We're almost to the end of September and though it's impossible to know what will happen over the next three or four months of the football season, it's clear that identities are starting to be forged.
From the National Football League...
- The Arizona Cardinals MAY be the NFC's best team. 3-0 and the three wins are by an average of 25 points in a league where close games are the norm, not the exception. I say they MAY be the NFL's best team because there's no way you're going to get rid of the Seahawks and Packers that easily. As expected, the Hawks smacked around the hapless Bears Sunday and will likely smack around Detroit next Monday night at the Clink (that's Century Link Field). But for now, the Cardinals look lethal.
- As for the Packers/Chiefs game last night, the Packers do still look tough without Jordy Nelson (still personally my Super Bowl pick even without Jordy), but is it possible for the Chiefs to find a quarterback that's better than Alex Smith? Granted, he's better than some of the other black holes for quarterbacks in the league (Ryan Fitzpatrick and Johnny Manziel for example) but the Chiefs are never going to win anything with him. Suddenly with a trip to the Cincinnati Jungle upcoming, the Chiefs are staring a 1-3 start right in the face.
- Texans got their first win of the year and are still alive in the AFC South but there are still a lot of ugly units on this team, first and foremost the offensive line. Was it really not that long ago that the Texans had the best offensive line in football? Was it really not that long ago that Arian Foster had an enormous season and the Texans made the playoffs for the first time? My, how things change. Now, Foster's struggling with injury and the offensive line is a complete mess. Good thing the AFC South is a complete mess as well. Too bad the Texans might get blown out in Atlanta next week...the Falcons are flying high. Pun intended.
- Not sure which division is worse, the AFC South or NFC East. The AFC South as stated earlier has all teams below .500 and the only team in the NFC East above .500 is the Cowboys without Romo and Dez Bryant. Very real possibility that both of those division winners could be 8-8 or 9-7.
- They may not hold up all season and both their wins came against winless teams, but there is something to be said for the Raiders being 2-1. I think Jack Del Rio is a good fit for them as a coach; he emphasizes tough, physical football which is Raider football at its best. He's also a Bay Area native so he knows the culture there.
A few college notes now:
- How about Auburn, being #6 in the country preseason, being already out of the SEC West race before September even ends? I'm really not sure how people bought that hype train but those who did it are eating a whole lot of crow. I like Malzahn as their coach and always have, but who they have at QB right now isn't taking them anywhere.
- Many of my readers are Husker fans, so let me just say this: 126th nationally in pass defense. I suppose I can deal with being terrible against the pass better than being terrible against the run especially in the Big 10, but this is not a good sign moving forward. What really bothers me right now is that not only did NU nearly lose to Southern Miss Saturday they gave up 300 yards passing in one half (when you should be getting better from the first to the second half, not worse), and they had 12 penalties. That is not the sign of a good football team.
They also appear to be regressing as the season goes which isn't a good sign. I'd like to say there's at least four more guaranteed wins on this schedule but that team Saturday might not win more than one or two more games. I would say Purdue is probably a gimme win, and MAYBE Illinois Saturday but other than that...I don't know. That said, unlike Callahan Riley beat Southern Miss in his first year so there's that.
- The more things change, the more they stay exactly the same. Texas A&M beats Arkansas in OT, again, after Arkansas allows an A&M receiver to get behind them and help tie the game, again. Arkansas fans must be seeing deja vu flashbacks this week. Third straight loss for Arkansas also and with Bama, Ole Miss and LSU still on the schedule (and all on the road) they are staring at a long football season.
- Texas is 1-3 as well after another special teams miscue (second consecutive week) and they are staring at a rocky road also with TCU and Oklahoma on deck. Of those two they'll probably stand a better shot against Oklahoma because of the rivalry factor. The State Fair game in Dallas has been a crazy, unpredictable rivalry for years; a winless John Blake-led OU team beat a very talented Texas team in 1996 so anything is possible.
- Texas Tech gave it all they had against TCU, but still that's a heck of a way to lose a football game, on a tipped pass in the end zone. Nebraska caught a similar break many years ago on the way to a national title. Speaking of the Huskers, the TCU player who caught the game winner; former Husker Aaron Green, who played high school ball at San Antonio Madison.
Now for some baseball:
- As if the Washington Nationals season wasn't tough enough, Sunday you had reliever Jonathan Papelbon and star Bryce Harper fighting in the Nationals dugout. You can read more about it here if you don't know already: Harper and Papelbon fight
According to various outlets that I've seen this whole thing started when Harper didn't run hard out of the box on a pop fly. I don't care what, or who started it, but I can say this: It's the kind of thing that happens when a team who was supposed to win 95 to 100 games has one of the most disappointing years in recent memory. The Nationals have a lot of talented players and when things don't go your way, egos make their way to the surface. It's not a good mix.
