Things I Noticed: Week 17

It's the final week of the regular season, but there were still teams with plenty to play for entering the week.  Two division titles still needed to be decided and playoff seedings were still up for grabs.

So, for the last time this regular season -

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• New England shutout the Dolphins in a dominant display that builds them some much needed momentum heading into the playoffs.  The win also bumped them up to the #2 seed in the AFC, earning them a first round bye.

• Rob Gronkowski returned from a broken forearm injury that cost him five games, picking up right where he left off.  His playing time may have been limited, but he made the most of it by finding the end zone for the 11th time this season - tied for 4th most in the league.  Given the time he missed, that means he averaged a score per game.  Despite having the game well in hand in the 4th quarter, the Pats made sure to get Gronk some snaps to integrate him back into the offense.
• Reggie Bush appeared openly frustrated as the final seconds ticked away.  Not because his team lost, or because they again failed to make the postseason.  No, his frustrations were about falling 14 yards short of his second straight 1,000 yard rushing season.  He broke an 18 yard run on the Dolphins last play of the game, but wasn't able to break a tackle to extend the run to get him to that milestone.  Glad to see he has his priorities in order.

Things I Noticed: Week 16

With the holidays quickly approaching, this weeks' schedule has been completely rearranged.  There was no ugly Thursday night game between two totally unprepared teams this week.  There are no more Monday Night Football games this season, as rather than have teams play on Christmas Eve, the MNF game was played on Saturday night instead.  The 1:00 slate of games on Sunday afternoon featured 11 games at once!  That all led to a very packed weekend of football to be treated to just before the holiday.

So with that, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great weekend of football!

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Atlanta clinched the top seed in the NFC, ensuring that they can rest some of their starters next week and take a week off before their first playoff game.  That's a big change for these Falcons during the Matt Ryan era, because they are used to taking the week off during their first playoff game (oh, come on Atlanta fans, you know it's true!). 


• Matt Ryan was brilliant against the Lions, completing his first 12 passes en route to a 4 TD performance.  Both Roddy White (153 yards, 2 TDs) and Julio Jones (71 yards, 1 TD) came up big, in a rare game where both of Atlanta's elite receivers were able to dominate at the same time.
• The final minutes of the game showed Atlanta's one big weakness - their inability to convert in short yardage situations.  After Detroit turned the ball over on downs at the Atlanta 2 yard line, the Falcons were unable to run out the clock by running the ball forward enough to be able to kneel out the rest of the clock.  Instead, Michael Turner was tackled in the end zone for a safety, which could have given the Lions new life.  Lucky for them, Detroit blew their chance. 
• Down two TDs, the safety would give Detroit the ball back.  A good return, if not for a score then at least for good field position, would at least have given them a chance.  Instead, Stefan Logan made the bizarre decision to give himself up by taking a knee inside his own five yard line.  Even without audio, you could read the words coming out of his coach's mouth on the sideline.  Something along the lines of that being the stupidest play he's ever seen (with a few other choice words thrown in, I'm sure).  He's not wrong - it was an incredibly stupid decision, which forced Detroit to have to try to drive nearly the entire field just to get the first of the two scores they needed with less than two minutes left.  That task, of course, came up short.  Who knows what Logan could possibly have been thinking, but it wasn't even his first mistake of the game.  Earlier he had called for a fair catch on a punt return when there wasn't a defender within 20 yards of him!  For a player who's only value comes on kick returns, if he can't even get that right then what good is he?
• Calvin Johnson set a boatload of records in this game, but the main one was surpassing Jerry Rice for the single season receiving record.  He currently stands at 1,892 yards for the season, meaning 2,000 yards is actually within reach.  At this point it would almost be a surprise if he didn't become the new CJ2K.

• Calvin also set records with 8 straight 100+ yard receiving games and four straight games with double digit catches. 
• The one blemish on Calvin's record setting game is that when Rice set his record, he did it during a playoff hunt, while Calvin's Lions team has been out of the hunt for weeks.  At times, it looked like the Lions were more concerned with getting Calvin the record than they were with winning the game. 

Red Sox off-season review

We're approximately halfway through the off-season, with less than 8 weeks before pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training.  The Hot Stove is beginning to cool off, as most of the top free agents have already been signed.  Many of those freshly signed players will be putting on a Red Sox uniform this spring, as Boston has added more players via free agency than any team, in addition to adding a new manager. 

The Red Sox had plenty of holes to fill on a roster that you might say underachieved last season (ok, understatement of the year).  So you had to expect a massive turnover was due, but given that they avoided the top high priced options on the market, how much have they really improved?

This team lost 93 games last year in a season that spiraled out of control due to injuries and a fractured clubhouse that revolted against former manager Bobby Valentine.  Replacing him with John Farrell, who is well respected by the team's core veterans from his time as the team's pitching coach a few years ago, will go a long way toward improving this team.  While the Red Sox didn't dominate the headlines by chasing marquee names, they did add several useful pieces that will help improve the team.

