My football prognostications we're getting so putrid of late that I couldn't bare posting them to the public anymore. I kid of course, the primary reasons for the failed weekly prognostications as of late were due to ineptness on my part, nothing more, nothing less. We'll call it a reset on my picks of the past and start fresh on a clean slate which will hopefully lead to a perfect week. One can hope! As always, winners in bold.
New Orleans @ Tampa Bay
Oakland @ Denver
New England @ Houston
New York(G) @ Miami
Washington @ Chicago
Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati
Dallas @ Green Bay
Seattle @ Baltimore
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville
Detroit @ St.Louis
Tennessee @ New York(J)
Atlanta @ Carolina
Buffalo @ Philadelphia
San Diego @ Kansas City
San Francisco @ Cleveland
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Sunday, November 15, 2015
National Football League picks:Week ten
A 5-7 week nine has me referencing that my prediction game has NOT been on point the last while. My overall total is now 67-46. Winners in bold!
Dallas @ Tampa Bay
New England @ New York(G)
Minnesota @ Oakland
Jacksonville @ Baltimore
New Orleans @ Washington
Kansas City @ Denver
Chicago @ St.Louis
Houston @ Cincinnati
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh
Miami @ Philadelphia
Carolina @ Tennessee
Arizona @ Seattle
Detroit @ Green Bay
Dallas @ Tampa Bay
New England @ New York(G)
Minnesota @ Oakland
Jacksonville @ Baltimore
New Orleans @ Washington
Kansas City @ Denver
Chicago @ St.Louis
Houston @ Cincinnati
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh
Miami @ Philadelphia
Carolina @ Tennessee
Arizona @ Seattle
Detroit @ Green Bay
Sunday, November 8, 2015
National Football League picks: Week nine
Apologies for the exclusion of the "Birden Bomb" last week. Computer issues have arose which means the picks must suffice for now. Tough week eight had me at 6-7 which once again drops my overall total to 62-39. Let's hopefully see a better week here, perhaps a great week?
Atlanta @ San Francisco=ATL
Green Bay @ Carolina=GB
Oakland @ Pittsburgh=Pitt
Philadelphia @ Dallas=Dallas
Mjami @Buffalo=Buff
Washington @ New England=NE
NYG @ TB=TB
St.Louis @ Minnesota=St.Louis
Chicago @ San Diego=Chicago
Tennessee @ New Orleans=New Orleans
Jacksonville @ New York J= NYJ
Denver @ Indy= Denver
Atlanta @ San Francisco=ATL
Green Bay @ Carolina=GB
Oakland @ Pittsburgh=Pitt
Philadelphia @ Dallas=Dallas
Mjami @Buffalo=Buff
Washington @ New England=NE
NYG @ TB=TB
St.Louis @ Minnesota=St.Louis
Chicago @ San Diego=Chicago
Tennessee @ New Orleans=New Orleans
Jacksonville @ New York J= NYJ
Denver @ Indy= Denver
Sunday, November 1, 2015
National Football League Picks: Week Eight
After going through three weeks consecutively of exquisite prognostications, week seven was a step in the wrong direction as I faltered to a 5-8 weekly mark. By doing so, I dropped my overall record to 56-32. Week eight is upon us in the National Football League and am most definitely looking forward to an exciting week on the gridiron. As per usual, winners in bold.
Tennessee @ Houston
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh
Detroit @ Kansas City
Green Bay @ Denver
New York(G) @ New Orleans
Indianapolis @ Carolina
New York(J) @ Oakland
Arizona @ Cleveland
Seattle @ Dallas
San Francisco @ St.Louis
Minnesota @ Chicago
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta
San Diego @ Baltimore
Tennessee @ Houston
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh
Detroit @ Kansas City
Green Bay @ Denver
New York(G) @ New Orleans
Indianapolis @ Carolina
New York(J) @ Oakland
Arizona @ Cleveland
Seattle @ Dallas
San Francisco @ St.Louis
Minnesota @ Chicago
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta
San Diego @ Baltimore
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Birden Bomb: Week seven
Welcome to this weekly National Football League column named the "Birden Bomb" in reference to my infatuation with the play in the video game Madden '96 which was known as the, as you can probably guess, the "Birden Bomb". I will provide a few thoughts on the week that was. Enjoy!
