If we've learned anything the past 9 weeks it's that football is still completely unpredictable. You can try all you want to predict the outcome of a game, but more often than not you will be wrong.
I'm pretty sure this is why teams like the Saints and the Patriots lose to teams like the Browns. The Saints and Patriots went into their games against the Cleveland Browns thinking that they had it in the bag. They predicted that their teams would come out on top and as a result they did not work hard enough preparing to beat this so-called "easy" team. Cleveland may be THE most underrated team in the NFL. Colt McCoy shined in his third NFL start against New England. Cleveland's running back, Hillis, showed that there is more than one Peyton people should be scared of. He ran all over the Pats' D, for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bill Belichick lost to his former friend, now ultimate foe, Eric Mangini. The evil genius (Belichick) was pissed. Another interesting story to come out of this game was that the Patriots lost their trusted kicker Stephen Gostkowski for the rest of the season to a thigh injury. We learned that Wes Welker can kick extra points and really is a clutch player. It's unfortunate that this game wasn't closer, because had the Pats been down by just a field goal, we could have seen Wes try his foot at that.
Heading to Dallas... I guess the safest bet at this point would be to bet against the Cowboys, because no matter what, it seems that they will lose. Jerry Jones did what he said he would not do on Monday, firing Wade Phillips and announcing that Jason Garrett would take over on an interim basis. Jason Garrett will use the remaining 8 games to prove that he is the best for the job. Can he turn the BIG D-saster around? We will find out. His first test is a tough one, playing the Giants in the meadowlands this Sunday.
This morning on SportsCenter Adam Schefter was asked who he thinks the mid-season MVP would be. He threw out all the usual names, Peyton, Tom, Philip... But the winner was, drumroll please... Michael Vick. The Eagles have won every game in which Vick was the starter. He has looked almost flawless this season. He has thrown for 1,017 yards, 7 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He's got the highest rating of any other quarterback and the Eagles are currently holding the number 2 spot in the NFC East. Is it to early to call this the best season of Michael Vick's career? Let's keep watching.
There's been a lot of talk about hitting in the NFL recently. Players will now face suspensions, not just fines for "illegal hits on defenseless players." Roger Goodell and other league officials claim that their main goal is to protect the players, yet they want to add two more games to the already grueling 16 game season. Isn't that a bit contradictory? I think so. James Harrison of the Steelers, Brandon Meriweather of the Patriots and Nick Collins of the Packers are just a few of the more recent players to be fined. There has been a lot of criticism on both sides of this issue and I will continue to research this in the coming weeks.
We just passed the halfway point of this season and the current division leaders are: the Giants in the NFC East at 6-2, the Packers lead the NFC North at 6-3, the Atlanta Falcons lead the South at 6-2, and the Rams lead the NFC West at 4-4. The Jets and Patriots top the AFC East, both at 6-2. The Chiefs lead the West at 5-3. Indy and Tennessee are tied at 5-3 for the AFC South and Baltimore and Pittsburgh share the lead for the North at 6-2.
Some recent news in the NFL is Randy Moss has arrived in Tennessee and has still not spoken to the media. When asked about the risk involved with signing Moss, head coach, Jeff Fisher said there was none, and he and Moss are both extremely happy about the move. Chad Pennington will replace Chad Henne as the starting QB in Miami and New England signed veteran kicker, Shayne Graham to replace the injured Stephen Gostkowski. It seems every team in the NFC is claiming that they are the best in the conference, but at this point I think the New York Football Giants have the rights the that title. As for the AFC, the title could go in any which way. The usual leaders (Steelers, Patriots, Colts and Ravens) all have a shot at the Championship. This Sunday Night on NBC, the Patriots will face off against the Steelers. May the better team win.
That's it for now, more to come soon.
Sports Truly,
Chelsea
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Playoffs, College, NFL...
I'm going to have to break this one down... A lot's happened in this past week.
Starting with MLB playoffs... The Yankees swept the Twins (shocker) to advance to American League Championship where they will be playing the Texas Rangers, who are making their first appearance in the ALCS. Sorry Rays, maybe next year. The Giants beat out the Braves (Thank goodness Bay Area fans have them, their 49er's are still winless!) The Giants will take on the Phillies... yeah, yeah, yeah, Roy Halladay with his no hitter, and Cole Hamels with his full game shut out. It's no surprise, they've got the best pitching in baseball. Who's going to make it to the series? If I had to predict it, I'd say it's going to be an exact replay of last year's world series, and we know who took that one home.
