Heat nothing more than a cloud of Smoke...

It all started Christmas day with a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It continued last night with another loss to the same Cavaliers. There was once a day that Cleveland's supporting cast could not hold a candle to the supporting cast of the Heat. The Heat have the most dominant player of his era in center Shaquille O'Neal, quite possibly the most dominant player ever. They also have Dwayne Wade, the all star, finals MVP, and media darling. They also have one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA, Pat Riley. Riley is known for having teams that play ferocious defense, and having a knack for being able to motivate his players better than anyone else. Two years ago, it began with the saying "15 strong", and that resulted in the first championship ever for the Heat. Since then, the heat have been swept out of the playoffs by the Chicago Bulls, and appear headed for a lottery pick this year. With a record of only eight wins and an astounding thirty-two losses, a lottery pick could be just what this team needs to get back on track. In order to fix this team, a mid-season trade is not going to do the trick. Wade is doing everything he can to get this team back on its winning ways (despite not being 100% healthy), and because of that the Heat have been competitive in most games this year. Of the games decided by 6 points or less, the heat has lost 12/18. They have had numerous leads going into the fourth quarter (including last night's game), but always seem to let the victory slip out of their grasp. The Heat needs a solid player that can be paired with Dwayne Wade so they can be in contention every year. A trade will not accomplish that. However, this year's NBA draft is expected to be loaded with talent. Many diaper dandies are expected to come play at basketball's highest level. Players like USC's O.J. Mayo, Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, UCLA center Kevin Love, and Indiana guard Eric Gordon are expected to come out of college after their freshman year. But don't discount the upper class men either, with prospects like 7'2" 270 pound Georgetown center Roy Hibbert. If the Heat can draft one of these players, or another player of their caliber, the franchise will be ready for success for years to come. Without them, it will become a question whether Dwayne Wade will want to stick around Miami. He can elect to become an unrestricted free agent in two years, along with Pat Riley leaving the bench and heading back to the Heat offices. If those things happen, there will be many more of these down years in the Heat's future.

AFC Championship game... Chargers vs Patriots

The Chargers went into Indianapolis last week, and pulled off the upset over the Colts. They did so, by forcing turnovers, putting pressure on Peyton Manning, and making plays on offense when the opportunity arose. Unfortunately for the Chargers, that win came at a heavy price. The NFL's leading rusher Ladanian Tomlinson, along with QB Philip Rivers both were knocked from the game with knee injuries. Both say they expect to play this week against the Patriots, but they will clearly not be 100%. For the Chargers, the good news is that their backups played exceptionally well, and that is no fluke. Running back Michael Turner carried the ball 17 times for 71 yards with an average of about 4.2 yards per carry. Turner is the best backup RB in the NFL and would be the feature back for many NFL teams. The only thing holding him back is that he plays behind Ladanian Tomlinson. Veteran Billy Voleck, is a very capable and competent quarterback. He is accurate and will not make many mistakes, as demonstrated in his game winning, 78 yard drive that took 8 plays and was capped off with a QB sneak touchdown from the one yard line. When the Chargers get into the red zone, they must get touchdowns. If the are stuck settling for field goals, they will not be able to keep pace with the New England offense.
Let's not get too caught up with the offense however, it will be up to the San Diego defense if they expect to beat the Patriots. They lead the league in turnovers and they will need to force more. The Chargers have some extra motivation in this game. Besides getting spanked by the Pats early in the season, the Patriots also defeated the Chargers in the divisional round of the playoffs last year in San Diego. It was not exactly the best display of sportsmanship when several New England players were doing Shawne Merriman's "lights out" celebration on the field after the game.
All that being said, Bill Bellichick always finds a way to take opponents out of their game plan. He finds what you do best, and puts together a scheme to make sure you cannot do whatever that may be. In this case, it will be the run game. That will force Philip Rivers/Billy Voleck to win the game with their arm. Although Rivers is much improved from his early season struggles, without Antonio Gates being completely healthy the passing game will struggle in the cold in New England. The high temperature for Sunday is a frigid 27 degrees, and there will be winds of more than twenty miles per hour. Those winds will help slow down the Patriots and they will not get the 411 yards of offense per game that they average, but they will get just enough to squeak out a win. I like the Pats to continue their quest to join the '72 Dolphins in their neighborhood of undefeated super bowl champs. 23-19

