Year: 2018

NFL Power Rankings 2018: Week 5

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Power Rankings , , ,

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1. Los Angeles Rams: 5-0 (Last Week: 1)
It was the closest game Los Angeles has played all season, but going into Seattle is always tough. The Rams defense showed some major signs of weakness allowing 190 yards on the ground. The injuries to Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp could cause some issues. The road trip continues as Los Angeles heads to Denver.

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2. Kansas City Chiefs: 5-0 (Last Week: 2)
Offense trumped defense in Kansas City on Sunday. It was an ugly game for Patrick Mahomes, but the defense created turnovers to keep it a comfortable win. Don’t be mistaken, the defense is still a major problem, but if the Chiefs can continue that bend don’t break approach successfully, this offense will outscore pretty much anyone.

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3. New England Patriots: 3-2 (Last Week: 4)
This feels awfully familiar. New England got off to a slightly rocky start only to right the ship and reassert its dominance in the division. Sony Michel is emerging as a real threat in the ground game. The Patriots probably would’ve beaten the Colts by a bigger margin if it wasn’t for two interceptions that went right through the hands of the intended receiver. The defense will need to stiffen with Kansas City headed to town.

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4. New Orleans Saints: 4-1 (Last Week: 9)
Drew Brees is now the passer in NFL history. New Orleans also looks like a playoff team. The week 1 loss to the Buccaneers is a distant memory after four straight wins. The defense is improving, especially with the defensive line. The Saints held Washington under 50 yards rushing and sacked Alex Smith three times. This team is looking scary and now Sean Payton will have a week off to study the rest of the league.

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5. Chicago Bears: 3-1 (Last Week: 5)
Chicago has allowed the third fewest yards and points per game. They also had a cupcake schedule to open the season with wins over the Seahawks, Buccaneers and Cardinals. That easy trend continues with the struggling Dolphins in week 6. The back half is not as easy, but the Bears certainly have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs.

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6. Minnesota Vikings: 2-2-1 (Last Week 7)
Ignoring an absolute collapse against Buffalo, this has been a solid Minnesota team. Beating the Eagles in Philly is a big accomplishment. The biggest issue is still running the ball for the Vikings. As long as Dalvin Cook is out, Kirk Cousins will be asked to do a lot. There are few pass-catching duos better than Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. Thielen just became the first receiver in NFL history to pick up 100 receiving yards in each of the first five games of the season. This team has a lot to work on, but finds itself in a good place.

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7. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-2 (Last Week: 3)
There were some signs of concern for Jacksonville against New York last week and it all unraveled for the offense in Kansas City. Blake Bortles threw four interceptions and lost a fumble. With Leonard Fournette out, the Jaguars need Bortles to do more, but it is crucial for him to take care of the football. Even the Jags defense needs some offensive support. Once again the South seems a bit weak.

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8. Carolina Panthers: 3-1 (Last Week: 10)
This could have very easily been a crushing loss if Graham Gano hadn’t hit a 63-yard field goal with seconds remaining. The Carolina defense folded in the fourth quarter against the Giants. It looks like it might be difficult to keep pace with the Saints, but with Atlanta and Tampa Bay floundering, the Panthers seem remain the only threat in the division.

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9. Cincinnati Bengals: 4-1 (Last Week: 11)
If you watched only the first half, or even the first three quarters of Cincinnati’s game, you would have a tough time seeing them as a top-10 NFL team, But after scoring 27 unanswered points to win, the Bengals look the real deal. The offense had some issues getting going, but the defense came up with two touchdowns. Marvin Lewis and company continue to find ways to win, even if it isn’t always pretty. Suddenly, the Bengals are all alone atop a tough-looking AFC North.

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10. Baltimore Ravens: 3-2 (Last Week: 6)
Baltimore took care of business against Pittsburgh, but then completely slumped offensively in Cleveland. The Ravens are struggling to find any sort of consistency on a week-to-week basis. Baltimore is 1-2 against the division now, which could come back to haunt them at season’s end with how the North is shaping up.

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11. Philadelphia Eagles: 2-3 (Last Week: 8)
The Super Bowl hangover continues for the Eagles with a home loss to the Vikings. The bad news continues for Philly as Jay Ajayi is out for the season with a torn ACL. Kirk Cousins had a field day against the defense, which is a major concern considering Minnesota cannot run the football. With a short week going to New York to face a team that would love to add to the misery and desperately needs a win, Doug Pederson has a lot of work to do.

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12. Pittsburgh Steelers: 2-2-1 (Last Week: 16)
Admittedly, I questioned just how good this team was this season last week after a loss to Baltimore. Then Pittsburgh steamrolled Atlanta at home. The Steelers took advantage of a bad team, but that is a credit to the coaching staff coming in with a good game plan. What was most impressive was the defense holding what is usually a potent Falcons offense to just 17 points. Pittsburgh has a road trip to Cincy now with a lot on the line for the fate of the division.

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13. Los Angeles Chargers: 3-2 (Last Week: 19)
Beating the Raiders doesn’t usually lead to a massive jump in the power rankings, but the Chargers dominated their division rival. Philip Rivers had a prolific day passing. The defense held Oakland to just 41 yards running. The only real concern is the ground game for Los Angeles that produced just 2.5 yards per carry. The Chargers now head to Cleveland, which is going to be a tough matchup with a stingy defense. It is the type of game Los Angeles needs to win to validate talk of a playoff run.

