By JC Godin
Here we are, after five months, Super Bowl 47 is finally upon us!! Back in New Orleans after a 11 year absence! No one throws a Super Bowl party like New Orleans!! NO ONE!! It's mardi gras....football style!!
Ravens versus 49ers!! By now we all know the story lines. Ray Lewis, the Harbaugh brothers, the DeBartolo family back at the SB, Ed Reed's first SB, Colin Kaepernick. It's safe to say this year's SB matchup turned out to be a nice one! The script could have not been written any better!
I really can't tell you who's going to win, both teams had their defining moments this season. San Francisco's week 1 matchup against Green Bay, their loss to the Vikings in week 3, followed by a whooping of the Jets in week 4, which was one of those dreadful 1pm eastern time starts for a pacific team! But we all know the pendulum swung for the Niners during week 10! The St. Louis Rams opened the window for young Colin Kaepernick and he seized the opportunity! The week 11 win at NO, and most of all the whooping they gave the Pats in NE week 15! Jim Harbaugh made a difficult decision, but it turned out to be the right one. Recall how yours truly loved the decision Jim Harbaugh made. Kaepernick opens things up for Frank Gore and the running game; look what took place two weeks ago!! I'm glad to see the Niners back where they belong! With its rich tradition, this team does not belong at the bottom, they just don't. Also, it's quite refreshing to see a young QB like Kaepernick play at the SB with only 9 games started under his belt! Only Jeff Hostetler (Giants 90-91) and Vince Ferragamo (Rams 78-79) played less games as a starter going into a SB. His attitude is on point! Back in the fourth grade, he had to write an essay about his future. He envisioned himself one day playing for the Forty-Niners, as he put on print, and voila! Fait accompli. He's like a kid who just walked inside a candy store for the first time! How could he possibly bother fans?? Every game his confidence is growing by leaps and bounds! Good for him!!
A lot is at stake though, how he will handle the pressure will be interesting to see! San Fran could go 6 for 6 with a win on Sunday and tie the Steelers with 6 SB wins! Looking at the 49ers roster, most of the players were all drafted originally by San Francisco! Crabtree, V. Davis, Staley, Iupati, A. Davis, Gore, Kaepernick, A.Smith, McDonald, Willis, Bowman, Goldson..... That right there is TREMENDOUS work by the upper staff! Kudos to general manger Trent Baalke and his director of college scouting, Joel Patten!!
The same can be said about the amazing job GM Ozzie Newsome has done with the AFC representatives!! You build through a draft!! It takes patience, but when the pieces come together and the attitude is right, the promised land is your destination!! Baltimore also were put in a predicament, where coach John Harbaugh had to make a tough decision and made that difficult choice! He fired his OC, Cam Cameron with a month left in the regular season! Also, I could see this was the right decision, but because of how late it was made, I wasn't sure about it, but it didn't matter. The training wheels were taken off of Joe Flacco and magic followed with his performance against the Giants in week 16, followed it up against the Broncos and Pats! But all really started to change for Joseph last year against the Steelers in Pittsburgh! The week 8 matchup that ended 23-20 for the Ravens on a last-minute winning drive! Ever since, Joe has played well in all "BIG" games! But somehow the key for the Ravens remains Ray Rice. The Ravens are 21-3 when Rice carries the rock more then 20 times!
On the defensive side of things, the Ravens are looking like their old selves! As Ray Lewis stated in his NFL network documentary, "This team (Ravens) is known as the team that never dies," and that's exactly what they showed us against the Broncos and against the Pats!
Both teams will be ready! From special teams to defense to offense, the brothers are excellent coaches! I truly believe we are in for a treat on Sunday! It's like everything seems so perfect; Lewis passing of the torch to 49ers LB Patrick Willis, Ed Reed back home since he's from NO! It's going to be a good one! And we all love Super Bowls not for the silly halftime shows, some enjoy the commercials, which I don't really care for, but Super Bowls are always about those unexpected heroes, like David Tyree or superstars like Lynn Swann that come up big and who are forever remembered, engraved in our memories thanks to NFL Films!!
On a pessimist note, I do find the Super Bowl a tad depressing....... The season is over!! I can't wait for the rookie combine to roll around come end of February! You have to get ready to take notes for the draft, which I will blog about during March and April!
