AFC East

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1. NY Jets: 12-4
Have they talked themselves out of a title?
2. New England Patriots: 10-6
Can Belichick bring back a championship defense?
3. Miami Dolphins: 8-8
Is Brandon Marshall enough to get Miami over the .500 hurdle?
4. Buffalo Bills: 4-12
A new coach, a new system.  Any hope in Buffalo?

Coaches

Bill Belichick – Patriots
He never shows a sign of panic.  Always seems to be cool, calm and collected in the big game.  However, last year was probably the first time in which he was lost.  Lost in a sense that he was too confident in his and his teams abilities.  Going for it on 4th and 2 at Indianapolis in New England’s own territory was a big mistake not just last year, but for the next couple years.  He questioned his defense’s abilities and a lot of his former players criticized him, rightfully so.  He has to reconcile that by building the defense back up and continue to let Tom Brady regulate the still high powered offense if they want to get past the Jets.

Rex Ryan – Jets
Never afraid to speak his mind he has immediately turned the Jets into a powerhouse after their near Super Bowl appearance last year.  Thirty more minutes of perfect football would’ve granted the Jets only their 2nd Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.  Rex has the right people on his staff to oversee the offense, which is fine because his specialty is the defense.  He has a few new toys in the secondary (Antonio Cromartie and rookie Kyle Wilson).  Plus a healthy NT Kris Jenkins will help tremendously.  However, with the holdout of CB Darrelle Revis, it could be a struggle to stop premier passing attacks without the best corner in the game.

Tony Sparano – Dolphins
This is his third season in Miami.  After the 10 game turnaround in ’08 that resulted in a division title, the Dolphins dropped off to only 7 wins in ’09.  The “Wildcat” lost its luster a bit, but it’s still a big part of their offense.  It will be used a little less no with the emergence of QB Chad Henne.  Sparano has a legitimate passing threat with Brandon Marshall and will focus most of his attention to a defense that ranked 22nd in the league last year.  There is a lot of depth at key positions for Miami, but not a lot of experience to go against the Jets and Patriots.

Chan Gailey – Bills
Buffalo missed on all the big names.  They haven’t had a postseason berth in 10 years.  Gailey is now their fifth head coach this decade.  Gailey’s previous head coaching experience in the NFL was with the Dallas Cowboys (1998-99).  Combined 18-14 with Dallas and in both seasons had made the playoffs.  Owner Ralph Wilson, Jr. is hoping for that success to reappear in Buffalo.  Unfortunately for both parties, there are three better teams ahead of them in their division.  The first problem starts with an unsettled QB position and changing to a 3-4 defense usually takes a long time to develop.  Gailey will be given a long leash, but until their is an answer at QB, it will get shorter in a hurry.

Best Acquisition: WR Brandon Marshall – Miami Dolphins
Three straight years of 100 catches and at least 1,100 yards receiving are no fluke.  Jay Cutler was his QB for two of the three, but what solidified him as one of the elite receivers was doing it again with an average QB Kyle Orton last year in Denver.  He wore out his welcome there, but Miami hasn’t had a legitimate number one receiver since Chris Chambers.  Chad Henne will continue to develop into an elite passer thanks to the front office opening their wallets.

Quarterback – Grade
Patriots – A
Jets – B
Dolphins – B
Bills – D

Tom Brady is still the class of the division.  His successful return from knee surgery last year has solidified his place in the game today.  Yes with the weapons he has, anyone can throw for 4,000 yards and 30+ TD, but he still put up those numbers without Moss, Welker and Edelman.
Sanchez was not impressive, but was consistent.  His performance in the playoffs overshadowed his season statistics.  Adding WR Santonio Holmes to the passing game and LaDainian Tomlinson to the running game will help prevent a sophomore slump in New York.
Miami has Chad Pennington as the backup to Chad Henne, but make no mistake this is Henne’s team.  Towards the end of the season, Henne looked more calm and comfortable in the pocket and that should continue with Marshall in the mix.
It’s a three headed monster at QB with Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm all competing for the job.  Buffalo passed on Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy.  Anyone of them probably would be a better option than the three they have.

Running Back – Grade
Jets – B
Dolphins – B
Bills – B
Patriots – C

Shonn Greene came on late in the regular season and postseason for the Jets.  That was more than enough for them to cut ties with the third leading rusher in the NFL Thomas Jones (Chiefs).  LaDainian Tomlinson was brought in as the change of pace back for Greene and a perfect check down option for Sanchez.  The grade would be lower had the Jets not brought in a proper back up.
Miami has the best 1-2 punch in the AFC East.  Ronnie Brown is healthy and in a contract year.  Expect him to continue where he left off last year.  Ricky Williams took off when Brown went down and will look to continue to be the workhorse in short-yardage and wildcat formations.
Buffalo does have strength in the backfield.  Passing on a quarterback, they drafted C.J. Spiller out of Clemson with their first round pick.  Spiller can not only fly down the field, but also catch out of the backfield.  Jackson was the workhorse due to Marshawn Lynch’s suspension.  Jackson will continue to do so, but Lynch will get his carries as the short-yardage and goal line runner.
New England has abandoned the running game the last few years, but they have enough depth to get it back in motion.  Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor and Kevin Faulk will be the primary runners.  Faulk is the third-down specialist.  Maroney needs to show why New England used their first round pick on him in 2006. 

Wide Receiver – Grade
Patriots – B
Jets – B
Dolphins – C
Bills – D

The Patriots have the best combo in the division in Randy Moss and Wes Welker.  Welker is coming off knee surgery so it will probably be a while before he’s at full strength.  Julian Edelman is Welker Jr. for the Pats.  Very sneaky he always finds an opening.  Oh and Torry Holt is part of the mix too.
The Jets have Santonio Holmes and Laveranues Coles to go with Jerricho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards.  Sanchez shouldn’t have a bad day with this kind of depth.  Holmes will be suspended the first four games, but it won’t effect them at all.  Tight End Dustin Keller is turning into one of the best tight ends in the game.  He is Sanchez’s favorite target.
Even with Marshall, Miami’s passing attack is still average.  Davone Bess was their primary target.  He will now be relegated to the slot position which is better suited to his game.  Brian Hartline developed good chemistry with Henne down the stretch and will given the first shot to play opposite Marshall.  Anthony Fasano is a great blocker for the running game and an underrated receiving tight end.  His production is consistent, but he would be the blocking tight end for most teams.
Buffalo, like their quarterback situation, is bleak at receiver too.  Lee Evans is the lone bright spot and will be hard pressed again to salvage the passing game.  Without a legitimate threat opposite Evans, the Bills will again rank near the bottom in passing (30th last year).

