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Last Word On Sports

Sports News Since 2011. Honestly.

Last Word On Sports Logo

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Year: 2012

Top Shelf Prospects: Connor McDavid impresses as a 15 year old Exceptional OHLer

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Welcome to today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects”. Previously I reviewed the prospects of all thirty NHL teams, and previewed the CHL season. If you missed any of my previous articles you can find a complete listing of my them here.

Just 15 years old, Connor McDavid was granted exceptional player status and is the third player to enter the OHL early under this rule–John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad were 1st and 2nd respectively. The young McDavid has started his OHL career and is looking to show that he deserves the label. Going to Erie, the worst team in the OHL last season, he’s immediately stepped into a top line role and is getting big minutes even to start the season. He’s shown some chemistry with teammate Stephen Harper (no, not that Stephen Harper) and is getting buzz from players like Sidney Crosby as the next big thing in hockey.  Today, Top Shelf Prospects looks at Connor McDavid, and his abilities and talents.

Centre
Born Jan 13 1997 — Toronto, ONT
Height 5.11 — Weight 170 — Shoots L

I had the opportunity to see a few of Erie’s games in the past week (on video) and I specifically focused my attention on Connor McDavid.  The latest phenom is certainly living up to the hype as he is leading the Otters in scoring and has 11 points in 9 games as a 15-year-old in the OHL.

Top Shelf Prospects: Connor McDavid impresses as a 15 year old Exceptional OHLer

Lets start with looking at the offensive weapons here–the kid has it all.  Exceptional hands and stickhandling ability, he can dangle past a defender and does an excellent job of protecting the puck and maintaining possession.  His hockey sense and decision making is already at an elite level, even moving up to the faster OHL.  His decision-making and vision are excellent, he reads the play very well and always seems to keep the puck moving in a smart and efficient manner.  His passing is outstanding as the young centre has the ability to thread pucks through tight spaces and put passes tape-to-tape at high speeds.  He’s an elite level playmaker.  McDavid also possesses an accurate shot with a good release, but will need to continue to work on his strength and the velocity of his shots going forward.

His ability to make all these plays at a high speed, and to never have to slow down his feet to control the puck is a huge asset.  He has the ability to change gears quickly and effectively and this aids him in beating defenders.  His top speed is good, but its the acceleration and the ability to vary his attacks, to slow the game down when necessary or to make the quick play that really sets him apart.  The unpredictability can leave defenders flat-footed as he quickly accelerates around them.  Or he can look like he his going to beat his man wide and suddenly slow down, opening up space for a shot or quick play in front of the defender.  His agility and edgework is also outstanding.  He also has very good balance and is a lot stronger on his skates than I expected.  Sure, as a 15-year-old he will occasionally be knocked over by bigger stronger, 19 and 20-year-old defencemen, but it doesn’t happen as often as I thought it would knowing his age.

Another impressive asset for McDavid is his two-way game.  Is he a perfect defensive forward?  At 15 just coming into the league, of course not.  But his game is far more developed than I expected as well.  He backchecks hard, and is a willing defender out there.  He works along the boards, and down low, showing grit and determination (but again must put on some weight and strength).  He anticipates plays very well and causes turnovers and starts the transition game with a smart play as soon as these occur.  McDavid is even being used by the Otters to kill penalties at this point, and he certainly doesn’t look out of place.  There is room for improvement here, but McDavid is already far better defensively than the other exceptional status forward, John Tavares was in his first season in the OHL.

McDavid is living up to the hype and I believe it will only grow for him going forward.  He’s a special player and a guy all OHL and NHL fans should keep their eye on.  The sky is the limit on this kid’s potential, there is no doubt about that.  I’m going to be very interested in him going forward over the next several years.

