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Category Archives: Patrick Willis

Conference Championships Day!

22 Jan

Playoffs Bracket

The Final Four…NFL-style. We have finally gotten to the conference championships. The AFC Championship Game is on first and then we have the NFC Championship Game. Let’s jump right in to what promises to be a great day of some pigskin!

AFC Championship Game - Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots, 3pm on CBS

This should be a great game. You have the Ravens with the #3 defense versus the Patriots and their #2 offense (#3 in pts.). Then on the other side you have the Ravens struggling #15 (#12 pts.) offense versus the Patriots atrocious #31 (#15 pts.) defense. It’s going to be a treat to see if Tom Brady can out play the Ravens suffocating defense or if Ray Lewis & Co. will shut down Brady and their prolific offense. The Ravens have to be physical on the line with the Patriots’ two TE’s. They cannot let Gronkowski and Hernandez beat them like they did the Broncos. For obvious reasons, Joe Flacco’s time is now. He has to have a big game. He has to come up big in the end. Mark this down, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Ravens pick up a QB in the draft if Flacco struggles again. I just don’t know where I sit with Flacco. I like him and see a lot of talent in him, but I also think, for some reason, he has reached a wall. Will he bust through it today or will he jeopardize Baltimore’s best chance at winning a Super Bowl in years? Ray Rice and the offensive lineman are going to have to get the running game going to take the pressure off of Flacco. Another matchup some are talking about is John Harbaugh coaching against Bill Belicheat. I think it’s funny that Belicheat is viewed as a defensive genius and since 2007 that has been the achilles heel of this team. I do believe that Belicheat is a great defensive coordinator, but he is a Tom Brady, video camera and the tuck rule away from being a failed head coach and seen as just a defensive mind. Harbaugh, on the other hand, has been a solid coach in Baltimore. I don’t think he’s been great, but it’s hard to get more out of another head coach, short of a Hall of Famer. I am going with the away team, but have extreme hesitance with this pick. Ravens 31 Patriots 28

NFC Championship Game – New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers, 6:30pm on FOX

Hello, 1990…where have you been? Does this game feel like this or what? I can remember that game like it was yesterday. I remember being in our side room in the house I grew up in during the first half of my childhood. I remember hoping Matt Bahr would make that field goal. You see, the 49ers the week before beat my beloved Redskins 28-10 the week before to knock them out of the playoffs. So, in turn I had to root for the Giants to exact revenge on them for what they did. And it happened! Believe me when I say that a certain 8 going on 9 yr. old was very happy that day. And for you Niners fans, maybe we’ll get to see another game like the one we saw here. Outside of the infamous heads-tails miscall, this has got to be the worse officiating ever! But it’s 2012 and we have a hard-nosed 49ers squad against a very hot Giants squad. Will Eli Manning continue his great play? Will Alex Smith continue his magical season? Both teams love to run the ball and both teams have great passers (as long as Alex Smith continues to look like he has all season). This one is going to come down to the defenses. Believe the old adage “defenses win championships” because it will come true today in this game. If the Giants can continue their hot run I believe they will rattle Alex Smith into being the old Alex Smith. Either way you know you are going to get great play from the Niners D. The only question for them will be: is Patrick Willis playing or not? I like Eli better than Alex. I like Frank Gore but the combo of Bradshaw and Jacobs is bruising…believe me, as a fan on an NFC East team, I know!! I love the Giants wideouts more. I like the Niners defense more, but the Giants are playing like their D of old. I say that continues and Eli shows why he’s one of the games’ best. Giants 15 49ers 13 (that’s right…a little 1990 for you)

So, that does it. Enjoy the games today but I do ask you for one thing. No matter where you come down on the (horribly & disgusting) child sex abuse scandal at Penn St…I ask for all to say a prayer for Joe Paterno who is in failing health and might be seeing his last days here on earth. Pray for his family to have strength in this difficult time. Thanks and enjoy the pigskin! I’ll see you guys back here tomorrow for recaps on the day’s games.

 
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Posted by on January 22, 2012 in Aaron Hernandez, AFC, AFC Championship Game, Ahmad Bradshaw, Alex Smith, Baltimore Ravens, Bill Belicheck, Brandon Jacobs, Eli Manning, Frank Gore, Joe Flacco, Joe Paterno, John Harbaugh, Matt Bahr, New England Patiots, New York Giants, NFC, NFC Championship Game, Patrick Willis, Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, Rob Gronkowski, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl, Tom Brady, Washington Redskins

 

Revisiting the 2007 NFL Draft

12 Jan

Yesterday, I was perusing around some sports websites when I stumbled upon ESPN’s own Mel Kiper, Jr.’s piece re-grading every NFL team on the 2011 NFL Draft. First, let me say how absolutely stupid this is. How in the world are you going to judge any player on just 1 season? Especially, when all rookies didn’t even have a full training camp and pre-season. I know why they did this, it’s a little slow right now in the sports world…yes, it will pick up this weekend but how many times are you going to analyze the Divisional Round of the playoffs? So, I will spare you all from critiquing Kiper’s grades but it got me thinking…how about looking back 5 years and critiquing each team’s 1st round picks. So, let’s go back to the 2007 NFL Draft and look at how these players are doing after finishing their 5th season in the league. I’ll post the 1st 16 picks today and the other 1/2 of the 1st Round tomorrow. Here we go…

