The Showdown of the Favorites

The two favorites to make it to Super Bowl 49, the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots, will meet this Sunday. The 9-2 Patriots are atop the AFC standings, while the Packers are 8-3 and 1 game back from the 9-2 Cardinals for 1st place in the NFC. That's the same Cardinals team that just lost much-maligned-yet-miraculously-rejuvenated starting quarterback Carson Palmer to a season-ending ACL tear, but hey at least they have a good backup quarterback. Their backup and fill-in starter is Drew Stanton, one of 5 quarterbacks to start for the 0-16 Lions team back in 2008. OUCH. The point is, it appears that, at least at the moment, these two teams will likely be standing atop their respective conferences at year's end. Alas, this IS the NFL, and one play can change a team's entire season. So although it's not a given, these teams look like the two best teams in their conferences. Green Bay's road to the NFC's #1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs would be hindered, and possibly destroyed, if they lost to New England this week. The Patriots, meanwhile, are on an 8 game winning streak ever since all the "experts" counted them out, and denounced Tom Brady as in "steady decline." This is not that team. They dismantled their two biggest threats, the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts, in smashing fashion. They beat emerging star Andrew Luck's Colts 42-20 and Peyton Manning and the Broncos 43-21. The Packers are also on a hot streak, having looked shaky in the first couple weeks, they have been simply sensational since superstar quarterback and leading MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers went on the radio and told Packers fans to "Relax." All this game really comes down to is one simple thing: home-field. It seems to me that these teams are equally matched, with the Patriots maybe being slightly better, simply on the merit of much superior coaching. While on a neutral field New England is. at the moment, the better team, this game will be played in Green Bay on the Packers home field in front of a rowdily ecstatic crowd, so I'll take Green Bay and their thousands of cheering supporters in this one. Plus, the Packers simply need it more. As I touched on earlier, the Packers are in a tense race with the Cardinals [and maybe even the Eagles, over whom they would own a potential tiebreaker, thanks to their 53-20 victory in [score]], for 1st place in the NFC and losing this game, assuming the Cardinals win this week against the lowly 4-7 Falcons [who in the putrid NFC south are winning their division] would put them 2 games back from home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and that coveted #1 seed. The Patriots, meanwhile, look as though, barring a total meltdown, they will clinch the #1 seed. The Colts, well, the Colts have simply fallen apart, although it's been subtle. They're 7-4 this year with wins against the Jaguars [twice], Titans, Ravens, Texans, Bengals, and Giants. Two wins against teams over .500, the Ravens and the Bengals, both of whom are fighting for a playoff spot, and could be on the outside looking in when the playoffs start. Their losses? To the Broncos, Eagles, Steelers, and Patriots. Two of those losses were by 17 or more points and they gave up over 30 points in all 4. Simply put, with an reasonable schedule for the rest of the season, when Indianapolis finishes 11-5, it won't be a legitimate 11-5, it'll be a shaky 11-5. The Broncos, meanwhile, are not doing so hot themselves. They lost two weeks ago to the 4-7 Rams 22-7. the lowest output of points for Peyton Manning in his entire career with the Broncos. Last week, they narrowly defeated the frisky-and-underrated-possible-contender-yet-maybe-not-there-yet Miami Dolphins, 39-36, in a game that could of gone either way, and likely would have gone the other way had it been played on a neutral field. Speaking of the Dolphins, since nearly losing his job, third-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill has become rejuvenated and the Dolphins are officially a legitimate contender. However, I don't believe this is their year, they've been too inconsistent which is to be expected of such a young team. It should be noted, however, that Miami almost beat the scorching Packers earlier this year, in fact, it even came down to the final play. They also beat the stacked Patriots in week 1 33-20; yet another signature showing by an underrated team. At 6-5, the Dolphins are on the playoff bubble. Anyway, back to the Broncos, they go into Sunday's game at 7-4 Kansas City in a dangerous position. Should they lose, they'd be tied with the Chiefs record-wise, holding the tiebreaker because of a better in-division record. Then there's the Chargers, who also stand at 7-4, who with a win this week and a Broncos loss, would be part of a three-way tie for 1st place in the AFC west. After this week's showdown in Kansas City, the Broncos will have to travel to Cincinnati to face the 7-3-1 Bengals, and also travel to San Diego to face the Chargers. They do however, have two gimmes at home against the Bills and Raiders. So let's say that Denver lose this week, then goes 1-1 in their remaining road games and 2-0 in their remaining home games. That leaves them at 11-5 for the season. The Chiefs, meanwhile, are much better than that loss they suffered to the Raiders last week in the ultimate trap game. Here's their remaining schedule and my prediction for each game:   

vs. Denver: Win 

@ Arizona: Loss

vs. Oakland: Win 

@ Pittsburgh: Loss 

vs. San Diego: Win 

That leaves them at 10-6 for the season, which may or may not be enough for a playoff spot with the 7-4 Steelers and Ravens and the 6-5 Dolphins and Bills breathing down their neck. Here's what San 

