Going Around the NHL

-With the acquisition of Scott Walker, Eric Belanger, and Joe Corvo at the trade deadline last wednesday, there were going to be some controversial healthy scratch decisions needed to be made by the Washington Capitals. The lucky fellow for Monday's game against Dallas was Tomas Fleischmann, who's accumulated all of forty-five points in fifty-four games this season. Just an embarrassment of riches for the Capitals.

-The Olympics were a time for not so recognizable names to make them so. Ryan Miller accomplished this with flying colors. But perhaps lost in the praise of Miller, was much publicity for his USA teammate, Defenseman Ryan Suter. Finding himself paired with the transcendent USA Defenseman, Brian Rafalski, the silky smooth Suter was put on the ice by coach Ron Wilson for nearly every big situation throughout the team's Olympic run.

-This has been the second straight season Maple Leaf's Defenseman Tomas Kaberle should have been traded at the deadline and wasn't. At some point, pinning the blame on a stagnant trade market must end, and real, constructive criticism for GM Brian Burke must begin.

-My early Western Conference Final Pick: How about the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks. Alot of similarities between this year's Kings team, and last year's Blackhawks team that went took a trip to the west finals.

-My early pick for the Eastern Conference Final: Could it really be anything other than the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals?

-And my Stanley Cup Final prediction is the same one I chose before the season even began: The Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals.

Non Super Bowl Sports thoughts

Basically for the next two weeks, your going to be inundated with Super Bowl, and a large majority of it won't have much substance to it, and if it has any substance to it, it will probably be shoved down our throat so excessively we wish it wasn't even brought up in the first place. Case in point, the New Orleans Saints' 'a city and its team' storyline has some actual merit to it, and is worth being discussed, but not to the degree it actually will be covered over the next two weeks.

And really, don't get me started on Super Bowl Media Day. It might as well be renamed 'Late Night Talk Show doing their 'Man on the Street' bits with jocks' day.

But thats enough about the Super Bowl, you'll get plenty of coverage of it elsewhere, but if you need a safe haven, just for a little bit, you came to the right place. So here are my thoughts on random topics that have nothing to do with the Super Bowl.

-Please take all this NFL Labor strife with a grain of salt. I don't doubt that there is some truth to the owner's and player's being far apart on a new CBA, but some of these statements coming out from both sides are simply jockeying for position at the negotiating table. I think the Players and Owners are reserved to the fact that the 2010 season will go uncapped, but the way NFLPA President Kevin Mawae and NFLPA Executive Director Demaurice Smith make out the situation, you'd think the 2011 season was only a month away.

And when I say take everything that comes out of this story with a grain of salt, I include those who cover and commentate on the NFL. Obviously, they need something to report on this story, and if they say to take these dire forecasts with a grain of salt, then they're pretty much undermining their own story.

At this point, the American viewing public doesn't think they can live without NFL on fall sundays. I would like to think Roger Goodell would be smart enough to foster negotiations between the two sides so as not to actually test this hypothesis out.

-There's just something about watching a team that does all the little things right. That is the 2009-10 Houston Rockets, a team I found myself rooting for, for that one reason only.

-For those of you who watched HBO Boxing After Dark on Saturday Night, does it really get much more impressive than what Yuriorkis Gamboa did to Rogers Mtagwa?

-At some point, the Calgary Flames won't underacheive anymore. Maybe those guys just aren't that good? Did somebody tell GM Darryl Sutter that adding a player like Jay Bouwmeester shouldn't cause a playoff team to miss them the next year. Even if they do end up making the playoffs, would another first round playoff exit be an acceptable outcome to the Flames' front office?

-Nothing against a wonderful city like Vancouver, but these Olympic Games already appear to look like a dud. Someone should've told Pierre De Coubertin that sometimes global financial meltdowns happen. Oddly enough though, I don't see it dampening the rest of the world's mood for World Cup Soccer later this year.