In college football news, Alabama has been knocked off their high horse by the South Carolina Gamecocks. They lost their number one ranking and are now at #8. Things don't look like their getting better either, star receiver, Julio Jones broke his hand and may not be able to play to his best ability for awhile. The Ohio State University has been bumped up to number one. The Buckeyes are currently undefeated and will play the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. One of the great college rivalries was played on Saturday. The Florida State Seminoles took on the Miami Hurricanes... Or they would have, had the Hurricanes actually showed up. This was the most awful display of Miami Hurricane football I have seen in a while. Jimbo Fisher outcoached Randy Shannon for the W on his birthday. Christian Ponder looked decent throwing for 173 yards, 2 touchdowns and one INT. Jacory Harris looked like, well, he looked like Jacory Harris. He went 19 for 47, 225 yards and no touchdowns. Ray Lewis needs to take a trip down to his old alma mater and have a talk with the Hurricanes. I do however need to make a shout out to Andrew Datko, #67, Offensive Tackle for the Seminoles, great game!
In his first game out of the hospital after suffering a heart attack, Mike Dantonio, coach of the Michigan State Spartans took on Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines. Both of these great lakes state teams were undefeated heading into Saturday's game in Ann Arbor. Denard Robinson, Heisman hopeful out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, did not give a Heisman-worthy performance facing his foes. Robinson went 17 for 29, 215 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. The Wolverines lost 34-17.
The University of Central Florida gave a stellar performance last Wednesday night against the University of Alabama... Birmingham (cough cough). The Knights won 42-7. Rob Calabrese and Jeffrey Godfrey shared time under center and Ronnie Weaver rushed for 2 touchdowns. The Knights defense shined against UAB's abysmal offense.
Moving on the the NFL, the Detroit Lions have won a game! That's right, the Lions won. Not only did they win, they scored a league-high 44 points against the Rams. Rookie, Max Hall led the Arizona Cardinals to an upset over the reigning champion Saints. The Indianapolis Colts handed the KC Chiefs their first loss of the season and the 49er's remain winless, after almost beating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. The bye-week did not do the Dallas Cowboys any good, I think it slowed the momentum of their week 3 win against the Texans. The Cowboys lost to the Titans on Sunday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-1 under Raheem Morris and QB Josh Freeman after beating the Bengals with a last minute field goal. Let's hope this QB can retain his good image in a league where QBs are diminishing their reputations daily... This brings me to Brett Favre. Allegedly, while playing with the Jets, Favre fell for former FSU hottie, Jenn Sterger. He showed his affection by sending inappropriate texts, pictures and voicemails. May I also remind you that Brett is married, and this behavior, if true, is disgusting. The NFL is currently investigating this story further.
Despite all of the anticipation and controversy surrounding this past Monday's game between the Vikings and Jets, the first half was just plain old boring(the rain might have had something to do with it). Both teams failed to score a touchdown, but Nick Folk, for the Jets had quite the game, making 3 field goals in the first half to make the score 9-0. After halftime, the game started to pick up the pace. Randy Moss had his first touchdown as a Viking (well, this time around anyway), and the Jets scored 2 more field goals in the third quarter. 15-7 was the score. At the start of the fourth Brett threw a TD to Percy Harvin. They went for 2 points but didn't get it, so 15-13, it's getting good. Shonn Green scored the Jets' first touchdown and then Percy Harvin scored again. 22-20. Brett took the field to try to lead his team to victory. CHOKE! His pass, intended for Visanthe Shiancoe was intercepted by Dwight Lowery, who ran it back for another Jet TD. 29-20. Brett, again takes the field, hoping for a miracle. In the last Viking's drive of the game Favre only made 2 complete passes, one to Moss, one to Shiancoe. The clock ran out and the Minnesota Vikings claim the third spot in the NFC North at 1-3. They play the 1-3 Cowboys on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see the game between these one-win teams who are so often (now) compared to one another. The Jets sit atop the AFC East, with the Patriots following close behind.