@ Baltimore: Loss

vs. New England: Win 

vs. Denver: Win 

@ San Francisco: Win 

@ Kansas City: Loss 

That would put them at 10-6 for the season as well, so while I do still see the Broncos winning the AFC west, a little slip-up could change everything. My pick for this week's Green Bay-New England game and all the other games [besides the ones on Thanksgiving] can be found below: 

[Home team in capital letters] 

COLTS 34-23 Redskins 

TEXANS 34-14 Titans 

BILLS 24-17 Browns 

RAVENS 41-31 Chargers 

Giants 37-16 JAGUARS 

BUCCANEERS 20-17 Bengals [In Overtime] 

RAMS 44-7 Raiders 

STEELERS 45-27 Saints 

VIKINGS 14-9 Panthers 

Cardinals 30-17 FALCONS 

PACKERS 37-34 Patriots 

CHIEFS 27-20 Broncos 

Dolphins 31-30 JETS 

Enjoy a great weekend of football everybody!

The Sports Kid 

Taking a break

I'll be taking a break for the rest of August. 

Be back in September,

The Sports Kid 

Eli Manning Entering Make-or-Break Year

He's won Super Bowl MVP twice. But he's also been top-two in league interceptions twice, including leading the league in picks last year. Now, at the age of 33, Eli Manning is entering a make-or break season. A season in which he will either rejuvenate his storied career, or enter a sharp decline from which he will never return. That's what this year looks like for the starting Quarterback of the New York Giants. 

The news broke on Monday. The news that David Wilson would be joining Chris Snee in retirement. Snee, a former Pro-Bowler and longtime Giant retired after an offseason back injury, saying he physically couldn't go through the grind of playing anymore. Wilson, at just 23 years of age, was also forced into retirement by an injury. He had spinal neck fusion surgery this offseason, and after announcing he was cleared to play just a few weeks ago, was told by doctors after suffering a practice injury that he could be permanently paralyzed if he ever played in the NFL again. Not only were these injuries devastating to the players that suffered them, they were also devastating to the Giants' 2014 season hopes. 

The loss of Snee makes an already appalling offensive line even worse. While the loss of Wilson not only weakens the Giants' already-poor running game, it also hurts the team's spirit. If that breaks at any point during the season, it may be too much for Tom Coughlin & co. to handle. 

Now: back to Manning. In a recent study, one sportswriter/mathematician did a study and found that if you do a study of all 27 of Eli Manning's interceptions last year, do you know how many were actually his fault? Two. That's right, two of Eli Manning's 27 interceptions last year were his fault. He threw an interception on 4.9 percent of his passes that year, an abysmally high number, especially for a Quarterback with such high prestige league-wide.

But, and there always is one, if you use the metric in which just two of his interceptions are his fault (which I firmly believe to be true), then his interception rate drops from 4.9 percent to a whopping 0.362 percent. That would put him ahead of Aaron Rodgers (2.1), his brother Peyton Manning (1.5), and even the league leader in this statistic for that year, Nick Foles, who had a 0.6 interception rate. 

It's really important that we know just how many of a Quarterback's interceptions are actually his fault before judging him on that statistic. 

Eli Manning played with the following wide receivers last year: Victor Cruz (double-teamed every game), Hakeem Nicks (zero touchdowns in what was supposed to be his breakout year), and Reuben Randle (wildly inconsistent and an above-average third Wide Receiver at best). That is the grand list of the New York Giants' 2013 receivers. 

Meanwhile, Eli's older brother, Peyton, had three Pro Bowl wideouts (Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Eric Decker), as well as a Pro Bowl Tight End ("Orange" Julius Thomas), and a Pro Bowl running back (Knowshon Moreno). The younger Manning had to settle for Brandon Myers at Tight End and Peyton Hillis at Running Back. 

Hillis is perhaps the worst Running Back to start an NFL game in recent memory. Said Hillis after being signed by the Giants, "I stopped working out. I pretty much knew my NFL career was over, and I was living on my couch." Wow. That's not even a joke. The New York Giants starting Running Back for a lot of last season was working harder to get into shape than he was on actually scoring touchdowns. While Peyton Manning had Knowshon Moreno to hand-off to when in doubt, the younger Manning was handing the pigskin to a guy who had been signed off his couch, a guy who was still rounding himself into shape. 

Offensive lines matter, too. That's why the loss of Chris Snee is so huge. Manning was sacked 39 times last season with Snee blocking for him. Imagine what the line will look like this year without him. Those 39 sacks are not an outlier; the offensive line is also a big reason why Manning threw so many interceptions. If I was him I'd throw the ball too to avoid being smashed by a 300-pound monster too. And as I said earlier, a lot if times when he threw the ball with pressure on him he threw to an open man, only to see the ball be tipped and intercepted. 

The Giants brought in a new offensive coordinator in Ben McAdoo this offseason, to replace the fading Kevin Gilibride. McAdoo has said that  Manning's goal for this year is to complete 70 percent of his passes. While implausible, this is not entirely impossible. (The most recent person to do it was then-49ers Quarterback Alex Smith, who was benched that same year.) I don't know whether Manning will have a bounce-back year or another 20-plus interception year, but I do know this: it's a make-or-break year for Eli Manning, and this year may just decide the rest of his career. 

