Week 13 is another big week in the AFC North. It includes both prime time games. Steelers and Bengals Sunday night, Ravens and Patriots Monday night, plus the Browns have to travel to Arizona. Lets look at each of these games.
Cleveland at Arizona (4:05 ET)
The Browns look to continue their winning ways and stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race. They are coming off an impressive win against Houston where their defence actually looked solid. At 7-4 they are the 6 seed in the AFC right now. However, if they keep winning they can really put some pressure on the Steelers for the AFC North title as they are only two games back (because of tiebreakers). Plus, the Browns don't have to play a team with a winning record the rest of the regular season. Arizona, at 5-6, is still in the playoff picture because they play in the NFC. Injuries have hurt them this year, but they have a toughness that hasn't been present in Arizona for a long time. And, travelling out west is never easy. Vegas has the Cardinals favored by a point, but I think the Browns will probably come away with a win.
Cincinatti at Pittsburgh (8:15 ET)
A very important game for Pittsburgh, and also a very dangerous one. Cincinatti has won the last two years at Pittsburgh, and four of the last five. In addition, Chris Henry is back and playing well for Cincinatti, and he has killed the Steelers since he's been in the league. These two teams dislike each other, and I expect the game to be physical. The Steelers have ended the Bengals season the last two years by beating them in the playoffs in Cincinatti two years ago, and beating them in Cincinatti to keep them out of the playoffs last year. Not that the Bengals are going anywhere regardless, but if the Steelers win this Sunday, the Bengals will be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. It would be nice to end their season three years in a row. If the Steelers lose and the Browns win, then all of the sudden the playoffs will be in doubt. After this week, the Steelers have two very tough games left against the Patriots and the Jaguars while the Browns don't play a team with a winning record. A win this week is necessary. The Steelers are favored by seven. I don't expect them to cover, but I do expect them to win, maybe by four.
New England at Baltimore (Mon 8:30 ET)
Probably the only time I will ever root for the Ravens. I dislike the Ravens, I dislike their owner, I dislike their head coach, I dislike their attitude, and I love to watch them lose. However, I absolutely hate the Patriots. I don't want to get into it now, because I could take up several pages discussing what is wrong with the Patriots organization and fan base, but the bottom line is that I want them to lose. Can the Ravens win? Yes, but it is unlikely. The Ravens are physical enough on defense to slow the Patriots down, especially if both of their corners are healthy. However, the Ravens offense is just horrible. McGahee is solid, but their passing game is atrocious, and you have to be able to pass to score on New England. The spread is something like New England by 22. That is a joke. Baltimore busts the spread, but does end up losing by 13 or so.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Week 5
Steelers
Steelers 21 Seahawks 0
Steelers looked great yesterday while shutting out the Seahawks. A dominating defense held Shaun Alexander to 25 yards rushing and Matt Hasselbeck to a 44 quarterback rating. All this without Troy Polomalu or Casey Hampton. Offensively, the Steelers did good. Roethlisberger looked great. He was 18 of 22 with a touchdown and escaped from numerous sacks. Willie got his hundred yards, but was shut down by the Seahawks in the first half. Am I the only one who thinks they need to have Krieder back there with him a lot more? The offensive line isn't good enough to run out of single back formations against a good defensive front seven. Cary Davis may be the future at fullback, but he is not a good enough run blocker right now. Give me Krieder.
Overall, it was a great win going into the bye week. At 4-1, the Steelers are right where they need to be.
Bengals
Bye Week
Browns
Patriots 34 Browns 17
I would have loved to see the Browns beat the Patriots. Very early the Browns had the opportunity to make a statement that they would be in the game, but they blew it. After driving straight down the field on the opening possession of the game, the Patriots were stopped by the Browns in the red zone and had to settle for a fieldgoal. The Browns looked good on their first possession, making plays and getting down the field. They got all the way to a first and goal from the one. Then there plays went incompletion, stuffed on a run, interception in the endzone. An absolute killer. Then Clevelands defense steps up and forces the Patriots to punt. Still only 3-0 and Browns get the ball back. Derek Anderson threw another interception on the very next play and the game was over. So now we know that Derek Anderson isn't the solution at quarterback. HE IS WHAT WE THOUGHT HE WAS!!! In other words, he is a quarterback with a strong arm that makes very poor decisions.
