Ranking the Hawkeyes Remaining Schedule

This Saturday, the Hawkeyes start the second half of their season.  At 7-0 at number 10 in the AP Poll, they are well in the driver's seat in the Big Ten West.  Having beaten Wisconsin, who has only one conference loss, at home to Iowa.  So Iowa has a two game lead with five to go because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

5.Purdue Boilermakers (Nov 21, TBD)

Purdue is 1-6 and is 0-3 in the Big Ten.  Purdue has just been plain awful under third year head coach Darrell Hazell.  Hazell has five wins as head coach, with three of them being against FCS foes, and one Big Ten conference game, in 2014 at Illinois. 

Purdue has had three different quarterback start at least 3 games.  They have a bad punting game, below average defense, and an average offense.  

But, if Iowa goes 10-0 into this game with a chance to clinch the Big Ten West, this could be a trap game with a road trip to Nebraska up next.  Purdue will most likely come in 1-9, and play with nothing to lose, inculding the possibility that Hazell will lose his job after this season.  But, I think Iowa will come out big winners in this game.

4. Maryland Terrapins(Oct 31, 2:30 CT)

This is Iowa's first game after the bye.  Maryland comes in at 2-5 and 0-3 in the Big Ten East.  Maryland has struggled mightily this year as expected, and former head coach Randy Edsall got fired after the Terps fell to 2-3 after getting beat by the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Terps have had struggles stopping teams from putting points on the board all season, allowing 34.1 points against, which is ranked 107, just behind Purdue.  They will go against Iowa's 44th ranked offense and 20th ranked rushing offense.

Maryland's offense isn't very good either.  Led by Perry Ellis, they have the 104th ranked pass offense against Iowa's 59th ranked rush defense.

As in the Purdue game, I think that the Hawkeyes will win easily at home.

3.Minnesota Golden Gophers(Nov 14, 7:00 CT)

 The legendary Floyd of Rosedale will be fought for under the lights at Kinnick Stadium this year.  Minnesota has had a tough schedule this year.  They almost beat 2. TCU at home, and it's not getting any easier.  This game will be the end of a gauntlet three week stretch that goes 15 Michigan, at 1 Ohio State, and at 10 Iowa.  The Gophers are going to have a tough time going bowling this year, already being at 4-3 and 1-2 in the Big Ten.

Minnesota will also have an interim head coach, after seizures from epilepsy caused Jerry Kill to retire, leaving Tracy Claeys the job for the rest of the season.

Minnesota is a fairly strong defensive team, but is a very poor offensive team, averaging 20.4 points a game, including getting shoutout at Northwestern, a team Iowa beat 40-10 on the road.

I expect this one to be pretty close, but I think Iowa has more talent and the home field advantage at night is huge.  I think Iowa will win.
2. @Indiana Hoosiers(Nov 7, TBD)
You know you have a favorable remaining schedule when the Indiana Hoosiers are one of your toughest opponents remaining.  Indiana is 4-4 and 0-4 in the Big Ten East.  So, another team that has struggled badly in the Big Ten. That includes a blown 25 point lead with 20 minutes left over lowly Rutgers at home.
Indiana's offense goes through the running back, the transfer from UAB Jordan Howard.  But, him and quarterback, Nate Sudfeld have missed some time and need to both be healthy if the Hoosiers are going to have a chance.  It will be an interesting matchup between Iowa's stout run defense.
But, Indiana cannot stop teams from scoring.  And with Iowa's great run game and C.J Beathard, this is a good matchup for Iowa.  I expect Iowa to win this game not handily, but it shouldn't be closer than two scores.

1. @Nebraska Cornhuskers(Nov 27, TBD)
This has been a down year for the Cornhuskers.  They are 3-5 and 1-3 in the Big Ten.  But, four of those losses came in the opposing team's last drive, including on a hail mary in the first game of the season against BYU. 
Coming into this game, most likely Nebraska will be 5-6 fighting to just get into a lowly bowl game.  But this is still a tough game.  If Iowa comes into this game 11-0, Nebraska would not let their rivals come in without a fight. 
Nebraska is really not good at anything, their defense isn't the Blackshirt defense it used to be, and the offense, led by Tommy Armstrong, Jr., who doesn't really fit into new head coach Mike Riley's scheme. 
I expect this game to be a low scoring battle that the Hawkeyes should win, and go into the Big Ten Championship at 12-0 with a great bowl game clinched and a big upset away from playing in the College Football Playoff.

