2018 NLDS Preview

its playoff time in Major League Baseball. October ball has arrived and the chase for the Commissioners Trophy is well under way. Four teams now left standing in the National League, with the pennant hanging in the balance over the next two weeks. It took a minimum of 90 wins to reach the playoffs in this league, which shows how tight a race it was in the NL. So lets not waste anymore time and get right into it. Here's the braekdown of the National League Divisional Round.

First up its the NL Wild Card Winning Colorado Rockies taking on the NL Central Champion Milwaukee Brewers. For Milwaukee, they won the NL Central with 96 wins, beating the Cubs in a one game playoff for the division title. This marks the most wins in a season and the first division title for the Crew since 2011. Its the fifth playoff appearance for the Brewers and first since 2011. They haven't won a round in the playoffs since 2011 and are in search of their first ever World Series appearance. Milwaukee is 14-18 lifetime in the playoffs. As for the Rockies, this marks the 2nd straight year making the playoffs (lost last year's wild card game). They won 91 games during the season, the highest win total since 2009. Colorado has now made the playoffs five times in their history, all as a wild card team. Colorado is 10-11 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the first ever meeting between the two teams in the playoffs. Brewers won five of the seven meetings between teams this season.

Here's the dates for every game in this series:
October 4 Colorado Rockies @ Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park
October 5 Colorado Rockies @ Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park
October 7 Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies Coors Field
October 8† Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies Coors Field
October 10† Colorado Rockies @ Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park

Both teams came into the playoffs hot, each winning 19 games in the month of September. Playing with that level of confidence is never a bad thing. Milwaukee has a bit of an edge in the offensive department, with Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich forming one of the best 1-2 punch atop a lineup. And of course, there is the power department. Milwaukee can hit it out of the park with guys like Jesus Aguilar (35 homers), Travis Shaw (32 homers), and Mike Moustakas (28 homers). Hitting isn't the only strength of the Crew, they're pretty good in the field too, they were after all second in the NL in defensive efficiency. Oh and they have a pretty good pitching staff too. Jhoulys Chacín, Gio Gonzalez and Wade Miley make a pretty good starting staff for the playoffs, but what's really going to carry this Brewers team is the bullpen. Josh Hader, Corey Knebel and Joakim Soria have been the workhorses of the pen and one of the biggest reasons the Brewers sit where they sit right now.

Colorado is no pushover. Carlos Gonzales, Charlie Blackman, DJ LeMahieu and Trevor Story were all smacking the cover off the ball as the season went along. It maybe the case with them more often then not but playing at Coors Field has its advantage to the Rockies , who hit about 62 points higher at home then they do on the road. Colorado is a solid defensive team, but what has made the Rockies a big success this year is their starting pitching. Tyler Anderson looked good his last start out, which could mean bad things for the Brewers hitters. Chad Bettis and Kyle Freeland have been solid most of the year as well, so its nothing to sleep on during this postseason.

What it boils down to in this series is who can crack who's pitching staff first. Once the Brewers get a lead, they're going to be awfully tough to try and get past. As good as the Rockies are, the Brewers have a more balanced lineup and better pitching. The edge does go to the Rockies starting staff but, on the whole, Milwaukee has an overall edge and a little extra something going for it this year.

Prediction: Brewers in 4!

Next up is the NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the NL East Champion Atlanta Braves. This marks the 20th appearance of the Braves in the playoffs since moving to Atlanta, and their 15th overall division title down south. Winning 90 games this year is the most that the Braves have had since winning the division in 2013. Atlanta is looking to get past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001. The Braves are 82-84 lifetime in the post season. As for the Dodgers, they won 92 games the lowest win total in two years. It's the 6th straight Western Division title for the Dodgers and 17th title overall since divisional play began in 1969. Los Angeles is looking for a repeat of last year, winning the NL Pennant. The Dodgers are 72-89 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the 3rd ever playoff meeting between the teams, each team inning one series. The Dodgers won five of the seven meetings between the teams this year.

Here's the dates for every game in this series:
October 4 Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers Dodger Stadium
October 5 Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers Dodger Stadium
October 7 Los Angeles Dodgers @ Atlanta Braves SunTrust Park
October 8† Los Angeles Dodgers @ Atlanta Braves SunTrust Park
October 10† Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers Dodger Stadium

Atlanta has been a big surprise this year, having their youth movement play a big role in this year's division title. Ronald Acuña Jr. was hitting the cover off the ball after his call up. Driving in 63 runs in 111 games could lead him to winning the NL Rookie of the year. Ozzie Albies was also an impact player, playing in all but four games this year. Driving the bus for the Braves offense was Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis, both of whom drove in over 90 runs. Atlanta has decent pitching in the form of Julio Teherán, Sean Newcomb, and Mike Foltynewicz. Out of the bullpen, closer Arodys Vizcaino and lefty AJ Minter are the biggest names to know. Overall, it’s a merely competent bullpen that really struggled to throw strikes.

It took the Dodgers a little longer to figure out playoff seeding, as they had to play a one game playoff to decide the Western Division crown. Los Angeles has one of the best offenses in all of baseball. They have nine players: Max Muncy (lead the way with 35), Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Yasmani Grandal, Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, and Enrique Hernández each hitting 20-plus homers. Starting pitching is an edge for the Dodgers. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill are going to be a tough staff to face. If somehow the starting staff faulters, the bullpen is going to be a problem. Kenley Jansen has been average at best and if the starters don't jave have it, then their might not be a whole lot to lock forward to in getting to Jansen.

As solid as the Braves have been, the Dodgers have been that much better and then some. Look Atlanta has a solid all around team, but the Dodgers have the deeper club. No knock on the Braves by any stretch, they done a fine job with the growth and development of their young talent. At the end of the day, the Dodgers experience and depth at the plate is going to win out.

Prediction: Dodgers in 3

2018-19 NHL Season Preview

It's the most wonderful time of the year. The National Hockey League has hit the ice once again. The chase for the holy grail in hockey, the Stanley Cup, is on. With the Washington Capitals coming in as the defending champions, there are the thirty other clubs around the league trying to grab what they have. A few questions will be answered as the season moves along. Can the Capitals possibly repeat as champions? Are the Vegas Golden Knights for real? Are the Leafs a contender with their big free agent acquisition? What's next for the Islanders after losing the face of their franchise? Can Rasmus Dahlin live up to all the hype and expectations?

No rule changes were made from last year to this year around the league. No new arena's were built this year but a few got name changes. The Maple Leafs will now play in Scotiabank Arena (formerly Air Canada Center), the Blues will now play in the Enterprise Center (formerly Scottrade Center), while the Islanders will be splitting games between Barclays Center and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Two games will be set outdoors this year. New Years Day will see the Winter Classic take place at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, which will see the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins square off. As for the NHL Stadium Series, that will take place February 23, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, as the Penguins square off with the hometown Flyers. San Jose gets hosting duties for this years All Star Game, which is being held at the SAP Center.

There are also a few management and coaching changes that have happened around the league. Tampa Bay (Julien BriseBois), New York Islanders (Lou Lamoriello) and Minnesota (Paul Fenton) all have new General Managers. The league has new coaches in the league in Washington (Todd Reirden), the Rangers (David Quinn), Islanders (Barry Trotz), Dallas (Jim Montgomery), Carolina (Rod Brind'Amour) and Calgary (Bill Peters).

That's just some of the changes that went down this summer. A lot of new faces ended up in new places. So lets get into that right now. Here's how I see the 2018-19 NHL season going down.

