Category Archives: sports

3 NFL dark horse teams to make the playoffs

Every year in the National Football League there’s a few teams that double their wins or surprising make the playoffs that no one really expected to make it as far as they do or did, last year we had the Cincinnati Bengals for example, unless you were a delusional Bengals fan you thought the bengals could be a at best 8-8 or .500 team, no one expected Cinninati to make the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl. This list will have certain criteria of why I think they will be a “dark horse” team to make a huge leap whether that’s making the playoffs or doubling their wins. Obviously there are teams that everyone expects to make big jumps like the Dolphins, the Broncos but im saying the teams that will fly under the radar.

  1. Detroit Lions

Now the Lions don’t have many big names on either side of the ball, they do have many players who are underlooked and can be a huge piece of a really good team. It’s been reported that running back D’andre Swift has put in work in the weight room and looks huge, the Lions have a new offensive Coordinator who has Jared Goff running more of a Kyle Shannan style offense through running the ball and giving it to your playmakers.

  1. Minnesota Vikings

Many voices in the media have the Vikings doubling their wins and being a top 3 seed in the NFC, with the Green Bay Packers losing many big names players through free agency the Vikings should be the favorites to win the NFC North and easily be a double digit win team, and not to mention new head coach Kevin O’ Connell who will give the Vikings a more unpredictable offense and new voice.

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to make a huge leap this season under new head coach Doug Pederson who won a Super Bowl a couple years ago, with all the toxic voices out of Jacksonville second year quarterback Trevor Lawerance can completely focus on developing his game and taking it to the next level. The Jags have spent lots of money on free agents this offseason acquiring a star guard on the O-Line, overpaying for Cristian Kirk and drafting Travon Walker with the number one overall pick who’s projected to be a star edge rusher.

Celtics vs Warriors Finals Game 1 Recap

The Boston Celtics take game 1 of these NBA finals in the bay area with a miraculous 120-108 win. The Celtics rallied back in the fourth quarter to come back and win it, thanks to Al Horford’s big night with six threes made and 26 points Boston used that as jet fuel to blow out the Warriors in the fourth. With Jayson Tatum being doubled and trapped most of the game the C’s role players game up bi making 21 three’s, fifteen just between Derrick White, Marcus Smart and Al Horford, Tatum had a below average game in his standards finishing with just 12 points on 3-17 shooting {17.6% FG, 20% 3PT} but having 13 assists and just 2 turnovers, so Tatum didn’t necessarily win you the game but he made the right basketball plays to get you the win. 

Now for Golden State, the Warriors overall played pretty well but some were better than others, Stephen Curry played great having one of his better finals game finishing with 34, 5 and 5 assists with 3 steals as well, Curry came out swinging with 21 points in the first quarter, Curry did cool off after that but still had 13 points in the remaining three quarters but none less the Warriors role players and other stars didn’t come to play, Klay Thompson did not have a great game finishing with just 15 points which isn’t going to be enough, Klay needs to be averaging at least 20 in this series. Draymond also took too many shots {12} which isn’t really his cup of tea as a “enforcer” Draymond should be taking 6-8 shots a game and looking to find other players open looks. Jordan Poole also needs to step up, Poole hasn’t had a good stretch of games since the first round against the Denver Nuggets, Poole scored just 9 points and that’s becoming a regular for him in these playoffs thus far.

Warriors vs Celtics Finals Preview

This is going to be one of the better finals the NBA has had in years, with the league’s best defense in the Celtics versus arguably the league’s most explosive offense in the Warriors this matchup will come down to who folds first, the Warriors offense? Or the Celtics defense? Since the all-star break Boston has been seen as a top 3 team, and many would say the top team in the playoffs. Boston has really come a long way since the first half of the season and has been playing better with more experience between the players and rookie head coach Ime Udoka. Many have been wanting Boston to break up this young core as it was imagined they were not talented enough to get past the true contenders in the east let alone the west.

The Golden State Warriors have much of the pressure to win this series, many people in the media are pushing the narrative that Boston is “playing with house money” as they weren’t expected to get this deep into the playoffs. Much of the media is putting lots of pressure on Warriors guard Stephen Curry for this is his likely best chance to win the championship and get awarded his first finals mvp, many would say this finals mvp would put Curry in an elite class, possibly in the top 10 of all time players to play basketball.

Ranking last 5 NFL Superbowls

We’re in the midst of the NFL offseason and why not rank the last 5 super bowls in order of most boring to most exciting from a fan’s perspective. As the league is transitioning heavily into an offensive league with the quarterbacks and wide receivers being a huge part the “shootout” super bowls are more appealing to the casual fan.

  1. Super Bowl LII Patriots vs Eagles

    From Nick Foles starting to the famous “Phili Special” this superbowl was a back and forth shootout with Tom brady having a mvp year and was very appealing to much of the NFL fans to see the Patriots lose a superbowl and how the Eagles have never won a lombardi trophy before.

