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It turns out I was right about most of my observations for the game, but my most important predictions were dead wrong.

I said that the Jets running game couldn't be their key to victory on offense; Mark Sanchez had to be. This turned out to be true, except I said there was no way Sanchez would come through, predicting his errant passes would sail into the waiting arms of the Patriots secondary. Of course this didn't happen. Sanchez did have several overthrows but none of them were intercepted, with many of them just bouncing the wrong way for the Pats. And just like in the Colts game, Sanchez made just enough good throws, combined with even better catches, to throw for three touchdowns. I love to rag on Rex Ryan, but going out and getting Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes for practically nothing, worked out well. Sanchez is not a great quarterback and he probably never will be, but if he keeps his mistakes to a minimum he's got a big enough arm to put t

read more January 17th, 2011 at 03:09 pm / #sports #football #nfl #tom brady #new york jets

The Boston Red Sox teach you how to be a sports fan, and probably how to be a person. They teach you about losing. They don't teach you about fair and unfair since it doesn't really matter whether it was or not, but they do teach you how to feel about the unfair losses that will inevitably occur. There is a significant difference between a fair loss and a hearbreakingly unfair one. In 2003, when Grady Little left Pedro in, leading to Matsui and Posada's back-to-back doubles that sent them into extra innings, setting up the Aaron Boone home run in the 11th off Wakefield -it hurts writing about this even now-that was heartwrenching, because it should never have happened. The Red Sox should have made it to the World Series; instead they lost to a walk-off homer in extra innings. It was terrible, and the next day in school, if you had approached our lunch table you'd have though the President had been shot. All we did was occasionally bring up Littl read more

January 17th, 2011 at 06:25 am / #sports #football #nfl #boston red sox #tom brady

This picture doesn't really bother me as a Patriots fans, because honestly, this is pretty tame as far as the NY Post goes. It does bother me as a Star Wars fan though. Mark Sanchez as Luke Skywalker? Really? Joe Namath as Yoda? And Tom Brady would have to be Darth Vader, Belichick, the Emperor. This is a disgrace to all Star Wars nerds.

The comparison actually works far better for the Patriots. New England after all is where the United States "rebellion" began. New York is called the Empire State. Tom Brady has flowing locks just like Luke Skywalker, and like Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, he is ast the height of his powers, manipulating defenses with his mind. If anyone is Yoda in the NFL it's Bill Belichick. Deion Branch is Princess Leia because just lik

read more January 16th, 2011 at 12:29 pm / #sports #football #nfl #star wars #new york jets

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh

Expect this game to be similar to the first two. The score will be in the teens, and it will be decided by seven points or less.

Watching these teams play it is impossible not to notice how similar they are.

On offense they both have gigantic quarterbacks that can bomb the ball downfield. They use good running games to set up the pass, a trend both developed in recent years, straying from a run first mentality, at least partly because they can't run the ball against each other.

On defense, they run mirroring 3-4's. Both have dominant nose-tackles, leading middle-linebackers, they each possess top pass-rushing, mean, outside-linebackers, and their free-safety's compete against each another for best defensive-back every year.

Like every matchup between the two this game will probably be decided by one huge defensive play.

I'm taking the Ravens, because they're on the

read more January 15th, 2011 at 02:39 pm / #sports #football #General #nfl #chicago bears

Of course the Jets had to take it to the next level.

Wednesday I wrote about how Rex Ryan makes the Jets a fun opponent. Since he took over there has been bantering back and forth, and while it isn't always good-natured it hasn't been excessive. For the most part it's been entertaining, and has made the games even more dramatic. That is what the league wants to bring to the table each week.

Perhaps my favorite episode in the ongoing saga was Thursday when Welker unleashed a parade of foot jokes in a press conference, likely, but not proven to be, about Rex Ryan. Here's a video Deadspin compiled:

http://deadspin.com/5732917/Out of all the comments these teams have exchanged in the past two years, these were some of the most harmless. These were high school lunch table jokes. The kind guys say to each other every day. Anyone that doesn't find this hilarious is taking themselves far too seriously.

