By Joseph Landini
High Heat Network
http://highheatnet.blogspot.com/2012/09/cowboys-and-giants-consistent-of.html
Last night the New York Giants went into Carolina and were hitting on every aspect of the game. One week prior, the Giants struggled to defend a weary offense and needed a second half comeback to defeat a last place team from last year. The Cowboys in Week 1 seemed to silence all critics, as Tony Romo looked like a top Quarterback and the team as a whole took out the Super Bowl champs. Through three Giants games and two Cowboys games, a pattern is starting to form that there two teams are consistently inconsistent.
After beating the Super Bowl Giants in Week 1 at Metlife Stadium on banner night, the Cowboys were set to have an impressive season. Romo threw for 307 yards with three touchdowns and outplayed the two time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. Dallas' run game, headed by Demarco Murray was strong, breaking through the defensive line of Osi Umenyora, Jason Pierre Paul, and Justin Tuck. The shock of them all was that Romo seemed to find a new target in Kevin Ogletree, who had 114 yards and two touchdowns. Everything on opening night was working for the Cowboys.
The next week seemed like a cupcake game for Dallas, as they were going up against Seattle, who took a loss the week before to Arizona. Defensively, Dallas gave up 27 points and let rookie Quarterback Russell Wilson pass efficiently (15-20, 151 yards, one touchdown). The offensive side of the ball was putrid, only scoring once and Romo was a ghost of the week before. He threw 17 incomplete passes and only averaged 6.3 yards per completion. Ogletree was only targeted once after the stellar opening game. Dallas missed on a huge opportunity to be 2-0, and now will play host to the Buccaneers Sunday.
The Giants fell flat on their face opening night to the Cowboys as they were outplayed and coached in every aspect of the game. Last week, the Giants hosted Tampa Bay, who was riding high after defeating division rival Carolina in Week 1. After a struggled first half, behind three Eli Manning interceptions, the Giants trailed 24-13. After halftime though, Eli started playing ELIte. Throwing for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Manning finished his day with an outstanding 510 yards. Both Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz had over 175 yard receiving and over 10 catches. The Giants woke up and over came a second half 14 point deficit.
Last night, despite not having starters Ahmad Bradshaw, David Diehl, and Hakeem Nicks, the Giants stepped up once again. Bradshaw was not missed, as fill in Andre Brown carried the ball 20 times for 113 yards with two touchdowns. The same could be said for Nicks, as no name Ramsey Barden caught 9 passes for 138 yards in the winning effort. The defense was all over Cam Newton, as the former number one pick was held to 40.6 Quarterback rating. Newton, who seemed frustrated all night, looked like a shell of himself. The Giants improved to 2-1, and will now wait over a week to play the currently undefeated Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football.
Two and a half weeks in we have seen the best and worst of both the Giants and Cowboys. Attempting to gauge where these two teams will be at season end is impossible. The little we can gauge though, is that both teams have shown their flashes of greatness. In a division loaded with talent, the question is: can these two inconsistent teams survive their grueling 16 game schedule?
Friday, September 21, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Clemson/Florida State: For a National Title spot?
By Joseph Landini
High Heat Network
http://highheatnet.blogspot.com/2012/09/clemsonflorida-state-for-national-title.html
This Saturday night's ACC contest between Clemson and Florida State has become nothing short of the conference's biggest game of the year. What some may not realize is that not only is it the biggest game for the ACC, but may be the most important for the national title picture so far.
Last Saturday the ACC saw one of it's major players in the title picture fall, as Virginia Tech's sloppy play cost them a game against a putrid Pittsburgh team, who already lost to an unknown Youngstown State and been blown out to Cincinnati. With Tech out of the race, #10 Clemson will visit #4 Florida State in a game that may ultimately catapult the winner into the National Title game. With plenty of teams undefeated, it may be hard to tell who will be there at the end still standing, but for both Clemson and Florida State the road may be easier.
After Saturday's contest against Clemson, Florida State will have only ONE game remaining against a top 25 team (November 24th vs #14 Florida). Although the rankings of a team may not matter much earlier, this is significantly easier then an LSU or Oregon. LSU still has four games against top 25 opponents, including a November 3rd match up vs #1 Alabama. Oregon has two left against the nation's finest, as they are still set to play #9 Stanford and Matt Barkley's #13 USC Trojans. The road to being undefeated is at the winner of Saturday's contest fingertips.
Clemson will be coming off three straight wins, with Quarterback Tajh Boyd playing some of the best football in his young career. Boyd has over 700 yards in the air to go with six touchdowns and one interception. On the other end, Florida State is going about business per usual, sporting a 3-0 record and owning the nation's top defense. The Seminoles defense has only given up three points total in three games played (Field Goal to Murray State). The offense has also been something on the positive end, as they are the nation's second best offense (58.7 ppg). Florida State is hitting on every cylinder coming into this match up.
With Florida State's national championship hopes being tarnished last year by Clemson, the Seminoles will likely be all business Saturday. Even though college football is only in it's fourth week, the stakes could not be higher when these two ACC power houses collide.
High Heat Network
http://highheatnet.blogspot.com/2012/09/clemsonflorida-state-for-national-title.html
This Saturday night's ACC contest between Clemson and Florida State has become nothing short of the conference's biggest game of the year. What some may not realize is that not only is it the biggest game for the ACC, but may be the most important for the national title picture so far.
Last Saturday the ACC saw one of it's major players in the title picture fall, as Virginia Tech's sloppy play cost them a game against a putrid Pittsburgh team, who already lost to an unknown Youngstown State and been blown out to Cincinnati. With Tech out of the race, #10 Clemson will visit #4 Florida State in a game that may ultimately catapult the winner into the National Title game. With plenty of teams undefeated, it may be hard to tell who will be there at the end still standing, but for both Clemson and Florida State the road may be easier.
After Saturday's contest against Clemson, Florida State will have only ONE game remaining against a top 25 team (November 24th vs #14 Florida). Although the rankings of a team may not matter much earlier, this is significantly easier then an LSU or Oregon. LSU still has four games against top 25 opponents, including a November 3rd match up vs #1 Alabama. Oregon has two left against the nation's finest, as they are still set to play #9 Stanford and Matt Barkley's #13 USC Trojans. The road to being undefeated is at the winner of Saturday's contest fingertips.
Clemson will be coming off three straight wins, with Quarterback Tajh Boyd playing some of the best football in his young career. Boyd has over 700 yards in the air to go with six touchdowns and one interception. On the other end, Florida State is going about business per usual, sporting a 3-0 record and owning the nation's top defense. The Seminoles defense has only given up three points total in three games played (Field Goal to Murray State). The offense has also been something on the positive end, as they are the nation's second best offense (58.7 ppg). Florida State is hitting on every cylinder coming into this match up.
With Florida State's national championship hopes being tarnished last year by Clemson, the Seminoles will likely be all business Saturday. Even though college football is only in it's fourth week, the stakes could not be higher when these two ACC power houses collide.
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