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HARTLEY MILLER’S HART ATTACK – (NFL BACK IN THE FOLES) SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2018 EDITION 696

After a seven-month absence, the NFL has returned. Yes!

The 2018 regular season officially kicked off Thursday night with the Philadelphia Eagles holding on at home for an 18-12 triumph over the Atlanta Falcons, although at times it looked like both teams were still in pre-season mode.

The sloppy, mistake-filled game featured 26 penalties.

Philadelphia won despite quarterback Nick Foles passing for just 117 yards.

It came down to the final play and it looked like a repeat of their playoff game in January.

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Atlanta QB Matt Ryan threw an incomplete pass to Julio Jones in the left corner of the end zone from the Eagles five-yard line.

In case you forgot, the Falcons last offensive play in a 15-10 loss at the Eagles in last season’s divisional round, was a Ryan incompletion to Jones from the Philadelphia two-yard line.

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Did you know that in each of the past 29 years at least one NFL team has increased its win total by five or more games from the previous season?

Last year, for example in the NFC, the LA Rams went from a 4-12 record in 2016 to an 11-5 mark in 2017.

Philadelphia improved from 7-9 to 13-3 and Minnesota went from 8-8 to 13-3.

In the AFC, Jacksonville made a huge gain going from 3-13 to 10-6 and a spot against New England in the Conference championship game.

With this in mind, who will that team(s) be in 2018?

The best candidates appear to be the New York Giants (3-13 in 2017), Houston Texans (4-12) Green Bay Packers (7-9) and, dare I suggest, the Cleveland Browns (0-16).

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Candidates for the biggest tumble include Buffalo (9-7), Philadelphia and Minnesota.

In 14 of the last 15 NFL seasons, there has been at least one team go from worst to first in its division.

For instance, Jacksonville went from the bottom in 2016 (3-13) to the top in 2017 (10-6) in the AFC South.

The last place teams in 2017 were New York Jets, Cleveland (of course), Houston, Denver, New York Giants, Chicago, Tampa Bay and San Francisco.

In this group, Houston has the best chance of climbing to the top of the division while Cleveland (naturally) has the least chance of going from the cellar to division champions.

Since the 12-team playoff format was-adopted in 1990, a minimum four teams have advanced to the playoffs in every season that were not in the post-season the year before.

This year Green Bay and Houston would appear to be best bets.

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Amidst the culture of the NFL, many fans compete in a growing trend, where participants speculate and pick weekly winners in a popular contest widely referred to as THE FOOTBALL POOL.

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Prince George is no different than most cities as interest in the NFL elevates by competing in a pool.

Some, like the one hosted by 94.3 the Goat are free. Others have a token entry fee.

http://www.superbrawl.com/pools/cms.php?wp=wpsm1003&css=www.superbrawl.com/clients/_vista.css&game=NFL

There’s a wide spectrum of pools that include:

  • Time frame: weekly winners or season-long chase.
  • Elimination pools: pick one team each week to win, keep going until the last player is left alive.
  • Survivor pools: pick one team each week to lose, keep going until the last player is left alive.
  • Team-win pools: draft certain teams whose wins count for you during the season.

Here are some guidelines that I try to follow when picking winners:

  • Know the line: Vegas odds makers are professionals when they establish a line. Use that as a gauge.
  • Past reputations: Avoid picking teams living off previous reputations that have not been successful recently.
  • Key to Success: The blueprint for winning a pool is “nailing” the games that are close on the spread (three or less points). In this realm, upsets are common. Still, it is important to have some basis for believing the so-called better team will lose.
  • Have an even keel approach: Do not get discouraged about having a bad week. Standings fluctuate and it only takes a few games to change the direction of the leader-board.

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Week one is usually difficult picking a team in both an Elimination and Survivor pool. I generally don’t like taking a road team as a lock even if they are 4 point favorites like Pittsburgh over Cleveland.

My best guess for a sure fire win is New Orleans over Tampa although I would suggest the line of 9.5 is too high.

NFL Odds Week 1 NFL Game Odds 9/6 – 9/10, 2018
from
 www.footballlocks.com

Date & Time Favorite Spread Underdog Total
9/6 5:20 PT At Philadelphia     PK Atlanta 44.5 Eagles won 18-12
9/9 10:00 PT Pittsburgh    -4 At Cleveland 44
9/9 10:00 PT At Minnesota    -6.5 San Francisco 46
9/9 10:00 PT At Indianapolis    -3 Cincinnati 48.5
9/9 10:00 PT At Baltimore    -7.5 Buffalo 40.5
9/9 10:00 PT Jacksonville    -3 At NY Giants 43.5
9/9 10:00 PT At New Orleans    -9.5 Tampa Bay 49.5
9/9 10:00 PT At New England    -6.5 Houston 51
9/9 10:00 PT Tennessee    -1.5 At Miami 45
9/9 1:05 PT At LA Chargers    -3.5 Kansas City 48
9/9 1:25 PT At Denver    -3 Seattle 42.5
9/9 1:25 PT At Carolina    -3 Dallas 42.5
9/9 1:25 PT At Arizona    -1 Washington 44
9/9 5:20 PT At Green Bay    -7.5 Chicago 47.5

                                               Monday Night Football Odds

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9/10 4:10 PT At Detroit    -6.5 NY Jets 45
9/10 7:20 PT

 

LA Rams    -4 At Oakland 49.5


FROM THE QUOTE RACK:

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is the new face of Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. Some
people are upset with Nike over the new campaign, and are even destroying their Nike gear in protest. Then Kaepernick was like, “Oh, so you LIKE protests now?”

*Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon

 

After Nike announced that former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick would be the face of its new ad campaign, angry consumers began posting photos of themselves burning their Nike shoes. Unfortunately, he’s also been named the face of Yankee Candle, and now they don’t know what to do.

*Seth Meyers of Late Night

 

Brett Connolly of Prince George says he won’t visit the White House if Donald Trump invites the Stanley Cup Champion Capitals; Mostly, because as a Canadian, he is afraid of being charged a tariff at the front gates.

*Comedy writer Jim Barach http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.ca/

  

The San Diego Padres cancelled a beach hat give-away promotion due to a beetle infestation. When informed of this, team owner Ron Fowler asked ‘Was it Paul or Ringo?’

*Contributor Bill Littlejohn

 

Rafael Nadal – Dominic Thiem US Open match lasted 4 hours and 49 minutes. Wow. That’s almost as long as the average Red Sox-Yankees game.

*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 

Dodger Stadium has been hit by two power outages this season; which certainly puts a whole new meaning on “playing lights-out.

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*Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://www.seattletimes.com/author/dwight-perry/

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

U.K. company Durex has recalled several batches of its condoms over concerns they may burst. Or as they call it in the NFL — blown coverage.

*Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com

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Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT.
He also is the 94.3 radio colour commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.
His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com.
Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @Hartley_Miller

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