NFC's First Quarter Breakdown

A first quarter breakdown of the NFC.

NFC East- It looks like this division is up for grabs. Dallas seemed to be the favorite entering the season and on paper they should. As in years past, they haven't lived up to the hype. They did look good in their win over Houston and maybe they can build off of that. Philadelphia looked good with Michael Vick at the helm. When he went out against the Redskins everything seemed to go downhill. He might be out with a rib injury for two weeks. Now let's see if Kevin Kolb can hold the fort in Philly. The New York Giants reverted to old school play Sunday night in their victory over Chicago. If the defense can play with that same kind of fire and intensity they could surprise and win the division. Washington looks like an 8-8 team right now. With Mike Shanahan's coaching adn Donovan McNabb's leadership they could sneak into the playoffs. The Skins are a team to keep an eye on.


NFC South- Carolina is in bad shape and head coach John Fox may be on his way out. They changed quarterbacks (Matt Moore to Jimmy Clausen) and they haven't looked very good on both sides of the ball. They almost were able to sneak out a win over the Saints so all may not be lost. Stranger things have happened. With Steve Smith out for possibly the rest of the season, that will be a hinderance to Clausen's development. They also hit an off the field snag when receiver Dwayne Jarrett was nailed for a dwi. The Saints have been more lucky than good this year. Sometimes its good to be lucky though. The offense hasn't been explosive as in seasons past and the defense hasn't been producing takeaways like last season. They also will need to shore up their kicking game if Garrett Hartley can't produce on hitting chump kicks. Atlanta is looking like they have the potential to unseat the Saints as kings of the South. Matt Ryan is clutch and they have been playing well on both sides of the ball. They do have a win over the Saints on the road and the game in Atlanta could be for the division. I think Tampa Bay needs a few more seasons before they're back to being a playoff contender. They do look like they're headed in the right direction and Josh Freeman looks like he could be the man at quarterback for years to come. Question is, does Raheem Morris stick around long enough to see it through.

NFC West- Easily the weakest division in the NFC. San Francisco has faltered and the defense or offense hasn't looked very good. Alex Smith has never developed there and its safe to say there might be a quarterback change sometime soon. In fairness to Smith he's had to play under different offensive coordinators since he's been there. But it's just not working for him. St. Louis has been an early season surprise. Rookie quarterback Sam Bradford is looking like he could lead the Rams to the playoffs- this year.

The defense has played tough and Bradford hasn't looked like a rookie under center. Arizona seems lost without Kurt Warner and I'm surprised the Warner out of retirement rumors haven't started. Against the Chargers they played poorly in all facets of the game. They've been dysfunctional and its clear Derek Anderson isn't the answer at quarterback. It looks like it might've been a mistake to let Matt Leinart go. They'll be drafting a quarterback of the future in April. The Seattle Seahawks are a darkhorse in the NFC West if there is one. Pete Carroll does have his team playing hard and they did swing a trade for running back Marshawn Lynch. This is a division that is also up for grabs. 8-8 might be all it takes to win it.

NFC North- This division is Green Bay's to lose. If the Packers can play with their heads straight they could runaway with it. They did give one away to Chicago in a game in which they committed 18 penalties. They also let the Lions hang close to the end. Minnesota should be the Packers' competition, but they've looked uninspired and sluggish. It's been Adrian Peterson and not much else. I think Chicago's 3-1 start has been a mirage. They stole a win against the Lions and were handed another by the Packers. If Jay Cutler takes maore beatings like he did Sunday night, he won't last the season. The Lions have had some tough breaks, but that's just a fact of the NFL. They were robbed against the Bears and Matthew Stafford going down made it double tough for this team. Shaun Hill has been a solid stand in for Stafford. If they can cut down on the unnecessary penalties and the secondary can step their game up, they might can steal a few games. They are actually headed in the right direction.     

AFC's First Quarter Breakdown

My divisional breakdown from the AFC's first quarter(first four games)

AFC East- Right now this looks like a race between the Jets and Patriots. The Jets seem to have the upper hand right now since they have beaten the Patriots already. They still have to face them on the road and Mark Sanchez must keep up his stellar play. You know Brady and Moss and co. will be there in the end. Depending on how everything shakes out in the AFC second place might not be good enough to get into the playoffs. Miami will be pesky, but a distant third. Until they get more offensive firepower, like they had in the 80's the Dolphins will be stuck behind the Jets and Patriots. The Buffalo Bills haven't been the same since Kelly and company left town. They look like they'll have a top 10 pick in the draft. It could be top 5 the way they're going.


AFC North- Until proven otherwise this division belongs to the Ravens and Steelers. The Ravens have the ups on Pittsburgh right now due to their win at Pittsburgh Sunday. With Big Ben coming back to lead the Steelers offense, things will get more interesting. They Steelers have held down the fort going 3-1 while Roethlisberger was suspended. For all the characters the Bengals bring in, I don't look for them to overtake Pittsburgh or Baltimore. You just don't know which team is going to show up. If they ever can get all cylinders clicking consistently, this could be a very dangerous team. i just don't know if that will ever happen. The Browns are the Browns. They did get their first win over an aimless Bengals team. They hang tough, but don't have enough. Mike Holmgren has a major job on his hands.

AFC West- Kansas City is off to a 3-0 start. We just don't know if it will hold up as the season goes along. The defense has played well and the running game has been strong. Let's see if Matt Cassel can lead the offense to greater heights as time goes on. San Diego is off to their typical start. Up and down. They still are the class of this division, but Kansas City has a win over the Chargers in hand. In their win over the Cardinals Sunday, everything seemed to go right for San Diego. That's the team you expect to see run roughshod over the rest of the division. The jury still is out on Denver. I just see their defense crumbling against the AFC's best offenses. Oakland hangs tough in games but just can't seem to finish or get over the hump.


