Michigan State Wins The Rose Bowl & Central Florida Wins The Fiesta Bowl

Posted on January 2, 2014 by admin

In the 100th Rose Bowl, the Michigan State Spartans beat the Stanford Cardinal 24-20. Like usual, the Rose Bowl matched the Big 10 Champion (Michigan State) against the Pacific 12 Champion (Stanford). Although the 4-team playoff starting next year will certainly throw a wrench in that conference history going forward. Stanford came into the game with an 11-2 record, with surprising losses to Utah and USC, while Michigan State’s only loss in their previous 13 games was back in September to Notre Dame.

Stanford jumped to a 10-0 lead before Michigan State finally scored in the 2nd quarter, with a Jeremy Langford 2-yard touchdown run. The Cardinal added to the lead just before the 2 minute warning on a 40-yard interception return by Kevin Anderson of a pass by quarterback Connor Cook. The Spartans did come back with a touchdown pass to Trevon Pendleton from Cook, with 28 seconds left in the first half, to cut the deficit to 17-14.

Michigan State tied the game with the only score in the 3rd quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Michael Geiger. The Spartans took their first lead of the game in the 4th quarter on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Tony Lippett. The Spartan passing game proved to be too much for Stanford to contend with. Cook threw for a career-high 332 yards, compared to just 143 yards for Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan.

Stanford added a 39-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson with 4:15 remaining in the game, to cut the lead to 24-20. But the Spartans stopped them on a 4th down on their last possession to preserve the win for Michigan State. Stanford came into the game ranked #5, and Michigan State was #4. The Spartans could end the season ranked as high as #2, with the winner of the Florida State-Auburn BCS National Championship Game obviously finishing at #1. But #2 doesn’t mean much. If you’re not the Champion, then you’re just among the rest of the teams.

In the Fiesta Bowl, the University of Central Florida (UCF) Knights scored a shocking 52-42 upset of the Baylor Bears. Both teams came in 11-1, but Baylor was ranked #6 and UCF was #15. Baylor was favored by 17 points. UCF scored on touchdown runs by Storm Johnson to take an early 14-0 lead. Baylor kept coming back, even tying the game at 28 in the 3rd quarter, but they never led.

If you like offense, you loved this game. UCF had 556 yards of total offense, and Baylor had 550. This game featured 2 of the best quarterbacks in the country, with Blake Bortles of UCF and Bryce Petty of Baylor. Both of them threw for over 300 yards in the game. But UCF made the best of their opportunities, even losing the turnover battle 3-1. When UCF took a 52-35 lead on a Shawn Moffitt 36-yard field goal, with only 4:44 remaining, the game was all but over. Even Baylor, the top scoring team in the nation couldn’t overcome that deficit, especially the way their defense played.

Michigan State winning the Rose Bowl wasn’t a big surprise to me, but having that much success passing against Stanford was impressive. The Spartan defense was the best in the country this year, so holding down the Cardinal offense was just par for the course. UCF’s win over Baylor was stunning to me. Even though I saw the end of the game in which they upset Louisville, I didn’t think they could stay with Baylor. In both of Baylor’s losses their defense got hammered. Oklahoma State beat them in November 49-17.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in College Football, Football, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Packers, Eagles & Chargers Earn Playoff Spots

Posted on December 31, 2013 by admin

On the last Sunday of the National Football League (NFL) schedule, the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles won their respective division titles, and the San Diego Chargers earned a wild card spot in the playoffs. The Packers and Eagles just had to beat division rivals, while the Chargers needed to win and for the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens to lose, which both happened.

Even though the Green Bay Packers were only 7-7-1 going into their last game, they still could win the National Football Conference (NFC) North division with a win over the Chicago Bears, This rivalry is the oldest in the history of the NFL. The Packers welcomed back starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers after he missed their previous 7 games. The game was close throughout, with the Bears having the biggest lead at 28-20 early in the 4th quarter.

