Patriots/Broncos Preview

I finally figured out why Tebow is such a big story. He was an underdog, who already had believers/fans before he started "beating the odds." So he has the appeal of an underdog, but already had legions of supporters. Which is abnormal. Most underdogs come from nowhere with no fans. Anyway, that's my short explanation of the Tebow phenomenon, at least the core of it.

To the actual game, which I know is a weird thing to talk about this week.

The Patriots saw what Tebow did the Steelers on Sunday. Rather, they saw what the Steelers' defense let Tebow do to them. They will not let that happen again. They're not going to give Tebow man coverage on deep routes. They're not going to bring safeties up to the line. They're going to give the Broncos 6-12 yard curls, as they've given to every team this year. And Tebow will hit some. He might even hit a few in a row. But it'll be tough for him to repeatedly move up and down the field with just these intermediate passes. He's not consistently accurate enough.

And while the Patriots' defense has allowed 4,703 passing yards (2nd worst), they've "only" allowed 26 passing touchdowns (10th worst). They don't allow many big passing plays. Their longest allowed was a 58 yarder. They keep the ball in front of them. The Pats' defense also improves in the Red Zone. The Broncos' offense actually got worse in the Red Zone last week.

Denver can run the ball well. And Tebow typically doesn't turn it over. So the Patriots have to pressure them to score, to keep up.

That's why the Patriots offense will determine this game. If they can protect Brady, if the receivers and tight-ends can get separation, and if Brady does his job, then the Patriots win. I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but this is a 13-3 team against an 8-8 team. A 13-3 team that beat the same 8-8 team on the road, and now they're at home. If the Pats execute, they win.

What will the Pats offense try to do? Hernandez had a great game back in Denver. Look for he, Branch, and occasionally Ochocinco to be cutting across the deeper parts of Denver's defense. And ideally, that will create space underneath for Welker, even some passes RBs. Denver's defense has a few talented pieces, and a few not so talented pieces. The Patriots will use their extensive arsenal of weapons to get the matchups they want.

Denver's only hope on defense is to pressure Brady.

So the Pats' keys to victory will be:

#1:Protect Brady

#2: Be yourselves on offense

#3: Prevent the big plays on defense

I think they'll do all these. It'll be a close game at first, with the Pats pulling away in the second half. Patriots 38, Broncos 24.

I'd Forgotten How Much I Hate the Canadiens

In the aftermath of the Canucks game, I'd forgotten how much I hate the Habs. I'd like to thank P.K. Subban for reminding me.

The Bruins didn't dominate this game. But still found a way to win. The heroes of the game included Tim Thomas, Milan Lucic, and a panel of the end boards behind Carey Price.

Thomas was insanely brilliant. He made so many tough saves at moments when Montreal was vigorously attacking the Bruins' goal. He also bailed out a few B's after they'd made mistakes with the puck.

The best athlete in the world named Tim does not have the last name Tebow. It's the goalie for the Bruins.

One thing the Bruins struggle with when playing Montreal is their speed. The Bruins seem to underestimate Montreal's ability to quickly close passing lanes. And that leads to deflected passes and turnovers. Thomas neutralized Montreal's edge in this area.

Lucic played a physical game all night long. And he wound up scoring the Bruins' only non-lucky-bounce goal. It came when Krejci was able to cycle the puck to Horton along the boards. Lucic was in the slot, being tokenly covered by Tomas Plekanec, and P.K. Subban was preoccupied with holding Krejci against the boards. Lucic scored a sweeping backhand goal and it was the difference in the game.

Subban was targeting Krejci all night. He finally crossed the line with an elbow to the head. I don't care if Subban gets suspended or not. I'm just glad Krejci is OK, and that Andrew Ference stood up for his teammate.

Subban's legs must be made of jelly, because as strong as he is, when someone nudges him his legs give out. He collapsed into a heap once Ference arrived, then looked like an O.W.S. protester being arrested, offering no resistance at all as Ference dragged his limp corpse around the ice. Then he cowered into the fetal position. He's pathetic. Montreal fans love him. Speaks volumes about their fanbase.