 
AFC South- Is everyone finally catching up to the Colts? They have two division losses to Jacksonville and Houston. In the past those two teams have given Indy fits, so it's no surprise. Houston has looked good, save for that loss against Dallas and running back Arian Foster has been a pleasant surprise. Tennessee seems to have defense and Chris Johnson, but not much else. If David Garrard can stay consistent, Jacksonville could surprise. I expect Indy to take control by the second half of the season. You can't Peyton Manning down for long. They do need the defense to step up though.

Another Strange Sports Injury

We Know He Didn't Get Hurt By Tripping Over The Chair Or Extension Cord

It's kind of comical when you hear about an athlete having a non sports related injury. The latest in hte long line of weird injuries is recent Chicago Bulls signee Carlos Boozer. Boozer recently broke his right hand answering his door. Now he'll have a two month stay on the injured list to start the season. Here's how Boozer explained how it all went down.

 "It happened last night, probably 5:30-6 o'clock at night, got it looked at right away. I find out for sure today when I saw the hand specialist. I'm going to get it done as soon as possible, so Tuesday morning I'm going in early to get the surgery taken care of so I can start my rehab process.




"It was just dark. My doorbell had rang and I tripped over a bag, tried to brace myself and it popped. I jumped back up, opened the door and my hand was still a little bit numb.



"It was a gym bag. It was a big bag I had first thing over here at the hotel for training camp. I went back to my place, hadn't unpacked the bag yet, came around the corner, running to get the door and fell over it. I'm 265, 5 percent body fat. I'm heavy, man. I guess I had to brace myself and my weight just collapsed the bone right there."

If that indeed is true, Carlos should know better than to leave a big bag where it could provide a potential danger. All kids and commofolk know this and so should you. Especially if your injury prone like he is.

Start The Firing And Speculation

Now that the MLB regular season is over its time to start the offseason speculation and get the firing squads ready.

The New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates wasted no time in giving their managers their walking papers. The Mets went for the double and also fired GM Omar Minaya. That rumor had been in the hopper for quite awhile. The Mets have been a bunch of overpaid underachievers for the last three seasons. Not much has gone right since losing Game 7 in the 2006 NLCS. That isn't what the top brass in Queens were looking for when they acquired the likes of Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez. Now the stories will start flying about who replaces Jerry Manuel and Minaya. I hear former Mets manager Bobby Valentine is on the list as well as former Mets second baseman Wally Backman.

The Brewers decided not to pick up the option on Ken Macha for the 2011 season. This came after two losing seasons after they made the playoffs in 2008. I guess this was bound to happen since they did fire Ned Yost with 12 games left in the 2008 season. There also were rumblings that he wasn't connecting with his players which is the reason why he was canned in Oakland. I guess Dale Sveum and Willie Randolph are on the list as of now.

Which brings me to the Pittsburgh Pirates. They fired John Russell after he compiled an astounding 299 losses in three seasons. The Pirates have been on this slippery slope for a while. Trading away young proven players for minor league prospects. Amazingly GM Neal Huntington was retained, since he's made some poor trades and questionable moves himself.  His saving grace is that this pattern had been going on long before he or Russell got into town.  Russell’s stoic demeanor, reluctance to argue most calls and peculiar strategy—such as letting a pitcher bat with runners in scoring position while the Pirates trailed by five runs—made him unpopular among fans. Russell’s first team in 2008 was competitive until midseason, when the franchise—eager to stockpile a talent-bereft farm system—began dealing away or cutting productive players such as Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Freddy Sanchez Jack Wilson Nate McLouth Adam LaRoche, Matt Capps, John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny, Ian Snell, Sean Burnett and Nyjer Morgan. Also traded was 2010 major league home run leader Jose Bautista during a two-year roster purge. Russell was a surprise hire by the Pirates, especially after he was fired from being the third base coach by previous management. He was hired by Huntington and team prez Frank Coonelly because he had a reputation of being a patient, adept developer of young talent. I guess the Pirates were wrong about that. This franchise is a big mess and shows no signs of getting better anytime soon. They have identified no candidates (surprise) and I can't think of anyone that would take that job without a lifetime contract since they'll essentially be starting from rubble.

Kobe Says He'd Beat LeBron 1 on 1

Drop the 3-point shootout and slam dunk contest immediately and replace with a 1-on-1 competition. Smartest idea I have read in years. Absolutley right, who would not want to see that? Take 8 top NBA stars (pick 'em any way you want as long as Kobe, LeBrpn and Carmelo are in) and play a 1-on-1 tourney with $2 mil to the winner and that would be MUST SEE TV. That would be something every basketball fan would tune in to.

Philly Fans Will Go With Anyone

If your from Philly don't take offense. I'm not cracking on you guys or anything. It's just when it comes to fandom, you guys are hooligans. Check out the fight in the video from last weeks game against the Jags.


 


Your team was layin the smack down on J'ville. You didn't have to go all the way with it though.

Hope The Phillies Fans Are Happy

My second half predictions didn't go as planned, but I was on the money about one thing. The Philadelphia Phillies pulling out the NL East. The Phillies came through with another strong second half to overtake the Atlanta Braves and leave the New York Mets choking on infield dirt. In my opinion they are and were always the team to beat in the National League. They also have a great chance at winning the World Series. Everyone knows about the potent offense, but this time around they have the Roy boys (Halladay and Oswalt) as well as Cole Hamels anchoring the rotation. The only flaw i see is the bullpen, especially if Brad Lidge isn't on.

Phillie fans, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Just because they were about 6 or 7 games back earlier in the summer I knew they would come back strong. They just needed some key components to get right. I say get ready for a Phillies/Yankees rematch.