Patriot star Rob Gronkowski underwent surgery today on his broken left forearm. The injury occured during a 4th quarter PAT in the Patriots 59-24 rout of the Indianapolis Colts, and will likely sideline the tight end for the remainder of the regular season. So far, Gronkowski has 10 Touchdowns on 748 Receiving Yards.
Last week was full of blowouts (Ravens over Raiders), blowups (Steelers' season after the Big Ben injury), blowhards (Jets), and the group of people who need to read the rule books a little more often (49ers and Rams players). The highlight of the week was a surprisingly contested AFC showdown between the Bills and Pats as well as a defensive slug fest between the Bears and Texans that would make Papa Bear himself cry tears of joy. This week, we got two big time rivalry games between teams that loathe/hate one another, another defensive battle between the leagues top defenses, and the old warrior vs. the highly touted rookie. That being said, let's begin Last Week Record: 8-5-1 Season Record: 75-57-1 Interesting Picks: Sunday 1:00 p.m. Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions This is a classic NFL rivalry that stems back to the earlier days with some bad blood between the two. We keep seeing the Green Bay Packers lose key players to injury throughout the season. This time around, they are going to be without starting OT Bryan Bulaga, who got put on IR with a hip injury, but also LB Clay Matthews and his team-leading 9.0 sacks will miss this game. Detroit needs this game to stay in contention in the NFC North after getting swept by the Vikings this season (20-13 and 34-24). However the Packers still find ways to win behind #12, winning 4 straight after going 2-3. Expect them to win #5 in this one. Pick: Packers Sunday 4:25 p.m. Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots If there is a feel good story right now, it's these Colts. After getting manhandled by the New York Jets in Week 6 35-9, they have won 4 in a row. Unlike last year's 2-14 team, they have been playing with heart behind the play of rookie QB Andrew Luck and his 15 TDs (10 passing, 5 running) and the team rallying to HC Chuck Pagano and his battle with leukemia. On the Patriots' side, regardless of what people say of their defense, they have made key plays to win games. A sack and force fumble in OT to beat the Jets and intercepting the Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick to prevent a game winning touchdown. They will be sporting a new addition with the recently acquired CB Aquib Talib. But after seeing how he performed earlier in the year, including getting blown up by a 'one-legged' Hakeen Nicks, he may actually do more damage to the already 32nd ranked passing defense. Pick: Colts Monday 8:30 p.m. Chicago Bears @ San Francisco 49ers This has classic defensive showdown written all over it. Football purists will tune in and offensive-minded folks will turn away. Both teams rank in the top 10 in terms of total defense and scoring. But at the same time, their offenses will be without their starting quarterbacks due to the concussions they suffered from last week. But the 49ers' Colin Kaepernick as proven he could run the offense, going 11 of 17 for 117 yards and 8 carries for 66 yards and a TD in relief against the Rams last week. On the opposite side, the Bears' Jason Campbell has 23-37 starting record in his days with Washington and Oakland and had performed admirably in last weeks contest against the AFC's best defensive team, the Texans, 11 for 19 for 94 yards. But what it will come down to is the play of their defense. Though the 49ers have one of the top defenses, the Bears continue to terrorize opponents by forcing 15 fumbles and snagging a league high 19 INTs. Colin Kaepernick will be swamped and stomped by Julius Peppers and Lance Briggs while trying not to throw it to Chris Tillman, all of which seem impossible to do. Pick: Da Bears Many NBA experts who had the Zen master Phil Jackson pegged to return to the Lakers for his third tour of duty were quite surprised this Monday, as The Lakers hired former Sun's and Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni to replace the recently fired Mike Brown on the sidelines for the lake show. Now hiring D'Antoni instead of the Zen Master, who led LA to five Championships and 7 NBA finals appearances, may seem like the wrong move. Why hire a guy who could not produce in New York' and could not lead a high powered Suns to a championship? However I truly believe hiring this hire may Reignite D'Antoni's coaching career, as well as help this struggling, star studded, Laker's cast back to Hollywood prominence. The Initial hire of Mike Brown by the Lakers was clearly a mistake. In Cleveland, Brown's defensive knowledge was on display, however at times the Cavs offense looked stale and myopic. The Laker's know how to play defense. Kobe is always on the all-defensive team, World Peace and Howard are both former defensive players of the year, and even Pao Gasol is a better defender than league perception of him would have you believe, so clearly hiring a defensive minded coach was the wrong choice. All that hiring Brown got the Lakers was an embarrassing exit in the playoffs at the hands of the Thunder last year, and an underwhelming 1-5 start this season. In my opinion the Laker's would have been better off promoting assistant coach Brian Shaw to head coach once Jackson retired for a second time. That brings us to the Debate between D'Antoni and Jackson. Jackson's pros include; 5 championships as Laker's coach, the respect of