NFC Championship... New York vs Green Bay

Last week, the Green Bay Packers demolished the Seattle Seahawks in convincing fashion. The frozen tundra of Lambeau was just that, and now the Pack are hosting the NFC Championship game. The New York football Giants allowed Marion Barber to rush for over one hundred twenty yards and a touchdown, but were able to overcome that and upset the Dallas Cowboys. For the Giants, "well-dressed" Amani Toomer has been playing lights out, and has certainly picked up the slack since the loss of TE Jeremey Shockey and the gimpy Plaxico Buress. He has caught a team high eleven playoff passes for three touchdowns and 154 yards. The defense has been solid, getting to the quarterback and playing well in the secondary despite injuries to Sam Madison and Aaron Ross (Ross will be back this week). Eli Manning has clearly turned the corner in his career and has solidified himself as the QB for the Giants after facing some harsh criticism early in the year. The question for this game will be, how much will the weather effect the play of both teams? Unfortunately, for the Giants the colder the temperature has been, the worse Eli's quarterback rating became. On the plus side, Brandon Jacobs is a big bruising runner who defenders don't like to tackle in warm weather, in the cold the hits hurt twice as much.
The temperature for the game will be around four degrees. Coincidentally, number four for the Packers is a living legend, and NFL icon Brett Favre. When the temperature goes down, the Mississippi native gets hot. When playing in Green Bay and the temperature is under 34 degrees, Favre has an astonishing record of 43-5. Even better for the Packers, they just played in a blizzard last week and RB Ryan Grant ran for over 200 yards despite fumbling twice in the early goings of the game. The Packers have one of the NFL's best receiving core featuring WRs Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, and talented but troubled Koren Robinson. The Green Bay offense is explosive, no doubt. However it is the defense that has truly gotten the Packers to this point. They have an outstanding young linebacking core, a d-line that can stop the run and get to the quarterback, and a secondary that shuts you out, and forces turnovers. Cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson are pro bowlern type players, but the secondary has received an unexpected boost from former Central Florida Safety Atari Bigsby. He flies all over the field and is a fundamentally sound player who does not make many mistakes. All of these factors will add up to a victory for Green Bay, 23-17.

Tiny Tuna

I would like to be one of the first to welcome Tony Sparano aka "Tiny Tuna" to Miami. It has been speculated for the past few weeks that this move was going to happen. Sparano is a Bill Parcells guy, which is the main reason he was brought in. Parcells wanted a coach who will be an extension of himself, who coaches in a way that he did, and thinks the way he does. Parcells reputation for rebuilding franchises in a relatively short period of time will be on the line, and Sparano is the man he trusts to do the job. The question is, will Sparano be making his own decisions, or is he merely a puppet with strings attached to the hands of Bill Parcells?
Sparano will be his own man, however the word is that he is so similar to Parcells that the decisions he will be making, will be the same as if Parcells himself were making them. So, what should we expect from Tony Sparano and Pracells? Size. Expect to see big, nasty offensive lineman coming in to protect the QB and bulldoze anyone who is trying to stuff running lanes for Ronnie Brown. This fact makes it a possibility the Dolphins go after Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long in the draft (more on that another day). The offensive will be a physical one, it will start with Ronnie Brown and the run game opening things up for the pass, whoever the QB may be. Expect an attacking defense. This is one of the reasons Parcells himself is doing his best to make sure Jason Taylor stays in the aqua and orange. JT is the ideal player for this kind of defense. I expect to see him playing the Jack position, lining up all over the field. He will blitz from all linebacker positions, drop into coverage, along with putting his hand on the ground in the traditional DE position. This is where he played during the 2006-2007 season, where he earned defensive player of the year honors. Expect discipline. The one thing that irks coaches more than anything is mental mistakes. These are the little things that cost the team in big games. Last but not least expect improvement. Truth be told, when you are 1-15 it can't get much worse, and with new coach Sparano, general manager Jeff Ireland, and Pracells it can only get better from here.