Iowa's Better Than You Think

The Hawkeyes moved into the top 10 of the AP Polls today.  But they are not really being talked about for all of the right reasons.  And they aren’t nearly being talked about enough.  But, the truth is, Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes are 7-0, and right in the race for a birth in the College Football Playoff.

But, all the nation is talking about is the Hawkeyes schedule.   Nothing they have control over. Not how they have clawed to a perfect start, nothing about that.  Just their schedule.  How they haven’t played anybody.  But, they are completely incorrect and have no idea what they are talking about.   According to Hawkeye Nation’s Jon Miller, through the first eight weeks of the college football season, the Hawkeyes have had a tougher schedule than many of the other undefeateds in the whole FBS.  Teams such as TCU, Baylor, Ohio State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Memphis and Toledo. 

Now, I know that Iowa’s second half of the season is easy, and they will be favored in the rest of the games they’ll play in the regular season, and in some, such as this weekend’s game against the Maryland Terrapins at Kinnick by seventeen at the time I was writing this.  But, you can’t question the games they have played up to this point in time.  In fact, Iowa and Alabama are the only two teams in the whole entire FBS to win on the road against two AP Top 25 ranked teams.  Of course, Wisconsin and Northwestern are no longer ranked, but both are receiving votes to become ranked.  But, the two teams Alabama have beaten?  Both fallen out of the rankings, and Georgia isn’t close to being ranked, and  Texas A&M is 26^th.  So, the Hawkeyes might just have the best road resume in the entire nation.

The Hawkeyes played a tougher non-conference portion than some of those teams as well.  They steamrolled a top FCS program in Illinois State, went on the road and beat rival Iowa State, beat now number 23 ranked Pittsburgh at home on a last play 57 yard field goal by Marshall Koehn, and destroyed probably the worst FBS team, who also got beat 66-7 by FCS Portland State, who might not even make it to the FCS Playoffs, and also fired their coach after that game, but I digress.  But who did the Baylor Bears play?

They went at SMU, Lamar, Rice.  That’s it.  That was their non-conference schedule.  Art Briles always does this, and it is pathetic.  But, nobody talks about that.  Or, that they are yet to play anybody with a winning record in the Big 12 or a good defense.  Let’s not forget about the SEC’s top teams.  LSU played Eastern Michigan, an awful FBS team, Western Kentucky, a good Group of Five team, and a cancelled game against a good FCS team in McNeese State.  Alabama has played Wisconsin in a neutral site Texas game, Middle Tennessee State, a bad Louisiana-Monroe team, and will play Charleston Southern in a few weeks.

People don’t give credit either to the toughness and scrappiness of this team.  They are not the most talented team, and they have had a huge sum of injuries.  Drew Ott is out for the season with a Torn ACL, LeShun Daniels has been hurt since the Iowa State game, Jake Duzey hasn’t played all year yet, and the hope is he will be back very soon.  Quarterback C.J Beathard hasn’t been healthy is weeks, Tevaun Smith was out for a few weeks, Ike Boettger and Boone Myers have been hurt on the offensive line, Jordan Canzeri might be out for a while after getting hurt in the first quarter of the Northwestern game.  The Hawkeyes were down to their third and fourth string running backs, Akrum Wadley and Derrick Mitchell, and Wadley ran for four touchdowns. 

They also boast one of the top rush defenses in the nation, allowing only one rushing touchdown all season, and their defense is overall one of the top units in the nation.  So people need to quiet when they say they don’t have a great defense.

Their remaining schedule is favorable, and “Embarrassing” to some people at ESPN.  It’s Maryland, @ Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue, and @Nebraska.  Being in the West of the Big Ten helps Iowa a lot, so they play more of those 1-6 Purdue teams instead of Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.  Their East opponents in Maryland and Indiana are pretty favorable.   So, the nation should be be prepared for Iowa being 11-0 going into the Nebraska game, with the West crown locked up.  With a win, would be 12-0 going into a showdown with the Michigan State-Ohio State game.  So probably Ohio State.  America should be ready.  If they win that game, Iowa’s in the College Football Playoff.  Their schedule won’t matter.  Deal with it.