Good Super Bowl to all!!
Showing posts with label Ray Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray Lewis. Show all posts
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Friday, 18 January 2013
What we learned: NFL divisional playoff round!
By JC Godin
Holy mother of lord!! What a weekend that was!!! I do not recall an NFL playoff weekend where we had two instant classics and maybe the birth of "the next thing," the second coming, Colin Kaepernick!!!
Let's talk Kaepernick! Recall what I said about Kap when he first got wet?? Dual-threat QB, makes it harder for defenses. It's hard to game plan versus such a threat when your offensive line is DOMINANT and your running back is named Frank Gore!! But what really stood out about Colin is not how fast he can run, nor how smart he is at reading defenses, but the accuracy on his throws are close to sublime! I'm not joking!! Pay close attention this Sunday or go look back at some game tape! Green Bay put up a good fight, but by the end of the third quarter, that D had no answer for Kap!!
We witnessed the Pats win at home... Bla bla bla.... Zzzzzzzz... Snore fest!!! We all knew New England was going to win and we didn't learn anything! We already knew that Matt Schaub stinks in red zone and third down situations!
Next!!
Alright, classic #2 showed us how good the Seattle Seahawks are, even in defeat! Scoring 28 unanswered points in two quarters!! WOW!! Colin Cowherd of ESPN claims that Russell Wilson is a top-five QB in the NFL, and you know what? I kind of agree with him! Seattle is going to kick some serious ass next year and maybe for many years to come! One thing is for sure, the Seahwaks/49ers, Wilson/Kaepernick feud will be fun to watch! And that Seahawks D will still shine regardless of the loss of their defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who took the job as HC in Jacksonville!
I have to give it to the Falcons though, Matt Ryan is also top five QB in the league! He is leading this team well, and a lot of the credit has to go to HC Mike Smith, who hired Mike Nolan and Dirk Koetter as DC and OC! But on Sunday, this is where it stops for the Falcons!
Classic #1, Ravens vs Broncos, was maybe the best game I have ever watched, and I've seen plenty of football! There is so much to take from this game, I don't know where to start! John Fox's conservative ways again come and bite him in the rear-end! How all mighty Peyton looked like someone who could not make a 20-yard pass from the third quarter on! How safety Rahim Moore misplayed the ball and that is quite the under statement!!! That was bad!!!! Just Horrible ball skills!! But most of all, what I took from this game was the never give up, believe attitude the Ravens had throughout the match!! Joseph Flacco is also top five in the NFL! Say what you want to say, but Flacco is LIGHTS OUT!! Ever since coach Harbaugh fired OC Cam Cameroun, it's like the "training wheels" finally came off!! It was truly a team effort, from Flacco to Ray Rice to Ray Lewis and his 17 tackles! SAY WHAT!! Yes, 17 tackles!! From Torrey Smith's first half to Anquan Boldin's 2nd half! From T-Sizzle to CB Corey Graham, who played the game of his life!! The fifth round draft pick of the Chicago Bears from 2007 never played such a game in his career!! That's playoffs. The unsung hero emerges from that one game at that special time!! The most impressive thing about the Ravens win is the fact that they won despite the fact they gave up two special teams TDs to Trindon Holliday (I'm sure the Texans are kicking themselves after cutting him!!)! On a side note, I was quite glad to see the Broncos lose! Take that, John Elway!! The way he played Tebow out of Denver, let's just call what happened on Saturday poetic justice! I'm sure Elway had nightmares of last year's playoff game against the Steelers! Te-Bow, Te-Bow!!! Tebow has one thing Manning doesn't - A playoff win as a Denver Bronco!!
Looking at championship Sunday's games, as I stated earlier, I think the Niners will beat the Falcons! The O-line and D is way too dominant right now, and with the emergence of Colin Kaepernick, forget about it!! Nice season Falcons! Though I don't expect the Niners to steamroll all over the Falcons! Atlanta will make it interesting!