Wild Weekend

On Saturday, things went exactly according to plan. The Seahawks showed that they are clearly not the same team playing away from home. Although they jumped out to a lead early, there is no way you can win a playoff game giving up two hundred yards to one running back (in this case, RB Ryan Grant). The snow was coming down, and the Packers stormed back to put a hurting on the Seahawks, in a way that showed why no one wants to go play in Green Bay this time of year.
In what started out looking like a fantastic game in the first half, the Jags and Pats were exchanging blows like it was a heavyweight fight. But in the end, the Pats offense proved to be too much and the defense stiffened in the second half.
Sunday came all the surprises. The first surprise, despite a sprained toe Antonio Gates took the field. Although in the second and fourth quarters it was apparent he was not himself. Then Ladanian Tomlinson was knocked from them game. Next it was Philip Rivers' turn to get bitten by the injury bug. All of these things would lead to a loss for the Bolts, right? WRONG! Billy Voleck came in to save the day and lead San Diego to a game winning drive and book them for a trip to New England for a shot at the Super Bowl.
Later in the afternoon, the Giants and Cowboys squared off in their third meeting of the season and it was a good one. Marion Barber came out of the gates running like he wanted to be the only RB in Dalls, finishing up with 129 yards and a touchdown. Tony Romo was not terrible but he could have been better. He completed 50% of his passes for 200 yards, one touchdown and one int. That was not good enough. The offense was stopped by penalties, and the defense gave the Giants extra chances by drawing even more yellow flags. It all ended with a Giants victory and Terrel Owens crying in the post game interview. I understand defending your teammate, but the crying was a bit over dramatic. Although the trip to Mexico was not the reason for the Cowboys loss, it is still up to Tony Romo to know that people are going to say these things, so he has to be watchful of his own actions. All of this leads us to what will be a great weekend of championship games, stay tuned for analysis and predictions later this week!

NFL Playoffs Round 2.... Giants vs Cowboys

This game has been the toughest one to predict a winner. As the Cowboys and Giants get ready to square off for the third time this season, it all comes down to an ankle. Terrel Owens has a high ankle sprain, which is typically a 4-6 week injury. This Sunday will be only three weeks since he initially injured the ankle. If he is unable to play, the Giants will be able to leave eight men in the box, and stop the run. Without Owens, it will also allow the Giants to double team pro bowl TE Jason Witten and force Tony Romo to find a new favorite target.
In addition, the Giants are playing very well. Eli Manning got the first playoff win of his career. The running game is very effective, utilizing Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw as a tandem.The defense is playing well, getting after the quarterback, and forcing turnovers. They are also on an eight game road winning streak including last weekend's victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But, consider the only road loss for the Giants was week one, to these Cowboys. Also, the Giants' best cornerback Sam Madison will not be playing. In the previous two meetings between this team, Tony Romo torched the Giants secondary for 592 yards, eight touchdowns, and only throwing two interceptions. Four of those touchdowns went to T.O. Many experts are picking the Giants to pull off the upset. They are saying no one can beat the same team three times in a season. The past two years, the home teams are only 4-4 in the divisional round of the playoffs. There is every reason to pick the Giants in this one, which is exactly the reason I am picking the Cowboys. Ultimately I believe Terrel Owens will play, and let's be honest, the Giants couldn't stop him when Sam Madison was healthy, so I don't see them stopping him without Madison. Final score, 24-23.

NFL Playoffs round 2...Jaguars vs Patriots

This is going to be an interesting one to watch. The Jacksonville Jaguars seem to have the right formula to pull off the upset in Foxboro, but can they really do it? The blueprint to beat the Patriots has been laid in place by the Eagles, Ravens, and Giants respectively. It all starts with the running game. The Jags must control the clock with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. This is important for multiple reasons. First and foremost it wears down the defense and will make New England bring their safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. Rodney Harrison plays a lot on instinct and aggressiveness, especially in run support. This will end up leaving the secondary open for the play-action pass over the top. The most important aspect of having the running game going, is it keeps Tom Brady and company on the sidelines, where they can't score points. Jacksonville also has an excellent front seven lead by DT Big John Henderson, who can put pressure on you without blitzing. This also has helped others who have tried to defeat the Pats. You pressure Brady, he will try and force the ball to Randy Moss and the defense can force the interception. If Jacksonville can control the clock and get to Brady, I like their chances of pulling out a win.
All that being said, the so-called "blueprint" and "formula" to beat New England only took the teams that used it to the fourth quarter. That was when the light bulb went on above Brady's head as he thinks to himself, "wait a second, I have Randy Moss and the most potent offense the NFL has ever seen" and he then proceeds to work his way down the field and score the winning touchdown. The point here is that no one has been able to execute well enough to pull out the W against New England. When it has been crunchtime in each of the Pats games that were close, either the defense forces a turnover, or the offense does what it always does...score. I just can't take the Jags to win this one, I like New England, 34-20

