Final Four & Other Stuff

 

March 31, 2022

There are four teams left standing in the NCAA tourney. All the teams are no strangers when it comes to competing for championships. The Cinderella team of the tourney, Saint Peter’s Peacocks, upset Purdue to become the first #15 seed to make it to the elite eight. North Carolina, who beat #1Baylor, blew out the Peacocks to advance to the final four. They will face arch-rival Duke with legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski who is in his last year as their coach. 

The other game features Villanova vs. Kansas. This is the only game so far with a #1 against a #2. Kansas, with excellent coach Bill Self, is favored. However, he has no national championship banners. His counterpart, Jay Wright, has won two at Villanova.

I see that former Bears GM Ryan Pace was hired by the Atlanta Falcons. I wonder what impressed them: his bad first round draft picks or his mismanagement of the salary cap? His job title is “Senior Personnel Executive,” meaning he won’t he won’t be making big decisions.

I also saw former Bears coach Matt Nagy got a job. My feeling here is that his former boss, Kansas City’s coach, felt bad that he was unemployed. Nagy is going from head coach to Senior Assistant/Quarterbacks Coach. Kansas City doesn’t really need a QB coach with Patrick Mahomes. Like Pace, Nagy will not be making any decisions. Both their careers are spiraling downward.

Chicago still has a hockey team. The Blackhawks are having a hard
time getting rid of the stain from covering up a sexual abuse case. On the ice they are one of the worst teams in the NHL. Former disgraced GM Stan Bowman kept trying to upgrade his defense, paying no attention to the offense. The Hawks have been shut-out 6 times and average less than three goals per game. Bowman’s assistant Kyle Davidson was named interim GM as the Hawks went searching for their next GM. Rather than get fresh eyes on the team they gave the job to Davidson. His first move in rebuilding the Hawks was trading the team’s third best offensive player, Brandon Hagel, for draft picks. What makes this even more stupid is that Hagel is only 23 years old. From the looks of it, the picks will not be high enough and it will take a couple of years before they are ready. This will be my last time talking about the Hawks until they are relevant again.
 

Major Upsets Make for an Exciting Tournament

 

March 24, 2022

After the Super Bowl, there is lull in sports. The games in the too long seasons of basketball and hockey droll on. Animosity between owners and players delayed spring training. However, that is all about to change. We are in the throes of “March Madness” and baseball and the golf’s Masters begin the same week as the NCAA final. The NBA playoffs start the following week and the NFL draft is April 28-30.

The NCAA tournament continues to the best of all post season playoffs. One bad performance and your season is over. As usual, there are many close games and a lot of upsets. The Cinderella team this year is Saint Peters College in the East bracket. . This small Jesuit College from Jersey City, ranked #15 upset #2 powerhouse Kentucky. They then knocked off Murray State to reach the Sweet 16. In the same bracket,   #1 seed Baylor erased a 25 point deficit in the final 10 minutes to send the game to OT. At this point I and I’m sure many others thought Baylor would take care of business and advance. However, the Tar Heels dominated the OT and sent Baylor packing.

Gonzaga fans must be smacking their lips knowing they won’t have to face Baylor or Kentucky to advance to the second straight finals appearance. Although they struggled in the first two games, they should take care of Arkansas and either Duke or Texas Tech to reach the final four.

Over in the South things are running more true to form, although #1 seed Arizona needed OT to beat #9 TCU. The Cinderella team in this bracket is #11 seed Michigan. They beat Colorado State and then upset #3 Tennessee. This upset was due in large part to Tennessee’s lack of 3 point shooting. In this day and age you can’t win if you can’t make 3 point shots.

In the Midwest Kansas by far is the best team and next play #4 Providence. In the lower half the brackets there were other major upsets Kansa should have an easy time as both #2^nd #3 seeds were upset.  #10 Miami who knocked off #2 Auburn after upsetting USC. #11 Iowa State beat #3 Wisconsin after beating #6 LSU.

After this writing, instead of smacking their lips ahead are now licking their wounds after being ousted by Arkansas. Arizona, another #1 seed was knocked out by Houston. Games like these are  what makes this tournament great. 