Western Conference:
Central Division
1. Winnipeg Jets (112 Points)*
Winnipeg is coming off a year which saw them come within three wins of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. They look to get back this year, with a few faces missing from last year's title run. Paul Stastny was the biggest weapon that left the Jets attack. With that being said, Winnipeg has a lot going for it. It starts from the net out and Connor Hellebuyck is proving to everybody that he's one of the elite netminders in the game. From the blueline, Winnipeg has Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Meyers to lead the charge and get help from the likes of Josh Morrissey and Jacob Truba, it going to help keep the puck out of their own net. Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler are going to be counted on to carry the offensive load for Winnipeg. Then you got hot young sensation Patrik Laine, who's coming off scoring 44 goals a season ago, which are solid numbers. For Winnipeg to really take the next step, they need captain Bryan Little to really step his game up and take it to the next level and help the Jets climb over the top. They got a balanced team and solid goaltending, Winnipeg is going to be a tough team to beat this season

2. Nashville Predators (111 Points)*
This was a team that was consistent and dominating most of last year. They just ran into a red hot Jets team that was heating up at the right time heading into last years playoffs. What's scary is that the core of this Predators team is locked in for quite some time. They are going to be a tough team to score on. Pekka Rinne is still one of the premiere puck stoppers in hockey. It's not all on the goalies, you need help from your defense. Nashville has one of the better blue lines in the game today. Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm are the anchors of the corp that will keep the Preds near the top of the league in team defense. But you need more then keeping the puck out, you also have to fill the opposing cage. Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson comprise the top line and can be one of the best in the game. Complementing them will be the lings of Kevin Fiala, Kyle Turris and Craig Smith, so it going to be a tough lineup to try and compete against. Nashville is going to have to worry a little about locking up some talent in the likes of Ryan Ellis and a pay raise for Roman Josi, but for this season, the Preds are going to have a nice long playoff run come spring time.

3. St Louis Blues (105 Points)*
Last season was a tough pill to swallow for the Blues, who missed out on making the playoffs by a single point. You knew that changes had to be made in the offseason, and boy were they ever in St Louis. First lets start off with the big trade of sending Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, and Tage Thompson to Buffalo for Ryan O'Reilly, a guy who can step his game up in this new role and put up points. Tyler Bozak and David Perron were brought in on the free agent market to add some scoring punch and much needed depth to this Blues club. One of the big things that killed this club was it's inability to score on the man advantage, something that should be able to change with the addition of O'Reilly to the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz and Alex Pietrangelo. Only thing that has me really worried for this team is in net. Can Jake Allen really have a bounce back year? There were stretches last year where he didn't really play because he was getting out played. But make no mistake, when Allen is on his game,m he can carry this team. All in all, the Blues front office made enough moves during the summer to improve this team. In a very competative division, the Blues are going to be in for a test, but they should be able to pass it.

4. Dallas Stars (96 Points) (WC)
Dallas was unable to try and build upon adding depth down the middle at center, because the free agency and trade markets were so thin this year. At least when the Stars got around to try and address the matter. They did bring back a familiar face in Valeri Nichushkin, who after spending the last two seasons playing over in Russia, has something he wants to try and prove at this level again. Val is going to have to try and step in and take some of the scoring pressure off the top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov. Radek Faksa, Devin Shore and Brett Ritchie are also going to have to step up their game to help out the scoring. On the blueline, Dallas has some high hopes for guys like Julius Honka and Stephen Johns, while John Klingberg, Esa Lindell and the veteran Marc Methot will be heavily relied upon. then there's the goaltending. Ben Bishop is going to have to find his form again from what we saw out of him in Tampa. Consistency is going to be a big thing in Dallas, a team that has a nice mix right now of young guns and veteran talent. If they can pull it all together, they may have something to make a run at the playoffs.

5 Minnesota Wild (94 Points)
For six straight years now, the Minnesota Wild have been a playoff team. Sadly for them, it's been quick playoff exits after the first round in each of the last four seasons. They didn't really make much of a big splash in the offseason. Keeping quite seems to be a trend in this central division. Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker were both locked up to extensions, so they have their core set for a few years longer. One knock I have against the Wild is their age, as it looks like they aren't getting much younger. Eric Staal and Mikko Koivu are going to be counted on to try and come close to the heavy production they had last year. Zach Parise has got to find his game again. He's healthy this year, which is something that the Wild haven't gotten from Zach in quite some time. Nino Neiderreiter and Charlie Coyle are going to need to step up their games to complement the big boys in this Wild offense. In goal, they have one of the steadier goalies in the sport in Devan Dubnyk, who's been a very steady hand for Minnesota since he was acquired in 2015. Here's what's going to be the biggest struggle for the Wild. Playing in a much improved and tough division.

6. Colorado Avalanche (91 Points)
A year ago the Avalanche topped off an incredible comeback year by sneaking into the playoffs a single point ahead of the Blues, this coming after being the worst team in the league two years ago. There's been a few changes from last year, with Philipp Grubauer and Brooks Orpik coming over in a trade from Washington. Orpik is going to be a nice depth addition to the top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. Take that away from the Avs lineup and there's not really a whole lot here that scares you. Sure they've got plenty of youth in Denver, but it's not enough I feel to support the top line and in this league, you need scoring depth. Nobody outside the top line in Colorado last year had more than 50 points. With the West being as good as its going to be this year, Denver could be in for a fight for a playoff spot, but they're going to miss out.

7. Chicago Blackhawks (89 Points)
This is going to be an unfamiliar feeling for the fans in the Windy City. Chicago is going to miss out on the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row. Corey Crawford has been battling health issues since before Christmas last year, which is leaving fans to wonder his health level for this year. Bringing in a guy like Cam Ward is going to get the bulk of the playing time. One of the bigger problems facing Chicago is their age. The core of this team isn't getting any younger. They haven't done much to try and really replenish the aging group with young talent who can step in right away. Its a slow process in Chicago. No doubt that the Hawks are going to be a tough team, but they are going to burn out in a tough Western Conference.

Pacific Division
1. Calgary Flames (110 Points)*
Calgary sputtered last year, dropping to 84 points and missing the playoffs. General Manager Brad Treliving wanted to make changes to his team, and that's what he started doing. He pulled off a huge deal with the Hurricanes, sending away Dougie Hamilton and Michael Ferland, along with prospect Adam Fox, to Carolina for Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm. As soon as they were delt, both guys signed extensions with his new club. Oh but wait, the Flames weren't done making a splash. James Neal was one of the prime names on the market, and Calgary was able to gobble him up. Here's how all this balances out. Hanifin joins a top three on defense with Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic. Joining Neal up front is gonna be Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Michael Frolik, who are going to be relied on to carry the scoring punch for this club. Oh yeah they also have a guy named Mike Smith in net who's no slouch. They have a good mix of guys on this hockey club and are going to be very exciting to watch this season. It going to be a division winning kind of year for the Flames, but its going to be a squeaker.

2. San Jose Sharks (108 Points)*
San Jose went all out this summer to get one final crack at a title with the core that it currently has in place. Joe Thornton maybe on his last legs this year at 39 years old so who know's how much he really has left in the tank. Joe Pavelski is 34 and Brent Burns is 33 so who knows with them too. San Jose did go out in the offseason and make moves to try and compete with the rest of this tough Pacific Division. Logan Couture was locked up to a long term extension. Then, after trading for him back in February, San Jose locked up Evander Kane to a seven year extension. That's not even the biggest splash San Jose made. San Jose shipped off four players and two draft picks to Ottawa for some guy you might have heard of. His name is Erik Karlsson, one of the best all around defenders in the league right now. It won't be enough to beat out the Flames for the division title, but they'll enjoy plenty of success this year.