NFL Playoffs Round 2...Chargers vs Colts

The Chargers and Colts will square off for the second time this season. In the first meeting, the blitzing San Diego defense gave Peyton Manning fits. He Threw a whopping six...that's right SIX interceptions. Yet somehow, the Colts were in position to win that game with a field goal in the final minutes, with Adam Vinatieri you figure he makes it. Somehow, he missed. But that was then and this is now. The Colts for the first time since early in the season have every player on the practice field. That includes WR Marvin Harrison and TE Dallas Clark. The Chargers on the other hand, will probably be without arguably the best TE in the league, Antonio Gates. The question for San Diego will be how much will the offense suffer without Gates? The answer...a lot. Antonio Gates is Phillip Rivers' favorite target, and the teams leading receiver with 75 receptions. Which means, that for San Diego to win, WR Chris Chambers must have a great game. The playoffs are the reason why San Diego pulled the trigger to bring in Chambers. The bad news is, they brought him in so he can have big games when defenses would double team Gates, not to fend off double teams by himself. Chambers is a very good receiver, however he does get alligator arms when trying to catch passes over the middle, and defensive player of the year, safety Bob Sanders will be looking to decapitate anyone who comes his way.
Indy is better in almost every major statistical category than San Diego. More overall yards on offense, more passing yards, on average they give up less yards both passing and rushing. The only category San Diego has an advantage is rushing yards per game with 127. However the leading tackler for the Colts is a DT, Gary Brackett with 116 tackles! Which means bad things for Ladanian Tomlinson, the NFL's leading rusher. This one will be closer than some people think, but I'm taking the Colts 27-21.

NFL Playoffs round 2...Seahawks vs Packers

Welcome to the frozen tundra of Lambeau field! The Packers are one of the NFL's surprise teams this season, and they are looking to make a run to the Super Bowl. However, the Seattle Seahawks are standing in their way. After defying my pick last week and beating the Redskins, the Seahawks are going to have to elevate their play from last week in order to defeat the Packers. Although the score was 35-14, that is not indicative of how Seattle played. The running game was non-existent, with Shaun Alexander their leading rusher with a meek 46 yards. So, again it will be up to Matt Hasselbeck to shoulder the load and do it by himself. It will be easier for him this week with the return of injured receiver Deion Branch. However, the Packers defense is nasty. They have a pro bowl CB in Al Harris, and the resurrected Charles Woodson at the other CB spot. Plus, the Packers front seven is young, energetic and plays with a lot of tenacity. They are lead by former Ohio State standout LB AJ Hawk, LB Nick Barnett, and DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. They will pressure Hasselbeck, and make it difficult for him to set his feet and make accurate passes. The Seahawks are only 3-5 on the road this season, and head Coach Mike Holmgren is only 1-2 against his former team at Lambeau Field.
In order for Seattle to win this game, two things must happen. The first is that they need to hope that the Packers, who field the NFL's youngest team, gets caught in the moment and don't play the way they are capable of playing. The second is to put enough pressure on Brett Favre that he starts throwing interceptions the way he did in 2006. In order to get him to do that, Seattle must make Favre feel like he has to do it all on his own. Which means they will need to shut down RB Ryan Grant, and Seattle must jump out to an early lead. I don't see either of those things happening, I like Green Bay in this one 29-20.

BCS title game...

