Well we are now four weeks into the college football season and three into the NFL, and as a result, one is able to now get a good gauge on what type of team each team is. Granted there is still a lot of pigskin to be played, but by now one should be able to know who the contenders and pretenders are.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
In college football it appears the traditional powers of USC, LSU, Florida and Oklahoma seem to be ahead of the pack, as all have both looked very strong thus far. USC and LSU were many pundits favorites going into the season, and so far they have lived up to their billings. Florida and Oklahoma on the other hand people figured would be strong, but many were skeptical about them because they would be starting young quarterbacks. After four weeks however Florida's Tim Tebow, who basically single handily beat Ole Miss this past weekend, and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, who it seems has yet to throw an incompletion, not only have their teams off to tremendous starts, but now they are at the top of many people's Heisman ballots.
Despite USC, LSU, Florida and Oklahoma being the class of college football after the first quarter of the season, there are still many reasons why these teams will have trouble making it to the BCS National Title game. For one, either Florida or LSU should drop out of contention since they both play each other in the regular season, meaning one team will have at least one loss by season's end, and if both end up winning their respective SEC divisions, they will meet again in the SEC Championship game. USC on the other hand still has to go to both Cal and Oregon, who appear to be the two teams in the Pac 10 who could dethrone the Trojans from their recent conference dominance. Finally, of the four contenders Oklahoma appears to have the easiest road to New Orleans for the BCS National Title game. The only real tough game Oklahoma has left on their regular season slate is against Texas in the annual Red River Shootout, but Texas appears to be struggling so far this season despite their 4-0 record.
If either of these teams stumble, there does however appear to be a handful of teams that are able and willing to "Seize the moment" as Coach Probst of Hoover High says, and propel themselves forward into National Title contention. In the Pac 10 Oregon and Cal appear to be very strong. Cal, with play makers such as DeSean Jackson, is able to play with the best the country has to offer, as was seen in their game against Tennessee. Quarterback Dennis Dixon on the other hand has exceeded everyone's expectations for Oregon and has them rolling right now. With Michigan's last two victories over Notre Dame and the upset of Penn State, it appears that the Ducks thumping of the Wolverines in week two is a lot more impressive than many originally thought. The fun part about these two teams is that they will face each other this weekend in Eugene, in what should be one of the great shootouts of the college football season, with the winner being in the driver's seat to have the opportunity to knock off USC for a chance to win the Pac 10.
Cal and Oregon are not the only two teams who have a chance to make National Title runs as the season goes on, but there are a few other teams that are worthy of discussion. These teams are West Virginia, Ohio State, and Boston College/Clemson. West Virginia in my mind is the fastest team in college football. Steve Slaton, Pat White and Noel Devine are as as fast, if not faster, than any other backfield in the country, and so far they have been very successful in running over their opponents. My one knock on them has always been that they have been one dimensional, but coach Rich Rodriguez has opened up his play book this year a bit more and has given White more opportunities to pass the ball, and so far he has shown that he not only has strong legs, but also a very underrated arm as well. The Mountaineers will face their toughest opponent this weekend when they head down to Tampa and try to avenge last years loss to the South Florida Bulls. Early on many thought West Virginia and Louisville would be the class of the Big East, but with the Cardinals losing two straight games and showing no signs of a defense, it appears it could be a two team race between WVU and USF. I am also still not entirely sold on Rutgers as they have played absolutely no one thus far.
Ohio State, who many considered would also have a somewhat down year for their standards, since they lost their Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Troy Smith and speedster Ted Ginn Jr., have slowly but surly started to creep up on the National Title screen. The main reason for this is their defense, led by linebacker James Laurinaitis. Through the first four games the defense has only allowed 29 points, and it appears that quarterback Todd Boeckman has started to develop a great relationship with his receiving corps. The Buckeyes will face their first true Big 10 test next week when they travel to Purdue, but the fate of the Buckeyes won't be known until the final month of the season when they have to travel Penn State, host Wisconsin and then travel to the Big House to play arch-rival Michigan.
My final two picks to make a National Title run are Boston College and Clemson. Both these teams are off to 4-0 starts, and the main reason for this is their stellar quarterback play. Matt Ryan was expected to have a big season this year, especially in the pass happy system that new offense coordinator Steve Logan has implemented, but Cullen Harper of Clemson has been just as impressive. Harper has not thrown for the yards that Ryan has, but Harper through four games has completed nearly 70% of his passes and thrown for 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Harper also has a great running game behind him led by C.J. Spiller and James Davis. The Eagles next big challenge comes on October 25th when they take on Virginia Tech, and Clemson has to take go to Atlanta this weekend to take on Georgia Tech, but if these teams can get through those hurdles, there is a very good chance that both teams could be undefeated going into their November 17th showdown. The one thing holding these two teams back from making a real run for the National Title is that the ACC has received a very bad reputation thus far, and there is a very good chance a one loss Pac 10 or SEC team would get the BCS National Title bid over them, even if BC or Clemson goes undefeated. Well that's about it for my college football talk, but here are my top 5 games to keep an eye on this week:
1) West Virginia vs South Florida
2) Auburn vs Florida
3) Cal vs Oregon
4) Michigan State vs Wisconsin
5) Alabama vs Florida State
NFL:
Now Moving onto the Pro Ranks. The Patriots continue to show that their magic number this year is "38" as they scored 38 points for the third straight week. And for a third straight week Tom Brady and Randy Moss have proven that the draft day trade for Moss was the best off season acquisition in all of the NFL. Both players are putting up MVP type numbers. Through three games Brady has thrown for 887 yards, 10 touchdowns and a microscopic 18 incompletions.
The Patriots and Colts from week 1 have shown that they are the clear cut favorites in the NFL to be one of the teams in the Super Bowl, but the Cowboys have also been making a case for themselves thus far to be the favorite to come out of the NFC. Coming into the season people were saying the NFC title race would be between the Bears, Saints and Cowboys. So far the Bears are 1-2, they have a heap of injuries on defense and now Lovie Smith no longer believes that "Crazy" Rex Grossman is the right quarterback to lead the team has he announced Wednesday that Brian Griese will takeover the reins. The Saints on the other hand are off to an 0-3 start, and their once potent offense is no where to be found, and to make matters worse they have now lost their powerful running back Deuce McAllister for the season. The Cowboys however are off to a 3-0 start after their thumping of the Bears this past weekend. Tony Romo is looking like an MVP candidate, TO is making more noise on the field than off it, and the defense, despite a lapse in week 1 against the Giants, has really stepped up their game. With the NFC looking to be down again this year, the Cowboys should have a pretty easy road to Glendale, AZ.
Moving on, last week I mentioned how the Texans have been my surprise team so far this year, and even though they lost to the Colts this past week, they still appear to be my #1 surprise. They were down most the game, but they did not give up, and they did it all without their start wide receiver Andre Johnson. The Green Bay Packers however have also been a very big surprise. At the end of last year there was much speculation on whether Brett Favre would retire or come back for one more year, and so far his decision to come back has been a very good one. Favre has looked like the Favre from the mid 90's where he was leading to Packers to Super Bowls. His stats are tremendous, and he has the Packers off to their first 3-0 start since 2001. Also, with just one more touchdown pass, Favre will surpass Dan Marino with the most touchdown passes in NFL history with 421. One final note from the NFL this week is that the Eagles finally looked like the Eagles that many expected. McNabb looked like his old self, due in large part to his Wide out Kevin Curtis who hauled in 11 receptions for 221 yards and three touchdowns. Andy Reid's teams have been notorious for getting off to slow starts but finishing strong, and it is for this reason why no one should sleep on them, as they should be one of the teams to give a Cowboys a run for their money. Here now are my top 5 NFL games this weekend:
1) Patriots vs Bengals
2) Seahawks vs 49ers
3) Panthers vs Buccaneers
4) Eagles vs Giants
5) Bears vs Lions
MLB:
Although I have been in full football mode for about the past month, it is hard to ignore the playoff races that have been going on in the National League. We are entering the final weekend of the regular season and there are still no teams that have clinched a playoff spot. The Mets are one team that should have been able to lock one up, but they have literally collapsed. They have blown a once 7 game lead in a mere 15 days. If I am Manager Willie Randolph you better hope your team responds this weekend, or else he may very well be unemployed come Monday. The Phighting Phillies have played a magnificent final few weeks to put themselves in contention for not only the Wild Card, but also a chance to win the once believed unreachable goal of winning the NL East. One team that has really come out of nowhere these final few weeks is the Colorado Rockies. This team is simply on cruise control right now as they are riding an 11 game winning streak, and if they can somehow sweep the NL West leading Diamondbacks this weekend, they could make things very interesting in the NL West. The NL West has been very fun to watch as the Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies all have a shot at winning it. In the NL Central it appears neither the Brewers nor the Cubs seem to want to pull away with the division. Although it now appears the Cubs are going to win it, they have definitely struggled down the stretch. The one good thing going for the Cubs is that many said the same thing last year about the Cardinals when they entered the playoffs, and we all know what they did. The ironic part about the whole NL Playoff race is there is a very good chance that there could be some play-in games, yet the team that will come out of the Central will have the worst record, yet will be sitting the prettiest since they won't have to participate in any of the potential games. Between football and now playoff baseball it should definitely be one exciting week in sports, and I am praying that the Red Sox can clinch their first divisional title since 1995.
