Week 15 In NFL Provides Interesting Matchups
As we head toward the end of the NFL season, Week 15 provides some interesting matchups that could give us a clear picture on playoff seedings and who will make it to the Super Bowl Tournament. Let's take a look at what is on tap for us this afternoon:
Indianapolis at Houston: The 9-4 Colts head to Houston to take on the reeling Texans. The Texans are coming off a 42-14 beat down by the Patriots on Monday night. This once proud defense has given up 120 points in their last 4 games. The Colts have a 2 game lead over the Bengals and Steelers in the wild card race. The Texans are smarting and are returning home. Would be shocked if the Texans don't win this one.
Denver at Baltimore: The Broncos are flying high with a 10-3 record as they head into Baltimore to take on the Ravens. The Ravens are on a two game losing streak and are fortunate that the Bengals and Steelers have failed to capitalize on their problems. The Broncos have won 8 in a row. If the Ravens are going to be a factor in the AFC Playoffs they need to start to play better football. A Raven victory would give them the tiebreaker for seeding purposes with the Broncos. Tough to go with Joe Flacco over Peyton Manning. This is going to be a good one to watch.
NY Giants at Atlanta: The Giants roll into the Georgia Dome to take on the NFC leading Falcons. The Falcons are coming off a loss to the Panthers. When you look at the Falcons schedule, the best team they have played was Denver and that was in Week 1. Washington and Dallas are the only other teams with a winning record, each at 7-6. Clearly, the Giants will be the best team they have faced all year. The Giants need a win to maintain their lead in the NFC East. They need this one more than the Falcons.
Green Bay at Chicago: One of the oldest rivalries in all of sports is renewed at Soldier Field this afternoon. These two teams really dislike each other as evidenced by the back in forth comments all week between the players of both teams. The Bears are reeling big time having lost 4 of their last 5 games. Lovie Smith is under fire and a loss today could put the Bears playoff spot in jeopardy. The Packers have won 7 out of their last 8 games. This is a must win for Chicago.
Pittsburgh at Dallas: Both of these teams are 7-6 and fighting for their playoff lives. With Big Ben back last week, the Steelers were embarrassed at home by San Diego. They have lost 3 out of their last 4 games. Dallas has won two in a row and 4 out of their last 5 games. Cincinnati has already won this week so the Steelers need this game to stay tied with their AFC North rival. The Cowboys need a win to stay within striking distance of Chicago and Seattle. Two desperate teams for a win, should be a good one.
San Francisco at New England: The Niners D against the Patriots Offense. This could be a good one. It will be a great test for San Francisco as they head to Foxboro going against a Patriots team that is on a 7 game winning streak. Houston came into Foxboro last week and were spanked and sent home. Will the Niners fold in New England in prime time or will they prove to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender?
It's weeks like this one that makes the Sunday Ticket worth having. Sit back and enjoy.
Browns On The Right Track
Had the opportunity to be at Cleveland Browns Stadium yesterday to watch the Browns roll over the Kansas City Chiefs 30-7 and what I couldn't help notice was the optimism that Browns fans had for this 5-8 team. This is a fan base that has suffered from The Drive to The Fumble to Art Modell's hijacking the team to Baltimore and leaving this proud city without an NFL team from 1996 to 1999. But for the first time in a number of years, these fans sense that their young team may finally be moving in the right direction.
A team in the AFC North needs to have 2 constants: a solid defense and the ability to put the game away with a running game. But for the brief time when Jamal Lewis still had some legs, the Browns have never had a strong running game since they have been back in the league until now. Trent Richardson is the real deal. This kid is tough as nails and has a nose for the end zone. Montario Hardesty is the perfect change of pace back and is finally showing why Tom Heckert made a move to draft the young back from Tennessee a couple of years ago.
Since the team has been back, the Browns defense has been putrid at best. How many times would they be destroyed by an opposing team's running back. There was never a solid pass rush and it seems they were never able to come up with a big turnover or stop to change a game. This has all changed as this year's defensive unit has been solid. The front seven has really improved, applying pressure on opposing quarterbacks and holding running backs in check. Joe Haden and TJ Ward lead a secondary that can only get better.