Green Bay scored a touchdown on an Eddie Lacy 6-yard run with 11:38 remaining, which cut the lead to 1 point, after they kicked the point after touchdown. The score remained that way until the final minute. The Packers started their last drive at their own 13-yard line. They converted 3 different 4th downs, including a 4th down and 8 from the Chicago 48-yard line. On that play, Packer receiver Randall Cobb was left open deep downfield, and Rodgers hit him for a touchdown. The Bears’ last drive ended in an interception, and the Packers earned a home field playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

The Eagles also had a game against a division rival, the Dallas Cowboys, to decide the winner of the NFC East division. The Cowboys had just lost their starting quarterback, Tony Romo, in the previous game. Dallas was home, but had a tall task in beating the hot Eagles, who had beaten the Bears 54-11 in their last game. Back-up quarterback Kyle Orton played well for the Cowboys, until the very end. With 1:49 remaining in the game and down 24-22, Orton threw his only interception of the game, which virtually ended the game, and made the Eagles division winners, and home for the first round of the playoffs against the New Orleans Saints.

The San Diego Chargers needed a win, and help from other teams, to clinch the final wild card spot in the American Football Conference (AFC). Fortunately for the Chargers, by about the time their game started, they did indeed receive the help they needed. The New York Jets had beaten the Dolphins 20-7, and the Cincinnati Bengals eliminated the defending champion Baltimore Ravens 34-17. Now San Diego just had to beat the reserves for the Kansas City Chiefs, in San Diego, and they were in the playoffs. Easy right? No.

Since the Chiefs couldn’t help or hurt their wild card status, and were playing the next week, they rested almost all their starters for the game. However, the Chiefs still led 24-14 in the 4th quarter. The Chargers scored a touchdown and a field goal on long drives in the 4th quarter, to tie the game, and after a missed 41-yard field goal by Chiefs’ kicker Ryan Succop with 4 seconds left in regulation, the game went into overtime.

The Chargers attempted a successful fake punt from their own 28-yard line in overtime, and eventually kicked a 36-yard field goal by Nick Novak, which proved to be the game winner. The Chargers became the 6th team under the current playoff format to make the playoffs after starting at 5-7 or worse after 12 games. San Diego also accomplished this feat in 1995 and 2008. Yes, it’s happened 6 times, and the Chargers have done it 3 of those 6 times. San Diego will go to play the Bengals in the playoffs on Saturday. The Chiefs will also play on Saturday, in Indianapolis, against the Colts.

In the NFC, I think the Eagles will probably beat the Saints, because the Saints stink on the road, and it might be snowing in Philadelphia. If the Saints would have won their division and been home, they would have been very hard to beat. The Packers will need a big improvement from their defense, or win the turnover battle, in order to beat the 49ers, although the cold weather in Green Bay will help also.

In the AFC, I would pick the Chiefs against the Colts, except for the Colts have beat some of the best teams during the regular season, and the Chiefs really haven’t beat any good teams, and the game is in Indianapolis. The Chargers will need to play a lot better on defense to beat the Bengals in Cincinnati, but if Bengal quarterback Andy Dalton throws multiple interceptions, like the 4 he threw in their last game, the Chargers will win the game.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Football, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

College Football Bowl Recap

Posted on December 29, 2013 by admin

After 15 games of the 35 game college football bowl season, I would like to give a brief recap of the games so far.  Only 5 of the 15 games were decided by 7 points or less. In fact, the best game so far, was the first bowl game, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Although both teams barely even qualified for a bowl game, you never know how good the game will be. The 6-6 Washington State (WSU) Cougars faced the 7-6 Colorado State (CSU) Rams

The Cougars jumped out to an early 21-10 lead in the first quarter, on 3 touchdown passes from quarterback Connor Halliday. The Rams had little trouble scoring also, but couldn’t close the gap, and trailed 35-23 at halftime. Early in the 3rd quarter, the Rams cut the deficit to 38-30 on a 75-yard touchdown run by running back Kapri Bibbs. The score remained that way going into the final quarter.

The first score of the 4th quarter was a 22-yard touchdown reception by Isiah Myers with 9:35 remaining. This was Halliday’s 6th touchdown pass of the game, to go along with his 410 yards passing. To say that WSU was gaining all their yards in the air would be an understatement. Counting the yards lost on the 7 sacks of Halliday, the Cougars rushed for a grand total of -10 yards in the game. But they still held a 45-30 lead with a few minutes remaining in the game.