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
I will close this week's rant by giving my two cents on a more prominent rant that happened this week. I'm sure by now you all know that I am referring to the rant that Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy displayed this week after his team's victory over Texas Tech. If by chance you were living under a rock this week and do not know what his rant was all about, it was over a column written by Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman which portrayed OSU quarterback Bobby Reid as being a momma's boy. Mike Gundy to say the least spent 3 1/2 minutes chewing out Carlson and standing up for his player. While I respect Gundy for standing up for Reid, I do not think he did it in a proper fashion. The room was full of tons of other reporters wanting to hear his thoughts about the Cowboys big win that day, but instead they had to hear Gundy go off on Carlson, and then abruptly end the conference without taking any questions about the game. Gundy should have talked to Carlson privately, and not made the whole situation public. On the other hand maybe Gundy figured his rant would show his players that he is there for them in the hopes that they would rally around him, and be able to turn around a thus far disappointing season. Well that's about all I have for this week, and next week I look forward to talking more football and playoff baseball and as usual please keep spreading the word of my blog to friends and family members who are interested in sports as I try to continue to build my readership numbers. Thanks and until then Godspeed.
Brendan Boyce
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
September 20, 2007
This past weekend was a big weekend for sports, as there were many big pro and college football games as well as the final regular season series between the Red Sox and Yankees. I will begin this week's post as I have been doing for the past couple weeks with my thoughts on college football.
A lot of top teams this week made some statements with strong performances on Saturday. USC went into Lincoln, in what was supposed to be a game where Bill Callahan was going to prove to the nation that Nebraska was again back on the map as one of college football's elite programs. This however proved to be far from the case as USC steamrolled over the Huskers 49-31, on Pete Carrol's 56th birthday, thanks in large part to a strong running attack which ran for 313 yards and 5 touchdowns. Another top tier team that proved that they are worthy of playing in this year's BCS National Title game in New Orleans is defending National Champion Florida. Many thought that Florida was going to be "down" this year after losing the majority of their defense, but Urban Meyer has his spread offense working to perfection again. This past Saturday the Gators faced fellow SEC East Foe Tennessee, and they showed through a 59-20 drubbing of the Vols, that they are not going to give up their title easily. Sophomore Quarterback Tim Tebow showed with his arm as well as with his legs that he is ready to lead this team on another national title hunt.
Another team that made a strong statement was my Boston College Eagles. As mentioned in my college football preview blog, I said the first three games of BC's season would be a strong indicator of what type of team they would have. The reason for this is that BC is the only team in the nation who has to had to open the season with three straight conference games. Now three games into the season BC is 3-0, thanks in large part to the Heisman worthy season thus far by Senior quarterback Matt Ryan who threw for a career high 435 yards Saturday vs Georgia Tech. Besides Ryan there have been many other bright spots on this team. The run defense for one has been very impressive, and showed their ability this past weekend when they held Tashard Choice and the much feared Yellow Jacket rushing attack to only 63 yards. Coach Jags clearly has this team going in the right direction and with three cupcakes, followed by a trip to the now lowly Irish, who this past week ranked #1 on ESPN's bottom 10, the team should be a 7-0 and top 5 team when they head down to Blacksburg to face the Hokies of Virginia Tech in what should be one of the more entertaining Thursday night games of the year.
Other teams that put on strong showings this past weekend were West Virginia, Ohio State and Kentucky. West Virginia beat Maryland 31-14 thanks in large part to their strong ground game. Heisman candidate Steve Slaton rushed for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Freshman phenom Noel Devine rushed for 136 yards on just 5 carries. Ohio State on the other hand traveled all the way to the Pacific Northwest to take on the 2-0 Washington Huskies, and many thought that Tyrone Willingham and his quarterback Jake Locker were going to pull off the upset. The Huskies played well for the first half, but after a block field goal in the third quarter the momentum completely swung in favor of the Buckeyes as they completely dominated the second half and went on to win 33-14. Finally, Kentucky won the Governors Cup in their annual rivalry game against Louisville. Many expected the game to be a shootout, since the game featured two of the nation's top quarterbacks in Louisville's Brian Brohm, and Kentucky's Andre Woodson, and that is exactly what we got. The game was back and forth throughout the whole game, and Kentucky was able to throw the last punch when Woodson hit receiver Steve Johnson for a 57 yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 40-34 lead with 28 seconds left. This was Kentucky's first win over their in state rival in four years and now it is the first time they have been ranked in two decades.
A weekend of college football reviewing however cannot be complete without the weekly discussion of the demise of Notre Dame football. Their game this past week against Michigan, where they lost 38-0, was the first game where I actually got to witness the game live, and I will say as a BC fan where I am supposed to root against the Irish, that it was painful to watch. I, as well as many, thought that Notre Dame was going to be down this year. Anytime a team loses so many of their top players, especially with a quarterback of Brady Quinn's caliber, one can expect a team to not do as well, but I don't think anyone thought it was going to be this bad. Their offense looked horrible, and to go three games now without scoring an offensive touchdown, and still having negative rushing yards is inexcusable. Charlie Weis I am sure is probably wishing that Darius Walker did not make the bonehead decision that he did to forgo his senior year to enter the NFL draft, of which he went un-drafted. Things have gotten so bad in South Bend that backup quarterback Demetrius Jones became the second Irish quarterback this year to transfer.
