Is anyone else a bit depressed that the regular season is more than half over? Well, cheer up, we have several important Saturdays to go! Here’s what yesterday showed us:
-Another week, another Big 12 team making a mockery of my prediction. 55-14 is not close, West Virginia. Barring a total implosion in the next six weeks, Kansas State should be heading to a very nice bowl game. Collin Klein made a big statement that he should be considered a part of the Heisman trophy picture as well. If the Wildcats win out, they could even find themselves in a National Title Game.
-At halftime, Florida had 29 yards of total offense. In the entire game, Jeff Driskel was 11 of 16 for 93 yards. The Gators rushed for all of 89 yards. They beat #7 South Carolina 44-11. What. The. Hell. I guess it helps when the Gamecocks turn the ball over four times, but still. With the win Florida really takes control of the SEC East and seems destined to go to the SEC Championship game. Florida’s defence is good, but that Offence is gonna need to show much more in the coming weeks if they really want to be in the National Title picture as they will have a difficult schedule coming up.
-Did anyone count how many times the Head Ball Coach threw his visor?
-HUGE win for Michigan, beating Michigan State in a 12-10 defensive slugfest at home. The Wolverines hadn’t beaten the Spartans since 2007 B.R.R. (Before Rich Rod).
-Upset Of The Week: #21 Cincinnati goes down to Toledo of the MAC. Looks like the Big East is going to come down to Louisville and Rutgers, who play each other November 29. Could be a Thursday night game worth staying up for.
-Texas A&M had no answer for LSU’s running game, once they got it going. So maybe next time, they could getting it going a little earlier. Also, the next LSU player who takes a stupid penalty is going to be Mike the Tiger’s Sunday brunch.
-That said, I was impressed with how LSU’s staff adjusted at halftime and how the players didn’t give up when things weren’t going well. It did NOT look good for the Tigers early on.
-Johnny Manziel is going to be a heck of a quarterback. But yesterday served to remind us all that “Johnny Football” is still a freshman and makes Freshman mistakes.
– Another team that weathered a mediocre start to their game was Notre Dame. Yesterday could have been a classic trap game for the Irish, with BYU sandwiched between bigger-time opponents Stanford and Oklahoma. It was closer than many thought, but the Irish came out with the win though, and thats all that matters to the BCS Computers.
– Speaking of the Irish, that running game is for real. BYU has a tough run defence and Notre Dame put up 270 yards on the ground on 41 carries, an impressive 6.59 yards per attempt.
-Unbeaten Oregon State is quietly putting together a nice string of wins. If (and it’s a pretty big IF) they can beat USC in two weeks, the Holy War with Oregon will be a huge game. Should be a really good game regardless, because those are both excellent teams.
-Congrats to quarterback Matt Barkley for breaking Matt Leinart’s USC and Pac-12 career passing TD record, with his 100th, and to WR Robert Woods on his USC single-game TD catch record, with 6. The Trojans routed Colorado and are still looking to get involved in the BCS picture despite the earlier loss to Stanford. Its not likely, and they’ll need help to get there, but if they win out, it could still happen.
-I found a note I scribbled a couple of weeks ago that somehow didn’t make it into this column: don’t overlook Mississippi State in the SEC West. I don’t expect them to beat Alabama next week, but stranger things have happened, and beating LSU is a distinct possibility. Their offense is good, but their defense is very good.
Last night I had a brief conversation with the Editor of this site about the expected fine to be dished to the Baltimore Ravens in lieu of failing to report the Ed Reed injury. This brief conversation quickly digressed, as we opened an entire bucket of minnows about the relevancy sports fines.
For instance, it is reported that the Baltimore Ravens will receive a $20 000 fine because precedence was set when the Bills and Redskins also failed to report injuries this year and 20k was the punishment.
I honestly laughed when I saw the Skins failed to report star QB and rookie sensation Robert Griffin III having a mild concussion. Not because of the injury of course, but rather that it represents a dirty truth. Let me explain…
The NFL realizes that betting is a huge reason why they are the most popular league in North America. The NFL expects their teams to report injuries so that betting lines can be adjusted appropriately, and no one is getting “inside information” on injuries that might affect the outcome of the game. But you can look at it from another perspective and say that now the players are in a vulnerable spot as the exact nature of the injury is being unveiled to the opponents! We all know that teams target injuries, which leaves players exposed.
Washington Redskins Billionaire owner Dan Snyder took this perspective and didn’t want people to know about the concussion because he knows his ultimate penalty for failing to report an injury is roughly $20 000. Do you even want to know what $20 000 to a billionaire is? I mean, he could probably throw that sum of money in a toilet just to determine his bowl’s flushing capacity.
This led me to discuss how fines in pro sports are so minimal that players, coaches, managers, and owners will easily flirt with them if it is in their best interest – and usually it is. Take Chad Ocho Cinqo-Johnson best known from the Cincinnatti Bengals for being an elite wide receiver in the NFL, but much more remembered for his in-game antics causing him to receive weekly fines anywhere from $5000 – $20 000. Sometimes he would tweet things like “Tonight’s celebration is going to get me fined for sure but its sooo worth it!” Convinced? Basically he was making a mockery of the league’s disciplinary policy. He was unafraid of it because the fines doled out are barely a slap on the wrist. In fact, I would go so far as to say his hilarious antics helped gain him endorsements that paid for the fines, and more!
Another famous NFL wide receiver, Randy Moss, once told us what he thinks about a $10000 fine, and ended up turning it into a money-maker with the words “straight cash homie” being printed on t-shirts all over America! How embarrassing for the NFL, right?
How about when famous hockey coach Scotty Bowman was fined for pushing a reporter. Brian Burke was the General Manager of a team that Bowman didn’t even coach for and he said he agreed with Bowman and paid the fine for him. Again, these fines mean nothing to them. How many times have you paid for a friends speeding ticket? Never, because you and I can’t afford that.
My parting thoughts: If sports leagues really want to penalize their employees, they are going to have include suspensions or else dramatically increase fines. The problem is that suspensions hurt the league because fans want to be entertained by “the best”. Therefore, the answer has to be “Mo’ money”! Maybe a percentage of one’s yearly salary, something that will make them learn. In response to my friend last night that asked me about what I think of the possible Baltimore Ravens fine for covering Ed Reeds injury, I can only answer this way – Ravens CEO Steve Bisciotti is worth $1.5 BILLION. The fins is going to be an estimated $20 000, which he has made since I started this paragraph. How will afford to pay his rent and eat dinner tonight. You get the point.
Remember to join us every Sunday from 7:30-8:30pm for “Sunday NFL Blitz Package” on Last Word Radio. We’ll talk about the day that was in the NFL, get you set up for SNF and MNF, and talk about the news that matters most from around the league.
If you miss an episode, not to worry, you can catch it in our archives, or conveniently on iTunes.
After months of speculation, baseball’s worst-kept rumor finally came true as John Farrell has left Toronto to become the new manager of the Boston Red Sox. The Jays received infielder Mike Aviles as compensation, and sent pitcher David Carpenter to Boston to complete the trade.
Farrell did not have much success in his two years with the Blue Jays, as he had an overall record of 154-170 and never posted a winning season. In Farrell’s defence, the Blue Jays never provided him with the resources he needed to compete in the American League East, and their lack of roster depth was painfully exposed during an injury-plagued 2012.
After taking a hard-line stance in 2011 and preventing Farrell from talking to the Red Sox, it was a surprise that Toronto let him walk to the Red Sox for little more than a utility player. Given the glaring lack of depth at every position on the Blue Jays roster, it would have made sense to allow Farrell to leave in exchange for an impact player like Dustin Pedroia or Clay Bucholtz, the latter of whom the Jays asked for last year when the Sox first tried to steal Farrell. Instead, the Jays allowed their manager to leave and were not able to significantly upgrade their roster. So why did Toronto let Farrell walk away for so little in return?
The Blue Jays may have soured on Farrell after a disastrous 2012 campaign that saw veteran Omar Vizquel speak out late in the season about the lack of accountability for young players on the Blue Jays. A glaring criticism of Farrell is that the performance of many young players under his watch has greatly deteriorated. Yunel Escobar (.644 OPS) reverted back to the inconsistent and troublesome player he was when the Blue Jays acquired him in 2010. Colby Rasmus (.223/.289/.400 in 2012) failed to develop into the reliable everyday center fielder the Jays so desperately need. Kelly Johnson was allowed to play every day despite being one of the laziest, least-motivated players the Jays have had in recent memory. Pitchers Henderson Alvarez and Ricky Romero both took dramatic steps backward in 2012 after decent 2011 campaigns. Brett Lawrie only slugged .405 in 125 games. In my opinion, Farrell’s move clearly indicates that the Blue Jays did not have the confidence in him that they did two years ago, otherwise they would have prevented him from walking away to a competing club in their division.
Or perhaps Farrell soured on the Blue Jays after ownership refused to make any significant upgrades to the roster or financial investment in the team during Farrell’s two seasons as manager. Farrell also may not have wanted to work through what seems like an endless rebuilding project in Toronto. Although we may never know for certain, Farrell may have undermined the Blue Jays bargaining position with Boston by refusing to commit to staying in Toronto beyond 2013. What is most likely is that both the Blue Jays and Farrell wanted to end their relationship, although we will probably never know whether Farrell asked to leave or was encouraged to leave by the team.
The consolation for Toronto is Aviles, who has played five different positions in the Majors, and posted a .663 OPS while playing 136 games in 2012, mostly at shortstop. As his career line of .277/.308/.408 indicates, he is a decent hitter with poor on base skills and a bit of power. He also brings a bit of speed to the table, with 51 steals in 69 attempts. He is under team control until 2015, having earned $1.2 million last year, and could be a cheap placeholder at second or short until Adeiny Hechavarria or another player is ready to take over a full-time job in the Toronto infield.
Despite Farrell’s lack of success in Toronto, the Blue Jays needed to stand up to their big division rival and not allow them to acquire an asset who may assist the rebuilding effort in Boston. Farrell served as the pitching coach in Boston between 2007 and 2010, and the Sox pitching staff was one of the best in the A.L. during his tenure. He knows Boston and many of the players on the roster well, and he could be the calming, competent field boss that the Red Sox have needed after Terry Francona was let go in 2011. It would have been better for the Jays to have kept Farrell for one more season, even against his will, and let him walk for nothing after 2013 than to get the paltry return that they did.
The Red Sox are a team in chaos after a disastrous 2012 campaign and the Blue Jays could have forced Boston to hire a less desirable, less qualified manager by making Farrell unavailable. That is exactly what happened in 2011 when Bobby Valentine was hired, and the results in Boston in 2012 were disastrous. The last thing the Blue Jays need is for Boston to become competitive again, and there is no telling what kind of magic Farrell might be able to work with an upgraded Sox roster.
Perhaps the most upsetting aspect of this whole incident is that Farrell left the Blue Jays for a last-place club that lost 93 games, which sadly confirms that Toronto is not a choice destination for many players or coaches in Major League Baseball. Indeed, such has been the case for many years and will not change until the Blue Jays find a way to once again become a true, perennial contender.
Welcome to today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects”. If you missed any of my previous articles you can find a complete listing of my them here.
Last night I had the opportunity to attend the OHL contest between the Guelph Storm and Sarnia Sting in the beautiful Sleeman Centre in Guelph, one of my favorite arenas in the league. For those who haven’t been to Guelph, the Sleeman Centre is an exceptionally intimate setting and a great place to watch a game. I highly recommend it. The only issue I have is that parking in Downtown Guelph feels like an “afterthought” at times, and if anyone out there has some tips on where to park near the rink, I’d love to know.
Now for those who have followed this column, I don’t normally do individual game reports, I normally take a look at one or two players and describe them after a number of viewings, however last night was a little different. In a random occurrence I ran into the Montreal Canadiens’ Head Scout Trevor Timmins. In my opinion Timmins is one of the best scouts in hockey and his track record with Ottawa and Montreal certainly supports that belief, so even if it was only for five minutes after the second period, I was going to take that opportunity to pick Timmins’ brain.
Now as stated, this was a chance encounter, and not a planned interview so forgive me if I have to paraphrase my conversation with Timmins here instead of giving direct quotes. But I will give you a little about what we talked about.
First, since we were watching Sarnia, the obvious topic was the man Timmins and the Habs selected at #3 overall in Alex Galchenyuk. Timmins raved about Galchenyuk, saying that he is an absolute stud, and was really impressed watching him recently. He stated that Galchenyuk looks at 100% and that the only thing holding him back from scoring more points is that he really has no one else on his level with Sarnia. His linemates are just not at the same level as Galchenyuk and often fail to convert great setups that he makes.
We spoke of one particular play* in the first period of this game, the Sting were short handed and Galchenyuk won a puck battle to steal the puck in the Sarnia zone. He carried the puck through the neutral zone, and deked through two defenders and set up Craig Hottot with a wide open net. Guelph goalie Garrett Sparks had no chance on the play. Hottot managed to somehow miss the net from 4 feet in front. On the play which occurred nearly 38 minutes of hockey earlier, Timmins stated that he still didn’t know how the net was missed.
Another play was where Galchenyuk, faced with no other option due to the way he was positioned and the way a missed shot by Connor Murphy rebounded off the end boards, made a behind the back, through the legs pass to Reid Boucher in the slot on the Powerplay. Boucher also shot wide.
While Galchenyuk had one assist, Timmins stated that he would have a lot more points tonight, and all season long, if he had someone who could keep up with him on the Sting.
*Side Note: My own notes on the Hottot play, not Timmins…. The moves to get through the defenders were outstanding and I recalled the play vividly as it had me out of my seat and saying WOW when it happened. As I stated in my draft preview, Alex Galchenyuk has some of the best hands I’ve ever seen on a prospect. In other good news for Habs fans , I counted Galchenyuk as 5/6 in the faceoff circle tonight. He played Centre on special teams, but was at LW 5 on 5.*
Edit: Here is the youtube of the play. It appears the miss was by Anthony DeAngelo, not Craig Hottot. I apologize for my earlier error as the number was hard to see from where I was positioned in the rink
We also discussed Charles Hudon, who recently left a Chicoutimi game with a concussion. Timmins stated that he felt it was a bit of a head shot, and that while Hudon does have a concussion, the reports he got was that it was minor. Timmins stated that Hudon was a heck of a player, he was very happy to draft him in the 5th round, and that he was having an excellent start to the season.
My overall impression of Timmins was very positive after meeting him. While I only had a couple of minutes to speak to him, and obviously given his position, and my own, he has no need to pay me any attention at all. However he was willing to listen to all my questions and to provide answers. He even asked for my thoughts on the players in question (though I doubt whatever I told him would influence his opinion). I know he’ll never read this, but if on some chance he does, I’d like to thank him for the opportunity to have a short chat in the second intermission yesterday.
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For those still reading I thought I’d make a few other comments on things that stood out in this particular game, which was a 6-3 victory for the Storm. Remember that this is a one game report and not a thought on my overall impressions on these players with multiple viewings. A couple of players (particularly Anderson and Murphy) had uncharacteristic rough nights.
J.P. Anderson, Sarnia Sting, Goalie: Anderson is a prospect for the San Jose Sharks, who is back in Sarnia this season. He was pulled after giving up 5 goals on just 17 shots tonight, and when he left Guelph had a 5-0 lead. I can’t put much blame on Anderson for the 1st or the 5th Guelph goals as he had little chance to stop either of them. But the 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals were issues for him. He had particular problems with his rebound control on this night, as he just seemed unable to find pucks in his feet, leading to three goals and plenty of close calls for Guelph.
Craig Hottot, Sarnia Sting, Right Wing: The good, the bad, and the ugly was the story of Hottot’s night. The good was a nice second period goal on the powerplay where he took a pass from Galchenyuk, cut to the net, and scored putting one over the glove of Garrett Sparks. He also seemed to get a 2nd goal when a bad angle backhand squeaked through Sparks in the third period, but the ref ruled that he had blown the whistle, saving Guelph on the play. In the bad, we already spoke of Hottot missing the net on a wide open chance. In the ugly, expect Hottot to be hearing from OHL head David Branch about a suspension shortly. With about 3:00 to play, he absolutely destroyed Ryan Horvat with a dirty hit to the head. What made it worse is that it occurred away from the puck, and was clearly interference. He seemed to target the head in replays as well.
Ryan Horvat, Guelph Storm: Horvat was playing an excellent game with 2 goals and 1 assist tonight. It may have been the best game of his OHL career. It was unfortunate how the game ended though, as Horvat was clearly hurt on the hit by Hottot. He was out on his feet, and was very wobbly. He had trouble standing up, and could barely skate to the bench. A definite chance of a concussion here.
Connor Murphy, Defence, Sarnia Sting: The Phoenix draftee had a rough night. He was turned inside out and made to look absolutely silly on the 5th Guelph Goal. On the Powerplay he couldn’t hit the net with his shot, and on a 5 on 3 in the second period for Sarnia, he tried to gain the zone himself and skated right into a defender, losing the puck rather easily. Zone entries on a 5 on 3 should not be that difficult or ugly. Chalk this one up as a bad game for Murphy as I’ve rarely seen him in this type of form.
Brody Milne, Guelph Storm, Left Wing: Milne had a goal and 2 assists, combining with Ryan Horvat to be Guelph’s most dangerous 1-2 punch on the night. The Guelph native showed good work along the boards and some really nice vision and passing ability. This was the first time I’ve seen Milne in action, but he was very impressive. Like any rookie who I’m watching for the first time though, I’ll need a few more viewings to get a good read on him.
Jason Dickinson, Centre, Guelph Storm: The 2013 NHL Draft eligible Dickinson had a very good game. He showed good vision and playmaking ability, as well a nice balanced skating stride. He’s also got great hands and the ability to stickhandle and protect the puck is excellent. He’s showing why he’s yet another good centre in a draft class that is very deep with them.
Joshua Chapman, Defence, Sarnia Sting: So here is the situation. Your team was losing 5-0, but you have scored three straight goals and its 5-3 in the third period. You pass the puck up to your team’s best player and spring him (Galchenyuk) and his linemates on a 3 on 2 rush with 15 minutes left in the third and give them the chance to cut the lead to just one. So what do you do next? Well if you were Joshua Chapman last night you would start a fight with Scott Kosmachuk, taking away your team’s scoring chance. Now people who read my column know I’m not a fan of fighting in general, but this play has to be considered the absolute WORST possible time for a player to fight. Jacques Beaulieu looked pissed on the Sarnia bench and I don’t blame him. Oh and Chapman lost the fight too.
Feel free to leave your own comments below and to follow me on twitter @LastwordBKerr
Welcome to another week of The Sports Savant NFL Picks, Week 7 Edition!
In Week 6 of the NFL, I took some risks and some paid off, but a few expected winners took a dive making last week one of the tougher weeks in the NFL to prognosticate. In a gutsy call, I actually had the Seahawks defeating the Patriots in my picks, just one of a very few that predicted them to win, which was a stellar pick victory. On the flip side, teams like Minnesota, Philadelphia, Arizona and Houston, all of which I picked to win and were favored in their games, all lost, sending the Savant’s record for Week 6 to a sub-par 7-7. At 6-8, the Savant spread picks came out on the short end as well, but in stunning fashion, I have excelled at the Over/Under this year going 10-4 this week to improve my overall Over/Under record to a robust 55.7% accuracy through 7 weeks.
The most important news of these records is that I have continued my streak of 24 consecutive regular season weeks finishing with a record .500 or better “to win”. It’s rare that I ever finish at exactly .500 for a week, but in the past it has always come the week before a solid week of picks.
This week is the smallest menu of games all season with six teams on bye. Even with a small menu, the Sports Savant trudges on with yet another week of NFL picks! I mostly went chalk as I expect most favorites to cover their respective point spreads, but I did take two underdogs to win(Tennessee, Cincinnati) and two underdogs to beat the spread in a loss(Seattle, Detroit). Before we take a look at my Week 7 picks, lets check out my pick results from Week 6 and for the 2012 season…
*WEEK 6 RESULTS*
Winner: 7-7 :-/
Winner w/ Spread: 6-8 🙁
Over/Under: 10-4 🙂
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Trifecta: 3
Strikeouts: 2
Perfect Team Score Predictions: 0
Perfect Game Score Predictions: 0
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*2012 Overall Record*
Winner: 57-34 (.626)
Winner w/ Spread: 40-49-2 (.449)
Over/Under: 49-39-3 (.557)
——————————————– Trifecta: 20
Strikeouts:17
Perfect Team Score Predictions: 11 [Week 1]:New England [Week 2]: Indianapolis, San Francisco [Week 3]: Chicago, Washington, New York(A) [Week 4]:Cleveland, Philadelphia [Week 5]: Green Bay, Seattle, San Diego
Perfect Game Score Predictions: 0
NOTE: The team with a negative number in parenthesis “(-3)” next to their name is the favorite to win the matchup and the number represents how many points the favorite has to score more than the underdog to count as a winning bet. The over/under for the game is represented by a number in parenthesis with the letters o and u “(o/u 46)”. The number represents the amount of points you are wagering whether or not the two team’s combined score will be in excess of or short of. Official betting lines courtesy of www.footballlocks.com
LOCKS: Games that have a “*LOCK*” logo next to the score are my spread lock picks of the week. I choose four games each week that I feel will be a lock to win the spread bet. If I have an underdog winning against a favorite and it is a *LOCK* pick, it means it is a lock that the favorite will not cover the spread, not a lock that the underdog wins the game.
Don’t forget to visit therealsportssavant.blogspot.com every week to check my game picks and check the previous week’s picks for individual game pick results! And now I present my Week 7, Sports Savant, NFL picks…
Seattle @ San Francisco(-8) (o/u 37.5) Savant Spread Pick: Seattle with the points; San Francisco to win ~ 20-13 Over/Under Pick: Under
Tennessee @ Buffalo(-3.5) (o/u 46.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Tennessee to win ~ 31-29
Over/Under Pick: Over
Arizona @ Minnesota(-6.5) (o/u 40.5) Savant Spread Pick: Minnesota and the points to win ~ 20-13 Over/Under Pick: Under
Cleveland @ Indianapolis(-3) (o/u 45.5) Savant Spread Pick: Indianapolis and the points to win ~ 24-16 Over/Under Pick: Under
Baltimore @ Houston(-6.5) (o/u 48.5) Savant Spread Pick: Houston and the points to win ~ 26-17 Over/Under Pick: Under
St. Louis v. Green Bay(-5.5) (o/u 45.5) Savant Spread Pick: Green Bay and the points to win ~ 27-20 *LOCK* Over/Under Pick: Under
Carolina v. Dallas(-2.5) (o/u 45.5) Savant Spread Pick: Dallas and the points to win ~ 24-17 Over/Under Pick: Under
Washington @ New York(N)(-6) (o/u 51) Savant Spread Pick: New York and the points to win ~ 31-24 *LOCK* Over/Under Pick: Over
Tampa Bay v. New Orleans(-2.5) (o/u 49.5) Savant Spread Pick: New Orleans and the points to win ~ 31-28 Over/Under Pick: Over
New York(A) @ New England(-10.5) (o/u 47.5) Savant Spread Pick: New England and the points to win ~ 34-13 *LOCK* Over/Under Pick: Under
Jacksonville @ Oakland(-4) (o/u 44) Savant Spread Pick: Oakland and the points to win ~ 24-13 *LOCK* Over/Under Pick: Under
Cincinnati v. Pittsburgh(-1) (o/u 44.5) Savant Spread Pick: Cincinnati to win ~ 23-21 Over/Under Pick: Under
Detroit @ Chicago(-6.5) (o/u 44) Savant Spread Pick: Detroit with the points; Chicago to win ~ 27-23 Over/Under Pick: Over
With the Lakers remaining winless this pre-season (0-4), we can expect controversy to arise. Of course the Lakers possess the greatest team on paper in the league right now, and Metta World Peace thinks they can go 73-9 in the regular season, but they haven’t seemed to click during the pre-season. Shall Lakers fans begin to worry? Heat fans start celebrating already? No, quite the opposite in fact.
Not so fast…
Dwight Howard remains yet to play a minute in the pre-season games, and both Kobe and Nash have had limited time. Nash has been playing incredibly well, showing the Lakers fans and management exactly why he is the perfect fit. Kobe has had individual moments of greatness, including his third quarter effort against the Utah Jazz scoring twenty-three points. Management is going to try limit time for the aging superstars on the rosters anyway, which leads me to my next point, the secret behind the Laker’s failing preseason; depth.
The Lakers are trying to develop a second starting five unit that can cater for or replace injured stars in the priority unit. With incredibly talented players such as Jodie Meeks, Antawn Jamison (who actually hasn’t performed very well this pre-season, admittedly) and the currently inured Jordan Hill, the Lakers have the potential to create a massively deep team. The pre-season is the ultimate way to test and develop the second unit, so dropping four games in a row is a mere sacrifice for winning a championship come the end of the season. Regardless, you will not see these players without at-least two of the big five playing at any time. And quite honestly, I would pick Dwight Howard and four bench players over eighty percent of NBA teams today.
Worry not Lakers fans. The biggest concern right now is Jordan Hill’s injury which may see him side-lined for a few weeks. Is that enough to stop the Lake Show come October 31st? Don’t even dream of it.
Kansas State is the last unbeaten team in the Big 12, and the first team this year to have any kind of blueprint as far as beating West Virginia. The Mountaineers were dominating everyone they played (at least on offense) until being stomped last week by Texas Tech 49-14.
The Kansas State Offense: Just five starters returned on the Wildcats’ offense this year, and only two of those were on the offensive line, yet quarterback Collin Klein is emerging as a darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate. After a 2011 campaign in which he rushed for 1,141 yards and 27 TDs, Klein has over 500 rushing yards and 10 TDs through six games. But containing Klein in the pocket will only help West Virginia’s cause so much. An inconsistent passer last season, Klein’s completion percentage thus far is a respectable 66.9%. That number could very well go up this weekend after he faces a porous West Virginia secondary that has continually been lit up by good passing offenses this season.
The Kansas State Defense: The Wildcats defense has yet to allow more than 21 points in any game this season, and is averaging a stingy 16.5 points against per game. They held Oklahoma to 19 points, by far the fewest the Sooners have scored in a game this year. In other words, this is a good defense, and aside from their last game, West Virginia has a pretty good offense. The Wildcats stop the run well, but West Virginia likes to pass more anyway. The Mountaineers haven’t run the ball with any kind of consistency all season, so getting pressure on Geno Smith and forcing him to get rid of the ball quickly is key for Kansas State in this game. They can not allow him to be comfortable in the pocket and to have the time for him to check through all his progressions with his multitude of receivers in the Air Raid offence.
The West Virginia Offense: Until last week, Geno Smith was averaging nearly 400 passing yards per game, and had a completion percentage of just over 81%. Texas Tech had the top-ranked pass defense in the nation going into last week’s game, but even in a beatdown West Virginia managed 275 yards and a TD through the air. It takes a top-notch secondary like the Red Raiders’ to even slow that attack down, never mind actually stopping it. The Mountaineers’ rushing stats took a hit last week too, and don’t look for them to improve this week; the Wildcats are allowing just 118.7 rushing yards per game. They’re allowing considerably more yardage in the passing game, however, which bodes with for Smith and WRs Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey. Getting Andrew Buie and the running game going early will be difficult, but would help tremendously.
The West Virginia Defense: Sometimes a good defense can get overlooked due to the gaudy numbers put up by their offensive teammates; unfortunately for Mountaineer fans, the defense has allowed opposing offenses to put up some pretty impressive numbers as well. Sometimes, though, there is a good reason that a team’s offence gets all the publicity. The latter is the case here as the Mountainers’ defence just is not very good. West Virginia scored a combined 118 points in their Week 5 and 6 wins over Baylor and Texas, but they allowed a total of 108 points in those two games as well- and then came last week’s debacle. Texas Tech ran for a respectable 168 yards, but QB Seth Doege passed for 499 (and 6 TDs). K-State QB Collin Klein may be a run-first guy, but he’s a legitimate passing threat as well. The third-worst pass defense in the country is going to have to be better this week.
Prediction: I think this is going to be yet another close, high-scoring affair involving the Mountaineers, but I see them on the losing end this time. Kansas State 48, West Virginia 42.
Many things happened during last weekend’s set of games so let’s get right into things. First, the rookie QB’s came to play, and it resulted in a combined record of 4-1 for them. Unfortunately, the one loss was awarded to Andrew Luck and my Indianapolis Colts. Not only did they lose, they got run over, literally. It was a poor effort after such a great week against the Packers. With such a young team, inconsistency is to be expected. The other four QB’s – Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, Brandon Weeden and Ryan Tannehill, all pulled out the W for their team to increase their winning percentage. Bye-week teams include: Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and the San Diego Chargers.
Let’s take a look at this week:
– Thursday night football features two NFC West rivals to see who is the “Best of the West”. These two teams are similar in multiple ways: QB who will not lose or win you games, excellent rushing attacks and stellar defenses. It may be a very boring game since neither team will be able to throw the ball, and it will be ground-and-pound for all 60 minutes. The victor may be determined in the last few minutes, so who will win?
– The Titans showed last week that they could still play, Britt came back and had miscommunications with Hasselbeck, and Chris Johnson was able to run on the Steeler D. Is he slowly coming back, or does he only try when he plays defenses that are supposed to be good run D’s? In any case, “CJ2K”, despite his struggles last year, ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns against this Buffalo defense. Can CJ be a game-changer and win the game for the Titans or will the Buffalo defense step-up?
– With DeMarco Murray out for the week, can Felix Jones step up for the Cowboys?
– Panthers suffered a terrible loss in losing their starting C Ryan Kalil for the year. Can they restart their offense and show the world that they are capable of playing with the big boys or have all the pro football defenses figured out Cam Newton’s game?
– There are only two teams above .500 in the AFC, and they play each other on Sunday. Ravens, winners of four straight, lost pro LB Ray Lewis for the year (IR – Designated to Return List) and pro bowl CB Lardarius Webb was also lost for the year. Ravens are normally a good run-stopping team but this year had been the opposite, allowing 136.5 yards per game on the ground. Is Arian “the Barbarian” going to go wild in Houston, or can the Baltimore offense step their game up?
– Rookie vs. Rookie, Brandon vs. Andrew. Indy lost last week despite the extra motivation they have in playing for their coach. Sometimes you just don’t get the right bounces. Will they turn back to their winning ways this week or will the Browns extend their win streak?
– Who would have thought this week-seven battle between the Cardinals and the Vikings would be the battle of 4-2 teams? The Cardinals started 4-0 and have lost two weeks straight, and if they let Ponder complete his short passing game and Adrian Peterson run over them, two short weeks are bound to turn into three long ones.
– Robert Griffin the Third has really brought inspiration to the Redskins locker room. That and the fact that he is an all-around talent, Redskins made the right decision in drafting him second overall in the draft this year. Are the Giants going to pay the price?
– Aaron Rodgers came back to form last week, to the dismay of my fantasy team nonetheless; you know a quarterback had a good week when he singlehandedly comes close to outscoring my entire roster. But this week he’s going into St. Louis with a much improved Ram secondary. When push comes to shove, this game may be much closer than expected.
– Is this the week Doug Martin begins to break off some long runs? New Orleans are terrible at stopping the run and cannot set an edge if their lives depended on it. They may have an addition to their linebacking core if Vilma, recently came off PUP list, is capable of playing this week and its doubtful that his legal/suspension situation is likely to be resolved, and with his appeal pending, he’s eligible to play. Truthfully, their defense will take all the help they can get.
– A team who many thought would be undefeated at this point in the season, currently sits at 3-3. The Patriots this year have had their share of disappointing losses, and if the Jets are capable enough of stopping the New England passing attack, they could push the Patriots into a losing record. That would mark the second time that the Pats are under .500 this year.
– Battle of the premier running backs are set to take center stage in Oakland where MJD will face off against Run DMC. Mcfadden has played grossly under his potential this year, but against this porous Jacksonville offense, will the game stay close long enough for him to start busting big ones?
– If not for Calvin Johnson, AJ Green, in only his second year, could widely be considered the best receiver in the game. All he does is make plays and score touchdowns. Can the Steel Curtain be the first, or will the “Red Rifle” complete passes to AJ all day?
– The Lions offense this year has sputtered at times, and as such Megatron has only found the end zone once. In comparison, this time last year he already had nine. Is this the week he starts rolling again or is this the Madden curse wearing him down?
By the way, did you see that Peyton Manning guy on Monday? I heard he did pretty well.
Follow me on Twitter – @LastWordOnNFL and catch Sunday NFL Blitz Package on Last Word Radio every Sunday from 7:30-8:30 as we discuss the day’s games, and get you nicely primed for Sunday and Monday Night Football.
“Drama” has been the best way to explain the 2012 ALCS. While the drama continued in the series between the Tigers and the Yankees with the postponement of the game due to “potential rain”, this was just one small matter wrapped into cornucopia of controversy.
The Yankees have not looked like themselves this entire series thus far, and find themselves down 3-0 going into today’s make-up game. Going into the series I think there was a belief that the Tigers may have had a slight advantage, but the way that Detroit have been showing up the Yankees to-date is very uncharacteristic of this New York dynasty. Stories like this happen all the time in professional sports during the playoffs, it’s always anyone’s game – but, to see this happen to the Yankees? I am a little taken back.
Things started to fall apart for the Yankees when Derek Jeter went down in game one with fractured ankle. Losing the team captain and leader, not to mention one of the teams strongest performers, cannot be ignored as demoralizing factor. We have yet to see the Yankees recover from the loss of their Iron Man. Injured players, however, are all a part of the game.
What’s been really been rattling the cages in the Yankees clubhouse has been the controversy surrounding the “twenty-five million dollar man”, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has looked horrible in the post-season so far, batting only .130 with a slugging percentage somewhere in the range of 0 – twelve of his eighteen at bats have been strike-outs. He has been impotent at the plate. As such he’s been benched. Anytime you’re benching someone who is being paid twenty-five million a season controversy and rumours are bound to arise… and now we’re hearing that Brian Cashman (the Yankees GM) has been potentially looking for new suitors for their most expensive asset on the field. While Cashman denies these rumours, you can’t help but believe there could be some validity to them – that’s a lot of cake for not much icing!
Rodriguez has not exactly been silent about the entire issue, claiming that he’s “still a threat whenever he’s at the plate”. Rodriguez has been vocal in ther ways as well about the decision to bench him, and maybe pride dictates that he does speak his mind – however, when you’re not doing your job you’re bound to get (if nothing else) laid off for awhile. Rodriguez needs to be a man and face up to the fact that another player may be able to perform better than him right now, and for the sake of the team should have that opportunity.
While last night’s game being postponed due to “potential rain” was just another notch in the belt for the Yankees in this series, something tells me that it was a divine act for New York on behalf of the baseball gods. The mental game of New York has clearly been rattled – two of their best players, in Jeter and Rodriguez, have been ghosts (for different reasons). Anytime you lose that presence on the field it’s going to affect your team. They received a reprieve last night to get their heads back into it, and now need to pull out a miracle at Comerica tonight.
I say to the Yankees: Rise above it all and do what makes sports so great! Don’t let drama bring you down, and make this the series it was meant to be.
… I say to the Tigers: Get ready for the big dance, because the odds of the Yankees pulling this one out are on par with me growing a third arm (re: not likely).
