SIN BLITZERS : WEEK 7 PREVIEW

BY SIN BLITZERS

DOLPHINS AT COLTS : The 2-3 Dolphins look to make it two in a row and have a chance to get back to .500 when they visit the Colts. Prior to the Bye week the Dolphins defeated the Patriots 15-10. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. The Dolphins only touchdown was scored by Alec Ingold. Tyler Huntley will get another start in Indy. The Colts are coming off a 20-17 win over the Titans. Joe Flacco threw for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. But Anthony Richardson is expected to return after missing the last couple of games with an oblique injury. Speaking of injuries Jonathan Taylor is expected to miss another game with his ankle injury. This could be a trap game for Indy as they have the Texans next week. 

BENGALS AT BROWNS : Joe Burrow and Chase Brown both had long touchdown runs and that was enough for the Bengals to pick up their second win of the season over the Giants. Now the battle of Ohio against the Browns. The Browns lost 20-16 to the Eagles last week. Last season the two teams split the two meetings. In week one the Browns decimated the Bengals 24-3 and Joe Burrow threw for just 82 yards. With how poorly the Browns are playing this is a must win for the Bengals, even though the Browns will be getting a boost in the return of Nick Chubb. 

LIONS AT VIKINGS : Two of the top teams in the NFC will clash in an NFC North division matchup on Sunday. The Lions are coming off their decimation of the Cowboys. It was a flawless game Jared Goff threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, David Montgomery had 80 yards and two touchdowns and the defense had four sacks and forced five turnovers. The only downside was the injury to Aidan Hutchinson. For the Vikings they are one of the two undefeated teams left. Before the bye week they beat the Jets in London. Sam Darnold has had a renaissance season, and Brian Flores has this defense playing very well. The key to this game will be how the Lions’ young corners play against these Viking receivers. 

TEXANS AT PACKERS :  Two young stud QB’S go head to head when the Texans and Packers meet. CJ Stroud is coming off a three touchdown performance in the 41-21 win over the Patriots. Joe Mixon added 102 yards and a touchdown rushing and the defense had it’s moments against Drake Maye in his first start. Jordan Love is coming off a four touchdown performance against the Cardinals. Love has looked solid since returning from injury. Key to this game might be which running back performs better : Joe Mixon has been really good for the Texans, while the Packers are waiting for Josh Jacobs to break out. 
CHIEFS AT 49ERS : It’s a Super Bowl rematch out by the bay. The Chiefs, who are coming off their bye week are probably coming off their most dominating performance, a 26-13 win over the Saints. Mahomes threw for 331 yards, but rushing touchdowns by Kareem Hunt and Xavier Worthy was enough for KC. Hunt ran for over 100 yards and JuJu Smith- Schuster went over 100 yards receiving. One of the keys for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl was Mahomes’ running ability he had 66 yards rushing. The Niners are coming off a 36-24 win over the Seahawks. Brock Purdy threw for three touchdowns, two to George Kittle and Deebo Samuel went over 100 yards receiving. Good news for the Niners is that Jordan Mason, who left that game should play in this one as will Ricky Pearsall. Pearsall, the Niners first round pick in the draft, missed the first six weeks after getting shot during a mugging. The X factor for the Niners will be Deebo Samuel. He went for over 100 yards last week, and in the Super Bowl was a non factor, if the Niners want to win this game he has to be a factor.

A Fitting End

By Mike Rifkin

Thursday was a special day in New Orleans. At halftime they honored future Hall of Fame Quarterback Drew Brees and former head coach Sean Payton made his return with his new team the Denver Broncos. Brees and Payton were a dynamic duo that took the franchise to new heights, including the club’s only Super Bowl win in 2009. 

While it was fun honoring the past, the current Saints got torched by their former coach and lost 33-10 to the Broncos. The loss marks the fifth straight for the Saints and puts them at 2-5 on the season. The Saints got off to a strong start on the season beating both the Panthers and Cowboys and scoring over 40 points in both. But now with quarterback Derek Carr injured the Saints are struggling on both sides of the ball. The Saints defense has 13 takeaways and have 15 sacks on the season, but they’ve given up the most yards per game (394.9). 