  1. Oakland Raiders - JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU – Wow! What can we say about Mr. Russell?!?! To think a lot of pundits raved about Russell because of one game where he carved up one of the worst defenses to play in South Bend on his way to winning the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame. Notre Dame shouldn’t have been anywhere near a BCS bowl game that year. Hey, at least the man got paid…which he has already devoured (pun intended). F-
  2. Detroit Lions - Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech – Matt Millen can thank Oakland for this one. Millen had a thing for picking WR’s in the 1st round but this one was the only one to pan out. Megatron has been a BEAST for Motown. Great pick for Millen. A+
  3. Cleveland Browns - Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin – Another great pick! Joe Thomas has been/will be the cornerstone in Cleveland for more than a decade. If he isn’t the top Offensive Tackle in the NFL he is right up there. A+
  4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson –  Really sad story. The late Adams had tons of talent that never got much of a chance to show it. He only played 2 1/2 seasons for the Bucs before being traded to the Bears in October of 2009. Unfortunately, his life was cut short in January of 2010. I can’t give out a grade on this one. N/A
  5. Arizona Cardinals - Levi Brown, OT, Penn State – While Levi Brown has not been a bad offensive lineman for the Cards, he certainly does not deserve a Top 5 pick. This was a huge reach for the Cardinals, but hey…it’s the Cardinals and they are who they are because they continue to reach. C-
  6. Washington Redskins - LaRon Landry, S, LSU – If this piece was done 2 or so years ago I would have graded this pick pretty low. Since, I am a Skins fan I have seen every game LaRon Landry has played in the pros. Landry has plenty of talent but got absolutely scorched time-after-time in his first few seasons. Since Haslett has come to town he moved Landry to SS where he belongs and Landry has been an absolute stud on the football field. The only problem is he hasn’t been on there much the past couple of seasons. C+
  7. Minnesota Vikings - Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma – I wish my Skins had made this pick. Peterson was a BEAST in college but prone to injuries (which shied me away from him in ’07). But from his first game on he has been nothing short of the Best Runningback in football! A+
  8. Atlanta Falcons - Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas – Eh. Not that good of a pick by the Falcons. Maybe they thought they we re-picking the “Dirty Birds” Jamaal Anderson??They released him before this season and he has been an integral part of the Indianapolis Colts’ 2-14 season this year….I kid, I kid. F
  9. Miami Dolphins - Ted Ginn, Jr, WR, Ohio State – What were they thinking?? At least the Fins only kept Ginn around for 3 years. I think the Dolphins look back at this pick and think “we should have taken Dwayne Bowe”. D
  10. Houston Texans - Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville – Okoye has been a pretty good Defensive Tackle but worth a 10th pick? Let’s just say this: Houston let him walk to Chicago before this season started. Nice player, a reach of a pick. C-
  11. San Francisco 49ers - Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss – The BEST Linebacker in the game today. Have you seen this machine play? He will end his career as one of the best Linebackers to play the game. San Fran absolutely hit it out-of-the-park with this pick. A+
  12. Buffalo Bills - Marshawn Lynch, RB, California – After shooting of the gates and posting back-to-back 1,000 yd. seasons his first 2 years. Skittles then got into various off the field problems and had a couple of injuries before being traded to Seattle. Since then he has kind of rejuvenated his career. New Orleans might be able to tell you a little more about that! B
  13. St. Louis Rams - Adam Carriker, DE/DT, Nebraska – I don’t know what St. Louis saw in Carriker by moving him to Defensive Tackle but it didn’t work. He was then traded to Washington where he was switched back to Defensive End and has been a pleasant surprise. He definitely is not a Top 15 pick though he does show flashes of that from time to time. D+ (this low because they used him as a DT)
  14. New York Jets - Darelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh – Does anyone not know about Revis Island? He is the best shutdown corner in the league. Really doesn’t need anymore explaining. A+
  15. Pittsburgh Steelers - Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida State – Until 2011, Timmons had been getting better and better. Was it the contract or the short pre-season that resulted in a decent but not great season? Timmons has shown to be a very good Linebacker but I don’t know if a Top 15 pick is where he should have been drafted. Only time will tell which way this one goes. I think he’ll be a pretty good starter for another 5-10 years but nothing too special. C+
  16. Green Bay Packers – Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee – This is a very hard pick to evaluate. Harrell, who is a Free Agent right now, has been constantly hampered by injuries. This last one in 2010 was a major knee injury that looks like it might have ended his pro career. I have to give a low grade on this pick since he was coming off of a pretty big biceps tear at Tennessee but to be fair the Packers couldn’t have totally seen this coming. D-

So, there we have the first 1/2 of the 1st Round of the 2007 NFL Draft. A lot of reaches, a HUGE bust and a few future Hall-of-Famers. I hear JaMarcus Russell has been signed to a huge deal for a starring role in one of TV’s biggest shows. Good for him!

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2012 in Adam Carriker, Adrian Peterson, Amobi Okoye, Arizona Cardinals, Arkansas, Atlanta Falcons, BCS, Buffalo Bills, California, Calvin Johnson, Chicago Bears, Clemson, Cleveland Browns, Darelle Revis, Detroit Lions, Dwayne Bowe, Florida St., Gaines Adams, Georgia Tech, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jamaal Anderson, JaMarcus Russell, Jim Haslett, Joe Thomas, Jr., Justin Harrell, LaRon Landry, Lawrence Timmons, Levi Brown, Louisville, LSU, Marshawn Lynch, Matt Millen, Megatron, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Nebraska, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, NFL, NFL Draft, Notre Dame, Oakland Raiders, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Patrick Willis, Penn St., Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers, Revis Island, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Skittles, St. Louis Rams, Sugar Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee, Washington Redskins, Wisconsin

 
 
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