Surprise, surprise.

This NFL season has been full of surprises, per usual. Many teams have endured ups and downs and only the best have come out stronger. Whether it's due to offseason moves or injuries or changes in coaching and personnel, 4 teams have stood out to me this season. 

Let's do the good surprises first:

First up, Arizona. This one was probably a given, considering how all sports networks/websites/magazines have featured the Cardinals more this season than they have since the early 2000's. After last season, I knew the Cardinals were going to be good. I mean they were good last season. This season though, they've gone above and beyond anything I had expected. Especially when you take into consideration the injuries they have had to overcome. They're just an all around good team. One thing that really sticks out to you is their will to win. As previously mentioned, Arizona has lost several key players to injuries for significant amounts of time. It's hard enough to win without your starting quarterback...throw in the fact they haven't had a fully healthy Larry Fitz or Tyrann Mathieu all season, they lost Carson Palmer for the season in his first game back from an injury sustained earlier in the season, and one of my new favorites to watch this season, RB Andre Ellington, was put on IR this past week. That's just a few of the injuries the Cardinals have had to deal with this season. And for the most part, they just keep winning. As of now, Arizona leads their division and can still clinch home field. Bruce Arians has done such a commendable job. He's bringing a good, competitive, winning football team back to Phoenix; something they deserve. I'm cheering for them in the NFC. 

Second: Buffalo Bills. It pains me to give any kind of high praise to a division opponent, who we still have to play one more time in this regular season. With that being said, I have to give credit where credit is due. And credit is definitely due. This was also kind of a weird pick for me because it's not so much the entire Bills team, but mainly the defense. As soon as Jim Schwartz was fired in Detroit during the offseason, I was practically begging for the Pats to hire him. He's a defensive mastermind. And he's definitely proved that this season. The reason Buffalo is second in our division and still in contention for a possible wildcard seed, IS their defense. More specifically their defensive line. Give them another offseason, minicamp, and training camp with Jim Schwartz and they'll be an even better unit. I promise. They can stop the run, break up plays, disrupt routes, and get to quarterbacks, week in and week out. Consistency is key in this league.  

Annnnd the bad:

Where to start. 

2) Bears - *sigh* it's truly disappointing that a team with so much talent and so much potential has had such a bad season (well really the past 4 seasons). Jay Cutler may not be, okay he's definitely not, a top 5 quarterback, but he's decent. Yeah, he whines too much and is severely overpaid, given his lack of production, but I can think of worse quarterbacks. Before the season started, the Bears looked like they could have a top 10 defense. Unfortunately, injuries have been the story for Chicago's defense. After one of my favorite defensive ends, Jared Allen, signed with them during the offseason, I couldn't wait to see what this defense was going to do this season. You know what a team with players like Charles Tillman (love love loveeee Peanut Tillman), Jared Allen, Lance Briggs, DJ Williams, and Tim Jennings, is capable of...but due to injuries and changes in coaching, they haven't lived up to the hype or most expectations.  On the offensive side, again, the Bears have a talented roster. Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffrey, Martellus Bennett...Jay Cutler should be drooling. Even I'm jealous of the weapons he's surrounded by. 
I don't see Marc Trestman lasting long as a head coach in the NFL. Especially not in Chicago...Not if they're smart, anyway. They jumped the gun on Jay Cutler. His days in Chicago are numbered, or at least should be, in my opinion. He's had 6 seasons to prove himself, and what have they gotten out of that? Exactly one playoff win...in six years. I could see him going to the Titans or the Rams and having success. But how far he'll go in a Bears uniform? This is it, guys. He's reached his ceiling as a Bear. 

1) Panthers - Much has changed since last season, when so many people dubbed the Panthers defense as even better than Seattle's Legion of Boom. The Panthers defense has taken a major step in the wrong direction. Who's to blame? For starters, Ron Rivera. 
After losing two of Cam Newton's best (and only) receivers in free agency, Carolina's offense has struggled and Newton has been incredibly inaccurate and inconsistent. Maybe they should consider doing what the Texans are doing with JJ Watt... I could see Luke Kuechly being pretty good at hauling in touchdown passes. He already dominates on the defensive side, why not let him carry the team offensively, too. Sounds good to me. 

Revenge on the 'Phins

And so begins a dominant December for the Pats. Hopefully. 

While Sunday night's matchup against the Chargers was far from pretty for most of the game, a win is a win. Belichick, Brady & Co. usually play some of their best football in December. If we're lucky, this season will be no different. Our last 3 games are all against division rivals. We host Miami at home, then go to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets, then back home vs the Bills to close out the regular season. A lot of fans seem to think that these final games will be blow outs and are definite wins. But if you look deeper than their records, you know that the Bills defense is pretty good, Miami's offense can be sneakily explosive, the Dolphins defense is nothing to overlook, and the 2-win Jets will be giving everything they've got. What does that mean for New England? The Pats (which I doubt they are) and their fans shouldn't expect a cakewalk, by any means. Miami and Buffalo are both still fighting for a playoff berth. I definitely hope we win out and finish the season strong. More than anything, I hope we avoid injuries and stay healthy. Home field throughout the playoffs would be wicked nice, but give me a healthy Pats team, and I really think they could win anywhere this year. Brady wants it too bad not to. 

Sweet, sweet revenge
Since the Pats got embarrassed in week 1, by the Dolphins, they're more than likely looking to get revenge. Because the season opener loss was really what started all the Patriots criticism and doubt. 
What's different this time?
For one, location. The Patriots always seem to struggle in Miami, and the Dolphins usually struggle in Foxboro. 
Second, injuries. The Dolphins were healthy and loaded at the beginning of the season. Now, not so much. One positive for the Dolphins and a negative for the Pats this time around: Dion Jordan is active and healthy. The first time they faced off this season, D. Jordan was serving a 6 game suspension for PED use. Luckily, we have a much improved offensive line. I don't think anyone wants to remember our atrocious Week 1 offensive line and performance. Scary stuff. 
Third, division games are different. Not that the other 10 games we play every season don't matter, and they're certainly not easy, but something is just different about playing division opponents. You can feel it in the atmosphere and the energy is insane. I think it has a lot to do with even though the AFC East has been called the weakest division in the NFL multiple times, the Pats and their fans know that often, the teams are better than their records say. 

3 things I hope to see:
- another shutdown defensive performance. Who else is stoked for Revis/Wallace, round 2! 
- no Patriots turnovers and a classic high-powered New England offense
- an all around good game and a convincing win...since we're tied with Denver but hold the tie breaker (thankfully), and the last 2 weeks have been slow starts and too many 3 & outs for the Pats offense. I'd love to see us score 40+ points. But a win, will do! 

I think it's going to be a relatively close game, but the Patriots will start to pull away early in the 4th. There's a lot on the line over the next 3 games. I don't think a loss completely derails the Patriots from their Super Bowl goal, but an AFC playoff road that runs through Foxboro is definitely what we want. 

As always, Go Patriots.  

Takeaways from Pats @ Chargers

First and foremost, I think it's worth mentioning that the reason we won this game is because of the incredible performance by our defense. This was one of their best games of the season. They held a high-powered offense to only 7 points...the same offense that put up 30 points on the Seahawks, and 34 on the Ravens just last week. And what's more, we did it without two of our best defensive players: Chandler Jones and Hightower. This defense is playing like they have something to prove. I like it.

Most obvious concerns:

Quarterback: Can't even lie, we've seen much, much better performances from Tommy. His interception straight to Manti Te'o was one of his worst I've ever seen. When it comes down to it, he showed up and got the job done when it counted most. 

     Offensive Line: First half? Attrocious. I would have cut everyone at halftime, starting with Solder. Second half was slightly better. Solder started to find his footing and do his job a little better. O-Line deserves half the blame for Brady's off game. 

     Play calling/Josh McDaniels: if you know me or follow my twitter, you had to know this one was coming. During the first 3 quarters on Sunday night, I have never missed Bill O'Brien so bad. Almost every week I complain about McDaniels and say he needs to go. But tonight I started thinking, "who do I want to replace him?" Because as much as I joke around about Brady calling all of the offensive plays himself, that's just not logical. It wouldn't happen. And to be honest, I don't know who I'd want as our next OC. It's not that McDaniel's doesn't have the offensive mind to succeed in the NFL; it's that he gets too conservative and leaves you scratching your head, wondering why this guy is getting paid millions, when you know 9 year olds that can call better plays. 