Iowa Moves Into AP Top 10

Even though the Iowa Hawkeyes had a bye week on Saturday, they still moved up in the polls.  In the AP Poll, for the first time since the 2010 season, the Hawkeyes are ranked in the top ten, as they come in at number Ten.  In the Coaches' Poll, the Hawkeyes are ranked at number 11.
They moved up by two in each poll, after losses by teams ahead of them, Utah and Florida State.  Utah got dominated by USC on the road, and Florida State lost on the last play by a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown against 3-5 Georgia Tech.
But, at the end of season, these polls won't matter at all.  That's because the only Poll that matters isn't coming out until next Tuesday.  That is when the Playoff Selection Committee releases their Poll.  It will be interesting to see how much different the Committee's Poll will be from the AP and Coaches.  There could be teams that the two polls are high on that the Committee isn't, and vice versa.
The road to the Playoffs looks pretty clear for the Hawkeyes.  But, it will be pretty interesting to see how far back from the top four the Hawkeyes will be next Tuesday.  My guess is, if they take care of business at home against Maryland on Halloween, is that they will probably be put around the 8-12 ranks.

NFL to Stream Game Online

The NFL is trying out something new for a game this weekend in London.  The 3-3 Buffalo Bills will face off against the lowly 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars. But, it will not be aired on CBS like AFC battles usually are.  It won't, because it will streamed online on Yahoo at 9:30 am.
This will be a great opportunity for the NFL. In the last few years, the game of American football had became more and more popular around the world.  Now, this game will be available to the whole entire internet, hence the "Watch With the World" slogan.
This has some people wondering if this is the future of watching football, and just sports in general.  Because, instead of having to have DirecTV and having to buy the Sunday Ticket along with that, a lot of folks are not able to get any other games besides the 2 local games that are going on at noon and the late afternoon games.  Of course, everyone gets the nighttime games.
I really honestly don't like the streaming idea.  I get how online streaming is becoming a big thing and people are switching from television.  But, I just think that it will stop sometimes and have many problems, and I would rather keep the Sunday Ticket.  But, I think it would be a good idea to use streaming for other people around the world to allow them to see the NFL on Sundays.

Early Look at NFL Season

Six weeks into the NFL regular season, and the playoff picture has started to shape itself out all ready.  So far, we have seen a lot of parity between all of the 32 teams.  It also seems like the teams that will compete for a playoff spot and the teams that will not compete for a playoff spot have greatly separated from each other.
There are always a few teams that are surprises, whether that team is a good surprise or a bad surprise.  One surprising team that is off to just an absolutely terrible start is the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens were projected by some to make the playoffs and even go all the way to the Super Bowl.  But their record?  It's 1-5.
I thought that they were overrated coming into the season, but I didn't think at all they would be this terrible.  But, Joe Flacco has been bad(and is still not elite), they have no receivers beside Steve Smith Senior, and their defense, the secondary has been the worst part of the defense.  Their playoff hopes are all but over.
Another surprise is the Seattle Seahawks.  The Seahawks are coming off of back to back Super Bowl appearances. They signed their quarterback Russell Wilson to a long term deal, and along with Kam Chancellor.  They are 2-4, and with the Cardinals in their division, they need to pick it up here before it gets too late.  Thought to have the greatest home field advantage in the whole NFL, they have all ready lost a home game, and got bailed out by a missed call from the official against a bad Detroit Lions team.
Two teams that were thought to be Super Bowl contenders are the Steelers and Cowboys, but both of their quarterback s got hurt.  The loss of Tony Romo has hurt the Cowboys really bad.  They are currently 2-3 and they are still weeks away from getting him back.  Brandon Weeden has gotten benched and Matt Cassel will start their next game after their bye today.  Although they are in a weak division, I think it will be hard for the Cowboys to put up enough points to stay competive until Romo gets back.
For the Steelers, they have been fine for the most part without Big Ben Roethlisberger.  They are 4-2, but Antiono Brown stats have been hampered greatly.  Mike Vick started the three games that Roethlisberger has missed, but after the great second half Landry Jones had, Jones will have to get the start if Roethlisberger can't go next week against the Kansas City Chiefs.  They are in a good spot to get in the Playoffs, even though the Bengals are leading the AFC North at 6-0.
The Indianapolis Colts were without Andrew Luck for two weeks, went 2-0, and are going to win the AFC South because it is terrible and all they will need it seven or eight wins, and are all ready at 3-2, even with Matt Hasselback.
A surprising good start is the 6-0 Bengals.  They were though to make the Playoffs, but were not expected to be this good.  I think that the Bengals will not go far into the playoffs, because they always start this way and the last four years they are 0-4 in the Playoffs.  I think they will probably win the AFC North, but I just don't see them winning more than one or two games in the Playoffs.
Another surprising team is the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers, so far have gone 5-0, and they look like they will be a tough out  come December and Playoff time.  Cam Newton leads a great offense and Luke Kuechly leads a tough defense.  The Panthers may have gotten one of the biggest wins of the season on the road at the Seahawks. 
So yeah, a lot of great surprises going on right now in the early portion of the NFL season.  Right now, I don't honestly see a favorite in the NFC.  I do see the Patriots as the faviortes in the AFC.  But, first let us see how they do with properly inflated footballs for the first time since like 2008.
In the NFC, I like the Packers to come out of the NFC, but that is not certain in my mind.  I like their home field advantage and Aaron Rodgers. 