Why The SEC Rules College Football

Posted on by Lindsay Higgins

Asking why any team or conference is dominant is a bit of a chicken-and-egg question: do they nab the best players and attract the best coaches because they’re seen as the best, or are they the best because they get the best players and coaches? As with most of life’s profound questions, the answer isn’t black and white. A lot of factors go into making the SEC what most would agree is college football’s preeminent conference.

Youth and High School Football In The South

I don’t think most of the country has an equivalent as far as high school football in Texas and the Southeast. There are high schools in Texas with nicer football facilities than a lot of Division II colleges have. Boys in the South play Pop Warner football the way boys (and girls) in Canada play youth hockey – not all of them will like it or stick with it, but most kids’ parents do sign them up to give it a try when they meet the age requirement. In much of the country, Pop Warner football is competing with lots of other sports and activities for six- and seven-year-old athletes, many of whom will sign up for lacrosse or soccer instead. But with so many Southern kids at least trying football, not nearly as many talented athletes slip through the cracks, and the coaches are rarely shy about getting a talented basketball or soccer player to come to practice and give football a shot, even if he hasn’t played before.

Well-Rounded Athletes

Interestingly, a lot of SEC players do play other sports in high school as well. Several of the SEC schools have excellent track teams, and there have been football players from the conference who have had success there as well. Jeff Demps played running back for Florida and won a BCS title in 2009. He also ran track for the Gators and won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in the 4×100 meter relay. LSU’s Trindon Holliday, now with the Denver Broncos, is another SEC athlete who found success in both track and football. Former LSU cornerback Chad Jones won a BCS Title as a freshman in 2007 and pitched on the Tigers’ championship baseball team two years later. Part of this is due, no doubt, to the fact that football hasn’t been taken over by extended-season travel teams the way a lot of youth sports have. With 7-on-7 spring and summer leagues popping up in the last few years, we may have seen the last of the multi-sport athletes at the college level.

The Loyalty Factor

If you’re a kid in the South who likes football, you have a favorite team. Period. Maybe it’s your dad’s alma mater, or your mom’s; maybe it’s the school your dad grew up cheering for, or just the closest big-name school to where you live. Sure, a scholarship is a scholarship, and getting letters from the coaches you see on TV every weekend is exciting, but if you’re a dyed-in-the-houndstooth-wool Alabama fan, you don’t check the mail looking for letters from Meyer and Kiffin and Stoops. You’re waiting for the one from Saban. And if one from Saban doesn’t arrive, you’ll settle for one from Miles or Muschamp or Richt. There’s loyalty to your school first, but the conference is a close second. When the SEC Championship is played, there are fans around the Georgia Dome in the colors of all the SEC teams. The ones whose teams aren’t playing are there to show support for the conference and to see a good football game, and over the course of the weekend can generally be found chanting “SEC! SEC!”

But Really… It’s About Winning (oh, and the NFL)

 Of the 14 BCS National Championships that have been awarded (including the vacated 2004 title won by USC), the SEC has won eight. That makes it pretty damn easy for the SEC coaches to have their pick of the best athletes in the South, and to have a shot at some of the top-tier California, Texas, and Ohio/Western Pennsylvania kids too. As far as the NFL goes, since 2001 between four and eleven SEC players have been taken in the first round of the draft every year, with several more going in later rounds. And as long as the SEC teams are getting to the BCS game more years than not, and getting players to the NFL, they’re going to be getting most of the top players from one of the deepest talent pools in the country.

Hammer Radio: New TUF Coaches and UFC 153 Review

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Its Wednesday Night, so the Hammer Radio show is back, and available in Hamilton on 93.3 CMFU FM.

The Boys at the Hammer feature weekly coverage of all things MMA. This week they are back with another new episode and you can listen to the archived podcast by clicking here. Hammer Radio 115.

“While the current season of The Ultimate Fighter is floundering, things look a lot more interesting for the new year, as Jon “Bones” Jones and Chael Sonnen will be hosting the show and then fighting in the new year.  We discuss whether this matchup, and a new timeslot, can help save the whole TUF concept.

Then we run down the rest of this week’s news, including yet another cancelled Strikeforce show, the completely ridiculous UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar results, and the latest on Eddie Alvarez and Bellator.”

The Hammer features lastwordonsports’ own writer Greg Persson, long time internet superstar Steve Jeffrey, and is hosted by MMA aficionado Dave Abraham.

The Hammer has had interviews with some of the biggest names in MMA over the years, including BJ Penn, Dan Henderson, Sean Sherk, Mark Coleman, Rory MacDonald, Brendan Schaub, and others. They continue to bring unparallelled, independent coverage of all things MMA to fans of the sport.

They’ll give you the straight goods and the Last Word.

Last Word College Football Rankings, Week 7

Posted on by Lindsay Higgins

The BCS rankings came out this week, and so do the LWS NCAA Rankings!

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Florida

4. Oregon State

5. Kansas State

6. Oklahoma

7. Notre Dame

8. Ohio State

9. LSU

10. USC

11. Florida State

12. South Carolina

13. West Virginia

14. Georgia

15. Clemson

16. Mississippi State

17. Louisville

18. Rutgers

19. Cincinnati

20. Michigan

21. Texas Tech

21. Arizona State

23. Texas A&M

24. Northwestern

25. Ohio

A TUF Decision: Jones and Sonnen Next Coaches!

Posted on by Mark Modeski

It was really only a matter of time before it happened. The Ultimate Fighter, affectionately referred to as “TUF” has been slumping in ratings – most notably since moving to FX from Spike. Dana White had to pull out a trump card to rebound ratings for the series. Yesterday, Dana White confirmed that next two coaches for TUF will be Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen; and in the tradition of the show, the two will square off at the conclusion of the season.

Controversy is already swirling around this announcement. Does Sonnen really deserve a title shot at light heavyweight, in light of the fact that he has beaten no one at that weight class (not to mention he is coming off a loss at middleweight)? I’d probably agree that he doesn’t deserve the shot at the title, but the reasons for this announcement are clear.

This is fundamentally a desperation attempt at White to breathe new life into the waning show – however, it’s the right move at the right time. Not only have ratings for TUF been down, but UFC pay-per-view numbers have also been in slow decline as of late. Outside of a super-fight between two of the pound-for-pound fighters in the promotion (re: Anderson Silva, Jones or Georges St. Pierre), this is the biggest fight that could possibly happen. A two prong attack by White to bolster ratings for the Ultimate Fighter and for the pay-per-views.

What concerns me most, is that White seems to be pulling out a lot of his trump cards as of late. This Jones v. Sonnen announcement aside, we’ve also been hearing whispers of the long-awaited super fight previously mentioned. All of these moves, while right for the time, remind me of a teenager on prom night – putting all of his cards out front, and then blowing it at the last-minute. My only hope is that if the “super fight” comes to pass, that it is well paced out from Jones v. Sonnen.

More details to come on this, as Dana White is set to hold a call today with more details. Stay Tuned!

Latest NHL Offer: Deal Maker or Mirage?

Posted on by Ben Kerr

News broke this afternoon that the NHL made a significant offer to the NHLPA.  Hockey fans, including myself, are all hoping this is the real deal, and will lead to the end of the NHL Lockout.  Gary Bettman even announced that if the deal can be signed in enough time to have a 1 week training camp and open the season on November 2nd, the league would play a full 82-game season.

What does the offer mean though?  Is this really the end of the lockout?  Will we soon see our stars back on the ice?  The NHLPA is currently going over the offer with a fine-tooth comb (as they should), and is expected to submit a counter offer in the coming days.  In the meantime, let’s analyze what we do know.

Revenue Split

The NHL announced that they were offering a 50/50 split in Hockey Related Revenue (HRR).  This certainly sounds great, however there are a couple of potential pitfalls that the NHLPA must be aware of and could kill the deal.

1) Is the definition of HRR in the NHL’s offer, the same definition as in the previous CBA?  If the answer to this question is “no”, then the 50/50 split is just a PR exercise by the league.  The two sides must be talking the same language.  They must agree upon the definition of HRR or this offer will not lead to progress.

2) Future years – Does the NHLPA split of HRR stay at 50% for the life of the deal, or does it decrease as revenues increase?  If there is a further decrease in the later years of the agreement, this could lead to a rejection and will be seen by the NHLPA as an attack on salaries.  The split must stay for six years.

3) Is there wiggle room for the NHLPA to ask for 51% or 52%?  Given the timing of the offer and the fact that the NHL has not said it’s a “final” offer, I’m not convinced (yet) that 50% will be the final number.  I could see the players being able to get a percentage point or two more and still getting a deal done.  (This is especially true of year 1 of the deal in order to provide a gradual reduction from last year’s 57% share).

Escrow and Rollbacks

Gary Bettman has stated that movement to 50/50 will not lead to rollbacks on the players current contracts.  However, a 50/50 split this season would mean that players would make 12% less salary than they did last season (assumes 0 growth in NHL revenues).  Now obviously the NHL will grow revenues this year, but 7% is an unrealistic expectation.  This problem is further compounded by the fact that teams and players signed big money deals in the summer as GMs worked with a bigger cap.  So what is the answer?  How do the numbers get down to 50/50?  It is likely that there is some increased form of escrow in the offer, and if this is the case, its really no different than a rollback.

This is why the players may need to get the percentage up to 52% or so (at least in year one of the new CBA) in order to minimize the effects of the Escrow.

Contract Terms and Limits

The NHL has dropped a number of their previous requests. Salary Arbitration will remain unchanged under the new offer.  They’ve also moved drastically on Entry Level Contracts making them two years in length, instead of three.  This is a good move by the league and offers some significant give back.

Unrestricted Free Agency will be at age 28 or after eight years of service.  The previous offer was 10 years of service.  This is a significant move and closer to the 27/7, that is currently in place.  This should be a good move by the owners, and will help get a deal done with the NHLPA.

Contract Limits to Five Years Max:  I don’t think that this will work for the players.  The fact is that there are 89 current NHL players with contracts of six years or more.  I think that this is another area the owners can move.  While its true that the 13, 14, or 15-year contracts can not continue (especially with front-loading), I don’t think that five years will work for the Players either.  Expect them to look for something closer to the NBA limit of seven years.  The 5% limit in annual variance of contract value is something that is likely to happen.

Contracts in the minors count against Cap

This appears to be a bone given to smaller market teams.  Big market clubs who have taken advantage of burying big cap hits in the minors will no longer be able to do this.  I don’t think it will be a big issue for the players, and should be something the sides can agree on.

*Edit* From NHL.com: “We are proposing that the salaries of minor league Players on NHL contracts (above a threshold of $105,000) be counted against a Club’s Cap. This provision is intended to prevent Clubs from “stashing” or assigning players to the minors (or any other professional league) for “Cap management” purposes. We are not proposing that any salary paid to minor league Players on NHL contracts be counted against the Players’ Share.”
Since the contracts over 105K are for accounting purposes only and not counted against the players share, this should not be a huge issue for the NHLPA.

Timing

The NHL has made this offer today and there are 9 days before the deadline of October 25th, which would be when the deal would need to be signed in order to get in the necessary training camp and start the season November 2nd.  This indicates that it is not a drop dead final offer.  There is still room for movement and negotiation here.  This is good news, and to me it shows that the league legitimately wants a deal.

Full Season

The other big thing is the ability to get in an 82-game season.  This tells me a few other things:

The league’s sponsors and broadcasters have had some influence in softening the owner’s position, and they want 82 games to be played.

We can also look at the full 82-game season as an indication that many of the big market owners do not want to lose regular season revenues.  They do not want to be forced to refund season ticket holders, local broadcast rights owners, luxury box purchasers and corporate sponsors.  They are not interested in a partial season, they want their 82 games to be played.  This indicates that the offer is serious as I believe that big market owners do not want lose revenues like they did in 2004-05.  The league overall is making too much money today, and is in a much better financial position than it was at that time, and so there just isn’t the same willingness to shut down the league for a year to break the union.

The next nine days will tell the story, however, I do believe the NHL and NHLPA have taken their first steps towards a deal here.  Of course, that’s assuming there is no hidden fine print in the NHL offer, an unexpected clause that would blow the whole thing up.  Lets just hope the league is serious about this deal and it’s not just a PR stunt.  If it is serious, we will see some big negotiations over the next nine days, and then hopefully the opening of NHL training camp.

… and that’s the last word.

Tune in every Wednesday night to “Puckheads” on Last Word Radio where we discuss the most pressing story-lines relating to hockey.  The show kicks off at 10pm and runs until 11pm.  And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter – @LastWordBKerr

Riding the Fantasy Waiver Wire – Week 7 (Including a Great 'Dynasty' Pick-up)

Posted on by Bobby Scott

At this point in the season you should have your roster locked down and preparing yourself to make a playoff push. If your roster isn’t at that point of comfortability I’ll be coming out with article on how to ‘wheel and deal’ trades in fantasy football, but for now let’s take a look at this week’s waiver wire pickups.

Felix Jones RB Dallas Cowboys – With the injury to Dallas’ starting running back Demarco Murray, Jones will get the start this weekend against the Carolina Panthers. This is really no surprise as Murray has a long list of injuries in his football career, but the news out of Dallas is that his injury is not severe and Murray should be back in the next couple weeks. Jones is a good short-term option for Murray owners, or for a team whose main RB weapon might be on a bye this week. The Dallas offensive line is starting to come together and playing a soft team in Carolina will benefit Jones this week.  For those who like to wheel and deal, if you are interested in grabbing Murray in a trade this is a good buy low opportunity to do so.

Shonn Greene RB New York Jets – ‘Ground and Pound’, Baby! I started Greene last week as some of my players were on a bye week and after watching game tapes I was impressed with his burst and the play of the Offensive Line.  He had a huge week and its surprising to see he is still available in 20% of Yahoo Fantasy Leagues at time of publication.  Greene is the workhorse for the Jets and given the struggles that Mark Sanchez has experienced, the Jets should go to the ground game even more in the coming weeks. This week will be a big task though as the Jets are going against New England. From past years watching Greene, he usually has a slow start and starts to pick up speed and production toward week 10. Maybe this year he gets an early start?

***Daryl Richardson RB St. Louis Rams*** – Dynasty league owners take note, with the Rams  announcing that they’ll let Steven Jackson walk after this year the stock for Richardson is going through the roof. The play of Isaiah Pead has been lacking.  The opportunities for Richardson will grow in the coming weeks while St. Louis tries to determine if he can be an every-down back in 2013, or if they will need to use an early draft pick to add a starter to their team. If you are in a keeper league and you’ve got an available roster spot, this could be a great addition for the 2013 Fantasy season.

Josh Gordon WR Cleveland Browns – If recent weeks hold true, it looks like Gordon and Browns’ quarterback Josh Weeden are starting to click on big plays. In the last two weeks Gordon has put up 181 yards on 5 receptions, with 3 TD’s. I personally would feel more comfortable adding Gordon to my roster if there were more receptions as he may be a player who could have a huge week by catching a long touchdown pass, but will be inconsistent the next. Cleveland does have a favourable match-up this week going up against Indianapolis. With the possibility that Trent Richardson may not play, look to see if the Browns go to the air more often, which could mean more opportunities to Gordon.

Flying under the Fantasy Waiver wire

Nate Burleson WR Detroit Lions – I guess at this point if you have been following my articles you can see I usually have at least one Lions player in my columns. This week, Burleson is the man and even though he has low production he is someone to monitor.  Titus Young’s play has been lacking and teams are always double teaming “Megatron” Calvin Johnson. Short term, Burleson is nice bye-week fill in with the possibility of exploding for big production.  Long term, he’s someone to keep an eye on, as he might take that number two receiver job and run with it.  As a side note for the Lions, don’t sleep on Kevin Smith.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s article and wish you the best of luck on this week’s match-ups and in your playoff push.

Don’t forget to catch “Sunday NFL Blitz Package” on Last Word Radio, every Sunday from 7:30-8:30pm.

Buying Sports Jerseys From "Discount" Websites

Posted on by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

Who am I to judge?  Yet, judge I will, as I have often thought about the battle between what is socially and environmentally moral versus getting “stuff” at a discounted price.  Not everything is so black and white, and oftentimes in life we are forced to make decisions that we might not agree with, but for us they are in our best interest.  It is very easy to sit back and judge based on what we think we would do, but I ask you to be open-minded for just a bit.

This fall my indoor football (soccer) team decided to order some professional jerseys.  While we don’t have the skill of pro players, we thought that at least we could look the part.  We wanted to buy some replica jerseys to save some money, but were dismayed at the cost – the cheapest I could find for an “official” replica was $60/shirt.

Based on the recommendations of some articles on my favourite message board, I looked into some “off-shore” businesses who promised to sell for much cheaper – and that couldn’t be more true.  I already own an England kit I bought two years ago from BigBoxStore.com (the name has since changed), and paid only $18 total.  The quality wasn’t great, but I guess you get what you pay for…usually.

I looked at a few sites, all of which were a fraction of the cost of the “official ones”, and settled on soccersoccersoccer.com (no, I don’t work for them).  Their cost was around $20 Canadian, but not just for a jersey, for an entire kit!  I ordered nine kits, each for under $30 after taxes and shipping, and was told the delivery would likely be 5-10 days.

The company provided me with a tracking number four days later, and my item was shipped from China.  I followed along, and it took a total of five business days in transit, plus the four days in processing, for a combined nine days from start to finish.  Not too bad, but what about quality?

The items came in a thick envelope that was sealed with a plastic coating.  I removed the items, which were a little wrinkled from being squeezed so tightly in the packaging.

I was pleased that each jersey was separately packaged in a ziplock-style bag.  I put them all together and was excited to dive right in.  I ordered two kits for myself – a #10 Jack Wilshere and #9 Lukas Podolski.  As I plan on wearing the Podolski jersey during my games, I decided to take that one out first.

 

As I mentioned, I own half a dozen kits, some of which are “official” replicas, and others are cheap knock-offs.  This kit was very, very high quality.  I was very happy to feel the material was not some cheap polyester that would be bound to fall apart in the wash.  Instead, it was every bit as thick and felt just as durable as the $100 Arsenal jersey I bought straight from London.

 

I was wondering if the other kits in our lot would be equally as high quality, so I took out a second kit – a #7 Cantona Manchester United kit.  As you can see, the jerseys all came with very real-looking Nike or Adidas tags, unlike on other knock-offs I’ve purchased.  They also have the BPL logo on the shoulders, but they aren’t screened on, rather, they are patches!  That was certainly not the case in my other jerseys, including the official replica.  Finally, the jerseys inside and outside collar match the real thing exactly!

So, in retrospect, we ended up paying just under $30 for each kit, and for me they were worth every penny.  The jerseys and shorts were of excellent quality.  The attention to detail is spot-on, as I have compared these to pictures of the authentic ones.  In dealing with soccersoccersoccer.com I can say I was pleased with the time for delivery, especially when considering that I ordered during one of their national holidays.

Look, I am not always in favour of the “cheapest is best” mentality, and I hate sounding (or being) hypocritical, but in this case our decision paid off.  For my knock-offs I ordered in the past from other off-shore websites I must say I am disappointed both in their quality and in the fact that I bought a far inferior product just to save a few bucks, not to mention the moral and environmental concerns that go along with ordering in this manner.

Overall, I am impressed with the quality, price and delivery of this product, and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them in the future.  While it seems like a great idea to support one’s club by buying officially licensed kits, and it oftentimes is, sometimes the heavy price tag just isn’t manageable.

If you have any questions about my experience, please don’t hesitate to ask.  Send email to: [email protected].

Don’t forget to catch our World Football Roundtable show every Monday and Thursday at 10pm EST on Last Word Radio.  You can follow me on Twitter – @TwoLeftCleats

 

Basement and Ceiling NFL Power Rankings, Week 6

Posted on by Jack Stone

Week Six has came and gone, and we will be spared a repeat of the 2008 winless Detroit Lions as Cleveland finally got their first win!  On the top side only the Atlanta Falcons can stop the 1972 Miami Dolphins from cracking open that annual bottle of champaigne each time a team loses a game.  So here are LWOS Basement and Ceiling NFL Power Rankings:

28 –  Carolina Panthers –  They are comming off the bye week with a three-game losing streak.  If this bye didn’t help them, then their goose is cooked! Newton was their saviour last season, but this time everyone is prepared for him.  Is there anyone else on this team?

29 – Tennessee Titans –  Big win against the Steelers, but don’t get too excited, P-burgh was missing EIGHT starters by the end of the game!

30 – Cleveland Browns – Playing well, and finally got the win, but can they get a win streak going?  Nope!  Probably only going to win one game per month.

31 – Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jags had the bye week, so that saved some more embarrassment, but at least their fans arent cheering for them to lose their jobs or even worse, to get injured!

32 – Kansas City Chiefs – They got their new QB they asked for, and it resulted in a world-class beat-down by Tampa Bay… that’s not good!  Tampa has no right beating anything (get your head out of the clouds!)  The entire organization, from players to fans, is a complete mess, with absolutely no confidence in anything but knowing they’re going to lose! The team could be good, but it doesnt look like that will be soon enough.

To the top we go!!! Having the Giants dismantle SF has made me do some thinking.  I have six teams in mind, but what team shouldn’t make the list, and how do I order the remaining five properly?

5 – New York Giants – They have gained their form, and are always better down the stretch. They are dangerous, and only going to get better!  They don’t mind the underdog role, but pretty soon that might not be an option.

4 – Houston Texans – I said I wasn’t sold on them in last week’s rankings, and some questioned why I didn’t have them higher.  Well, this week showed why.  They played against a good team and didn’t look so good!  I’m still not sold on them as they coasted through too many easy games early in the season.

3 – Baltimore Ravens – They’re finding ways to win, but the fall-out from Ray Lewis getting injured is a major concern, and it is with great hesitation that I keep this ranking.  I will monitor closely and see how they can play without him. They could be in trouble!  And Steeler fans go wild…

2 – San Francisco 49ers – The Giants say they have figured them out. I think Harbough has plenty of tricks, and they will get back to winning quickly.  The team is too good, and much too deep.

1 – Atlanta Falcons – Rolling, rolling, rolling. The defense and offense are awesome. They look like the best team out there, and I think most agree with that.  They find ways to win, and have a dynamic QB-WR combo that is amongst the best in the NFL.  Not to mention a placekicker that is as automatic as they come.  Things are going well when your Defense is scoring almost every week!

NOTE: I kicked the Chicago Bears out of my top 5 at the expense of the New York Giants because the NFC is stacked and Cutler will have to be really good every week to keep up!

 

Don’t forget to tune into NFL Sunday Night Blitz Package on Last Word Radio, every Sunday night from 7:30-8:30 pm.  We’ll talk about the day that was in the NFL, chat about the most newsworthy storylines and get you primed for the Sunday and Monday nighters.