-The report came out that Ryan Mallet missed the team charter in it's game against the Miami Dolphins, what the report failed to mention was that the entire Texans team missed the same flight and all elected to arrive around the half time mark. To that I give a hearty thank-you because it was Lamar Miller's first half eruption that propelled me to weekly victory. What happened to the Texans this afternoon? They've been more hot and cold than a typical Saskatchewan winter. J.J Watt of the Houston Texans had a M.V.P caliber season in 2014, but perhaps a lack of motivation has been a contributing factor. This blogger fully understands as pursuing the likes of Caroline Wozniacki is miles more enriching then pursuing the Ryan Tannehill's of the world. This kind of gutless performance is embarrassing for this organization and even though they piled on a plethora of second half garbage points, this kind of outing surely has to supplant Bill O'Brien on the hot seat. What Texans team will we be privy too next go around?
-Who were these so called "experts" that provided the notion that Drew Brees is done? I have completely comprehended that Drew doesn't have the rubber arm that he was blessed with in the mid two thousands, but brains and football I.Q go a long way and the knowledge he's raked in on the gridiron was particularly helpful in picking apart a tiresome and slow Indianapolis Colts defence. Earlier in the season, it was my observation that Drew Brees wasn't exuding patience and allowing Brandin Cooks to run free and creative routes and was forcing balls into areas that only the 2007 Drew Brees right arm could squeeze in. He and by extension the coaching staff has matured and are exploiting Cooks unique athleticism by throwing more jump balls. Okay, so I've just touched on what alterations the New Orleans Saints have made offensively which has led to back to back victories, but I'm imagining the loyal Colts fans are dreading some of the defensive mistakes that were consummated today. A lot of these mistakes were not necessarily preparation oriented, but more so attributed to a lack of speed and electricity in the defensive backfield. These d-unit needs an overhaul in the worst way to remain competitive in an absolutely disgustingly bad AFC South.
- In my pre-season National Football League prognostications, I had awarded my pre-season defensive player of the year to Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers. From the bits and pieces of I've seen on tape, Flowers play has been inquisite.....until week seven. On the surface, an elite corner should feast on a young, unproven quarterback but Derek Carr tore the secondary to shreds. In the receiving core, Jack Del Rio's game plan is quite explanatory, find a way to engage Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree in the aerial attack. This isn't anything foreign to opposing defences when preparing for the Raiders because they don't do a lot that differs from the standard school of thought. For whatever reason, a usually pesky San Diego unit provided zero pressure to the quarterback and allowed Derek Carr seemingly minutes each to play to dissect the defensive information. The Raiders were on their A game today, in large part due to a lack of execution from San Diego though.
-A growing trend in professional sports is rookies coming into the fold and starting to contribute quicker then ever. Carlos Correa in baseball, Connor McDavid in hockey and now the newest member of the heralded rookie club is St.Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley. The Georgia Bulldog alumni stepped into the national scene in week five and has astonished even the most uneducated skeptic. When tuning into the 2015 NFL draft and racing through my mind who the St.Louis Rams were intending to target but when deciphering through the upmost wildest scenarios, I did not agree that the running back position should be the first priority. Jeff Fisher disagreed with ne, and who am I to argue with the 1999 Super Bowl finalist(coach of the Tennessee Titans at the time). Tre Mason was fully entrenched as the starter in Missouri after experiencing his own breakout campaign in 2014 but somewhere in the organizational hierarchy their was a lack of satisfaction with status quo. Enter Todd Gurley, and boy has he yet to disappoint!. In the week seven triumph against the Cleveland Browns, he amassed one hundred and twenty eight yards rushing compiling two touchdowns. Is it too much of a stretch to suggest that he may be already, seven weeks into his rookie campaign, the NFL's most feared runner? My vote would be cast for yes.
