Best And Worst Of NFL Week Seven

Week Seven in the National Football League has come and gone. During the week that was around the league, a few upsets were sprinkled in (Jags over the Bills, KC over Pitt) a bigtime blowout in Miami whipping up on Houston. A few teams held onto their undefeated status, even though Cincinnati, Denver and Green Bay had their bye week, while the Panthers and Patriots managed to keep their perfect seasons alive. Buffalo almost pulled off a major comeback against the Jaguars, same thing with the Colts against New Orleans. Tennessee and Atlanta played probably one of the most boring games of the year, and don't look now but the Oakland Raiders (who are a 3-3 football team after their win Sunday) may actually have found something that works for them and could be a contending team. Now with all that being said, here's some of the best and worst of week seven in the National Football league.

Best:
Lamar Miller, Running Back Miami Dolphins
You want to talk about having a monster game on the ground on Sunday, look no further than what Lamar Miller did in the Miami thrashing of Houston. Miller finished the day with 14 carries for 175 yards and a touchdown in the Dolphins 44-26 win. Plus throw in another 61 receiving yards on three catches (one of which went for a touchdown). Houston’s defense had no answer for Miller, who tallied 236 total yards and two touchdowns by halftime. Those 175 yards rushing Miller had were the most somebody has had in a game since Miller put up 178 yards rushing against the Jets in week 17 last year. Yeah that's pretty spectacular numbers. And to make this more interesting, Miami actually sat him out of the 2nd half, with the game well in hand. Just imagine what numbers he could have had, had been playing the entire football game.

Worst:
Houston Texans
It really has been a miserable season for football fans in Houston. The team is sitting at 2-5 after getting whacked bigtime by Miami on Sunday. this also marks the 2nd time this season that the Texans have allowed over 40 points in a game (they also got beat 48-21 by Atlanta in week four). So things haven't been going that great for the Texans this year. Now, to make matters much worse for Houston, they just lost Arian Foster for the season due to a torn Achilles Tendon. Foster will now miss the rest of the miserable Texans’ season (which I think he may be happy about). From getting whipped by Miami to losing your best offensive player for the rest of the season, its a tough pill to swallow for the Texans.

Best:
Tom Brady, Quarterback New England Patriots
What else can be said about this guy that hasn't been said already. The only downside to this week for Brady was the fact that the Jets defense got to him, sacking him three times. But that's a minor blip on the screen. Brady finished 34 of 54 for for 355 yards and a pair of touchdowns. You can always have confidence in the fact that Brady will find a way to pull something off. The Jets dominated the first half of the football game, but the Pats kept it close, giving Brady a chance. By the 2nd half, he took over the game, cutting up the Jets top five defense, helping keep the Patriots a perfect 6-0. When you watch Brady play, you think that he will somehow, someway, get his team back into it.

Worst:
Brandon Marshall, Wide Receiver New York Jets
It kind of hurts to have to say this but I have to put it here. Marshall had four catches for 67 yards Sunday against the Pats, only the 2nd time this year he failed to ring up 100 or more yards receiving (he had 62 yards in the opener against the Browns in week one). What makes this one a little more painful is the mental mistakes he's made in this football game on Sunday. He had a bad drop Sunday, to go with a big blunder at the end of the game that cost his team a shot at one last play to score. Mix in his idiotic lateral attempt a few weeks ago and what we have now is a pattern of knuckleheaded plays. Don't get me wrong, he's quickly becoming a fan favorite among us Jets fans, but he needs to clean the mental side of the game up just a little bit, that will make us a lot happier as Jets fans.

Best:
Doug Martin, Running Back Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Welcome back Doug Martin. He had a very promising rookie year in 2012, finishing that year with 1,454 yards and 11 scores. Since then, Martin hasn't put up anything close to those numbers. He's averaged four yards a carry each of the last two years. This year, he seems to have found his game again. The past three games have been the best stretch of his career. First he ran for 106 against Carolina, then last week racked up 123 yards in the win over Jacksonville. Now, in week seven, he had 19 carries for 136 yards. I know it was in a one point loss to the Redskins, but still it was the fourth best rushing performance of any back in the league this week. And those yards also helped spark the Bucs in the comeback, which fell just short. Still you are seeing a revamped and renewed Doug Martin, Something you really haven't seen since 2012.

Worst:
Brandon LaFell, Wide Receiver New England Patriots
Tough go of it for LaFell Sunday against the Jets. He had two catches for 25 yards against the Jets. Low numbers for a guy who's considered a decent receiver. It was his first game back in the lineup on Sunday. But here's what put's him on this hit list. Dropping six passes. SIX DROPPED PASSES. That can't happen if your an NFL wide out. To make it worse, you did it playing for the hooded Sith lord Bill Belichick. I think if that happens again, LaFell will be without a job.

Best:
Todd Gurley, Running Back St. Louis Rams
Yes its a tad early to be making Rookie Of the Year predictions, but this guy may be making a strong claim to it early on. Sure, you can make the same argument for Amari Cooper of the Oaklan d Raiders, but this guy has his own case he can make. He is a beast in the making. He has just ripped off three straight hundred-yard games, including what he just did to the Cleveland Browns. He rushed for 128 yards and a pair of scores, all on 19 carries. Those two scores were the first two touchdowns of his entire careers. Yup I'd say that's a pretty good way to make a claim for Rookie of the Year.

Worst:
Rex Ryan, Head Coach Buffalo Bills
For all the hype that the Bills had coming into this season, things haven't turned out too good at this point. They have now fallen to a game under .500 at 3-4 after the loss to the Jaguars in London. They flew all the way to London just to get upset by the Jags. It looked like there was solid hope for the Bills after the first couple of weeks, but since then it hasn't looked too good in Western New York. Buffalo has lost the last two games and now there are rumblings that Rex is having trouble with a couple of players in his locker room. If that's the case, then this could be a rough go of it for Rex in Buffalo.

Best:
Kirk Cousins, Quarterback Washington Redskins
When you go down by 24 points in a football game, its a little hard for a team to make a comeback. When you think of Quarterbacks you want leading your teams back in a game like that, you think of guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Kirk Cousins isn't a name that pops up right away. But that's what happened on Sunday against the Bucs. Tampa had a 234 point lead, only to blow it and lose 30-31 to Washington. The Bucs being awful does take some of the luster off the great comeback, but let’s allow Cousins this moment of glory. And rightfully so. Cousins finished the day going 33 of 40 for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns. Yeah it was a pretty good day for a team that surprised a few in getting the comeback win.

Worst:
Dallas Cowboys
Its been a rough go of it for the Cowboys since losing both Tony Romo and Dez Bryant. After winning the first two games of the year, the Boys have lost four straight, including the tough one to the Giants on Sunday. The experiment to start Matt Cassel over Brandon Weeden in Week 7 against their NFC east rival New York Giants ended in failure. Cassel was underwhelming and turned the ball over three times, scoring only one touchdown. One of Cassel’s interceptions was a pick six-right into the hands of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who returned the catch for a 58-yard score. Darren McFadden was the only bright spot for Dallas this week. McFadden piled up 152 yards and one touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to make up for his careless quarterback’s mistakes.

2015 World Series Preview

October has turned into a month of Blue (at least at the moment). For the two teams playing in the fall classic, it has been a long 30 years in the making. Kansas City hasn't won a title since 1985, while New York hasn't seen a championship since 1986. One title drought is bound in a little over a week. Kansas City looks to finish off some unfinished business (having made it to the fall classic a season ago), while the Mets are looking to make an impact in their first World Series in fifteen years. In a little over a week, somebody will be holding the Commissioner's Trophy high above their heads, having been crowned champions of all the baseball world.

This years fall classic has the National League Champions the New York Mets taking on the American League Champions the Kansas City Royals. New York comes in finishing the year with a 90-72 record, winning the NL East. The National League East Title was the sixth division title in team history. To get to the Series, the Mets knocked off the Dodgers in the NLDS in four, then swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. This marks the fifth appearance in the World Series for the Mets, and their first since 2000. They have split their four previous appearances, winning in 1969 (Baltimore) and 1986 (Boston) while losing in 1973 (Oakland) and 2000 (Yankees). With the win in the NLCS, the Mets ensured that they have the most World Series appearances by an expansion franchise with five, and that this Series would be the first between two expansion franchises. In addition, the Mets have made World Series appearances in all but one of their six decades of existence (winning in 1969 and 1986, losing in 1973 and 2000, and not appearing in any that were played during the 1990s).

As for the Royasls, they are making their second consecutive appearance in the World Series, and fourth overall. They won the World Series in 1985 (St. Louis), and lost their two other appearances, in 1980 (Philadelphia) and 2014 (San Francisco). The Royals qualified for the postseason by winning the American League Central, their seventh division title and their first outside of the American League West. They finished the season with a 95-67 record/ They faced the Houston Astros in the ALDS, following that up by beating the Blue Jays in six in the ALCS. With the win in the ALCS, Kansas City became the first team since the Texas Rangers in 2010 and 2011 to play in consecutive World Series. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in the playoffs.

Here's the date and times of every game in this series:
October 27 New York Mets @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 8:07 PM ET
October 28 New York Mets @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 8:07 PM ET
October 30 Kansas City Royals @ New York Mets Citi Field 8:07 PM ET
October 31 Kansas City Royals @ New York Mets Citi Field 8:07 PM ET
November 1† Kansas City Royals @ New York Mets Citi Field 8:07 PM ET
November 3† New York Mets @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 8:07 PM ET
November 4† New York Mets @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 8:07 PM ET

All games will be televised on Fox.