As a weird sidebar (sidebar from a Bruins' perspective, at least), the Canadiens traded Mike Cammalleri mid-game to Calgary. Cammalleri made some remarks 24 hours earlier about the team not having a winning attitude. I don't know if he was traded for those remarks or if he was traded because he hasn't been that good this season. Whatever. They do seem like an aimless team, and it's weird to hurriedly trade someone who publicly points that out.

The Bruins start a 4 game, week long roadtrip in Carolina Saturday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Change for the BCS?

There may be change coming to college football's postseason. At the very least, it will be discussed by the 11 Division I-A conference heads along with Notre Dame's AD. There will be mafia style meetings like when the heads of crime families from across the country meet. There will be discussions on what's best for college football's future. There will be stubbornness, there might be compromise, and the Big East might get whacked.

The SEC wants a playoff. Ironic considering how much they've thrived in current BCS format.

The ACC also wants a playoff.

The Big Ten doesn't. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney is adamant that there be no playoff. He also believes that the world is flat and that the earth is the center of the Universe.

The Pac-12 is a wild card, and could be the best chance for compromise. They could be open to a playoff. So long as the Pac-12/Big Ten/Rose Bowl threesome remains intact. At least they're willing to talk.

The Big XII might want a playoff after seeing Oklahoma State lose 1 game and go to the Fiesta Bowl.

The Big East just wants to survive.

As a demonstration of how messy this discussion is, nobody involved even uses the word "playoff" because it's too inflammatory. "Plus-one" is the term to describe a 4 team playoff. Which makes no sense because there'd be 2 rounds, 3 games, and 4 teams.

Call me cynical, but I don't think there will be any major change from these meetings. Maybe the BCS will only sanction the national title game, instead of the title game and 4 BCS bowls. Maybe the notion of automatic qualification will go out the window, which might stop the musical chairs we've seen in college football.

But there are too many uncompromising people, too many various deal-breaking demands for everyone to be satisfied. And without consensus, there will be no big changes.

Until Jim Delaney dies or gets fired, there won't be any significantly positive change to college football's postseason.

Or maybe, if the BCS does separate itself from the bowls, it might grow as an independent entity. It might eventually build its own playoff system. Just like the NIT. Only with no NCAA tournament to compete with. Think of how popular the NIT would be if it were the only postseason tournament and featured all the best teams. ESPN would pay billions to broadcast a football version of that. And where the TV money goes, the teams will play.

That might make the Orange Bowl less profitable, but I really don't care.

B's Back to Business

With Marchand out, other Bruins were going to have to step up. Pouliot was going to play with Bergeron and Seguin, and guys like Krejci, Horton, Lucic, and Seguin were going to have to step up. And they did.

Krejci is hotter than hot right now. He won 11 of 13 faceoffs, and his 2 assists were highlight reel passes. We really saw a good display of the top line's strengths last night. Krejci's vision and passing, Lucic's skating and drive, and Horton's point blank finishing touch. Krejci has 5 goals and 9 assists in his last 9 games. Horton's scored 5 goals in his last 4 games.

One thing that cost the Bruins on Saturday was lack of a power play goal. They got a timely one from Pouliot last night that sealed the victory. Shawn Thornton also scored on a penalty shot. Yes, that sentence was just written.

Rask was brilliant again. He allowed 3 goals, but all 3 were deflected. And he made some huge, very timely stops in the first 40 minutes of the game.

Speaking of which, the Bruins had their share of sloppiness in this one. Giveaways, not taking care of the puck, and it cost them a few goals. Corvo's intercepted pass was the most blatant. But Rask prevented Winnipeg from flying away (pun intended) with a big lead. And in the 3rd period, the Bruins played like a team determined to win.

