Monday Spread Option 08-25-14

1. It's back! College football finally returns this week with the same great rivalries and a new postseason format. What week one match-up are you most looking forward to watching? 

Spencer- 

Usually Week 1 of the college football season pairs a lot of mismatches, but there are still some intriguing games to look forward to. The one I am looking forward to most is probably No. 16 Clemson vs. No. 12 Georgia on Saturday. These two teams play each other every year and it is always a competitive game. Look at last years 38-35 Clemson win in Week 1. The Tigers however lost all their biggest offensive play-makers from 2013-14 and although they have new ones, such as Cole Stoudt at quarterback, I think a Georgia front seven will give them trouble. On the other side of the ball Georgia's offense will go through running back Todd Gurley who is a freak of an athlete and can take it to the house with every touch. Clemson defensive end Vic Beasley, who has great NFL potential, has other plans though. In last year's game he was a headache for the Bulldogs' backfield and will make his presence felt again.

Ty- 
Can I say none? I'm joking of course but I really am not overly excited for the first week. The teams I'm most excited to watch are UCLA and Florida State and they are both playing games that will be blowouts in all likelihood. There are some games that should be good, like Texas A&M vs South Carolina, 16 Clemson at 12 Georgia and 14 Wisconsin vs 13 LSU. But with no Johnny Manziel I'm not that compelled to watch A&M. There is also nobody on any of the teams that I stated earlier that draws me to the games. I will be watching the games though because this is where stars start to emerge and maybe a player will make me want to watch his team in week 2. But I probably will just watch my boy "Crab legs" Winston tear up Oklahoma State.

2. Staying with the college football discussion, what four teams do you predict will make the first ever college football playoff? 

2014 NFL Season Previews: NFC East

The season gets closer every day and we continue the Running the Spread Blog NFL Season Previews. We've already broken down the AFC East and NFC North. Today I'll break down the NFC East.

1. Washington Redskins

2013: 3-13, Fourth in the NFC East. Missed playoffs.

Key Losses: TE Fred Davis (suspended), S Reed Doughty, MLB London Fletcher, S Tanard Jackson (suspended), OL Will Montgomery, WR Josh Morgan, P Sav Rocca, DE Darryl Tapp, CB Josh Wilson

Key Additions: rookie CB Bashaud Breeland, WR DeSean Jackson, S Ryan Clark, DL Jason Hatcher, LB Adam Hayward, LB Akeem Jordan, OL Shawn Lauvao, P Robert Malone, OL Mike McGlynn, rookie OT Morgan Moses, rookie LB Trent Murphy, CB Tracy Porter, WR Andre Roberts, LB Daryl Sharpton

Toughest Match-ups in 2014: Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts

2014 Outcome:
I know Ty is going to be pretty happy about this choice, but his fan loyalty isn't why I picked Washington to win the NFC East. In my mind they are poised for a bounce back year. Robert Griffin III struggled last year no doubt, but he was rushed back from his knee surgery and that left him hesitant at times. This year RG3 has a clear mind and has put the surgery, along with a terrible 2013 season, behind him. He has fantastic weapons offensively this year with Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Jordan Reed, which makes them very scary. Also Alfred Morris should be as reliable as he has been in his first two seasons. They're two biggest issues last season were their offensive line and their defense, two areas the addressed heavily this off-season. Bringing in lineman like Lauvao, McGlynn and two rookies in Moses and Murphy give them some depth and talent there. Defensively drafting Breeland and signing Clark and Porter helps solidify a pass defense that ranked 20th in the league last year. They lost future Hall of Fame linebacker Fletcher, but Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan will be the anchors of the squad at linebacker. Much like how I don't see Nick Foles repeating his stellar season for the Eagles, I don't see the Redskins defense repeating such a dismal one. They'll be better and put themselves in position to win an "up for grabs" division. There offense should be electric and put them in position to win any game. They're strength of schedule is in their favor too, but it's tough playing in the NFC East I never know which teams within the division they will and won't beat. 10-6 for Washington and a great start for new head coach Jay Gruden.

2. Philadelphia Eagles

Is Jay Gruden a good fit for the Washington Redskins?

Redskins new head coach Jay Gruden

The Washington Redskins have named Jay Gruden their new head coach.