3. Los Angeles Kings (103 Points)*
A fourth place finish for the Kings last year was good, but this year they want to take their game to another level. They lost some of their role players during the summer months. But they did get reinforcement from an unexpected source. Yes Ilya Kovalchuk has returned after a three year absence. He signed a three year deal to come back to the league. He's 35 years old and, just as important, he hasn't played against this level of competition in a long time. Who knows how he's going to adapt to the game or how quickly he can do it. He also provides a little relief for team captain and leading scorer Anze Kopitar, who is coming off an MVP caliber season a year ago. Throw in the likes of Tyler Toffoli, Trevor Lewis, and Dustin Brown, among others, to balance out the offense. LA's blueline has the likes of Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty holding the fort down. Finally, in net is Jonathan Quick, and there's no real need to get into details as to just how good a netminder this guy can be. All things considered, LA has the talent to be able to get back into the playoofs and make some noise in the West.

4. Vegas Golden Knights (98 Points)(WC)*
Last season was one for the ages in Vegas, a first year expansion club going all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. This year, the expectations are just as high, but night not be as close to being met. David Perron and James Neal are the biggest weapons gone from a season ago but the core is still in tact and has been added to. Paul Stastny was brought in to add depth at center via free agency. Stasyny was the best center available on the free agent market right behind John Tavares. Then Vegas goes out and makes a big splash on the trade market, sending Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and a draft pick to Montreal for some guy named Max Pacioretty, who's kinda good. He and Stastny will help balance out a core with William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, and Cody eakin up front. Then there's the back end, which is essentially unchanged from last season, with the incoming Nick Holden likely to replace the outgoing Luca Sbisa as the team’s sixth defenseman. Last but not least is Marc-Andre Fleury, who had a monster season a year ago. The big question mark is can he repeat the season he had last year? If he's anywhere close to that, the Vegas is in good shape. They're still a playoff bound team, but it's gonna be a little bit tougher this year considering how much better the rest of the division ahead of them got.

5. Anaheim Ducks (93 Points)
Anaheim is one of those interesting hockey clubs. They were the 2nd best team in the division last year, but I don't think they're going to be that good again this year. Ryan Miller isn't getting any younger, but they already have another solid netminder on the club in john Gibson, who I expect to get the bulk of the playing time this year. A solid blueline core is in tact for the Ducks, a young one too. Cam Fowler, Brandon Montour, Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm are going to be a tough group to play against. Add in the free agent additions Luke Schenn and Andre Sustr and this should be a steady group. Scoring might be a bit of an issue. Sure they have Ryan Getzlaf, who can still produce but he's not getting any younger. Corey Perry is still a threat, but he's going to miss half the season with an injury. Anaheim gets a little help in the depth department from Patrick Eaves and Adam Henrique helps down the middle. Jakob Silfverberg can also be a productive scorer for stretches. What has me worried about the Ducks is how much longer the older core can carry them and how ready the young guns are to step in and take over? Anaheim will be good, but not enough this year to make the playoffs.

6. Edmonton Oilers (89 Points)
After what the Oilers managed to do two years ago, they had a major letdown last season. You'd like to think they did something to improve upon that result from last year right? Wrong.They don't really have a guy who can go out there and play on the left side with Conor McDavid, who's the best player in the game not named Crosby or Ovechkin. Outside of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are the best centers, but they may have to put one of them on the wing to play with McDavid, and Draisaitl did pretty well at it last year. Only thing is you have to sacrifice one position to take up another and try and fill a hole, something that's going to be very tough for the Oilers to try and overcome. Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, and Adam Larsson are fine NHL blueliners, but none of them can really take over a game from the back end, something which most really good teams have something close to that on their club. Goaltending isn't going to be much of an issue, as Cam Talbot is a fine goalie who has nno problem taking a few games during the season for you. You'd like to think that any team that has Conor McDavid on it would be a decent contender, but with some of the glaring holes that this Oiler team has, and with how good the rest of the Western Conference is, I can't see them making much noise this year.

7. Arizona Coyotes (85 Points)
Coyotes General Manager John Chayka made a few moves in the offseason that seem to try, at least on paper, and help move along the Coyotes in a rebuild and make them a contender again. First he sends away Max Domi, who scored just nine goals and five with a goalie in the net last season, to the Montreal Canadiens. In return he was able to grab Alex Galchenyuk. This will give both players a nice change of scenery, and it appears Galchenyuk will get an opportunity to play center in a top-six role this season. There's some good young talent to build off with Clayton Keller, Brendan Perlini, and Dylan Strome. You also have some good veteran presence with Michael Grabner, Derek Stepan and Richard Panik, which is a good group to lead a very young core. On the back end, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the new captain and leading the charge of a decent group. Tending goal, Antti Raanta has the potential to be something special with more playing time. This team is on the upswing but its going to take a little more time to get it right in Arizona.

8. Vancouver Canucks (80 Points)
End of an era has come in Vancouver. The Sedin Twins have retired and will no longer be dawning the Canucks sweaters. Vancouver is now going into full blown rebuild mode. Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, and Tim Schaller were brought in to try and lead this forward crop, which will try and have both Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser step up and play larger roles with the Sedin's both gone. The defense and goaltending leave a lot to be desired in Vancouver. Sorry to say it Canucks fans, this is going to be a short write up. Expect a lot of growing pains in Western Canada, the Canucks are going to suck this year.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs (111 Points)*
Toronto hit the jackpot during the summer. The best player in the game today went home. John Tavares signed a big contract to go play for the Leafs, giving them awesome depth down the middle with Tavares, Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri. All three guys can put the puck in the net, averaging over 30 goals a year. Tyler Bozak and James van Reimsdyk are both gone from the club, signing elsewhere during the summer. Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson are going to be counted on to try and pick up the slack left by those two guys. On paper, there's plenty of balance among the scoring on this hockey club. Jake Gardiner, and Morgan Riley are expected to be the leaders for this blueline, which has some potential. Depending on how the season plays out, don't be surprised if the Leafs go out and make a move for a defenseman. Then there's last years team MVP Frederik Andersen, who had a solid workload last year and can expect to have another heavy workload again this season. Toronto has the netminder and plenty of scoring depth to really make a lot of noise in the playoffs this year. If that defense can come together and close to matching what its other parts can, then Toronto is going to have a deep playoff run.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning (108 Points)*
Coming off an Atlantic Division title last year, Tampa is looking to try and make another deep run for the post season. As a whole, this Lightning team is almost the exact same one that won the division a year ago. Outgoing GM Steve Yzerman did his duty to keep the core together, signing Nikita Kucherov, J.T. Miller, and Ryan McDonagh to contract extensions. Scoring won't be a problem here. Not when you have guys like Steven Stamkos, Kucherov, Tyler Johnson (once he gets healthy), and Alex Killorn. Holding down the blue line are guys like Victor Hedman, McDonagh, and Mikhail Sergachev. Rounding out this team will be Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, once again holding down the work load between the pipes. Vasilevskiy was a workhorse in the Tampa net last year and expect much of the same from him again this season. They will score, they’ll defend well and they will play with speed. If they can clean up their penalty kill, which was middle of the pack a season ago, the sky is the limit for a Lightning team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

3. Boston Bruins (104 Points)*
Boston was good enough to finish second in the division last year, so you know they're going to try and improve themselves this year. It will be a bit of a step back for Boston this year, but they will still be in solid shape. All they will miss, among the guys who left over the summer, were Rick Nash and Reily Nash. One of the biggest things that the Bruins need this season is a clean bill of health. Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, David Backes and Charlie McAvoy all miss time with injuries, players who are key guys to this hockey club. Boston is getting a little bit up there in years, with captain Zedano Chara hitting 41 at the start of the season. They do have a good bit of balance between veterans and young guns and they have a nice mix in net with Tukkaa Rask and Jaroslav Halak. It won't be as lofty a year as last year was, but the Bruins are still good enough for a solid playoff run coming out of this division.

4. Florida Panthers (97 Points)(WC)*
Florida missed out on the playoffs by a single point last season. That won't happen to the Cats this year, as Florida is going to get in. Florida went out and filled a need by adding a guy the talent level of Mike Hoffman. You put him in a lineup with Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad just to name a few. Aaron Ekblad is going to be a key cog to holding down the defense, with steady help from guys like Michael Matheson, Mark Pysyk, and Alex Petrovic. What goes on in net could possibly be an issue. Roberto Luongo had a solid year last year, but he's 39 years old, there's no guarantees that he's going to do anything close to what he did last year. James Reimer is a solid goalie but who knows if he's going to be able to keep pace and take over for Lou like he did when he was the man in the nets in Toronto. There is reason to hope though in Florida. If the Panthers can get this thing figured out in net and get something settled between Luongo and Reimer, the Panthers have enough talent here to sneak into a playoff spot.

5. Buffalo Sabres (92 Points)
There might actually be some positive vibes coming out of Western New York this season. Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs since 2011 and haven't placed higher than 5th since 2012. Buffalo has Rasmus Dahlin, the first overall pick in this past June's draft, only the 3rd time ever that the Sabres have had the top pick in the draft. He's going to have a lot on his young shoulders. He does have help on the back end with Zach Bogosian , and Rasmus Ristolainen leading the dfefensive charge. They'll be playing in front of a new goaltending tandom of Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark. Buffalo can hold up defending, but they can also put the puck in the net. That Jack Eichel kid is pretty good. It will be different with Ryan O'Reilly now out West, Patrik Berglund, Zemgus Girgensons and Sam Reinheart are going to have to step up and support Eichel down the middle. Plus Kyle Okposo is going to have to really step up and find his game again and be a leader. The core and talent is set in place in Buffalo and they could turn out to be one of the biggest surprises in the Eastern Conference this year.

6. Detroit Red Wings (90 Points)
Going to be an interesting year in the Motor City. One big change is that longtime star and former captain Henrik Zetterberg is no longer in a Wings sweater due to medical issues. With Zetterberg now gone, Detroit will look to its young core of Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Zadina to try and carry the Wings offense. Detroit's blue line is a little bit of a different story. They aren't getting any younger. Nicklas Kronwall will be 38 in January and isn't playing at full power. Mike Green is 32 but dealing with injuries going into the start of the season, while Jonathan Ericsson and Danny Dekeyser seem a little out of place but might be able to find a way to get back on track. Solid goaltending is there in Detroit with Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier. It looks like it will be a pretty even split but I think Howard will be getting a little more of the playing time in the nets. Detroit has some solid young chips and they could have a good time feasting on the teams below them in the division.

7. Montreal Canadiens (87 Points)
Its going to be a selling year in Montreal this season. look at the two huge names they got rid of this offseason. Alex Galchenyuk proved to be a failed experiment up North and was shipped to Arizona for a promising young forward in Max Domi. Then Max Pacioretty got shipped out for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and a draft pick. Philip Danault and a returning Tomas Plekanec seem like they are the only true two top of the line centers that this club really has. Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Druin and Paul Byron are going to be counted on to try and step up and fill the back of the net for this rebuilding Habs club. Cleaning up on the back end are Jeff Petry, Karl Alzner and Jordie Benn leading the charge. All three are serviceable NHL blueliners, but that's about it and in this division, that's going to be tough to compete with. Then there's the goaltending. Carey Price is kicking in the start of his eight year contract extension and one has to feel a little bit bad for him because he's coming into the prime of his career and it doesn't look like he's going to be close to sniffing the playoffs.

8. Ottawa Senators (79 Points)
After coming oh so close to the finals two years ago and starting off great last year, things hit a dead end in Ottawa last year. It doesn't look like they are going to be getting any better this year though. To start off with, there were off-ice issue between Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson , which lead to both men being sent packing in deals. So with them gone, Mark Stone, marian Gaborik (when he gets healthy) and Cody Ceci are going to have to pick up the slack and lead this team. Brady Tkachuk, who was just drafted in the June draft, has a very bright future ahead of him in Ottawa. But the facts are this. Ottawa have a long rebuild ahead of them with plenty of growing pains along the way. A new arena and an infusion of youth could get fans excited about their NHL team at some point, but it’s quite likely the Senators are in for some short-term pain while long-term gain.

Metropolitan Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins (110 Points)*
After getting off to a bit of a slow start last year, Pittsburgh managed to find its stride again and was able to crack the 100 point mark, finishing 2nd in the division. This core in the steel city is mostly in tact from a season ago, so there won't be much to worry about with this club's success. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Derick Brassard provide the Pens with a vast amount of depth down the middle, something that bodes well for a productive offense again next season. Phil Kessel, Jake Guentzel, Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist are going to provide plenty of scoring pop for this club. Kris Letang and Olli Maatta lead a solid defense core. Sure they may have a few holes in them but they will be plenty good. Matt Murray is going to try and bounce back from a tough second year, but he should do just fine this year. It always seems like no matter what, as long as Corsby and Malkin are in the lineup the Penguins always have a chance to be a playoff contending team.

2. Washington Capitals (108 Points)*
There's a lot riding on the shoulders of the Capitals this year, they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Todd Reirden comes in as the new bench boss, replacing Barry Trotz, and inherits a loaded team that's still in tact from last season. Alex Ovechkin will be leading the offensive charge once again. He's going to get plenty of support from his running buddy Nicklas Backstrom. They also getting help from Evgeny Kuznetsov and T. J. Oshie among others. The blueline is set pretty well, being lead by Brooks Orpik and John Carlson, with Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskan round out the top four. Brayden Holtby has the net held down rock solid. Sure there maybe a bit of an issue with a possible backup, but at the end of the day the season will ride on Holtby and he's got no problems in the net. Washington is a balanced hockey club that can roll four lines and will be a tough team to play against this year.

3. Philadelphia Flyers (105 Points)*
This was a good Flyers team froma  year ago that actually got better. James van Riemsdyk, who was ooriginally picked by the Flyers 2nd overall in 2007, is back in the mix with a very solid scoring hockey club. He rounds out a nice top six forwards that includes Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek and Travis Konecny. Through a grinder like Wayne Simmonds on this team and you got a tough to move forward unit. Shayne Gostisbehere and Radko Gudas are going to be counted on to lead this defensive crop and try to be a solid hockey club. Throw in an up and coming Ivan Provorov and you got yourself a solid top three. Michal Neuvirth is a question mark in net for me. He's going to miss the start of the season with injury, leaving Brian Elliott to carry the bulk of the netminding duty. Elliott is a good goalie but good's about it. If the Flyers really want to make noise with the Penguins and Capitals, they are going to need the goalies to really step up and play better then they did last year.

4. Columbus Blue Jackets (99 Points)(WC)*
Here we have a club that has been in the playoffs in back to back years and they seem to be in good shape. Artemi Panarin really came into his own last year, proving that he can be an elite level player without Patrick Kane playing with him. Playing with the likes of Cam Atkinson and guns like Pierre-Luc Dubois and needing Alexander Wennberg to step his game up. On the blueline, they will be without Seth Jones for the start of the season due to injury, but they still have solid depth on the back end with talents like Zach Werenski and Ryan Murray. Oh and lets not forget about some guy in net named Sergei Bobrovsky, who's pretty good in his own right. Columbus might not be able to fill the nets quite as well as the three teams finishing ahead of them this season, but they will be good enough to get into the playoffs.

5. New Jersey Devils (96 Points)
New Jersey snuck into the playoffs thanks to an unworldy performance down the stretch from league MVP Taylor Hall. If New Jersey wants to come anywhere close to sniffing the playoffs again this year, not only is Hall going to have to come close to last year's performance, his teammates are going to have to step their game up. Brian Gibbons, Michael Grabner, and Jimmy Hayes are all gone, so that means other role players are going to have to step their game up. Nico Hischier had a decent first year, and I know this is asking a lot out of a 19 year old kid, but he needs to try and get to the level of Taylor Hall. Veteran Travis Zajac, youngster Pavel Zacha and fellow youngster Jesper Bratt will all need to increase contributions to form a legit offense in Jersey. They have the goaltending in Keith Kinkad and Cory Schneider to hang around in this tough division. New Jersey has the same defense group from last year returning. If they can pull it all together and give Hall help, they might be able to overcome the top heavy teams in this division, but I just don't see it this year. Just have a feeling the Devils come up a tad short of their playoff goals.

6. New York Rangers (89 Points)
Rebuild mode is underway on Broadway. They hit near the bottom of the division last year, but they may take a step up in the right direction this year. It a nice mix up front with Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider anchoring this offense. Vladislav Namestnikov, Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Spooner should provide a decent amount of secondary scoring to keep the team in balance. It a very young and inexperienced blueline that is going to possibly slow things down just a little bit for the Rangers, so that puts a little more pressure on Kevin Shattenkirk, Marc Staal and Brady Skjei. Then there's the goalie. Henrik Lundqvist is pretty good but he's not getting any younger. Don't get me wrong, he's still a top ten netminder in my mind, but he doesn't have many more quality years left in his game. He going to have to hang on with this rebuild, but he will get another shot at a title. Just won't happen this year.

7. Carolina Hurricanes (86 Points)
There's a lot of changes that were made in Carolina this season. It feels really weird not seeing Cam Ward tending goals there, he's now in Chicago. Don Waddell made some other splashes, trading Noah Hanifin along with Elias Lindholm to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Dougie Hamilton, Michael Ferland and a prospect. Andrei Svechnikov was taken second overall in the draft and is going to be counted on to try and help out Jordan Staal, who's now the top man in the middle of the ice for the Canes. Hamilton and Justin Faulk are going to be asked to step their game up and carry this very young defensive group. Goaltending is going to be a big change with Ward gone but I think Scott Darling and Petr Mrazek can do an admirable job splitting duties in Carolina. Again its the depth of the forwards that has me worried and makes me thing that the Hurricanes are going to be near the bottom of the division again this year.

8. New York Islanders (80 Points)
Losing John Tavares stings for the Islanders. By far the biggest blow of the offseason. Sure they got a new GM in Lou Lamoriello and a new head coach in Barry Trotz and even playing games back at Nassau Coliseum during the regular season. Other then that and the possibility of superb play from Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal, who knows with this team. Josh Bailey has a new deal in his back pocket, he now has the chance to take the job of top line center and run with it. Anders Lee, who scored 40 goals last year, is still here, as is 20 goal scorer Jordan Eberle. Matt Martin was brought back into the fold and new faces include Valteri Filppula, Tom Komarov and Leo Kuhnhackl . HTe Blueline is pretty much in tact from last year, except Lucas Sbisa was brought in to replace Calvin de Haan. In net, Jaroslav Halak is gone, now serving as backup in Boston. Thomas Greiss will get the bulk of the playing time, while Robin Lehner, a solid netminder, can fill in the gaps when Greiss needs a night off. There's a lot of holes on this team, so its going to be a long season. But with the new coach and GM in place, this team has some stuff in the right place to get them going in the right direction.

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Four

One thing that is known about the NFL is that anything can happen on any given week. One team had gone into the week unbeaten and they got their rear ends handed to them. A quarterback who had been on his game the first three weeks of the season came back down to earth, while another quaterback had a bit of a coming out party. We had wild finishes all over the place this week, with a little bit of bold play calling mixed in. So sit back and check out some of the best and worst from the week that was around the NFL.

Best:
Mitch Trubisky, Quarterback Chicago Bears
When the Bears took Trubisky with the 2nd overall pick in the 2017 draft, they had high expectations for the kid. It took a little while, but Trubisky finally had that first big breakout performance on Sunday in the Bears 48-10 win over the Bucs. He finished the day going 19 of 26 for 354 yards and a very impressive six touchdowns. Oh yeah, its worth noting that five of those six TD passes came in the first half of this game. When you finish with a passer rating of 154.7, it really gets no better then that. He had himself a day and the numbers reflected it. Should he be able to keep up performances anywhere near close to this the rest of the season, the Bears are going to be a tough team to deal with this year.

Worst:
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Some knew eventually that Fitzmagic would run out. It did on Sunday in the Bucs 48-10 loss to the Bears. Fitzpatrick failed to come anywhere close to the 400 yards passing he had in the first three games of the year. He was even pulled at halftime for the returning Jamies Winston. Winston wasn't much better, throwing a pick during his first drive back under center. Still Fitzpatrick started running out of steam late in week three and he seemed to hit the wall at the start of week four. i know it's in a game against a good defense in the Bears but still. Fitzpatrick may have finally run out of time and luck and given the starting job back to Winston. He had done good in holding the fort down in Tampa, but now he's starting to remind everybody why he hasn't really been able to hold down a solid staring job.

Best:
Ezekiel Elliott, Running Back Dallas Cowboys
Dallas had it's best offensive game of the season on Sunday in a 26-24 win over Detroit. Zek had himself one hell of a day, running wild over the Lions defense. He posted a career-high 240 yards from scrimmage, including a team-high 88 receiving yards, the bulk of that load coming on 25 carries, for 152 rush yards. That rush total was the highest in the NFL this week. Oh yeah, he also had a huge 34 yard run down the right sideline with less then a minute and a half left, a run which would start the drive that set up the game winning field goal. but this game spoke volume for the Cowboys. It shows how much Zek means to this football team. He carried them against Detroit and if the Cowboys want to have any chance at all to be a contending team this season, then they are going to have to find ways to keep feeding Zek the ball.

Worst:
Saquon Barkley, Running Back New York Giants
A week ago, the Giants managed to pick up their first win of the season. A lot of that had to do with the running of Saquon Barkley. Sure the Giants were able to keep it close with the Saints until late, but it wasn't because of a balanced attack. Barkley ended up with 10 carries on the date. New York rushed a total of 12 times. New York ended up throwing the ball 41 times. That's not the fault of Barkley, he could only do so much. Look, much like the Cowboys, the Giants are going to need the run game to be effective. So use Barkley and the wins might start to come along. This isn't a fault of Barkley, this is the play calling. Barkley needs his touches.

Best:
Oakland Raiders
It took a little while this year, but something good finally happened for the Raiders. They weren't outscored in the second half of a game. And it lead to a win to boot, the first one for Jon Gruden back on an NFL sideline in a little over a decade. Derek Carr did alright under center, throwing for 457 yards and four touchdowns. At the same time he was also picked twice and had to throw the ball 58 times during the course of the game. But hey he still had a solid day. As did Marshawn Lynch, who seemed to turn back the clock just a little bit. He finished with 130 rush yards and 157 yards of total offense. Lynch looked like beast mode of old and it was a sight for Raiders fans. Sure, there were things that Raiders fans would like to see the team clean up going forward and it was a bit of an ugly football game but a win is a win no matter how you slice it.

Worst:
Miami Dolphins
Miami came into this week with a 3-0 record, leading some observers to kind of get the feeling that this might be a year for them to overtake the Patriots as the top team in the AFC East. Well, guess again. They squared off against the Patriots and it didn't end well for the fish. The only positive takeaway from the game was that the defense was able to pick off Tom Brady twice. That was really about it. New England came away with a 38-7 win over the Dolphins, who had a very rough day on offense. Miami's attack managed to gain a total of 172 yards and 11 first downs. They weren't able to break the goal line and score until late in the game, which was already out of reach by that point.. The defense missed tackles and assignments, allowing Tom Brady and Co. to score 38 points. , who are either going to bounce back from it or continue to play this brand of football, which clearly didn't work this week.

Best:
Alvin Kamara, Running Back New Orleans Saints
We talked earlier how the Giants didn't feed Barkley. While the Giants couldn't run the ball, the Saints had no problem running the ball. Alvin Kamara had himself a pretty good day on Sunday. He carried the ball 19 times during Sunday’s win, going for 134 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. And, as we’ve grown to expect, Kamara was also a factor as a receiver, hauling in five passes for 47 yards. It's a perfect example of a balanced attack and what the Saints did was use that balanced attack to perfection. Now that Mark Ingram is coming back off suspension, it may make things hard for him to try and get touches. Kamara got the ball and made plays happen and he's going to keep making plays the more he gets touches.

Worst:
Earl Thomas, Safety Seattle Seahawks
Things looked pretty bad for the Seahawks defense on Sunday. Sure, they squeaked out a 20-17 win over the Cardinals, but it came at a bit of a price. Earl Thomas, one of the anchors of the Seahawks defense, is done for the year with a fractured leg. The injury occurred when he dove to try to break up a touchdown pass. As he was getting carted off the field, his leg in an air cast, Thomas flashed a middle finger at the Seattle sideline. It was bad enough that Thomas had held out at the start pf the year looking for a new contract or a trade from Seattle but reported to the team for Week 1 even when the organization didn't blink. Now Thomas will have to work his way back from injury with free agency on the horizon. Seattle could possibly decide to stick him with a franchise tag at the end of this season, but that image of Thomas flicking off the sideline may be the final one of him in a Seahawks uniform. Talk about a two for one punch if your both Thomas and the Seahawks.

Best:
Matt Nagy, Head Coach Chicago Bears
Most of what was said already about the Bears came in the description of Trubisky earlier in this post. But Nagy deserves as much of the credit as his quarterback does here. It was his play calling that opened things up for Trubisky to go off. Nagy dialed up pre-snap motions, misdirection and creative play designs to create mismatches and scheme receivers open. His play calling allowed for Trubisky to do what he did. He also has the Bears sitting at 3-1 and on top of the NFC North, which is one of the tougher divisions to be in right now in the NFL. But Nagy has the Bears sitting in a good spot a month into the seaosn.

Worst:
Todd Bowles, Head Coach New York Jets
After getting off to the hot start that the Jets did in week one, its been a bumpy ride since then. Most people had the Jags beating the Jets on Sunday, which they did 31-12. Some of the decisions that Jets coach Todd Bowles made against the Jags really has to make one wonder what he's thinking. First, down 22 points in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-eight with 12:53 to play from Jacksonville’s 20-yard line, Bowles elected to kick a field goal. Down that much, you gotta show some guts and show you got trust in your rookie QB. Then, down 13 with 4:33 left to play from their own 20-yard line, Bowles opted to punt, giving the Jaguars the ball and the chance to melt the clock. For a guy who's supposed to be a defensive minded coach, the Jags put up 503 yards on the board against the defense. The seat is getting hot for Bowles and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't finish the year if things don't get better.

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Three

Lots of things that went down in week three in the National Football League. Four teams sit here without a win on the year, Oakland, Houston and Arizona. Miami (another surprise), Kansas City and the Los Angeles Rams are all unbeaten at this point. Week three produced first wins on the year for a lot of teams, the two biggest surprises being the Browns and Bills. We had record breaking and break out performances and some performances that saw players and teams stumbling. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Here's some of the best, and worst, performances from week three.

Best:
Cleveland Browns
Not much explanation needed here. It's been 634 days between wins but the Cleveland Browns finally got a win. For the first time since December of 2016 the Browns pulled out a 21-17 win over the Jets. Baker Mayfield threw for over 200 yards, taking over for Tyrod Taylor, who was injured. Mayfield was nearly flawless in the victory, helping the Browns erase a 14-0 deficit. Sure there were some stupid penalties taken by the Jets, but the Browns did what a good team should do, and that was take advantage of mistakes made by the Jets. Hue Jackson has named Mayfield the starter for week four, which is something that has been coming since the end of the first drive. Cleveland finally got a win and it was a huge sigh of relief for Browns fans everywhere. They have a win under their belts and things are starting to look up a little in Cleveland.

Worst:
New England Patriots
Things in Patriots land don't look too good at the moment. New England sits in last place in the AFC East following their 26-10 loss to the Lions, which by the way was the first career coaching win for former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. So now, not only are the Patriots on a two game losing streak, but its the first time since December of 2002 that they've lost two straight games by double digits. New England's offense tried to spread the ball around but connected on just four of ten passes for 43 yards. The Pats managed just 12 first downs in this contest, which is the fewest in the Brady-Belichick era. Lets not jump the gun right now. It looks gloomy for the Patriots at 1-2. But its a long season, with 13 more games to go. New England should be able to right the ship, but boy did they look sloppy against the Lions.

Best:
Khalil Mack, Linebacker Chicago Bears
Chicago pulled out a win by the skin of their teeth on Sunday. The Bears walked away with a 16-14 win over Arizona and Khalil Mack was a huge reason for that. They were down 14-0 at one point and managed to fight their way back to 14-13 win over the Cardinals. On a Sam Bradford run in the fourth quarter, Mack tracked him down and hit him, forcing a fumble. The Bears, who trailed 14-13, took possession and went on a long drive for a field goal and the lead. By the time all was said and done, the Bears find themselves alone atop the division. This is a big reason why the Bears went out and got a guy the talent level of Mack/ On that one play, he proved to the Cards, and the rest of the league once again, why he's one of the best defensive players in all of football

Worst:
Clay Matthews, Linebacker Green Bay Packers
Clay is regarded to be one of the best linebackers in all of football. During the first nine years of his career, Clay had been flagged for four roughing the passer penalties. He's now been flagged for that three times in the first three weeks of the season. The last two calls have been outrages. First was the call on Kirk Cousins of Minnesota last week, then their was the hit on Alex Smith of Washington this week. It looked like a normal sack against Smith this week, which for some stupid reason was flagged. The league is calling it for Matthews falling on Smith with all his body weight, which the league is trying to cut down on. I feel bad for Matthews here because the league is trying to in a way baby the Quarterbacks. Its trying to get linebackers to change their game and a few have gotten hurt because of the NFL's rulings in this regard. Its stupid and I feel bad for Clay Matthews basically being the guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Best:
Carolina Panthers Run Game
Carolina showed up on Sunday and beat up on the Bengals to the tune of a 31-21 win. Now it's often talked about how the league is a quarterback driven league. This game, however, proved that an effective running game can be vital to a team success in this league. Christian McCaffery lead all running backs with 184 yards on the ground, on 28 carries. Cam Newton was also a factor in that run game effectiveness, rushing for two scores of his own. Carolina knows that the offensive line isn't that great, but they've managed to scheme their way around it and used that perfectly to beat the Bengals.

Worst:
Minnesota Vikings Offense
This was supposed to be a rout. Buffalo was a bad team, or supposed to be a bad team. Going into the Vikings-Bills game Sunday, Minnesota was a 17 point favorite. Somebody forgot to tell the Bills that. Buffalo walked away with a 27-6 victory. Minnesota had no offensive flow going at all, as Kirk Cousins was pressured most of the day and turned the football over three times. Hell Jared Allen, the Buffalo Quarterback, had more rushing years then the entire Vikings offense. This may have been a case of getting a little ahead of themselves. Week four is a Thursday Night matchup for the Vikings against the Rams, which could be an early potential playoff preview. It won't stay that way, however, if the Vikings keep playing the way they did against the Bills. Stay focused on the task at hand and don't ever get too far ahead of yourselves.

Best:
Calvin Ridley, Wide Receiver Atlanta Falcons
The rookie wide receiver out of Alabama is expected to play a big role for the Falcons in becoming a third weapon in that offense. He scored his first NFL touchdown last week. This week, in Atlanta's 43-37 overtime loss to the Saints, he proved to be a force for this Falcons club. I know it was in a losing effort, but look at the numbers for Ridley. Seven catches for 143 yards (second most in the NFL this week behind Jordy Nelson of Oakland) and three touchdown catches. Those three scores, all of which came in the first half, managed to match what Julio Jones did all of last year. He was reeking havoc for the Saints defense, who had to take their shut down corner off Julio to Ridley, which is a sign of respect for the rookie.

Worst:
Dak Prescott, Quarterback Dallas Cowboys
Heading into this game, Seattle had looked horrible on defense. They were allowing over 500 yards through the air. This week, in their 24-13 win over Dallas, the defense looked like the Legion of Boom once again. Dak Prescott was sacked five times for 31 yards, and he finished with just 168 yards passing, going 19 of 34 throwing, connecting with one touchdown and two interceptions. Through the first three games, Dak has a total of 498 passing yards. Let's put it this way, I think Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Bucs is averaging that through the first three games. Dak has been pretty terrible through the first three games. He’s struggling like crazy to connect with his receivers outside the hash marks. The Dallas offense is barely alive right now. If not for Ezekiel Elliott, things would be even worse.

Baker Time In Cleveland?

It's been a long time coming for the Cleveland Browns and their fans. Twenty games and 634 days is a long time to wait between victories. December 24th 2016 was the last time the Browns tasted victory, a 20-17 win over the then San Diego Chargers. Now that pain and suffering has ended thanks to their 21-17 win over the Jets on Thursday night, The man responsible for that was first overall pick in this years draft, Baker Mayfield.

He proved on Thursday that he can lead this Browns team. Now the question is, is this really Baker's time?

Browns coach Hue Jackson hasn't made the announcement yet as to who's going to start week four against the Oakland Raiders. it would be pretty stupid on Jackson's part not to go back to Mayfield after the performance he had against the Jets. Mayfield went 17 of 23 for 201 yards. He didn't throw a touchdown or interception on the day either. Not tossing a TD was a bit of a downer, but not throwing a pick was great. He showed a lot of poise and maturity for a guy in his position. His first drive after taking over for Tyrod Taylor with 1:42 left in the first half was pretty impressive, marching the team down the field to set up the field goal that got them on the board.

Tyrod was taken out of the game after dealing with apparent back issues and a concussion, his 3rd in about 13 months or so. But there's more to it then that. Cleveland was calling for Baker well before he got into the game. The Browns offense was going nowhere fast and they needed a spark to get them going. It may have taken an injury to Taylor to give him the chance, but he was able to take his shot and run with it.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention. Mayfield did what he did against the Jets without working with the first team offense before Thursday.

You can call it a struck a luck or you can it pure skills. Whatever you call it, you have to tip your hat and admit how impressive of a display it was. now the question remains, who are the Browns going to start against the Raiders next weekend? Smart money should be on Baker. Look Tyrod did what he could with this offense, and give credit where iot's due they looked alright over the first two games of the season. Should have had at least one win already if it wasn't for their crappy kicking game. The fans were calling for the change to be made at quarterback even before Tyrod got hurt, which should have been an indication to Hue right there that something had to change. Had the Browns not made the switch, who knows, they still maybe searching for the first win in over 635 days.

They've got that first win under their belt, and their now actually higher in the standings then the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is a sentence I never thought I'd actually write. It makes perfect sense to keep Mayfield under center. Cleveland has had a revolving door of quarterbacks since the franchise came back into the league in 1999. Thirty one in total since 1999. Cleveland hasn't had one guy under center for an entire season since Tim Couch in 2001. They may have finally found their guy in Baker Mayfield. Now let him take the reigns and run full blast with this team. You know you got a capable backup in Tyrod Taylor should he stumble, but the only way he's going to get comfortable with this team is if he gets his snaps in. Now's the time. This is Baker's team, this is Bakers time!

Best & Worst of NFL Week Two

Wee two is in the books in the NFL, and it was a pretty bad week for kickers, among others. Kickers missed a total of 19 kicks, 12 field goals and seven extra points, more on that to come. Vontae Davis had enough and called it quits. While we had stinkers, like the two New York teams, there were other teams that had themselves a day. Kansas City had themselves a huge day, as did Tampa Bay. We got another tie this week as well, what else could happen. So with all that being said, here's some of the best and worst from around the NFL in week two.

Best:
Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs
With the way the first two games have gone, think this one was a given. In the KC 42-37 win over the Steelers this week, Patrick Mahomes was nearly flawless. He finished the day going 23 of 28 for 326 yards. Solid numbers. What really pops off the page is the fact that Mahomes threw for six touchdowns this week. You read that right he threw for six touchdowns this week. To make that even better, throw in last week's start, and Mahomes has 10 TD passes over the first two games of the year. That's an unreal number to think about. Those ten TD's in the first two games are a Super Bowl-Era record for QB's. And he's done it on a total of 55 pass attempts the first two games. Small part of me thought that the Chiefs might take a step back going from Alex Smith to this kid, but looks can be deceiving. He's been very good over the first two games and if KC keeps this kind of pace up, they are going to be a very hard team to handle.

Worst:
Jamies Winston, Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He hasn't played a snap yet in the NFL and with the way the first two weeks of the season have gone, he may not get a chance to take a snap this season. Winston was supposed to be the guy under center for the Bucs, but got suspended the first three games for off the field issues. It opened the door for Ryan Fitzpatrick and he has kicked it in full force. Fitzpatrick went 27 of 33 for 412 yards another four touchdowns and a pick. The Bucs are also 2-0 to start the year. I'm sure that Tampa and Fitzpatrick will come back down to earth at some point, but until they do, Winston is out in the cold. I mean Winston is a franchise player, there's no doubt about that. But right now, for the sake of the Bucs, it might be smart to stick with a hot hand and Fitz has that hot hand at the moment. He good at throwing a deep ball, which is something Winston needs to work on.

