With all the hype and buildup over the past few weeks, this weekend’s match up between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots will definitely be the game of the season. The winner of this game could be in the driver seat with home field advantage throughout the playoffs and more importantly make a huge statement to the entire league.

Although the Colts are the defending NFL champs and this weekend’s game is at home, I believe there is little hope the Colts can come up victorious in this game. As such here are my TOP 3 REASONS why the New England Patriots will beat the Indianapolis Colts.

Reason #1 - Wes Welker

Many people reading this may be wondering why in the heck am I am listing a small, white boy, third option wide receiver as a reason why the Pats will beat the Colts this weekend.  It is because of Wes Welker that Tom Brady is having the season he is. Yes, you may argue that Moss and Stallworth have been able to provide Brady with speed and quickness that he has never seen before, but the fact of the matter is Welker has had more clutch catches in key situations in every game this season. In fact, Wes has more third down conversions than Moss and Stallworth combined. And for anybody wondering, the Super Bowl Champ each year over the last 10 seasons has been in the top five in third down conversions.

Reason #2 – Bill Belichick

There is no other coach in the NFL that has a better reputation of preparing his team for big games. It seems anytime an opponent is rated higher or favored to win that game, the Patriots almost always find a way to win. In fact, the Patriots lead the NFL since 2001, in revenge games. Meaning, not one team in the past decade has been able to have consecutive victories over the Patriots. There is no doubt in my mind Belichick has been reminding his team about last years AFC Championship game and making sure he does all he can to make sure the Patriots don’t suffer two consecutive losses against the Colts.

Reason #3 – Tom Brady

Although Peyton Manning is one of the best true passers of all time and he is talented enough to lead his team to victory this weekend, nothing can compare to Tom Brady and his talent of leading the Pats to victories in big games. There is no other QB in history that has the leadership and competitive spirit that Tom possesses. With that attitude and spirit how he approaches each game there is no questions that Tom Brady will make it happen this weekend and lead his team to 9-0.

The evolution of strength, speed and agility training continues to evolve over time. One of the biggest changes workout routines have incurred over the past decade is the manner in which to enhance explosion and power. A few years ago many strength and conditioning coaches put a lot of emphasis on power cleans and squat to accomplish this. However, over the last two years a new trend has taken place where athletes are looking to achieve the same benefits of high impact lifts such as the power clean, but to do it in a more non impact manner. Recently many coaches are focusing their efforts on ploymetrics. These drills/exercises have been proven to enhance athlete’s strength and explosion while at the same time decreasing the risk of injury.

One plyometric that I find very effective in my workouts and also during the time I played in the NFL was the use of “plyoboxes”. Also known as “Vert Boxes” “Jump Boxes” and “Box Jumps”, plyoboxes are designed to mimic the same explosive movement that is put forth when you power clean or squat. These items are very inexpensive and should be part of every aspiring NFL player out there. You can view and or purchase the various types of plyoboxes by going directly  to www.touchdownskills.com or click on the following link http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/plyoboxes.html.

Since I am a true believer of the benefits that can be gained by incorporating plyobox exercises in place of the power clean and power squat, I would like to share a simple workout that athletes at any level can include in their weekly workout routine and see immediate benefits.

Workout: Sand Box Jumps

This exercise will require a plyobox (http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/plyoboxes.html) and a sand pit. This could be a sand box in the backyard/local park or you can find a local high school track with a long jump pit.

Step 1: Chose a plyobox that as high as the bottom portion of your knees (if you feel you need a higher box do so using caution, you do not want to come up short on a jump and tear up your chins). Place the box in the sand pit where you have plenty of room to jump from the ground to the top of the box.

Step 2: With the plyobox in place, set your feet 4-8 inches away from the base of the box. Position your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width apart. Next, bend your knees, and keep your back flat and lower yourself until your body is positioned as if you were sitting in an invisible chair. Finally place your hands in front of you like you were going to box.

Step 3: In the bottom position explode and jump as high as you can, making sure you land on top of the plyobox. Step down, get in position and repeat. This workout should involve 8-10 jumps with 4-6 sets. Remember to focus on your body position and explosion. With consistent effort and including this as a regular part of your workout routine, you will notice a significant increase in explosion, vertical jump and speed.

Thru 7 weeks of the regular season, NFL teams are beginning to show their true colors. The New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts have established themselves the best two teams and the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers are the most inconsistent. But the grand prize, the big tamale, and the blue ribbon for the worst team in the NFL have to be the St. Louis Rams. After last weeks shellacking from the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams have shown that they are just an awful team.

 Exhibit A – The Offense Ranks Last in the NFL. Statistically the Rams offense ranks last in all most every category as possible. Marc Bulger has only 2 touchdown passes for the year and not one running back has a rushing touchdown. As a result of the complete lack of offensive power, they average less than 10 points per game. With such pathetic offensive output that is just a recipe for disaster.

Exhibit B – Rams Defense Ranks in the Bottom 10% in the League. That does not spell well for a team looking for something to counter the lack of offensive output. Unfortunately for the Rams, their defense is as wretched as the offense. In the last 5 games the defense is giving up a league high 29 points per game and they rank in the bottom of most defensive categories. Simple math proves that the Rams are getting outmatched in each game they play.

Exhibit C – Complete Lack of Leadership from the Coaches. This is I believe the thing that puts the Rams at the bottom of the league by a long shot. Although they have had some injuries at the offensive line and running back position, there has been nothing done from a coaching standpoint to put the backup players in a position to succeed. The weekly game plans, both offensively and defensively, have been putting a lot of pressure on players with lack of experience to perform well during the games. For example, the offensive line has been depleted with injury; however, Coach Linehan put a completely unproven player at left tackle to protect Bulger from the blind side. As a result, Bulger gets hurt and the Rams lead the league in Sacks given up, most of them coming from pressure from the left side. If Coach Linehan showed any type of leadership he would have moved his most experienced lineman, either a guard or offside tackle, into that left tackle position to protect the QB. Any fan and coach knows that the most valuable offensive line position is that left tackle. You don’t treat it like an old used car that anyone can drive. Unfortunately for the Rams, Coach Linehan thinks his team is a 1975 Dodge Dart.

Many youth football players always ask me how they can get faster and reduce their 40 yard time. To their surprise I provide them a simple but powerful statement, “Practice running fast”.  Clearly, to “practice” running fast is a combination of good coaching and technique. For that reason I would like to share a little coaching to any youth football player that would like to “practice” running fast so they can then translate that speed into game time situations.

To start all youth should understand that speed is something can be taught and it is not just something you are born with. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that “no matter how hard you try or train you will never be faster than what you were born with”.  You are as fast as you want to be.  No matter how un-athletic your parents may be or you have always been over weight, YOU determine your athletic speed capabilities.

With that in mind here is a very simple but powerful way to enhance your speed in dramatic a way where you will see results in a matter of weeks. This drill is going to utilize a running chute (you can find one at www.touchdownskills.com by clicking on the following link http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/runnchute.html )

Step 1: Find a park or field that gives you 60-75 yards to run straight. Get a stopwatch that can measure your rest intervals.

Step 2: Place 2 cones 40 yards apart. For most people one yard is the same distance as a elongated walking stride.

Step 3 (Warm Up):  Without the running chute begin at the start and run at 80% your maximum speed. Focus on driving your knees high, looking straight ahead and keeping your arms pumping straight up and down. Go down and back 2 times. Rest 1 minute between each 40 yards.

 Step 4: By following the running chute instructions place the chute on your body. Begin at the start of the 40 yards in a get off position.  Run at the a gradual pace for the first 10 yards and then go 100% to finish. You should feel a lot of resistance and to some it may be difficult to run. However, do not lose focus on your technique. Keep arms driving, high knees and looking straight ahead.

Step 5: Run 8-10 40’s with 1 minute rest in between each interval.

To see instant results you must implement this workout at least once during your training week and for a 6-8 week period.  