As for the AFC, the Ravens are the team nobody wants to play right now!! Ray's goodbye gave this team the last push it needed after Cameroun's firing! The Ravens are rolling on all cylinders!! Yes this is the all-mighty Pats, and I'm a huge Tom Brady guy, I like Brady, but Flacco out-balled him in the last two meetings against him. He also just out-balled Peyton Manning! The Ravens have no reason to fear the Pats, but the Pats should fear the Ravens!! This is a dangerous team to play against! If football gods truly exist, the Ravens will win against New England and make it to the Super Bowl!! Win or lose, it don't matter; just to make it there will be incredible for the franchise! It will be the last time Lewis, Reed and Suggs will get to play together, and how fitting would it be for them to do it on the biggest stage of them all!!
How sweet would it be to see the two brother coaches go at it for the Lombardi Trophy! Let's go Niners and Ravens!!!
Alright, classic #2 showed us how good the Seattle Seahawks are, even in defeat! Scoring 28 unanswered points in two quarters!! WOW!! Colin Cowherd of ESPN claims that Russell Wilson is a top-five QB in the NFL, and you know what? I kind of agree with him! Seattle is going to kick some serious ass next year and maybe for many years to come! One thing is for sure, the Seahwaks/49ers, Wilson/Kaepernick feud will be fun to watch! And that Seahawks D will still shine regardless of the loss of their defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who took the job as HC in Jacksonville!
I have to give it to the Falcons though, Matt Ryan is also top five QB in the league! He is leading this team well, and a lot of the credit has to go to HC Mike Smith, who hired Mike Nolan and Dirk Koetter as DC and OC! But on Sunday, this is where it stops for the Falcons!
Classic #1, Ravens vs Broncos, was maybe the best game I have ever watched, and I've seen plenty of football! There is so much to take from this game, I don't know where to start! John Fox's conservative ways again come and bite him in the rear-end! How all mighty Peyton looked like someone who could not make a 20-yard pass from the third quarter on! How safety Rahim Moore misplayed the ball and that is quite the under statement!!! That was bad!!!! Just Horrible ball skills!! But most of all, what I took from this game was the never give up, believe attitude the Ravens had throughout the match!! Joseph Flacco is also top five in the NFL! Say what you want to say, but Flacco is LIGHTS OUT!! Ever since coach Harbaugh fired OC Cam Cameroun, it's like the "training wheels" finally came off!! It was truly a team effort, from Flacco to Ray Rice to Ray Lewis and his 17 tackles! SAY WHAT!! Yes, 17 tackles!! From Torrey Smith's first half to Anquan Boldin's 2nd half! From T-Sizzle to CB Corey Graham, who played the game of his life!! The fifth round draft pick of the Chicago Bears from 2007 never played such a game in his career!! That's playoffs. The unsung hero emerges from that one game at that special time!! The most impressive thing about the Ravens win is the fact that they won despite the fact they gave up two special teams TDs to Trindon Holliday (I'm sure the Texans are kicking themselves after cutting him!!)! On a side note, I was quite glad to see the Broncos lose! Take that, John Elway!! The way he played Tebow out of Denver, let's just call what happened on Saturday poetic justice! I'm sure Elway had nightmares of last year's playoff game against the Steelers! Te-Bow, Te-Bow!!! Tebow has one thing Manning doesn't - A playoff win as a Denver Bronco!!
Looking at championship Sunday's games, as I stated earlier, I think the Niners will beat the Falcons! The O-line and D is way too dominant right now, and with the emergence of Colin Kaepernick, forget about it!! Nice season Falcons! Though I don't expect the Niners to steamroll all over the Falcons! Atlanta will make it interesting!
As for the AFC, the Ravens are the team nobody wants to play right now!! Ray's goodbye gave this team the last push it needed after Cameroun's firing! The Ravens are rolling on all cylinders!! Yes this is the all-mighty Pats, and I'm a huge Tom Brady guy, I like Brady, but Flacco out-balled him in the last two meetings against him. He also just out-balled Peyton Manning! The Ravens have no reason to fear the Pats, but the Pats should fear the Ravens!! This is a dangerous team to play against! If football gods truly exist, the Ravens will win against New England and make it to the Super Bowl!! Win or lose, it don't matter; just to make it there will be incredible for the franchise! It will be the last time Lewis, Reed and Suggs will get to play together, and how fitting would it be for them to do it on the biggest stage of them all!!
How sweet would it be to see the two brother coaches go at it for the Lombardi Trophy! Let's go Niners and Ravens!!!
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
What did we learn in the NFL week #6
Jean-Claude Godin
What did we learn this past weekend?? A whole lo,t let me tell you.
First off, the San Diego Chargers will never win with Norv Turner at the helm and GM A.J. Smith should also be accountable for making the decision to go with Philip Rivers over Drew Brees!! That decision didn't turn out so good in his favor!!
Last night's match was a HUGE win for the Denver Broncos, as the rest of their schedule is quite soft!
Even though Denver has issues on defense, I don't see San Diego winning the West. Denver needs to smarten up though, as they rely way too much on Peyton to save face for their horrendous starts. It's not fair to put Manning in a situation where he has to make comeback after comeback.
Last Thursday, we witness the Titans squeaking one by the Steelers. Pittsburgh has massive issues on the o-line once again, but what concerns me more is the inability of the Steelers to punch it in when they're in the red zone! This team has to be one of the worst red zone offenses out there (with the Eagles of course)! Steelers go to Cincy Sunday night in what should be a exciting match. Both teams have a lot to prove.
Sad to see the Colts come out flat in the 2nd quarter of last Sunday's match vs the Jets! The reality is that the Colts D is SOFT!! Shonn Green is an average back in the NFL and the Colts allowed Green to gallop for 160-plus yards on them!! Yes, the Jets were a dangerous team to play, but still... as the ESPN crew would say: "C'MON MAN"!! Nothing is lost for the Colts, though. Their next 4 games are against the Browns, @Titans, Dolphins and @Jags!! Three wins out of 4 is a possibility.
Speaking of the Jets, I have to give some love to coach Ryan, coach Sporano and coach Westhoff (special teams) for their game plan and how they have been using Tim Tebow!! The fake punt-pass was brilliant and bringing Tebow to move the chains on 3rd and short is just common sense!!
We also learned that as long as Andy Reid keeps calling the shots for the Eagles, this team will always underachieve. The defense has no sacks in their last 3 games and I guess it was DC Juan Castillo's call to take Nnamdi Asomugha off of Calvin Johnson in the 4th quarter since he was fired or relieved of his duties earlier this morning. Todd Bowles steps in as new DC!! Good move, but this move will cost Reid's job!! Todd Bowles will be Philly's new HC next year!! If not, then I think we might see Jon Gruden going back to Philly, where it all started for him as a coach in the NFL!
We also learned that Tom Brady is one of the biggest trash talkers for a QB in the league. How amusing was the Seahawks match vs the Pats!! Brady apparently told Seahwaks CB Richard Sherman (who is becoming one of the game's top CB) to come and see him after the game with Seahawks safety Earl Thomas (who is also a star in the making)....well somewhere in the 4th quarter Brady threw 2 picks... 1 to Sherman and the other to, that's right, Earl Thomas.. and guess what, Sherman went to pay Brady a visit after the game!! What goes around comes back around!!
We learned that the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans are not made to come from behind, thus I can tell you none of those two teams will win the Super Bowl!!
I love how year after year most fans and experts still show no love to the G-Men!! Boy did New York showed the nation last Sunday!! They punched San Fran right in the mouth to top it off with a good kick in the....you get the point! NEVER DOUBT THE GIANTS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RECORD..... and I will go on the record here and state that WR Victor Cruz has what it takes to maybe become the greatest wide receiver after Jerry Rice!! I see similarities between both of them!!
How impressive was that Redskins win vs the Vikings!! Vikings were up 9-0 after the 1st quarter and had momentum... that was until Robert Griffin III went OFF!!! HE WAS BALLING!!! Great game plan by the Shanahans! You can't run on the Vikings defense but are not a pass first offense so you have to stick with the run but it wasn't rookie Alfred Morris doing most of the running...it was RG III.
To cap things off, I just want to take this time to mention Ray Lewis's injury! By now all know he tore his triceps and is done for the year!! He will turn 38 next May!! Could his career be done?? I hope not and i pray not since to end his glorious career the way it ended on Sunday is just not right!! Now let's cross our fingers for the other ageless wonders, Falcons TE, Tony Gonzalez and for Bucs DB, Ronde Barber to finish off their seasons and career the right way!!
What did we learn this past weekend?? A whole lo,t let me tell you.
First off, the San Diego Chargers will never win with Norv Turner at the helm and GM A.J. Smith should also be accountable for making the decision to go with Philip Rivers over Drew Brees!! That decision didn't turn out so good in his favor!!
Last night's match was a HUGE win for the Denver Broncos, as the rest of their schedule is quite soft!
Even though Denver has issues on defense, I don't see San Diego winning the West. Denver needs to smarten up though, as they rely way too much on Peyton to save face for their horrendous starts. It's not fair to put Manning in a situation where he has to make comeback after comeback.
Last Thursday, we witness the Titans squeaking one by the Steelers. Pittsburgh has massive issues on the o-line once again, but what concerns me more is the inability of the Steelers to punch it in when they're in the red zone! This team has to be one of the worst red zone offenses out there (with the Eagles of course)! Steelers go to Cincy Sunday night in what should be a exciting match. Both teams have a lot to prove.
Sad to see the Colts come out flat in the 2nd quarter of last Sunday's match vs the Jets! The reality is that the Colts D is SOFT!! Shonn Green is an average back in the NFL and the Colts allowed Green to gallop for 160-plus yards on them!! Yes, the Jets were a dangerous team to play, but still... as the ESPN crew would say: "C'MON MAN"!! Nothing is lost for the Colts, though. Their next 4 games are against the Browns, @Titans, Dolphins and @Jags!! Three wins out of 4 is a possibility.
Speaking of the Jets, I have to give some love to coach Ryan, coach Sporano and coach Westhoff (special teams) for their game plan and how they have been using Tim Tebow!! The fake punt-pass was brilliant and bringing Tebow to move the chains on 3rd and short is just common sense!!
We also learned that as long as Andy Reid keeps calling the shots for the Eagles, this team will always underachieve. The defense has no sacks in their last 3 games and I guess it was DC Juan Castillo's call to take Nnamdi Asomugha off of Calvin Johnson in the 4th quarter since he was fired or relieved of his duties earlier this morning. Todd Bowles steps in as new DC!! Good move, but this move will cost Reid's job!! Todd Bowles will be Philly's new HC next year!! If not, then I think we might see Jon Gruden going back to Philly, where it all started for him as a coach in the NFL!
We also learned that Tom Brady is one of the biggest trash talkers for a QB in the league. How amusing was the Seahawks match vs the Pats!! Brady apparently told Seahwaks CB Richard Sherman (who is becoming one of the game's top CB) to come and see him after the game with Seahawks safety Earl Thomas (who is also a star in the making)....well somewhere in the 4th quarter Brady threw 2 picks... 1 to Sherman and the other to, that's right, Earl Thomas.. and guess what, Sherman went to pay Brady a visit after the game!! What goes around comes back around!!
We learned that the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans are not made to come from behind, thus I can tell you none of those two teams will win the Super Bowl!!
I love how year after year most fans and experts still show no love to the G-Men!! Boy did New York showed the nation last Sunday!! They punched San Fran right in the mouth to top it off with a good kick in the....you get the point! NEVER DOUBT THE GIANTS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RECORD..... and I will go on the record here and state that WR Victor Cruz has what it takes to maybe become the greatest wide receiver after Jerry Rice!! I see similarities between both of them!!
How impressive was that Redskins win vs the Vikings!! Vikings were up 9-0 after the 1st quarter and had momentum... that was until Robert Griffin III went OFF!!! HE WAS BALLING!!! Great game plan by the Shanahans! You can't run on the Vikings defense but are not a pass first offense so you have to stick with the run but it wasn't rookie Alfred Morris doing most of the running...it was RG III.
To cap things off, I just want to take this time to mention Ray Lewis's injury! By now all know he tore his triceps and is done for the year!! He will turn 38 next May!! Could his career be done?? I hope not and i pray not since to end his glorious career the way it ended on Sunday is just not right!! Now let's cross our fingers for the other ageless wonders, Falcons TE, Tony Gonzalez and for Bucs DB, Ronde Barber to finish off their seasons and career the right way!!
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