NFL: Wild Card Weekend
Before we get to Wild Card Weekend in the NFL, I have to comment on the Bengals bringing back Marvin Lewis. I thought Marvin had had enough of Mike Brown and the Bengals, but I guess, like most people, I was wrong. Marvin signed a new deal to be the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals for 2011.
Marvin has reportedly wanted more control of the coaching staff and wanted a bigger say in who his assistants are. In other words, he wants to fired Bob Bratkowski and who could blame him. If Bob is back in 2011 the city will not only riot outside of PBS, but the Bengals will be lucky to sell a single ticket. A better scouting and personnel department is also in need of improvements, something Marvin also wants to change.
Whatever else Marvin wanted, he must have got to some extent or else he still wouldn't be here. In his comments, Mike Brown did not really give us any indication that things are going to change for the Cincinnati Bengals. He didn't even give specifics on Marvin's new contract. He also said that he believes their is nothing wrong with the scouting department, since the Bengals rank in the top ten in games played by players they drafted. "C'mon Man," really?
I could give you a laundry list of players Mike Brown has drafted in the last 10 years and most of them have not panned out. For example, Odell Thurman, Akili Smith, Kenny Irons, Chris Perry, Andre Smith, Levi Jones, Jerome Simpson, the list goes on. All of these guys were first or second round picks and how many of them are still with the Bengals? Two. Andre Smith has been a bust so far and Jerome Simpson is just starting to figure it out after three years. The other guys can't get a job in the NFL if their life depended on it. So, I would say better scouts is a must. C'mon Mike Brown.
Marvin has also been begging for a practice dome to cover the Bengals practice facility, much like the one UC just put up on campus. If you haven't noticed, it's hard to practice in Cincinnati during the winter. The weather here, frankly sucks. The Bengals are the northern most team in the NFL without an indoor practice facility or practice bubble. Mike Brown is probably too cheap to build one, so why not try and work out a deal to use UC's. In return, UC would be allowed to hold more big time games down at PBS without having to fork over most of the profit to Mike Brown and the Bengals, like they have had to do in the past. A win win for both sides, but will it ever happen? Probably not.
Good luck Marvin, not only with Mike Brown, but with the fans too, because, your going to need it. Who-Dey.
Wild Card Weekend
The road to Super Bowl XLV starts on Saturday and of the 12 playoff teams, I think 9 or 10 of them have a legitimate shot of going to the Super Bowl. I can't wait for the games to kickoff this weekend and it should be a great postseason, when is it not? I had the Bengals and Dallas going to the Super Bowl before the season started, so let's hope I get it right the second time around. Now for who I see advancing to the Divisional Round with wins this weekend.
New Orleans over Seattle: Even though it's always tough to win on the road in the playoffs, the Saints should have no problem with the Seahawks this weekend. Seattle was able to beat St. Louis last week to clinch the division at 7-9, whether you like it or not. A sub .500 team, whose nine losses were by 15 points or more, hosting a playoff game is a joke, but that's an arguement for another day. The Saints are the defending Super Bowl champs and QB Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton will have New Orleans ready for another deep playoff run. Despite to Saints putting running backs, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory on injured reserve, they will have no problems with Seattle and will advance to the next round.
Indianapolis over NY Jets: For a while it looked like the Colts were going to be watching the playoffs this year, but once again Peyton Manning rallied the troops and Indianapolis is back in the playoffs for a recording tying ninth straight season. Manning and the Colts knocked Rex Ryan and the Jets out of the postseason last year, and this year, Ryan says, "It's personal." Ryan has been game planning for Peyton and the Colts non stop since the matchup was announced, but it will not be enough. I don't care how long you plan or how good your plan is to stop Manning in the Colts, but it will not be good enough. Peyton Manning and the Colts had to fight there way into the playoffs and they won't go down with a fight. I'll take #18 at home any day of the week and Manning will lead the Colts to a second straight playoff victory over the Jets.
Baltimore over Kansas City: One of the best defenses in the league goes up against one of the most potent rushing attacks in the NFL. Whoever wins the battle between the Ravens defense and the Chiefs offense will win this game. Baltimore has not looked good the past few weeks, they were fortunate to get by the Bengals, and that is cause for concern. Kansas City has the best rushing attack in the NFL by averaging 164.2 yards per game, while the Ravens rank fifth at stopping the run at 93.9 yards per game. I think the Ravens can stop the Chiefs from running, but the real question is, will the Baltimore offense show up. It might be a low scoring game and that favors the Ravens. In the playoffs I really like teams who have been there and have done it before and have veterans on their team that know what it takes to win in the playoffs. Ray Lewis is a perfect example and because of him and the Ravens defense, I think they win and will advance with the Colts on the AFC side of the playoffs.
Green Bay over Philadelphia: Back in Week 1, the Packers knocked out Eagles QB Kevin Kolb and in came Vick, and now here we are in the first round of the playoffs.The Packers and Eagles meet once again. Who knows how the season might have turned out if Kolb had not gotten hurt, my guess the Eagles wouldn't be in the playoffs. Even though the Packers are the number six seed and are on the road I like their chances. The Eagles have not looked good the past three weeks with losses to Minnesota and Dallas, Vick didn't play last week, and they need a second half comeback and a DeSean Jackson punt return to beat the NY Giants. Vick has an injured quad, but he doesn't think it will be a factor, maybe it will, maybe it won't. Whatever the case Packers QB Aaron Rodgers had a great season and with the way the defense is playing, led by Defensive Player of the Year candidate Clay Matthews, I like Green Bay to stop Michael Vick and the Eagles. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this one goes to overtime and we will get to see how the new overtime rules affect the outcome.
