The Sports Insanity Network

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

PREDATORS – Yeah, they won the offseason adding Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. They also extended Juuse Saros to man the crease.

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

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?

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.

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

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.
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 28^th 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.

IMPROVEMENT AT A COST$

BY MARK HALPERN

For the first time in a long time the New York Knicks were the toast of the town in New York and in the NBA. The Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, before losing to the Pacers. But one thing is for sure the Knicks are back and Madison Square Garden will be a tough place to play again.

Injuries played a huge role in the Knicks getting eliminated. Mitchell Robinson went down, and with Julius Randle already out, the Knicks were thin in the front court. Making Josh Hart guard some bigs. One of the goals of the offseason was to get more size. The Question became what could the Knicks do to improve without really gutting the team?

Lacking size in the NBA is a big problem and the Knicks made a move to bring in a player who can do it all in Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists to go along with and almost 1 block a game. This is exactly the type of player that this young fast New York team needed. However, when you acquire such a talent you have to give something in return and the Timberwolves received Julius Randle (missed most of last year to injury) and Donte DiVincenzo (Who I am sad to see go) in return. Donte had become a huge fan favorite of the Garden and I am sure it is going to sour the stomach of many a Knick fan for some time.

The question on people minds is how does Towns fit in with revamped knicks front five. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges will be at the guard positions, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart at the forwards and then Towns at Center. With the addition of Bridges the Knicks had to make a decision on whether to extend Randle or find a way to replace him and Towns can fill Randles shoes at Center and the size of Anunoby and the electric play from Hart, Towns finds himself in a position to have one of his best offensive and defensive years in his career. Towns, like Randle can also stretch the floor and shoot from three.

I reached out to my good friend Rudy Campos of Sweep the League and this was his response “The Wolves won the trade but the Knicks also came out good. Wolves got out of that contract and will be able to max out Edwards. The first round pick they got in return is big as well. Donte gives the Wolves a shooter and scorer. Randle is the factor. He makes so much sense for the Wolves. More sense than KAT.” I think Rudy hit the nail on the head the Wolves get out of the contract and now can focus of maxing Edwards and the Knicks get the big inside man they have been missing. The big combo of KAT and Rudy Gobert was always interesting to me, but it never seemed like it would work.

I am truly excited for this season and now with the addition of Towns the Knicks’ starting five is as good as it has been in years.

REST IN PEACE DIKEMBE MUTOMBO

BY MARK HALPERN

When you think of the best Centers to ever play in the NBA everyone will put Dikembe Mutombo in their top ten. The great Center who played 17 seasons for the Rockets, Nuggets, Hawks, Knicks, Nets and 76ers passed away at the age of 58 from Brain Cancer.

Dikembe Mutombo came from the Republic of the Congo to play for the Georgetown Hoyas and he was a sight to watch. He dominated is his four years and drafted with the fourth pick in the first round by the Nuggets. Throughout his career Mutombo averaged 9.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1 assist per game. Mutombo had a long outstanding career and he did it with style. Mutombo had a signature move when he blocked a shot and it was him waving his finger back and forth saying to the person whom shot he blocked “Not in my house.” Mutombo was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2015.

One of Mutombo’s life dreams was to be able to create a way of making improvements in his home country of the Congo and in 1997 he did just that by creating the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation with doing the goals of just that. He helped provide various different areas from agriculture, jobs and yes Basketball. Mutombo was the hero to many kids in his country and the Basketball camps he created helped several kids see opportunities they might not get with out the help of Mutombo.

Mutombo was also a longtime supporter of the Special Olympics and was once on the international board of directors for that committee. Mutombo believed sports were never just meant to be just played by stars. He always believed that there was a place for everyone in the sports world not matter their condition in life.

Dikembe Mutombo will be greatly missed not just as a Basketball Player but a man of outstanding Character.

BLITZERS PREVIEW WEEK 4

BY SIN BLITZERS

A CHANCE AT REDEMPTION

BY MARK HALPERN

There is no secret that the Houston Texans are angry over their disappointing loss last week to the Vikings. The question becomes how does the Texans handle the loss going into this week against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars. Stroud really couldn’t get going and neither could the running game without Joe Mixon. I think the Texans got a little shaken and off their game but, this week is time to show off.

The Jaguars resemble nothing of what they looked like last year at all. There has been rumors that Trevor Lawrence could be seated if things don’t change and don’t expect them to Lawrence could be riding the pine pony very soon.

Stroud has vigorous work out and becoming prepared to take on any opponent. He watches countless film and the way the Texans started has paid off. For the Texans to be successful they have to get the running game going and early because a Quarterback who is throwing 50+ times a game doesn’t always have the advantage. Currently Mixon is listed as questionable so expect to see a lot of Cam Akers if he can’t go. Tank Dell wont be available. Expect Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, and maybe Dalton Schultz to be active this weekend. I don’t see any resurgence of Lawrence this week and the Jags could be 0-4 to start this first month of the season.

GETTING BACK ON TRACK

BY MARK HALPERN

The Lions have made some changes and strides to keep them in the hunt in the NFC North. Yes it’s early to talk playoffs but, when you have

a division that as good as this one taking one small step back could

mean the playoffs. The Lions have moved to 2-1 on the season and have a huge game against the 3-0 Seahawks. The Lions’ clock management will be key. We known that Geno Smith can hit any of his receivers at almost any point on a drive. The Lions secondary have the hardest job covering these receivers. If the Lions secondary that has played lazy a little shows up it’s going to be for field day for the Seahawks.

Keys to this game are simple. Use this two headed running back of Gibbs and Montgomery to control the clock and find St. Brown and Williams early. Also the Lions got good news on Sam Laporta’s ankle and he is practicing today and if he completes practice tomorrow he should be good to go for this great Monday Night Football contest. You might want to take the over in this one.

REMEMBERING THE TITANS

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Last season the Dolphins hosted the Titans on a Monday night, the Titans scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes to win the game 28-27. That loss cost the Dolphins the AFC East as well as a top seed. On Monday night the Dolphins will look for some payback. The Titans are one of three teams still searching for their first win. The Dolphins in the game last season got to Will Levis once, Levis in three games has been sacked 15 times. The Dolphins have not announced their quarterback yet, but I would guess Tyler Huntley would get the start.

Keys : Dolphins

Pressure Will Levis : The Dolphins got to Levis once in their meeting last season, Levis has been sacked 15 times so far this season. If pressured Levis might make a mistake, he already has five interceptions on the season.
De’von Achane : Whether Raheem Mostert is back or not the Dolphins need to run the ball. The Titans are giving 124 yards rushing per game.
Containing Nuke: Deandre Hopkins killed the Dolphins last year posting seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. It’ll be interesting to see if Anthony Weaver is willing to have Jalen Ramsey shadow Hopkins.

Bengals vs Panthers: preview

By Bill Murphy

The Cincinnati Bengals are 0-3 to the start the season after their loss to the Commanders. Joe Burrow was 29-38 for 324 yards and three touchdowns. This week , it’s the battle of the felines in which the Bengals are taking on the Carolina Panthers who are coming off of their first win of the season against the Las Vegas Raiders 36-22. They got the win with former Bengal Andy Dalton under center.

Keys Of The Game

Bengals

Offense: Ja’marr Chase

After a contract dispute and quiet start , Ja’marr Chase had the breakout game he needed last week with six receptions 118 yards and two touchdowns. That coincides with the return of Tee Higgins. The Bengals will have to use Chase to take advantage of the weak Carolina secondary. Over the first three games of the season the Panthers have surrendered seven touchdown passes.

Defense : Pass Rush

The Bengals cannot give Andy Dalton time to cook them, last week Jayden Daniels did. The good news is Dalton doesn’t have the mobility of Daniels, and the Panthers o line is not great as they’ve given up eight sacks through three games. If there’s one guy who has to step up it’s Sam Hubbard, who is yet to register one after having six last season.

Panthers

Offense : Xavier Legette

Veteran Adam Thielen is now on the IR due to an hamstring injury . Now with Theilen sidelined , Dalton will now hopefully provide opportunities for rookie wide receiver Xavier Lagette . Last week Legette had an explosive 35 yard catch. The Panthers are going to need the rookie to step up in Thielen’s absence.

Defense : The Secondary

The Panthers are giving up just below 202 yards in the air through three games, now part of that was they’ve had issues stopping the run so far as well. Jaycee Horn, a former first round pick is still finding his way in the league. Michael Jackson (no not that one) got the team’s first interception of the season, and they did well against Davante Adams last week. But now they have to deal with Tee Higgins and Chase, so they’ll have to be at their best.

Prediction

Bengals 27 Panthers 10