Super Bowl Caps Off a Terrific Postseason

 February 15, 2022

The NFL postseason was the best I have witnessed in my lifetime.* Most games were won by three points or less, with many game winning plays occurring in the last two minutes. What also made this special was the slew of upsets. The Cincinnati Bengals scratched and clawed their way to the AFC championship game. Things were going according to plan as the Kansas City Chiefs scored touchdowns on their first 3 possessions. The Bengals defense allowed only three points the rest of the way and upset the heavily favored Chiefs by three.  The Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers matchup never materialized, as both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers were both upset in their opening games.

The usually anti-climactic Super Bowl was as compelling as the previous games, with the L.A. Rams scoring a touchdown with a minute and half remaining to beat the Bengals by three points.  The game was dominated by defense as neither team reached 315 total yards. The Bengals scored only two touchdowns. The first on a trick play with running back Joe Mixon hitting wide receiver Mark Higgins. Higgins scored another touchdown that shouldn’t have counted. He turned the head around of safety Jalen Ramsey with a face mask penalty that wasn’t called. The best defensive player Aaron Donald and the Rams defense was able to keep Joe Burrow in check for most of the game.

Matt Stafford must be thanking his lucky stars that he was traded to the Rams. He is a good quarterback who had no support with the Detroit Lions. The Rams first touchdown was scored by Odell Beckham Jr. an excellent pick up in November. Stafford also has the best wide receiver in the NFL Cooper Kupp, who had 8 catches for 93 yards including two touchdowns for which he received received MVP honors.

All in all this was real compelling Super Bowl with some really good ads. My favorites include, Anna Kendrick for Rocket Mortgage and Barbie’s dream house. The Doritos ad with the animals, the Manning brothers with Terry Bradshaw for Lays and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Zeus with Salma Hayek for BMW electric car. 

 *I must admit my favorite playoffs was when the Bears won their lone Super Bowl.

When the Dust Settled: Super Bow Pits L.A. Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals

January 31, 2022

The NFL playoffs continued to be wildly entertaining. Two scintillating games
decided who would face off in the Super Bowl. Like last week, both games were decided in the closing minutes, with another upset thrown in for good measure. 

In Kansas City, the Chiefs were heavily favored to beat the Cincinnati Bengals. Things seemed to be going as planned as the Chiefs scored on their first three possessions. At the end of first half, the Chiefs had a first and goal from the one yard line after a pass interference penalty. However, they came away with no points. They left enough time for the Bengals quarterback to lead the Bengals on a touchdown drive to close the half.

Last week, the 49ers shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packer offense. The Bengals did the same to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense. The Bengals had a field goal to start the second half. Seconds later Mahomes was intercepted leading to a short touchdown drive. The Bengals then converted a two point conversion tying the score. They would take their first lead on a 52 yard field goal by rookie kicker Evan McPherson with a little over six minutes remaining. A Chiefs field goal with no time remaining, tied the score sending the game to overtime. This was their only points in the half. 

After winning the overtime coin flip most people thought the Chiefs would pull this one out. This was not to be, as Mahomes was picked off for the second time early in the OT. Another McPherson field goal punched the Bengals’ ticket to the Super Bowl.

 Not to be outdone, the L.A. Rams trailed the San Francisco 49ers 17-7 entering the fourth quarter. The 49ers’ big guns had built this lead. Jimmy Garoppolo connected on touchdown passes to wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who had 98 total yards, and tight end George Kittle.

The staunch Ram defense pitched a shut-out in the fourth quarter and their offense came alive. The NFL’s top receiver Cooper Kupp caught his second touchdown pass and a Matt Gay field goal tied the score at 17. While Rams QB Matt Stafford heated up, the 49ers’ offense struggled. Stafford led another long drive leading to another Gay field goal with less than two minutes to go for a 20-17 lead. A San Francisco comeback ended in three plays with an interception. 

So it’s the upstart Bengals, playing the Rams on their home field in the Super Bowl. This is the second straight year the game is being played on one of the participants’ home field. The Rams are slight favorites to win. All of my predictions have been wrong in both rounds. Therefore, because I want the Bengals to win I’m picking the Rams. Let’s hope this isn’t a snoozer like last year. 