This college football season can be summed up in one phrase, "expect the unexpected". Every week there was one or more top five teams that lost, setting up a national championship game that features two teams that lost games in their final few weeks. The LSU Tigers are the first two loss team to earn a spot in the title game, and after a loss to former Florida Gators coach Ron Zook and the fighting Illini, Ohio State had some good fortune to earn a trip to New Orleans.
On paper, these two teams are mirror images of each other. Both lead by stout defenses littered with athletes that will be playing on Sundays. LSU is lead by All-World defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, and stud safety Craig Steltz. On the other sideline, Ohio State has All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis, and cornerback Malcom Jenkins. With both defenses being so good, this game will be determined by which offense has the most big plays. Jacob Hester (RB-LSU) and Chris Wells (RB-OSU) are downhill style runners. They will not try to make defenders miss, but they will try to run the defender over. As far as the quarterbacks go, the Tigers have more versatility by using the two quarterback system Ryan Perrilloux and Matt Flynn. Flynn was injured in the final few weeks of the season, and Perrilloux shined as the starter. Flynn can scramble but it is Periloux who is more of the runner. OSU quarterback Todd Boeckman is best being a game manager. His job is to not make mistakes and to connect for the big play when it becomes available.
That being said, this is the National Championship. You cannot hide your QB and he will need to make plays. LSU will be in better position to do so, especially with WR Early Doucet and Matt Flynn back at full strength. I expect both defenses to come to play, but it will be the LSU offense that wins this game, 34-32

Fool's Gold... 24k changes his mind

Ever since Kevin Smith announced on December 18th that he would return to the Knights for his senior season, UCF was enamoured with the possibilities. After a ten win season, and a conference title the team was preparing for what was to quite possibly be UCF's best season ever, in 2008. Until Smith told the Orlando Sentinel he changed his mind stating, "When I had the press conference a few weeks ago, that's how I felt then." The question now becomes, what did he learn over the past three weeks that made him change his mind? The answer may be quite simple. When Smith made the initial announcement he had not yet heard back from the NFL advisory board. Once he had, he found out that some scouts have him ranked higher than Heisman runner up, Darren McFadden. If his initial prediction was that he would be drafted in the late first-second round range, this new information would change anyone's mind. The difference between being drafted in the low first- seccond round range, compared to being drafted in the top of the first round, is enormous. In 2006, the tenth overall pick was USC QB Matt Leinert , who signed a contract worth a maximum of over fifty million dollars over six years. While RB Deangelo Williams (another C-USA running back, Memphis) was drafted in the same draft at number twenty-seven overall and signed a 5 year, twelve and a half million dollar contract. I'm no Pythagoras, but that is a difference of more than thirty seven million dollars! He gave everything he had, in every game he played. He was a humble hero, always defering his succuess to his teammates, and never looking for attention.
Needlesstosay, it is a disappointment to see 24K leave but he did what was in his best intrest, and no one can blame him for doing so.

NFL playoffs... Jags vs Steelers

If there was an award for coaching move of the year, that award may just go to Jack Del Rio for deciding to go with David Garrard as his starting QB. When incumbent starter Byron Leftwich was released at the end of the preseason, a lot of people were scratching their heads, wondering what was going on in Jacksonville. As it turns out, there is a reason Del Rio is the coach. The result; Garrard has responded with a touchdown to interception ratio of 6 to 1, a quarterback rating of 102.2, completion percentage of 64, and a 9-3 record as the starter. Over the past few years, Jacksonville has developed a reputation for having a ferocious defense. It all starts up front with the big guys. Marcus Stroud and John Henderson wreak havoc up front, harassing quarterbacks and dominating runningbacks. But, do not forget about Rasheen Mathis. He only has one interception this year, but that is only because no one will throw at him. He is an elite cornerback who can shut down his entire side of the field.
The Jacksonville offense is fueled by the running game. Fred Taylor has ran for over twelve hundred yards, even though he splits carries with second year sensation Maurice Jones-Drew (who has chipped in almost 800 yards respectively).
Over on the Pittsburgh sideline, they are seeing what they once were in Jacksonville. Unfortunately for the Steelers, the only was to win this game is to get back to playing that smash mouth style of football that made them successful for all of those years. Even worse, their star runner Willie Parker is done for the season and they will have to rely on former Miami Hurricane, Najeh Davenport. Davenport is a downhill style runner who will try to run you over ever time he gets the ball. However, not being a starter for a full season at any point in his career will cause him to tire out in the fourth quarter, which is when the Steelers will need him most. Therefore, Pittsburgh will put the ball in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's hands and hope that he can win the game with his arm. Big Ben is best when rolling out of the pocket to his right, where he can make big plays. He can also scramble around out there, and can make big plays with his legs.
Pittsburgh is also 7-1 at home this season...the bad new is, the one loss was to Jacksonville. The Steelers would have a much better chance to win this game if they were completely healthy along the offensive line. But, with both starting left Tackle Marvel Smith and his backup Max Starks out with injuries, that Jacksonville D-line will be too overpowering and will be making plays in the backfield all game long. I like Jacksonville to win, 29-23.