The NBA preseason continues... More will come once the season actually starts. And as for the NHL, I really only like it when it gets close to the postseason.
That's it for now, Sports Truly
Starting with MLB playoffs... The Yankees swept the Twins (shocker) to advance to American League Championship where they will be playing the Texas Rangers, who are making their first appearance in the ALCS. Sorry Rays, maybe next year. The Giants beat out the Braves (Thank goodness Bay Area fans have them, their 49er's are still winless!) The Giants will take on the Phillies... yeah, yeah, yeah, Roy Halladay with his no hitter, and Cole Hamels with his full game shut out. It's no surprise, they've got the best pitching in baseball. Who's going to make it to the series? If I had to predict it, I'd say it's going to be an exact replay of last year's world series, and we know who took that one home.
In college football news, Alabama has been knocked off their high horse by the South Carolina Gamecocks. They lost their number one ranking and are now at #8. Things don't look like their getting better either, star receiver, Julio Jones broke his hand and may not be able to play to his best ability for awhile. The Ohio State University has been bumped up to number one. The Buckeyes are currently undefeated and will play the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. One of the great college rivalries was played on Saturday. The Florida State Seminoles took on the Miami Hurricanes... Or they would have, had the Hurricanes actually showed up. This was the most awful display of Miami Hurricane football I have seen in a while. Jimbo Fisher outcoached Randy Shannon for the W on his birthday. Christian Ponder looked decent throwing for 173 yards, 2 touchdowns and one INT. Jacory Harris looked like, well, he looked like Jacory Harris. He went 19 for 47, 225 yards and no touchdowns. Ray Lewis needs to take a trip down to his old alma mater and have a talk with the Hurricanes. I do however need to make a shout out to Andrew Datko, #67, Offensive Tackle for the Seminoles, great game!
In his first game out of the hospital after suffering a heart attack, Mike Dantonio, coach of the Michigan State Spartans took on Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines. Both of these great lakes state teams were undefeated heading into Saturday's game in Ann Arbor. Denard Robinson, Heisman hopeful out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, did not give a Heisman-worthy performance facing his foes. Robinson went 17 for 29, 215 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. The Wolverines lost 34-17.
The University of Central Florida gave a stellar performance last Wednesday night against the University of Alabama... Birmingham (cough cough). The Knights won 42-7. Rob Calabrese and Jeffrey Godfrey shared time under center and Ronnie Weaver rushed for 2 touchdowns. The Knights defense shined against UAB's abysmal offense.
Moving on the the NFL, the Detroit Lions have won a game! That's right, the Lions won. Not only did they win, they scored a league-high 44 points against the Rams. Rookie, Max Hall led the Arizona Cardinals to an upset over the reigning champion Saints. The Indianapolis Colts handed the KC Chiefs their first loss of the season and the 49er's remain winless, after almost beating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. The bye-week did not do the Dallas Cowboys any good, I think it slowed the momentum of their week 3 win against the Texans. The Cowboys lost to the Titans on Sunday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-1 under Raheem Morris and QB Josh Freeman after beating the Bengals with a last minute field goal. Let's hope this QB can retain his good image in a league where QBs are diminishing their reputations daily... This brings me to Brett Favre. Allegedly, while playing with the Jets, Favre fell for former FSU hottie, Jenn Sterger. He showed his affection by sending inappropriate texts, pictures and voicemails. May I also remind you that Brett is married, and this behavior, if true, is disgusting. The NFL is currently investigating this story further.
Despite all of the anticipation and controversy surrounding this past Monday's game between the Vikings and Jets, the first half was just plain old boring(the rain might have had something to do with it). Both teams failed to score a touchdown, but Nick Folk, for the Jets had quite the game, making 3 field goals in the first half to make the score 9-0. After halftime, the game started to pick up the pace. Randy Moss had his first touchdown as a Viking (well, this time around anyway), and the Jets scored 2 more field goals in the third quarter. 15-7 was the score. At the start of the fourth Brett threw a TD to Percy Harvin. They went for 2 points but didn't get it, so 15-13, it's getting good. Shonn Green scored the Jets' first touchdown and then Percy Harvin scored again. 22-20. Brett took the field to try to lead his team to victory. CHOKE! His pass, intended for Visanthe Shiancoe was intercepted by Dwight Lowery, who ran it back for another Jet TD. 29-20. Brett, again takes the field, hoping for a miracle. In the last Viking's drive of the game Favre only made 2 complete passes, one to Moss, one to Shiancoe. The clock ran out and the Minnesota Vikings claim the third spot in the NFC North at 1-3. They play the 1-3 Cowboys on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see the game between these one-win teams who are so often (now) compared to one another. The Jets sit atop the AFC East, with the Patriots following close behind.
