Weekend Wrap-Up

Weekend Wrap-Up

 

This weekend was a big weekend for the Giants of San Francisco as they are on the verge of winning their third World Series in five years. Thanks to an offense outburst in Game 4 and a dominating performance from Madison Bumgarner who is quietly becoming one of the greatest big game pitchers of this generation. Kansas City is facing elimination but cannot be counted out just yet with the next two games at home. However, the offense needs to wake up, and fast, if they want to have a chance for a Game 7.

If the Giants can wrap this series up and claim their third World Series I feel Buster Posey needs to enter the conversation and for the moment at least end it as well in regard to the future face of baseball/next Derek Jeter. Everyone wants to talk about Trout and Harper but Posey’s resume would put their combined resumes to shame. This would be a three time champion, Rookie of the Year Winner, Batting Champion, and MVP. Add in the fact he plays the game the right way and is a model citizen and player and I feel there’s no argument to even be made. Give Posey his due.

This week in the world of College Football nothing happened to clear up the muddy playoff picture but with the first rankings due out this Tuesday from the committee, we will have a better idea on where they stand and if they were telling the truth that their rankings won’t really take the polls into too much consideration.

The biggest upset of the weekend was Ole Miss going into Baton Rouge and getting beat by the Tigers of LSU. LSU played a phenomenal game defensively and effectively ran the ball down the throats of the best defense in the country. TCU opened some eyes by putting up 82 points on Texas Tech and serving further notice that they want in on the playoffs. Oregon has gotten its offensive swagger back but defensively they need to clean their act up. They shouldn’t be giving up 42 points to Cal. Mississippi St. survived a road game in Lexington against the much improved Wildcats, and Auburn got all it could handle from South Carolina.

There are still quite a few games left that can help shed some light on the playoff picture especially in the SEC, but come December there will still be fan bases unhappy with where their team ranks. Right now I would personally rank my top 4 as Mississippi St., Florida St., Oregon, and Alabama but I definitely see that changing by the end of the season. Mississippi St. gives up way too many yards and still has to play Alabama and Ole Miss, Oregon has to fend off Stanford, a team that has had its number as of late, Florida St. needs to escape Louisville this Thursday (I don’t think they will), and Alabama has to play LSU,  Mississippi St. and Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Allow me for a minute to break out my crystal ball and predict that come the end of the season the top 4 will be Alabama, Michigan St., Kansas St. and Ole Miss. So in other words, it will be none of those four teams.

Offense was the name of the game in the NFL yesterday as Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Drew Brees all put up monster numbers. Brees and the Saints still need to prove they can consistently win on the road but if they keep playing like they did last night and sneak in as the NFC South winner they can be a team to be reckoned with, especially considering if Arizona and Dallas maintain the top two seeds as both play indoors.

Tom Brady continued his torrid play against the Bears yesterday throwing as many touchdowns as he had incompletions (5). Brady and the Pats are getting hot at a good time with Denver coming to Foxborough on Sunday in what could be a game of the year contender. Rob Gronkowski also showed that he is back to being 100% catching every pass thrown his way and accumulating 3 TDs.

Ben Roethlisberger had the best day of anyone in football yesterday throwing for 522 yards and 6 TDs against the best pass defense in the NFL. A lot was said this week in the media and by Coach Mike Tomlin about Roethlisberger needing to keep up with Luck, the arguable MVP frontrunner and gunslinger of the year. Ben answered the challenge and passed the test with flying colors. The Steelers have a rivalry game this week with Baltimore, and this game will be everything the Colts game wasn’t. The Steelers threw their names back into the AFC North circus but a follow up win against the Ravens will cement their status as a division contender.

In the game of the day yesterday, Carson Palmer and the Arizona Cardinals won a nail biter against Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles. Arizona was trailing with a minute or so to go when Palmer saw a coverage he liked and signaled John Brown to go deep. Palmer threw a bomb, Brown beat his defender, hauled in the pass and got into the end zone with the go ahead score. Philly was able to march down the field but with one second left the pass was incomplete giving Arizona the win. Arizona improved their record to 6-1 and head to Dallas this week to face the likely 7-1 Cowboys. 

With a slate of games including Arizona-Dallas, Denver-New England, and Baltimore-Pittsburgh, Week 9 is shaping up to be must see. The Dallas-Arizona winner will put themselves in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the NFC, the Denver-New England winner will put themselves in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the AFC, and the Baltimore-Pittsburgh winner will put themselves in the driver’s seat for the AFC North crown and a first round home game. This Sunday will be a great day to be a football fan.