Steelers play Cardinals After Last Play Win

Last Monday Night, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers on the final play.  It was first and goal from the San Diego one yard line with only five seconds left.  Le'Veon Bell got the ball on a direct snap via the long lost Wildcat formation.  It looked at first like he was going to get stuffed, but he stretched the ball over the goal line for a 24-20 Steelers win after the extra point.
Mike Vick looked good in the last ten minutes or so leading the Steelers to victory.  This includes breaking out a long run to convert on a 3rd and six.  Vintage Mike Vick.  He also had a 70+ yard bomb for a touchdown to Markus Wheaton.  Also vintage Mike Vick.
Now, Mike Vick is 1-1 as the Steelers starter, and is a made field goal away in the Baltimore Ravens game from being 2-0 under Mike Vick and 4-1 overall.
Luckily for the Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger participated  in seven-on-seven drills , and could play next week aganist the Kansas City Cheifs.  So, the question is can the Steelers win aganist a tough NFC West team with an explosive offense?
The Cardinals are good.  They might be the best team in the NFC.  They've got a three-headed monster at running back, Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington, and rookie out of Northern Iowa David Johnson, the one who's been scoring all the touchdowns for the Cardinals.
They also have a rejuvenated Carson Palmer, off of his second torn ACL in his career. 
I think that Pittsburgh will stay close, but I think not having Roethlisberger will be the difference in this one.  I have the Cardinals in this one, 23-20.  Putting the Cardinals in the driver seat in the NFC West, and putting the Steelers at 3-3, but with the weakness past the division winners in both leagues, in a great spot to make a run at a playoff spot, with possibly Big Ben Roethlisberger coming back next week.

Iowa Moves to 7-0

For the first time since the 2009, the Iowa Hawkeyes are 7-0.  That, year, the Hawkeyes won ten games and won in the FedEx Orange Bowl 24-14 over their ACC foe, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and their vaunted triple option attack.
This year, the Hawkeyes got to 7-0 by demolishing the Northwestern Wildcats 40-10, the same team that ended Iowa's dream season at 9-0, and knocking out quarterback Ricky Stanzi.
Flash forward to this year.  Not only are the Hawkeyes undefeated, they have the easiest Power 5 schedule, they already own the tiebreaker over their two closest rivals in the Big Ten West, the Wisconsin Badgers at 2-1, and the Illinois Fighting Illini at 1-1, who were on a bye week.
Speaking of bye weeks, the Hawkeyes are on their bye week now.  Let's look at their remaining schedule the rest of the regular season.
The play the 2-4 Maryland Terrapins at home on Halloween.  Then they travel to play at the 4-3 Indiana Hoosiers.  Then they play for the Floyd of Rosedale at home aganist 4-3 rival the Minnesota Golden Gophers at primetime.  Then, they stay home for Senior Day aganist a terrible 1-6 Purdue team.  Then, the play for the Heroes Trophy at 3-4 forced rival Nebraska Cornhuskers.  
As of right now, the Hawkeyes are the heavy faviortes to win the West.  All they have to do is go 4-1 the rest of the way, and they are guaranteed to win the West.  Because, after next week after one-loss Illinois  and one-loss Wisconsin play, they will be the only team with only one loss, and the loser will basically be three games back of the Hawkeyes because of the head to head tiebreaker.
The bye comes at a perfect time for the Hawkeyes, with injured players such as LeShun Daniels, CJ Beathard and Tevaun Smith have time to get to 100%.  Jordan Canzeri has a sprained ankle, luckily for the Hawkeyes, as it looked bad, and it should take him longer than the bye to get better.
If the Hawks make the Big Ten Championship Game, they will most likely play number one Ohio State or number 7 Michigan State.  Number 12 Michigan is pretty much eliminated from contention in a heartbreaker at home aganist rival Michigan State.  My prediction is that Iowa and Ohio State will play in the championship, with Ohio State winning and going to the four-team playoff, with Iowa going to a good Bowl game, maybe the Rose Bowl, at 12-1.

Chase Utley's Slide was Dirty

It's the big controversy so far in the 2015 MLB Playoffs.  It occurred in the seventh inning yesterday of the Mets and Dodgers in Game 2 of their NLDS series.
There were runners on the corners with one out and the Mets were leading 2-1. The ball was hit to the second baseman who fielded it, and tossed it to the shortstop, Ruben Tejada.  Tejada caught it, spun, and got slid into by Chase Utley.  Tejada flipped over, and he went high.
Immediately, trainers rushed out, and not soon after they called for a cart.  They had to stabilize Tejada's leg by putting it in an aircast.  It turns out that Tejada broke his leg, which clearly means he is out for the rest of the year.
I feel really bad for Tejada.  He worked hard the whole year, and he gets knocked out by a dirty play.
Now let me explain why it was such a dirty play.  First of all, after Tejada spun, he was no where near the bag.  He was probably two feet or so off of the base.  Secondly, Utley started his slide past the bag. Lastly, he didn't slide into him, he tackled him.  It was such a hard slide, Utley tackled him.  If this was college football or the NFL, he would be called for an illegal hit on an defenseless receiver.
This was not a hard nosed play as some people such as Dodgers fans would say. 
This is the second time this year somebody has gotten hurt for the year on one of these plays.  In September, the Pirates Jung Ho Kang got hurt for the year by Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan, but I'm not sure that one was dirty.
For sure, the MLB will have to consider changing the rules to protect these middle infielders.  They did it with home plate collisions after Buster Posey got hurt, and they should do it now.
To make matters worse for the Mets, Utley was ruled safe because Tejada never touched the bag.  But, neither did Utley, so the umps straight blew it.  Also, it turns out the original call isn't challenge able, so to, ya know, make matters worse.
The Dodgers won 5-2, tying up the series up 1-1 as the series goes to New York, where they will have to face Matt "Batman" at Citi Field.  I think the Mets will go on and win in four of this best of five.  I think their pitching is too good.  I also hope they win because of the slide, and also because the Cubs(who will hopeful advance) went 7-0 aganist the Mets in the regular season.

Cubs Win Puts Cubs in Great Position

The Cubs won their first NLDS game since  2003, which included a seven game losing streak. 
The scoring started off in the bottom of the first when Cardinals leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter hit a rocket out to straight away center to lead off aganist Kyle Hendricks to make it 1-0.  But after that, it was seemingly all Cubs.
They got runners on the corners with one out, and Hendricks laid down, a sacrifice, but Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia fielded it and threw it pass first base, and there were runners on second and third.  Then, Young shortstop Addison Russell also bunted, and he got the run home.  Then center fielder Dexter Fowler had an RBI infield single. Right fielder Jorge Soler capped in all off with a 413 foot two out, two run home run.  The inning was also aided by second baseman Kolten Wong's throwing error into the dugout.
Cubs catcher Miguel Montero had an RBI groundout in the top of the third to round out the scoring for the Cubs.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Wong and Randal Grichuk hit back to back homers off of Hendricks, who's day ended one out away from being eligible to receive the win.
The Cubs bullpen came in big, with Trevor Cahill, Travis Wood, and Hector Rondon shutting the Cardinals down, as Rondon finished by getting the save.
So, the series is tied 1-1, and is coming back to Wrigley Field for game three.  Not only will Wrigley be lit, Jake Arrieta will get the ball for the Cubs.  Since it feels like Arrieta hasn't given up a run in forever and is currently the best pitcher in baseball, it feels like the Cubs are destined to win Game 3, and go up 2-1.
I agree, and I do think the Cubs will go up in the series.  The Cardinals are sending out Michael Wacha, who has struggled lately but has been good in the Playoffs.
Now, if the Cubs win Game three, they will want to seal the deal at Wrigley.  The question is, who do you start?  Jason Hammel was not good in the second half of the season.  You could bring Jon Lester back on short rest, which may not be likely, even more so if you have a lead.  You could also bring in a Clayton Richard or Travis Wood and have a bullpen day.
No matter how it works out, the Cubs are in the driver's seat.  They have flipped home field, and their stud ace is coming up.  I feel really good about their chances.  I'm sure that manager Joe Maddon and the Cubs feel the same way.

Cubs Move on to NLDS

Yesterday, the Cubs faced off against their divisional rival, the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game.  Not only was a divisional game, it was a battle between the teams with the second and third best records in all of the Majors.  Yes, that is how tough the National League Central was this year, with the St.Louis Cardinals winning 100 games.

It started it in the top of the first when Dexter Fowler hit a single and stole second, and rookie Kyle Schwarber hit a bloop single the opposite field. It turned out that was all that the Cubs and Jake Arrieta would need.  But they weren't done.  In the bottom of the third with Fowler on First, and Kyle Schwarber pulled a bomb down the right field line that landed in the Allegheny River to make it 3-0.  With Arrieta on the mound, that was pretty much game over.    

But, Fowler hit a solo shot in the fifth to make it 4-0.  Then, in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, the Pirates hit into a double play to end the inning.

Later, Pirates reliever Tony Watson beaned Arrieta, and the benches were cleared.  The only person who got ejected from the game was Sean Rodriguez, who later took it out on a Gatorade cooler.  

With two outs in the ninth, Fransisco Cervelli lined out to second baseman Starlin Castro to end the game. That gave the Cubs their first playoff win since the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins in game four, and we all know how that ended.  It was also just their first playoff game since 2008.

But there is a new sense of hope for Cubs fans like me.  This win sets up the first ever playoff meeting between the Cubs and the Cardinals. Whoever wins this series, should be the favorite to come out of the National League to play in the World Series. 

Houston Astros vs the New York Yankees

The MLB Playoffs are now underway, and it all starts tonight with the American League Wild Card game.  It will be the Houston Astros going on the road to the Bronx to face off aganist the New York Yankees in New Yankee Stadium.
The Astros will send out Dallas Keuchel who is pitching on short days rest after pitching aganist the Diamondbacks in a 21-5 victory. The Yankees will send out Japanese import Masahiro Tanaka and his $175 million dollar contract.
The Astros will have the upper hand in pitching as Keuchel has a 2.48 ERA, and I don't think pitching on short rest will affect him.  Plus, if the Astros advance he will need to get used to pitching on short rest.
Tanaka comes in with a 3.51 ERA.  Tanaka has had elbow problems, but he has stayed pretty healthy all year.  It was him for sure to go tonight after C.C Sabathia checked into alcohol rehab yesterday.
My prediction is that the Astros will prevail in this one.  Keuchel has struggled on the road, and the Astros have a ton of young studs like many teams in this year's playoffs.  I think the Astros will win 3-2.

Steelers Need to Figure Out Kicking Problems

When you play on Thursday night, you're the only game going on, so you're in front of a national audience.  So everybody saw how terrible now ex-Steelers kicker Josh Scobee was.  In fact he was so bad, he probably cost the Pittsburgh Steelers the game.  He missed two field goals late in the game that each would've made the Ravens score a touchdown and putting the game on ice rather than a field goal.

It wasn't only Scobee's fault though.  Todd Haley called a terrible game, Mike Vick was erratic, and the normally sure handed Antonio Brown dropped a touchdown pass.

But, kicking has been a huge problem for the Steelers since the preseason.  During the Hall of Fame Game, nearly automatic Shaun Suisham tore his ACL trying to make a tackle.  Then, the Steelers signed former New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley, who hurt his hamstring in a preseason game.  Then, they traded a sixth round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for kicker Josh Scobee.

Now after only making six of ten field goals and missing an extra point, the Steelers cut their losses and let Scobee go, after signing Chris Boswell to be his replacement on a two year contract.

Boswell went to college at Rice, and had a great preseason with the Houston Texans, although the Texans held on to incumbent Randy Bullock, who later got released.

The fact is that whoever it is, the Steelers need an answer at kicker.  The Steelers coming into the season were hyped to be Super Bowl contenders, and they still can be.  Their defense has been much better than expected, and Ben Roethlisberger is on schedule to be back for the Chiefs game on the 25th, after getting a four to six week timeframe for recovery.

