My Team of the Week (Week 12)

 

            For the second time this season and the first time since week 3, the Jacksonville Jaguars are my team of the week. The Jaguars had an impressive win Sunday against a very tough Baltimore Ravens team, 28-27.

            The Jags went into their final drive with not much time left and not a lot of hope left. But, they drove down the field, thanks to a spectacular effort from Trevor Lawrence, and won the game on a gutsy two-point conversion call. 

            The Jags have not been a very great team this season, but half of their wins have landed on my team of the weeks. Doug Pederson and the Jags had nothing to lose by calling that 2-point conversion call with 12 seconds left in the game, and it paid off as they advanced to 4-7.

            The Jaguars have been rebuilding their team for about 5 years now, ever since they lost in the AFC Championship in 2017, but they have some good young pieces that are coming together and winning games for this team.

            Even without up and coming star, Travis Etienne, the Jags were able to get the job done and against one of the best teams in the AFC nonetheless. Although the playoffs seem doubtful this year, the Jags have definitely showed me and other fans across the NFL that in the near future they will be able to compete at a higher level.

            I look at the Jags as a team with a lot of hope in the upcoming future and especially because of the division that they play. Arguably, not including the Titans, it is the worst division in football with the Colts and the Texans in the AFC South as well. The Jags had one of the more impressive victories that I've seen this season and that is why they earned the team of the week for week 12. 

The Jets beat the Bears

 

            It felt good to sit back and watch the Jets easily beat a team that is on a much lower level than them as they crush the Bears by a score of 31-10. The Jets went down 10-7 early and never looked back as they scored 24 unanswered points to improve to 7-4 on the campaign.

            The offense actually looked like it had a pulse today, and that was all because of the quarterback play of Mike White. Without Zach Wilson, the offense is so much better and it just flows so much better. White was able to hit all of his receivers and incorporated the run game equally as well.

            Mike White had one of the better Jet quarterback performances that the Jets have had in recent history. There was a stat that he had the most 1st half passing yards by a Jets quarterback since Chad Pennington in 2006. Who knows maybe Mike White is the guy and the Jets should rely on him from here forward. After this game, there is no question he should start next week and possibly the rest of the season. 

            Another big game for Garrett Wilson as he ripped off 2 touchdowns and is the definite frontrunner for rookie of the week. Not only did he get Wilson involved, but finally Elijah Moore was involved as he caught not only a 42 yard pass, but a touchdown as well.

            Zonovan Knight came in from the practice squad and stepped up big as Michael Carter got banged up mid game and James Robinson was scratched. The running back room is so deep so it is tough to get Knight consistently involved, but I definitely want to see a lot more of him if he can keep bringing this any given Sunday.

            Besides a sloppy first quarter, the defense looked as legit as it has been all season after the first quarter. The Jets defense has allowed 59 points in the last four game for an average of opponent point per game a little under 15. That is pretty elite if you ask me. 

            This is Mike White's ship to right now and the Jets should not even have a consideration of starting Zach Wilson in the near future after the game White just displayed. The Jets now go on the road for 2 tough games against the Vikings and the Bills, so it is imperative that they get good quarterback play which they did today. 

My Prediction for the College Football Playoffs

 

            The college football playoff is just around the corner and I want to list my predictions and what I do and don't want to happen in these upcoming weeks before.

            First off, me and along with many others DO NOT want to see Alabama in the final four, but there is somewhat of a chance that they will be. Right now in my opinion, if all of these teams win their conference title games, the final four should be, Georgia, Michigan, USC, and TCU not in any particular order.

            But, if one of those teams loses their conference title game it opens up a slot for Alabama to sneak into possibly the #4 spot. Right now I believe that Michigan and Georgia have their spots in the final four locked up but TCU and USC HAVE to win their conference title games.

            With LSU and Clemson losing, their chances at getting into the final four have diminished so the race has definitely narrowed down. One team that nobody is talking about is Ohio State who just got embarrassed at home by Michigan. They will definitely fall out of the top 4, but at the end of the day if they were to sneak into the playoff, they would be compared with Alabama.

            If I were in the playoff committee, my entire ballot would be based off of this upcoming weekend and who wins their conference titles. I think Michigan has a cake walk against Purdue and TCU, USC, and Georgia all have pretty tough opponents matched up for them.

            At the end of the day, it is always nice to see new teams in the playoff and not the same teams every year like Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, etc. Hopefully this year we won't see Alabama or Ohio State and see new teams like USC and TCU.

            USC deserves every single ounce of respect after going through a completely new look of their team and overcoming their tough schedule. TCU has shocked many people with how dominant their offense has been last year and they need one more domination from their offense against Kansas State in the BIG 12 championship game.

            My final prediction for the college football playoff, as long as everything goes according to plan, is #1 Georgia, #2 Michigan, #3 USC, #4 TCU. That means Georgia will play TCU and Michigan would platy USC and the winner of those games would face each other. There may be a little bit of controversy over who gets the 3 and 4 between USC and TCU, but I believe USC has earned it more than TCU has. 

            

The BEST Week of Sports

 

            I don't think you can top this week of sports that the world just witnessed. Almost every sport was featured and even some on a global stage. It's safe to say if you are a sports fan, this week you were in heaven.

            For the first time in four years, the World Cup got underway in Qatar with 4 games each day. Then we had Sunday football during the kickoff of the World Cup. Mini NCAA basketball tournaments during the week where many upsets occurred. Thanksgiving football, England and the US in the World Cup, rivalry week in college football, and another Sunday football tomorrow.

