BMack's Super Bowl Preview

This game just feels like destiny. After the Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all-time beating the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, was there really any doubt who Brady who have to go through to get his 4th ring?

I have heard this season called the season of Redemption. If the Patriots find a way to win this Super Bowl they would've beaten every team that Brady had lost to in the playoffs (Jets, Ravens, Colts, Broncos, *Giants). It's just another reason why this game seemed destined to happen. Yet, there are so many times in our lives these stories don't turn out the way we want. To say I am confident about this game would be a lie. I think the Patriots can win, but I a scared shitless by the Giants.

Why am I scared? Because this is by far the best QB we have played so far in the playoffs (Tebow/Flacco). Actually if you look even deeper into this ShEli the last good QB we played, and we lost that game...

Nov 13 @N.Y. Jets Won 37-16
Nov 21 Kansas City Won 34-3
Nov 27 @Philadelphia Won 38-20
Dec 4 Indianapolis Won 31-24
Dec 11 @Washington Won 34-27
Dec 18 @Denver Won 41-23
Dec 24 Miami Won 27-24
Jan 1 Buffalo Won 49-21
(the the two playoff games I had already mentioned)

I didn't mean to depress any Patriots fan reading this, but you need to recognize the facts, and the facts are the Patriots defense has been playing better, but they haven't been playing passing offenses like this one. That doesn't mean the Patriots truly haven't gotten better just that they haven't faced a team like this in a while, and when we have it hasn't gone well.

The other thing you have to be worried about is this Giants pass rush. They got to Brady the last time these two teams played, and they were missing guys. The Patriots offensive line is in for a huge test, they have to be able to give Brady some kind of pocket, so that guys like Welker, Gronk, Branch and Hernadez have time to make their cuts.

Ok, enough of the bad stuff. How do the Patriots win this game?

I am not the only one who thinks thins, but I think the Patriots need to run the ball. The Giants have a good defensive line, but they aren't overly big, and their linebackers aren't anything special. We have already heard that Ridley is going to be active for this game. That tells me the Patriots plan on pounding the ball.

I know somewhere DP is yelling "and take the ball out of the hands of the best player in football!!!!"

That's really not the point. It's to take the edge off the pass rush. It's to wear them down so that later if the Patriots need to spread them out they won't have the legs to be all over Brady. It's because Brady and this offense can be very effective off of play action. Don't be shocked if you see Nate Solder as a TE a couple times in this game with Volmer taking his spot. Seriously, he was a TE in college and if the Patriots want to straight up pound the ball, having both those guys out there will only improve their chances and put even more weight on those pass rushing DEs.

Another key is Brady has to play better then he did against the Ravens. The Giants are going to score, there is little doubt in my mind, but Brady can't give ShEli a short field. The Patriots defense does give up a lot of yards, but not a lot of points. That can change in a hurry though if they are point in bad positions.

One thing that people aren't talking about is where the Patriots offense starts on the field. Last time these two teams played the Patriots started with the ball ahead of their own 21 yard line once the entire game. Tough to score points when that happens. They need a better return game, but they also need this defense to find a way to get at least a couple 3 and outs. That's going to be tough to do, but whether they get them off the field through turnovers or 3 and outs, they are going to need to do it at least 3-4 times to win.

I think this is going to be a real close game. So close that every Patriots fan may lose a year or two off their life expectancy...

Patriots win 27-24
MVP: Tom Brady
Non QB MVP: Hernandez

Captain's Super Bowl Preview

Vegas favors the Patriots by 2.5 to 3. Which seems a little strange. The Pats were 13-3, and were the AFC's #1 seed. The Giants went 9-7, and were the NFC's 4th seed, even though they had the 6th best record. Of course, the Giants beat the Patriots 24-20 at Gillette Stadium in early November.

I don't want to play the underdog card too much here. As I said, Vegas is favoring the Patriots. Which means people are putting their money behind the Patriots. But the fact that questions like "Would you rather have Eli or Brady?" are being asked at all seems a little weird to me.

The Giants appear to match up well against the Patriots. They have a strong 4 man pass rush that can pressure Brady but also leave 7 men in coverage. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots have the 31st passing defense, allowing 293.9 yards per game in the air. The Giants have a good QB, with a bevy of weapons for him to throw to. Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, and tight-end Jake Ballard who caught a TD against the Pats in November.

As bad as the Patriots' pass-defense has been, people don't seem to be noticing how bad the Giants are at defending against the pass. The Giants are 29th in yards allowed. Opposing QBs have an 86.1 rating against the Giants. What is the QB rating for Patriots' opponents? 86.1. Isn't that funny.

And since when has Eli Manning become an elite QB? I heard one pundit say that Eli's success is due to his not making mistakes anymore. Really? Doesn't make mistakes anymore? He threw 16 picks this year, 7th most in the NFL. He threw 25 picks last year.

He's been excellent in the postseason so far, with 8 TDs, only 1 INT, and a 103.1 rating. But his whole career has been defined by inconsistency. And he was hardly dazzling back in November against the Pats.

The Patriots lost that game because Brady wasn't as good as he should have been. They lost because they made mistakes like missing a 27 yard field goal. They lost because they turned the ball over 4 times. Brady threw 2 interceptions and fumbled. Edelman muffed a punt. The Giants scored 10 points off turnovers.

Eli Manning is the best QB that the Patriots will face in these playoffs. But he doesn't scare me. The November game was actually one of the better games played by the Pats' defense. People are talking about Ahmad Bradshaw not playing in that game and how much it helps the Giants that he's back. But the Giants were 32nd in the NFL in rushing for a reason. Bradshaw rushed for 3.9 per carry this year, and never once eclipsed 60 yards in a game.

And to be blunt, rushing the ball against the Patriots is doing their defense a huge favor.

This game comes down to one person. And his name is Tom Brady. How he throws, and how he's protected, and how he executes will determine if the Patriots win or lose. I know I've been saying it all year, but it is all about Brady, Brady, Brady.

The Patriots beat the Ravens without a fully effective Tom Brady. They won't be able to pull the same rabbit out of the hat twice. Brady needs to have a good game for the Patriots to win. And if he has a great game, the Patriots will win. No matter what Eli does against the Pats' defense.

One thing that unnerves me is that for the past few years Brady's tried to force the play in big games. He's thrown into double coverage with no margin for error. For example: that deep ball in the Ravens game intended for Slater. No need to try to be that perfect in one throw. He needs to realize that it's better to throw a couple good passes instead of forcing yourself to throw one absolutely perfect one. Because if a good pass is off, it's incomplete. If the attempted perfect pass is off, it's an interception.

I think Brady and the offense will execute on Sunday. At the very least, they won't turn the ball over as easily as they did in November.

Gronkowski's health will play a huge part in the Patriots' offense. He caught 8 passes in that November game. He's Brady's #1 target in the Red Zone, and he's a good receiving option to have if Brady is getting hurried. When Brady needs to press the panic button, he can throw to Gronkowski's general direction and Gronk will haul it in. If he's healthy.

Let's not forget about Wes Welker, though. Welker would have been Super Bowl MVP in 2008 had the Patriots been able to hang on. He caught 11 passes in that game. He caught 9 passes for 136 yards in November. He also had a 13 yard run. He will have a big game on Sunday.

The Giants are vulnerable against the run. They allowed 121.3 yards per game on the ground, 19th in the NFL. In November, BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran well at the start of the game, 52 yards on 12 carries. Then for some reason Ridley and Woodhead got more of the carries. They didn't do as well (combined 10 carries for 36 yards). This might have been due to Ellis' health, or might have simply been a play-calling mistake.

Look for Ellis to get the ball with regularity on Sunday. Not only do the Giants give up chunks of rushing yards, but a strong run can also slow down and wear out a pass-rush. Then of course comes play-action. Ellis can also become an outlet receiver, chipping a lineman then sitting in the middle of the field or the flat for a safe pass. J.R. Redmond style.

Brady will not look at Ochocinco unless he's clearly on the good side of a mismatch.

In the November game, Brady targeted Ochocinco 5 times. This was before we all accepted the fact that Ochocinco is not a significant part of the offense. It was Game #8. In the first 8 games of the season, Brady targeted Ochocinco 21 times. In the 10 games since then, Brady's targeted him 11 times. So from 2.6 targets per game down to 1.1.

Why is that a good thing? Because it demonstrates that the Patriots have adjusted their offense. Ochocinco was thrown to at key moments in that November game. And it didn't go well. Now, he won't be. Brady will be looking for someone else.

One thing this offense has done remarkably well this season is adjust, adapt, and evolve. Adjust to coverages, adjust to pass pass rushes, adjust to Ochocinco's inability to adjust, and so on. The Patriots didn't adjust back in 2007, they simply kept hammering away at the same thing the same way.

They've adjusted since November. The Pats have won 10 straight since that game. The Giants are 6-5 since that game. Yet somehow they've been billed as the red hot team. And give credit to them for their playoff wins. But they are prone to inconsistency.

I think the Patriots' offensive line will man-up and slow down the Giants enough for Brady to find open receivers. We can talk about schemes and strategies all we want, but football usually comes down to one group of guys outplaying another group of guys. It'll be up to the Pats' offensive linemen to protect Brady and make holes for Ellis.

I think BJGE will also slow down the pass rush and set-up a few 2nd & 2 situations. Eli will put up a few TDs, but he'll throw a pick or two. The Giants will score, and will have one or two painfully unstoppable drives. But they won't keep up with the Pats.

Patriots 34, Giants 27.

-The Commodore

Hurricanes 3, Bruins 0

It's official. The Bruins are in their mid-season doldrums.

For the first time in the history of the Whalers/Hurricanes, they have swept their season series with the Boston Bruins. And that's unfortunate for the Bruins because the Canes are 14-25-9 against the rest of the NHL and 4-0 against the Bruins.

The B's have allowed 3+ goals in five straight games. They're not doing the little things. And their success is based on their ability to excel at the little things.

They're not playing physical. And I don't mean big hits and fights. I mean going into the corner for a puck and physically earning it from your opponent.

And when they do win battles, there's no puck support. Carolina's 2nd goal was scored after Marchand won a battle in the offensive zone. But it was a Hurricane that got to the loose puck and triggered a breakaway. Ference fumbling around for the puck didn't help much either.

The Bruins are in a 4-4-1 stretch and it's because of basic fundamentals. Turning the puck over. Winning battles. Puck support. Clearing the puck out of the zone. A team with less talent might be 2-7 in this stretch. But by the same token, the Bruins aren't talented enough to just show up and win. They need to execute the fundamentals, do the little things, and physically outmatch their opponents.

They haven't been doing that since that Vancouver game.

Bruins host the Penguins Saturday afternoon.

-The Commodore

Cherington: Oswalt/Jackson To Red Sox "Unlikely" (UPDATED - CONFIRMED)

"We wouldn’t rule out adding a starter, but I think it’s unlikely at this point," said Cherington. "I think we’re going to keep looking for ways to improve the team, including the pitching staff, but I wouldn’t expect any major changes between now and the [spring training] report date (WEEI)."

Motherfuckers. We have been over my rant on this time and again. They don't want to spend the money, and it's going to take somewhere between 7-10 million to drive a guy like Jackson in. To be honest, I don't really want Oswalt as much as I want Jackson. I don't think Oswalt wants to be here, and I just don't want another pitcher that is injury prone.

Between this and not signing Madson I am pretty pissed off, because these are guys that could've been signed for short money, and little risk.


***UPDATE***

Nationals have signed Edwin Jackson (1 year around $10 million). Giving them a pretty damn good rotation of Edwin Jackson, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Chien-Ming Wang/John Lannan. Good job by them.

As for the Red Sox...

Hurricanes @ Bruins Preview

There are very few teams in the NHL that can say they "own" the Bruins, Carolina is one of those few. The Hurricanes are 3-0 against the Bruins this year, but Carolina is going to have to hope that stays true, because the rest of the stats point to a Bruins win.

Boston is 5-2-2 on home ice since the end of October, while the Hurricanes have dropped 17 of 20 on the road since a 4-1 victory over Boston on Oct. 18. Carolina also right now is the worst team in the Eastern Conference, while the Bruins are just 3 points out of 1st.

I do think this game will be close though. Rask will most likely be in net, which I actually think could be a good thing (Rask is 8-0-2 with a 1.46 GAA in 10 home starts since losing to the Hurricanes on Oct. 18), because Thomas hasn't been playing up to his high standards lately. Also, the Bruins in general haven't been as good consistently. It was bound to happen, you can just streak all season. Still, they should come out angry tonight after going 0-3 vs this team, so I expect them to win the game. Plus, having Ference back can't hurt.

Bruins win 3-1
Player of the Game: Rask (if he plays), if not then Marchand
Game starts at 7pm

Bruins' Horton Not Getting Better

"Bruins coach Claude Julien said after the team's morning skate Thursday that forward Nathan Horton has not progressed this week in his recovery from his latest concussion, and still is not riding the stationary bike.

"He's still where he was a few days ago," Julien said. "Feeling better, but not well enough right now to get to that stage of working out."

Horton suffered the injury on Jan. 22, when he was hit by Flyers forward Tom Sestito (WEEI)."

The NHL really has to find a way to limit these concussions. We have already seen it with Savard, now we are seeing it with Horton, and arguably the best player in the league Crosby. Better helmets, new rules, I don't know what it will take, but they have to find a way because they are getting out of control.

Horton wasn't the same player he was last year, and even if he does make it back I don't see him having a major impact, which is really just too bad. Thank God the Bruins have built a deep team.