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14. Green Bay Packers: 2-2-1 (Last Week: 12)
Detroit shutout the Packers in the first half of this game. That should be a much bigger storyline than the historically bad day from Mason Crosby. Unbelievably poor performance from Green Bay in a divisional game it really needed to win. The Packers head home for what should be a fairly easy matchup with San Francisco. Knowing Aaron Rodgers, this team will bounce back in a big way. This team does not over look opponents.

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15. Atlanta Falcons: 1-4 (Last Week: 13)
This was an awful showing from Atlanta. Dan Quinn has a lot of questions to answer after that performance. Even with all the injuries, the Falcons completely rolled over in Pittsburgh. Chances of a playoff appearance are shrinking quickly. Matt Ryan and company need a win over Tampa Bay to have any shot at staying in the hunt.

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16. Washington: 2-2 (Last Week: 14)
Coming off a bye week, Jay Gruden should have had his team ready for the New Orleans Saints. Yes, it was an emotional game for Drew Brees as he broke league records, but Washington made it pretty easy for him. Brees finished 26 of 29 for 363 yards and three touchdowns. Losing would have been understandable. Getting completely outmatched coming off a bye week is unacceptable.

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17. Tennessee Titans: 3-2 (Last Week: 15)
Will the real Tennessee Titans please stand up? A week after beating the Eagles in a thrilling overtime game, the Titans fall flat against the Bills. It was a defensive slugfest, which is usually a benefit for Tennessee. The fact that Buffalo won only passing for 82 yards is a disappointing reflection on how much this Titans offense is struggling. Even without a ton of weapons, there needs to be done more done offensively.Lions Logo

18. Detroit Lions: 2-3 (Last Week: 25)
The Lions now own victories over Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. They also have losses to the Cowboys, Jets and 49ers. Now that loss to San Francisco was with Jimmy Garoppolo. Detroit gets a week off for Matt Patricia to figure out how to build on the positives and learn from the negatives. Continuing to put the ball in the hands of rookie running back Kerryon Johnson seems like a good place to start.

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19. Cleveland Browns: 2-2-1 (Last Week: 26)
Believe it or not, the Browns are undefeated at home. Wins over the Jets and Ravens along with a tie with the Steelers has Cleveland right in the mix for the AFC North. The AFC North is the only division in the entire league with every team at .500 or better. This defense is tough to score on, except for the Raiders apparently. The NFL is weird sometimes and the Browns tend to be right at the middle of all the weirdness. They are currently the best team to watch in the NFL.

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20. Denver Broncos: 2-3 (Last Week: 18)
This was a bit of a head-scratcher. Denver flopped in New York and allowed several huge plays to what has been anemic offense this season. Now, Case Keenum did tear apart the secondary, but the Broncos did not finish drives. Colby Wadman punted eight times, Keenum threw a pick and Denver turned it over on downs. When you have 13 total drives and 10 end without points, that is a major issue. Couple that with allowing 323 yards rushing and this three-game losing streak is suddenly feeling pretty brutal.

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21. Seattle Seahawks: 2-3 (Last Week: 20)
Seattle came agonizingly close to knocking off the top team in the league. A stellar ground game proved to the be the recipe to taking the pressure off Russell Wilson. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to halt the high-flying pass attack from Los Angeles. The Seahawks are still a really hard team to beat at home, picking up some road wins will be the difference for Pete Carroll this year.Buccaneers logo

22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2-2 (Last Week: 22)
How is it that the number two offense in the league is 2-2 with a major question at quarterback? Well for one, it’s Tampa. Two, Ryan Fitzpatrick is involved. The Buccaneers have no running game to speak of and the league’s worst defense. Dirk Koetter should be focused on finding who will be part of this team next season rather than trying to come up with short-term fixes.

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23. Houston Texans: 2-3 (Last Week: 27)
Houston suddenly sits just one game out of first place in the AFC South after consecutive overtime victories. It was a solid win as the defense showed up and Deshaun Watson balled out. Watson did get fairly battered, but still got the win. With a stingy Bills defense coming to town, the offensive line will need to do a better job keeping the franchise quarterback clean.

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24. Miami Dolphins: 3-2 (Last Week: 17)
This seems a bit harsh considering Miami has a winning record. However, the Dolphins have lost two straight and don’t have great quality wins. Miami also blew a 14-point fourth quarter league. Ryan Tannehill has looked like one of the worst five starting quarterbacks in the league over the past two weeks. He has completed 56 percent of his passes for 285 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

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25. Dallas Cowboys: 2-3 (Last Week: 21)
The formula for beating the Cowboys is containing Ezekiel Elliott. Easier said than done, but the Texans got it done on Sunday night. Dak Prescott does not have too many weapons around him other than Elliott, but he needs to play better. Dallas did enough defensively to win the game. If Prescott is going to stick around, he needs to win these kinds of games.

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26. New York Jets: 2-3 (Last Week: 28)
This is a raw and young Jets team. This is the type of win shows a lot of the promise this team has to offer. Still warning signs as Sam Darnold only completed 10 passes on the afternoon. New York is not going to run for 323 yards every week, but this style of play is exactly what the Jets need to be successful now.

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27. New York Giants: 1-4 (Last Week: 24)
The offense finally showed up for the Giants. It seems to be how New York’s season is going as it loses on a 63-yard field goal. Pat Schumer is finding creative ways to hide the offensive weakness, but the Giants still haven’t played a complete game this season. Until they do, they will find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreline.

