Another action filled weekend in the world of sports, and another miserable Monday morning. It’s a holiday Monday where we honor the guy who discovered The Bahamas, and if you’re like me, that means absolutely nothing to my company, and I have to work. That matters not, though. What matters is the crazy world of sports that I’m going to attempt to recap for everyone.
Obviously my main focus is always on the NFL, as there is nothing quite like the NFL. The biggest story coming out of yesterday, for me at least, is the state of the NFC East after five weeks. The heavy favorite Cowboys look lost. They have a great running game and an above average passing game. They use their best RB, Felix Jones, and he gets them 7+ yards per carry. But for some inexplicable reason, he only rushes 15 times, and Tony Romo throws 45+ times. He racks up over 400 yards passing, which isn’t the same accomplishment it was even 5 years ago, but he throws 3 interceptions. Yes, two were tipped, but they probably didn’t have to be thrown at all. This team is undisciplined. It’s poorly coached. And there’s absolutely no leadership to be found anywhere. The talent is still there for Dallas to go on a run and finish 10-6 or even 11-5. More likely, though, what we’ve seen through four games is what you’re going to get for the rest of the year. Inconsistency. And that’ll lead to an 8-8 record, likely, and no playoffs.
The other key factor in Dallas likely missing the playoffs, to me, is that the other three teams in the division are all over .500 after 5 weeks, and all seem to be improving each game. The Giants are probably the most impressive bunch right now, simply because their defense is playing at a level that their Super Bowl D played at in 07/08. The offense doesn’t strike fear in opponents, but they are very workmanlike, and they get results. The Eagles didn’t look great yesterday, but they won again, and Kevin Kolb proved that while he’s not quite as good as Michael Vick, the team can still win with him. The Redskins looked very impressive against Green Bay, especially on defense. Forget the loss to St. Louis earlier, this is a team that has beaten the Cowboys, Eagles, and Packers through five weeks. That’s impressive. It’s too early to tell who is the favorite in this division, it could be anyone; but due to these three teams and the Cowboys play, it’s safe to say Dallas is no longer a sure thing as far as the playoffs are concerned.
Another preseason sure thing that is struggling heavily right now is New Orleans, where the defending champions looked anemic in losing to the Arizona Cardinals 30-20 yesterday. The Cardinals became just the second team in NFL history to score over 30 points without a rushing or receiving touchdown. 3 field goals, 2 fumble return TDs, and one INT return TD. Not to take anything away from Arizona, but when thats how you score your 30 points, you didn’t win the game, your opponent lost it. The Saints lost this game. Minnesota, San Francisco, and Carolina were very shaky wins for New Orleans, and they had bad losses to Atlanta and Arizona. Last years’ Saints would have been 5-0 against this schedule. They’re lucky to be 3-2, and until I see anything from this team, I have to assume their Super Bowl hangover will last just long enough to keep them out of it in the suddenly competitive NFC South.
That’s because, at 4-1, the Atlanta Falcons are suddenly the best team in the NFC. Of course, I don’t really think they are the best team, but who else can you make a case for? Not New Orleans, Dallas, Green Bay, or San Fran, the four preseason division favorites. It’s not Minnesota. Speaking of Minnesota, that Favre text scandal is a huge can of worms that I don’t feel like getting into today, except to say that nothing surprises me with this man anymore. Chicago, Philly, Washington, New York, Tampa, and Arizona are above .500 in the NFC, but none of them can be called the best team in the conference. So it’s the Atlanta Falcons who have to be the NFC Super Bowl favorite after 5 weeks. That’s a problem.
Tampa has been a pleasant surprise, though, and if they can beat New Orleans this upcoming week, they’ll be 4-1 and you have to say they are for real. You also may have to write New Orleans off if that happens. Rookie WR Mike Williams looks like a star in the making, and that defense is reminding you of Tampa D’s of the past (except in that Pittsburgh debacle).
In the AFC, the Chiefs lost, as expected, and there are now no more undefeated teams in the NFL. The Raiders finally beat the Chargers, and the Broncos got embarrassed, so I have no idea what to make of the AFC West. At this point you have to think that all four teams have legitimate shots at winning the division. Gotta love four team races.
Speaking of four team races… The Texans got embarrassed by the Giants, and are now in a four-team tie for first place in the AFC South. That’s the most exciting division in the NFL right now. Things change from week to week, but right now you can make a case that the Houston Texans are actually the worst team in that division. I still think they’re better than Jacksonville, and they’re probably better than Tennessee when all is said and done, but you can’t lose like that to a team like the Giants and then still expect to be considered the best team in your own division. Especially not with the way the Colts and Titans destroyed the Giants just a few weeks ago.
I look forward to next Monday’s ‘Morning Hangover,’ when everything I say contradicts everything I just said. That’s the way of the 2010 NFL Season, and I kind of love it. At this point, I’m not even going to try and predict anything. It’s all over the map. Carolina and Buffalo seem to be the only sure things.
In college football, the story of the weekend is obviously South Carolina’s win over #1 Alabama. The old ball coach finally has his signature moment in Columbia. This win moves South Carolina into the Top 10 in the country. I don’t know if they’re that good, but with the way the rest of the SEC East is shaping up right now, I think they can play in the SEC Championship. Alabama now falls behind Auburn and LSU in the SEC West race, but they still control their own destiny. If they win out, which will include beating both of those teams, they’ll win their third straight SEC West crown and earn a spot in that championship. Depending on what happens in the rest of the country, the Crimson Tide may still find themselves in the National Championship come seasons end.
The story of College Football today is that of the release of ESPN’s projection of next week’s BCS. Their BCS “expert” Brad Edwards has Boise State at #1 in his BCS, followed by Oregon, TCU, Oklahoma and Ohio State at #5. Ohio State is the consensus #1 team in the country after Alabama’s loss. Obviously the first BCS doesn’t mean anything, the last one is the one that counts. Still, though, if the BCS resembles that, it’s going to cause quite a bit of controversy this early in the year, and it will make every Sunday’s release of the updated BCS rankings an event not to be missed. This crazy college season may finally be the year that everything becomes absolute chaos in college football, and because of that the BCS gets blown up.
I see a 0.000001% chance of this happening, but can you imagine if Boise State somehow ends up playing TCU in the National Championship? Ridiculous. Do those two teams deserve a shot at playing for the Championship? Of course. Are they the two best teams in America? I don’t care what happens the rest of the season, the answer is no. The power conferences will never get shut out of a championship, but if it went down like this, they may suddenly find themselves more willing to talk about a +1 or a playoff, even.
Of course, there is one playoff going on right now that is legitimate, and the merits of its champion cannot be argued against. That’s the MLB Playoffs. Two of the four LDS’ are over, finished on sweeps. No surprise, the two reigning pennant winners are the teams that swept their way back into the LCS.
Everybody’s favorite New York Yankees once again eliminated the Twins from the playoffs, for what feels like the 15th time in the last 8 years. Their pitching is still overly unimpressive, but they are the Yankees, and this is October. This team wins. It’ll be no surprise to me if they make it back to the World Series.
The Phillies, my Phillies, were everyone’s pre-playoff pick to win the World Series. It was said that nobody could compete with a pitching rotation like what they have, and through the LDS, that seems to be a fair assessment. The Phillies didn’t play great ball all together, but their pitching manhandled the best lineup in the NL, holding the Reds to 11 total hits in 3 games, the lowest in LDS history. Of course they were helped tremendously by poor fielding on Cincinnati’s part, and they won’t get that lucky again in the NLCS.
Maybe they will, though, if they play Atlanta. The Braves don’t seem to know how to field, either. And the Braves can’t hit. And yet, they should be up 2-1, and are still very much alive in their LDS against San Francisco, despite being down 2-1 in the series. Game four is tonight, and the Braves are relying on Derek Lowe to save their season on short rest. He’s done this many times before in the playoffs, and going against Madison Bumgarner of SF, I think the Braves can win the game and send the series back to San Fran for game 5 on Wednesday.
Of course, as a Phillies fan, I hope this happens. If this series goes 5, that means the Giants will have to pitch Tim Lincecum on Wednesday. This would make him unavailable for game one of the NLCS on Saturday, in which the Phillies throw out Roy Halladay. Lincecum could then pitch on 3 days rest in game 2 on Sunday, but I don’t see the Giants doing that, either. That means Lincecum won’t throw until game 3, next Tuesday. I know the rest of the Giants starters are very good, too, but their odds of beating the Phillies will decrease significantly if he can’t pitch in the first two games.
If the Giants do win tonight, though, baseball fans everywhere can rejoice at the Lincecum vs Halladay matchup in game one on Saturday, which will be one of the best postseason pitching matchups in a long, long time.
Another great matchup is in tomorrow’s game 5 in Tampa, where Rays’ young stud David Price takes on the nearly unbeatable Cliff Lee, at least when it comes to the playoffs. The Rays are definitely the better team in this series, and on paper, and all of that, but Cliff Lee hasn’t lost a playoff game in his career, and he absolutely can single handedly carry the Rangers into an ALCS date with the Yankees.
Of course, in that ALCS he will be unavailable until game 3, at which point the Yankees will already have a 2-0 series lead. But still, just get Texas to the ALCS and then go from there, right?
Hockey started this weekend, and my Devils looked awful. There’s not a lot for me to add right now, as while I’m a huge Devils fan, and I can talk about them for 2000 words if I wanted, I don’t really start following the rest of the NHL until at least after the baseball playoffs, and really, not until football is over. I’m excited its back, though.
Lee Westwood is set to take over as the #1 golfer in the world on October 31st, unless he or Tiger Woods goes against their already announced schedule and participates in another tournament, where the results may affect their rankings. Westwood is good, but count me among the many who didn’t expect him to be the one to replace Tiger as the #1 player in the world.
Lastly, in weekend news, US Soccer was back on the pitch Saturday night against Poland, where they played to a 2-2 draw. Nothing really to write home about in this one, other than Oguchi Onyewu’s continued improvement from last years knee injury. The other notable for me was the play of midfielder Jermaine Jones in his first ever cap with the National Team. I got very excited about this “kid,” not really knowing who he was, but remembering hearing his name before. I thought maybe we finally found someone to pair up with Michael Bradley. Then I looked him up after the game, and realized he’s 29, and he’s not going to be among the next generation of players for this team. Bummer.
Next game is tomorrow against Columbia. Of course, I’ll be watching.
Happy Monday!
Monday morning hangover is always a good read. I really appreciate the fact that you did not give Favre the time of day beyond your recognition that nothing about that man surprises you. I, like all good Americans, live for Sundays during the football season, but it’s good to read up on other things like college football and baseball.
I must say I’m surprised with how you described the Yanks rotation. Sure they arent the Phils rotation or the Giants, but they certainly are no slouches. Especially Andy, if he can pitch as good as he did against the Twins throughout the playoffs that would be huge for the Bombers.
Hopefully we get a great game 5 tonight. I dont see Cliff Lee losing.
I’ll admit Pettitte and Hughes looked better in the ALDS than I expected. Pettitte is obviously the man, and if he truly is back, this team is a lot more dangerous than even I thought. Hughes I’ll save judgement on. I want to see him do it against someone other than the Twins, who are basically like a pre-playoff warmup for the Yankees every year.
Game 5 was great. Cliff Lee is incredible. It’s a shame he may only pitch once in the ALCS (game 3), unless he goes on short rest in game 6 if it goes that far, or if Texas somehow forces a game 7.
If this series goes 7 somehow, and Lee pitches that game, the Rangers are going to the World Series. Incredible.