The rotation will get a boost from the addition of Ryan Dempster.  The veteran pitcher led the NL with a 2.25 ERA in 16 starts with the Cubs last season, before being dealt to Texas as the trade deadline.  After some initial struggles changing leagues (8 runs allowed in 2 of his first 3 starts for the Rangers), Dempster settled down and ended up going 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA over his next 5 starts.  That ugly 5.09 ERA that he posted with the Rangers would look a lot better if you take away those rough starts during the adjustment period to his first time in a new league.  Boston doesn't need Dempster to be the ace that he was in Chicago.  They just need him to be a reliable middle of the rotation starter that can be counted on for a solid 200+ innings, as he's done in 4 of the past 5 seasons.  Using him to replace some of the replacement level pitchers the team was forced to run out there last season is certainly worth a couple extra wins over the course of the season.

Things I Noticed: Week 15

It was a difficult weekend to focus on football in the aftermath of the tragic events in Newtown, CT.  A shooting spree at an elementary school has to be among the most senseless acts of violence imaginable.  The NFL held a moment of silence before each game in honor of the victims, while many teams paid tribute by adding the initials for Shady Hook Elementary School to their helmets.

Is it just me, or have the past several weeks started out talking about some sort of tragic event?  It's been a rough month.  Let's move on to some better news and hope for better days ahead.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• The Bengals defense forced 5 turnovers in a route over the Eagles, including 4 fumbles (but hey, at least Bryce Brown wasn't responsible for any of them!)

• AJ Green finally found the end zone for the first time in 4 weeks.  I was beginning to worry he had forgotten where it was.  He's now up to 11 TDs this season, which is second in the league.
• The Eagles scored all 13 of their points in the second quarter, which ended up giving them a slight lead at halftime.  The Bengals were shut out in that quarter, but scored twice in each of the other quarters, including 24 second half points.
• Despite owning the NFC's best record, the Falcons seemed like a team in need of making a statement.  They were coming off an ugly loss and had rarely looked dominant this season even when they were winning.  Consider the statement made.  Atlanta gave the Giants their first shutout loss since 1996.  The 34-0 demolition was the worst shutout defeat for a defending Super Bowl champion ever.
• That's great for Atlanta to get a statement win, but we'll start taking them seriously as a Super Bowl contender when they prove they can do it in the postseason.  Matt Ryan is like the mirror image of Eli Manning.  Great regular season stats, but nothing to show for it in the playoffs.
• Matt Ryan was brilliant, throwing 3 TDs and finishing with a Total QBR of 96.2.  It was his third game this season with a QBR of at least 95.0, which ties him with Tom Brady for most in the league.
• I've talked about Julio Jones' home/road splits before, but the young receiver finally had a big game on his home field.  He scored twice to give him his first two TDs of the season at home (he now has 9 total).  His 74 yards brought his total up to only 391 in home games, while he has 1,071 receiving yards on the road this season.
• Just when it seemed Eli Manning had turned his season around, he lays another egg that has him looking like he's back in the same funk he was in about a month ago.  Not only did his team fail to score, but Eli tossed two more INTs, giving him 15 for the season (5th most in the league), compared to only 20 TDs (15th most in the league).  Eli may have proven himself as an elite QB with his postseason accomplishments, but when it comes to the regular season, he has a very inconsistent track record.  His playoff success won't matter much if the Giants can't even get there.  The loss drops them into a three way tie in the NFC East. 
• If the season ended today, the Giants would not qualify for the playoffs.  They still have to play in Baltimore next week before finishing at home against an Eagles team salivating at the chance to play the spoiler role at the end of a lost season (which likely will also be Andy Reid's last game with the Eagles).

Hamilton a risk for Angels outfield

Josh Hamilton may have been the most unique case in the history of free agency.  On the one hand, you have the 2010 AL MVP, who is currently one of the game's most productive hitters.  On the other, you have a player marked with several red flags concerning his history of injuries and substance abuse.  Mix it all together and what is Hamilton really worth?

The LA Angels answered that question by agreeing to a 5 year, $125 million deal with the All-Star outfielder.  He'll join a packed outfield that already includes blossoming super star Mike Trout, masher Mark Trumbo and defensive ace Peter Bourjos (that's without even figuring out what to do with Vernon Wells).  Presumably the team will either test Trumbo at third base or continue to under utilize the talents of Bourjos by forcing him back into a bench role as a defensive replacement.  Or they may try to trade one of them for pitching help to help fill the void of three starters that have departed from their rotation.

Hamilton's MVP season showed his desirable ceiling.  He hit .359/.411/.633, 32 HRs and 100 RBIs with a 8.4 WAR.  While that may represent his peak, his numbers last season (.285/.354/.577, 43 HRs, 128 RBIs, 4.4 WAR) were nothing to scoff at.  He is one of the game's best power hitters, still in the prime years of his career.