            No matter what sport is your favorite, almost every sport was featured. For me, I enjoyed watching all of these events no matter if my team was on the losing side or the winning side, I was in too much awe of what this week had to bring.

            Thanksgiving football did not disappoint with multiple close games and broke records for viewership as well. College Football rivalries like Ohio State vs. Michigan took place and those games did not disappoint as well. 

            In my opinion, no matter if you are a soccer fan or not, most people watched the World Cup including myself. I don't watch soccer ever in my free time, but there is a different feeling during the World Cup and especially when the United States is playing. 

            Looking at college basketball, we had tournaments in Hawaii, the Bahamas, and all over the rest of the country that did not disappoint either. Major upsets occurred like #1 North Carolina and #3 Kansas being upset which will provide a major rift in the college basketball standings. 

            Drama and headlines is exactly what sports fans love to see and we saw a lot of it this week. I'm not sure we will get a sports week as good as this anytime soon because it is going to be very difficult to top this week in the sports world. 

My Team of the Week (Week 11)

 

            We are in late November heading into Thanksgiving week and the Dallas Cowboys are my team of the week for week 11. The Cowboys stormed into Minnesota and crushed the previously 8-1 Vikings, 40-3!

            In the previous week, the Cowboys came off a crushing loss to the Green Bay Packers in a game which they lead by two scores in the 4th quarter and then lost in OT. But, they totally bounced back by crushing a very good Vikings team in their house under the bright lights.

            To me, the Vikings are a very good team, I have them as one of my top 7 teams in the league and for the Cowboys to go into their house and beat them that badly is absolutely ridiculous. Just a week after Minnesota was crowned my team of the week with their win against Buffalo, they get absolutely whooped at home against Dallas.

            It was a total team effort for the Cowboys in their win as both the offense and defense were totally clicking throughout the game. Micah Parsons started out with a bang with a strip sack to start the Cowboys scoring and then the rest of the defense held one of the best offenses in the league to 3 total points.

            The offense was great and was lead by the two running backs, Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliot, who picked up 4 touchdowns combined on Sunday. Pollard got them through the air and Elliot picked them up on the ground. 

            If this Cowboys team can stay consistent and keep playing like this, then watch out this team could be scary. Plus, they don't have much time to lose this momentum going into their next game because they play on Thursday against the Giants which I believe will be a massive win for the Cowboys at home. The Dallas Cowboys are my team of the week for week 11. 

Zach Wilson Sucks

 

            Yep, you heard that right. Zach Wilson is terrible. I along with many other Jet fans have totally given up on Zach and for good reasons. He is leading this potent offense straight to the ground and lost a totally winnable game by making too many stupid mistakes.

            It's time for the Jets to sign a veteran QB and not take a chance on one in the draft. The Jets lost on Sunday once again to the Patriots 10-3 in a game for abysmal offense was shown. Just over 100 total offensive yards is not gonna cut it and especially in a game where the Jets were in it the entire time until the final 5 seconds. 

            And then what makes it even better is that Zach did not take any accountability in his post game interview which shows what type of a leader he is. Robert Saleh is right for not naming him QB1 for this upcoming week versus the Bears as his time has come to an end in my opinion. 

            The Jets came into the season of having a goal in winning divisional games which they have, but they somehow can still not beat the New England Patriots. It's crazy to see how the Jets are able to beat great teams like the Bills, yet they lose to a team like the Patriots which are nowhere near the level of Buffalo.

            One positive that we can rejoice about is how good this defense is. To me, the Jets defense looks like it is a top 5 defense in the NFL and show it not only on papers through stats, but also when you watch them. They are just so dominant all around, but it doesn't pay off when your offense is just terrible.

            This week is a perfect week to bounce back though as the Jets go back home to face the Bears who have been struggling and may be without their young emerging quarterback in Justin Fields. They need to win this game before they enter a tough stretch of upcoming road games against the Vikings and the Bills. I have total confidence that this team will bounce back as long as Zach Wilson is not the head of the offense and the defense stays as dominant as it has been so far. 

My Team of the Week (Week 10)

 

            The Minnesota Vikings have been disrespected by critics all season, but now they have earned their respect. The Vikings marched into chilly Buffalo on Sunday and took down the Bills by a score of 33-30 in overtime. It wasn't pretty, many deficits were overcame, but the Vikings definitely turned some heads with this upset on the road.

            At one point the Vikings were down by 17 points and everyone thought it would be another easy win for the Bills, but no the Vikings showed that they're never out of it and came back to win in overtime. 

            I'll run you down another situation. Less than 2 minutes to play, down 4, in your own half of the field, 4th and 18. Kirk Cousins heaves up a prayer and Justin Jefferson comes down with it, OBJ style, to keep the Vikings alive and that would be the difference maker. Big time players make big time plays and boy did Justin Jefferson ever make one.

            Many people have said that they Vikings have had an easy schedule to walk over, but they just beat arguably the best team in the league, on the road, in one of the worst environments to play in in the sport. Despite the schedule and despite this insane victory, they are 8-1 and have no competition in their division to worry about.

            For years, the NFC North has been all Packers and this year the Vikings are showing why it's their year and may be their division for years to come. The Vikings are here and they are legit. In my opinion, they are the best team in the NFC and close to the best team in the league. It's time to give the Vikings their respect as they are here to stay.