Well there are only 4 games left in the season and there are 20 teams that either have a playoff spot as of now or are within 2 games of a playoff spot, it should be exciting. So here are my predictions for the 6 playoff teams in each conference, the big time awards, and the Super Bowl. and yes all the playoff predictions are tie breaker accurate.
NFC:
1. NO 15-1
2. Min 14-2
3. AZ 12-4
4. Dal 10-6
5. GB 11-5
6. Phil 10-6
JUST MISSED
NYG and ATL 9-7
AFC
1. Indy 16-0
2. SD 12-4
3. Cin 11-5
4. NE 10-6
5. Balt 10-6
6. Den 10-6
Just Missed
Jax: 9-7
Mia and Pit 8-8
NYJ: 7-9
AWARDS
MVP: Brees
OPOY: Chris Johnson
DPOY: Charles Woodson
Coach: Marvin Lewis
OROY: Percy Harvin
DROY: Brian Cushing
PLAYOFFS
WILD CARD ROUND
AZ over Philly 27-20 A rematch of last years NFC title game ends in a similar manner with the Cardinals just having too much offense for Philly
GB over Dallas 24-17 The Pack's #1 ranked D forces a key turnover to lead the Pack to victory in Dallas
Balt over NE 31-27, the Pats Defense sucks and by this time Suggs and Reed will be back and the Ravens will be seeking revenge
Cincy over Den 24-20 Cincy gets revenge for the week 1 miricle loss by making Kyle Orton beat him, he can't.
DIVISIONAL ROUND
AZ over MIN 31-24 We just saw this game this week and I see Warner outdueling Farve once again.
GB over NO 37-34 The Packers Defense comes up with a key stop and Aaron Rodgers pulls his team from behind to win, the difference will be the fact that Mason Crosby's leg is much stronger then John Carney's.
SD over Cin 31-20 San Diego's balanced attack leads them to victory as Sean Phillips and Shawn Merriman reek havoc on Carson Palmer.
Balt over Indy 34-31, Indy has a habit of sitting their players out if they got everything clinched and usually when the next game they play is after a bye they lose (2000 against the Titans and 2005 against Pittsburgh) also key players like Brown, Garcon, and Collie have no playoff experience so I see one of them making a key mistake to cost them the game.
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Packers over Cardinals 34-24: The difference in this game will be Charles Woodson's ability to limit the success of one of the Cardinals WR and the Packers Linebackers controlling Hightower and Wells enough to come away with a tough road win.
Chargers over Ravens 27-17: The Chargers are able to pressure Flacco into a couple of key mistakes as Philip Rivers and the balanced Chargers offense wins the game for them, expect Darren Sproles to make a key special teams play.
SUPER BOWL 44
Chargers over Packers 34-27 The difference in this game will be the Chargers ability to run the ball better then the Pack while Sean Phillips and Shawn Merriman get pressure on Aaron Rodgers all game long. MVP: Rivers
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Bowl Preview
Well after Texas narrowly avoided jaunting themselves out of the BCS title game but they ended up beating Nebraska and the best player in college football Ndamukong Suh and now will play Alabama in the BCS title game. While I do feel, after careful examination, that Bama is well deserving of a spot in the title game I feel Texas is not even the best team in their own STATE that honor belongs to TCU, who should be playing Bama in the title game but if not them Tony Pike and Cincy should be playing for the title.
Heisman Trophy prediction: While i feel Suh is the best player in college football I am realistic in acknowledging the fact that a D-linemen won't win the Heisman. That being the case I think the Heisman should go to Stanford RB Toby Gerhart but I think it will go to the RB for #1 Alabama Mark Ingram.
Top 5 Non-BCS games:
1. Capital One Bowl: Penn state vs. LSU
2. Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. Arizona
3. Meineke Car Care Bowl: Pitt vs. UNC
4. Sun Bowl: Stanford vs. Oklahoma
5. Gator Bowl: WVU vs. FSU (Bowden's last game)
Now on to the BCS Bowls
Orange Bowl: GT vs. Iowa: I feel the way to beat Tech is to get out to a huge lead and force them to abandon their option offense I don't think Iowa will be able to do this and Tech will win 24-17.