- The NFL's most yanked around team is the London Jaguars...I apologize, the team I was meaning to refer to was the Jacksonville Jaguars but sometimes it's hard to differentiate what their permanent locale really is. I totally respect the league's desire for wanting to test the European market, but at what price? The reason this Northern Florida market struggles to stay afloat at times, aside from questionable managerial decisions is that the league fails to do their due diligence in marketing the franchise. When was the last time the Jaguars were featured on a national broadcast? I know the few that read this will conclude that the Jaguars aren't the only team that fall into this category which is true but if the rumours are true and a move is imminent why not at least try to re engage a fleeting fan base?
-O the irony for the Dallas Cowboys to have a "Lucky", Lucky Whitehead to be exact as part of a musical chair-esque running attack. There's been nothing lucky from a Dallas Cowboys fan when describing their treacherous misfortunes in trying to replace DeMarco Murray. We were led to believe falsely via NFL.com that Christine Michael would receive the majority of snaps, and clearly the five touches for eighteen yards signaled he's the long term answer, NOT!. Darren McFadden scorched an all of a sudden susceptible New York Giants run defence and fans in Arlington can rest assured at least for week eight they now know who will get the primary looks behind Matt Cassel. Because there hasn't been one team that has pulled away in the NFC East, Jason Garrett is hoping the return of Dez Bryant which could happen as early as next week will finally provide balance to this offence and just the sheer presence of Bryant will take off pressure from all of these back-up running backs Big D considers starters. One hundred and fifty two yards, the number for which McFadden rushed for today may be child's play when the attack finally resumes becoming more complete.
-Speaking of DeMarco Murray, now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, how content is he really splitting snaps amongst himself, Darren Sproles and Ryan Mathews? The unique facet about the Eagles running attack is that each running back provides a different element. Murray for his renowned North-South attack, Sproles for his escapades catching balls out of the backfield and Mathews, a little smaller then Murray making him more elusive. Due to the aforementioned point of all three running backs bringing something different to the table, this created matchup problems for the Carolina Panthers in the sunday nighter but full marks go out to Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman for first and foremost completely eliminating the passing game but secondarily for closing gaps at a record pace and what that did other then one aberration of a run by Ryan Matthews, Chip Kelly's usually unpredictable offence was perplexed the entire evening as he simply got outcoached by Ron Rivera. Color me a doubters, but those doubts are slowly subsidizing when it comes to analyzing the outlook of the 6-0 Carolina Panthers.
-The Baltimore Ravens are going to have a major issue in 2016 with the inevitable retirement of Steve Smith at the end of this campaign. Aside from a couple that come to immediate mind, the Ravens have surprisingly found a way to stay competitive in most of these contests due to the herculean play of Joe Flacco. The Arizona Cardinal defence is one of the most revered in the NFL but Joe Flacco led a practice roster receiving core sans Smith and nearly led the improbable comeback. Brashad Perriman, the rookie who they selected out of Central Florida projects to be next years cornerstone but it will be intriguing to watch how the rest of this season goes and whether the auditions of Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown will venture to more prominent roles within the offence next year.
-The report came out that Ryan Mallet missed the team charter in it's game against the Miami Dolphins, what the report failed to mention was that the entire Texans team missed the same flight and all elected to arrive around the half time mark. To that I give a hearty thank-you because it was Lamar Miller's first half eruption that propelled me to weekly victory. What happened to the Texans this afternoon? They've been more hot and cold than a typical Saskatchewan winter. J.J Watt of the Houston Texans had a M.V.P caliber season in 2014, but perhaps a lack of motivation has been a contributing factor. This blogger fully understands as pursuing the likes of Caroline Wozniacki is miles more enriching then pursuing the Ryan Tannehill's of the world. This kind of gutless performance is embarrassing for this organization and even though they piled on a plethora of second half garbage points, this kind of outing surely has to supplant Bill O'Brien on the hot seat. What Texans team will we be privy too next go around?