CSU started to make the game interesting, with a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Garrett Grayson to Jordon Vayden to cut the lead to 8 points with 2:52 left in the game. On the next possession Halliday appeared to have lost a fumble, but his knee was down. Then on the next play, CSU linebacker Shaquil Barrett, who forced the overruled fumble on the previous play, forced a lost fumble by running back Jeremiah Laufasa at the WSU 22 yard line.

This fumble resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run by Bibbs with 33 seconds remaining, who ended the day with 169 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. The 2-point conversion to tie the game was converted on a run by Donnell Alexander, which was initially ruled to be out of bounds before crossing the goal line. Alexander dove for the left pylon and clearly made it on further review. It looked like the game was headed for overtime, until the ensuing kickoff was fumbled by the Cougars. CSU kicker Jared Roberts kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rams an unbelievable 48-45 victory.

CSU had scored 18 points in the last 2:52 to win this game. I was sure glad I turned back to see the end of this game. The first game of the college football bowl season has been the best so far. I hope several of the remaining games are even close to as good as the Gildan New Mexico Bowl turned out to be.

The only teams ranked in the Top 25 , that have lost their bowl game so far, are #20 Fresno State, and #23 Northern Illinois. Interestingly, both of these teams were underdogs. Fresno State was mauled by #25 University of Southern California (USC) 45-20 in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, and Northern Illinois was beaten by unranked Utah State 21-14 in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Say that bowl name 3 times as fast as you can.

20 bowl games remain, beginning on Monday, December 30th. The last Bowl Championship Series (BCS) games start on New Year’s Day, and end with the National Championship game on January 6th. Next year the 4-team playoff begins. I can’t wait to hear people complain then, not about the BCS, but about which teams should be included in this inaugural playoff system.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in College Football, Football, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

49ers Earn A Playoff Berth With Dramatic Win Over Falcons

Posted on December 24, 2013 by admin

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-24 in the last Monday Night Football game of the season. But the 10-point margin of victory doesn’t tell the story of what happened in this game. This was the last regular season, and probably the last game ever in Candlestick Park, unless the 49ers have a home game in the playoffs. It was a game that looked like it would end with either a 49er loss, or at least be going into overtime.

San Francisco had just scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Frank Gore, with 5:04 remaining, to take a 27-17 lead. But the Falcons drove 80 yards, and scored on a 2-yard touchdown reception by Tony Gonzalez, to get within 3 points, with just over 2 minutes remaining, then recovered an onside kick. The Falcons were at the 49er’s 10 yard line with 1:29 left.

The situation was looking bad for the home team when IT happened. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan threw a pass to receiver Harry Douglas, but 49er cornerback Tramaine Brock was fighting him for the ball, which deflected up in the air, and 49er linebacker NaVorro Bowman caught the ball and ran 89 yards for a touchdown.

Bowman’s interception return for a touchdown gave his team back a 10-point lead. Ironically, Bowman was the player that allowed the onside kick to get past him, and into the hands of Falcon running back Jason Snelling. Bowman redeemed himself in dramatic fashion. This was supposed to be an easy win for the 49ers over the 4-11 Falcons, but it ended with the win San Francisco needed to earn a place in the playoffs. If they beat the Arizona Cardinals, and the Seattle Seahawks lose to the St. Louis Rams, the 49ers win the National Football Conference (NFC) West, otherwise the Seahawks win the division, and the 49ers are a wild card.

With one game remaining for each team in the National Football League (NFL), no team has clinched their division in the NFC yet. The Seahawks lead the NFC West, and the Carolina Panthers now lead the NFC South, after beating their division rival New Orleans Saints on Sunday 17-13. The Saints currently have the other wild card spot, with the Cardinals needing to beat the 49ers, and for the Saints to lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The other 2 divisions in the NFC are easier to figure out. In the NFC North, the Green Bay Packers go to Chicago to play the Bears, and the winner of the game wins the division, while the loser misses the playoffs entirely. The NFC East is in a similar position. The Philadelphia Eagles go to Dallas to play the Cowboys. The winner is the division champion, and the loser doesn’t make the playoffs.

