The rhetoric about the New England Patriots going undefeated this season is gaining steam. We’re told that the anger the organization in general and Tom Brady in particular feel about the whole Deflategate saga is fueling the Patriots the way Spygate did in 2007, when they went 16-0. That may be true—in fact, I’m sure […]
Boston College was supposed to fall off the radar this season, with heavy graduation losses following consecutive bowl appearances under head coach Steve Addazio. But after a 17-14 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday—the same NIU that took Ohio State to the wire a week earlier—it might be time to reconsider BC’s prospects, not just […]
There’s no more disappointing team in baseball this year than the Washington Nationals. The betting favorite to win the World Series when the season started and still leading the NL East at the All-Star break, the Nationals’ collapse has been stunning. And it was the pitching, this organization’s pride and joy that did them in. […]
That the Philadelphia Eagles are in trouble is no secret. After an offseason where head coach Chip Kelly adopted the somewhat unorthodox strategy of getting rid of all his best talent, the Eagles are now sitting at 0-2, coming off a putrid home loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Philly lost the game 20-10 and for […]
LSU running back Leonard Fournette’s monster day on Saturday—228 yards against Auburn—put his team squarely in the middle of the discussion for best team in the SEC and contender for the College Football Playoff and vaulted himself into the front tier of Heisman Trophy contenders. If the vote had to be held today, I don’t […]
If anyone saw the Texas Rangers coming then they need to give up their day job and becoming a full-time sports bettor. Because if you saw this unlikeliest of second half surges, you’re alone among baseball prognosticators. The Rangers have surged into first place in the AL West after a four-game sweep of the Houston […]
As a Redskins fan, I should know better than to do this exercise, but I’m going to anyway—after a Week 1 where the Eagles lost and the Cowboys and Giants played a game that was exciting only due to shared mediocrity, is there any hope of the ‘Skins stepping up and being a sleeper in […]
Michigan State has moved up to #4 in the AP poll after Saturday night’s exciting 31-28 win over Oregon in East Lansing. A couple of ambitious voters even picked Sparty #1 in the country, taking two votes away from Ohio State. Other than these two voters, I don’t think anyone is ready to challenge the […]
The AFC had the best games of NFL Week 1, with the Steelers-Patriots and Ravens-Broncos on national television, along with the Colts playing at Buffalo and the Chiefs-Texans. I was able to watch the Pittsburgh-New England game on Thursday and Baltimore-Denver in the late afternoon today. Here’s some thoughts on the contenders after seeing those […]
Virginia head coach Mike London leads the list of most vulnerable head coaches in college football this year. In all likelihood, the Cavaliers need to make a bowl game or the sixth-year coach will be gone. It’s not unreasonable—Virginia has only made one bowl appearance in London’s first five years. But it made Saturday’s 34-27 loss to Notre Dame even more heartbreaking. As one who started the game wanting the Irish to win, I couldn’t help but start to root for London as the game went on and the upset looked ready to happen.
The race for the NL Cy Young Award seemed all but over by the All-Star break, with Zack Greinke dominating for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Greinke hasn’t exactly slipped—his ERA is still a surreal 1.61. But now Jake Arrieta, the surprise staff ace for the emerging Chicago Cubs has also emerged to challenge Greinke for […]
By the standards of most franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been on a decent four-year run. From 2011-14, they’ve gone 39-25 in the regular season, made the playoffs twice and won the AFC North once. But by the standards of this proud organization, four years without getting past the first round of the postseason seems like a dry spell. As the Steelers get set to open the NFL season tonight in Foxboro against the Patriots, what are the prospects for 2015?