NFL Week 12 Recap

Week 12 NFL Recap

Houston Texans over Detroit Lions

The Houston Texans got another close victory over the Lions in another overtime game where there defense struggled.  The offense has been playing well the last few weeks, especially the resurgent Andre Johnson and this makes the Texans quite dangerous.  However the defense seems to be struggling without Jonathon Joseph and in the playoffs that could prove problematic.  Also I think it is time to take into consideration the tragic review call, or lack of review on the Justin Forsett touchdown run.  The rule which says coaches aren’t allowed to challenge a play that would be automatically challenged and if they attempt to do so the play is then unreviewable.  The most interesting part of that is that theoretically a coach could challenge their own game winning touchdown and the play wouldn’t be able to be booth reviewed.  This game for the Lions though basically ends their season.  They move to 4-7 having lost 3 in a row and seem to be a flawed franchise.  They have 3 talented and dynamic starts in Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford and Suh, but these players can be inconsistent at times and it costs the team dearly.  Especially Suh’s antics which are getting old very quickly.

Washington Redskins over Dallas Cowboys

RGIII!!!!!!!! I know I seem to make a big deal of him every week and that is really all I ever talk about with the Redskins but the man is worth it.  He threw for over 300 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception in a game where he completed over 70% of his passes as he led his team to a Thanksgiving Day victory over the Cowboys.  He singlehandedly makes the Redskins one of the most exciting teams in football and this season is performing at the level of a top 10 quarterback.  He has led the team to a 5-6 record and honestly it really seems like they are doing better than that given how exciting the team is.  This loss effectively ended the Cowboys season on the other hand.  The team moved to below .500 and in really is going to make it difficult for the team to make it almost impossible for a late season run toward the post season.  Romo and the Boys fell behind early despite a valiant comeback attempt that fell a little short, a loss that seems to be the epitome of the Cowboys season.  Romo played great but the rest of the team didn’t do enough to earn a victory. 

New England Patriots over New York Jets

Well the Patriots are good at football and the Jets are a dysfunctional mess, those are the two lessons from this game.  The Patriots dominated this game in every facet, offensively able to move the ball at will, defensively forced a ton of turnovers and were even able to score a special teams touchdown.  The Patriots at this point have to be considered the favorite in the AFC; they have the league’s best offense with an improving defense.  The Jets on the other hand are just a mess highlighted by Sanchez’ fumble where he ran into his lineman’s ass.  The Jets’ offense is just terrible; I kind of feel bad for Sanchez and actually think it is for his benefit that Tim Tebow begins to start.

Denver Broncos over Kansas City Chiefs

The Broncos didn’t play great but won by 8 to win their 6^th in a row while the Chiefs lost their 8^th.  Manning struggled at times as he never really got into a great rhythm against the Chiefs as their defense put up a good effort.  The Broncos defense totally dominated the Chiefs offense which isn’t that impressive an accomplishment considering it might be the worst in football.  The Broncos proved they are among the NFL’s elite in my eye because they played horribly against a bad team on the road and still beat the Chiefs fairly easily.  Also the Chiefs are the worst team in football that is painfully obvious at this point.

Indianapolis Colts over Buffalo Bills

Well Bills fans there goes the season.  It is now officially time to wish the season good bye as the chances that the team makes the playoffs are all but gone.  In my view the majority of blame must be blamed on management and coaching, but mostly the totally intolerable Chan Gailey.  Gailey is an absolute travesty in games now, refusing to give the ball to Spiller nearly enough even though he is obviously the team’s best player and extremely dangerous any time he touches the ball.  Fred hasn’t been the same player since he got back from injury and Ryan Fitzpatrick is horribly inaccurate.  The team needs to feed Spiller and its refusal to do so has cost it a chance at playoff contention.  On the plus side the defense looked much better especially Mario Williams who had a 3 sack performance.  On the other side of the coin the Colts moved to 7-4 and moved into great position to get a playoff spot.  While I still don’t think they are that great they have the Wild Card lead right now and they have star rookie quarterback Andrew Luck.

Cleveland Browns over Pittsburgh Steelers

Despite losing a game to the Cleveland Browns and moving behind in the wild card standing I think after this game the Steelers have to feel better about their team, the reasons 8-1 and Charlie Batch.  The Steelers only lost by 6 to an underrated Browns team in a game where they turned the ball over 8 times and had Charlie Batch playing quarterback.  A performance like that is totally out of the ordinary and really isn’t at all representative of how good the Steelers’ offense is.  A team with Big Ben is substantially better than that and without question would have won that game easily.  The Browns finally got a close victory even though they got it in a game they probably didn’t deserve.  To be fair though it is almost impossible to lose a game where the other team turns the ball over 8 times.

Cincinnati Bengals over Oakland Raiders

Well the Bengals won their 3^rd game in a row to move to 6-5 and seem poised to be making a run toward a wild card spot.  They seem to be in the best position of any Wild Card contender with regards to both talent and health and actually in my view have to be considered favorites to take a spot.  They have a solid offense and defense that while not great should be good enough to keep them in games.  Especially offensively, they have AJ Green, the man is an absolute monster of a player.  Well the Raiders on the other hand are trending far down and seem to be one of the worst teams in football.  The defense is just plain awful and the offense is a dysfunctional mess.  Hey Carson Palmer I’m glad you demanded a trade to throw the ball to Raiders players instead of AJ Green, good call there. 

Miami Dolphins over Seattle Seahawks

Well the Seahawks road woes continue to plague them.  This team which seems unbeatable at home is completely fallible on the road as it transforms from one of the best teams in football to arguably one of the worst.  It doesn’t seem to make sense but the Seahawks lost an important game in a competitive NFC that drops their record to 6-5.  While Russell Wilson has exceeded expectations he still cannot carry this team that is going to go as far as its defense takes it.  The Dolphins move to 5-6 and stay alive in the AFC wild card discussion.  The team is far from great but has enough talent to stay in the hunt and could without question end up stealing a playoff spot. 

Atlanta Falcons over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Well the Falcons continued their totally unsustainable model of winning extremely close games each week with their 24-23 victory over the streaking Bucs.  The team is now 10-1 with a 1.5 game lead in the hunt for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs making them definite favorites to earn it.  This team is nowhere near as good as their record indicates though and is likely due to see some regression in these close games either in the end of the regular season or in the post season.  The Bucs lost a close game that they were in the entire time despite a subpar effort from Doug Martin and their running game.  This team without question has the ability to play with the Falcons and is going to be a tough out as the season progresses.  While they have a few difficult games coming up they should be right there in the NFC wild card picture and have a great chance of making it. 

Chicago Bears over Minnesota Vikings

Da Bears defense is the best in football, their random weak showing in last week’s game aside, this team is almost impossible to score against.  They seem to force turnovers at will and can be impossible to pass against.  They are going to be extremely dangerous in any postseason game considering that they can really take a team out of their gameplan almost instantly.  The offense is still an inconsistent work in progress but the existence of Jay Cutler and his cannon of an arm makes them dangerous.  The Vikings moved to 6-5 with the loss and while still right in the middle of the hunt haven’t looked as strong recently as they did in the middle of the season.  This team is probably going to miss the playoffs but the play of Adrian Peterson and their defensive abilities should keep them in the hunt. 

Jacksonville Jaguars over Tennessee Titans

The Jaguars are showing signs of life!!!  After their slow start they have played two straight good games suffering an overtime loss to the Texans and beating the Titans.  Chad Henne’s stabilization of the quarterback position after Blaine Gabbert’s injury seems to have a lot to do with it.  The team outplayed the Titans and is looking like they might be making a late season run toward mediocrity on the strength of Chad Henne.  The Titans on the other hand moved to 4-7 and in my opinion from watching this team is a whole lot worse than that.  They have won a lot of close games to get those victories while in all their defeats they have remained far from impressive.  This team could easily lose out and finish 4-12 and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. 

Baltimore Ravens over San Diego Chargers

4^th and 29.  More exactly a 4^th and 29 dumpoff pass to Ray Rice, where Joe Flacco was basically waving the white flag that actually ended up working!  That play seems to define everything that has happened to both teams this season.  The Ravens continue to pull out miraculous victories that they have no business winning while the Chargers continue to create defeat from almost assured victory.  This Ravens team is now 9-2 and while they are an extremely flawed 9-2 at that if this team can get healthy for the post season they will have some home playoff games and can be quite dangerous.  The Chargers need to fire Norv Turner.  While there is no blame to be placed on him for the 4^th and 29 dumpoff pass that miraculously couldn’t be stopped this Chargers team has turned into a joke.  Norv has lost control and his time with the team is over.