The NBA preseason continues... More will come once the season actually starts. And as for the NHL, I really only like it when it gets close to the postseason.
That's it for now, Sports Truly
Special Edition: MNF 10/04/10
About 14 million viewers tuned into ESPN last Monday to watch the AFC East showdown between the Dolphins and Patriots. The first half was relatively boring and uneventful. The score going into halftime was 7-6 in favor of the Dolphins. Chad Henne threw a TD pass to Davonne Bess, an undrafted free agent, who played college ball at Hawaii. Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Randy Moss were left touchdown-less in the first 2 quarters, with Stephen Gostkowski kicking 2 field goals to give the Pats their 6 points.
Enter the third quarter. Brandon Tate runs for 103 yards to return the kickoff for a touchdown. Miami gets the ball back and goes 3 and out, they are forced to punt. Patrick Chung blocks the punt and BenJarvus Green-Ellis (say that name 5 times fast) ran 12 yards for another TD. The score is now 20-7. The Dolphins quickly answered with another touchdown. 20-14. Former Jet and Hard Knocks alum, Danny Woodhead caught a pass from number 12 to make the score 27-14. Miami's driving... Let's go to the fourth.
Chad Henne sloppily leads his team into field goal range. Dan Carpenter's kick is... BLOCKED! Patrick Chung with another block on special teams. The ball is recovered by Patriot, Kyle Arrington and he runs it in for a touchdown. 34-14. Nine minutes left in the game and the Dolphins are looking for the slightest glimmer of hope. They want to score. They want to win this game. They want to... Chad Henne is picked off for the third time and Patrick Chung gets a pick-6. Just to tally that up, that is 1 blocked punt, 1 blocked field goal, and a pick-6 for this second year player out of Oregon. 41-14. Tony Sparano puts Tyler Thigpen in for the Dolphins' last drive. He throws a pass intended for Hartline and he is picked off by safety, Jarrad Page. Tom Brady takes a knee for the last few drives and back-up Brian Hoyer finishes the game with a kneel. Tom Brady becomes the fastest starting QB in the Super Bowl era to reach 100 wins, and the Patriots tie the Jets for the lead in the AFC East.
Miami head coach, Tony Sparano later went on to say that the Dolphins' performance was "a mess and embarrassing." And less than 12 hours after their loss, the Dolphins let go of their special teams coordinator, John Bonamego. On another note, the notoriously apathetic, Bill Belichick was seen smiling on the sidelines after his special teams' stellar performance.
On Wednesday morning Randy Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a third round pick in next year's draft. It later came out that he and quarterback, Tom Brady, had a little "scuffle" in the locker room after the game. Brady told Moss to shave his face, and Moss told Brady that his hair made him look like a girl. Well, we saw how that turned out.
Both teams are coming off of their bye-week and the Dolphins will face the Packers in Green Bay, while the Patriots face the 4-1 Ravens at home on Sunday. Bill Belichick's record when coming off the bye is 14-4, and the Pats have won 12 of their last 13 "after-bye" games.
Sports Truly
Enter the third quarter. Brandon Tate runs for 103 yards to return the kickoff for a touchdown. Miami gets the ball back and goes 3 and out, they are forced to punt. Patrick Chung blocks the punt and BenJarvus Green-Ellis (say that name 5 times fast) ran 12 yards for another TD. The score is now 20-7. The Dolphins quickly answered with another touchdown. 20-14. Former Jet and Hard Knocks alum, Danny Woodhead caught a pass from number 12 to make the score 27-14. Miami's driving... Let's go to the fourth.