Best:
Bradin Cooks, Wide Receiver Los Angeles Rams
He may not have found the back of the endzone on this day but Bradin Cooks had a day to remember. He did haul in seven catches for 159 in the 34-0 win over the Rams. He is starting to show what has been know for a long time, he's one of the top wide outs in all of football. He's got 246 receiving yards on just 12 catches through the first two games in a high powered offense. He's good, really, really good.

Worst:
New York Giants Offensive Line
Well, the early returns for this line aren't very good. During the offseason, New York tried its best to make improvements on one of its biggest weak spots in that offensive line. They signed Nate Soilder and drafted Will Hernandez. None of that mattered, or did any good for that matter, Sunday night against Dallas. The Cowboys walked away with a 20-13 win, with the Giants offense looking very sloppy. The line being a big reason for that problem. The Dallas front line had its way with the Giants. Saquon Barkley, for all his brilliance, was only able to generate 28 yards on the ground, but he did manage to catch 14 passes for 79 yards, most of which came in garbage time. New York, as a team, averaged 2.1 yards per carry, while Eli Manning was sacked six times for a loss of 59 yards. This is not a knock against the Cowboy defense, it did what it was supposed to do. Are they a top of the heap defense? No. Are they solid? Yes. The Giants offensive line is in that bad of shape right now. If Big Blue wants to get anywhere this year, that line has got to play better.

Best:
Phillip Lindsay, Running Back Denver Broncos
Going into the season, it looked to be almost a lock that Denver was going to have a rookie taking the bulk of the load at running back. Royce Freeman was projected to be the guy to take the job, but instead Phillip Lindsay has taken control as the feature back in Denver. In week one, he had 102 rush yards. This week, in Denver's 20-19 win over the Raiders, Lindsay had 14 caries for 107 yards and had another catch for four yards to finish with 111 total yards for the day. He's been showing a lot of speed and quickness, making defenders look just silly on certain plays. At the moment, it looks like the Broncos have a solid and consistent run game which they've been looking for over the last couple of seasons.

Worst:
NFL Kickers
NFL teams better have Dan Bailey on speed dial after kickers had a horrible day om the job. On Sunday, in total, 19 kicks were missed. Twelve field goals and seven extra points went by the board. That’s not the record for most missed kicks in a single day, but a lot of Sunday’s were dramatic. Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez missed two extra points and two field goals. One of the extra points would have given the Browns a 19-18 lead; one of the field goals would have tied the game at 21. They lost, 21-18. Rookie kicker Daniel Carlson missed not one but two overtime kicks in Minnesota’s 29-29 tie against the Packers. It's days like this that a guy like Dan Bailey, who for the record is the second most accurate kicker in NFL history, could be on speed dial for a job and quickly.

Best:
Steve Sarkisian, Offensive Coordinator Atlanta Falcons
Play down in the red zone had been a big problem for the Falcons. They heard it near the end of last season, they heard it during the off season. They even heard it a bit during the opening night loss to the Falcons. All that talk went away on Sunday. Atlanta got inside the 20-yard line four times, and scored four touchdowns. That fueled a 31-24 win over Carolina. Matt Ryan's numbers compared to the opener were way up in this game as he totally flipped the script and had two touchdowns and 272 yards passing. Sarkisian called the right plays at the right times and got the Falcons offense right back on track. With how tight this race in the NFC South could look this year,m it going to be a fun year to watch that division.

Worst:
First Year Head Coaches
Jon Gruden, Matt Patricia and Steve Wilks are still in search of their first wins on the year. Jon Gruden’s Raiders blew a big fourth-quarter lead at Denver, and then Gruden showed some remarkable lack of self-awareness by blaming the Raiders’ pass rush for not getting pressure late. That's what happens when your bosses let go one of the best pass rushers and defenders in the game today. For Steve Wilks in Arizona, the Cards look like the 2nd worst team in the league right now, behind the Bills. Not only is Arizona off to an 0-2 start, they got blasted 34-0 by the Rams on Sunday in a flat out embarrassing effort. Then there's Matt Patricia in Detroit. He not only got beaten soundly by the Jets in week one but lost 30-27 to the 49ers. The team doesn't really feel comfortable with him and over the next three weeks the Lions have to deal with New England, Dallas and Green Bay. Things don't look good in the Motor City right about now.

Best:
Tavon Austin, Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
As a whole, things haven't been great for the career of Tavon Austin. He was picked 8th overall in 2013, with that comes high expectations. He's averaged a little over 38 yards a game in his career, which is a low number for a guy taken 8th overall. Dallas had been saying all summer that Austin was going to be their big gun, but he had just one touch for one yard in the opener against the Panthers. Now, in the Dallas 20-13 win over the Giants, he had himself a pretty good day. Austin got the party started by scoring the game’s first points on a gorgeous 64-yard catch and run for a touchdown. He added another 15-yard reception, along with a 15-yard run, to finish with 94 yards and one of the two touchdowns scored in the game by Dallas. He may not have hit the high water mark just yet, but based on what was done against the Giants, it looks like it a solid step in the right direction.

Worst:
Vonate Davis, Corner back Buffalo Bills
Maybe it a poor attitude on his part. Maybe its the team he plays for. Whatever the exact reason was, is not known yet. We do know this much. Davis had enough. Nine years spent in the NFL is a solid career, three with the Dolphins and six with the Colts. Last year, Davis played in only five games with the Colts due to injuries. This year, he signs with the bills, plays in a blowout loss to the Ravens and can't even make it through the entire second game of the year against the Chargers. He retired at halftime. No that's not a joke, and no that's not a typo. He removed himself from the game at halftime against the Chargers and retired. That's how bad things have gotten in Buffalo when a player retires mid game. Davis just figured he wouldn't destroy his body anymore at the end of his career and just save himself from misery and hang up the pads now. That's how you know the Bills are that bad with players retiring in the middle of a game.

Best Of David Wright

Its a sad day for Mets fans, but we all knew it was coming. In a press conference held early Wednesday, the Mets announced that David Wright would be activated for the final homestand of the season. It starts September 25th vs the Braves and concludes September 30th vs the Marlins. The final time in which Mets fans get to see the captain in uniform. The team has already announced the Wright will play 3rd base for the final time on Saturday September 29th. It will be the final start of his career, one in which he has been the face of the Mets franchise since he came into the big leagues.

Wright is the team leader in every offensive category except batting average (3rd), triples (T-8th), stolen bases (4th) and on base percentage (4th). He's the king of the record books for this team. It sucks to see the way his career has gone down. Here's a look back at some of the best moments of David's career.

Starting it off was July 22nd, 2004  when David cracked his first big league hit:


We'll get back to more moments with the bat in a bit, but we wanna show off his defense a little. Like on August 9th of 2005 when he did this against the Padres:


OK now back to the offense we go. May 19th 2006, subway series. It was a wild night in Queens with the Captain capping it off.


Then we get to the two most emotional at bats he's had. First up was what kick started the captains return back in the Magical year of 2015. It was August 24th in Philadelphia, David announced he was back in a big way.


Finally, we move to October 30th of the same year, in game three of the World Series, Wright showed the home crowd just how much it meant to him playing in the fall classic.


It really sucks to see a guy who has done so much for this Mets franchise have his career wind down the way it has. It would have been even sweeter had the team been able to beat the Royals in 2015, but they won tow division titles and made it to the NCLS twice and fall classic once during Wrights career. He may not be headed to Cooperstown but will without a doubt be heading into the Mets hall of fame and should have his number retired when all is said and done.

So thanks for the Memories David, we look forward to the final game on September 29th., Hopefully it can give Mets fans like me one final thrill.