     Penalties: if the ultimate goal is to win Super Bowl 49, which this is the impression I was under, then the Patriots have to get their penalty problem under control. If Belichick can take no names and turn them into stud, standout players, he can surely fix this problem. Penalties have been killing momentum for us all season.

Red Zone offense! - inability to score, or even make plays in the red zone this late in the season is usually not a good sign. Luckily, somehow the Pats have found a way to correct their errors, usually mid-game, and win despite slow offensive starts, unsuccessful trips to the red zone, and turnovers. 

Teams have finally started to figure out that if you double-team Gronk and force Brady to throw elsewhere, we're nowhere near as successful in the red zone. It was only a matter of time. And I blame McDaniels and Belichick for not having a backup plan for when this (inevitably) started happening. 

Revis delivered another shutdown performance and put on a clinic. He was targeted exactly once, allowing only 3 yards the entire night. Man oh man, I love the non-Jet Darrelle Revis.

Brandon Browner had a pretty good night, too. Still not over that “helmet-to-helmet” penalty, that negated McCourty’s pick-6 and gave the Chargers a first down. I didn’t agree with that call at all. I still think Browner is at his best when he’s covering big tight ends. When he covers wide receivers, he needs McCourty’s help. All in all, still love what he brings to our defense. I know that about 75% of the Pats penalties seem to come from Browner, but in my opinion, we signed a physical corner, to bring a nasty, physical presence to New England's defense (something we haven’t had since Rodney Harrison or even Brandon Meriweather), what else do you expect. It kind of comes with the territory.

More in-depth thoughts and analysis coming in the next couple days! 

As always, go Pats!

San Diego Showdown

San Diego is one of those teams that gives me trust issues. Why? Because they start out playing really well and make you think that they have a really good shot at taking the division from your quarterback's arch rival (Peyton), then they slip up, and then they start to get good again. I mean what is that? Phillip Rivers is a good quarterback. I used to hate him for some unknown, unexplainable reason, but now I don't mind him. Earlier this season, I honestly thought he was on pace for league MVP. 

The Chargers started the season with what seemed to be a pretty solid team. They have 2 of the best pass-catchers in the game today (Allen and Gates), they had what could've become a very interesting backfield with Ryan Matthews and Woodhead, and during the offseason, they acquired one of my favorite defensive players in the league today, Brandon Flowers. But, injuries have kind of held the Chargers back this season, masking their full potential. Woodhead got hurt early on, Flowers hasn't been 100% healthy at any point during this season, and other 'minor' issues have nagged San Diego all season. 

Things to know before Sunday night's primetime matchup:

1. Phillip Rivers can be freakishly good. We're going to need a strong, consistent pass rush all night long. 
2. San Diego's receiving corps is legit. Browner and Revis will have their hands full. But I bet they can handle it. I think our secondary plays an extremely good game in San Diego. 
3. Run, run, rudolph. For some reason, I get a feeling that we'll see a lot more of Blount and Gray this week than we did last week. Which makes total sense, right? Because let's just not use our two best power-backs against one of the worst run defenses in the league. Hahahaha ugh,  Josh McDaniels' play calling makes me laugh...and "laugh" is code for punch a brick wall. 
4. Wilfork got his first interception of his career against the Chargers, in 2011! YES. Repeat, please.
5. Brady has always faired pretty well against the Chargers' defense. Hoping that continues Sunday night. With Edelman banged up, everyone needs to be incorporated into the offensive game plan...as in not just throwing to Gronk and forcing it to Jules, but getting Amendola and Wright involved more.

Semi-bold predictions:

• Revis puts on another shutdown performance and picks off Rivers at least once 
• Amendola is actually a huge factor in Sunday's game
• We sack Rivers 5 times, once resulting in a lost fumble 
• Browner doesn't record the first penalty of the game
• Brady abuses San Diego's secondary, putting on a stellar performance

That is all for now. 

As always, Go Pats! 

December!

December is my favorite month of the year, except lately, I've been wondering why exactly. I've tried weighing the pros and cons: Pros - December football *insert heart eyes emoji here*, Christmas, the possibility of snow and cold weather here, and that glorious month out of school; Cons - football is almost over, finals, and it rarely snows or gets below 60 here in December. So really I'm beginning to think I should pick a new favorite month. 

All that aside, December football really is my absolute favorite. I think this is where the true talent shows, the real contenders rise to an even better level, and we really see what teams are made of. 




Tony Romo, for example, plays his best football in December. This season in particular, I'm anxious to see what exactly that means for the Cowgirls..I mean Cowboys. I really must stop doing that. Dez Bryant seems to think that Dallas is destined for greatness this season. Who knows. We'll find out. 




While some players drastically improve in the month of December, others seem to struggle more. One that comes to mind is Peyton Manning. I'm not saying Peyton because I hope the Broncos struggle, or just because I don't like him. He really does tend to struggle more in the elements and in cold weather. 




I also have to say that in my opinion, "dome teams" (home stadium is covered) struggle more on the road in December/January. Which makes sense. When you can control the temperature and field conditions for practices and half of your games, it kind of shocks the system to have to go out and perform at that same level in below-freezing temps on a slippery, snowy field. 




With just 4 games left in the regular season, there are tons of good games left to be excited for. And the playoff race is still incredibly competitive. The wildcard spots are still up for grabs, and as far as I know, no one has absolutely, 100% clinched their division yet. See, who doesn't live for this point in the season?! 




I really have no idea what the main point of this post was supposed to be. I just know that I'm intentionally procrastinating because who wants to study for 5 finals? I mean the last time I was this stressed and had this many stacks of papers everywhere, I was filling out my March Madness bracket and that didn't end very well....... Hopefully finals have a better outcome. 




Anyway, go Pats! 

Question Marks, Disappointment, and Uncertainty: Wolverines

Brady Hoke's first year as head coach at Michigan was also the first year that I really started following the Wolverines. It was the first season that I HAD to watch every game, I HAD to buy U-Mich gear, and I HAD to learn as much history as I could possibly squeeze into my already football-obsessed mind. 
I've always kind of kept up with college football (you kind of have no choice in my family), but never the way that I follow the NFL. I didn't know much about Brady Hoke, just what others were saying about him. And for the most part, everyone seemed to think that he would be a good fit for Michigan's football program. Coach Hoke had a great start at Michigan, going 11-2 in his first season, and winning the Sugar Bowl. I've never prayed so hard over a college football game. Since his first year, the Wolverines have been nothing more than mediocre. Their 11-2 season was followed up by an 8-5 season, a 7-6 season, and 5-7 this season. 

He inherited Denard Robinson to lead their high-powered offense. Since Robinson was drafted into the NFL, Michigan has lacked a legit quarterback. I like Devin Gardner, but not as a starter in this system (he should stick to wide receiver, in my opinion). What changed with the system? I thought Robinson and Gardner had similar playing styles? True, they do. But after Hoke's first season, they drifted away from the spread option offense and began to establish a more traditional one. Robinson became more of a drop-back passer and things haven't been the same since. Both quarterbacks struggled behind offensive lines that, more often than not, seemed to be nonexistent.  I love Brady Hoke as a person, and think that he can be a successful head coach at the college level, just not at Michigan. His ability to coach and his understanding of the game should not be questioned. He had a good run as an assistant coach at UM, and his first season as HC in Ann Arbor is pretty good proof. 
In my opinion, his inability to scout talent and his struggle to develop players are his biggest flaws.

So where does Michigan go from here? 
Unlike many Wolverines fans, I don't want Jim Harbaugh. Yeah yeah, I know, who wouldn't want Harbaugh to come back and coach at his Alma Mater? Call me crazy, whatever. He's good at what he does, but I don't particularly love the idea. I also do not see him leaving the NFL where he will draw major attention this offseason. 
Les Miles I can kind of get on board with. The main thing I don't like about him right now is that he wears that God awful yellow and purple. The LSU head coach would be a good fit and could get Michigan back to winning within the next 2 seasons. He's high on my board.
Dan Mullen is another one that I believe could be the answer to the Wolverine's prayers. He's had a pretty fantastic season at Mississippi State and he could most definitely bring that level of success to Michigan. 
Michigan tried to hire Greg Schiano 6 years ago. After a short (disappointing) stint in the NFL, he's out of a job and could be getting some calls from several college programs, soon. He wouldn't be my first choice but he kind of fits the Michigan "style". You know he'd run a much better offense than Hoke ever did, and I firmly believe he can recruit four and five star recruits to Ann Arbor. 
Jon Gruden is a name that I've heard a couple of times but there is no way that is happening. I think that the only way Gruden would considering coaching again, is if the right opportunity opened up in the NFL. 

