The Patriots winning was nice, but on a more important note, I am relieved to hear that Lamar Odom is improving after that “brothel scare.” Never thought I would utter that phrase. Not sure which is more shocking: 1. He was spending multiple days at a brothel? 2. The amount of herbal Viagra he was taking? 3. The fact that his eyes would wander after being with the buxom Khloe Kardashian 4. This is the return on a URI education or 5. The $75,000 he spent to secure a four-day stay at the brothel. By the way, the brothel has a strict policy that you can’t exceed five days at a time which of course is logical. All I can say is that if I am spending $75K at a brothel, than…
This is a must listen from the owner of Dennis Hof’s Love Ranch. http://news.iheart.com/articles/sports-top-stories-104670/listen-dennis-hof-tells-what-really-14041850/
And now for some thoughts on the Pats-Colts game:
It was confusing to me how much the Colts abandoned the rush in the second half. Even when they were driving down two scores with plenty of time left, they were unnecessarily impatient and insisted on passing into the Patriots zone defense. Andrew Luck didn’t look right last night, as the immortal Cris Collinsworth reminded us about 100 times. Whether throwing high or underthrowing, why not lean on Frank Gore who totaled 94 yards on 15 touches.
Two weeks in a row now Rob Gronkowski has been completely invisible in the first half. Utilizing him as a decoy is one thing, but ignoring him and not even targeting him until later in the game is a trend that needs to stop.
Enjoyed the timing of the NBC broadcasting team raving about Colts offensive lineman Anthony Castonzo and how he was dominating Chandler Jones so much that Jones name hadn’t even been mentioned. On cue, Castonzo picked up a holding penalty and Jones proceeded to get 2 and ½ sacks from that point on.
As for the Griff-Colt special play that is being called one of the worst in NFL history, it just makes no sense to run a play like that when for the play to be executed, you are banking on the Patriots being unprepared. There are a lot of good and bad things you can say about the Patriots, but being unprepared or caught off guard is not one of them. This play reinforced the Sports Illustrated story about the Patriots being inside every team and coaches head. The Colts didn’t need trickery to win the game the way the flow was going. It is one thing to come into the game with some options, it is quite another to know when to pull those ideas back when they become unnecessary. Attention Chuck Pagano: This is commonly known as making adjustments. And hey Chuck, maybe stop depending on the Baltimore Ravens for information regarding the Patriots because the Ravens are 1-5.
Say what you want about the Colts, but playing in that horrible division has been a huge disservice to them. They look unprepared and underwhelming when they play top level competition in the NFL and that has been going on for the last three years.
What the heck has happened to Andre Johnson? When you make Logan Ryan look like Darelle Revis, it might be time.
And how could I not mention super freak Jamie Collins blocking that extra point. Pats fan or not, you had to marvel at that play.
I thought the biggest upset of the day was Carolina winning at Seattle. Yes the Panthers were undefeated, but in case anyone needs a reminder, the Seahawks entered the game 25-1 in last 26 at home and 4-0 in playoffs. Seattle was also 2-3 and had failed in their previous three attempts to beat a quality opponent and their only wins this year were when they shutout the Bears without Jay Cutler and barely beat the winless Detroit Lions at home courtesy of officiating.
For all the talk about how Super Bowl champions are supposed to have a hangover, the Seahawks have a Malcolm Butler-Pete Carroll choking hangover and they truly look lost. First the problem was Kam Chancellor holding out now he is back. Next it was Jimmy Graham not performing, but he had a big game. Whatever it is, the Seahawks will try to right the ship on three days’ rest against the team they are tied for last with, San Francisco.
An amazing effort by the San Diego Chargers and Phillip Rivers. He threw for over 500 yards and didn’t throw a pick despite 63 pass attempts which is unheard of for him. The Chargers played a brilliant game and just couldn’t make their red zone appearances count in falling to Green Bay. It didn’t help that Mike McCoy turned into Pete Carroll on the final four downs of the game.
Watch out for the Steelers after a huge win against the suddenly inconsistent Arizona Cardinals. Not only is the defense improving every week, but with Martavis Bryant back to go along with Antonio Brown and Le’veon Bell, this team is very difficult to stop now, never mind when Ben Roethlisberger returns.
For those of you who don’t do Fantasy Football, let me introduce you to Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins. His performance this year has been off the charts and when you consider Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer have essentially been alternating snaps until this past week, while on a horrible team, he is now in the conversation of being one of the top five receivers in the NFL. What is more amazing is that he has avoided the Hard Knocks curse.
Talk about having nine lives. Denver barely held on against the Ravens Week 1, had a ridiculously improbable victory Week 2 thanks to Jamaal Charles, escaped the Vikings at home Week 3 with a three point victory, snuck by the Raiders by six in Week 5 and overcame three interceptions by Peyton Manning and remained undefeated with an OT victory against an inferior Cleveland Browns team. The Week 8 matchup against Green Bay should be their first true test as the collective record of the Broncos opponents thus far is 10-24.
Lastly in the world of football, the New York Jets are for real. All anyone wanted to say before the season started was you can’t take them seriously because they don’t have a quarterback. Well, Ryan Fitzpatrick has been tremendous, Brandon Marshall has given them a dominant receiving threat and you know all about their defense. Rex Ryan isn’t there to screw this up anymore and the Jets will be ready next Sunday when they travel to New England and have a realistic shot to pull off the upset.
Interesting how the two MLB favorites the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago Cubs have fallen behind 2-0. For the Cubs, doesn’t it seem like they will have to pull off something magical to get to the World Series? Remember when the Sox came from 3-0 down to end their 86 year drought? History could and most likely will repeat although that New York Mets pitching staff is lethal and Jake Arrieta looks to be losing some of that luster for the Cubs.
Keeping everybody up to speed on the goalie the Bruins gave away Martin Jones who is 4-0 with two goals allowed on 110 shots so far.
New York Knicks President James Dolan informs us that he has a tremendous amount of respect and understands executive (I use that term very loosely) Isiah Thomas. Dolan hired Thomas to coach the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Thomas went 56-108 in his two years coaching the Knicks and in the five years he ran the team, with the league’s highest payroll, New York failed to win a playoff game. These accomplishments shouldn’t overshadow the 11.6 million dollars Dolan had to pay out to settle the sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas. Who wouldn’t have respect for all of that?
Condolences to all Michigan Wolverines fans. Just when we were starting to get over the Chris Webber thing.