Now here are my top 5 College games of the week:
South Carolina vs LSU
Georgia vs Alabama
Texas A&M vs Miami
Penn State vs Michigan
Iowa vs Wisconsin
Moving onto the pro ranks, many people have asked me this week on my thoughts about the Patriots and the whole "Spy Gate" scandal. My overall opinion is that it was stupid by Bill Belichick to do such a thing, because he is such a great coach and has one of the best teams. To me, he did not need to risk losing draft picks and facing a very hefty fine, for trying to get a slight edge. I am convinced that the Patriots are not the only team doing this, but unfortunately Belichick and the Patriots got caught. I will say though that I do not think that this diminishes what the Patriots have done in the past. My theory in sports is that you can have the greatest coach in the world, but the players still have to make the plays. Tom Brady still had to put his passes on the mark, and Adam Vinatieri still had to make the clutch field goals. This past Sunday the Patriots made a statement that they don't need cameras to win, and this was best seen on their picture perfect opening drive against the Chargers. Tom Brady and Randy Moss once again showed that they are now to be one of the most feared quarterback receiver tandems in the league, as the Patriots went on to win for the second week in a row 38-14.
My surprise team after two weeks are the Houston Texans. Two years ago I remember watching a Patriots vs Falcons game where Matt Schaub filled in for Michael Vick, and coming away from the game thinking "this guy (Schaub) can play and should be a starter." Now two years later Schaub finally got his chance to lead a team and he has made the once laughable Texans a team to be reckoned with. Schaub is not the only reason for this. Andre Johnson, whom I believe is the most underrated player in the NFL, has gotten off to a tremendous start, the defense has also stepped up this season, and the offensive line for the first time in franchise history is giving the quarterback time to stand in the pocket. The Texans this week can prove to the league that they are for real when they take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts. Unfortunately however they will be without Andre Johnson.
Other teams that have impressed me after two weeks are the Redskins, Packers and Cowboys. While the teams that I figured would be in the hunt to go to the Super Bowl representing the NFC, the Eagles and Saints, have disappointed. The Saints, who had one of the most potent and exciting offenses last year, have not been able to find their rhythm yet thus far.
Here are my top 5 NFL games of the week:
Green Bay vs San Diego
Pittsburgh vs San Francisco
Seattle vs Cincinnati
Indianapolis vs Houston
Dallas vs Chicago
Now to my final topic being the Red Sox and Major League Baseball. Last night I got a text message from an old college friend Mr. Alex Whelan, who happens to be a Yankee fan saying, "You nervous yet?" This message is referencing the fact that the Sox lead in the AL East is now down to only a 1.5 games. As a Sox fan, I will admit I am somewhat nervous. I am not nervous that they won't make the playoffs, because at this point it looks like the American League playoff situation is set with the Angles, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians all basically having secured spots. The one thing I am nervous about for the Red Sox is that they are stumbling into the playoffs, while the three other teams are all heating up at the right time. Early in the season it was the Yankees who had injury problems. Now they are healed, and it is the Sox who have a bad case of the injury bug, with slugger Manny Ramirez being the most notable victim with a strained oblique muscle. Another concern is that the bullpen has been collapsing. The usual lights out Jonathan Papelbon has been shaky in his last couple of outings. Last night he gave up a grand slam to Russ Adams of the Blue Jays for instance. Hideki Okajima has also been crumbling, and much of this is due to the fatigue of playing in the majors and having a longer season than that in Japan. Finally, Eric Gagne continues to struggle tremendously as he blew another lead the other night against the Blue Jays. The Sox now travel to Tampa Bay, in the hopes of winning some games and regaining their confidence. I still have faith that they will win the division, but ever since they blew the game last Friday after leading 7-2 to the Yankees in the 8th inning, the team just does not have the same demeanor and swagger that we have seen throughout the whole season. The final two weeks of the season will prove to be very eventful, not only in the fight for the top spot in the AL East, but the National League also has many tight races, as the Cubs and Brewers fight it out in the Central, the Diamondbacks and Padres in the West, and the Phillies and Padres in the Wild Card.
I will end this week's Rant, by saying that this morning I purchased Celtics tickets for this upcoming season, and I will say that I have been waiting nearly my whole life for the Celtics to have a season that I am truly excited for. Having grown up in Boston, all I hear about the Celtics is how great they were in the past, but with the exception of a year or two of my life, the Celtics have pretty much been the bottom feeder/middle of the pack team in the NBA, and finally for once there is hope that the slogan "Green 17" will come true. I hope you have again enjoyed this edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I remind you to keep reading and send the link to your friends. Thanks.