Defense – Grade
Jets – B
Patriots – C
Dolphins – C
Bills – C

The attacking style that Rex Ryan was famous for in Baltimore has appeared in New York as well.  Thanks to Bart Scott who was signed from Baltimore last year, the Jets have the perfect defense to compete with most high scoring offenses.  The number one ranked defense remains the same.  NT Kris Jenkins is healthy.  CB Antonio Cromartie brings his ball-hawking skills in a trade from San Diego.  The only thing keeping the Jets from getting an A is the holdout of Darrelle Revis.
New England has a lot of room for improvement this year.  One area they desperately need to improve on is sacks.  They ranked 23rd in that category and will need a decent pass rush to take pressure off their young, but talented secondary.  LB Tully Banta-Cain led them in sacks (10), but look for LB Pierre Woods to help in that department.  Their secondary is their strength where if an injury or two should arise, they have plenty of pieces to fill in.  First round pick CB Devin McCourty will help immediately with starters Leigh Bodden and Darius Butler.  Their safeties Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders are the back bone of the defense.
Miami like every defense in the division, runs a 3-4.  Their strength was getting to the quarterback.  Miami’s 44 sacks was tied for third in the league.  That will probably drop due to linebackers Joey Porter (Arizona) and Jason Taylor (Jets) leaving as free agents.  Their main weakness was against the pass.  Their corner backs are young, but Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are very quick learners.  LB Karlos Dansby was the big acquisition on defense.  He will take charge of the run defense that was in the middle of the pack last year.  Nothing wows you about Miami, but they do have plenty of upside.
The Bills have avoided switching to a 3-4 for so long, but they have to find some way to stop the run.  They ranked 30th against the run.  They also need to find a way to get more pressure on the quarterback.  A lot of their players will need to adjust to new roles, but most should flourish.  LB Aaron Maybin (2009 1st Rd pick) will be put in the pass rushing position of the 3-4.  This will be his make or break year with the Bills.  LB Paul Posluszny should do well in this system.  A tackling machine, he will get plenty of support from the lineman who are adept at plugging the gaps for the linebackers.  Hard to believe that Buffalo is the 2nd best pass defense in the league, but when you have Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin as your starting corners.  Donte Whitner and Jairus Byrd as your safeties, it comes as no surprise.  As long as Buffalo can stop the passing attack, they will stay competitive on the defensive side.

The Definition of Failure

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Some of the greatest players in any sport are not always the best judges of talent or the best coaches for their respective sport.  Wayne Gretzky couldn’t get the Phoenix Coyotes to the playoffs in his four seasons as head coach.  They were a .500 team at best.  Michael Jordan failed as the President of Basketball Operations with the Washington Wizards.  Drafting Kwame Brown with the number one pick in 2001, when Pau Gasol was taken just two picks later, will be with MJ no matter where he goes.  He is now the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, but time will tell if he can redeem himself in the executive seat of the NBA.

Those are just two examples.  I give you one more.  Isiah Thomas was named one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all-time.  Without a doubt he is one of the best competitors the game has ever seen.  Is he the best talent evaluator?  Some would say yes.  Here are some of the players he has drafted as an executive with the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks.

G Damon Stoudamire – Raptors 1995
C Marcus Camby – Raptors 1996
G Tracy McGrady – Raptors 1997
C David Lee – Knicks 2005
G Nate Robinson – Knicks 2005 acquired from Suns during Draft
C Channing Frye – Knicks 2005

Now that’s not terrible.  Stoudamire was a better player elsewhere, but he wasn’t terrible with the Raptors.  Camby did get to the NBA Finals when he was traded to the Knicks.  McGrady was a big part of the success the Raptors had going into the millennium before leaving as a free agent.  Lee is a double-double machine.  Robinson is a scoring threat when he steps on the court.  Frye is an above average shooter for a player his size.

Now Isiah was not around long enough to see his acquisitions succeed, but he does have an eye for talent.  That is why the Knicks, specifically owner James Dolan, offered Isiah Thomas a consultant position within the Knicks organization.  I will put forth the reasons why Isiah should not have been offered the consultant position with a team he helped run into the ground.

Isiah was the owner of the CBA (Continental Basketball Association) from 1998-2000.  Key word “was.”  When Isiah accepted the head coaching job from the Indiana Pacers in 2000, he put the CBA in a blind trust in which the league didn’t find a new owner to take over Isiah’s duties.  Plenty of blame goes around as to who helped ruin the CBA, but a good portion starts with Isiah who didn’t seem all that interested in the job.

Isiah accepted the head coaching job of the Indiana Pacers in the year 2000.  He would still be the coach until 2003.  The Pacers made it to the NBA Finals the year before Isiah was head coach.  The Pacers were in a transition from being a veteran team to bringing in younger talent to get back to the Finals.  Isiah made it to the playoffs every year he was coach, but was eliminated in the first round every time.  When Larry Bird returned as Vice President of Basketball Operations in 2003, Isiah was let go.

