Sports Zone Podcast ft/ James Rapien

In Sports we always discuss what makes someone a "Legend" and what separates the good from the great, and the great from the elite..... We usually just narrow it down to winning. But, is winning really everything? we discuss that and a little bit more on this edition of Sports Zone Podcast.

https://archive.org/embed/SportsZonePodcast

NFL Week 11 Big Match-Ups

 Now that we are more than half way past the middle of the season, things become a little more interesting for some teams. At this point some teams are out of it and know that they are either playing for the first pick and really have lack luster effort to put forth, or they are playing for pride and they really don't like to lose. However, there are teams going into week 11 of this NFL season facing off teams that are fighting for that driver seat of either the division or the playoffs, i.e. Bengals vs Browns.

Left: Green and Right: Haden

  Going into week 11, I am focused on three big match-ups. First, the Cincinnati Bengals are taking on a very hungry Cleveland Browns team that seems to be ready to compete right now under first year head coach, Rob Chudzinski. The Browns have been looking pretty good even after a shaky start to the season and playing musical chairs at the quarterback position with Brain Hoyer (torn ACL), Brandon Weeden, and Jason Campbell who is now the starter. This Browns team took a lot of criticism for trading former first round pick, Trent Richardson, but now it seems as if it's paying off as the Browns are competing for the division without him. The Bengals are not a team to sleep on though, they are a highly talented team still and even after two straight tough losses (one to Miami, one to Baltimore) this team is still in first place in the AFC North. The Bengals are without All-Pro Defensive Tackle, Geno Adkins who is arguably their best defensive player, However, I believe that second year linebacker Vontez Burfict is the key to that defense and he makes the wheels on that Bengals defensive bus go round-and-round. Burfict leads the NFL in tackles and he has an incredible football IQ, and nose for the ball, it really puts you in disbelief that a guy this highly skilled could go undrafted. However, the match-up that will determine the outcome of this game is one that is carried over from a college football rivalry. Wide Receiver, A.J. Green against Cornerback, Joe Haden. Last game they played in, earlier this season Haden had Green almost removed from the Bengals offense ( 7 catches, 51 yards), he didn't allow him a TD catch and rarely does he ever when the two meet up. Green has the home field advantage this week and I hope that he can utilize it to the best of his ability because if the Bengals are going to pull this win off, Green has to win this battle against Haden and to do so, he needs to get in the end-zone and I believe that he has to have at least 80 yards receiving on less than 7 catches.

Robert Griffin III

  The second match-up that I will be looking at is the Philadelphia Eagles against the Washington Redskins. The Eagles are flying high right now, Nick Foles is playing like a man possessed right now, he has 16 touchdowns on the season and no interceptions and has only started 4 games this season but has the Eagles on a two game winning streak and atop of the NFC East at 5-5 with the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins aren't a team to be taken lightly by any means, it's still a division game and the team started off at 3-6 last season before making a run to the playoffs. With Robert Griffin III looking more comfortable on the field every week it could get back for a very weak Eagles secondary, and I know after an opening day loss at home, Washington is out for revenge against Chip Kelly's Eagles. The match-up in this game that I will be looking at is Lesean McCoy against the front line of the Redskins, they have a very tough front line on their defense, with McCoy being the leading rusher in the NFL, I wonder if they will focus more on him or if they will balance the defense out with different blitz packages, or will they play more conservative and drop linebackers back into coverage. If the Eagles win this game they will be 6-5 in the division ( I called 8 wins at the beginning of the season) and this could be a team that was just 4-12 last season and now a playoff team. However, if the Redskins win, they will still be third in the division and very much alive and still competing for the division.

Alex Smith

  The Third and final game that I will be looking at closely in week 11 is, the Denver Broncos against the Kansas City Chiefs. Peyton Manning is getting ready to take on the best defense in the NFL, they have the most sacks on the season so far, led by Justin Houston and Tamba Hali on the defensive line. This Chiefs team is really good and very surprising under new head coach, Andy Reid and new quarterback, Alex Smith. This Chiefs team is very unique in my opinion, I believe that they are a very good team but I don't believe that they are as good as their record. I do believe that they have the formula down to win games, which is run the ball, control the clock and play good defense, which they do all of those things. My concern for them in this game is Manning. Peyton Manning may not be 100% going into this game with a hurt ankle, however, he's still Peyton Manning and the fact that he has two all-pro receivers- Thomas & Welker- which helps him a lot in being able to call the plays that he wants to. Manning I believe will force Alex Smith to throw the ball in this game to play catch-up, which I don't believe Smith could do successfully against a Broncos defense that hasn't looked that bad since getting Von Miller back. My match-up in this game will simply be Peyton Manning vs the Kansas City defense. If the Chiefs defense can get to Manning early and often they just might have a chance because if teams force him to step out of the pocket, he is less accurate and he begins to make worse decisions with the ball. This game will be almost help to decide the division, the Broncos at 8-1 are second in this division and conference to this Chiefs team who at 9-0 need this game to show the entire NFL that they are as serious as people are putting them out to be. If Alex Smith can get this win and do it while actually having to pass, I believe that everyone will have to look at him in a brand new light.

