SIN BLITZERS : WEEK 8 PREVIEWS

BY SIN BLITZERS

Bengals Vs Eagles

By Bill Murphy 

The Bengals have won two in a row , after beating their AFC  North rival Cleveland Browns 21-14 .This week the Bengals will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles who are coming off a 28-3 victory over their NFC East rival , New York Giants. Both of these teams played the same teams over the last two weeks , The Bengals played the Browns last week and the Giants , the week before , while the Eagles played the Giants last week and the Browns, the week before . 

Keys To Victory 

Bengals 

Offense : Wide Receiver Corp 

The Eagles pass defense does not do well with wide receivers allowing passes to them 98.2% of the time , which ranks them 22nd in the league. To expose this weakness Joe Burrow is going to have to hit his two favorite targets Tee Higgins and Ja’marr Chase.  Last week , Higgins got four receptions 82 yards and a touchdown, while Chase got five receptions 44 yards and a touchdown. 

Defense : Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard 

Trey Hendrickson  and Sam Hubbard are the top defensive weapons for the Bengals. Hendrickson so far this season has seven sacks and three games where he has two sacks or more. Hubbard so far on the year has  18 solo tackles and two sacks , he had one sack last week against Cleveland. Jalen Hurts has been sacked 18 times so far this season. 

Eagles 

Offense : Saquon Barkley 

Saquon Barkley  has been a major asset to this Eagles, this season so far . Last week, Barkley  had 17 carries for 176 yards and one touchdown against his former team, the New York Giants.  I would like to see how he would do against  Cincinnati’s rush defense that gives up over 130 yards per game. Last week they had a solid outing with 21 attempts containing the Browns to 77 yards, 3.7 yards per carry and one touchdown .

Defense : Pass Defense 

Last week , the Eagles defense really did a number on the Giants Offense , the Eagles sacked Daniel Jones eight times and held him to only 99 yards (I know its Daniel Jones). The Eagles have also  held Quarterbacks to only a 60 percent completion rate which is sixth fewest in the league . Burrow has only faced pressure 26 % of the time , which puts him at third lowest of all the quarterback pressure . If the Bengals give Burrow time he should be able to pick this defense a part. 

Prediction 

Bengals 31 Eagles 27

CARDINALS AT DOLPHINS : The 2-4 Dolphins will get their quarterback back as Tua Tagovailoa returns after missing time with another concussion. The Dolphins offense really sputtered without Tua. The most points they scored without Tua was 15. The Dolphins will play a Cardinals team that’s coming off a win over the Chargers. The Cardinals’ ground game has been sensational averaging 150 yards per game, so players like David Long are going to have to be big. If the Dolphins want to make a run, it starts here with a home game against the Cards. 

COLTS AT TEXANS : This is the second meeting of the season between these two division rivals. The Texans won 29-27 in week one. CJ Stroud threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Joe Mixon had 159 yards and a touchdown in his Texan debut. For Indy Anthony Richardson had three total touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush) and Alec Pierce had 125 yards and a touchdown. After last week where the Texans lost in Green Bay and the Colts won against the Dolphins, the Colts are a game behind the Texans in the AFC South. 

Falcons at Bucs : These two teams played a fantastic game in week five, where the Falcons won in overtime. Kirk Cousins threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns in that game, both Drake London and Darnell Mooney both went over 100 yards and scored. Baker Mayfield threw for three touchdowns, but two of those touchdowns went to Mike Evans, who will miss this game with a hamstring injury. Who will take control in the NFC South?

COWBOYS AT 49ERS : A big time rivalry heats up on Sunday night, but the biggest question is who will play? Both teams are dealing with injuries. If the Cowboys lose this game, there will be more turmoil in Dallas, but if the Niners lose this game and fall to 3-5 what happens? This will be a massive game on Sunday Night.

A Stearn Winter

BY : Mike Rifkin

On Wednesday, Mets GM and President of Baseball Ops David Stearns spoke to the media after the Mets were eliminated in the NLCS. Stearns echoed the thoughts of Manager Carlos Mendoza in hoping this season will be the start of continued success. But for that to happen Stearns is going to have to be very aggressive this winter, and with Steve Cohen’s checkbook anything is possible. 

Stearns said the Mets have financial flexibility this winter, and went on to say “ It means that pretty much the entirety of of the player universe is potentially accessible to us. That’s an enormous opportunity. I envision us taking advantage of that opportunity, and being aggressive in certain spaces.” So, how should Stearns approach the winter? The Mets not only have financial flexibility, they also have some positions with an abundance of talent. 

STARTING WITH THEIR OWN

The Mets themselves have 10 players set to hit free agency. Pete Alonso, Harrison Bader, Jose Iglesias, Sean Manea, JD Martinez, Adam Ottavino, Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Ryne Stanek, and Jesse Winker are all going to hit the market, so which should Stearns bring back?  

ALONSO : Pete had a down season for his standards, but in the playoffs came up clutch multiple times. Stearns said “Pete’s a great Met, I hope we have him back.” He also said he and Pete have not spoke face to face on his contract, but he was very invested. Most Met fans would like to see Alonso be a Met for life, and if he is he will break all the power records for the organization. 

Manea, Quintana, Severino : The Mets rotation was a massive question mark entering the season, and Stearns took flyers on Manea and Severino and they exceeded the fans’ expectations for them. Severino threw his most innings in six years. Manea threw a career high 181.2 innings pitched. Quintana threw his most innings in five seasons, and all three ran out of gas against the Dodgers, but all three had fantastic seasons for the Mets. 

BADER : One of the things David Stearns said when he was first hired, was to improve the defense. Enter Harrison Bader, who is a former Gold Glove winner. Bader, who in a platoon hit 12 homers and drove in 51 runs, and had some clutch hits for the Mets throughout the season. He also brings a speed element. 

IGLESIAS : The guy who changed the vibes of the team with his “OMG” song. Iglesias plays really good defense, while having a slash line of .337/.381/.448. Iglesias also had some massive hits this season. 

MARTINEZ : The Mets have had a hole at DH since MLB incorporated the universal DH. JD Martinez has been one of the best hitters in baseball the last few seasons, but he didn’t sign until March, so it took a while for him to get going. He ended the season with 16 homers, but he ended the regular season ice cold, and eventually wasn’t playing in the playoffs. 

WINKER/STANEK : Two guys the Mets acquired at the trade deadline and both had some big moments in the playoffs. Winker in the playoffs had a homer and four RBI with a slash line of .318/.531/.636. He also is a tremendous value in the clubhouse. Stanek on the other hand really struggled in the regular season with an ERA over six, but in the playoffs he had a 3.38 ERA, and became the second most reliable reliever behind Diaz. 

WHO WOULD I BRING BACK : ALONSO, MANEA, IGLESIAS, WINKER, STANEK.

SOTO FACTOR : The top free agent on the market will be 26 year old Juan Soto. Soto has shown the ability to play in New York, with what he has done for the Yankees this season. The Mets have gotten close looks at Soto during his days with the Nationals. Soto in 78 games against the Mets is hitting .289 with 19 homers, 46 RBIS and 46 runs scored. Now Soto is going to command an Ohtani like contract, and if it comes down to the highest bidder, Steve Cohen has the checkbook for that, although they will face stiff competition from the Yankees in order to get him. 

PITCHING MATTERS : Stearns said about the rotation “This isn’t new to us, we had a similar task last offseason. Some of that could be from those guys returning. We’re going to have to add multiple starters.” As I mentioned above the trio of Manea, Quintana, and Severino I would only bring back Manea. As good as Severino was, there’s a large injury history there and I am not sure he can stay healthy for a second consecutive season. Quintana, as solid as he was had ups and downs, and he will be 36 years old at the start of next season. 

Corbin Burnes, who pitched for David Stearns in Milwaukee is the top free agent starting pitcher on the market. Burnes, who won a CY Young under Stearns, will finish in the top five of CY Young voting again this season. Burnes along with Braves lefty Max Fried top the market. Blake Snell can opt out of his deal with the Giants, and Shane Bieber is coming off of Tommy John Surgery.  The Mets are also going to have to bring in some more swing and miss out of the bullpen. Even if Stanek is back, they’ll need to address the pen. 

TRADES : The Mets not only have financial flexibility, they have position flexibility as well. With the development of some of their farm talent, does that make players on the Major League roster available. Three names I’d keep an eye on if the Mets were to deal for some pitching are Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte and Brett Baty. Luis Angel Acuna’s development along with the impending return of Ronnie Mauricio could put McNeil’s spot in jeopardy. 

We heard what Stearns said to the media. This winter we’ll have to see what he comes up with to help a team that was on the brink of the World Series and was the best team in Baseball since June first.

EARNED IT

BY MIKE RIFKIN

The Mets lost game six of the NLCS to the Dodgers and now their season is officially over. Now is the time to reflect on what was a surprising and enjoyable season. Prior to the season Owner Steve Cohen along with new President of Baseball Ops David Stearns said they believed this team would be in Wild Card contention. And that’s exactly what happened, but times were bleak when the team struggled in May at 11 games under .500. 

One of the major talking points at that time is what was going to happen to First Baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso, a second round pick by the Mets in 2016 came up with a bang in 2019 with 53 homers, a record for rookies in MLB. Outside of 2020 (where teams played 60 games) Alonso has hit over 30 home runs each season. Currently Alonso ranks third in franchise history with 226 homers only trailing David Wright and Darryl Strawberry. 

Alonso hit 34 homers during the regular season, and at times in big situations did not get that big hit. But, Alonso redeemed himself in the playoffs with some big time hits. 

PETE ALONSO BIG HITS IN THE PLAYOFFS

WILD CARD G3 : Three run homer off Devin Williams in the ninth inning.

NLDS G3 : Solo homer off Aaron Nola

NLCS G4 : Single, stolen base, scored insurance run

NLCS G5 : Three run homer off of Jack Flaherty in first inning. 

Alonso has embraced being a Met and talks about it often in post game interviews. The fans have embraced him as well. Alonso, if he re-signs, could be the greatest homegrown player in franchise history. Pete has earned the contract.

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