As mentioned above Payton and Brees were a part of the best Saints run as a franchise. But after they left, the Saints thought they were still contenders and kept most of the same roster intact and promoted Dennis Allen, who was the Defensive Coordinator to Head Coach. Allen is currently 18-23 as the Saints head coach. The Brees and Payton duo made the Saints the cornerstone of relevance for a little over a decade, but what last night represented was now it’s time for the Saints to start things over.  Guys like Alvin Kamara and Cam Jordan, as great of Saints as they were, if the team doesn’t see themselves as winners, why are you keeping them around? Sell off some veterans and get draft picks, that should’ve been the idea after Brees and Payton left. But it wasn’t and now the team is just stuck in the middle and really doesn’t have a definitive direction. Last night was a fitting end to the current construction of the Saints, so let’s see how they respond near the trade deadline.

BLAME GAME

By Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Detroit Lions went into Dallas and whooped the Cowboys 47-9 and on Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday. The Cowboys are still winless at home and if you go back to the wild card game against the Packers each game has been a blowout, despite the score of the Ravens game. The Cowboys are on the bye this week, and there’s been speculation of a potential coaching change, but is that what is needed for this team to play better? So, who is to blame for the issues of the Dallas Cowboys? There’s one answer, no it’s not the head coach (although he’s not helping), it’s not the 60 million dollar quarterback (he’s not helping right now either), it’s the guy who put this team together. 

Every year people want to hype up the Dallas Cowboys as they are the same group that Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson coached. The truth is we talk about the Cowboys because of Jerry Jones. Jerry is the singular reason the Cowboys get the national television games, he’s the reason the media talks about his team. Are they a talented team? Absolutely, but every time the Cowboys play a major opponent they fail, and Jerry can talk about how the team won 12 games each of the last three seasons, but at the end of the day that is not how they’re judged. Now Jerry is starting to get testy with the media when asked some questions about what is going on, but the truth is Jerry is to blame and he can’t admit it. 

Last year after the Packers game in the playoffs, Jerry had three major decisions : What was he going to do with Mike McCarthy, What was he going to do with Dak Prescott, and how much money was he going to pay CeeDee Lamb?  

Mike McCarthy should have been let go after the Packers game, because it had been the same story the season before. Instead of extending McCarthy, they’re letting him be a lame duck coach, which means after every loss people will question his job status. Had they fired him, the Cowboys had his replacement in the building in Dan Quinn, now Quinn is leading the renaissance of the Washington Commanders. So if McCarthy coaches the rest of the season and is let go, who is going to coach this team? Would Bill Bellichick want to be the coach of the Cowboys or is he eyeing another job? Mike Vrabel will be out there, but does he want the job, is there a young coordinator Jerry really likes to take over? The answer should be Vrabel, but they had the answer in their building. 

Then there’s what happened with Lamb and Prescott. Lamb held out of training camp until he got his four year 136 million dollar contract. Lamb has been one of the best receivers in the league, and deserved his money, but why did Jerry wait to pay him? The same can be said about Prescott, who became the first 60 million dollar player hours before week one. Dak Prescott is a top ten QB, but the reason he got paid elite money is because of how Jerry has handled his contracts before. Remember when Zeke Elliott went to Cabo? He had two years left on his deal, Dak didn’t and needed to be taken care of. For whatever reason Jerry Jones doesn’t believe in Dak and it’s cost his checkbook. If he doesn’t believe in him he should have moved off just like he should have with McCarthy.

 Another reason taking care of Dak and Lamb earlier could’ve helped the Cowboys, they could’ve signed DERRICK HENRY, who signed with the Ravens and crushed the Cowboys in week two. Henry signed a two year 16 million dollar contract with Baltimore. It was widely speculated that Henry, who has a place in Dallas, would sign with the Cowboys, but Jerry Jones couldn’t find eight million dollars to give him. Now the Cowboys are dead last in rushing yards per game averaging 77.2 yards per game. 