Sports Zone- Podcast 1.

https://archive.org/embed/Podcast_20131114_2128

The Time is Now..... My Podcast is now here.

 I just recently put up my link for my Podcast, that's right! Not only do you get to see me write about sports but if you click on the Sports Zone link on the side of my page and it will direct you to my archive page, on the side it's an http that you can click on and it will pull up my podcast and  you can here me talk about the sports that we all know and love..... I have only released one podcast so far, but I will be giving you guys more, that way we can get through our sports troubles together. I'll be with you through the highs and lows... Love, Live, Sports! Thank you for viewing the blog and I hope you all enjoy my podcast.

PS. If you have any issues getting to my podcast just let me know and i'll be more than happy to help guide you to it.

Dallas Cowboys: Ready to Take the Next Step?

After coming up short last season(not making the playoffs), by losing to the Washington Redskins in the last game of the 2012-13 season, the Dallas Cowboys(5-4) are picked to win the NFC East this season. A division with the Philadelphia Eagles(4-5), who are coming off a 4-12 season and have new head coach, Chip Kelly and they have to learn his new offense. The Washington Redskins(3-5), who's last years first round and number 2 overall pick, Robert Griffin III is coming off of a devastating leg injury and doesn't appear to be himself thus far this season, and their defense is still not really good. Also, the New York Giants(2-6), this team has started off looking the worst it ever has under coach, Tom Coughlin, they started off this season 0-5 and can't really hope to be in any type of division championship conversation or playoffs for that matter.

  Realistically speaking, the Dallas Cowboys have the proper tools in hand to win this season, Tony Romo has looked like Tony Romo has been looking the past several seasons. Through nine games, he has 20 touchdown passes, 6 interceptions, 2,553 passing yards, and has a passer rating of 100.0. He gets criticized a lot by critics because they say he doesn't have the "clutch factor", but Romo has played just as good as any other quarterback the past several seasons. However, their defense was always could really have been to blame for some of their short coming. Receiver, Dez Bryant is becoming the player that Dallas fans believed that he would be and he is really making the number 88 (Michael Irvin's old number) really come to life and showing that he deserves to wear it. Right now I would label Bryant as a top 5 receiver in the NFL, with already 8 TD's (3rd in the league), 51 receptions, and 705 receiving yards, and these numbers should only continue to improve as the season progresses as him an Romo continue to build a better chemistry through every game. However, after losing to the Detroit Lions in week 8, Bryant got a lot of scrutiny for being vocal on the sidelines after only having three receptions, two of which were for touchdowns. Reporters and analyst were saying things like "he needs to mature" and "his attitude is what's going to hold him back from progressing in this league". However, I see it as a young man wanting to win games and get everyone else on the sidelines emotionally involved in the game as he was. I do believe that his past issues may have led to some comments and reactions that Dez received but I don't believe that he is cancerous to this team in any way.

The Cowboys offense is being consistent thus far, they seem to have found their "mojo". DeMarco Murray if he can find a way to stay healthy for the rest of this season, seems to be the answer to their running back situation, he's missed sometime already this season but when he has played has been very productive overall, he's averaging 4.8 yards per carry and has 3 touchdowns. The main area of concern for me would be their defense. I know, this year they went out and they got defensive specialist, Monty Kiffin, well, I haven't been very impressed. This defense gave up 51 points to the Broncos. Peyton Manning is great and has great talent but when you put up 48 points as an offense and you're winning that game until the very end and you sit and watch Manning pick apart the defense, there has to be some type of frustration or emotional dissatisfaction with Monty and that defense, whether it's by the offense, Jerry Jones or fans. Or when you're playing against Detroit and you give up 329 receiving yards to Calvin Johnson! I know it's Megatron, but 329 yards to one player, really? and on top of that already horrific performance by the secondary, you lose on the last drive. With under a minute and you watch Matt Stafford this time, march right down the field and get his team to the one yard line, catch your defense "off guard" and calls his own number on a fake spike ball and scores the game winning touchdown. I hope that Monty can correct these issues on the defense by the end of the season, because both Philadelphia and Washington seem to be improving every week.

 If Dallas wants to prove to everyone that they can compete in the NFC and take it to the next level, which would be the playoffs (first step), they really need to continue to play offensively like they have been so far on the season, and someone needs to call Monty Kiffin and let him know that pre-season is over and we are half of the way through the regular season already. So, he might want to start having the defense cover somebody. Romo has convinced me that he is not the downfall of the franchise, but he is instead the glue to the offense, if the defense could catch up to speed, I believe this team could be one to compete into January, but we still have two months or so to see if they can correct some of their overall team mistakes. If Romo gets this team to the playoffs, he might be able to finally get his name cleared from the non-clutch list by analysts and media personalities everywhere. So, Dallas fans I have one word for you........... BELIEVE!