Isiah wasn’t unemployed for long as the New York Knicks hired him as Vice President of Basketball Operations in December 2003.  So began the unraveling of a once proud NBA franchise.  Here are some of Isiah’s worst moves as VP of Basketball Operations for the Knicks

Trading for Eddy Curry – cost multiple draft picks & money
Hiring Larry Brown as head coach – Larry wasn’t gonna help
Trading for Stephon Marbury – “Starbury” only helps “Starbury”
Trading for Zach Randolph – he has talent, but his head isn’t in it
Signing Jerome James & Jared Jeffries to max contracts – enough said

Isiah after all this, hired himself as head coach in 2006 after the Larry Brown experiment failed.  The Knicks were on track to make the playoffs by the All-Star break when Knicks owner, James Dolan, rewarded Isiah with a multi-year extension.  Soon after that the Knicks fell off and out of playoff contention.  The following year the Knicks finished with a 23-59 record.  10 games worse than the year before under Isiah the coach.

To top it all off, Isiah and Madison Square Garden were sued by a former employee for sexual harassment.  A grand jury found them both guilty and had to pay $11.6 million to the victim.  If you cost your boss $11.6 million, why would that boss hire you back?

James Dolan is not your typical owner though.  He offers Isiah Thomas a consultant position with the Knicks while he is the head coach of Florida International, a NCAA Division 1 school.  Besides the conflict of interest here, isn’t this a slap in the face to your current VP of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh?  Donnie fired Isiah and now he has to know that Isiah is in a management role in New York while he’s still there.

I know, it’s just a consultant.  What kind of power does a consultant have.  Especially when he’s coaching Florida International.  Well, if the NBA and NCAA were a little more concerned about this, they would realize that this opens up Pandora’s box.  What’s to stop San Antonio, Dallas and Houston from asking Texas coach Rick Barnes to be a “consultant.”  Or for the Lakers to hire Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski as a “consultant.”

Thankfully NBA commissioner David Stern told Isiah Thomas that this would not work because it would violate NBA bylaws of a current college coach working with an NBA team.  However, a story in the New York Post reported that Knicks owner James Dolan had told the commissioner’s office of the planned hire of Isiah Thomas before it was announced.  Why wasn’t it stopped then?  The NCAA would rather focus on bigger schools and athletic departments, but sees no problem with this scenario.

Look no further than to James Dolan when he released this statement after Isiah turned down the Knicks offer.

“Although I’m disappointed that Isiah will not be working with the Knicks as a consultant, I continue to believe in his basketball knowledge, including his ability to judge talent,” MSG chairman Dolan said.  “He’s a good friend of mine and of the organization and I will continue to solicit his views.  He will always have strong ties to me and the team.  We wish him continued success at FIU.”

“He will always have strong ties to me and the team.”  “I continue to believe in his basketball knowledge, including his ability to judge talent.”  That says to me that either James Dolan is smoking some serious stuff or Isiah Thomas has something on Dolan that he doesn’t want to come out.

The NBA and NCAA let this linger for too long and it should have been shot down as soon as they caught wind of it.  What’s to stop Isiah from talking to James Dolan about basketball matters in the future?  The answer: nothing.

Bring Back Rivalries in Sports

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There will always be rivalries between sports fans.  Boston vs. New York.  Los Angeles vs. San Francisco.  Chicago vs. St. Louis.  Those are just a few of the best in baseball.  Over the years though, it has become apparent that with free agency being the norm that the players no longer see it that way.  Guys have played with one another at one stop or another and they don’t have any animosity towards them.

Thankfully, Cincinnati Reds All-Star second baseman Brandon Phillips doesn’t see it that way.  His comments Monday before their three game series against the St. Louis Cardinals has opened up a brand new can of worms during the pennant race in the National League Central Division.