Brendan Boyce
A lot of top teams this week made some statements with strong performances on Saturday. USC went into Lincoln, in what was supposed to be a game where Bill Callahan was going to prove to the nation that Nebraska was again back on the map as one of college football's elite programs. This however proved to be far from the case as USC steamrolled over the Huskers 49-31, on Pete Carrol's 56th birthday, thanks in large part to a strong running attack which ran for 313 yards and 5 touchdowns. Another top tier team that proved that they are worthy of playing in this year's BCS National Title game in New Orleans is defending National Champion Florida. Many thought that Florida was going to be "down" this year after losing the majority of their defense, but Urban Meyer has his spread offense working to perfection again. This past Saturday the Gators faced fellow SEC East Foe Tennessee, and they showed through a 59-20 drubbing of the Vols, that they are not going to give up their title easily. Sophomore Quarterback Tim Tebow showed with his arm as well as with his legs that he is ready to lead this team on another national title hunt.
Another team that made a strong statement was my Boston College Eagles. As mentioned in my college football preview blog, I said the first three games of BC's season would be a strong indicator of what type of team they would have. The reason for this is that BC is the only team in the nation who has to had to open the season with three straight conference games. Now three games into the season BC is 3-0, thanks in large part to the Heisman worthy season thus far by Senior quarterback Matt Ryan who threw for a career high 435 yards Saturday vs Georgia Tech. Besides Ryan there have been many other bright spots on this team. The run defense for one has been very impressive, and showed their ability this past weekend when they held Tashard Choice and the much feared Yellow Jacket rushing attack to only 63 yards. Coach Jags clearly has this team going in the right direction and with three cupcakes, followed by a trip to the now lowly Irish, who this past week ranked #1 on ESPN's bottom 10, the team should be a 7-0 and top 5 team when they head down to Blacksburg to face the Hokies of Virginia Tech in what should be one of the more entertaining Thursday night games of the year.
Other teams that put on strong showings this past weekend were West Virginia, Ohio State and Kentucky. West Virginia beat Maryland 31-14 thanks in large part to their strong ground game. Heisman candidate Steve Slaton rushed for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Freshman phenom Noel Devine rushed for 136 yards on just 5 carries. Ohio State on the other hand traveled all the way to the Pacific Northwest to take on the 2-0 Washington Huskies, and many thought that Tyrone Willingham and his quarterback Jake Locker were going to pull off the upset. The Huskies played well for the first half, but after a block field goal in the third quarter the momentum completely swung in favor of the Buckeyes as they completely dominated the second half and went on to win 33-14. Finally, Kentucky won the Governors Cup in their annual rivalry game against Louisville. Many expected the game to be a shootout, since the game featured two of the nation's top quarterbacks in Louisville's Brian Brohm, and Kentucky's Andre Woodson, and that is exactly what we got. The game was back and forth throughout the whole game, and Kentucky was able to throw the last punch when Woodson hit receiver Steve Johnson for a 57 yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 40-34 lead with 28 seconds left. This was Kentucky's first win over their in state rival in four years and now it is the first time they have been ranked in two decades.
A weekend of college football reviewing however cannot be complete without the weekly discussion of the demise of Notre Dame football. Their game this past week against Michigan, where they lost 38-0, was the first game where I actually got to witness the game live, and I will say as a BC fan where I am supposed to root against the Irish, that it was painful to watch. I, as well as many, thought that Notre Dame was going to be down this year. Anytime a team loses so many of their top players, especially with a quarterback of Brady Quinn's caliber, one can expect a team to not do as well, but I don't think anyone thought it was going to be this bad. Their offense looked horrible, and to go three games now without scoring an offensive touchdown, and still having negative rushing yards is inexcusable. Charlie Weis I am sure is probably wishing that Darius Walker did not make the bonehead decision that he did to forgo his senior year to enter the NFL draft, of which he went un-drafted. Things have gotten so bad in South Bend that backup quarterback Demetrius Jones became the second Irish quarterback this year to transfer.
Now here are my top 5 College games of the week:
South Carolina vs LSU
Georgia vs Alabama
Texas A&M vs Miami
Penn State vs Michigan
Iowa vs Wisconsin
Moving onto the pro ranks, many people have asked me this week on my thoughts about the Patriots and the whole "Spy Gate" scandal. My overall opinion is that it was stupid by Bill Belichick to do such a thing, because he is such a great coach and has one of the best teams. To me, he did not need to risk losing draft picks and facing a very hefty fine, for trying to get a slight edge. I am convinced that the Patriots are not the only team doing this, but unfortunately Belichick and the Patriots got caught. I will say though that I do not think that this diminishes what the Patriots have done in the past. My theory in sports is that you can have the greatest coach in the world, but the players still have to make the plays. Tom Brady still had to put his passes on the mark, and Adam Vinatieri still had to make the clutch field goals. This past Sunday the Patriots made a statement that they don't need cameras to win, and this was best seen on their picture perfect opening drive against the Chargers. Tom Brady and Randy Moss once again showed that they are now to be one of the most feared quarterback receiver tandems in the league, as the Patriots went on to win for the second week in a row 38-14.
My surprise team after two weeks are the Houston Texans. Two years ago I remember watching a Patriots vs Falcons game where Matt Schaub filled in for Michael Vick, and coming away from the game thinking "this guy (Schaub) can play and should be a starter." Now two years later Schaub finally got his chance to lead a team and he has made the once laughable Texans a team to be reckoned with. Schaub is not the only reason for this. Andre Johnson, whom I believe is the most underrated player in the NFL, has gotten off to a tremendous start, the defense has also stepped up this season, and the offensive line for the first time in franchise history is giving the quarterback time to stand in the pocket. The Texans this week can prove to the league that they are for real when they take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts. Unfortunately however they will be without Andre Johnson.
Other teams that have impressed me after two weeks are the Redskins, Packers and Cowboys. While the teams that I figured would be in the hunt to go to the Super Bowl representing the NFC, the Eagles and Saints, have disappointed. The Saints, who had one of the most potent and exciting offenses last year, have not been able to find their rhythm yet thus far.
Here are my top 5 NFL games of the week:
Green Bay vs San Diego
Pittsburgh vs San Francisco
Seattle vs Cincinnati
Indianapolis vs Houston
Dallas vs Chicago
Now to my final topic being the Red Sox and Major League Baseball. Last night I got a text message from an old college friend Mr. Alex Whelan, who happens to be a Yankee fan saying, "You nervous yet?" This message is referencing the fact that the Sox lead in the AL East is now down to only a 1.5 games. As a Sox fan, I will admit I am somewhat nervous. I am not nervous that they won't make the playoffs, because at this point it looks like the American League playoff situation is set with the Angles, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians all basically having secured spots. The one thing I am nervous about for the Red Sox is that they are stumbling into the playoffs, while the three other teams are all heating up at the right time. Early in the season it was the Yankees who had injury problems. Now they are healed, and it is the Sox who have a bad case of the injury bug, with slugger Manny Ramirez being the most notable victim with a strained oblique muscle. Another concern is that the bullpen has been collapsing. The usual lights out Jonathan Papelbon has been shaky in his last couple of outings. Last night he gave up a grand slam to Russ Adams of the Blue Jays for instance. Hideki Okajima has also been crumbling, and much of this is due to the fatigue of playing in the majors and having a longer season than that in Japan. Finally, Eric Gagne continues to struggle tremendously as he blew another lead the other night against the Blue Jays. The Sox now travel to Tampa Bay, in the hopes of winning some games and regaining their confidence. I still have faith that they will win the division, but ever since they blew the game last Friday after leading 7-2 to the Yankees in the 8th inning, the team just does not have the same demeanor and swagger that we have seen throughout the whole season. The final two weeks of the season will prove to be very eventful, not only in the fight for the top spot in the AL East, but the National League also has many tight races, as the Cubs and Brewers fight it out in the Central, the Diamondbacks and Padres in the West, and the Phillies and Padres in the Wild Card.
I will end this week's Rant, by saying that this morning I purchased Celtics tickets for this upcoming season, and I will say that I have been waiting nearly my whole life for the Celtics to have a season that I am truly excited for. Having grown up in Boston, all I hear about the Celtics is how great they were in the past, but with the exception of a year or two of my life, the Celtics have pretty much been the bottom feeder/middle of the pack team in the NBA, and finally for once there is hope that the slogan "Green 17" will come true. I hope you have again enjoyed this edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I remind you to keep reading and send the link to your friends. Thanks.
Brendan Boyce
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
September 11, 2007
Well a lot has happened in the two weeks since I last posted. We are now officially two weeks into the college football season and one week into the NFL season, which means there is a whole lot Monday morning quarterbacking to do.
Although we are far from the first BCS standings to come out there are quite a few teams that have stuck out so far. On the other hand there are a few teams that really have gotten off to horrendous starts. I think it is fair to say that many pre-season predictions of a USC and LSU National Title game could very well become a reality. LSU this weekend dismantled Virginia Tech, and so far after two games their highly praised defense has only given up one touchdown. USC on the other hand has only played one game against lowly Idaho, but we should learn a lot more about them as they enter the Sea of Red this weekend to take on the Cornhuskers of Nebraska. One team that has surprised me and could very well be in the National Title mix come season's end is the Oklahoma Sooners. The major reason for this is their quarterback Sam Bradford is 40-48 for 568 yards with 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions after two games. The Sooners took apart the Miami defense this weekend and barring their match up in Dallas at the State Fair against Texas, they very well could run the table.
Now to talk about the teams on the flip side. I think it is fair to say that Michigan and Notre Dame have been MAJOR disappointments this season. Michigan obviously embarrassed themselves by losing to Appalachian State in the first week, but when given the chance to redeem themselves, they embarrassed themselves even more after getting taken behind the woodshed by the well dressed Oregon Ducks 39-7. Notre Dame on the other hand has been outscored 64-13 in their first two games, and have yet to score an offensive touchdown. The most telling stat for them this season is they have 67 carries for a whopping -8 yards rushing. The funny part is these two teams will meet this weekend, which means one team will finally get a victory, and if Michigan ends up on the losing side it could also mean Lloyd Carr will officially be out of a job.
One other note about Notre Dame is Charlie Weis is now on a 4 game losing streak, and now has a very similar record to Tyrone Willingham after about the same amount of time. Tyrone Willingham thanks to the quarterback play of Jake Locker has Washington on a two game winning streak. This past weekend the Huskies ended Boise State's nation's leading 14 game winning streak and this weekend they will have the opportunity to upset No. 10 Ohio State. Just imagine the uproar in South Bend next weekend if Charlie Weis and the Irish lose for the fifth straight time, and Ty Willingham and Washington upset the Buckeyes to improve to 3-0 on the season.
As for my Boston College Eagles, they are now 2-0 on the young season and will head down to Atlanta Saturday night to take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech in what could a preview of the ACC title game. After watching the first two games, I have been pleased with the offense. In the first game against Wake Forest BC was not able to run, but Matt Ryan had stellar day throwing for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns. In the second game however Ryan's timing with the receivers was off but both backs Callender and Whitworth stepped up their running games, as they beat former BC coach Tom O'Brien and NC State pretty handily 37-17. The Defense has given up a lot of yards passing, but they have been able to come up with timely interceptions, including three in week one by Dejuan Tribble, and this past week Jolonn Dunbar returned one for a touchdown. If by chance the Eagles can get back Ga. Tech this coming weekend, they could very well be 6-0, since their next three games are against UMass, Bowling Green and Army, going into the Notre Dame week. Notre Dame on the other hand could very well be 0-6.
Here now are my 5 games of the week to watch:
Boston College vs Georgia Tech
USC vs Nebraska
Florida vs Tennessee
Maryland vs West Virginia
Ohio State vs Washington
Now time to turn to the Pros. Due to my caddying obligations I did not get to see many games, but I will still make a few comments nonetheless on Week 1. My first observation is the Pats and Colts still appear to be the class of the NFL. Both offenses were in sync the whole game. Manning to Wayne was on fire for the Colts, similar to how Brady and Moss was for the Patriots. This week the Patriots however will face a tougher test when they have a rematch from last year's playoffs with the San Diego Chargers. As for the NFC, I was impressed by the Giants offense who many thought would struggle tremendously this year. Unfortunately however it appears Eli Manning will be out for a month with a separated shoulder. Also unfortunately for the Giants, football is a game both of offense and defense and their defense got torn to shreds by the Cowboys offense which did appear to be very impressive in their first game in the Wade Phillips coaching era. Staying in the NFC, my two favorites to make it to the Super Bowl,the Bears and Saints, did not look so good. The Bears defense was good, holding LT to only 25 yards rushing, but Crazy Rex and the Bears offense could not get anything going and could not hold on to the ball. The Bears defense also sustained some injuries on defense, including a season ending injury to Saftey Mike Brown. Similarly the Saints offense, which was one of the most potent offenses in the NFL last year was completely shut down by the Colts. In all it was an exciting week 1, but many teams still have a lot to improve on, but as they old saying goes "The biggest improvements are made between week 1 and week 2."
Here are my 5 games in the NFL to watch this week:
Patriots vs Chargers
Colts vs Titans
Vikings vs Lions
Texans vs Panthers
Raiders vs Broncos.
I will close my post with a few thoughts on the Red Sox. Due to my intense weekend of football watching I could not pay close attention to the Sox. They did however take 3 out of 4 from the Orioles in Baltimore but had a tough 1-0 loss to their nemesis Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays last night. This weekend will be a big weekend as they welcome the Yankees to town, which could either put the AL East away with a couple of wins, or make the final 2 weeks of the regular season a lot more interesting with a couple losses. Regardless of the outcome, it appears both teams will now be facing each other in the playoffs as the Yankees are starting to pull away with the Wild Card.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading this week's edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I will talking to you again shortly.
Sir Boyce
Although we are far from the first BCS standings to come out there are quite a few teams that have stuck out so far. On the other hand there are a few teams that really have gotten off to horrendous starts. I think it is fair to say that many pre-season predictions of a USC and LSU National Title game could very well become a reality. LSU this weekend dismantled Virginia Tech, and so far after two games their highly praised defense has only given up one touchdown. USC on the other hand has only played one game against lowly Idaho, but we should learn a lot more about them as they enter the Sea of Red this weekend to take on the Cornhuskers of Nebraska. One team that has surprised me and could very well be in the National Title mix come season's end is the Oklahoma Sooners. The major reason for this is their quarterback Sam Bradford is 40-48 for 568 yards with 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions after two games. The Sooners took apart the Miami defense this weekend and barring their match up in Dallas at the State Fair against Texas, they very well could run the table.
Now to talk about the teams on the flip side. I think it is fair to say that Michigan and Notre Dame have been MAJOR disappointments this season. Michigan obviously embarrassed themselves by losing to Appalachian State in the first week, but when given the chance to redeem themselves, they embarrassed themselves even more after getting taken behind the woodshed by the well dressed Oregon Ducks 39-7. Notre Dame on the other hand has been outscored 64-13 in their first two games, and have yet to score an offensive touchdown. The most telling stat for them this season is they have 67 carries for a whopping -8 yards rushing. The funny part is these two teams will meet this weekend, which means one team will finally get a victory, and if Michigan ends up on the losing side it could also mean Lloyd Carr will officially be out of a job.
One other note about Notre Dame is Charlie Weis is now on a 4 game losing streak, and now has a very similar record to Tyrone Willingham after about the same amount of time. Tyrone Willingham thanks to the quarterback play of Jake Locker has Washington on a two game winning streak. This past weekend the Huskies ended Boise State's nation's leading 14 game winning streak and this weekend they will have the opportunity to upset No. 10 Ohio State. Just imagine the uproar in South Bend next weekend if Charlie Weis and the Irish lose for the fifth straight time, and Ty Willingham and Washington upset the Buckeyes to improve to 3-0 on the season.
As for my Boston College Eagles, they are now 2-0 on the young season and will head down to Atlanta Saturday night to take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech in what could a preview of the ACC title game. After watching the first two games, I have been pleased with the offense. In the first game against Wake Forest BC was not able to run, but Matt Ryan had stellar day throwing for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns. In the second game however Ryan's timing with the receivers was off but both backs Callender and Whitworth stepped up their running games, as they beat former BC coach Tom O'Brien and NC State pretty handily 37-17. The Defense has given up a lot of yards passing, but they have been able to come up with timely interceptions, including three in week one by Dejuan Tribble, and this past week Jolonn Dunbar returned one for a touchdown. If by chance the Eagles can get back Ga. Tech this coming weekend, they could very well be 6-0, since their next three games are against UMass, Bowling Green and Army, going into the Notre Dame week. Notre Dame on the other hand could very well be 0-6.
Here now are my 5 games of the week to watch:
Boston College vs Georgia Tech
USC vs Nebraska
Florida vs Tennessee
Maryland vs West Virginia
Ohio State vs Washington
Now time to turn to the Pros. Due to my caddying obligations I did not get to see many games, but I will still make a few comments nonetheless on Week 1. My first observation is the Pats and Colts still appear to be the class of the NFL. Both offenses were in sync the whole game. Manning to Wayne was on fire for the Colts, similar to how Brady and Moss was for the Patriots. This week the Patriots however will face a tougher test when they have a rematch from last year's playoffs with the San Diego Chargers. As for the NFC, I was impressed by the Giants offense who many thought would struggle tremendously this year. Unfortunately however it appears Eli Manning will be out for a month with a separated shoulder. Also unfortunately for the Giants, football is a game both of offense and defense and their defense got torn to shreds by the Cowboys offense which did appear to be very impressive in their first game in the Wade Phillips coaching era. Staying in the NFC, my two favorites to make it to the Super Bowl,the Bears and Saints, did not look so good. The Bears defense was good, holding LT to only 25 yards rushing, but Crazy Rex and the Bears offense could not get anything going and could not hold on to the ball. The Bears defense also sustained some injuries on defense, including a season ending injury to Saftey Mike Brown. Similarly the Saints offense, which was one of the most potent offenses in the NFL last year was completely shut down by the Colts. In all it was an exciting week 1, but many teams still have a lot to improve on, but as they old saying goes "The biggest improvements are made between week 1 and week 2."
Here are my 5 games in the NFL to watch this week:
Patriots vs Chargers
Colts vs Titans
Vikings vs Lions
Texans vs Panthers
Raiders vs Broncos.
I will close my post with a few thoughts on the Red Sox. Due to my intense weekend of football watching I could not pay close attention to the Sox. They did however take 3 out of 4 from the Orioles in Baltimore but had a tough 1-0 loss to their nemesis Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays last night. This weekend will be a big weekend as they welcome the Yankees to town, which could either put the AL East away with a couple of wins, or make the final 2 weeks of the regular season a lot more interesting with a couple losses. Regardless of the outcome, it appears both teams will now be facing each other in the playoffs as the Yankees are starting to pull away with the Wild Card.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading this week's edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I will talking to you again shortly.
Sir Boyce
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