Rose Bowl: Oregon, and national coach of the year candidate Chip Kelley, have rebounded nicely from the opening night debachle at Boise to make the Rose Bowl where their three headed monster of LaMichael James, LaGarrett Blount, and QB Jerimiah Massoli will carry them to a victory over Ohio State by the score of 31-20.
Sugar Bowl: Tony Pike and the Bearcats came back to win the Big East against Pitt and now faces Tim Tebow and Florida. In this game I see Tony Pike having a great game with Mardy Gilyard making a key special teams play to lead the Bearcats to victory 34-31.
Fiesta Bowl: Suprise, Suprise the two non-BCS party crashers are matched up against each other. This allows the BCS conferences to avoid the emabarassment of what happened last year to Bama and three years ago to Oklahoma by having two non-BCS schools beating BCS schools which would push the record of non-BCS teams in BCS games to 5-1. In this game I see TCU making a late stop to win this game by the score of 27-24.
BCS National Title game: For the second straight year two heisman candidates and two national championship winning coaches meeting in a Big 12-SEC matchup and you can expect the SEC to come out on top again. Texas, will struggle on offense as Bama has no reason to fear their running game outside of McCoy while on offense Alabama will be extremly balanced and end up winning by a score of 27-20.
So we will end the season with 3 unbeaten teams for the second time (2004) and yet two teams will never have the chance to play for the national title so until we have a 8 team playoff we will never have a true national champion.
Heisman Trophy prediction: While i feel Suh is the best player in college football I am realistic in acknowledging the fact that a D-linemen won't win the Heisman. That being the case I think the Heisman should go to Stanford RB Toby Gerhart but I think it will go to the RB for #1 Alabama Mark Ingram.
Top 5 Non-BCS games:
1. Capital One Bowl: Penn state vs. LSU
2. Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. Arizona
3. Meineke Car Care Bowl: Pitt vs. UNC
4. Sun Bowl: Stanford vs. Oklahoma
5. Gator Bowl: WVU vs. FSU (Bowden's last game)
Now on to the BCS Bowls
Orange Bowl: GT vs. Iowa: I feel the way to beat Tech is to get out to a huge lead and force them to abandon their option offense I don't think Iowa will be able to do this and Tech will win 24-17.
Rose Bowl: Oregon, and national coach of the year candidate Chip Kelley, have rebounded nicely from the opening night debachle at Boise to make the Rose Bowl where their three headed monster of LaMichael James, LaGarrett Blount, and QB Jerimiah Massoli will carry them to a victory over Ohio State by the score of 31-20.
Sugar Bowl: Tony Pike and the Bearcats came back to win the Big East against Pitt and now faces Tim Tebow and Florida. In this game I see Tony Pike having a great game with Mardy Gilyard making a key special teams play to lead the Bearcats to victory 34-31.
Fiesta Bowl: Suprise, Suprise the two non-BCS party crashers are matched up against each other. This allows the BCS conferences to avoid the emabarassment of what happened last year to Bama and three years ago to Oklahoma by having two non-BCS schools beating BCS schools which would push the record of non-BCS teams in BCS games to 5-1. In this game I see TCU making a late stop to win this game by the score of 27-24.
BCS National Title game: For the second straight year two heisman candidates and two national championship winning coaches meeting in a Big 12-SEC matchup and you can expect the SEC to come out on top again. Texas, will struggle on offense as Bama has no reason to fear their running game outside of McCoy while on offense Alabama will be extremly balanced and end up winning by a score of 27-20.
So we will end the season with 3 unbeaten teams for the second time (2004) and yet two teams will never have the chance to play for the national title so until we have a 8 team playoff we will never have a true national champion.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Ravens, Colts blog
With the Ravens-Colts game this sunday I decided to blog about an issue that means a lot to me and even more to my Dad, and that is the Colts name. For those of you that don't know the Colts were in Baltimore where they won many championships, played in 2 super bowls winning one behind legends like Johnny Unitas, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Raymond Berry, and Lenny Moore among others. Then in 1983 after a period of losing and John Elway refusing to come here the owner Robert Irsay moved the team in the middle of the night to Indianapolis and took the name with it. This left Baltimore without a team until 1996 when the Ravens came here from Cleavland where they were the Browns.