Bears Go On the Cheap in hiring New GM and Coach

 January 27, 2022

After an exhaustive search that lasted less than three weeks, the Bears hired a new GM and head coach. I get a queasiness in my stomach as the Bears get another Ryan as their GM and another Matt as their coach. I think the Bears probably thought this was a cost cutting move as they will only have to change the last names on the parking places and name plates.

The Bears interviewed many people for the GM position. All had the credentials to ascend to a GM role. I have to give the Bears some credit for making a minority hire in Ryan Poles. Like his predecessor he is very young at age 36. This leads me to believe he came cheaply.   He will be in charge of the next draft where they don’t have a first round pick. And he has an uphill battle to fix this team, so I will cut him some slack.  

I don’t know how in two days Poles could say it was his choice to hire Matt Eberflus. He was chosen over two candidates who had previously coached Super Bowl champs. It is not a good thing to thrust a coach on your new GM. Do you think it may have anything to do with money? 

What is amazing is that with one of the worst offenses, all final candidates were defensive coaches.  QB Justin Fields is the center of this franchise and needs the right coach to maximize his talent. It will be very interesting to see who the Bears bring in as their Offensive Coordinator. One name being floated is Eagles Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo. This is so “Bears” as his passing attack was ranked 25^th.  

The upside of Eberflus is he is an excellent defensive coordinator. He has a lot of work to do. The Bears, with the exception of Jaylen Johnson, have no secondary and no pass rush.  He may want to consider reverting to a 4-3 defense. A  healthy Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn would be one of the best trios around. He is supposed to be very good at planning and figuring out opponents' schemes. However, it is much harder to install offensive schemes. 

I know this is not a ringing endorsement. However, as a Bear fan I really hope this works out.

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

 January 24, 2022

Even the most casual fan would have enjoyed the drama that unfolded this past weekend in the NFL. All four games were close and intense battles. As usual, my picks went in the crapper. The upsets that were in vogue during the season continued. Three underdogs pulled out road trip victories.  The Kansas City Chiefs were the only favorite that won.

The most improbable upset was the San Francisco 49ers beating the Green Bay Packers. The Packers marched down the field scoring a touchdown on their first possession. The running plays were working and Aaron Rodgers completed 7 of 8 passes. I was expecting a huge Packer victory. However, I can’t remember a team putting the clamps on Rodgers and the Packer offense like the 49ers did. Rodgers only completed 7 of his last 21 passes. The 49ers, led by defensive lineman Nick Bosa, had the Packers in disarray. The weather may have played a part as well. It didn’t help that Packers kicker Mason Crosby’s 39 yard field goal attempt was blocked at the end of the first half. The 49ers offense was self-imploding and could only muster 3 points through three quarters. Leading 7-3 in the fourth quarter, Rodgers connected with wide receiver DeVante Adams, who was all alone deep in 49ers territory. A touchdown would have iced a Packers victory. However, the 49ers defense stood tall and held the Packers to a field goal. The biggest sequence came with less than five minutes remaining when the Packers had the ball deep in their territory. An illegal receiver downfield and an illegal procedure had the Packers punting out of their end zone. The crowd was stunned and went silent when the punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown. Rodgers had trouble converting third downs and turned over the ball on downs in the waning moments. The 49ers vaunted rushing attack putting them in field goal position. Robbie Gould hit a field goal as time ran out. 49ers 13 Packers 10.

L.A. Rams quarterback Matt Stafford, and receivers Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr., were having a field day. They led the defending champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-3. This could have been larger if the Rams didn’t fumble on the Bucs 1 yard line at the end of the first half. In the second half, the Bucs defense caused three fumbles allowing quarterback Tom Brady to work his magic. The Bucs would score two touchdowns and after throwing 54 passes, ran the ball into the end zone to tie the score. Problem was, there was still 1.43 seconds left. Stafford quickly got the Rams in field goal position where kicker Matt Gay hit a 30 yard field goal as time ran out. Rams 30 Bucs 27

The two best young quarterbacks, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo’s Josh Allen, faced off in probably the juiciest of the playoff games. Each threw for over 300 yards. You knew this would be a high scoring shootout. It seemed evident that whoever had the ball last would win this game. Despite missing a field goal and an extra point, the Chiefs led 26-21 with a little over 7 minutes left. The game went back and forth as the teams combined to score 25 points in the final two minutes. Buffalo thought it had the game won when Allen hit wide receiver Gabriel Davis and caught a 19 yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds left. Amazingly, in two plays the Chiefs got into field position to tie the game sending it to overtime. Kansas City got the ball first, scored a touchdown, game over. The team that had the ball last, won. There will be some discussion over overtime rules, for now, Chiefs 42 Bills 36.