What interests me for this weekend of Football

There is no better weekend of sports than the NFL divisional round weekend. It is absolutely the highest drama football we see all year. Highest drama football? What about the Conference title games and the Super Bowl, silly? Those are dramatic yes, but if you make it to a conference title game or a Super Bowl, most ways you slice it, thats a very successful season that you can be very proud of. To me, having a first round bye and then losing your first-playoff game is downright embarrassing.

Coaches always say the fear of losing is a greater motivator than the joy of winning. I think this applies to what makes sports dramatic as well. Losing the Super Bowl isn't nearly as heart-wrenching as losing your first playoff game in the divisional round. The 2007 Patriots, while losing the Super Bowl in about as gut wrenching fashion as possible, still won the AFC title that season. On the other hand, the Kansas City Chiefs went 13-3 and had a first round bye in the playoffs twice in the nineties under Marty Schottenheimer, and twice they lost. Ask their fans if they would trade both those seasons for just one loss in the Super Bowl and I think it'd be a no-brainer. Alot of things just went right for your team to get eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, maybe even fifteen and sixteen wins, and to waste that by not even winning one home playoff game is about as depressing as sports fandom gets.

So, now that the stakes are set, lets look at the games.

Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints 4:30 Saturday FOX

So Arizona saw their twenty-one point fourth quarter lead evaporate to the Green Bay Packers, yet they still sneaked by the Green Bay Packers on a blown call in overtime, in the meantime giving up forty-five points, thirty five of them while protecting a lead in the second half. Now this week they face virtually the same offense, only more varied with more weapons in the New Orleans, and do I think the Cardinals will win? No, I don't think the Cardinals will win.

Its been the opinion of many a football pundit, that perhaps because the Saints were up so much during the year, their defense could take more chances, play downhill, and thats why they had the success they did. Maybe so, but if Arizona plays defense like they did last sunday against a better offense, I don't think it will matter. I like New Orleans.

Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts 8:00 Saturday CBS

Apparently, the New England Patriots are the new "Sick man of Europe". 'They rolled over and died last sunday', 'they should've kept at least one veteran on that defense among the departures of Vrabel, Bruschi, Harrison and Seymour', 'Tom Brady just didn't look right'. Maybe these are all true, but give John Harbaugh and the Ravens some credit. They've done something nobody else has ever done: They were the first ever team to defeat the Patriots in their first playoff game under Belichick and Brady.

A couple of weeks ago, I wondered to myself as the Ravens were struggling to get past the Oakland Raider and clinch the playoff berth if maybe the Ravens aren't as good as they think they are. Last week, I didn't see the team thats tripped over itself for much of this season, I saw the team that went into Nashville last year and defeated the 13-3 Tennessee Titans.

One thing I'm sure of however, is that this years Indianapolis Colts are better than last year's Tennessee Titans. Not by alot, but it is a more daunting task for the Ravens this year to go into the dome in Indy and win than it was to go to Nashville last year and win.

If theres something Baltimore can rally around, its the fact that Peyton Manning is 0-3 when his Colts have a first round bye. Think about that, Peyton Manning has wasted three great years from the Colts by not even winning one playoff game. 'Course, theres that whole resting starters controversy the Colts have to answer to as well. And then theres the fact that the last playoff game we saw the Colts in at home, they got thoroughly whipped by the Chargers minus Rivers, LT and Antonio Gates, plus plenty of generous calls from the refs, and the Colts still couldn't pull the game out in the end.

Just thinking about it, this may be the most important game in Manning's career since the Super Bowl. With that, I still like Indy, by a hair, if that much.

Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 Sunday FOX

Forget Romo, forget Favre, forget Witten. Virtually every one on one matchup is a wash for these two teams, except for one, actually two. How about the Cowboys Outside linebacking pair of Demarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer going against the Vikings tackles of Bryant Mckinnie on the left side and Phil Loadholt on the right side.

Both Mckinnie and Loadholt are big and powerful human beings, and sometimes they sacrifice technique for power. I asked my buddy, a former college football lineman to take a look at Phil Loadholt when he was at Oklahoma at last year. One thing stood out to him: He's powerful, but he relies on his upper body too much, and doesn't fully utilize his entire body. I'm sure Loadholt will face both Ware and Spencer at times on sunday, and if he hasn't corrected some of his technique problems, he'll have a very long day. As for McKinnie, his play has been so poor the last couple of weeks, I'll be the first one to call Bryant Mckinnie out as somebody who made the Pro Bowl on reputation alone.

To me the discrepancy in talent between Spencer and Ware against Mckinnie and Loadholt is too hard for me to overlook. I like Dallas.

New York Jets at San Diego Chargers 4:30 Sunday CBS

Last year, during the Baltimore Ravens playoff run, I couldn't get over just how well Safety Jim Leonhard was playing. He seemed to know where every play was going, and he used his above average speed to make those plays. All the while, being the steady, reliable player that allowed Ed Reed to freelance, and be, well, Ed Reed. Well, when his defensive coordinator in Baltimore, Rex Ryan, became the head coach of the New York Jets, one of the free agents Ryan insisted the Jets open their wallets for was Leonhard. So far the move has paid off, the Jets had the best defense in football, and CB's Darelle Revis and Lito Shephard, and Safeties Kerry Rhoades and Jim Leonhard make up one of the best secondaries in the league.

I don't know how, I don't know where, I don't know when, but Jim Leonhard will make a big impactful play during this football game.

Now that I got that out of my system, Norv Turner has won three playoff games in the two previous seasons as head coach of the Chargers. I expect after sunday, for that number to jump to four playoff wins the past three seasons. Even with a spirited effort from the Jets defense, I expect the Chargers to still put up points that the run-heavy Jets offense won't be able to much. I like the Chargers, and probably like them to come out of the AFC.

Christmas Day Predictions and Thoughts

-Prediction: The Falcons will finish 9-7 and for the first time in franchise history have a winning record in consecutive years. Regardless, the team needs to get more talented and in a hurry.

-Thought: I hope I'm not the only one who finds it just a little sad that Tony Gonzalez, perhaps the greatest Tight End in NFL history, so far in his career has played in a grand total of......THREE playoff games with zero playoff wins. With the elimination of the Falcons from playoff contention last week, he'll be shut out once again this year.

-Prediction: Regardless of how much Panthers QB Matt Moore can take advantage of the Giants injury depleted secondary, the 'finally playing up to their potential now that it doesn't matter' Carolina Panthers will defeat the New York Giants and strike a major blow to their playoff chances this Sunday.

-Thought: It's looking more and more likely that the New York Giants will face a Minnesota Vikings team next week that actually will have something to play for in week seventeen. The Vikings stumbles these last few weeks have allowed the Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinal's to get in the race for the NFC's second bye likely forcing the Vikings to play their starters the entire game when the Giants come to Minny. Perhaps even with the second by sowed up by game time and nothing to play for, Coach Brad Childress may still elect to play his starters, not wanting to see his guys not playing until the divisional round. The Giants are the NFC wild card contending team that most need to win their final two games to get in, and right now they're the NFC wild card contending team with the toughest final two games.

-Prediction: A 9-7 team will make the playoffs in the AFC. Not bold enough? I'll even go one further: one of the two AFC Wild Card representatives will not be one of the two teams currently slotted in the AFC's two wild card slots. Yes, that means the either the Broncos or Ravens will not be extending their season into the playoffs.

-Thought: Just because these guys play on some seriously bad teams doesn't mean they shouldn't be recognized. Yes, I'm looking at you Eric Wright, Brandon Flowers, Tamba Hali, Aqib Talib, Jamaal Charles, Joe Thomas, Jerome Harrison and Jamar Williams.

-Prediction: Interim Bills Coach Perry Fewell, who's black, won't just be a rquisite Rooney Rule interview on the coaching circuit this January. He deserves to get some legitimate looks at being a head coach in this league. In a season were the Buffalo Bills have been crippled by injuries, the team, or whats left of it, have played with nothing but passion under Fewell.