The beauty here is the fact that this team is one of the youngest in the league. They seem to be gaining confidence week in and week out. After giving up an 80 yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, the Browns put the clamps down on Kansas City and took charge of a game that they should win. All of this optimism makes it hard for me to understand all of the rumors about Mike Lombardi becoming the team's General Manager. To me, this would be a huge mistake.
Tom Heckert has done a tremendous job in acquiring young talent. What an unbelievable move in picking up Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft. Gordon has become a game breaker for the Browns. You can tell that this kid is the real deal. It should also be pointed out that Mike Lombardi ripped the Browns for giving up a second round pick in 2013 to select Gordon. I guess you were wrong Mike.
In my mind, Heckert deserves to remain as GM. Unfortunately, his remaining with the team will be dependent on what his relationship was in Philly with Joe Banner. I'm getting a bad feeling about Banner. The only hope is that new owner Jimmy Haslam will see what's going on with his newly acquired team and make sure that Banner does the right thing. In my mind, the right thing would be to retain Heckert as GM.
Since 1999, the Browns management team has been in constant flux, changing GM's and head coaches like I change socks. While the jury may still be out on Coach Pat Shurmur, there should be no doubt that Tom Heckert has put this team on the right track. Replacing him will be a huge mistake. It all seems to rest in Joe Banner's hands and I have to say that scares me.
Hope In Believeland
Heading into the fourth quarter I was beginning to get that sick feeling again. The Oakland Raiders had scored and were now trailing the Cleveland Browns 13-10. The Browns had pretty much dominated the game but had to settle for field goals as opposed to touchdowns and had a field goal blocked. The Raiders were poised to score the go ahead touchdown as Carson Palmer was moving his team in for a score when he attempted a pass in the direction of Sheldon Brown. The veteran positioned himself perfectly and made the interception at the Browns 6 yard line. Could the Browns finish this one out??
A 94 yard drive, highlighted by a fourth and one conversion and capped off by a Trent Richardson touchdown, put the Browns ahead 20-10 and secured a rare road victory over the Raiders 20-17. The win snapped a 12 game road losing streak and gave the Browns a two game winning streak. More than the win, what has me excited is that for the first time in a long time there is reason for hope that this team is moving in the right direction. Youth does that (Are you listening Boy Wonder Brian Cashman).
The Browns are the youngest team in the NFL. Their defense is rounding into a very formidable unit as for the third week in a row they have held their opponent to under 100 yards on the ground. Their strength is in their front seven and with Joe Haden and TJ Ward in the defensive backfield, they have some good building blocks.
The offense appears to be coming around. While it is true that Brandon Weeden made some bad throws yesterday, he also made plays when he had to particularly in that last 94 yard scoring drive. That is what you are looking for from your quarterback. The running game is in capable hands with Trent Richardson. The rookie from Alabama is the real deal. He is a tough, punishing runner and a threat every time he has his hands on the ball. The other pleasant surprise is Montario Hardesty who has become an excellent change of pace back and has excelled when he has been given carries.
The O-line has been solid, much better than last season as rookie Mitchell Schwartz has fit in well at right guard. But the group that has really improved over last year is the receiving corp. Josh Gordon appears to be the receiving threat that the Browns have lacked for years. The kid has great speed and the ability to make big plays. Greg Little has improved over last year, limiting the number of drops and made a great block yesterday that sprung Mohammad Massquoi for a long gain. Benjamin Watson provides veteran leadership at tight end and Jordan Cameron looks like a keeper at that position behind Watson.
It is unclear whether Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur will remain with the club after this season. In my opinion, the jury is still out on Shurmur. I still have some doubts about his play-calling. But Heckert is a different story. He has overturned this roster with some talented young players who seem to be progressing in the right direction. As I have stated many times on this blog, all I'm looking for is some reason to believe that my team is getting better. Hope that there are better days ahead. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But at least there is hope and for that Heckert should be kept within the organization.