There has been a lot of mixed reaction to this hire by fans and analyst alike. Most fans that comment on  sports blogs have complained about many aspects of the hiring. Most of the comment narratives have been very hypocritical.

Anybody who reads comment sections will see comments about how Washington hired the wrong Gruden, yet the Redskins have been bashed for always making "splash" or big name hires. The fans also show a distaste for Gruden because of Andy Dalton's faults. It is also full of your run-of-the-mill "The Skins will be bad as long as Dan Snyder runs the team", as well as a random Cowboys fan loving the hire for the Cowboys.

But let's focus on the narrative that surrounds the Bengals inconsistent quarterback. Many fans point to Dalton's production in the playoffs as a sign that Gruden may not be a great coach. While I do think that Dalton's play should force people to take a look at Gruden's play calling skills, it makes sense to look at Dalton first. 

Many seem to forget that Dalton was drafted in the second round after the Bengals were forced to trade Carson Palmer. The Bengals had to go with a quarterback in a year where the quarterback position was fairly poor. Dalton had a decent career at TCU(Texas Christian University) but was labeled by many evaluators as being technically sound but lacking arm strength. 

It was also ignored that despite Dalton not having an offseason in his first season, he set records with A.J. Green for receiving yards as a rookie quarterback and wide receiver duo. Gruden managed to not only have Dalton produce his rookie season but also have Dalton grow as a quarterback every year sense.

Dalton's TD-Int numbers have improved each year from 20-13 in 2011, to 27-16 in 2012 and then 33-20 in this last season. A lot of that progress has to be credited to Dalton's work effort but Gruden does deserve some credit for putting Dalton and the Bengals offense in a good position to succeed. 

Gruden's critics point to Dalton's performance in the playoff (1TD and 6 Ints in 3 games) and inconsistent play overall. 3 of those interceptions came in his rookie year where the Bengals were just happy to be in the playoffs.  Although interceptions and turnovers can happen for many different reason, it is usually the result of bad luck and poor decision making and not offensive scheme. A coach can't make a guy not throw it to a guy that was covered.

That being said Bengals offense as a whole has seen increases in each of the last 3 years in key statistics. They have also been excellent in the redzone, one of the areas the Redskins struggled in this year.

Bengals Offense Under Gruden	Total Offensive Yards	Points	Redzone Scoring Percentage (TD only)
2011	319.9 per game	21.5 per game (18th in the league)	44.4% (25th in the league)
2012	332.7 per game	24.4 per game (16th in the league)	53.4% (17th in the league)
2013	368.2 per game	26.9 per game (6th in the league)	71.4% (2nd in the league)

It's almost no question that Gruden (former quarterback) can help RGIII and the offense. Griffin has a lot more arm talent than the limited Dalton. Dalton was labeled as limited coming out of college, while Griffin was touted for his accuracy as well as his deep ball. There was never a question about Griffin's ability to read defenses, not to mention he graduated Baylor early.

Griffin's only knock was that he would sometimes not use good fundamentals on throws. Now Griffin has a coach that can teach him the value of becoming obsessed with fundamentals. Griffin wants to be great and has the tools to be great and Gruden can teach him how.

Griffin's abilities weren't in question until this year.

 Many forget that although Griffin had a "bad year" he still only throw 12 interceptions to 16 touchdowns. Those numbers are no where near as bad as a quarterback like Eli manning who threw 27 interceptions to 18 touchdowns. Manning has only thrown less than 12 interceptions twice in his career. Griffin year was rocky but was perceived to be a lot worse than it actually was.

Although Gruden runs the west coast offense, like Shanahan did, his version is different. The Shanahans system was inverted because they looked for long passes first before reading down to shorter stuff. This mean that a lot of the time RGIII had to wait for plays to develop which probably led to a lot of his sack numbers behind a questionable offensive line.

Gruden actually not only uses the WCO but he usually mixes his offense up with a lot of schemes to attack the defense. The Shanahans usually let the defense dictate what plays they were going to run. KC Clyborn wrote a great article explaining the deference in Gruden's offense versus the Shanahans that you can read here. The main thing to like about Gruden is that he did a good job of incorporating what his personnel did best in his offense. He should not only be able to make Griffin better but he should also be able to utilize guys like Roy Helu, Alfred Morris, Pierre Garcon and Jordan Reed. 