Chad Henne sloppily leads his team into field goal range. Dan Carpenter's kick is... BLOCKED! Patrick Chung with another block on special teams. The ball is recovered by Patriot, Kyle Arrington and he runs it in for a touchdown. 34-14. Nine minutes left in the game and the Dolphins are looking for the slightest glimmer of hope. They want to score. They want to win this game. They want to... Chad Henne is picked off for the third time and Patrick Chung gets a pick-6. Just to tally that up, that is 1 blocked punt, 1 blocked field goal, and a pick-6 for this second year player out of Oregon. 41-14. Tony Sparano puts Tyler Thigpen in for the Dolphins' last drive. He throws a pass intended for Hartline and he is picked off by safety, Jarrad Page. Tom Brady takes a knee for the last few drives and back-up Brian Hoyer finishes the game with a kneel. Tom Brady becomes the fastest starting QB in the Super Bowl era to reach 100 wins, and the Patriots tie the Jets for the lead in the AFC East.
Miami head coach, Tony Sparano later went on to say that the Dolphins' performance was "a mess and embarrassing." And less than 12 hours after their loss, the Dolphins let go of their special teams coordinator, John Bonamego. On another note, the notoriously apathetic, Bill Belichick was seen smiling on the sidelines after his special teams' stellar performance.
On Wednesday morning Randy Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a third round pick in next year's draft. It later came out that he and quarterback, Tom Brady, had a little "scuffle" in the locker room after the game. Brady told Moss to shave his face, and Moss told Brady that his hair made him look like a girl. Well, we saw how that turned out.
Both teams are coming off of their bye-week and the Dolphins will face the Packers in Green Bay, while the Patriots face the 4-1 Ravens at home on Sunday. Bill Belichick's record when coming off the bye is 14-4, and the Pats have won 12 of their last 13 "after-bye" games.
Sports Truly
Monday, October 4, 2010
Beginning of October... Every Sports Lover's Dream
This blog and all of my blogs are dedicated to my family, especially to my pop pop, who took me to a few games. You were always there for me and I love you forever.
Not only did this weekend bring some exciting professional and college football games but it also brought the end of the regular baseball season, MLB playoff time and the start of the NBA pre-season.
Saturday was chock-full o’ some great college games, with match-ups like Miami and Clemson, Florida and Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma. I guess it’s only appropriate to start this with the team who’s at the top of the rankings and that would be none other than Alabama’s Crimson Tide who ran all over the Gators this weekend. After starting their early demolition of Florida with a field goal the Gators came right back up the field and looked like they might score a touchdown. Instead of going for the tie on 4th and goal, John Brantley threw an interception and let’s just say it only got worse for the Gators after that. Florida was unable to score a touchdown which made the final score 31-6. This brings Nick Saban’s record at Bama to 38-8.
The Miami Hurricanes traveled to South Carolina to face the Clemson Tigers on Saturday. This ACC battle was a key victory for the Hurricanes who are now 3-1 (1-0 in the ACC). Jacory Harris continues to have highs and lows in each game, he’s consistently inconsistent. He threw for 205 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and only completed 13 passes out of 33, (that’s about 39%). He did however look better than Clemson’s QB Kyle Parker, who threw 3 interceptions and zero touchdowns. Leonard Hankerson, out of St. Thomas Aquinas, came up big in this game, catching 7 times for 147 yards (more than 71% of Miami’s total receiving yards) and 3 of Harris’ TDs. Miami’s Matt Bosher sealed the deal with a 29-yard field goal with 2:40 left in the fourth.
The Red River Rivalry, the annual game between Texas and Oklahoma was played in Oklahoma on Saturday. Sam Bradford’ replacement, Landry Jones, looked good throwing for 2 touchdowns and 236 yards. Colt McCoy’s replacement, Garrett Gilbert, continues to struggle leading the Longhorn offense. Oklahoma won this meeting, making the all time Red River record 59-41 in favor of the Longhorns.
Sunday brought the last games of regular season baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays beat Kansas City to clinch the AL East and the best record in the American League. The Yankees clinched the wild card spot to make the playoffs for the 49th time. The Texas Rangers clinched the AL West and the Minnesota Twins clinched the AL Central. The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL East for the 4th straight year. The Reds clinched the NL Central and the San Francisco Giants beat the Padres to clinch the NL West. The Braves clinched the wild card and will start their playoff run against the Giants on Thursday. The Reds will travel to Philly on Thursday as well. Both AL games are on Wednesday.
NFL Sunday was full of upsets, heartbreaking losses and sloppy wins. After being up 14-0, the 49ers let the Falcons come all the way back to 14-13. On the drive to go up, Matt Ryan threw an interception to the 49ers’ Nate Clements. I thought the game was over at that point. The Falcons’ Roddy White thought differently and forced a fumble in order for the Falcons winning drive to stay alive. Matt Bryant saved the day for the second week in a row, kicking a 43-yard field goal with 2 seconds left on the clock.
The always-good Colts lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who failed to score a touchdown last week against the Eagles. Peyton Manning had his 3rd 300+ yard game on Sunday but that wasn’t enough to the Jags. This game was close the entire time. Each score was answered with another score. In the middle of the fourth quarter Joseph Addai ran for a touchdown to bring the score to 21-21. Maurice Jones-Drew answered that with an 8 yard touchdown making it 28-21. Peyton Manning, no stranger to having to perform under pressure led his team down the field and threw a TD to Austin Collie with 48 seconds left. At that point, I think Peyton, along with the entire Colt’s team thought they were headed for over-time. Not so fast. The desperate Jaguars sloppily made it to the Colts’ 41 yard-line. With 5 seconds left Jaguars kicker, Josh Scobee kicked the field goal of his life. It flew 59 yards before crossing the uprights. Both of these AFC South teams are 2-2.
Donovan McNabb made his return to Philly on Sunday, in a Redskins jersey. Number 5 was welcomed with a standing ovation, then the game started and the cheers quickly turned to jeers. It was neither team’s best game. Michael Vick left the game in the first quarter with rib and chest injuries. Had he not been injured, this game probably would have looked a whole lot different. Donovan McNabb’s lackluster performance was enough to get him the W, and the revenge on his old team and his old coach, Andy Reid. The final was 17-12, with the Skins scoring all their points in the first half and the Eagles relying on David Akers to score half of their points. The Eagles scored a touchdown in the fourth but failed to complete the 2 point conversion that would have cut the Redskins’ lead to 3 points. I like Donovan and I’m glad he got the victory over the Eagles. These teams are 2-2 now as well.
Staying with the NFC East, the Giants beat the then 3-0 Bears on Sunday Night Football. The rain in New York was quite obvious; neither team seemed to be able to hold on to the ball. The first half was reminiscent of that Steelers-Dolphins game a few years ago (The Steelers won 3-0 in horrible weather in Miami). At the end the Giants came up on top 17-3 and they also sacked Jay Cutler nine times (and Caleb Hanie once). Lovie Smith had to send out 2 back up QBs after Jay Cutler sustained a concussion. Todd Collins was sent to the sidelines after a blindside hit from LB Michael Boley. Caleb Hanie took the field at the end of the fourth quarter to finish the game.
Just a few more notes from Sunday: Joe Flacco and the Ravens beat their AFC North rivals, the Steelers in a game that came down to the very end. Cincinnati lost to the Browns (WHAT?????) and Detroit almost won for the fourth time this season. The Kansas City Chiefs remain the only undefeated team at 3-0, and 20 teams have lost 2 or more games.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
NFL Week 3
Week 3 of the 2010 NFL season was quite eventful and I have to say not all too surprising...
Are the boys back in town? The Dallas Cowboys had their best performance of the season Sunday in Houston. They held the number one offensive team to only 13 points and scored 27 points themselves. Apparently the Cowboys ate their Wheaties Sunday morning and it looks like they all took that player meeting they had on Monday seriously. Tony Romo threw for 2 touchdowns and Marion Barber ran for another. The Boys finally established their running game, and the defense performed like the defense we saw last season. Matt Schaub was picked off twice and sacked four times, three of those sacks coming from DeMarcus Ware. We finally saw the team that everyone was expecting to see this year.
Tom Brady led the New England offense to 38 points, bringing their 3-week total to 90 points. He threw for 252 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Randy Moss was on the receiving end of 2 of those touchdowns and Danny Woodhead, who was let go by the Jets earlier this month, scored another. The Patriots defense continued to look spotty in comparison to the offense. The Bills combined score for the first 2 weeks was 17, but somehow they scored 30 points on the Pats’ D. Bill Belichick, the defensive minded coach that he is, needs to get his defense in line. Yes, they are a young team but they’ve had the entire off-season to prepare. They can’t rely on the offense to score 5 touchdowns a game, to bail them out. Bottom line: They need to get their act together. In other news, the Bills let go of veteran QB Trent Edwards on Monday, one day after their loss to the Pats. Do they really have that much faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick? Yeah, he helped their offense score 30 points but what if he gets hurt. I can promise you the Jets' defense will not be as lackadaisical as the Pats' D looked on Sunday. After all, Fitzpatrick's got that Harvard degree to fall back on, what do the Bills have to fall back on? Edwards was picked up on waivers by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who failed to score a touchdown against the Eagles on Sunday.
There was a showdown Monday night in Chicago as the Packers took on their division rivals, the Bears for the 180th time. Aaron Rodgers looked solid, throwing for 316 yards, one touchdown and one interception, with a passer rating of 92.5. The Packers really hurt themselves with penalties (18 for 152 yards). With 2 minutes left in the game and the score tied at 17, the Packers, instead of capitalizing on an interception thrown by Jay Cutler, fumbled the ball and lost their chance to be 3 and 0. And now the Bears are leading the NFC North at 3-0. Lovie Smith was the winning coach on Monday and he's hoping to avoid another mediocre season following their 13-3 Super Bowl run in 2006, where they lost to the Colts.
Speaking of the NFC North, the Detroit Lions continue to impress me despite their losing record. They are currently 0-3, but have looked like a great team in their losing effort. They have also had some questionable calls against them (that Calvin Johnson touchdown in week one against the Bears! C'mon man! He's on my fantasy team). In week 2 they lost to the Eagles after Shaun Hill failed to complete a single pass in the Lions' last drive, but the final score was 35-32. So close! This past Sunday the Bears faced their foes from the West, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikes ended up winning 24-10. Maybe things will turn around once Matthew Stafford is back under center.
The New York Jets traveled to Miami on Sunday to play the Dolphins. This battle was close the entire time. Every time the Jets scored the Dolphins would counter it with a score of their own. It came down to the last 2 minutes, the score 24-23 in favor of the Jets. Chad Henne, looking to go ahead was picked off in the end-zone when he tried to complete a pass to his tight end Anthony Fasano, who was in double coverage (Come on, he's not Randy Moss). Ladainian Tomlinson ran in the final TD to end the game at 31-23, and to solidify the Jets' spot at the top of the AFC East standings. Next week the Jets head to Buffalo while the Patriots head to Miami... Should be interesting.
Now I thought the Steelers were done before the season even started with Ben Roethlisberger being suspended for the first 4 games. Then they won their first 2 games with Dennis Dixon leading them. Then Dennis Dixon got hurt, they let go of Byron Leftwich and announced the Charlie Batch would be the starter. I thought they were really screwed. But low and behold they beat the then 2-0 Buccaneers 38-13. Whoa Charlie Batch, Ben might have some competition.
I'd like to end this week by saying, Michael Vick. Holy Crap Michael Vick. You play D.Mac next week, can't wait to see what happens.
That's it for this week,
Sports Truly
Speaking of the NFC North, the Detroit Lions continue to impress me despite their losing record. They are currently 0-3, but have looked like a great team in their losing effort. They have also had some questionable calls against them (that Calvin Johnson touchdown in week one against the Bears! C'mon man! He's on my fantasy team). In week 2 they lost to the Eagles after Shaun Hill failed to complete a single pass in the Lions' last drive, but the final score was 35-32. So close! This past Sunday the Bears faced their foes from the West, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikes ended up winning 24-10. Maybe things will turn around once Matthew Stafford is back under center.
The New York Jets traveled to Miami on Sunday to play the Dolphins. This battle was close the entire time. Every time the Jets scored the Dolphins would counter it with a score of their own. It came down to the last 2 minutes, the score 24-23 in favor of the Jets. Chad Henne, looking to go ahead was picked off in the end-zone when he tried to complete a pass to his tight end Anthony Fasano, who was in double coverage (Come on, he's not Randy Moss). Ladainian Tomlinson ran in the final TD to end the game at 31-23, and to solidify the Jets' spot at the top of the AFC East standings. Next week the Jets head to Buffalo while the Patriots head to Miami... Should be interesting.