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28. Indianapolis Colts: 1-4 (Last Week: 23)
It seems like there a ton of running backs on the Colts and no one knows how to use them. Indy has no running game and with T.Y. Hilton out, Eric Ebron is truly the only consistent threat the Colts have in the passing game. The defense was opportunistic, but far from good enough to beat the Patriots. Andrew Luck faces a tough Jets defense this week and will need more help from his supporting cast to get a win.

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29. Buffalo Bills: 2-3 (Last Week: 31)
It is amazing how bad Josh Allen can play and Buffalo still finds a way to win. This defense is among the best in the league. The Titans offense is nothing to write home about, but the Bills have had a way of frustrating some of the top offenses in the league. Buffalo has a shot to reach .500 with a win over Houston this week, something that seemed pretty much impossible after the 47-3 drubbing the Bills took week one.

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30. Oakland Raiders: 1-4 (Last Week: 29)
Sunday was just a friendly reminder that this is one of the worst teams in the league. Oakland had no offense to speak of, and did little to stop Philip Rivers throwing the ball. The Raiders have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Jon Gruden is going to need to retool most of it during the offseason to turn things around next year. That has to be where Oakland is looking is to the future.Arizona_Cardnals_logo_(1994-2004)

31. Arizona Cardinals: 1-4 (Last Week: 32)
Three straight weeks of improved play from Arizona finally nets the team its first win of the season. Granted, it was against the hapless 49ers. If the Cardinals can ever find a way to get the ground attack on track, they could start surprising a few teams. Until then, Josh Rosen is not polished enough to win games for this team.

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32. San Francisco 49ers: 1-4 (Last Week: 30)
It’s time to tank for San Francisco. After catching lightning in a bottle to end last season, the 49ers are missing their franchise quarterback and still a few pieces away from truly competing with the best of the league. Landing a top pick with a quarterback already in place could lead to trading back for a huge return.

The NFL’s New MVP: Backup Quarterbacks

Chris McGlynn Football, Free Agency, NFL , , , , , ,

The NFL changes over time. Before Lawrence Taylor, left tackles did not hold the same value as they did after Taylor battered just about every quarterback he faced. General managers adjusted based on what they were seeing. It seems like it is changing again now regrading the league values backup quarterbacks.

It feels like backup quarterback has become an infinitely more valuable position in the last few years in the NFL. With the rate of injury to starting quarterbacks, it is becoming a necessity to have a good backup. They are quickly becoming a valuable commodity across the league.

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Entering the season, Foles was the second-highest paid backup in the league, behind only Teddy Bridgewater. (Wikimedia Commons)

Think about how many backup quarterbacks you can name during Peyton Manning’s career. Go back further to Dan Marino. Or Roger Staubach. Maybe some of the ones for Marino or Staubach have faded with time, but I grew up during the Peyton Manning-era. Off the top of my head, the only name that comes up is Curtis Painter, and that is mostly because the Colts started him for their final two games of the 2009 season. One of those games was against a Jets team starting Mark Sanchez and needing a win to keep postseason hopes alive. I will forever be thankful for Curtis Painter.

I digress. The point is, most of these backup quarterbacks are pretty much unknown. There wasn’t much value in them unless you were grooming a young quarterback and he needed some guidance. Now, teams are trading for backup quarterbacks, or even notably not giving them up.

The best example is Nick Foles. The backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles had to step in after Carson Wentz went down with a season-ending injury late in the 2017 season. No doubt, you know what happened by now as Foles led the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory and was named the game’s MVP.

Over the offseason, several teams tried to trade for Foles, seeing as Wentz would come back and take over the starting job as soon as he was healthy. Reportedly, Cleveland offered up its second round pick, the 35th overall selection in the 2018 NFL draft in exchange for Foles. That is exception value to receive for your backup quarterback, who you hope won’t have to play all season. The Eagles declined the offer though. While yes, Philly did need Foles to start the season as Wentz was not cleared for contact by week 1, there were plenty of other free agent quarterbacks that could have stepped to start for those two weeks and the Eagles would have some extra ammo in the draft. It also would have cleared a ton of cap space off the books for Philadelphia. Foles will count for $13.6 million against the cap in 2018. However, the Eagles felt they needed a strong enough backup to have in their back pocket, just in case.

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Teddy Bridgewater (right) has not started a game since 2015, but the Saints traded a third-round pick for him to back up Drew Brees. (Wikimedia Commons)

Philly is far from the only team. Several clubs moved to bolster their backup quarterback situation. The Colts refused to move Jacoby Brissett after he stepped in last season to start for Andrew Luck. Minnesota traded for Trevor Siemian in the offseason, despite breaking the bank to sign Kirk Cousins from Washington. The Seahawks traded a sixth round pick in 2019 for Brett Hundley, formerly a backup in Green Bay. The Packers felt comfortable letting go of Hundley because they already had their backup quarterback of the future in Deshone Kizer. The Packers traded for Kizer after he struggled during his rookie season with the Browns. The Saints joined the fun as well, sending a third round draft pick to New York in exchange for Teddy Bridgewater.  Now Kizer did see some action already due to an Aaron Rodgers injury, but without injury, none of these players would see the field in 2018. Their value exists due to the what if.