What people have failed to realize is that most of the Redskins problems this year and last year has been the defense and the special teams. Yes Griffin had an off year but there were plenty games where Griffin played decent but the defense and special teams let him down. Gruden's main task is to select great coaches that can turn around the defense and the special teams.

It has been reported that he will be keeping Jim Haslett as the defensive coordinator or promoting defensive backs coach Raheem Morris to that position. Although some of the blame has to be placed on Haslett for the woes of the defense, many of the problems were cause by a lack to cap space due to the NFL levying a salary cap restriction. It is also worth noting that he denied hiring any coaches in his opening press conference yesterday.

Now that the Redskins have ample cap space (Estimated to be around 33,581,070 by Spotrac.com) Gruden should have the tools to build up the teams defense and special teams the way that he wants. Regardless of what coaches he hires the Redskins should be able to increase the talent on the team in free agency and maybe draft a wide receiver like Florida State's Kelvin Benjamin in the draft.

It's too early to decide how well this hire will work out but Gruden has some tools to succeed in Washington. That doesn't mean it will be an easy task to fix all of the problems that are wrong with this team.

Wednesday Read Option 01-08-14

Johnny Manziel

    This is the first day I'm doing this, so let me take this chance to explain what's going on. The Wednesday Read Option will look at the the latest random sports topics of the day.

I will choose these topics at random and there might be 5 or 6 or even 7 different topics depending on what topics I fell like writing a paragraph on. This post will have an emphasis on the options (meaning I choose what I want to do basically). Now let's move on to the topics!

1. Johnny Football is NFL bound!

If you haven't heard for some reason, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has declared that he is going to enter the NFL draft in May. I'm sure most people--including me-- are not surprised that he came out. I mean there was a report that Manziel couldn't even attend regular classes because of how popular he has become on campus.

He won the Heisman trophy his freshman year, so he has already achieved a height that most college football players never attain. The only thing Johnny Football (Or J-Mula, the nickname I just made up for him) had left to do was win a National Championship, which wasn't going to happen soon unless A&M drastically improved their defense which ranked 96th in the nation in points against.

The real question now is how Manziel will translate to the NFL. This question has come up alot because of his size and frame. Manziel is listed at 6'1'' and 210 pounds which really seem like generous estimations. I do believe that he can succeed in the NFL if his future team adapts to what makes J-Mula great. He probably shouldn't run as much as he does now but if he uses his magic to scramble and find open receivers like Russell Wilson does than size shouldn't matter. If I am the Browns or the Jaguars I take him in the first round.

Frank Thomas

2. Only 3 Players made it into the Baseball Hall of fame.

Last year the sports writers didn't vote anybody into the hall of fame. There was only 3 people inducted by the pre-integration committee but none of them where living.

This year there is only 3 (Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux) and there has been backlash to the process that decides inductees. Basically sportswriters, most of whom haven't played baseball, decide who makes it into the hall of fame. I'm not saying that sports writers don't know what they are talking about but man are they stingy with who they induct.

I don't pretend to know a lot about baseball but I do know that guys like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire deserve a little more consideration at least for what they have done for baseball. Even if you don't want to let McGwire in Bonds should be. Even before the steroids speculations Bonds had the numbers to warrant being in the hall of fame.

It was called the "Steroids Era" so most likely those guys where hitting home runs from guys who were on steroids as well. I say just except that era of baseball and move on from it. That being said, I can't really blame people who are hesitant to reward somebody who they think was cheating.

Smith Untying Marion's shoe laces.

3. New York Knicks Reportedly put J.R. Smith on the trading block.

The Knicks continue to be the Knicks as usual. Not that putting Smith on the trading block is a dumb move. It is probably the right move but it seems like they are doing it because J.R. Smith tried to untied or tried to untie opponents shoes.

Smith probably should have been on the trading block a month ago when it was apparent that he was having a terrible season. Smith is shooting career worst 34% from the field and 33% from 3. His offseason back surgery has definitely affected his playing ability. He has been reduced to just jacking up 3's and long 2's.

I doubt the Knicks will get any serious return for Smith but there might be a few contending teams willing to take a flier on a scorer off the bench. But teams will shy away from taking on a guy known for jacking up shots. Specially one that is shooting so terrible from the field.

Update:

According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, J.R. Smith trade talks are a scare tactic. This is because to no one's surprise, there isn't a market to trade him.

4. Jay Gruden is the Redskins leading HC' Candidate.

Bengal's OC Jay Gruden

According to multiple sources Cincinnati Bengals Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden is the leading candidate to replace Shanahan as the Redskins coach. It has also been reported that he prefers the Titans head coaching job. I don't blame him for not wanting to be apart of the chaos in D.C.

That being said I also don't know if Jay Gruden is the right candidate because I can't decide if he has done a great job making Andy Dalton a lot better than he is. Or if we should credit Gruden for some of Daltons faults. Let's mind the fact that most of the Bengals offense was predicated on throwing the ball up to the talented A.J. Green.

The force feeding of their offense to green has to be a big reason that they have burnt out in the playoffs where teams try to take away your best options the most. Gruden could vary well be a good fit but based off of his resume I don't see why he would be the front runner. The Redskins might be best served to go with a more innovative offensive coordinator like Seattle's Darrell Bevell or The Broncos' Adam Gase. I also think a defensive minded coach wouldn't be bad as well but there are other coaches that have good resumes. Also James Franklin from Vanderbilt might be a great candidate.

I will say it does seem like the Redskins are doing their due diligence and interviewing a bunch of different head coaching candidates. The reason they might be thorough in the search may also be some of the hesitation for coaches to want to work for the organization. Many probably have reservations about the disfunction that surrounds Washington's owner Dan Snyder.

5.  RGIII Character Continues to be Assaulted.

Robert Griffin III

I know this is two posts but I have become irked by the amount of reports that have come out about Robert Griffin since the season has gone down the tank. The first crazy report was that Griffin asked to not watch his own mistakes during film study. The report has proven to be false, which honestly if believed that somebody in the NFL didn't want to watch his mistakes in order to learn from them unlike every football player since freshman year of football, you have to be pretty gullible.

There is no way anybody would even seriously entertain that idea. All the people that attack Griffin for being a madonna are ignoring a lot of key facts about the redskins season. First, where did all this nonsense about Griffin not being able to read defenses, poor work ethic, and attitude come from? The guy graduated from college early, was a proficient passer in college, not a runner like a Tim Tebow and was regarded for having great character coming out of college.

Yet there has been many reports about teammates having rifts with Griffin because of a relationship with the owner Dan Snyder. Santana Moss was quoted as saying Griffin needed to take more responsibility but I don't remember a press conference where he didn't. I do see Griffin speaking to the media after losses while some Redskins players let him take the blame for the season.

Last season Griffin had a whole offseason to work and healthiness, which led to him playing well in the season. People forget that the Redskins started 3-6 mainly due to a poor defense and questionable game management by the coaches. Mike Shanahan actually gave up on the season at that point and then the Redskins went on a 7 game winning streak that heavily featured Griffin and some improvements by the defense.

This year the Skins where predicted to be better because of Griffin but also because an improved defense. Yet the defense was last in the league in points allowed and the special teams was one of the worst in NFL history. Yes Griffin played a lot worse but putting that much pressure on a 2nd year QB coming off of an injury is unrealistic for a team this bad.

Anybody who believes otherwise must not have watched the games or the last 3 games where the same problems with the defense and special teams occurred under Kirk Cousins as QB.  The Redskins were terrible in every aspect of the team. Including coaching which is why Shanahan was fired after having losing seasons in 3 of the 4 years.

Monday Spread Option 01--06-2014

1. After a few crazy games, the NFL wildcard weekend is over. Which losing team disappointed you the most this weekend? Also which of the wildcard game winners do you think has the best chance to win the Superbowl?

Ty-

I would have to say that the Bengals disappointed me the most. Although, I can't say that I'm surprised that the Bengals lost. There was so much history and odds stacked against them. They have not won a playoff game in 23 years. The Chargers beat the the Philadelphia in the Eagles home opener this season. The last 5 teams to beat the Eagles in Philly's home opener has gone on to win the Superbowl. But thats just a fluke stat so the Bengals should have won the game but they choked in the playoffs again. Andy Dalton has so much talent around him, so it is inexcusable for him to have 1 touchdown and 6 picks in 3 playoff games. They should have been able to win at home against an 8 and 8 team easily.

As for the second questions, I'm inclined to pick the Chargers just because of the stat that I gave earlier. The Chargers have also beat the Broncos in Denver this year so we all know that the Chargers are capable of pulling off the upset. Also the last couple of SuperBowl winners have barely made the playoffs and got hot at the right time like Ravens and the Giants. Yes I know that it doesn't make much sense to bash the Bengals for not being able to beat the Chargers, but then pick the Chargers to win the whole thing. Oh well I'm just going with what happens every year.

Spencer- 

 For me I’m going with the Chiefs. Here’s why…I think the Bengals were expected to win, but with their playoff history especially, under Marvin Lewis, and the history of teams barely making it into the post season and going on a postseason run, I saw it coming. With that in mind, when all the games were said and done I had to look at the Chiefs and say what were you doing!? Now I know injuries hurt them. However, Charles was out on the opening drive and they still managed to get a 38-10 lead in the third quarter without him. Their secondary was mutilated too but last time I checked second-string players still go to practices, watch film, study their opponent and should know the Colts are basically a one dimensional offense, with their best weapon being T.Y. Hilton. A second string defense back also know if you have the deep third or half of the field YOU DON’T LET ANYONE BEHIND YOU! I know that from playing high school ball! I just don’t see how they let a 28-point lead slip away so easily and that falls on the offensive play calls too. Even with second or third string running backs in the game they should have been running the ball more in the second half. Obviously the Alex Smith intentional grounding didn't help either in a big spot for KC. Either way the Colts had no business winning that game at that point and the Chiefs had plenty of chances to close it out even with injuries and blew it.

That being said I think the 49ers are an easy pick of the teams that played this weekend to make it to the Super Bowl. They have the recipe of past champs entering the playoffs hot on a six game win streak and obviously with the experience of being in the postseason before they don’t get rattled easily. They looked poised and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made it to NYC come Feb. 2. 

Zach-
To me, it would have to be the Bengals. The Chiefs lost a very disappointing game that should have been locked up by the time they were up by 28 points, but I expected the closer match-up that they did end up having with the Colts. Plus, I think that is a team with nowhere to go but up. I didn't really expect them to go that far in the playoffs. Maybe the divisional round, but that is about it.  But I'm tired of waiting for the Bengals to be good again. This team coming into the season was a team that was supposed to make a solid playoff run. Sunday, they looked like a team that didn't belong there at all.  They were completely outclassed.  Granted, you don't want to take anything away from the streaking Chargers who are playing arguably their best football of the season right now.  But four turnovers is completely unacceptable in the playoffs. And for a team that was supposed to have the cold-weather, home field advanatge, I expected a better performance out of them.  This team supposedly has the pieces to compete. They sured up their defense this year and have found a franchise QB in Andy Dalton (although his performance is sure to come into question soon).  Why can't they win in the playoffs if they have the pieces they need? If they fall apart like this in the post season again, do not be surprised if management starts making some serious changes, starting with Marvin Lewis.

My pick for the second question is the Colts.  The defense when properly motivated has the potential to make some stops when they need to, as evident of the fact that they were able to hold off the Chiefs offense nearly the entire time they waited for the offense to respond. Combine that with Andrew Luck, who is maturing and growing every game, and the threat of T.Y. Hilton, and you have a dangerous team who is coming off a spectacular comeback with a lot of confidence.

2. The Buccaneers hired Lovie Smith and the Texans hired Bill O'Brien last week to coach their football teams. Rank the remaining 5 NFL teams (Detroit, Minnesota, Tennessee, Cleveland, Washington) from best to worst. Give reasons why?

Ty-

1. Detroit- They have the best talent throughout the team. They already have their franchise quarterback, they just need someone to bring more accountability and poise to the organization. They can possibly have a top 5 offense and a top 10 defense under the right head coach. The only drawback is that it's in Detroit.

2. Tennessee- The Titans didn't have as bad a year as you think that they did. Jake Locker was actually playing well before he hurt himself. Chris Johnson played well and Kendall Wright emerged to be a viable threat. They can easily turn their fortune around in the AFC South and contend for a playoff spot with a couple of pieces 

3. Washington- Contrary to what flip floppers are saying, RGIII is the franchise quarterback and has shown that he can be excellent when healthy and given an offseason. The Skins need to get better on defense and on the offensive line. They are hurt by not have a 1st round draft pick  but they also have tons of salary cap space to spend. They should have no problem filling holes in the secondary. The only drawback is having to work for Dan Snyder.

4. Minnesota- They don't have the best defense but they are a quarterback away from being a legitamate playoff team on a regular basis. It just sucks that viable qb's are hard to come by.

5. Cleveland- Cleveland is last on the list because it's front office seems like it doesn't know what it's doing. They just hired a coach for their bad team but then decided to fire him because they were only slightly better in his first year as a coach. Nobody is going to want to work for an organization that is known for losing, especially if they are giving that coach a short leash.



Spencer- 
1. Detroit: Obvious choice at number one here. Despite the fact that you have to live in Detroit the Lions are clearly the most talented of the teams with a coaching vacancy. Lot to build on moving forward just need the right coach to mesh it all together.

2. Washington: I know the Redskins were really terrible this year but one year removed from winning the NFC East you have to believe they have a lot of major pieces. A coach that can come in draft/sign the right guys while bringing a fresh, positive mindset to the team could have success here. I think the coach does need to understand how to use RGIII in the right ways though. That is so important to the success of the offense and the team as a whole. Otherwise a great market that tasted recent success and could certainly turn it around in a year, much like the Chiefs did this year.

3. Tennessee: With the market Tennessee is in I feel they go a little unnoticed at times, making it an appealing job (less pressure to win right away) and has kept people from seeing the Titans were 7-9 this year. That being said they played in a division with Houston and Jacksonville, went 2-2 against those teams, and only beat one team over 500 all year in the Chargers. I think the offense underperformed with Jake Locker’s absence but still some work to do on this team to be in the playoff race on both sides of the ball.

4. Minnesota: Not only is it freezing in a Minnesota but this job doesn’t have too much of an upside right now. The best news for an incoming coach is you have the best running back in the league in Adrian Peterson to run your offense through. Otherwise the team has glaring holes in the secondary (their pass defense was 31^st in the league) and not having a dominant QB to lead the offense. It’s never easy finding a franchise QB for your team and until the Vikings find that they will be one-dimensional.

5. Browns: You don’t have to tell the Browns about franchise QB’s cause they don’t even know what that is. But their QB issues aren’t even the main reason Cleveland is the worst coaching option open in the NFL. For one I am convinced they are cursed. I have never seen one call, one big play, one field goal ever go their way. That is maybe a coincidence but what’s not is the fact that there is no job security in Cleveland and with news coming out that players called the organization a joke after Chud’s firing, it is tough to be confident about your ability to get guys to buy into your system and succeed in an environment like that. Whoever takes the Cleveland job god bless him...I'll pray for you every Sunday next season.

Zach-

1. Detroit:  Matt Stafford is a good quarterback who has the option of Calvin Johnson every single game.  That is a combination that is deadly no matter what defense is up against it. And the defense isn't really that bad either.  It seems like the Lions are missing one piece that would make them a playoff-caliber team. That piece may be a good head coach.

2. Washington: There were a lot of distractions towards the end of the season for this team, a lot of them involving the head coach.  I don't think this team that made the playoffs last year is as bad as their record was.  R.G.III didn't have a fantastic year which was to be expected in his second year. It is a bit superstitious of me, but I believe in the Sophomore Slump. The good news is, he will get better. He has the potential.  This team just needs to regroup and refocus and I think they'll be right back in the post season in no time.

3. Tennessee: The Titans had a decent year this year. 7-9 is a respectable record for a team where the QB position seems to be a big question mark.  Chris Johnson certainly helped that but I think this team needs to find a franchise QB and find one quickly.  Jake Locker and Ryan Fitzpatrick are not the answer. Find a guy who the team can commit to and keep working around him. The wins will come. And in a division where two of the teams are in the bottom table of the league, this is a good time for young players to compete, learn, and win.

4. Minnesota: The Vikings have problems on their roster, no doubt about that. They don't have winners on the team and they don't have anyone who strikes me as someone who can properly turn the team around (besides AP). That aside, they also have a huge distraction on their hands involving the alleged anti-homosexuality scandal they are investigating. A good coach won't be too keen to jump into that situation.  These off the field problems have to be resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible so that they can focus on making the team better.  If they can't do that, I don't see this team improving at all.

5. Cleveland: The players are tired of losing. The fans are tired of losing. The front office is tired of losing.  Who on this team has the talent to step up and start winning? No one right now.  They need to overhaul the entire franchise.  Find a coach who can teach these guys what it means to play in the NFL. And start making draft picks that will have more than a couple good games a season. The AFC North is a hard division to play in. If you can't find guys who can play at a high level on a daily basis, do not expect to move up in the standings.

  

3. The BCS championship game between Florida State and Auburn is tonight.  Who you got? Why?

Ty-

I got the Seminoles of Florida State. Yes, Auburn played better competition but their defense has been very bad all year. Florida State has had a weaker strength of schedule but they have DOMINATED all year against those teams and higher ranked opponents. This isn't like last year where Notre Dame was in close games with teams like Pitt. It will come down to wether the Florida state defense can slow down the Auburn rushing attack enough for the Seminoles ' offense to outscore them. From what i've seen all year, I trust that the Florida State offense will be able to score on Auburn. I'm not so sure that Auburn can score as much with their rushing attack after Florida State had a month to prepare for it.

Spencer-

After going back and forth on this I am sticking with my original pick. Auburn. I think this game is going to be a shootout honestly. Auburn's defense is obviously lackluster, but their rushing offense is number two in the country and with Marshall at QB there is options and an average passing game to worry about as well. I don’t have to talk about Florida States offense they have a Heisman Trophy QB and haven’t trailed n a game since September. That being said I don’t buy into Florida States defense being as dominant as it is made out to be. It is definitely a great defense that deserves to be in the championship and has helped in the cause but I just can’t get over the fact that the games they played were against ACC teams many of which, in my opinion many, were overrated throughout the year. I’m just not that impressed when you beat Syracuse 59-3 or a #25 ranked Maryland team 63-0. That just tells me they were overrated. Sure Auburn had two once in a lifetime finished to wrap up their season, but I just think they are more battle tested and played more quality opponents. I’m excited for this match-up to see how FSU fairs against an SEC team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar SEC Championship game outcome. 42-38 Auburn for the Championship.

Zach-
I'll take Florida State.  They have the best offense in college football that is lead by their explosive, Heisman winning QB Jameis Winston. Auburn is going to have a tough time stopping him and the rest of the FSU attack which can beat you on the ground or through the air.  The Tigers have the best rushing attack in the country but even they can only rely on that for so long. At some point, you'll probably have to go through the air, and Florida State is loaded with a great secondary that has the most interceptions this season.  It'll be tough to get anything going on offense once FSU's defense picks up on the running game.
 

4. With the BCS format coming to an end after tonight's championship game, will we miss it? Or is the new playoff-style format better for college football? 

Ty-
I have never liked the BCS system or the NCAA for that matter. Mainly because the BCS system just seems like a big money grab. The NCAA gets to made massive amounts of money by selling the rights to the bowls to companies and TV channels as stand alone bowl games. I understand though that they can't have a huge tournament like they do for basketball but a tournament just makes a lot more sense. There is more drama in a tournament and any thing can happen. Instead of just waiting a month for 2 teams to play, more teams can have a chance to actually prove they belong in the championship. So yes I favor the new playoff style but I also think they should expand the amount of teams to maybe 6 or 8. It's worked for the NFL so why not try it in college?