The American Football Conference is less complicated with one game left in the regular season. All 4 division winners have been determined. The Denver Broncos won the AFC West, the New England Patriots won the East, the Cincinnati Bengals won the North, and the Indianapolis Colts won the South division. The top wild card is the Kansas City Chiefs, but there is a mad scramble for the other wild card spot. The Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers, and Pittsburgh Steelers are all still alive to claim the 6th position in the AFC playoffs.

It looks bleak for the Arizona Cardinals’ chances to make the NFC playoffs. The Saints would have to lose at home to the Buccaneers, and the Cardinals need to beat the 49ers at home. Arizona could end the season at 11-5 and miss the playoffs. Only the 2008 Patriots have finished with a record that good, and not make the playoffs.

In the NFC North showdown, it’s still not known if Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers will finally return from his broken collarbone. If not, it will be difficult to beat the Bears in Chicago, unless they play as bad as they did in their Sunday night 54-11 loss to the Eagles. I think the Packers will win the game and the division if Rodgers plays, although backup quarterback Matt Flynn has played well for the most part.

The Cowboys have also lost their quarterback, Tony Romo. He is out for the season with a herniated disk. This really makes it tough for them to beat the Eagles, who have the quarterback with the highest passer rating in Nick Foles, and the leading rusher in the NFL, LeSean McCoy. Dallas has the worst defense in the NFL this year.

The last playoff spot in the AFC is not easy to pick. Miami is in the best position, and is playing at home against the New York Jets, but they were just shut out by the 6-9 Buffalo Bills 19-0. I think the Ravens will lose to the Bengals, so they will be out. The Steelers need all 3 of these teams to lose, and I don’t think that will happen, so they won’t make it either. The Chargers have to beat the Chiefs at home, but the Chiefs are already in the playoffs, and may rest some players. I think Miami and San Diego will both win, so the Dolphins will earn the last remaining spot in the AFC playoffs.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Football, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

West Dominates East In Professional Football, Basketball & Hockey

Posted on December 21, 2013 by admin

In all three major team sports that are currently playing, the western conference or west divisions are better than the east, if not dominating them. The National Football League (NFL) is more competitive between the east and west then the National Basketball Association (NBA) or the National Hockey League (NHL).

In the NFL 6 teams from each conference qualifies for the playoffs. Division winners account for 4 of the playoff teams in each conference, along with the 2 best records among non-division winners, known as wild cards. The 2 conferences are the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC), with each having a North, South, East and West division.

Guess which division in each conference has the team with the best record, and top seed, with 2 weeks left in the regular season. The Seattle Seahawks have the best record in football, and lead the NFC West with a 12-2 record. Not only that, but the San Francisco 49ers currently have a wild card spot, and the Arizona Cardinals are only one game behind them, and both teams are also in the NFC West.

In the AFC, the best record also belongs to the leader of the West division, the Denver Broncos.  However, the Broncos only lead their division because of a tie breaker, by beating the Kansas City Chiefs twice, and both teams have an 11-3 record. So the AFC West has the 2 best records in the conference, and the San Diego Chargers, also in the West, are still barely alive for the last wild card spot at 7-7.

The NBA has a dramatic difference between the Western and Eastern Conferences in number of quality teams. The two-time defending champion Miami Heat are in the East, as well as the Indiana Pacers, who lead that conference with a 21-5 record. But only one other team in the entire conference even has a winning record, the Atlanta Hawks at 15-12. In fact the Boston Celtics lead the Atlantic Division with a 12-15 record. All 5 teams in the division have losing records. If the playoffs started now, 5 teams would make the postseason with losing records in the Eastern Conference.

The Western Conference is a much different story. 9 teams have winning records in the west, led by the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 21-4 record. Since 8 teams in each conference make the playoffs, that means a winning team wouldn’t make it, if the playoffs started now. If you took the Atlanta Hawks, who have the 3rd best record in the east, and put them in the west, they would miss the playoffs. If the rest of the year remains this way, some pretty good teams in the west will miss the playoffs, and some bad teams in the east will  be sacrificial lambs to the Heat and Pacers.

