New York Giants: Are they the REAL BIG BLUE this season?

The 2014 season so far for the New York Giants has been a ride on a roller-coaster, giving us it's ups and downs. The bigger story however, is the NFC East Division and how tough the teams have shown up to be, more specifically the Dallas Cowboys in particular, sitting alone at first place atop the division right now with a nice record of (6-1). The question on everyone's mind is, can these Giants make the playoffs? Are they contenders? And have they played like the real big blue this season? If you ask me, I think the New York Giants are certainly capable of pulling it off and reaching the playoffs, they certainly have potential to win their division and make a statement and being a playoff team; but they need to fix a few problems first.

First off, I would just like to point out that the Giants really don't stick, they just haven't found their true identity yet, and they haven't been playing their best football as of late for several reasons. Let's look at some of those reasons.


INJURIES

Key players who have had an impact on this team right at the start of the season were guys like Rashad Jennings and Victor Cruz. On a sidenote, while Odell Beckam JR is no longer injured, he was sidelined for the first 4 games this season with a hamstring injury. Odell Beckam JR and Victor Cruz have only played 1 full game together this season, who knows how much more dominant this Giants team would be if this duo played an entire season together, both being 100 % healthy?

Rashad Jennings

Rashad Jennings was on a role before getting injured in a game vs Atlanta at home, giving the Giants exactly what they needed on offense, and that was picking up big yards on the ground. It also allowed more options to open up for this offense without really forcing Eli Manning to go back to the passing game all the time. This team had it clicking on all cylinders with Jennings; playing at a faster pace as soon as he provided the Giants with big run plays and a lot of first down conversions, it was an easy and comfortable transition for Eli Manning to make by going from big run game to short pass play, having a rhythm going. This is when everything started going great for the Giants, and what ultimately led to them winning 3 games in a row. Unfortunately that all stopped once Jennings was out with a knee injury that sidelined him for 2 big divisional games against our rivals the Eagles and Cowboys. Say what you want, but Rashad Jennings being out for 2 weeks has affected this team offensively, and Giants haven't been able to make an adjustment or come up with a successful gameplan that will work consistently without Jennings since then. They've lost their edge, they've lost the hot momentum they had going,  now they've had to build from scratch all over again, and during a season, when it's critical to win as many games as you can, you can't afford to go through the process of what works and what won't work, and that's whats happening with the Giants once again. They're struggling without Jennings, trying to find a solution, but because they haven't found one yet, they continue to struggle, and that's what piles up losses for them.  When players go down like this during a season, for some teams, if that player was a huge part of the success and chemistry that went on for a few games during the season, it impacts the entire team and in essence, maybe that's all they need to get it going again.

Victor Cruz

Now while Victor Cruz is out for the season, and although he isn't the only elite WR for the Giants right now, its never a good thing when your top player goes down. Cruz, for the most part, has been the heart and soul for the Giants, if not one of the heart and soul players for that team. Him going down is another tough loss Giants have to deal with, and we'll begin to see how much Cruz's absence will impact this team in the coming weeks.


Beating Themselves 

Most of these losses from the Giants have come with them beating themselves and making costly mistakes either early or late in games. That was the case this past week in Dallas when a few penalties offensively came back to haunt them, taking away potential points on the board, and also a turn-over late in the 4th quarter on the Giants final drive had also haunted this team and led to them losing. They have done a lot of talking this season, not that talking isn't a good thing, but perhaps if they stick with the plan and concentrate more on football, they can be the big blue.

New Players

Many of these players for the Giants this year are either rookies or new players that have joined the team, making it hard for everyone to get used to each other right away and click as a team. When you have this many young players, and many new players on a team, it takes time to grow and develop, it takes time to bound together as a team. Unfortunately, with the lack of experience for some of these players, they will make mistakes; that's obvious, but with the help of a few leaders on this team and guys who have been around for several years now, like Eli Manning, like Jason Pierre Paul, and a few others, they can learn from them.

What has been good for the Giants so far, and may get even better

Eli Manning

Eli Manning has been a lot better this year, and has certainly improved after the horrendous season last year. Turnovers have reduced, interceptions have reduced, his percentage of complete passes has gone up, his accuracy has increased, and he is being more careful with the football as well, making wiser decisions and not forcing anything. So less mistakes from Eli Manning this year. If anyone has been the blue to this team, it has certainly been him.

Jason Pierre Paul

Defensively, he has been the man for the Giants. He's certainly taken a bigger role as the leader in that locker room for them this year.

Odell Beckham Jr

Though he's only played 3 games, Odell has been great; showing huge signs of life for the Giants this season, giving them hope to believe that not only will he get better, but he can make this team better as well. The duo combination of him and Eli connecting will be amazing, and a force to be reckoned with soon.

Whats In Store For The Future?

With this Giants team, you just don't know what to expect yet, because of how inconsistent they have been. They have a tough stretch coming up with games against the Colts, Seahawks, 49ers, and the Cowboys. The game they just recently played against Dallas wasn't all that bad, as it wasn't a blowout, and they almost came close to pulling off a comeback. Perhaps with a healthier, more stable, laid back Giants team with a few guys coming back, maturing, and some new guys stepping up, in the next game against Dallas, they can beat them. This bye week couldn't have come at a more better time for the Giants, after suffering 2 losses in a row, finding themselves at 3rd place in the division at 3-4, they can use this week off to get healthier, rest, get some players back; and find their original gameplan that seemed to have worked with them earlier in the season against Houston, Washington, and Atlanta (with Rashad Jennings). One thing to note: these next 3 teams coming up for them aren't impossible to beat, as the Seahawks have suffered losses to San Diego, Dallas, and St Louis. And San Francisco got blown out by the Broncos this past Sunday. It's certainly possible Giants can beat both of these teams, especially when they're home playing the 49ers and with Dallas  on the road beating Seattle (toughest crowd to play in front of), they can win against Seattle too. We'll see what happens.

Why Alex Rodriguez Should Be The Man For The Yankees in 2015

After an upsetting 2014 season with the New York Yankees finishing in 2nd place in their devision, and once again for the second year in a row failing to reach the playoffs, the Yankees have a lot of question marks going into this offseason, and need to get those questions answered immediately. It starts with a replacement for Derek Jeter, as to who can be the man to carry and represent that Yankees team. As everyone knows, Derek Jeter was the heart and soul for the New York Yankees, for many, many years, and for that reason, he completed that Yankees team, and made sure they always came together, whether it was through good or bad times, but he always delivered no matter what. This, however, isn't about Derek Jeter anymore (with all due respect to him), this is now about the future sake of the Yankees franchise, and there's only one man who can answer after Derek Jeter, that man is Alex Rodriguez; their last hope....How, and Why?


Now I know what you're all thinking, how could A-Rod possibly be the man to follow within Jeter's footsteps, how could he carry any role of responsibility or leadership after all of his wrong's and injustices? The bottom line is, Alex Rodriguez is getting healthy, he's recovering (getting in shape) and he is a great baseball player, whether you people like him or not. With or without steroids, he delivers at a high level, and he delivers at a high level ESPECIALLY when he knows it's his team, when he knows and feels like he's the man of the team. He has only 2 years of his contract left once the 2015 season starts. Yankees need to capitalize on that.


Offense Improves When He's In The Line-UP If He's Supported

In 2013 when Alex Rodriguez made his return in the second half of the season, he actually brought some power back to that line-up that they were missing that entire year, the Yankee bats started showing more life, and although he wasn't the old Alex Rodriguez, he was still performing at a decent level. In 2007, an MVP year for Rodriguez, although the Yankees didn't win the world series, everyone saw what a great year he had because of the support he had from the team and the fans, and because it was his team that year. One cannot deny the money he brings in to Yankee stadium everytime he is scheduled to play, fans pay to this guy no matter what; it's a fact. If the Yankees want to succeed in 2015, they can do all the free agency shopping they want this entire winter, but it all comes down to letting Alex Rodriguez play and admitting that this is his team now. Yankees cannot let Rodriguez's past haunt the team or himself, because if you let his past get to your head, and his head, then the entire team will collapse; period.

Draws Attention and embraces it

Let Alex Rodriguez deal with the attention he gets. Alex, when motivated, when supported, does his best, and he's no stranger to being the center of attention, so who cares if he's constantly in the eye of the media, it wouldn't be a distraction to the team; I would embrace it, and use it as a positive vibe. In 2013 when Alex was dealing with the entire MLB organization and appealing a suspension, he seemed to have no issue playing on the field and the attention that time, didn't seem to bother him at all. Let's also take into consideration that at least some or most of that attention would no longer be focused on him as much as he took off for an entire year, and when he comes back, he will be both 100 % mentally and physically prepared. If you let Alex do what he does best, which is play the game of baseball, and support him while doing it, you will get Alex Rodriguez who plays at a very high level. When his bat comes alive, everyone loves Alex Rodriguez again anyway, and History has proven that especially in the Bronx.

Eliminate The Distractions, Simply Focus On Winning

This is where the responsibility of the New York Yankees comes into play. The entire team as a whole must eliminate the hate, eliminate the drama, and any problems involving Alex Rodriguez, if Yankees start feeding into all of this mess they will fall, don't do anything to hurt him, because it might cost the team as well, and yes im referring to benching him, putting him to bat in any spot of the line-up, or even having someone pinch-hit for him. When you give Rodriguez pressure, he sucks, and he sucks badly, and that ends up making the Yankees suck as well. Look at the 2012 playoffs for example, pressure was added to Rodriguez when they started screwing around with him, and the Yankees were victims to that as well because they all choked offensively. The power of the line-up needs to be protected and supported. If A-Rod does well, the entire Yankees will do well. And Rodriguez is a guy who has never been given that opportunity to be the man in New York (for an entire season).  As I mentioned above, he's the only man who should deal with the problems. Yankees should formulate the best possible team that can play with Alex Rodriguez, to win baseball games for them in 2015. If they can sign younger, talented, hungry players who can play along with Alex, that can not only bring confidence to Rodriguez, but also make him feel more comfortable knowing he now has support in the line-up, and he has backup. Also, playing with younger players can help him grow as a leader, as a mentor for the team, and that too, will help Rodriguez in the long run. If the Yankees expect to have the same team in 2015 with the addition of just Alex coming back and no offseason moves, and win a championship with him, then they're crazy and it only makes things worse, because we all know they'll just blame A-rod if the team fails, and as mentioned before, A-Rod can't function right when he's pressured or blamed.

There is no other active player on the Yankees roster right now who anyone could truly think of and label them as the "man". Jacoby Ellsbury is a solid, talented, outfielder but he doesn't have the star power and doesn't influence a team as much, he also gets hurt a lot, and doesn't have much experience as a Yankee. Brett Gardner is a candidate due his heart and guts for the game but he too has gotten hurt many times in his career, and he needs batting impact offensively all the time  if he wants to take over, which he doesn't really have. He's also not a big name in New York and while fans love him, do fans consider him a megastar? Brian McCann is a player with intense emotion but that's all he brings to a team, and he hasn't had enough experience as a Yankee to take over. Mark man can't be trusted due to age and injuries and he's very hot headed. Alex Rodriguez is clearly the favorite, who has experience, batting power, great fielding, star power, attention grabber, controversy, and resiliance, all added to his name. He's your last Yankee.

End Of An Era, Ends In Hollywood ending for Mr. Derek Jeter

On a Thursday night of September 25th, 2014, Derek Jeter plays his final game at Yankee Stadium, of course we all knew this beforehand as it was much anticipated for the entire season long, but it wasn't until the actual day arrived in which New York Yankee fans and Baseball fans around the world knew the end was near. This game had everything it needed to give you a reason to watch this game, the drama, the hype, the anticipation, even the weather was almost a factor as before the game began there was talks of possible rain showers coming in to affect this game - that didn't happen of course. What's important to me about this game is the fact that it meant absolutely nothing, and me being a diehard Yankee win, going by the motto of always winning first, (winning championships), I completely forgot about the disappointment that came with the Yankees playing their final game at home this year knowing that they weren't playing for anything, because they were eliminated from making the playoffs. To me that was the most noteworthy aspect to take into consideration about this game, especially because we're so accustomed to always talking about the New York Yankees when it comes to October baseball. Yet for one day it all felt like there was something bigger to talk about, and that is Derek Jeter. Perhaps Derek Jeter IS baseball, and he IS the New York Yankees, because not only did his presence alone make this game special in his final game, but his entire career came to life in this baseball game and it kind of summed up everything about why he is so great.


First off, Jeter is a winner, we all know that, he loves winning, he works hard to win, and he always wins! So it came as no surprise to me that the stadium would not have an empty seat, and that it would feel like a playoff atmosphere in the Bronx, that's why for one night, and one night only, the final game of the Yankees regular season, felt like a playoff game, it wasn't just because it was Jeter's final game, but it was because we all know that Jeter wasn't going to just play his final game without doing something Historic, without creating another memory, another moment, Jeter played this game as if it were a championship game, and if we knew Jeter we know he's a hard worker, he's a perfectionist, he's going to play every game with heart. Everyone came to see Jeter play his last game not just to be there, but to see him once again succeed in big moments. Jeter playing his final game at Yankee stadium, to me, was our playoff game of the entire year, we needed to win, and it was important to him, and for the team, to win this game, and go out on a positive note. Although an era ended last night with Derek Jeter in New York, he made sure that the future for this New York Yankees organization is bright, with good things to come, he didn't let us down, giving us reason to believe once again, and its in Derek Jeter's DNA to make sure he never let us down, hence why last night was just another one of Derek Jeter's moments in his career. He thrives in the spotlight, thrives in big time moments. And last night, although it wasn't a Homerun to win the game, or a grandslam, it didn't need to be any of those 2 things for Derek Jeter, because the beauty of it is how natural it was, and what Jeter was mostly known for and being credited for was naturally making contact with the ball, and simply hitting....and that's what he did to win the game, something he has always been good at. As I was watching every Jeter at bat, I had chills, I was emotional and energetic through the inside, I was into it! Expecting Jeter to amaze me, I made sure I took every moment in, and feelt it because it's once in a lifetime experience.

People can call him overrated, over-hyped, too valued, whatever, but the fact is, he is a legend, and he is a true captain. I don't care if he wasn't the best, or if he wasn't the most talented, what made Derek Jeter great and legendary was getting the job done when it counted the most, was winning, was having heart for the game of baseball, was hard work and dedication, and most importantly, being a class act both on and off the field. And that is something that can't be overrated, period. This game had all different emotions, we were sad yet happy at the same time, we anticipated something big to happen but we also knew not to get excited because this is not a dream or a fantasy, but we also knew not to count out the fact that Derek Jeter always delivers, everything was running through everyone's minds on this night, and that's what made this game so great. The Jeter moments, the excitement, the ups and downs in the game, the ability to have been able to forget about the future and how another Yankee legend (and the last one) is gone, and just focus on the present. If there's anything Derek Jeter did last night, it was not only win a game, but it was also have us connect with him both mentally and spiritually, for once we related with Derek Jeter because that's exactly what he's best at, is focusing and having concentration, always believing, always being confident, but also feeling old. And let's face it, we all felt old when it hit us that Derek Jeter is finally retiring, and he played his last game at Yankee stadium, so while Jeter felt old, we felt old with him. But as we all grew up watching him play baseball and always give us moments, we, along with him, felt just as young again when he reminded us of his young days, and our young days, watching him play baseball at a high level with success. THANK YOU JETER.

#FareWellCaptain

NFL PICKS FOR WEEK 4 GAMES

What is up people? I'm giving you my early picks for the upcoming NFL match ups in week 4 of the 2014 season, continue reading because my predictions may surprise you. This will be GOOD. I cover the top big games of week 4 in the 2014 season.

New York Giants vs Washington Redskins - Let's get started with the opening week kickoff game which is an NFC East Divisional showdown between the New York Football Giants and the Washington Redskins. Now, both the Giants and Redskins have been off to shaky starts, both with similar records of 1-2. However, both teams also showed signs of hope and life in them in week 3, when the Giants completely dismantled the Houston Texans at home and both their defense and offense finally looked stable. In fact, Eli Manning looked sharper than he's looked all of last season, and this season so far as well. On the Washington side, the Redskins have received an ultimate upgrade at the QB position with Kirk Cousins, who provides not only health insurance for that position, but also benefits the team in the passing game, which is something the Redskins needed. Kirk Cousins is hungry, he is tough, and this may influence the entire status of the team now. I expect this match-up to be a high scoring game, it will be back to back for sure, and it will be contested from start to finish, a good old fashion shoot-out. I think the key in this game that will make the ultimate difference in what wins the game will be the Giants defense against the Redskins offense ran by Kirk Cousins. If the Giants can stop the Redskins offensively and shut down it's receivers, I think Kirk will have a long, tough day, which will force this Redskins team to run the ball more with Alfred Morris. But the Giants MUST stop Kirk Cousins, as he is a threat, and if they can find a way to figure him out, I think the Giants will win this ball game. Kirk is a scorer, he excels in big moments, he finds receivers, he makes plays happen, which means that no matter how many points the Giants may put up against Washington, if Washington can find a way to continue putting up points, then they will walk out victorious because Kirk is a scoring machine. With Eli Manning's new Giant offense, although they have shown signs of improvement, it's still too early to judge how good of an offense they are, and just how much they can score, now while I expect them to score a lot tomorrow night, one can only wonder how much they can score, and that's where their defense must help out the offense when it comes to the Giants, because this new offense still remains questionable and we must see consistency. As for my clear winner here, I like the Giants chances on the road. Even though this new offense still remains questioned, they will do fine tomorrow night, not perfect, but fine, and several mistakes from the Washington offense will lead to them losing. I think Giants will make stops defensively late in the 4th quarter to prevent Redskins from scoring. It will however, still come down to the wire, and will be decided in the final seconds.

Greenbay Packers vs Chicago Bears - I see the Bears winning this one. Right now Chicago is red hot and they are on a huge momentum, they came off a huge win Monday night against the Jets and dominated them, something the Packers couldn't do the week prior to that. And although the Packers beat the Jets as well, they had a tougher time beating them than the Bears did. Jay Cutler is improving more every week, their offense is clicking, and with how bad the Packers' defense is, I anticipate the Bears to completely destroy that defense and put up huge points. The Packers are in trouble early into the season, they lost against the Lions, and I see them struggling just as much with the Bears. I think this year it isn't just about Aaaron Rodgers carrying that Packers team, if their defense can't step up, Greenbay will be losing many games this year. Will Rodgers score a lot and thrive against the Bears defense? Most likely, but the Bears offense will do even BETTER. Bears win this one.

49ers vs Philadelphia Eagles - This is going to be a fun yet interesting game. The undefeated 3-0 Eagles take on the 1-2 49ers. Eagles have found a way to make huge comebacks in all 3 of their games so far this year, but I think their ultimate test comes this Sunday against the 49ers. In my opinion, falling behind early in a game against a team like the 49ers is critical, and if the Eagles allow that to happen, I don't think they will win this time, and I don't see them completing a comeback. Once 49ers is comfortable with a lead, they simply dominate from then on. Eagles must be dominant if they want to win this game, which I don't think they can be against San Francisco. 49ers will bring major pressure to Nick Foles and that Eagles offense, and I don't think the Eagles have enough time to make adjustments to figure out that 49ers secondary, especially when San Fran is playing at home in a new statidum of Levi's stadium. I got the 49ers winning this game and ending the 3-0 start to the Eagles. 

New York Jets vs Detroit Lions - I simply don't think the Jets can stop the Lions in this game. I have Lions winning this game for sure. Just too much power offensively and although their defense isn't their best, they will be able to have enough to contain the Jets offense, at least in my opinion.

New Orleans Saints vs Dallas Cowboys - Another shoot-out, high scoring game, from start to finish. But in the end, Drew Brees will be captain clutch and win the game for the Saints in the final minutes or seconds of the game.