Back to Corvo, I'm still waiting to find a reason to like this guy. I don't hate him. There just isn't much to like about him yet. He hasn't contributed much to the offense, which was something he was expected to do. And in my opinion, he's the 6th best defenseman. He's 4th in time on ice, but I'd much rather have Ference's stability or Mcquaid's physicality out on the ice.

Anyway, Corvo isn't costing the team much. And he's not struggling. He just hasn't impressed me yet. He's not Dennis Widemen. And he's certainly not Tomas Kaberle.

The Bruins are back on track, and they end their homestand Thursday when the Canadiens come to town. Montreal are struggling. There was a fight a few days ago in practice between PK Subban and Tomas Plekanec. The team has lost 8 of 11. And their fans' biggest concern is that their interim head coach can't speak French. Nice priorities, Montreal.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Marchand Suspended for Five Games

After lengthy deliberation, the NHL suspended Marchand for 5 games. They deemed his clipping check of Sami Salo to be "predatory." No doubt Marchand's history and reputation played a part in the NHL's decision, rightfully so. Brendan Shanahan explains.

I wish the NFL would do stuff like this, clearly explaining and showing with video why they've decided to discipline a player.

Anyway, the simple fact is, Marchand ducked too low. If that was intentional or incidental, only Marchand knows. He should also know better. He can duck this check by dropping his shoulder into Salo's hip. He has a reputation and a history, particularly with this team. While we adore him for moments like this one:

That style of behavior tends to draw the attention of the League offices.

And before anyone accuses the NHL of an anti-Boston bias, or of trying too hard to eliminate physicality in the game, let's remember that Chara didn't get disciplined at all for his hit on Max Pacioretty. And more recently, Lucic's game misconduct from Saturday was rescinded.

I do think that calling this hit "predatory" is a bit much. It'll satisfy the whining from Vancouver's players, press, and coaches. In effect, this suspension is a warning to Marchand. One he must heed. I love his style of play, I love how he gets under the skin of opponents, but he has to learn where the boundaries are. He crossed a boundary on Saturday. And now he has some time to think about it.

Of course, to any high and mighty Canucks fans, I wouldn't get too morally superior.

The Least Entertaining Postseason in Sports

I could go on and on about how sketchy and stupid college football's bowl system is. I could point out what's been pointed out a billion times and say "we need a playoff." And I think I might start writing a book on the tyranny of the bowls and how they unjustly control college football's postseason. In this little article though, I'm just going to point out a simple fact:

College football's postseason is the least entertaining of all postseasons in major sports.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are amazing. I'm not much of a basketball fan but the NBA playoffs usually draw me in for a weeks. March Madness might be my favorite sporting event of the year. MLB playoff games are tense and pressure filled. And the NFL playoffs are thrilling.

There's something about earning the right to extend a season. There's something special about hockey in June, baseball in October, and football in February. And there's something even more special about teams fighting tooth and nail for that right to play one more game.

Compare that to bowl games. Which can sometimes be entertaining to watch. But then the victors' season is over. Just as over as the team they beat. There's nothing more to win than a trophy and a t-shirt. There's no survival, no advancement to next week's round.

Imagine if last night's Broncos/Steelers game were a bowl game. It would have still been fun to watch. But without anything more than a trophy awarded to the winner, it's not nearly as exciting as a playoff win. We'd forget all about it in a few weeks as the #1 Packers played the #2 Patriots for the national title. While the Saints played in the Rose Bowl and the Broncos played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

We've seen some entertaining bowl games. And tonight's might also be fun to watch. But how much more fun would it be to see the winner of tonight's game play Oklahoma State? How about Stanford playing Boise State? How much more enjoyable would the previous bowls been if the winner won the right to survive for another week?

College football might have the most exciting regular season of all sports. But it's postseason is the least entertaining.

Tebow's Coming to Foxborough

The Broncos beat a depleted Steelers team last night in dramatic fashion. The first ever overtime of "each team gets a possession, unless..." ended with the unless part coming true. And now the 4th seeded 8-8 Broncos are coming to Foxborough to play Saturday night.

This is the best possible matchup for the Patriots. And while we shouldn't underestimate Denver, and the Pats obviously have to execute in order to win this game, the Broncos are who they are. They lost 8 games. They backed into the playoffs. They were thoroughly beaten when the Pats went to Denver.

I do have to say that the Broncos' offensive scheme has improved. They're getting better at putting Tebow in no-decision situations. Like throwing deep. He doesn't have to worry about finding the open man or going through progressions. The decision has already been made for him by the structure of the play.

Another interesting storyline of this game is that Josh McDaniels, the man who drafted Tebow as head coach of the Broncos, will be working for the Patriots as a newly hired offensive assistant.

It's almost worth the endless, insufferable Tebow ball-washing that will be all over ESPN this week.

Proud to be a Bruins Fan

Even if the Canucks had won Cup last year, I'd much rather be a Bruins fan than a Canucks fan. I feel kind of bad for the fans of Vancouver, having to root for the likes of Roberto Luongo, Maxim Lapierre, Dale Weise, Alex Burrows, et cetera. A goalie who doesn't want to play in goal. A coward. A guy who skates away from a fight. A fiend. It must kind of suck to have to support the likes of these characters.

There were two games on Saturday afternoon. There was the game when Vancouver was on the Power Play, which the Canucks won 4-0. And there was the game when they weren't. Which the Bruins won 3-0. There were 107 penalty minutes issued and 18 Power Plays for both teams. 13:34 of this game was played with the Canucks having at least one man advantage.

To be fair to the refs, this was a hard game to officiate. These teams do not like each other. And the refs called the game tight for both teams. And the refs did a good job not allowing Dale Weise to get away with goading Shawn Thornton into dropping the gloves then not fighting.

Unfortunately, the refs were a bit inconsistent. Some hits and stickwork was called for 2 minutes. Some wasn't. Some calls confused me. Seguin's tripping call, Krejci's goaltender interference, the 3rd period holding penalty on Alexander Edler. And why was it that Alex Burrows waves the blade of his stick at Thornton's eyes, the lines brawl, and somehow the Bruins emerge down 2 men?

The officials' inconsistency favored both teams at timse. And credit must be given to Vancouver for their special teams' play. Their Power Play won them the game. And the Bruins' lack of a Power Play cost the B's the game. The Bruins had 7 chances with a man advantage. And failed each time.

I actually think the PP slowed down the Bruins' momentum at times. They were attacking in the middle of the 2nd, for instance, then drew a penalty, then played a static, undramatic, uninspired two minutes of 5 on 4, then drifted through the rest of the 2nd.

This game was weird. It was emotional. It was rarely 5 on 5. Vancouver won, fair and square. But if this were Game 1 of a 7 game series, I'd like the Bruins chances to win.

There may be future ramifications for the Bruins. The NHL rescinded Lucic's game misconduct, which was a correct call. Lucic didn't climb over the boards, he was still on the ice in the middle of a line change, as were several Canucks.

Marchand has a hearing with the NHL today. And I don't think he'll just be fined. His clipping penalty was a good call. He's claiming that he was trying to protect himself but it didn't seem that way. The hit was dirty. And unnecessary/stupid. The refs had been calling EVERY infraction up to that point so it was stupid for Marchand to risk giving Vancouver another power play.

Marchand has already been fined this year. He was suspended last season. He has a reputation that's growing more and more infamous. I think he should be suspended, and will be. For 2 games, I'd say.

Vancouver won a game. Good for them. And good luck in the playoffs when half the penalties called on Saturday won't be called. And good luck in the playoffs with a star goalie who doesn't demand to play in big games like this one.

The Bruins stand up for their teammates. They have goalies who crave big games. They have fighters, not talkers. They didn't get a win on Saturday, but they can and should be happy that they are much better than the Canucks, and not just at hockey.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo