THE STL CARDINALS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS!
Congratulations Bud Selig, thanks to my Cards making that last playoff slot I am officially a fan of your new wild card playoff system. Why? Because my team now has a shot at winning a 12th World Series Championship. #12in12 as Cards fans would say. To say I'm nervous about the one game playoff against the Braves would be an understatement. Do I think they can do it? Absolutely. Anything is possible.
I will try to post more baseball playoff thoughts tomorrow. For now, let's get to week 4 NFL thoughts, shall we?
The regular refs are back, and everyone is so happy!
At least, until everyone realized that the regular refs still make calls you don't like, agree with, or just plain and simple are wrong. Ah, well. It was nice while it lasted, right Ed Hochuli?
Calisportsdiva's Top 10 Afterthoughts of the Week
10. The Arizona Cardinals are 4-0 and I still can't wrap my head around this. I get that their defense is pretty solid. The whole NFC West has pretty solid defenses. But how Arizona has managed to get to 4-0 with so many questions surrounding their offense is amazing. Skleton or Kolb? So far, Kolb seems to be doing enough. I'm very interested in seeing how the game goes tomorrow night between the Rams and the Cardinals. While I do think the Cardinals are improved, I don't buy them as a playoff contender...yet. We'll see.
9. Who are the Eagles? I still struggle to figure out exactly what this team is about. On paper, they should be good. They have a lot of weapons on offense and on defense, but turnovers seem to plague this team more than any other. And yet, despite throwing a lot of interceptions, Vick still manages to find a way to win, though they are close. Philly sits at 3-1 but have yet to win a game by more than 2 points. That's cutting it awfully close.
8. Oh, there you are New England. The Pats proved why they are still the favorite to win their division by thrashing the Bills in a 52-28 beat down. The Bills looked good at the start, but once Brady got going the Pats ran away with the game. If any Pats fans were worrying...well, don't. You know they'll still win the division.
7. Minnesota keeps winning. Talk about another surprising team. Everyone had pegged the Vikings to be terrible and they keep finding ways to win. Granted, they haven't faced a super tough opponent yet though most would have expected the Lions to take this game and they looked pretty awful. Detroit may be one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL right now. I thought they would at least make a run for the playoffs, at least a wild card spot but man they do not look like the team I expected. Makes me wonder how in the world the Rams still lost that game in week 1.
6. Speaking of the Rams...one week after Golden Tate's non-catch to beat Green Bay, Seattle found themselves slapped back to reality. No replacement refs here to help you out. It wasn't a pretty game, but the Rams were able to beat Seattle proving that a) the Rams defense is good and b) the Rams are a better team than most think. The Rams are now 2-2, and while I don't think they are to the point where they are a playoff caliber team, I like how Jeff Fisher has turned this team around in one year. I had someone say to me "oh, the Rams will win 3 games this season." Well, they've already won 2 and we're heading into week 5 and I know they'll at least win one more, they play the Jets. But overall, yes I expect this team to win a lot more games. 9-7, folks. Who knows, that may be enough for a wild card spot. Stranger things have happened...
5. Speaking of the Jets...IT"S TEBOW TIME!
"Put me in coach! I'm ready to play!"
I just don't know what to say about the Jets. They are what we thought they would be. An utter trainwreck. The 49'ers completely destroyed them (my fantasy team benefited from this so I was happy about that) and Sanchez just looked awful. But before everyone starts the "Tebow!" chants, let's just think about this for a moment. Sanchez may not be the best QB, but he's simply got nothing to work with. Santonio Holmes was his best wide out and now he's out for the season with injury. The running game is abysmal. Dustin Keller is not Gronk. The fact is, upper management has focused too much on building the Jets defense and not enough on offensive players. Put any QB in Sanchez's situation and they would struggle. Maybe Brady or Manning would make some young Jets wide out the next Wes Welker or Pierre Garcon but the fact is, most QB's would have a hard time winning with the offensive line-up the Jets currently have. So, where do the Jets go from here? I don't see Tebow starting yet but with Holmes out I think they have to consider finding more ways to get him involved with the game. Sanchez is the better QB and once you bench him...you lose him. tough situation for the Jets. Tough season period.
4. Atlanta Falcons are 4-0. And clearly a legitimate 4-0. I continue to be impressed by Atlanta. I haven't seen a Falcons team this good since the "Dirty Bird" years.
Gotta love NFL touchdown dances.
3. Houston, we don't have a problem. Speaking of teams with divisions that are theirs to lose...how about the Houston Texans? Another legitimate 4-0 team who looks to be a team to watch out for. Several NFL pundits have picked Houston to make it to the Superbowl and I can see why. This team is excelling on defense, offense, special teams...the Texans are solid. Poor Tennessee just couldn't compete in fact, QB Jake Locker got knocked out of the game and that brought in...Matt Hasselback! I forgot he was still in the league. Houston will win the AFC South. Tennessee will...be looking at a top draft pick at the end of the season.
2. The Broncos are adapting to the Peyton Manning offense. It's no secret that the Broncos have had a bit of an up/down season so far, but this week's smackdown against Oakland showed a lot of what many Colts fans are used to seeing: classic Peyton Manning. As time goes on I expect to see the Denver Broncos to improve as long as Manning's healthy and the offense is able to adapt. I still think Denver wins their division and makes the playoffs. How far they go? I'm not sure I'd say Superbowl contender but you never know.
1. Tony Romo..."Oh no!" 5 interceptions for Tony Romo on Monday night, oy. The Cowboys are another team where you think they should be great, but yet they still seem to fail to meet that goal. The Cowboys aren't in as dire a situation as the Jets...at least the Cowboys have offensive weapons with Bryant, Austin and Murray but things just don't seem to be gelling the way they should. 5 interceptions is ridiculous. They did play the Bears, and their defense is certainly solid but wow, 5 picks. However the Cowboys are tied with the Skins and Giants at 2-2 so anything can happen,.
And that's the week 4 round-up. Before I forget, I realized I didn't post a Superbowl pick before the beginning of the season, but wanted to post it now. I promise I haven't been influenced by circumstances since the season started, and once you see my pick I think you'll see that.
So, my pick for Superbowl? 49'ers vs Ravens. The Harbaugh Bowl. I still think that can happen, but see some other teams that could spoil this scenario. At any rate, that was my pre-season pick.
That's all for this week on the NFL. Hope to post a baseball blog tomorrow with my thoughts going into the post-season.
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