This whole trend might actually go back a bit further Nick Foles. It likely originates with Matt Cassel back in 2008. He stepped in after Tom Brady was lost for the season with a knee injury. Cassel, never anywhere as close to as good as Brady, led the Patriots to an 11-5 record. He signed a big 4-year deal with the Chiefs the following offseason and proceeded to look way out of his depth. Even though he flamed out of Kansas City, Cassel has made the roster of five different teams in the past six seasons.

Perhaps the best example of the value teams place in having an experienced backup quarterback is the bearded one himself, Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Harvard grad has toured the NFL as the consummate backup quarterback and spot-starter. Fitzpatrick is not a very good passer. In his career, he has completed just under 60 percent of his passes and thrown 43 more interceptions than he has touchdowns. Usually, that would mean you are out of the league, not playing in your 14th NFL season. Fitz has made a living as a journeyman backup. Spotrac puts his career earning at just over $58 million. The fact that teams still sign him is a testament to the value he still holds in the league.

In a similar boat is Josh McCown. Now a backup on the Jets as the franchise puts its faith in Sam Darnold, McCown has a made a career circling the league as a backup. He has made just shy of $50 million for his efforts despite never starting all 16 games in a single season.

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Bradford has made about $14.4 million on average over his nine NFL seasons. (Wikimedia Commons)

Another interesting study is Sam Bradford. He has never been a great quarterback. In his career he is a 62.5 percent passer who averages about 234 yards per game. His career record as a starter is 34-48-1. Sam Bradford is also the 17th highest paid player in NFL history. Yes, you read that right. Now, that stat is a bit skewed. 15 of the 20 highest paid players in league history are currently playing. Four of the five that have retired did so in the last three years. Brett Favre is the only one in the top 20 to retire more than three years ago.

There are some other qualifiers for Bradford’s status. He is the last player selected first overall to negotiate outside of the rookie wage scale, meaning he signed a six-year, $78 million deal before ever taking an NFL snap. For reference, Cam Newton, who was the first overall pick the following year, signed a four-year, $22 million deal for his rookie contract.

Just this year, Bradford signed a one-year deal with Arizona for $20 million. Bradford has not played a full season of football since 2012. He has never made the playoffs as a starter. Yet, he somehow still manages to command money. The Cardinals also drafted Josh Rosen 10th overall this year, so they have a quarterback of the future. They also have Mike Glennon on the roster. With Rosen taking over the starting job, Bradford is now the most expensive backup in the NFL.

They aren’t the first team to do this either. The Bears did it in 2017 with Mike Glennon and Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky took over right around the same time as Rosen did. I just mentioned that Glennon is also in Arizona. Experience is key for NFL teams looking to find the solution at quarterback.

Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne, Matt Schaub, Colt McCoy, Drew Stanton, Robert Griffin III, Geno Smith, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler. The list goes on and on of players we know do not have what it takes to be starters in this league. Most of them aren’t even that young anymore and don’t represent future prospects looking for their chance. They all have jobs though due to the fact teams are valuing backup quarterbacks more than ever before.

This isn’t to say there weren’t career backups who made the occasional start for an injured quarterback. Before Nick Foles, there was Jeff Hostetler. Hostetler stepped in for an injured Phil Simms late in the 1990 season and did just enough to lead the Giants to a Super Bowl victory. Hostetler went on to start for a few seasons with the Raiders, even making the Pro Bowl in 1994. He was never a great quarterback.

Hostetler never really returned to his backup role, unlike what so many of these current quarterbacks are doing. There are some great backup quarterbacks in NFL history, but they are few and far between.

Earl Morrall backed up Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas and Bob Griese during his career. He played 21 years in the NFL and started fewer than five games per year on average. Steve DeBerg was replaced by Joe Montana, John Elway and Steve Young during his long NFL career. He finished with more interceptions than touchdowns thrown, but lasted 17 seasons in the league.

Most notable backup quarterbacks are few and far between. Perhaps it’s easier to name all of the current backup quarterbacks now because they are still current players. Still, it is hard to dismiss the fact that general managers and fans alike are paying more attention to the depth chart at the quarterback position than ever before.

Bring On Boston: What the Yankees Learned in the Wild Card

Matt Luppino Baseball, MLB, Playoffs , , ,

The New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox. In a playoff series. Need I say more?

My editor says I do, so here I am writing this piece. Do not let that take away from the fact that for the first time in almost 15 years, the greatest rivalry in baseball, and arguably in all of sports (high praise coming from a graduate of the Duke-UNC rivalry) returns, in October no less, and it is back with a vengeance.

The feel of this iconic clash is different now. Babe Ruth will not be trading his socks for pinstripes. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek will not be jawing at home plate. The entire game will not come down to David Ortiz and Mariano Rivera, as it always seemed to do. For the love of the baseball gods, Pedro Martinez is not going to throw an elderly bench coach to the ground. Poor Don Zimmer. Even Tyler Austin, the guy who started the lone skirmish between the clubs this year, will be watching from home like the rest of us after getting traded to the Twins in July. Yes, the animosity may seem to have simmered down – maybe because the steroids are out of everyone’s systems – but the competition of Yanks-Sox is as strong as ever.

For the bulk of the season, these were the best teams in baseball, 1a and 1b. A combination of injuries and slumps for the Yankees, coupled with multiple award-winning performances out of the likes of JD Martinez and Mookie Betts, made the division a laugher come late August. Do not let the final standings fool you: both of these teams can play ball. They can mash with the best of them, throw out flamethrower after flamethrower, and feature two of the brightest young coaches in the game. This may even be the best NYY-BOS matchup of all time, since it is the first time we are seeing them go against each other when both have over 100 wins on the season.

While Boston kicked back and watched on Wednesday, New York took care of business to set up this epic clash of titans, dispatching of the upstart Oakland Athletics 7-2 at Yankee Stadium. It followed the scripts experts and fans alike expected out of the Bronx this season: home runs and high heat, and once the Yankees get a late lead, good night. However, the wild card game showed us a lot about how this team is playing right now, both the good and the bad. Everything becomes important in a playoff series, especially against a team as potent as the Red Sox, hot off their best season ever with 108 wins.

So, while everything seemed peachy for the Yankees on Wednesday, let me tell you what I saw from watching every pitch, and what it means towards taking Boston down.

The Lineup

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Aaron Judge needs to stay hot for the Yankee offense to keep clicking.

The Good: What a time to get healthy and hot. Any doubts about Aaron Judge’s wrist were immediately erased when the 116 MPH screamer left the yard in the first inning, and the power kept on coming. Luke Voit, the hottest hitter you’ve never heard of, nearly joined the fray when he came inches short in the 6th off of All-Star closer Blake Treinen, but he was clearly happy with the stand-up two-RBI trible. Giancarlo Stanton hit a towering shot late, outdoing Judge with a 117 MPH, 450-foot moonshot. None of those hits were cheap shots to say the least, but power was not the only thing the Yankees showed. They made one of the best bullpens in baseball work for it, drawing a ton of walks and being selective with their swings. When the Yankees make good swings, the ball goes a long way.

The Bad: The Yankees did end up only having 7 hits in the game, and the only inning where they had more than one was the four-run 6th. The Yankee lineup has been known to be streaky and laden with strikeouts, and they cannot afford to let top-end starters like Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello get in a groove on the mound. Not to mention, a few bats never showed up that need to, in order to make this lineup really groove one through nine. Gleyber Torres and Andrew McCutcheon were quiet, Miguel Andujar only got on with a cheap infield single, and Gary Sanchez’s woes continued. More on him later.

Luis Severino

The Good: Sevy put last year behind him quickly, huh? After not making it out of the first in last year’s wild card game, Severino took a no-hitter into the 5th, where he was pulled after two singles. He had great life on his pitches all night. The fastball velocity was top of the line, probably thanks to the lack of pressure to go deep into a playoff game with a behemoth bullpen backing you up. His slider was equally nasty, causing a lot of swing and misses from the Athletic batters with nasty late movement. Not to mention he pitched well again at home as he continues to shake off the late season slump that cost him a chance at the Cy Young Award. Best part? 5 days rest would put him in line to pitch again on Monday – Game 3, at home again.

The Bad: Did anyone else notice that Severino never seemed to hit the target? He was missing spots for most of the night but was lucky that he never made a bad miss. Perhaps that’s because the Oakland A’s were last in baseball in batting average against fastballs above 97 MPH, and the anticipation of that made his slider look even more devastating. Boston hits too well and has seen Severino too many times to let that happen. Not to mention, it took him 87 pitches to not even make an out in the 5th inning, with 4 walks sprinkled along the way. Severino may have been nasty, but he was not sharp, definitely not enough to continue his success against the Sox.

Gary Sanchez

The Good: Sanchez was one of the biggest question marks about the linuep for the Wild Card game. It was unknown whether he would catch Severino after allowing two big past balls in a loss back in August when the two last worked together against Oakland, but his defense was spectacular on Wednesday. After looking lethargic at backstop all season, Sanchez was moving well behind the plate and blocked every ball expertly. When a pitcher can trust hit catcher to stop balls in front of him, they are less afraid to throw their out pitches in the dirt. What may have been the reason why Severino struggled late season turned into a reason why he, and the relievers after him, performed so well on Wednesday. Calling a good game and hustling on the base paths are other good signs pointing towards putting him back behind the plate for Game 1 on Friday.

The Bad: I did not think I would ever talk about how Gary needs to stay in a lineup because of his defense, because his offense was abysmal again. After hitting .186 in the regular season, he began post-season play without a ball leaving the infield. Flip side? No strikeouts, and putting the ball in play will work well, but Sanchez needs to stop trying to pull everything, causing him to roll over balls to the left side. If he can find his stroke the other way and start making solid contact, he could make a big difference against a Boston team he’s been know to feast on.

The Bullpen

The Good: Besides a well-placed outside fastball that was turned around by the MLB HR leader for a wall scraper in the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium, every guy out of the Yankee pen the other night was frankly unhittable. Dellin Betances, often known to give up others’ runs when coming in with runners on base, worked out of Severino’s mess masterfully. Coupled with a strong second inning, he put 6 up, 6 down with three strikeouts in what may have been one of the best outings I’ve seen from him in a long time. Equally comforting? After injuries late season, Aroldis Chapman got his velocity back, lighting up the gun with 100’s and 101’s while shutting the door for the win. The Yankees will need him sharp to close out close games against the Sox.

The Bad: To be honest? No complaints. Sure, Khris Davis beat Zach Britton on the one pitch, but it was a decent pitch that barely got muscled out of the smallest part of the smallest park in the big leagues. That being said, as the only lefty in the bullpen outside of Chapman, Britton needs to get his confidence back because Aaron Boone needs to be able to rely on his trade deadline pickup. Speaking of the skipper…

Aaron Boone

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Luis Severino made his mark after his manager trusted him once more

The Good: Every call seemed to be on point and immediately justified. Start Severino? Throw 4 no-hit innings? Yank him in the 5th for Betances early with two guys on and no outs? Out of the jam. Take out Andujar and Voit for defensive replacements? Adeiny Hechavarria made one of the greatest leaping catches I’ve ever seen by an infielder, and Neil Walker made a great stab on his knees for the final out of the game. Every lever the rookie manager pulled worked out for the Yankees, meaning the skipper is now undefeated in the postseason.

The Bad: It only gets harder now. Managing the bullpen over a five-game series and navigating Boston’s equally terrifying lineup will be a challenge. Knowing when to insert the likes of Brett Gardner and Austin Romine will be just as difficult of decisions. Boone needs to be decisive and trust his gut in the playoffs, but sometimes the pressure can get to you the first time. Luckily for him, Boston’s rookie skipper Alex Cora faces the same battle, and he does not have a game already under his belt.

Yankee Stadium

The Good: Yankee fans showed up loud and proud for their team. Two pitches into the game, with Severino already ahead in an 0-2 count, the entire stadium was already on their feet. It stayed that way for every two strike pitch the rest of the game. When Judge blasted that one out in the first inning, forget about it. The new stadium erupted in ways that have rarely been seen since the Bombers moved across the street before the 2009 season, and the players seemed to relish in it.

The Bad: They’re the wild card team, which means no home-field advantage until the World Series. When it comes to Boston’s home field, Fenway will be just as hostile of an environment as the Bronx is to outsiders. This is a young team with several key contributors lacking significant playoff experience, and they cannot afford to get rattled by the Boston faithful and come back to New York facing elimination. Steal one away from home and the Yankees could advance on home turf.

I’m excited. The only upsetting part of it is that it’s not a seven-game series, but whoever emerges victorious from this matchup becomes the odd-on favorite to take home the rings. If the Yankees want to pull off the upset, they need to build off the great performance in the wild card game and hit the Red Sox in the mouth in Game 1. If they can get back to the Stadium with a win, they have a chance to do something special. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.

Yankees-Red Sox in the playoffs: there’s nothing better.

2018 Heisman Hopefuls are Hard to Find

Chris McGlynn Football, NCAAF , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Only quarterbacks and Alabama running backs have won the Heisman dating back to 2000. (Wikimedia Commons)

After five weeks of action in the 2018 college football season, the shortlist of contenders for the Heisman Trophy is shrinking. Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, West Virginia’s Will Grier and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray are the clear front runners at this stage. All four of them are undefeated quarterbacks playing on Power 5 conference teams ranked in the top 10. At this stage, any of them could win the award, but it seems like there is not much chance anyone else manages to get their name into the running. Let’s break down who else was supposed to be in this race.

The Preseason Hopefuls
There were several other players who were supposed to challenge for the highest individual honor in the college game. Stanford running back Bryce Love and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor headline this group. Love was the runner up for the award last season when Baker Mayfield took it home. Taylor finished sixth in the voting. The pair finished second and third in the nation in rushing respectively behind Seahawks first round selection Rashaad Penny. This season Taylor is fifth in the country for ground yardage, but hasn’t scored in either of his past two games and Wisconsin lost to an unranked BYU squad. Love has missed time with some nagging injuries.

Also in this group is Shea Patterson of Michigan and Kelly Bryant of Clemson. The two quarterbacks had rough starts to the season. For Patterson, he lost his season opener to Notre Dame and failed to throw a touchdown pass. He only has seven through five games this year. On the other hand, Bryant actually lost his starting job to freshman Trevor Lawrence and announced he plans to transfer.

The Sleeper Picks
Every year, there are a bunch of dark horse candidates to win the Heisman. 2018 was no different. The most popular sleeper pick this year had to be Penn State’s Trace McSorley. A true dual-threat quarterback, the senior has thrown for over 1,000 yards and rushed for over 450. Normally, that would put you right in the heart of the conversation. However, McSorley sustained a heavy blow to his candidacy with PSU’s loss to Ohio State at home. On top of that, he has a woeful completion percentage of 52 and had two games where he failed to eclipse 200 yards passing.

Alongside McSorely were Drew Lock and Jarret Stidham, two SEC quarterbacks with first round potential in the upcoming NFL draft. Lock was always going to have a tough road to the award being on an unranked team. He opened the season on fire, but came back down to Earth when Georgia drubbed Missouri. Lock failed to complete 50 percent of his passes against the Bulldogs, threw no touchdowns, one interception and for under 250 yards. For a quarterback who doesn’t run much, that pretty much ended Lock’s campaign. Stidham’s candidacy turned out to be mostly hype. Through five games, the Auburn quarterback has only thrown five touchdowns, lost at home to LSU and topped 200 passing yards twice.

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Mayfield became the first senior to win the award since 2006 and translated it into the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. (Wikimedia Commons)

Still Could Join the Party
I have bashed the depth of the hopefuls pretty thoroughly, but it is still early and there a are a handful of players who could make some noise and draw Heisman attention before the season is over.

The first is Justin Herbert. The Oregon quarterback is making a case to be the first quarterback selected in May at the NFL draft. He could also sneak into the Heisman conversation, but it feels like he missed his best chance to assert himself. It will be hard for voters to shake the memory of him throwing four straight incompletions to lose at home to Stanford in overtime. He also has a couple of ugly statistical games on his record where he tossed multiple interceptions and completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes.

There is no way that only quarterbacks finish as finalists either. Travis Etienne of Clemson has a chance to thrust himself into the conversation before the season is out. He is currently seventh in the country in rushing with an outrageous 8.1 yards per carry. The sophomore running back also has eight touchdowns so far. Additionally, Etienne might have just had his Heisman moment as he carried Clemson to a comeback in Death Valley over Syracuse with the team’s third-string quarterback under center. He rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns to keep the Tigers undefeated. Being the lead back on a team likely to make the playoff and having your starting quarterback transfer, Etienne has everything in place to take a stab at this.

One last one that is a bit of a unique case is Ian Book. The Notre Dame quarterback took over as the starter in the third game of the season. He threw the game-clinching touchdown against Wake Forest and has thrown for 603 yards and six touchdowns over his last two starts. He torched what is a good Stanford defense and has a stellar 74 percent completion rate. On top of all of that, he hasn’t thrown an interception. The Irish sit at sixth in the AP poll and have a chance to make the College Football Playoff. If Book puts up similar numbers and leads Notre Dame to an undefeated regular season, he could be in the mix.

The Longshots
Just because you aren’t at a big school doesn’t mean you can’t make some noise. Now, Kentucky is a big school, but you probably know them for basketball. However, Ben Snell Jr. is having an impressive year running the ball. He is fourth in the nation in both yards and touchdowns. Kentucky is also 5-0 and up to #13 in the AP Poll. He will get a chance to play some great competition as Texas A&M and Georgia are still on the schedule. He could be a late riser.

Even more of a long shot is John Ursua of Hawaii. He really doesn’t belong, but he leads the nation in receptions, yards and touchdowns. He is on pace to finish with 100 catches, 1500 yards and 24 touchdowns. That kind of production usually catches the eyes of Heisman voters, but the best team Hawaii has played all year is Army. Unless Ursua can step it up and start shattering some records along with Hawaii winning out, he won’t really draw much attention.

One last name to throw around is Steven Montez from Colorado. The Buffaloes are 4-0 this season for the first time in 20 years. Montez is completing 75.8 percent of his passes, which leads the nation. Colorado is 21st in the polls and has road games against USC, Washington and Cal. Montez has thrown for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in four games so far. He still has two-thirds of his games left in his season. It will be interesting to see what he can do with it.

The season is far from over, but it seems like the majority of the whittling down for the Heisman Trophy has already occurred. We might get some fireworks by season’s end, but this feels like a four-man race with a lot of people wondering what could have been.

Gregg Berhalter should be the Next USMNT Head Coach

Jack Venezia MLS, Soccer, USMNT , , , ,

Last week, I revisited my thoughts on the USMNT crashing out of World Cup Qualifying. Now it’s time to assess the recovery and answer the question on everyone’s lips: who should be the next USMNT coach? Word on the street is that we may know as soon as November 1st.

In order to answer this question I’ll give a quick recap of what the interim coach Dave Sarachan has done and I’ll list the qualities I would like the next USMNT coach to have. I have someone in mind, so I’ll make my pitch for one coach in particular.

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Whoever the next coach is for the USMNT will have a young star to work with in Christian Pulisic. (Wikimedia Commons)

Dave Sarachan was announced as the interim head coach for the USMNT within days of the team’s loss to Trinidad & Tobago. So far, Sarachan has lead the team in half a dozen friendlies with a mixed bag of results. Generally, he has done a good job of calling in youth who will play a large role in years to come, namely, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Matt Miazga, and Timothy Weah. They have earned multiple caps over the last year and each will certainly be part of the team’s core going forward. It’s unfortunate Christian Pulisic has yet to join them, but I am excited to see him in the upcoming friendlies against Columbia and Peru. Sarachan has built a solid foundation of players for this team going forward.

Something that is often overlooked is what he has done for the mentality of this team. These young players are hungry when they are playing, despite these games meaning next to nothing. It’s something which has been sorely missed on the team over the last few years. I credit Sarachan here even if he has passively allowed the players to set the tone. The truth is past head coaches haven’t fostered the same environment where players want to fight for all 90 minutes.

That being said, Sarachan’s tenure hasn’t been all roses. Tactically, he suffers from some of the same ills that plagued Bruce Arena’s team. That is, his tactics are outdated, and his 4-1-4-1 formation probably won’t maximize our best XI’s talent. For an interim head coach, that’s fine. None of this should make the USMNT worse for the wear by the time competitive games come around. By that point, the permanent head coach will establish their system. Fingers crossed it’s a good one.

What do we want this new head coach to do? Here’s what I would like to see:

  1. Man-Manager/Motivator – Someone who can make any game feel like the World Cup Final. I think a few of our core players (at least Pulisic, Adams, Miazga, and Yedlin) are fairly self-motivated. They won’t need much of a push. Letting those players set an example and rewarding them appropriately will go a long way. The inverse is also true. If a player has a toxic attitude, they should be punished/benched. Similar to Sarachan, perhaps all this coach needs to do is let the players motivate each other.
  2. Tactician – Someone who can create a team identity. Personally, I’d like to see the USMNT play some attractive, possession-based soccer, but I’d be happy if we were a bunker-and-counter team or a pressing team, or any other style so long as we had an identity.
  3. Pragmatist – On the other hand, I think the head coach needs to be practical. If the next head coach wants us to be a pressing team, we can’t run a high press every game, all game. Depending on our opponent, line-up, conditions, etc. it may be more beneficial to play a different style for that one game. 
  4. Scout – Someone who will find talented Americans in all leagues and consider them for national team camps. You could also include winning over dual-nationals under this category. Recently the US lost a great potential player in Jonathan Gonzalez to Mexico because he got called into their camp first. That trend can’t continue. 
  5. Developer of Youth – Someone who knows when to bring in a young player, when to stick with a young player, and when to let go of an older player. The USMNT has sorely missed this over the last decade.
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Berhalter made 44 appearances on the US National team. (Wikimedia Commons)

If we can find a head coach who does all of the above, then we will be in a good position to achieve all of our future goals. With that said, I think Gregg Berhalter checks all of these boxes better than any other candidate. For those unaware, Berhalter is a former center back who currently coaches the Columbus Crew in MLS.  Let me walk you through my thought process:

  1. Man-Manager/Motivator – Berhalter falls under the man-manager heading more than the motivator. The best example is Kei Kamara. In 2015, Kei Kamara lead the league in goals for Berhalter’s Columbus Crew. They lost the MLS Cup to Portland and proceeded to collapse the following year. It was no secret that Kamara was a toxic presence in the locker room when the results weren’t going their way. Soon enough Kei Kamara gets traded to New England. A vocal, bad attitude can ruin a locker room. Despite Kamara being the top goal-scorer, Berhalter wasn’t afraid to move on from him. And like I said before, with vocal guys like Adams, McKennie, and Pulisic in the locker room, a coach may be able to pass these duties onto those guys. 
  2. Tactician – Berhalter’s teams regularly play some of the prettiest soccer in MLS. It’s possession-based, it’s methodical, and Berhalter has been able to plug and play different players into his system. Look at Gyassi Zardes. The LA Galaxy were playing him at right back at the end of last season because he wasn’t scoring goals. He gets traded to Columbus and he has 16 goals on the season. Ola Kamara scored a similar amount after being plucked out of a Scandinavian League, and before him it was Kei Kamara. Plug. And. Play. In the words of Will Trapp, Berhalter is great at “making guys on the field understand the clarity of the picture.” I have no doubts of Berhalter’s tactical know-how.
  3. Pragmatist – In 2015, the New York Red Bulls won their 2nd Supporter’s Shield in 3 years. They were playing a high-press style which was quite new and few teams knew how to counter it. The Red Bulls were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final by none other than Berhalter’s Columbus Crew. One would expect New York’s high press to rip apart Columbus’ possession-based style. Instead, Columbus sat back, let New York have the ball, and killed them on the counter (a strategy which is effective against New York to this day). Point being: Berhalter wasn’t afraid to deviate from his tactical norm in order to get a result. That’s pragmatic coaching and something the US needs. He did something similar against Atlanta United in the 2017 playoffs, holding Atlanta scoreless and winning on penalties. 
  4. Scout – Not only is Berhalter Columbus’ head coach, but he is also the sporting director, meaning he makes the decisions when it comes to signing, trading and releasing players. With that role, he has brought in players like Artur, Ola Kamara and Milton Valenzuela to Columbus. Artur has become the perfect partner for Will Trapp and Valenzuela is arguably the best left back in the league. Berhalter has also done this on a low-budget team in Columbus. It’s not like he has the money to buy the best players; he had to find the right guy and get him for the right price. It hasn’t been all good for Berhalter in that regard. Pedro Santos is one of Columbus highest paid players and he has one goal over the course of the last year as a winger. Everyone whiffs on a signing from time to time. Despite Pedro Santos’ poor play, I still think Berhalter has more good than bad in this category.  
  5. Developer of Youth – This one is tougher as Columbus doesn’t exactly have the most prolific academy. Only Will Trapp and Alex Crognale are current Crew academy products on the roster and Crognale has been loaned out for the year. This is not the fault of Berhalter, as I doubt the Crew’s ownership has devoted that much money to their academy. That being said, Trapp is a commensurate professional. Say what you want about his play on the field, no one has a bad thing to say about him off the field. Additionally, half of developing youth is letting go of veteran players. Berhalter has shown a tendency to do just that as exemplified with Kei Kamara, and Tony Tchani. Tchani was Trapp’s partner in that 2015 season before he was traded and Artur filled the same role.

All of the above is why I have been on the Berhalter train for the past couple of months. Don’t get me wrong, there are other candidates I would be content with, such as Oscar Pareja, Jesse Marsch, or Tata Martino. But Pareja’s teams play more defensively than I’d like, and both Marsch and Tata seem to over-think big games and get the tactics wrong (For Marsh, look at the Red Bulls CONCACAF Champions League exit to Chivas, and for Tata look at Atlanta’s loss to Columbus last year in the playoffs and their recent loss to the Red Bulls). No candidate is perfect, I could just as easily point to Berhalter’s inexperience with developing youth as a weakness. I would rather take that unknown with Berhalter than known flaws with other coaches. 

And with that, I will see you next week where I will dissect the recent USMNT roster, examining my likes/dislikes, and project a starting XI!