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.

Things I Noticed: Week 14

There's only three weeks left in the season, but a few playoff spots are up for grabs and there will still be a fight for seeding and home field advantage down the stretch.

One of the big stories of the week is that Paul Tagliabue overturned the suspensions of four current and former Saints players for their role in the bounty scandal.  The former commissioner was called in to review the appeal of the ruling handed down by current commissioner Roger Goodell.  While it was clear the Saints participated in a performance pool that rewarded key plays, including hard hits that could be worthy of league fines, the case had been "contaminated" by the Saints organization.  Sounds like he is agreeing that they were wrong for what they did, but letting them off on their suspensions by blaming the coaches and the GM instead.
Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Denver won their eighth straight game Thursday night to become the first AFC team to reach 10 wins.  Knowshon Moreno carried a heavy load (32 carries, 119 yards, 1 TD) to help the Broncos maintain their early lead.  Despite playing on the practice squad for the early part of the year, the season ending injury to Willis McGahee opened the door for Moreno to get another chance.  So far it's paying off.
• Now for our weekly update on Peyton Manning's rise through the record books!  Manning joined Brett Favre as the only QB to reach 5,000 career completions.  He also has now won 10 games in a season for a record 12 times.
• Darren McFadden returned to the Raiders backfield after a four game absence.  He ripped off a 36 yard run to open the second half, but gained a total of only 16 yards on his other 10 carries.

• The Cowboys have a winning record for the first time since Week 3, but the win was overshadowed by tragedy.  Early Saturday morning, Cowboys practice squad line backer Jerry Brown was killed in a drunk driving accident.  Teammate Josh Brent was the driver and is currently being held on charges of intoxication manslaughter.
• Despite the off-field distractions the team dealt with, Tony Romo still managed to lead a comeback from a 9 point deficit in the 4th quarter.  He found Dez Bryant in the end zone to make it a one score game.  Then the defense quickly got them the ball back after sacking Andy Dalton (for the 5th time in the game) on a key third down, which led to the game winning field goal drive as time expired.
• Dez Bryant suffered a fractured index finger in the game that clouds his future for the rest of the season. He returned to the game after briefly sitting out to have his finger examined, catching that TD pass after the injury, but it's unclear if he will be able to continue to play through it or require season ending surgery.
• AJ Green is officially in a slump.  Two straight games with under 100 yards and no TDs in three straight games!  He dropped a couple passes, one of which could have gone for a score.  Just an off game for the stud receiver.
• The Bengals appeared to have scored a TD that would have put them up by two scores, but Marvin Jones stepped out of bounds in the back of the end zone before the catch and was flagged for illegal touching.  Jones was clearly pushed out of bounds by a Dallas defender, who should have been flagged for illegal contact, resulting in off-setting penalties.  Instead, the Bengals were backed up five yards and ended up settling for only a field goal in a game they eventually lost by one point.

Worst trades in sports history

Last night Kobe Bryant became the youngest player ever to join the 30,000 point club - a mark reached by only four other players before him.  He's talked about the possibility of retirement after his current contract ends after next season, but by then he's likely to have passed Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Michael Jordan (32,292) on the all-time scoring list.  If he decides to extend his career beyond that, you can probably count on him passing Karl Malone (36,928) and making a run at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's spot at the top of the list (38,387).  Let's not kid ourselves, if Kareem's record is in his sights, there's no way Kobe calls it quits in two years, especially if he's also still chasing that 6th ring.  Either way, when it's all said and done, Kobe is a sure fire Hall of Famer who has established himself as a winner and one of the greatest scorers ever.

An interesting sub-plot of this milestone game is that it came against the team that drafted him.  The Charlotte Hornets drafted Kobe as a high school graduate with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 draft, then immediately shipped him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.  The veteran center played two solid seasons with the Hornets before moving on to Sacramento, while Kobe developed into one of the game's brightest young stars.  Attendance began to drop drastically, triggering the franchise's eventual move to New Orleans.  Hard to imagine them needing to re-locate if they had Kobe selling out the arena every night.

While trading a productive veteran for an 18 year old rookie comes with plenty of risk, in retrospect it's easy to see that the Lakers committed highway robbery.  This got me thinking about some of the other lopsided deals in sports history. 

In no particular order, here is my list of the other 10 worst trades in sports history.

Things I Noticed: Week 13

Some great football action was overshadowed by tragedy this week, as the events in Kansas City and Cleveland put a sour note over the entire league.

Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend before heading to the team's practice facility, where he committed suicide in the parking lot.  The next morning, a Browns employee was found to have committed suicide at the team's facility in Cleveland.  These type of tragic events are rare in the world of sports, but when they happen it sends shock waves throughout the league.  The odds of this happening in two different cities the same weekend seem astronomically impossible.

In the wake of these tragic events, we try to move on and focus on less depressing story lines. 

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Atlanta avenged their one loss this season in a re-match against the Saints.  The victory didn't require a lot of heavy lifting from Matt Ryan and the passing game, thanks mostly to their defense forcing 5 turnovers against a sloppy Saints team.  Their running game found plenty of success as well against the league's worst run defense.  The career of Michael Turner was thought to have been put out to pasture long ago, but he looked revitalized against a Saints defense that looked allergic to tackling, as he piled up 83 yards and a score on only 12 carries.  He combined with Jacquizz Rodgers to average a healthy 6.3 yards per carry in the game.

• Drew Brees was just brutal, throwing away a career high 5 INTs and failing to find the end zone.  That snapped a record 54 game streak of games with at least one TD pass.  Brees was uncharacteristically off target on several throws and seemed to be desperately forcing the ball on most of those turnovers, but the lack of a TD wasn't completely his fault.  Lance Moore dropped an easy one in the end zone and a scoring catch by Darren Sproles was called back for a penalty on Jimmy Graham, who was a little too eager to start blocking and started before the pass was even thrown.  It was an ugly game for Brees, but he deserved better. 
• The bright side of Brees' streak being over - Tom Brady is now the current leader in consecutive games with a TD pass, with a chance to surpass Brees' record by next season if he keeps it up.  New England fans really needed a new superficial streak to root for after Rajon Rondo's assist streak unceremoniously ended with his ejection from Wednesday night's Celtics game.
• In addition to the turnovers, Brees was surprisingly off his game when it came to clock management at the end of the half.  With time winding down and no time outs left, Brees dumped the ball off to Sproles for a short gain a few yards shy of the end zone.  As the clock ticked away, the Saints found themselves without enough time to spike it and run another play, forcing them to retreat to the locker room empty handed.  Brees is smart enough to know he can't throw the ball in that situation unless he knows the receiver will either get in the end zone or out of bounds, but Sproles had little chance of doing either on that play.  He would have been better off throwing the ball away to give themselves another shot, or at least get a field goal out of the drive.  Any type of score to end the half would have given them more momentum and made the game closer down the stretch, which may have prevented Brees from forcing passes that ended up being picked off.
• Take away their miserable first month, when the Saints were recovering from the bounty scandal and adjusting to an interim-interim coach, they really haven't been playing much worse than the Falcons this season.  Their only losses since their 0-4 start heading into this game were to playoff locks (Denver, San Francisco) and they were crushing inferior teams.  Atlanta on the other hand has kept winning, but by the slimmest of margins.  Their 11-1 record blows everyone else away, but entering this week their +78 point differential was only the 7th best mark in the league.  The difference between these teams - Matt Ryan can throw 5 INTs and his team will still find a way to squeak out a victory, but when Drew Brees does it, the Saints are sunk.
• This game was tough for those trying to lock up playoff spots in their fantasy football leagues.  Brees may have killed a lot of owners dreams with his abysmal performance (3 fantasy points, really??), but Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Jimmy Graham were all quiet from a statistical standpoint. 
• Is there something about these Thursday night games that saps the performance of these elite players?  Aside from the Thanksgiving games, when is the last Thursday night game when a sure fire fantasy starter put up big numbers?  There's been a couple this season (Doug Martin in Week 8 comes to mind), but for the most part, playing on Thursday has been a drain on fantasy potential.  A lot of these games have been ugly.  Maybe there's something to the notion that teams need more than a few days to recover from their last game, so these weekly Thursday night games might not be such a great idea after all.  Unless, you know, you're the commissioner and only care about making more money for the league.