Oh my goodness, the Patriots lost to a good team by 5 points...what are they going to do?!

All week long, the Patriots/Packers matchup had been dubbed as a "Super Bowl preview" and "Super Bowl 48.5". I, like basically everyone, knew that it was going to be a tough game. We were facing a good football team, on the road, at one the toughest places to play in all of professional sports. I'd even go as far as to say that it's tougher to win at Lambeau than it is at Century Link. 

5 "what the heck?" moments:
1) Logan Ryan on Randall Cobb. I think this pretty much speaks for itself. I'm gonna pull                         a Belichick here and go with the classic, "no further comment".  
2) Green Bay was only forced to punt once the entire game. ONCE. We desperately needed Chandler Jones on Sunday afternoon. I mean, what even is a pass rush, lately?
3) That one time Aaron Rodgers had 16 seconds to throw the ball. HOW DO YOU NOT GO AFTER THE QUARTERBACK? WAY TO GO MATT PATRICIA, WAY TO GO. 
4) Offense got off to an agonizingly slow start. Something we haven't really seen since...week 4. 
5) Not going for it on 4th and 18. Ugh, I love coach, but this was one of the times that I had to question what he was thinking. The game was on the line, offense was finally clicking, and we all know Brady has that 4th quarter magic. Next time, pleaseee go for it, Bill! 

2 things I would have done differently:
1) Blitz, blitz, blitz. Did I mention I would've blitzed? Not having Chandler Jones definitely proved costly for the Patriots. They did sack Rodgers 3 times on Sunday, but he was too comfortable in the pocket for most of the game. And he wasn't afraid to tuck the ball and run it himself, either. 
2) Use the run game a little bit more. When you're facing the 3oth ranked run defense in the league, you would expect your team to try to dominate on the ground. Personally, I've thought that Green Bay has deserved to be ranked a little better against the run, lately (maybe 24th). Regardless, I was shocked and a little disappointed that we didn't see more of Jonas Gray and Blount. The run game was essentially non existent. Belichick has really been using that "new week, new game plan" theory, lately. 

Why New England will be just fine:
While a loss is a loss, I don't feel completely terrible about this one. Why? 1) We lost by 5 points...to a very good football team...one the road. 2) There's more to gain from this loss than there would have been from winning. Confused? I'll explain. While there were several missed opportunities on Sunday afternoon, overall, the Pats played a good game. They showed that they can compete with the NFC's best, on the road, in cringeworthy temperatures. So not all is lost. And one thing I certainly do not want to hear is a debate about whether or not the Patriots can bounce back and if it is time to reevaluate who the best team in the AFC is. I mean really? Come on. I hate losing more than anyone. Okay, well maybe Brady hates it just a liiitle bit more, but still. Again, I don't feel bummed about this one because both teams fought hard, and the Patriots were a couple of plays away from walking out of Lambeau with another win under their belts. In my opinion, they needed that tiny dose of reality. Like a "hey, you guys can ball, no question about that, but don't get too cocky, too quick. Work on these areas and you're solid." 
Give me a rematch on neutral turf (ehem, Arizona in February), with a healthy Chandler Jones, and I like our chances. The Pats played a little conservative on Sunday, in my opinion, too. Which kind of makes sense because why give a potential Super Bowl opponent all your best tricks and plays? Save some magic for when it realllly matters. Also, San Diego was watching. Let them think that they've got you figured out, and put it on them Sunday. I'm hoping for a dominant December. Actually, I'm praying for crazy, scary good Patriots football from here on out. 


Currently sitting at 9-3 on the season, we're still atop of the AFC. Win out, and we have home field throughout the playoffs. Even better if Denver loses one more. The Patriots control their own destiny right now.
Let's hope this loss has the same effect on the Pats as their last one did. Think about it...where would another 7 game winning streak put us? 

As always, Go Pats!