense like Alabama, the Tigers will need a balanced attack. The good news is the defense is playing about as good as one can. In the last three SEC games, the Tiger defense has only allowed two touchdowns. Only Alabama has allowed fewer in the SEC.
This week LSU has the downtrodden Tulane Greenwave. It should not be as much of a test of ability as it will be a test of mental focus. With the biggest game of the year, Alabama, looming the following week, the Tigers must focus on the game at hand and not look ahead. LSU cruises to victory 45-3.

The next game of the week features reigning national champion and SEC referee-favorite, Florida vs Georgia. This game looked a whole lot better in the preseason when Georgia was thought to be a top contender. Most people changed their mind after the first week. Florida’s offense don’t seem to be playing as well as they were before Tebow’s injury. Do I think that Tebow is still suffering affects of his injury? No. But I do believe it has altered their mental approach. Tebow does not seem to be playing with the same reckless abandon that he was known for in his four years at Florida. Are they worried that they could suffer a multi-million dollar mistake like what happened to Sam Bradford? It has to in the back of their minds. If Tebow goes down for the season, he can forget about the first round and the lucrative signing bonus.

Although Florida is not playing as well as they were, Georgia is not playing as well as Florida is. For whatever that is worth, Florida prevails 24-10.

Next up we have a BIG 2 matchup with Texas facing off with Oklahoma State. Oklahoma is out of the picture, which leaves these two to battle it out for first place in the South division. The 6-1 record of OSU looks impressive until look at who the beat and who they lost to. Texas’ schedule don’t look much tougher, but has manage to avoid the upset. This looks to be a good game and I pick Texas winning 27-24. And it might be a little early to call this but I believe Texas to finish regular season play undefeated and they win the conference championship and play in the National Championship game. And gets slaughtered.

In the PAC 1, USC is in a must win matchup against Oregon. This is essentially the PAC 10 championship game. The team that wins this game should go on to claim the conference title and start politicking for National championship consideration. USC has been a staple in the top ten for years as no other PAC 10 team has came even close to the success that USC has, therefore USC generally gets the benefit of the doubt with the pollsters. It will be tough for either team to make it to the National championship game as they come from a weak conference that don’t have a conference championship game. USC would have the best hope ranked #5, but Oregon will have something to say about that. Oregon upsets USC 17-14.

In the “Who Cares?” game of the week, two of the biggest egos, coach Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) and coach Lane Kiffin (Tennessee), face off against each other. And the really don’t like each other much. Should be interesting, but it won’t be. Tennessee’s defense is stingy and the South Carolina offense needs a Garmin to find the end zone. Tennessee wins 9-7.

That is my picks! What is yours?

Jeff Butler

Saints Look Like Early Favorite in the NFC

Those of you who really know me know this. I am a life long Brett Favre fanatic. Favre has the Minnesota Vikings off to a 3-0 start and I would love to think that the Vikes are the team to beat in the NFC. But I do not think that they are the team to beat. With each passing week it's looking more and more like the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC will go through New Orleans.

The Saints are now 3-0 for only the sixth time in 43 years of existence after Sunday's 27-7 win at Buffalo. And this year it looks like the Saints don't have to have a monster stat game from quarterback Drew Brees to win.

On Sunday Brees only threw for 172 yards. That was his lowest passing yardage total in a game since 2006. Brees was backed up by a Saints rushing attack that produced over 220 rush yards including 126 (all in second half) by Pierre Thomas.

Did you know this? After three weeks the Saints rank second in the NFL with 170.7 rushing yards per game. If you can run the ball like that in the NFL, you will be successful even without a great quarterback. It doesn't matter who is toting the rock either. Mike Bell looked great against the Lions and Eagles. Thomas was fantastic against Buffalo, and for crying out loud, even Reggie Bush is running the ball well!

I wonder, if you are and NFL defensive coordinator, how do you gameplan to stop the Saints offense? If you focus on the run then Brees will burn you all day long. And if you try to contain Brees then Thomas, Bell and Bush will run with ease.

Before the season started I said that I thought the Saints defense would be much improved under new coordinator Greg Williams. The Saints defense didn't need to be top notch this season for the Saints to make the playoffs. Just middle of the pack and I thought Williams could get them there. After three weeks, that's exactly where the Saints defense ranks, 12th out of 32 teams.

I'll leave you with two more tidbits. In 180 minutes of football this season, the Saints have yet to trail in a game. Also, under Sean Payton the Saints are now 12-0 when allowing 14 points or less. With the way the defense is playing, I can certainly see the Saints holding a few more teams to 14 points or less.

This Sunday the Saints host the red hot New York Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. He's the first rookie QB to start his career 3-0, but something tells me that Mark will have his rookie "Welcome to the NFL" moment this Sunday in the Superdome.

WHO DAT!!!!!!!!!