The major difference between the Colts move and the Ravens move (as well as other moves such as the Titans going from Houston to Nashville) is that we allowed Cleavland to keep their name and history when the Colts took the name and the history with them to Indy. Although my dad told me about this I really did not hit me until I went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio when I was 12 or something and they had an exhibit where they listed all the teams and the hall of famers who played with those teams and I saw Unitas, Moore, Berry, and others listed as the INDIANAPOLIS colts, this really upset my dad. Now I am not blaming the current players, in fact I have a lot of respect for Peyton, Jeff Saturday, Freeney and the Colts stars, I just wish there was some way Baltimore could be given the name back and the history up until 1983 that goes with it.
As far as this weeks game goes I like the Ravens chances for many reasons. First of all the Colts have gotten lucky to win the past 3 weeks from a dropped pass that would have set up an easy TD against the Niners, to a fumble on the 1 and missed game-tying FG against Houston, to the now infamous 4th and 2 against New England. Thus their luck has got to run out at some point why not this week. Also they are extremly hampered in the secondary (3 of 4 starters out due to injury) and at WR (Gonzalez is out and Collie has not been the same recently) so if the Ravens are going to beat the Colts now would be the time. Also since the start of this decade the Ravens have played better as an underdog from going into #1 seeded Tennesse in the playoffs and winning twice, to closing out Texas Stadium with a win, to beating and exposing the then unbeaten Broncos. Furthermore in recent years they have been a second half team (going 6-2 last year) and they need to win this game to regain their status as a super bowl contender. Lastly I see this as Ray Rice's coming out party as he takes advantage of a weak Indy run D and leads Baltimore to victory 27-24.
The major difference between the Colts move and the Ravens move (as well as other moves such as the Titans going from Houston to Nashville) is that we allowed Cleavland to keep their name and history when the Colts took the name and the history with them to Indy. Although my dad told me about this I really did not hit me until I went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio when I was 12 or something and they had an exhibit where they listed all the teams and the hall of famers who played with those teams and I saw Unitas, Moore, Berry, and others listed as the INDIANAPOLIS colts, this really upset my dad. Now I am not blaming the current players, in fact I have a lot of respect for Peyton, Jeff Saturday, Freeney and the Colts stars, I just wish there was some way Baltimore could be given the name back and the history up until 1983 that goes with it.
As far as this weeks game goes I like the Ravens chances for many reasons. First of all the Colts have gotten lucky to win the past 3 weeks from a dropped pass that would have set up an easy TD against the Niners, to a fumble on the 1 and missed game-tying FG against Houston, to the now infamous 4th and 2 against New England. Thus their luck has got to run out at some point why not this week. Also they are extremly hampered in the secondary (3 of 4 starters out due to injury) and at WR (Gonzalez is out and Collie has not been the same recently) so if the Ravens are going to beat the Colts now would be the time. Also since the start of this decade the Ravens have played better as an underdog from going into #1 seeded Tennesse in the playoffs and winning twice, to closing out Texas Stadium with a win, to beating and exposing the then unbeaten Broncos. Furthermore in recent years they have been a second half team (going 6-2 last year) and they need to win this game to regain their status as a super bowl contender. Lastly I see this as Ray Rice's coming out party as he takes advantage of a weak Indy run D and leads Baltimore to victory 27-24.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Official blog part 2
I am back with a 2nd blog about the officiating in two more sports: the NFL and College Football, which set an eample for all other sports to follow by suspending an officiating crew in the SEC, other then that their are no major issues. The only minor issue is officials from a conference represented by a team in a non-conference game should not ref those games.