Kobe Bryant, the history of putting talented teams over the hump, and taking Shaq to the next level of being a championship caliber center. However Jackson at this point in his life is not the perfect hire for today’s NBA. His health would've rendered him unable to travel to some road games, he has a history of publically bashing his players, including Kobe, and his triangle offense may not fit the collective talents of this team, with Gasol, Kobe, World Peace, and Steve Blake being the only remaining hold overs from Jackson's teams. Steve Nash would be ineffective in the triangle, he excels in an up tempo dribble and drive, pick and roll style, the same style that under Mike D'Antoni made Nash a two time MVP. The thought of Steve Nash having Dwight Howard and Pao Gasol to constantly run the pick and roll through is flat out scary. This would leave Kobe as a fire breathing x factor on the court, who o by the way is one of the greatest players in NBA history, and on a mission to reach and surpass Michael Jordan in Championship teams. I like to say "If you ain’t moving forward you’re going backward", and the Lakers took a huge step in going forward as a franchise with D'Antoni's hiring. Many NBA experts always envisioned Steve Nash and Mike D'Antoni winning a championship together, however no one ever thought it would be on the LA Lakers, with Kobe, Gasol, and new comer Dwight Howard to the mix. D'Antoni will never be Phil Jackson, however with the cast around him, if he does his job to the best of his abilities, we could see the closest product to the Showtime Lakers since Pat Riley was on the job. - Joe Passarelli It is that time of year. The leaves have fallen, the air is crisp, and the final pitch has been thrown... It is Hot Stove Baseball Season! At this time, every year, baseball fans in New England take time to reflect on the season that was, while looking ahead to the possibilities and opportunities that the next spring will provide. While the Sox have taken home two World Series titles in the past decade, the organization has been in sharp decline since the 2010 season. They hit their rock bottom (hopefully) in the 2012 season, under the direction of enigmatic Manager Bobby Valentine, posting a 69-93 record, the club's worst in over 40 years. There was a maligned clubhouse, led by the poor attitudes of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and even the beloved Dustin Pedroia. Bobby Valentine, rather than dampening and suppressing the distractions, seemed to serve as a catalyst for the chaos. State Of The SoxSo, let's take a look at where the Sox stand currently... As soon as the last pitch of the 2012 season was thrown, Bobby Valentine was shown the door. The Boston brass knew exactly who they wanted, and spared no expense to secure the current Toronto skipper, and former Sox pitching coach, Jon Farrell. To accomplish this they needed to send infielder Mike Aviles to the Jays as compensation. The Sox were also able to retain the services of their franchise slugger, David Ortiz. The 36 year old DH was locked up for the next two seasons at over $13 million per year. With the August trade of Becket, Gonzalez, and Crawford, along with the likely departures of Cody Ross and James Loney, there are some major holes to be filled. Question Marks?
First Base: This is a big question mark. Prospect Jerry Sands seems to be lined up to be the every day first baseman, but that is also for lack of better options. James Loney is likely moving on, and unless the Sox bring in a Free Agent such as Napoli or Carlos Pena, this will likely be a platoon position for the upcoming season. Second Base: Despite his character issues that appeared in 2012, this is Dustin Pedroia's home for the foreseeable future. Third Base: Will Middlebrooks emerged as an excellent hot-corner player. He is offensively gifted, and defensively serviceable. If he can stay healthy he will be consistent pillar in the middle of this lineup. Shortstop: Jose Iglesias has struggled offensively, and has not quite performed to his potential as of yet. They do have another top prospect in the pipeline, Xander Bogartz, but he is not quite major-league ready. Look for Iglesias to split some time with the surprisingly productive Pedro Ciriaco next season. Outfield: The Sox have some BIG question marks to address this off-season. The top priority has to be for them to determine the future of Jacoby Ellsbury. When healthy, this 28 year old center fielder is among the best in the game, offensively and defensively. However, he seems to spend more time recovering from injury than he spends on the field. As this is a contract year for Ellsbury, Ben Cherington needs to either make a trade, or fork over a nine-figure contract to this enigmatic player. Beyond Jacoby, the rest of the Sox outfield is also in flux. They are unlikely to retain Cody Ross, and their top outfielding prospect, Jackie Bradley is still at least a year away from seeing Major league action. Expect to see some sort of free agent action to address the corner outfielders. They have kicked the tires on veteran Torii Hunter, and will likely be in the bidding for Nick Swisher and Jason Bay. However the chips may fall, expect to see a very different outfield in 2013. This should be the most interesting Hot Stove season in New England in quite a while, so stay tuned for more Sox On The Stove in the coming weeks. - Kevin Aherne After starting the season 1-4, the Los Angeles Lakers have fired their head coach, Mike Brown. When he arrived, he had control of a championship caliber