The NHL is in the middle of the 3 sports when it comes to differences between the conferences. It’s not as dramatic as the NBA, but worse than the NFL. The only team in the Eastern Conference that is even close to the top teams in the Western Conference in team points is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like the NBA, the NHL also has 8 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. Right now, the 8th team in the west, the Minnesota Wild, would be tied for 3rd place in the east.

In the Eastern Conference only 5 of the 16 teams have winning records, if you add overtime and shootout losses to regulation losses, which is what they are, losses. The Western Conference has 9 teams out of 14 with winning records, if you add all the losses together, and one other team with the same number of wins and losses. Once again, if the rest of the season continues this way, some good teams in the west will miss the playoffs, and some losing teams in the east will slip into the postseason.

I know those of you in the east will not like to see this post, but it’s all true. I never remember such a disparity between the east and west in professional sports, especially to the extent of the NBA, other than the Heat and Pacers. This will create quite a ruckus at the end of the NBA and NHL seasons when some good teams sit at home watching bad teams playing in the postseason. This isn’t the first time that has happened, but never to this degree.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Basketball, Football, Hockey, National Basketball Association, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Packers Beat Cowboys With A 23 Point Comeback

Posted on December 17, 2013 by admin

At halftime on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers‘ playoff chances looked to be dead and stinking. Then the second half started. They took the second half kickoff, and proceeded to score touchdowns on 5 consecutive possessions, to win the game 37-36 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Green Bay quarterback Matt Flynn, threw for 299 yards and 4 touchdown passes, for the Packers’ first win in Dallas since 1989. Former Packer quarterback Brett Favre, and current injured starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers haven’t beaten the Cowboys in Dallas. Rodgers has missed the last 6 games, with a broken collarbone, that was expected to keep him out of the lineup 4-6 weeks. I can’t help but think ironman Favre would have been back a lot sooner. Flynn now owns this notable win, in addition to the Green Bay team record for most touchdown passes in a game.

The Packers (7-6-1) are still just a half-game back in the National Football Conference (NFC) North division, behind the Chicago Bears, and also the Detroit Lions, if the Lions win Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. If Green Bay wins their last 2 games, at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers and at the Chicago Bears, they will win the division, if the Lions lose any of their remaining 3 games.

After blowing a 26-3 halftime lead, the Dallas Cowboys have come under fire, especially quarterback Tony Romo. Romo, who threw for 358 yards, ended Dallas’ last 2 possessions with interceptions. Strangely, while having a 23-point lead, and rushing for 7.4 yards per carry in the game, the Cowboys’ only rushed the ball 7 times in the second half. Dallas head coach Jason Garrett even said that one of the interceptions was a running play that Romo changed to a passing play. Talk about throwing your quarterback under the bus.

Even after this devastating loss for the Cowboys, who are now 7-7, they still have a pretty good chance to win the NFC East. If they win their last 2 games, they will win their division. Their next game is at the Washington Redskins, then they end the regular season at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles blew a big chance to put some distance between themselves and the Cowboys, by getting blown out by the Minnesota Vikings 48-30, for only the Vikings’ 4th win of the year.

In fact this was a bad week for many of the teams that were in prime playoff position. In the NFC, the South-leading New Orleans Saints were whipped by the St. Louis Rams 27-16, in addition to the Eagles losing as the leader in the East. But in the American Football Conference (AFC) the 3 division leaders with the best records all lost this week.  The Denver Broncos lost to the San Diego Chargers 27-20, the New England Patriots came up short against the Miami Dolphins 24-20, and the Cincinnati Bengals got beat by their division-rival Steelers 30-20.

With only 2 weeks remaining, the only team to clinch a playoff spot in the NFC is the Seattle Seahawks, with an National Football League (NFL) best 12-2 record. In the AFC, 3 teams have qualified for the playoffs. The Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs have clinched their places in the postseason, and also the Indianapolis Colts, who are the only team who have clinched a division title, the AFC South.

The Monday Night game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions affects both conferences in respect to the playoffs. The Ravens, who are the defending Super Bowl Champions, currently have the final wild card spot in the AFC, and the Lions are just a half-game back, tied with the Packers in the NFC North division. So each team with playoff hopes will be rooting for the team in the other conference to win tonight.

