Games of the Week

To be honest I am not too excited about football this weekend.  Last weekend was brutally heartbreaking for me.  After watching my Nittany Lions blow a perfect season (due to horrendous coaching and play calling) and the Steelers screwing up a winnable game against the Colts, I am not very happy.  So I guess the good news of the week is that my Penguins came back twice against the Flyers and Red Wings.  I also got to see the Captitals spank the Rangers in person last Saturday so that made me feel a little better.

But there really is nothing excusable for what Penn State did on Saturday.  They just had a bye week and should have been focused on finishing off the season.  Instead, they showed up gave away a touchdown because of a fumble on the first drive and then played mediocre the rest of the game.  First the first drive was reminiscent of the Michigan game when they went down early.  The big difference there was at least the Lions were home against Michigan and not playing in terrible wind conditions.  I have to give it to Kirk Ferentz, he owns JoePa, and I knew after the interception in the fourth quarter that they would drive to kick a game winning field goal…again.  I had the pleasure of watching Iowa beat us by in overtime and by a field goal before, it is gut wrenching and obviously exciting for Hawkeye alum, students, and fans.  My main problem was the offensive (no pun intended) play calling pretty much during the entire game, but more importantly in the fourth quarter.  So you make a great play to get to the Iowa 30, pretty much you have run all day with both tailbacks and have gotten positiver yardage.  You are going into a 20 mph head wind, what do you do?  Well I can tell you what you don’t do.  You do not call the exact same play that you already scored a Touchdown on…the defense saw that already and now stopped it.  You also don’t run a reverse to the SHORT SIDE of the field.

Memo to JoePa and Offensive Coaching Staff:  When you have playmakers in the backfield you don’t run them to the short side of the field.  By doing this you effectively take away the playmakers ability to make something out of nothing.  This also includes option plays and screens.  I am pretty sure Pete Carroll never optioned Reggie Bush to the short side of the field.

So you then throw a bad interception negating a field goal opportunity, which probably would have been missed due to the head wind.  The major problem here is you should have went for two back at the end of the 3rd quarter when you scored to go up by 10 instead of 9.  So touchdown and field goal and you lose by 1 point.  I will say this that we did have an unfortunate pass interference call on the last drive, but don’t put your players in that position.  Hey as most people who have read this blog know, I am all for the college athlete.  There are times when you will have bad days and games, these are only kids really.  But when you have a coaching staff with an extra week to prepare, having an “off” week that is unacceptable.  So in my mind the players might have lost to Iowa, but the coaches lost the season for the players.

Here are this weekends games to see.

1. South Carolina at Florida – Florida wants a national title and their coaches won’t screw it up.
2. Boston College at Florida State – Big time ACC Title Game Implications here.
3. Oklahoma State at Colorado – Can the Cowboys rebound after a tough loss?
4. California at Oregon State – Will Oregon State win another big home game?
5. Ohio State at Illinois – Buckeye Revenge is in order.
6. North Carolina at Maryland – North Carolina could make it to the ACC Championship Game.
7. Notre Dame at Navy – Back to Back wins against the Irish?
8. USC at Stanford – Trojan Revenge will also be in order.
9. Mississippi State at Alabama – Can the Bulldogs keep the scoring to a minimum?
10. Indiana at Penn State – 1999 Revisited?  Watch the players try to save their season as the coaching staff tries to give it away.

Not much to say about the NFL this week, other then Thank Goodness Bye weeks are over!!!!  We are in the lull before the playoff push and there are some solid matchups this week.  I just hope my Steelers don’t blow another winnable home game. Here are some questions and comments I have for the weekend.

1. Dallas at Washington – I don’t think Portis plays, so can the Skins do it without him?  We know the Cowboys can’t without Romo, so they are glad he is back.
2. San Diego at Pittsburgh – I just don’t know what Steelers team will show.
3. Denver at Atlanta – The Falcons at home are very dangerous, proving Rookie QB’s are affected in hostile atmospheres.
4. Minnesota at Tampa Bay – The Bucs at home are strong and can stop the run.  Can they stop All Day?
5. Chicago at Green Bay – Whichever team loses here won’t make the playoffs.
6. Baltimore at New York Giants – If the Ravens think they are for real, you need to play well on the road against the Champs.
   

   I heart Willie Parker

7. Cleveland at Buffalo – Two teams in Self Destruct mode, let’s hope the stadium holds.
8. Tennessee at Jacksonville – Sneaky upset game, I am predicting this one will be close.  And if I am wrong, well the Titans are awesome.
9. Oakland at Miami – Just because the Dolphins are fun to watch and the Raiders aren’t.
10. Houston at Indianapolis – The Colts have a pulse, they stole one from the Texans earlier, can they destroy them this time?

Editor’s Note: The following is written by Dustin at The Game Owl. The Game Owl focuses on game and league previews, marquee match ups, fantasy sports and the best games to attend. Dustin is a former college athlete, adamant sports fan and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out his website at www.thegameowl.com