Atlanta Falcons Reason for Pessimism The Atlanta Falcons had an excellent regular season last year, winning 13 games. Retro Jordans Nz . But many of them were by remarkably close scores. I remember the Carolina game and the Hail Mary pass from Matt Ryan to Roddy White to position the Falcons for the winning field goal. That game could have gone either way. The same in regards to the Oakland game - won by three. The Arizona game? Won by four. The Tampa Bay game was won by one. The Saints game was won by four - on the last play of the game. And the playoff game at home against Seattle - a 30-28 win in the last minute. Thats six games that could have gone either way and in a very tough NFC South. The Falcons will need that late game skill again. The rushing attack was 29th and on defence was 24th - being 21st against the run and 23rd against the pass. The Falcons are a very good team that needs to improve. The biggest concern is cornerback. Asante Samuel will take care of one side but the other may be a rookie. Either Desmond Trufant or Robert Alford. Either way, starting a rookie cornerback is a risk but Atlanta may not have a choice. Reason for Optimism Matt Ryan has signed a new big time contract and heres why. He has 56 wins in his first five seasons and the record for wins in their first six seasons is 60 by Ben Roethisberger. Matt Ryan may surpass that significant record as soon as week on Monday night Football at home against the Jets. As a team the Falcons were +13 in takeaway and giveaway and second in third down completion percentage. Thank you, Matt Ryan. All the Falcons need to be the best offence in football is for Steven Jackson to stay healthy and the best three receivers in football - Jones, White and Gonzalez to do what they do. The other key component is Osi Umenyiora as a pass rusher on one side and Kroy Biermann on the other side. They must play well to offset the youth in the secondary. Give credit to the Falcons in that they were one more good play from a Super Bowl appearance and still may have eight new starters in the effort to improve. Reality: Tough, tough division. New Orleans will be better and Tampa Bay as well. Carolina always plays Atlanta tough. But the Falcons have great receivers and an improved defence depending on the two young cornerbacks. The two games against New Orleans will probably determine the division. Theyll finish first in NFC South. New Orleans Saints Reason for Pessimism Last year, the New Orleans Saints allowed an all-time record for yards allowed with 7,O42. They also had nine games of 25 points allowed or more. Their total defence was ranked 32nd, their rushing defence was 32nd, pass defence 31st and their scoring defence was also 31st. Can that defence now contain Matt Ryan, Cam Newton and an improving Josh Freeman? Until proven, its the biggest question with the Saints. They do have three good young players in free agent Keenan Lewis from Pittsburgh, John Jenkins at the nose from Georgia and Kenny Vaccaro out of Texas. But can all three be 16-game starters? Reason for Optimism You cant undervalue the presence and accountability of Sean Payton back as head coach. In the last three years with him, the Saints won 37 of a possible 48 games and won it all in 2009. Without him, they were 7-9. Even if the defence plays mildly better, the Saints can win games on their own - second in total offence, first in passing offence, third in scoring offence and fourth on red zone efficiency. The only negative number was rushing offence, which was 25th. But you know that will improve with Payton back. And you know the Saints wont start the season 0-4 again. Reality: If the defence catches up with the offence, then the Saints are a playoff team again this year. The have two key games with Atlanta to open the season at home, then its off to Thursday Night Football on Nov. 21. That will probably determine the division. The Saints finish second in the NFC South - but not by much. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Reason for Pessimism The Bucs are a team that could finish first or last in the NFC South. They started the season a strong 6-4 but ended it a poor 1-5. And the one win was against an Atlanta team in Week 17 that had little to play for. The concern for the Bucs is quarterback Josh Freeman. He did have a great year in terms of passing yards and touchdowns passes, but threw 10 of his 17 interceptions over three games late in the season - which kept the Bucs out of the playoffs. Still, Tampa Bay spent money in free agency and if that pans out then what was one of the worst secondaries will become one of the best. In one of the oddest years in defence, the Bucs finished first against the run and 32nd against the pass. Can that pass defence catch up with the run defence? Reason for Optimism There are some hidden gems of talent on this years Bucs team. Doug Martin was spectacular last year and a big reason was Carl Nicks at left guard and Donald Penn at left tackle. Vincent Jackson had a good year, Gerald McCoy lived up to his high draft pick status as a defensive tackle and Mason Foster played well at middle linebacker. Finally, Darrelle Revis, Mark Barron, Eric Wright and Dashon Goldson make up talent wise an excellent secondary. A lot will depend on Josh Freeman and the pressure is on. Greg Schiano has not said it is his job to lose and they also drafted quarterback Mike Glennon. The Bucs could be a 10 win team. Reality: Just like the Panthers, the probable is who do the Bucs move ahead of into the playoffs? The Saints or the Falcons? I say its possible but the Bucs will finish third in the NFC South. Carolina Panthers Reason for Pessimism This is probably it for Ron Rivera. For the last two years, the start of the season has been disastrous but and the end of the season has been terrific. Last year, the Panthers won five of their last six but lost six of there first seven. Statistically, there was nothing that outstanding about what Carolina did on offence or defence. They finished Top 10 on defence and 12th on offence - pretty good . Not dominant, but pretty good. They do need to find another receiver other than Steve Smith, but thats been an issue for years and if they do then Cam Newton will have another year as good as his rookie campaign. In that year, Carolina won 12 games and made the playoffs. The pressure is on this year - more than ever. Reason for Optimism Over the last five years, Carolina has won 12, eight, two, six and seven games - so theyre on their way back (only one game from .500 football!). Also, seven of their losses were by seven points or less. With Newton, his touchdown runs are down but his touchdown passes were up. With three good running backs in Jonathan Stewart, DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert, Newton does not have to throw thew ball 30 times to win. And with three good linebackers led by Luke Kuechly and two good outside pass rushers, the Panthers made their first and second pick defensive tackles to make it stonger than ever. Reality: The Panthers are a good team in a very tough division. They also have one of the toughest schedules playing six playoff teams. A lot will depend on how well Newton continues to progress, but he will have to out play Drew Brees and Matt Ryan to be a playoff team. Possible, but not probable. Carolinas fourth in the NFC South. Cheap Jordans For Sale . The Argentine midfielder made the announcement himself on Twitter on Tuesday and posted a picture of his swollen left foot. His message said he would be out "at least three weeks. Cheap Jordans Nz . Amaro broke the NCAA all-time record for receiving yards in a season for a tight end with 1,352 during his junior campaign, eclipsing the mark of 1,329 set by Rices James Casey in 2008. http://www.airjordannz.com/ . You can watch all the action on TSN and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. Minnesota dropped the first two tests of this best-of-seven set at Chicagos United Center and was outscored by a combined 9-3 margin in those setbacks. However, the Wild righted themselves at home by taking Game 3 by a 4-0 count before knotting the series at two games apiece with Fridays 4-2 triumph at Xcel Energy Center.NEW YORK – Make it two in a row for the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium following Sundays grind-it-out, 5-4 victory, a monumental accomplishment when contrasted with the 17-game losing skid that ended with Saturdays win in the Bronx. Suddenly, after six weeks of bad baseball compounded by a rash of injuries to vital cogs like Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind, the Blue Jays (56-50) are 7-3 out of the All-Star Break and have crucial series wins over the Red Sox (three out of four) and the Yankees (two out of three). The Blue Jays will travel by train to Boston on Sunday evening in preparation for a three-game series with the Red Sox. Regardless of the result of the Orioles-Mariners game in Seattle, the Blue Jays will wake up on Monday morning in sole possession of second place in the American League East and, perhaps more importantly, in sole possession of the lead for the American Leagues coveted second wild card spot. It wasnt pretty at times. The Jays blew leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 on Sunday but in a test-of-the-mettle type of game, the club went ahead for good when Dioner Navarro singled home Jose Bautista with two outs in the ninth. That the base hit came off Yankees closer David Robertson and combined with the fact that Bautista had stolen second to get into scoring position, it seemed a solid way to cap a solid weekend. Bautista wants his team to believe its good. "We need to sometimes have that swagger and that attitude that