2013 NFL Playoffs

After seventeen weekends of football, we have finally narrowed down the playing field to twelve teams.  Some teams got in on the final week such as the Redskins and Vikings. After it was all said and done, we were left with some very interesting match ups for next week. Here are the games and my predictions for the first round of the playoffs.

AFC
First Round Byes: 1. Denver Broncos 2. New England Patriots

Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens: These two teams are completely opposite. You have a very young Colts team with a rookie quarterback (Andrew Luck) against a veteran Ravens team led by Joe Flacco. The Ravens found out earlier this week their captain middle line backer Ray Lewis will retire at the end of this season so they will be playing with a lot of emotion. This is Andrew Luck's first playoff game so look for him to be shaky early. My Prediction: Ravens 24 Colts 13

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans: The Texans have struggled down the stretch of the regular season. After starting 11-1, they lost three out of their last four games to finish 12-4 and ended up dropping to third in the AFC. On the other hand, the Bengals finished the season strong winning 7 out of their last 8 games. Even though the Bengals are underdogs, I predict them winning in a close one. My Prediction: Bengals 17 Texans 14

NFC
First Round Byes: 1. Atlanta Falcons 2. San Francisco 49ers

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers: Adrian Peterson has basically willed this Vikings team into the playoffs. With barely a passing game, Peterson has averaged over 150 yards per game this season and came up just 9 yards shy of breaking the single season rushing record. The Packers are getting a lot of key players back from injuries such as Randall Cobb and Charles Woodson so look for them to rebound from their defeat in the last week of the regular season to the Vikings. My Prediction: Packers 31 Vikings 17

Seattle Seahawks at Washington Redskins: This is a very exciting dual between two of the hottest teams in the NFL right now. An interesting fact is that both sides have rookie quarterbacks. The Seahawks Russell Wilson broke the rookie passing touchdown record with 26 this season. RG3 has led the Redskins to seven straight wins entering the playoffs with his spectacular play making skills. Even though the Seahawks are favored, they are 3-5 on the road this season so that is why I am picking the Redskins in a close one. My Prediction: Redskins 24 Seahawks 21

Concussions in the NFL

Concussions are an ongoing problem in the NFL. It seems like every game these days someone is leaving with a head injury. The NFL officials have claimed they are making progress with the safety of helmets and hitting but things aren't changing. In 2010, there were 159 concussions in the NFL. In 2011, there were 162 concussions in the NFL. After 10 weeks this year, they are right on pace for around those numbers with already 77 concussions.

We see concussions with every position but the fear is with quarterbacks. They are put in the least safe positions most of the time, and the concern is that they are going to be hit in the head. This year has been a bad year for quarterbacks as many notable names have gone down such as: Alex Smith (SF), Robert Griffin III (WAS), Jay Cutler (CHI), Brady Quinn (KC), and Michael Vick (PHI). A lot of these high profile players are being left out of action which is a burden to themselves, their teams, and the fans that show up and pay to watch their team win games. It is hard to win games with your starting quarterback out and this showed last year as the Bears went from Super Bowl contenders to out of the playoffs after Jay Cutler was knocked out with an injury midway through the season.

Overall, if we want to keep the NFL players safe, rules will be needed to continue to change for the better of the athletes. Keeping the players safe should be the number one priority so that issues that occur in these players careers don't affect them later on in life.

Turn Around on the Beltway

For years and years, baseball in our country’s capital has been absent. The D.C area is home to two baseball teams, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. Both have finished at or near the bottom of their respective divisions for the past decade. Shocking the baseball world, both teams turned it around and brought life back to their stadiums this season. Each organization made the playoffs, but their magical runs ended abruptly in the first round. Either way, the energy and excitement for baseball has been brought back to D.C. Here is an overview of the fantastic season these two clubs had.