Vicente Pidilla Legal Troubles Might Keep Him From Spring Training

Vicente Padilla had an arrest warrant issued for his failure to show up in court for a child support hearing, only to have the arrest order revoked later but Padilla is rumored to be facing an order not to leave Nicaragua for spring training until this is resolved. Padilla owes approximately $4,200 in child support, which is the cause of the whole thing.

Padilla is not exactly known for being the best guy, but I am having a little bit of trouble believing this. He just signed a deal for $1.5 million, I think he can spend the $4,200 to not have that fall through and be stuck in Nicaraguan jail. My guess is that we don't hear about this again.

Gronk To Practice Today And Play In Super Bowl

For the first time since injuring his left ankle in the AFC championship game, Patriots Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski will practice Thursday and will play in Super Bowl XLVI Sunday here at Lucas Oil Stadium, according to a tweet from ESPN's Adam Schefter.

I figured this news was coming after he saw him without a boot the last couple of days. This is obviously huge news for the Patriots, when these two team met Gronk had 8 catches for 101 yards and a TD in a 24-20 losing effort. He is a huge part of this offense, and the Patriots need all hands on deck. With him practicing today I am certain that he will be damn close to 100% for Sunday, otherwise they wouldn't bother risking a practice.

Why Not?

Why not watch the trailor to Eastbound and Down?

Legacies on the Line

How Super Bowl XLVI plays out will have a tremendous impact on the legacies of four men: Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin, Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick.

If the Giants win, and Manning does well, perhaps even wins another Super Bowl MVP, he'll be regarded as the superior Manning. At least he should be.

While Peyton has always been highly praised, and has been putting up gaudy regular season stats for years, the game of football is about playing your best in the big game. It's about performing in the clutch, capitalizing on the big moment, making that one play. More so than any other sport because other sports have best of 7 series. In the NFL, it's win or lose, live or die, all in one game on one night.

If Eli wins, he's the better big game QB. He'd have 2 rings. One more than Peyton. He'd have an 8-3 playoff record. Peyton is 9-10.

Eli would also have a much better record against the Patriots, a team that most NFL teams have measured themselves against for the last decade. Eli would have 2 playoff wins against New England. Peyton is 1-2. Eli would have a career record of 3-1 against the Patriots. Peyton, when facing the Patriots with both Belichick and Brady, is 4-8 against New England.

So if Eli does well and helps propel the Giants to a Super Bowl win, his legacy will surpass his older brother's.

What about Tom Coughlin's legacy compared to his former boss, Bill Parcells?

If the Giants win, then Coughlin matches the Tuna in the ring category with 2. Parcells won 303 games as a head coach, Coughlin has 256 wins. Parcells' playoff record isn't staggeringly amazing. He's led teams to 3 Super Bowls, won 2 of them, and is 11-8 in the postseason. Coughlin has been two 2 Super Bowls, won 1 of them, and is 8-7 in the playoffs.

I don't see much separation there. If I told you those numbers were some mystery coach, you might say that Coughlin is just a step behind Coach X. But Parcells' name carries the weight of his reputation as a winner. So it seems like Coughlin is further behind than he really is.

Parcells gets praised for producing lots of coaching talent. Like Coughlin, and Belichick. But that also means he's had high quality assistants helping him win. Was Parcells a great teacher? Or did he have genius students? Probably both.

I'm not saying that if the Giants win on Sunday, then Coughlin is better than Parcells. But he's at least in the conversation. Looking at just their bodies of work, there wouldn't be much separating the two.

And as for former Giants assistant Bill Belichick, a win on Sunday would put even more distance between he and Parcells. Belichick would be 96 games over .500 as Patriots head coach. Think about that. Parcells had a .570 winning percentage, and .611 with the Giants. Belichick has a .643 winning percentage, .724 with the Patriots.

Belichick has 272 career wins (31 behind Parcells, 22 behind if you include playoff wins), a 21-6 playoff record, 5 Super Bowl appearances, 3 titles. A win on Sunday would be icing on the already impressive cake of Belichick's legacy.

The same goes for Brady. If the Pats lose then both Brady and Belichick will still be considered among the best at their particular jobs. If they win, they'll be among the best ever in all of sports at anything, not just their specific positions in their specific sports. They're both already great. Winning Sunday could add an -est to the end of that word.

What would make ring #4 so impressive is that this team is completely and utterly different from the previous 3 Super Bowl champions. The Patriots won those with patient passing and a playmaking defense. Now they're trying to win with a playmaking offense and a defense that tests the fans' patience.