-Who were these so called "experts" that provided the notion that Drew Brees is done? I have completely comprehended that Drew doesn't have the rubber arm that he was blessed with in the mid two thousands, but brains and football I.Q go a long way and the knowledge he's raked in on the gridiron was particularly helpful in picking apart a tiresome and slow Indianapolis Colts defence. Earlier in the season, it was my observation that Drew Brees wasn't exuding patience and allowing Brandin Cooks to run free and creative routes and was forcing balls into areas that only the 2007 Drew Brees right arm could squeeze in. He and by extension the coaching staff has matured and are exploiting Cooks unique athleticism by throwing more jump balls. Okay, so I've just touched on what alterations the New Orleans Saints have made offensively which has led to back to back victories, but I'm imagining the loyal Colts fans are dreading some of the defensive mistakes that were consummated today. A lot of these mistakes were not necessarily preparation oriented, but more so attributed to a lack of speed and electricity in the defensive backfield. These d-unit needs an overhaul in the worst way to remain competitive in an absolutely disgustingly bad AFC South.
- In my pre-season National Football League prognostications, I had awarded my pre-season defensive player of the year to Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers. From the bits and pieces of I've seen on tape, Flowers play has been inquisite.....until week seven. On the surface, an elite corner should feast on a young, unproven quarterback but Derek Carr tore the secondary to shreds. In the receiving core, Jack Del Rio's game plan is quite explanatory, find a way to engage Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree in the aerial attack. This isn't anything foreign to opposing defences when preparing for the Raiders because they don't do a lot that differs from the standard school of thought. For whatever reason, a usually pesky San Diego unit provided zero pressure to the quarterback and allowed Derek Carr seemingly minutes each to play to dissect the defensive information. The Raiders were on their A game today, in large part due to a lack of execution from San Diego though.
-A growing trend in professional sports is rookies coming into the fold and starting to contribute quicker then ever. Carlos Correa in baseball, Connor McDavid in hockey and now the newest member of the heralded rookie club is St.Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley. The Georgia Bulldog alumni stepped into the national scene in week five and has astonished even the most uneducated skeptic. When tuning into the 2015 NFL draft and racing through my mind who the St.Louis Rams were intending to target but when deciphering through the upmost wildest scenarios, I did not agree that the running back position should be the first priority. Jeff Fisher disagreed with ne, and who am I to argue with the 1999 Super Bowl finalist(coach of the Tennessee Titans at the time). Tre Mason was fully entrenched as the starter in Missouri after experiencing his own breakout campaign in 2014 but somewhere in the organizational hierarchy their was a lack of satisfaction with status quo. Enter Todd Gurley, and boy has he yet to disappoint!. In the week seven triumph against the Cleveland Browns, he amassed one hundred and twenty eight yards rushing compiling two touchdowns. Is it too much of a stretch to suggest that he may be already, seven weeks into his rookie campaign, the NFL's most feared runner? My vote would be cast for yes.
- The NFL's most yanked around team is the London Jaguars...I apologize, the team I was meaning to refer to was the Jacksonville Jaguars but sometimes it's hard to differentiate what their permanent locale really is. I totally respect the league's desire for wanting to test the European market, but at what price? The reason this Northern Florida market struggles to stay afloat at times, aside from questionable managerial decisions is that the league fails to do their due diligence in marketing the franchise. When was the last time the Jaguars were featured on a national broadcast? I know the few that read this will conclude that the Jaguars aren't the only team that fall into this category which is true but if the rumours are true and a move is imminent why not at least try to re engage a fleeting fan base?
-O the irony for the Dallas Cowboys to have a "Lucky", Lucky Whitehead to be exact as part of a musical chair-esque running attack. There's been nothing lucky from a Dallas Cowboys fan when describing their treacherous misfortunes in trying to replace DeMarco Murray. We were led to believe falsely via NFL.com that Christine Michael would receive the majority of snaps, and clearly the five touches for eighteen yards signaled he's the long term answer, NOT!. Darren McFadden scorched an all of a sudden susceptible New York Giants run defence and fans in Arlington can rest assured at least for week eight they now know who will get the primary looks behind Matt Cassel. Because there hasn't been one team that has pulled away in the NFC East, Jason Garrett is hoping the return of Dez Bryant which could happen as early as next week will finally provide balance to this offence and just the sheer presence of Bryant will take off pressure from all of these back-up running backs Big D considers starters. One hundred and fifty two yards, the number for which McFadden rushed for today may be child's play when the attack finally resumes becoming more complete.
-Speaking of DeMarco Murray, now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, how content is he really splitting snaps amongst himself, Darren Sproles and Ryan Mathews? The unique facet about the Eagles running attack is that each running back provides a different element. Murray for his renowned North-South attack, Sproles for his escapades catching balls out of the backfield and Mathews, a little smaller then Murray making him more elusive. Due to the aforementioned point of all three running backs bringing something different to the table, this created matchup problems for the Carolina Panthers in the sunday nighter but full marks go out to Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman for first and foremost completely eliminating the passing game but secondarily for closing gaps at a record pace and what that did other then one aberration of a run by Ryan Matthews, Chip Kelly's usually unpredictable offence was perplexed the entire evening as he simply got outcoached by Ron Rivera. Color me a doubters, but those doubts are slowly subsidizing when it comes to analyzing the outlook of the 6-0 Carolina Panthers.
-The Baltimore Ravens are going to have a major issue in 2016 with the inevitable retirement of Steve Smith at the end of this campaign. Aside from a couple that come to immediate mind, the Ravens have surprisingly found a way to stay competitive in most of these contests due to the herculean play of Joe Flacco. The Arizona Cardinal defence is one of the most revered in the NFL but Joe Flacco led a practice roster receiving core sans Smith and nearly led the improbable comeback. Brashad Perriman, the rookie who they selected out of Central Florida projects to be next years cornerstone but it will be intriguing to watch how the rest of this season goes and whether the auditions of Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown will venture to more prominent roles within the offence next year.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
National Football League picks: Week seven
The Toronto Blue Jays succumbed in defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Friday in game six of the American League Championship series thus I feel a little piece of me was broken after such a gut wrenching defeat. Then I realized, it's ultimately okay because I'll just gladly jump onto another bandwagon next season to root for the winning team. Had a decent week last week going 10-3, which advances my overall total to 51-34. Let's hope I can have a better week prognosticating football games then the Blue Jays had on Friday. Winners in bold!
Baltimore @ Arizona
Tampa Bay @ Washington
Pittsburgh @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ Carolina
New Orleans @ Indianapolis
Dallas @ New York(G)
Oakland @ San Diego
Atlanta @ Tennessee
Houston @ Miami
Buffalo @ Jacksonville
Minnesota @ Detroit
New England @ New York(J)
Cleveland @ St.Louis
Baltimore @ Arizona
Tampa Bay @ Washington
Pittsburgh @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ Carolina
New Orleans @ Indianapolis
Dallas @ New York(G)
Oakland @ San Diego
Atlanta @ Tennessee
Houston @ Miami
Buffalo @ Jacksonville
Minnesota @ Detroit
New England @ New York(J)
Cleveland @ St.Louis
Monday, October 19, 2015
Birden Bomb: Week six
Welcome to this weekly National Football League column named the "Birden Bomb" in reference to my infatuation with the play in the video game Madden '96 which was known as the, as you can probably guess, the "Birden Bomb". I will provide a few thoughts on the week that was. Enjoy!
-The Kansas City Chiefs may be the most snake bitten team in the National Football League. Aside from the thumping they received at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, they've been competitive in every other game and yet find themselves clinging to a 1-5 mark. Losing Jamaal Charles to a season ending ACL injury is a devastating subplot in a campaign that has been marred with bad luck. Equilibrium should've kicked in by allowing the Chiefs to win at least a couple of these closer games but amazingly they've lost every one of the close encounters and why you ask....one reason simply, the putrid play of Alex Smith. When the San Francisco 49ers made the organizational decision to part ways with Alex Smith in favor of Colin Kaepernick(we'll get to him later) the common belief was that even though Alex Smith was a former first overall pick, Jim Harbaugh and company stuck with the modern day quarterback in Colin which the Bay area fans approved of. The 49ers went on to make a Super Bowl appearance soon after and could surmise that if the Chiefs want to be considered elite that a quarterback change may need to be made imminently. 1-5 but could just as easily be 5-1.
-Folks, or the one or two that read this, get ready to hear a lot more about the Carolina Panthers as they are not going away anytime soon. Cam Newton's statistical line won't have him garnering many most valuable player votes but it's his on the field leadership that must be commended. I remember watching Cam a couple years back and his body language was very negative when a play would go array and wasn't beneath distributing a long stare down at a teammate to voice his concerns. To use the elementary term "baby" when describing Cam's behavior pre 2014 would be accurate but now and full credit goes out to Ron "Riverboat Gambler" Rivera for corralling Newton's excitement and transitioning that excitement into team wide positive energy. The comeback today just illustrates the confidence Cam's teammates have playing alongside him and are willing to go the extra mile to make a play. Look at Ted Ginn and Jericho Cotchery. These two individuals were hot commodities out of college and had moderate success in their beginnings, Ginn with the Miami Dolpins and Cotchery with the New York Jets but never propelled themselves to number one status and could very well be considered journeyman up until this point. They're now playing with a purpose and admirably filling the void left by Kelvim Benjamin. These comeback kids haven't been a joy to watch but they have that knack with how to win late.
-Credit goes out to new Miami Dolphins head coach Dan Campbell for re-instituting a running game. The Tennessee Titans didn't have a competent game plan this Sunday as this early season triumph a was clearly nothing more than an aberration. Lamar Miller sprinted for 113 yards on nineteen carries with toppled a defence that surprisingly was very good against the run until the boys from South Beach came to town. There was a reason why Miami wasn't more aggressive in the off-season in pursuit of a running back because they knew all along that Lamar Miller if used correctly which he wasn't under the recently canned Joe Philbin is a very capable NFL back.
-With Ben Roethlisberger out the last few weeks, and there are some reports indicating that his return could be imminent, the quarterbacking helm has been carried by Michael Vick until he sustained a hamstring issue which then opened the door for Landry Jones. My takeaway from this contest in the upset victory against the Arizona Cardinals was that in all of the carousing of QB's, coach Mike Tomlin forgot to acquaint Antonio Brown with both Jones and Vick. You could make the argument and I have no bones doing it when saying that Antonio Brown is the most explosive receiver in the National Football League. The masses will argue and rightfully so that it shouldn't matter who the contributors are if you win and I appreciate that but the bottom line is even though they cracked the difficult code that is the Arizona Cardinals defence, they need a confident and motivated Brown if they aspire to remain in wildcard contention.
-As a precursor to my next rant, I have never been sold on the abilities of Colin Kaepernick but contrarily some of the criticism he's received before his week six stand out performance has bordered on ridiculous. When you watch Kaepernick play on a consistent basis, you see an individual that based on his skillset could be an elite quarterback but for whatever reason he lacks the football IQ, or the necessary talent around him to field a winner and like I griped about in the first sentence of this thought, some of the so called "experts" have went to town on the supposed struggles of Colin. I was watching a show called "NFL HQ" broadcast on the NFL Network and forgive me if I misrepresented the wrong analyst but I believe it was former 49 Eric Davis who comprehended that the 49ers should urgently search for an upgrade and so on and so forth so it was rewarding to see that Kap quickly shut up the bandwagon critics that only jump on when the times are bad and stuffed it in their you know and channeled his inner cerebral assassin and tore apart the Baltimore Ravens. This blogger loved the chemistry he developed with Torrey Smith as this past week I acquired Smith via trade in fantasy football and it in all likelihood led me to my second consecutive trade. Thank you Smith and Kaepernick!
-It's natural in sports that we overstate the bad and undersell the good, and I'm as guilty doing that as anyone in this infamous blog. I was critical in analyzing the performance of the Detroit Lions last week and made the proclamation that Jim Caldwell should find himself on the hot seat. The offence versus the enigma the Chicago Bears have been this season wakened up and silenced all those doubters where I sit in the front row. Matt Stafford is essentially a reincarnation of Brett Favre, a prototypical southern gunslinger that for every remarkable play he makes, usually to Golden Tate or Calvin Johnson but will also make you scratch your head in amusement on why he attempted to force a ball in a danger zone. The Motor City was much more at ease this week because Matt Stafford was seemingly on his best behavior throwing to the statistical line of 27/42, 405 yards and four touchdowns. The loss of Ndamukong Suh has been greater than even the most pessimistic person could've forecasted and this will for all purposes eliminate them for postseason contention, but I just think it's important that we understand this offence is what it is and we'll put up points and it's now up to the Lions brass to address the defensive deficiencies at the 2016 NFL draft.
- The Sunday nighter went as expected as we witnessed the New England Patriots defeat the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots who are the reigning champions have arguably looked better than last year and I could draw up a feasible scenario that has the Patriots rolling to a 16-0 mark. Truth be told, we're six weeks in and Belichick's Pats haven't had one competitive game. The hot water cooler topic I want to briefly touch on was that atrocious play call the Colts drew up on that fourth down play. I have a few thoughts on this, first and most importantly, whatever the Colts were trying to accomplish there blew up in their faces so I'm perplexed as to why Chuck Pagano didn't initiate a timeout when the play was verging on disaster. I'd love to know whether the play allowed Griff Whalen carte blanche based on the Patriots defensive alignment. The fact that he had the ball snapped and immediately succumbed into a crouched position has me wondering if he was working for the other team. After this mitigated disaster, you could see Pagano on the sidelines yelling why the ball was snapped. Well Chuck, this mistake falls on your shoulder as you had the option to exercise a timeout to prevent this.
-I won't have access to distributing my thoughts on the Monday night football game as in Canada there are much more important matters on the docket as the Toronto Blue Jays square off against the Kansas City Royals in game three of the American League Championship series.......o yea, and there's a little thing known as the federal election tonight! #gojays
-The Kansas City Chiefs may be the most snake bitten team in the National Football League. Aside from the thumping they received at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, they've been competitive in every other game and yet find themselves clinging to a 1-5 mark. Losing Jamaal Charles to a season ending ACL injury is a devastating subplot in a campaign that has been marred with bad luck. Equilibrium should've kicked in by allowing the Chiefs to win at least a couple of these closer games but amazingly they've lost every one of the close encounters and why you ask....one reason simply, the putrid play of Alex Smith. When the San Francisco 49ers made the organizational decision to part ways with Alex Smith in favor of Colin Kaepernick(we'll get to him later) the common belief was that even though Alex Smith was a former first overall pick, Jim Harbaugh and company stuck with the modern day quarterback in Colin which the Bay area fans approved of. The 49ers went on to make a Super Bowl appearance soon after and could surmise that if the Chiefs want to be considered elite that a quarterback change may need to be made imminently. 1-5 but could just as easily be 5-1.
-Folks, or the one or two that read this, get ready to hear a lot more about the Carolina Panthers as they are not going away anytime soon. Cam Newton's statistical line won't have him garnering many most valuable player votes but it's his on the field leadership that must be commended. I remember watching Cam a couple years back and his body language was very negative when a play would go array and wasn't beneath distributing a long stare down at a teammate to voice his concerns. To use the elementary term "baby" when describing Cam's behavior pre 2014 would be accurate but now and full credit goes out to Ron "Riverboat Gambler" Rivera for corralling Newton's excitement and transitioning that excitement into team wide positive energy. The comeback today just illustrates the confidence Cam's teammates have playing alongside him and are willing to go the extra mile to make a play. Look at Ted Ginn and Jericho Cotchery. These two individuals were hot commodities out of college and had moderate success in their beginnings, Ginn with the Miami Dolpins and Cotchery with the New York Jets but never propelled themselves to number one status and could very well be considered journeyman up until this point. They're now playing with a purpose and admirably filling the void left by Kelvim Benjamin. These comeback kids haven't been a joy to watch but they have that knack with how to win late.
-Credit goes out to new Miami Dolphins head coach Dan Campbell for re-instituting a running game. The Tennessee Titans didn't have a competent game plan this Sunday as this early season triumph a was clearly nothing more than an aberration. Lamar Miller sprinted for 113 yards on nineteen carries with toppled a defence that surprisingly was very good against the run until the boys from South Beach came to town. There was a reason why Miami wasn't more aggressive in the off-season in pursuit of a running back because they knew all along that Lamar Miller if used correctly which he wasn't under the recently canned Joe Philbin is a very capable NFL back.
-With Ben Roethlisberger out the last few weeks, and there are some reports indicating that his return could be imminent, the quarterbacking helm has been carried by Michael Vick until he sustained a hamstring issue which then opened the door for Landry Jones. My takeaway from this contest in the upset victory against the Arizona Cardinals was that in all of the carousing of QB's, coach Mike Tomlin forgot to acquaint Antonio Brown with both Jones and Vick. You could make the argument and I have no bones doing it when saying that Antonio Brown is the most explosive receiver in the National Football League. The masses will argue and rightfully so that it shouldn't matter who the contributors are if you win and I appreciate that but the bottom line is even though they cracked the difficult code that is the Arizona Cardinals defence, they need a confident and motivated Brown if they aspire to remain in wildcard contention.
-As a precursor to my next rant, I have never been sold on the abilities of Colin Kaepernick but contrarily some of the criticism he's received before his week six stand out performance has bordered on ridiculous. When you watch Kaepernick play on a consistent basis, you see an individual that based on his skillset could be an elite quarterback but for whatever reason he lacks the football IQ, or the necessary talent around him to field a winner and like I griped about in the first sentence of this thought, some of the so called "experts" have went to town on the supposed struggles of Colin. I was watching a show called "NFL HQ" broadcast on the NFL Network and forgive me if I misrepresented the wrong analyst but I believe it was former 49 Eric Davis who comprehended that the 49ers should urgently search for an upgrade and so on and so forth so it was rewarding to see that Kap quickly shut up the bandwagon critics that only jump on when the times are bad and stuffed it in their you know and channeled his inner cerebral assassin and tore apart the Baltimore Ravens. This blogger loved the chemistry he developed with Torrey Smith as this past week I acquired Smith via trade in fantasy football and it in all likelihood led me to my second consecutive trade. Thank you Smith and Kaepernick!
-It's natural in sports that we overstate the bad and undersell the good, and I'm as guilty doing that as anyone in this infamous blog. I was critical in analyzing the performance of the Detroit Lions last week and made the proclamation that Jim Caldwell should find himself on the hot seat. The offence versus the enigma the Chicago Bears have been this season wakened up and silenced all those doubters where I sit in the front row. Matt Stafford is essentially a reincarnation of Brett Favre, a prototypical southern gunslinger that for every remarkable play he makes, usually to Golden Tate or Calvin Johnson but will also make you scratch your head in amusement on why he attempted to force a ball in a danger zone. The Motor City was much more at ease this week because Matt Stafford was seemingly on his best behavior throwing to the statistical line of 27/42, 405 yards and four touchdowns. The loss of Ndamukong Suh has been greater than even the most pessimistic person could've forecasted and this will for all purposes eliminate them for postseason contention, but I just think it's important that we understand this offence is what it is and we'll put up points and it's now up to the Lions brass to address the defensive deficiencies at the 2016 NFL draft.
- The Sunday nighter went as expected as we witnessed the New England Patriots defeat the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots who are the reigning champions have arguably looked better than last year and I could draw up a feasible scenario that has the Patriots rolling to a 16-0 mark. Truth be told, we're six weeks in and Belichick's Pats haven't had one competitive game. The hot water cooler topic I want to briefly touch on was that atrocious play call the Colts drew up on that fourth down play. I have a few thoughts on this, first and most importantly, whatever the Colts were trying to accomplish there blew up in their faces so I'm perplexed as to why Chuck Pagano didn't initiate a timeout when the play was verging on disaster. I'd love to know whether the play allowed Griff Whalen carte blanche based on the Patriots defensive alignment. The fact that he had the ball snapped and immediately succumbed into a crouched position has me wondering if he was working for the other team. After this mitigated disaster, you could see Pagano on the sidelines yelling why the ball was snapped. Well Chuck, this mistake falls on your shoulder as you had the option to exercise a timeout to prevent this.
-I won't have access to distributing my thoughts on the Monday night football game as in Canada there are much more important matters on the docket as the Toronto Blue Jays square off against the Kansas City Royals in game three of the American League Championship series.......o yea, and there's a little thing known as the federal election tonight! #gojays
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