- The Astros kept their season alive for now by winning two of three from the other team up I-45 (Rangers) and won last night in Seattle too. They cannot afford to rest easy though; the Angels trail for the last wild card spot by just a half game and they've seemingly rediscovered the winning touch they had during the first half of the summer. Minnesota's hot on Houston's tail too and has a beatable Cleveland team and a Royals team that's leaking oil down the stretch.
- Even should the Astros get in though, Toronto will likely be the heavy favorite to win the American League especially if they end up with home field throughout. David Price changed the entire complexion of their team and they know this is their one shot because Price is a free agent this offseason. Those guys can swing some big sticks as well...their runs scored/runs allowed differential is well over a whopping +200.
- I'm not sure who's going to win the NL at this point, that is much more of a mystery. I know one team that won't though; the Dodgers even with Greinke and Kershaw. Got swept in Colorado this past weekend and lost in 12 to the Giants last night. Believe it or not, they have not won the NL West yet. They most likely will, but they are playing poorly at the wrong time of year while their potential Division Series opponent the New York Mets are steamrolling towards the playoffs.
Finally, though I'm not a guy to beat my religious views over everyone's head, this is a sports blog after all (I personally have been Catholic for a VERY long time), I have to address Pope Francis' visit here to the USA this past weekend. No matter your religious views or whether you believe in God or not, I am glad to see the coverage this got all weekend long. My view on Pope Francis is this: I support anyone who sits on that chair in the Vatican personally and Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI did wonderful things, but this Pope is a totally different breed and has done many amazing things since being named Pope two years ago.
I could beat you over the head with article after article about his visit, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to leave you with a stirring rendition of what we like to call The Lord's Prayer, done Saturday in Philadelphia. No matter your religious views, I think this is the best version of The Lord's Prayer that has ever been done Lord's Prayer in Philadelphia. Additionally, if you would like to read any of Pope Francis' remarks while he was here in the USA this week, this is a good link to go to Pope's remarks
Until next time...
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
College Football, Patriots and MLB 9/9/2015
It's been quite a bit of time since the last blog post, hasn't it? The last time I did a blog we were in the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. But now, the summer is starting to fade away, college football is now in full swing, pennant races are starting to heat up and the National Football League is breathing down our necks. That said, good opportunity for the first blog post of the football season and some other items.
On the first week of the college football season, the biggest thing that struck me were the number of injuries that were suffered to key players. Among the players who sustained serious injuries over the weekend included were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Stanford defensive lineman and BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.
The thing that comes to mind immediately for me is that this will continue to be the biggest argument for NFL owners to keep preseason games (besides the fact that they make money in those glorified exhibitions from fans who eat it up). If you don't have preseason games at all like they do in college football, then when you get into games that count with a lot of intensity, there is greater chance in those games for serious injury like we saw this weekend.
I'm particularly heartbroken for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill and not just because the Huskers played him Saturday. I'm particularly heartbroken for him because he is a great player who just can't catch a break. This will be the third major injury in the last four seasons for Hill; he had season-ending knee surgery in 2012 and missed the back half of last season as well with a left leg fracture.
Aside from the injuries, these things stand out to me:
1. Alabama is still Alabama. Had to silently laugh at people who thought this past offseason that Bama's demise was coming. Make no mistake, there's no one who wants to see Alabama fall off the face of the Earth more than I do, but that is not happening. If we're telling the truth, then they were a close loss to Ohio State last year away from another national title because that was the only team that could have beat them. They are still loaded for bear and still have Saban at the helm. They aren't going anywhere.
Saturday, they made a loud statement against a Wisconsin team that is fully capable of bouncing back and getting back to Indianapolis for the Big 10 title game. The only teams that are capable of beating them are in the SEC West because no one in the East is doing it. I gave Tennessee a look in the offseason after the way their 2014 season ended, but they gave up 30 points to Bowling Green to open the season and may very well lose to Oklahoma this week.
I think Ole Miss and Texas A&M in particular have better than average chances to upset Bama; both run the spread offense that Saban hates, both have defenses that can get it done on any given day (A&M now has John "The Chief" Chavis running its defense and Ole Miss is consistently solid defensively with its Landsharks) and if Allen and/or Kelly can get it done, either team has a chance to upset Alabama.