Pacers' George out for season; Giants' Wilson retires

Indiana Pacers Forward Paul George will miss all of the 2014-15 NBA season with an injury to his leg that he suffered during a scrimmage between the US team for the 2014 FIBA World Cup. On a play in which he went for a chase down block against Houston Rockets Guard James Harden, George landed the wrong way and his foot bent sideways like a snapped twig. The injury is bad for the Pacers, considering they already lost their best on-ball playmaker, Lance Stephenson, to the Hornets in free agency. They also lost 6th man Evan Turner to the Celtics. Remaining starters George Hill, David West, and Roy Hibbert will need to step up, as well as newly-acquired C.J. Miles, and Damjen Rudez if this team wants to contend for a playoff spot. The good news for Pacers fans is that George's injury was a clean one, and he is expected to make a full recovery, with his left leg expected to be even stronger than it was before the injury once he returns. It's still a devastating blow to a team that, until the injury, had strong championship aspirations. 

New York Giants running back David Wilson has announced his retirement from the NFL. Wilson, 23, was told by doctors that it would be unsafe for him to play due to lingering neck issues prior to his third season. 

Fantasy Football Rankings

Quarterback 

1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers 

2. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos 

3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints 

4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers 

5. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts 

6. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers 

7. Tom Brady, New England Patriots 

8. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions 

9. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers 

10. Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins 

Sleeper: Eli Manning, New York Giants 

Running Back 

1. Lesean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles 

2. Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs 

3. Matt Forte, Chicago Bears 

4. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings 

5. Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins 

6. Demarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys 

7. Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

8. Ryan Matthews, San Diego Chargers 

9. C.J. Spiller, Buffalo Bills 

10. Zac Stacy, St. Louis Rams 

Sleepers: Andre Ellington, Arizona Cardinals; Monte Ball, Denver Broncos  

Wide Receiver 

1. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys 

2. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons 

3. Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers 

4. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions 

5. T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts 

6. A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals 

7. Victor Cruz, New York Giants 

8. Desean Jackson, Washington Redskins 

9. Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos 

10. Wes Welker, Denver Broncos 

Sleeper: Corradarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings 

Tight End 

1. Jimmy Graham, New Orleans Saints  

2. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots 

3. Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins 

4. Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers 

5. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers 

6. Dennis Pitta, Baltimore Ravens 

7. Charles Clay, Miami Dolphins 

8. Owen Daniels, Houston Texans 

9. Jason Witten 

10. Dwayne Allen, Indianpolis Colts 

Sleeper: Zac Ebron, Detroit Lions 

Defense 

1. San Francisco 49ers 

2. Seattle Seahawks 

3. Carolina Panthers 

4. Arizona Cardinals 

5. St. Louis Rams 

6. New Orleans Saints 

7. New York Jets 

8. Cincinnati Bengals 

9. New England Patriots 

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Sleeper: Oakland Raiders 

Manchester United looking to improve from last year

Manchester United will be looking to improve on last year's poor season, in which they finished 7th in the league tables. They fired manager David Moyes, and hired the superb Louis Van Gaal, who is also the manager for the Netherlands. The Red Devils have plenty of talent, with star strikers Robin Van Persie of the Netherlands and Wayne Rooney of England, but the defense will be a big question mark after the news came out that right back Patrice Evra has left the club to go to the Italian Juventus. This will require defender Phil Jones to step up and play a bigger role in the 1st team. They also have a few solid players in the midfield that could potentially step up and be game changers this season, namely Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Nani, and Luis Antonio Valencia. There is also Javier "Chihcarito" Hernandez of Mexico, who could be entering a breakout year. Known for being just a young, sparky bench player, this could be the season he maintains a consistent level of solid, above-average play and cements his place on the 1st team. He could possibly pass Wayne Rooney as the team's #2 striker, who has had transfer rumors surrounding him for the past 2 years. His transfer fee could bring in enough money to sign a Van Gaal favorite such as Wesley Sneijder or Arjen Robben, players who are on the backend of their careers, but are still great players. 

James Rodriguez signs with Real Madrid

Colombian star James Rodriguez has signed with Real Madrid for a transfer fee somewhere between 101-102 million dollars. Rodriguez led the World Cup with 6 goals, and made it to the quarterfinals before losing 2-1 to the home Brazil. Rodriguez played just as well [and better, in my opinion] than some of the Cup's other biggest stars such as Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. He also outperformed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Xavi Hernandez, who all had underwhelming Cup performances. His arrival to Real Madrid bolsters the midfield and makes up for the loss of German star Mesut Ozil. Real Madrid also signed German midfielder Toni Kroos and Costa Rican goaltender Jesus Navas, both of whom had stellar Cup performances. The addition of this three, when paired with Real Madrid's already existing big three of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, France's Karim Benzema, and Spain's Sergio Ramos, makes this team even better than they were last year, when they won the UEFA Champions League, a tournament of all the best clubs in the world. This makes Real Madrid the most valuable sports franchise in the world, valued at approximately 3.48 billion dollars.