NFL Playoffs.... Titans vs Chargers

Welcome to San Diego, where the temperature stays warm, the beaches are beautiful, and a monster of a football team awaits the Tennessee Titans at Qualcom Staduium. The San Diego Chargers, had some lofty expectations coming into this season after a posting a 14-2 regular season record in 2006. Despite that great record, they were booted out of the playoffs by New England on their home field, and left with a sour taste in their mouths. Norv Turner has taken over the reigns from Marty Schottenheimer and the expectation was to go deep into the playoffs. In order to do so, the first step is to defeat a pesky Tennessee team that plays fantastic defense, and does just enough on offense to beat you. These two teams played each other in week 14, a 23-17 overtime victory for the Chargers.
The big question mark for this game is the health of the Titans. Vince Young is going to be a game time decision, if he can't go it will be up to the veteran, Kerry Collins to get the job done. Either way, the offense will be without TE Bo Scaife, and WRs Roydell Williams and Brandon Jones. More importantly for the Titans, will be to lock down the San Diego offense. It will be up to defensive studs tackle Albert Haynesworth and linebacker Keith Bullock to do the heavy lifting. The bad news is Big Al has been having hamstring issues, and it will take away some of his explosiveness, and ability to stuff the run. After the Chargers had an early season slump, Norv Turner finally figured out, just give the ball to Ladanian Tomlinson and good things will happen. This game plan has resulted in a six game win streak, in which they are averaging 31 points per game. The Chargers also added WR Chris Chambers midseason, to provide another option when defenses double team TE Antonio Gates. That's before even mentioning the San Diego defense, which has playmakers at Linebacker in Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips, DT Jamaal Williams, and a stud in the making in former Florida State standout Antonio Cromartie. All of these things are bad news for Tennessee, who have never beat San Diego, and that trend will continue Saturday with the Titans having too many injuries to win this one. Final score 32-20 in favor of the Chargers.

Cameo over for Cameron

It is one and done for Cam Cameron after a tumultuous 1-15 season. Since the implementation of a seventeen week schedule, eight teams (including these dolphins) have gone 1-15 and six of those eight had their coach fired in the offseason. This is a fact that is not surprising, after such bad seasons, one would expect most teams to go in another direction. However one season is not enough to judge a first year coach. Was Cameron the perfect playcaller in the '07 season? No. There were several moments throughout the season that made everyone scratch their heads. There were squib kicks that gave up valuable field position, a spike on a first and nine in the closing minutes of the first half against New England (which could have worked out if the Dolphins didn't run down the clock before using a timeout two plays later). Along with a few questionable fourth down plays sprinkled throughout the season.
On the other hand, he was not close minded, he listened to the veterans on this team when they spoke. The vets lobbied for Cleo Lemon to finish out the season as the starting QB, and he listened. As a result, the Dolphins got their first (and only) win of the season against Baltimore. He was able to motivate Ronnie Brown, finally making Brown look like the number two overall pick in the draft. It looked as if Brown was headed for the Pro Bowl the way things started, until a torn ACL ruined his breakout season. Injuries were a common theme this season, with seventeen players on injured reserve. Before those injuries however, the Dolphins were averaging 21 points through the first seven games, five points more than in the 2006 season. That did not last, although it was not any fault of Cameron's. You have to expect a dropoff after losing your top QB, RB, and WR. The Dolphins started pulling running backs off the street as they had to use Brown, Ricky Williams, Jesse Chatman, Patrick Cobbs, Samkon Gado, and rookie Lorenzo Booker. That's before we even start talking about the defense, at one point Cam even called me to come play safety.... OK, that didn't really happen, but it could have! My point here is that Cameron deserved another shot. But, citing philisophical differences Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells are going in another direction. I can't blame them, just like Parcells infamously said, " If they are going to let me cook the dinner, they should at least let me get the groceries". So, get the groceries he will. He will bring in one of his guys to run things his way. There is nothing wrong with that, this all could mean good things for the Dolphins, but as always only time will tell.

NFL Playoffs.... Redskins vs Seahawks

In the second of this Saturday's games, the big story is Joe Gibbs rallying the troops after the death of safety Sean Taylor and sneaking into the playoffs. Although there is no way the Redskins would have made the playoffs if they were an AFC team, they have put together some nice wins over the past few weeks. The have taken out the NY Giants, Minnesota Vikings, and Dallas Cowboys, all in convincing fashion. They have been winning the Joe Gibbs way, playing stingy defense and by utilizing the power run game. The defense has shut down Brandon Jacobs, rookie sensation Adrian Peterson, and pro bowler Marion Barber in three consecutive weeks, and if this trend continues, it does not look good for Seattle. Todd Collins has been the X-factor for the Redskins in their current win streak. He has been making accurate passes, and not making mistakes. He has a quarterback rating of 106.4, has thrown 5 touchdowns to zero interceptions, and has completed almost 64% of his passes. Plus the players and coaches have seemingly been brought closer together by a common cause...playing for Sean Taylor.
Seattle is a decent team playing in a weak NFC west, and is going to need a big game out of Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck in order to beat the Redskins. Hasselbeck will be looking to connect with Deion Branch and pick apart the Washington secondary. However he will not be able to do so. Washington will shut down Shaun Alexander who has been plagued by injuries all year long, and his back up Mack Strong is a nice running back to spell Alexander, but nothing more. Without that running game it will be all on Matt Hasselbeck to move the chains and win the game, and that is not his game. The only thing Seattle will have going for them is the home field advantage. I will not downplay this at all, it is one of the best home field advantages in the NFL and the Stadium was specifically designed so the acoustics of the building will result in a lot of crowd noise.
All that being said, the Redskins will win this football game. They will run the ball, play good defense and by doing so, will control the rowdy Seattle crowd. Final score, 28-24.

NFL Playoffs... Giants vs Bucs

Let's kick things off by getting into the NFL playoffs a little bit. As a football fan, wild card weekend is always a good one to watch. This coming weekend will be filled with a slate of games featuring teams with some very interesting story lines. Ill start things off in the NFC which is going to featuring the New York Football Giants versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Giants will be traveling south to face the Tampa Bay Bucs and Eli Manning can really use this game to gain some confidence. Up to this point, he has not proven to be a mentally tough player and this road victory would mean the world to him. Not having Jeremy Shockey will make things tough for Eli. The Giants are going to need to run the ball in order to be successful. Eli will need the play action to be effective late in the game so he can find Plaxico Buress.
This is easier said than done however, with Tampa's defense looking strong featuring two experienced veterans, Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. This veteran defense is ranked 5th overall including the number one defense against the pass.Tampa has managed to hang around despite losing Carnell "Cadillac" Williams to injury. He has been replaced by former University of Florida running back Ernest Graham. Graham has been surprisingly productive, helping the Bucs to secure the NFC south division crown. Although Tampa has lost 4 of the last 5, this could be one of the better games of the weekend. These two teams mirror each other in style, offensively they both rely on the running game to set up the big play. The player expected to make those big plays for each team are wide receivers Buress for NY and Joey Galloway for Tampa. In a battle of teams that are similar, it is going to come down to who executes the game plan best, and the Giants are best equipped to do so. Jon Gruden has been resting his players for the past two weeks and this will cause the Bucs to look a bit rusty especially in the early goings of this game, they will make mistakes including multiple turnovers and they will not be able to recover. The Giants will win 23-17.

Intro

Hello out there!
My new year's resolution was to start a sports blog and share my opinions with all those willing to listen, so thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. First off, I believe a formal introduction is needed so I'll start from the begining. My name is Derek Segaloff and I'm based out of Ft.Lauderdale, Florida so a lot of the topics I'll be covering will have much to do with the Florida sports scene, but by no means limited to only that to only that. I intend to talk sports, including NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA (both football and basketball), and whatever other sports tend to come up (yes, I'll even count NHL and MLS). Most importantly, I love nothing more than to hear from you! Any compliments, complaints, opinions, issues concerning any topics discussed quite frankly brings a smile to my face. So, show me what you got!