“I’d play against these guys on one leg,” Phillips told a Dayton Daily News columnist “We have to beat these guys.  All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them.  They’re little bitches, all of them.  I really hate the Cardinals.  Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs.  Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals.”

If I didn’t know it, I’d thought Phillips hates the Cardinals.  I mean when you say, “compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs” you must really hate the Cardinals.

Anyway you just knew something was going to happen in this series.  And of course something did.  I figured it was going to be a beaning to Phillips that would get this going or some chin music.  Something to that nature.  It went completely the other way without a pitch even being thrown.

Phillips gets to the batters box and proceeds to tap the shin guard of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.  Molina kicks at his bat to which Phillips pauses for a moment, then lightly taps his shin guard again.  Phillips steps out of the box, takes a practice swing and gets into his stance.  I should point out that this is in the bottom of the first inning.

Molina doesn’t let Phillips get in his stance and begins that trash talk.  As with every baseball brew-ha-ha no one really wants to fight.  Reds third baseman Scott Rolen was playing peacemaker calming down Molina while the managers Dusty Baker of Cincinnati and Tony LaRussa of St. Louis were talking with the umpires.

It was still pretty uneasy when Baker proceeded to walk back towards the dugout and Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter said something that apparently wasn’t taken too kindly by the Reds players.  A lot of pushing and shoving occurred at the back stop.  The Reds starting pitcher for that game Johnny Cueto was seen kicking, spikes up, at a Cardinals player or two.

After all was said and done, the umpires tossed both Baker and LaRussa.  With that there would be no chance of someone being pegged in the back with a fastball.  Yadier Molina, who helped start it all, answered with a solo HR in his first at bat to put the Cardinals up early.  Molina proceeded to imitate Phillips’ home run trout when he rounded second base.  Way to rub it in.

The Cardinals went on to win the game 8-4 and are looking for the sweep today.  After it’s all said and done, this is what I want to see more of.  Not bench clearing brawls, but players actually hating one another.  It adds to the intensity of the pennant race in baseball.  It would also add to the intensity of the NBA playoffs, Stanley Cup playoffs and for the NFL.  I want to those glory days to come back.

Phillips was given a chance to retract his statements earlier in the week, but he stuck to his words and added a little more to it.

“The comments I made yesterday, those are my comments,” Phillips said.  “I said those things and I really mean what I said.  The Cardinals, they’re a great team.  They’re the team to beat, like I’ve said a million times.  But we have to beat them.”

These are two of the best teams in the National League this year.  They don’t like each other and that’s good.  Phillips spoke the truth that you have to beat the best to be the best.  Fans will always hate their teams rivals, but the players should show a little more hatred too.

My Birthday Gift to You

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It has been one year since I wrote “A Birthday Wish for the Sports Fan” and I have to say that none of those wishes have come true, yet.  One wish that I can make come true is the beginning of something new and extraordinary to this site.  Starting this week you will begin to not just read what’s on the mind of Wes The Sports Guy, but actually listen to what he has to say on the wide world of sports.  That’s right, it is now possible for myself to be heard once again on the world wide web.

This is my gift to you, the loyal reader and listener from my previous spot at KLBC.ORG as co-host of “Talkin’ Sports with Wes & JR.”  My voice has returned.  If there is anything that you wish to see on the site, please leave some feedback.  If you want something taken off the site, leave some feedback.  I know you’re there.  Let your voice be heard.  No one is hear to judge.  This is a site not just for myself, but for the entire sports world.

You’re probably asking yourself, “why is there a picture of a football field?”  Well, I put it there to test yourself.  If you can name this field without zooming in at the scoreboard, you are like myself.  Someone who only needs a little information to come to the right answer.  I consider it a gift.  I can share knowledge with you and whether you use it or not, it makes me feel great that you’re checking in.

One last bonus gift to you the reader is the picture below.  It’s more for the slogan in the picture than the person.  But hey, it’s your gift.  Take it as you will.  Stay tuned for the first podcast.