The other AFC game was the heavily favored Tennessee Titans against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Titans were the best team all year and they had the league’s best running back, Derek Henry, back from injury. Though the Titans offense never got on track and the Bengals were able to keep it close. Titans
coach, Mike Vrabel, eschewed an extra point when the Bengals committed a penalty to put the ball on the one yard line. They went for two and the attempt failed.  I’ve never been a fan of going for two in the first quarter. This would come back to haunt them. The game was tied at 16 with 2.43 left. With a 1 point lead they could have tried to run out the clock but they needed to score. Instead of using the run to get in field goal position, Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw his third interception. It didn’t take much for the Bengals to set up rookie Evan McPherson for a 52 yard field goal as time ran out. Bengals 19 Titans 16.

In the anticlimactic championship games, the Chiefs will have no trouble and wallop the Bengals. The Rams will be heavily favored to beat the 49ers. This may be next week’s upset.    

Road to the Super Bowl

 

January 14, 2022

It’s a football junkie’s paradise as the NFL playoffs start this weekend. There are two games on Saturday and three games on Sunday. There is even a Monday night game for bettors to recoup their weekend losses. It was hard to pick winners as there were major upsets every week. I will attempt to handicap the playoffs although I’m sure I will be completely off.

In the AFC, the Cincinnati Bengals host the Las Vegas Raiders. The only thing they have in common is they both lost to the woeful Chicago Bears. The Raiders will not be able to keep up with the Bengals' high powered offense led by former Heisman Trophy quarterback Joe Burrow. 

The Buffalo Bills play host to the New England Patriots. The Bills are led by one the best dual threat quarterbacks, Josh Allen. The Patriots' Bill Belichick is the best coach in football. If the arctic cold affect’s Allen’s game the Patriots can pull the upset. I’ll go out on a limb and say this happens.

The Kansas City Chiefs struggled early but have been on a roll as of late. Pittsburgh quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger’s career ends on a sour note as the Chiefs should crush the Steelers. Whether the Chiefs play Buffalo or New England, they will advance to the AFC championship game.

The Tennessee Titans were the best team in the conference and they should easily defeat the Bengals to face the Chiefs for the championship. This should a great game. The Titans' Ryan Tannehill has developed into a really good QB. The Titans also have best running back in football, Derrick Henry, who is nursing an injury and may not be available. Though, the Titans went on a six game winning streak without Henry. Their second leading rusher, D’Onta Foreman, had three 100 yard games. The Chiefs possess one of the game’s elite quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes has plenty of weapons, including Travis Kelsey, who is the best tight end I have ever seen. Kelsey can change the complexion of a game.

In the NFC, the picture is clearer. If I were a betting man, I’d place big money that the Green Bay Packers, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, will face Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There is still a lot of football to be played. Who knows what can happen?

The L.A. Rams have a great defense and quarterback Matt Stafford is rejuvenated. They also have the top receiver, Cooper Kupp. The Philadelphia Eagles do not stand a chance. The Dallas Cowboys have a great offense led by quarterback Dak Prescott, who is having a great comeback year. And, they have star running back Ezekiel Elliott. The San Francisco 49ers have a lot of momentum. In week 18, trailing 17-0, they had a last minute scoring drive for a comeback victory. Dallas is a three point favorite so this can go either way.

As for who plays the Titans in the usual anti-climactic Super Bowl? Well, since it is very difficult to win consecutive Super Bowls and the Bucs are a little banged up, it will be the Packers. I wouldn’t mind being completely wrong if somehow the Packers lose in the first round.

I will reserve my pick on who wins the Super Bowl when the dust has settled. In the mean time let’s see how I did.