National League redux and more NFL

Speed kills.

On a day when the Red Sox offense was sluggish, it was the lightweights that came through at the end of the game. Playing the national league base-to-base speed game is what put the team over the top.

With the game tied at four in the ninth, Alex Cora, the same Alex Cora who bats .133 in pressure situations (runners in scoring position with 2 out) hit a flare to lead off the inning. Coco Crisp followed up with a bunt single, putting runners at first and second for Jacoby Ellsbury.

Ellsbury laid down the sac bunt that everyone was expecting, and Baltimore pitcher Jim Miller fielded the ball cleanly, only to throw it into left field in an effort to force Cora at third. Cora came home on the throwing error.

Three of the team's five runs came either from Pedroia or the bottom of the order.

With the come from behind win the Sox inched another game closer to the Rays who have not looked good against the Yankees.

And the NFC EAST....

4. Redskins - This team got by last year largely on emotion after the sudden, violent death of teammate Sean Taylor. That won't carry over. Overall, they're the least talented team in the devision, have the fourth best quarterback and the least experienced head coach in the division. Overall, that's a formula that's likely to result in a five to six win season.

3. Giants - I concede that healthy, this team has as good a chance as any to return to the postseason - they have the best running game in the NFC East, they still have a decent defense, and that running game will go a long way toward making the D better. That said, I still don't trust Eli Manning. Yes, he had a postseason for the ages last year, but he's wildly inconsistent, and that vaunted defensive line, so deep last year, is one injury away from being completely screwed. This team could well win eleven, but could just as easily crap out at seven wins. My guess, eight or nine wins.

2. Cowboys - The most talented team in the division still has the second best defense in the East (New York's is better), and there's a volatility to the team that is kind of like a powder keg waiting to go off. They have a solid coach who has never had a losing season, but he's also never won a playoff game, they have a receiver that has torn apart two previous teams, a cornerback that has never gone a season without at least one arrest, and they have the coach of the future sitting on staff. That can't be good for a head coach's confidence. This team should win ten or eleven games, assuming it doesn't eat itself.

1. Eagles - Yup, going out on a limb here. I don't believe that they're the best team in the division, I think they have problems top to bottom. I'm not convinced that Asante Samuel is going to pay dividends (what ex-Pat has been an impact player with his new team in the Bill Belichick era? Adam Vinatieri and who else?). He's largely the same corner they had before but with a different name. They have okay but not great receivers. What they really have, however, is still the most talented quarterback in the division, and he was largely all the team had when they won the three straight NFC East titles. This year he's likely out to prove that the Kevin Kolb pick was a mistake. I think this team scratches and claws its way to eleven wins and a division title.

Five weeks left...

With five weeks left in the regular season, there are certain truths that have become crystal clear in the NFL. Barring collapses of epic proportions, Green Bay and Dallas should represent their respective divisions in the playoffs and be the one and two seeds in the NFC. With a win tonight, Green Bay would clinch the NFC North.

The Patriots have five teams to go through to tie Miami's single season record for consecutive wins. The teams with the best chance to stop it between now and then is the ones that get the most creative in the way they play. Philly already proved that.

The Dolphins have a strong chance to go 0-16. Miami has lost six games by three points, and their best chance for a win will probably come against the offensively deficient Ravens in December.

Currently in the NFC, the wild card standings are as follows -

1. NY Giants
2. Detroit Lions
3. NO Saints
4. Arizona Cardinals
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Washington Redskins

I'll call it right now. The Giants and the Cardinals get in, Detroit will struggle to their first non-double digit loss season since the 2000 at 7-9, and this will mark Donovan McNabb's last season in Philadelphia.

The current wild card standings in the AFC -

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Cleveland Browns
3. Tennessee Titans
4. Denver Broncos
5. Buffalo Bills

The most likely changes in the AFC playoff picture really take into account the possibility that the Colts could end up the top wild card entry and the Broncos could knock the Chargers out of the playoff picture. With the soft final five for the Browns, I wouldn't rule out Cleveland and Pittsburgh tying with an 11-5, or even a 12-4 record. However, a tie still puts the Browns behind the Steelers by virtue of their two losses to the Steelers and no better than the fifth seed, no matter how bad the record of the AFC West champion is.

Let the games begin.

Champions and looking forward...

"Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester are doing something Alex has never done - play in a World Series game," said Peter Gammons last night about newly minted free-agent Alex Rodriguez. "It might be a little bit of a 'buyer beware'. Because, again, he has never played in a World Series game - maybe there's a reason."

Think about that statement from Gammons - the so-called best player in baseball has never helped a team get to the World Series. Never.

On a night when the Sox clinched the World Series in a sweep for the second time in four seasons, A-Rod's agent Scott Boras announced that the Yankees third baseman was opting out of his contract. Never mind that there was no reason this announcement couldn't wait until this morning. In a clear effort by Boras to, in some way, keep the focus on his client rather than the World Series, A-Rod and/or his agent engaged in a classless move there, making the announcement during game four. Gammons himself referred to the incident as a complete lack of respect for the game of baseball.

Let's face it, the best thing to happen to the Red Sox in the last five years was the MLB Player's Association nixing the contract renegotiation between the Red Sox and the would-be Red Sox short stop. The Sox would have sent Manny Ramirez - the Manny of the almost .500 post season batting average - for A-Rod, who has been brutally bad during baseball's second season. Where would the Sox be with A-Rod's anemic post-season bat in the middle of the line-up instead of ManRam's?

I'm guessing, as Red Sox fans, the Nation would still be waiting for the first World Series title since 1918.

Once each of his previous teams, the Mariners and the Rangers, rid themselves of A-Rod, those teams averaged somewhere around eight more wins per season for the first three seasons after Rodriguez's departure. The Yankees averaged 96.75 wins per season with A-Rod. The three seasons prior to his arrival? 99.67. Sure, a drop-off of three games per year isn't huge, but it's still a drop off and when combined with the following fact, it's a serious indictment of what his impact on a team really is - for the three seasons he played for the Rangers, Texas won 73, 72, and 71 games respectively (the Yankees won 101 his first season with the team, a total down to 94 this season), but for the first three seasons after A-Rod left the confines of Arlington, the Rangers 89, 79, and 80 games respectively - an average improvement of eight games per year.

Theo - stay the hell away from A-Rod! Let the Giants go get him. Resign Mike Lowell...hell, move Lugo to third. Whatever you do, don't sign A-Rod.

As for Lowell - congratulations to the World Series MVP. I'm glad you won, man, considering you probably won't win AL MVP in a season where you picked up the slack for an ailing pair of sluggers in Big Papi and ManRam. You might have been the most important piece at the plate for the BoSox this season. I hope to see you back again next year. If not, then thanks for one incredible run from a guy that the Marlins thought was done and was a throw-in in the Beckett deal.

I said it before and I'll say it again - hey Curt, thanks again, big guy. It's been almost a century since we had two titles in baseball and you were integral to bringing us two this decade. Good luck wherever you end up next year - you're never going to have to pay for another drink anywhere in Red Sox Nation again.

It was tough to see Okajima run out of gas those last two games, but what a way to crank through the Rockies in game two, when the Sox were hanging onto a one-run lead. It didn't feel like anyone on the roster failed to contribute. Hell, Bobby Kielty, the late-season addition on the bench for the stretch run, hit a pinch-hit game winning homer. The Red Sox rookies, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia sparked the top of the line-up.

They were clicking on all cylinders for four games, and now it's time for the amphibious vehicles to drive the Sox through the Back Bay.

The Monster of the Mid-Way...

Somewhere along the line the Patriots signed a career back-up line-backer away from the Pittsburgh Steelers and he became the best 'backer on one of the top defenses in the NFL.

For all the talk about Adalius Thomas coming to the team (and don't get me wrong, it was an important signing), Vrabel has been a beast. In yesterday's 52-7 thrashing of the Secondstrings, I'm sorry, I mean Redskins, Vrabel caught a pass for a touchdown, accounted for 11 tackles, three sacks for 20 yards in losses, and forced three fumbles - one on each sack.

Vrabel currently leads the team with 7.5 sacks (a pace to get 15 for the season), and is second on the team with 42 total tackles (Tedy Bruschi leads with 49).

Marketing faux-pas...

One last note before I get some sleep because my two-month old is finally napping...

The autumn after the NFL cancelled NFL Europe, the league played their first ever regular season game on European soil in order to expand the game's fan base. After watching yesterday's exercise in tedium at London's Wembley Stadium, a place where NFL Europe abandoned for lack of interest, the NFL did itself no favors and likely garnered no new fans.

From a marketing stand-point, why would the NFL even pick a Dolphins team that has been moribund for about half-a-decade in an effort to bring new fans to the table? And why London?

Originally the World League of American Football, and eventually NFL Europa, the league slowly, but surely migrated from London, to Scotland, to Germany. Why didn't this happen in Germany? There's already a fan base there, there are NFL ready stadiums there, and this would have been a great bone to throw to a German fan base that set an attendance record for NFLE this past spring.

Yes, I get that the idea that it's about growing the sport - but start with where there's already a foothold. Grow that fan-base a little more, ensure its loyalty, then move onto the more fringe areas.

