Ever since catching fire late in the season and blowing right by my fading San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants have been on a complete tear. After beating the Padres on the final day of the regular season to clinch the National League West and advance to the National League Divisional Series versus the Atlanta Braves, the Giants have gone an impressive 9-3 in the postseason. In the NLDS they ousted the retiring Bobby Cox and his Atlanta Braves in a series headlined by great pitching and close, one run games. Then, against the heavily favored Phillies, late season waiver wire pickup Cody Ross went into the stratosphere, powering the offense to defeats of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and even Roy Oswalt (in a bullpen appearance).
San Francisco's much unheralded offensive lineup must have been waiting for the postseason to catch up to the best all-around pitching staff in baseball, and they have done just that. The pitching staff has continued to be fantastic in the postseason, beginning with Tim Lincecum and the rest of the starters and ending with LSU Alumnus Brian Wilson who has an invisible 0.00 ERA and 5 saves. The coupling of these two entities has produced a seemingly unbeatable team of destiny. In game one of the World Series, ace Tim Lincecum was faced with the daunting task of defeating the Texas Ranger's stellar ace, Cliff Lee. After falling behind in the early innings Lincecum stabilized and left in the sixth inning with an 8-4 lead. The Giants and Rangers equaled runs in the last three inning producing an 11-7 final. Many saw this game as a fluke and figured that the Ranger's powerful bats would get to the Giants in game two. The opposite happened. Giants' pitcher Matt Cain silenced Texas's offense for zero runs on four hits, and the Giants' hitters erupted to produce nine runs.
With the Giants clicking on all cyclinders and the Rangers struggling to do much of anything this series is in trouble of concluding prematurely. If anything, fans of the Rangers must hold solace in the fact that they get three games at home starting Saturday, and can virtually turn this series into a two game affair if they win all three. The game on Saturday will be the first World Series game ever hosted by the Rangers, and you can expect their fans to be out in full force.
This series is certainly not over until the Rangers drop a game at home, because they will not win two games in a raucous San Francisco-if it even gets that far. All I know is that this powerful, fearsome lineup with so many dangerous hitters will not simply roll over and die. This team will begin to hit and pitch, but it could turn out to be a case of too little too late.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Woe is Special Teams
It’s up, it’s up, it’s no good. This is a scene all too familiar to San Diego Chargers fans during the past five postseasons. The only difference this time was that it was during the regular season, and it was orchestrated by recently signed Kris Brown who started for the injured Nate Kaeding. Louis Vasquez committed a false start just before Brown was set to kick a 45 yard field goal, so he was forced to attempt to tie the game from 50 yards. He missed.
This is just the most recent special teams gaffe accrued by the Chargers’s much maligned unit. In Week 1, rookie Dexter McCluster returned a game-defining punt for a touchdown. Not to be forgotten in that same game were a couple of other damaging returns by fellow SEC rookie Javier Arenas. In Week 3, the special teams allowed 2 touchdowns and 250 kick return yards to Leon Washington which proved to fatal, as the Chargers lost by 7 points. In Week 5, the punt unit again brought itself to the forefront when it allowed the once lowly Raiders to block two punts on the first two drives drives of the game resulting in 9 points. The Chargers lost by 8 points. The Chargers have lost every game they have played on the road to the likes of Kansas City, Seattle, Oakland, and St. Louis. Bar none, every game in which the have played in this year has been winnable were it not for senseless miscues and blown assignments.
In a stat that largely shows the futility of the special teams, the Chargers are ranked number 1 in the league in total yards allowed, but rank a dissapointing 22nd in total points allowed. Similarly, the offense , fueled by perennial MVP candidate Philip Rivers, is ranked 1st in the league in both passing yards for and total yards for. This is a 2-5 team that could easily be 6-1 or 7-0 were it not for a severe lack of performance in one of three aspects of the game.
On Sunday, the Tennessee Titans come to town in which should prove to be a make or break game for the Chargers. This is a very winnable game, but unless every player on this team comes to play, it has no chance of being won. My fear is that this game will not only determine the remainder of the Chargers’s season, but also the future of the franchise in San Diego. Looks like it is going to be another bad year to be a San Diego sports fan.
This is just the most recent special teams gaffe accrued by the Chargers’s much maligned unit. In Week 1, rookie Dexter McCluster returned a game-defining punt for a touchdown. Not to be forgotten in that same game were a couple of other damaging returns by fellow SEC rookie Javier Arenas. In Week 3, the special teams allowed 2 touchdowns and 250 kick return yards to Leon Washington which proved to fatal, as the Chargers lost by 7 points. In Week 5, the punt unit again brought itself to the forefront when it allowed the once lowly Raiders to block two punts on the first two drives drives of the game resulting in 9 points. The Chargers lost by 8 points. The Chargers have lost every game they have played on the road to the likes of Kansas City, Seattle, Oakland, and St. Louis. Bar none, every game in which the have played in this year has been winnable were it not for senseless miscues and blown assignments.
In a stat that largely shows the futility of the special teams, the Chargers are ranked number 1 in the league in total yards allowed, but rank a dissapointing 22nd in total points allowed. Similarly, the offense , fueled by perennial MVP candidate Philip Rivers, is ranked 1st in the league in both passing yards for and total yards for. This is a 2-5 team that could easily be 6-1 or 7-0 were it not for a severe lack of performance in one of three aspects of the game.
On Sunday, the Tennessee Titans come to town in which should prove to be a make or break game for the Chargers. This is a very winnable game, but unless every player on this team comes to play, it has no chance of being won. My fear is that this game will not only determine the remainder of the Chargers’s season, but also the future of the franchise in San Diego. Looks like it is going to be another bad year to be a San Diego sports fan.
The Browns? At Home? Really?? Yeah, really...
He drops back, locates his receiver, fires the ball at his target, and it is picked off. This has been the scenario an inordinate number of times for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees during the 2010 NFL season. While the Saints remain a game over .500 and a mere game out of first place in their division, there is a clear problem that has developed in the Big Easy. After an embarrassing, turnover-laden beatdown by the hands of the lowly Cleveland Browns and rookie quarterback Colt McCoy, Saints fans are in a fervor. What has happened to their beloved Super Bowl Champions?
For years, Saints fans dealt with putrid teams and a lack of personnel talent. But then, by some miracle from above, the Saints clicked on all cylinders during the 2009 season and won their first title in their introductory visit to the Super Bowl. This year has been a different story, however. The Saints have looked on point only once this year: during their destruction of division rival Tampa Bay. Every other game has been loaded with turnovers, lack of effectiveness when running the ball, or silly errors. Drew Brees's 10 interceptions trail only Eli Manning among regular NFL starters. But what is to blame for this quarterback's inability to avoid the other team's waiting hands?
Much can be attributed to the injuries to both Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush. These two backs ignited the Saints run and pass game, respectively, last year. Thomas averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year in New Orleans' platoon backfield, forcing the defense to respect the run and opening up the passing game for Brees. When healthy Reggie Bush serves as Brees's safety valve out of the backfield, allowing the quarterback to have a check down. Without his full compliment of weapons, Brees seems to be pressing himself to make everything happen for this severely unbalanced offense.
Despite the obvious problems with this team, there is a silver lining: the Pittsburgh Steelers will be visiting the Superdome this Sunday for a huge game on Sunday Night Football. This game will undoubtedly be intensely emotional, and a monstrous win could provide a necessary spark to stabilize this lost offense. This will certainly not be an easy task, but it could prove to be a huge victory in a division in which Atlanta is surging. I am not by any means saying that the New Orleans Saints are out of the picture to compete for another championship. Last year, they showed us how quickly they could ignite and become near-unbeatable. The only question is, will they come to life in time to save this season in which so much is expected of them?
For years, Saints fans dealt with putrid teams and a lack of personnel talent. But then, by some miracle from above, the Saints clicked on all cylinders during the 2009 season and won their first title in their introductory visit to the Super Bowl. This year has been a different story, however. The Saints have looked on point only once this year: during their destruction of division rival Tampa Bay. Every other game has been loaded with turnovers, lack of effectiveness when running the ball, or silly errors. Drew Brees's 10 interceptions trail only Eli Manning among regular NFL starters. But what is to blame for this quarterback's inability to avoid the other team's waiting hands?
Much can be attributed to the injuries to both Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush. These two backs ignited the Saints run and pass game, respectively, last year. Thomas averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year in New Orleans' platoon backfield, forcing the defense to respect the run and opening up the passing game for Brees. When healthy Reggie Bush serves as Brees's safety valve out of the backfield, allowing the quarterback to have a check down. Without his full compliment of weapons, Brees seems to be pressing himself to make everything happen for this severely unbalanced offense.
Despite the obvious problems with this team, there is a silver lining: the Pittsburgh Steelers will be visiting the Superdome this Sunday for a huge game on Sunday Night Football. This game will undoubtedly be intensely emotional, and a monstrous win could provide a necessary spark to stabilize this lost offense. This will certainly not be an easy task, but it could prove to be a huge victory in a division in which Atlanta is surging. I am not by any means saying that the New Orleans Saints are out of the picture to compete for another championship. Last year, they showed us how quickly they could ignite and become near-unbeatable. The only question is, will they come to life in time to save this season in which so much is expected of them?
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