Now lets get down to it. Here's how the series is going to break down. Its no secret how good the Mets starting pitching is. When you have a starting rotation that consists of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, all of whom have an ERA under 3.00, then you know you have a good starting staff. Also the back end of the bullpen has been great for the Mets right now. If the starts can go deep into the game (pitching seven innings at least), then get the ball to Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia, then its all but over. Clippard and especially Familia have been lights out. Familia hasn't allowed a run in the playoffs so far. In fact, Familia has allowed only two hits in the eight games he has pitched in this month, so yeah I'd say that's domination. If your the Royals, facing this guy when your trailing means one thing, lights out. What has me worried is the middle of the pen. Lets say, for the sake of argument, that one of the starters faulter. I'm not that comfortable with the middle of the pen. It hasn't had to work very hard this playoffs, so its possibly going to be tested. Still I can see its holding its own.

On the other side of the coin, KC's starting rotation of Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Yordano Ventura and Chris Young have been good, but not great. Young is the only KC starter who has an ERA under 4 in the playoffs. Cueto has been OK but he can't pitch on the road. So KC is a little lucky that Cueto isn't pitching in Queens in the Series, because if he was, the Mets fans would let him hear it worse than he did in Toronto in the ALCS. One thing Ned Yoast has to take into account are these numbers. Through 11 postseason games, Kansas City's starters have managed just a 5.56 ERA across 55 innings. That's not good and needs to get better ASAP. There is one thing the Royals have going for them, their ace in the hole weapon out of the bullpen as well, that being Wade Davis. His numbers have been as good as that of Familia. He's allowed three hits total in the entire playoffs and not allowed a run. So if, somehow, the Royals can get a lead late, much like the Mets, the lights go out and the game is over.

The difference here is going to be offense. Yes, the Mets have been hitting the cover off the ball in the power department this playoffs. They have 14 homeruns as a team (seven coming off the bat of Daniel Murphy). Murphy is the only Mets hitter to drive in double digit runs in the postseason, followed by Granderson and Cespedes. In fact, Granderson and Murphy are the only two Mets batters to collect more than ten hits in the entire playoffs. The fact that Murphy has been hitting the cover off the ball has been fantastic. Here's the difference between what the Mets have faced and what they are going to face. Kansas City is a better hitting team. KC has a .271 team batting average (compared to the.235 average for the Mets) KC doesn't strike out much, as they have only struck out 71 times in the entire playoffs (meanwhile the Mets have 94 strikeouts, highest in the playoffs).  Kansas City has six hitters who have reached double digits in hits in the playoffs, granted they have played more post season games than the Mets. Still the fact that their lineup has more balance than New York's should be a telling story in and of itself.

As much as I love the Mets, I think this may be the time when they finally hit the wall. Playing in a hitters park like KC benifits the Royals more than the Mets. Don't get me wrong, this Mets team has been full of surprises this season. Case in point they are playing in the World Series starting tonight! At the same time, every once in a while the magic is going to run out. This series is going to go the distance I have no doubt about that. I just don't know if the Mets have enough to pull this off.

Pick: Kansas City Royals in Seven!

New York Heading To The World Series

It has been fifteen years. Fifteen very long years of waiting and frustration. After all the heartache and headache, it has finally happened. The New York Mets are champions of the National League, having their ticket punched to the World Series. If you had told me back in April, at the start of the season, that the Mets would be the National League Champions and playing in a World Series, I would have looked at you and laughed right in your face. But now here we sit in late October, a week away from the start of the Series, and the Mets are the Champions of the National League.

Both the Mets and the Chicago Cubs had come into the series with a bit of a hot streak. They had taken out their opponents in four games (Mets beating the Dodgers, Cubs taking out the Cardinals). Now they get set to face each other in a series of teams looking to break slumps. Chicago hasn't seen a World Series since 1945, the Mets since 2000. The Mets power really took off in this series. Daniel Murphy had four dingers, we'll touch on him in a little while, Travis D'Arnaud hit a pair (Solo shots in game one and game four) and Lucas Duda hitting the three run shot in game four. Of the regulars in the Mets lineup for the series, everybody had at least two hits in the series (Lagares finished the series going 2 for 6). IF you want to get nit picky, the only guy in the Mets lineup who was held off the basepaths was Copnforto, who was held hitless in the series. Granderson had three hits in the series, and every other starter had at least four hist in the series.

That was a huge difference in this series. I'll admit some of the Cubs showed promise. Jorge Soler (.417 average) and Dexter Fowler (.250 average) were really the only consistent hitters in the Chicago Lineup in the series. Yes Kris Bryant had a decent series, with a homer and three driven in and Kyle Schwarber went deep twice in the series. But those two home runs were the only hits that Schwarber had in the entire series. You also know its going to be a rough go for Cubs hitters if Anthony Rizzo was held without a home run, without an RBI and finished the series hitting just .214. For a team that has a lot of potential, the Cubs came out flat in the series which was a bit of a surprise. What did it was how much better the Mets pitching was in this series.

The Mets pitchers have an ERA under 3.00 (the only pitcher with a high ERA was Tyler Clippard who finished the series with an ERA of 6.00). Familia, Colon, Niese and Reed were all perfect out of the bullpen. Matz was the only one not to get a win out of the starters in this series (Colon got the win in game four for his relief appearance). Everything was just clicking right for the team in this series. The pitching staff was on point and held the hot Cubs hitters at bay. The offense was balanced and came up with the big hit when it was needed. And then there was Daniel Murphy.

You could not get any hotter of a hitter on all of planet earth right now than Daniel Murphy. Its no surprise to anybody whit the way he played in this series that he won the NLCS MVP, only the 2nd Mets player ever to win the MVP in the NLCS (Mike Hampton won it in 2000). During this series, Murphy finished with a .529 batting average (now hitting .421 for the entire playoffs), he hit 4 home runs, 6 runs batted in, 9 hits in the series and set a Major league record for hitting home runs in 6 consecutive playoff games (he went deep in the final two games of the divisional round and ever game of the league championship series). His slugging percentage for the four games was a gaudy 1.294, a truly mind boggling number over four games.. Murphy had a .424 lifetime slugging percentage heading into the series. and a .755 OPS coming into the postseason. That's talking other worldly numbers for the 2nd baseman who many would consider to be the Mets most consistent hitter. It wasn't just the timely hitting, but the clutch fielding as well. Twice in the ninth inning, games two and three to be specific, he made fantastic plays at 2nd base to get the last out of both of those baseball games. You really couldn't get more locked in during this series than Murphy was. This was something that was truly amazing to watch over the four games. It truly was incredible to watch over the span of the four games.


Everything really started to click for the Mets right after the trade deadline. Powerful and dominant pitching have been a staple of the Mets since the beginning of the year. Then the trade deadline brought in the offense that could really give support to that pitching staff. This really is a bit of a strange feeling. Its late October, fans gearing up for the World Series. The New York Mets will be playing in said series. It might feel strange, but this state of Mets euphoria is very real. The New York Mets are in the World Series. Its party time in Queens right now, but Tuesday night its time to get back to business once again.

Best And Worst Of NFL Week Six

Week six managed to keep fans on the edge of their seats for another exciting Sunday. We had a pair of overtime games, with the Lions FINALLY getting off the snide and picking up their first win of the year (beating the Bears by the field goal) and then Denver staying unbeaten (also a field goal win over the Browns). Thanks to the Lions finally getting a win, there are no longer any winless teams in the league. At the other end of the spectrum, there are still five unbeaten teams left in the NFL (New England, Cincinnati, Denver, Green Bay and Carolina), the most in the league this late in the season since the merger in 1970. Some games in week six had high levels of excitement, like the AFC title rematch between the Colts and Patriots. Seattle has struggled a bit this year, so too did the Eagles run game (until the last two weeks apparently). So lets get right into it and take a look at some of the best and worst from week six in the National Football League.

Best:
DeAndre Hopkins, Wide Receiver, Houston Texans
He's been getting thrown to more than any other wide receiver in the NFL. He's been thrown to a total of 89 times this season, including a single game high of 15 times Sunday in the Win over Jacksonville. He made ten catches for 148 yards and a pair of scores. He's really making those targets count this year too. He's caught 52 of the 85 passes thrown his way. So yeah in all likelyhood, if a ball gets thrown in the direction of Hopkins, he's going to catch it. Jacksonville stood no chance of really stopping him on Sunday that's for sure.

Worst:
Emmanuel Sanders, Wide Receiver Denver Broncos
He had an alright day in the receiving game, finishing with four catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. So why is he on this list here? Because he lost his head for a moment. He has to know the clock, especially late in a football game. Denver and Cleveland are tied late in the ball game, Denver has no timeouts left. He made a huge catch to get the Bronco's within scoring range (which turned out not to be a catch at all upon review), then rolled into the endzone and soaked up the glory of the play. But he didn't score and Denver ran out of time. He needs to be smarter than that, which I know he is. Again his team got the “W” but he looked clownish in the process.

Best:
Chris Ivory, Running Back New York Jets
Maybe Brandon Marshall has a point after all. Last week, when asked who the best running back in the NFL was, Marshall said Chris Ivory. He has looked like it the last few games. He has the 3rd most rushing yards in the league (trailing only Matt Forte and Devonta Freeman). Ivory had another fantastic day Sunday against the Rediskins, finishing 20 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown. When he goes well, the Jets win. When he is not getting off, there’s too much pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick. And, in years past, coming out of the bye week has been a struggle for the Jets. Thanks to the outstanding running of Chris Ivory, they picked up a big win heading into New England next week.

