2012 NFL AFC Wild Card Playoff Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans Preview

The Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Texans

Saturday. 4:30 p.m., Reliant Stadium

The NFL is in full pads and ready to play some playoff football! 

The quarterback play will most likely decide the game. Two young rookie and inexperienced gun-slingers will be looking to add their name to the list of rookie playoff winning quarterbacks. Both had seasons good enough to get them here but, will it be enough to keep them here? One will prevail to lead there team further to the AFC divisional playoffs and one will be sent packing for home. Andy Dalton the kid from Katy, Texas took his team to a (9-7) season with 3,398 passing yards will be going home to his home state to do it in front of family and friends. T.J Yates took over for the injured Matt Schaub in the last six games leading them to a (10-6) record. In the six games, Yates threw for just under 1,000 yards with 949 yards. Conservative passing yards from a team that loved to throw earlier in the season. Look for these two to have the fight and will to win.

Dalton

Yates

The running game is where it is at for both teams. The Texans with the 2nd leading team in the NFL with 153.5 yards per game will lead the way with the healthy Arian Foster. Arian rushed for the 1,224 and Ben Tate rushed for 942 a tandem that has been hard to stop all year. The Bengals 19th in the league in rushing at 111.1 yards per game struggled at times in the running game with Cedric Benson eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark with 1,067 and Bernard Scott had 380 making Benson a valuable commodity in this game.

Benson

Foster

Scott

Tate

 The defenses will need to keep an eye on the young talented receivers from both sides. They have the speed and the skills to run it to the house for a touchdown on any given play! Julio Jones has emerged lately in the absence of superstar wide out Andre Johnson, but had only 3 catches for 39 yards in their last meeting on December 11th a 20-19 loss to the Bengals. He must step up. On the other side of the ball wide receiver A.J Green put up a stellar 1,057 yards receiving in 2011 and solidified the number on slot. in his only shot at the Texans defense he caught 5 balls for 59 yards. Neither star had a touchdown against their playoff nemesis and what to make it happen.

Prediction Bengals 17 - Texans 21

So fans lets stand up and cheer for your team to win!

Who will be the first 6000 yards single season passer in the NFL?

Drew Brees and Tom Brady passed Dan Marino for the all-time single season NFL passing yards. Dan Marino carried the mark of 5,084 yards since 1984 when he broke Dan Fouts's 4,802 set in 1981. The ever changing NFL is more pass oriented over the past couple years due to the offensive play calling, limited great running backs and defensive pass interfence calls . The corners and defensive back are struggling to find the right balance between the contact and no contact in the views of the officials.  

In the 2011 season 3 players passed the 5,000 mark Drew Brees (5,476), Tom Brady (5,235) and Matthew Stafford (5,038). With just 67 more passing yards Eli Manning (4,933) would have been the fourth.

Here is the list on the Top 10 all-time single season passing yard leaders. See if you can maybe determine the 2012 and beyond!

1. Drew Brees - 5,476

2. Tom Brady - 5,235

3. Dan Marino* - 5,084

4. Drew Brees - 5,069

5. Matthew Stafford - 5,038

6. Eli Manning - 4,933

7. Kurt Warner* - 4,830

8. Tom Brady - 4,806

9. Dan Fouts*- 4,802

10. Matt Schaub - 4,770

Drew Brees and Tom Brady are in the top 10 twice and seems to be the front runner in the chase to 6000 yards passing in a single season.

Dan Marino, Dan Fouts and Kurt Warner have all retired with much accolades in the game of football and the NFL.

The other young guns on the hunt with individual goals could add the 6000 yard mark is Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning and Matt Shaub.

All of these quarterback still playing in today's NFL have a shot at the 6000 yard goal if the defenses continue to get calls against them. These future hall of fame canidates will continue to sling the football down field to grab that 60, 70 or 80 yard pass play. What are the consequenses? A completed pass (plus), a pass interfence call (plus) or an occasional interception deep in your territory (Fail). I will take the odds everytime and so will these players.

The odds are even greater for the pocket passers who are protected by the roughing the passer call that they can with a good offensive line sit back and rip the secondary all day.

We as football fans want touchdowns! Who wants to see a one yard quarterback sneak? A long pass of 30 yards or more for a TD is like a homerun in baseball. Chicks dig the long ball not a sacrifice bunt.

I will be ready for the opening of the season next year to see if we will hit the mark.

 Will we see an emerging prospect next year?

Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers or mabye Andrew Luck?

Let's all Cheer them on!

 

Raheem Morris FIRED after 3 seasons at the helm of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

     A ten game losing streak by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was all it took for the Glazers to give him the boot and the rest of the coaching staff Monday morning. The last game of the year capped it off with a drubbing 45-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The year started off great but a trip over the pond to London and the loss to the Chicago Bears they haven't won a game since. The fans expectations were high after the really young Bucs were 10-6 last year just missing the playoffs. Looking into the new season playoff bound was all in the minds of the pewter and orange. All they were able to pull out was a 4-12 season with the last 5 games seeming to get worse as the year went on.
     A coach that had a young talented quarterback in Josh Freeman faltered all year. Staying on his feet was tough when defenses were living in the pocket as much as the quarterback was all game. He threw 22 interceptions to just six last season. The passing offense never seem to be in sync and execute the plays to win. The appointed leading receiver Mike Williams was no where to be found 90% of the year. The injuries and miss use of LeGarrette Blount made the rest of the offense under achievers. Could that have been coaching or were the players too young to handle the offense?

     It seemed as the team was repeatedly unprepared for the games and players not giving their 100% on the field. Coaching is about get the best out of their players. In the eyes of the Glazers it seemed to them the players needed another leader, coach and motivator to lead them back to the Super Bowl.

     Good luck Raheem Morris on your next adventure!

Buccaneer fans keep cheering! You have a young talented team that with the right things in place will be competetive again soon!

What if MLB baseball had and offense and a defense like NFL football?

We see in the field a blunder ala Bill Buckner! We also cringe at the sight of a swing of a bat that makes a pitcher look silly ala Randy Johnson. What if we could put the best defensive players in their positions to go against the best offensive players at what they do and watch a fair fight. Being an american league follower more than the national league, because I hate watching the 90 mile an hour fastball take the humanity out of a defenseless pitcher. Granted we do see the bunt put down occasionally "whoopty-do" or the long ball when the wind blows it out. What I would rather see is the fear of the pitcher that his next pitch could be taken yard or the hitter could have the anticipation of seeing if he guessed the right pitch and connecting solid, or the crouch of the shortstop getting ready to snag it and watch it go around the horn. What if we take a look at what could have happened if we could turn back time and pull out some players that possibly have made the game a little more fair.

First Team All Defensive players that won the most Gold Gloves since 1957 at their respective positions.

1st Base: Keith Hernandez (10)
2nd Base: Roberto Alomar (10)
3rd Base: Brooks Robinson (16)
Shortstop: Ozzie Smith (13)
Left Field: Willie Mays (12)
Center Field: Roberto Clemente (12)
Right Field: Ichiro Suzuki (10)
Catcher: Ivan Rodriquez (13)
Pitcher: Greg Maddux (18)

First Team All Offensive players compiled to put in the line up to best benefit runs scored.

Leadoff: Rickey Henderson (1406 Stolen Bases)
2 Spot: Ted Williams (.482 On Base Percentage)
3 Hole: Hank Aaron (755 Home Runs & 2297 Rbi's)
Clean up: Babe Ruth (714 Home Runs & 2213 Rbi's)
5 Spot: Barry Bonds (762 Home Runs & 1996 Rbi's)
6 Spot: Lou Gehrig (493 Home Runs & 1995 Rbi's)
7 Spot: Pete Rose (4256 Hits)
8 Spot: Mickey Mantle (536 Home Runs & 1509 Rbi's)
9 Spot: Rogers Hornsby (.358 Batting Average)

What a team!! Could the match up produce more runs or would the defense stop the potent offense. What would a Greg Maddux throw if he was pitching to a Hank Aaron with Babe Ruth in the on deck circle with Rickey Henderson on the two bag after stealing second and Ted Williams at first with a huge lead. Some 89 mile an hour junk that Aaron takes to the wall in center that Roberto Clemente takes back over the wall and throws a perfect liner to Roberto Alomar who turns and bullets a strike to Ivan Rodriquez that takes a devastaing blow to the chest protector from Henderson and still holds on to the ball and raises it up in the air while lying on his back at home plate. Now that is baseball! Clutch hitting, stolen bases and defensive plays that makes you jump out of your seat and cheer.

Ok, so what if we take this team and go against another in a World Series. Who could possibly beat a team that has the best defense and the beat offense. That's why we play the game!

Second Team All Defensive players that won the most Gold Gloves since 1957 at their respective positions.

1st Base: Don Mattingly (9)
2nd Base: Ryne Sandberg (9)
3rd Base: Mike Schmidt (10)
Shortstop: Omar Viquel (11)
Left Field: Ken Griffey Jr. (10)
Center Field: Al Kaline (10)
Right Field: Andrew Jones (10)
Catcher: Johnny Bench (10)
Pitcher: Jim Kaat (14)

Second Team All Offensive players compiled to put in the line up to best benefit runs scored.

Leadoff: Lou Brock (938 Stolen Bases)
2 Spot: Ty Cobb (.367 Batting Average)
3 Hole: Albert Pujols (.617 Slugging Percentage)
Clean up: Alex Rodriguez (629 Home Runs & 1893 Rbi's)
5 Spot: Jimmie Foxx (534 Home Runs & 1922 Rbi's)
6 Spot: Stan Musial (3630 Hits  & 1949 Runs)
7 Spot: Ken Griffey Jr.: (630 Home Runs) * Only one to play both offense and defense*
8 Spot: Jim Thome (604 Home Runs & 1674 Rbi's)
9 Spot: Frank Robinson (586 Home Runs and 1812 Rbi's)

Lights, cameras and ACTION.....!!!

Ok, Jim Kaat is the starting pitcher? Remember this is the all defensive team. He would be pulled before the third batter, because the infield would only see the ball go toward the catcher. Not saying that Kaat was not a great pitcher with 283 wins and 2461 strikeouts, but we are talking Aaron and Ruth. Could Greg Maddux keep Brock off the basepaths or would Cobb, Pujols and A-Rod have a field day.

The double play combinations of Ozzie Smith and Roberto Alomar against Omar Vizquel and Ryan Sandberg would not allow Roberto Clemente or Al Kaline to not catch anything unless it was against the wall.

Vacuum cleaner salesmen drool over the way the hot corner would have ball disappearing with Brooks Robinson verses Mike Schmidt. They would not have to worry about the line drive one hoppers when slinging back and having the targets of Keith Hernandez and Don Mattingly taking them out of the dirt.

Trying to get from second in to score when the ball bloops to the outfield runners may be second doubting the wide turn when cannon arms Andrew Jones and Willie Mays. That is if the ball get's hit to the other side of the diamond and the speed and acrobatics of Ichiro Suzuki and Ken Griffey Jr. dosn't spoil their plans.

Taking into factor the rosters would have to be enlarged by having players that only play in the field or hit. Most of these players are hall of famers or an their way. Maybe their could have been a player become a great ball player by fielding his position better than anyone in history. Maybe hitting was not a gift given to him at birth. We could see players that could stay up with the big club like 2nd baseman Toby Harrah .989 fielding percent but a .264 batting average or someone like a SS Spike Owen .975 fielding percent but a dismale .246 batting average.

It would be interesting to see how the game would change if hitters would not have to field and could work on the craft as a hitter or a fielder could take more time in the field taking ground balls. Would the pitching staff have to change their philosophy and how they pitch around or to a hitter. Would a Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Tim Lincecum or Justin Verlander be enough as a starter to keep the 1 thru 9 hitters off the basebaths? Would a Tim Wakefield or Phil Neikro be needed in the new MLB?

Click on names to get more info about players!

All of this could be debated so give me your thoughts.

Sexy Texas Rangers Fans Ready for the 2011 MLB World Series

The Texas Rangers are Cruz-ing to the 2011 MLB World Series

The bats came alive in the ALCS to prove that last season was no fluke! Since, spring training the  Texas Rangers kept the World Series in their sights. They started off with a bang, had a few injuries including Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz during the season. The injuries of both were not apparent in the ALCS or ALDS. The reigning American League Pennant winners needed every bit of the new ALDS MVP Nelson Cruz to take down the Detroit Tigers in 6 games. He batted a .364 average with 6 homeruns and 13 RBI's to lead the team to the World Series. The big factor of the non-trade of fan favorite Michael young played a key roll in the series solidify his worth. Where would the Rangers be with out the youthful bullpen of Alexi Ogando and closer Neftali Felix. Ron Washington, the players manager, put all the pieces together putting them in the best place to succeed and the are. Most of the games were close in the series but game six was a rout 15-5.

  

So, on a night the ginger ale was flowing we should all bring up the claws and antlers and celebrate and cheer on a small market team in the 2011 World Series. Bring it on National League.