2. When Ohio State hits the jets and goes to that next level, ALMOST no one can beat them. Key word, almost. What basically happened in that Monday night game with Virginia Tech was that they got up 14-0, fell asleep at the wheel then awoke from their slumber and ran Virginia Tech off its own field.
So that begs the question: Who COULD beat them when they go to that next level? Bama obviously could, TCU might as well although them losing Sammy Douglas is a big blow, maybe not in the Big 12 but against the better teams outside the conference. Baylor has no shot against any of the big boys because they can't play defense as evidenced against SMU Friday night. Michigan State is probably the only team in the Big 10 who COULD go toe to toe with OSU for four quarters.
3. I wasn't shocked that Texas got beat handily by Notre Dame; Notre Dame is a solid football team and whoever Texas QB was going to be wasn't going to get it done in that environment. But I didn't expect them to be beat 38-3 and for their offense to look utterly lost like what happened many times through the course of their 2014 season. This is Strong's second year at Texas, not his first so he's had some time to get his house in order and at the very least not look as bad as he and the rest of the Horns did last Saturday night. I like Charlie Strong but this may be a round peg square hole type deal where the way he coaches football might not mesh with how UT does things.
4. I've been pretty silent on social media since the Hail Mary at the end of the Nebraska game, but yes I have some thoughts on that game as I always do each and every Nebraska game. To me, the game was a mixed bag. The most encouraging thing that I saw was that when it looked really bad at halftime and BYU looked like it might run and hide, Riley and Co. made the necessary adjustments to put the Huskers back in the game and give them a chance to win. This was something that didn't happen very often in the Pelini or Callahan eras.
Tommy Armstrong also looked very much improved...poised in the pocket and showed drastic improvement. He struggled through the middle part of the game when the offense became a bit too predictable but once NU turned the momentum he settled in once again.
Offensive line needs work though...major work. Part of it is experience, BYU's offensive line had more experience (as in combined career starts) over Nebraska's by a wide margin. Nebraska's offensive line is also very small comapred to most great offensive lines...average of 290 lbs isn't very big.
The way NU played that final Hail Mary needless to say was atrocious...should probably have rushed 4 or 5 instead of just three. Bottom line is, that Hail Mary completion cannot happen, but it did. DC Mark Banker said he goofed on that one in postgame though so hopefully he learned from it. The defense needs major improvement as well, though the returns of Jonathan Rose and Michael Rose-Ivey will hopefully help. I would be ready for a 7-5 season or something like that if I'm a Husker fan this year.
5. Much like Riley's debut, Jim Harbaugh's debut at Michigan was a mixed bag. I think Michigan's probably further along than Nebraska though just because they showed well defensively on the road against a pretty solid Utah squad. Rudock isn't a good quarterback though.
In the NFL meanwhile, it seems as though the NFL's lightning rod the New England Patriots can't stop being in the news. Even though the Deflate Gate saga appears to be behind us, the Spygate investigation from 2007 appears to have resurfaced. According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" which focuses mainly on the 2007 Spygate investigation (and Outside the Lines unlike most ESPN shows is not a show to sneeze at, that's a show which for the most part has actual good, hard journalism), some of the allegations include:
1. The Patriots videotaped opposing signals for seven years and at least 40 games
2. Patriots staffers would sneak into the opposing team's locker room and steal the opposing team's script for the first 20 some-odd plays
3. Said staffers would pillage opposing teams' hotel rooms looking for materials related to game plans
As you might guess, there is more. You can read the story here: Patriots Outside the Lines story. The only other thing I'll say about this is now you see why Goodell isn't going to lose his job even though Brady got his suspension revoked. The owners are definitely still pissed about Spygate and are most certainly pleased with how Goodell handled Deflategate.
Lastly, a few thoughts regarding the baseball pennant races which are heating up:
1. Re: the Astros, I don't think there is a team in the AL the Astros can't beat, but I think realistically this team is probably a year or so away. The lead is down to 1 game over a surging Rangers team and the teams are tied in the loss column plus the Astros are in the midst of a long road trip. There is a very good chance that the Astros will be playing in a wild card game in early October and a better than decent chance they might not be in the playoffs at all. If they were to play in a wild-card game against the Yanks I'd like their chances though.
2. A Blue Jays/Royals ALCS is very likely right now, although I'm not particularly crazy about the way the Royals are playing at this point. Alex Gordon is back for the Royals, but they have a key reliever out as a result of their chicken pox problems and the White Sox rolled through them three straight last weekend, granted the White Sox aren't playing terrible baseball right now. A Jays/Royals ALCS would be a solid ratings-getter though, there is some pretty bad blood between these teams.
3. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games at home against the Pirates and Cubs. I've said it all along; they're in trouble come October because Wainwright is a guy they have to have to be able to win a championship. Their other pitchers are capable but Wainwright is the one true ace on that staff. That Matt Holliday is iffy at best to come back doesn't help their cause either. Whoever wins that wild card game between the Cubs and Pirates has a very good chance to eliminate the Cardinals.
4. Right when I thought the Dodgers might be in trouble after getting swept in Houston, just like that they've won 13 of their last 15 and have a playoff spot all but locked up. There could be a lot of quick games in a Mets/Dodgers Division Series, which looks very likely right now.
5. You can pretty much say good night to the Washington Nationals because the New York Mets are flat ripping the Nationals' hearts out.
Down 7-1 after six innings and appearing dead and buried Tuesday night, in a game the Nationals had to have, the Mets rose out of the grave and smacked the Nationals right in the face with that shovel and came back to win...and in the process, might have sped up the Nationals own demise in what has to be one of the most disappointing seasons by any team in recent memory. Going into the season, I couldn't see any way that the Nationals wouldn't win 100 games with the talent they have.
It's not technically over but Washington is down six games now, with just four games left against the Mets and three of them are in New York. If Dandy Don Meredith were still with us, I think you know what he'd say....
Until next time....
On the first week of the college football season, the biggest thing that struck me were the number of injuries that were suffered to key players. Among the players who sustained serious injuries over the weekend included were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Stanford defensive lineman and BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.
The thing that comes to mind immediately for me is that this will continue to be the biggest argument for NFL owners to keep preseason games (besides the fact that they make money in those glorified exhibitions from fans who eat it up). If you don't have preseason games at all like they do in college football, then when you get into games that count with a lot of intensity, there is greater chance in those games for serious injury like we saw this weekend.
I'm particularly heartbroken for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill and not just because the Huskers played him Saturday. I'm particularly heartbroken for him because he is a great player who just can't catch a break. This will be the third major injury in the last four seasons for Hill; he had season-ending knee surgery in 2012 and missed the back half of last season as well with a left leg fracture.
Aside from the injuries, these things stand out to me:
1. Alabama is still Alabama. Had to silently laugh at people who thought this past offseason that Bama's demise was coming. Make no mistake, there's no one who wants to see Alabama fall off the face of the Earth more than I do, but that is not happening. If we're telling the truth, then they were a close loss to Ohio State last year away from another national title because that was the only team that could have beat them. They are still loaded for bear and still have Saban at the helm. They aren't going anywhere.
Saturday, they made a loud statement against a Wisconsin team that is fully capable of bouncing back and getting back to Indianapolis for the Big 10 title game. The only teams that are capable of beating them are in the SEC West because no one in the East is doing it. I gave Tennessee a look in the offseason after the way their 2014 season ended, but they gave up 30 points to Bowling Green to open the season and may very well lose to Oklahoma this week.
I think Ole Miss and Texas A&M in particular have better than average chances to upset Bama; both run the spread offense that Saban hates, both have defenses that can get it done on any given day (A&M now has John "The Chief" Chavis running its defense and Ole Miss is consistently solid defensively with its Landsharks) and if Allen and/or Kelly can get it done, either team has a chance to upset Alabama.
2. When Ohio State hits the jets and goes to that next level, ALMOST no one can beat them. Key word, almost. What basically happened in that Monday night game with Virginia Tech was that they got up 14-0, fell asleep at the wheel then awoke from their slumber and ran Virginia Tech off its own field.
So that begs the question: Who COULD beat them when they go to that next level? Bama obviously could, TCU might as well although them losing Sammy Douglas is a big blow, maybe not in the Big 12 but against the better teams outside the conference. Baylor has no shot against any of the big boys because they can't play defense as evidenced against SMU Friday night. Michigan State is probably the only team in the Big 10 who COULD go toe to toe with OSU for four quarters.
3. I wasn't shocked that Texas got beat handily by Notre Dame; Notre Dame is a solid football team and whoever Texas QB was going to be wasn't going to get it done in that environment. But I didn't expect them to be beat 38-3 and for their offense to look utterly lost like what happened many times through the course of their 2014 season. This is Strong's second year at Texas, not his first so he's had some time to get his house in order and at the very least not look as bad as he and the rest of the Horns did last Saturday night. I like Charlie Strong but this may be a round peg square hole type deal where the way he coaches football might not mesh with how UT does things.
