The most shocking free agent signing in a while was Zack Grienke to the Arizona Diamondbacks, for over thirty million a year. This is a huge shift in the NL West, as Grienke goes from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Diamondbacks. In my mind this makes the Diamondbacks contenders for the NL West and the Wild Card. With an MVP contending first baseman and most underrated player in baseball, Paul Goldschmidt, and new uniforms, they should be a feared small market contender.
This also puts a HUGE hole in the Dodgers rotation. They have Clayton Kershaw, maybe Alex Wood, and that's like it. The Dodgers have overpaid for many players, but couldn't for their ace? Seems weird to me, and the Dodgers will probably regress. They have a lot of money and no salary cap to deal wit, so it'll be very interesting to see what they do, with a lot of the top arms off of the free agent market, maybe a trade. Such as the one that sent NL Batting Champion Dee Gordon to the Miami Marlins. But, I doubt the Dodgers would be afraid to pull the trigger.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Cubs sign John Lackey
The Chicago Cubs made their first big splash in the free agent market, signing John Lackey from division rival St. Louis Cardinals. The deal is reportedly a short two-year deal that is worth o32 million dollars. It was expected that the Cubs were going to make a splash in the pitching market with a deep free agent field, although coming in to the offseason, the Cubs were thought to get a top starter. But, the price that the aces brought, was just too high for the Cubs, and in my mind, absolutely ridiculous. The Cubs were thought to be the frontrunners for lefthander David Price, but he went to the Red Sox on a seven year, 217 million dollar contract. I was a big fan of the Cubs considering signing him, but for around 31 million a year, it was not going to be worth it. Another problem with David Price, is that he was been just absolutely awful. He has no playoff wins, and has an awful ERA. For the Cubs, the deal just plain would not make any sense whatsoever. It was more of a desperation move by the Red Sox, a bad team who is desperate for success, after making terrible free agent signings the year before. the Cubs used patience to build a contender for probably at least 5 to 7 years.
So, the Cubs went with the veteran, who at 37, might be on his final contract. Lackey has got himself a reputation of not being that nice of a guy. He is always fired up on the mound, and when he doesn't get a call he thought he should of, he will stare down the umpire to make his thoughts known. Also, he divorced his now ex-wife, Krista, who was fighting breast cancer in 2011.
But, he will bring a veteran presence to this very young team that could always use some more. Also, this is big in an NL Central vantage point. These two teams will probably be the best two teams in the division, with the Pirates lurking. The Lackey signing puts a hole in the Cardinals rotation, who has already lost Lance Lynn with a torn rotator cuff for the entire 2016 season, while fixing a huge hole in the Cubs rotation. I'm excited about this signing, and this team is still trying to trade for a young, cheap starter with a long-term deal, with using their young prospect hitters.
So, the Cubs went with the veteran, who at 37, might be on his final contract. Lackey has got himself a reputation of not being that nice of a guy. He is always fired up on the mound, and when he doesn't get a call he thought he should of, he will stare down the umpire to make his thoughts known. Also, he divorced his now ex-wife, Krista, who was fighting breast cancer in 2011.
But, he will bring a veteran presence to this very young team that could always use some more. Also, this is big in an NL Central vantage point. These two teams will probably be the best two teams in the division, with the Pirates lurking. The Lackey signing puts a hole in the Cardinals rotation, who has already lost Lance Lynn with a torn rotator cuff for the entire 2016 season, while fixing a huge hole in the Cubs rotation. I'm excited about this signing, and this team is still trying to trade for a young, cheap starter with a long-term deal, with using their young prospect hitters.
Iowa-Stanford in 2016 Rose Bowl
On Saturday, the Iowa Hawkeyes lost a heartbreaker in the Big Ten Championship against the East champion Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans went on a 22 play ten minute drive that covered over 80 yards, that ended with a touchdown run from freshman L.J Scott, lunging the ball over the goal line just before his knees hit the ground. That left the Hawkeyes about 20 seconds to advance into big-legged senior kicker Marshall Koehn's range. But, C.J Beathard got sacked on a three man rush, and laterals on the last play failed. It was a 16-13 Spartan victory, in typical Big Ten fashion.
Now that the Hawkeyes dreams of an undefeated season and for their first National Championship since they claimed one in 1922, with the likes of Aubrey Devine and Duke Slater on the squad, Iowa was going to be New Year's Six bowl. The thought was that the loser of the Conference Championship game would fall below Ohio State, and Ohio State would get picked over them for the berth to the Rose Bowl, while Iowa or Michigan State would play in the Peach or the Fiesta Bowl.
But, Iowa only moved down one spot to number five, which meant that they could be selected to play number six Stanford, who won the Pac12 with two losses. Again, Iowa is being heavily picked against in this game, a common theme here of late. But, I think that this a great matchup. It is a traditional Pac-12 against the Big Ten matchup, and it has two similar styles of offense, as they are both pro style.
Both offenses have a great running game, but the most noticeable player for either side is the Cardinal's running back and Heisman contender, Christian McCaffrey McCaffrey will be the most explosive player by far that this Iowa defense will have played. McCaffrey is an absolute beast He wasn't known around the nation, but he has burst on to the scene as a top three player the college football world. Alone, on Saturday's game against the Southern California Trojans, he totaled 461 total yards. He even broke Stanford's Barry Sanders record for all-purpose yards in a season in the second quarter, very easily passing the 3,250 yards Sanders gained.
But, he will be going against Iowa's sixth ranked run defense. If anybody can shut down him, it must just be the Iowa Hawkeyes. Not only do they have a great run defense, they have a kicker, Koehn, who can kick it out of the end zone, taking out the kick return component of McCaffrey's game. They have a solid secondary as well, led by FBS interception leader Desmond King.
The Committee did the right thing, putting the Hawkeyes in ahead of the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes never looked good all year, and Iowa not only won their division, they did it without taking a loss. Also, Michigan State, with their backup quarterbacks, went into Columbus and won the game. Iowa played the Spartans really well. Say what you want about the Hawkeyes and their schedule or whatever, but they proved to people, such as Paul Finebaum, who was very anti-Hawkeye the whole ride through the season. This is the first Rose Bowl trip for the Hawkeyes since 1991, even in 2002 when they were co-champions with Heisman runner-up Brad Banks, when the Orange Bowl picked the Hawkeyes when the Rose Bowl was ready to take the Hawks. In 1991, the Hawkeyes lost to Washington 46-34.
Unlike the Hawkeyes, this is a common end of season destination for the Stanford Cardinal. This will be the third time in the last four years that they will play in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual. Even the granddaddy has a sponsor will a really long name, which is great, I guess. They beat Wisconsin 20-14, but lost in 2014 to Michigan State 24-20.
With how the Hawkeye fans took over Indy, there is no reason to believe that will be any different. I would think about 60 thousand Hawk fans would be there. Stanford fans might just have burn-out from coming to Pasadena three out of the last four times, even though it is in California. While Iowa came from the TaxSlayer Bowl last year in Florida, and weren't expected to do much. So expect a lot of Iowa fans that will come and drink Pasadena dry.
Now that the Hawkeyes dreams of an undefeated season and for their first National Championship since they claimed one in 1922, with the likes of Aubrey Devine and Duke Slater on the squad, Iowa was going to be New Year's Six bowl. The thought was that the loser of the Conference Championship game would fall below Ohio State, and Ohio State would get picked over them for the berth to the Rose Bowl, while Iowa or Michigan State would play in the Peach or the Fiesta Bowl.
But, Iowa only moved down one spot to number five, which meant that they could be selected to play number six Stanford, who won the Pac12 with two losses. Again, Iowa is being heavily picked against in this game, a common theme here of late. But, I think that this a great matchup. It is a traditional Pac-12 against the Big Ten matchup, and it has two similar styles of offense, as they are both pro style.
Both offenses have a great running game, but the most noticeable player for either side is the Cardinal's running back and Heisman contender, Christian McCaffrey McCaffrey will be the most explosive player by far that this Iowa defense will have played. McCaffrey is an absolute beast He wasn't known around the nation, but he has burst on to the scene as a top three player the college football world. Alone, on Saturday's game against the Southern California Trojans, he totaled 461 total yards. He even broke Stanford's Barry Sanders record for all-purpose yards in a season in the second quarter, very easily passing the 3,250 yards Sanders gained.
But, he will be going against Iowa's sixth ranked run defense. If anybody can shut down him, it must just be the Iowa Hawkeyes. Not only do they have a great run defense, they have a kicker, Koehn, who can kick it out of the end zone, taking out the kick return component of McCaffrey's game. They have a solid secondary as well, led by FBS interception leader Desmond King.
The Committee did the right thing, putting the Hawkeyes in ahead of the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes never looked good all year, and Iowa not only won their division, they did it without taking a loss. Also, Michigan State, with their backup quarterbacks, went into Columbus and won the game. Iowa played the Spartans really well. Say what you want about the Hawkeyes and their schedule or whatever, but they proved to people, such as Paul Finebaum, who was very anti-Hawkeye the whole ride through the season. This is the first Rose Bowl trip for the Hawkeyes since 1991, even in 2002 when they were co-champions with Heisman runner-up Brad Banks, when the Orange Bowl picked the Hawkeyes when the Rose Bowl was ready to take the Hawks. In 1991, the Hawkeyes lost to Washington 46-34.
Unlike the Hawkeyes, this is a common end of season destination for the Stanford Cardinal. This will be the third time in the last four years that they will play in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual. Even the granddaddy has a sponsor will a really long name, which is great, I guess. They beat Wisconsin 20-14, but lost in 2014 to Michigan State 24-20.
With how the Hawkeye fans took over Indy, there is no reason to believe that will be any different. I would think about 60 thousand Hawk fans would be there. Stanford fans might just have burn-out from coming to Pasadena three out of the last four times, even though it is in California. While Iowa came from the TaxSlayer Bowl last year in Florida, and weren't expected to do much. So expect a lot of Iowa fans that will come and drink Pasadena dry.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Northern Iowa Beats Number One North Carolina
The Northern Iowa Panthers basketball program pulled off one of the biggest wins in school history. They took down the number one North Carolina Tar Heels at home by a score of 71-67. Of course, this isn't the first time they've shocked the world. In 2010, the Panthers pulled off perhaps one of the biggest upsets in the Tournament's history. Everyone picked the number one overall seed Kansas Jayhawks to win it all. They never game eight seed UNLV or nine seed UNI a chance. But UNI was under seeded by at least four seed lines, and Ali Farokhmanesh hit an unbelievable three pointer with about thirty seconds left in the game, and UNI won 69-67 to advance to the Sweet 16 where they later lost to Tom Izzo and number five seed Michigan State.
In the Kansas, game the Panthers got up by double-digits early, and held off a late surge by the Jayhawks at the end, this went the complete opposite way. The Tar Heels got up early, as they held a 41-32 lead at halftime. So, the Panthers had stayed in it, and you'd think that since the Tar Heels were the number one team in the land, that they'd pull away. And, it sure did look like the Tar Heels were going to pull away easily. They got up by sixteen points, and it sure looked like this ballgame was over. But, something clicked for the Panthers and the switched was flipped. They had an outburst. They had a 29-8 scoring run where they totally dominated the Tar Heels. They took their first lead of the game at 63-58, and it was within five points the rest of the game.
With about twenty seconds in the game, the Tar Heels took it out at half court with about twenty seconds left after a Panther foul down three. They got an offensive rebound after a missed three pointer, but the Heels cross-court pass was picked off by Jeremy Morgan, which pretty much ended the game, and the Panthers made one free throw after being fouled, and that was it, the Panthers did it.
The Panthers got 21points from Wes Washpun, 19 from Matt Bohannon, whose three pointer gave them the lead for good, 14 points from Paul Jesperson, and got their lead from a Wyatt Lohaus bucket, a big one for the sophomore.
It was played for former Linn-Mar Lion player Marcus Paige, his homecoming game, a North Carolina tradition in a star's senior season, who could not play because of a broken hand suffered in practice. His loss showed, as the Tar Heels got flat out dominated in the second half, and forced zero turnovers against the Northern Iowa Panthers in the second half.
In the Kansas, game the Panthers got up by double-digits early, and held off a late surge by the Jayhawks at the end, this went the complete opposite way. The Tar Heels got up early, as they held a 41-32 lead at halftime. So, the Panthers had stayed in it, and you'd think that since the Tar Heels were the number one team in the land, that they'd pull away. And, it sure did look like the Tar Heels were going to pull away easily. They got up by sixteen points, and it sure looked like this ballgame was over. But, something clicked for the Panthers and the switched was flipped. They had an outburst. They had a 29-8 scoring run where they totally dominated the Tar Heels. They took their first lead of the game at 63-58, and it was within five points the rest of the game.
With about twenty seconds in the game, the Tar Heels took it out at half court with about twenty seconds left after a Panther foul down three. They got an offensive rebound after a missed three pointer, but the Heels cross-court pass was picked off by Jeremy Morgan, which pretty much ended the game, and the Panthers made one free throw after being fouled, and that was it, the Panthers did it.
The Panthers got 21points from Wes Washpun, 19 from Matt Bohannon, whose three pointer gave them the lead for good, 14 points from Paul Jesperson, and got their lead from a Wyatt Lohaus bucket, a big one for the sophomore.
It was played for former Linn-Mar Lion player Marcus Paige, his homecoming game, a North Carolina tradition in a star's senior season, who could not play because of a broken hand suffered in practice. His loss showed, as the Tar Heels got flat out dominated in the second half, and forced zero turnovers against the Northern Iowa Panthers in the second half.
Northern Iowa Football Makes FCS Playoffs
It was a great weekend for Northern Iowa Panther athletics. On Saturday, the Panther basketball team upset the number one team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Tar Heels came for Marcus Paige as his homecoming game, a great tradition for North Carolina Basketball started by Dean Smith and continued on by head coach Roy Williams. Paige is a senior from Linn-Mar High School in Marion, but broke his hand and could not play.
But, I'm digressing a little. The Panther football team beat the now 3-8 Southern Illinois Salukis by a score of 49-28. With that win, the Panthers were a 7-4 football team. A 7-4 record is usually a pretty 50-50 proposition to advance into the field of 24 with 14 at-large bids. But, playing in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, or just the MVFC, the toughest conference by far on the FCS level, almost guarantees that a 7-4 team will get in. The schedule the Panthers played also helped them a ton, and gave them their second straight at-large bid. Their losses included @ Iowa State, @ #3 seed North Dakota State, @ #2 seed Illinois State , and Western Illinois. All three FCS teams made it into the Playoffs, and Iowa State is an FBS schools. They had wins against Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, and the big one was an ugly 10-7 victory at South Dakota State. So they didn't have any eye-popping wins, only one against a playoff team (SDSU), but they also beat who they needed to.
So now they will face the Eastern Illinois Panthers, and they earned home field advantage. The EIU Panthers were one of the last four teams in, as they were 7-4 from the Ohio Valley Conference, or the OVC. The EIU Panthers have been a familiar team in the FCS Playoffs scene, but are best known for being the team that Dallas Cowboys quarterback and undrafted free agent Tony Romo. Last week, they forced seven turnovers and beat the Eastern Kentucky Colonials at home 21-7 in a virtual play-in game. The OVC only produced two playoff teams this year, but the other one is the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, who went 10-1 and pushed the SEC's Auburn Tigers to overtime, where they suffered their only loss of the season. So, basically their record is 10-0. The Gamecocks were number one almost the whole season, replacing the Bison from North Dakota State after they lost to Montana. The OVC only had four winning records, and an 0-11 Austin Peay Governors team. The MVFC had five, and Missouri State was an awful one win team.
The biggest controversy was the 6-5 Western Illinois Leathernecks getting in over a 7-4 North Dakota or a 9-2 Bethune- Cookman team from the non-automatic MEAC conference. But, WIU had a lost at FBS Illinois, so they were really 6-4. With the tough schedule and wins such as at Northern Iowa, the Leathernecks deserved a bid in my opinion.
Another story line was The Citadel. They beat the SEC East's South Carolina Gamecocks last week, and I think that put them in for sure.
But, I'm digressing a little. The Panther football team beat the now 3-8 Southern Illinois Salukis by a score of 49-28. With that win, the Panthers were a 7-4 football team. A 7-4 record is usually a pretty 50-50 proposition to advance into the field of 24 with 14 at-large bids. But, playing in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, or just the MVFC, the toughest conference by far on the FCS level, almost guarantees that a 7-4 team will get in. The schedule the Panthers played also helped them a ton, and gave them their second straight at-large bid. Their losses included @ Iowa State, @ #3 seed North Dakota State, @ #2 seed Illinois State , and Western Illinois. All three FCS teams made it into the Playoffs, and Iowa State is an FBS schools. They had wins against Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, and the big one was an ugly 10-7 victory at South Dakota State. So they didn't have any eye-popping wins, only one against a playoff team (SDSU), but they also beat who they needed to.
So now they will face the Eastern Illinois Panthers, and they earned home field advantage. The EIU Panthers were one of the last four teams in, as they were 7-4 from the Ohio Valley Conference, or the OVC. The EIU Panthers have been a familiar team in the FCS Playoffs scene, but are best known for being the team that Dallas Cowboys quarterback and undrafted free agent Tony Romo. Last week, they forced seven turnovers and beat the Eastern Kentucky Colonials at home 21-7 in a virtual play-in game. The OVC only produced two playoff teams this year, but the other one is the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, who went 10-1 and pushed the SEC's Auburn Tigers to overtime, where they suffered their only loss of the season. So, basically their record is 10-0. The Gamecocks were number one almost the whole season, replacing the Bison from North Dakota State after they lost to Montana. The OVC only had four winning records, and an 0-11 Austin Peay Governors team. The MVFC had five, and Missouri State was an awful one win team.
The biggest controversy was the 6-5 Western Illinois Leathernecks getting in over a 7-4 North Dakota or a 9-2 Bethune- Cookman team from the non-automatic MEAC conference. But, WIU had a lost at FBS Illinois, so they were really 6-4. With the tough schedule and wins such as at Northern Iowa, the Leathernecks deserved a bid in my opinion.
Another story line was The Citadel. They beat the SEC East's South Carolina Gamecocks last week, and I think that put them in for sure.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Hawkeyes, Tigers Stay Unbeaten as Buckeyes, Cowboys fall
Another week of college football meant another week of crazy gamed. At this point in the season, there are only two undefeated teams in the FBS. The 11-0 Iowa Hawkeyes and the 11-0 Clemson Tigers. Both teams had easy wins over bad teams at home to Purdue and Wake Forest respectively.
The two other undefeated teams, Ohio State and Houston fell to 10-1. Houston was never in the playoff consideration, as playing in the AAC is a big disadvantage. They got beat 20 to 17 on the road at Uconn.
Ohio State lost to number nine Michigan State at home on a last second field goal by Michael Geiger 17-14. Ohio State faced a lot of controversial issues after the game, mainly from their play calling. They only got Heisman contender Ezekiel Elliott twelve carries the whole game. I was cheering against the Buckeyes, and I thought it was just awful playcalling. Elliot didn't hold back on his post-game comments. He said there's no way that he is coming back, and that the coaching staff didn't put them in a position to win. Ever since they lost offensive coordinator Tom Herman for the head coaching job at the now 10-1 Houston Cougars. Nothing clicked all year, and their repeating as champions is almost over.
Iowa has established themselves as the top team right now as the top team in the Big Ten. They are also third in the Amway Coaches' Poll at number three, and got a first place vote for the first time, in well, a long time. Iowa should be in the top four come Tuesday and maybe even number three, hopping Notre Dame. The Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten West, and have to beat Nebraska and probably Michigan State in the Championship to get into the Playoffs. If they go 12-1, they will most likely go to the Granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl against the Pac-12 champions. The Iowa Hawkeyes are in a good spot.
The two other undefeated teams, Ohio State and Houston fell to 10-1. Houston was never in the playoff consideration, as playing in the AAC is a big disadvantage. They got beat 20 to 17 on the road at Uconn.
Ohio State lost to number nine Michigan State at home on a last second field goal by Michael Geiger 17-14. Ohio State faced a lot of controversial issues after the game, mainly from their play calling. They only got Heisman contender Ezekiel Elliott twelve carries the whole game. I was cheering against the Buckeyes, and I thought it was just awful playcalling. Elliot didn't hold back on his post-game comments. He said there's no way that he is coming back, and that the coaching staff didn't put them in a position to win. Ever since they lost offensive coordinator Tom Herman for the head coaching job at the now 10-1 Houston Cougars. Nothing clicked all year, and their repeating as champions is almost over.
Iowa has established themselves as the top team right now as the top team in the Big Ten. They are also third in the Amway Coaches' Poll at number three, and got a first place vote for the first time, in well, a long time. Iowa should be in the top four come Tuesday and maybe even number three, hopping Notre Dame. The Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten West, and have to beat Nebraska and probably Michigan State in the Championship to get into the Playoffs. If they go 12-1, they will most likely go to the Granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl against the Pac-12 champions. The Iowa Hawkeyes are in a good spot.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Peyton Manning Benched
It finally happened. The Denver Broncos finally benched Peyton Manning. Yes, benching an all-time great such as Peyton Manning, was a good decision for the Broncos to be put in a better position to win games.
Manning has gotten up there in age. He is thirty-nine, and his age has really showed here in the last couple of years. Last year, he was sailing passes over receivers heads in December and in the AFC Divisional Game against his former team, the Colts. The offense this year has really struggled, and, in fact, most of the points that they had scored came off of defensive and/or special teams scores. The main problem was Manning. He now has a noodle arm. Last year, his old arm got tired, and the main reason for his troubles. He is no longer an elite quarterback in the League, and I'm not even sure he can be a viable starter in the NFL. In a day where he became the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards after needing three coming in (now ahead of Brett Favre), he might have had his all-time worst performance
Today, against a divisional rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, Manning threw four picks, before he got benched in favor of Brock Osweiler, the quarterback from Arizona State. For the record not that it matters at all, but on my bench in fantasy football, he scored -7 points. Of course, Roethlisberger came in and got at least 30 points. But, Manning does not look good out there. He looks like a man that shouldn't be in the NFL anymore.
I'm not entirely sure that this is a fore sure benching, but it is still a huge deal. Osweiler might take over as the full-time starter, or maybe they thought that the game was a fluke. Or, Manning was hurt, and head coach Gary Kubiak was just trying to take him out to prevent Manning from getting hurt even more.
Me, personally, I would take him out for good. I think that Brock Osweiler would give the Broncos the best shot to win. He's young, and he's been in Denver for a decent amount of time, so their should be a great level of confidence in him with the offense, and getting his chemistry down with his receivers. As a Steelers fan, I wouldn't mind facing a Manning lead team in the Playoffs.
The next question is, does Manning retire after the season? This was a question going around last year, which turned out to be an easy decision for him to come back. But, I think he finally hangs up the cleats after this year, and goes easily into the Hall of Fame. He's won five MVP's, and broke numerous records, so there's no question he's a first ballot selection. He has had all types of problems winning in the Playoffs, and only going `1-2 in Super Bowls. That will hurt him in the conversation for the best quarterback of all-time. Either way, it's been a great honoer to watch him play, and the NFL will certainly miss his presence.
Manning has gotten up there in age. He is thirty-nine, and his age has really showed here in the last couple of years. Last year, he was sailing passes over receivers heads in December and in the AFC Divisional Game against his former team, the Colts. The offense this year has really struggled, and, in fact, most of the points that they had scored came off of defensive and/or special teams scores. The main problem was Manning. He now has a noodle arm. Last year, his old arm got tired, and the main reason for his troubles. He is no longer an elite quarterback in the League, and I'm not even sure he can be a viable starter in the NFL. In a day where he became the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards after needing three coming in (now ahead of Brett Favre), he might have had his all-time worst performance
Today, against a divisional rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, Manning threw four picks, before he got benched in favor of Brock Osweiler, the quarterback from Arizona State. For the record not that it matters at all, but on my bench in fantasy football, he scored -7 points. Of course, Roethlisberger came in and got at least 30 points. But, Manning does not look good out there. He looks like a man that shouldn't be in the NFL anymore.
I'm not entirely sure that this is a fore sure benching, but it is still a huge deal. Osweiler might take over as the full-time starter, or maybe they thought that the game was a fluke. Or, Manning was hurt, and head coach Gary Kubiak was just trying to take him out to prevent Manning from getting hurt even more.
Me, personally, I would take him out for good. I think that Brock Osweiler would give the Broncos the best shot to win. He's young, and he's been in Denver for a decent amount of time, so their should be a great level of confidence in him with the offense, and getting his chemistry down with his receivers. As a Steelers fan, I wouldn't mind facing a Manning lead team in the Playoffs.
The next question is, does Manning retire after the season? This was a question going around last year, which turned out to be an easy decision for him to come back. But, I think he finally hangs up the cleats after this year, and goes easily into the Hall of Fame. He's won five MVP's, and broke numerous records, so there's no question he's a first ballot selection. He has had all types of problems winning in the Playoffs, and only going `1-2 in Super Bowls. That will hurt him in the conversation for the best quarterback of all-time. Either way, it's been a great honoer to watch him play, and the NFL will certainly miss his presence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)