Ravens
Ravens 9 San Fran 7
What a pitiful game. Sure, it was two good defenses, but even more than that it was two horrible offenses. Trent Dilfer just can't make plays anymore, and Frank Gore has been nonexistent this season. Willis McGahee turned in a solid performance, but McNair just looked bad. McNair didn't have a major mistake, but he was off on a lot of his throws. I don't know if it's injuries or just old age, but I don't think McNair is going to be able to take the Ravens anywhere this season. Might it actually be time to turn to Kyle Boller? For the 49ers, Mike Nolan should be embarrassed. With about three minutes left in the game and down by two, the 49ers had a third down and nine from the Ravens 37 yard line. The 49ers only had two time outs, so they needed points on that drive. Instead of going for the first down, or at least throwing the ball for seven or eight yards to get closer for a field goal, Nolan decided to run the ball. Basically, a give up play. They gained less than two yards, and Nedney missed a 52 yard field goal. You've got to be more aggressive on third down.
Steelers 21 Seahawks 0
Steelers looked great yesterday while shutting out the Seahawks. A dominating defense held Shaun Alexander to 25 yards rushing and Matt Hasselbeck to a 44 quarterback rating. All this without Troy Polomalu or Casey Hampton. Offensively, the Steelers did good. Roethlisberger looked great. He was 18 of 22 with a touchdown and escaped from numerous sacks. Willie got his hundred yards, but was shut down by the Seahawks in the first half. Am I the only one who thinks they need to have Krieder back there with him a lot more? The offensive line isn't good enough to run out of single back formations against a good defensive front seven. Cary Davis may be the future at fullback, but he is not a good enough run blocker right now. Give me Krieder.
Overall, it was a great win going into the bye week. At 4-1, the Steelers are right where they need to be.
Bengals
Bye Week
Browns
Patriots 34 Browns 17
I would have loved to see the Browns beat the Patriots. Very early the Browns had the opportunity to make a statement that they would be in the game, but they blew it. After driving straight down the field on the opening possession of the game, the Patriots were stopped by the Browns in the red zone and had to settle for a fieldgoal. The Browns looked good on their first possession, making plays and getting down the field. They got all the way to a first and goal from the one. Then there plays went incompletion, stuffed on a run, interception in the endzone. An absolute killer. Then Clevelands defense steps up and forces the Patriots to punt. Still only 3-0 and Browns get the ball back. Derek Anderson threw another interception on the very next play and the game was over. So now we know that Derek Anderson isn't the solution at quarterback. HE IS WHAT WE THOUGHT HE WAS!!! In other words, he is a quarterback with a strong arm that makes very poor decisions.
Ravens
Ravens 9 San Fran 7
What a pitiful game. Sure, it was two good defenses, but even more than that it was two horrible offenses. Trent Dilfer just can't make plays anymore, and Frank Gore has been nonexistent this season. Willis McGahee turned in a solid performance, but McNair just looked bad. McNair didn't have a major mistake, but he was off on a lot of his throws. I don't know if it's injuries or just old age, but I don't think McNair is going to be able to take the Ravens anywhere this season. Might it actually be time to turn to Kyle Boller? For the 49ers, Mike Nolan should be embarrassed. With about three minutes left in the game and down by two, the 49ers had a third down and nine from the Ravens 37 yard line. The 49ers only had two time outs, so they needed points on that drive. Instead of going for the first down, or at least throwing the ball for seven or eight yards to get closer for a field goal, Nolan decided to run the ball. Basically, a give up play. They gained less than two yards, and Nedney missed a 52 yard field goal. You've got to be more aggressive on third down.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
To anybody out there who may read this-Hello! This is my first attempt at a blog. I'm a big sports fan, so I thought I would write about that. Football is the greatest of all sports, so that is what I will concentrate on. Especially the Steelers and the AFC North. Why? I was born in Pittsburgh and am a Steelers fan for life. I grew up in Dayton, OH, about 45 minutes north of Cincinnati. Now I live in Kent, OH, a little outside Cleveland. So I've been heavily exposed to three of the four teams in the AFC North. Hopefully I can provide some insight into all of them.
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