But if they can't make field goals, those points will all be mute.  If Scobee wasn't bad the first four games, they could be 4-0.  But instead, they are now a very average 2-2 and are without Roethlisberger for a few more weeks.  The last month has shown just how valuable a good kicker like Shaun Suisham is.

Another thing worth noting is that Boswell got signed to a two year deal.  Does that mean if Boswell has a great season, that Boswell takes over Suisham's job?  Of course, they can't think about that right now, but I think that's interesting considering now they have about six million dollars invested in kickers this year alone, and it'll be interesting to see how Boswell works out for the Steelers.

Iowa Hawkeyes Pick up Huge Win in Madison

It was ugly.  But after it's all said and done, it was a victory in the conference opener on the road. The Hawkeyes walked into Madison and beat  the number 19 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 10-6 for the Heartland Trophy.  It was the first time the Hawkeyes won the trophy since 2009.
The scoring started on the Badgers first drive, with a Rafael Gaglianone 46 yard field goal.  The scoring stalled until the end on the second quarter. George Little caught a one yard touchdown pass from quarterback C.J Beathard for the only touchdown of the game after a Desmond King interception  Then soon after, Marshall Koehn added a 33 yard field goal off of a Drew Ott forced fumble.

The Hawkeyes defense stepped up big time in the second half.  The Badgers had the ball inside the Hawkeyes 34 in six possessions, all they got was a field goal.  One key play was halfway through the fourth when the Badgers had second and goal from the one after recovering a Beathard fumble inside deep in Hawkeye territory.  Nate Meier pushed a lineman back, who then stepped on Joel Stave's foot, and fumbled it and was recovered by the Hawkeyes.

Then on a 4th and two in the red zone with under a minute left, Stave over led his man, and it was over.

Iowa is now 5-0 for the first time since the Orange Bowl run in 2009, and are 1-0 in the Big Ten.  They are now ranked for the first time since 2010 at no. 22, and the West looks wide open.

A concern for the Hawkeyes is their offense.  Beathard completed nine passes for 77 yards, and all ten points were scored on a short field.  But, the good news is that the Hawkeyes will soon get back Boone Myers should be back soon, maybe next week and should get receiver Tevaun Smith back after the bye.

After the loss of Ben Roethlisberger, How Will the Steelers Do With Mike Vick?

Tonight on Thursday Night Football, one of the best rivalries in the NFL and sports in general, will take place, as the Baltimore Ravens will travel to Heinz Field to face off against their AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers at 7:25.  Except a big player will be missing.  That would be Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

It happened last week against St.Louis, a game I happened to be at.  It came during a drive in the middle of the third quarter.  It was a second down, a play after he had just been sacked.  He dropped back, and Rams safety Mark Barron hit Roethlisberger below the knee, and Roethlisberger went down, clutching his knee.  It looked bad.  The leg bent in a place where there is no joint.  Many people thought that he tore his ACL, which would mean he would be out for at least the rest of the season.
As the updates rolled in, the news got better. The Steelers had hope that Roethlisberger's ACL stayed in tact.  It turns out it was an MCL Sprain and a bone bruise.   He will be out four to six weeks.

So now the Steelers will trot out Mike Vick.  The Mike Vick who got arrested for dogfighting after being a star in Atlanta for the Falcons.  He was signed in the off season, a signing that caused an uproar by some in Steelers Nation.  But it is a good thing they signed him, otherwise the Steelers would be stuck with the bad Landry Jones.

The Steelers can be successful with Vick, but they need to have a simple game plan, with Vick being new, he doesn't know the playbook that well.  The Steelers need to throw a lot of underneath routes to Antonio Brown and Heath Miller and give the ball off to Le'Veon Bell, and use him in the passing game as well.  Plus, Vick gets Martavis Bryant back next week after a four-game suspension for failing four drug tests for marijuana in his first year in the NFL.

The Steelers don't need Vick to be a superstar.  They need him to get them through this stretch of games without Roethlisberger.  He needs to take care of the ball and use his legs. 

If he gets through the strech at 2-2, it wouldn't be a bad thing.  That would put them at 4-3 and put them in position for a playoff run, and have Big Ben back in time for a brutal strech to end the season.  Even without Roethlisberger, I project that Vick will use his weapons effectively, and Todd Haley and the coaching staff will have a good, simple game plan to get the Steelers.  I also think that the Steelers defensive will continue to improve, and be stout like they were last week in St.Louis, which they will need to be every week.  I think the Steelers will win in a dogfight,20-17