NFL Week 6 Preview

NY Giants @ New Orleans Saints
Spread: Saints, -3
o/u: 47
The Saints only managed 10 points on offense at home against the Jets in Week 4. Now they face another unbeaten NY team at home. The biggest difference between the Jets and Giants is the QB. New Orleans could force a rookie to make mistakes. Eli Manning won't have the same problems. The Giants defense will play just as well this week as the Jets did two weeks ago.
Pick: Giants 28 - Saints 17

Saturday Morning News - 10/17/09

Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis has been fined $25,000 for an illegal hit and kicking an opponent in last weeks game against Cincinnati. [ESPN]

The Chicago Bears traded a second round draft pick to Tampa Bay for Gaines Adams. [Chicago Tribune]

The NY Yankees beat the Angels 4-1 last night, and the LA Dodgers beat the Phillies, 2-1.

College Football Week 7 - Important Matchups

22 South Carolina @ 2 Alabama
Favorite: Alabama, -17
This in-conference game features what have become two defensive powers in college football, as SC has the 15th ranked defense, and Alabama has the 2nd. But both teams have also played well on offense, with Alabama putting up 37 points per game. Sc's offense has struggled at times, including in a 7-3 over NC State in Week 1. It will be that dominant defense and scoring offense that carries the day for 'Bama in this one.
Pick: Alabama 38 - South Carolina 24

20 Oklahoma vs 3 Texas (Neutral Site - Dallas)
Pick: Texas, -3
Despite losingthis game last year, Oklahoma went on to play for the BCS National Championship instead of Texas, and you better believe Texas remembers it. Both teams come into this game putting up huge points and allowing very few. Texas has blown through five straight unranked teams, outscoring them 236-75. And with the national polls dropping Texas one spot this week, they want to put up a big win to get back to second. Oklahoma has struggled on the big stage this year, already losing twice to ranked opponents. But QB Sam Braford was injured in the first loss, resulting in him not playing in the second. Still, BYU outplayed Oklahoma even before Bradford went down, and Texas will outplay them this week.
Pick: Texas 35 - Oklahoma 17

6 USC @ 25 Notre Dame
Favorite: USC, -10
The funny thing about big games is that they sometimes allow the lesser team to make a name for themselves. USC has simply dominated the Irish over the past couple years, and they spread would indicate people seem to think they still will. But with Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen in the Heisman running this year and a USC team that looks beatable, 10 points might be far too high a spread. In fact, the future of the Irish football program may hang in the balance of this game, as there has been speculation that if Charlie Weis can't win this game, he may be out as head coach. The key will be the Irish defense. If they can play like they did in Week 1, they'll win. If not, they'll lose, but it will be a close one.
Pick: Notre Dame 38 - USC 35

Pitt @ Rutgers
Favorite: Pitt, -3.5
Each of these teams have quietly put together strong, one-loss records this year. The result has been a wide-open Big East, with four one-loss teams and an unbeaten Cincinnati. Rutgers one loss, however, was in-conference against that Cincinnati team in Week 1. Both teams, then, com into this game needing a big win both for their national rankings and their conference standings. Both teams come in with a strong offense, and Rutgers appears to have the better D. But with Cincinnati still on their schedule to end the season, Pitt needs this game more, and they know it.
Pick: Pitt 31 - Rutgers 27

Friday Morning News - 10/16/09

No 8 Cincinnati beat 22 USF, 34-17, despite losing QB Tony Pike to an arm injury. [TampaBay.com]

Cleveland Cavaliers Lebron James, Darnell Jackson, and Coby Karl have all tested positive for influenza A, but it is not yet known if they have swine flu. [Cleveland.com]

The NBA will alter its rule on traveling, now officially allowing two steps after the bal is picked up, rather than one. This had been an unofficial rule for years. [ESPN]

College Football Thursday Night Preview

8 Cinncinati @ 21 USF
Favorite: Cincinnati, -2.5
This is the first "test game" for either team, as Cincinnati's best opponent so far has been Rutgers, and USF's has been a then-ranked FSU. But since beating Southeast Missouri State 70-3 in Week 2, Cincinnati has struggled, while South Florida has played consistently well. This one will come down to who has the better defense, and that has to go to USF, who has the fifth-ranked scoring defense in the nation.
Pick: USF 31 - Cincinnati 17

MLB Championship Series Preview

NLCS:
LA Dodger vs Philadelphia Phillies
Both teams showed in the first round they deserved to be here, but it wasn't necessarily on the backs of their starting pitchers. In Game 1 against the Cardinals, Dodger Randy Wolf only lasted 3.2 innings, giving up 5 walks, but only 2 earned runs. For the Phillies, neither Cole Hamels or J.A. Happ made it past the 5th inning, giving up a combined 7 earned runs in 8 innings. No, both of these teams made it on the strength of their bullpens and late-game hitting. With both teams putting up their best starter from the NLDS in Game 1, that might be the only close game of this series.
Pick: Dodgers 4 - Phillies 1

ALCS:
LA Angels vs NY Yankees
The Angels are a team built on speed. Almost every player on the team has the ability to be a scoring threat once they reach base. And with Jorge Posada behind the plate for most of the series, they'll be running often. But Alex Rodriguez and the Yankee bats have come alive this postseason, and with the prospect of facing CC Sabathia in Games 1, 4, and 7, Angel baserunners may be a luxury. Add in AJ Burnett comfortably to Jose Molina, and its Yankees in 6.
Pick: Yankees 4 - Angels 2

Thursday Morning News - 10/15/09

The Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class: Junior Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr. [KansasCity.com]

Rush Limbaugh has been dropped from a group attempting to buy the St Louis Rams. Dave Checketts, who heads the group, cited the mounting criticism of Limbaugh owning a team as "endangering our bid to keep the team in St Louis" as the reason for dropping him. [WSJ.]

Bean Stringfellow, Billy Wagner's agent, has now said Wagner has no intention of retiring. [ESPN]

The Charlotte Bobcats and head coach Larry Brown were each fined $60,000 as part of the NBA's no-tolerence policy on criticizing replacement refs. [Charlotte Observer]

Wednesday Morning News - 10/14/09

The University of Kentucky and Billy Gillispie reached a settlement on the lawsuits related to his firing. Gillispie will reportedly get over $2.9million. [Louisville Courier-Journal]

US National Team forward Charlie Davies is in stable condition after an early-morning one-car accident left him with broken bones and a lacerated bladder, and killed another person in the car. [ESPN Soccernet]

Billy Wagner, who missed much of this season after having Tommy John surgery, is considering retiring. [NY Post]

Junior Seau is coming out of retirment again to play for the New England Patriots. [Washinton Post]

Super Bowl hero David Tyree has signed with the Baltimore Ravens. [Baltimore Sun]

NFL Week 5 Wrap-Up

In what might is hopefully the worst weekend of football this season, there was some real ugly stuff happening:

The Good:
The Denver Broncos
Denver is 5-0 for a reason: they really do seem to have the best defense in football right now. Trailing 17-7 at halftime, the Broncos D kept the Patriots from scoring in the second half, allowing the offense to tie the game, and finally win in OT without giving Tom Brady the ball. For a team that many thought would be the worst in football(personally I thought they would do well, but finish second in their division to the Chargers), they've put their preseason differences behind them and have been able to play as a unit so far this season.

Seattle Seahawks
Did anybody see this coming? I know I didn't. Facing a Jacksonville team that looked like they had put everything together the week before, Seattle shut out the Jags in a 41-0 rout. After missing two games with a rib injury, Matt Hasselback exploded on the Jags D, throwing for 4 TDs. If thats not a statement that Seattle wants to win their division, I don't know what is.

The Bad:
NY Jets
The Dolphins made the Jets D look completely overmatched on MNF. They were completely unable to stop the Wildcat, and Chad Henne pretty much threw at will. To make matters worse, with a 3 point lead late in the game, the Jets couldn't stop the Dolphins at all and gave up the game-winning touchdown with less than 10 second left. This game was a complete embarassment for what was looked at as one of the best defenses in football. I don't care what some of the ESPN analysts say, Miami didn't win this game, the Jets D gave it to them.

Oakland Raiders
The Raiders were ready to annoint JaMarcus Russell as the Greatest Quarterback in History when they drafted him with the first overall pick in 2007. In a blowout loss to the Giants, they let Russell throw the ball 13 times. That shows a complete lack of faith in the passing game, and Russell as an NFL talent. It also might show just how incompetent Tom Cable is as a head coach.

The Ugly:
Cleveland Browns 6 - Buffalo Bills 3
If you watched this game, I'm sorry. In a game full of bad play, the Browns got the win on a late field goal thanks to Roscoe Parrish failing to pick up a punt he should have either fallen on or let go. Instead, the Browns recovered on the Bills 16-yard line. On the other hand, Browns QB Derek Anderson went 2/17 for 23 yards and an interception. Thats a completion percentage of 11.8. The good news coming out of the game: Browns RB Jamal Lewis rushed for 117 yards, and Bill WR Terrell Owens had a season-high 4 receptions.

The Broncos Throwback Jerseys
My God, those things were ugly. I haven't found a picture of them that truly does justice to how ugly these things looked on TV. Find highlights of the game and watch those. You'll understand.

Rookie Roundup: Using a complex scoring system to rank two major rookies for the season

Mark Sanchez: 12/24, 172 yards, 1 TD, 1 sack, 6 rushing yards
Points: 10.2, 41.2 overall

Matthew Stafford: DNP
Points: 0, 36.7 overall

Week 5 Winner: Sanchez


Injuries:
Eric King, CB, Lions: out for the season with a shoulder injury
Kawika Mitchell, LB, Bills: out for the season with a knee injury
Marcus Buggs, LB, Bills: out for the season with a knee injury

Fantasy Studs:

1. Miles Austin. With Roy Williams out, this is Austin's first start. He made the most of it, with 250 yards and 2 TDs.
2. Roddy White. Apparently inspired by Austin an earlier game, White blew up for 210 yards and 2 TDs of his own in the late afternoon.
3. Donovan McNabb/Matt Hasselbeck. Both players played in their first game since injuring their ribs, and both players put up over 200 yards passing. McNabb had 3 TDs and Hasselbeck had 4.
   

Fantasy Duds:

1. Roscoe Parrish. He had 16 yards, but lost 2 fumbles, including the one that gave Cleveland the win, giving him -2.4 points this week.
2. Derek Anderson. After looking good in his first start this season, Anderson was just 2/17 for 23 yards.
3. DeSean Jackson. In two games with Kevin Kolb, Jackson had 250 yards and 2 TDs. In two games with McNabb, he has 10 yards and 0 TDs, including his 1 catch, 1 yard peformance of this weekend.

Week 5 Picks:
Straight up: 8-6, 51-25 overall
ATS: 6-8, 47-29 overall
o/u: 4-10, 34-42 overall

What Have We Learned?: Three things we can take away from this weekend
1. Rib injuries are overrated
Donovan McNabb and Matt Hasselbeck both injured their ribs, took a couple weeks off, and came back this week to lead their teams to big wins, including Seattle's 41-0 beatdown of Jacksonville. Hasselbeck had 241 yards and 4 TDs, while McNabb had 264 yards and 3 TDs.

2. The Wildcat might be underrated
Most people "in the know" seem to think the Wildcat is a gimmick system and it will be gone in a couple years. But Miami is leading the NFL in rushing using the Wildcat, and they made the Jets D look foolish on MNF this week. Maybe they're right and it will be gone soon, but Miami is showing that a team can play consistently well in the system with the right players in place.

3. Peyton Manning: still good
The Peyton Manning dominance of NFL defenses continued this week, as he put up yet another 300 yard game, this time against Tennessee. Sure, these last 5 games have been against weak/inconsistent D's, but that shouldn't take away from what Manning brings to the table: pure throwing ability and the leadership to control the offense on his own. Next week: St Louis and another 300 yards!

Questions for Week 6:
How overrated are these guys?
At various points in the preseason and first 4 weeks, the Jets, Patriots, 49ers, and Cowboys were all picked to win their divisions by somebody. Now, the Cowboys look bad after almost losing to Kansas City, the 49ers got crushed by Atlanta, and the AFC East looks like one of the weakest divisions in football, with Miami ready to take it back after starting the season 0-3. Are all these teams simply overrated? Or are these just bumps in the road to the playoffs? Overrated or not, they all need big games next week to get back on track.

How much longer for Jim Zorn and Dick Jauron?
Rumors out of D.C. say that Daniel Snyder is looking at John Gruden as his next head coach, and has been leaning that way since Detroit beat the 'Skins in Week 3. Gruden, an analyst on MNF, will be in town in Week 7 for the game against the Eagles. Could that be the end of Zorn's tenure? For the Bills, the contract extension they gave Jauron after last years 5-0 start is looking like one of the biggest mistakes in football history. Since then, the Bills are 3-13, including 1-4 this year. Their big offseason aquisition, Terrell Owens, is averaging 2.4 catches a game, with one game without a catch. And this weekend 6-3 loss was one of the worst games in NFL history. Ralph Wilson is believed to have never fired a coach mid-season, but theres a first time for everything, right?



Will the Broncos yellow-and-brown throwback jerseys be fully retired?
Seriously, those things were horrible. I love some of the throwbacks, like the Oilers, Patriots, and NY Titans, but those things need to be forgotten.

MY 25 - Week 6

There is probably nothing in sports I disagree with more than the BCS and college football poll system. With that in mind, each week I'll be naming my own Top 25. The only hard and fast rule of MY 25: overall records come first.

1. Alabama
2. Texas

3. Boise St
4. Florida
5. Iowa
6. Kansas
7. Cincinnati
8. USF
9. TCU
10. Miami(FL)
11. Oregon
12. Virginia Tech
13. BYU
14. Oklahoma State
15. Nebraska
16. Ohio State
17. Penn State
18. South Carolina
19. Auburn
20. West Virginia
21. Houston
22. USC

23. Notre Dame
24. Pitt
25. Rutgers

Performance of the Week: Freddy Barnes

Barnes, a receiver for Bowling Green, just about put the team on his back in their win over Kent State this week. Of the 44 completions thrown by QB Tyler Sheehan, exactly half of them went to Barnes for 278 yards and 3 TDs. He also had 9 yards on 3 carries. No other player on the team saw the ball more than 10 times, and no player on either team broke 100 yards rushing or receiving.

The Sunday News - 10/11/09

The LA Dodgers have swept the St Louis Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs. [NYDN]

No 1 Florida beat 4 LSU, 13-3. [Miami Herald]