team, and managed to destroy all hope of winning another one anywhere in the near future. The last game when you saw Kobe's face on the bench was definitely a tell tale sign that something wasn't right on the iconic west coast team. Everyone knows that the Lakers will always be Kobe's team from the time they chose him over Shaq. If there is anything Kobe knows how to do its win, and if the one person on the team who knows how the offense should be run looked troubled, you know that there has to be something seriously wrong. It was confirmed when they let their head coach go after 5 games into the 2012 season. This has been the quickest firing of an NBA coach in recent history. His successor has very high expectations to live up to after Phil Jackson created a dynasty in the not so distant past. There is even word that the Lakers will try to bring back Jackson out of retirement for his third stint with the troubled Lakers. Other names were thrown around also, like Brian Shaw, who is the associate Head coach of the Indiana Pacers and the Pacers said that they are not about to let Shaw go without a fight. Who ever the Lakers chose will be scrutinized from the minute they arrive. The Lakers are not about to give away what they built this year that easy. After acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, they had thoughts of grandeur and hoisting the NBA Championship trophy once again. The Lakers are in hot water right now, and I believe that only a very stern and experienced type of coach of the Jackson variety would be able to harness the ginormous potential of this start studded team. -Coach- Yes that's right folks, it's that time of the week for everybody's favorite WBOB sports segment: Fox's Pick'ems. And not even Sandy or the Nor' East'rn will be able to stop me. After coming off two consecutive weeks were I posted up double digits in correct picks, you can say that I am on fire right now. Going over these weeks picks, there are a lot of interesting match ups. See a lot of divisional games and games where it could be do or die for some. Not to mention the Sunday Night match up which one could make the argument that it could be a Super Bowl preview. That being said, let's get down to business. Last Week Record: 10-4 Season Record: 67-52 Interesting Picks: Thursday 8:20 p.m. Indianaplois Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars These two teams took two different paths since they last met in Week 3. After losing 22-17, the Colts then went on to win 4 out of 5 games while Jacksonville dropped 5 in a row. Andrew Luck is showing more and more each day why the Colts drafted him #1 overall. Last week he broke the record for rookie QB passing yards in a single game with 433. But overall, the Colts have been playing with a lot of passion and have rallied behind their coach, Chuck Pagano, who is currently now winning in his battle with leukemia. Luck, who is tied for 4th in passing with 2,404 yards, is leading a Colts offense that is 4th in total yards (390.9 ypg) and you can expect they are looking for a little revenge against a team that's struggling to find its identity. Pick: Colts Sunday 1:00 p.m. Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings This is basically a do-or-die game for both teams if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive. Only one game separates them in the standings, Vikings at 5-4 and the Lions at 4-4. Ironically enought hat one game is a 20-13 Week 4 upset victory for the Vikings against Lions in Detroit. But the Lions have won 2 straight, including a 28-24 sluggfest against the Seahawks while their opposition has dropped 2 straight. Still the Lions man offensive weapon in Calvin Johnson has been struggling, only finding the red zone once this entire year. If you're looking for a revenge game, you won't find it this time around. Pick: Vikings Sunday 8:20 p.m. Houston Texans @ Chicago Bears This is the match up between two teams who are similar to one another. You got two teams who got dynamic running backs (Adrian Foster for Texans and Matt Forte for Bears), All-Pro receivers (Andre Johnson for Texans and Brandon Marshall for Bears), and two lights out defenses. On one side, you got the Texans defense led by J.J. Watt and his NFL-Leading 10.5 sacks and on the other you got a Bears defense that is setting records for defense TDs in a season (7 and counting). both are in the top 10 for yards allowed, scoring, and in rushing yards allowed. The only advantage the Bears have is being at home, where they are currently undefeated at. This will be a a good game but in the end, one team has to win. Pick: Da Bears Semi-Interesting Picks: Sunday 1:00 p.m. New York Giants @ Cinncinati Bengals Giants have been struggling as of late and will be without Chris Snee at Guard and possibly Hakeem Nicks. They are going to go against the high-flying Bengals offense led by the Dalton-Green and the Lawfirm. But the good news is that the Bengals tend to turn the ball over a lot, which will play right into the Giants' strength. Pick: Giants Tennessee Titans @ Miami Dolphins The bad news for the Dolphins is that Reggie Bush has been running the ball poorly of late, averaging a meager 41.3 ypg. The good news is he'll be facing a Titans run defense that has allowed 114.6 ypg (ranked 30th). Not to mention that the Titans CJ2K will be facing against the 3rd best rushing defense in the NFL that has allowed only 83.9 ypg. Pick: Dolphins Despite a 100 yard rushing effort by Shady McCoy, the Eagles lost their fifth game of the season under the bright lights of Monday Night Football, dropping their record to 3-5. Mike Vick experienced yet another turnover filled night, throwing a pivotal pick in the end zone trying to thread the ball into tight end Brent Celek which was returned to the house by the Saints Patrick Robinson. This 14 point swing in the second quarter seemed to be the breaking point of yet another loss for the eagles. Although the Eagles fought hard and received solid efforts from struggling playmakers McCoy and Jackson, this nationally televised loss just magnifies the problems for Coach Andy Reid and the Eagles. This seems to be a problem that’s going to take more than a few Philly Steaks and a vote of confidence from a lame duck coach to a lame duck quarterback to fix. Before the season started, Eagles ownership demanded an improvement from last year’s disappointing 8-8 record. Now the NFL's longest tenured coach Andy Reid along with Vick may be in for a rude awakening' as both may find themselves searching for new employment next season. Although playing in an under achieving division that featured a 9-7 division champ last year (Super Champion Giants), the Eagles just don't seem to be showing any signs of reaching the potential possible with this collection of talent. - Joe Passarelli This is it folks, we have officially past the NFL Mid-Season hump. That means we've pasted the 'trade deadline', the London Game, and now here's where the real action starts. Where we see who are contenders and who are pretenders. This week's match up is highlighted by a showdown between two quarterbacks whose emergence in stardom can be traced back to that famous 2004 draft. Last Week Record: 10-4 Season Record: 57-48 Team on Bye: New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers Interesting Picks: Sunday 1:00 p.m. Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns Nothing like a good ol' 'Revenge Game' to make things interesting. Last time these two teams met back in Week 5, Baltimore won 23-16 more in part to their defense. This time around, they are without starters LB Ray Lewis and CB Ladrius Webb. Not to mention Joe Flacco's performance has significantly dropped since that game, throwing for 568 yards, 2 TDs, 3INTs and completing just 53.1% of his passes. On the opposite side, Brandon Weeden has thrown for 6 TDs and 915 yards and has built a strong connection with fellow rookie wideout Josh Gordon. Not to mention that Trent Richardson is also helped with the Browns ground game, including a 24 for 122 yards performance against the Chargers last week. And let's not forget, the Browns defense held Ray Rice to a mere 49 yards on 18 carries and kept him out of the end zone. Combined with it being a home game, you can't go wrong with the color of brown. Pick: Browns Sunday 4:25 p.m. Pittsburgh Steelers @ New York Giants This will be another showdown between Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Since they were drafted in 2004, both have won 2 Super Bowls apiece and have solidified themselves as top 10 worthy QBs in the league. That being said, you got a Steelers run game that has been shaky due to health (Starter Rashard Mendenhall and back up Isaac Redman) and a defense that's been hobbled by injuries (SS Ryan Clark with concussion and LB LaMarr Woodley with hamstring). All though Ben Roethlisberger has, he'll be going against a Giants defense that has an NFL-leading 24 takeaways, and getting a boost in the secondary with the return of Safety Kenny Phillips. All though the Giants have a shaky track-record in the second half of the season under Coach Coughlin's watch (28-36), they are still in the top 10 in offensive passing and scoring. It'll be a nail-biter for sure but if it comes down to one more drive and the Giants have the ball, expect Eli to work his 4th quarter magic. Pick: Giants Semi-Interesting Picks: Sunday 1:00 p.m. Arizona Cardinals @ Green Bay Packers Packers are 1-2 against the NFC West this season but the Cardinals are coming on a 4 game skid, which includes a 24-3 smackdown at the hands of the 49ers last Thursday night. Whether who is the QB of the Cardinals doesn't change the fact that they have allowed a league leading 39 sacks and going up against the Packers with Clay Matthews (2nd in the NFL at 8.5 sacks). Not to mention that the Packers offensive depth, especially at WR is too deep even for the Cardinal defense to cover. Pick: Packers Miami Dolphins @ Indianapolis Colts The Dolphins have surprised everybody with their 4-3 record, considering that that 2 of the 3 losses were in OT (23-20 vs. Jets and 24-21 vs. Cards). Not to mention that they are 3rd in rushing defense in allowing 82.0 ypg, they can shut down an already weakened Colts running game. Not too mention that they have a reliable backup in Matt Moore who can easily fill in while starter Ryan Tannehill recovers from his quad injury. Expect Dolphins Sack leader Cameron Wake to terrorize Andrew Luck in this one. Pick: Dolphins Monday 8:30 p.m. Philadelphia Eagles @ New Orleans Saints Both teams need to win this game to stay alive. The Eagles are on a 3-game skid since beating the Giants 19-17 in Week 4 while the Saints are coming off a 34-14 beat down at the hands of the Denver Broncos last Monday Night. It'll be interesting to see how LeSean McCoy fairs against the 32nd ranked rushing defense. But it'll come down to QB play and unfortunately for the Eagles, Vick is still the starter while Drew Brees is more than eager to bounce back after an abysmal perforamce (22-42, 213yds 2TD, 1INT). Pick: Saints |
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