Spencer-
When the last seconds tick off the clock tonight I will let out a huge sign of relief in reaction to this joke of a system, the BCS, being over. I have wanted a playoff for years. If you look at the smaller FCS schools and even DII and DIII schools the playoff system has been their way of deciding a champion for years and it works great and just makes more sense. The BCS has never been logical and it puts so much importance on not losing even one game, especially late in the year or it may keep you from a shot at the championship (cough, cough Alabama). Imagine if in the NFL they just said the Seahawks and Broncos were the two teams in the Super Bowl because they finished with the best records this year or were ranked the highest? There would be riots in the streets over that. Also it eliminates teams calling themselves co-champions when they didn't get a shot at the championship team but were ranked #3 or #4, and felt slighted. I will preserve my judgement on the number of teams that should be in the playoff tournament until after we see how it works with four over the net few years. Regardless this move has taken too long to happen and I think it is smart for college football in keeping their relevance come bowl season and it makes it more dramatic and fun.

Zach- 
This playoff system will be the best thing to happen to college football in a long time.  Good riddance, so long, adios. Anyone who says that it takes away from the experience of the Bowl games needs to get over it.  The Bowl games mean absolutely nothing now. You could have five Orange Bowl wins and no one would care because you didn't have one BCS win.  On top of that, this system has been flawed from the start. There will never be a way to tell who is the actual best in college football until you give the top teams a chance to play each other.  This will put aside [most] doubts about National Champions and at the same time, keep the NCAA happy by bringing in lots of money that will be shared with all of six people. This system is dated and only kept alive by people who want to hold on to the past.  There is too much Parity in the NBA

5. It's early in the NBA season but who do you think has been the best team in the league so far? Which team is the biggest surprise?

Ty-

The best team in terms of how they were playing the first half of the season was the Thunder before Russell Westbrook got hurt again. The Thunder bench was ranked among the highest in the league in bench points. Jeremy Lamb, Steven Adams, Reggie Jackson and Perry Jones have all exceeded expectations for the season. Not to mention Kevin Durant has somehow been better than he was last year. Durant is posting career highs in assists and rebounds. This could be the year Durant finally wins the MVP if he continues to elevate his game during Westbrook's absence. He showed he could carry the Thunder to victory last week against the Timberwolves, where he put up 48 points and 21 points in the fourth quarter to will the Thunder to victory.


The biggest surprise this year is the Phoenix Suns! I know that the Blazers are catching some people by surprise but  expected them to be good because they had all the pieces to be good. The only reason the Blazers where bad last year was because of their bench and they fixed that in the offseason. The Suns are a complete surprise. Las Vegas projected the Suns to only have 19 wins all season and they sit at 20-12 only 2 months through the season. The reason they have been so good is because they have successfully played Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic together. It allows them to run pick and roll on both sides of the half court. The Morris brothers have also exceeded expectations and Gerald Green has found a way to be a reliable 3-point shooter. 

Spencer-
Recently I think the Thunder was the best team after they went on a tear in December, but with Westbrook out I can't say they are the best team right now. Obviously by record they are one of the top teams by record and should be a potential favorite to win the west but I have to say I think the Pacer's are the best team in the league so far this season. Obviously the east is lacking in good teams this year but I think the Pacers have made it clear they are in the elite group beating some of the best teams, including the defending champs. After flying under the radar last year playing in Indiana in a small market they have earned the attention now and are a complete team.

I'm torn on whether the biggest surprise team for me is the fact that Toronto is a top our team right now and right at .500 with a 16-16 record or that the Cavs have been as disappointing as they have been so far. I guess Toronto can't be that big of surprise considering how bad the east is so I'll go with Cleveland's struggles. I expected a lot more from Cleveland with Kyrie in his third year and a young team that showed promise at moments last year. 

Zach-
Like my co-authors, I  too would have picked the Thunder if not for the injury of Russel Westbrook. But I think I am going to have to go with the team that everyone loves to hate, the Miami Heat.  They have the second best record in the NBA right now and have a lot of swagger and confidence about them. We saw last year what can happen when the Heat find a groove, and if other teams aren't careful, Miami could pull away from the pack as long as they stay healthy.  Call it a cop-out answer if you want, but I am a man who tends not to pick against LeBron.

My biggest surprise goes to the whole Atlantic Division. The Raptors are currently first with a .500 record of 16-16 and other teams like the Knicks and the Nets are being left behind in the dust. However, it is still early in the season and I personally don't expect the standings to stay the same in the next couple of weeks.