Riding The Stars To Victory

By : Mike Rifkin

On Sunday, the Cowboys defeated the Bears 49-29 at AT&T Stadium. In the game the Cowboys big players showed up in a big way. 

Quarterback Dak Prescott played his best game of the season going 21-27 for 250 yards, three touchdowns (one rush) and an interception. Running Back Tony Pollard, who got the start with Ezekiel Elliott out, had 14 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Pollard averaged 9.4 yards per carry.  Jerry Jones after the game said “ We go as Zeke goes.” On the season Zeke has 443 yards and four touchdowns and averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Jerry has to say that they have to go as Zeke goes because Jerry paid him before he had to. All Tony Pollard has done since has shine in a tough situation, but either way whether Zeke is healthy or not they have to find a way to get Pollard the ball more. 

On defense Micah Parsons stepped up in a massive way. Parsons had four tackles and a 36 yard fumble return for a touchdown. Outside of that the defense wasn’t great Justin Fields threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears ran the ball for 240 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry. Khalil Herbert and Justin Fields had a rushing touchdown each. 

The Cowboys enter their Bye week with a record of 6-2 and in two weeks will play the Packers at Lambeau Field. The Bears will travel home to play the 5-3 Dolphins.

What Could Have Been

By Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108. Donovan Mitchell, who the Knicks were rumored to be in on during the offseason had 38 points and 12 assists in Cleveland’s win. 

Mitchell is currently averaging 32.2 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game and 7.3 assists per game. Yes, it is early in the NBA season, but the Cavaliers are now 6-1 on the season and Mitchell is a big reason. Mitchell is shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three. Mitchell said after the game “It’s easy to point to this summer… but I’m pretty much friends with everybody on that team… Johnny Bryant’s like a big brother … got nothing but love when it’s your home team you wanna go out there and play hard.” 

During the offseason it was rumored the Knicks were going hard after Mitchell, a Upstate, New York native. Eventually the Jazz traded Mitchell to Cleveland and the Knicks missed out on a star again. The Knicks potentially will have four first round picks in next year’s draft, four draft picks in 2024 including three in the second round, five picks in 2025 including two in the first round potentially. 

So here is my question are the Knicks going to use all of these picks that they have? No, but even if they did the Knicks draft picks are not always worth the risk, why not move some of the picks and get a guy in Mitchell, who in his career averages 24.0 points per game. The Knicks have not had a star since Carmelo Anthony left. People criticized the Knicks when they made the trade because most experts believed Anthony would have signed with the Knicks that offseason anyway. Mitchell is under contract and would have been the move that Knicks fans got excited for. Eventually the front office has to step up and swing for the fences and acquire a star.

Lion Tamers

By : Mike Rifkin

The Miami Dolphins were down 27-17 at Halftime on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. The Dolphins outscored the Lions 14-0 in the second half to win 31-27 to improve to 5-3 on the season. 

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 29-36 for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Tua became the first quarterback in Dolphins history to have 350+ yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions while completing 80% of his passes in a game. Tua now leads the NFL with a 112.1 passer rating and the Dolphins are 5-0 in games Tua plays the whole game. Sunday’s game is the reason the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill from the Chiefs. Hill, had 12 catches for 188 yards and averaged 15.7 yards per reception. Jaylen Waddle had eight catches for 106 yards, averaged 13.3 yards per reception and two touchdowns. Hill and Waddle have set a Super Bowl Era record with 1,688 yards combined through the team’s first eight games of  the season.  Lions Coach Dan Campbell said postgame “We couldn’t stop their receivers. We didn’t hit them at the line, and that was part of the game plan. We didn’t want to turn it into a track meet, and it was a track meet.”

The Lions scored on all five of their first half possessions, but were held scoreless in the second half. A key play late in the first half was when Jared Goff threw a pass to Josh Reynolds in the end zone, but Reynolds dropped it and Detroit had to settle for a field goal. Goff was 27-37 for 321 yards and a touchdown. Running Back D’Andre Swift returned to the lineup and had 10 touches for 33 yards and a touchdown, while Jamaal Williams had two rushing touchdowns for Detroit. 

The Dolphins tour of the NFC North continues next week when they visit the Bears while the Lions who fell to 1-6 after this loss will host the reeling Green Bay Packers. 

Week 8: Packers at Bills

By : Ross Mazin

Oh boy. The packers head to Highmark Stadium to take on the Bills Sunday night. The Bills are coming off their bye week and are well rested. The same can’t be said for the Packers.

The Packers are coming off a lose at Washington last weekend. Aaron Rodgers had 23 out of 35 threw for 194 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. The Packers have lost three consecutive games for the first time under coach Matt Lafleur. Offensively te Packers only managed to run the ball for 38 yards on 12 carries. The Packer defense will be tested by the best offense in all of the NFL. the Bills average 440.8 yards per game. 

The Bills are coming off their Bye week. They last played against the Chiefs back on October 16th. Josh Allen was 27-40 for 329 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. The Bills not only rank first in yards per game, they also rank first in yards allowed, allowing 281.5 yards per game. 

I expect a blowout  My prediction is Bills 30- Packers 3

Into The Lions Den

By : Mike Rifkin

The Dolphins look to continue their winning ways, as they go to Detroit to play the Lions. Miami is coming off a 16-10 win over the Steelers on Sunday Night. In his return to the lineup Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 21-35 for 261 yards and a touchdown. The Dolphins offense in the first half was great, moving the ball up and down the field. In the second half they stalled. But the key to the Dolphins success offensively isn’t Tua or the speed of Jaylen Waddle or Tyreek Hill, it’s Raheem Mostert who had 109 total yards and a receiving touchdown on Sunday night. Mostert looks all the way back from his knee injury last season. 

The Dolphins defense showed up in a big way on Sunday Night, forcing three turnovers and sacking Kenny Pickett twice. Jaelan Phillips had 1.5 sacks, giving him three sacks in the last four games. This defense will play a Lions team that had five turnovers last week against the Cowboys. The Lions have 11 giveaways so far this season and quarterback Jared Goff has been sacked 12 times. Offensively the Lions average 145.7 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry. The Lions defense gives up 32.3 points per game and give up 162.8 rushing yards per game. The Dolphins defense will have to deal with the return of D’Andre Swift, who missed time with a shoulder injury. 

Key Matchups: Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland vs Amon-Ra St. Brown and TJ Hockenson. The two best Dolphin defensive backs against the two best receivers might decide how this game will go. The Dolphins secondary is extremely banged up right now, so let’s see if Jared Goff can take advantage.

World Series Preview 

By : Mike Rifkin

On Friday, at Minute Maid Park Game One of the 2022 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros will be played. The Phillies have not been to the World Series since 2009, haven’t won it since 2008. While the Astros have been in the World Series three of the last four years. The Astros lost the World Series to another NL East team last year when the Braves beat them in six games, the Astros won their only World Series in 2017, but that came with controversy. 

The Phillies finished this season 87-75, third place in the NL East, and got the last spot in the playoffs. By getting in the Phillies snapped the longest playoff drought in the National League. The Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals in two games in the Wild Card Round. Then they beat the reigning World Series Champs Atlanta Braves in four games in the Divisional Round. In the NLCS the Phillies beat the San Diego Padres in five games. Bryce Harper, the 2022 NLCS MVP has showcased himself this postseason with five home runs, 11 RBI and a slash line of .419/.444/.907. Harper has been clutch this postseason for the Phillies including in game five of the NLCS, where in the bottom of the Eighth Inning he hit a two run home run off of Robert Suarez to give the Phillies the lead. Harper is tied for the team lead with Rhys Hoskins both have five home runs. The Phillies as a team have 16 home runs so far this playoffs and have a team slash line of .237/.307/.442.  The Phillies top two starters Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are as good as any duo in the Majors. Wheeler has a 1.78 ERA so far this postseason, while Nola has a 3.12 ERA. But the Phillies bullpen which has been a struggle in years past, has been solid this postseason. The Phillies bullpen has a 3.19 ERA this postseason after having a 4.27 ERA during the regular season. 

