PT Sports Debate PodcastPT Sports Debate is back with our Week 2 predictions and fantasy football advice. Our week 1 episode had some technical difficulties, sorry we are a week behind. Check us out! Email us at ptsportsdebate@gmail.com Twitter @PTSportsDebate Enjoy!
Cheers,
Stiltz & Ush
Stiltz:
Ush, let’s start with the NFC East, one of the more talked about divisions in the NFL. There is always a lot of hype around the NFC East but lately it has been a battle of mediocrity. Let’s take a look at last season’s standings:
Philly 10-6
Dallas 8-8
NYG 7-9
Washington 3-13
2014 Schedule: NFC West(GIANT RED FLAG!!!!!!!!!! Potential four losses), AFC South
Eagles:
Last year was Chip Kelly’s first year in the NFL, and it was a successful transition for the former Duck. The Eagles will come out even faster this year, in my opinion, now that they are in year two of Chip’s system. Also, Chip is starting to build a team with his guys.
Even though they lost one of their stars in DeSean Jackson, they added some young blood in Matthews and Huff. Also, they made a nice trade acquiring Darren Sproles who should fit perfectly into Chip’s system. A concern for me is the Eagles’ secondary, they really didn’t get better this offseason. I’m not sure if Chip is trying to offset his subpar secondary with a strong front seven that will put a lot of pressure on the QB, but they need to be better this year. Last year they were ranked 32nd against the pass whereas they were a top ten team in rushing and passing offense, and rushing defense.
Dallas:
Dallas had a nice run at 8-8 the last couple of years and now it is time for a rebuild. They have some cap issues and really need to getter better through drafting and developing if they want to return to glory. I don’t know if Jerry will ever have patience for that, but that’s how the old Cowboys dynasty was built and it’s their only chance to get back in the playoffs.
Romo is coming off a back injury and fans are still coming off a disappointing draft that had the world holding its collective breath in anticipation of a potential JFF arrival into Jerry world. Is this a sign of Jerry changing? Nahhhh, he still has his hand up Jason Garrett’s ass as he controls the team from the owner’s box. After being stripped from playcalling duties, I would have just left if I was Garrett. This roster screams 4 wins to me. An already weak defense, suffered a major loss in Sean Lee and I don’t know where the playmaking will come from. Like always Romo will have a lot of pressure on his back, let’s hope it holds up.
New York GIANTS:
The Giants, can anybody figure them out? Everybody thought they were lulling us into their usual trap as a notorious late starter….just make it into the playoffs and then we’ll show up. Eli was the anti-Peyton last year and seemed on a mission to throw 50 interceptions. He ended up throwing 27! But still, he scares the hell out of all opponents in crunch time.
The Giants D should be even better this year, and their offense HAS to be better if they want to make the playoffs. Their O-line was atrocious last season and their running game was non-existent. I expect Eli to have a better year and like the addition of Beckham Jr., Rashad Jennings, and Rodgers-Cromartie. The Giants will surely need their Bye week in week 8 to prepare for a brutal three game schedule of home vs the Colts, @Seattle, and back home for the Niners. Seattle and the Niners in consecutive weeks, the football gods took a nice steamy dump on the city of New Yoooooorrk. Hey, at least they have two titles in the past 10 years.
Washington:
I love the hire of Gruden, and expect big things from their offense this year. RG3 obviously rushed back from his injury and he should be closer to the 2012 version that ignited the NFL world. He missed a lot of throws in the pocket last year, and it was hard to watch at times. He seems like a perfectionist, so there should be no reason for a repeat of that stinker. They gave up so much to get him in the draft and if he is not playing like an All-Pro they have ZERO chance.
The Redskins didn’t have a draft pick until the second round and they drafted some O-lineman to beef up that line. They really tried to add some defensive playmakers in free agency with Hatcher and Porter, in addition to the big signing of DJax. The Redskins have a formidable receiving corps now, and RG3 has no reason not to succeed. The Bengals offense rolled with Andy Dalton behind center, so I’m expecting the Redskins to be in the top 10 easily this year.
Prediction:
Eagles 10-6*
Redskins 9-7
Giants 6-10
Cowboys 4-12
*Playoff team
Tough pull for the NFC East, playing the NFC West is no easy task. I expect the Eagles to be better this year, even though their record remains the same. 10-6 is no reason to be ashamed. They would be in the driver’s seat again hosting a playoff game in January. What do you see happening in the NFC East this year, Ush?
USH:
Stiltz, great start to the NFL previews, and we agree for sure on the NFC East. I think this will almost certainly be an Eagles/Redskins race for the division, and I’m not sure why but as of now I’m going to give the nod to the Redskins here.
I really feel as though this division race can be decided by one or two key injuries for either team. These are especially of concern given the fact that these teams have to face the hard hitting, pain inflicting defenses of the NFC West. I’m giving the nod to the Redskins because of the new hire, and the impact that it will have on RG3. A blind man could see that RG3 and the Shanahan family had issues before, and even though they were able to say the right things in the media most of the time, the weight and impact of that relationship on their quarterback had to be extremely taxing, both on and off the field. Having a supportive and quarterback friendly coach is going to take RG3 to the next level this year. (Adding Desean Jackson doesn’t hurt)
So, this means that I have the Eagles coming in the two spot, but I do think they will compete for the lone wildcard spot left after the NFC West runner-up claims one. I could see it being the Eagles/NFC South runner-up vying for this spot, and it will really depend on Chip’s offense pulling one or two games out against their non conference opponents from the West. I’m still not sold on Chip’s philosophy that his system is greater than the parts, and that he can plug and play whoever into his system and still be successful. I don’t think there are enough playmakers at WR and TE to stress the great defenses they will face, and think that may be where they struggle. **For what it’s worth, I REALLY like the young kid Matthews, but think he needs a year or two before he’s ready to be an impact player against the best defenses in the league**
What is there to say about the Giants? I think their entire season boils down to the OL. If the OL can protect Eli, then Eli doesn’t get happy feet. If Eli doesn’t get happy feet, Eli doesn’t throw 4 picks a game and single-handedly sabotage my FFL work league. With the additions of OBJ and Rashaad Jennings, the Giants offense has plenty of fire power, but they’ll need the horses up front to play well.
I anticipate a fire sale happening in Dallas this year. Their, shall we say generous, defense will be even more so with the loss of Sean Lee to injury, and the departure of DeMarcus Ware to the Broncos, but who knows, maybe some unheralded young guys with massive chips on their shoulder will step in and be the feel good stories of the year leading the Dallas defense. (Don’t hold your breath) The offense will be among the highest producers for points and yards, but that will be mostly because they’re often playing from behind and Romo is throwing it 50 times a game. That’ll be an issue with his surgically repaired back standing back their susceptible to hits. I don’t anticipate the Cowboys approaching .500 this year, and think it’s entirely possible that Jason Garret is gone before the season is over.
Well that’s the NFC East, crazy how this division once dictated success in the league and it sure feels like one of the weaker divisions in the league this year.
On the 11th Episode of the PT Sports Debate we are Podcasting during the Sweet Sixteen. We talk about some of our surprises/locks that have happened during the NCAA Tournament. Then, we move on to the NFL and catch up on a lot of Free Agency moves that have occurred in the past couple of weeks. Finally, we talk a little bit about the draft and Johnny Football’s pro day.
Cheers
Stiltz & Ush
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On Episode 9 of the PT Sports Debate we are talking about a bunch of things happening in sports ranging from the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Michael Sam, Marcus Smart, and this upcoming NBA All Star Weekend. Specifically, we talk about what would be some of the worst future Olympic locations. Also, our thoughts about the two big news events from players who initials are MS. We finish up by talking about the lineup for All Star Weekend. Hope you guys enjoy and thanks for listening. Cheers!
Support the Troops
Stiltz & Ush
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On the 8th Episode we finish the NFL Season recapping the Super Bowl and all of it’s glory. Then we touch on the NBA, Winter Olympics, National Signing Day and more. Check out the podcast below. As always thanks for all the support, feel free to hit us up with questions/comments. Follow us on Twitter @PTSportsDebate read the blog http://www.ptsportsdebate.com and enjoy the show. Don’t worry, next football season will be even better on the Debate. Cheers!
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Support the Troops!
Stiltz & Ush
Game Over
6th Episode of the debate, AFC and NFC Championship games breakdown. Check it out already:
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Thanks for the support, hope you guys enjoy. Cheers!
Stiltz & Ush
From their game earlier this year, but still so funny. Look at Peyton slowly turning into Archie and the maniacal stare on Brady’s face.
CHECK OUT THE 5th EPISODE OF THE PT SPORTS DEBATE now:
On the 5th episode of the PT Sports Debate we are talking NFL Playoffs! Specifically, we do a recap of all the games played this past weekend and give our predictions for the upcoming Championship games. You can follow us and ask questions on Twitter @PTSportsDebate
Thanks for listening everybody, hope you enjoy.
Stiltz and Ush
Saturday morning began just like any other day in my house. An infant and toddler were ready for Mom and Dad to wake up so they let the world know by screaming at the top of their lungs. This day was different though, soon I’d be hitting the road for Milwaukee. Breakfast was a little better on this particular morning than it is on most days. After rushing to get the car packed, I started my trip to Wisconsin.
It was a fairly uneventful drive that lasted a little over 7 hours. As soon as I arrive at my friend’s house, who was home on leave visiting family, the drinking started. Nothing too crazy because tomorrow was the big day, just enough to take the edge off. Some people in the house were trying all their layers on and going through a test run outside. Saturday night’s temperature was nothing compared to what we would actually experience up North at Green Bay.
We woke up nice and early on Sunday morning since we had to be out of the door at 9:30 am. Tailgating isn’t an option at Lambeau field, it is mandatory. After the two hour drive to Green Bay, we started to get all of our layers on to finally face the cold. Let me tell you, it was fucking cold. Easily, it was the coldest weather I ever experienced. There was no way this weather wasn’t going to affect the players. GLOVES were a necessity! I planned on taking a lot of pictures, but there was no way I was going to take my gloves off to use my smart phone. If you listened to the podcast, you heard that my phone was not even working under these conditions.
Handwarmers were stuffed in gloves, down pockets, in shoes and anywhere else you’d like to keep nice and toasty. After a couple of hours of tailgating we headed into the most famous stadium in football, Lambeau field, and it was glorious. Any football fan, whether they like the Pack or not, need to experience everything that Lambeau has to offer. It’s like they just dropped a stadium in the middle of a little town, with houses across the street and right next to the stadium. No matter how big football gets, Green Bay will always be the same ol town.
Aerial shot of Lambeau field on Sunday
The fans are incredible, quite possibly the safest/best place to go if you’re an opposing fan. Packers fans pride themselves on being respectful, ESPECIALLY inside of the Mecca that is Lambeau. I saw a large turnout of Niners fans, but 90% of the reaction from Packers fans was friendly. Of course, there are some young & immature fans who like to yell things at opposing team fans but they were far and few. If their parents were present, I’m sure they would have put their Packer kin into check.
The view from our seats was incredible, even more impressive since I purchased the tickets 4 days before the game.
View from our seats
The entire game we were screaming, drinking, freezing and just having a good time. It felt like the crowd was in the game the whole time until Phil Dawson’s final kick sailed through the uprights. It was weird because none of us felt drunk in that weather. I mean look what was happening to the beers, THE INSANITY PEOPLE!
Frozen beer
So you had to drink fast, which apparently my friend was not doing! Also, if you spilt any drinks on yourself it would immediately frost making you look like Frosty the Snowman shot his load all over you.
I’m on the right purely disappointed with my party fouls
The atmosphere and experience made up for the result of the game. It was a tough loss, and we just didn’t make enough plays to win the game. Some shaky play-calling by Mike McCarthy, which also led to some drives ending early or not being able to punch it in the endzone for six. I think we all felt that we were going to win the game, the Niners weren’t impressing anybody. Kaepernick just taking off out of the pocket was the difference in the game. He had a couple of long runs out of the pocket in crucial situations that led to the Niners staying on the field and putting up points. Before the game if you told me the Niners were only going to score 23, I would think we were going to win the game.
My prediction for the game was 27-24 Packers, but our redzone woes decided to follow us to 2014. Partly due to the plays being called, it seems like we abandon Eddie Lacy every time we get in the red zone. If we are inside the 10 yard line, Eddie Lacy needs to be out there. We should at least give him one shot if not two at getting in the endzone. After the game we looked at stats and saw that Lacy had 80 yards and we were all surprised. That was a tough ass 80 yards that Eddie Lacy ran for against a good defense on a frigid day. I think his longest carry was 8 yards so he was just out there grinding like he always does. Having Lacy on the field in goalline situations makes the defense at least have to account for him and hopefully open up the passing lanes a little bit. I actually enjoyed the games McCarthy called for Quarterbacks not named Aaron this year.
Each game Aaron Rodgers was out McCarthy had to find a way to get his QBs in rhythm while maintaining a heavy dose of Lacy/Starks. Some of the games Flynn started we came out of the gates throwing the ball, little WR screens and intermediate passes just to get in a flow. Sunday, he decides to come out with three running plays. I’m ok with that, but when the 3rd down run is to John Kuhn that’s when I have a problem. Just keep Lacy in there and pound it up the gut on 3rd and 2 instead of trying to catch the Niners off guard with Kuhn. McCarthy would make a similar move later in the game when he tried to go up the middle with Randall Cobb on a goalline possession. This is the kind of stuff that really bothers me with MM. Also, when he has Aaron Rodgers he feels the need that he has to keep passing no matter if the running game is working or not. That is probably part of the reason our redzone scoring was so low. Abandoning the run and trying to pass every time you get inside the 20 is going to be a little difficult when there isn’t that much open field.
The Packers missed out on what could have been a couple of huge turnovers in the game. The first was a fumble that MD Jennings was unable to secure, and the second was a dropped interception by Hyde that could have potentially won the game on the final drive. I just watched it, and got sick to my stomach.
Probably an interception if they’re playing in San Fran instead
Oh man this gif just keeps going, wow every time I watch it I keep thinking he is going to catch the ball. What a heartbreaker, he could have taken it to the house and then everybody would be putting the blame on Kaepernick instead of praising him for his heroics. I don’t even want to talk anymore as this gif keeps going and ruining my day. Ultimately, the Packers were playing with house money and were lucky to make it into the playoffs…..right? No, these are professional football players their goal isn’t to make it to the playoffs and lose. They want those rings, and this team really thought they had something special. I will always remember this season because of Aaron Rodgers’ injury, what could have been with Rodgers/Lacy, the wild coaster ride games, the birth of the Cardiac Pack, and going to Lambeau field. Look out NFL in 2014, the Pack will be back.
Randall “Stiltz”
Listen to the third episode of the PT Sports Debate with Stiltz and Ush
On the 3rd episode of the PT Sports Debate we are talking about the Wildcard round of the NFL Playoffs. We make our predictions, Ush has some ATS bets and we’ll briefly talk about Black Monday. As always, follow us on Twitter @PTSportsDebate, keep reading the blog and tell your friends! Spread the love people!
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