And, fergodsakes, send them two quality teams.

The weekend that was...

What a weird weekend.

There are a lot of things that happened in the last three days that I would not have thought possible, or even likely four days ago -

• The Phillies, looking every bit the champion in taking advantage of the Mets' woes in managing to overtake New York to win the East. Now New York teams bear two dubious honors - the worst post-season collapse in the history (see Yankees), and now the worst regular season collapse in the history of baseball with the Mets coughing up a seven game lead with seventeen left to play. No team in the history of baseball has done that.
• New York fans can look at the bright side - the Giants took revenge on the Eagles on the Mets behalf. That Sunday night game was just ugly, and unless the Eagles make adjustments, every team they face is going to attack that turnstile they call a left tackle. Actually, to call Winston Justice a turnstile is to pay him a compliment - turnstiles slow people down when they have to drop a token in the slot. Osi Umenyiori would at least have had to break stride on his way to McNabb had he encountered a turnstile. He blocked like a kicker tackles...ole.
• Anyone here see the Cardinals win over the Steelers coming? Anyone? Ken Wisenhut, put your hand down.
• The Chicago Bears offense was...well...offensive. I said it last week, Greise is not the answer. Let's face it, the Bears are hoping that a guy who failed to make the grade in four previous spots would bail them out of their quarterbacking predicament. This is going to be a long, long season for the Chicago faithful. If Greise has another start like this one, get used to the following words Bears fans; Welcome to the Kyle Orton era.
• Reportedly JP Losman is worried about his job as the starter in Buffalo. He should be. From the little I have seen of his back-up, Trent Edwards, the rookie looks to be as far along as the now veteran Losman in terms of development, and that should worry Losman. Of the two, right now I think Edwards gives the team the best chance to win over the long haul.
• Brett Favre looks like he has found the fountain of youth.
• When a team blows a first round pick on a glorified kick returner when in desperate need of a quarterback, is it any surprise to see that team start 0-4. I'm talking about you Miami, I'm talking about you.
• Could Cleveland (2-2) have turned a corner? They are currently 2-1 in their division, putting them in second place in the AFC North ahead of the 2-2 Ravens. It's still early, but Cincy and Baltimore are giving the Browns hope. In their next three they have a tough game against the Patriots, winnable games against the Dolphins and Rams, and if they can steal a game from the Seahawks, they could go into their rematch against the Steelers at a respectible 5-3. If they keep playing like this, ten wins might not be out of the question. I'm guessing eight, but ten wouldn't surprise me, not at this point. Looks like Romeo Crennel might be well on his way to saving his job.
• Take heart Denver fans - as bad as the final score looked, the Broncos did a lot of good things on offense that will pay dividends down the road if and when the defense comes together. Granted, Jay Cutler can use more seasoning, but there was nothing wrong with that running game.

Just a few thoughts.

Tiki the Beeyotch

Tiki Barber in his soon-to-hit-the-stands autobiography reportedly blames Tom Coughlin for his recent retirement.

According to multiple sources, Barber wrote, "If Tom Coughlin had not remained as head coach of the New York Giants, I might still be in a Giants uniform, (Coughlin) robbed me of what had been the most important thing I had in my life, which was the joy I felt playing football. I had lost that. He had taken it away."

He also claims that the Giants shorted him $10 million in what he was worth as a top flight running back.

Let's start with the money - as a player, if you don't like what they're offering you, then don't sign the contract. Nobody held a gun to your head and made you sign. Don't use the franchise tag as an excuse either. If you're getting franchised, you're still getting the money. So stop whining about money.

Now, let's deal with the Coughlin thing. Don't pin this on him. He saved your career.

In 2003 Barber was 4th overall amongst running backs with six fumbles lost, and near the bottom of the league in fumbles total with nine. It was his fourth straight season with at least eight, and the third of four seasons with nine. There were whispers that the Giants were frustrated with his propensity to put the ball on the ground. Scouts talked about him as a third-down back and wrote pieces that attributed his fumble-itis to the fact that he just wasn't built to be an every-down back.

It was believed that Barber, in spite of his great yardage, was likely to end up on some other team's roster as a change of pace back.

Not the most lucrative of positions - certainly not compared to starter's money.

Coughlin came in and fixed him. The coach changed the way Barber carried the ball. In the three subsequent seasons Barber fumbled the ball a total of eight times. Coughlin made Barber one of the premier backs in the league.

For that, he gets an ungrateful pissant retiree who is engaging in revisionist history to make himself feel better about retiring early.

If he can't separate facts from the fictions in his mind, I'd really prefer it if Barber just went quietly away...although, at this point I would settle for him just going away.