Washington Nationals (98-64): First in the NL East
Manager: Davey Johnson
Best Hitter: Adam LaRoche .271 33 HR 100 RBI
Best Pitcher: Gio Gonzalez 2.89 ERA 21 Wins 8 Losses 207 Strikeouts
Playoffs: Lost in 5 games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS

This team came into the season with hope that their young ball club could finally put it together and produce a winning season. Their superstar pitcher Stephen Strasburg had a breakout year with 15 wins but his season was ended with just weeks left in the regular season. He did not have an injury but the management ended his season at 160 innings to preserve him for years to come. The other big story was calling up the 19 year old Bryce Harper halfway through the season. Harper had so many amazing plays in the outfield and at the plate as well. He became only the second teenager ever to hit a home run in the post season. Overall, this team should be so proud of the way they performed this season and look for this ball club to be in contention for years to come.

Baltimore Orioles (93-69): Second in the AL East

Manager: Buck Showalter

Best Hitter: Adam Jones .287 32 HR 82 RBI

Best Pitcher: Jim Johnson 2.49 ERA 51 Saves

Playoffs: Beat Rangers in one game playoff, Lost in 5 games to the Yankees in the ALDS

The Baltimore Orioles came into the season expecting to lose 100 games and not have a winning record for the 16th straight year. After the first few months, the Orioles were performing and were towards the top of the AL East but no one thought they would hold on. All of a sudden, with weeks left in the season, the Orioles had only a 3 game lead for one of the two wild card spots. Again, no one believed they would hold onto it. Against all odds, the Orioles made it into the playoffs, beat the Rangers in the one game playoff and then came up just short against the Yankees in the ALDS. This team had no number one pitcher or an elite hitter. They all just loved to play the game of baseball and with one of the top bullpens in the league, this team won 16 straight extra innings games and went 29-9 in one run games. Just like the Nationals, this young team has a very bright future and with a couple of key additions, they could contend for the championship next year.

Week 1 College Football Recap

Football is back as the college season kicked off  this past weekend. Here is a look at the top five teams and how they performed.

1. USC Trojans
W vs Hawaii 49-10
The Trojans have high expectations coming into this season as the number one ranked team in college football. Matt Barkley skipped entering the NFL draft so that he could play in his senior year at USC. He played extremely well in the first game going 23/38 for 372 yards and 4 TD's. Newly acquired Penn State running back Silas Redd chipped in with 56 rushing yards and a TD. Most of Barkley's throws were to Marqise Lee who finished with 10 catches for 197 yards and TD.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide 
W vs #8 Michigan 41-14
This game had all the hype going into it. #2 Alabama faced off vs. #8 Michigan at Dallas Cowboys Stadium Saturday night in prime time. In the end, Alabama overwhelmed Michigan with their stifling defense and precision offense. Alabama's freshman running back T.J Yeldon stole the spotlight rushing for 111 yards and a TD on only 11 carries. On defense, C.J Mosley took an interception back for a touchdown as the Alabama defense was all over Michigan's quarterback (Denard Robinson) all night.

3. LSU Tigers
W vs North Texas 41-14
In their first game without Tyrant Mathieu (Honey Badger), LSU had no trouble handling North Texas. LSU's quarterback Zach Mettenberger had to leave the game after a vicious sack but returned and finished with 192 yards with a touchdown and an INT. Running back Kenny Hilliard was a beast for LSU rushing for 142 yards and two TD's. The specials teams for LSU was good as well as Odell Beckham returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.

4. Oklahoma Sooners

W vs UTEP 24-7

Oklahoma rallied back after giving up the first touchdown of the game to beat UTEP Saturday night. Oklahoma's senior quarterback, Landry Jones, passed for 222 yards and 2 TD's. 121 of those yards went to wide receiver Kenny Stills who also had a TD. Oklahoma also ran the ball extremely well as the team finished with 205 rushing yards. Their defense did give up 207 rushing yards themselves so watch for that to be a weakness going forward.

5. Oregon Ducks

W vs Arkansas State 57-34

Sporting the flashy new uniforms, the Oregon Ducks went back to their torrent scoring ways racking up 57 points vs. Arkansas State. New quarterback Marcus Mariota was very solid in his debut going 18/22 for 200 yards, 3 TD's and no INT's. Oregon's speedy running back, De'Anthony Thomas had over 110 all purpose yards and 3 TD's. 