There is a lot that still needs to be decided, before the NFL regular season is finished. Division titles and wild card spots are still at stake. The annual scramble is on to make the playoffs. I wonder if a team that barely makes the playoffs, will get hot and end up winning the Super Bowl. If it happens, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time, even in the last couple of years.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Football, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The San Diego Chargers Take Down The Broncos In Denver

Posted on December 14, 2013 by admin

On Thursday Night Football, the San Diego Chargers kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the Denver Broncos 27-20 in Denver. This was the first home loss of the season for the Broncos, who are now in danger of losing the top seed in the American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs.

The Chargers held the Broncos to their lowest point total of the season, and also their lowest amount of total yards, at 295. San Diego, which is now 7-7, are still a half-game behind the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins for the last wild card spot in the AFC playoffs. Chargers’ quarterback Phillip Rivers threw for only 166 yards in the game on 12 of 20 passing, but their offense controlled the game with 38 minutes and 49 seconds of possession time, and 177 yards rushing, compared to only 18 yards rushing for the Broncos. Ryan Matthews led the Chargers with 127 yards on 29 carries, and had a 23-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter.

The highlight of the San Diego passing game had to be their first touchdown. Wide receiver Keenan Allen caught a short pass from Rivers and hurdled a defender, then bashed into another Bronco at the goal line to force his way in to tie the game at 10. Allen only had 2 receptions in the game for 29 yards, but both catches finished with the Chargers celebrating a touchdown.

The Broncos scored on their first 2 possessions to take a 10-3 lead in the first quarter. But the Chargers scored the next 21 points in dominating the 2nd and 3rd quarters of play. So the 4th quarter started with the Chargers leading 24-10. Denver responded with a 12-play 89-yard drive, that cut the lead to 24-17. It was beginning to look like another comeback by Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning. But their next possession ended with an interception by Thomas Keiser. The Chargers added a late field goal to take a 10-point lead. With only 2:31 remaining, the Broncos could just manage a field goal of their own to end the scoring at 27-20.

Manning was a rather pedestrian 27 of 41 passing for 289 yards, with 2 touchdowns and that fatal interception in the 4th quarter. With the loss, the Broncos still have a half-game lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West, and have the tie-breaker, because they beat the Chiefs twice. But the New England Patriots, that beat the Broncos a few weeks ago, with that dramatic comeback, now can earn the top seed, by winning their remaining 3 games.

The Patriots can return the favor the Chargers did for them, by beating both the teams San Diego is chasing to earn a playoff spot. New England plays at Miami, then at Baltimore, before finishing up with a home game against the Buffalo Bills. This won’t be easy for the Patriots, especially since last week they lost tight end extraordinaire Rob Gronkowski for the rest of the season, after they played several games without him to start the season. The offense had really picked up steam with his return, but now will have to do without him again.

San Diego has home games against the Oakland Raiders and the Chiefs to finish their season. The Chargers should beat their division rival Raiders, but the Chiefs will be looking to avenge the loss the Chargers handed them at home a few weeks ago. So like usual, the playoff positioning in the AFC will go down to the last weekend of the season, before we even know who will be in the playoffs.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Football, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chicago Bears Thump The Dallas Cowboys On Monday Night Football

Posted on December 11, 2013 by admin

On Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears scored relentlessly on the hapless Dallas Cowboys‘ defense to win 45-28. Both teams were on the outside of the playoff race looking in, but only a half-game out of first place in their divisions. The Bears are now tied for first in the National Football Conference (NFC) North division, with a 7-6 record, but lose the tie-breaker because the Detroit Lions beat them twice this year. Only the winner of this division will make the playoffs, because they trail the lowest seeded wild card by 2 games, with 3 games remaining.

Now onto the Dallas Cowboys, who seem to be doing their traditional December swirl down the toilet. They are 7-6, and only one game behind the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East, but their National Football League (NFL) worst defense never forced the Bears to punt even once on Monday night. Their defense is surrendering 426.8 yards per game, which is over 25 yards more than any other team in the league. They are last in passing defense, 28th in rushing defense, and 26th in scoring defense, in the 32-team NFL.