Worst:
Melvin Gordon, Running Back San Diego Chargers
He really hasn't looked good rushing the ball as of late. In fact, in the six games he has played this year, the Chargers running back hasn't cracked the 100 yard mark (his single season best is 88 yards against the Bengals in week two). This week, against the Packers, he finished with seven carries for 29 yards. What made matters worse was the fact that he fumbled twice. And this bad play caused him to get benched late for Branden Oliver and Danny Woodhead. When you fumble twice, of course your going to see the bench. It laso doesn't help your cause when you fumble four times in six appearances, and have five games under 60 yards rushing

Best:
Matthew Stafford, Quarterback Detroit Lions
Welcome back Matthew Stafford. He finally helped the Lions get into the win column for the season. This coming after getting benched last week, Stafford had a good week this week. The Lions quarterback threw for a season-high 405 yards and four touchdowns during Detroit’s overtime win over the Bears. Stafford finished the day throwing 27 of 42 for those 405 yards, the four touchdowns and one pick. He gave the Lions a lead late in the fourth quarter with a score, and then set up the game-winning field goal in overtime with a deep heave to Calvin Johnson. I guess that benching he got last week must have been the slap in the face that Stafford needed to get his team back on the winning track.

Worst:
Michael Vick, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
A small part of me feels a little bit bad for Vick. It might have been one of the last times we see him on an NFL field. I know the Steelers needed him since Big Ben is hurt and missing time. But Vick finished by completing three passes for six yards total. Plus the fact that he got hurt with a hamstring injury and was outplayed by his replacement, Landry Jones. Jones played exceedingly well, leading one to wonder if Vick will be healthy for Week 7, but it seems likely that the Steelers will either start a returning Ben Roethlisberger or give the keys to Jones. Pittsburgh punted on five of its seven possessions with Vick in the game on Sunday.

Best:
Benjamin Watson, Tight End New Orleans Saints
Coming into this game between the Saints and Falcons, Atlanta had been undefeated. They didn't come out of the game that way.New Orleans walked away with a 31-21 win, their 2nd win of the year (both of which have come at home this season). Benjamin Watson was a big reason for that. He finished the day with 10 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. There were some questions as to whether or not he can fill the void left by Jimmy Graham getting sent to the Seahawks. It may not be much but its a step in the right direction to filling that hole and giving Drew Brees more weapons to work with in the offense. Hopefully the Seahawks can build off of it and maybe pick up a little momentum.

Worst:
Seattle Seahawks Defense
My how the mighty have fallen. They were outplayed by Carolina all game long on Sunday, eventually falling by four to the Panthers. You know there are cracks in the lineup when the Legion of Boom arguing over who let Greg Olsen score at the end of the game. The cracks are starting to become bigger in this Super Bowl regular. Contract issues, lack of offense, Lynch injuries, and now on the field bickering. Hard to stay on top ain’t it fellas?

Best:
Philip Rivers, Quarterback San Diego Chargers
San Diego's bid to be the first team to knock off the Green Bay Packers fell just short, as the Packers pulled out a 27-20 victory. But Philip Rivers did all his best to keep San Diego in this football game. Rivers sliced and diced the Packers defense, throwing for a career-high 503 yards on 43 completions and out-dueling Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field. He finished by going 43 of 65 (throwing 65 pass attempts is pretty insane I have to say) for those 503 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He became just the third quarterback to throw for over 500 yards and lose since 2006. A chance to get to overtime in Green Bay was lost when Rivers’ 65th attempt of the contest was broken up by Packers rookie Damarious Randall in the end zone on fourth down. This would have been a monumental performance for the ages had San Diego managed to pull off the win. Still the fact that Rivers managed to launch over 500 passing yards is still a very impressive performance.

Worst:
Peyton Manning, Quarterback Denver Broncos
It does pain me to have to say this as I've been a supporter of Peyton Manning for a long time now. BUt I'm sorry he doesn't look like himself this year. Denver continues to rely on their defense with Peyton and his arm now being sponsored by Ramen Noodles. Denver’s defense and special teams are outscoring the offense on the year. The Broncos stayed undefeated against Cleveland, but Peyton was not an asset once again. Its getting tough to watch but the Broncos still have a perfect record. Maybe its time Peyton should consider calling it a career.

NHL 2015-16 Season Preview

IT'S BACK! The chase for Lord Stanley's Cup is officially on. Thirty teams all vying for the same silver trophy. Its a long march for the clubs, an 82 game slate to see who has the best team in all of hockey. Some teams got better during the offseason, some stayed put with the teams they had. While others took a step backwards with loss of player personal. There's also a few new rules that are going to be put in place for this season.

First there's thew new overtime format to help decide games. Overtime during the regular season will now have three skaters per side, instead of the 4-on-4 format that has been used the last few years. However, if there are carry-over penalties from the third period to overtime, a side is still guaranteed to have at least three skaters and the man-advantage will be adjusted accordingly (e.g. a 5-on-4 power play at the end of regulation will be converted to a 4-on-3 one at the start of overtime). If the game is still tied after OT, the game will be decided in a shootout. We also have a new rule in effect for a coaches challenge. Video review has been expanded to include a coach's challenge, similar to the system used by the NFL since 1999. Much like the NFL, each challenge will require the use of a team's timeout. If the challenge is successful, the timeout is restored.

Teams may only challenge the following situations:
-Whether a goal called on the ice should have been disallowed because the attacking team was offside or interfered with the goaltender
-Whether a disallowed goal, called on grounds of goalkeeper interference, should instead be overturned because either: there was no actual contact between the attacking player and the goalie the attacking player was actually pushed or fouled by a defender into the goalie the attacking player's position in the crease did not actually impair or impact the goalie's play Inside the final minute of regulation, and during overtime, all reviews that would otherwise be subject to the coach's challenge will instead be initiated by the NHL's Situation Room in Toronto.
-All reviews involving whether the puck entered the net will still be initiated by the Situation Room.

Now that wee have some of the new rule changes out of the way, here we go with the predictions. Here's how I see the 2015-16 NHL season going down

Western Conference:
Pacific Division
1. Anaheim Ducks*
Anaheim has won the division each of the last three seasons, so what's stopping this team from winning it for a fourth year in a row. As a matter of fact, if you look at the way things have gone for the Ducks the last three years in the playoffs, they have gone deeper and deeper each year. Yes Anaheim did lose some notable talent in the offseason, losing guys like Francois Beauchemin, Emerson Etem, Kyle Palmieri, and Matt Beleskey. But they more than made up for it by adding in Carl Hagelin, Kevin Bieksa, Shawn Horcoff, Mike Santorelli, and Anton Khudobin. there's plenty of depth in the Ducks lineup, from the forward lines to the blueline to between the pipes. There's nothing really stopping the Ducks (baring injury of course) from going all the way to the Finals.

2. Los Angeles Kings*
Talk about a team on a rebound. After winning the Cup two years ago, LA missed the playoffs by four points last season. Sure this summer has been a bit of a rocky one. Los Angeles has been dealing with Mike Richards contract saga, not to mention Slava Voynov’s domestic violence accusations. Those two topics could be cause for concern during the regular season for LA. But, with the team that's coming back on the ice this year, LA could be very very good. Think about it. Jonathan Quick is still a stud in net. Milan Lucic was brought in from the Bruins to add some major offensive punch to the team. Pair up him with Kopitar and that could be a very deadly one two punch for an offense.

3. Calgary Flames*
Look at what happened to this team a season ago. They finished 3rd in the division with 97 points, trailing only the Canucks and Ducks. This year, whats to stop the Flames from moving up in the division? They made a pretty big addition to their team, by adding a top four defemseman in Dougie Hamilton. Michael Frolik was added to bring in some more offensive punch to the lineup, one which pumped in 241 goals a season ago. This team is very very good.

4. Vancouver Canucks
Coming off a playoff spot a season ago, having the 2nd best record in the entire division, you would think that the Canucks would be right back in the thick of things? They will be don't worry. Ryan Miller will be his usual self between the pipes again this season. They lost some talent when guys like Kevin Bieksa, Zack Kassian, Nick Bonino, Eddie Lack, and Shawn Matthias left for other cities. To replace what was lost, Vancouver did bring in Brandon Sutter, Brandon Prust, Richard Bachman, and Matt Bartkowski. Without a solid backup behind Miller, it does leave me worried as to what's going to happen with this team. Vancouver was a solid team a year ago, but I think lost a lot. yes you still do have the Sedin Twins holding down the offense, but the defense leaves a bit to be desired.

5. San Jose Sharks
Losing Nemi is going to hurt the Sharks. No offense to the guys who are manning the pipes in San Jose, Martin Jones and Alex Stalock, but come on both of those guys are career backup netminders. The big stars on the team, that of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski aren't exactly getting any younger. Sure they still have talent to score, but they aren't anywhere near as quick as they once were. Raffi Torres was just suspended 41 games by the NHL for his hit in a preseason game against the Ducks, as if he was going to be able to stay healthy all year.

6. Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers team can only be improved after their 62-point season last year. Peter Chiarelli has become the team’s GM, Todd McLellan has moved to Edmonton to go behind the bench and first overall pick from last summer’s NHL Entry Draft, Connor McDavid-mania is about to begin. The team will improve slightly but probably will still be without a ticket to the playoffs.

7. Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes do have some youngsters within their lineup, guys like Anthony Duclair and Dylan Strome to name a few. But the Coyotes are still the organization with more questions than answers. The constant ownership issues rear its ugly head and both the NHL fans and owners want a resolution now. They still have goaltender Mike Smith and forward Shane Doan. Oliver Ekman-Larsson can contribute from the back end. At the end of the day, this is still a bad hockey club.

Central Division:
1. Minnesota Wild*
A season ago, Minnesota finished two points back of the top three in the division. This is a team on the brink of being a huge success. Devan Dubnyk was a big reason for the Wild success in the 2nd half of the year, going 27-9-2 after coming over from the Coyotes. If he can play like that again this year, Minnesota has themselves a number one netminder for a long time. Kyle Brodziak and Chris Stewart were let go, but still the Wild have a deep enough team to make a run at this thing. With their two studs in the lineup, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, along with Captain Mikko Koviu, they have enough talent on this hockey team to take the division.

2. Chicago Blackhawks*
OK I know this is going to be tough to swallow but the Hawks have a chance here. Yes they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions, but there is a bit of a problem here. Much like after their first cup win in 2010, the salary cap has struck the Hawks again. Due to the cap, Chicago had to get rid of a lot of talent, including guys like Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Brad Richards, Antoine Vermette, Johnny Oduya, Kris Versteeg, Joakim Nordstrom and they let Antti Raanta walk in free agency. They did bring in former Ranger Artem Anisimov, who fills the long-standing need of a second-line center upgrade. They have depth on the blueline still and with Corey Crawford and Scott Darling as the goalie tandom in the Windy City, Chicago will be once again back in the playoffs.

3. St. Louis Blues*
This is a team that has managed to keep its foot in the playoff race the last few years. They have made the playoffs now four years in a row, as they will make it five straight this year, but they haven't won a round since 2012 and haven't gotten past the 2nd round since 2001. The Blues must get over the one-and-done hump. Sure making the playoffs is great, but the feeling would be even better if they manage to win a round come spring.  That could explain the Oshie-Troy Brouwer swap. Also letting go of veteran defenseman Barret Jackman makes you scratch your head a little. But it does show a shift in direction in which head coach Ken Hitchcock is looking to make. St. Louis has retained its core and stuck with the same coach-GM combo. St. Louis is good enough to lock up another playoff spot again this season, but expect major changes if the Blues get bounced early again.

4. Dallas Stars*
A team that won 41 games last year and still missed the playoffs. That won't happen again this year. But they will be good enough to make the playoffs again this season. They have a solid goalie tandom with Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. Both guys are expected to split the workload between the pipes this season. Bringing in Patrick Sharp was a big boost to the Dallas offense, which was already lethal as is. Throw in Tyler Seguin and last years Scoring champion Jamie Benn, you got yourself a nasty three headed monster at the top of your offense. Jason Spezza, Valeri Nichushkin and Ales Hemsky will round out the Stars’ top six. That's a damn good top scoring unit. Its the blueline that's going to leave a few question marks in Dallas. Trevor Daly went away, traded to the Hawks in the Sharp trade. Johnny Oduya and John Klingberg are going to be expected to step up bigtime in Dallas to help fill some of the void on defense. Its going to be a bit of a rough start on D for Dallas but its good enough to make the playoffs.

5. Nashville Predators*
Nashville finished with 104 points a season ago, good enough for a second place finish in the division. Clearly that's not going to happen this year, but they are still good enough to make the playoffs this season. Goaltending will be strong again for the Preds. Pekka Rinne and Carter Hutton make a pretty good one two punch in goal. Nashville would have gone a little further, and had a stronger finish in the division for that matter, had Rinne been able to stay healthy. To make things better, from a defensive perspective anyway, they are one of the top units in the league. Shea Weber and Roman Josi logged 26-plus minutes per game last year and will be asked to do the same again this season as the team’s top-pair. In addition to Weber and Josi, two former first round picks in Seth Jones and Ryan Ellis make up a fine second pair. And throw in the newly acquired Barrett Jackman, and you got yourself a well rounded defense. Even at a relative strong suit, the offense may be a weak link, at least compared to the defense and goaltending. Sure they  have plenty of scoring punch. Filip Forsberg, Mike Ribero, Craig Smith, James Neal and Mike Fisher are expected  to carry the scoring load. By comparison to the rest of the division, the Nashville offense may pack the least punch of the playoff bound teams.

6. Winnipeg Jets
They made history just a season ago. Winnipeg made the playoffs for the 2nd time in the history of the franchise (the other time coming when the team was still in Atlanta). They have yet to even win a game in the playoffs, a streak that the team is hoping to end soon. Sadly this won't be able to do that this year, just missing out on post season hockey. Winnipeg is a good team, I'm not taking anything away from them and what they did last year. They have a solid goalie in Ondrej Pavelec. The defense, lead by Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Meyers, Jacob Trouba and Tobias Enstrom. Then you have a decent scoring punch in Brian Little, Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd leading the charge. But where the Jets suffer is the fact that the rest of the division is once again loaded and it will be very tough to get back to the playoffs in the Central Division.

7. Colorado Avalanche
Patrick Roy got off to a great start to his coaching career, making the playoffs in his first year behind the bench. Last year, the team stunk, coming in last place in their division. They made a lot of changes this summer, but they brought in a lot of quality hockey players in the process. They had to part way with Ryan O’Reilly, but acquired players like Mikhail Griorenko, Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau. Their top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and Nathan Mackinnon has the ability to be one of the most productive lines in hockey for years to come. Joining them in the top-six are veterans Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay, who should help Grigorenko and the rest of the young players develop into great NHLers. This is an up and coming group to be sure, but they are probably another year away from a playoff berth. Francois Beauchemin and Nikita Zadorov were brought in to try and bolster a weak defense, but it may not be enough. Semyon Varlamov is going to be relied on again heavily, and if he can stay healthy and return to old for it might be a way to help the team out. Otherwise it doesn't look to good for Colorado.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning *
Here's a team who a season ago made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. What's to stop them from going back there again this year. They didn't really retool this team at all in the offseason, a credit to how confident Steve Yzerman is in the team he has assembled. Steven Stamkos is still the undisputed leader of this hockey team, that's not going to change. He will be a free agent at the end of the season, but there's a good chance that the Lightning are going to get him locked up before it goes that far. To back up Stamkos in the scoring department is going to be the Triplets line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov, all of whom had a big impact last year in the playoffs, will be counted on to do it again this year. From the back end, Victor Hedman had a breakout year last year, taking a role of leader of the defense corp. This year he and Jason Garrison will be counted on to do it again in Tampa. Ben Bishop will be counted on again to handle the goalie duties this year, after coming off a monster year last year. It'll be a slow start to the year for Bishop, who's dealing with health issues at the start, but will have plenty of support in net from Andrei Vasilevskiy, whos a more than capable backup. This team is balanced from top to bottom, making them one of the biggest threats to come out of the East

2. Montreal Canadiens*
A team with the best record in the Eastern Conference is looking to get back to the top again this season. A second round playoff exit wasn't what the Canadiens were looking for, but the 2nd round appearances was pretty cool never the less. Now Montreal is in a place to get back there again this season. Max Pacioretty is coming off a huge season last year, and is in a good place to do that again this year. He's not the only Montreal forward who can fire the puck. Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais and Alex Galchenyuk are all poised to help Pacioretty in filling the opposing nets. Scoring goals is one thing, but keeping them out of the nets is another entirely. PK Subban and Andrei Markov are once again going to be counted on to anchor the blueline and keep the opposition off the scoresheet. If that, for some reason, breaks down, there's the goaltending. Carey Price is again the man in the Montreal nets. He's coming off a huge year last year, winning 44 games and walking away with some hardware (Vezna trophy as top goalie and Hart trophy as MVP). He could be poised for another good this year, although I don't think quite as big as last year. Behind him though is a bit of a question mark. Dustin Tokarski was waved at the start of the season, laving Mike Condon as Price's backup. Condon I'm sure is a good goalie, but if Price gets hurt or misses significant time, Montreal could be in trouble.

3. Detroit Red Wings*
You want to talk about a model organization, look no further than the Red Wings. Ever since the 1990-91 season, Detroit has made the playoffs, a streak that they will continue on this year. Jeff Blashill comes in as new head coach, looking to keep the Wings on track. He has plenty of talent to work with. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are still leading the charge on offense, though not they players they once were, they can still produce. Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyqvist, Riley Sheahan and Justin Abdelkader help provide scoring depth for the Wings. Nick Kronwall is still a major force on the Detroit blueline, but Detroit wanted to take some pressure off him. Enter Mike Green. The high scoring rearguard will add a little more offensive punch to an already solid Detroit blueline. In goal, the only question mark is health. Both Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek have the talent to carry a team into contention. Howard had health issues last season, which cost him playing time. Detroit has enough talent to make a good run in the playoffs. But can they stay healthy? Thats the million dollar question.

4. Ottawa Senators
Coming off a surprise year last year, making the playoffs as an 8th seed, Ottawa is looking to get back there again this season. Andrew Hammond came up last year and the Senators caught fire. The lone question I have with this team is does Hammond still have the magic he came in with last year? We will find out when he comes back from injury. Until then, Craig Anderson will have to hold the fort down till Hammond comes back and they can split duties. Erik Karlsson will once again be leading the charge on the blueline for Ottawa, a man who can not only shut down the opposition, but knows how to put the puck in the back of the net as well. Chris Wideman, Patrick Wiercioch, and Cody Ceci are more than capable of taking the pressure off Karlsson on the blueline. Up front, scoirng is something to keep an eye on. Booby Ryan is a former 30+ goal scorer who is looking to get back to form. Mike Hoffman had a good year in the goal department and will be able to build off that again this season. Mark Stone and Kyle Turris will be also counted

5. Boston Bruins
Two points. Two lousy stinking points is all that seperated Boston from the playoffs a season ago. Due to that, it caused a few heads to roll and some major changes to be made in Boston. Peter Chiarelli was fired as GM and replaced by Don Sweeney. Two of their better players, Milan Lucic (Los Angeles) and Dougie Hamilton (Calgary) were sent away. The depth of the Bruins was also depleted, with the team losing Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg, Matt Bartkowski, and Gregory Campbell. There was a bit of upside to the offseason in Beantown. Matt Beleskey to try and replace the size and scoring they lost. Beleskey joins a quality group that consists of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand and one of the best young forwards in the NHL in David Pastrnak. Chara and Krug are still leading a talented defense coprp. Tuukka Rask is the Man in the Boston nets, but behind him is Jonas Gustavsson, who's hoping to add a little stability to the spot behind Rask. Boston is an OK team, but they're not deep enough to get into the playoffs.

6. Florida Panthers
Here's a young team that could be coming along quite nicely. Look at what happened after the trade deadline last year. Florida went 10-6-1. You stretch that out over a full season, its a 48 win year. And why not, this team has the tools to make this possible., The tandom in net of Roberto Lunogo and Al Montoya is going to keep the Panthers in a lot of games. Same thing with the defense, being lead by Aaron Ekblad, Brian Campbell and Dmitry Kulikov. Up front, somehow he still manages to keep doing this, Jaromir Jagr is keeping going at age 43. He's helping lead a young talented group that has skill players like Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, and Nick Bjugstad. This team has plenty of room to go up in the division, but this year may not be the time.

7. Buffalo Sabres
Talk about a team in a rebuild mode, you got it here in Buffalo. Adding second overall pick Jack Eichel and making multiple offseason moves, the Sabres appear poised to move up the standings a little bit this year. David Legwand and Ryan O'Reilly were brought in, along with Eichel, to help boast an offense that could have something. A team with talent like Tyler Ennis, Brian Gionta, Matt Moulson, and Evander Kane. Buffalo could fill the net once they find a right mix. The blueline and goaltending may leave a little to be desired. Nikita Zadorov, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian are the anchors on the blueline, which is a question mark. Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson are the two men manning the nets. Not great, but not bad either. Decent team that has a little bit of potential.

8. Toronto Maple Leafs
My how they have fallen. It seems like not that long ago, all people would talk about how good the Leafs are. People are still talking, but now its how bad they are. Got rid of Phil Kessel, brought in P.A Parenteau, Shawn Matthias, Daniel Winnik, Mark Arcobello, Matt Hunwick and Nick Spaling. Lou Lamorillo and new coach Mike Babcock are trying to rebuild the team in a new image. But lests face facts, even with the new faces in the place, the Leafs are still a bad team.

Metropolitan Division
1. Washington Capitals*
A second place finish in the Division was what the Capitals had. This year is going to be a different year for the Caps. They will win their first division title since 2013 this year. Sure they took a bit of a hit in the offseason. Not having Mike Green on the blueline is going to hurt a little, he has been mister reliable for the Caps in years past. John Carlson and Matt Niskanen are going to be counted on more. From an offensive perspective, Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer have left town and that left a little bit of a void in the depth on offense for Washington. So management went out and landed a big finsh up front. US Olympic hero T.J Oshie. Justin Williams and Oshie were brought in to bolster a lineup that already includes talent like Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstro, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky. Washington is going to have plenty of scoring punch. One of the biggest reasons the Caps can win this division is goalie Braden Holtby. Holtby started a league-high 73 games, ranked second in Wins (41) and shutouts (9), fifth in GAA (2.22) and seventh in SV% (.923). He won't start that many games this year but is still just as outstanding a netminder.

2. New York Rangers*
Here we have another stronghold in the Metro Division. The Broadway Blueshirts are a team that has played in the Eastern Conference Finals three times in the last four years. What's to stop them from doing it again this year as well. They still have the best goalie on the planet in Henrik Lundqvist. He is that good and then some, but the problem here is he isn't getting any younger. He can still go in net, but his window for a title is starting to shrink a little. On the blueline, the Rangers have a lot going for them. Keith Yandle, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Dan Boyle and Kevin Klein can be considered one of the top defensive units in all of professional hockey. Then there's the offense. Martin St. Louis has called it a career, and Carl Haglin was traded away. So to suplement that, Emerson Etem and Viktor Stalberg were brought on board to help support the scoring exploits of guys like Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. This team has a lot of talent to make a lot of noise and be a force in the Eastern Conference.

3. Pittsburgh Penguins*
There has been a lot done to try and re-tool this Pittsburgh squad. They have made the playoffs in each of the last nine season, but haven't been able to get out of the 2nd round in the last five years. Sure they still have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the offensive charge. They have a few new weapons to work with up front. Phil Kessel was the biggest name that was brought on board. Eric Fehr and Matt Cullen were also brought in to build around the Pens big three on offense. Then they still have Chris Kunitz and David Perron who can still be factors. So the Pens have the scoring punch. Defensively, the Pens have a few issues. Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot are going to have to step up because it doesn't look like Kris Letang can stay healthy. Letang hasn't played a full season since 2010-11, so it'll be something to keep an eye on. Marc-Andre Fleury is still a top tier netminder, but he hasn't been quite the same goalie over the past few seasons. It's most notable come playoff time. Jeff Zatkoff is the backup, but he does leave a little to be desired if something happens to Fleury.

4. New York Islanders*
Here we go with a team that's looking to have another strong season. Thye are trying to build off last years playoff year, hoping to break a 23 year slump and win a playoff round. The Isles offense is once again stacked. Lead by perennial Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares, the Islanders have a solid supporting cast around him. Guys like Kyle Okposo, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey, Frans Nielsen and Ryan Strome can help provide the offensive punch. Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy are once again going to be counted just as much this year as they were last year. Jaroslav Halak is going to have another big year in net again for the Islanders but the question mark once again is going to be the backup goalie. Thomas Greiss was brought in over the summer. He is a high-end backup and will pick up the slack if Halak falters. This team is good enough to not only get into the playoffs, but make a nice run at it.

5. Philadelphia Flyers*
Dave Hakstol is coming in with a lot on his plate this season. He's got a few good pieces to work with in Philly. Steve Mason back in net again this year in Philly, coming off 51 starts last year. If he can stay health, he'll be just fine and could start close to 70 games. With Michal Neuvirth backing him up, Mason will be challenged to keep the top position between the pipes in Philly. ON the blueline, Mark Streit can still be productive. Michael Del Zotto and Radko Gudas are going to hold down the top spots on the blueline and make sure the crease is clear in front of whoever is in net. And of course you also have Luke Schenn there to pick up some of the slack and round out the top four. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek are going to be counted on again to help carry the offensive load, which Giroux will have no problem doing. Wayne Simmonds should have no problem keeping up his scoring place from last year. Throw in Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier, bogth of whom keep getting better year in and year out, the Flyers have enough talent in the lineup to become a playoff team.

6. Columbus Blue Jackets
Injuries took their tole on the Jackets last season, a team that missed out on the playoffs by nine points a season ago. This year, they made a big splash in the offseason by picking up Brandon Saad from the Hawks. Saad has a good scoring touch around the net and will provide a nice scoring touch for the Jackets, something they really need. Saad will likely play with budding superstar Ryan Johansen and the two could form one of the most dynamic duos in the league for many years. They’re joined by Nick Foligno, Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky, who make up a pretty good supporting cast. Jack Johnson has really taken strides on the Columbus Blue line, getting better and better. In goal is once again going to be Sergei Bobrovsky, a star goalie in the making. The Jackets may come up just a bit short in the playoff push but they will surely make it close.

7. Carolina Hurricanes
This is a team that is a work in progress, but they are taking little steps in the right direction. The Staal brothers, Eric and Jordan, are going to once again carry the offense for the Canes. Kris Versteegn was brought on board to help improve the team, something he should have no problem doing. Throw in guys like Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask should be able to carry the offense. Justin Faulk has turned himself into a great all around defensemen and Ryan Murphy is just scratching the surface offensively. This offseason they brought in veteran James Wisniewski, who will help the power-play and their 2014 first-round pick, Haydn Fleury, should make an impact in 2015-16. Then there's Cam Ward in net. When healthy he has top end talent. Having Eddie Lack as a backup will keep the Hurricanes in contention for a little while at least.

8. New Jersey Devils
Things have been a bit of a struggle in Jersey the last few years, having not made the post season since their trip to the finals in 2012. Sadly this year won't happen either, Jersey is going to miss out again. They have a good goalie in Corey Schneider, who has really come into his own as a goalie and will make an impact in Jersey for a long time. Adam Larsson, Damon Severson and Eric Gelinas are going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting on the blueline this year, a weak spot that the Devils are going to need to try and improve apon if they want to get back to the playoff contention. Another big problem for the Devils is going to be scoring Kyle Palmieri, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But, New Jersey added him this summer and he will likely play on their top line and could lead the team in points. No disrespect to Palmieri, he is a quality forward, but he shouldn’t be leading your team in points. Mike Cammalleri will do what he does. Play roughly 65 games and score roughly 25 goals. Adam Henrique is a solid second line centre but so is Travis Zajac. The problem? One of them has to be a first line centre. Zajac was god awful last year…He can’t be worse this season, but he will probably only be fantasy relevant in deep leagues.

2015 NLCS Preview

Here we go. After a long 162 game schedule, a tough wild card game and an even tough National League Divisional Round, we are set to go with the National League Championship Series. There are two teams left standing, the winner punches their ticket to the World Series and wins a Pennant. Both teams playing are looking to shed a cloak of mediocrity. One team hasn't won a title in over 100 years, while the other hasn't won a title in 29 years. This will be the first NCLS since 2007 that does not feature either the Philadelphia Phillies or St. Louis Cardinals

The National League Championship Series pits the National League Wild Card winners the Chicago Cubs taking on the National League East Champions the New York Mets. Chicago got here by going 97-65, good for 3rd place in the NL Central. They then took out the Pirates in the Wild Card game and beat the Cardinals in four games in the NLDS. Chicago is making its first appearance in the NLCS since their 2003 loss to the Marlins. Chicago is 28-55 lifetime in the playoffs, with two World Series to their credit. Chicago is trying to get back to the World Series for the first time since 1945. Meanwhile, the Mets got here by winning the NL East with a 90-72 record. Then in the Divisional Round, they bet the Dodgers in a five game series. New York has a record of 43-31 in the post season, capturing two World Series Titles. New York is looking to get back to the World Series for the first time since 2000. These two teams have never faced eachother before in the playoffs. During the regular season, Chicago won all seven meetings between the two teams.

Here are the dates and times of every game in this series:
October 17 Chicago Cubs @ New York Mets Citi Field 7:30 PM
October 18 Chicago Cubs @ New York Mets Citi Field 7:30 PM
October 20 New York Mets @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field
October 21 New York Mets @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field
October 22† New York Mets @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field
October 24† Chicago Cubs @ New York Mets Citi Field
October 25† Chicago Cubs @ New York Mets Citi Field

So now that we know how they got here and when they're playing, here's how these two teams stack up. When it comes to pitching, the Mets have the advantage. As good as Lester and Arrieta are for the Cubs, the Mets foursome of deGrom, Syndergard, Harvey, and Matz have the advantage. Harvey’s pitching compadres, deGrom and Syndergaard were fantastic against the Dodgers in the NLDS. deGrom started Games 1 and 5 and he was feeling it in both games. Harvey and Thor both came up big when they needed to, so it was fantastic to watch. With the Cubs, Outside of Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester there isn't much. I know Lester got nipped in game one against the Cards, but after that the rest of the pitching staff settled down and held the Cards in check, something that was tough to do considering St. Louis won 100 regular season games. What helps get the Mets is that they have the deeper starting rotation to help get them over the hump in a series. As a matter of fact, it was the Mets starting pitching that helped get them through the heart of the summer, until the offense finally woke up and came alive late in the season. The bullpens are pretty evenly matched, so edge in pitching goes to the Mets.

From an offensive perspective, Chicago has an edge going into the series. A lot of people say that experience matters come this time of year. yeah, nobody has told that to these two teams, as they've beaten the two more experienced playoff teams in  the National League to get here. Sure the Mets have gotten big hits from Travis d'Arnaud, Yoenis Cespedes, and on occasion David Wright. Daniel Murphy has been the Mets best hitter so far in the playoffs, and there's nothing wrong with that. But the fact that Flores, Duda, Lagares and on occasion Granderson have been quiet in the post season have to leave one wondering. While most ball clubs have one or two guys that can hurt you with a long ball regularly, the Cubs literally have an entire lineup card full of players that can touch ‘em all in any at-bat. But the most fascinating part about Chicago’s dangerous lineup is just how young most of these Cubs are. Look no further than Kyle Schwarber, who has been knocking the cover off the ball in both the Wild Card and Divisional Rounds. He has been hitting the ball just as hard as the top hitters, like Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. Chicago has a lineup that, yes they have the tendancy to strike out more than the Mets do, have a bit more dangerous of a lineup top to bottom than that of the Mets.

This series could very easily swing either way as this matchup between two very good teams, with lots of young talent could be the best of the postseason. The difference in this series could be very marginal, and really could come down to one swing of the bat. And the Cubs, despite their free-swinging ways, have been too hot to pick against. But don’t be surprised if this series goes seven games.

Pick: Chicago Cubs in 7!

2015 ALCS Preview

We have arrived at the American League Championship Series. After 162 regular season games, a wild card playoff game and the American League Divisional Round, we have reached the Championship series. Winner of this series is going to represent the American League in the World Series. And no surprise here , its a battle of the two best teams in the American League during the Regular Season.

Yes its the American League Central Champions the Kansas City Royals taking on the American League East Champions the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto won the division with a 93-69 record. After clinching the division, they had to come back from down 2-0 to beat the Texas Rangers in a huge five game series in the ALDS. The win marks the first playoff series victory for the Jays since winning the 1993 World Series (also the last time the Jays made the playoffs). Toronto is now 24-22 all time in the post season. As for the Royals, they come in after winning the Central with a 95-67 record. They bounced the Houston Astros in five games in the ALDS. Kansas City is looking to head back to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row, after losing to the Giants last season. The Royals are now 32-31 in the playoffs all time. These two teams have met once before in the playoffs, that being in the 1985 ALCS, a series the Royals won in seven games. During the regular season this year, Toronto won the series 4-3 (although that won't mean much come this time of the year).

So here are the dates and times for the games in this series:
October 16 Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 7:30 PM
October 17 Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 3:30 PM
October 19 Kansas City Royals @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre 7:00 PM
October 20 Kansas City Royals @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre
October 21† Kansas City Royals @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre
October 23† Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium
October 24† Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium

OK we know how they got here. We know when and were they are playing. So lets see how they stack up shall we. Pitching is going to be tight in this series. Marco Estrada, David Price, Marcus Stroman and R.A. Dickey had themselves an OK Divisional series. Estrada and Dickey both had decent series to start off, finishing with ERA's under 2. Price got roughed up in his first start in the series, but calmed down in the last start he made in the series. David Price is well David Price, so I don't see him being much a problem in this series (even though his ERA was over 7 in his two starts in the ALDS). Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Johnny Cueto and Kris Medlen are going to be getting the ball for the Royals in this series. Volquez and Ventura are the top guys in the rotation, but they didn't exactly look like it in the ALDS against the Astros. Sure Ventura had ten K's in his one start in the Division Series, but he gave up six runs in seven innings, which is something that leaves you a tad worried. Both teams had starting pitching that got roughed up a bit in the last round. And now they are facing another high powered offense. Pitching is going to be a big factor in this series. Toronto as a team has a lower ERA than KC, even with having to pitch six more innings. From that perspective I'll give the Jays a slight edge.

From an offensive perspective, this series is actually going to be pretty even. Each team hit eight home runs in their respective series and Toronto scored 24 runs, while the Royals managed to push 23 runs across the plate. Where Kansas City may have an edge in this series is they were harder to strike out during the divisional round. Both teams, for that matter had low strikeout numbers: Toronto struck out 35 times, while KC went down 36 times. Toronto may have a little trouble against KC in one regard. KC has an all right handed starting rotation. Only three Jays players: Ben Revere (.444), Chris Colabello (.429), and Edwin Encarnacion (.417) hit above 300 against a righty. One other thing from a Jays point of view to look at. Troy Tulowitzki has hit .095 in the series. Sure he did drive in four runs against Texas, but the batting average is low and might be a point of concern. With Kansas City, Eric Hosmer (.190) and Mike Moustakas (.111) are the only regulars hitting under .200 in the Division Round. Hosmer made up for it a little driving in five runs (2nd on the team to only Kendras Morales who had six in the last series).

Look, here's the way I see this thing finally going down. The two teams are pretty evenly matched. What I saw in the Divisional Round is going to play a factor. Both teams are coming in hot. KC looked flat in game one and three against Houston, but the last two games their offense exploded. Game three saw late inning magic that we saw a lot in last years playoffs. Which is why the Royals are back where they are. Houston clearly wasn't able to handle that at all, which is why they are watching the rest of the playoffs on TV like everybody else. Toronto too did the same thing. They went down 0-2 to Texas, only to storm back and sweep the rest of the series. Both teams are coming in red hot to this ALCS. I just think that Toronto has a better pitching staff and slightly better offense. Its going to be a high scoring series, for sure going the distance. Toronto has a little bit more going in its favor. They take the series.

Pick: Toronto Blue Jays in 7!

Best And Worst Of NFL Week FIve

We are five weeks into the National Football League season and already we have some interesting storylines taking shape. Six teams, Atlanta, Green Bay, Denver, Carolina, New England, and Cincinnati have yet to taste defeat. New England and Green Bay seem like they have the best chances to ride out this undefeated string a little while longer. The Bengals look a little human, as they got a bit lucky against Seattle./ Pittsburgh showed a little bit of guts in their win over the Chargers. While you do have teams like that, still dominating teams, you also have teams that are kind of on the ugly side. Look at the Detroit Lions. They're 0-5 and Matthew Stafford ended up spending time sitting on the bench, which isn't a good thing for Detroit. Week five had plenty of excitement, from high scoring games, to blown leads, to three overtime thrillers. So with that being said, lets take a look at some of the best, and worst, of week five in the NFL

Best:
Josh McCown, Quarterback Cleveland Browns
I can't believe I'm saying this either, but it happened in week five. He finally got a win this season as the starting QB for the Browns, helping lead them to a 33-30 overtime win over the Ravens. McCown finished the day going 36 for 51 with 457 yards (the most by any QB in the NFL this week) and a pair of touchdowns. Sure he was sacked four times, but he was still able to help lead the Browns. McCown was the driving force behind the Cleveland victory, having a pretty fantastic day under center. For all the grief that has been thrown on McCown this year, he made up for it a little this week. Will it last? Who knows. But for one week at least, McCown made amens and looks like he can be the leader that Cleveland has been looking for.

Worst:
Matthew Stafford, Quarterback Detroit Lions (and Lions as a whole)
It really hasn't been a very good year for either Stafford, or the Lions as a whole. Detroit has seemed to be just two steps behind everybody this year, and its almost kind of sad to watch, considering how built this team was. I mean with how good a defense the Lions had a year ago, you would think that they would be just as good. Not the case, as they gave up 35 points in the first eight Cardinals possessions. To make matters worse, Stafford played like crap, again. Stafford went 22 of 32 for 188 yards and a touchdown. But he threw three interceptions. To make matters worse, he was benched in the third quarter and replaced by Dan Orlovsky, who was under center in 2008 when Detroit had their 0-16 season. Yes things really have gotten that bad for the Lions this year.

Best:
Doug Martin, Running Back Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Welcome back Doug Martin. After coming off a decent week in week four against Carolina, Martin had another big game this week against Jacksonville. Martin ran for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 24 carries. He also had a receiving touchdown, to go along with three catches for 35 yards. Here's a guy who had trouble getting going last year, and got off to a bit of a slow start this season (as did the rest of the Bucs). But Martin has seemed to have a bit of a return to form in the last two weeks, showing that he still has the same jump he did in 2012 (when he finished the year with 1,454 rushing yards and 457 receiving yards). He's still got it.

Worst:
Julio Jones, Wide Receiver Atlanta Falcons
Going into this ballgame, there were questions as to whether or not he would play, as he's been dealing with a hamstring injury as of late. Well he played for the Falcons and wasn't quite as effective in Atlanta's win over Washington. He was held without a catch the entire first half, had 2 catches for 29 yards in the 4th quarter and finished the day with 5 grabs for 67 yards. Its by far his worst performance this season. The guy has been one of the most dominating receivers in the entire league this year, but the way he's looked the last two weeks, especially this one, he hasn't seemed to earn the title of best in the game this year.

Best:
Fletcher Cox, Defensive End Philadelphia Eagles
Philly pulled off a pretty impressive win Sunday against the Saints, dominating them to the tune of a 39-17 victory. A big reason for this domination by Philly was Fletcher Cox the Eagles defensive end. Cox had himself a day. He as on Drew Brees all day long, finishing with six tackles, three sacks, he had two forced fumbles and recovered one of them. Cox had been in the Saits backfield almost as much as Brees. It was a battle for New Orleans and keeping Fletcher Cox off their players was almost impossible for the Saints offensive line.

Worst:
Seattle Seahawks Defense
Here we go again with another top defense making this list. There's a difference here between them and the Lions. Detroit seems like its going to be a year long thing, while Seattle seems to have been bitten by the bug this week. Think about this. Seattle hasn't allowed a touchdown since week two. They shut out the Bears and allowed only a defensive touchdown to Detroit last week. Boy did that change fast against Cincy. The Bendals marched down the field on an 86 yard drive, which was capped off by a Tyler Eifert 14 yard TD catch. To make that a little bit worse, it was a returning Kam Chanceler who was covering Eifert when he scored. Come on Kam I thought you were supposed to be one of the best in the business. Well I guess everybody has an off week now and then.

Best:
Julian Edelman, Wide Receiver New England Patriots
I don't know what it is, but the Patriots always seem to find a way to get players into the lineup who can do what's needed in this offense. Edelman has now become to this Patriots offense what Wes Welker used to be. A small Wideout who came out of nowhere and made an impact on this football team. He had a pretty good game Sunday, snagging four passes for 120 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots 30-6 win over Dallas. They just keep finding a way to win and this guy a big part of it.

Worst:
Ameer Abdullah, Running Back Detroit Lions
This kid may have a future in this game, but it sure didn't look like it on Sunday. During their blowout loss to Arizona, he had a paltry 17 yards on six carries. That's bad enough. To make matters worse, he fumbled the football twice during this ballgame. Detroit is at 0-5 and their offense doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to get it back on track. This guy losing two footballs on fumbles isn't helping the case one bit.

Best:
Thomas Rawls, Running Back Running Back Seattle Seahawks
When you think about the offense of the Seattle Seahawks, one of the first things that comes to mind is the running game. Usually the name Marshawn Lynch pops up whenever this comes up in conversation. But this week, that wasn't the case. Thomas Rawls had a breakout game filling in for Lynch, who wasn't playing. Rawls just lead the NFL this week in rushing,  with 23 carries for 169 yards and a touchdown. Those 169 yards were tops in the entire league this week. Even though the end result wasn't the way the Seahawks wanted, blowing that 17 point lead late in the ballgame, still this guy had a monster week. There's no timetable yet on when Marshawn will return to the field, but while he's out Rawls is more than capable of filling in and carrying the football.

Worst:
Houston Texans Defense
They have looked pretty bad this season. It seems as if a lot of top defenses from last season have made this list this week. Look at Houston, who fell 27-20 against Indy this week. They still have JJ Watt, the best defensive player in the league, as well as Jadeveon Clowney. But there's noting else really to build on behind those two guys. They made Matt Hasselbeck look like a young gun again out there and even revived Andre Johnson for a game at least. Houston is a complete mess and Ryan Mallet’s sideline pouting was a perfect fit for what’s going on there.

NLDS Preview

It's Time. The National League Divisional Round is here, and we have four talented teams left standing from the Senior Circuit. Four teams remain standing, out of the fifteen that started this journey six months ago. All four teams left in the chase have won at least one World Series. St. Louis leads the way with 11 titles (last coming in 2011), the Dodgers are next, with six titles (last coming in 1988) and the Mets and Cubs come in with two each (Mets in 1986, Cubs in 1908). Three of the four teams are trying to get back to former glory, while the other is trying to maintain a level of success come the fall. Every team has the dream when Spring Training starts, to become World Series Champions. The drive to a title really gets underway in the divisional round. Lets get into the meat and potatos and break down the two divisional rounds in the National League.

First up is the National League Central Champions, the St Louis Cardinals, taking on the Wild Card winners the Chicago Cubs. St. Louis finished the year with a 100-62 record, a full two games ahead of the 2nd place Pirates. This marks the 2nd straight year that the Cards have won the Central (the 10th time in history they have done so) and the 4th straight year the Cards are in the playoffs. St. Louis is 145-135 lifetime in the post season. In their 19 trips to the fall classic, the Cards have won it 11 times. As for the Chicago Cubs, they come in after knocking off the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game. Chicago finished with a 97-65 record, three games back of the Cardinals in the Central. This years trip to the playoffs marks the first postseason appearance for the Cubs and the first winning season the team has had since 2009. Those 97 wins are the most the Cubs have had in a year since 2008. Chicago is 28-55 lfietime in the playoffs, winning two World Series titles (last win coming in 1908). This marks the first meeting ever in the playoffs between the two rivals. St Louis went 11-8 during the regular season against the Cubs.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
October 9 Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 6:30 PM
October 10 Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 5:30 PM
October 12 St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field TBD
October 13† St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field TBD
October 15† Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium TBD

This series is going to be tough to try and predict, because the teams seem so even with eachother. With Yadier Molina still batteling injury, it has to make you wonder how the Cards are going to handle it. They have done it before, they are a deep enough team to take the pressure off not having their catcher and captain in the lineup. Reports are he's going to play game one with a splint on the injured thumb, so we will see how effective he's going to be with that. What really sticks out from a Cubs perspective is the lack of use of Jake Arrieta in this series. Because he started, and went the distance, in the Wild Card game against the Pirates, he won't be available until game three in Chicago. Without him, Chicago is going to go with Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34 ERA in 32 starts) and Kyle Hendricks (8-7 with a 3.95 ERA) to start the Series. This is where the Cards have a distinct advantage. Don't get me wrong the Cubs pitching staff has been good, not quite to the same level as Arrietta. Looking at the starters the Cards are going with in this series, John Lackey, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha, and Lance Lynn gives you a lot more confidence than that of the Cubs. Now if Arrieta was able to start game one, and game five should it get there, I'd feel more confident in the Cubs. I don't though. Cards have the better pitching.

From an offensive perspective, Chicago has their two big bopprs, Kris Braynt (who's probably going to win Rookie of the Year 26 Homers 99 RBI) and Anthony Rizzo (31 Homers 101 RBI. Chicago does have a decent offensive attack behind those two, but there is one minor knock against the team. Chicago has a high strikeout rate. Six of their everyday players have over 100 strikeouts on the season, something that I'm sure the Cards pitchers have made note of.. Now with the Cards, Matt Carpenter leads the power department, with 26 homers and 86 RBI. At the same time, Carpenter also leads the Cards with 151 strikeouts. He's one of only three cards everyday players with over 100 strikeouts, Jhonny Peralta (111) and Mark Renolds (121) are the only regulars for the Cards who have hit triple digits in strikeouts. What really separates the teams is the strikeout department. St. Louis is down in terms of their hitters striking out. St Louis has experience come this time of year and I think that's going to be an advantage factor in this series

This could be an upset in the making, but might not happen. Don't get me wrong I think the Cubs are going to make a great series out of this one. Its going to go the full five games. Chicago does have a chance to pull off the upset. It does pain me to say what I'm about to say, because I do want the Cubs to be there. They have been a long suffering franchise and are on the brink of something great. Just not quite yet. St Louis has too much experience and is deeper in the rotation where it matters a little more.

Pick: St. Louis Cardinals in 5!

Next up is the National League West winners the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the National League East Champions the New York Mets. Los Angeles won the West with a 92-70 record, finishing a full 8 games ahead of the 2nd place Giants. This marks the 3rd straight year that the Dodgers are playing October baseball, having won the division each of the last three seasons. Winning 92 games this year marks the third year in a row for the Dodgers winning 90 or more games. Los Angeles is looking to get to the Fall Classic for the first time since their last World Series win back in 1988. Los Angeles is 70-86 all time in the Playoffs. As for the Mets, they come in with a record of 90-72, a full seven games ahead of the 2nd place Nationals. New York is making its first playoff appearance since 2006, the last time they won the NL East. Collecting 90 wins this year are the most games the Mets have won in a season since winning 97 games in 2006. New York is looking to get back to the World Series since its loss to the Yankees in 2000. IN their history, the Mets have a 43-31 record in post season play. These two teams have met twice before in the postseason, the Dodgers winning in 1988 and the Mets winning in 2006. During the regular season, New York won four of the seven meetings.

Here's the Date and times for games in this series:
October 9 Mets vs Dodgers Dodger Stadium 9:45 PM
October 10 Mets vs. Dodgers Dodger Stadium 9:00 PM
October 12 Dodgers vs. Mets Citi Field :30 PM
October 13† Dodgers vs. Mets Citi Field 8:00 PM
October 15† Mets vs. Dodgers Dodger Stadium 8:00 PM

Starting with pitching, the Dodgers have the depth at the top of the rotation, with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Both of whom are extremely talented, if you didn't know that already. Its after those two guys that have to make Dodgers fans worry. Brett Anderson and Alex Wood are not at the same talent level as Greinke and Kershaw. Don't get me wrong they are both good pitchers, but they aren't at the same level as the top two starters. Here's the thing that will always stick with me about Kershaw. His postseason record. He's 0-4 with a 7.14 ERA. Granted, most of those whoopings were handed to him by the Cardinals, but still, he hasn't pitched anywhere close to the same level in the playoffs that he does during the regular season. New York, in all honesty, has the more balanced rotation going into the playoffs. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz, while having no playoff experience at all in that rotation, still give me a lot more hope of steady starters than those of the Dodgers. Sure LA has the better top half of the rotation, but its the depth of the rotation that favors the Mets.

