Each week 64% of Americans watch 6-10 hours of the National Football League throughout the US. And each year just as many have hopes that their team will make it all the way and be the big winners of the Super Bowl championship. Even fans that have never seen their team even come close, and hold out hope for miracles like the New Orleans Saints a few years ago. Everyone believes this is the year. But sadly, for many NFL teams they won’t even come close.

In 2012 we have seen the battles between the heavy hitters, but what about those who were trailing behind? What teams didn’t quite make it to the playoffs, or even halfway up the national roster? What about their season and now off season ventures?

This year the low team on the totem pole was the Kansas City Chiefs. With a 2-14 record the Chiefs had a rough year eventually firing their head coach and seeing the resignation of Scott Pioli, their General Manager. There is an upside though as they move ahead for the first draft pick in the 2013 season. Rumor has it they are looking at adding a quarterback to their team and right now there is a four way tie between Geno Smith of WVU fame, Ryan Nassib, Tyler Wilson, and Matt Barkley.

Another team that went 2-14 this season was the Jacksonville Jaguars. It seemed their quarterback was much to blame for this sad record and as it goes in the NFL head Coach Mike Mularkey was fired by the new GM. David Caldwell, the new GM, is excited however about rebuilding from the ground up in the offseason and next year the Jaguars could be good contenders. So if you are an avid fan or a season ticket holder, hold on to your Jacksonville Jaguars tickets because 2013 looks to be really exciting.

Although the Jets have two famed quarterbacks with Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, they didn’t make it past #30 on the Fox Sports Power Ranking list. A lot of blame fell on Sanchez for playing poorly this year and not doing well with pre-snap reads. The QB coach is also being replaced and fans are looking at who may be coming in, and who else may be getting replaced this year. The 2013 draft is also crucial for the Jets as they have many holes to fill on their team roster and if they follow through with the expected cut of Calvin Pace in the offseason they will need a strong pass-rusher like Jarvis Jones.

Sadly another team that seems to have a quarterback that doesn’t quite cut it is the Oakland Raiders. It appears that QB Terrelle Pryor made a valiant effort for the 2012 season but fell just short of being all he needed to be for an NFL quarterback. There are hopes for the 2013 season however with newly signed contracts by running back Jon Hoese, nose tackle Johnny Jones, and a reserve contract for receiver Isaiah Williams.

The Eagles, the Titans, the Lions, and the Cardinals weren’t much better this season in their attempt for professional football glory. The reality is the NFL is a tough business to be in and with serious injuries like the Chiefs QB Robert Griffin III’s knee, or the Detriot Lions’ DT Nick Fairley’s shoulder, you never know where a team will end up when the first games of the season are played. But as much as you love to see your team succeed, a true fan will support their team through thick and thin, up and down, wins and loses always holding out hope for the next season, if nothing else.

The NFL is finally back after college football kicked off last week and the Cowboys surprised a lot of people on Wednesday night, so it’s time to get geared up for Sunday’s full lineup of games.

We have a new NFL lines page where you can find lines from a variety of sportsbooks. We’ll also be getting free picks through the year from our friend Vegas Vic, and you can subscribe to Doc’s Sports Service for weekly picks.

The theme for week one is hype. If you’re going to have any success, you need to dig way deeper than the hype you hear over and over again from ESPN and most national pundits. If you only listen to them, you’re probably convinced that Russell Wilson is the second coming of Steve Young and that the Browns can’t win a game. Wilson may end up being good, but none of us have any idea based on a couple of preseason performances. Those stats matter very little, and frankly they don’t make him any taller or more accurate. Meanwhile, everyone is down on the Browns. The team is very young, so naturally they might struggle. But what if Trent Richardson really is healthy? What if Brandon Weeden’s arm looks as good as it did in the preseason? Despite all the hype, I still think Weeden will be a much better pro quarterback than Wilson.

The key to picking games is understanding uncertainty. Just about every pundit assumed Dallas couldn’t beat the Giants. Adam Schein said the Cowboys had “no chance” to win that game. That’s an absurd statement in today’s era of unpredictability in the NFL. You have to dig much deeper.

Cleveland is a 9.5 point underdog at home against Philadelphia. If you base your bets on ESPN power rankings, you’ll probably jump on Philly. But we really have no idea how good the Browns might be with those new players, so I would avoid that game.

Because week one is so hard to predict, I like teaser bets that go counter to the hype. So you can tease down the 7 points New Orleans in giving at home to Washington down to 1 point – essentially making this a pickem game. I Like RGIII, but he’s going on the road to face Drew Brees in his first game, and the Saints have a chip on their shoulder.

I would pair this up with Arizona getting 3 points at home against Seattle. The spread here has shifted from Arizona giving 3 points to getting 3 points, all due to the Russell Wilson hype and the drama surrounding the Arizona quarterback situation. You can tease this up so that Arizona is getting 9 points at home against a rookie quarterback drafted in the third round!

There are never any guarantees of course, and all of this is just for fun. I recommend getting input from professional handicappers as they have so much more information on these games. But the preseason hype offers up some opportunities, and you can usually do better going against the herd.

The 2012 football season is finally here. College football kicked off last weekend, with Alabama humiliating Michigan in one of the most high-profile games of week one. Now the NFL gets into the act tonight with the Dallas Cowboys traveling to New York to face the Super Bowl Champion Giants.

Our NFL lines page is now more robust, as it’s powered by SBRodds and features lines from a number of sportsbooks.

We’ll be posting free picks throughout the year from some top handicappers. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you probably won’t do very well just following the herd. For example, last year everyone was convinced that the Cincinnati Bengals would have trouble winning one game with their rookie quarterback. They made the playoffs. This year you’re hearing some of the same stuff about the Cleveland Browns. But if Trent Richardson turns out to be healthy and Brandon Weeden pans out, this team could surprise some people. Meanwhile, the Bengals have lost two starters on the offensive line and Andy Dalton might be facing a sophomore slump. The NFL can be very unpredictable, so be careful about listening to the loudest voices.

Another hyped player this year is Russell Wilson. Yes, he’s looked good in preseason, but let’s wait to see him play one in one real game before electing him to the Hall of Fame and handing the division to the Seahawks.

You don’t have to bet of course to enjoy picking against the spread, as the are plenty of free football pools out there. Still, there are few things like spending a fall weekend in Las Vegas where you can spend the entire day at the sportsbook. Enjoy!

Our latest model slideshow is timely in that the lovely Amber Priddy is in the news today. RadarOnline.com is reporting that Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson is in even more trouble with new wife Evelyn Lozada, as he’s been secretly dating model Amber Priddy. Chad has had a rough couple of weeks, and now his celebrity dating life is getting exposed for all to see.

We’re fortunate to have this gallery of Amber Priddy courtesy of Black Men Magazine, and if you like your ladies curvy you’re going to love Amber Priddy. Amber is of German and Italian descent and she happy to show off her assets in some skimpy lingerie. Enjoy, and check out Black Men Magazine for more exotic models!

That’s right, I’m that guy. The one with multiple teams, and a small fortune invested in their outcomes. The one who will watch every game to follow my players, and root against lifelong favorite teams if one of my guys needs to get be an extra point or so before the late games. Hell, I once introduced fantasy football into a conversation about a friend’s dad being hospitalized due to malpractice by saying, “Hey, speaking of dropping the ball, what do you think about Dez Bryant against the Eagles this week?”

Luckily I live in a football and fantasy crazed society that supports this sickness. More than support it, they allow it to successfully infiltrate other aspects of your life by providing awesome mobile apps so that you never have to sit through another social obligation or work day without having the ability to request trades, and change you roster for the 5^th time in a week. Of those apps, here are the most essential ones that you will need come time for the new season.

For Your Overall Needs – ESPN Fantasy Football 2012

Available for iOS here, and for Android here

So, there’s a lot of sites you can play fantasy football on, but I say if you’re going to spend a disturbing amount of your life during football season watching the same SportsCenter over and over until the new one kicks in, you might as well stick with ESPN. Quite simply, this app allows you the full range of features you would get by logging into your ESPN league (trades, roster movements, league news, etc.) but of course here you have all of that power in the palm of your hands. Best of all is the notification alerts, so you’re never behind on an injury update, or smack talk opportunity ever again.

If you’re going with fantasy football through ESPN this year, then this is the most essential app you can download (and if you’re not, be sure to snag your host site’s alternative). Just try not to spend the whole day considering your WR loadout for the week, just because you have the ability to change it at will.

For Your Draft – Rotowire Fantasy Football Draft Kit 2012

Available for iOS here

If the draft isn’t the most important part of your fantasy football year, it sure is the most exciting. Watching your roster come together from the all star impossible selections of the first few rounds, to the vital sleeper picks of the late rounds, all while trying to beat your friends for the most bragging rights is the best part of any season. As my 2010 year proved, however, sometimes flipping a coin between tough decisions is not the best way to go. In that case, I have to recommend the unrivaled help provided by the Rotowire Draft Kit.

This is a smart draft app of sorts, as it allows you to set recommendations based on your preferences, and can actually adjust player rankings based off of your league settings and your needs according to the draft progress thus far. You’ll also find the usual range of stats, recommendations, and upset picks all tied together by a clean interface that allows you to smoothly navigate the various app features while keeping up with the draft thus far.

While this app won’t prevent you from picking the sure thing player gone bust, or keep your first two running back picks from blowing their ACL’s in week one, it is otherwise the closest you will come to a fool proof draft day.

For the Compulsive – Fantasy Football 12’ HD

Available for iOS here, and for Android here

From Bignoggins Productions, this is one of the most popular fantasy football apps available. It offers the same add/drop, roster changes, news updates, and trade abilities as the host site apps, but the difference here is you can manage your ESPN, Yahoo, and NFL.com teams all via this app without having to move back and forth. Plus, since you will be second guessing your every move throughout the year, this gives you another available outlet for recommendations and news.

If your fantasy obsession has taken you to the darken back alley that is owning and managing multiple teams over multiple leagues, then there is no more essential app available then this one.

For the Hell of It – Paper Football 3D

Available for the iOS here, and for Android here

Look, it’s quite possible that every one of your star players will go down and you’ll miss out on every great free agent pick up of the year leading to the dreaded winless season. It happens.

It’s at times like this that you need something to remind yourself that football is supposed to be fun. And since the official NFL Madden app will probably just remind you that Darren McFadden just will never stay healthy, and you should probably just stop drafting him already (sorry…still working through some stuff here), why not dial it back another notch and go back to the simplistic days of paper football. It takes the basics of the game (points, mostly) and gives you a reprieve from the brain crushing numbers of fantasy ball, while providing your methadone fix of the game that you most desperately need.

While I can’t guarantee that these apps will make you a lock to win your league this year, with Calvin Johnson most assuredly going down to the Madden curse, we could be looking at another topsy turvy anything can happen kind of season. Which is why you may soon find yourself needing my first four picks in this round of app of the week.

Cleveland will be one of the pivotal teams in the draft with the #4 pick, and many are predicting that they will take running back Trent Richardson. But the Minnesota Vikings are making noise about trading out of the #3 pick, and that could mean Richardson goes to a team at #3. These tow teams will be pivotal in a draft that could be very hard to predict after the first two picks.

You can follow Anthony’s NFL draft coverage at ScoresReport.com. You’ll see his mock drafts along with analysis of the top draft prospects and sleepers.

There are so many mock drafts out there these days that you can OD on all the various projections. Of course Mel Kiper and Todd McShay at ESPN has some of the best information out there. Here’s a 7-round mock draft at NFL.com that would make me and other Browns fans very happy. Michael Lombardi’s first round mock draft would be even better, as he has the Browns getting Richardson and then Micheal Floyd dropping down to them at #22.

Search around and you’ll find plenty of information and speculation about your own team. Then you can load up on beer and munchies, invite some friends over and enjoy the show tonight.

Eli Manning is rightfully getting plenty of attention this week after he and the New York Giants upset Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers last weekend. Some columnists are already suggesting that he’s the “better Manning.” As usual, sportswriters live in the moment and often get ahead of the story. Let’s see what Eli does in the next couple of games before we start making bold historical judgments.

We might end up with a Super Bowl rematch if Eli takes care of business in San Francisco and Tom Brady is able to lead the Patriots over the Ravens. That classic Giants/Patriots Super Bowl is remembered as one of the best, and you know that Brady and Bill Belichick would love to get another shot at the G-Men.

Outside of San Francisco and Baltimore, most NFL fans are probably rooting for that rematch. Of course, Jim Harbaugh and Ray Lewis will have their say on Sunday. Either way the NFL has had a great season coming out of a brutal offseason with the lockout. Let’s see if they can cap it off with a great final four and a great Super Bowl. Come Monday every NFL fan will be scouring the Super Bowl betting odds, from the game line to who will score the first touchdown.

With some incredible games and some huge upsets, the NFL has whittled the playoff field down to four teams. New England hosts Baltimore next week and San Francisco gets an NFC Championship Game at home against the Giants after Green Bay fell flat yesterday.

Check out our sports blog at ScoresReport.com for news and updates on the 2012 NFL Playoffs and the road to the 2012 Super Bowl.

This weekend they hit a pretty big speed bump in the form of interim head coach Romeo Crennel and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs have had a miserable season, starting the year with high expectations following a successful 2010 campaign. Ravaged by injuries and squabbles between the head coach and the GM, the Chiefs have been a mess all season.

But they have talent on defense, and now they have a solid quarterback in Kyle Orton to ride out the season, and Green Bay found out how difficult it is to go undefeated in the NFL.

But was this just a speed bump, or did the Chiefs expose some problems with the Packers? Aaron Rodgers is a stud and all the pundits were crowning him the king of quarterbacks even while others like Tom Brady and Drew Brees were also carving up defenses with the new rules. But Green Bay now has a problem on the offensive line with backup tackle Derek Sherrod breaking his leg and starter Bryan Bulaga getting an MRI today for a sprained knee. Aaron Rodgers may be great, but he’ll come back down to Earth if other teams can get pressure on him with four lineman like the Chiefs did yesterday. Just ask Tom Brady about his last Super Bowl appearance.

Speaking of Brady, he gave a lesson to young Tim Tebow yesterday as the Patriots spanked the upstart Broncos. The Patriots and Steelers look like the class of the AFC after the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Colts failed to show up yesterday, but the Steelers have a tough road game tonight in San Francisco with Ben Roethlisberger trying to play on a gimpy ankle.

Back to the NFC, Drew Brees put on a show yesterday. For all the talk about Aaron Rodgers this season, Brees is poised to break Dan Marino’s record for most passing yards in a season. We also have two rookies this season with over 3,000 yards, so anyone trying to tell you Aaron Rodgers is having the best season for a QB in NFL history needs to put this in context. By holding back hits on receivers and quarterbacks, the NFL has turned this into something resembling arena football. Stats are inflated.

That said, it’s still shaping up to be a Green Bay/New Orleans shootout on the NFC side. Should be fun to watch.

After a brutal off-season, the NFL kicks off tonight with a great match-up between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints in a battle of the past two Super Bowl winners. Check out Anthony Stalter’s 2011 NFL Preview for all of his predictions, and then check out the latest NFL lines to get ready for your office pool.

We’ve included some cheerleader pics for your viewing pleasure so check out more after the jump.

The Redskins cheerleaders are in mid-season form:

These Denver Broncos cheerleaders are loaded with energy: