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This NFL season continues to get stranger and stranger. Teams you expect to win, lose. Teams who show up and surprise you one week come back and do nothing the week after. Certain teams you expect to be good every year and some you expect to be awful. This year is by far the most unpredictable year in a long time. The Patriots and Colts are no longer the powerhouse team that is dominating good teams. The Colts have two gift wrapped wins against the Vikings and especially the Texans. Sage Rosenfels single handily gave a W to the Colts with his costly turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins continue surprise good teams with two consecutive wins over the Patriots and Chargers. The old cliché of anyone one can win on any given Sunday is especially true for this year. There is no givens this year on who is going to win in one particular week.
There have been crazy games as well; one of those games was seen yesterday. The New Orleans Saints got two punt returns for touchdowns out of Reggie Bush. He is only the twelfth player in NFL history to do this. The Saints with Bush’s magnificent run backs were primed for the win. They were lined up for the game winning field goal and kicker Martin Gramatica missed a 46-yarder to put the Saints up three. What made this game even weirder is the fact that the Vikings won the game by getting almost next to nothing out of running back, Adrian Peterson which is known to be their best offensive weapon. Journeyman Gus Frerotte led the Vikings down the field in position to kick the game winning field goal with 13 seconds left. The Vikings went onto intercept Drew Brees next pass attempt to seal the game.
The Colts who looked like they were headed for their third loss of the season scored 21 points in two minutes. They got the miracle they needed to come away with the win. His name was Sage Rosenfels who tried to look like a former Heisman Trophy winner, by trying to leap over a linebacker, only to get hammered by another, which caused him to fumble and the Colts returned it for a touchdown. Rosenfels would fumble another ball and throw an interception all in the matter of less than three minutes. The Colts went onto win 31-27.
We learned that predictions this year are going to be hard to make and even harder to get right. What does next week hold in the NFL, who knows it’s anyone’s guess.
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September 19th 2008 20:29
During the second week of the NFL we were blessed with some more exciting games and performances. This week featured some unproven signal callers showing that they have the potential to get the job done week in and week out. The three quarterbacks that stood out to me were Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler and J.T. O’Sullivan.
The Green Bay Packers played one of the worst defenses in the NFL this week and Rodgers exposed it as such in their match-up this week. Rodgers was efficient while completely 24 of his 38 passes to seven different receivers. He passed for a career high 328 yards and three touchdowns. Rodgers is under tremendous pressure to perform well this year because he is trying to replace the legendary Brett Favre. Through two weeks he has shown no sign of being affected by some of the expectations that have been laid at his feet. He is also proving to his critics that he can handle the reigns to the Packer franchise.
The Broncos are notorious for running the football and producing 1,000 yard rushers. This year Jay Cutler has taken the focus off the running game and made the passing game look like the teams bread and butter. Cutler has a canon for an arm, reminds a little bit of Favre’s arm strength. Cutler also has enough mobility to avoid timely sacks. This weekend Cutler got back his favorite target Brandon Marshall and he let everyone know that Marshall is his favorite target by completing 18 passes to him, two shy of the NFL record held by Terrell Owens. Cutler completed 72 percent of his passes for 350 yards and four touchdowns. While the rushing game still produced 145 yards, the passing game is what won the game for the Broncos vs. the Chargers. Down one point after just scoring a touchdown the Broncos elect to go for two and the win. Cutler dropped back, waited patiently and delivered a bullet to rookie receiver Eddie Royal for the win.
The 49ers have long been looking for a player to shine at the quarterback spot. Although they thought they had that player in number one draft pick from 2005, Alex Smith, who in my opinion never got a fair chance in San Francisco but that’s a whole other story which I will be writing about soon. J.T. O’Sullivan showed us what he had shown us towards the end of the preseason and why he won the starting job. O’Sullivan made timely throws and touch throws to his receivers. Even though he was sacked eight times he used his legs to avoid some more sacks and make positive plays. He led the game winning drive in overtime with poise and never looked rattled on the road in front of one of the NFL’s loudest crowds in Seattle. O’Sullivan was the first 49er quarterback to throw for over 300 yards in nearly four years. O’Sullivan finished with 321 yards and a touchdown while completing 62 percent of his passes. He also ran for 32 yards on four rushes.
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Many things took place during the opening weekend of the NFL including surprising injuries and teams, exciting games; dominate performances from teams and individuals. Fans also followed their fantasy football players hoping they would score big even if they didn’t play for their favorite team.
The biggest news from week 1 seems to be the season ending knee injury suffered by Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, in the first quarter. Brady stepped up in the pocket to make a pass when Kansas City Chief’s safety Bernard Pollard fell into Brady’s left knee. Brady went down and was in obvious pain, he managed to limp off the field. Later the team found out that Brady would need surgery thus ending his season. This thrusts unproven backup Matt Cassel into the starting role for the Patriots. Cassel played well in the three quarters that he played. The Patriots went more conservative with their play calling once Brady went down. Cassel ended up completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots are hoping that Cassel can do what Brady did when Brady came in for injured Drew Bledsoe. This is what head coach Bill Belichick is hoping and expecting. He expects everyone to continue to do their jobs including Cassel.
Another injury that is going to potentially hurt a team is the injury to Seattle Seahawks wide-out Nate Burleson is out for the season with a torn ACL. Burleson injured the knee by making a cut on the wet grass in Buffalo. This leaves the Seahawks quite thin at the receiver position with only three receivers healthy, none of which has much NFL experience. The Seahawks will have to go scavenging for some help possibly ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson?
Some teams that surprised us in week 1 were the Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons. The Bills defense shut down the Seahawks offense. It seemed as though the Seahawks were always punting the ball. They had several three and outs while only converting on third down three times. The Bills offense also stepped up by making great plays and savvy play calling. Bills punter Brian Moorman threw for a touchdown when defensive end Ryan Denney was left all alone on by the sideline. Trent Edwards, Lee Evans and Marshawn Lynch all had solid days. The Falcons came out of the gate running behind Michael “burner” Turner. Turner ran all over the Lions weak run defense. Turner carried the ball 22 times for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. Turner was Ladainian Tomlison’s back up for the last four years and was waiting to breakthrough that role. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan did well at managing the game for the Falcon’s. He only threw the ball 13 times but completed 9 of those pass attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown.
There were multiple games that came down to the wire none more exciting than the Carolina Panthers against the San Diego Chargers. With 2 seconds left on the clock the Panthers were down 4 points when Jake Delhomme pumped faked a pass and looked like he was about to eat dirt. Delhomme quickly released a bullet from the 13-yard line to the back of the end zone to tight end Dante Rosario. The Patriots had to make a goal line stand to keep the Chief’s from tying the game and sending the game into overtime.
Fantasy football also got kicked off this weekend and some fantasy owners were very pleased while others were on the waiver wire looking for replacements. With Tom Brady out for the year those Fantasy owners will be looking for a quarterback to do a suitable job. Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and even Tom Brady’s real life replacement could be viable options. Some surprising players who put up great fantasy players include Michael Turner, Eddie Royal, Matt Forte, Anthony Fasano, Dante Rosario, and Desean Jackson.
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My name is Matt Fox and I'm currently running Closer Look Sports. I took it over back in May but haven't had much time to post as you can see. Now that I'm back at college and not working crazy hours for Pepsi Bottling Group I should be posting more often. With Closer Look Sports I will be writing about the NFL, MLB, NBA and NCAA Men's basketball. I'm sorry I'm not a huge college football fan so posts about college football will be rare. I hope all my visitors will enjoy my writing and give honest feedback (good or bad) about my writing or opinions.
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The Favre saga has finally come to an end and he is still wearing green… Jet green that is. Favre was traded for a conditional fourth round pick which can turn into a first round pick based on the teams performance and how much Favre plays. With the acquisition of Favre the Jets released Pennington. This ends one QB competition in the NFL. Favre gives the Jets a star at the quarterback position, something they haven’t had in years. Another thing that Favre gives the Jets is a big strong arm an aspect that Pennington was continually criticized for. The focus of NY football has shifted from the Superbowl winning Giants to the Jets who now haven’t had expectations like this in years. The winner in this deal will be determined by a number of things such as how long Favre plays, how well he can grasp his new offense in such little time, and how far Favre can take the Jets. If Favre ends up being the savoir in NY that benefits both teams, it gives the Jets a contender and the Packers a higher draft pick the further the Jets go. So far it looks as though Favre is building nice chemistry with Jerico Cotchery. The Jets have all the potential in the world with Thomas Jones looking to bounce back after a down year. The defense needs to prove itself before Favre can take them to the promise land. My prediction is that the Jets will make the playoffs with Favre, maybe make it past the first round depending on who they play but the class of the AFC is definitely the Patriots and the Colts. Getting past one of those two teams would be a major accomplishment.
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They always tell you to stay in school and that is exactly what three Tar Heel players are doing. This was the right decision for all three of these players Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. It wasn’t given that any of these players would crack the top 20. Lawson was only the first one to be projected in the first round. This means the Tar Heels return the same team that went to the Final Four last year while bringing in one of the countries top recruiting classes. Can you say National Championship? Another year of school will do all of these players some good. Although the experience they gained going through the process and camps was also valuable. They will know what to expect come this time next year. Tyler Hansbrough is determined to win a National Championship to complete his stellar college career and his chances just got better with this news.
Each of these players will need to work on their games in the next year to improve their draft status for the 2009 draft. Lawson will have to improve his outside shooting. Gaining some consistency from beyond the arc and adding some distance would be ideal for Lawson. It’s hard to see his defense and assist to turnover ratio improving much because they were phenomenal this past year. Staying healthy for the whole year would also be something that would be nice but Lawson can’t really control that one. If Lawson improves his shooting and continues his stellar play at the point he could easily be a top 10 if not top 5 draft pick next year.
The second leading scorer for the Heels last year, Wayne Ellington, will have to improve other facets of his game besides shooting. Ellington might have been the best pure shooter in the draft but that’s all they see in him right now. Ellington got better at putting the ball on the floor and taking it to the basket between his freshman and sophomore year but he will have to improve on that even more this year. Being stronger with the ball is another thing Ellington can do to improve his draft status for the 2009 draft. He will also have to improve his game on the defensive side of the ball. NBA teams would like to see Ellington become a better all-around player. Being one dimensional had Ellington projected to go in the second round. If Ellington can get better at those aspects of his game he could jump into the top 20 if not higher
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The Chicago Bulls have finally ended their search for a new head coach. They chose Vinny Del Negro. This move is somewhat puzzling because of the names that first appeared on the top of the Bulls list. Avery Johnson and Mike D’Antoni were the front runners to take the job with D’Antoni leading by a wide margin. The Knick’s came in and snatched him from under the Bulls flat-footed feet. The Bulls then looked to a familiar face in Doug Collins who coached the Bulls in the late 80s. This move fell apart because Collins and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf did not want to ruin their friendship. Then a bunch of assistant’s names came up as on the Bulls list of candidates.
Del Negro interviewed once for the job and must have been quite impressive to get a second interview with no coaching experience at all. The second interview must have blown away Bulls GM John Paxson. Del Negro was hired as the Bulls new head coach after a seven week search. With the coaches with all the credentials that some of the other candidates had, the Bulls go with a guy who has zero experience besides playing. Maybe the Bulls are hoping that Del Negro can do what Johnson did with the Mavericks. Although to do that same thing with the Bulls will be a little tougher with all that has gone on in the last year with this team. Having the number one pick in the draft will ease that challenge a bit.
There have to be a bunch of questions that are going to be asked by outsiders looking in: how will these players respond when they didn’t respond to the interim coach Jim Boylan? How is Del Negro going to gain the respect of the players when he hasn’t coached before? What kind of team will this be? Defensive or offensive? How will Del Negro deal with that log jam in the back court? What does Del Negro bring to the table that none of the other candidates did? If Del Negro gets canned does Paxson go with him
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The NBA Finals start tonight and we will be seeing the most classic finals match-up there is to be seen in the NBA. It’s been a long time since the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics have met in the finals. This will be my breakdown and prediction of the series.
Backcourt: The Lakers have the obvious advantage in the backcourt with Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant over Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. Allen’s resurgence does make this a closer debate but the Lakers still have the advantage with Fisher and Bryant. The experience is overwhelmingly in favor of the Lakers with both players having been apart of three championship teams. Rondo only being a second year player also gives the Lakers a big experience factor advantage. Having the MVP of the league, Kobe Bryant, is another huge advantage in the backcourt. The Celtics do have a MVP candidate of their own just not in the backcourt. Bryant is arguably the best player in this series, he can do it all from scoring, setting up his teammates for scoring opportunities, rebounding and defend when he wants to.
Frontcourt: I have to give the frontcourt edge to the Celtics. Kevin Garnett is one of the hardest workers and plays with more passion than anyone else on the court. Paul Pierce is a perennial all-star and has shined in these playoffs. Kendrick Perkins has made a name for himself in these playoffs by putting up huge rebounding totals vs. the Pistons. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odem can’t go unnoticed though. They have been vital to the Lakers winning the western conference this year. I think Odem is much happier being the third option rather than the pressure of being the second option. He’s allowed to stay within himself during the game rather than being forced to be the go-to guy when Bryant is on the bench. But with all that said the Celtics have the advantage here, Garnett and Pierce alone are just too good for the Lakers frontcourt
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The Chicago Bulls had great expectations for last season. Some put them in the Eastern Conference finals and even the NBA finals. There season never really got off the ground. Just when they showed signs of turning it around, they would again falter. The Bulls fired their head coach Scott Skiles and made Jim Boylan an interim head coach. This change did not work. The Bulls then made a trade at the last minute of the trade deadline. The Bulls lost Joe Smith, Ben Wallace and Adrian Giffin to gain Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. This trade did not turn the Bulls season around either. The Bulls missed the playoffs for the first time in three years. They ended up with a lottery pick which figured to be around the nine spot based on their record. They had a 1.7 percent chance of snagging the number one pick. The Bulls ended up with that number one pick. There is now a great debate on who they should take with the number one pick, Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose.
One option for the Bulls is Michael Beasley. Beasley left after having a dominating freshman year at Kansas State. He is 6’10” and weighs 235. Beasley is a post presence and has good range on his shot for his size. He averaged 26.2 points per game and 12.4 boards a game. The Bulls have been looking for a post presence like this for a very long time. They do have Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah but Beasley would be an upgrade over at least two of those players, Thomas and Noah. The Jury is still out on both those young players. Thomas is a freak of an athlete and still 21-years-old. Noah is a hustler but doesn’t have much of an offensive game. Beasley would create instant inside offense for the Bulls. There are questions about his character and his defense. His character hasn’t come into question until now; there was no incident during his freshman year that would make one question his character. When it comes to his defense, the Bulls will improve his defense just for the simple fact that they are a defensive minded team and if he’s willing to put in the effort he could potentially be a great defensive player. Having Beasley working down low in the paint would help open up the perimeter for the shooters of the Bulls who were one of the best 3-point shooting teams when they last made the playoffs.
The other option is Derrick Rose. Rose is a 6’3” point guard. Rose played one year at Memphis and led the Tigers to the National Championship game. Rose’s numbers consisted of 14.9 ppg, 4.7 apg, and 4.5 rbg. Rose has been said to be a Jason Kidd with a jump shot. Some say that he can elevate the level of play of Tyrus Thomas as Chris Paul has done with Tyson Chandler. Those are big shoes to fill as a freshman coming out of college. Drafting Rose does create an even bigger log jam at the guard positions. The Bulls already have Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes and Thabo Sefolosha. Chris Duhon is also on the roster but appears to be on his way out. If the Bulls draft Rose they should trade one of these players for an inside offensive threat which isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do because those players are hard to come by. Rose would be an upgrade to Hinrich at the point guard position; this would allow Hinrich to move over to the shooting guard which many have said better suits him. If any player gets traded after drafting Rose the Bulls should look to trade the “me” first Larry Hughes. He openly admitted that he’d rather play and put up his numbers than do what the team needs him to do
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It is apparent that Major League Baseball needs instant replay. This debate came to light again when the Yankees and Mets played at Yankee Stadium. Carlos Delgado of the Mets was at the plate with the bases full. He smashed a pitch to the left corner of left field hitting the black portion of the foul pole. It was originally called a home run by the third base umpire who had the best look at it. Then the umpping crew got together and the call was reversed from the right call to the wrong call. The replay clearly showed that the foul ball call should have stayed a home run. Although the call didn’t affect the outcome of the game, the call should be the right one.
This is not the first time a call has been blown. Last year in game 7 of the American League Championship Series the Cleveland Indians were on the same side as the Mets. Kenny Lofton hit the ball into left field and tried to stretch a single into a double, he was ruled out by the second base ump. Replay clearly showed that Lofton was never tagged by the Red Sox player. This blown call did change the game dramatically; the Indians could’ve been on the verge of a rally only to have that wrongly taken away from them in their ticket to the World Series.
There are many people who are against instant replay for many reasons. The main argument against instant replay is that it would extend a game that is already one of the longest in professional sports. Another argument is that the umpires are human and will make mistakes here and there but the mistakes they make are few and far between
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