  1. Super Bowl LVI Rams vs Bengals

    This game was such a star studded event, from playing in the new sofi stadium in Los Angeles to the close back and forth game it was how could you not love watching it. This superbowl was unique as there wasn’t a “villain” on either team as much of the super bowls have one on either team, this game was a great for the causal fan who got the best of both worlds on defense with Aaron Donald, Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey to the offense on both teams with Joe Burrow, Jamaar Chase, Cooper Kupp, OBJ and Matt Stafford. 

  1. Super Bowl LIV Chiefs vs 49ers

    This game isn’t as appealing but still a great game towards the end with Patrick Mahomes becoming the league’s top QB and the whole Chiefs offense making a name for themselves. This game also solidified the new style of play NFL teams play with nowadays and how important having the right QB is.    

  1. Super Bowl LV Buccaneers vs Chiefs 

    The trash talk in Super Bowl LV was the highlight, this game wasn’t particularly close but had some good moments, from Brady and Gronk having that connection for two touchdowns and making history by winning more super bowls as a duo, it wasn’t a close game to say the least after halftime. The Kansas City Chiefs were banged up on the offensive line which made this game more of a blowout then it needed to be.  

  1. Super Bowl LIII Patriots vs Rams

Ranking in as the worst super bowl in the last 5 years, this Rams vs Patriots matchup coulda been so much more exciting, with the Rams having a star studded team with Todd Gurley, prime Aaron Donald and many more pieces this game was very unappealing to the casual football fan. This game went from USA’s top sporting event of the year to shutting the TV’s off early as it was a heavy defensive battle throughout most of the game.

Top 3 Candidates To Be Madden 23 Cover

This list is based on who made some of the key plays of last season, what players made last season as special as what it was. Now there will be no cover athlete who has already been on the cover before, I will give my honest opinion and thoughts on why each player should be on the cover of Madden 23 in no particular order.

  1. Cooper Kupp

With Cooper Kupp having possibly one of the best seasons for a wide receiver last season Kupp had to be on the list, Cooper is the only wide receiver in NFL history to have the triple crown {most receiving yards, touchdowns and catches} in one singular season and to go on top of that be one of the few wideouts to win superbowl mvp. 

  1. Joe Burrow

Joe Burrow is seen around the league as a top rising star after taking the Cincinnati Bengals to the superbowl last season, Burrow was also in the top 3 for regular season MVP honors finishing behind Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Since the start of the season Burrow has been all around social media for his outfits with some nicknames being attached now as “Joe Shiesty, Joey B and Joe Burrrr” not only the fans love him but he’s backed his name up on the field with his incredible gameplay. 

  1. Aaron Donald

Aaron Donald made potentially two of the biggest plays last season in the superbowl, Donald now has a ring and some are calling him a top 2-3 defensive player of all time in the NFL and that’s highly true. Aaron Donald has had one of the best careers for a defensive player making all pro and pro bowl honors since the day he was drafted almost a decade ago, Donald has also been the top defensive player in the league and an overall top 3 player for the last near decade ranking above most quarterbacks not named Tom Brady. Most fans have been asking for a defensive player to make the Madden Cover for a while now and Donald should be that guy, not to say as the last defensive player to be on the cover of Madden was Richard Sherman in 2015.

Celtics vs Heat Game 7 Recap

The Boston Celtics have advanced to the NBA finals with a 100-96 win over the Miami Heat. Jayson Tatum received the Larry Bird eastern conference mvp trophy, this game was down to the wire in Miami Sunday night, with Jimmy Butler just coming up short to make the potential game winning shot. Butler played great last night finishing with 35 points and 9 boards and played all 48 minutes of the ball game, this Miami team needs a little shake up as they dont have any great scorers besides Tyler Herro who was injured for most of the series and Jimmy Butler but he’s not considered to be a “scorer”. Bam Adebayo played well last night finishing with a double double of 25 and 11 boards, Bam was one of three Miami Heat players to score in double digits with Jimmy Butler, Bam and Kyle Lowry who doesn’t look the same as he once was.

Not to take away from the Celtics as they did win the series with Jayson Tatum, Jalyen Brown and Marcus Smart combining for 74 points, we all knew Tatum would get his points but Smart and Brown combining for 50 just them two was huge for Boston last night. Grant Williams also scored in double digits with 11 points and shot rather efficiently {62.5%} and also had 6 assists as well. The Celtics will now face off with the Golden State Warriors for the NBA championship starting on thursday June 2nd.

NBA Playoff Awards

In this list we will be handing out these NBA playoffs awards, from MVP, best defensive player, best scorer, most disappointing, most disappointing team, most improved and most impressive team.

