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Another NFL Season Comes to an End

admin — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:18:52 +0000

When the last 4 seconds went off of the clock and San Francisco 49ers punt returner Ted Ginn was tackled, the Baltimore Ravens completed an impressive run down the stretch of the playoffs to win Super Bowl 47. It was a controversial win for the Ravens as they received a gift of a non-call on a 4th down and goal play where WR Michael Crabtree was held by Ravens CB Jimmy Smith, but they took home the title. Ray Lewis can retire on the best note possible and Joe Flacco now has a legitimate shot to take home the 20 million per year that his agent Joe Linta has been asking for since the beginning of the year.

It was a great end to the NFL season, but there’s only one problem. There’s no more NFL for the next 8 months. That’s is a little tough to swallow. What do we do for the next 8 months? Sure, Major League Baseball spring training has started and March Madness is around the corner, but it’s not the NFL. NFL Network feels the same way and they’ll be pushing the NFL combine over the next couple months, which should help hold us over for a little while.

We saw a lot of great things this year in the NFL. Peyton Manning returned to form with the Denver Broncos. Less than a year after he tore his ACL and MCL, Adrian Peterson fell only 9 yards short of the single season rushing record. While these returns were incredible, there was one thing that stood out from them, the dawn of a new breed of NFL QB’s. Pick any of these young QB’s: RG3, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, and you’ll see where the NFL is going. Who wants a QB who can only throw, when you can have one who has a cannon and can run like a running back. These three talented QB’s are sure to change the game as we know it. It’s just too bad we have to wait 8 months to see them again.

Super Bowl XLVII Trophy Up For Grabs

admin — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 19:29:46 +0000

The NFL strives to produce a league every year where every team has a chance to make it to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. After 5 or 6 games into the season, there are usually a couple teams that we all know don’t have a legitimate chance of making it to the playoffs, but the rest of 32 teams are in the hunt. Regardless of these few teams, the NFL usually succeeds of their goal for parity and this is one of the many reasons that the NFL is the most watched sport in America.

To see a true example of this theory in action, look no further than this year’s NFL Playoffs. Every team has a legitimate shot of hoisting up the Lombardi Trophy on February 3rd. If there are two teams that have separated themselves from the pack, it’s the two teams sitting out this weekend in the AFC, the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos. They just might be the best two teams in the NFL. We might be destined to see another Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning AFC Championship.

The NFC is a little bit more of a crap shoot. Regardless of tying the Broncos for the best record in the NFL at 13-3, no one believes that the Atlanta Falcons can do anything in the playoffs. If Matt Ryan and the rest of the Falcons can prove the critics wrong and grab a couple wins during the playoffs, they’ll finally be seen as a powerhouse in the NFC. If they don’t, the NFC title is truly up for grabs.

Wild Card weekend is full of some interesting match-ups. Get the thought on all four games from a couple of ESPN‘s top analysts below:

Wild Card Analysis

2012 NFL Sack Leaders- Through Week 8

admin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:13:45 +0000

We’re half way through the 2012 NFL season and the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans are leading their respective divisions with records of 8-0 and 7-1. It’s always important to have a significant pass rush in the NFL, so it’s no surprise that both the Falcons and the Texans have players in the top 10 in sacks. Texans DE J.J. Watt leads the way with 9.5 sacks and Falcons DE Jonathan Abraham is tied for 7th with 7 sacks. Check out the complete list of the top sack leaders below.

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The Conan O’Brien to Blake Griffin Alley-Oop

admin — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 22:06:54 +0000

As part of NBA2K‘s promotion of their latest game video game 2K13, which was released earlier this month, L.A. Clippers star Blake Griffin sat down with Conan O’Brien last night and discussed the new game and the upcoming 2012-13 NBA season. The team at TBS did a great job of complementing their hilarious host by digging up some interesting photos of Griffin for Conan to show during the interview. They also received a little help from the team at NBA2K who put together a short clip of Conan playing alongside and against Griffin in the new game. Check out the clip of Griffin’s appearance below, which includes the Conan to Griffin Alley-Oop Dunk.