The Browns have 4 games left: 2 at home against KC and Washington and 2 on the road against Denver and Pittsburgh. The road games will be tough and this will be another step along the learning curve for this young team. As a Browns fan there is reason for optimism and its been a long time that we have had that in Believeland.
Another Rotten Browns Loss
What has become a familiar pattern since they have come back in 1999, the Cleveland Browns did enough to keep their long suffering fans on the edge of their seats only to lose to the Dallas Cowboys 23-20 in overtime at the Palace That Jerry Jones Built. How many times have we seen this before?? I have been so conditioned to expect the worst that even at half time with the Browns ahead 13-0 I had a bad feeling. You see, the Browns had opportunities to score more than one touchdown in the first half but instead had to settle for field goals. I just knew that would come back to haunt them and in the end it did.
The Browns defensive front 7 played one helluva a game. They had Tony Romo on edge all day. The problem is that the secondary had issues, particularly the unbelievable number of defensive holding calls on Buster Skrinne. But the most damaging call was for unnecessary roughness on T.J. Ward with 63 seconds left in the game and the Browns ahead 20-17. Officials ruled that it was a helmet to helmet hit. Not sure what they were watching. Ward's helmet never hit Kevin Ogletree's helmet. It was Buster Skrinne's helmet that collided with that of Ogeltree's. The call was critical and allowed the Cowboys to be in a position to tie the game.
I'm not sure what to make of Brandon Weeden. There is no doubt he has a strong arm but he has a tendency to overthrow receivers at critical times, like on fourth and one when he overthrew a wide open Jordan Cameron. While I understand he is a rookie, one has to wonder how Colt McCoy would fair with a receiving corp that appears to have improved over the one that McCoy had to throw to last year. It seems forever that Browns fans have to wonder whether the guy behind center is "the guy". With 6 games remaining in the season, I want to believe that Weeden is the guy but I'm not so sure.
The only thing I am sure of is that Trent Richardson is the real deal. The rookie out of Alabama has been a standout and certainly warranted being the fourth pick in last year's draft. Richardson made some key runs and receptions that kept the Browns rolling. Montario Hardesty also looked good when he came in to give Richardson a chance to catch his breath. And it appears that Greg Little and Josh Gordon may be the two receivers that Browns fans have been waiting for.
Being a Browns fan is pure hell. While there seems to be some glimmer of hope on defense and with the young RBs and WRs, it's hard to get overly excited since we have seen this story since 1999. At some point you have to win games like the one on Sunday to build confidence. With Big Ben out for the Steelers who come to town next week, you would think that it would be a great opportunity for a big win in front of the hometown fans. I want to believe that it is possible but deep in the recesses of my brown and orange mind I know that something bad will happen. Such is life as a Browns fan.
Browns Take Richardson & Weeden
The Cleveland Browns had an interesting first round of the NFL Draft by moving up from number 4 to number 3 and selecting Alabama running back, Trent Richardson and then using their second number 1 pick to select Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden. In the second round, the Browns picked right tackle Mitchell Schwartz from California and in the third round selected defensive tackle John Hughes from Cincinnati.
The selection of Richardson made sense to me. In January, I was not in favor of drafting Richardson because I thought that the Browns should re-sign Peyton Hillis and then draft Justin Blackmon. Once Hillis went to Kansas City, I then changed my mind and felt that the Browns could get Richardson and then select a wide receiver with their second pick in the first round. This leads to Brandon Weeden.
It is evident that the Browns were not comfortable going into the 2012 season with Colt McCoy as the quarterback. Mike Holmgren and Company tried to acquire the second pick of the draft so that they could draft Robert Griffin III. When Washington out bid them, the Browns obviously started to look at Plan B. Apparently, Plan B was Brandon Weeden.
Weeden is 28 years old and has had a successful college career. He stood toe-to-toe against RGIII and Andrew Luck this past season with Weeden's Oklahoma State team defeating Baylor and Stanford. Weeden is bigger than Colt McCoy and has a stronger arm than McCoy. I have given McCoy the benefit of the doubt. By that I mean that I believed that he suffered from a lack of receivers, a lack of a consistent running game and a struggling offensive game plan. However, physically McCoy may not have the ability to compete as a starting quarterback in the NFL or at the very least as a starting quarterback on a team with many needs.