4. I've been pretty silent on social media since the Hail Mary at the end of the Nebraska game, but yes I have some thoughts on that game as I always do each and every Nebraska game. To me, the game was a mixed bag. The most encouraging thing that I saw was that when it looked really bad at halftime and BYU looked like it might run and hide, Riley and Co. made the necessary adjustments to put the Huskers back in the game and give them a chance to win. This was something that didn't happen very often in the Pelini or Callahan eras.
Tommy Armstrong also looked very much improved...poised in the pocket and showed drastic improvement. He struggled through the middle part of the game when the offense became a bit too predictable but once NU turned the momentum he settled in once again.
Offensive line needs work though...major work. Part of it is experience, BYU's offensive line had more experience (as in combined career starts) over Nebraska's by a wide margin. Nebraska's offensive line is also very small comapred to most great offensive lines...average of 290 lbs isn't very big.
The way NU played that final Hail Mary needless to say was atrocious...should probably have rushed 4 or 5 instead of just three. Bottom line is, that Hail Mary completion cannot happen, but it did. DC Mark Banker said he goofed on that one in postgame though so hopefully he learned from it. The defense needs major improvement as well, though the returns of Jonathan Rose and Michael Rose-Ivey will hopefully help. I would be ready for a 7-5 season or something like that if I'm a Husker fan this year.
5. Much like Riley's debut, Jim Harbaugh's debut at Michigan was a mixed bag. I think Michigan's probably further along than Nebraska though just because they showed well defensively on the road against a pretty solid Utah squad. Rudock isn't a good quarterback though.
In the NFL meanwhile, it seems as though the NFL's lightning rod the New England Patriots can't stop being in the news. Even though the Deflate Gate saga appears to be behind us, the Spygate investigation from 2007 appears to have resurfaced. According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" which focuses mainly on the 2007 Spygate investigation (and Outside the Lines unlike most ESPN shows is not a show to sneeze at, that's a show which for the most part has actual good, hard journalism), some of the allegations include:
1. The Patriots videotaped opposing signals for seven years and at least 40 games
2. Patriots staffers would sneak into the opposing team's locker room and steal the opposing team's script for the first 20 some-odd plays
3. Said staffers would pillage opposing teams' hotel rooms looking for materials related to game plans
As you might guess, there is more. You can read the story here: Patriots Outside the Lines story. The only other thing I'll say about this is now you see why Goodell isn't going to lose his job even though Brady got his suspension revoked. The owners are definitely still pissed about Spygate and are most certainly pleased with how Goodell handled Deflategate.
Lastly, a few thoughts regarding the baseball pennant races which are heating up:
1. Re: the Astros, I don't think there is a team in the AL the Astros can't beat, but I think realistically this team is probably a year or so away. The lead is down to 1 game over a surging Rangers team and the teams are tied in the loss column plus the Astros are in the midst of a long road trip. There is a very good chance that the Astros will be playing in a wild card game in early October and a better than decent chance they might not be in the playoffs at all. If they were to play in a wild-card game against the Yanks I'd like their chances though.
2. A Blue Jays/Royals ALCS is very likely right now, although I'm not particularly crazy about the way the Royals are playing at this point. Alex Gordon is back for the Royals, but they have a key reliever out as a result of their chicken pox problems and the White Sox rolled through them three straight last weekend, granted the White Sox aren't playing terrible baseball right now. A Jays/Royals ALCS would be a solid ratings-getter though, there is some pretty bad blood between these teams.
3. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games at home against the Pirates and Cubs. I've said it all along; they're in trouble come October because Wainwright is a guy they have to have to be able to win a championship. Their other pitchers are capable but Wainwright is the one true ace on that staff. That Matt Holliday is iffy at best to come back doesn't help their cause either. Whoever wins that wild card game between the Cubs and Pirates has a very good chance to eliminate the Cardinals.
4. Right when I thought the Dodgers might be in trouble after getting swept in Houston, just like that they've won 13 of their last 15 and have a playoff spot all but locked up. There could be a lot of quick games in a Mets/Dodgers Division Series, which looks very likely right now.
5. You can pretty much say good night to the Washington Nationals because the New York Mets are flat ripping the Nationals' hearts out.
Down 7-1 after six innings and appearing dead and buried Tuesday night, in a game the Nationals had to have, the Mets rose out of the grave and smacked the Nationals right in the face with that shovel and came back to win...and in the process, might have sped up the Nationals own demise in what has to be one of the most disappointing seasons by any team in recent memory. Going into the season, I couldn't see any way that the Nationals wouldn't win 100 games with the talent they have.
It's not technically over but Washington is down six games now, with just four games left against the Mets and three of them are in New York. If Dandy Don Meredith were still with us, I think you know what he'd say....
Until next time....
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