Now from the offensive perspective, the Dodgers may have a slight edge in the power department. yes the Mets get power from Lucas Duda (27 homers) and Curtis Granderson (26 homers) had 20 dingers. Then throw in the 17 late from Yoenis Cespedes. Joc Pederson hit 26 and Adrian Gonzales hit 28, the only two Dodgers who hit more than twenty. Gonzales is the only Dodger to drive in more than 70 runs(he drove in 90). To be fair, no Mets hitter drove in more than 75 runs (Duda and Granderson lead the team with 73 each). New York seems to have more of a balanced attack than the Dodgers do, but its not really by much.

I still think that pitching is going to win out at the end of the day. Los Angeles does have one of the top pitching tandems. Kershaw and Greinke are the top one-two punches in baseball. After that, LA has an average pitching staff at best. New York can counteract that with one of the most balanced bitching staffs in the game. Ever since the trade deadline, the Mets have had the highest scoring offense in all of the National League and I don't really see that slowing down now.

Pick: New York Mets in 4!

(Authors Note: All predictions were made BEFORE start of series)

ALDS Preview

Here we got. The nitty gritty is here in the Major League Baseball playoffs are here, as we start the Divisional Round in the American League. Four teams are left standing in the American League, all of which have played in at least one World Series. Houston has made it once (2005 losing to the White Sox), Kansas City has made it three times (lost last year to San Francisco), Texas has made twice (lost in 2011 to St. Louis) and Toronto has made it twice (1993 win over Philadelphia).  Kansas City (1985) and Toronto (1992, 1993) have won World Series crowns. So now lets break down the two ALDS Matchups.

First up its the American League Central champions, and the team with the best record in the AL, the Kansas City Royals taking on the Wild Card Winners the Houston Astros. Kansas City won the Central division with a 95-67 record, finishing twelve games ahead of the 2nd place Twins. This marks the 2nd straight year that the Royals have made the playoffs. Before last year's run, the Royals hadn't won a playoff series, let alone made the playoffs, since their 1985 World Championship season. Kansas City is looking to make it to the Series for only the 3rd time in team history. As a team, the Royals are 29-29 lifetime in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Houston comes in after a win over the New York Yankees in the Wild Card game. Houston finished the season with an 86-76 record, good for 2nd place in the AL West, behind Texas. This marks just the tenth time in franchise history that the Astros are in the playoffs, the first time since 2005. The 86 wins are the highest total that Houston has had since 2008 (where they finished 3rd in the division). Houston is 21-35 lifetime in post season games. The two teams have never met before in the postseason. During the regular season, Houston won four of the six meetings between the teams.

Here's the date and times for every game in this series:
October 8 Houston Astros @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 7:37 PM
October 9 Houston Astros @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 3:45 PM
October 11 Kansas City Royals @ Houston Astros Minute Maid Park 4:10 PM
October 12† Kansas City Royals @ Houston Astros Minute Maid Park TBD
October 14† Houston Astros @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium TBD

So lets take a quick look at how these teams stack up in this series. This could be a high scoring series. Both teams can hit. Kansas City has five guys, Mike Moustakas, Kendrys Morales, Eric Hosmer, and Lorenzo Cain that had more than 500 at bats and hit over .290. Ben Zobrist has had an impact since coming over at the trade deadline, hitting .284 with 7 homers in 59 games with Kansas City. The Royals takes the same approach at the plate this year that they did last year, which got them all the way to the World Series. They don't have to beat the tar out of you with the long ball, they are a very patient team at the plate. Sure Kansas City was near the bottom in the power department, hitting 140 home runs during the season. They were still very productive in the scoring, putting up 724 runs during the year, which was good enough to finish 7th in the AL. Houston is at the other end of the scale. They finished 2nd in the AL in home runs, hitting 230 for the year, trailing only the Jays. Here's how you know Houston has balance in the power department. Evan Gattis, Luis Valbuena, Colby Rasmus, Chris Carter, and Carlos Correa all hit over 20 homers in 2015. Yes chicks do dig the longball, but it does come with a price, as Houston struck out 1,392 times, good for second most in baseball behind the Cubs. In fact, the only Houston regular who had a batting average over 300 for the year was Jose Altuve, who finished with a .313 average. Houston may outslug you, but the Royals have the advantage to where they can wear down the opposing pitching.

Speaking of pitching, Houston just used their best pitcher, Dallas Dallas Keuchel to get past the Yankees. Because of that, he won't be available to the Astros until game three. If Houston wants to stand a chance in the firs two games, they need Scott Kazmir and Collin McHugh to play well, but that hasn't exactly been a fit for Kazmir since joining the Astros. One big thing that Houston is going to have a problem in is their bullpen, who hasn't exactly been lights out this year. In order to go deep in the playoffs, you need to have a solid bullpen at least. They can get away with being good but not great. Houston's pen doesn't have that at the moment. Because Houston has an ace you can trust (I trust Keuchel a little more than Queto for KC). I think the Astros pitchers. I just feel that the Royals pitchers have enough to take the power out of the Hoston bats.

Once you take the power out of the Astrtos bats, they have more trouble scoring runs. Kansas City isn't as likely to give up the long balls as the Yankees did. Lets face it Kauffman Stadium and Minute Maid Park are both good hitters parks, but they aren't as home friendly as Yankee Stadium. Houston is going to give the Royals a decent run, but Kansas City has the more balanced lineup, and a more playoff experienced lineup.

Pick: Kansas City in 4!

Next up is the American League West Champions the Texas Rangers taking on the American League East Champions the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto won the East with a 93-69 record, finishing six games ahead of the New York Yankees. The 93 wins that the Jays finished with are the most wins the team has had in a years since winning the East (and World Series) in 1993. That was also the last time the Blue Jays made the playoffs. Toronto is 21-20 lifetime in the playoffs. Meanwhile the Rangers come in with a 88-74 record, finishing two games ahead of the Astros. This marks the firs time since 2012 that the Rangers are a playoff team. Texas hasn't won a playoff series since going to the 2011 World Series. Texas is 19-25 lifetime in the post season, and have made two World Series, losing in back to back years in 2010 and 2011. This is the first meeting in the playoffs between the two teams. Toronto won four of the six meetings between the two teams this season.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
October 8 Texas Rangers @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre 3:37 PM
October 9 Texas Rangers @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre 12:30 PM
October 11 Toronto Blue Jays @ Texas Rangers Globe Life Park in Arlington 8:00 PM
October 12† Toronto Blue Jays @ Texas Rangers Globe Life Park in Arlington TBD
October 14† Texas Rangers @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre TBD

Lets take a look at how these two teams stack up. Toronto was the best power hitting team in all of baseball, slugging 232 home runs as a team. Not only did they pound the tar out of the ball, the Jays also lead the entire league in runs scored (891), OBP (.340), SLG (.457), and OPS (.797), and finished second in batting average (.269). Sure there are names in the lineup that people know like Edwin Edwin Encarnacion, a guy who hit 39 home runs and drove in 111 runs. Then there's the big name in the lineup in the form of Jose Bautista, who belted 40 homers and drove in 114 runs. Those two guys are good, but the one who has topped them all is the guy who is probably going to win MVP in the American League this year, Josh Donaldson. Donaldson hit .297 on the year with a staggering 41 homers and 123 RBIs. Yeah, there's plenty of pop in the middle of that lineup. Chris Colabello, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, Justin Smok have all had an impact on that Jays lineup, making it one of the most feared offenses in the last decade in baseball. Now for texas, a team that was able to score 751 runs during the regular season. The only team that may have an offense that can outbalst and outscore the Rangers is the team they happen to be playing, the Jays. Prince Fielder came back with a bang this season, finishing with a .305 average, 23 home runs and 98 RBIs. After missing last year with the neck injury, its safe to say the big guy is back to his old form (or as close to his old form as he can be). Texas can hit the ball hard as well, with guys in the lineup like Adrian Beltre, Shin-Soo Choo, Mike Napoli and the recent return of Josh Hamilton has made Texas a very powerful, dangerous offense. It can beat almost anybody in the playoffs. Almost.

Then there's the pitching staffs. Both teams made deals at the deadline to bolster the rotations. Texas brought in Cole Hammels from Philly to help get over the hump, which they did. Throw in Yovani Gallardo, and his 13 wins, and Colby Lewis and his 17 wins. Texas has a good pitching staff there's no denying that. But what seperates them from Toronto is the ace. Hammels is good but David Price is just that much better. When he came into the Jays, it made them a bigger threat than they already were. even though he hasn't looked the same, the Jays still have 15 wins from Mark Buehrle, they got another .500 season from RA Dickey (who finished 11-11). Toronto also managed to get double digits in wins from Marco Estrada (13-8) and Drew Hutchison (13-5). Roberto Osuna also managed to save 20 games (in 23 chances). I don't think the pen is going to play that much of a factor. This is going to be a high scoring series to watch, that's for sure.

Don;'t get me wrong, I'm not diminishing anything that Texas has done this year. They were down in a deficit at the all star break and most didn't see them pulling off what they managed to. Now that they're here, they have the tough task of going to one of the most hostile environments over the last two months, the Rogers Center. Texas may steal again, but its going to be too much for them to handle.

Pick: Toronto Blue Jays in 4!