You want to blame McCarthy fine, you want to blame Dak fine, you want to blame Mike Zimmer also fine. At the end of the day all of the Cowboys issues start with the guy who is the real face of the franchise and that’s Jerry Jones. And instead of getting chippy with the media, he needs to take responsibility for why the Cowboys haven’t been to the NFC Championship game since the late 90s. It’s been all downhill since Jimmy Johnson was fired, so Jerry what happens next if this team continues to spiral out?

Rulers Of The Big City

BY Mike Rifkin

It wasn’t pretty but the Bengals came out of MetLife Stadium with a 17-7 victory over the New York Giants. Joe Burrow, who came off a sensational game vs the Ravens, was 19-28 for 208 yards, and added four carries for 55 yards including a 47 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The game was tight until late in the fourth quarter when Chase Brown had a 30 yard touchdown run to ice the game 17-7. Both Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase continued their solid play both went over 70 yards (although Chase had a big drop.) 

The Bengals defense had two sacks on Daniel Jones and an interception in the win. But they still gave up 120 yards rushing and gave up nearly four yards a carry. Jones was 22-41 for 205 yards and an interception. The Giants had the football for over 34 minutes compared to the Bengals 26.

Next week both teams will play division rivals as the Bengals go to Cleveland and play the Browns and the Giants host the Eagles. 

NOTE : LIONS-COWBOYS AND TEXANS – PATS RECAPS WILL BE UP ON YOUTUBE.

WEEK 6 BLITZER PREVIEW

BY SIN BLITZERS

Bengals vs Giants : preview  

By Bill Murphy 

Last week the Bengals lost an overtime thriller against the Baltimore Ravens  41-38. Now the Bengals are traveling to East Rutherford to take on the New York Giants , who are coming off a 29-20 upset over the Seattle Seahawks . 

Keys to the Game 

Bengals 

Offense 

Offensive Line : The Bengals need to protect Joe Burrow from the Giants  red hot Defensive line . The Giants currently have 22 sacks on the year and six of those are from Dexter Lawerence.  The Bengals need to contain Lawrence from getting to Burrow who was sacked three times last week against the Ravens. Now the Giants will be without Kayvon Thibodeaux, who underwent Wrist surgery. 

Defense :  Pass Rush

The defensive key to this game for the Bengals is going to be to pressure Daniel Jones who last week threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns. This is going to be up to Logan Wilson who has 52 tackles this year so far , Germaine Pratt who has 51 tackles and Trey Hendrickson has 12 tackles and three sacks. The Giants once again will be without Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary. 

TEXAS TWO STEP

TEXANS AT PATRIOTS : The Texans enter this tilt with the Patriots at 4-1 and are coming off a 23-20 win over the Bills. At one point the Texans led 20-3 in the game, but self inflicted wounds helped the Bills back in. CJ stroud threw for over 300 yards, one touchdown and two turnovers (one fumble, one interception). Nico Collins, who had the touchdown will miss his first of four games after being put on IR. 

As for the Patriots they are 1-4 and are in a complete rebuild. They lost last week to the Dolphins. After that loss the Patriots are turning to rookie QB Drake Maye to lead the charge. Maye, who New England selected third overall in the draft will have his work cut out for him. The Texans defense has 15 sacks on the season, and the Patriots o line has given up 19. The Patriots will also be without running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who will miss the game with a foot injury. 

LIONS AT COWBOYS : Last season these two teams played an entertaining game in week 17. Dallas edged Detroit 20-19. Dak threw for 345 yards, two touchdowns an an interception. CeeDee Lamb went over 200 yards receiving and had a touchdown. Jared Goff threw for 271 yards a touchdown and two picks. The Cowboys are coming off a thrilling win over the Steelers. Dak connected with Jalen Tolbert to win it in the closing seconds. Dak threw for 352 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tolbert had seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. The Lions are coming off the bye week. But their previous game was a 42-29 win over the Seahawks.  Jared Goff was 18-18 for 292 yards and three touchdowns (2 pass, 1 receiving). Jameson Williams had two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. Here is the key to this game for me: The Cowboy run defense has been better the last two games, but that was against the Giants and Steelers. Now they go up against Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but for Mike Zimmer’s sake the defense looks better than they did the last time they were at home (Ravens game)

WEEK 5 SIN BLITZER RECAP

NOT PRETTY 

BY MIKE RIFKIN

The Dolphins snapped their losing streak with a 15-10 win over the Patriots. Tyler Huntley got another start and was 18-31 for 194 yards and an interception. The Dolphins went back to basics and ran the ball effectively. Rookie Jaylen Wright had 86 yards on 13 carries and Raheem Mostert had 80 yards on 19 carries, as a team they ran for 193 yards. Alec Ingold scored the lone Miami td. Special teams was a problem for the Dolphins as they had a punt blocked and missed a field goal. For Miami they enter the bye week at 2-3, while the 1-4 Patriots will host the Texans. 

WHAT A THRILLER 

BY BILL MURPHY

The Bengals lose a an overtime thriller to their AFC North rival, the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 41-38. After a missed field goal by Evan Mcpherson , the Ravens won after a 24 yard field goal by Justin Tucker. The two teams will meet again in week 10 in Baltimore

STARS OF THE GAME

Joe Burrow – Joe Burrow did his part going 30-39 for 391 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. 

Ja’Marr Chase – Ja’marr Chase continues his streak , today he had 193 yards

and two touchdowns. The two touchdowns were from 41 and 70 yards respectively. 

Sam Hubbard- Hubbard, had seven solo tackles ,two tackles for loss and one

sack. The big play from Hubbard was when he tackled Derrick Henry in the endzone

which resulted in a safety.

Ravens

Lamar Jackson- Lamar Jackson was 26-42 for 348 yards and four touchdowns. 

Jackson threw two touchdowns to Isiah Likely and one to both Charlie Kolar and Rashod Bateman. His big play of the game was when he stiff armed a defender and threw a td pass to Isiah Likely . Jackson’s dominance continues as he is 9-2 against the Bengals. 

Derrick Henry – In my preview , I said that Derrick Henry  was a major factor. Once again Henry has a solid performance as he had 15 carries 92 yards and a touchdown . Henry’s big play of the game was the 51 yard run that set up Justin Tucker for the game winning field goal .

Next Week : Bengals at Giants on Sunday Night, Ravens vs Commanders. 

OLD SCHOOL TEXAS SHOOTOUT IN HOUSTON

BY MARK HALPERN

In Houston the Texans were at home to take on the surging Buffalo Bills in what became a shootout to the end. In the first half if was all Houston getting it done offensively. Touchdowns by Cam Akers ran one in and Nico Collins caught a 67- yard pass from Stroud but, Collins injured his hamstring on the play and did not return. If you know the Bills and Josh Allen, you don’t count

them out until the clock runs out. The second half was a complete flip of the first half as the Bills scored on a James Cook run and Allen hits Keon Coleman for a 47 yarder and a field goal ties the game. Stroud had an amazing game topping 300 yards with a TD and an INT on the day

and in the end as the clock ran out the Texans kicked the winning 54-

yard field goal. The Texans move to 4-1 on the early season and will

face the Patriots.

THE COWBOYS ENGRAVE ANOTHER STAR INTO THE STEELERS

BY MARK HALPERN

Two of the most legendary teams faced off on a stormy night in

Pittsburgh. Massive thunderstorms moved through the area right

before the game was going to get ready to begin and delaying the start

by one hour. It’s hard for an athlete to warm up and be 100% ready to

go and then be told we have to delay and a hour is a long time to wait.

Never the less the storms moved out and the teams took the field. The

first half was rather boring as both teams struggled to move the ball.

Cee Dee Lamb made one his usual highlight real catch but at the end of

the first half it was 6-3 Dallas. In the third quarter is when the first TD of

the game happened and it was caught by Connor Heyward and now the

Steelers were up 10-6 and Dallas remained quiet through the third but,

the fourth quarter was different. In the start of the 4 th quart Dallas took

a 16-play drive and scored their first touch down of the game on a 23-

yard pass from Prescott to Dowdle. That score put Dallas up 13-10 but,

the Steelers were turning molten red and put together their own 12

play drive and scored of a Pat Friermuth making it 17-13 with just about

4 and a half minutes left. Dallas drove 15 plays and 70 yards on help

from anyone who was on offense and in the end, Jalen Tolbert caught

the winning TD and had an impressive day totaling 87 yards and a TD.

Prescott threw for 252 yards with 2 TD and 2 Int. I truly think a lot of

credit needs to be given to beaten-up Dallas defense for not allowing

another “Ravens Style” loss and kept this team in it. Dallas doesn’t get

an easy break as they will head home to face The Lions in which should

be another electric game.

2024-25 NHL PREDICTIONS

By Mike Rifkin

Another hockey season is upon us. Here is how I see the season playing out, with playoff teams, Stanley Cup prediction and awards.  NOTE :  PLAYOFF TEAMS ARE THE TOP THREE IN EACH DIVISION AND TWO WILD CARS.

EAST

METRO

  1. DEVILS – Last season, the Devils took a step back, most of that due to goaltending problems. Well they Marked that off in the offseason, adding Jacob Markstrom from the Flames. Tom Fitzgerald also beefed up his Blue line with Brendan Dillon and Brett Pesce. 
  1. RANGERS – Yes, they won the President’s Trophy last season and kept the same group for the most part together. This might be the last chance this group has to win the Cup together. They didn’t do much in the offseason, but have to see what Reilly Smith adds to this group.
  1. CAPITALS –  We are still on Ovi watch (42 away). They were aggressive in the market this offseason adding Jacob Chychrun and Matt Roy on the backend. Up front they added Pierre – Luc Dubois from the Kings and Andrew Mangiapane from the Flames. The goaltending might be a question mark, but I liked their aggressiveness and they will miss TJ Oshie. 

ATLANTIC

  1. PANTHERS – The defending champs kept the core together bring back Sam Reinhart. They are a deep team, oh and Sergei Bobrovsky is pretty good too.
  1. LIGHTNING – Yeah it’s going to be weird to see them without Steven Stamkos, but the addition of Jake Guentzel should keep this team dangerous. We all know the skill this team possesses with Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, etc… Andrei Vasilevskiy being back for a full season will help as well as will the addition of Ryan Mcdonagh. 
  1. LEAFS – Let’s be honest the regular season doesn’t matter here, it’s what happens in April that does. Craig Berube takes over, they didn’t change the core (again) did add to the Blue line with Chris Tanev. We’ll have to see what happens in goal as well with Joseph Woll.

WILD CARDS 

  1. BRUINS – Everything for the Bruins hinged on them swaying Jeremey Swayman, well they took care of that. Adding Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov ( who is a perfect Bruin) will make the Bruins tough to play against again. 
  1. ISLANDERS – They played better under Patrick Roy, and added Anthony Duclair, which should help them a lot. The special teams will not be as bad as they were a year ago and Ilya Sorokin should be back to Vezina form. 

WEST

CENTRAL

  1. STARS – They shot themselves in the foot last season in the Western Conference Finals, and will use that as motivation. They have a great blend of veterans and young players. Jake Oettinger always gives them a chance to win as well. 
  1. PREDATORS – Yeah, they won the offseason adding Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. They also extended Juuse Saros to man the crease. 
  1. AVALANCHE – Nathan Mackinnon proved last season why he is one of the top players in the league, at some point he will get Gabe Landeskog back. The backend led by Cale Makar is one of the best. The Avs will look to get back to the top of the mountain.

PACIFIC

  1. OILERS – Like the Leafs the regular season doesn’t matter. But they were very aggressive this summer adding Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner to a loaded group of forwards. One question will be if Stu Skinner struggles, will they look to upgrade between the pipes?
  1. GOLDEN KNIGHTS – They got deeper up front with Alexander Holtz, and Tomas Hertl will be there for a full season. If they can unlock Ilya Samsonov’s potential, they could be playing for the Cup again. 
  1. KINGS – The Drew Doughty injury stinks, but this team can overcome it. Darcy Kuemper gives them a goalie, who was won a Cup in the past. The question is the same every year do they have enough offense?

WILD CARDS

  1. KRAKEN-  They added offense and winning pedigree with the additions of Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson along with new head coach Dan Bylsma. The Kraken are deep, and if they get Phil Grubauer to play like a Vezina candidate, they can be a tough out. 
  2. JETS – If Aaron Rodgers, oh wrong Jets. You know what you will get from Conor Hellebuyck, it’s everything else that’s a question. I love their nucleus and believe that the Jets will be a playoff team. 

AWARDS

HART (OUTSIDE OF MCDAVID)  – JACK HUGHES – DEVILS – If the Devils are going to go where a lot of people think they can go it’s going to be on the shoulders of Jack Hughes. 

CALDER – LOGAN STANKOVEN – STARS –  Stankoven had 14 points in 24 games last season, then had eight points in 19 playoff games. With how deep the Stars are, Stankoven should get a lot of time with some other skilled players. 

JACK ADAMS –  JON COOPER – LIGHTNING –  I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on the Lightning. Yes, they lost Steven Stamkos, and yes they’ve played a ton of hockey over the years, but Jon Cooper is going to have these guys ready on a nightly basis. 

VEZINA – JUUSE SAROS – PREDATORS –  Saros, is a fantastic goalie and has never had a GAA over three. With the Preds offseason, they’ll finally get some spotlight and Saros will show how great he truly is. 

NORRIS – CALE MAKAR – AVS – Makar is the best d-man in the league right now. His skating abilities and his offensive instincts will lead him to another Norris. 

CUP FINAL PREDICTION

STARS DEF PANTHERS

SIN BLITZERS : WEEK 5 PREVIEW

TEXAS TWO STEP : 

COWBOYS AT STEELERS

Two of the most prominent organizations in the NFL will faceoff on Sunday night as the Cowboys travel to the Steel City to play the Steelers. The Cowboys are coming off a win against the Giants. Dak Prescott was solid with two touchdowns, CeeDee Lamb had 98 yards and a touchdown. The defense was fine, but was that them turning a corner or was it just they played the Giants? The defense will be tested this week without Demarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons. 

The Steelers are coming off their first loss of the season, to the Colts. Justin Fields had a crucial fumble, but overall has played very well. If you watched the Cowboys game with the Ravens, the defense struggled with the zone read, so how much will Pittsburgh utilize it. The Cowboys won’t have their game wreckers on defense, but the Steelers will, TJ Watt has been nothing short of sensational and the Cowboys are going to have to help on Watt, especially lined up against Tyler Guyton. 

BILLS AT TEXANS : 

This has the making of a great game, two great quarterbacks, two great defenses, two teams looking to make a statement. Oh yeah, there’s also the Stefon Diggs stuff.

The Bills are coming off their first loss of the season, a 35-10 whopping from the Ravens. Josh Allen made some plays, but there was constantly a defender in his face. The Bills will be without some key players including Ed Oliver and Kalil Shakir. Josh Allen, is going to have to put on his Superman cape this week. 

Speaking of a Superman cape, CJ Stroud wore one last week in the win over the Jags. Stroud went for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. But this is a big test against Buffalo, in the Texans first test a few weeks ago the Vikings beat them good. How will Houston fare this time against an AFC power. Once again the Texans will be minus Joe Mixon this week with an ankle injury. 

The other storyline here is Stefon Diggs. Diggs was traded by Buffalo to Houston over the offseason. Diggs in four seasons as a Bill had 445 catches for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns. There has been a lot of speculation on why Diggs was traded, but now he gets to show his former team they made a mistake. 

Bengals vs Ravens 

By Bill Murphy 

Well it happened , The Bengals won a game. After starting 0-3 , the Bengals defeated Carolina Panthers 34-24 , Joe Burrow was 22-31 for 232  yards and two touchdowns . This week the Bengals are taking on their division rival Baltimore Ravens who defeated the Buffalo Bills 35-10.  Last season the Ravens won both meetings. 

Keys To The Game 

Bengals 

Offense 

  • Offensive Line –The Bengals offensive line is going to  have to protect Joe Burrow in this game .So far this season , the Bengals have the third best of pressure allowed in the NFL with pressure on 26.4 percent of opportunities .  Last week this nasty Ravens defense sacked Josh Allen three times and was hit eight times, so this o-line will have to be on their game. 
  • Defense
  • Defensive Line- This week the Bengals got some of their key defensive players back such as Trey Hendrickson, Myles Murphy, BJ Hill and  McKinnley Jackson who have all been cleared from Injuries.  This probably can help the struggling Bengals rushing defense , last week the gave up a 104 yards and touchdown to Chuba Hubbad. Trey Hendrickson would be an asset to stopping Lamar Jackson , Hendrickson has eight solo tackles and three sacks.  Jackson along with Derrick Henry have formed one of the best rushing duos in the league. 

Ravens 

Offense 

  • Derick Henry –  The addition of Derick Henry has been a huge key for the Ravens offense. Last week Henry rushed for 24 carries ,199 yards and a touchdown.  The Bengals run defense ranks 28th in the league. Facing Lamar and Derrick Henry is not a great formula to fix that. 

Defense 

  • Kyle Van Noy- Outside Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is a key to  the Ravens Defense in stopping Joe Burrow.  Van Noy is currently the AFC defensive player of the Month as he currently has six sacks over the last three games, he can be a huge disruption to the Bengals offense. 

Prediction

Ravens 28  Bengals 21 

AFC EAST RIVALS CLASH 

The Dolphins and Patriots will meet in Foxboro for the first time this season. Both teams are coming off of bad losses, the Dolphins to the Titans and the Patriots to the 49ers. For the Dolphins Tyler Huntley will make his second straight start, and will look to improve on a bad outing. New England has said running back Antonio Gibson as the starter because of Rhmandre Stevenson’s fumbling issue. Points might be at a premium in this one, but someone will win their second game of the season.

Taking The Next Step

By Mike Rifkin

The 2023 Baltimore Orioles were the envy of Major League Baseball, win 101 games with a young core. They won the AL East and were eliminated by the  eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in the ALDS. The Orioles entered 2024 with high expectations, expectations that got bigger when they acquired Corbin Burnes from the Brewers. 

The 2024 Orioles won 91 games, finished second in the AL East and were just eliminated by the Royals in the Wild Card series. Yes, the Orioles won 91 games and made the playoffs, but I feel this team underachieved this season. Now injuries certainly played a part in this ; Starting pitchers Grayson Rodriguez (lat), Kyle Bradish and John Means (Tommy John) would have played pivotal roles as would closer Felix Bautista, who also had Tommy John at the end of last season. The Orioles could’ve used Bautista, who had 38 saves and a 1.48 ERA in 2023, they tried replacing him with future Hall of Famer Cragi Kimbrel. Kimbrel struggled post All Star break and was DFA’D a few weeks ago. The injuries were one thing, the bats going cold was another. But the AL East could’ve been the Orioles long ago.

There was a two month stretch where the New York Yankees really struggled. They couldn’t put anything together, but because the Orioles couldn’t put them away the Yankees stayed alive in the division race. But the day Orioles fans will always remember is the trade deadline. The Orioles were in need of a few arms, but they weren’t that aggressive. A team with the young nucleus they have and on top of that the top farm system in all of baseball, they wound up with starters Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers, and reliever Seranthony Dominguez. Rogers was so bad he got sent to triple A, Eflin was solid for the most part. 

The problem was because this team is so young, they should’ve parted with better talent to get better talent for a few reasons. But the biggest reason is that this was their only guaranteed season of Corbin Burnes. If Corbin Burnes leaves in free agency, is this team going to be aggressive in replacing him? Well we don’t know and that’s the problem. Yes, there’s new ownership that might be aggressive, but we don’t know how they’re going to go into free agency. The Orioles had a golden opportunity and it feels like they let this season slip away.

SIN BLITZERS RECAP WEEK 4

BY SIN BLITZERS

TEXAS TWO STEP

COWBOYS BEAT NYG

 BY MARK HALPERN

      The Dallas Cowboys came to Met Life stadium, Saw the New York Giants and Kicked their ass (if you’re a movie fan you get the reference.) However, Dallas may have won but there are still holes on this defense. To make matters worse they lost two key pieces. Michah Parsons was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and will miss at least 3-4 weeks and if that was bad enough the Cowboys also lost Demarcus Lawrence to broken bones in his foot and will miss several weeks, he was put on IR. Prescott had 221 yards and 2 touchdowns and Cee Dee Lamb had 7 receptions for 98 yards and a TD. The Giants didn’t play bad ball and they also lost a big piece with star rookie Malik Nabors left with a concussion. Dallas moves on to Pittsburgh Sunday night, and the Giants travel to Seattle.

STROUD TO THE RESCUE

BY MARK HALPERN

             Coming into this game all focus was on the Texans rebounding after last weeks loss. What made it easy for them to come up with a plan was that they were playing the unidentified Jacksonville Jaguars in what ended up being a great game. Jacksonville, though winless was up for this divisional showdown. Stroud was phenomenal going 27/40 for 345 yards and 2 touchdowns one of them being the winning one to Dare Ogunbowale with just 14 seconds left to seal the win for the Texans. Even in the absence  of Joe Mixon other players excelled none more than Nico Collins, who had  12 receptions for 151 yards and a Touchdown. If the Texans want to be a heavyweight, they’ll get tested next week against the Bills.

THE PRIDE FEASTED

         BY MARK HALPERN

      In a game that had one of the remaining teams that was undefeated called for for the Seahawks to pick a part the Detroit Lions secondary that has been trying to find its footing over the beginning of this season. However, the Lions were ready and Jared Goff and company rose to the occasion. Goff was perfect going 18/18 292 yards and 2 touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.Jahmyr Gibbs had a great day rushing the ball and totaled 78 yards and 2 touchdowns. Not to take away the games of Geno Smith who threw 395 yards and a td and Kenneth Walker III returned with a big night in which he rushed for 80 yards and 3 touch downs. The Lions are of next week and will return in week 6 to face the Cowboys.

Bengals vs Panthers : Recap

By Bill Murphy

The Bengals have entered the win column with a 34-24 win over the Panthers. It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day a win is a win.

Stars of the Game:

Bengals

Joe Burrow- Burrow having another solid performance , was 22-31 for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

Ja’Marr Chase – After a breakout game last week , Chase had a good game this week with three receptions 85 yards and one touchdown. The touchdown was a 63 yard strike. With Tee Higgins back Chase is now breaking out.

Chase Brown – Now to the other Chase , Chase Brown had a solid performance ran for 15 carries , 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Panthers

Andy Dalton – Dalton’s second start after the benching of Bryce Young was solid. Dalton threw 25 completions for 40 attempts ,220 yards and two touchdowns taking advantage of the glitchy Bengals defense. Dalton’s two touchdown passes were to Dionte Johnson and Xavier Legette. 

Chuba Hubbard – Hubbard ran for 18 carries , 104 yards and one touchdown. This was a big part of the Panthers taking advantage of the Bengals weak rush defense

.Dionate Johnson- The Panthers receiving game really stepped up this week. Johnson had seven receptions , 83 yards and one touchdown.

Next Week

The Bengals will be facing off against their AFC North rival the Baltimore Ravens

The Panthers will be facing off against the Chicago Bears.

WOOF

By Mike Rifkin

The Miami Dolphins fell at home Monday night to the Titans 31-12. Now the score is not indicative of the fact that this was a close game until late. But the Dolphins’ struggling offense continued to struggle. Tyler Huntley, in his first start was 14-22 for 96 yards, he also had 40 yards rushing with a touchdown. Let’s be honest this Dolphin offense has really struggled without Tua, but this game they were also missing Raheem Mostert and Left Tackle Terron Armstead, but this offense has not been the same really since the KC playoff game. They also had 10 penalties for almost 100 yards, which is unacceptable. For the Titans Mason Rudolph replaced an injured Will Levis and was 9-17 for 85 yards. The Titans ran the ball for 142 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Dolphins sit at 1-3 and if they want any chance at being a playoff team, they need to figure something out ASAP. They travel to New England to play the Patriots and former Dolphin Jacoby Brissett. The Titans are on bye and will play the Colts next week.