Rookie Quarterbacks

This previous draft, two quarterbacks were taken in the first two picks and both are scheduled to start opening day for their respective teams.. Each have played two preseason games so here is a look on how they have done and how I think they will do this upcoming season.

#1 PICK. ANDREW LUCK: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Game 1 vs. St. Louis Rams. W 38-3. 10/16 for 188 yards. 2 TD. 0 INT.
Game 2 vs Pittsburgh Steelers. L 24-26. 16/25 for 175 yards. 0 TD. 2 INT.

Luck has been very impressive in his first two games as the Colts quarterback. His career started off very easy against the St. Louis Rams as he had a 56 yard screen pass go for a touchdown in his first pass of the preseason. Since then, he has looked poised and confident in the pocket just like he was at Stanford. He has veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne to throw to so watch for that combination to be deadly all season. Overall, Luck has the tools to get to the level Peyton Manning got to here in Indianapolis, it may just take some time.

 #2 PICK. ROBERT GRIFFIN III: WASHINGTON REDSKINS

Game 1 vs. Buffalo Bills. W 7-6. 4/6 for 70 yards. 1 TD. 0 INT.
Game 2 vs Chicago Bears. L 31-33. 5/8 for 49 yards. 0 TD. 0 INT.

RG3 hasn't gotten that much playing time this preseason because the Redskins believe he is ready and they do not want him to get injured. With the time he has gotten, RG3 has looked like the quarterback he was at Baylor scrambling around the pocket and finding streaking wide receivers across the middle with his strong arm. During the off season, the Redskins went out and signed free agent wide receiver Pierre Garcon from the Colts. He will be RG3's primary target during the season and the two are expected to thrive off of each other. It will be interesting to see if RG3 is worth the three first round picks the Redskins gave up for him. I believe he is.

The Flying Squirrel

Known as "The Flying Squirrel," Gabby Douglas won the women's all-around title Thursday night, becoming the third straight American to win gymnastics' biggest prize. It's her second gold medal of the London Games, coming two nights after she and her "Fierce Five" teammates gave the United States its first Olympic title since 1996. She finished with a 62.232 just edging Russia's Viktoria Komova by three tenths of a point. After seeing the final results, Gabby started smiling and looked up at her family who was hugging and crying.

Just a few years ago, Gabby doubted if she would ever make it to the Olympics. Gabby told her mom, Natalie Hawkins, that she wanted to move from their home in Virginia Beach, Va., to train with Chow, who coached Shawn Johnson in 2008. Hawkins said absolutely not; there was no way she was allowing the youngest of her four children to move halfway across the country at 14. After much persistence from her and  her sisters, Natalie reluctantly let her sister join Chow.


Look at her now. Not only did Gabby advance for the United States instead of World Champion Jordyn Wieber but she also held off the Russians to claim gold in the all around. She should be very proud that all of her hard work has finally paid off.

USA Olympic Team

With the 2012 Summer Olympics just around the corner, the United States basketball coaches finally announced the players that will represent our country in London. Here is a look at the roster.

Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Carmelo Anthony 
Kobe Bryant
Tyson Chandler
Kevin Durant
Lebron James
James Harden
Russel Westbrook
Andre Iguodala
Kevin Love
Chris Paul
Deron Williams
Anthony Davis (replacing Blake Griffin)

Gold: Members of the 2008 Summer Olympic team that won a gold medal.


Coming into these Summer Olympics, the United States are heavy favorites to repeat as gold medalists. It will be interesting to see how these players perform under this kind of pressure as a lot of the players on this 2012 team are young and inexperienced with international play. A weakness on the team is size as Tyson Chandler is the only true center on the team. The team to watch out for is Spain because they have three 7 footers (Gasol Brothers, Serge Ibaka) that could cause problems for the United States.