The Official Website of Merril Hoge

picks week 9

merril hoge — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:39:09 +0000

Falcons 24 Redskins 13
AZ 20 Chicago 17
Bengals 23 Ravens 20
colts 28 Texans 21
Jags 24 KC 17
Patriots 27 Dolphins 20
Packers 31 Bucs 13
Saints 23 Panthers 20
Seattle 28 LIons 17
Giants 24 Chargers 21
49ers 23 Titans 13
Dallas 23 Eagles 20
Steelers 27 Broncos 13

picks week 8

merril hoge — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:02:10 +0000

Baltimore 23 Broncos 17
Houston 24 Buffalo 13
Chicago 20 Cleveland 10
Dallas 28 Seattle 14
Detroit 13 Rams 7
Giants 20 Eagles 17
Indy 28 Niners 13
Jets 20 Miami 17
Charger 28 Raiders 10
jags 24 Titans 13
AZ 23 Panthers 14
Vikings 24 Packers 20
Saints 27 Falcons 23

picks

merril hoge — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:23:34 +0000

Packers 23 browns 17
Houston 23 49ers 17
Chargers 24 KC 17
Steelers 28 Viks 17
Colts 31 Rams 10
Patriots 27 Bucs 14
Panthers 20 Bills 17
Jets 17 Raiders 10
Falcons 20 Dallas 17
dolphins 23 Saints 20
Bengals 20 Bears 14
Giants 24 Cards 21
Philly 17 Washington 14

Jets D

merril hoge — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:41:02 +0000

One thing that starts to happen at this point of the season is you start to see the strengths and weaknesses of a team, a player or a unit. The Jets defensive strength is how they blitz, they love to see teams that are one dimensional and want to just pass (Patriots). Their weakness is they are not that stout against the run and teams that have lined up and run the ball right at them or get them flowing one way only to cut the run back, they have struggled with, like the Saints and Dolphins. They must clean this up or it will continue to be a weakness every week.

Picks for Week 6

merril hoge — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:36:16 +0000

Bengals 28, Texans 20
Packers 30, Lions 17
Jags 28, Rams 10
Vikings 17, Ravens 14
Giants 21, Saints 20
Steelers 30, Browns 14
Panthers 17, Bucs 13
Washington 20, KC 14
Eagles 38, Raiders 17
Cards 28, Seattle 20
Patriots 20, Titans 17
Jets 20, Bills 10
Falcons 24, Bears 20
San Diego 28, Broncos 17

Bengals O

merril hoge — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:29:56 +0000

You must self-scout yourself in order to help you from getting too predictable, and that is just what the Bengals did against the Ravens. I also think it was part understanding how the Ravens like to support the run with their safeties, but going into the Ravens game, the Bengals had been about 85% run to the strong side, strong side it usually to the TE. Well against the Ravens, they changed that trend and about 85% of the runs in that game were to the weak side. In fact, Benson’s big TD run came to the weak side.

Patriots O

merril hoge — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:22:45 +0000

You know I sit here for 50 to 80 hours every week watching every offense and every defense in the NFL. I have been doing this for 22 years as a player and analyst, so I have a little bit of history with this league and its trends and players and teams. I have seen every game Tom Brady has played, I have watched this offense change over the years and after last week’s game, I decided to do a little more work on how this Patriots offense has gone from being less about Brady to becoming all about Brady! I will explain.

When the Patriots won their Super Bowls in 2001, 2003 and 2004, they were a more balanced team, especially in 2004, they ran the ball more than they passed it. And by the time 2007 rolled around, they were 42% run, 58% pass, not as balanced, but what I feel is the biggest problem right now with the Patriots (besides the timing use in the passing game) is Brady is fixated on Wes Welker, especially on 3rd down and short, and as I studied the Broncos game, you could tell Josh McDaniels knew that and Denver was prepared for it.

Now that it’s on tape, other teams will do the same thing to Brady until he corrects that as well. And to get back to the difference of when they won the 3 Super Bowls and the balance that they had in the offense, it wasn’t that they just ran the ball, they would run the ball when Tom was not sharp or the defense he was playing was starting to get great pressure. It was a way to help settle Brady down and the offense. They did not have that in ‘07 and it caught up to them on the night it would hurt the most (Super Bowl Sunday) and right now, they need it because Brady is off, but they keep putting him between the crosshairs and give him no time to recover during a game.

Dolphins D

merril hoge — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:50:55 +0000

This defense did not look like they were 0-3 going into the Bills game and after I got done watching the tape, one guy really stood out. In fact, he has amazing power and plays with great leverage and the Jets will have their hands full with him on Sunday, his name is Cameron Wake #91.

Watch him. He could be a pass-rushing star!!

Cowboys O

merril hoge — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:48:35 +0000

Tony Romo has really struggled the last couple of weeks. The last time I posted something on Romo, I said he was the most inconsistent QB in the NFL, well he is still that, but after watching the tape of the Broncos game, his WRs do nothing to help him! They are late and lazy when it comes to getting in and out of breaks. I watch the WRs try and get out of a break on a come back and they all look like they are in quicksand. Romo is all over the board with his throws. In fact, he is more accurate if he is about to get hit rather than just standing in the pocket with no pressure.

Jets O

merril hoge — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:44:54 +0000

After watching the tape, Sanchez did not play as bad as his stats would indicate against the Saints. He clearly did not play like he did the first couple of weeks but I can explain that.

The Saints did not play the same style of defense the others have played against the Jets O, they played a lot of man-to-man with pressure and the Jets WR could not get open. This game may have been the reason the Jets acted so quickly on Braylon Edwards. I do not expect Braylon to make an immediate impact but his big body and speed should help as long as he catches the ball.