Count Bart Scott among these peopl

read more January 15th, 2011 at 01:56 pm / #sports #football #nfl #rhetoric #new england patriots

Beyond all the trash talk, there's been a lot said about the upcoming Jets-Patriots playoff game.

One Boston Globe article by Greg Bedard, cited three NFL executives who said this game will be nothing like the Patriots 45-3 victory in week thirteen. (

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2011/01/12/a_closer_call/)

This morning, Eric Mangini said the Jets were built to play the Patriots.

Rex Ryan said that if he were playing against Revis he would treat him the same way other coaches do, and avoid him.

All of these comments were wrong.

The first was wrong because of one of their chief arguments. It said , "Offensively, the Jets [in week thirteen against the Patriots] came out in a shotgun, no-huddle offense with one running back designed to spread the Patriots out and keep them from their situational substitutions. By the time the Jets ran two conventional designed running plays back-to-back, it was the second q

read more January 14th, 2011 at 03:41 pm / #sports #football #nfl #tom brady #bill belichick

I almost puked in my coffee this morning when I looked up to see that the man giving his Jets-Patriots prediction was actually Eric Mangini, the newest member of ESPN's fired coaches club.

Then I heard him say this gem. Talking about Brady he said, "He'll do a lot of things to gather information; he makes it hard for you to hold your information and not give it away to him. If he does have it, you're going to have problems."

I'm sure its a coincidence Mangini is talking about how much information the Patriots have his first time on ESPN.

Classic Mangini.

Wonder if ESPN offered him this job because they felt bad about celebrating him losing his job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzgNlJ0lMPA&feature=player_detailpage#t=19s

For the record, he predicted the Pats to win. But I guess it depends how much information Brady has. Right Mangini?

The bright side to this is at least Rex Ryan doesn't have to

read more January 14th, 2011 at 02:11 pm / #sports #football #General #nfl #ESPN

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/13/wes-welker-likes-his-foot-metaphors/#comments

Wes Welker press conference quotes.

Much more effective the Cromartie's inappropriate use of language.

***thanks for the link Michelle Reilly

read more January 13th, 2011 at 03:19 pm / #sports #football #nfl #new york jets #new england patriots

**Warning: article about my fascination for DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings. Non-NBA lovers beware

It's tough to choose which play was more symbolic.

In one, half way through the first quarter, Jason Thompson was active on defense. He rotated from one side of the paint to the other to close down the baseline. He rotated back, helped Cousins get position on Semih, then got to his man out in the corner. He got the rebound, threw the outlet to Udrih, sprinted down the court, set a pick for Udrih, who was moving left to right to the top of the three point line. Thompson rolled down to the block and established great position for an entry.

During this, DeMarcus Cousins stood still on defense, choosing not to fight Semih for position on the block. Then he jogged/walked up the court. Got to the left side of the perimeter just as Thompson got position. Udrih passed it to him. Cousins took one step in and drained a contested 21 ft jumper. If Thompson wasn’

read more January 13th, 2011 at 01:49 pm / #sports #basketball #nba #General #sacramento kings

Ever since Rex Ryan joined the Jets he's been running his mouth about the Patriots.

Because of how often he opens up to the media, it feels like this new Jets rivalry is actually as old as Belichick's tenure in New England. In actuality, this is just Ryan's second season as an NFL head coach. The Patriots and Jets have faced each other a whopping four times, going 2-2, and this is the first playoff match-up. Hardly enough to quantify this relationship as any more than a Rex Ryan conjured rivalry.

This is why Ryan's latest bomb is the most ridiculous yet. Telling reporters what he thought about the upcoming game he said, "This is about Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan. There's no question. It's personal. It's about him against my

read more January 12th, 2011 at 06:24 pm / #sports #football #nfl #tom brady #bill belichick

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