Week 15: Can The Jets Become Lion Tamers 

By Ross Mazin

The Jets take on the Lions Sunday afternoon at MetLife. This should be an interesting matchup for sure as both teams are still in the thick of the playoff race. 

The Jets are coming off a 20-12 loss at the Bills last weekend. Mike White was 27-44 . for 268 yards. He had zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. Mike White was sacked three times and hit more than that. White is banged up that the Jets announced that Zach Wilson will return as the starter in this key game. Wilson was benched after being ineffective against the Patriots.

The Lions are coming off a big 34-23 win against the Vikings last week. Jared Goff was 27-39 for 330 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions have won four of their last five games and have entered the hunt in the NFC Wildcard picture. 

This should be a good game between two teams who are looking to keep pace in the playoff picture. My prediction is Jets 22- Lions 13

Figuring It Out

By : Mike Rifkin

Filip Chytil scored the Overtime winner for the New York Rangers as they defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Monday. On December third the Rangers lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks and a lot of people were wondering what would happen next. The Rangers have responded with four consecutive wins. The last three have been against good teams in the Vegas Golden Knights, the defending Stanley Cup Champions Colorado Avalanche and the upstart New Jersey Devils. 

Some of the biggest reasons the Rangers are playing a little bit better is something we saw last year on their run to the Eastern Conference Finals. One is that they are getting some balanced scoring. Over the last four games Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere and Braden Schneider have two goals each. Mika Zibanejad has seven points over the last five games. Vincent Trocheck has five points over the last four games. Chris Kreider has three goals in his last five games. Artemi Panarin has nine assists over the last five games, but has not scored a goal since November 28th. 

Another reason the Rangers have reeled off four wins in a row has been the play of Igor Shesterkin. The reigning Vezina trophy winner has played well for the most part this season, but the last few games especially the game in Colorado has looked like the Shesterkin of  last season. In Monday night’s game he denied Jack Hughes on a penalty shot. With Shesterkin in goal more often than not the Rangers have a chance to win.

The other reason they’re playing well right now also goes back to their run last season. They’re not getting down on themselves and allowing it to snowball into a more difficult task. Last night they fell behind 2-0 early in the first period and they didn’t get down, they scored a goal late in the first to cut it to 2-1 and then after the Devils scored again they fought back with two goals in seven seconds to tie the game again. They’re starting to play with more confidence and it is really showing. 

This is a team that entered the season with high expectations and they’ve struggled with certain aspects of their game. But over the last four they’re playing better hockey. They’re not going to play 82 perfect games, but when everyone contributes that is what makes a team good. The New York Rangers are a good team and this four game winning streak is something to build on.

Giant Struggles

By: Jeff Knapp

After starting the season off at 6-2, the Giants have been 1-3-1, with loses to the Seahawks, Lions and Cowboys and shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly in their tie to the Commanders.

Over those last 5 games, they have given up 24.4 points per game while only scoring an average of 19 points per game. 

That doesn’t bode well with the fact that they are playing the hottest team in football, the 12-1 Eagles who are scoring 29.7 points per game while only giving up 19.1 points per game. 

The Giants lead in 3 categories that you DON’T want to lead in. They gave up more sacks, 7. Sure the Giants sacked Hurts 4 times, but the final score would possibly be much higher if not for that. They also led in penalties and penalty yards. You can’t win with all those penalties and the last one is the turnovers. Not many teams win when they lead in turnovers. Now I know most teams have 1 per game, but when you can’t get a turnover, that shows you how dominant the Philly offensive line was, and how the playmakers on the team secure the ball.

Defense and ball control win games and when the Giants were out rushed by 130 yards, that is just incredibly sad. 

I’d love to look on the bright side of things, so here we go…Daniel Jones was able to spread the ball around to 9 different receivers, including the 9 catches to Richie James. Although Hurts had a good game, and his backs and receivers had big games, the Giants were able to sack him 4 times, including 2 by Azeez Ojilari. 

Now, for the bad. Like what I said before, the amount of penalties were horrible, the 7 sacks, and let not forget to mention containment. How hard is it to work on keeping receivers and backs getting to the outside for huge gains? On that TD catch from Smith, the DB should have went to knock the ball down and live to fight another play. That was embarrassing. Where was our #1 pick, Kayvon Thibodeaux? Why wasn’t he in the game? I honestly don’t remember seeing him even play.

This is where the frustration starts to kick in for the fans, but we will trust the system and see what happens over the next 4 games, when the Giants face the Commanders, Vikings, Colts and Eagles. I’m hoping the Giants can get their act together and pick up a win over the Commanders and Colts and see how they fair against the Vikings, but I’m scared to see what Justin Jefferson does to the secondary that week.

Next week the Giants will be in Washington to take on the Commanders.

Change The Rule

By : Mike Rifkin

Over the years the NFL has done a lot in terms of player safety. One of the biggest has become the Roughing the Passer penalty. This season alone there have been multiple awful roughing the passer penalties, but there are three that stand out.  One was on Grady Jarrett of the Falcons, one was on Chris Jones of the Chiefs and then last night there was one on Jaelan Phillips of the Dolphins.

The NFL rulebook defines Roughing the Passer as “Because the act of passing often puts the quarterback (or any other player attempting a pass) in a position where he is particularly vulnerable to injury, special rules against roughing the passer apply. The Referee has principal responsibility for enforcing these rules. Any physical acts against a player who is in a passing posture (i.e. before, during, or after a pass) which, in the Referee’s judgment, are unwarranted by the circumstances of the play will be called as fouls.” These rules include driving the Quarterback to the ground, forcible contact to the head and neck area, hitting the quarterback below the knee, and having a defender’s body weight land on the quarterback. But the league has gotten to the point that where any kind of contact to the quarterback has drawn the ability to be penalized. 

So I’ve seen people say that roughing the passer should become a reviewable play and I used to be in this camp. But the more I think about it, It shouldn’t be reviewable, mostly because I feel that it would go as well as the Pass Interference challenge, which means more often than not the call on the field will stand.  

I think we should rewrite the rule because at this point I think the refs are confused and just throw the flag out of precaution. So my solution is to keep parts of the rule and define other parts. The forcible contact to head and neck area along with shots below the knee will be kept. Driving to the ground will be taken away unless play can be avoided or very late. I would throw the body weight part mainly because what is a defensive player supposed to do? Several seasons ago Charles Harris, then a Miami Dolphin tore his ACL attempting to avoid landing on a Quarterback. If this doesn’t work, then it’s time to put flags on quarterbacks, like in flag football, because it has become apparent that you cannot touch the quarterback. 

Looking For A Charge

By : Mike Rifkin

The Dolphins and Chargers are both looking to bounce back after road losses last week. This game features the fifth and sixth overall picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Both teams are still in the thick of the AFC Playoff race. 

The Dolphins are coming off a 33-17 loss to the 49ers, snapping their five game winning streak. Tua Tagovailoa was 18-33 for 295 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It was the first time in a long time where Tua was uncomfortable, and he missed some passes that has made his season so special. The Dolphins only ran the ball eight times in the game, which coach Mike Mcdaniel said was on him. Tyreek Hill had nine catches for 146 yards and a touchdown. In 11 career games against the Chargers Hill has 53 catches for 799 yards and nine touchdowns. 

The Chargers are coming off a 27-20 loss to the Raiders. Justin Herbert was 28-47 for 335 yards and a touchdown, he was also sacked five times. Keenan Allen had eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. The Chargers defense struggled against the run allowing 154 rushing yards and the Raiders averaged over five yards a carry. 

In 2020 Tagovailoa and Herbert were the fifth and sixth overall picks in the draft respectively. So they will always be compared to each other. The two teams played each other in their rookie year. The Dolphins won the game 29-21 and both quarterbacks threw for under 200 yards and two touchdowns each. Two teams in the playoff hunt meet in a big game Sunday night in LA.

Week 15: Can The Jets Tame Buffalo Again?

By : Ross Mazin

The Jets and the Bills face off for the second and last time in the regular season. In week nine the Jets beat the Bills 20-17 at Metlife Stadium. 17 is the fewest amount of points that the Bills have scored in a game this season. In that game Josh Allen was 18-34 for 205 yards with two interceptions. Allen had nine carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns. The Jets defense had five sacks. Offensively the Jets had 174 yards rushing and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. 

The Jets are coming off a tough loss at Minnesota last week. Michael White was 31 for 57  for 369 yards and two interceptions. The numbers that haunted the Jets last week was 1-6 in the red zone. The only touchdown they scored was on a Mike White QB Sneak on fourth and goal in the fourth quarter. The Jets were also 3-16 on third down and committed six penalties. 

The Bills are coming off a big win at New England last week. Josh Allen was 22-33 for 223 yards  and two touchdowns . James Cook had 14 carries for 64 yards 

And averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Stefon Diggs had seven catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. The Bills had the ball for over 38 minutes. 

Two teams vying for a division title. I expect a good; high energy game. My prediction is Jets 22- Bills 14

   No Curt-ain Call Yet

By : Mike Rifkin

On Sunday night the Contemporary Era Committee of the Baseball Hall Of Fame elected Fred McGriff to the Hall Of Fame. To get voted in by this committee you need 12 of 16 voters to vote you in. Guys who missed on this ballot include Don Mattingly, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling. I don’t like the fact that the voters just ignore the steroid era. But that’s not my biggest issue, my issue is how you don’t put Curt Schilling in the Hall Of Fame. 

Schilling in his career won 216 games and had a ERA of 3.46 during the steroid era. But Schilling’s argument starts with being one of the best postseason pitchers of all time. Schilling was 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA and had 120 career strikeouts in the Playoffs. Schilling was NLCS MVP in 1993 with the Phillies and shared World Series MVP with Randy Johnson in 2001. Schilling won three World Series in his career including the only one in Diamondbacks history and being a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox that broke the Curse of the Bambino. Who can forget his performance in Game six of the ALCS better known as the “ Bloody Sock game.” 

In 2021 Curt Schilling received 71.1% of the necessary 75% to get inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Afterwards he asked the Hall to take him off the ballot because of his politics and things he had said, so he decided to take his chances with one of the veteran’s committees.  The Hall Of Fame is a museum of Baseball history. People can disagree with what Schilling has said and things he’s done, but he should be included in the Hall Of Fame, He was one of the best big game pitchers of his generation, he should go into Cooperstown because he was one of the BEST BASEBALL PLAYERS of All time.

Heavyweight Showdowns

By : Mike Rifkin

We have reached December and while it may be cold outside, the NFL season is getting hot down the stretch run. Two of the biggest games this week will feature a reunion of sorts in these AFC VS NFC showdowns.

The first one takes place in Philly as the 10-1 Eagles welcome the AFC South leading Tennessee Titans. The Eagles are coming off a 40-33 win over the Packers. Jalen Hurts had 310 total yards and two passing touchdowns. Miles Sanders had 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles as a team ran for 363 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. 

The Titans are coming off a 20-16 loss to the Bengals last week. The only touchdown the Titans scored in the game was when rookie receiver Treylon Burks recovered a Derrick Henry fumble in the end zone, outside of that the Titans were held to three field goals. Ryan Tannehill was 22-34 for 291 yards. Derrick Henry had 117 total yards on 20 touches. 

This game will be the first time AJ Brown will play the Titans since being traded during the first round of the NFL Draft. Brown spent the first three seasons of his career in Tennessee and had over 1,000 yards his first two seasons. Last season Brown was limited to 13 games because of injury and had career lows with 869 yards and five touchdowns. Brown and Titans were in a contract dispute and during the first round of the draft Brown was traded to the Eagles for their first round pick and the Titans selected Treylon Burks. Brown signed a five year 100 million dollar contract with the Eagles soon after. Brown has flourished in Philly posting 53 catches for 831 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season for the Eagles.  

Another showdown takes place in San Francisco, as the Miami Dolphins come for a visit. The Dolphins are coming off a 30-15 win over the Texans. Tua Tagovailoa continued his impressive play by going 22-36 for 299 yards and a touchdown. Former 49er Jeff Wilson ran for 39 yards and a touchdown; Jalen Waddle and Tyreek Hill had 85 yards receiving each and the Dolphins defense forced three Texans turnovers.

The 49ers are coming off of a 13-0 shutout win over the Saints. Jimmy Garoppolo was 26-37 for 222 yards and a touchdown. The Niner defense had a sack and forced two Alvin Kamara fumbles in the win. The last time the Dolphins and 49ers got together was week 3 of 2020 season and it was a day to forget for Jimmy Garoppolo. He was 7-17 for 77 yards with two interceptions and was sacked three times in the 43-17 loss to the Dolphins. 

This is another reunion of sorts. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was the 49ers Offensive Coordinator the last few seasons and has worked under Kyle Shannahan for a long time. The Dolphins offense features former 49ers Raheem Mostert, Jeff Willson, Trent Sherfield and River Cracraft. 

Four teams, two from each conference with Playoff hopes on the line in December it doesn’t get any better than this. If you look at each game the Eagles and Titans are similar in how they want to ground and pound. The 49ers and Dolphins are similar the way they have a ton of speed on their offenses, so these two games should be a lot of fun.

Week 13: Can The Jets Conquer The Vikings?

By Ross Mazin

We are into December and this is a really good matchup on paper, Two teams in the thick of the playoff race.

The Jets are coming off a huge 31 -10 win Sunday against the Bears. The offense was explosive. Mike White had a great game. He was 22 for 28 for 315 yards. He had 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Garrett Wilson had a great game with five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Jets fans also had a Elijah Moore sighting, as he had two catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Zonovan Knight had 14 carries for 69 yards. The Jets as a team had 158 rushing yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. 

The Vikings are coming off a huge 33- 26 win against the Patriots. Kirk Cousins was 30 for 37 for 299 yards. He had 3 touchdowns and one interception. Justin Jefferson had nine catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Adam Thielen also had nine catches and a touchdown. The Viking defense had three sacks. The Viking defense is third in the league with a +6 turnover differential. 

There are a ton of fun matchups in this game including Sauce Gardener against Justin Jefferson. I expect a very fun matchup this week. December football and it doesn’t get much better than this. 

 My prediction is Vikings 22- Jets 20

Boiling Over

By : Mike Rifkin

The New York Rangers were defeated by their rivals the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Monday night. The Rangers squandered yet another multi goal lead, as they scored two goals in the first three minutes of the hockey game. The Devils responded with four unanswered goals. For the Rangers it was the second consecutive game with a multiple goal lead squandered, after giving up four goals to the Oilers on Saturday. 

For the Rangers this was their third consecutive loss. Frustrations were shown post game especially after by goaltender Igor Shesterkin. After the game Shesterkin said “ Goalie played a shit game again. I feel so bad and play so bad. I’m ashamed.” Shesterkin went on to say “ Every goal is easy play for me. I have to stop those. If our team wants to win the game, I have to play better.” So far this season Shesterkin has a 10-4-3 record with a 2.58 GAA, .913 save percentage and a shutout.  Last year Shesterkin was 36-13-4 with a 2.07 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts on his way to the Vezina Trophy. I can’t put all the blame on Shesterkin, the defense has not helped him. Jacob Trouba, who had an awful turnover that led to a Devils goal is a -6 so far this season, his defense partner K’Andre Miller is a -5. Last season that pairing was a combined +48. Last season the Rangers gave up 2.49 goals per game, this year they’re giving up 2.87. 

Offensively the Rangers are averaging 3.00 goals per game, last year they averaged 3.05 goals per game. They were led by Chris Kreider’s 52 goals. This year Kreider has 10 goals so far, and has had plenty of great opportunities that haven’t gone in. Artemi Panarin, who led the team with 96 points, broke his 12 game streak without a goal last night, now has six on the season. Panarin I think had played his best game in a while at five on five after being paired with Filip Chytil and Kappo Kakko. Also if Panarin starts shooting the puck more it can open up the Ranger Power Play more. The power play broke an a 0-11 stretch when Vincent Trocheck scored. Last year the Ranger power play clicked at 25.2 percent, this year they are at 21.3 percent. Part of the decline is Kreider’s numbers are down, but teams are keying in on Mika Zibanejad’s one time shot, so the way to open that back up is to have Panarin and Adam Fox look for their shots a little bit more. 

Two guys the Rangers need more offense from are Kappo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere who have combined for seven goals and 18 points on the season. Now this is not all on them because they get very limited time on the power play and at even strength they have been moved around the lineup. Both players showed a lot in the Rangers run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. 

I do think head coach Gerard Gallant needs to shake up his lines because what they are throwing out there isn’t exactly working. So here is how I feel the lines and defense pairings should shake out

Kreider – Zibanejad – Lafreniere

Panarin – Chytil – Kakko

Goodrow – Trocheck – Kravtsov

Vesey – Carpenter – Gauthier 

EX: Blais

Fox – Lindgren

Schneider – Miller

Trouba – Jones

The Rangers next three games are two against the Ottawa Senators and at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. They have to win at least two of those games and get their act together. Otherwise something big could happen with a team that had high expectations after their improbable run to the Eastern Conference Finals.