NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Happy MLK Day! I was gonna comment on the Roki Sasaki signing but my colleagues have touched on it, so I will leave it alone. I will agree with Jacob Sternberg that these owners are billionaires, so nothing is preventing them from spending their own money and buying top talent. With that, here are today’s topics: NFL Playoffs, Knicks News, Rangers Update
Knicks News
Last week, I complained about inconsistent shooting. This week, I have to complain about inconsistent defense. I know they had injuries to Big KAT The somehow let the Detroit Pistons out score them. I know the Pistons are much better this season than last but the Knicks Defense didn’t make them work enough and allowed to many easy points. In the game against the Sixers, the shooting was better so it papered over the amount of uncontested shoots and rebounding the team allowed. Against the Timberwolves on Saturday, it came down a 4th quarte collapse where the Knicks could not get a stop. We can credit that to the Wolves shooting but there was not enough fronting the cutter and forcing the guards to pick up their dribble.
Rangers Update
The Rangers have gotten points in 8 straight games. 5 wins and 3 losses, with the losses being in overtime. Speaking of overtime, 3 of their last 4 games, have gone into overtime. The Rangers have won 2 of the 3. The last two were in back to back games on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was an amazing goalie dual as the only goal scored was by the Rangers in the shootout. Igor Shesterkin was in the zone on another level. In the game on Sunday, it was disappointing because the Rangers would go a goal up and the Canadians would claw a goal back. It was frustrating as goalie Jonathan Quick was doing the best he could to keep the Rangers close but they kept letting themselves get pinned in. Maybe it was being on the 2nd game off the back to back and both were road games. In overtime, Le Habs, just managed to make enough shots on goal and then with a minute left, they got the winner.
NFL Playoffs
The first game of the weekend saw the The NFL Chiefs, win against the Texans. Considering the injuries, the Texans played well. The is a funny rule in life that celebrities who are already rich, never have to pay for a meal. The Chiefs are already a really good team, there is no need for them to get all the calls too. But the league did the same for the Patriots. The roughing the passer call on Anderson against Mahomes that led to a KC fg was a horrible call. Then there was the other foughing the passer call that led to the touchdown that put the game away. I am becoming a fan of the idea that QBs are just like everyone else when they leave the pocket.
The Detriot Lions going out in one and done was a shock, a big shock. Fair play to the Commanders in there two playoff games. I will say they have not looked dominant but it goes back to what my old rugby coach use to say, “Make them play their best game of the year.” The Bucs failed and the Lions also failed. The Defense was missing a lot of starters but the offense and Jarred Goff, were poor. The turnovers were just brutal and killed any attempt to win the game.
The Eagles/Rams game was a cracker and Saquon Barkley was a difference maker. It seemed like a heavy weight fight at first with each team trading scores. Toward the end, it seemed the Eagles were going to pull away. However, the Rams offense finally found their groove again in the 4th quarter. Then they had a key stop to get the ball back with under the 2 minutes left. It took the Eagle defensive line to stand up and get a sack on 3rd down and force a bad pass on 4th down to win the game.
The final game of the night was the Bills versus the Ravens in a thriller. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is gonna have nightmares about this game. He had a fumble that led to a Bills touchdown but that wasn’t the worst crime. With the Bills up 8 points, the Ravens scored a touchdown to cut it down to 2 points. With a well executed 2 point conversion, Lamar Jackson rolled out and found Andrews in the corner and somehow trying to catch and back into the endzone Andrews dropped it. Andrews, is a lifelong raven and all-pro tight end, it was a shock to everyone in the stadium and a Ravens fans. .Maybe a Jackson or Henry running play should have been the call.
Thanks for reading and check out Ben Whitney, who will tell you the Sasaki deal was not a big deal.