For a coach and quarterback to grow and adjust so dramatically over a 10 year span is impressive. Brady has become the poster boy for the passing frenzy that is the NFL. I think Belichick saw Brady's potential being underutilized in 2006, as he was forced to work with Reche Caldwell and Doug Gabriel.

That's when Belichick went out and acquired Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth.

And for 18 games, the formula worked. It just hasn't won Game #19. Yet. But if the Patriots win on Sunday, Belichick and Brady will have 4 rings, coaching and playing for 2 very different kinds of teams. Brady would have won as a "game manager" and as a "flashy" QB. Belichick would have won as an old-school defensive mastermind, and as an offensive "guru."

It's like a great actor who can do comedy and drama, who can play the hero in one movie, then the villain in another.

That kind of success puts you in the upper upper stratosphere of sports greatness.

Those are the legacies on the line Sunday. A good quarterback and a very good coach who can emerge from some shadows. And a great quarterback and great coach who can start casting even bigger shadows of their own.

-The Commodore

And A Final

I'm done for the week, this is how I feel for all of you people. I was going to take this time and write about how Alabama had the best recruiting class and how Stanford had a hell of day yesterday with signing 4 sweet guys including Deion or Barry Sanders son, whatever.

All you people invested in the Superbowl, f off, I'll see you Monday.

I Hate All Media For This Week

I hate all fucking media this week. It has killed me to watch any type of media outlet this week because the 2 teams I despise the most are playing. I'm sick and tired of seeing ShEli's stupid face smothered all over the TV, Magazines, and how people are saying that he is better than Peyton. I'm even sick of the conversation involving ShEli and Brady, Brady (like Peyton) will always be better than ShEli and is a much better QB than him so shut up with that conversation. I also hate hearing all of these scumbag New York people everywhere. It's out of control to see the Pink Hats for them, both the Patriots and the Giants must be having a race to see who can fill up their bandwagons first.

Now to New England, yesterdays suck fest on this site of the Patriots was puke worthy. Seriously? Praising a guy who was supposed to come into New England and makes only 15 catches because he made a good comment on media day...... barf. Fans are also saying he has done everything right this season? How? With the 2 snaps he gets in all game? He was a bust and a complete failure. I also love how New England and Patriot fans are trying to convince themselves that they are the underdog in this fight. They aren't. Maybe snap decision football fans that watched Brady choke last week are thinking that, but he will be fine and the Patriots have the better team. Vegas got it right, stop playing the disrespect card, it's embarrassing. It's not worth listening to WEEI too because those people who call in are ridiculous, these were the same people saying New England should trade Brady and keep Matt Cassel after the knee injury.

Yea, this may be out of hate, jealousy that my team isn't in it, or what have you, but everyone need to stop over analyzing things. The Patriots and Giants have really good teams and although I don't want to see them win their 1st legitimate Superbowl they probably will.

100 Celtics, 64 Raptors

I said this on twitter and I think this may have been the best of the season. The Celtics played against a bad Raptors team and beat them from start to finish like they should have. Everyone played a solid game, the starters didn't need to play too much (26 min the most) and we got to see what some of the young guys could do.

The offensive stats were unbelievable, they had 30 assists compared to only 10 turnovers and their 3 point shooting was crazy good going 12 for 24.

We also finally got to see what rookie JuJuan Johnson could do, he may be really skinny but the boy can score. He was 5-5 from the floor with 11 points and 2 rebounds in 10 minutes. You can tell he will be able to score in bunches with that mid range game and he is so wiry he can get rebounds because he won't be able to be boxed out.

This game was probably Avery Bradley's best year too. He had 11 points and just played stout defense the whole time. Avery Bradley can be a Tony Allen like role player for this playoff run.

I also believe that this bench is better than our bench in 07-08. They are deeper and just better.

Raptors @ Celtics Preview

Last night against the Cavs wasn't pretty, the game they lost to them earlier was worse, but we all need to recognize that the Celtics have won 5 of their last 6 games and are doing without Rondo.

There are some grumblings that Rondo could play tonight. He traveled with the team and Doc said... "With us, when you see a guy on the road, it means he's really close." So, maybe he will. That would be a huge boast for this team. They have been getting by with guys like Moore and Bradley, but it's just a matter of time before they will start feeling the effects of losing Rondo. I'd love to see him out there tonight, so he can get a game under his belt before the Celtics have to play the Knicks on Friday.

As for this game the Raptors are really bad. The Celtics beat them at the Garden 96-73. I don't usually like the Celtics playing on back-to-back days, but they are just a much better team then the Raptors (with or without Rondo). Last time these two teams played Bass had 13 points and 9 rebs, look for him to dominate down low again.

Celtics win 93-85
Tommy Award: Bass
Game starts at 7:30pm