St. Louis Rams over Arizona Cardinals

Well the Rams were able to win this week 31-17 in a game where they weren’t that impressive because mainly they didn’t have to be.  The defense played pretty good and the offense did enough to secure victory as the team moved to 4-6-1 and out of last place in the NFC West.  The Rams have surprised at times this season and are much improved over last year’s addition as they have a good defense and an offense that while not dynamic usually won’t cost them games.  The Cardinals lost their 7^th game in a row and offensively they might be the worst team in football.  The decision to play Ryan Lindley over John Skelton is a joke as Lindley threw 4 interceptions this week, including two pick sixes and can’t even get the ball to Larry Fitzgerald.  The Cardinals hot start ended abruptly as the team cannot move the ball on offense under any circumstances and seems destined for offensive failure.

San Francisco 49ers over New Orleans Saints

The 49ers got another impressive victory over the Saints this week moving to 8-2-1 and starting the Collin Kaepernick era out ideally.  The 49ers dominated the Saints offensively and defensively and right now seem to be playing better than any team in football.  They did get 2 pick sixes in this game, including one by DONTE WHITNER which every Bills fan knows is shocking, but still could move the ball on the Saints and stopped their vaunted attack.  For the Saints on the other hand their hot streak ended as they moved to 5-6 and on the outside looking in for the NFC playoff picture.  While the Saints are still in the race they might have to win out to make it in an NFC wild card picture that features a ton of different teams.  Their defense needs work so Drew Brees will have to carry them into the postseason if they hope to get there.

New York Giants over Green Bay Packers

The Giants played like the best team in football on Sunday, something they seem to do a few times each season but they are unable to put together performances like that consistently.  They totally dominated the Packers, shutting down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers vaunted passing attack while moving the ball at will against the Packers defense.  The Giants have the talent to beat any team in football and probably have a higher ceiling than any team in the league.  Let’s not forget though they are extremely inconsistent bunch of players that just got dominated by the Cincinnati Bengals.  I don’t know what team will show up week to week but when this team is in the post season it will be one that no one wants to play.  The Packers again showed that as a team they are going to go as far as Aaron Rodgers takes them.  He can carry the team for most of the season but against superior teams that have an ability to slow him down the Packers are going to struggle mightily.  The team is 7-4 and is fighting for a playoff spot but honestly I would be shocked if they didn’t make it.  They have too much talent and even though they looked unimpressive this week they have played quite well for the most part this season and seem to be one of the NFL’s top teams.

Carolina Panthers over Philadelphia Eagles

In a Monday Night game that no one seemed to care about the Panthers were able to get the victory over the reeling Eagles.  They won by 8 earning their 3^rd victory of the season in a season that has been quite a disappointment thus far.  Cam Newton played like the player we all got used to from last season making big plays with his arms and legs in throwing for over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns while running for over 50 with 2 touchdowns and not turning the ball over at all.  The Panthers are going to need Newton to play like that in the future if he is going to be the franchise quarterback they expected.  The Eagles lost their 7^th straight games and Michael Vick not playing quarterback for them doesn’t seem to be an answer to their problems.  They still kept turning the football over and Nick Foles played like nothing better than a game manager.  Bryce Brown had a great game though keeping them in the game with big plays running the football as the Eagles tried to keep it close.  Their franchise is a mess though and for the sake of himself and Eagles fans out there Andy Reid needs to go.

Stay Hungry My Friends

National Championship? The case for America's darlings

(This is Part one in a two-part series where Taylor and I debate whether or not Notre Dame deserves to play in the National Championship Game. Check out Taylor’s part 1 arguing why not here)

                The debate about whether or not Notre Dame deserves to be in the National Championship not really an indication of the flaws and merits of the BCS as a whole.  It is of my opinion that because of how the process works Notre Dame deserves to be the leader in the National Championship conversation.  The BCS bills itself as a regular season based format where every week should be treated like the post season and every week.  The system claims to attempt to put the two best teams in the National Championship game every year but actually that is not its end goal.  A regular season that acts as a post season has to give major precedence to undefeated teams.  It has historically done so except with regard to mid majors who have had weaker schedules, like my personal favorite Boise State. 

                Part of the discussion for me to is the lack of relative strength of the SEC this year.  Personally I don’t think the SEC is as strong as it historically has been, it is a conference that includes a lot of bottom feeders and whose top 6 teams: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M have a combined 2 wins against top 25 non SEC teams.  The two wins are quite impressive, Alabama’s dismantling of Michigan and Florida’s victory over Florida St but again that is only 2 games.  The rest of the SEC is just plain bad, seriously Vanderbilt might be the next best team outside of those 6, kind of scary.  This is a group of team’s that have beaten and looked impressive against each other and bad teams but not much else.  Look at Jeff Sagarin’s conference rankings they aren’t even the top ranked conference, coming in 2^nd behind the Big 12.  

                Basically the argument boils down to 3 teams in the discussion for being in the National Championship over Notre Dame, the teams are Oregon, Florida and Kansas St.  Personally I am of the belief that Notre Dame deserves its place there, not because it is better but because they have done what the system has asked of them better. 

                Let’s start with Oregon.  The simplest argument is that Oregon’s one loss came to Stanford a team that Notre Dame beat so Notre Dame deserves to be in the National Championship ahead of them.  Honestly though this is poor logic and far too simple an explanation.  Well first let’s look at their respective resumes; from Jeff Sagarin’srating Oregon played the 31^st hardest schedule in football while Notre Dame played the 30^th so I’d say that is a tossup.  Now obvious Notre Dame has the advantage in record being undefeated compared to Oregon’s one loss.  Now look at their play against common opponents, of which there were 2, Stanford and USC.  Based on these two performances I’d say that Notre Dame has the slight edge but it’s basically a tossup.  Notre Dame beat Stanford in a controversial overtime game while Stanford was able to hand Oregon their 1^st loss of the season in a 3 point overtime game.  Against USC both teams’ top units excelled while their inferior units struggled as Notre was able to win 22-13 led by their defense while Oregon won 62-51 on the strength of their offense.  In their other games while Notre Dame has the impressive victory over Oklahoma in Norman they struggled at times against inferior teams that they should have dominated.  Oregon doesn’t have a win as impressive as Oklahoma, though they did beat Oregon St. handily they dominated the rest of the schedule not playing in another close game, I’d give Oregon the slight edge in games there.  Now on to which team I think should be favored on a neutral field, I’d give Oregon a slight edge maybe 3 points but honestly considering how impressive Notre Dame’s defense has been I could see them playing a game like Stanford did and really slowing down Oregon’s prolific attack.  All things considered if the resumes of two teams are this close I give the edge to the team with the better record and that team is Notre Dame.

                Now onto Kansas St.  To me the case against Kansas St is quite simple they just aren’t as good as Notre Dame.  Even though Kansas St played a harder schedule 24^th hardest compared to Notre Dame’s 30^th, the overall resume Kansas St presents is less impressive.  Their most impressive victory isn’t all that impressive in comparison to Notre Dame as they beat a Oklahoma team by 5 in comparison to the 17 that Notre Dame beat them by and they don’t have a 2^nd win as impressive as their victory over Stanford.  Also they got dominated by Baylor a 6-5 team whose 2^nd most impressive victory was against a 7-5 Texas Tech team.  In my mind the loss takes them out of the discussion, a game like prevents you from going to the National Championship. 