Conan O’Brien Clip

Pablo Propels Giants to Game 1 Victory

admin — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:28:42 +0000

Ruth, Jackson, Pujols and now Sandoval. These are the only 4 players who’ve hit 3 home runs in a single World Series game. The San Francisco Giants have been on a bit of a run of lately and that didn’t stop last night as Pablo Sandoval hit 3 hr’s in the Giants 8-3 Game 1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Sandoval put his name alongside the best players who’ve ever played the game. He also became the 1st player to go 4-4 in Game 1 of a World Series since Hall-of-Famer Lou Brock did it with the 1967 Cardinals. What makes the feat even more impressive is that he hit 2 of the hr’s against Justin Verlander. Verlander has been lights out all postseason but he got a couple bad breaks last night and was hit harder than he’s been hit all year.

The Giants received a strong outing from starter Barry Zito, who threw 5.2 innings allowing only 1 run on 6 hits. The bullpen also pitched well including a 2.1 inning outing from former starter Tim Lincecum. Lincecum struggled during the regular season this year going 10-15 with a 5.18 ERA so Giants skipper Bruce Bochy decided to throw Lincecum in the pen for the 2012 postseason. Lincecom has responded well to the demotion throwing 15.1 innings with a 2.93 ERA. He’ll be a nice asset for the Giants as they try to win their 2nd World Series in the past 3 years. Check out the complete highlights from game 1 here.

An Incredible Flight

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:48:42 +0000

The birds flew high in 2012. Winning 93 regular season games, the Wild Card play-in game and getting within 1 game of playing for the American League title. The Baltimore Orioles season came to an end last week as they were knocked off my the New York Yankees in the Bronx in game 5 of the divisional series. The O’s battled all series long, which included an extra inning win in game 4 to force the series to go the distance. Their pitching was outstanding all series long, but they just couldn’t muster up enough clutch hits in game 5 as they lost to the Yankees 3-1. It was a bitter end having to loose to their most hated rivals, but making it to the playoffs and winning the Wild Card play-in game was an amazing accomplishment for a team that was thought to be at the bottom of the barrel at the beginning of the season.

If there’s one word that can describe the O’s 2012 season, it would be resilience. They were a league leading 29-9 in 1-run games and 16-2 in extra inning games this year. There was a fight in this team that hasn’t been seen in a long time. If they were down by one or two runs in the 8th or 9th inning in previous years, the game was pretty much over. That wasn’t the case in 2012. The team went through a lot of hardships with loosing LF Nolan Reimold after he start out hot at the beginning of the season. Loosing SP Jason Hammel and RF Nick Markakis to injuries twice during the year and loosing their starting 2B and leadoff hitter Brian Roberts after getting him back a couple of months into the season.

If you would have asked me to predict their record at the beginning of the season knowing that these players were going to be hampered by injuries, I would have told you that we would be lucky to win 65 games. Instead, they dealt with these hardships and churned out their best season since 1997. They fell short of making it to the World Series, or even the Division Series, but the O’s, their fans, and the rest of Baltimore should be proud of what they accomplished in 2012. They should remember the thrill of beating the Yankees at home in game 2. They should remember how loud the crowd was. They should remember the white “Buckle Up” towels flying. Maybe if they remember what it was like in 2012, they can take that into 2013 and beyond. Baseball is alive and thriving in Baltimore.

Tough Week for the Ravens

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:22:17 +0000

As Dan Bailey‘s 51 yard field went wide left, the Baltimore Ravens breathed a sigh of relief as they were able to barely hold on in their 31-29 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. The Ravens were up for the majority of the game, but let the Cowboys come back in the final minutes to get within 2 points. If Dez Bryant‘s hands were a little more reliable, the Cowboys would have tied the game, but Bryant dropped the 2 point conversion throw from Tony Romo. Bryant had one of his best games of his career, catching 13 balls for 95 yds and 2 tds, but he let a big one fall through his hands at the end. After getting within 2 points, the Cowboys were able to successfully convert their onside kick attempt and drove down the field to set-up Bailey’s field goal. It looked like the Cowboys were going to be able to put the exclamation point on their comeback, but Bailey wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity.

The Ravens were lucky to be able to grab the win and move to 5-1, but they lost two of their star players in the process. Linebacker Ray Lewis tore his right bicep on a tackle and cornerback Ladarius Webb tore his ACL while trying to cut on the Baltimore turf. These are two huge losses for the Ravens. Lewis isn’t the linebacker he once was, but he’s still the heart and sole of this team. Webb on the other hand, has quietly become one of the better corners in the NFL. He’s an all-around corner with a nose for the football, great cover skills, and he can tackle in the open field with the best of them. Replacing Webb is going to be a tough task. The Ravens can only hope that Terrell Suggs can come back from the PUP list in the next couple weeks to take some pressure off of their corners.

For more info on the loss of Lewis and Webb, check out ESPN’s article here.

Verlander and Tigers Knock Out A’s

admin — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:12:06 +0000

The Oakland A’s won in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night when they came back from a 4-1 deficit in the 9th inning to beat the Detroit Tigers and force a game 5. After there win, there was just one problem for the A’s. They would have to beat Justin Verlander in game 5 to move onto the American League Divisional Series. Verlander has been the best pitcher in baseball for the past 2 years and is arguably the best pitcher since 2006, his first full season in the MLB. In the first game of the series, Verlander through a solid 7 innings and allowed only 1 run as the Tigers beat the A’s 3-1. Verlander was solid in his first outing of the series, but he was phenomenal last night.

Verlander threw a complete game shutout in the deciding game of the series as the Tigers beat the A’s 6-0. Verlander struck out 11 and allowed only 5 A’s to reach base. When the Tigers grabbed the 2-run lead in the 3rd, the writing was on the wall for the A’s. Being able to score 3 runs against Verlander last night would have been nearly impossible for an All-Star team lineup. Last night was the end for the A’s 2012 season, but they can still hold their heads up high. They put together a magical run at the end of the regular season to grab the AL West title and they turned a lot of heads all year long. Check out the highlights from Verlander’s gem below:

Verlander Highlights

Rams Cream Kolb and Cardinals

admin — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:46:59 +0000

It was a tough night last night for Arizona Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb. He was harassed all night by the St. Louis Rams defense with the Rams sacking him 9 times and pressuring him almost every time he touched the ball. With all the pressure, Kolb had a so-so night throwing the football. He threw for 289 yds on 28 of 50 passing for 0 tds and 0 ints. He didn’t give the ball away, but he also couldn’t find the end zone and neither could the rest of the Cardinals as they fell to the Rams 17-3 on Thursday Night Football on NFL Network.

The Cardinals loose their first game of the 2012 season and now sit at 4-1, while the Rams are now a game above .500 at 3-2. The Cardinals have looked solid so far this season but I wouldn’t be surprised if they take a bit of a nose dive after last night’s loss. Their next five games are against the Bills, Vikings, 49ers, Packers and Falcons and they’ll be lucky if they win 2 of those games. Their defense is solid but their offense is weak with a sub-par QB and an abysmal running game. The Cardinals may have started out hot but don’t expect to much from them this season.

Check out the complete highlights from last night’s game here.

Packers Loose To the Officials on Monday Night Football

admin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:05:43 +0000

The Green Bay Packers were supposed to be playing against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football last night, but they ended up against to play against the replacement refs as well and the replacements refs killed them. With the Seahawks down by 5 and on the Packers 24 yard line, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson was intercepted by M.D. Jennings on a pass intended for Golden Tate. The referees call on the field was that both Tate and Jennings possessed the ball at the same time and by rule the possession goes to the offensive player. The Seahawks were awarded the touchdown and won the game 14-12. There have been some bad calls so far this year in the NFL by the replacement officials, but this one takes the cake. The fact that this one call made the difference in the game is ridiculous. Roger Goodell needs to settle the dispute with the locked out officials as soon as possible because the replacement officials are killing the game we love. The photos below show how horrible the call was.