Last Week: 10-6
Overall: 158-98
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| Marvin Lewis will be back for 2011 |
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| Mike Brown |
I could give you a laundry list of players Mike Brown has drafted in the last 10 years and most of them have not panned out. For example, Odell Thurman, Akili Smith, Kenny Irons, Chris Perry, Andre Smith, Levi Jones, Jerome Simpson, the list goes on. All of these guys were first or second round picks and how many of them are still with the Bengals? Two. Andre Smith has been a bust so far and Jerome Simpson is just starting to figure it out after three years. The other guys can't get a job in the NFL if their life depended on it. So, I would say better scouts is a must. C'mon Mike Brown.
Marvin has also been begging for a practice dome to cover the Bengals practice facility, much like the one UC just put up on campus. If you haven't noticed, it's hard to practice in Cincinnati during the winter. The weather here, frankly sucks. The Bengals are the northern most team in the NFL without an indoor practice facility or practice bubble. Mike Brown is probably too cheap to build one, so why not try and work out a deal to use UC's. In return, UC would be allowed to hold more big time games down at PBS without having to fork over most of the profit to Mike Brown and the Bengals, like they have had to do in the past. A win win for both sides, but will it ever happen? Probably not. 
Bottomline, things have to change for the Cincinnati Bengals and hopefully Tuesday was the start of a new chapter in Bengals football. Mike Brown rarely gets things right and most of the things he does make people want to run him out of town, but I think he finally did something right in bringing Marvin Lewis back. But only time will tell.
Good luck Marvin, not only with Mike Brown, but with the fans too, because, your going to need it. Who-Dey.
Wild Card Weekend
The road to Super Bowl XLV starts on Saturday and of the 12 playoff teams, I think 9 or 10 of them have a legitimate shot of going to the Super Bowl. I can't wait for the games to kickoff this weekend and it should be a great postseason, when is it not? I had the Bengals and Dallas going to the Super Bowl before the season started, so let's hope I get it right the second time around. Now for who I see advancing to the Divisional Round with wins this weekend.
New Orleans over Seattle: Even though it's always tough to win on the road in the playoffs, the Saints should have no problem with the Seahawks this weekend. Seattle was able to beat St. Louis last week to clinch the division at 7-9, whether you like it or not. A sub .500 team, whose nine losses were by 15 points or more, hosting a playoff game is a joke, but that's an arguement for another day. The Saints are the defending Super Bowl champs and QB Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton will have New Orleans ready for another deep playoff run. Despite to Saints putting running backs, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory on injured reserve, they will have no problems with Seattle and will advance to the next round.
Indianapolis over NY Jets: For a while it looked like the Colts were going to be watching the playoffs this year, but once again Peyton Manning rallied the troops and Indianapolis is back in the playoffs for a recording tying ninth straight season. Manning and the Colts knocked Rex Ryan and the Jets out of the postseason last year, and this year, Ryan says, "It's personal." Ryan has been game planning for Peyton and the Colts non stop since the matchup was announced, but it will not be enough. I don't care how long you plan or how good your plan is to stop Manning in the Colts, but it will not be good enough. Peyton Manning and the Colts had to fight there way into the playoffs and they won't go down with a fight. I'll take #18 at home any day of the week and Manning will lead the Colts to a second straight playoff victory over the Jets.
Baltimore over Kansas City: One of the best defenses in the league goes up against one of the most potent rushing attacks in the NFL. Whoever wins the battle between the Ravens defense and the Chiefs offense will win this game. Baltimore has not looked good the past few weeks, they were fortunate to get by the Bengals, and that is cause for concern. Kansas City has the best rushing attack in the NFL by averaging 164.2 yards per game, while the Ravens rank fifth at stopping the run at 93.9 yards per game. I think the Ravens can stop the Chiefs from running, but the real question is, will the Baltimore offense show up. It might be a low scoring game and that favors the Ravens. In the playoffs I really like teams who have been there and have done it before and have veterans on their team that know what it takes to win in the playoffs. Ray Lewis is a perfect example and because of him and the Ravens defense, I think they win and will advance with the Colts on the AFC side of the playoffs.
Green Bay over Philadelphia: Back in Week 1, the Packers knocked out Eagles QB Kevin Kolb and in came Vick, and now here we are in the first round of the playoffs.The Packers and Eagles meet once again. Who knows how the season might have turned out if Kolb had not gotten hurt, my guess the Eagles wouldn't be in the playoffs. Even though the Packers are the number six seed and are on the road I like their chances. The Eagles have not looked good the past three weeks with losses to Minnesota and Dallas, Vick didn't play last week, and they need a second half comeback and a DeSean Jackson punt return to beat the NY Giants. Vick has an injured quad, but he doesn't think it will be a factor, maybe it will, maybe it won't. Whatever the case Packers QB Aaron Rodgers had a great season and with the way the defense is playing, led by Defensive Player of the Year candidate Clay Matthews, I like Green Bay to stop Michael Vick and the Eagles. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this one goes to overtime and we will get to see how the new overtime rules affect the outcome.
Last Week: 10-6
Overall: 158-98
Nice post. Packers fer the upset huh? I'm with you on everything but. I hate the Packs dude, it's the Bears fan in me.
ReplyDelete-Almario
that one's a toss up. I went back and forth between the Pack and Eagles, but I really like the way the Packers are playing right now. Da Bears got a great chance though. Thanks for the comment, don't get many of those.
ReplyDelete