                Florida on the other hand has the most impressive case of any 1 loss team that would compare with Notre Dame for a spot.  To me there is actually a case that Florida has been more impressive this season than Alabama, but since they won’t get to the SEC Championship game and I don’t think they are as good they won’t get the chance to prove it.  They have played the 13^th most difficult schedule in football this season, losing 1 game an 8 point loss to currently 3^rd ranked Georgia in Georgia and have won every game they have played besides that.  This includes victories over Texas A&M, a dominating victory over South Carolina, and wins over LSU and Florida St.  Without question this team has a more impressive array of victories than Notre Dame.  Well there are 2 parts to why I say Florida doesn’t deserve a spot for 1 I just don’t think the SEC is as good this year as in years’ past like I noted above.  Notre Dame also gets a bad rep for playing close games against inferior teams something they have unquestionably done, but guess what so has Florida.  They beat Bowling Green by 13, scored 16 offensive points against mediocre FCS team Jacksonville St, and a 7 point victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.  To me this doesn’t make up for the loss on the resume that Notre Dame doesn’t have.  They might be favored on a neutral field, but personally I don’t think the team is as strong as Oregon and I don’t think the difference is large enough to make up for the one loss. 

                Also quick note on Ohio St.  Even if they were eligible to go to the National Championship they wouldn’t deserve to play in it, they had the 51^st easiest schedule in football this season

                There are a lot of different arguments to be made for who deserves to go to the National Championship game this season.  To me though it is clear that Notre Dame deserves without question to go there.  They were able to put together an undefeated schedule against a schedule that ranked comparably to the likes of Oregon, Alabama and Kansas St and often did so in impressive fashion.  While you can pick apart their resume and do so quite intelligently, this team has earned its shot at the National Championship especially in a format that favors undefeated team’s like the BCS does.  

Throwing stones at America's darlings: The case against Notre Dame

(This is Part one in a two-part series where Mike and I debate whether or not Notre Dame deserves to play in the National Championship Game.)

In roughly six weeks, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take the field to play for the National Championship. This will occur despite the fact that Notre Dame is not one of the five best college football teams in the country. There are many reasons why the Irish shouldn't be playing for the title but they boil down to the same reason: the BCS playoff system does not yet exist. I know there is a four-team playoff coming in the near future but that doesn't change the fact that poor, innocent teams will be screwed over yet again in favor of independents with deceptively unimpressive resumes.

Notre Dame backers point to two centreal reasons why the Irish deserve this shot at the championship. They remind us that the Irish are the only bowl- eligible undefeated team (Luckily for us viewers, undefeated Ohio St. is ineligible which will allow a much more worthy SEC team to play for the National Championship) and that the Irish have defeated nine bowl-eligible teams this year. This is meant to tell us Notre Dame has played a very tough schedule and fought through it to go undefeated. However, upon further review, this fact seems a little less impressive. And, since there is no playoff system, an impressive resume is the only way to earn a spot in the National Championship. So which teams in the top five really deserve a shot at the title?

Yes, the Fighting Irish defeated nine bowl eligible teams. That and a nickel will get a cup of coffee from 1947. Who are these stellar, God-like bowl-eligible teams that Notre Dame somehow slayed? Well, the Irish destroyed Navy week one. Navy promptly went on to face a slew of high-school and so small you never heard of the school teams for the rest of the season and still only finished 7-4. They then defeated Purdue who finished 6-6 (3-5 in the below-average Big Ten) and nearly lost to Marshall. The Irish then went on to eek out victories over vastly over-rated Michigan and Michigan St. teams. Week six, the Irish dominated a Miami team that would be bowl eligible if it weren't for self-imposed sanctions.

Next was a genuinely impressive win over a very good Stanford team, albeit in overtime. They then defeated BYU by a slim three points. This BYU team, by the grace of God, finished 7-5 and is bowl eligible. Their wins include Washington St., Weber St., Hawaii, Utah St., Georgia Tech, Idaho and New Mexico St. The Irish then went on to beat Oklahoma handily, 30-13. This Sooners team finished 9-2 but managed to win only one non-overtime game against a top-25 opponent. In other words, they didn't prove anything. The Irish then barely survived in a triple-overtime game against Pittsburgh and came on late to defeat lowly Boston College. After demolishing Wake Forest, the Irish barely held on to defeat a USC team that had lost three of its last four games and was starting a red-shirt freshman at quarterback.

So let's recap those nine victories over "bowl-eligible" teams: one team that actually isn't even eligible due to sanctions (and doesn't have all that impressive of a resume anyway), one 7-4 independent who also lost to Troy, three average to below-average Big Ten teams (none of whom are one of the top-three teams in the Big Ten), a BYU team and their aforementioned accomplishments, an under-tested Oklahoma team, a banged-up and reeling USC team and an overtime win over Stanford.

To me, this resume seems rather unimpressive. And, since there is no playoff system, an impressive resume is the only way to earn a spot in the National Championship. So which teams in the top five really deserve a shot at the title?

 Honorable Mention: Texas A+M- The Aggies impressed in their first season in the SEC and Heisman favorite Johnny Manizel was stellar in defeating Alabama. But two loss teams don't make National Championships in non-completely insane seasons (2007).

5. Kansas St.- They nearly went undefeated and Colin Klein is among the best dual-threat Quarterbacks in the nation. In fact, they'd likely be taking on Notre Dame for the title if it weren't for a four-touchdown beatdown at the hands of an unranked Baylor team. Kansas St.'s best win came against Oklahoma week four. The Wildcats defeated West Virginia, Texas Tech and Oklahoma St. in consecutive weeks by a combined score of 154-68. They trampled nearly every they came across and scored 50+ points in five games. But they failed to finish the season undefeated and didn't beat anyone who finished in the top 10.

4. Oregon: If for nothing else, the Ducks deserve a shot at the title simply for having the most dynamic offense in college football history. They put up a mind boggling 51 points per game while only giving up 22 per contest. They didn't just beat the best Pac-12 teams, they embarassed them. They shut out Arizona 49-0, demolished Washington 52-21, put up 62 on a USC team with Matt Barkley and BCS hopes and finished the season by doubling up Oregon St. 48-24 in the Civil War. Marcus Mariota threw for 30 touchdowns but the Ducks also ran for an astounding 47 touchdowns. On top of that, the Ducks had seven defensive/special teams touchdowns. This was all in a 12 game season, mind you. However, the Duck's Earth-shaking offense failed in the season's biggest game as they fell to Stanford, 17-14 in overtime.

3. Georgia: The Bulldogs flew under the radar for most of the year but started to garner style points by the end of the season. At first glance the Bulldogs don't apear to have played the toughest schedule. But they took care of business all year against under-rated SEC teams. They dominated a very good Vanderbilt team 48-3 before defeating Tennessee and Ole Miss. The Dogs also defeated Florida, who was second in the nation at that time, 17-9. If the Dogs are somehow able to defeat Alabama in the SEC Championship, they should have their shot at taking on the next team in the rankings for a National Championship.

2. Florida: Believe it or not, the Florida Gators had the toughest schedule in the nation this season. The Gators went 4-1 against the top 13 teams in the country this year. Yes, they defeated Texas A+M, LSU, Florida St. and dominated South Carolina 44-11. In fact, the Gators never gave up more than 20 points in any of their SEC games including a 17-9 loss to Georgia. This is the second best defense in the country (Alabama); it held Tyler Bray and Johnny Football to their worst games all season and didn't allow more than one touchdown in five of it's eight SEC games. The Gators finished off the season strong with an impressive come-from-behind victory against Florida St. When Georgia or Alabama loses next week, Florida will be the one of two one-loss SEC teams and will thus have one of the two most impressive resumes in the country. That is, if they don't already.

1. Alabama: Save for that misstep against Texas A+M, Bama has had one of the most impressive seasons in quite a while. The Crimson Tide allowed only 9.3 points per game while scoring 39 per game. WITH AN SEC SCHEDULE. The team posted four shutouts on the season and two seven-point games. Unlike the Irish, Alabama completely and totally dominated Michigan in the opener, 41-14. They beat Arkansas by a very un-SEC like 52-point margin. They then faced solid Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee teams in consecutive weeks and easily disposed of them by a combined score of 119-37. Next the Crimson Tide took on a Mississippi St. team that was 7-0 and would finish 8-4. They won going away, 38-7 (If you're scoring at home, that's four consecutive SEC blowouts). Then, in the game of the year, Alabama eked out a victory over the always-tough LSU Tigers. In Week 10, the Crimson Tide fell to Texas A+M. They did so in A.J. McCarron's worst career game which happened to take place while facing Heisman favorite Johnny Manziel. Alabama closed out the regular season with twin, 49-0 shutouts against Auburn and Western Carolina. If they defeat Georgia, Alabama would cap one of the most impressive seasons of all time. Save for the loss, the Tide would have averaged giving up 7.4 points per game while scoring over 40. If they are able to defeat the Bulldogs, they will take on the Irish in all likelihood. It's difficult to see Notre Dame putting up any kind of fight against these guys. Which is why I believe Florida should be able to play the winner of the SEC Championship for this year's National Championship.