Now I do want to point one thing out – this is not quarterback Tony Romo‘s fault. He obviously doesn’t play defense, and is the bright spot in the Cowboys team this year. He has thrown for 3244 yards, with 27 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions, in the 13 games the Cowboys have played so far this year. Of course, someone needs to catch those passes, and receiver Dez Bryant leads the team with 70 receptions, 908 yards and 10 touchdowns. Tight end Jason Witten also has 7 touchdown receptions.

A look at the offensive team statistics shows conclusively that the main problem with this team is the defense, especially the secondary. Dallas is just 22nd in total offense, which is based on yardage gained, and 24th in rushing offense. However, they are 15th in passing offense, and tied for 3rd in scoring offense, with 27.5 points per game. Only the Chicago Bears, who passed them last night, and the Denver Broncos, who lead the NFL by more than 11 points per game, at 39.6 points, have scored more than the Cowboys.

I have always considered scoring offense and defense more important than yards gained or given up on defense. But guess how many points per game the Cowboys are giving up a game. Their defense has given up 26.8 points per game. When you average 27.5 points per game scored , and you give up 26.8, it makes sense that your record is 7-6.

With all this said, Dallas can win the division by winning all 3, or maybe even 2 of their remaining games, as long as one of them is their season-ending home game against the Eagles. They play the Green Bay Packers next at Dallas, then they go to Washington to play the 3-10 Redskins, before the Eagles game. The Eagles are at the 3-9-1 Minnesota Vikings, then play at home against the Bears. If the Eagles lose either of those games, and then lose to the Cowboys at Dallas, and the Cowboys win against the Packers or Redskins, then Dallas will win the tie-breaker because they beat the Eagles twice. So even though the Dallas Cowboys looked bad on Monday night, they can still with the NFC East and make the playoffs.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Football, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Florida State vs. Auburn In The BCS Championship Game

Posted on December 9, 2013 by admin

The college football bowl games are set, the day after conference championship Saturday. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Championship Game will be #1 Florida State, the only remaining undefeated team, against #2 Auburn (all rankings are updated) in Pasadena, CA on January 6th. Florida State is the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion, after routing #24 Duke 45-7. Auburn punched their ticket to the title game by beating #8 Missouri 59-42 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship game.

Auburn received the help they needed to move up in the standings, when #5 Michigan State handed #8 Ohio State their first loss of the season 34-24. In fact, this Big 10 championship game ended the nation’s longest winning streak at 24 games, which goes back to the beginning of last season. With the win, Michigan State is headed for the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, CA against #5 Stanford, who routed #14 Arizona State in the Pac 12 championship game 38-14.

The Fiesta Bowl will have #6 Baylor, who won the Big 12, by easily beating Texas 30-10, against #15 Central Florida, who won the American Athletic Conference (AAC) with an unimpressive 17-13 victory over Southern Methodist, which ended their season with a 5-7 record. Central Florida qualifies as the highest-rated non-BCS conference champion. This game will be played on January 1st in Glendale, AZ after the Rose Bowl finishes. Baylor started the day knowing they were playing for a share of the Big 12 championship, but after #11 Oklahoma beat #13 Oklahoma State 33-24 earlier in the day, then Baylor’s win gave them sole possession of the conference title.

Oklahoma earned a spot in the Sugar Bowl with that win over Oklahoma State, and will face #3 Alabama, the winner of the last 2 BCS Championships. The Sugar Bowl will take place on January 2nd in New Orleans, LA. Neither of these teams won their conference title, but earned their entry in this BCS game as an at-large bid. Both schools also have a huge following across the nation.

The Orange Bowl will feature #7 Ohio State vs. #12 Clemson on January 3rd in Miami Gardens, FL. Both of these teams are the 2nd-highest rated teams in their respective conferences. Ohio State finished behind Michigan State in the Big 10, and Clemson came in next behind Florida State in the ACC.

I’m not going to list all 35 of the bowl games, just the 5 BCS games, in their last year of existence. Now I will give you my picks for the winners of each of these games, chronologically, ending with the BCS Championship Game.

