St Louis Rams Football
Jackson is one of the fewest positives the Rams have going this year
The St. Louis Rams will have an opportunity to turn things around in 2010 thanks to a favorable early-season schedule that includes six of their first eight games against teams that did not make the playoffs a year ago.  The Rams will need more help than that though in order win more than five games, starting with the development of rookie QB Sam Bradford.  The first step will be keeping franchise RB Steven Jackson healthy after he has missed nine games combined over the last three seasons.  Jackson only missed one game last season but also tied his career low with four touchdowns and will need to make a bigger impact offensively in order to take some pressure off Bradford and veteran QB A.J. Feeley, who might open the season as the starter which could impact the NFL football odds.

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Buffalo Bills FootballThe Buffalo Bills look to move past the Terrell Owens circus from a year ago and regain some kind of offensive identity under new head coach Chan Gailey.  The Bills saw 11 different players start on the offensive line last year while three different quarterbacks took snaps and two different running backs were featured.  these contributed to the Bills not doing well against the NFL football point spread.  Gailey has already tabbed Trent Edwards as the team’s starting QB heading into this season, and rookie RB C.J. Spiller finally made it to practice after he avoided becoming the last first-round pick to sign his contract.  Spiller figures to be an integral part of the offense once he gets familiar with the playbook and hopes to become the team’s most exciting running back since Thurman Thomas.  There will be several more position battles throughout training camp for a team that finished just 6-10 last season, but that should only help the team bond under Gailey and become a tighter unit by the time the regular season begins.

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Bengals Hall of Fame GameBoth the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals have motivational factors working in their favor for Sunday’s NFL Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.  But only the Bengals who are 3 point favorites according to the current NFL betting odds will have their edge playing for them on the football field in the form of former Dallas WR Terrell Owens and CB Adam “Pacman” Jones.  Of course Owens and Jones may not play long in the preseason opener, but you can bet they will be extra pumped to prove themselves in front of their former team.

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Hall of Fame Game Bengals vs Cowboys
Oddsmakers currently have the Bengals as a 3 point favorite
Sunday’s NFL Hall of Fame Game pits the Cincinnati Bengals against the Dallas Cowboys, which would be an outstanding matchup for the regular season and still makes for an intriguing preseason battle.  If this were the regular season, the publicly popular Cowboys would definitely be favored by more than the opener of -1.  Instead, injuries and the fact that Dallas could be resting several key players as well as not caring about games in prior preseasons has seen the Hall of Fame Game NFL odds shift to Bengals -2.5 or -3 with the total set at 32.5. 

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Miami Dolphins FootballThe Miami Dolphins will be looking to take the next step this season and become a playoff contender after suffering through a somewhat disappointing campaign a year ago.  The Dolphins showed flashes of brilliance at times offensively with their Wildcat backfield of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams after QB Chad Pennington got hurt, but they struggled to figure out who they were as a team as the season wore on.  When Brown also went down for the year with a foot injury, young QB Chad Henne stepped up and gave Miami fans a glimpse of his potential.  Now with All-Pro WR Brandon Marshall in tow thanks to a trade with the Denver Broncos, Henne has the perfect weapon to take the team’s passing game to the next level.  If the Dolphins can improve enough defensively – they ranked 26th in the NFL last season, giving up 24.4 points per game – Henne and the offense should be able to score enough points to make them a legitimate threat in the race for the AFC East division title.

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Indianapolis Colts Football
The Colts Once Again Look Very Strong and Should Be the NFL Odds Favorite of the AFC
Despite all the talk about not going for the perfect season, the Indianapolis Colts still managed to complete a successful campaign, culminating in their second trip to the Super Bowl in four years.  A couple big mistakes – a botched onsides kick to start the second half and Peyton Manning’s interception for a New Orleans touchdown – ultimately cost them their third Super Bowl title, but nobody can argue that not going for perfection hurt them or the Saints since both top seeds ended up playing for the championship for the first time since 1993.  This year, Indy will be tested early with four of their first six games on the road before their bye week.  The Colts then must face five playoff teams from last year in the first six weeks after their break, making a shot at perfection highly improbable.  Instead, they will likely focus on just making the playoffs again.

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Arizona Cardinals Football
With Leinart at the helm odds are slim for Arizona to repeat last years run
The Arizona Cardinals are just two years removed from making it to their first-ever Super Bowl but have several holes to fill in order to make their third straight playoff appearance.  Gone are key contributors including QB Kurt Warner (retirement), WR Anquan Boldin (to the Baltimore Ravens via trade), LB Karlos Dansby (to the Miami Dolphins via free agency) and S Antrel Rolle (to the New York Giants via free agency).  Former Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart will finally have the opportunity to make the Cardinals his team in taking over for Warner while head coach Ken Whisenhunt might also turn them into more of a power running team with the tandem of Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower leading the way.

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New York Jets Football
If Mark Sanchez improves in his 2nd year, the Jets have all the makings for a run at the Super Bowl
The New York Jets definitely got better on paper in the offseason, acquiring CB Antonio Cromartie and WR Santonio Holmes in trades to bolster an already strong team that came within a half of making it to the Super Bowl last year.  However, Jets QB Mark Sanchez will need to find a way to develop his leadership skills quickly in his second year and take advantage of the talent around him while also improving his sometimes shaky play.  Sanchez tossed 20 interceptions and lost three fumbles as a rookie but has the poise and potential to lead the Jets to the Super Bowl.  New York head coach Rex Ryan should not have any problems with his NFL-best defense unless the egos he feeds get the best of him (like CB Darrelle Revis), and RB Shonn Greene is expected to have a breakout year and replace veteran Thomas Jones as the team’s leading rusher.

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Baltimore Ravens Football
In a loaded AFC North Division, the Ravens look strong
The Baltimore Ravens look to be one of the top teams to beat in the AFC this season as long as they continue to grow, improve and stay healthy.  The Ravens turned in arguably the most shocking performance of last year’s postseason, jumping out to a 24-0 first-quarter lead on their way to a 33-14 rout of the New England Patriots at home.  Baltimore has since added another offensive weapon in the offseason by acquiring WR Anquan Boldin in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals and hopes QB Joe Flacco and RB Ray Rice continue to develop into stars at their respective positions.  The Ravens will need to continue to improve offensively and score more because their once stout defense is aging quickly and simply does not have the same impact in the secondary due to key injuries to former All-Pro S Ed Reed and CB Domonique Foxworth.

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New Orelans Saints Football
Drew Brees and the Saints Will Be Trying To Repeat as Super Bowl Champions
The New Orleans Saints could not have written a better ending to their storybook season last year, knocking off a couple of the area’s most legendary athletes in quarterbacks Brett Favre and Peyton Manning en route to winning their first-ever Super Bowl title.  Drew Brees is now the most popular player in New Orleans and rightfully so following his MVP performance in the team’s biggest game ever.  The Saints open up defense of their championship with back-to-back appearances on national television but seem to have a relatively easy schedule after that until what looks like a make-or-break stretch of four road games in five weeks toward the end.

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