Monday, September 9, 2013

AFL Week 2 - Dolphins vs Vikings - BONUS: 2013 NFL Season Predictions

This is a continuation in my Madden Season using Madden 11. You can find week 1 here.

Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings

Aaron Rodgers and the Dolphins made the trek up to the cold wilderness that is Minnesota to face Ben Roethlisberger and his Vikings. 

The game between these two teams started in rather droll fashion with a scoreless and rather boring first quarter. Neither team could put anything on the board with the Dolphins defense doing the lion's share of the work for the team as the Vikings registered 4 times as long time of possession.

Luck seemed to change for the Dolphins with 2:59 to play in the half as Ray Rice inexplicably fumbled the ball on what looked like a third down conversion for the Fins. The Dolphins, however, would go on to punt the ball away.

The Vikings opened the scoring after a huge pass from Big Ben to Joey Galloway put the Vikings in field goal range. The Dolphins defense, which is considered a major weakness for the team, managed to hold the Vikings to a field goal. Linebacker AJ Hawk was asked about this stop after the game, to which he replied, "We knew that we had to keep them out of the end zone for our offense to have a chance at that point."

With the Vikings up 3-0, Rodgers found receiver Arnaz Battle wide open for the first touchdown of the game, an 81-yard bomb that put the Dolphins on top 7-3 going into halftime.

The Dolphins got the ball to start the second half and opened with a deep pass from Rodgers to Calvin Johnson. Johnson made the catch in stride, having beaten his man, and scored an easy 6. Dolphins up 14-3.

Ray Rice also added to the scoring with an 8-yard draw right up the middle for a touch down. Joey Galloway fumbled for the Vikings with just 1:34 to go in the game, giving the Dolphins the go ahead to run the clock out.

Asked about his deep pass to Battle, Dolphins QB Aaron Rodgers said, "You know, Battle was having trouble getting it started this season, but he had gotten by the defense on that play. I threw it up there, he was able to bring it down and go the distance. It was a great play by him."

The Dolphins travel back to Miami where they'll host Adrian Peterson and the New York Jets next week. Peterson is currently leading the Jets in scoring with 4 TDs on the year.

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With that said, I made my picks for the 2013 NFL season, just forgot to post them.

From the AFC:
I'm picking the New England Patriots to win the AFC East, which has become something of a foregone conclusion lately.

The Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, and Cincinnati Bengals will win their respective divisions, as well.

The Wild Card teams from the AFC will be the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins.

The AFC is insanely weak right now. I think the 4 division winners are a cut above the rest of the teams in their divisions. The Ravens will finish good enough to make it back to the playoffs and the Dolphins, benefiting from playing in the weak AFC will be the second wild card team (I know, I'm such a homer).

In the NFC, which is much more difficult to predict, I see the Washington Redskins edging out the Giants and Cowboys in the East. The Green Bay Packers will win the North over the Bears and Lions (both of which seem to be playoff strong). The NFC South will see the New Orleans Saints win the division with the Atlanta Falcons not too far behind. The San Francisco 49ers are the class of the NFC West, but they are closely followed by Russel Wilson and Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks.

We get to watch a Harbaugh lift the Lombardi trophy for a second consecutive year as the 49ers beat the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

Have a great NFL Season, I'm sure my picks will be completely wrong!

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