Most Valuable player: Luka Doncic

    With what Luka has for a team around him and how far he took this team in this western conference, I think Luka should be the playoffs MVP.

Best defensive player: Jrue Holiday

    Jrue Holiday put up great defensive performances against Boston and the Chicago Bulls, even though the Bucks got bounced early Holiday still had great defensive performances. 

Most disappointing player: James Harden

    Considering James Harden had the expectations to take the 76ers further in the playoffs than Ben Simmons did, this was an awful playoff performance even for Harden’s standards. 

Most disappointing team: Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns were easily the most disappointing team, they were considered the best team in the league and got bounced in the second round to basically Luka Doncic and a bunch of B- to C+ players, and had a historically bad meltdown in game 7 against the Mavericks.    

Most Improved player: Luka Doncic

    Luka is on here winning his second award with most improved player with the sole fact on before these playoffs Luka couldn’t win a playoff series so he won back to back playoff series and beat the best team in the league in the Suns.

Most impressive team: Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies had to make it on the list on the sole fact that they were the youngest team in these playoffs and went the distance with the now western conference champion Golden State Warriors without Ja Morant for two games and Derrick Brooks for essentially two whole games.

Celtics vs Heat Game 6 Recap

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat force a game 7 with a 111-103 win. This was a back and forth game but Miami pulls ahead at the last minute to take the game, Jimmy Butler had one of his many superstar moments in the playoffs finishing with 47, 9 and 8 with 4 steals, Butler was struggling for the last couple games since injuring his knee in game 3 of this eastern conference series but showed up last night. Kyle Lowry also came to play finishing with a double double of 18 points and 10 assists, this was Lowry’s first game that he’s truly played well in these eastern finals, Bam Adebayo has been looking very pedestrian finishing with another game under double digits with just 6 points on only six shots.

This game is going to be a bloodbath in Miami for game 7, with the Celtics having much of the pressure to win this game Jayson Tatum will have a chance to show why he’s a superstar in this league, Tatum last night did finish with 30 points on high efficient shooting {75% FG, 57.1% 3PT} on just twelve shots as well, Al Horford on the other hand did not play great finishing with just 3 points on 1-8 shooting which is unacceptable in a close out game. Jaylen Brown had a decent game finishing with 20 points and also filling up the stat sheet with 6 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Boston will most likely be the favorites heading into game 7 on sunday night and I expect them to close the Heat out.

Warriors vs Mavericks Game 5 Recap

The Golden State Warriors close out the Dallas Mavericks 120-110 to advance to the NBA finals, they’re sixth trip in the last eight years. Luka and the Mavericks played great in these playoffs and will be back next year, Luka had a pedestrian game for his standards with 28, 9 and 6 on awful shooting clips {35.7% FG, 23.1% 3PT}, Spencer Dinwiddie had a good game finishing with 26 points but it still wasn’t enough to survive Klay Thompson’s huge night with 32 points, Klay had one of his great games last night and that’s just what the Warriors needed. Kevon Looney had an exceptional game finishing with a double double of 10 and 18 boards, Looney has been huge in this series and has really come along as the Warriors go to big man. 

The Warriors were up big for the most part in this game until Dallas rallied back in the third quarter to cut the lead to single digits, Stephen Curry also tweaked his ankle early in the game but returned shortly after just shaking it off, with the finals not starting till june 2nd Golden State has plenty of time to rest up and get fully healthy to play the winner of the Celtics vs Heat series, Gary Payton ll is also likely to return sometime in the finals after suffering a elbow injury in the second round against the Memphis Grizzlies. Six different Warriors players scored in double digits last night including Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney, and Andrew Wiggins.

Celtics vs Heat Game 5 Recap

With last night’s win the Boston Celtics are one win away from the NBA finals, Boston cruised to a 93-80 win in Miami to take a 3-2 series lead. Jaylen Brown finished with a game high 25 points on a good shooting percentage {52.6 FG, 55.5% 3PT}, Brown also had a monster dunk in the fourth over Bam Adebayo to put the game away. Jayson Tatum struggled once again with 22 points on poor shooting but almost had a triple double with 12 boards and 9 assists, even though Tatum put up the 22 he still hasn’t been very efficient this series, Al Horford also contributed with 16, 7 and 5. 

The Heat need to pull together to win these next two games, Jimmy Butler hasn’t looked the same since the knee injury he suffered in game 3, Tyler Herro has now missed back to back games with a quad injury, the Heat just don’t have the firepower to win any of these games on offense, if you go back and look at this series the two games Miami has won they’ve won off of Boston’s mistakes and turnovers, and that’s what the Heat have been all year. This Miami team needs to be shaken up this offseason, potentially trying to get Donovan Mitchell who would be a great piece to pair with Jimmy Butler and take the offensive load off Jimmy.