In the first BCS game of 2014, I’m going with the Stanford Cardinal over the Michigan State Spartans in a close game. Michigan State has a great defense, but Stanford is no slouch on defense either, and has a better offense. Later on New Year’s night in the Fiesta Bowl, unfortunately, I think will be a blowout win for the Baylor Bears, with their explosive offense, over the Central Florida Knights. This could be a 30-point win or more for Baylor.

On January 2nd, the Crimson Tide of Alabama takes on the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl. This should be a fairly easy win for Alabama, but not by 30 points. I think Alabama will shut down the Oklahoma offense pretty easily. The Orange Bowl should be a good game, and high scoring. I’m going with the Ohio State Buckeyes to win a close game against the Clemson Tigers. Ohio State will want to get revenge after losing their shot at the national championship game.

Finally, the BCS Championship Game pits the Florida State Seminoles against the Auburn Tigers. Both of these teams have dominating offenses. Auburn does almost all of their damage on the ground, while Florida State is balanced through the air and on the ground. I think the difference in this game will be on defense. Florida State has the better defense. Auburn will also have trouble containing Heisman Trophy front runner, quarterback Jameis Winston. So the 7-year streak of the SEC winning the national championship will end in the last BCS championship game (a 4-team playoff starts in January 2015) with Florida State beating Auburn.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in College Football, Football, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Seahawks Crushed The Saints And Took Command Of The NFC

Posted on December 3, 2013 by admin

On Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks easily defeated the New Orleans Saints, 34-7 in Seattle. With the way the Seahawks defense was playing, this game was pretty much over by the end of the first quarter. Michael Bennett picked up a fumble by New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, and returned it 22 yards for Seattle’s first touchdown, to give them a 10-0 lead, in the middle of the first quarter. On their next possession, the Seahawks drove 73 yards for another touchdown, this time on a 2-yard pass to Zach Miller from quarterback Russell Wilson, and it was all over but the crying early.

This game was billed as the biggest game on Monday Night Football this year, because Seattle and New Orleans had the 2 best records in the National Football Conference (NFC). But just like after the highly touted week 2 divisional game, where the Seahawks delivered a 29-3 beating to the San Francisco 49ers, the Saints went home with their tail between their legs. Seattle outgained New Orleans 429-188 in total yards. Brees only threw for 178 yards on 38 passes, that’s less than 4 yards per pass attempted. On the other hand, Wilson threw for 310 yards on 22 of 30 passing, over 10 yards per passing attempt, and 3 touchdowns.

Now the Seahawks have a 2-game lead over the entire NFC, and a tie-breaker over the closest teams in the standings (Saints and Carolina Panthers), with 4 games remaining in the regular season. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the conference. Not only will Seattle get a first round bye, but they will be at home for the rest of the National Football League (NFL) playoffs, until Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey on February 2nd, if they make it that far. Seattle is a brutal place for visiting teams to play, with all the noise that the fans make at Century Link Field. Their fans (the 12th man) registered the loudest sound level ever for a football crowd last night, at 137.6 decibels. The Seahawks look to be a heavy favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

In the American Football Conference (AFC) the Denver Broncos currently are the top seed, after beating their division rival Kansas City Chiefs for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, by a score of 35-28 on Sunday. However, the New England Patriots are just one game behind the Broncos, and own the tie-breaker, because they beat the Broncos last week in that 34-31 overtime thriller. I think the Broncos will win end the season as the top seed in the AFC, because their remaining schedule is so easy the rest of the way. The Patriots should receive the other first round bye as the 2nd seed.

However, this is early in December, and being the best team now, doesn’t mean you will be the best team in the playoffs. Injuries can hurt your team, and a team with a mediocre record now can get hot, and keep winning all the way through the Super Bowl, like the Baltimore Ravens did last year, and other teams have done in recent years.

So if your team still has a shot at making the playoffs, don’t give up on them. They just might surprise you with a great run in December and January, and maybe even in the Super Bowl. Home field advantage used to be huge a few decades ago, but not anymore. We’ll see how this all shakes out in the coming months.

If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas

Posted in Football, National Football League, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment