Sunday, October 23, 2011

All around the NFL

Hey All,

It was a busy exciting day around the NFL today, with a lot of close games, the usual blow outs, and even a game over seas. Let's start with the game overseas, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears playing in London. This game didn't start well for the Bucs, turning the ball over and giving up points on the first possession of the game. Josh Freeman didn't have the day he should have had throwing 3 INT's and only 2 TD's. But the Bucs didn't give up after going down 14-5 in the first half. Now I know what your thinking, 5 as a first half score in football? Yes the Bucs D got in there and picked up a safety in the first quarter of the game. Chicago did not give up either during this game, they put up a touchdown in the first 3 quarters of this game, but could only manage a field goal in the 4h. That was all that was needed to finish off the Bucs in this game, even after Tampa put up 13 points in the 4th quarter. The final in this game was 24-18 in favor of the Bears in a hard fought second half of this game in London. I think, personally, the NFL shouldn't have regular season games overseas. Preseason on the other hand, that would be okay, because it would be a great experience for the players who are trying to make the team. Most players in the NFL don't like making long plane on away game in the States, let alone going outside the country to play a game. Given most of the players love playing overseas and think that it's really fun and can't wait to get there, but this is just my opinion.

The game that was the blow out today was that of Tennessee Titans and the Huston Texans. The final score in this game was 41-7 in favor of the Texans, which shouldn't surprise anyone who watches football this season. Matt Schaub had himself a day 18-23, 296 yards, 2 TD's, and no INT's. Foster also had a fantastic day running the ball. He had 115 yards on 25 carries and 2 TD's, and that was just him running the ball. He was also the leading receiver on the team today with 5 catches 119 yards and a TD, this is unbelievable for one man to be the leading rusher and leading receiver in the same game.Tennessee just couldn't get anything going in this game with Chris Johnson having under 31 yards rushing and no TD's, plus he had 6 catches but only 27 yards to show for that. Not a good day when your stars can't seem to get anything going for you.
There was another game that was a blow out and that is the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. This game changed pas a few times throughout the entirety of the game, first the Steelers went up by 14 early, then the Cards came back and made a game, then the Steelers just ran away with it in the second half. The final score in this game was 32-20, now I know the score doesn't show that it was a blow out, but the way the game went did. The second half of the game the Steelers only allowed Arizona to score 13 points, compared to the 7 that was allowed in the first half. Arizona did keep the running game of the Steelers in check only allowing Mendenhall to rush for 32 yards on 13 attempts. This was much needed for the Pittsburgh Steelers who just can't seem to get anything going on the road this season. This should have brought some life to the Steelers team as a whole getting into a routine and staying in it for the entire game. If they can keep this up for the rest of the season then they will have no trouble making a playoff run this season.

All the games today were fun to watch and kept everyone who watched them interested throughout the day. Whether it be Tim Tebow getting his first start this season, or all the blow outs that happened, or even all the games that were too close for comfort anyone who is a football fan should have been too excited to handle it today. If every week turns out like today did then the lock out would have been well worth it and everyone will come back and love football that much more.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

WVU Looks Bad

Hey All,

Now I'm a huge WVU fan, but last nights game against Syracuse they didn't come to play. If you can give up 46 points and expect to win the game, you are sadly mistaken. The offense wasn't putting up points and the defense wasn't stopping anyone from putting up points for the other team. That seems to be the problem with WVU football, they play down to the team that they are playing. If they are playing a great team, then they play great. If they are playing a terrible team, then they play terrible. It's sad to admit that, but the truth hurts sometimes. If they can figure out how to play the type of football that everyone knows they are capable of playing, then they would be unstoppable. Under new coaching staff, I thought this was going to be the year that they make a undefeated run for a BCS game. That doesn't look like it's going to happen this year, but the team has a lot of young talent and can be good for a long time. The only problem is now everyone's trying to get out of the Big East Conference, which is making it become very weak. WVU, in order to be a contender for a title, needs to switch conferences and they need to do it fast. The Big East isn't going to be around much longer, and is now not considered a power house like it looked like it was becoming. Since WVU was turned down by the ACC it's now time to look for other conferences to be a part of. The SEC is a good one, but they wouldn't fair well in that conference. The Big 12 might be the best place for the Mountaineers to call home for next season. The teams are tough, in the Big 12, but beatable for the Mountaineers. It's a big named conference witch will help the Mountaineers in many different ways; it will bring in more recruits, give WVU the schedule they need to make a run for the BCS title, and it will let everyone know what they are made of. This team can be one of the teams to beat, they just need to do the right things in order for that to happen. Moving conferences is just the first step in a list of things that need to happen. Once they put the proper pieces to the puzzle together, they will become a great team for years to come.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Steelers Fight Till The End