The NFL: The NFL has 3 major issues: overprotection of QBs, rules geared too much towards offense, and the lack of full time officials. Lets start with the overprotection of QBs, mainly Tom Brady and other superstar QBs, this has got to stop because it is ruining the game quarterbacks now can't be touched or its a 15 yard penalty. This is a contradiction because Defensive Linemen get their knees taken out on almost every play. In order to fix this issue the NFL needs to get rid of the Tom Brady rule that bans hits to legs and at least be consistent in calling roughing the passer for all QBs not just superstars. Brady gets touched=penalty David Garard gets piledriven to the ground: no flag. This leads me to my next point the bias toward offense, I know this makes the NFL money, but defenders can't touch a Wide reciever past 5 yards while Offensive players can push off as much as they want with no call. These two rules have made it so we will never see a steel curtain or 2000 Ravens again.
Another issue for the NFL is the lack of full time officials which prevents referees from perfecting their craft and being consistent in their calls so we get games like the 2 ravens and bengals games this year. In the first game Jonathan Joseph launches himself at Todd Heap, who did not have possession of the ball, and makes helment to helmet contact and yet there is no call. On the other hand Ray Lewis lands a similar hit on Chad Ocho Cinco, who had no issue with the hit, and it is a game changing 15 yard penalty. Then last week Chad Ocho Cinco runs into Dawan Landry, catches the pass and fumbles but because he ran into Landry it is a pass interference call negating the fumble but in the 4th quarter in the drive that ended in the missed kick Joseph attempts to pull Derrick Mason's arm off preventing him from catching a TD, no call was made.
These refs need to be made full time so we can get better games and a better sport.
The NFL: The NFL has 3 major issues: overprotection of QBs, rules geared too much towards offense, and the lack of full time officials. Lets start with the overprotection of QBs, mainly Tom Brady and other superstar QBs, this has got to stop because it is ruining the game quarterbacks now can't be touched or its a 15 yard penalty. This is a contradiction because Defensive Linemen get their knees taken out on almost every play. In order to fix this issue the NFL needs to get rid of the Tom Brady rule that bans hits to legs and at least be consistent in calling roughing the passer for all QBs not just superstars. Brady gets touched=penalty David Garard gets piledriven to the ground: no flag. This leads me to my next point the bias toward offense, I know this makes the NFL money, but defenders can't touch a Wide reciever past 5 yards while Offensive players can push off as much as they want with no call. These two rules have made it so we will never see a steel curtain or 2000 Ravens again.
Another issue for the NFL is the lack of full time officials which prevents referees from perfecting their craft and being consistent in their calls so we get games like the 2 ravens and bengals games this year. In the first game Jonathan Joseph launches himself at Todd Heap, who did not have possession of the ball, and makes helment to helmet contact and yet there is no call. On the other hand Ray Lewis lands a similar hit on Chad Ocho Cinco, who had no issue with the hit, and it is a game changing 15 yard penalty. Then last week Chad Ocho Cinco runs into Dawan Landry, catches the pass and fumbles but because he ran into Landry it is a pass interference call negating the fumble but in the 4th quarter in the drive that ended in the missed kick Joseph attempts to pull Derrick Mason's arm off preventing him from catching a TD, no call was made.
These refs need to be made full time so we can get better games and a better sport.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Official Blog part 1
This is my 2nd blog in as many days and this one is about a problem that exists in all sports...Officiating. I will go over the problems with officiating in the 3 major sports and College Football as well as how they can fix it to better the sports, this will be a two part blog with the first part being about the MLB and the NBA and the 2nd part: pro and college football.
MLB: This years playoffs showed us 3 things- how to buy a championship, the greatness of Mariano Rivera (all of the other 7 playoff closers blew at least 1 save), and the need for replay in baseball. From Joe Mauer's double in game 2 of the ALDS to the many blown calls in game 4 of the ALCS including the debacle involving cano and Posada at 3rd base to the two double plays late in Game 2 of the World Series this year's playoffs were filled with blown calls that changed the course of the game, series, and the playoffs. There is one simple solution expanding replay to fair and foul calls and on the bases leave balls and strikes alone. The argument against replay is that it slows the game down and takes the game out of the hands of the umps. This is not valid because your goal is to get the call right no matter what and the time it would take to look at a replay is about the same it takes for a manager to argue a call so baseball adopt replay before you do further damage to your sport.
