NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Happy Monday and Happy New Year. I know nobody is ready to go back to work, and the first Monday and workday of the year is not much to look forward to, but I hope I make it a little less horrible. Here are the topics for today AFC Central Showdown, Knicks Update, Rangers Review.
AFC North Showdown
I keep talking about this division because it’s the most entertaining and interesting in football. Cleveland had a horrible season, but they were better than the Jets. Their defense was led by Myles Garrett, who set a new sack record. However, I’m always wary of these records because we’ve gone from 12 to 14 to 16 to 17 games. These records will keep getting broken. Still, Cleveland has a quarterback in Sheduer Sanders.
Cincinnati had a bad season due to injury, but they still have the best quarterback and wide receiver combo in the game; they just have no other budget to help them.
The other two teams, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, battled it out for a win-or-go-home scenario in the Sunday night game. It was a mini playoff game, literally a qualifier: whoever won was in, whoever lost was out. And it was a great game.
The Ravens went out to a 10-point lead, then the Steelers took 13-10 lead. Baltimore battled back to take a 17-13 lead, then the Steelers went up 20-17. The Ravens then went up 24-20. Then, Pittsburgh in the dying minutes scored, but missed the extra point to go up 26-24. That missed extra point was important because now a field goal could win it. The miss showed how bad the wind was affecting things. Through a miracle Baltimore was able to drive down and get within field goal range. Oddly enough, they didn’t kick the field goal with 12 seconds left—they tried to run a play, then with two seconds left, went for the kick. The wind took it. The kick missed. Game over. Pittsburgh is in the playoffs; Baltimore is going home.
Like Angry Ward, I still blame Todd Monken for not running the ball enough with Derrick Henry over the course of the season for Baltimore not making it in.
Knicks Update
The New York Knicks have gone five and five since day one of the NBA Cup. What’s more disturbing is they’ve lost three in a row, including some at home. Over the last week, they lost another, so now they’ve had four losses at home.
They’ve been battling through injuries, and different guys have been stepping up to keep them competitive, but it’s starting to show that the gap between the first unit and the reserves just isn’t quite there. They’re still without Josh Hart, and for some of this stretch, they were without Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. These are all key figures and starters who provide big minutes and points.
It’s important they get healthy, but also part of the reason Mike Brown was brought in was to get the bench guys able to come in and contribute—which they have—but something’s off. They need to be able to win games and get everybody healthy. It’s a long season with a lot of time to go, but it’s something to watch.
Rangers Review
The New York Rangers had a very strange week. They started by losing to the Carolina Hurricanes after being up 2-1 for the majority of the game. They allowed them to tie late and then lost in overtime with under a minute left before a shootout. Then, they got smashed by the Capitals, which gave them three losses in a row—two for this week.
Going into the Winter Classic, they were on the road with a lot of pressure on them, and somehow they came out on top. They dominated the Florida Panthers, the defending champions, from start to finish.
What was more important for the Rangers is that two stars really shone bright: Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin. Both scored and assisted each other, with Panarin having a hat trick as well as an assist. If both of these guys can get back on track, that is going to be important for the season they hope to have. Here’s to hoping these guys find their stride.