Now, none of this is Notre Dame's fault of course. This will be the one of the final years without a playoff system and thus one of  the final years where we will have to speculate who is better than who in a field of teams that haven't played each other. The way the current system works, it's nearly impossible to guarantee a tough schedule unless you play in the SEC. After years of complaints about the schedule being too easy, Notre Dame did their best to put together a difficult season. However Michigan, USC and Oklahoma disappointed which really isn't Notre Dame's fault. However, when it was all said and done, Notre Dame had only one really convincing win (30-13 over Oklahoma) and one outright win over a for sure top-20 team. This is the fault of the BCS and not the Irish. There are a few things the Irish could do to improve their chances in the future. Perhaps they should schedule a few SEC games or maybe they could join a conference. There's a lot of money to be lost on T.V. deals but there's a competitive advantage to be gained.

At its core, the National Championship game is about putting the two best teams in the country against each other. This year, like so many others, those teams should come from the Southeastern Conference.

Week 12 Preview: What to watch and what to avoid

By this time in the season we think we’ve got it all figured out. We think we know who’s going to win MVP, we think we know which teams are going to die off and which ones will make the playoffs. However, each season the last six weeks are usually filled with surprises. The eventual Super Bowl Champion may sound crazy to us right now just as the Giants winning it all would have sounded ludicrous last year at this time. This year, more than most others, is completely wide open. There are at least 11 NFC teams that could conceivably make the playoffs while the AFC seems to be without a worthy sixth playoff team. Meanwhile, MVP is as up for grabs as it’s been in years. Therefore every week and every game is important. Nearly every game this week will have playoff implications. I’ve broken the games up into categories of how important/entertaining they’ll be.

Entertaining games with playoff implications:

Green Bay over New York (-2.5) - Week 6, the Giants had quite the impressive blow-out win over San Francisco. Since then, they haven’t impressed once. They eked out wins over the RG III led Redskins and then nearly blew a 20-point lead against the lowly Cowboys. Eli was then dominated in a close loss to Pittsburgh and a blowout-loss to the all-too average Cincinnati Bengals. In that time the Packers have won every game they’ve played and Aaron Rodgers has re-established himself as an MVP candidate. What am I missing here? Why are the Giants favored?

Tampa over Atlanta (-1) - Yes, the Falcons are 9-1 but in the last five weeks the Bucs have been the better team.  The Bucs struggled against below-average teams in Dallas and Arizona and lost to New Orleans. The Bucs have won four in a row and have scored at least 28 in their last six games. It appears the Falcons either peaked too early or were never that good to start with. Take the Bucs here and watch for them to contend for the division title down the stretch.

Indianapolis over Buffalo (+3)- Make no mistake, this game will be entertaining. Save for New Orleans, these are the two worst secondaries in the NFL.  Rookie Andrew Luck should have no trouble throwing the ball all over the likes of Justin Rogers and Leodis McKelvin. However, Fitzpatrick’s play has improved of late and that should continue against an equally terrible Colt’s secondary. Look for an offensive bloodbath here. However the Colt’s intangible advantage (Luck over Gailey) should be enough for them to claim victorious.

San Francisco over New Orleans (No line)- New Orleans has been warm lately as they’ve won five of their past six. Meanwhile the 49ers just put a good old fashioned ass whoopin’ on one of the NFL’s best teams. It’s tough for me to see the 49er’s losing this one. Side note: A sixth loss essentially eliminates New Orleans in the ultra-competitive NFC.

Not super important but worth the watch for train wreck-type effect games:

Carolina over Philadelphia (-2.5)-  This could finally be it; the breaking point for Philadelphia Eagles fans. The Philly fans are not known for their patience and a seven game losing streak might be just the thing to convince management that it’s time to move on from the Andy Reid era. On the other side of things, it’s not yet time for Panthers fans to start panicking about this Newton situation. This sophomore slump was predicted by nearly every pundit and doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be a pro-bowler again soon. With new management, Newton deserves another year before panic sets in.

Baltimore over San Diego (+1)-  Phillip Rivers walked off the field in disgust last week after yet another sub-par performance. A loss would all but guarantee a third consecutive playoff-free January which would likely spell the end of the Norv Turner era. A blowout at the hands of the Ravens could be the game where Rivers walks off the field and punches Turner in the face or something of that variety. This game will be impossible to look away from just because of that distinct possibility.

Denver over Kansas City (+10.5)- I see the game playing out a little like this: Peyton Manning and the Broncos start slow allowing a Jamaal Charles led Chiefs attack to jump out to an early lead. After a few Romeo Crennel miscues, poor play calls and some general terribleness; the Broncos will work their way back by halftime. The Chiefs will completely implode in the second half allowing Manning and Co. to pad their stats and finish with something like a 45-10 victory. Then Chief’s fans will say funny and sad things on Twitter. Sound familiar?

Not so entertaining but still important games:

Chicago over Minnesota (No line)-   If Cutler is out again I could really see Minnesota winning. A victory by the Vikings would launch them back into the playoff race while moving Chicago back into the middle of the pack; a place that seemed so far away just two weeks ago. With Cutler playing, I’d give the slight advantage to Chicago (which would also knock Minnesota out of the playoff race entirely). But the most important matchup of this game is Peterson vs. the Bear’s D. A solid performance by Peterson could take some heat off Ponder which could very well decide the outcome. But, in the end, it’s hard for me to see this team allowing great starts to fall by the way side two years in a row.  

Cincinnati over Oakland (+8) - The only reason this game is important is because Cincy is somehow challenging for a playoff spot. Big Ben’s injury and Indy’s uncertainty on defense have opened a major hole in the AFC wild card. Normally I would be scared off by the eight-point line but the Raiders have been a special kind of terrible lately. Look for a big Cincy win, an AJ Green touchdown (of course) and beware of the Bengals down the stretch. They could be sneaking into a second consecutive, undeserved playoff spot.

Pittsburgh over Cleveland (No line)-  Big Ben likely won’t be suiting up this Sunday as America’s favorite back-up returns. Charlie Batch will lead the Steelers against the division-rival Browns as they hope to hold on to their coveted wild-card spot. Cleveland has looked impressive all season but they’re also 2-8. I’d expect a close game here with a few key mistakes by Shurmur to throw the game in Pittsburgh’s favor.

Seattle over Miami (+3)-  Seattle hasn’t been great on the road but they need this game if they want to keep contending for a playoff spot. On the other side of things, Tannehill and the Dolphins have completely fallen out of the playoff race in the past few weeks. Neither team can throw the ball very well and neither plays a very exciting brand of football. Expect a low-scoring affair here.

Life’s too short to watch these games:

Jacksonville over Tennessee (-3)- By some miracle, Tennessee is still in the playoff race. In keeping with the strangeness that has surrounded them all season, the Titans will fall out of the playoff race after an upset loss to Chad Henne and the Jaguars. Related note: If I’m in charge of the Jaguars and I don’t love any of the prospects coming out, I might give Henne a shot for even just one year. He awoke the offense and finally got blue-chipped Justin Blackmon involved. It could be worth a shot, maybe just for one year.

St. Louis over Arizona (-2)- After a promising 4-0 start, the Cardinals are mired in a three-way quarterback controversy involving  a Fordham grad and a guy named Lindley. Man, what a mess. Meanwhile, St. Louis is still having trouble deciding if they’re a team you don’t want to play yet while Sam Bradford is deciding whether or not he wants to be a starting quarterback next year. Again, what a mess.

Stay Hungry My Friends.

NFL Week 11 Recap

Week 11 NFL Recap

Buffalo Bills over Miami Dolphins

The torture continues!  In all seriousness though the Bills do keep their season alive as they move to 4-6 and 2 games behind the Indianapolis Colts, the team they happen to play next week.  The Bills dominated the game from beginning to end, and really the fact that the game was that close is an indictment of the coaching staff.  While they fed CJ Spiller more than usual with Fred Jackson out, he was curiously left of the field on crucial 3^rd down plays when he would seem to be most valuable.  The defense played like the unit everyone was expecting before the season and not one of the worst in football like they have been.  The Bills season is alive though as they go on to play the Colts next week and try to put themselves in the wild card chase.  The Dolphins on the other hand are a team that is trending down losing its 3^rd straight game as Ryan Tannehill is struggling mightily and the offense is in shambles.  The team is who everyone thought they were before the season began and seem to be no better than that. 

Cincinnati Bengals over Kansas City Chiefs

Well after winning 2 games in a row I guess the Bengals have to be considered contenders for the 6 seed in the AFC.  There seem to be only 5 good teams in the conference and with the 6^th playoff spot up for grabs it seems like any team could take it.  This includes the 5-5 Bengals who have the advantage that they can throw to AJ Green any time something begins to break down.  He is probably the best receiver in football at this point, catching touchdowns in the team’s last 9 games and being a force of nature on the offensive end.  To me the Bengals are without question an average team, but in a conference of below average teams that just might be enough.  Now the Chiefs really made a statement this week as the worst team in all of football.  I’m pretty sure they have only an offense that can’t move the ball and a defense that can’t stop anyone, seems to be a recipe for disaster.  It was clearly a horrible decision to keep Romeo Crennel on as coach and the quarterback situation is a total disaster.  Really as a fellow fan of a poorly run sports team I can’t help but feel some sympathy. 

Houston Texans over Jacksonville Jaguars

In a game that nobody expected was going to be close, the Jaguars were able to force the Texans into overtime in a game closer than anyone expected.  The Jaguars led by backup quarterback Chad Henne put up a fight scoring time after time against the prolific Texans defense but it just wasn’t enough.  Andre Johnson played like the receiver everyone had grown to fear and not the one constantly fighting injuries.  If this is the case that gives the Texans a vertical threat that they have lacked all season.  However the game did expose holes in the defense, and the running game which has underperformed all season.  The Jaguars put everything on the table and even though they came home with the loss you have to give them credit for that. 

New York Jets over St. Louis Rams

The Jets are another one of these teams that just doesn’t seem to die.  They are far from a good team but this team seems to get a big victory every time their season seems to be on the brink of failure.  They might not make in to the playoffs, and probably won’t but they will compete till the very end.  Really people when they look at the dysfunction and assume the team is underachieving but that might not be the case.  They have a horrible offense that might not have one above average player at a skill position and a defense who is missing its best player.  In some ways that the team is even 4-6 at this point is a testament to Rex Ryan’s abilities, something that right now are shockingly underrated.  The Jets put forth a solid defensive and a conservative offensive effort to take home the win.  Now the Rams move to 3-6-1 and seem to be a fairly inconsistent team week to week.  At this point is it still unclear whether or not Sam Bradford is the answer at quarterback but as of now the answer seems to be no.  The defense is still decent pretty good and the offense has a few playmakers but the team just isn’t that good.  They can compete with some teams week to week but generally they can’t be counted on to play well consistently. 

Dallas Cowboys over Cleveland Browns

Well the Cowboys kept pace in the race for the NFC East with a win in a game that was probably a lot closer than most Cowboys fans would have liked.   However a 2^nd half comeback led by Tony Romo won them the game as they pulled out a victory over the underrated Browns.  The Cowboys probably won’t make it into the playoffs but considering the difficulty of their schedule in comparison to the Giants, it is a distinct possibility.  This team will likely find a way to blow it though because they are in fact the Cowboys and have showed a tendency to do that.  Well the Browns were able to pull off having another close game.  They have been in 4 games all season where the point differential was in double digits, winning one of them, and are still only 2-8 right now.  If you are looking for one team to be a 2^nd half sleeper this year look at the Browns, despite everything Pat Schumer is doing to prove otherwise.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Carolina Panthers

Well the Bucs continued their amazing streak, winning their 4^th game in a row and moving right in the thick of a playoff hunt.  The offense is becoming one of the most dynamic in all of football led by rookie sensation Doug Martin and emerging star Josh Freeman.  Their defense is good enough to keep them in games while their offense begins to take over.  The Panthers on the other hand found a way to blow a game again, partly due to the incompetence of Ron Rivera.  Given the opportunity to end the game on a 4^th and 1 or punt to the Bucs from midfield, they made the decision to kick to the Bucs and give them an opportunity to tie.  You may remember they were presented with this scenario earlier in the year against the Falcons and choose to punt and ended up losing as a result.  They did it again despite having a bad defense and a strong running game that the team has invested a lot of money in between Cam Newton, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart.  Rivera shows an unwillingness to play of the team’s strength because it is an unconventional decision and is costing his team games as a result. 

Atlanta Falcons over Arizona Cardinals

That the Falcons were able to beat the Cardinals in this game still puts me in shock.  The Falcons turned the ball over 6 times including 5 Matt Ryan interceptions and the Cardinals still found a way to lose the game.  You have to give the Falcons credit for being 9-1 right now, but they were extremely lucky to win this game and considering they have been pretty lucky all season they are without question a worse team then their record indicates.  The Cardinals on the other hand have nothing but an embarrassing offensive display to blame for their 6^th loss in a row.  The combination of John Skelton and Ryan Lindley was embarrassing in regard to their ability to move the ball.  Ken Whisenhunt handled the entire situation horribly, giving Skelton 2 weeks of first team reps then at the first sign of trouble benching him.  This recipe for disaster cost the Cardinals dearly and speaks to the larger dysfunction of the team’s offense as a whole. 

Green Bay Packers over Detroit Lions

The Packers played a game much closer than people were expecting, but pulled out a W to win their 5^th game in a row.  While the offense wasn’t as sharp as usual it was able to put up enough points, and the defense was able to force enough turnovers to get a victory, despite a bad game from Mason Crosby.  Rodgers is slowing bringing himself into the MVP discussion, an award he likely won’t win because of his victory last season, but without question has to be under consideration.  The Lions on the other hand are a team just stagnate after last year’s playoff run.   They are 4-6, matching their total number of loss from last season and having declined because of a clear slippage in offense play.  While Calvin Johnson seems to be returning from his level of play of last season, Stafford is still struggling and unless he starts playing better the team is going to continue to struggle.

Washington Redskins over Philadelphia Eagles

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Robert Griffin III is really really really good at football and the Redskins got a steal despite giving up everything they did to get him.  14-15 200 yards 4 TDs passing and 12 carries for 84 yards running.  That is the type of performance you would expect from 2004 Madden Michael Vick, not an actual quarterback.  While the Redskins still aren’t that good this season, they are going to be for a very long time thanks to their young quarterback.  On the other hand the situation in Philadelphia is getting worse and worse.  The team has now lost 6 games in a row Andy Reid’s time with the team is clearly coming to an end, but it seems like neither side is willing or able to let go.  The team is just a mess on offense with a horrible offensive line and a confusing quarterback situation while defensively I’m not sure they have recovered from having an offensive line coach be defensive coordinator for a season and a half.  It’s a tough and complex situation in Philadelphia that will take some time to rebuild, hopefully it is handled correctly. 

New Orleans Saints over Oakland Raiders

Well the Saints seem to be making their run.  Winners of 5 of the last 6 games they are now .500 and seem poised for a surprising playoff run, the question remains will they make it.  I’m going to say no mainly because, they are still too far behind in a difficult NFC, and I haven’t been that impressed by the run.  They have 2 quality victories in that stretch, beating the overrated Falcons and not yet hot Bucs, but besides that they have beaten a slew of dysfunctional teams.  This team now faces a difficult part of their schedule where they have to play the 49ers, in Atlanta, and at the Giants consecutively.  If they play impressively in those games maybe I will change my tune.  Now the Raiders without question are one of the NFL’s dysfunctional teams.  Their Carson Palmer led offense can’t stop turning the ball over and their defense is just plain awful.  This team is actually probably worse than its record indicates, and considering the team is 3-7 that is not a good sign. 

Denver Broncos over San Diego Chargers

The Broncos fell behind early off of a Peyton Manning interception that was returned for a touchdown, but it didn’t matter as the Broncos won by a touchdown in a game that wasn’t even that close.  After struggling in the first quarter, Manning played like his MVP self the rest of the game in leading the Broncos to victory.  Their defense played really well, limiting the Chargers offense most of the game and forcing multiple turnovers.  This team has transformed from the Tebow blessed team of last season to the actually elite team of this year.  Well the Chargers continue their dissent this season mostly due to the fact that they have a bad coach, the embattled Norv Turner, and the rest of the team isn’t that talented.  As much well deserved criticism as Phillip Rivers gets, the talent pool is pretty barren for the Chargers offense.  They have no LT, no Vincent Jackson, and an Antonio Gates that isn’t consistently healthy.  The team still hasn’t beaten a good team all season and is far from the underachieving talent laden team that we have come to expect. 

New England Patriots over Indianapolis Colts

Well that’s a statement victory.  The Patriots dominated the Colts and in doing so clearly defined the tiers of teams in the AFC.  There is the tier that consists of the Patriots, Texans, Ravens, Broncos, and a healthy Steelers team, the contender tier and there is a tier that consists of the Colts, Bills, Jets, Bengals, the also-rans that might somehow make the playoffs tier.  The Patriots offense totally destroyed the Colts as they were basically able to score at will on the team while their defense and special teams also got in on the act.  That is the Patriots at their best and if they are able to play like that every Sunday they will practically be unbeatable.  The only real worry from the game is the broken forearm of best Tightend in football Rob Gronkowski, but he should be back for the postseason, when it really matters.  The Colts struggled on Sunday and really played up to their abilities, which frankly aren’t that high.  Their defense is probably the worst in all of football as they are completely unable to defend the pass.  Their offense is built around a rookie quarterback that while great and talented is still a rookie and will continue to go through growing pains.  The team is still the favorite to earn the AFC’s 6^th seed but their hold on the spot is far from strong.

Baltimore Ravens over Pittsburgh Steelers

Have we seen this before?  The Ravens and Steelers playing in a low scoring game on Sunday Night Football that might help decide the AFC North race.  The Ravens came away with the victory but I’m not sure how good they can feel about themselves following that game.  The team was only able to score 13 points against the Steelers and that is including a punt return touchdown that they cannot count on consistently.  The Ravens defense was able to play well but I’m not sure how impressive that is considering it was against a clearly injured Byron Leftwich.  I have to believe that if Big Ben was in there the game likely would have ended differently.  However the Ravens got the victory and considering the health concerns of Big Ben probably wrapped up the division title in the process.  The Steelers move to 6-4 as they try to stay afloat with Big Ben’s injury.  Overall the team has to fell pretty good about itself after that game.  The defense played great, completely shutting down the Ravens, and the offense was able to move the ball at times against the Ravens despite horrible quarterback play.  The Steelers should be in the playoffs as a Wild Card considering the weakness of the AFC and if they get their they are going to be dangerous. 

San Francisco 49ers over Chicago Bears

This is probably the single most impressive game played by any team this season.  The team completely dominated the Bears, not just defensively but offensively against what has been the best defense in football this season.  Jim Harbough put together an amazing gameplan while young quarterback Collin Kaepernick executed in to perfection in this annihilation of the Bears.  Aldon Smith finished with 5.5 sacks by himself and made life hell for Jason Campbell all day.  The 49ers that have at times been inconsistent this season made a statement Monday Night and at this point look like the best and most complete team in football.  For the Bears this is their 2^nd straight loss against a top tier team, but this time it happened in more embarrassing fashion.  The defense is still probably the best in football despite their performance as the 49ers exploited their few weaknesses which I’m sure will be cleaned up in the weeks to come.  The offense is a bigger worry since for the 2^nd straight season it has completely collapsed without the presence of often criticized quarterback Jay Cutler.  The team is going to need Cutler healthy and playing well if the team is going to make the playoff run that it is so hopeful to make. 

Stay Hungry My Friends

Thanksgiving Football Preview

Football on Thanksgiving has become one of America's most important pastimes in the last half-century. The NFL decided to take advantage of this a few years ago by adding a third game to the slate. However this game  was shown on the all too rarely accessible NFL Network. Luckily for the average fan, this year the night game will be shown on NBC. With three games being shown on network TV, the entire day could come to be dominated by football. Although I usually ignore the Thursday game when making my picks column, the Thanksgiving slate seemed too important to ignore. So here we go with my random guesses of what will go down on Turkey Day.

Houston over Detroit (+3)- Houston barely escaped with a win over the lowly Jaguars last Sunday. While some may view this in a negative light, there are actually some positives to be taken. Every team will eventually have a game where they come out flat or just not as well as their opponent. It says a lot that they were able to play so well late and overcome a late two-touchdown deficit. The debaccle against Jacksonville may also serve as a wake-up call. Meanwhile the Lions are plain, ho-hum, average. I couldn't begin to explain the strange lack of touchdowns coming from Stafford and Johnson but I can't imagine they break out against the Texans. Expect a big win here by the Texans to move to 10-1.

Washington over Dallas (-3.5)- As my hero and mentor Bill Simmons pointed out on monday, home teams have been getting killed against the spread all year. This leads me to believe the 3-point advantage given to home teams every week should be ignored for the time being. In addition, should the Cowboys be giving points to anyone right now? They just pulled out a lucky win over the Browns. They can't block, they can't run the ball, they make a ton of mistakes on offense and they don't force any turnovers. The Redskins aren't perfect by any means but there's no way the Cowboys should be favored by this much against anyone. I'm expecting to see RGIII give the fine people of the D.C./Maryland/Virginia/Bandwagon areas of America quite the Thanksgiving.

New England over New York (+6.5)- It seems as though it's that time of year again. It's that time of year where the Patriots go on a tear and don't lose again for the rest of the regular season. The Pats have had major win streaks to finish the season seven of the past nine years. On the other hand, the Jets' win over St. Louis wasn't enough to convince anyone that they're not a below-average team with a hapless offense. This won't be an easy one for the Pats, the Jets always play them tough and this is their entire season on the line. However, I think Brady and Co. proved last week that they're able to easily dispose of any pretenders.

There you have it...have a lovely Thanksgiving, enjoy the games and Stay Hungry My Friends.

Why the NHL lockout must end Part 2

 

 

 

(This is Part 2 of a series that I hope won't have to go any longer. Part 1 discussed why the lockout could hurt the NHL's legacy and stunt it's growth. This part will be an appeal from the fan's perspective.)

    

       Brian Campbell was an all-star defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres in the mid-2000's. He has since gone on to play a meaningless half-season in San Jose, win a Stanley Cup with Chicago and lead the Florida Panthers to their first playoff appearance in 12 years. Yet I would wager that upon mention of his name, any Sabre's fan immeadiately thinks of the hit in the video above.

   

      Campbell wasn't a bruiser by any means which is what made the hit so much more suprising. He was known for his vision, passing ability and rarely making mistakes. However, on this night, he hit R.J. Umberger into a concussed stupor and himself into Buffalo sports history.

 

       This hit took place in the first overtime of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in 2006. Because of the Sabre's franchise long three-season playoff-less streak from 2002-2004 and the unforgivable 2005 lockout; it had been ages since the Buffalo had tasted playoff hockey. Game 1 could not have been a better welcome back to playoff hockey for Sabres fans.

 

      A deep playoff run was the furthest things from the average hockey fan's mind before the season. Nearly every analyst/expert predicted the anonymous/young Sabres would make very little noise. Despite losing their two best players (Danny Briere and J.P. Dumont) to injury for most of the season, the Sabres defied their critics and earned the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference.They were matched up against the tougher and more experienced Philadelphia Flyers in the first round.

 

     After falling behind early the Flyers scored a late goal to send the game to overtime; this is where Mr. Campbell comes in. Umberger, a 24-year-old rookie, came through the top of his own zone with his head down as Campbell took full advantage of the situation. When Umberger got to the blue line, Campbell unleashed one of the most viscious and powerful hits in NHL history on him. Umberger was concussed and some minor disagreements ensued. Danny Briere would later end the game with a goal in the second overtime. The Sabres would go on to defeat the Flyers in six games and then the top-seeded Senators in five. In the conference finals the Sabres ran into the Carolina Hurricanes and the injury bug. After losing Tim Conolly and four defensemen, the Sabres fell to Carolina in seven games.

 

     The 2006 playoffs have long since passed and most of the players on that Sabres team no longer remain in Buffalo. The team has been to the playoffs three times since then and is still in search of it's first Stanley Cup. The Sabres may not have won it all in 2006 but they captured some of the magic that playoff hockey creates. They took a city,  desperate for sports success of any kind, on a six-week ride that it will never forget. This hit has become the symbol of that post-season. When he dropped his shoulder into an unsuspecting rookie, Brian Campbell unknowingly etched himself into one of the few positive areas of Buffalo sports lore.

 

     This, more than any other reason, is why the lockout must end. Every spring features at least one fairy-tale story. Every spring, one city latches on to a team and pins all their hopes and happiness to that team's success. The NHL playoffs are North American sport's most unpredictable post-season, no amount of hockey knowledge will help you accurately predict the outcome of any given spring. For the fan's sake, bring back the ultimate die-hard fan sport.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 



Crazy times in Laker Land

                Well the Lakers have had quite an exciting couple of days there, after shockingly firing Mike Brown after 5 games and replaced him with Mike D’Antoni and not Phil Jackson.  There are many ways to look at how this whole situation unfolded.  How they treated all coaches involved, which coach would have fit best for the team and how the team will do in the future as a result of the moves.  I’ll try to address as many of these issues as I can one at a time.

                Well first of all there was the decision to fire Mike Brown.  Look if you are looking for someone to defend Mike Brown and his resume then you have come to the wrong place.  He installed an offense, that while clearly designed to maximize the impact of Kobe Bryant, an offense Kobe wanted, did very little to benefit the rest of the team.  While it is true the offense ranked much higher than people realize, 6^th in the NBA, but that was more likely due to playing against some really bad teams and scoring easily against them.  The real problem with Mike Brown is that he was never able to get the defense put together or to get a firm handle on his rotation.  The issue is that there is never a situation where firing a coach after 5 games comes from good management from above.  This means that they were never comfortable with him as the coach from the start, and if this was the case then he shouldn’t have been the coach to begin with.  Most of these very same problems existed for last year’s Laker’s team and if they weren’t comfortable with him then shouldn’t have given him training camp to install his offense.  This goes to the larger organizational dysfunction that could ever result in a scenario where a coach could be fired after 5 games. 

                Then the Lakers seemed to transition to the idea of hiring the living legend Phil Jackson to come back and coach the team.  There seem to be two scenarios existing right now why this didn’t occur.  In the Laker’s version of the story they reached out to Jackson and when he made a ton of crazy demands, including management purview, travel needs, and ownership equity the Lakers decided to go in a different direction.  In Jackson’s version of the story, he was given the impression by the Laker’s management that he would have full opportunity to either accept or decline the offer by Monday.  He didn’t make any crazy demands and financially said that the decision to come back or not would not in fact come down to money.  Then he said the Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni before getting back to him because Laker’s owner Jim Buss wanted to embarrass Jackson and had no intention of hiring him in the first place.   Also as an interesting side note that should probably be mentioned, Jackson is currently dating Buss’s sister.  I honestly don’t know whose side of the story is correct, but my guess is it is a combination of the two. 

                Well now if you are looking at which of the two coaches is the better fit for the time as of now.  Well first of all there is no question that Phil Jackson is better at handling the unique personalities that are in the Lakers’ locker room.  He has the track record and has the respect of Kobe Bryant, a notoriously hard player to coach, and would unquestionably have the respect of the entire locker room.  Not to say D’Antoni would be bad, Nash loved playing for him, Kobe really likes him and the rest of the team seems to respect him.  The bigger question will be though whose offensive system works better for the talent on hand.  If Nash is there and healthy then it seems like without question that D’Antoni is the better given the success he has had with Nash in the past.  The pick and roll potential that he has with Howard combined with Gasol’s passing and Kobe’s back cutting abilities seems to be a perfect mix.  The offense is built for Nash and his strengths, unlike the Triangle offense which has a tendency to mitigate the point guard’s influence.  Overall considering Nash is on contract longest, and Howard will likely be on the team for the longest period of time it seems smart to hire a coach who plays to those two players’ strengths.

                However there are serious reasons that this might be an issue and the D’Antoni hiring could prove to be problematic.  The foundation of D’Antoni’s offense is the existence of an elite pick and roll point guard, of which Nash is the best.  The issue I have is that how sure are we that Nash is going to be the same player this season that he historically has been?  The man has been the symbol of health in old age for years in Phoenix staying in pristine shape and only seeing slight slippage in game as he advanced in age.  My concern is that away from Phoenix’s famous training staff he might begin to show his age and he might start to have injury problems.  He has already gotten hurt in Phoenix, and injury that will likely force him to miss more time this season than he did in any season in his return to Phoenix.  His first game in Los Angeles, he didn’t look like his normal self, but there is a chance that it was just a result of the fact he was uncomfortable in the Princeton offense.  What Los Angeles is banking on in hiring Mike D’Antoni is that Steve Nash is going to return better than ever.  They don’t have any backup point guard who can remotely compete with that level of play and Kobe while a great player isn’t designed to be a pick and roll point guard.  Steve Nash better be great because if he’s not then quite simply the Lakers won’t be. 

                The underlying issue with the team that was actually the main reason for the Lakers’ early season struggles was the health of Dwight Howard.  Howard the last few seasons has been the most important defensive player in basketball, a player who singlehandedly changes a defense from horrible to above average just by being on the floor.  This season Howard hasn’t been that player and the Lakers’ defense has suffered as a result of it.  He has been slow on defense and cannot be an impact help defender the team so desperately needs.  Really this is going to be the team’s biggest issue going forward bigger than the coaching change and bigger than Nash.  Dwight Howard needs to be by far the best center in basketball and the best defense player in the league if the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be competing for an NBA Championship. 

NFL Week 10 Recap

Week 10 NFL Recap

Indianapolis Colts over Jacksonville Jaguars

Andrew Luck led the Colts in a dominating victory over arguably the worst team in football the Blaine Gabbert led Jaguars.  The Colts won their 4^th game in a row to move to 6-3 and put themselves in prime position to get into the playoffs.  Andrew Luck is in the process of cementing himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league and truly an elite player.  The Colts are far from an elite team but playing in a weak AFC will probably allow them to sneak into the playoffs.  The Jaguars are just plain awful, with a horrible offense, defense, and that whole situation where they don’t have Tim Tebow.

Minnesota Vikings over Detroit Lions

The Vikings won again this week moving to 6-4 after a dominating performance by Adrian Peterson.  Peterson has magically recovered from his ACL tear and returned to form as the best back in football in a shockingly short amount of time.  The Vikings are an above average team that has enough talent to compete with most teams in the NFL and should be in the thick of the playoff race.  Their season will come down to Christian Ponder as whether he will be consistent enough to lead the team to the playoffs.  My guess is no but it should be an interesting race.  The Lions seem to be a mediocre team that week to week isn’t that reliable.  Calvin Johnson had a breakout performance but overall he hasn’t been as good as last season.  The Lions are an average football team that got insanely hot offensively last season.

New Orleans Saints over Atlanta Falcons

The Saints delivered the first loss of the season to the Falcons in a game that a whole lot of people saw coming.  I don’t think most people believed that even though they were undefeated that the Falcons were the best team in all of football.  They have a great passing game and a very good pass defense but they have serious problems running the football and stopping the run.  They have a great chance at the best record in the NFC however and are without question a threat come playoff time.  The Saints won their 4^th game of the season and in many people’s minds brought themselves back into the playoff race.  I just disagree with that.  They are 4-5 in an increasingly competitive NFC where there is a possibility that it could take 11 wins to earn a Wild Card spot.  The Saints defense is just too weak for this team to have a real shot at going undefeated the rest of the season.

Cincinnati Bengals over New York Giants

The Giants got dominated by the Bengals in a game that in my mind just doesn’t make any sense.  The Bengals haven’t been that good a team all season while the Giants for the most part have been quite impressive.  However this game happened and we have to try to make sense of it.  The Bengals dominated offensively and defensively as Dalton threw all over the Giants defense and they shutdown Eli Manning.  I do believe this game is an aberration though and that the Bengals just aren’t that good, outside of AJ Green who might be the best receiver in football.  The Giants now seem to be going through the part of their schedule where they “quit” on Tom Coughlin and seem destined for failure.  Who knows where they end up but as always they are a dangerous team to keep in mind, even if they are significantly flawed. 

Baltimore Ravens over Oakland Raiders

The Ravens won their 7^th game of the season in a dominating victory over the Oakland Raiders where just about everything went right.  The Ravens were able to move the football with incredible ease while they forced the Raiders into many mistakes.  They dominated the game from beginning to end and looked like a dominant football team.  I don’t think they are going to be that good week to week, however if they are able to continue a level of play close to that level they should be all set as a franchise.  The Raiders moved to 3-6 as they continued their run into obscurity as one of the worst teams in football.  The defense is in total shambles and while the offense is often able to move the ball they haven’t shown an ability to score efficiently. 

New England Patriots over Buffalo Bills

I don’t know why I do that to myself, I went into the game knowing full well that whatever happened I should never at any point convince myself that they might win because knowing the Bills they would find a way to blow it.  What ended up happening is that I did not head my own advice and watched in agony as Bills had an opportunity to win on their final drive and then Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception on a miscommunication between him and TJ Graham.  They blew the game with penalties, some of which were definitely questionable, and turnovers, never a recipe for success when playing a superior team, and yet they still could have won.  They didn’t give CJ Spiller, arguably the most explosive player in the game, double digit carries for some strange reason, he leads the league in yards per carry and his average seems to be pretty consistent week to week.  Whatever, they blew the game and I’ll say it again, Chan Gailey should be fired, the team is poorly coached and it can be painful to watch the decision making at times.  Now on the Patriots side, they were lucky to escape with a victory in a game that they easily could have lost.  Their defense was a train wreck from the start and the only way they really stopped the Bills is by the Bills beating themselves with turnovers.  Their secondary is a major weakness that the acquisition of embattled corner Aqib Talib can only improve, but the question remains by how much.  The team is 6-3 though and has the AFC East race all but wrapped up so the biggest question is whether or not they will have a first round bye. 

Tennessee Titans over Miami Dolphins

Just when you think you have to teams figured out the Titans destroy the Dolphins leaving you in utter bewilderment.  The Titans seemed to me at least to be one of the worst teams in the league and it was shocking that they won as many as 3 games.  The Dolphins on the other hand were a very solid team that could play good defense and Ryan Tannehill could play decent enough to be respectable as this team competed for a playoff spot.  Then the Dolphins defense played horribly, Tannehill played worse and now who knows what to think.  The Dolphins now definitely can’t be considered a playoff threat and their run toward a spot right now would be shocking.  The Titans now probably moved themselves up from the category to one of the worst teams in football to mediocre so that’s a start.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers over San Diego Chargers

Well the Bucs won their 3^rd game in a row putting them in the middle of the NFC playoff picture as they seem to really be improving as the season goes along.  While Doug Martin understandably struggled after having his amazing performance last week, the defense and Josh Freeman helped to pick up the slack.  The defense shut down the Chargers running game and forced Rivers into a few killer mistakes.  Josh Freeman utilized his big receives to full advantage while throwing for two touchdowns.  The Bucs were a sleeping giant and they seem to really have woken up and emerged as a true threat.  The Chargers on the other hand lost again as the sad saga of Norv Turner being employed continues.  Phillip Rivers seems to have lost it as a quarterback turning into a turnover machine while the rest of the team just isn’t as talented as it used to be.  The era of the San Diego Chargers seems to truly be ending for good now. 

Denver Broncos over Carolina Panthers

Well the Broncos won their 4^th game in a row as the emerge as they slowly are building their case as the best team in the AFC and Peyton Manning makes his case for MVP.  The defense is improved over last year’s unit and the offense is now elite with the addition of Peyton.  What Peyton has done with this team is nothing short of miraculous giving that last year’s team had an expected record of 5.8-10.2 and seemed to be winning games by magic.  Peyton is one of the best ever and multiple neck surgeries will never stop that from being evident.  Also Carolina is a bad football team, Cam Newton without question has regressed, or teams have figured out how to defend him, and they just really aren’t that good.  Their GM was fired for putting money into a bad nucleus of players that incorporates a bad defense with an offense that doesn’t take advantage of the team’s strengths. 

Seattle Seahawks over New York Jets

The Seahawks continued their home supremacy with a dominating victory over the New York Jets.  The Seahawks combined a great showing out of their defense with a solid offense performance built on running the football.  They continue to stay in the NFC playoff picture and if they don’t lose a home game this season it’s going to be quite difficult for them to miss the playoffs.  The Jets on the other hand continue to be a train wreck of epic proportions.  Their defense seems to be collapsing without their superstar, Darrelle Revis and the offense just isn’t good at all as they seem to be below average at every important position.  Really at this point the upside of starting Tebow has to outweigh the downside considering this offense is already one of the worst in football without him.  Sanchez’s confidence has been shattered by this season and so they lost him for the long-term anyway, why not give Tebow a chance.

San Francisco 49ers tie St. Louis Rams

A tie! Everyone’s favorite random NFL occurrence, a game where there is no winner, so if races are close the impact of the tie is always fascinating.  For the 49ers though a tie in a game like this is far from ideal considering they are in a tough race for their division title and seeding in the NFC.  What is more worrisome though is how easily the Rams were able to move the ball on the team.  They gained over 450 yards of total offense and considering the Rams offense is far from elite that could prove problematic as the season progresses.  They still are the favorite to win the division though and though Alex Smith got injured, I can easily see them playing like last year and still winning many games.  The Rams are 3-5-1 right now and in my mind seem like as the season progresses they have some real spoiler potential.  This team has fought hard all season, only getting blown out by the Bears and Patriots and have looked like a fairly competitive football team.  Sam Bradford has played pretty well this season and we should get a good indication on how good he can be by season’s end.

Dallas Cowboys over Philadelphia Eagles

In a matchup of two dysfunctional football teams the Dallas Cowboys were able to come out victorious over the Eagles.  After Michael Vick got concussed the Eagles didn’t stop turning the ball over in costly fashion and allowed 2 defensive touchdowns on backup qb Nick Foles turnovers, to go along with a special teams’ touchdown for the Cowboys.  The Cowboys might now actually find themselves in the playoff discussion considering their schedule eases up considerably and the Giants are struggling themselves with a hard schedule coming up.  The Cowboys might be a dysfunctional mess with a bad coach and inconsistent quarterback, but they could play themselves into the playoffs if they get a little lucky.  Now the Eagles are literally just a dysfunctional mess who really need to start over with a new coach and new team philosophy.  The team is just a mess right now with no offensive consistency and at this point should just fire Andy Reid.

Houston Texans over Chicago Bears

Well this game turned into the defensive battle that everyone expected it to be.  The teams didn’t combine for 20 points scored and neither team could get even 250 yards of total offense.  The lesson from this game is that both these teams are dominant defensively and have the talent to shut down anyone.  The injury to Jay Culter unquestionably hurt the Bear’s chances this week but there is no evidence they were going to do anything offensively with him.  The Bears still look like one of the 5 best teams in football right now as I still think they have the best defense in football and easily could have won this week if a few fumbles bounced differently.  The Texans defense is an elite unit led by the dominating and ball swatting JJ Watt but really they can force any offense into a bad day.  The Texans offense put forth just enough as Arian Foster while not having a great day was able to scrape through for just enough yards to help the Texans get the victory.  This win sets up nicely for the Texans and really gives them the opportunity to wrap up the top seed in the AFC quickly and possibly with some weeks to spare at the end of the season.

Pittsburgh Steelers over Kansas City Chiefs

For a Steelers team that this season at times has looked far from elite, going to overtime against the horrific Chiefs has to be disheartening.  Especially considering their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got injured in the game and is likely going to be missing some time.  The Steelers did move to 6-3 though in winning their 4^th game in a row but the injury to Big Ben comes at a horrible time as they play the Ravens in 2 of their next 3 games.  These should be interesting matchups as neither team this season seems to be as good as their record indicates.  Well for the Chiefs they lost again this week, but at least they can say that they competed.  Plainly though this team just isn’t that good and while they were able to lead a game for the first time this season on Sunday I am far from impressed.  They still have a horrific offense led by Matt Cassel a quarterback who seems to be entirely a creation of New England and nothing beyond that. 

Stay Hungry My Friends