NBA: The NBA which does have replay needs to expand it slightly to the last 5 seconds of all four quarters. Also the NBA needs to call traveling a lot more and get rid of this new rule which allows 2 steps without a dribble and gives people like Lebron the idea that their "crab dribble" is legal Also they need to follow the NFL and use the rule that if there is no conclusive evidence then a call stands (look at Brad Miller's shot last night)other then that the NBA has good officiating as a whole.
In the upcoming days I will look at NFL and College football officiating.
MLB: This years playoffs showed us 3 things- how to buy a championship, the greatness of Mariano Rivera (all of the other 7 playoff closers blew at least 1 save), and the need for replay in baseball. From Joe Mauer's double in game 2 of the ALDS to the many blown calls in game 4 of the ALCS including the debacle involving cano and Posada at 3rd base to the two double plays late in Game 2 of the World Series this year's playoffs were filled with blown calls that changed the course of the game, series, and the playoffs. There is one simple solution expanding replay to fair and foul calls and on the bases leave balls and strikes alone. The argument against replay is that it slows the game down and takes the game out of the hands of the umps. This is not valid because your goal is to get the call right no matter what and the time it would take to look at a replay is about the same it takes for a manager to argue a call so baseball adopt replay before you do further damage to your sport.
NBA: The NBA which does have replay needs to expand it slightly to the last 5 seconds of all four quarters. Also the NBA needs to call traveling a lot more and get rid of this new rule which allows 2 steps without a dribble and gives people like Lebron the idea that their "crab dribble" is legal Also they need to follow the NFL and use the rule that if there is no conclusive evidence then a call stands (look at Brad Miller's shot last night)other then that the NBA has good officiating as a whole.
In the upcoming days I will look at NFL and College football officiating.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
NFL Halfway report
The NFL season is halfway done as all 32 teams have played at least 8 games and although my preseason predictions are not doing so good I am here to revise my predictions once again for all the playoffs and the awards.
AFC:
1. Indy
2. NE
3. Cin
4. Den
5. Pit
6. Bal
NFC
1. NO
2. Min
3. Dal
4. AZ
5. Atlanta
6. Philly
AWARDS
MVP: Drew Brees QB Saints
OPOY: Brees
DPOY: Darren Sharper, S, Saints
OROY: Percy Harvin, WR, Vikings
DROY: Brian Cushing, LB, Texans
Coach: Marvin Lewis, Bengals
Comeback Player: Tom Brady, QB, Pats
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS:
Wild Card
Bal over Cincy (yes I know we saw the opposite result but the playoffs are a different animal) 24-17
Dal over Philly 27-20
Pit over Den 20-17
AZ over ATL 34-31
Divisional
Bal over Indy 27-24
NO over AZ 41-34
DAL over Min 31-27
NE over Pit 24-20
Conference Championship
Bal over NE 31-24
NO over Dal 37-34
Super Bowl:
BAL over NO 34-27 MVP: Rice
AFC:
1. Indy
2. NE
3. Cin
4. Den
5. Pit
6. Bal
NFC
1. NO
2. Min
3. Dal
4. AZ
5. Atlanta
6. Philly
AWARDS
MVP: Drew Brees QB Saints
OPOY: Brees
DPOY: Darren Sharper, S, Saints
OROY: Percy Harvin, WR, Vikings
DROY: Brian Cushing, LB, Texans
Coach: Marvin Lewis, Bengals
Comeback Player: Tom Brady, QB, Pats
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS:
Wild Card
Bal over Cincy (yes I know we saw the opposite result but the playoffs are a different animal) 24-17
Dal over Philly 27-20
Pit over Den 20-17
AZ over ATL 34-31
Divisional
Bal over Indy 27-24
NO over AZ 41-34
DAL over Min 31-27
NE over Pit 24-20
Conference Championship
Bal over NE 31-24
NO over Dal 37-34
Super Bowl:
BAL over NO 34-27 MVP: Rice
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Baseball 2009 post mortum
As you all may know by now the Yankees BOUGHT A World Championship but there are a couple things I need to get off my chest about this season. First I hate Yankee fans especially since they fail to realize they are killing Baseball by making it that fans in cities such as KC, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Washington, Baltimore, Toronto, Cincy, and many others give up on their teams because they realize they can't compete with the Yankees check books. The MLB draft means nothing because most of the teams will lose the players they draft and develop to teams who are willing to spend more. Also this whole #27 thing really annoys me I promise you the 25 men celebrating right now don't care if it is #27, #100, or #1 they just won the world series. I know you guys have the most titles in US sports but there are teams out there such as REAL MADRID who have 31 championships so until you pass them shut up. Furthermore is it just me or are there more Yankee fans coming out of nowhere with no real strong connection to the team and are just fans because they are winning. For the interest of full disclosure I am a Cardinals fan but I have been one since 1998, when I first truly started following and understanding baseball so I am not a fair weather fan like most Yankee fans.