The Astros won 106 games during the regular season and won the AL West again. The Astros swept the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS and swept the New York Yankees in the ALCS. Short Stop Jeremy Pena who hit the game tying three run home run in game four of the ALCS was named ALCS MVP. Pena had a .353/.353/.824 slash line with two home runs in the series. Pena had big shoes to fill after Carlos Correa left in free agency, Pena hit 22 home runs and 63 RBI during the regular season. But the Astros are not being led by the guys you would think. Jose Altuve has a slash line of .094/.171/.125, this playoff, Yordan Alvarez has two home runs but a slash line of .241/.371/.517 and Kyle Tucker has a .214/.313/.321 slash line with one homer. Yuli Gurriel who struggled during the regular season with a .242 average is hitting .367 and has two home runs, as does teammate Alex Bregman. The Astros top two starters Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez will both be at the top of a lot of CY Young ballots. Valdez has a 1.42 ERA through his first two starts, while Verlander struck out 11 Yankees in his last start. The Astros bullpen has an ERA of 0.82 so far this playoff after posting a 2.80 ERA during the regular season. 

I feel this series is very important for the Astros for a few reasons. The first being the only thing missing on Manager Dusty Baker’s resume is a World Series Championship. The other reason is if the Astros win the World Series people can stop talking about their 2017 title being tainted. After their sign stealing scandal everyone delegitimizes the Astros and every year they are one of the best teams in baseball, but a victory in the World Series can put that whole issue behind them.

Prediction : Astros in six

Week 8: Jets looking to be Patriotic 

By : Ross Mazin

The New York Jets take on the New England Patriots this Sunday afternoon at Met Life Stadium . The Jets are coming off a big win over the Broncos and the Patriots are coming off an ugly loss to the Bears on Monday Night Football.

The Jets pulled off a huge road win Sunday afternoon against the Broncos. The defense and offense were very much present. Zach Wilson was 16 for 26 for 121 yards. He had zero touchdowns and no interceptions. Breece Hall carried for 4 yards and 72 yards and a touchdown. Hall left the game and it was announced Monday that he tore his ACL. GM Joe Douglas stepped up and traded for Jaguars Running Back James Robinson. 

The Patriots were thoroughly embarrassed Monday night against the Bears. The biggest question is at Quarterback. Mac Jones came back from an ankle injury. Jones was 3 -6 for 13 yards and an interception, before turning it over to Bailey Zappe.  Bailey Zappe was 14 for 22  for 185 yards. He had one touchdown and two interceptions. The Patriots have beaten the Jets 12 straight times. Last season the Patriots outscored the Jets 80- 19. Damien Harris had 168 yards and three touchdowns in the two meetings. Zach Wilson had four interceptions and was sacked five times in the two meetings. 

I expect the Jets offense to be very dominant this weekend. My score prediction is Jets 31- Patriots 12

Clawing Their Way To A Win

By : Jeff Knapp

The Giants didn’t start out flat and finished off their opening drive with a 32 yard TD catch from Darius Slayton, but then allowed Trevor Lawrence to move the ball easily down the field with Travis Etienne finishing it off with a 7 yard TD run and a 2 point conversion to take the lead.

The Giants looked good going into the 2nd half despite some dropped passes and a costly offensive pass interference call that might have cost the Giants a potential TD although it did lead to a field goal.

The biggest concern going into the half was a eye injury to rookie TE Daniel Bellinger who took a few fingers or hand in between the face guard that knocked him out of the game with a fractured eye socket and he is out indefinitely.

The Jags took the ball to start the 2nd half and it didn’t look good for the Giants, who allowed the Jags to take the ball 73 yards in under 4 minutes that ended in a 1 yard TD run by Trevor Lawrence. The Giants didn’t help themselves on this drive by getting hit with a huge 15 yard roughing the passer penalty that put the Jags on the Giants 11 yard line. 

From there on the Giants defense took over and the Jags went 3 and out on 2 drive and a turnover on downs during their next 3 drives.

I believe it took every Giants fan the rest of the day to calm their nerves. The last drive was one for the ages and nothing we want to see again. Trevor Lawrence threw an interception with under a minute to go but that was reversed after the Giant’s Belton was nailed with illegal hands to the face, allowing the drive to continue. Then with about 22 seconds left an a 4th and 15 coming up, the Giants not only allow a 28 yard completion but also get hit with a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty putting the ball at the Giants 17 yard line. Finally on the last play, Trevor Lawrence completes a 16 yard pass to Christian Kirk who is amazingly stopped at the 1 yard line by Xavier Mckinney and Julian Love to end the game. 

Next week the Giants will be in Seattle to take on the Seahawks and will be without starting left guard Bred Bredeson and rookie right tackle Evan Neal, who has a MCL injury and may miss 3-4 weeks at minimum. We will also keep an eye out on Adore Jackson who left the game in the 4th quarter with a possible concussion, so we’ll see if he passes protocol on that. 

At 6-1, the Giants are giving us hope, with Daniel Jones having his best season ever, and Saquon Barkley looking like he did his rookie year and a defense that although is not having the easiest time getting to the QB, but is much better than it has been over the past few years. The O-line needs get better since Jones is one of the highest sacked QBs in the game at the moment with 20 sacks (he was sacked 22 times last season).

The Last Stand

By : Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Green Bay Packers lost to the Washington Commanders 23-21, it is the Packers third consecutive loss putting their record at 3-4. Aaron Rodgers was 23-35 for 195 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. But this is not the same Packer offense that we have seen the past couple seasons. 

Last season the Packers averaged 26.5 points per game and averaged 378.0 yards per game, this season the Packers average 18.3 points per game and average 349 yards per game. Now we can all say that this has to do with the absence of Davante Adams, who was traded to the Raiders in the offseason. But a number I find staggering is that Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 15 times in seven games. Last season Rodgers was sacked 30 times in 16 games played.  Over the next few weeks the Packers will be playing teams with great pass rushes including the Cowboys, Eagles, Titans and this week a date in Buffalo against the Bills. 

Rodgers said after yesterday’s game “ I’m not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us. This week, nobody is going to give us a chance, going to Buffalo on Sunday Night Football, with a chance to get exposed. Shoot, this might be the best thing for us.” I love this statement from Rodgers, but Packers fans everywhere should be worried about this squad. This isn’t the same team, that was the number one seed in the NFC last season. Last year the Packers were third in the NFL with a +13 turnover differential, this year so far they are a -4 in turnover differential.  I want Rodgers to go to the front office and say I need a guy who could help this offense or I want out of Green Bay. The front office should do one of two things if they want to contend they would sign Odell Beckham Jr. to a two year deal or if the Packers miss the playoffs, which right now feels like a good bet, try to see if Rodgers is willing to play somewhere else or if he is ready to hang up his cleats. 

The Packers season hangs in the balance of the next couple weeks, and it starts with the difficult task of playing the Bills in Buffalo. After that the Packers will have games with the Titans, Cowboys, and the undefeated Eagles. This could be the Packers last stand.

 Jets Flying Mile High To Denver 

By : Ross Mazin

The Jets are coming off a huge upset over the Green Bay Packers last week. They’re riding high coming into Denver this weekend. Can Wilson, Breece Hall and the New York offense keep it going on the road in a tough environment? Or will the Broncos, behind their own quarterback Wilson, find some signs of life and try to get their season back on track? 

The Jets were great in all three phases of the game. They attacked early and often. They never trailed at any point during the game. As a team they rushed for 179 yards led by Breece Hall’s 116 yards and as a team averaged 5.4 yards per carry. The Jets defense had four sacks of Aaron Rodgers and had nine quarterback hits. The Special Teams had two blocked punts including one returned for a touchdown and a blocked field goal. 

The Broncos went into Los Angeles on Monday night. They actually started strong as the Broncos were up 10-0 after the first quarter and after that they sputtered. Russell Wilson started strong as well completing his first 10 passes. He finished 15-28 with 188 yards and a touchdown. Denver’s offense as a whole has struggled all season long. They are averaging 15.2 points per game. 

I expect a rather low scoring affair. My prediction is Jets 25- Broncos 20