Now I thought the Steelers were done before the season even started with Ben Roethlisberger being suspended for the first 4 games. Then they won their first 2 games with Dennis Dixon leading them. Then Dennis Dixon got hurt, they let go of Byron Leftwich and announced the Charlie Batch would be the starter. I thought they were really screwed. But low and behold they beat the then 2-0 Buccaneers 38-13. Whoa Charlie Batch, Ben might have some competition.
I'd like to end this week by saying, Michael Vick. Holy Crap Michael Vick. You play D.Mac next week, can't wait to see what happens.
That's it for this week,
Sports Truly
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
NFL Week 2
So since this is my first blog ever, I'm going to explain how this works. Every week (hopefully) I'm going to break down what happened in sports and offer my 2 cents on the issues. Alright, let's do this.
Most recently, the San Francisco 49ers put up quite a fight against the reigning Super bowl champion New Orleans Saints. There are 2 topics that arise from this Monday night game: 1. San Fran looked pretty decent. They had a few turnovers and kind of kicked themselves with bad timeouts but let's face it, they definitely scared the Saints. Alex Smith led the 49ers down the field to score a touchdown with a 2 point conversion with a minute and 19 seconds left. This tied the score at 22. But as we've seen that is way too much time to leave Drew Brees in this type of situation. The niners' defense played well, but they couldn't stop Brees at the end of the game. Garrett Hartley saved the Saints with a 37 yard field goal as time ran out. This brings the Saints total points from week 1 and 2 to 39, which brings me to topic 2. Are the Saints as good as everyone thought they were going to be? Last season, the Saints had scored 89 points in the first 2 games. Yes, I know at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the W and the Saints are 2-0, but are they slowly falling into that Super bowl hangover?
If I've learned anything in the last 2 weeks it's that football really is about any given Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday). Sports are unpredictable. I would have never thought that the Dallas Cowboys would be 0-2 right now, after all the Super Bowl hype that surrounded them in the off-season. They have looked awful so far. After watching their pre-season performance I knew they had to make a change, but I don't think they've made it yet. Their team isn't playing like a team, their coach is happy ALL THE TIME, even when their doing bad. What's going on in the Big-D? Jerry Jones has said time and time again that he will stand by Wade Phillips, but if they continue to preform this badly I think Wade Phillips is going to be off the sidelines and inside of a mall with kids sitting on his lap, telling him what they want for Christmas. Bottom line: The Cowboys need to turn this around, talk to each other and play like the team they were last year.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are undefeated. That's right, they have won their first 2 games. I am still in shock that they are currently leading the NFC South. Just a year ago they were 3-13 with their wins coming in the last few weeks of the regular season. They play the Steelers at home next week, let's see if this hot streak continues.
Michael Vick. Yes, he is a criminal, yes he is a dog killer. He served his time and apparently only got better while incarcerated. He looked like the Michael Vick of old when he played the Lions this past Sunday. He went 21 for 34 with 2 touchdowns, threw for 284 yards, and rushed for 37 yards. If you ask me, he looked way better leading the team than Kevin Kolb did a week earlier. The area that needs work in Philly is their defense. They let the Lions score 32 points? In the words of Cris Carter, "C'mon man!" This just announced, Vick was named the starting QB for the Eagles this Sunday. I love when they take my advice =).
The New England Patriots scored 38 points in their first week and kept the super hero team of Palmer, Ochocinco and Owens to a lackluster 24 points. Three of those Cincy touchdowns came in the second half of the game. This past weekend, the Pats headed to the Meadowlands to face off against their division rival New York Jets. In the first half Tom Brady threw for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the second half he threw for a minuscule 32 yards, no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Pats' defense sacked Mark Sanchez three times in the first half and could barely get a hand on him or any of the Jets in the second half. This makes me wonder, do they all hurry to the locker room at halftime, take a nap, then hit the field for the second half? What is Bill Belichick doing? Everyone thinks he is such a genius, well this genius needs to get his team together and rip them a new one after that loss. The Patriots need to be able to play the entire game, not just for 30 minutes of it. And that whole Revis calling Moss a "slouch" thing... Well we all saw what happened with that. Hey Revis, how's that hamstring buddy?
I think that's going to be it for this week, I'd just like to close with this one thought: Brett Favre, you should have stayed in Mississippi bud.
Sports Truly
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