Now there are a couple things baseball needs before it gain even come close to touching football or even basketball in terms of popularity. First as you can probably guess I feel baseball needs some sort of salary cap. If they don't want to go to a complete salary cap like the NFL then go to a system like the NBA where not only is there a larger luxary tax but teams get an advantage in terms of the years and money they can offer to keep their own players this is why legends like Tim Duncan and Karl Malone stayed in small markets such as San Antonio and Salt Lake City and why most people see Lebron and Wade staying put next summer. Furthermore baseball needs to stop awarding homefield in the world series to the all star game winner, it is completly moronic the 3 most important people to the AL's victory this year (Carl Crawford, Adam Jones, and Curtis Granderson) did not even make the playoffs and yet that is why the AL got homefield. Another change baseball must make is to expand replay to the bases and the fair/foul line because the goal is to get the call right. Critics of replay say it slows the game down but not as much as a manager arguing a call or frequent visits by a catcher to a pitcher (posada and Pettite). This brings me to my next point visits by a catcher or another player to the mound need to be limited to 3-4 per inning and only 1 per batter this would speed the game up immensly. One more change is baseball needs to condense its post season schedule it is NOVEMBER 5th and the world series just ended. The Angles and Yankees waited 4 days after the won the ALDS to start the ALCS which is insane and breaks up all momentum a team has. Lastly baseball needs to improve drug testing and make results public especially those 100 names left from the 2003 list to give fans more knowledge and faith in the game and to clear the clean player's name.
In conclusion the Yankees and their fans fit the description given to the Harley Riders in the most recent episode of South Park, The F word, and baseball needs to make changes to save itself. PS 151 days to Opening Day 2010... GO CARDINALS (HOLLIDAY WILL RESIGN).
Now there are a couple things baseball needs before it gain even come close to touching football or even basketball in terms of popularity. First as you can probably guess I feel baseball needs some sort of salary cap. If they don't want to go to a complete salary cap like the NFL then go to a system like the NBA where not only is there a larger luxary tax but teams get an advantage in terms of the years and money they can offer to keep their own players this is why legends like Tim Duncan and Karl Malone stayed in small markets such as San Antonio and Salt Lake City and why most people see Lebron and Wade staying put next summer. Furthermore baseball needs to stop awarding homefield in the world series to the all star game winner, it is completly moronic the 3 most important people to the AL's victory this year (Carl Crawford, Adam Jones, and Curtis Granderson) did not even make the playoffs and yet that is why the AL got homefield. Another change baseball must make is to expand replay to the bases and the fair/foul line because the goal is to get the call right. Critics of replay say it slows the game down but not as much as a manager arguing a call or frequent visits by a catcher to a pitcher (posada and Pettite). This brings me to my next point visits by a catcher or another player to the mound need to be limited to 3-4 per inning and only 1 per batter this would speed the game up immensly. One more change is baseball needs to condense its post season schedule it is NOVEMBER 5th and the world series just ended. The Angles and Yankees waited 4 days after the won the ALDS to start the ALCS which is insane and breaks up all momentum a team has. Lastly baseball needs to improve drug testing and make results public especially those 100 names left from the 2003 list to give fans more knowledge and faith in the game and to clear the clean player's name.
In conclusion the Yankees and their fans fit the description given to the Harley Riders in the most recent episode of South Park, The F word, and baseball needs to make changes to save itself. PS 151 days to Opening Day 2010... GO CARDINALS (HOLLIDAY WILL RESIGN).
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