Hey All,

The Pittsburgh Steelers looked like they had the Jacksonville Jaguars down for the count in the first half of the game, but that wasn't the case. At halftime of this game Pittsburgh was up by a score of 17-3 and looked like they were just going to cruse to the finish of this game. The Jags thought otherwise, and weren't going to give up this game without a good fight. They came back and made the final score 13-17, too close for my taste. I don't know what is going on with the Steelers defense but they need to figure it out, figure it out quickly. Gabbert had okay numbers nothing to be too impressed with. He was only 12-26, 109 yards, 1 TD and no INT's. Marcus Jones-Drew came close to getting 100 yards rushing, something that doesn't happen too often with the Steelers D. They don't like to give up yards on the ground, but Jones-Drew wanted to one of the players that is on the exception part of that list. The D can't start to sleep out there like it seems to happen almost ever game in the second half. There can't be that many teams that are "second half teams", it just can't be. The Steelers use to be known as one of the best teams in terms of defense, now there about middle of the row in that category. The secondary is one of the weak points on the D, Polamalu can't be everywhere on the field, though he is fast enough to be, but that's besides the point. If the Steelers D doesn't start to step it up and play like everyone knows how that are capable of, the season is just going to get longer and longer. I hope they can find a way to fix this problem and fix it fast, so that they can make the postseason and another Super Bowl run like they did last season. Let's pray for the best and root our Steelers on as the season goes on.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Penguins Lose Close One

Hey All,

The Pittsburgh Penguins lose a very close game against the Washington Capitals tonight in overtime (OT) after coming back from a goal down in the 3rd to tie the game. The Pens played a great game tonight against one of their fierce rivals in the Washington Capitals. Then Pens went up by a goal early in the game, with 17:13 left in the 1st period, after that it was all Washington. The Caps came back and got the tying goal and kept up the pressure on the Pens for the rest of the game. Going up by a goal in the 3rd just 40 seconds into the period, off the stick of Alex Ovechkin , the player everyone loves to hate. I'll be the first to admit I can't stand Ovechkin, don't get me wrong he's a great player, I just don't like his attitude when he's on the ice. He's cocky, he thinks he rules the ice, and does what most players should do and think they are the best player out there. He is probably one of the hardest hitters out there today, but he does take a few cheap shots. But enough about him, the player for the Pens who really showed up today was James Neal, a player no one knew would come out so hot. The first goal scored for the Penguins was off of his stick, and tonight was no different. Neal was the only one to score today, both goals tonight came off the stick of Neal. Now Neal is the kind of player that Pittsburgh should try and keep around for a long time. He can get your team 25 goals a year and will play till the very end. Neal scored the tying goal to bring the game into OT. This is something that seems to haunt the Pens this year is overtime. This is the 3 time in four games that the Pens have gone into and one went into a shoot out witch they lost to the Vancouver a team that was in the Stanley Cup Finals. Let's hope that they Pens can get over this down fall and finish the games in regulation. Even though they lost tonight everything should get better as the man everyone's been waiting for will be returning sooner than later. Crosby was in full contact today in a stake around for the first time since his injury last season. This is great news, just a few more practices and he should be ready for game day by Tuesday the 18th. I can't wait for his return and I'm sure non of you can either.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Steelers Roll Titans

Hey All,

The Pittsburgh Steelers had one great day against the Titans Sunday winning the by the score of 38-17. One of the key factors, in my mind, was that defense playing like everyone knows and loves. They just down the stud Chris Johnson, who just couldn't get anything going since the opening drive where he got 22 yards on one carry. It seems to me that the defense realized that they had to get it done because of how banged up the offensive line is for the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger looked good, and the line protected him all game long. Ben was 24-34 for 228 yards, 5 TD's, and only 1 INT. The INT shouldn't even have happened, it was at the end of the half and was just a little miss communication between Ben and his receiver, but it didn't matter. Surprisingly a man who hasn't seem that much time at running-back Dwyer had 11 touches for 107 yards, and he wasn't even the starter. Another runner for the Steelers Redman, getting his first start, touched the ball 15 times for 49 yards, which for him is a good day. Redman isn't that breakout running who's going to cut it back and run it up and beat you with his speed. He's the type of runner who is going to go through you, he doesn't get taken down by the wimpy arm tackles. One other stat that surprises me is that the Steelers only punted one time, Sepulveda only had one punt for 48 yards. Sepulveda did have one pass on a fake punt which was taken for 30 yards. All in all the Steelers played good and looked good all game long. If they can keep this up, I think they will turn this season around, and make it into a winning one. They just need to stay healthy, protect Big Ben, and play shut down D and the season will look good for them.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Pens Start Opener With A W

Hey All,

The Pittsburgh Penguins started their season last night against the Vancouver Cancucks and it was a game to remember. The Pens came out looking ready to play and showed that this season is going to be different then the last one. The Pens came out ready to play from the drop of the puck, and showed everyone that speed kills in this league. One of the main reasons, I think, they looked so good was the fact that they had most of the "stars" back from injury/suspensions. Malkin looked like his knee was holding up well and he looked stronger than ever. Flying around the ice letting everyone one in the league know that he was back with a purpose. Also all the young players they acquired looked very good. With every shift the Pens looked strong and together, especially the 4th line. When the 4th line was on the ice the Cancucks looked like they had no answer for the strength of that line. The first goal of the game came off the stick of James Neal with a lucky bounce from an impossible angle. Neal is looking to prove himself to this team, when he was acquired to the team he only put one puck behind the goalkeeper in 20 games last season. In last nights game he matched his total with the Pens scoring the first goal of the season for the Pens. The second goal came off the stick of Matt Cook, who is playing a bit different then fans would remember, after sitting out the rest of the season last year after a shot to the head of another player down the stretch. Cook had 2 of the Pens 3 goals in regulation, one of witch being a shot handed goal, the first goal was a Power Play goal. Although Flury gave up 3 goals in this game I think he looked very strong. His save percentage was .0914, which is right around last seasons average for him. He made some spectacular saves flying around the night, like the Flury we all know and love. I look for the Pens to have a great season after winning the game in a shot out last night against the runner ups in last years Stanly Cup Finals. Once Crosby comes back to the game, which should be very soon, the Pens will be better than ever.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Colts Fall to 0-4?

Hey All,

The Colts are having the worst start to their season in history.  Since 1999 their QB has been Payton Manning, and they have been unstoppable with him in the line up. He knows how to run the offense, and is basically the offensive coordinator. Without him running the show, they are the worst team in the league to this point. No one on that team can run the offense like Payton did. The young kid Painter that got his first NFL start, in 3 years of being on the team, did a fantastic job at running the offense. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough to stop the very hot Tampa Bay Buccaneers, beating the Colts by a score of 24-17. The Bucs did it in the normal fashion that they have been all year, and that his by a late game come back. QB Josh Freeman is an up in coming star in the NFL. At 6'6" and 265 LBS he is defiantly in the running for one of the biggest QB's in the league. It doesn't hurt that he is a good runner as well as he is a passer. Throwing for over 200+ yards last night, on Monday Night Football, and 2 touchdowns, one of witch he ran in from the 1 yard line. He is one of the calmest QB's under pressure, he doesn't panic, and he can just out right play some football. In his High School years he play fullback, and since then been converted to a quarterback, which most will not argue wasn't the worst decision in the world for him. Now I don't know how the Colt's didn't come back in this game to win? The Buccaneers had 12 penalties for over 100 yards. Any team who makes that many mistakes, shouldn't be the winner in the game. Yet some how, like always, the Bucs pulled it out and fought till the very end of the game. It doesn't hurt to have a running game like the Bucs do with Blount in the back field. A big bruising runner who has quick feet and can beat you with his speed all well as his power. He rushed for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown as well. I look for this  Buccaneers team to be good in the feature, because they are the youngest team in the league.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Steelers Look Terrible

Hey All,

The Pittsburgh Steelers look completely terrible in today's game. The line couldn't block for Ben to save their lives, the defense couldn't stop the running game of Huston, and the offense just couldn't move the ball against the defense of the Texans. They should be embarrassed about the way they looked in the game. If this is how the rest of the season is going to go, it's going to be a long one. The one thing I saw that needs the most work, and I'm sure everyone knows this, is the line. I think a small child could get past this line, no one knows how to block apparently. Ben was under pressure all game long. If the Steelers want to make a playoff run again this year, they need to do a lot of work with the line, and hope that everyone stays healthy. Mendenhall left this game with an apparent hamstring injury, this isn't good for the Steelers. Mendenhall is the best running back that Pittsburgh has. Now I know Redman, and Moore are tough runners, but they are not the same type of runner that Mendenhall is. Redman is the strong back when we need to pick up a yard or so, like The Bus use to be when he was still in the league. Let's hope for their sake that everyone gets back to being healthy and they get back on the winning side of things. As for right now, doesn't look good for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

WVU Rolls over Bowling Green

Hey All,

WVU vs. Bowing Green today was completely one-sided for all of the first half. WVU forced 4 turnovers, 3 interceptions 1 fumble, and scored 17 points off of those turnovers. At first it looked like Bowling Green was going to make a game out of this until, I think, they angered the Mountaineers and they just went off on them. When the game first kicked off and the Mountaineers could only get a field goal out of it made me, and I'm sure the rest of the Mountaineer faithful a bit worried. Then on the next kickoff Bowling Green took it back to WVU's 18 yard line, where it only took them one play to score a touchdown. After that forced a punt from WVU and drove down to get a field goal to make the score 10-3 in favor of Bowling Green. Since then WVU's defense wasn't going to allow that to happen again, stopping Bowling Green's offense with the 4 interceptions. WVU scored the next 17 unanswered points off of 3 of those turnover's, the 4th coming at the end of the 2nd quarter. WVU went into the half with the lead 38-10, with the offense and defense playing the way they are this spelled great things to come for the second half. However, it looked like the 2nd half would start the same way that the first half did, with a fumble, but after the officials review the knee was down and WVU kept the ball. I think that they saw something on the scouting report with Bowling Green's defense, with the running game, because the Mountaineers came out running and really never stopped the entire game. This was the most touches that the running backs for WVU have gotten so far this season, and it went well for them, running all over the Hawks defense. On the first drive of the game WVU drove down the field to score, on the ground for Garrison's 2nd rushing TD of the game. He also has rushed for 250 yards this game, and is a freshman, which if I'm not mistaken is a record for a freshman running back. Geno Smith in the first half was 14-25 with 212 yards passing and 3 TD's, so I think it's safe to say that the offense is clicking for the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers had 640+ yards of offense in this game alone, to win big in this game 55-10. The next coming games on WVU's schedule should be easy wins up until they get to the biggest game of the year, PITT. This game always brings excitement and you never know how it will turn out. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes for the Mountaineers.