* Well, the Johnny Football era began in Cleveland on Sunday and it was a total disaster. Manziel looked awful. He made bad throws and looked lost out there. The running game was non-existent which put more of an onus on Manziel. The Browns defense was terrible. To allow the Bengals to rush for over 100 yards in the first half was disgraceful.
* Merrell Hoge was very outspoken in his criticism of Manziel and the Browns in general. To be honest with you, I agree with Hoge. There is no doubt we have only seen Manziel start one game but Hoge made an excellent point when he said that Manziel was not a first round talent but was taken in the first round. The pick was a reach and I have to wonder how much influence Jimmy Haslam had with that decision. But Manziel is not the only questionable selection in the first round as Justin Gilbert has had a VERY unimpressive rookie season. Gilbert was the eighth pick overall in the draft and could not crack the starting lineup. With two first round picks in the 2015 Draft, let's hope General Manager Ray Farmer does a better job than he did in this year's draft.
* Interesting article in the NY Post this morning about Johnny Manziel. The Post's Bart Hubbuch called into question Kyle Shanahan's play calling by saying that Manziel was in sets that did not capitalize on his ability to use his legs which set the rookie quarterback up for failure. Hubbuch makes some interesting points particularly when he claims that his league sources indicated that the Browns drafted Manziel at the behest of owner Jimmy Haslam rejecting Mike Pettine's opinion on Manziel.
* Interesting article in the NY Post this morning about Johnny Manziel. The Post's Bart Hubbuch called into question Kyle Shanahan's play calling by saying that Manziel was in sets that did not capitalize on his ability to use his legs which set the rookie quarterback up for failure. Hubbuch makes some interesting points particularly when he claims that his league sources indicated that the Browns drafted Manziel at the behest of owner Jimmy Haslam rejecting Mike Pettine's opinion on Manziel.
* By the way, I hate the all brown uniforms that Cleveland wore Sunday. What happened to tradition? The classiest uniforms are the traditional ones: Green Bay, Indianapolis, NY Giants and Dallas.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs are on fire as they had a weekend sweep of the Detroit Red Wings and the Los Angeles Kings. Moreover, they swept all four games in the two back to back sets that they faced. What has been a pleasant surprise has been the secondary scoring that the Leafs are receiving from guys like Mike Santorelli and Richard Panik. It's funny how being able to roll four lines that can play has had a major impact up to this point of the season. The depth that the Leafs have will lead the coaching staff to make some tough decisions once Leo Komorov and Roman Polak are ready to play.
* It's really fun to see a player grow in front of your eyes and that's what we are witnessing with Nazem Kadri. I'm going to be honest with you, I had my doubts about this kid but he has made me a believer. Not sure if it was the chat that he had with Brendan Shanahan but Kadri is no longer a defensive liability. He is arguably the Leafs best all around center. I was truly impressed with how he handled both Henrik Zetterberg and Anze Kopitar. As he continues to commit to the defensive aspects of the game, with his offensive skill he can be one of the top all around players in the league.
* Leafs Lunch on Friday had the three hosts predict how many points the Leafs would get on the weekend. Brian Hayes said the Leafs would get three points, Jamie MacClennan said two points and Jeff O'Neill said zero. I guess Jeff was wrong and shame on Hayes for not calling him out on it Monday.
* The Leafs have five games remaining before the Christmas break and those five games start off tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at the Air Canada Center. It is key for the Leafs to avoid any extended losing streaks if they are to convince themselves and their apprehensive fan base that this will be another season where there is a late season collapse. After tonight, the Leafs go to Carolina on Thursday, play Saturday at the ACC against Philadelphia and then go to Chicago on Sunday to take on the Blackhawks. Their last of the five game stint is on December 23 at Dallas. I'll take going 3-2 before they head out on a five game road trip after Christmas.
* The Leafs have five games remaining before the Christmas break and those five games start off tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at the Air Canada Center. It is key for the Leafs to avoid any extended losing streaks if they are to convince themselves and their apprehensive fan base that this will be another season where there is a late season collapse. After tonight, the Leafs go to Carolina on Thursday, play Saturday at the ACC against Philadelphia and then go to Chicago on Sunday to take on the Blackhawks. Their last of the five game stint is on December 23 at Dallas. I'll take going 3-2 before they head out on a five game road trip after Christmas.
* The Yankees announced the signing of Chase Headley to continue to play third base. The deal was four years at $52 million dollars. If Headley can stay healthy then this is not a bad deal. My concern is that this guy has had a history of back issues. Hopefully those are behind him. This signing would also seem to indicate that the Yankees see Alex Rodriguez as mainly a DH which according to both NY dailies will not sit well with him. Nothing like ARod drama to begin another baseball season.
* Brian Cashman indicated in an interview that the Yankees are not in on Max Scherzer. The reason given was that the team did not want to commit to a seven year contract to a 30 year old pitcher. Hmmm...do you believe him?
* Is there a bigger joke of a franchise in the National Hockey League than the Edmonton Oilers? Dallas Eakins is the latest head coach to get the ax as it was announced yesterday that Eakins was fired and General Manager Craig MacTavish has named minor league coach Todd Nelson as interim head coach. As I mentioned last week, Eakins would have been better served being an assistant coach in the NHL before taking a number one job, especially one that saw two experienced head coaches (Pat Quinn and Tom Renney) not be able to turn the team around. There are two constants that have overseen this mess: Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish. Someone should tell ownership that it is time to cut the cord from the 80's Oilers as these guys have led this once proud franchise into the toilet.
* Interesting fact number one: the Green Bay Packers have never won in Ralph Wilson Stadium.
* Interesting fact number two: the New York Jets 16-11 victory over the Tennessee Titans is the first time that the score of 16-11 has ever been the final score of an NFL game.
* Plenty of talk about the NHL expanding to Las Vegas. To me, expansion is not the answer but re-location is the way to go. All they would have to do is move the Florida Panthers to Las Vegas and that would give each conference 15 teams. There is no question that Quebec City or a second team in Toronto is more deserving but the NHL must even out the conferences. Bringing the league up to 32 teams further dilutes the talent.
* So far the Boston Red Sox have spent the most money in free agency. So much for the evil empire.
* Jon Lester was presented to the Chicago media as he had signed with the Cubs. Lester's number is 34 in deference to Walter Payton, Kerry Wood and Nolan Ryan. This guy is going to be well liked in the Windy City.
* Tough news for the Dallas Cowboys as DeMarco Murray has a broken hand and has been ruled out for Sunday's game against Indianapolis. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the Cowboys since he has become a vital cog in that team's offense.
* Kudos to Marcus Mariota for winning the Heisman Trophy. It will be interesting to see if this kid decides to leave Oregon.
* Was really interesting to hear former Heisman Trophy Winner John Huarte tell the story how he was notified that he had won the award. Huarte was the quarterback for Notre Dame and won the award 50 years ago. He was in his dorm room and the phone was ringing out in the hallway. Huarte answered it and was told that he won the Heisman. Far cry from today's major production put on by ESPN.
* Well Bills fever is running wild in Western New York. Buffalo's chance to make the playoffs are slim but it is feasible that they could go 9-7 which would be a big improvement over last season. However the big question is: will this success lull the franchise to believe that they can be playoff contenders with Kyle Orton as quarterback?
* And finally, Ted Nolan is one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League. Despite a roster way short on talent, he has managed to get the Buffalo Sabres to be a respectable hockey team. While I understand Sabre fans wanting their team to tank so they can draft Connor MacDavid or Jack Eichel, it is not in Nolan's DNA to have his team not compete. Think about his first stint with the Sabres when he had "the hardest working team" in the NHL. If the Sabres wanted to tank, they should have kept Ron Rolston. By the way, there were plenty of empty seats at the First Niagara Center last night when Buffalo played Ottawa.
No comments:
Post a Comment