There is an opinion on the part of some that a franchise quarterback brings up the level of play of those around him. I think it's safe to say that McCoy does not have the ability to do that. The big question now is whether or not Brandon Weeden has that ability. Weeden will come in with a rookie running back as the number one guy in Trent Richardson and the selection of Schwartz would seem to mean that he will be starting at right tackle. The wide receiving corp remains the same. Weeden will not have a Justin Blackmon to throw to and instead will have Greg Little as his go-to-guy.
Whether Weeden knows it or not, the direction of this franchise will weigh heavily on his shoulders. His success or failure could also impact the future of Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur. Holmgren's reputation is that of an offensive guru who knows quarterbacks. The selection of McCoy was in the third round and he basically took a chance on him. But the selection of Weeden is different. He picked Weeden in the first round. He's 28 years old so he will be expected to start right away. There will be no apprenticeship.
My patience with Holmgren & Company is wearing thin. I think they have made plenty of mistakes and I did not appreciate the comments made by Holmgren when he said that we as fans just need to get over what happened in the past. Sorry Mike, as a fan the past does matter particularly when last season we saw no hope. Instead what we saw was an offense that was worse than the Brian Daboll-led one in 2010. I can take losing if I see some progress. If I see some young players who give you the belief that things will get better. The Browns have some of those type of players on defense. But in today's NFL, it's all about being able to score. That's why there will be plenty riding on Brandon Weeden. If Weeden does not succeed, this franchise will go backwards for another 5 years and Holmgren, Heckert & Shurmur won't be long for Cleveland, Ohio.
Bounty-Gate & Tebow
The NFL is the most popular sport in the United States. That popularity extends throughout the year and during a time when usually attention is focused on college basketball, NBA & NHL playoff races and spring baseball, the NFL has dominated the sports headline the past 3 days. First, the stunning ruling by Commissioner Roger Goodell that levied huge penalties against New Orleans Saints. Secondly, the signing of Peyton Manning by the Denver Broncos and then the subsequent trade of Tim Tebow to the New York Jets. Both stories are big ones.
When word came out that the Saints were involved with a bounty system and that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was the ringleader, I indicated at the time that I felt this was similar to the steroid mess in baseball. What I meant is that both leagues knew what was going on but looked the other way. It seems that I was right. In a story I read on CBS Sportsline, the NFL warned the Saints back in 2010. Saints Owner Tom Benson notified General Manager Mickey Loomis that the league was aware of this and nothing was done to stop it.
As a result, Goodell has suspended Loomis and Head Coach Sean Payton for one year without pay, levied a $500,000 fined against the Saints and took away the team's second round draft pick for 2012 and 2013. While I don't have a problem with the penalties, I do have a problem with the hypocrisy. What I mean is that if the league knew in 2010 what was going on why didn't they step in right there and then? Moreover, based upon the outcry by a number of current and active players, how many other teams are involved in such practice??
We know that there have been bounties placed on star players for years. It has been well-documented that a number of teams had bounties placed on Joe Namath back in the day. There is no question in my mind that the practice has continued since then. The bounty system that the Saints have been penalized for typifies the general macho, tough guy image that the NFL has promoted for years. It's the same image that allows a head hunter like James Harrison to continue his concussion-inducing style of play. It's the same image that has the Cleveland Browns send back out on the field a clearly dazed and confused Colt McCoy after being hit by Harrison with a helmet to helmet hit.
This isn't about eliminating hits on quarterbacks. This isn't about pussifying the game of professional football. This is about eliminating the illegal, sordid and violent part of the game that is really rooted in a lack of respect for other players and for the game. I get as mad as the next guy when a flag is thrown after there is a clean hit on the quarterback. But leading with one's head to make a tackle or going for another player's head is what needs to be removed from the game. With this happening and teams not doing anything to stop it, should it shock anyone that there are bounties being placed on star players?? You want to eliminate this stuff, start suspending repeat offenders like Harrison for a season and fine the teams substantially. I'm curious to know if and when we are going to hear about other teams having a bounty system. I think we are kidding ourselves if we think that this is just a Saints problem
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Peyton Manning's signing with the Denver Broncos was shocking to me. The move could make the Broncos a force in the AFC. However, what's even more shocking is the New York Jets acquiring Tim Tebow. What kind of message does that send to Mark Sanchez?? Sanchez was just given a contract extension. He has been the Jets starting quarterback since his rookie season. Last year, he regressed after taking the team to the playoffs. I have never been a big Sanchez fan for the simple reason that the kid only had one year at USC where he was the starter. That's why it is not surprising that the kid took a step back last season when the Jets expected more out of him. It's simple, the kid is still learning.
Bringing Tebow into the mix makes absolutely no sense. It creates a controversy. However, one has to wonder if that is not what the Jets high command wanted. With the Giants winning another Super Bowl, the Jets remain the second class football citizen in New York. Rex Ryan's act has grown old with his team not making the playoffs last year and the disharmony that was in the locker room. That's why former Jets great Joe Namath is absolutely right: the acquisition of Tebow is nothing more than a publicity stunt. That's why the Jets will always be second class citizens in NYC.
Has Anyone Seen Tom Heckert??
As teams augment their rosters via free agency (ex.-Washington) and trades (ex.-Chicago), the Cleveland Browns have signed DE Frostee Rucker and cut Tony Pashos and Eric Steinbach while also letting Peyton Hillis go to the Kansas City Chiefs. This is a period where teams try to augment their rosters with established players which then sets their needs for the upcoming draft. But the way the Holmgren/Heckert regime is operating, the Browns will need multiple picks through every round to meet this team's needs.
Here are the needs: quarterback - is Colt McCoy the answer or do the Browns need to draft a quarterback?, running back - is Montario Hardesty the answer or do the Browns use a high pick to draft a running back?, wide receiver - the Browns do not have a number one wide receiver. Will they use a top pick to draft one?, offensive line - Steinbach anchored the left guard position and now he is gone, Right tacle is a problem area. So what's the plan??, linebacker - the Browns have limited depth and this will be magnified if Scott Fujita is suspended for his role in the Saints bounty situation.
Tom Heckert has indicated that he would not be opposed to trading down to get additional picks. With Hillis gone, I can see Heckert moving down a few slots from number four and drafting Trent Richardson. I'm not all that sold on Richardson. The Browns created a need by letting Hillis walk. They were competitive against the Steelers and Ravens this past season with him in the lineup. With so many other needs on offense, this made no sense. Hillis signed a one year contract for $3 million. The Browns didn't even make an offer. They couldn't have made a similar offer for one year??? It could have bought them some time and allowed them to address other needs on offense.
The only thing that makes sense with the release of Steinbach is if the Browns had some questions about his health. But with the Browns medical staff's track record it makes you wonder. The Browns had a pretty solid left side of the O-line with Steinbach and Joe Thomas. The situation with Tony Pashos is interesting. There is no question that Pashos has been injured as often as he has been able to play. But according to reports, he played injured for most of last year when most guys would have bailed on the season. It would have been easy to bail since the team was going nowhere. For his dedication Pashos was cut.
With all of these needs and no committment to add any more pieces through free agency, the Holmgren/Heckert regime better be right on all of their draft picks, particularly those two first round picks. One thing that appears to be certain, it's going to be another long year on the Lakefront for long-suffering Browns fans. Almost makes me consider dropping the NFL Sunday Ticket.
Tuesday’s Thoughts
While thinking about fifteen years ago last Friday when Biggie Smalls was gunned down, here's what is on my mind this morning:
* The Maple Leafs are in Florida to take on the Southeast leading Panthers. I would imagine that Jonas Gustavsson will be back in the net once again for the Leafs. It's amazing how improved defensive zone coverage helps a goalie gain his confidence.
* Will the Leafs score a goal tonight and what period will it be in?
* Here's three stats that need to be improved upon next year by the Leafs: 1.) The Leafs are 8-12 on Saturday nights and half of those wins came in October. 4-1 in October, 1-2 November, 0-3 December, 1-2 January, 1-3 February and 1-1 in March. 2.) The Leafs are 16-13-6 at home. Randy Carlyle has said that his team needs to make the ACC a tough place to play. In contrast, Washington is 23-10-3 and Winnipeg is 21-10-4. 3.) The Leafs are 7-12-0 within the division and 0-5 against Boston. This is the worst record in the Northeast Division.
* Three players I hope are not on the Leafs roster next year are: Colby Armstrong, Matthew Lombardi and Tim Connolly. The first two could happen. I don't see anyone willing to take Connolly.
* During the Leaf-Flyers game on Saturday, Damien Cox tweeted that he wouldn't be surprised if Jaroslav Halak was in a Leaf uniform. Hmmmmmm....I wonder what it would take to get him???
* Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia looked good on Sunday afternoon and Hiroki Kuroda pitched well last night (even though he wasn't satisfied with his own performance). While it's still early, the guy I'm worried about is Ivan Nova. I like the kid but he has not looked good so far, particularly his last outing. He starts tonight against Boston.
* What's up with David Robertson??? How much money do you make and your moving boxes?? Really??? Fortunately for the Yanks the injury was not that serious.
* Bernie Williams will be at Yankee camp today and it made me think: when are the Yankees going to honor their center fielder from the late 90's glory years?? While plenty of attention has been given to the Core Four (now the Core Two), Williams has been the forgotten man. He too came up from the Yankee farm system and was a key contributor to the Yankees success.
* It is going to be real interesting where Peyton Manning ultimately lands for the 2012 NFL season. I thought that Miami had the inside track but it appears that Denver may be the team. In that division, the Broncos could win with Manning and the stable of receivers that they have along with Willis MaGahee. Their defense is pretty good too. However, its definitely not a warm weather location. Arizona might be a good fit also. Clearly the NFC West is very winnable and the Cardinals do have Larry Fitzgerald. However the word was that Manning wanted to stay in the AFC. This will be the most watched process in NFL free agency history.
* Yesterday afternoon Schopp & The Bulldog were all pissed off because the Bills came out and said they were not in the Manning sweepstakes. The two WGR windbags felt that the Bills owed their fans to at least invite Manning for an interview. Oh ok I get it so then when Manning says no thank you these two morons can either bad mouth the Bills for not getting him or bad mouth Manning. This is the problem with the Buffalo sports media: they raise expectations and get all of the Chester Cheektowagas & Louie Lackawannas fired up and then when the bottom falls out the GR loudmouths are all pissed off because people are calling in screaming bloody murder.
* By the way, I also had to hear about Schopp's ride back home from his vacation. Pleeeassee!!!!!!!!!!
* The report on the New Orleans Saints bounty system has rocked the NFL. It was pretty funny last week watching Mike Golic trying to defend the Saints. What's even more funny is that the whole issue of bounties being placed on quarterbacks and star players goes back many years. The Buffalo Bills back in the late 60's had a bounty on Joe Namath when the Jets came to the Old Rockpile. The Oakland Raiders were also in on the act when it came to Namath. For media people around the NFL to feign disbelief over the whole situation is hypocritical since they had to know what was going on. Kind of like baseball media not knowing that steroids was going on in the late 90's.
* More importantly than the media knowing what was going on with bounties, I find it hard to believe that the NFL didn't know about it either. Kind of like Major League Baseball with steroids.
* Somehow I'm having a hard time seeing Randy Moss playing for Jim Harbaugh. Good luck to Alex Smith too. So they replace Braylon Edwards with Moss. Hmmmmmmm.
* If the Browns do not make a free agent signing to strengthen their offensive line and linebacking corp I'm going to go absolutely wild!!!
* Glad to hear that long-time Browns beat writer Tony Grossi will be hooking up with ESPN Radio WKNR 850 in Cleveland and will be covering the team once again. The Cleveland Plain Dealer booted Grossi off the Browns beat because of a tweet that Grossi made which called Randy Lerner a jerk. Grossi apologized but it is obvious that the team went to the newspaper and voiced its concern. Grossi is knowledgeable and is critical but fair as it relates to the Browns. It will be interesting to see if Sportstime Ohio brings Grossi back on its Browns related shows during the season.
* March Madness begins and what's up with a 12th seed and 14th seed play-in game???
* How Drexel didn't make the Big Dance is a classic example of the bias against mid-major schools. The Dragons were 27-5 and they have been left out. If they were 31-1 and lost their conference tourney would they still be out???
* There isn't one number one seed in the tournament that is a lock to be in the Final Four.
* The revelation that Syracuse University's basketball team violated its own drug policy further damages Jim Boeheim's reputation. It will be awfully hard for him to claim he knew nothing about it like he did with the whole Bernie Fine mess.
* I was remiss in not acknowledging the passing of Gary Carter. What I found truly amazing was the impact that Carter had in Canada, particularly in Montreal. The fact that the Montreal Canadiens honored Carter at one of its games shows how much he was thought of in La Belle Province.
* And finally, congratulations to St. Bonaventure for winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. The Bonnies are the number 14 seed in the East Region and will meet a tough Florida State team. I wonder what wizard Brad Ritter has to say about that. It was Ritter back in 2005 who dismissed Niagara's winning of the MAAC Tournament as not a big deal because they were going to be knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in their first game. Nothing like promoting the local schools.
Browns Lose Out On RGIII: Now What??
The Washington Redskins made a bold move by trading away multiple future draft picks, including their 2013 and 2014 first round draft picks, to the St.Louis Rams in order to move up to the second pick overall in this year's draft to select Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III. It has been reported by multiple sources that the Cleveland Browns tried to make a deal with the Rams but were not willing to give up future first round picks. So the question is: Now What??
Browns General Manager Tom Heckert has indicated that he will not go after a veteran quarterback in free agency and in general the team will not go crazy in free agency. As a result, what the Browns do in this year's draft will be critical in detrmining the future of this football team. While I have been impressed with RGIII, I think the Browns were right in not mortgaging their future to get him. But there are two statements that Heckert has made which bother me.
The Browns GM has indicated that he would be willing to trade down from the fourth pick in order to get additional picks. Haven't we heard this story before??? Isn't this team devoid of playmakers??? With the fourth pick overall the Browns would most certainly be able to select Justin Blackmon which would fill a critical need at wide receiver.
Heckert has also indicated that he really likes Brandon Weeden, the 28 year old quarterback from Oklahoma State. What I found most troubling was that Heckert stated if he could get 5 years out of Weeden that would be great because he (Heckert) might not be around by then. Wow, what a statement!!!
Last season the Mike Holmgren regime took a major hit in my eyes as a result of their unbridled trust in Pat Shurmur's ability to run an offense and the total mishandling of the Colt McCoy concussion situation. In addition, Holmgren's assertion that he doesn't care about what has happened in the past and that "you are either with us or against us" was a slap in the face to long-suffering Browns fans. Moreover, last season was a step backwards as the Browns looked worse than they did in Eric Mangini's last season.
As far as I'm concerned, the honeymoon is over for Holmgren and Heckert. It's time to give Browns fans some hope. I'm not expecting to make the playoffs next year but I am expecting an exciting team, one that can do more than kicking field goals to score points. The next two months will set the stage for the Browns 2012 season and determine if Holmgren & Company will live up to the hype that surrounded his hiring as team president a few years ago.
Super Bowl Pick!!!
Well it's time for my Super Bowl pick. Before I get to the game, let's recap how my season has been. My overall record ATS was 34-21 (61.8%). The last 14 weeks including playoffs I'm 30-13 ATS (69.7%) For the playoffs, my record is 4-1 ATS (80%). This game is a tough one to call but here goes:
New York (+3) over New England: Right now I believe that the Giants are the better overall team. New England's pass defense is terrible and will have a tough time against the Giant passing attack. The key to the game will be whether the Giants will be able to pressure Tom Brady using only their front four. I will be shocked if this game is a blow out either way. Even if the Patriots win this game they won't cover the spread. This one should be a dandy. New York 24 New England 23.
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