-Thought: Nick Barnett is one of the biggest reasons for the Packers turnaround on defense this year. He'll make a couple eye popping plays per game while also playing about as good a pass defense as any inside linebacker in this league. If he wasn't just a role player the first few games of the season as the team was trying to slowly adjust him back to meaningful football, he'd be a legitimate all-pro candidate.

-Prediction: Wade Phillips will indeed be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys by the time training camp opens next July. It'll just remain to be seen if Wade Phillips can shake his reputation of being a poor coach in the playoffs. Currently, Wade has the same number of playoff wins as the number of playoff wins the Cowboys have since 1997: Zero.

-Thought: If the NFL is serious about broadcasting NFL games on the NFL Network, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to give the broadcast a slightly larger budget. This is the fourth year for these games and we've seen virtually no improvement in the game production value.

-Thought: Yeah, I know it's two straight, but...... Well, there are lot of things currently wrong with the Notre Dame football team. One thing thats not wrong is their television coverage. While it's debatable whether you think it's right that one team gets national coverage on a major network, I think the broadcast team of Tom Hammond and Pat Haden is actually pretty good. You'll hear no complaining from me if NBC decides to use that team for the early game of their Wild Card Weekend coverage.

Chargers vs. Titans from the Titans side

Yes, we're on the eve of the Chargers and Titans tomorrow in Nashville, (yes, I know what day they're playing on, doesn't mean I have to acknowledge it) and because it's the only meaningful football that day, your average december game with postseason implications gets thrusted into the spotlight.

The Titans, if anything, bring some badly needed drama to an AFC Wild Card chase thats high on quantity but relatively low on quality. Indeed it would be a dramatic for a team at one point 0-6, and staring down perhaps another painful rebuild this offseason, to turn it all around and make the playoffs. Sure the 7-7 record looks awfully pedestrian for a team coming off a thirteen win season, but it's the Titan's record in their last eight games thats gives Titan's fans hope: 7-1 with the one loss coming against the undefeated Colts. Consider that if the Titans had just played average red zone offense in that Colt's game, the Titans may well be 8-6 right now and we could very well be talking about the possibility of this team running the table to win their last ten games, an unprecedented NFL feat.

A victory tomorrow for the Titans seems like a daunting task against San Diego and their painfully simple yet freaking hard to stop-Offense. If NFL offenses were old world European cuisines, the Chargers would be sicilian: simple recipes, world class ingredients. Even more daunting for the Titans is the surprisingly average defense they'll trot out against the Chargers tomorrow night. The Titans, while disappointed they lost a player of Albert Haynesworth's calibur, looked like they would do just fine in withstanding it. Whether it's Big Albert's absence to blame for it or not, the defense has taken one big step backwards from last year. At one time a dominant passrusher, DE Kyle Vanden Bosch hasn't been the same player since his groin injury in the second half of the 2008 season. SS Michael Griffin looked like he was ready to join the Polamalu-Reed class of Safety in this league before the season began. Now, he'll fall far short of his big play totals he achieved in 2008.

Perhaps the most consitent Titan of this decade, is the one that won't be available to the team friday night. Just a few days ago it was announced that LB Keith Bulluck will miss the rest of the season due to a torn interior cruciate ligament.

It's looking likely, the Titans best chance to win this ballgame may be by way of shootout. Not to say Vince Young, Chris Johnson, and a superior Offensive line can't pull it out though. The Titans can also take solace in the fact that if they do dispose of San Diego, the only obstacle remaining on their schedule to a winning record is the very injury depleted Seattle Seahawks in week seventeen. Again, not to say a playoff berth won't happen, but a 9-7 record after starting 0-6 is a nice victory for the franchise in itself.

The blogs back up!

Just some impressions from Week Ten.

-Matt Ryan is regressing. Thomas Dimitroff and the Falcon's front office have surrounded Ryan with wonderful skill players and he's not taking enough advantage of it. A 78.8 QB rating is near  criminal when you have a guy like Tony Gonzalez running routes for you.

-Just how many of Carolina's good players can they lose and still expect to contend for the Wild Card? Not many linebackers were playing better than Thomas Davis and losing him for the year was a huge blow to the defense. Losing Jordan Gross for the year is an even bigger blow to the offense.

-Charles Woodson: Hall of famer, Period.

-Speaking of the Packer's defense, LOLB Brad Jones filled in more than admirably for the concussed Aaron Kampman. Some of those same pass drops in the flats that Aaron Kampman has struggled with all year, Brad Jones excelled in. It already looked like a strong possibility that Kampman wouldn't be a Packer next year. Now, with Jones' play it may be all that more likely.

-The NFC East is for anybody who wants to take it. Major injuries to Ken Hamlin and Marc Columbo makes the Cowboy's one game lead over the Giants and Eagles look awfully slim. I still like the Giants but they need to play better defense in the red zone.

-Yeah, the Rams put up a more than valiant effort against the undefeated Saints. Don't get too excited St. Louis. Your Rams are still very, very far away from contending. Priority number one for the Rams front office at this point is assessing just how serious Sam Bradford's shoulder injury is. Quarterback may be the only way to go for a team whose almost guaranteed a top five pick in next year's draft.

-Jacksonville fans get on David Garrard too much. This Jaguars team should not be contending for a wild card berth right now but they are, thanks to Garrard, and a 5'7 missile out of the backfield.

-Oh, and to go on record about the Jaguars possibly picking Tim Tebow in the first round to appease their Gator obsessed fan base: If a fan base demands their favorite team select their favorite local college hero in the first round when he's clearly not a first rounder to re-invigorate said fanbase, then I really don't think that fanbase deserves a team. 

The Jaguars could be playing very meaningful football down the stretch this year and seeing empty seats in the stands for those games makes for a very awkward situation. C'mon, Commissioner Goodell, it's time to right one of Paul Tagliabue's wrongs. I don't care where the Jaguars end up, I just hope they don't stay in Jacksonville.

-The Bengals will continue to field a no-name defense but it shouldn't stay that way. Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall may be the best corner duo in football, and tackle Domata Peko is simpy immovable.

-Bud, your team was up 41-17 in the fourth quarter. I know Dick Jauron can be a pretty surly guy, but what could possibly be the reason for flipping two middle fingers at the Buffalo Bills sideline?

NFL Free Agency Thoughts

-The Cowboys cutting T.O. is a start but there are still a ton of problems to be fixed on this team. They have one of the worst Safety duos in terms of coverage in the league with Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams. Maybe LT Flozell Adams deficiencies in technique are finally catching up to him because it looks like he aged about ten years this past season. 

-What's the Marv Levy rule: the team the free agent leaves is hurt more than the team free agent goes to is helped. I really can't think of a better example if this than Albert Haynesworth going to the Redskins. The Titans have great depth at defensive tackle, but it's certainly unproven how well Jason Jones will play with more snaps and the Titan's free agent signing, Jovan Haye regressed last season in Tampa. 

The Haynesworth deal is certainly forcing the Redskins to rework their roster a bit. The Redskins live and die by their annual contract restructuring binge and it looks like this time it may have cost them Jason Taylor. Yes, Jason Taylor's main gripe was the amount of time he was required to stay in Ashburn for offseason workouts. But the fact that the Redskins were asking him to restructure his deal was directly effected from the Haynesworth signing.

The Redskins have to play this game every offseason. Ask veterans to restructure their deals so they can fit their new signings under the cap. They've done a great job of skirting the cap and certainly have one of the League's best capologists in Eric Schaffer, but they still haven't learned their lesson. Just because you can creatively fit yourself under the cap whilst signing veteran free agents doesn't always mean you should.

-I'll give the Jets this: Their at least trying, the only way they know, to be strong up the middle. With the signings of SS Jim Leonhard and ILB Bart Scott, that gives them Kris Jenkins at nose tackle, Scott and David Harris at the inside 'backer spots, and Leonhard and Kerry Rhoades at the Safeties. The Jets have plenty of holes, just none there.

-Hey Redskins, there was a reason the Bills released G Derrick Dockerry. After having a superb 2007, he really regressed last year.