Man has it been a wild college football season thus far. First it starts with the biggest upset victory in college football history with Appalachian St defeating Michigan and then last week #1 LSU looses in a nail biter against a surprisingly good Kentucky team.  With all the drama so far, it has been even more exciting to try and predict the Top 5 rankings each week. Up until this week there was little debate as to who belonged and who should be left out according to the quality of wins each team has possessed. Well that all went to screeching halt when the BSC revealed that Ohio State was the number 1 ranked team in the country.

I could write a thesis about why the BSC sucks and is an incompetent method of selecting the National Championship participants, but I will save that for later. My main beef with the BCS rankings this week were not so much about the system but the unbelief that sports writers and coaches had come to a consensus that Ohio State deserved the top spot.  Which I feel is a complete crock of crap.

If you look at the Buckeyes schedule to this point they have played no one with any significance.   Take for instance the first game of the season. They played against a College Subdivision team in Youngstown St. that knew the moment they entered the stadium they were going to lose. Then following that game, OSU got a series of wins against a bunch of conference dwellers that have a combined record less than .500. These included teams like Minnesota and Washington that could not even get quality wins against lesser opponents. Follow that by a win against a Purdue team that got abused by Michigan last week, and I don’t need to remind you why that was an embarrassing loss for the Boilermakers (App. St.). Then of course the Buckeyes most recent victory over another MAC opponent proves that Ohio St has done nothing, zero, and zilch in proving its potential #1 ranking.

What really makes me questions Ohio States validity of their #1 ranking is the way they have won the first 6 games. Yes of course if you look at the scores of each of those games, Ohio State has won by an average of 30 points. However, that was done against teams that don’t have much offensive power to test that Buckeye defense in addition not one defensive unit the Buckeyes faced ranked higher than 30^th in total defense in the country. What that tells me is Ohio St is somewhat unproven defensively and their offense is really going to struggle when they have to face Penn St and Wisconsin.

So basically you can count Ohio St to lose the top BSC ranking in the next few weeks and it is quite possible they will be playing for “pride” when they face an SEC opponent in the Outback Bowl come January 1, 2008.

On Tuesday, October 15^th, the San Diego Chargers decided to do everything they could to maintain the momentum of their recent win streak (2 games) by giving up a 2008 second round draft pick and acquiring Chris Chambers from the Miami Dolphins. In what has been an extremely disappointing first 6 weeks of the season, the Chargers front office brilliantly added a talented receiver to an offense that desperately needs some help in the WR department and may just be the missing link to a potential Super Bowl caliber team.

Clearly the market value of Chambers was well below the sacrifice of a second round draft pick (look at Moss in his trade this summer with the Patriots…they only gave up a fourth round pick for this seasons candidate for offensive MVP). However, the Chargers had to make a move and had to do something to continue the momentum of the past two weeks where the offense has finally been clicking. If you look at the first four games of the season where the offense produced pathetic numbers and did nothing to keep their defense off of the field. The blame was not so much on Norv Turner and his play calling or the lack of blocking from the offensive line, but was solely on the production of the receiving corp (excluding Antonio Gates). Through the first 4 games of the season, the Chargers receivers ranked last in almost every category, yards and receptions, for any starting receiving unit in the league. If it were not for Gates, the Chargers passing offense would have been ranked dead last in the league. Clearly there was a need to find a weapon in the receiving corp and they found one in Chambers.

For the first time in Philip Rivers career he will have a viable receiving option besides Gates and Tomlinson. Chambers will provide a deep threat that will open the middle of the field for Gates and also underneath routes for Tomlinson. Better yet, Turner will finally have a talented receiver that can open his offense up.

Back in the 1990’s during the Cowboys dynasty, Turner guided one of the most dominate offenses of that time. That team had talented QB in Troy Aikman, a Hall of Famer in Emmit Smith, a mismatching TE in Jay Novechek, and a dominant WR in Michael Irving. With Tuesday’s addition of Chambers to the Chargers offense, there may be finally be the same type of QB, RB, TE and WR that Turner’s offense once had in Dallas.

All to often young football players have the precognition that in order to be a dominate offensive or defensive player, you need to bench press a ton of weight or have Hulk Hogan pipes (biceps). To the contrary most NFL head coaches and strength conditioning coaches will confirm that upper body strength is completely overrated. They believe the strength of a players ability to be successful, or one that has potential to play at the next level lies within the strength the player possess in their lower body. Leg and hip strength are as important to a football player’s success as to the focus a basketball player puts into his jumping and shooting technique.

Over the past couple of years strength and conditioning coaches have evolved their training programs to include exercises that best simulate the events that will take place during the course of a game. AS such, a lot of NFL and Division I coaches have been incorporating power sleds within off-season and in season leg/hip development to simulate blocking and point of contact tackling. Currently www.touchdownskills.com offers powers sleds as an item that can be used in strength training. (To view this item please click on the following link http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/powersled.html)

A power sled combines all the aspects of technique, leg drive and focus that is also consistent when you block and tackle opponents. I firmly believe that young players can greatly enhance their game and power if they incorporate a power sled in their weekly workout routine. Since I believe this is critical aspect of young players development, I would like to share a simple workout that any player at any skill level could include in their weekly routine.

Power Sled Workout – Straight Drive – The most important thing to remember when using a power sled, especially in this drill, is using proper technique. Try to ignore how fast or quick you finish the drill; rather center your focus on your legs. This will increase strength and power faster that if you totally ignored technique.

STEP 1 In this drill you will set up two cones 15 yards apart in a straight line. Lay the power sled behind the first cone. Position your hands on the grips, making sure your thumbs are pointing up. DO NOT point your thumbs in ward or down. For this will make your arms bow outward and lose power in your blocking. Next set your feet around shoulder width apart. Your feet should be as wide as you would power squat. For me that is just short of shoulder width, but for some it is a little wider. Now, without pushing the sled position your body so your legs are bent and your butt is higher than your shoulders. However, don’t bring your butt so high that you cannot look straight ahead. You must have your body positioned in a way that you can still look ahead (in this case you should be focusing on the second cone).

STEP 2 Once you have obtained the proper position, begin pushing the sled forward. Since this is the warm up, push the sled just faster than a moderate walking pace. Focus on keeping your feet shoulder width; your hips above your shoulders and most importantly take short choppy steps. If your feet narrow, your hips drop below your shoulders, and you start taking long steps you will lose all the ability to maximize your lower body strength.

STEP 3 After you have perfected the optimal technique and body position, now you can go back and forth between the two cones at lest 4 times. Each successive time increase weight and effort put forth to push the sled. However, lighten the weight if you start losing technique.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this blog and I would enjoy to offer any advice.

This weekend 2 of the remaining 3 undefeated teams will be matching up and only 1 team will leave the weekend 6-0. Although the game between New England and Dallas is intriguing enough to see the top two MVP candidates, Brady and Romo, there is even a more compelling story line in the two controversial wide receivers.

Terrel Owens and Randy Moss come into Sunday’s game as the best WR’s of the season and arguably of recent history. Sure enough I believe the outcome of that game may hinge on the person that has the better performance. Looking over the first 5 games of this season I will argue that Moss will deliver a huge performance, which will result in a Patriot win.

Statistically Moss has been by far the most impressive of the season if you were to compare him to Owens. Moss has 4 more touchdowns than T.O. and he has accumulated over 200 more yards receiving. Even more impressive Moss has accomplished much of it against tougher defenders that those thrown at T.O.

Individually Moss has been the more dominant receiver but he also has a better supporting staff than T.O. While having the likes of Stallworth, Watson and Welker surrounding him, he has a greater ability of getting open and avoiding double coverage. If you compare to T.O., he can only rely on Witten to pull the safeties off.

You may argue that since Moss has a better supporting cast of receivers that if T.O. were playing in the same situation he would have the same success. This is clearly not the case. Take for example Monday Night’s performance against Buffalo. Owens had the ball thrown to him in two critical situations, once for a key touchdown reception with 2 minutes remaining and the other for critical yardage needed to hit the game winning field goal. In both situations T.O. dropped the ball. That to me says that Owens can’t come up big when needed. He may have had some huge catches in the past but now he is almost unreliable in key situations. For that reason, Moss will end up providing a greater performance this weekend, which will help his team propel a win against the Cowboys.

Looking at the half waypoint of the 2007 college football season there have been strong performances by many of the preseason favorites of the Heisman Trophy race. Through six games of this season here is my power rankings of the player most likely to win the coveted trophy in December.

#3 Darren McFadden RB Arkansas – Coming into this season Darren was the choice of many sports editors and fans as the most likely to win the Heisman. After finishing third last season in the balloting you would think he had the trophy pretty much wrapped up as long as he had anything near the type of performance last season. Well through the first half of this season, Darren has had a better year statistically in every category than 2006. The problem however, is the same Achilles heal from last year…he plays with a mediocre SEC team. If the tables were turned and he played for USC, LSU or even South Carolina he could easily win the trophy. But unfortunately for Darren as long as the Razorbacks continue to come up short in the big games and only win against games that should be won, he will not finish higher than 3^rd for the Heisman voting again this year.

#2 DeSean Jackson WR California – This guy has played as good as anybody in the country when it comes to big games. He totally lit up Oregon the other day and despite being slowed by a sprained finger, he has been virtually impossible to stop. Right now I have him as the runner up in the Heisman race. However, that could all change in a few weeks when Cal and USC face. If DeSean goes for more than 100 yards with a couple of touchdowns in that game, even if it is a close loss for the Bears you may see DeSean holding the greatest individual prize in college football. (By the way… history is not on the side of DeSean, there have been only 2 wide receivers to ever win the Heisman. The last to do so was Desmond Howard 16 years ago.)

#1 Colt Brennan QB Hawaii – All I can say is Ty Detmer. It was 17 years ago that a pass happy, undersized QB from a mid major conference won the Heisman Trophy. Like Detmer, Colt is a pass happy, small QB and on his way to break a ton of NCAA passing records and lead an unheralded WAC team into a potential BSC match up. If he can continue on his current pace I predict Colt Brennan will be the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner.

Over the past three decades football training has evolved from being exclusively focused on increasing strength and speed into today’s game centering more on speed and agility. In order to keep up with the competitive nature of today’s athletes it is crucial that you are doing all you can to enhance your capabilities in these areas. One critical area in your body that single handily could decrease your 40 and maximize your explosive power is centering much of your lifting in strengthening your “core”. The “core” of an athlete comprises your ABS, back, hips and butt. Increasing the strength and flexibly in those areas translate directly into your ability to be faster, quicker and more explosive.

A feature item at www.touchdownskills.com that has been critical in my development as a professional athlete has been the use of medicine balls. You can view and purchase a set of these by clicking on the following link http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/medicineballs.html. 

Since I am a strong believer in medicine balls increasing the strength of your core I would like to share a simple workout that any athlete competing in any level could incorporate in your daily/weekly routine.

Workout – Medicine Ball Crunches – This will require an area of your gym or home that has a concrete or reinforced wall.  First select a medicine ball that weighs nor more than 8 lbs. Next sit in front of your wall in a sit up position 5-6 feet away. Start by lying on your back flat on the ground with your hands behind your head holding the medicine ball. Begin coming up in a crunch position and at the height of your crunch throw the ball (over your head) against the wall. As soon as the ball bounces back to your hands begin the decent back to the floor. Repeat this 20-25 times. Do 2-3 sets. The main thing to focus is flexing your ABS each time you lift up and lay back down on the floor. If you have difficulty keeping your legs and feet on the ground, lighten the weight of the medicine ball.

If you wish to view more exercises on core enhancement or other workouts related to this subject click on the following link http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/medicineballs.html and enter your e-mail address. Enjoy!