we are a good team," said Bautista. "At times when we lose a couple in a row, it seems like we lose it a little bit, lose that edge. Im not saying we dont compete, we dont show up on time and do our work and do our preparation. Were great about that but at times you can see it on the field and in the clubhouse, if we lose a couple in a row and theyre tough games, its like the energy goes down a little bit." Sanchez wins his first game Rookie Aaron Sanchez picked up his first career major league victory in Sundays win. He wasnt entirely satisfied. "Maybe not so much the way I would have liked it to have," said Sanchez of the way the win played out. "We score a run there in the eighth and I go back out there and for me, I need to do a better job of shutting that inning down so they dont have to fight for another one but those guys picked me up and its such an awesome feeling right now to get my first win, especially here in Yankee Stadium." Sanchez pitched a three-up, three-down seventh on three groundballs to preserve a 3-3 tie. After Colby Rasmus drew a walk and advanced two bases on a pickoff attempt throwing error by Yankees reliever Dellin Betances, Munenori Kawasakis sacrifice fly scored Rasmus to give Toronto a 4-3 lead in the eighth. Sanchez gave up a leadoff single to Brett Gardner in the eighth. Gardner advanced to second on a Derek Jeter sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single by Carlos Beltran. The game was tied 4-4. Sanchez was still the pitcher of record when the Blue Jays went ahead in the ninth. Casey Janssen worked a clean inning for his 16th save. Reimold returns One day after revealing publicly that Edwin Encarnacion isnt close to returningg to the lineup due to a right quadriceps strain, the Blue Jays trimmed their bloated infirmary by one in welcoming back outfielder Nolan Reimold. Cheap Air Jordan Nz. Pitcher Esmil Rogers was designated for assignment to make room for Reimold on the active roster. "To get another position player up here," said manager John Gibbons, explaining the move. "Another right-handed bat instead of having eight bullpen guys." Reimold arrived at Yankee Stadium about two hours before Sundays game and wasnt in the starting lineup. Coming off a left calf strain suffered while running the bases in the July 11 game at Tampa Bay, Reimold wont be in the outfield for at least "a couple of days," according to Gibbons. He was available to pinch hit and will be used as a designated hitter. Expect to see him in Wednesdays starting lineup when the Jays face Red Sox ace lefthander Jon Lester. "Hes a good pitcher so itll be good to get back in there and compete again," said Reimold. Reimold was just getting settled with his new team when he was bitten by the injury bug. Its been a consistent theme throughout the 30-year-olds career. Hes had two major neck surgeries, spinal fusion. The second procedure was required to correct the first, which didnt take. The calf strain happened as he was running to third on a base hit. Hed never had a problem in that area before. "Its very frustrating," said Reimold. "But its behind me now. No issues; you know, get back at it again and start over." In four games with the Jays, his first big league games of the season after being picked up on waivers from the Orioles, Reimold showed flashes of the player the Blue Jays believe he can be. He had two hits, including a double, and three RBI in an 8-7 loss to the Angels in Anaheim. Rogers, who turns 29 on August 14, will be exposed to irrevocable waivers for the second time this season. While its likely he clears and is assigned, once again, to Triple-A Buffalo, the Blue Jays would be content for another team to take a flier on Rogers and pick up the remainder of his $1.85-million salary. Rogers played a significant role in Toronto last season, making 44 appearances, including 20 starts to cover for an injury-depleted rotation. He was initially shipped out in mid-May, following a series at Fenway Park. At the time, he led the entire staff with five home runs allowed. His regression isnt a story exclusive to Rogers. The Jays relief corps also has been burdened by down seasons from two 2013 All-Stars, Steve Delabar (now pitching for Buffalo) and Brett Cecil. What makes the Rogers situation hurt more is what general manager Alex Anthopoulos gave up to get him. Catcher Yan Gomes is a regular in Cleveland and Mike Aviles is a serviceable utility infielder. For the cash-strapped Blue Jays, Rogers salary is burdensome with ownership apparently unwilling to take on money in a midseason trade. Theres no timeline for Encarnacions return to the lineup after he suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a right quadriceps strain, an injury sustained on July 5. In Encarnacions absence, Reimolds potentially potent righthanded bat will be a welcome addition to Gibbons lineup. ' ' '